Last weekend we did the unthinkable...we tent camped!!! We have camped before but usually it's in one of those nice little cabins you can rent right on the campsite. You know the ones that have running water, flushable toilets, and air conditioning! We have always had great success with these types of camping trips but somehow I got this crazy idea in my head that my children need to experience 'real' camping! The should sleep in the fresh air and have to swat off bugs left and right!
The first day went great. Jeremy and I put up the tent and only screamed at each other like 3 times. Pretty good I gotta say! The kids loved riding their bikes around the campsite. I think this was a highlight for Kendall because she got free rain of the campsite and I didn't make her wear her helmet!
We did have to deal with these annoying bugs until the sun went down. I quote Max, "Mom, why did you make me come here with all this pesky bugs"!
The next day the kids swam and jumped on one of those huge air blown pillows. They played together all day without any computers, TV's, or electronic devices. Who knew my kids could do that! My favorite part was when the kids competed in the football relay! The campsite had a theme weekend that revolved around football. It was so fun to watch them go through all the obstacles!
Saturday night we had a great time at the campsite. We relaxed with our friends and the kids played until theY passed out. LITTERALY! All that fresh air really does make you sleepy, oh and a few shorty's will do that too! Not that we had any of those this weekend ;)
THEN...Sunday morning it started to pour while we were sleeping! At first it was kinda nice listening to the rain in our tent but then we realized it wasn't going to let up anytime soon. We had this HUGE tent to put away and all our stuff was soaked outside because silly us (the ones who had too many shorty's the night before) didn't put anything in the van! AHHHGGGG!!!
So, we got to work packing up in the pouring rain. Yup, it was great! Mud and dirt got in places you don't want to know about. And boy did we all stink! There is no stink quite like WET CAMP STINK!
2 hours later we arrive home, Jeremy and I are exhausted (and it's only 11 in the morning) but the kids are raring to go! Not before they both got baths. I have never seen my two children that dirty before! I had to bleach the bathtub when they got out!
The kids had a great time and really want to do it again! They want us to buy a tent and have friends over and have all these great adventures. I'm thinking maybe a pop up?
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Interview with a 9 year old
I'm a little obsessed with pinterest right now, I mean who isn't, and awhile back I saw this pin about interviewing your kids for your blog post...
Kendall - Age 9: a sweet girl most of the time but getting a bit of that 'tween' attitude!
What is your favorite color? Blue
What is your favorite activity? Soccer
What is your favorite fruit? Watermelon
What is your favorite TV show? Shake It Up
What is your favorite movie? Sweet 16 with Debbie Ryan
What do you like to wear? T shirts and Skirts
What is your favorite animal? Dogs
What is your favorite song? Call me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen
What is your favorite book? Harry Potter's Deathly Hollows
Favorite snack? Ice Cream
Favorite drink? sprite
Favorite breakfast? Pancakes
Favorite lunch? Clam Chowder
Favorite dinner? Chicken w/ mashed potatoes and gravy
What is your favorite board game? Harry Potter Clue
What do you like to do outside? Play Soccer
What is your favorite holiday? My Birthday
What do you sleep with at night? My blankie
What do you want to be when you grow up? Famous singer
Kendall - Age 9: a sweet girl most of the time but getting a bit of that 'tween' attitude!
What is your favorite color? Blue
What is your favorite activity? Soccer
What is your favorite fruit? Watermelon
What is your favorite TV show? Shake It Up
What do you like to wear? T shirts and Skirts
What is your favorite animal? Dogs
What is your favorite song? Call me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen
What is your favorite book? Harry Potter's Deathly Hollows
Favorite snack? Ice Cream
Favorite drink? sprite
Favorite breakfast? Pancakes
Favorite lunch? Clam Chowder
Favorite dinner? Chicken w/ mashed potatoes and gravy
What is your favorite board game? Harry Potter Clue
What do you like to do outside? Play Soccer
What is your favorite holiday? My Birthday
What do you sleep with at night? My blankie
What do you want to be when you grow up? Famous singer
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
End of Summer Getaway
Today I packed the kids up (plus one) and headed to Green Bay for a little getaway before school starts. Every year around this time I am a little sad to see summer come to end and the kids go to school. Even though I know they need to get back into their routine and give each other some space, I can't help but wonder...Did I do enough things with the kids this summer? Did we hit the beach enough times or schedule enough play dates? I know this is silly thinking on my part but I can't help but think in a few years I won't have this special time with them. Instead I will be dropping the kids off at the beach or the movies to hang out with their friends - without me!
