Christmas at the Motelets

Last weekend Santa came to Great Grandpa and Great Grandma's house and handed out some early gifts. We all had such a great time.

Happy Holidays to all.

"Tinkle Tinkle"

Although Ben is pushing the microphone into his mouth, I still think it sounds pretty good.

Happy Birthday to Our Beautiful Little Girl

Today Sarah turns 4 years old. We love her so much. I often ask Bill if we can freeze time. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful girl who lights up our life every day.

Happy Halloween

Big Boy Now

Our little man loves going "potty on the potty". We are so proud of him and love his Big Boy Unggies.

Mani's and Pedi's

Last night Bapa, Nana, Uncle Gregg, Aunt Lisa, Hayleigh and Ajay came over for Birthday Party #1. Thanks so much for the gifts and coming over to celebrate. This morning Sarah was ready to paint with all her new polishes and lip glosses.

Al's Run

Yesterday the family made the drive to Milwaukee for the Annual Al's Run for the Children's Hospital that Cousin Brady spent his early few weeks at. What a great run and a really wonderful thing for the hospital. Another positive: most of the 5 miles was DOWNHILL. Thank goodness. Most importantly, we are so proud of you Brady - our little "Children's Champion".

Tractor with Gramps

When we visit Grandpa and Grandma we are ALL put to work. Sarah and Ben enjoyed driving with "Big Bapa".

One Last Hoorah

Today is my last day of summer vacation. So this morning we headed downtown again for one last day of State Street shopping, feeding the ducks and of course ice cream at the terrace.

We had a GREAT summer.

Van Groll Fest III

We had a really great time with the whole Van Groll Family at our uncle and aunt's cabin this weekend. We fished, swam, camp-fired, golfed and some of the adults even made it to a few "up-north" bars to watch a Brewer game. Thanks to everyone for great company, food and fun. (I have way too many great pictures to post, but here are a few).

Annual Summer Trip to Campus

This morning we headed downtown to see some of my favorite sites on campus. However, since the kids are getting older there is more negotiating and compromising on the sites we go to. We started at Tenney Park for a little time with the ducks and swinging. Then we headed to some more sites, one of which was Camp Randall. We watched some Badger football practice and Ben wanted to discuss an early "letter of intent" to become a Badger with Barry Alvarez. He wasn't real receptive. We then ended up at Ian's Pizza for lunch. I can't believe how tolerant my children are of such a strange mom who stills loves campus-time.

The Motelets - Dressed Up

It has been a while since I have blogged. We have been busy enjoying the summer at the zoo, swimming with friends, hanging with the grandparents and of course, softball. However, this weekend we all got to dress up and enjoy my cousin Julie's beautiful wedding in Neenah.

My Princesses

Sarah and Ben play really well together lately, they often kick me out and say "We need a little privacy." So while making lunch in peace, two little princesses came downstairs in this. By the way, this is not abnormal. This happens often :)

I had to include the second photo so you could appeciate the heels.

Permanent Smile

Today Sarah started Gymnastics. She never stopped smiling for the entire 50 min. class. Here are some photos. She is difficult to see but she is the one with the red WISCONSIN shirt on. She LOVED the class.

Birthday Party for my Boys

Saturday night we had some friends and family over to celebrate Bill's 35th Birthday and Ben's 2nd Birthday. We all had a blast with cake, ice cream, pizza, a pinata, drinks and Ben screaming "McQueen, McQueen" and "Mater, Mater" many, many times.

Thanks everyone for the gifts and for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Big 2 Year Old

We Love You So Very Much.

Ben's Birthday: Round 1

The past few days we were up at Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate Father's Day and an early B-Day for Ben. He got lots of gifts, money and he and Sarah even got Snuggies. However, now they want to watch movies even more.

Stay tuned for more rounds of Ben's Birthday Celebrations.

Was Worried

About two and a half years ago when we found out we were pregnant with Ben, I am not going to lie, I was worried. Were the two kids going to get along? Were Bill and I going to survive two kids that close in age. Knock on wood....... they actually like each other -- well right now. Sarah has taken on the leader role and Ben mimics everything Sarah does. Don't get me wrong. The first day they enter school and see each other in the halls, there will be a throw down. We are not naive. However, we will take what we can get right now :)

Memorial Weekend

This weekend Bill and I went to the Brewer game and saw the "Walk off Squeeze Bunt". The kids spent lots of time on Grandpa and Grandma's new play structure and digging in their garden for worms. Then today, we went to our friends for a little water slide fun. Summer -- here we come.

Motelet Wedding

Last weekend we all had a blast at a Motelet Family Wedding in Racine. The kids danced all night and swam in the pool at the crack of dawn. Sarah even sampled sparkling cider. We told Sarah and Ben that the bride, Bill's cousin Lisa, was a princess in a beautiful dress. Bad move, Sarah refused to dance with anyone but her.

Looking For Summer

We are patiently waiting for warm/sunny days. But shouldn't they have arrived already ???

Spring Break

It feels like we had the latest spring break compared to neighboring school districts. However, with this weather, I will not complain. We hit the zoo and lots and lots of parks.

Children's Museum

A few weeks ago, we were caged. We decided to go to the Children's Museum downtown. Of course the water was the most fun.