Battle for the Axe

Saturday we went to Mt. Horeb to celebrate Eric's 36 birthday and watch the Wisconsin vs. Minnesota game. Tara's brother-in-law has a terrific bar in his basement (Zeus Bar) and since he is a MN fan - it was the perfect place to watch the game!

Everyone was dressed in their schools colors - including the babies!

James and Allie playing together during the game.

Landon was teaching James how to wrestle!

This picture cracks me up.  At one point Elise came over and said that it has been a while since she got to "hold" James.  I tried to explain that he was a big boy now and doesn't really like to be "held", especially when he is running around with the other kids. But we gave it a try!

The whole group at Bar Zeus! 

Zeus was a good sport even though UW has taken the coveted axe for the last 10 years and counting.

Patrick made a cake for Eric  - the frosted twinkies are beheaded gophers!

And just a couple more photos of James and Allie playing in their jammies.

Allie was really interested in the see and say ...

Quick Allie - his eyes are closed --- take it!

Happy Birthday Eric - looking forward to more cousin time this weekend!



Exploding Glass

This past weekend Patrick was working hard to winterize the house - both inside and out. 

With the early snow last week, I suggested we bring the glass portion of our patio furniture inside to melt the ice on some old towels and then once it was dry - we could store it in the garage for the winter.

(We didn't want the ice to melt on the new drywall in the garage!)

Sunday morning Patrick very carefully carried the glass through the kitchen and mud room, into the garage. He slowly rested the glass on his foot to reach back and close the door to the house... Not brushing the glass against ANYTHING!

Given the name of this post - I am sure you can guess what happened next!

The table top shattered into what I truly believe was over 3 million pieces! Flying across the garage, into the mudroom and even into the kitchen!  Thankfully it was the kind of glass that is made to break safely - Patrick walked away unscathed - though pretty shocked!

(For those of you that watch How I met your Mother ...Barney:  "Am I dead?!?" - was the look of surprise on his face!)

We spent a good chunk of the morning sweeping up glass and I am sure will continue to find it for the next few days!

So for those of you that have not yet winterized --- please take note... moving glass from the warmth of your home into a very chilly garage ---- Not a good idea!

And kindly remind us in the spring - we are in the market for a fresh piece of glass for the table!

First Haircut

We took James for his first haircut on Saturday morning. There is a little barber shop in downtown McFarland that we had heard good things about - so we thought we would give it a try!

George started by showing James the toy bin.

It was a huge chest filled with all of the McDonalds Happy Meal toys from our youth!

Then they got down to business!

Even used the buzzer in the back.

James did really well and only cried a little towards the end.

I think he knew there was a sucker waiting for him - so he turned on the waterworks!

All cleaned up in the back!

George and James posing for a post hair cut photo!

Thanks George --- we will be back! 

Tuesday night basketball fun!

We were fortunate enough to get some tickets for last night's Badger basketball game and when Patrick suggested we not only go - but take James with us - I was a little hesitant. But I agreed, figuring the worst thing that could happen is we spend most of the game in the concourse or we leave early. 

Since it was a non-conference game - Patrick thought it was a good trial run.

The view from our seats!

Patrick and James watching the game.

I was snapping pictures right away, not knowing how long we would last!

James and Patrick pointing out Bucky!

Family photo at HALFTIME!

And a final picture of James with the scoreboard - this was to prove we made it to the end of the game, but you really can't see that.

James did great!

We let him run before the game and at half time but otherwise sat very nicely in Patrick's lap.

 I think he was a fan :)

The game ended up being pretty special - I don't think I have ever seen the Badgers break 100 points - plus, Frank Kaminsky (also a #44) broke the all time single game record for points - scoring 43 last night!

And finally - the reason we got these great tickets...

Derek and Connie had their baby over the weekend!

Meet Everett :)

We are so excited he is here and can't wait to spend some more time with him this weekend!

We were very happy to report that the people sitting around us (in Derek and Connie's seats) thought James was great - so no burnt bridges for when they bring E to his first game!

Thanks again C,D and E :) 

Madison Weekend - Good times - Great friends!

Patrick and I were invited to sit in a box for the UW vs. BYU game on Saturday.  Happily we were able to find a sitter for James and we geared up for game day!

Patrick went down early to meet up with his high school and college buddy Matt Sass. He was in town for a brief visit (currently serving in the military - but thankfully he is currently stationed in Seattle!). We also got to meet his girlfriend Alyssa and see the Hebels.

