Just some PICTURES

I thought this picture was very funny. Cameron got new wrestling headgear and he would not take them off. We had some good friends and their kids over and he wore the headgear the whole time. How cool is he!!

Yeah we are good parents and gave the kids Margarita's. Cameron did not like his to much.

Can't help it! She just loves to have her picture taken!

Kenzie gets a little tired sometimes. She passed out in her highchair while eating.

We we had cousin Xavier and Isiah stay overnight just for fun. All goes well - till bed time of course. Isiah was going to sleep in the twins room but deciding where to sleep was tough.

First it was Isiah and Clayton in Clayton's bed.

Then it was Calvin and Isiah in Clayton's bed.

It ended up being all three of the boys on mattresses on the floor of the twins room but by that point (10:30p.m) it was not funny anymore and no one was in the mood for pictures. Feeding the troops!!!

Daddy giving Calvin a much needed haircut.

Clayton's haircut!!

Gigi and Isiah came over to hang out and Gigi suggested a movie and nap time. This was the result. (Clayton, Isiah, Calvin, Kenzie & Gigi)

Gigi and her Kenzielala

Auntie Susie brought over the boy/girl baby goats they just had. The kids thought it was cool. Kenzie really liked them and kept calling them doggy. She wanted to hold them but has to learn not to squeeze.

Calvin also wanted to hold the goats.

Clayton was a little shy and not sure about the baby goats. Kenzie and Calvin loved them!

My CRAPPY day!

OK I thought everyone could use a good laugh and this is one of those things that describe our life around here to a T. So it is Monday and Cam is at school, Ben's at work and Clay, Cal, Kenzie and I are at home looking for things to do. We go to Walmart to shop - always fun. The kids are all great. We make it home and unpack and decide to color for a while as I have to take the twins to school at 12:30 so there is not much time to do anything else. Kenzie dumps all the crayons as usual and I swear the boys are getting more marker on their hands and the table then on the paper but it is fun, Right? Anyway I realize that I better get some lunch going because it is 11:45 and now we are running late. Calvin announces he has to poop and goes to do his thing. In the middle of this Kenzie looks like she is trying to poop so I run her to potty, Calvin by this time is done and I wipe him up and send him off to finish his coloring. I sit Kenzie on the potty and she finishing pooping on the potty! Yipee!!!!! So excited. While Kenzie and I are celebrating in the bathroom in walks Calvin, very upset. He tells me he pooped in his pants. I am shocked so my response is "What?". To which Cal replies "I pooped in my pants. SEE" as he pulls his hand out of his pants full of poop. GROSS. I quickly wipe up Kenzie and turn my attention to Calvin, who by this point is apologizing endlessly about how he is sorry and he did not try to do it. (I think it was a shart situation where he thought he was going to fart and opps). While my attention is focused on how to clean up Calvin, finish lunch, and get the boys to school on time, Kenzie proceeds to stick her hand in the potty! Yep - Holy Crap. OK so clean her up and send her out of the bathroom diaperless and pantless as I have poop to deal with! Now get Calvin cleaned up and then Kenzie marches back in to the bathroom with soaking wet socks.! What the heck? So I go out to the kitchen to see what is spilled only to find that she peed on the kitchen floor. Urgg. The whole time Clayton is still sitting at the table coloring away. OK so by the time the clean up is done the kids have 2 mins to eat their lunch and leave for school. Amazingly we made it!!!! I look back at the morning and laugh. This is my life and I love EVERY STINKING MINUTE OF IT! Hope you enjoyed your laugh for the day. I sure did.

ALMOST SPRING!

Who's excited for spring? We are!!! I for one can not wait for the warm weather. We have been having a blast lately but so busy I keep putting off my blog update. So where were we last. Kenzie was starting to talk like crazy well now she is a talking machine. She sounds a bit like her mommy at times. She is also becoming very bossy, a bit sassy, and very opinionated. Her favorite thing to say is Nooooo, but is still sounds very cute when she says it. I wish I had the time to record everything she is saying because it just cracks us all up. One of my favorites is when you ask her "Who is the boss" and she will say "I da (the) boss". But she also knows how to play people well because she will also say "Da da da (the) boss" "Mommy da (the) boss" "Papa da (the) boss". Kenzie is also still doing great with potty training herself. I decided that I was not ready to go at the potty training full force and would just let her tell us and encourage her when we could. She continues to randomly pull at her pants, walk into the bathroom, and recently as begun saying "potttty". She is such a big girl she wants to go on the big potty and always asks for a "booook". Then she will sit there and when she actually goes she gets a huge smile and says "potttty". She actually goes every time she sits on the potty. I am still not pushing this as she seems to like doing it on her own terms. I don't want to discourage her but I also don't want to get frustrated when/if she has accidents so we are still doing diapers and will see what happens next. In case I have never mentioned before I still think she is still a SUPER BABY. I also finally bought her first Tutu. You should see her dance! Just having a ball with this little one. I forgot how fun this age is!!! I wish I could freeze her! Actually I wish I could freeze all the kids just as they are! They are growing up WAY TO FAST! So here are some pictures of Kenzie being the princess of course.