So, today we lived in the moment and really had some fun! We spent most of the day at Bay Beach amusement park with our friends the Brown's. It was great to see Carrie, Rudy, and Jillian! Rudy and Max took off right were they left off, good old buddies! Jillian is just the cutest, most independent little 2 year old who was a delight to be around. Kendall and Tina were good mothers helpers with her. And I got to catch up with Carrie, which was lovely! Mommy chat time all day!
After we filled the kids up with sticky goodies and used all of our 25 cent tickets, we all had dinner together at Olive Garden (love those bread sticks!!!). After saying goodbye to the Brown's, we found our hotel and the kids swam their little hearts out all night long! There were 2 water slides and they were in heaven! Max even went down the really big one without his life jacket on! The best part was when he finished he got out of the pool and gave me a big thumbs up! Man, I love that kid! Kendall and Tina did about 5,000 somersaults and headstands in the pool, all the while, laughing and giggling like good girlfriends do.
Everyone is sleeping now. I knew it wouldn't take long (Kendall thought she would make it to 11:00 and I gotta give it to her for trying) but they were just exhausted! A sign that today was a huge success! Looking forward to tomorrow...
So, today we lived in the moment and really had some fun! We spent most of the day at Bay Beach amusement park with our friends the Brown's. It was great to see Carrie, Rudy, and Jillian! Rudy and Max took off right were they left off, good old buddies! Jillian is just the cutest, most independent little 2 year old who was a delight to be around. Kendall and Tina were good mothers helpers with her. And I got to catch up with Carrie, which was lovely! Mommy chat time all day!
After we filled the kids up with sticky goodies and used all of our 25 cent tickets, we all had dinner together at Olive Garden (love those bread sticks!!!). After saying goodbye to the Brown's, we found our hotel and the kids swam their little hearts out all night long! There were 2 water slides and they were in heaven! Max even went down the really big one without his life jacket on! The best part was when he finished he got out of the pool and gave me a big thumbs up! Man, I love that kid! Kendall and Tina did about 5,000 somersaults and headstands in the pool, all the while, laughing and giggling like good girlfriends do.
Everyone is sleeping now. I knew it wouldn't take long (Kendall thought she would make it to 11:00 and I gotta give it to her for trying) but they were just exhausted! A sign that today was a huge success! Looking forward to tomorrow...
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Anniversary
Well today marks 12 years for Jeremy and I. It seems like yesterday I was in that beautiful dress, walking down the isle ready to start my life as Mrs. Iwanski! Boy, how time flies! It sure has been a roller coaster, ups and downs with a few stalls in between, but I wouldn't change it for anything. We may not have a big house on the lake, boats, or 50 snowmobiles but we have a GOOD life! Here are my reminders to myself of how lucky we really are:
1. WE ARE ALL HEALTHY and I thank God for that everyday!
2. We live in a pretty house with lots of space for the kids to run around (when we shoo their butts outside).
3. Jeremy has a stable and good paying job which is so important in today's world.
4. I am so lucky to be able to stay home with my children! I know us SAHM's complain sometimes because days can get so long, but really we know how lucky we have it!
