Finally got a new camera!

OK - not having a Camera is no reason to not have updated in MONTHS but that is the reality.  I am not going to attempt to fill you in on all our activities since September because that would take me til next Christmas.  The long and short of it -- WE HAVE BEEN BUSY!  I bet you could not have guessed that.  Ben continues to work to much, I continue to work a little out of the house and a whole lot around the house and the kids continue to be involved in everything!!!  OK but seriously.   

Cameron is doing AWESOME in Middle School.  He is loving it and despite the fact that I have had to learn to let go of him even more it is going great.  He has made a ton of new friends is becoming more responsible for his own work all the time.  He even has a girlfriend already!!!!  Not sure we are ready for this but seems pretty innocent.  He finished up a great season of 6th grade tackle football without any major injuries and just completed his first year of middle school wrestling which also went pretty well.  Now we are right into Red Rhino Club Wrestling with no break in between.  Keeps him busy and out of trouble.  Also keeps us pretty busy!!!

Clayton and Calvin are really enjoying school this year.  As mentioned previously we did make the very difficult decision to hold the twins back this year so they are in 4K again.  So they go to school Monday through Friday from 7:20 to 11:00.  Still plenty of mommy time.  Initially I was very worried.  Worried about them making new friends, missing their old friends, being bored, frustrated, looking to big compared to the other kids in their class etc.  You name it I worried about it.  3 months later and they are doing GREAT!  They are now in a class of 18 (vs. 8 last year).  They have each made their own "best friends".  Clayton and Nathan are inseparable - unfortunately they also like to get into trouble together so that is a bit challenging.  Calvin wants to spend all of his time with Samantha and even asked if he might marry her someday.  I suggested waiting a couple years to start thinking about that.  Some of the issues that we were dealing with last year with Calvin not getting his work done is like a distant memory.  Now he is getting his things done early and has plenty of time to play with his friends.  They both are continuing work on writing all their letters and will be starting to work on early reading skills soon.  As for activities for these crazy boys they did an adorable flag football league that daddy coached, took a little time off and just completed a pee wee basketball unit.  Beginning in January they are going to be doing Red Rhinos Wrestling club also and we are hoping to even enter them in a tournament or two.  I will make sure to post updates on how that goes.  As for at home OH MY OH MY.  Sometimes I just sit back and laugh, not sure what else to do.  They can be the sweetest, cutest, funniest boys on earth and in a split second ------- well not so what else do you do but laugh - They will grow out of this too and then I will miss it so just remind me to enjoy every crazy moment before they are gone. 

Kenzie is loving her 3K program at St. Paul's Little Learners.  She is in a class of 10 kids and goes Tues/Thurs from 8 to 10.  Her favorite part of school is going to gym class and when it is her show and tell day.  She must ask multiple times every week if it will be her turn.  Which only happens every 5 weeks so it gets to be a lot of sad faces when it is still not her turn.  She has made some new friends however we did find out that you can not always believe what a 3 year old tells you because she talked about one little girl in her class that was her best friend and then I asked the teacher and she had yet to have even talked or played with the girl yet.  Luckily we found that she is beginning to break out of her shy shell - unfortunately we found this out when she spent the majority of her first every Christmas program taking turns between picking her nose and poking the little boy next to her while talking to him.  It was pretty funny thinking back but at the time I swore everyone there must be thinking "whose naughty little girl is that" then I heard from all the other parents that they only noticed the things their kids were doing that they should not have been.  Other then school Kenzie is getting to be a little Diva at home.  I have a feeling I am getting paid back for treating her like the royal princess.  She likes to scream and whine when she does not get her way - but she is also 3 and is trying to keep up with all these big boys so she has to find her way I guess.  She is not into sports so much but is definitely into fashion!!!  Loves her nails painted and loves to wear dresses and play dress up.  Not to big on having her hair done and loves to pull out pony tails and clips but is very girly!!!  I think we are going to have our hands full with her.  3 years old and already arguments about what she will be wearing and how her hair is done.   My next job is to get her into some more dance classes that is all she has been asking about recently is when she gets to go back to dance class. 