Then on to my Cameron update. What a big super star I have here too. When we left off he had a couple more tournaments to go. Well Waunakee did not go so well with 4 losses even though he worked hard and tried hard. Chilton he made his comeback. He won all three of those matches and took first place. He also won his match at the dual meet under the big lights at the high school, which was awesome. Cameron then was chosen as his wrestling clubs "Wrestler of the week" which was a real honor for him. Last weekend was regionals and although Cameron worked his tail off he lost his first match, won his next two and then lost again to the first kid who beat him knocking him out of his shot for state. He has dealt with this wonderfully even though it was very disappointing and tough on him. There is always next year!!! His record for the year was 24 wins and 10 losses. He is still going to be doing a couple of tournaments including the Tournament of Champions. Kind of funny to me that I am getting so into this wrestling thing. I really enjoy watching him and he is enjoying it too. I am getting excited that soon baseball with be starting though and "real" football will be starting in fall. We got a little sports nut on our hands and we are loving it.

Cameron with his "Wrestler of the Week" traveling trophy!

Calvin and Clayton also continue to do great also. They are doing great with 3K and I am looking forward to them starting 4K in the fall. The boys are learning so much everyday. They are getting to smart to be tricked into doing things I want them too. There personalities continue to change and they just keep getting more individual in everything they do. I crack up at the way they play together and even the way they fight with each other. They are growing up to fast also. Clayton has now started taking showers and that itself cracks me up because he was taunting Calvin that he is a big boy taking a shower and Calvin is not because he still wants to take a bath like Kenzie. They love to color and draw lately are getting really good at spelling their names and even starting to write their names. Oh, my smart little boys!!!


What else fun has been going on around here? Everything around here is fun!!!
We celebrated my 33rd Birthday a couple times. Once by Ben's parents. As a family, out for dinner. And then a fish fry at our house with my family. Wow - I am so spoiled. We made a rockin St. Patties day feast (3rd year in a row) and had my parents and my in-laws over for dinner and it was a lot of fun. I am beginning to really this new tradition. Had a great time at the St. Peter's night at the Hartford Rec., Cousin Lauren's fourth Birthday party, and I am sure I am missing tons of other stuff we have done in the last month but I am tired and can't remember it all. Hope to see you all soon.

Also wanted to share the random kid pics I took today!! All four together for a picture does not happen very often!

Calvin, Kenzie, Cameron & Clayton

Calvin, Kenzie, Cameron & Clayton

Talking & Peeing?

Nice title. It made me laugh. So I'll explain. Kenzie is 18 months now and over the last week or so she has started really talking. She is repeating everything. It is amazing the difference from just 2 weeks ago. I think my favorite age has to be when kids first start talking. It is incredible how fast they learn and adorable to hear them finally express themselves. And then last Tuesday were just playing around in the morning and Kenzie went to pull her pants down. I thought "What is she doing?" so on a whim I asked her if she wanted to go potty and she marched right to the bathroom. I helped her sit on the potty and a few seconds later she PEED. I could not believe it. Since then she has gone on the potty about once or twice a day usually she will pull on her pants. We are taking this slowly so she does not get discouraged (and so I don't get frustrated) But honestly I can not believe what an easy child she has been so far. I am sure she will show me different in those teen years but I am enjoying every easy minute of her now.
We continue to have crazy weeks and weekends around here. We are in the final stretch of the wrestling session. Cam wrestled last weekend at the Slinger tournament and ended in 2nd place. He was very disappointed but we were SOOOO proud of him. The boy he lost to was a state qualifier last year. Although the score was 10-2 Cameron wrestled his heart out and held off the pin. We were all very proud. He is working so hard this year and has made some huge improvements over past years. His record this year is 17 (wins) and 4 (losses). We are looking forward to the Waunakee tournament this Sunday, Chilton next Saturday and then Regionals on the 12th. Just hope all his tremendous work pays off with a visit to state! Either way a proud wrestling mom here!
We also got to enjoy all the new snow this week with a day off of school on Monday (planned day off for President's day). We took advantage of the day off played games, played outside and mom and the kids met dad at work for lunch. Then I took all four of the kids bowling on my own. It was a very good thing there was no one else at the bowling alley because the kids were running around like crazy. It was fun but I am not sure the twins really get the concept of bowling yet.
Wednesday was also a big day - I think I forgot to mention that Cameron won the Spelling Bee for the fourth grade and was the runner up for the whole school during Catholic Schools week. So on Wednesday Cameron and his classmate got the honor of going onto the regional spelling bee at St. Francis Cabrini. This was neat! Grandma Grace joined us and we took Cameron out for some lunch before the BEE. Cameron was one of 18 kids grade 4th to 8th who got to participate in the Spelling Bee. He made it through the first round of telling his name, school and an 'easy' word. The second round was not as nice. His word was dormant. He got it wrong but when he came to sit down had a very positive attitude about wanting to do this again next year. Again proud mommy!!!!
This should also be an exciting weekend for us. Tonight I will be rocking to the 80's at Big Brothers Big Sisters "Bowl for Kids Sake" Back to the 80's theme. Sometimes I love my job like when I get to dress up in 80's clothes and have a blast with great people who are supporting a great cause! Saturday we are planning to do some sledding over at Grandma Jane and Grandpa Gerald's house and of course Sunday is a day of Wrestling. Hope all of you also have a great weekend!!