5. There is a lot of LAUGHTER in our house!
6. Our children are lucky to be able to participate in the things the enjoy...dance, karate, scouts, etc.
7. We are going to DISNEY WORLD AGAIN this fall!
8. There is a lot of LOVE in our house!
9. We have meet some great people in Rhinelander that we are lucky to call our FRIENDS!
10. I have Jeremy!
I'm so lucky to have a husband who is caring, considerate, smart, loyal, and quite handsome! He is a hardworking man who provides for our family and barely ever complains that he doesn't have much. A man who takes his free weekend to put together a volcano with his kids. A man who cleans the bathrooms and does dishes! A man who makes me my coffee every morning! A man that still makes me smile when I think of him! So, to the man I married 12 years ago...I love you and look forward to the next 12 years with you!
1. WE ARE ALL HEALTHY and I thank God for that everyday!
2. We live in a pretty house with lots of space for the kids to run around (when we shoo their butts outside).
3. Jeremy has a stable and good paying job which is so important in today's world.
4. I am so lucky to be able to stay home with my children! I know us SAHM's complain sometimes because days can get so long, but really we know how lucky we have it!
5. There is a lot of LAUGHTER in our house!
6. Our children are lucky to be able to participate in the things the enjoy...dance, karate, scouts, etc.
7. We are going to DISNEY WORLD AGAIN this fall!
8. There is a lot of LOVE in our house!
9. We have meet some great people in Rhinelander that we are lucky to call our FRIENDS!
10. I have Jeremy!
I'm so lucky to have a husband who is caring, considerate, smart, loyal, and quite handsome! He is a hardworking man who provides for our family and barely ever complains that he doesn't have much. A man who takes his free weekend to put together a volcano with his kids. A man who cleans the bathrooms and does dishes! A man who makes me my coffee every morning! A man that still makes me smile when I think of him! So, to the man I married 12 years ago...I love you and look forward to the next 12 years with you!
I was going to put our wedding picture here, but decided to put this one
instead. It's not the best picture but it's us NOW in real life!
Friday, August 17, 2012
Baking
Baking has always been something I loved to do! I grew up with a grandmother who always had something yummy coming out of the oven. Some of my greatest memories are baking cut-out cookies with her. She always had just enough patience to let me help and because of that I knew once I had children of my own, I would do the same with them. Plus, who doesn't love a loaf of fresh banana bread in the morning!
Kendall lucked out since she was the first born! We baked a lot together when she was little. I have many pictures of her, with her little blonde pigtails, where she is licking the beaters! I think my favorite baking memory with her was actually this past year! She really wanted to bake something all by herself (with no help from me) typical of a 8 year old. She decided to bake chocolate chip cookies. There were a few times I really wanted to step in and take over, but I remembered my grandmother and let Kendall do her thing. The cookies turned out pretty good (a few unmixed chunks in there, but hey, she was 8) and the best part was how proud she was of herself!
Now Max hasn't baked with me as much as his sister. Maybe it's because he is a boy or the second born, who knows? He just hasn't been as interested in it....Until lately! Today Kendall was at her friends house and we had no where to go. I asked Max if he wanted to bake something, first he asked if he could lick all the beaters since his sister was gone and then told me he wanted to pick out the recipe. Despite the few extra egg shells in the batter, I think our Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars turned out great!
I just hope my kids have as good of memories of baking with me as I did with my grandmother! And I hope they bake with their children as well. It really is the simple things in life that bring us so much joy...a little flour and frosting goes straight to the heart!
Kendall lucked out since she was the first born! We baked a lot together when she was little. I have many pictures of her, with her little blonde pigtails, where she is licking the beaters! I think my favorite baking memory with her was actually this past year! She really wanted to bake something all by herself (with no help from me) typical of a 8 year old. She decided to bake chocolate chip cookies. There were a few times I really wanted to step in and take over, but I remembered my grandmother and let Kendall do her thing. The cookies turned out pretty good (a few unmixed chunks in there, but hey, she was 8) and the best part was how proud she was of herself!
Now Max hasn't baked with me as much as his sister. Maybe it's because he is a boy or the second born, who knows? He just hasn't been as interested in it....Until lately! Today Kendall was at her friends house and we had no where to go. I asked Max if he wanted to bake something, first he asked if he could lick all the beaters since his sister was gone and then told me he wanted to pick out the recipe. Despite the few extra egg shells in the batter, I think our Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars turned out great!
