Did I tell you about my wonderful life?

O.K. so I am feeling so THANKFUL. I have it all! A great husband, wonderful children, super family, A job I love, good friends, my faith. I have a GREAT LIFE. I am just feeling so thankful lately. Some times I look around at my house, my mess, my crazy calender and just have to laugh. I LOVE THIS!!!! Every stressful moment, every temper tantrum, every sleep deprived second(as I write this blog at 1:30 in the morning) and realize that I do not want to miss a minute of it. I would not trade it in for all the calm, all the money, all the anything in the world. I just can't be any more THANKFUL. When I think I can not love my kids, husband or life any more I DO.
Enough of my bragging. I just wanted to share my joy with all. I am attempting to download a ton of pictures of our past weekend of busy. We have had a fabulously busy weekend and just reminds me of how LUCKY I am. I am SO looking forward to the rest of this week (the kids are on spring break) and we even planned a family day this coming Wednesday and a nice quiet family weekend this coming weekend to get some much needed housework and yard work done.

So I will let the pictures tell the story of what we have been up too.

Girls Night Out. Our fake cousin Sarah invited us to come and stay at her apartment in Milwaukee. It was GREAT and I was so ready for a good night out. We had WAY TO MUCH FUN.

Thanks Sarah for having us.

Me, Maggie, Wendy, Sarah & Donna

Me and Sarah. Out on the town!

Me and my sister on our night out with the Wolf Ladies.

Calvin and Clayton had an Easter party at school and had to bring cupcakes so I thought they would like to help make them. They frosted them and then had to try them! I think they ate more frosting then got put on the cupcakes. I just can not get over how big they are getting and how much they can help with things.

So I was not a big fan of the snow coming back but it was fun to get out in the 40 degree weather to play in the quickly melting snow. The kids still love snow.

I look over and this is what I see.

Clayton riding a four wheeler!

I got to take all the kids to Cameron's class for their Wisconsin Lumber Jack breakfast. It was really cute. They made pancakes and homemade butter from Cream.

This is Cameron being a lumberjack at school with his lumberjack friend that he made.


The kids and I went to Betty Brinn Children's Museum on Good Friday with my sister, her husband, and Xavier & Isiah. It was a blast. The kids loved it.

Kenzie loving Betty Brinn!


Calvin driving the bus at Betty Brinn. So funny. All the kids loved driving the bus. They discussed the places they would be driving us to and they fought over who would be driving.


Clayton driving the bus.



Calvin fixing the tires on the car.

Xavier, Kenzie, Calvin, & Clayton waiting at Betty Brinn.

Cameron driving the Bus.

Cameron and Xavier's puppet show.

Kenzie - Maybe an IT career is in her future.

Calvin and Clayton 'going fishing'.

Clayton, Calvin, Isiah, Cameron, Kenzie, & Xavier

I just keep trying to take pictures of all of them together.

Someday I will get a really good one with everyone looking at the same time.

It will most likely be at one of their weddings.

So as if Betty Brinn did not keep us busy enough Friday we also decided to take all four the kids to the Brewers game on Friday Night. Lucky for us Grandma Jane and Grandpa Gerald also came along and although I have no pictures to show of this (I forgot my Camera in the van) we had a SUPER SUPER SUPER time. We got down to the game early and when we were going to walk to the stadium a security guard driving a golf cart came up and offered us all a ride. Yep all of us. 4 Adults and 4 kids along with the driver. The kids loved it and so did we. It was the highlight of their day! What a great way to start the GREAT game. We were there early and other then my minor issue of leaving the diaper bag (yep, no diapers along for Kenzie) in the van, along with the camera (Too excited about the golf cart ride and forgot it) things were perfect. We had time to kill before the game and they have lots for kids to do at the game such as a sausage race, slide, and even a batting cage for the Cameron age kids that is all FREE. The game itself was great. High level of action. The kids did great. They stayed in their seats, other then trips to the bathroom, through the whole game. They expecially liked when the Brewers got home runs and Bernie came down the slide and set off fireworks. Calvin yelled for anyone Grandpa did and Clayton really liked keeping count on the number of K's on the board for strike outs. Kenzie even did fantastic. Her highlight for the game was the amount of soda she could drink. She just kept finding our soda bottles and asking for some and some and SOME. Good thing most of it did not have caffine. Cameron of course loved every minute of it. The game was very long. The final score 14 to 7 Brewers WIN. This included 3 home runs. So fun! And we stayed for the whole game and all four of the kids made it through but they were sleeping before we got on the highway. Man was it fun and they were SO good.