The boys at bowling!

Kenzie being funny!

Cameron and his classmate Abby!

Way to go St. Peter's Spellers!

Cameron during the BEE!

Kenzie eating yogurt on her own.
If you remember my earlier picture of when I gave her yogurt it was everywhere.
This time she did much better!



Clayton also wanted his picture taken while he ate his yogurt.

Calvin just loves when you take his picture too.

Having a blast!

What a GREAT weekend!!!!
So we had a rare weekend of nothing planned and a break from wrestling too. Friday we took all the kids to Friday Night at the movies at St. Peters. The movie was Despicable Me. Ben and I had taken Cameron to see it for his birthday and really liked it and it was even funnier the second time. Cameron was off hanging out with his friends during the movie but the twins and Kenzie still like hanging out with us and they did pretty well. We even got to watch most of the movie!! Per Ben's GREAT idea we decided to take the boys tubing at Sunburst on Saturday. When we suggested going Clayton was thrilled and excited and Calvin said he did not want to go. Which was very out of character for both of them. Usually that would be reversed! Of course poor Kenzie got ditched by Gigi and Papa's but I don't think she minded as she practically jumped out of my arms to go by her Gigi the moment she saw her. Apparently we were not the only ones who had the idea of enjoying the warm up in the weather and go out tubing. It was packed. So we got our tubes and headed for the 'Magic Carpet', which in case you have not been there is like a big moving sidewalk that takes you up the hill. The twins were a little freaked out by this and Clayton even fell over on it which made him more nervous about it. But this is were their personalities came back to normal. Calvin already said he loved it (the magic carpet) and that it was so fun he wanted to do it again and we had not even did the tubing yet. We did make it to the top and then we were off. I took Calvin. Ben took Cameron and Clayton. At the bottom everyone said they liked it. Calvin was thrilled. He told me he never wanted to leave or go home and asked to do it again. Clayton said he liked it but that he did not want to do it again. We were able to get him to do it again with a little encouragement. It was an absolute blast. Clayton did need to take a Hot Chocolate break for a little bit and then it was tougher to get him back into it but Calvin and Cameron totally loved it. Overall a really great time. Then after tubing was over mom sent Dad home with all the kids and went out on the town for Ladies Night with some old friends. Dinner, a movie and then even a late evening of dancing.

Calvin and Clayton all geared up for tubing!

They boys are ready!!


Now we are set!! Maybe Clayton would have liked it more if he could have seen something instead of the inside of his hat!

Cameron even took our photo before the first trip down!!

Today was also a wonderful day. We all went to church together then donuts at the bakery and naps! Beautiful day to build a snow fort and some great packing snow. Here is the result so far. Dinner time got in the way of completing the fort. Maybe we will get to complete it yet this week!

Happy Valentine's day to you all!!!

FAILING!

OK so my expectations for myself of updating my blog once a week was to high. I will try again but maybe just for every other week. So the updates of the last month as brief as possible. (Which never happens with me)

Cameron is kicking butt in wrestling so far this season. Last post he had gotten 1st in West Bend. Since then he took 2nd in Hartford (1 match loss by 1 point). 1st place in Antigo and 1st place at Kettle Moraine. This past weekend he took 3rd at West Depere. Overall his record is 14 wins and 3 losses. We have this weekend off and then 4 weekends in a row leading up to Regionals and then hopefully his first trip to state! He is just doing great and seems to be very motivated and excited about it all this year.

