First Time Ever

So it finally happened. On our road trip to Wisconsin we had to pay $4.15 a gallon for gas in Illinois and Wisconsin. It was a sad, sad day.

The Happy Couple

60th Wedding Anniversary Party at Bravo

Eating Goldfish Crackers before the Ceremony

Celebrating 60 Years of Marriage

Friday night we headed to Milwaukee for my Grandparents 60th Anniversary party. The celebration took place at Bravo- Cucina Italiana. We had the party room. Grandma made table favors and Aunt Pat made beautiful flower arrangements with yellow, purple and hot pink flowers. We arrived at 3:30pm for a family picture and then the ceremony was at 5pm. I had the honor of performing the ceremony for the renewal of their vows. Everything was going great. I was half way through my message and I was talking about how much our family loves them and being together for 60 years, and I lost it. I started crying out of happiness. It took me about 20 seconds to gain my composure. I had every intention of staying strong, but I couldn’t do it. Then I looked out and my mom was crying. My grandpa had tears in his eyes too. So it was a meaningful ceremony. At the end my grandparents had the four great grandchildren come up front to sing “You are my Sunshine” with them. It has really sweet. Here are the vows I wrote for them:

I take you Judith/August to be my wife/husband
You are God's gift to me,
My priceless treasure, my blessing for life.
We will wipe clean the old canvases of our lives
and let God, with His amazing artistic talent,
fill them with new colors, harmony and beauty.
God bless us as we come together before our family and friends
to renew our pledge of love to one another
I say these things believing that God is in the midst of them all.

My Grandparents have a very deep faith and my Grandma enjoys to paint, so I wanted to incorporate both of those into their vows. They told me to write them and whatever I came up with would be great.

They had 35 family and friends there. We all had cocktails and then ordered dinner. It was my first time eating at Bravo. We have never eaten at the one by Jordan Creek Mall. Eric said the inside is exactly the same. I ordered the bay scallops with spinach gnocchi and sweet potato. It was very delicious; however, the scallops were dry. My brother had ordered a side of garlic butter, so I ended up dipping them in that, which helped. Eric ordered the Chicken Parmesan. He was very disappointed. It wasn’t even a real chicken breast, it was pressed meat, and it was small. Chase had a kid’s pizza and we were impressed with it. It had 8 pieces and very good flavor because it is baked in a wood oven.

The service was spectacular. We had three waitresses and the manager would stop in now and again. They make a good tasting Mojito. I had my Mom and Grandma drinking them before the night was over. The kids got to make their own pizzas even if they didn’t order it for dinner. The waitress took them over to the kitchen and each got a piece of dough and then they got to put sausage and cheese on them and watch them bake. It was so cool. It gave us time to socialize and the kids thought it was a blast.

I tried my first Creme Brulee. It was fantastic. The cheesecake and Tiramisu were just average. Tiramisu means "Heaven in your mouth." It fell short. Overall, it was a good experience at Bravo, and the occasion for the celebration topped it all. I found they don’t make cards for 60 years of marriage. I am guessing the demand isn’t great enough, since 50% of all marriages end in divorce these days, it is rare to see a couple top 50 years!

Anthony Turns 3

We had Anthony’s birthday party on July 5th. He wanted a Superman birthday. I found plates, napkins and some decorations to hang up. I then used red and blue balloons and crepe paper. Factory Card Outlet had a really cool Superman balloon that we got him and we ordered a Superman cake from Wal-Mart.

We had a house full of friends and family helping us celebrate. Miranda and Rob came over from Omaha, Stephanie and Kira, Melissa, Marnie, Todd and Ryan, Angie, Justin, Josh, Kendra and Abigail. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. I made Chicken Spaghetti for the first time, it was good. We also had fruit salad, cheesy potatoes, cheese dip, taco dip and veggie tray.

Tony made out like a bandit. He is all deck out as the Hulk now. He has a costume, he has huge hands and feet slippers. He got a Superman book, remote control Monster Truck, Spiderman fishing pool and tackle box, and clothes. The boys also got a new wagon. We were suppose to buy one for them last summer, but we never did. So we have enjoyed playing with it.