I just hope my kids have as good of memories of baking with me as I did with my grandmother! And I hope they bake with their children as well. It really is the simple things in life that bring us so much joy...a little flour and frosting goes straight to the heart!
In goes the flour
Cracking the egg
Add LOTS of peanut butter
Yeah! Time to use Mom's mixer
Better yet, time to lick the beaters!
Can't forget the chocolate chips
Give it a good mix and put it in the oven
You get Max's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars!
They were YUMMY!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Little boys and guns
Today I watched my 6 year old son take an empty wrapping paper roll, attach it to his arm, and use it as a machine gun. He ran around the house shooting anything and everything in site. Before I become a Mom of a boy, I used to say I would never let my son play guns. I mean that meant your child was gonna grow up to be violent or get in trouble, right??!! HA! try to stop boys from using things as weapons. They will find something to use no matter how many things you take away from them! It's like ingrained in them from the womb...they must come out using their umbilical cord as a lasso to strangle the bad people!
We do have rules when it comes to this kind of play. The big one being, NO PLAYING GUNS AT SCHOOL! For the most part Max follows that rule and because of that I have no problem with the rest! One thing this teaches boys is how to use their imagination. I love hearing which dragon Max is gonna slay next or what the bad guy did that made Max pull out his Big gun (wouldn't eat his vegetables for his mom)!
Society has no problem when little girls play dress up and get into their mothers makeup coming out looking a little like "you know what"... Or how about when they play house and babies. How come that isn't a red flag for teen pregnancy??? Why is it different for little boys? and better yet, why are we so hard on our little boys for it?
I'm sure my son will outgrow this stage soon and my husband and I will miss all the interesting machine gun sounds coming from his bedroom. For now I will enjoy seeing him in his little power ranger costume chasing his big sister with his "power" nunchucks!
We do have rules when it comes to this kind of play. The big one being, NO PLAYING GUNS AT SCHOOL! For the most part Max follows that rule and because of that I have no problem with the rest! One thing this teaches boys is how to use their imagination. I love hearing which dragon Max is gonna slay next or what the bad guy did that made Max pull out his Big gun (wouldn't eat his vegetables for his mom)!
Society has no problem when little girls play dress up and get into their mothers makeup coming out looking a little like "you know what"... Or how about when they play house and babies. How come that isn't a red flag for teen pregnancy??? Why is it different for little boys? and better yet, why are we so hard on our little boys for it?
I'm sure my son will outgrow this stage soon and my husband and I will miss all the interesting machine gun sounds coming from his bedroom. For now I will enjoy seeing him in his little power ranger costume chasing his big sister with his "power" nunchucks!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Bonds Falls
This past weekend my family and I took a day trip to the UP to visit one of their amazing waterfalls. Bonds Falls is near Paulding, MI and has to be one my favorite places to take the kids. It's just simple fun! We spent the day hiking around and experiencing nature. It's FREE (my hubbys favorite) and absolutely beautiful!
Max's favorite part is climbing all over the rocks and trees, as long as the kids are safe, I have no rules! Where else can you do that! He is a boy and lives for climbing on furniture and jumping off things pretending he is a superhero!!! and at home we have rules!
Kendall had fun posing for pictures! She loves to be in front of the camera, always has even as a baby. I think as she grows up she will like photography or she is just so used to me shoving the camera in her face she dosen't object anymore! lol
It was a beautiful day and we can't wait to do it again...
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Max's favorite part is climbing all over the rocks and trees, as long as the kids are safe, I have no rules! Where else can you do that! He is a boy and lives for climbing on furniture and jumping off things pretending he is a superhero!!! and at home we have rules!
Kendall had fun posing for pictures! She loves to be in front of the camera, always has even as a baby. I think as she grows up she will like photography or she is just so used to me shoving the camera in her face she dosen't object anymore! lol
It was a beautiful day and we can't wait to do it again...
