OFF TO THE ZOO..... AND THEN SKATING

Cassie and I (well mostly me since it was a secret) decided since it was such a beautiful fall day we were going to the zoo, the Henry Vilas Zoo.

http://www.vilaszoo.org/ this is a FREE Zoo in Madison.... and it's great. All of the buildings were open except for the concessions and the the new carousal. Cassie saw Rhino, giraffe, bears, lions, monkeys, alligator...... the list goes on and on. she also was able to play on the new Tree House slide and climber. We had a really fun day..... of course she had to tell Caleb and Catlin all about it as soon as they got home from school..... even though they are 11 & 12 they were less than pleased that we decided to do something without them, Cassie didn't seem to mind at all and just went on talking about her day to anyone who would or wouldn't listen.

After out fun filled day at the zoo Cassie had ice skating... her teachers are very pleased with how she is doing and think that she will move up to the next class in a few more sessions. She can now get up herself when she falls, she can turn in a circle, she can march on the ice, she just needs to work on her glide and then she will be good to go!

HALLOWEEN WEEKEND!!!!

We had a pretty fun/busy weekend.....The kids went Trick or Treating on Friday. Caleb had hockey practice first and then decided he didn't want to come with his mom and sisters so he opted to go with friends. (WHY?) Catlin had a friend come with her and Cassie. I thought for sure that Cassie would be scared, because everything has been TOOOOO SCARY lately, but she had a great time once she realized people were just going to GIVE her Candy!

Before the Trick or Treating the Girls and I went with another friend to Bounce U...http://www.bounceu.com/?gclid=CMjhz46y2ZYCFQukHgodGxa42w(Caleb opted to stay home and sleep) WHY? We had a really good time. I raced Catlin and her friend Taylor through the obstacle course and WON!!!! I was really sore after that, but i couldn't let them beat me.

We had a weekend filled with soccer and hockey again. Catlin's team skated between periods at the Women's Wisconsin Badger hockey game and then she had her own game later that day, and the next. Caleb also played 2 games this weekend.... their game on Sunday was against Rockford, IL..... very rough, but so far Caleb has only gotten 1 penalty this season and it was just a coincidental penalty.

Well Cassie is calling (yelling) so I'd better go because if I don't you should see the things she does.... yes i have pictures of the last time and i will post them soon!

Just folling Around

We haven't been doing to much... the girls and I went looking for Halloween costumes. Cassie thought everything was TOOOO SCARY! We did manage to get her to try on some hats. I finally found a costume for Cass at Old Navy.... I will post that later!

Caleb, Catlin and I went with another friend to a Haunted Barn/Forest over the weekend. I think I enjoyed watching Caleb and Catlin cry, scream and run more than anything! I must admit parts were Scary..... like the Big Headed Man following you threw the forest, the chain saw guy and the bus you had to walk through with the driver just sitting up there staring at you in the rear view mirror. This is where Catlin had her breakdown, she didn't want to get ON the bus and then when she saw him she wouldn't get OFF the bus.... she was crying and screaming and of course when the bus driver saw how scared she was he stood up and blocked the exit of the bus 1/2 way.... i had to drag her off. Caleb then saw a little girl behind bars screaming to help her and let her out of the cage... he took off screaming and running, fell and then came sauntering back to me like nothing was wrong.... who is he kidding.... Mr. tough guy.... I THINK NOT! We also saw a guy in an electric chair and Freddy Kruger... i didn't like him breathing on my neck! It was a good time! http://www.haunted-barn.com/index.php

Hockey and Soccer are both in full swing now and the days are just crazy busy.... Catlin has a soccer tournament this weekend and Caleb has 2 games and they both have hockey practice. Cassie has ice skating tonight.... she's getting pretty good!

Cassie and I have been raking leaves everyday....... YUCK YUCK YUCK... i hate raking!

Catlin and Cassie trying on hats

Nice glasses Courtney

Middle School Fun Run/Catlin Soccer Picture

Caleb and Catlin's Middle School have a Fun Run every year, they have guest speaker's from the University of Wisconsin come and talk about fitness and of course Bucky Badger always makes an appearance. We live right down the road from the school so the whole school runs by our house, of course Cassie and I have to stand out at the edge of the driveway and cheer (embarrass) on Caleb and Catlin.

Cassie has her 3rd session of skating tonight and Caleb has the beginning of Hockey tryouts...... Catlin gets a night off!

