Green Bay Packer Sunday & cookie making day yesterday.

The girls helped cut out the cookies & once they were all baked we decorated and decorated and decorated! There were a lot of cookies.

We had a house full too! Katie, Sloane, Amy, Addy & the Veraghens were here to decorate as well. Big ole' decorating party & it was so fun! The kids really took their time & tried to make them look professional. I was impressed!

 I had to sweep the floor so many times because the bottoms of our feet were picking up sprinkles. They were everywhere. Sloane decorated a few cookies, although she liked the frosting the most. The kids got a kick out of watching her decorate with her cute little apron on.

Now we eat cookies...there are way too many. We'll need to share with friends & family.

Good thing they look so wonderful! xoxo

Our calendar is officially crazy these days. The weeks are filled with religion classes for the girls, basketball practice/games, dance practice, etc. Our kids schedules rule the evenings! We made time for a little fun the past few nights. Thursday night we got together at my friend Jay's parents house for dinner with some high school friends. Jay, his wife Ashleigh and their son Oakes are in town for a few days visiting from Vancouver.

So many kiddos in the group. Gary stayed back with Margaux so she could go to dance practice. The other two chicks had a blast with all the kiddos playing in their indoor basketball court. Their house was one of our favorite hang outs back in the day because of the court. Fun to see all our kiddos playing in it now, years later. They had a blast!

Friday night I had some of my girlfriends over for a girls night. Lots of great food, drinks and laughs with this bunch. I am really feeling like I need a nap today but that is not happening... off to Marin's basketball tournament!

Busy, busy, busy. It's our new normal, especially during this time of the year with all the holiday happenings. The month of December is already going by way too fast... but we're enjoying every minute of it. xoxo

1st snow of the season!

These two couldn't wait to get outside. They were busy making snow angels on the deck & shoveling the little bits of snow. It accumulated to be more than what you see in the picture but melted the next day. More snow coming next week & then REALLY cold temps ahead as well, so the snow should be here to stay very soon! xoxo

Today was the 2016 Holiday Parade in our town. Grandpa Jerry let the girls walk in the parade with him and the rest of the fire department. The big girls were all about it, but Maeve chose to stay with mom and dad to watch the parade.

This years parade theme was Toyland so the fire department did a Lego float.

It turned out great!

They were so proud...

Maeve posed for the pics & then we headed to our spot to watch the parade.

Katie, Mike and Sloane joined us as well.

About a 1/2 hour in the girls came walking by handing out candy with big smiles on their faces.

The weather was great! Would have been nice to have snow, but that isn't coming until tomorrow. Loving this time of year! xoxo

Last night was a fun one for our big girls. We went to see Parmalee in concert. They are a country group with a lot of fun songs on the radio that the girls love. I bought the tickets a few weeks ago & offered it to all three girls. Marg & Marin accepted right away & were thrilled. Maeve happily declined & chose to have a date night with Daddy. They had dinner together & went to see the Trolls movie. She was so excited, it was adorable. So the bigs, Katie & our friends Kristin and Estelle headed to the concert after having dinner together.

We had general admission tickets so we got there early to make sure we got a good spot for the girls. Arriving early was key, we scored front row spots. Directly in front of the stage with a short barricade separating us from the stage. We could not have gotten any closer & the girls were very excited. Estelle & Margaux's first concert!

 Aren't they the cutest little girls you've ever seen? They were basically the only kids at the concert. I saw one other girl that was a bit older than Marin. We had so much fun together singing & dancing, their smiles were priceless. So darn cute in their little flannels, hair curled & a little makeup! They felt pretty special.

This adorable guy opened for Parmalee, his name was Sammy Arriaga. He sang a whole bunch of cover songs that the girls knew {lots of Justin Bieber!!!} & it was great for them to sing along. They even got to meet him after wards. We told them he'll be famous someday, they were star struck. We bought his cd & he signed photos for the girls.

Once Sammy finished it was time for Parmalee. Right as they came out onto the stage one of the security guards reached over the barricade & grabbed the girls to bring them over to the stage side. How nice was that?! Margaux was a bit shy & didn't want to go over so she stayed with me. But Marin & Estelle had the time of their lives. They were the only people up there {aside from camera crew & security}, the band could see them singing along to the music & they were just smiling at the girls from the stage while performing.

The band made their night when they threw them guitar pics. Such a fun experience for them. I just love all the photos from the evening. So glad we decided to take them.

So close to the stage & so fun. Awesome memories for the girls. The adults had fun too, it was a great concert. Helped being so close to the stage too! Time to get ready for the parade this morning... pics to come! xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

There are definitely many reasons for us all to be thankful & blessed this year.  We are very fortunate.