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Family Olympics
The kids were so excited! They got up early and worked all morning making signs and awards,etc. They didn't even fight for a whole 3 hours (that is like record breaking in our house right now)! We each came up with 2 events and decided to make it fair everyone would win an award! (this was nice because Kendall had a friend over)
These were our events:
- Track (running around the house 2 times)
- jump rope
- Frisbee throw
- javelin (my favorite - don't worry we made it safe)
- trampoline (in vision floor gymnastics)
- badminton
- basketball dribble
- long jump (my least favorite)
We are thinking of making this an annual event! Here are some of my favorite pictures.
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| The boys jumping rope |
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| poor daddy, the rope was a little short for him |
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| Love that Kendall used the Olympic colors |
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| the javelin throw |
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| look at that concentration |
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| Kendall and mom playing a rousing game of badminton |
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| Max rocked the basketball dribble! |
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| Team USA |
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| Our scoring sheet |
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| My little guy! Love him! |
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| Right before she did the long jump |
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| Kendall's buddy Ava was over for a sleepover |
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| Stopping for a quick picture before she accepts her Gold medal- yes she came in first place! |
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
To blog or not to blog...
That is the question!
So, I have been toying with the idea to start my own blog. A few friends of mine have started this and they really enjoy it. They say it's a nice way to preserve memories. Well, stop right there! I love to take pictures and scrap book (when time allows), my kids say I take too many pictures, so why not start a blog if only for that reason!
So, here is a quick look at my family and I! I met a boy (Jeremy) and fell in love. We got hitched on a HOT day (August 19th) almost 12 years ago. We lived in Wisconsin Rapids for awhile before our baby girl, Kendall Jean was born. She was born on February 24, 2003 and we thought live couldn't be sweeter! Then 3 years later along came our precious boy, Maxwell Joseph. He was born on June 16, 2006. Right before Fathers Day! We felt so blessed to have one girl and one boy, the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!
Currently, we live in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin. In Rhinelander, home of the HODAG (I'm sure you've heard of it! NO?) My hubby, Jeremy works as an engineer at the paper mill and I am a stay at home mom who is currently going back to school for teaching! I'm also a chef, referee, chauffeur, teacher, maid, blah blah blah...you know all those things we moms do and don't get paid one penny for.
Kendall will be starting 4th grade (sob!) and Max going into 1st grade! Where has the time gone! It was just yesterday that we dressed Max up as a princess and played tea party under the kitchen table (shhh...don't tell him)
Now I'm starting to get blubbery, damn mommy blog!
So, I have been toying with the idea to start my own blog. A few friends of mine have started this and they really enjoy it. They say it's a nice way to preserve memories. Well, stop right there! I love to take pictures and scrap book (when time allows), my kids say I take too many pictures, so why not start a blog if only for that reason!
So, here is a quick look at my family and I! I met a boy (Jeremy) and fell in love. We got hitched on a HOT day (August 19th) almost 12 years ago. We lived in Wisconsin Rapids for awhile before our baby girl, Kendall Jean was born. She was born on February 24, 2003 and we thought live couldn't be sweeter! Then 3 years later along came our precious boy, Maxwell Joseph. He was born on June 16, 2006. Right before Fathers Day! We felt so blessed to have one girl and one boy, the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!
Currently, we live in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin. In Rhinelander, home of the HODAG (I'm sure you've heard of it! NO?) My hubby, Jeremy works as an engineer at the paper mill and I am a stay at home mom who is currently going back to school for teaching! I'm also a chef, referee, chauffeur, teacher, maid, blah blah blah...you know all those things we moms do and don't get paid one penny for.
Kendall will be starting 4th grade (sob!) and Max going into 1st grade! Where has the time gone! It was just yesterday that we dressed Max up as a princess and played tea party under the kitchen table (shhh...don't tell him)
Now I'm starting to get blubbery, damn mommy blog!
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