Christmas Festivities

We have had some fun Christmas celebrations!  We spend Christmas Eve morning with Aunt Rose, Uncle Tim, Lauren, and Great Grandpa Glenn. 

In the evening we went to Aunt Shelley and Uncle Jason's house and played with Andrew and Camryn.  How fun!

Here are a couple shots from Christmas morning. . . . We've had a great Christmas!

We also went to Uncle Bob and Aunt Carol's this weekend for the Gonwa family bash.  They are always a hoot :)

Getting Ready for Christmas!

Macie had her Christmas program for daycare at Hope Lutheran Church last Friday.  She was very excited to perform!

St. Nick came to our house on Saturday night.  We had a fun morning on Sunday opening our stockings!

The kids are in a BIG "Cars" kick right now!  *photographer Ethan submitted this pic :)

We went to Schultz's Barn in Eleva to see Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Macie wants a huge orange ball and Ethan wants a giant gas tanker.

We also went on a horse and wagon ride.  Ethan and Macie were lucky to be the guest drivers!

Ethan is really into the calendar right now.  Saturday morning we woke up and wanted me to paint the dates that all the Wednesdays fell in each month.  He dictated this to me from memory from the 2012 calendar.

We are having lots of fun waiting for Christmas to arrive!  

100 Lawn Mowers/ Auntie Rose

Ethan has reached his goal of getting 100 lawn mowers hung up in his room.  He made his room look very "fancy."  He is now working on printing out, cutting, gluing, and hanging up 100 trucks as well.  Since starting Kindergarten we are so excited with his interest in cutting and gluing that we are allowing this to happen.  He has shown such awesome growth in his fine motor skills!  His teacher even e-mailed this picture of him to me on Friday morning to assure me that his coloring is coming along nicely . . . (look how proud he is)

Today Ethan and I went to visit Auntie Rose in the hospital.  Her cancer, which we thought was gone, has come back and is in her liver and bones.  She is pretty sick, so I have visited her with both kids a few times throughout the week.  Ethan was a good boy at the hospital - He asked the nurse when her birthday was and then told her the day of the week it fell on ("December 19!  That's a Wednesday!")  He did the same for the lady who was working in the cafeteria when we went down to eat some lunch.  :)  We are praying for Auntie Rose throughout her struggle with cancer.  It is hard to see her in so much pain.  Between Macie and Ethan, we are trying to keep her spirits up.

Ethan playing guitar with daddy in the basement -

My little bee and police man on Halloween!

Fun in La Crosse!

Yesterday we took a fun family trip down to La Crosse.  The kids love the Children's Museum there and we get in free with our Eau Claire membership, so we love going too!

One of the best parts is putting the scarves in the "whoosh" machine and then catching them when they fly out.

After the Children's Museum, we went to Chuck E Cheese's for the first time.  The kids had a blast.  They loved the rides, the pizza, and meeting Chuck E himself!

Fall Fun!

Macie and her preschool class went on a field trip to Beaver Creek to enjoy learning about nature.  Her big smile tells me she had a great time!

The kids love going to the library- especially with Grandma Mary.  Macie usually plays a game on the computer while Ethan chooses his 10 books from the non-fiction vehicle section.  

The kids have enjoyed playing in the billions of leaves in our yard this fall!  They are becoming quite good at raking too!

Back to School!

Macie had her first day of preschool today.  She was so excited!  She's been waiting to go back!

Grandma took her since mommy and daddy had to work.  They got to spend some time playing in the classroom.

Here is Ethan's official kindergarten back to school picture.  He has been in school a little over a week now and is loving it!

Family Reunion

We had fun in Holcombe last weekend with lots of family!  The 4 of us slept in grandma and grandpa's trailer (The kids' first time camping - they did great!) and Bob, Carol, Jeremy, Christine, Leah, and Gavin camped in tents outside of the camper.  The adults enjoyed a campfire late into the night, and we all ate breakfast together the next morning. (Notice Macie's choice - Cheez-its for breakfast :)

Uncle Bob took the kids swimming at Paradise Shores where the boat docks are.  I was very surprised that my kids were brave enough to go in where they couldn't touch.  Later that day, Ethan jumped off the side of the pool for the first time too!  For a kid who was kind of afraid of the water, it was a big deal!   He was pretty proud of himself for these 2 accomplishments :)

Here are some of the cousins (Grandpa Bob's Great Grand kids) - Ethan, Macie, Leah, Gavin, and Natalie.  

I wish I would have taken more pictures of the fun crew that was there!  Much of the Gonwa clan, and some of Grandpa Mike's family came too.  We are very blessed to have such a wonderful, fun family!

Summer Update

I have been terrible about updating the blog this summer, but here is a taste of some of what we've been up to . . . 

We visited the Madison Children's Museum with Uncle Z.  On the top floor there is an outdoor garden with a stream and animals.  Macie loved petting the baby chickens.  She spent lots of time there!

Below is Ethan climbing in a really cool climbing structure.

We have made a few trips to the sprinkler park - always a favorite!

Ethan and I spent some time climbing and feeding the ducks at Carson Park while Macie was at her summer school class . 

 

We lots of fun with our cousins!  Ben and Oliver came from Colorado to visit, but I was terrible about taking pictures.  We spent a day at the beach with Ben, Oliver, and  Victor which was great!

Ethan loves playing in the moon sand, and Macie and daddy spent some time playing babies.

Despite the fact that it was a super hot summer, and I had morning sickness during most of it which was a huge bummer, we still had some fun!  I think we are ready for some routine which will come with the school year starting, but I will really miss spending so much time with the kiddos!!