March Madness at the Bartel's

I can't remember a nicer March! The weather has been mild...ok, even HOT at times! We've been setting record high temps here in WI. We were almost even tempted to turn on the air conditioning a few times. The nights are still cooler, so it's refreshing to sleep with the windows open...IN MARCH...IN WI! Pure Madness! We even had our first S'Mores of the year from our backyard fire pit.

Not only are the flowers blooming, but the boys are already finding FROGS and even a caterpillar!

 It's been bliss! 

Can I just tell you how much I am enjoying my new camera!? I LOVE it! So far my favorite subject has been the dog, as she is the only one who will sit still.

Even her yawns are cute! 

If I try to get a picture of the kids,...this is what I get.

March 26th, our little animated, dramatic Princess turned SEVEN!

My first born, who gave me the privilege and honor to be called a Mom, just turned a another year further away from that little toddler I loved to watch dance around the house to Elmo and the Wiggles.

 She is now obsessed with Mermaids and still even a little bit of the Princesses. Where is time going?

 I caught her the other day playing dress up...only this time she stuffed her top with socks so she could have *boobies*! Oh that girl!

This year she celebrated her birthday with a fellow classmate at a Hotel water park. They invited all of their friends to swim and spend the night. I was the night chaperon with 7 little other animated, dramatic girls. All in all, they had a BLAST swimming and talking until they could barely utter another word and their eyes collapsed...er wait, that might have been me. They were so excited to swim they even wore their swimming suites to breakfast! 

Sept 2011 - Feb 2012

Once again, its been too long since I last posted about the Bartel household happenings. It's becoming harder with each passing moment to set aside time for reflection and preserve these wonderful memories. I can say that Facebook and Pinterest have not helped with my lack of time and distraction either.

I will pick up where I left off...

September, which always seems to be my favorite month, crept in again this year with much anticipation. McKenna started first grade.

While Zander started his very first day of Kindergarten!

They were both so excited for school to start. Zander didn't seem nervous in the slightest bit...completely opposite of McKenna's first day. He walked into his classroom, found his "spot", and started to color with a few of the other kids. He didn't even care to look up to see if I had left. (tear) I often think it's way harder on the parents than it is for the kids. This meant only one left in the nest at home...Gage.

We celebrated a successful first few days of school by driving to Stevens Point for the annual Pacelli Panacea Carnival. As usual, the kids had a blast. Thankfully we didn't bring home any more Goldfish, as the 2 from last year are still alive. Any takers??

My three "boys" on the Ferris Wheel 

Daddy and Kenna enjoying a beautiful, relaxing September evening on the deck.

Being a first grader means more vocabulary words to study. McKenna struggles with her homework, but thankfully, she's determined to get through it instead of giving up. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."...not McKenna. Her teacher even complimented her regarding this asset. I will admit, I have been known to give rewards for being good and studying hard. Some (Daddy) might call it bribery, I prefer to call it progress. One of the rewards McKenna just loved was when I told her I would get my wedding dress out for her to try on if she studied all of her words AND got them ALL right. It took over an hour, but in the end, it was all worth it...for both of us.

McKenna in her glory wearing my wedding gown and a kool aid mustache.

October was a busy and beautiful month. Last year it was super cold, this year it was chilly, yet nice enough to be outside for a long period of time and still be able to feel your toes. The kids have a crazy obsession...AnGrY BiRdS! As soon as we purchased our iPad Angry Birds was immediately installed, and it's all the kids played...even to this day. It's pretty sad when a 3yr old had to teach me how to download an app. They must have downloaded 5 different versions already and conquered multiple levels on each version. So, when Halloween came around it was no surprise that they ALL wanted to be an Angry Bird. I went on eBay to look for costumes, but they were all way too pricey. I decided to make them. I think they turned out pretty darn cute!

(I ended up taking the blue feathers off since they constantly left a trail.)

November was a great month! It's usually the time when the Winter blues start to peek its weary head, but not this year! This month was a dream come true for the kids...and me! With a little persuasiveness, and a bit/ton of whining from the kids, Jason okay'd us adding to our family! Our neighbor had a litter of Pug puppies and I would see them everywhere. One afternoon she brought them over. We've never had a little puppy before, and the last time we adopted a dog, it turned out to be heartache. After spending some time with the little Pugs, McKenna picked out her favorite. We named her Mesa, since Mesa, AZ is where our family started.

