Witch's Night

Every October, Gardner Village sets out all their witches and has lots of fun activities, one of them being Witch's Night. We will actually be out of town for the real Witch's Night, so we decided to make our own.

First, we all get dressed up, or at least have a hat.

She wanted to wear her costume, so she is Tinkerbell Witch.

Some are fancier than others.


This is my aunts. It was the coveted hat this year.
This was our friends.

We meet at the village,
hit the shops,
This is my new hat. It has spiders hanging from it. I think it is cute!
eat dinner,
(where we waited for an HOUR for our dinner! Next time we will eat somewhere else)and of course, see the WITCHES!

There's Hope

Thanks to a great idea from a good friend, my kids ate all their lunch and Syd even asked for more!

Before After

Tribute to a Faithful Reader

My grandma asked me the other day why she was not mentioned in my blog. So, here's to you gma, a list of the wonderful memories I have from all the years of spending every Friday night at your house.

1. Mad Gab. I was good at that game!
2. Baked Potatoes. You made the best potatoes for me, and I think you still made them for me even when I was old enough to make them myself.
3. No candy before lunch. To this day, I think it is wrong to eat treats before lunch. I just can't get myself to do it (unless I just have to) and I won't let my kids either. I tried to explain this to John, but he just didn't get it.
4. When you bought the new swing set we had to do everything on it 5 or 10 times, depending on how rambunctious we were.
5. Swimming at the Jr. High and then getting scones after. I still love those scones!
6. Old, Classic movies. My favorites are Singing in the Rain, My Fair Lady, and Auntie Mame (the one with Lucile Ball).
7. Sledding down your front hill, after taking an hour to put on all our snow gear.
8. Finch, a great card game. I wasn't as good at that one, but I loved that you would sit down and play with us.
9. Dancing to old songs on your record player.
10. Playing in your basement everything from hide-and-go-seek to X-Men (I was always Storm, until I wasn't cool enough to play with the boys).

And many, many more. Thanks for spending so much time with me and teaching me so much. I love you!

Sorry, I had to put a picture up, but I made it small.

Pumpkin Patch

Last week we went to a pumpkin patch with Sydney's preschool. We went every year in Milwaukee and I think I am going to have to make a tradition!

Really Need a Parenting Manual

I am sitting home with Sydney feeling like a bad parent while John is taking my little sister and Connor out for ice cream. We have had a huge problem with Sydney and food ever since... oh, since she was born! She is just so stubborn sometimes and I don't know what to do! I say I have tried everything, but I really hope I haven't because there has got to be something I can do. Here is the problem: she won't eat!
It doesn't matter what I give her to eat, whether she likes it or not, whether she has eaten before or not, she won't eat more that a bite or two, if even that. I don't let her eat any snacks after 4 and we don't eat dinner until 6. She should be hungry!
We have tried to just let her get down when she says she is done and she doesn't get anything else to eat. I don't like doing that because, well, you've seen how skinny she is, I don't want her wasting away. When we do do that, she is hungry 10 minutes later and is cranky because she really is hungry.
We have also tried making her sit up there until she is done. The first time we did that, she was in her high chair for 4 hours, and we just wanted her to take one bit then. Yesterday it was 2 hours for a small bowl of macaroni! It usually is that long and that just can't happen any more because she is in school and we have things to do!
Then we tried setting the timer. If she wasn't done when it went off, she could get down, but nothing else to eat or if it was done, she got a treat of some kind.
We have also tried the positive approach of giving her any treat, snack, or whatever she wants if she eats all her food. Doesn't matter. She still won't eat! That is why I am sitting home with her today. We told the kids if they eat all their dinner, we will take them out for ice cream (Sydney loves the tiny ice cream cones at Arctic Circle). We gave Sydney 45 minutes and she didn't eat it all (and I only gave her maybe 1/3 of a cup of noodles, that was it!) so John took the other two. Sydney is very sad, of course, and crying like I beat her. I feel bad, but what do we do? I have gotten a few parenting books, but I think my child is the only child that won't eat! I haven't had much luck, in other words. So, ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Family Pictures

My mom and Lynn

Mom, sister Marie, Lynn, brother Mitch

Brother Matt and his cute wife Jodi

Since I can't fly my friend out here, we decided to do them ourselves. I think we did a pretty good job. It was quite cold, so we took them fast. Oh and don't mind Sydney's red punch mustache. (Jenni, any suggestions would be great!)

Daddy Got Scared

My brother has a habit of showering in the dark when he wakes up. I find it quite strange, but he says that it helps him wake up. Well, John had to get up earlier than usual last week and was having a hard time waking up, so he thought he would try my brother's method. So, while taking a shower, in the dark (I mean really dark, there are no windows) he hears this:

He could not figure out what is was and it really freaked him out! He got out of the shower and looked out of the bathroom, thinking maybe it was me calling him or some other human sound. Finding nothing (I don't do 5:30) he turned on the light and started searching. This was the culprit.

A bath toy that croaks and counts when wet. A birthday present that Connor enjoys, but dad does not.