There is my brief but not really brief update.  I will try to keep up a little better again!!!   Oh and St. Nick brought me a new camera so I will be back to pictures soon!!!!!   Merry Christmas all - hope to see you soon.

 

Great weekend to end the summer!

Still no camera so no new pictures yet but we did have a great weekend!!  We left to head up the cabin early Friday am and it was a spectacular weekend.  Great weather, great company and just a perfect little weekend away.  We spent a lot of time down by the lake, just hanging out in the water.  The kids are getting very brave and really seem to enjoy just hanging out at the beach!  They also fished some and although many were little we did have a couple keepers.  We had some campfires, ate great (as usual) and even took an hour long hike through the woods where Ben hunts.  It was so cool to watch the kids make their way through the woods and check things out.  Ben and Cam spent some time shooting bows,  I learned to shoot the BB gun, and just enjoyed a weekend away.  Tomorrow is the big first day of Middle school for Cameron and 4K again for the twins!  Thursday is Kenzie's first day of 3K.  What a week!!!!  Should be fun!!

No camera stinks.

I miss my camera!!! 

Apparently it was my memory bank for what we have been up to from week to week as things fly by.  I find that without it I don't remember what we did the day before.  I usually could look back at the pictures and then somehow my brain would fill in the memories.  I am going to be getting a new one as soon as I make the time to go over the the store.  In the meantime I better update often as this will have to serve as my memory!!!    I last left off last week with our fun events. 

Over the weekend Cameron had another great football scrimmage and he is really starting to show more interest and excitement about playing football which is great.  We also took a little one day family trip to Mt. Olympus now that Ben's ankle is healing.  We had a GREAT day.  We got there and it rained a ton right away.  Turned out to be the best thing yet.  No lines for go-karts and the tracks were slippery so it was extra fun.  It also turned out to be a lot of fun driving around getting soaking wet in puddles.  The day got nicer and more and more people came out.  Boo - The wave pool which is Cameron's favorite called our name many times and we had a perfect family trip!  No major meltdowns and all the kids seemed to be very happy with all the things they got to do.   Overall just a really great day!!!!!!!!  Man I love my family!!!! 

This week is back to crunch time.  Open houses for all three schools - Yep Three.  Cameron at Slinger Middle School for 6th grade.  Clayton and Calvin at St. Peters for 4k and Kenzie at St. John's in Slinger for 3k.  That is four sets of school paperwork and 3 different visits to schools and four full backpacks of supplies that all needed to be organized and labeled.  We are READY NOW!   One last little weekend get away to the Cabin up north this weekend and I am so looking forward to it!  What a super summer and looking forward to a great school year too.  I will try to post some pics Ben took on his phone soon!  Happy start of the school year to all!!!!

Broken Camera - boo

So we have continued doing a ton of crazy fun things but now I broke my Camera so I do not have many pictures of the events.  I hope to be getting a new one soon!!!  I stole a couple cute pictures from my mom's camera that I thought I could share. 

These are pictures from Cameron and his cousin Xavier's trip to the Arlington Horse Races with Gigi and Papa!  Cameron had a GREAT time and man that kid already loves to gamble - mostly with papa's money!!!

Cameron got to have a sleep over with 3 of his friends last week.  That was entertaining!!!  Then we took a trip to the zoo the next day with my "cousin" Maggie and her little girl Kendell.  Because it is not enough to just take my own four kids we brought two of Cameron's friends along also.  This is the day the camera got broken.  To excited at the zoo and dropped it!  Did snap a couple fun pictures before the "accident". 

Kendell on the left and Kenzie on right.  So cute together!  They had a blast!

 Then we finished off last week with a GREAT Saturday of football scrimmages for Cameron and then the SLAMFEST at Slinger Speedway.  Wish I had some photos of that.  It was very awesome.  We all had a great time with a lot of good friends and family.  The night was perfect until Ben rolled his ankle getting the kids cotton candy.  He survived the rest of the evening but woke up Sunday morning and could hardly walk on it.  Cancel plans for going to Mount Olympus (trying again this coming Sunday).  Lucky it was not worse and now he recovering well and all is good again. 