Christmas came early for the kids this year!

On day one, Jason said that we should get TWO! I was so excited! By day two, I thought there is no way in hell I can handle TWO of these little munchkins! Wow, puppies are hard work!! I love every second of our snoring, cuddly Pug. She has definitely brought so much love and joy (and a bit of frustration) to our family. She's constantly at my toes. I can't even get up to go to the bathroom without her following me, even if she's in a deep sleep. It's crazy how much she loves me. The kid in me adores this trait in her, but the adult in me gets frustrated at times. She's my little leach.

(Literally, on my toes!)

December came and went in the blink of an eye, yet again. I tried to stretch out Christmas 2011 by putting the Christmas decor up pretty much after Halloween. I loved it at first, until we decided to get our new addition. It's a bit hard to potty train a little puppy with a tree in the middle of your living room! Thankfully I had just purchased a steam carpet cleaner only weeks prior to welcoming our little "mess maker". I must say I've put it to good use! After boxing off the bottom of the Christmas tree with presents, Mesa finally figured out that leaving her little turds under the tree was not acceptable. All in all, she's a great puppy. She loves to play and rough house with the kids. She also doesn't mind it when McKenna dresses her up in her Build-a-Bear costumes and gets carried around like a baby.

We had a countdown on our table for Christmas. The kids were SO excited! Gage especially was a maniac about it. He would circle, then re-circle ALL of the toy catalogs, to the point where almost every single item was chosen. We constantly had to remind him that Christmas was Jesus' Birthday and these presents were to him, from Santa, for Jesus...needless to say he was a bit confused.

In any event, Christmas 2011 was a hit!

Some favorite gifts included:

McKenna: Big blue stuffed Angry Bird, makeup, LOTS of shoes and of course, a puppy!

Zander: Big red stuffed Angry Bird, Nerf archery set, guns and super hero stuff.

Gage: Big black stuffed Angry Bird, super hero stuff, tool stand and more tools.

Mom and Dad: A new camera! Finally! OK, this is more for Mom, but Dad will love the pics I take. 

2011 Bartel Christmas Tree 

Gage passed out with a death grip on one of his new presents. 

Gage's Pre-School Christmas Concert 

McKenna and Zander's Christmas Concert

January 2012! Another year down in the books! It's just another reminder to reflect on the years past and recognize how fast life goes by. I just say to myself  "This year, will be better than the last."...and then I try to make it happen. This January broke records for the high temps we were able to enjoy. The weather was just beautiful in January...in Wisconsin! I had a tulip that even started to sprout back up! This meant playing at the park and walks with Mesa, which was pretty funny at first. Let's just say she wasn't used to being a leash and tangled herself often. 

Gage enjoyed playing at the park, while I enjoyed watching him.

It was only 24hrs after this fifty one degree picture was taken, that we had a reality check and a snow storm came through with freezing temps. Goodbye to an extra long Fall and Hello to Winter! (I'm so not a fan of snow!)

Back to playing indoors! Speaking of playing indoors, check out this picture of my super coordinated boys playing catch in our living room.

(Ha ha)

February has been a good month so far. Zander lost both of his top front teeth, while McKenna continues to grow hers back. Z is now in size 6 clothes, and size 1 shoes! He's grown so much in this past year! He's already bigger than his big sister too! He's 54lbs and Mckenna is 52lbs. McKenna is in size 6x, but fastly approaching into 7. She's in a size 13/1 shoe. My littlest of them all is in a size 4/5 already! He's in size 12 for shoes too! I just can't keep up with his growth spurts! There was a period where I would put away Z's clothes and bring them out a year or so later to put in Gage's closet. Not the case anymore. The clothes that Zander doesn't fit into anymore get hung up in Gage's closet right away...and Gage wears them right away! Gage is 40lbs already too! In no time at all he's going to catch up to his older siblings.

Jason turned 34 Feb 20th! He and I decided to put weekly "Date Night" back on the calender for us. What's that saying..."Happy Wife, Happy Life." We've also decided to join a local gym in the area. Oh how I've missed my "me time". As I write this I can feel my sore abs and legs...and I love it! Hopefully I can tone up a bit before Summer comes back!

In the meantime, we are just enjoying life. The kids continue to get bigger and the dog continues to chew through the bottom of ALL our furniture.