 We had a busy day full of cooking & family yesterday. We hosted both my family & the Browns. It is always nice for them all to be together & for the girls to have their cousins here. I didn't take a single photo all day... I hate when that happens & I think of it after the fact. Regardless we had a great day together & are all very thankful for our families and friends. It was a low key day & exactly what we all enjoy... just being together. I love this time of year and all the traditions that come along with it. Looking forward to the next few weeks! Bring on the holidays! xoxo

Today was Maeve's kindergarten feast at school. Both bigs really enjoyed the feast when they were in kindergarten, so Maeve was really looking forward to it. 

Each kindergarten family sent in food/treats/drinks to share with all of the kinder classes. Always soooo much food to choose from, probably why the kids enjoy it so much!

Maeve insisted on wearing our "thankful" shirt. Good choice Maeve!

Here she is with her friends/classmates Kendall, Eddie & Avi.

Each student made a place mat & they sat in rows on the floor with tablecloths. Tons of plates full of food in front of them. I swear they probably didn't need dinner that night, there was a crazy amount of food to choose from. Anything from string cheese, crackers, bread, cookies, pumpkin pie, beef sticks, jello, etc. I was so happy to be there to join in on the fun.

Each class also took turns singing a Thanksgiving/Turkey song. They were all adorable. Maeve's class sang a cute song about a turkey not wanting to be eaten on Thanksgiving. Kindergarten is so fun, I am sad that Maeve is our last kinder. I will need to attend events with Sloane!!! xoxo

We spent tonight at school for Science Night. Always one of the girls favorite events at school. The high school chemistry club puts on a really fun presentation with many fun experiments. Afterwards the kids got to visit stations & do experiments on their own.

Maeve's favorite was the slime making station. This will be staying in the kitchen when we get home!

Margaux ran around to all the stations with her friends. They loved the ice cream station the most.

Marin also loved the ice cream station but this pic was taken at the balloon station.

Very fun for the girls with their friends. We'll look forward to this again next year!

A week after the kids enjoyed their holiday, it was the adults turn to have some Halloween fun! Our friends/neighbors hosted their annual Halloween party with a 70's theme this year. To change it up from the hippie 70's we decided {along with Wendy & Travis} to go as late 70 year olds. So funny & we had so much fun playing the part all night.

 Gary owned the dance floor with his cane. Dancing all night long!

 With one pair of our hippie friends...

Great times... We borrowed the canes/walker from my grandparents {who had them due to a hip/knee replacement} and the clothes were Wendy's grandparents from long ago. The dresses didn't even have tags because her grandmother made all her own clothes. Made us all laugh the entire night faking hard hearing & not walking so well. While talking about the costumes earlier this week, my aunt kindly reminded me that 70's really isn't that old anymore... she is correct, but we sure had fun acting like we were old. xoxo

Happy Halloween!!! 

The girls had so much fun yesterday. They each got to wear their costumes to school since the holiday fell on a school day. The classrooms had small celebrations & Maeve's even had a costume parade. Super cute.

This year we had Pizza, Princess Leia & Cupcake Shopkin

All three of them chose their own costumes & they are so fitting for the three of them and their personalities. Margaux's wig just kills me.. so stinkin funny!

Once they got home from school, it was time for a quick snack & then Trick or Treat with friends. 

The big two went out with friends this year & Gary/myself went with Maeve & the other neighborhood littles. Here is Marg & her Star Wars buddies...

They were so cute together! Marin & her friends were adorable as well. They were gone for hours & came home with so much candy!

Maeve's group didn't make it as far before they got cold, but they still got a huge bag of candy. Maeve was of course afraid of all the scary masks so she skipped quite a few houses!

I was freezing myself. I really was encouraging Maeve to wrap it up so I could get inside & warm up!! I could not believe how much candy they had. We bagged up a whole lot of it to send to the Troops. We definitely don't need it in our house. Way more than we should be eating, but the kids love it. Such a fun day! Now time to get the decorations down & get ready for Christmas!!!

While I was away with girls for a shopping trip Gary carved pumpkins with the girls. Dad of the year!!! haha Last year our days were so crazy we never ended up carving pumpkins. This is the first time that they did some of the carving themselves. 

They really had fun with it & their pumpkins turned out so cute!

Top Left- Maeve {Gary helped carve}

Bottom Left- Margaux

Top Right- Marin's emoji pumpkin

Gary even tried out a new cinnamon toast flavored pumpkin seed that was pretty good. 

Love how Marin posed behind the pumpkins. Too funny! Halloween is just around the corner! xo

Yesterday was Fall 50 day!!! The weather was a big chilly for us spectators but perfect for Gary. 

As always, we had a great day together & the fall leaves were beautiful!!! We all enjoyed looking at all the colors along the course. The girls each made a sign for Gary to hold throughout the day. Margaux was so proud of her "May the Course Be With You" Star Wars themed poster & Maeve's read "Just Keep Running" {instead of swimming}with Dory.

