A Saturday morning

I took the kids downtown again last Saturday for the Farmer's Market around the capitol square. I do enjoy taking the kids places where they can learn more about the places that are outside of our neighborhood. We did the typical walk around the square with the mass of other people who were at the market as well. I never feel more like a salmon than when I am at the Farmer's Market -- even more than when on the highway during rush hour.

After our traditional walk around the square, the kids always want to go up to the balcony of the capitol building. It is open to the public and goes completely around the capitol dome, so you can see a lot of downtown and the lakes in all directions. At the time, it was everything Allison wanted in the world just to go up to the balcony. When we got there, she took one look over the edge and wanted to leave. :( I held her the entire time and of course never went near the railing.

As it was approaching noon, we made our way back down the capitol building for some lunch. A quick stop at the drinking fountain outside the capitol building gave Isaac some time to do a little show-boating for the public.

So... with lunch in our tummies, cookies and cheese curds in hand, we headed out to one of their favorite parks where there just happened to be a carnival going on, and boy, do our kids love carnivals. They enjoyed their cookies at the park and the many things to do there without pressing too much to ride the carnival rides. After a very busy morning and afternoon, we headed home where I was hoping we'd all enjoy nice long naps, but oh no.. not our kids. Silly kids. Don't they know I'm old?

Tornadoes Near Us

The five of us are sitting in the basement while tornadoes are touching down all over the county. We're eating peanut butter and jelly and doritos. Us three adults are sitting in lawn chairs with our laptops out while the kids are running around rolling a ball. The tv is on to the local news. The weatherman is getting hoarse from talking nonstop. It's like watching a movie. We can hardly believe what's happening around us. There are 6 tornadoes that have touched down, one of which passed within a couple miles of us, and one that's headed in our general direction, but will probably pass us to the south. We're having a good old time down in the unfinished basement. I'm so glad that Shane and Sarah made it home from work ok, and we're all together. Don't worry about us. I will update later.

Severe Weather

It's been an interesting day weatherwise here in Southern Wisconsin. This morning it was sunny, hot, and extremely windy. After lunch, the kids went outside to run through the sprinkler with their friends. We went in when the skies turned dark and soon it began to rain. A HUGE bunch of thunderstorm cells went through to the north of us and spawned a bunch of tornadoes, but all we got was the rain. As I watched the weather man on tv, I counted four different tornadoes in our area. There was one near the Wisconsin Dells, which is about an hour north of us, one northwest of us, one east of us, and one southeast of us. Two of them were in our county. Apparently, there were lots of different cells that produced these rotating thunderstorms and they were scattered. But like I said, we didn't see much action here. All we got was rain. So far, anyway. More storms are forecasted for tonight and tomorrow and the next day, and the day after that, and so on. Isaac and I like tracking thunderstorms. We've been reading library books about weather and it's been really interesting!

This afternoon during the rain, the kids and I watched Monsters, Inc. Laughing with them, I realized how much I enjoy them. It was just one of those random moments in everyday life when I looked at my kids and felt so happy. Being their mommy brings me so much joy.

What we've been up to lately

Hello everyone!

It's been awhile since I posted but it's been a busy last couple of weeks. Our InterVarsity intern and 3-month houseguest Sarah moved in with us last weekend. It's been a joy getting to know her and finding out that we both like musicals and like to randomly burst into song! Yeah! She likes kids, has an easygoing personality, is physically active, and seems like a good fit for our family. Tomorrow morning she's running in a 5K race and Sunday she's going to Chicago to watch a baseball game with the other interns. Tonight the five of us enjoyed pizza, Crazy Bread, fresh pineapple, and a board game. Allie quit before it was over, which is typical!

Isaac graduated from Kindergarten today. (There are still 6 1/2 school days left.) Shane and I went and heard his class sing a few songs. One was a tearjerker and yes, I cried. Shane videotaped the program. If I ever figure out how to get it on the computer, I'll put it on here so you can watch it. I also cried when it was Isaac's turn to get his diploma. This school year went so fast!

Tomorrow I go to cooking club all day. That's the club I'm in where I get together with 3 friends and we each take home 30 meals (that's 120 total divided between the four of us). We buy all the ingredients in bulk beforehand and split the cost. It usually comes to about $200 for those 30 meals. (Three each of 10 different recipes.) It's grueling but rewarding. We also have a lot of prepwork beforehand. This time I was assigned to cook and cube 9 lbs. of chicken, cut 6 lbs. of raw chicken into strips, pick up 36 steaks from the butcher and make room for them in my fridge, which is already full from storing 48 lbs. of chicken breasts. It's funny when you open our fridge because every square inch of space inside is packed! It's a minor inconvienence for all the easy freezer meals we'll get!

It's been an exhausting last couple of weeks and I'll be glad when it's Sunday and I have nothing pressing to do. A real Sabbath for me! What a concept! The weather is supposed to be nice and in the 70's this weekend and then it's supposed to rain a lot next week. Which reminds me, Isaac's first T-ball/Little League game is Tuesday. He's on the roster for playing catcher and pitcher. The last couple of practices haven't been as fun for him. Please pray for him not to be discouraged but that he would learn how to play and be part of a team and most of all, have fun in the process. Shane and I want this to be a positive learning experience for him.

That's all for now. Time for me to finish the dishes and then turn in early. Hello to our Indiana family! Hope you all are well! Keep in touch!