(Caught in the act!)

(Kiddos Dec 2011)

(McKenna's 1st grade school pic) 

(Zander's Kindergarten school pic) 

(Gager's 3yrs old...and growing...)

A Year of Reflection

It's been SO long since I've actually typed out a real post, that an ENTIRE year has managed to squeeze by! It's been a WHOLE year since I've told you about my precious babies and showed you pictures of our daily adventures. I will try to some it up with a picture or 2 of each month. I left off in August of 2010.
Zander turned FOUR and Gage turned TWO!

That was a great month, despite Jason's injury. That month ended the summer's adventures and brought on Fall's festivities. In August of 2010, Zander discovered his LOVE for fishing.

He just beamed when he caught his very 1st fish. It probably didn't even register at 2 inches, but Z's heart swelled with pride.

Zander also "caught" a very strange looking insect, and of course had to bring it in the house to show me. I had no idea what this weird alien looking bug was until I posted a pic of it on facebook.

Turns out it was a Cicada, and these things live underground for 10+ years, then come up for the last year or 2 of their life. It was like no other bug I've seen before. Zander carried the thing around for days in his bug box. Still not sure if it was alive or dead when Zander found it...

September...probably my most favorite month, was the month my beautiful Godchild Gavin was born! He's a spitting image of my brother!...(If you're reading his Brian, don't get a big head and think that I think you're beautiful.)  ;o)
The Lepak name continues for our family!

It also marked Zander's first day of Pre-K. I am just thrilled that he LOVES school! (I'll remind him of this when he's older!)

October we ventured out to my first home away from home...Arizona!

 I love that place!

 

McKenna especially loved reconnecting with her cousins Jersie and Sydnee.

I loved reconnecting with the SUN (and of course my brother and his family)! We drove up, around and thru the mountains to get to get to Heaven's playground, Apache Lake. It was well worth every heart palpitation to get there. It's been the most beautiful, peaceful and scenic place I have ever been. I literally felt God there. We flew back just in time for Halloween.
Trick-or-Treating consisted of a Funky Witch, Elmo and a Dragon.

Here's another (scanned) gorgeous pic of the kiddos taken by my BFF Sarah Gwidt.

If you haven't checked out her website, DO IT!! I love that her pictures grace the walls of our house!
November was the month of Elway....the most BEAUTIFUL, BEST dog ever! That's right, we adopted a 4yr old small Alaskan Husky from the shelter! This meant brisk morning walks, playtime, and SO MUCH love in our house!

Elway gave out kisses faster than he received them.

I'm SO SAD that Elway was with us for only 3 weeks before he passed away from complications of being hit by a car. Although he loved us, he also LOVED to run away. To this day, we still talk about our beautiful loving dog, who will always hold a special place in our hearts.

In late November, I also managed to sneak away for another Canadian Tenors Concert. Angelic voices!!...not to mention looks. HELLO FRASER!

December marked another year down in the books! If I was posting regularly at this time, I would have probably been complaining about the snow and cold already. I'm not a fan of Winter...at all. All of the grand kids received another pair of homemade PJ's from Grandma Bartel. Looks like this might be a tradition for her.

Here's a look at the Bartel Fam on Christmas Eve.

My "four" babies

January marked the end of McKenna's homeschooling, and her 1st day of "REAL" school! Needless to say she was quite hesitant when I dropped her off...tears were even shed.

Once I picked her up, she couldn't stop talking about how "cool" school was. Being the social butterfly that she is, she can't wait for school to start again. I'm so proud of her transition,...and mine. Mckenna lost her 1st tooth this month too!! My baby is growing!

February the Packers kicked some SUPERBOWL butt!! What a great game that was to watch! Everyone was decked out in their Packer gear!

Seeing the snow kept falling, the kids made many snowmen. This one in particular was pretty goofy. From the front, he was a nice, happy lookin' guy, but when we looked out the window, our view was him mooning us. The kids thought it was just hilarious.

We took the kids to their 1st hockey game. Zander was in awe. He didn't really know how to pronounce it, because he kept calling it "hawky".

Even now, he has his little "Zanderisms", like hangurber (hamburger), mazagine (magazine), hostaple (hospital), shelth (shelf). He can talk perfectly fine, it's just funny when he says these words, because he just can't seem to get them right. I suppose it would help if I corrected him instead of smiling at him because it's still a little part of toddler left in him that I don't want to see taken away just yet. Gage's funny thing, besides his adorable lisp, is when he talks about Boys and Grills.