The twins are doing great. They are learning a ton in school. They are learning to recognize their letters and counting. They are more and more creative lately. They are talking about making friends at school. They are growing up way to fast. They also fight each other to much. They can be so nice to each other but then two seconds later they are pushing each other and teasing each other. They both have been so sweet to their mommy lately. When I get home from work Calvin will come over to me and say "Mommy, I am so glad you are home, you look beautiful" or "Mommy I like your hair". They can also be very sweet to their little sister. Clayton told her he "loved her sweater and that she looked real cute". They can even by nice to their big brother sometimes and often when I pick the three boys up from school both Cal and Clay are asking Cameron if they can be his best friend and if they can play in his room or play DS with him. We have their 3K school conferences next week and am looking forward to getting more information on how they are doing.

As for Kenzie, she is the Princess!!! She has a very strong personality already. She just never stops cracking me. She is bossy with her brothers and assertive with us. She loves babies and that is also her favorite word. She is starting to talk more and more but still likes to point and grunt because it works for her to get what she wants. She got her first hair cut and could actually use a little more of a trim already. I love this age!! She is doing something new every day and learning all the time. Wow having a girl is sure different then the boys! I wonder what I will be in for in the future.

Ben and I - We have both been working more then usual and with alternating schedules to keep our need for babysitters low we don't see much of each other during the week. And our weekends have been pretty busy lately too with wrestling and working and such. It really makes us appreciate the time we do have all together. So we decided a little vacation was in order. We left this past Saturday and flew off to Vegas with Ben's family and came back Tuesday. It was amazing! Not much for relaxing or resting, but a ton of fun. We crammed a lot into 3 days including the Packers winning the SUPER BOWL. Overall the whole vacation was just SUPER. I did miss the kids but they had a great 'vacation' at Gigi and Papa's. Thanks guys. This week so far has been our recovery from vacation and trying to catch up at work and with the kids. I am going to try and share some pictures and hope to update more frequently next time!!!!

Clayton, Cameron, & Calvin

The boys giving the thumbs up!

Kenzie loves Yogurt! Mom thought it was funny that she wanted to feed it to herself until I had to clean up the mess it made!

Other cute PRINCESS PICTURES!

Trying to get a good shot of her hair after her first haircut.

It only gets that curly right after a bath!

Mom and Dad in Vegas!!

Trying to keep up!

So after my last post and trying to cover three weeks of events I am going to ATTEMPT to do a weekly update. Let's see how long that lasts. So here is our past weeks happenings.



The twins had fun celebrating their 1/2 birthday at school on Monday. They even got to wear birthday crowns!!! I still was not able to take a picture of them holding up their fingers as 3 and 1/2. Trust me it was cute!



The rest of the week was busy as usual. Ben has been working hard to complete Grandpa Dick's deer head. Cameron (and mom) have been working to get his culture fair project done. And the little kids have been working hard to keep the house a mess and distract us from getting other things done. Everyone has a job to do and they are all doing it well!!!!



The weekend!


Friday Cam was invited to go by a friend after school to play until the St. Peter's movie night. This was really fun for him and he was even excited to ride the bus home with his friend. Then I decided to take the twins to the movie night as they were showing Shriek The Final Chapter and I thought they would like it too. I took Kenzie to Grandma Grace and Grandpa Dick for some quality play time (and because I don't think she would have sat through the movie). The boys did pretty good during the movie although there was a lot of getting up and down and following Cameron and his friends around so I am not sure Cam really liked them being there to much. But it was another adventure and I am sure we will try it again.



Saturday the evil mother made Cameron work on his project and homework for most of the morning then we headed out for the Rettler Family Christmas Party! This was a absolute blast. All the kids were very good minus a few little tiffs with their cousins but that is to be expected. Santa - who was vacationing in Hawaii, even arranged to drop some gifts of for the kids and they enjoyed it very much. Great dinner, great family, great conversations and great fun! We even played some Bingo and won prizes. Overall just a really good time.

Most of the kids waiting for gifts dropped off by Santa!

Today was also a SUPER day. Cameron had his first wrestling tournament for the 2011 season at West Bend today. In the first match Cameron pinned in the first 30 seconds or so. He beat the second one by points. Pined the third in about 50 seconds. Then won the last match also by points! He took 1st and got a really nice trophy and a very proud mommy. I was also very proud of his attitude about it. He was not gloating. He talked about the mistakes he had made and things he can still do better. He was proud of himself but also knows that things can go either way sometimes. I was also proud of how he watches/cheers on his friends and teammates and wishes them well also. I am not sure I am ready for this wrestling season and the ups and downs that come with it but today was sure a great way to start it off. Next weekend we are off to Hartford.

After wrestling it was out to Jumbo's for a victory dinner and still home in time for the Packer game. Kenzie, Clayton and Calvin all took naps so mom decided she should take one too! I woke up in time to see the end of the game and a Packer WIN. What a great Sunday!

On to another busy week - see you all soon!!!