Taking a Break

Optimus Prime

Madilyn, Chase and Tony

Iowa Cubs

Tuesday night was Catholic Health Charities night at the ball field. Mercy sold tickets for $3 a piece. So, I thought it was a good opportunity to bring the kids to their first minor league game. They were playing the Rock Road Express. I have no idea where they are from. It was a beautiful night, the humidity wasn't that bad.

We walked in and they were giving out free bobble heads. The boys thought that was very cool. We had general admission tickets, so we picked out seats on the first base side. Chase thought it was neat to see the players up close. I made dinner before we went to the game. However, as soon as we sat down, Anthony says he is hungry. So I take the boys to get food. $19.50 later we are sitting down and getting ready for the National Anthem. We get through half of the first inning and the boys have to pee. So I missed the home run that the Cubbies hit. The boys wanted to get up at least once during every inning.

There is a really cool playground they have inside the stadium. I told the boys we could go and play. However, that was before I knew it was $5 a kid. So there was some crying after I told them they would have to wait until next time. Then this camera crew comes around and they want to tape Anthony. They wanted him to say, "The I-Cubs are my Cubs!" Of course he gets all shy and won't do it. After the 5th inning we left. It was after 9pm and the boys needed to get in bed. Chase said he had a great time.

Happy 4th of July

Thursday night I took the boys to watch the fireworks from the parking ramp at Mercy. We got there around 8:45pm. We stopped to get drinks and snacks. I brought bubbles along to play with. We took a couple of laps around the parking garage while waiting. At 10pm they still hadn’t started! The I-Cub fireworks started at 10:15 and then the Capitol did their fireworks at 10:25pm. Anthony was starting to fall asleep. Once they did start, they were great. Chase really liked the smiley face ones. It took forever to get home. I went through downtown and I didn’t think about Court Ave. Everyone was out partying at all the bars and then those that were trying to get back to their cars. People think they don’t have to obey stop lights!

Friday Eric and his buddies headed to the fairgrounds to go to The Goodguys car show. There were around 3500 hot rods at the show. One day isn’t nearly enough time to see them all. It was a beautiful day. It was only 82 and there was a light breeze.

I took the boys over to Easter Lake Beach for a picnic and to play. We ended up staying for four hours. We built a great sand castle. Chase asked me to help make a moat. I suggested we make reservoir and then dig a channel down to the lake. The we took bucket of water and filled up the reservoir and then watched the water run down to the lake. The boys thought it was great, and so did the other kids at the beach. Four other kids came over and asked if they could help and play. So Chase didn’t have to keep going after the water. They played with that for over an hour. I had brought a small raft along. I put the boys in and walked them around in the water.

We then ran to Wal-Mart. I had to buy the food for Anthony’s birthday party. We got home and I didn’t feel like cooking. So we ordered pizza from Paul Revere’s. It was delicious. Eric and the boys were in bed by 8:30, so I got to catch up on my soaps and decorated for the party.

Muscles

Anthony announced this morning that he needs to start exercising, so he can get big muscles like Popeye! Now, if only I could get him to eat spinach!

July 1st

July 1st was the official Go-Live for CHI Connect at Mercy. My years worth of working on this project came to fruition. The key areas this conversion affected is HR, Payroll, Core Accounting, Accounts Payable and Supply Chain. When I pulled in I saw the semi-truck at the dock. This was a good sign, it meant our electronic order for hospital supplies went through.

We had our first paycheck on-line July 11th. We no longer have paper stubs. Everyone has to log into the computer and get into their account. We had a few minor issues with incorrect shift differentials not getting paid, but other than that we found all the other errors a day before the money was deposited. So everyone received a paycheck! Core Accounting won’t kick in until the beginning of August. There is still plenty of questions on how the new process works, but everyday seems to be getting better. I am so ready to use the massage and facial gift certificate Eric gave me!