 I was there long enough to snap a quick group photo before heading into the game!

When we got in the box we found table tents with our names in front of our seats - how fancy!

Here is a quick photo of Patrick and I towards the end of the game.

We raced home after to relieve the baby sitter - this was the first time we had a local high school girl watch James and it couldn't have gone better.  She was great and James was happy!

Sunday we got up early to got cheer on Dusty as he ran the Madison Marathon.

Here he is at mile 22 - looking strong!

Post race - Anne, Connie and Jenn - most likely the last photo of us with a pregnant Connie!

Hurry up Baby Scheidt - we want to meet you!

Same picture from another angle -

thought it was funny because you can't even see the baby in this picture!

Sunday night we had a delicious Italian dinner with some neighbors!



First dinner in the Knapps' dining room!

John always makes fantastic italian dishes - and this one was no different - homemade chicken parm with freshly made tomato sauce - yummmmm!

James was really interested in Macey - but for the most part was very gentle!

We are trying to get him to say "Macey" - so far the closest we are getting is "May May"

still pretty cute!

Eli and James being musical together. 

And I think the highlight of the night for the little boys - John playing "Peas Porridge" with them -

thanks for a fun dinner and a terrific weekend!

It's been ten years...

It's been ten years since I graduated from UW and my Mifflins roommates wanted to get together to celebrate. But with busy schedules, families, weddings to plan, states between us, etc. it was not the college weekend re-lived that was originally pictured.

A few of us still got together at our house on Friday night and then some more joined the group in Madison to watch the game on Saturday.

Friday night one of my roommates, Lisa, her husband, Evan and their son Andrew and our other roommate Susan came over for dinner and games. We had an awesome meal from a new blog I follow called: http://iowagirleats.com/ 

We had a delicious dinner of what I am now calling PMP Pasta.

It is basically all of the ingredients that go into a Chicken/ Bacon/ Artichoke/ Spinach/ Sun Dried Tomato Papa Murphy's Pizza (that's the PMP) and then tossed with penne and a yummy garlic cream sauce. 

It was fantastic!

If I haven't told you about Iowa Girls Eats yet - go check out her blog ---

 she is awesome and I want to be her friend :)

I know you will be shocked to hear this - but the only photos I managed to take were of the boys!

No food, no roommates - nothing :(

But the boys were so cute - I figured it was worth posting!

James and Andrew playing toys

Dino jammie photo!  

These boys are about 3 months apart and I am sure will be good buddies!

Andrew was less than pleased that we were taking photos and that his nuk got taken away.

James was oblivious to it all! 

Thanks for a fun night :)

Grandma Carol's Birthday

Sunday we went to Fond du Lac to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa

to celebrate Grandma Carol's birthday.

The sun was shining and it was warm enough to spend some time outside!

Grandpa took James exploring.

Patrick showed James how to swing on the "big rig" tire swing.

And James and Grandma spent some chill time on the swing.



They also looked at the box elder bugs crawling through the mulch and on the tree!

And played in the bird bath!

What a great day exploring for this kid :)

Fall is almost over - but I was still able to snap a beautiful picture of the back yard!

Thanks for a fun and relaxing afternoon and

Happy Birthday Grandma Carol! 

Halloween 2013

We had a great Halloween this year, despite the rain!

Grammy brought this glowing pumpkin - James was memerized from the minute it came out of the box!

Can't wait for the Christmas tree - he is going to love it!

In the days leading up to Halloween, we practiced wearing the hats so James wouldn't rip it off immediately. I thought he was going to have to wear his Bucky hat under the Grover hat - but he came around once Patrick and I had our hats on too!



Aunt Lisa sent James Frankie socks --- I love his chunky legs :)

Prepping for the kids -1/2 dressed.

Family photos

James enjoyed waddling around the front yard between rain showers. He wasn't exactly the skinny grover from Sesame Street - but he was super cute and cuddly!

Caption: "Wait --- none of that candy is for me?!?" (bawling!!!!!!!!)



James spent much of the time in his pack n play on the front porch. We were warm and dry under the porch and Patrick and I had our hands free to hand out Apple cider and candy.

Love this photo!

Practicing carrying my old treat bag for future years.

The Stelse kids stopped by to show us their costumes - James was already done with his so we just put his hat back on for the picture.

And one more of our furry friend --- Hope you had a wonderful halloween filled with many treats!