Caleb and a friend at a cross country meet

Catlin at the fun run
Caleb refusing to look at me during the fun run
Catlin's soccer team- they are undefeated so far

Camera Phone

I finally got a mini card for my camera phone, the pictures aren't great but since i hardly ever have my main camera with me this will help. Just some pictures, nothing much going on. Oh yeah, how could i forget

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!!!!!!!!!!

Cassie's first skating lesson

Cassie playing at the park
at the park
Cassie and Catlin playing in the rain
Cassie showing off her wet pants

The Feel Great Liquid Vitamin

At one of the Hockey tournaments we noticed a vendor set up selling "Vibe" VIBE is a product for our times – a blend of essential nutrients, powerful antioxidants, concentrated minerals and vitamins, and green tea extracts make it an exceptional cellular defense product, ideal for combating free radicals that ravage our bodies every day.

With all that said, i bet you wonder how it tastes...... well you are to mix 1 oz daily with any drink you like. I chose to mix mine with Sunny Delight..... it was horrible. I've had 4 kids without any type of pain medicine but it takes me 20 minutes to get this stuff down.

I promised i would stay on it for a month, our whole family is trying this. I better start feeling like a new person real soon because right now i just feel nauseous.

I will even post the website for you so that you can enjoy your own OZ of Vibe

http://shop.enivausa.com/397502/en-us/category.aspx?id=1

SOCCER SOCCER AND MORE SOCCER

We spent the entire weekend at soccer. Caleb had a tournament so he played 1 game on Friday 1 game on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday. Catlin had her 1st game of the season on Sunday. They won 1-0 Catlin scored the goal for her team. GO CATLIN!!!!

Caleb's team made it to the championship and they placed 2nd in the tournament. GO CALEB!!!!

Cassie..... well she was cheering on the sideline as usual, she didn't run away as much this weekend as she has in the past.... maybe turning 3 has brought on a more mature stage......hahahahaha that even makes me laugh! here are some more pictures of Caleb's game, i don't have any of Catlin because Sony was not giving out cameras to use at her game.

hints for Christmas....... Sony sports camera, the camera itself is 600... the lens is another couple of hundred, don't' feel any pressure!

Caleb's team, he is in the top row next to the goalie in black

Catlin and Cassie enjoying the sun and some popcorn during caleb's game

Cassie does not give up easily, you have to drag her around she was throwing her ball in the air

throw in

1st game of Caleb's Soccer Tournament

Caleb had his first game of his tournament Friday night. They won 7-0. Sony had a big tent set up and was handing out sports cameras for parents to take pictures of their team during the game. They were really nice cameras. These are some of the pictures Tom and I attempted to take during the game. They transferred them on to a disc after we returned the camera. We checked one out during today's game also but we wont get those pictures until tomorrow, I'll post them later and we'll see if we improved any in the picture taking dept.

I believe that caleb is trying to give his goalie some kind of hand signal

a bit blurry
Caleb plays defense

I'm not sure if he actually got whacked in the eye or if it just looks like it

of course we had to get the girls

Another Day....... Another Mess

Oh what a morning, I've received one phone call after another, of course NONE of them were concerning a job for me.... I am so ready to go back to work.... doing anything.

Anyway, Cassie was sitting so nice on the couch watching chicken run that I thought I could sneak in and take a shower ALONE, usually we end up taking something called a shower/bath... part shower part bath. Well i tiptoed in and left the door slightly open so that i could peek out and see her on the couch. All was going well until I heard the bathroom door slam shut, i still had shampoo in my hair so i couldn't just jump right out. I was in there maybe a total of 5 minutes and this is the mess i came out to find.

some people in our household (not going to mention names) wonder what i do all day....... well this is part of it! Well i gotta get going.... 3 kids to take to the DR for physicals and shots.... it's payback time.

Here is the little monster sitting by part of her mess

this is the living room
this is the family room
yes this IS tortillas sitting on the computer desk
i'm not sure what the poor horse did to deserve this

Soccer, Big Red and Vacation

Soccer is back in full swing, Caleb had his first tournament last week and has another one this weekend. Catlin has her first game this Sunday.
We were able to fit in one last vacation to visit family in Michigan and Ontario before school starts. We had a really great time, it's hard being so far away from everyone.
Caleb got in some great fishing on lake Huron while Catlin and Cassie took advantage of the warm weather and great beach.
Now were back and it's time for school to start.......... goodbye to summer for another year!

Cassie playing at the beachCaleb and cassie at Storybook park
storybook park
Catlin and Cassie made friends with a cow
Cassie is learing to milk a goat

Caleb is gearing up for another season of soccerCaleb and Catlin on Big Red
Calebs fish he caught on the first day out
corner kick
Catlin and Cassie playing at the beach