October in Review

We like to keep our social calendar full here at the Salfer house.  October did not disappoint!  To start off the month, my friend JoAnna turned 50 years young!  I got a few of our mutual friends together and threw together a little party for her with a few surprises and help from her mom to make her day extra special.  We had a great night celebrating one of the most thoughtful people I know!

A yearly Salfer tradition (we have many) mazing it up at Montgomery Orchard and Corn Maze.  This year's theme was Monarch Butterflies.  It was a beautiful MN fall afternoon to relax, enjoy each others company, eat some yummy caramel apples, do a little trivia and soak up the sun.  

Over MEA break we traveled once again to the Dells with the Grack and Gilbertson families!  After taking last year off, the kids and even us adults were excited to make the trip back.  We had so much fun hanging out, playing games, enjoying the waterparks, ropes course, go-carts, etc and being in each others space.  The kids did so well, making sure they were always together and we could definitely tell they were at the perfect ages to have fun on all the rides.  

John Ireland Marathon

We all participated in JI's annual Marathon the first weekend of October by riding our bikes 4+miles and then finishing up with the service part by serving/helping out at The Kitchen.  Both parts to this event were alot of fun.  We had beautiful cool weather for the ride/walk and serving those less fortunate was a humbling experience.

Quarter Break

the kids had school off the 30th for end of quarter so I took them to one of there favorite hang outs in Mankato-The childrens museum of So. MN.  Before we got there we went to a local bakery for breakfast-Friesens Bakery for some yummy cinnamon/caramel rolls.  The Museum is fun for all ages-so many fun things to do and experience.

Pumpkin Patch/Halloween

Off to Grandmas Little Acres once again for a fun tractor ride to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect carving pumpkin.  Even though we end up going towards the end of the season we're still able to find a pumpkin or two that hasn't started rotting.   

I think the girls and Brian did a fabulous job carving.  Caitlin got out a power tool this year to complete hers and I tried a more "pinterest" looking white one.

Trick or Treating this year definitely had a different feel to it.  First, Emily wasn't with us right away because she was having fun at "Phantom of the Opera" with JoAnna and the kids.  Second, Caitlin stayed home to pass out candy to the kids who came to our door.  Third, our neighbors were gone and we always, always go to their house first to get the best handful of candy and always get a photo of the girls walking up to their door.  It was alot quieter and easier only bringing 3 of them out.  Our friends the Frey's walked with us since Katie and Rachel were Mario and Luigi from Mario Bros.  I think one of the funnier things was that I hadn't noticed that Lauren was a rabbit last year until after we were out and I wondered why her rabbit costume was so small on her!  That's how much I prepare for my Least Favorite Holiday. :)  

T

September wrap up

Lots of activity happened in September...This is some of the things I took pictures of:

Hanging out with Gpa Tom and Gma and boy cousins from Fargo and Auntie Annie

Being silly with Gma-mom was such a good sport to let the kids "do" her hair!

The same wekend, I took the girls to Redwood Falls to see my Grandma and also the "zoo", which has roughly 8 animals.  The girls were disappointed to say the least.  It took us about 15 minutes to check out all the animals. :)

The backyard patio project got finished!

Lauren and i started going to story time at the library and ran into some friends!

Brian took the girls on their annual Valleyfair trip!

Lauren keeps us laughing with her words and actions.  Here she is pretending to be Sherman from Mr. Peabody and Sherman!

We celebrated this kids birthday, Levi our Godchild!  We got him a sling shot!  His dad was smart and took the bee-bees and gave him beans to practice instead.  We did get eye protection for him too but maybe should have also gotten eye protection for the rest of his family!

7th grade attitudes and drama are in full swing :)

Rachel and Natalie's principal at school took these last two pictures of the girls after one of the first days of school at pick up time.  So cute!

Tennis

Emily joined the Saint Peter girls Tennis team this year and had alot of fun.  Its always interesting watching 7th graders who have had zero or little tennis experience.  We do see improvement from the beginning of the season to the end so thats good!  Emily played only doubles this year but will hopefully get a chance to try out singles next year if she decides to go out for it again.  She has a super strong backhand and a pretty good serve.  It would be nice to see more volleys so she can be challenged on all the strokes.  But in 7th grade, it comes down to serving.  If you can get it in, chances are they won't return it!  

This was Caitlin's 3rd year of tennis and it was a mixed bag of feelings.  She worked hard this summer to improve and had a goal of being on Top JV.  Basically "B" squad.  The problem being is that there were only 2 varsity players that left last year and the top JV girls from last year were moved up to Varsity so it would be hard to "move up".  Caitlin did make Top JV and was told she was #14 on the roster (top 13 actually get recognition) and was told she would be wearing a Varsity jersey.  She was very excited about that.  However, she never did receive a varsity jersey, instead a pit stained one from last year and in my opinion, the coach never even ordered her one or intended to.  So she kind of went through the season with false expectations.  Not good. Not good.  She wasn't the only one though in this position.  She and 3 others were kind of in limbo on the team.  They were the ones with the "special" jerseys and they were always set apart at practice and the coach rarely watched them. I want to blame him but he was hired as the Varsity coach but has no assistant so it is hard to watch that many matches going on at the same time.  She knows what she needs to do next year if she wants to be on Varsity or even noticed.  Its all good and a learning experience both for her and for us as her parents.  We do love watching the girls and are happy that they picked a sport they can do all their lives!