A Vacation for the Boys in Wisconsin

June 12th we headed up to my Mom’s for a visit. Saturday we had a family picture taken with my brother and his family and my Mom by Lake Michigan. We then went back to her house and had a birthday party for Chase and Anthony. My Grandparents came down from the lake, Aunt Cheryl, my cousin Sheila, my Dad, my brother and two of my Mom’s friends joined us. The kids had a great time playing outside until the rain moved in. Then they all had to be in the house. Eight kids in the house all running around got kind of crazy. My mom’s friend Kathleen rounded them up at the table. They did a craft and
played a game.

The boys are crazy about Monster trucks. So I ordered a cake with grass and dirt and asked them to make a hill. I then found Monster Mutt, which is a truck that looks like a dog. I found the brown one, after Eric went to six different Wal-Mart’s and two O’Reilly’s. So I put that one on the cake. They also make a white one. Justin went on-line and ordered the boys the white one’s. So they were so excited to each have one of their own. My mom gave them gift’s from the Learning Store. I thought they were all cool, but Anthony wasn’t very thrilled. I think once we work on some of the projects he will like it. She bought him paints that create dots. It reminds me of the ink you use to play bingo. However, Chase has used them more than he has.

Sunday was Father’s Day, and we headed over to my brother’s around 10am. My Dad brought ham and rolls and Justin made Bloody Mary’s. It was pretty warm out, so we let the kids play in the sprinkler. Then they started playing with Madilyn and Hanna’s water table. My Mom had given it to them last year. The boys were really digging it. My Dad hadn’t bought anything for the boys yet, so we went on-line and ordered them one. So that worked out great. Eric and I took off shortly before 1pm. We left the boys with my brother. They got to spend the day playing with their cousins. My Mom came and picked up Anthony and Hanna on Monday, and Anne kept Chase and Madilyn. The kids saw each other for the whole week. Wednesday afternoon they went to The Milwuakee County Zoo. They had the best time. All the animals had just eaten and were super active. The lions were roaring, the monkeys and penguins were all over the place. The elephants were even moving around.

I met my mom Friday afternoon at the Mississippi River to pick up the boys. It had only been 5 days since I saw the boys, but they were tanner and looked bigger. Our week without them flew by. I ended up working more, since I didn’t have to leave to pick them up by 5pm. We did make it over to Porky’s with the Camaro. That was a lot of fun. It was great to be outside and our friend Alan Robuck, that sings Elvis was there performing. Eric and I took a ride on his motorcycle and had a great dinner at IHOP. I ordered the Talapia. It was seasoned so wonderfully, I just couldn’t get over it. The baked potato was perfectly baked. I don’t know if it was just because we were eating without the kids, and I could really concentrate on the food.

Walk The Plank!

Aye! The Pirates!

Ahoy There Matey's

Chase asked to have a pirate party. It was a lot of fun to prepare for. I found bandanna’s for all the kids to wear. We got them eye patches and I found foam swords. I made a pinata and painted it black and painted a skull and crossbones on it.

On the day of the party I spray painted a skull and crossbones on a black cloth and hung it up on the play set. We made that the pirate ship. Chase had six friends come to his party. I put together a treasure hunt. I came up with six clues and then buried the treasure in the sandbox. I also had the kids walk the plank across the kiddie pool. After cake and ice cream, everyone got their swim suits on and went on the new Slip and Slide that Eric and I got him. The two hours flew by. After the party Chase said to me, “Mom, my party was a lot of fun. Thank you.” All the preparation and work was worth it. I know Chase will have that as a great memory.

The School Year is Over

I can’t get over how fast the school year went by. It seems just like yesterday I was walking Chase to the bus stop for the first time. By the end of the year, he didn’t want me waiting with him anymore. He just wanted to be dropped off. His Kindergarten experience was wonderful. He learned so much and excelled in reading and writing. He has written and illustrated three books so far. His most recent book is on the planets and the sun. I can tell our time spent at the Science Center is rubbing off on him. Chase is so excited about starting 1st grade.