We never got a picture of Marin with her poop emoji poster that said "Don't Poop Yourself!" 

It was pretty funny! They were so excited to see Gary at each of the stops along the 50 mile run.

Gary rocked it of course. Smiling the entire way! It is absolutely crazy!!!

 A few of our friends came up for the day to cheer him on & even bike/run along side him throughout the race. Totally appreciated that, as I am sure it made the run a little easier. The girls even joined in a bit & ran along side him.

 He did it!!! {Not that we thought he wouldn't!}

Not only did he finish he was done 1.5 hours faster than his last 50 mile race two years ago. Again, just so crazy!!! The day went by so fast with him just clipping along all day. We are definitely proud of him & all his hard work!!!! Surprisingly he is in great shape today too... he actually said this morning that he could go out & run. Yup, he's nuts!!! xoxo

Happy 11th Anniversary to us yesterday! 

The years go by too fast, although I love the life we have made together. We are so incredibly fortunate for all we have. Each year gets better & I love our time together with our family & friends.

We spent the morning with the girls at a little fall festival in town. In the afternoon we headed over to my parents house for anniversary & birthday dinner {for Katie}. Fun evening together & very low key. Perfect because we spent the whole day today at Lambeau tailgating & going to the game.

Super fun afternoon with friends tailgating in the parking lot for a few hours.

And even more fun for Gary & I to go to a game together. It has been so long since we've gone to a game together... just the two of us. The outcome of the game was not what we had hoped, but we had fun together in the blazing hot sun! Our seats were great as well... 9th row!

Fun day & a great way to celebrate an anniversary weekend. Cheers to 11 and many more!! xoxo

Here are a few pics from our trip to the apple orchard yesterday. It was a perfect day to pick apples...  not too cool or too hot. It is hard when it's warm because of the bees. The girls loved being there with Sloane & helping her find apples, although, the group photo did not go as planned! We had them all dressed in their green & gold, matching so well too!

Sloane keeps us all laughing all the time! She is such a happy little girl, just doesn't have time for photos. Cute smiles from two of our three, Marin posing & a kiss face.

Margaux climbed the tree this year. I was picking apples & I could hear her yelling for us. When I went over to her she was up in the tree finding the "best apples!"

Once Margaux was up there, Marin had to try as well. Maeve stayed down below picking/eating apples the entire time. Not surprised...

As we were leaving Margaux found a little friend. This cat was even in my Aunt Amy's car when we walked up {her windows were open}. He jumped out & was following Margaux all over. We had to keep him from jumping into our vehicle.

Made us all laugh. Take it all in girls, we won't be getting a cat... ever! xoxo

60 Years
21,914 Days
525,949 Hours
31,556,940 Minutes
1 Wonderful Husband
2 Loving Daughters {and Son-in-laws}
4 Amazing Grandchicks
1 Blessed Family

Happy 60th Birthday to the best mom/grandma we could ask for.
We hope you had a great weekend & enjoyed the celebrations.

We started the celebration Friday night at our house for dinner with family/friends.

Gary & I made a few yummy soups and we all enjoyed the awesome cake. 

Another attempt at a photo with the four girls... one doesn't cooperate {guess who!}

Today we went apple picking & are having another dinner together for one last celebration before we head into the week of Katie {her bday is next & our anniversary!}

We love you so much mom! We hope you had a great weekend xoxoxo

Yesterday myself & a few great friends decided to take a trip to Milwaukee to be a part of a filming of the show The Bachelor {our favorite!!!} It was a last minute thing that we saw on the internet & we decided to go for it. We left at 3:30, didn't even have time to see the kids after school. We heard

from friends that the girls were going around the neighborhood telling people "Our moms are in Milwaukee trying to be on The Bachelor!" haha Made us laugh like we were down there trying to find husbands!!!

After a fun road trip we made it there & all four were accepted to attend the filming of the show. We headed to a restaurant downtown near the venue & had dinner/drinks before the real fun began.

We had such a fun time. It was all not planned & such a last minute decision to go... that is what made it so enjoyable. We got into the theater at 9pm & the filming was done at midnight. I sooooooo wish we could have had our phones for the cameras. I would have taken so many photos but the phones were not allowed because of the filming. Country singer Chris Lane was there & did a whole concert for us before the taping began. {There were about 600 people in the theater for the show. Seems like a lot but a small amount of people for a concert.} He rocked it & we had a blast! We are all four new Chris Lane fans & it was totally worth the drive there! It was so fun for us all to see the show happening live in front of the cameras. I cannot wait to see the show air in January. I will definitely be having a house full of girls here for that episode!!! Tired today though.. we got home at 2:15am. Worth every minute of lost sleep. So much fun!