Tuesday was Ben's Birthday - Yipee old man.

Wednesday my dad got an invite from Uptown to a Cory Hart signing event.  He invited the us to join him and we thought the twins would like it as they have meet him for this event in the past.  We actually got there early and in line early so we did not have to wait too long.  Mat Gamel was also there and we got to see them both and get things signed by both.  The kids thought it was neat and we had even prepped them a little with questions to ask the guys but the pressure was a little to much and they would not ask or say much of anything.  They did ask for the signature and say thank you so that is close enough. 

Kenzie, Mat Gamel, Calvin and Clayton

 We did manage to ask the questions for the kids. 

 Q: When did you start playing baseball? A: About age 3 or 4. 

 Q:What do you when you are not playing baseball?  A: Play with my kids. 

 Q:How many kids do you have? A: Four. 

Calvin, Gigi, Clayton, Grandma, Me and Kenzie and of course Cory Hart!!!



What a nice event and neat evening for the kids.  I was bummed Cameron had to miss it but he had football practice.  We did take his baseball glove and have both of them sign it so he still got a special thing out of it. 

Can not believe that next week is school orientation already and then Labor day up north and we will be back to school!  Urgg and exciting all at once!

OMG - How can it be mid-august already

As usual the weeks are flying by us. Only three weeks and school will be starting. Trying to get things ready and enjoy the last couple free days we have left. Packing in as much family fun as we can.

As if Cameron does not have enough hobbies and sports to do we thought we would let him try out a little trap shooting too.  He enjoyed it and did pretty well for his beginning attempts.  Not sure were it will go yet but just another thing to try out. 

 Wrapped up the t-ball season well also.  Only 1/2 the team was Rettler grandchildren.  Clayton, Kaylee, Ben, Lauren, Calvin and Andy.    First trophies for all these kiddo's.

 Cameron wrapped up his baseball season on a great note and got selected to play on the All star team.  He even got the opportunity to pitch an inning in the all star game.  Awesome!!!!!

Ok so now baseball is behind us.  Cameron has started his 6th grade tackle football season and the twins started a pee wee football camp.  Cameron's is pretty intense.  The twins lucky only have 1 hour per week. 

Calvin is in the red and Clayton is in the blue.

 Huge improvements over last years pee wee football.

 Clayton is taking it on!

 Calvin loves the kicking part!

We sure did not want Kenzie to feel left out so we started her in her first Dance class.  Her and cousin Emma are taking a mini jazz poms class at the Y.  It is the cutest thing ever!  Can't wait till their performance on the final day of class.

This is the two of them walking to class!

Kenzie in pink and Emma in black.

So we also made it to the Washington County Fair but of course mom forgot the camera again!  It was a great time.  All the kids loved the rides and mommy loved checking out the animals.

Then all the kids got to meet their newest cousin.  Welcome baby Abel!!!! 

Melissa and Ricky got a baby boy! 

Cameron chilling with Abel.

Calvin happy to hold him. 

Yes that is a dinosaur costume he is wearing.  They love to play dress up at cousin Kaylee's house.

Kenzie was excited but looks grumpy here. 



Clayton showing everyone how to hold a baby right!

After another week of dance class we decided a park trip was in order.  The tiny dancers loving the swings.  We also took a hike through the woods and just enjoyed another wonderful day. 

 Then a great weekend of camping with our friends the Rosine's.  We put up tents in their yard and enjoyed their new pool and deck, some great food, good friends, and outdoor activities.  Even survived the little rain showers.  2 nights in a tent with four kids - the cabin up north works so much better!  Jenny's daughter Taylor set up a volleyball tournament and a bags tournament.  They also shot some trap - I even tried it and it was pretty cool.  Cameron got to practice a little too.  Fun time for all of us. 

This week we moved on to more Birthdays!!  Thursday Cameron turned 11! 

Can not believe that it has been 11 years since I became a mommy for the first time.   

Then Saturday was Kenzie's 3rd birthday and we had her party and Cameron's party together. 

Cameron also decided to try out for the select baseball team.  Tryout were Saturday and Sunday.  Cameron reports to us that he did pretty well.  We will not find out for another 2 weeks.  Either way we are super proud of him for trying out. 

