Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Not keeping up!

I know...I've been terrible about keeping up with the blog!  Ted commented that I haven't been putting family stuff on the blog, "You always put stuff up about school and you don't care about us..."  Oops!  Time to get caught up...for a little while.  I didn't realize how bad it was till today when I finally noticed I still had a fall leaf background up.  What in the world?
I fight off and on with sickness, schoolwork, family time, housework, activities, Ted being gone, motherhood, sickness, church, housework, and just sitting down to rest!  Bringing Velle into our home has added another dynamic, but she makes me stop!  Working makes life a little more busy!
I am enjoying my Kinders!  They are doing such a good job.  I am mentally trying to prepare for how K5 Graduation will come together...I know...it is still 3 months away.
Our big kiddos enjoyed Snow Camp last week.  It is weird now...all three kiddos are gone at the same time!  We may or may not have gone out two nights in a row for supper.
This week is Spirit Week at school.  Teddy went as Murdoch from the A-Team today. Alisa is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.  Ashlynn is Little Red-riding Hood.  I was the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  I must remember to remove my whiskers before going out again!  We enjoyed Class Color Day and Favorite Sports Team.  Teddy stuck to his guns and wore his Chicago Bulls shirt.  He called the girls traitors because they have Michigan shirts.  As I type this...I realize that I did not take any pictures of the 4 of us the last couple days.  Whoops, again!  There is this fog that tends to set over my brain sometimes...I will blame it on the teens that live with us.
Due to the extra debating and such that teenagers bring to a home, I changed my mind and wore Ted's referee shirt for Favorite Sports Team day.  Sometimes...I have to come back into the house after starting to back out of the drive-way to double-check things that were already cared for.
So...case and point...referee shirt ended up being a good choice!
Halfway through February already...and I'm coughing again! sighing loudly here.

Thankful for the beauty found in the winter season!



In answer to Uncle Paul's question...

 Yes!  Velle is one spoiled little puppy!  She is cuddly and lovey...but sassy and bitey.

 She konks out in the cutest spots!
 Her first trip to the vet...she weighed 4 pounds.


 She is my afternoon buddy...and whines when I don't sit and hold and cuddle her.  She is so sad in the morning when we are getting ready to leave for school!  Five hours alone is hardly tolerable.
 She follows me around and stays by me...in the kitchen and bathroom!










 She has visited school a couple times now.  I had her with me in Kindergarten last Friday to meet the Kinders.  They loved her!  She was ready to go home at 12pm!
 That puppy in the mirror...always barks!
Feb. 1 was her second trip to the vet and she weighs 5.18 pounds.  She got her second set of shots and got carsick on the way to and from the vet!  Feb. 9 was her first visit to the groomer.  She slept the whole way home!

Ted had a two week trip to Germany...

 we ALL missed him!  Actually, Velle was a wonderful distraction for those of us who stayed home.
 It is only socially acceptable for dogs to lick and climb all over their owners to say "Welcome Home!"
 Velle spoke for all of us!  We are always thankful for the Lord's protection on Ted as he travels.
And we are even more thankful when he returns safely home!  I honestly can feel myself relax when I get the text in the cell phone lot at the airport, "I'm heading to the curb."

Christmas in Wisconsin


















Thursday, January 28, 2016

Christmas at Grampy and Grammy's

 with the Stille and Tackeberry kiddos...three years apart!

Monday, January 11, 2016

A very Merry Christmas Eve to our family...

as we welcomed a new furry baby!  It was sooo hard to say "Goodbye" to Chevy.  We didn't think we could go through that again...but...wow...did we miss the little pitter-patter of doggie feet!  We weren't planning on looking for or finding a puppy...till we woke up December 24.  Ted and Teddy went exploring.  Kari was browsing the ads online.  And...well...it just all came together...when a lady called me back to tell me her friend had one little female Teddy Bear puppy left.  "Would you like her name and number?"
 Grandma and the girls went out to shop...and ended up at the breeder's home...and fell in love with a cuddly little Bichon-Shitzu mix called a Teddy Bear.  We met her mommy and saw a picture of her daddy...where she gets her brown ears from!  She cuddled right up on me...then I let the girls hold her.
 We all were mesmerized!
 We brought her home with us!  It was so fun to share this with Grandma!  We headed to Farm and Fleet to pick up food and a few things we needed to care for our new baby.

 The girls babysat in the Yukon...and Grandma and I giggled our way through the store.  "We have nothing for a baby!  I need to think...what will we need?"  I should have gotten a cart!

 Meeting Teddy...
 Meeting Papa...
 All this excitement is tiring!
 Cuddling with Dad...
 Awake again to play with her human chew toy!  She loves Teddy!
 She comes to Mom to cuddle and be assured that this is ok.  Melt my heart...what a way to relax!
 Cuddling with Grandma...and wanting desperately to make friends with Sammie.  He doesn't want anything to do with her!  An unexpected and unplanned gift we chose as a family...
our furry baby, Velle.  
Short for Chevelle...we had a Chevy...it just sort of made sense (well, that...and the guys didn't like our first choices.  And...we didn't like their choice of Torque Wrench!)  She is a sassy, playful little thing that made the adjustment to our family very well!