Saturday morning was the Egg hunt at the park. As Ben describes it "Quick and Dirty". All 2 minutes of the egg hunt. Kenzie did well in her age group. Calvin also did o.k. he was not intimidated by the crowd. Clayton was very shy and needed his mommy right by him. The kids each got a few eggs and after it was over they were checking out their baskets a very generous mother asked her young daughter to share her eggs with the boys and then proceeded to put a couple of her eggs back on the ground and let the boys get them. The sheer thoughtfulness of others amazes me. Cameron was also with an older group and only got 2 eggs so one of his friends shared some of his. I love to see kids and adults understanding the meaning of community!!!!

Calvin, Kenzie, Clayton, Cameron with the Easter Bunny.

From the egg hunt we headed over to Gigi and Papa's to celebrate EASTER.

Gigi and Papa's was a BLAST. The kids had to find their Easter baskets then we ate and then an another Easter egg hunt. Gigi (according to Ben) had about 2 million eggs filled and Ben, Wes, Grandpa Dick and even Cameron hid them all over the yard and then the kids got to go and find them. Everyone except Clayton had an entire bucket full. Clayton was being a bit picky and only wanted the BIG eggs and they had to be a solid color. He would run and pick up an egg look at it and then put it back if it was not one he wanted or if it was not big enough. At one point he even dumped out his bucket and started over with just the 2 big eggs. He really did not seem to care that the rest of the kids had a ton and he had only picked about 8 eggs.

Cameron found his basket first!!!

Clayton, Isiah, Calvin, Cameron, Xavier, & Kenzie Easter at Gigi and Papa's.

Before finding their baskets!

As if a community egg hunt and Gigi and Papa's was not enough for one day we packed in some more. We had not dyed the 3 dozen eggs I hard boiled so we came home, had the neighbor boys over and dyed some eggs. It was also a great time! Just plain NON-STOP for this family!!

Cameron and his friend Auggie dying Easter eggs.

Calvin dying eggs. He liked dying them but each egg he dyed he cracked right after dying them. He said he wanted to eat them but I think he just liked the cracking part.

Clayton eggs!
He is really good at dying eggs because he has a great deal of pacence and just sits and waits for the eggs to get very bright, pretty colors.

Kenzie! She did well also. Other then dumping 2 whole containers of egg dye when she was ready for her eggs to be done.

Sunday morning! EASTER MORNING! Cameron was the first one up and ready to go on the search for his Easter Basket. He helped wake the other kids up and then explained to them that the Easter Bunny had come and that they had to find their baskets. The twins got into this and searched for theirs. Kenzie could have cared less about looking for a basket but as usual these days she will follow the boys around and do what ever they are doing.

Kenzie!

Calvin found his basket!

Clayton found his too.

Cameron's basket was in the OVEN. Almost got cooked before he found it.

Kenzie, Calvin, Cameron & Clayton enjoy their juice from the Easter Bunny.

I think this was their favoriate thing in their baskets!

Then it was off to Church. Home for some ham and donuts. Caught a quick nap for Ben and the kids and then off to the next adventure. Grandma Jane and Grandpa Gerald's for another EASTER celebration. It was beautiful outside and the kids loved playing with their cousins there too. And guess what else? Another easter egg hunt. Jane and Gerald have a great big backyard with a ton of huge pine trees so there were eggs hidden everywhere. All of the kids did GREAT. It was so fun to watch. They shared with each other. They helped each other and it was fun to see how much things have changed since last year.

Clayton finally getting the Easter egg hunt thing and picked up more then just the BIG ONES.

Calvin loved hunting for Eggs! Cameron is a great egg hunter!



Kenzie - The poser! She had a blast at the Easter egg hunt!

After the egg hunt the kids decided to take hikes through the big trees. They made up stories and even pretended they were in a tree fort. They also went on a Bear hunt. So stinking cute!

Best Cousins - Elsa & Kenzie. Just too cute. Kenzie needed to hold Elsa's hand as they walked through the forest of trees at Grandma and Grandpa's house looking for the bear. They wanted to hang with the big kids!


Kenzie dragging Elsa through the 'Forest'.

Look closely - It is a bear (or a Cameron) in the tree.

The Rettler Grandkids. Calvin, Kenzie, Kaylee, Clayton, Cameron with Abby, Lauren & Elsa.

What to do on a kid free weekend for mom?

Paint - That's what!!!

So my amazing husband took all four of the kids Up North for the weekend. I was not able to go because I had to work on Friday evening so I decided to just stay home. KID FREE. What???? Yeah. So I decided to tackle a project that I have wanted to do for 19 months. Making Kenzie's room into a room fit for a little girl.

Hubby and kids had a great time up north and I had a very productive weekend. Hope you are all doing well too.

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