A BIG Reveal!

So in early September we were able to find out what Salfer #6 would be.  Brian and Lauren went with me to the ultra sound and we agreed that we would have a reveal cake for the other girls that evening.  The photo on the left is the cake I made that started self destructing shortly after I had frosted it.  So we ended up covering the half that was "revealing" and showed the kids.  Then Brian decided that we should cut the cake, cover each girls piece and have them guess before uncovering their piece of cake.  Two thought it was a boy, and the other three thought it was a girl.  Natalie informed us that if it was a boy she would start crying!  Lucky for her her guess was right and she was a happy girl.  They were all super excited in the end!  The picture on the right is of the reveal cupcakes that we had at the reveal party that the girls insisted on having.  There was a little discussion before hand though and one of the things they had to do was promise not to tell anyone until the party...which was a week away!  Our weekend of the girls reveal was already packed full of activity and I really didn't want to add one more thing so we decided that the following weekend would work the best.  I made over 50 cupcakes and about 45 people showed up for the reveal.  It was a lot of fun!  I think there were more people guessing it would be a boy or "hoping" it would be a boy so they were a little disappointed when they bit into their cupcake and saw the pink frosting.  As for those that picked "girl" they thought they were super smart and cheered very loud at the outcome.  It was such a nice evening to gather with friend that were able to come and help celebrate with us.  We are really blessed to have such a great group of people in our lives.  Back to the ultra sound that Brian and Lauren were at...After the technician told us that we were having a girl Brian and I both sat in silence to process this information that was given to us.  I really thought it would be a boy and brian thought it would be a girl but was thinking that if it was a boy we could have its middle name be Kenneth after his dad.  So he was slightly let down.  I guess we make what we know best and we are thrilled to add another queen to this family!  We are all hoping though that she has dark brown hair and keeps it so she looks like Emily. :)

Another Double Digit Salfer

Happy 10th Birthday Rachel!!!!  She's made it to the double digit club!  I know that I say this with alot of posts but I can't believe how fast times flies.  We've been reminiscing all the girls birth stories lately and I remember Rachel's like it was yesterday.  I had gone in for a check and I was 3 days overdue and I was in tears.  I was done.  So my doctor, who I love, asked me what I was doing the next day, which I said "nothing, why?" and he replies "you're going to have a baby!"  He had scheduled to induce me.  How nice!  I was so excited!  So the next morning we head to the hospital and I get induced around 8am and by 1pm I get to meet my beautiful baby girl!  And I'm not being biased when I say this but Rachel was really a beautiful baby!

We celebrated this beauty's birthday the Friday before her actual birthday,  She invited her 4th grade girl classmates and the 6th grade girls.  They came over after school, played capture the flag visited, giggled, had pizza and caramel apples and of course birthday cake.  This years theme for Rachel was Mine Craft, which I really knew nothing about.  So Rachel created a board on Pinterest and pinned everything she liked.  It was really fun!  And she really liked the cake, so that made me happy!  Then on her actual birthday she chose Buffalo Wild Wings to eat at for dinner.  She also enjoyed the new lego sets she got as gifts and has already completed them all!

And they're off!! First day of School 2015-2016

 

Just like that we're starting school again!  Why does summer seem to go so fast?  Oh, maybe it's because school activities start in the middle of August....seriously.  We had a great summer filled with just the right amount of activity and rest.  But in all honesty, all of us were ready for school to start.  The building of excitement of a new year with new teachers and some with new schools and classrooms, new school supplies (who doesn't love a new box of crayons?) and new tennis shoes somehow subconsciously gets us ready.  This year as I sent pictures off to my parents and sister, it dawned on me how abundantly blessed I am.  And my mom also affirmed it in a text which surprisingly made me cry.  So blessed.  Thank you God.  So here we go!  Caitlin a 9th grader, A FRESHMAN in High School!  The beginning of GPA and classes the "count".  Emily a 7th grader (Sevie) in a new "big" school, trying to find her way around to her different classes with different teachers and meeting new friends (Class size=198!).  Rachel a 4th grader, the oldest Salfer at JI, her chance to show us her leadership abilities, a year with fun field trips, joining band and becoming an alter server.  And Natalie, a 1st grader.  Moving classrooms to the "Hallway" with the big kids.  Learning about all the Saints on Saints Row, Leading Mass and Prayer, being a big kid compared to the baby kindergarteners.  And drum roll.....learning how to read and having HOMEWORK!  It's going to be a fantastic year, more than likely with many ups and downs, but fun no matter what!

"And this little one went wee, wee, wee, wee all the way  home"....don't worry, we will have our fair share of fun too!!!  Her social calendar will be just as full as her sisters!