He's a boy, and I'm a Grill.
Zander also lost his 1st tooth!

March my little baby, my first born, turned SIX! One of her gifts was a Karaoke machine. If you you're my friend on fb, check out her version of Celine's "All By Myself". HILARIOUS! I can't get over what a beautiful soul this girl has! All she talks about is being a Mommy and a Teacher when she grows up. Little does she know that she's taught THIS Mommy SO much!!

April was the month of our beloved cat Tanqueray aka "Tanq"! (okay, I thought her name was cool when I was in college) I've posted about Tanq before, as she's been my first true love. After all, I've known her before I even knew Jason! When I first bought her I took her to my Grandma Lepak's  house and my Grandma fell in love with her too. My heart smiles when I think about it, because my Grandma could NEVER get her name right. Even before my Grandma passed away, she would ask how "Tangerine" was doing. I remember missing class, just to sit and watch Tanqueray play with a candy wrapper. She had the most beautiful BIG blue eyes I've ever seen on a cat.

 

I couldn't look at her without going up to her and petting or snuggling her. I loved how she laid on her back to sleep too...just like a dog.

 

Once I had babies, I would measure their growth by laying them next to her.  

McKenna 

Gagers

Our blue eyed beauty is now buried in our backyard, with a blue solar light, among other things, marking her grave.

What I would give for one more snuggle and chin-nudge from her...

Easter Family Pic

Our beautiful niece Emery was born in April!

May flew by! Probably from the anticipation of Summer's arrival. I don't even have many pictures taken from May. McKenna and Zander continue to lose teeth and grow them just as fast. McKenna has now lost her 2 top and 2 bottom teeth, and Zander is catching up with 2 bottom. The Tooth fairy knows her way to this house!

I did manage to see another Canadian Tenors Concert too! (insert drool bucket)

I think I've got my CT fix for the rest of the year...maybe.

June marked the end of the school year for McKenna and Zander! Kenners graduated from Kindergarten and Zander proudly accepted his Pre-school graduation diploma.

When receiving his diploma, his teacher asked him what he would like to be when he grew up. He looked up and stared at his Daddy for a bit, then turned to the teacher and said, "CHEF!" Huh? I didn't even know he knew what that meant. I was expecting a response like "Spiderman or a Fire Chief, like some of his other classmates. 

June was a bit chilly this year. During a windy day, we found a robins nest that was knocked down. 2 of the 3 didn't make it, and I couldn't stand to watch the 3rd just freeze to death...so naturally I scooped up the little fella and wrapped it up in some warm towels and fed it some syringed worms. Zander loved my request for him to dig up some worms!

Within an hour the little guy was feeling better. I can't believe how much these things eat and POOP! Every 20 min from Sun UP to Sun DOWN!

FEED ME!...which Zander did! Z LOVED this responsibility!

We named him Harry. By the evening we made a nest and put him back outside. HE SURVIVED! His parents came back! I felt such a sense of accomplishment and purpose that day.

ALL 3 kiddos played T-Ball this year!

Gage was SUPER excited! Their cousin Brecken was on the Sliders Team again this year too. Jason even coached! Here's some pics from the TBall season.

 The kids just had a BLAST!!

My awesome Mom turned the BIG 6-0 too!

LOTS of family bdays during the summer!

July meant my youngest babe of them all, turned another year older. Tissue please!

Gage turned THREE!!!

Since every summer seems to be booked with festivities, this one being no exception, we managed to celebrate Gage's birthday while camping "Up North" with the Bartel side for our annual camping trip. This year he picked out a Buzz Lightyear theme.

We celebrated his birthday again last week at Bay Beach with Zander and his cousin Shannon. I'll post pics from that next!

The kids also started their annual swimming lessons at Marble Park. This meant splish-splashing, water slides, jumping off the dock, and loving EVERY SECOND of it! Zander can officially float now! McKenna's almost there. Gage, well, he just enjoyed playing in the water trying to catch the tiny minnows.

The kids loved their swimming instructor Megan! 

Well, I'm sure I missed a couple of things, but that about catches me up to this month, August! Whew!

I'm never waiting THAT long to post again!