This was Kenzie in her party dress.  Oh yeah she is licking a knife full of cake.

Grandma Jane made this fabulous princess castle cake for Kenzie for her birthday.  The best was when I told Cameron the cake was for him. 

 For real Cameron got a DQ ice cream cake.

 Cameron opening his new zigtechs

So now I am back up to date!  Another exciting week coming up!  More football, a zoo trip and then Slamfest this weekend and possibly a trip to Mt. Olympus on Sunday! 

Baseball, Baseball and Baseball + some water and football too.

Last week was full of baseball, baseball and more baseball. Clayton, Calvin and Kenzie had a four day t-ball clinic at the park and the twins also played their regular 4year old t-ball game.   They have made a TON of progress over this year.  Lately they have been asking to play and to be pitched to all the time.  Keeps us busy!! 

Here Cameron is helping the boys warm up before their T-ball game.

Calvin getting ready for the game.

 Clayton slugging that ball

 This is at the t-ball clinic on the last day!!

Clayton practicing his batting.

Calvin - notice his wonderful pink visor -

It was mine and he had to wear it!!!  He also is not wearing his shoes!!!

Cameron practicing his own swings.

 Calvin running the bases and Kenzie ready to bat - That was a bit of a challenge ~ She was not very interested in actually learning to swing the bat but even Kenzie made improvements over the week.

 At the end of the last class they turned the sprinkler on and let the kids run the bases!

It was awesome.

Here is Calvin!

 Clayton!

 Even Kenzie did it!

 Then we left the clinic and seeing as we were already all wet we headed straight to the Slinger Beach.  It was a wonderful day at the beach!!!

Clayton

Cameron

Calvin

Kenzie

 That was a fun and busy week.  Then over the weekend Ben got to g out for my Cousin Brandon's bachelor party and I went to the bachelorate party.  What a great night for all of us.  It was so fun and a great break for both of us to have adult time.  Even a 2 am visit to Webbs. 

So then we started another crazy week of fun.  Monday we headed out with some cousins to the Horicon Pool.  What a blast.  

Clayton

Cameron

Kenzie

Calvin

As you can see the kids were thrilled with the spraying water!!!!  They were also to busy playing to let me take a decent picture of them. 

The rest of the week Cameron had football camp everyday and with the weather we could not really do much other then stay in the water.  So we headed over to the Slinger Beach again.  Man we love it there.
Clayton

Calvin

Kenzie

Then Thursday Cameron played a super game of baseball.  He pitched three innings and only walked one kid.  He really stepped up his game!  Very excited for him and proud too!!!  We had a nice relaxing weekend.  Saturday Ben had a work golf outing and then we watched my friends little girls who are 4 and 1 1/2.  It was a lot of fun and I think Kenzie loved having girls around.  Sunday we went over to my cousin Michelle and Chad's house.  They have a private lake on their property and we took the kids out to fish, swim, and paddle boat.  It was an absolutely wonderful day!!!!

  I of course forgot my Camera today!!!!!

Ready for another week of fun!!! Man I love summer!!!

Fishing and T-ball Clinic

Cameron fishing in the park!

Clayton

Calvin being funny!

Kenzie loved fishing.

Clayton showing daddy how it is done!!

The kids warming up at the T-ball clinic.  I registered Clayton, Calvin and Kenzie.  Clayton and Calvin love it and are doing great.  Kenzie may have been a bit young yet so I do as much participating as she does.  Still very cute.

So this next picture requires some explanation.  I have been working this summer on getting the kids to help with more chores around the house.  They are pretty good at unloading the dishwasher, they sweep, dust bust, water plants, and help pick up things.  So now I thought it was a good time to work on teaching them to load the dishwasher!!  I asked Cal to help first.  Then I went to help Clayton with something and came back to see that Calvin said he was done.  Look closely.  He set the whole bowl with all the dishes in it, into the dishwasher.  He also wore some oven mitts while doing it.  Funny~made me laugh a lot.  But honestly they are doing such a great job being helpers now.  So proud of them!!