Happy Birthday Rachel!

Happy 6th Birthday to Rachel, our spunky, cute, energetic little girl! We hope you have a great day and that Jesus blesses you this year and always.

Here's a little ditty from Natalie to Rachel: Enjoy!

Rachel's New Look

For Rachel's b-day, which is tomorrow, she wanted to get her ears pierced. BUT, she didn't want to do it alone. So she asked her friend Katie, who wanted to get her ears pierced too but hadn't yet, to go with her. The kids had last Friday off of school so we loaded up the van and headed to Mankato to Exclusively Diamonds. I love this place! The ladies there are so professional and fun and super with kids. ALL the girls got to wear tiara's and they got to try on a $28,000 ring!! Thats right, $28,000!!!!! Who buys this stuff???!!! Katie went first and did fantastic-she just grinned from ear to ear and no tears! Rachel on the other hand was a bit caught off guard and nervously smiled after the piercing and then the flood gates opened! Oh boy....not quite the memory I thought we'd be making. Oh well....she was still a trooper and once she settled down and looked at her pretty ears she was happy and glad that it was done. After that we went to Dino's pizzeria for Rachel's b-day meal. It was fabulous! It's one of our favorite restaurants to go to. They are super family-friendly, the kids get to draw on the tables and get to play with their own plate of pizza dough. The waitress surprised Rachel with a huge ice cream sundae that had a firecracker lit on top of it. It was pretty spectacular as she brought it out to Rachel! When we got home Brian finished off the night by taking the kids to the football game. It was quite the day!

Bubbles

This is what happens when you let your kids be in charge of giving themselves a bubble bath. Rachel ran outside and yells "Mom, you gotta come in quick!!" So I run in and this is what I see. Not too much water on the floor...at least the girls were having fun and no one got lost in the bubbles or drowned.

A Stroll In the Park

This past weekend was beautiful! I don't think the weather could get much nicer! The girls and I headed to the cities on Friday to get our printer repaired and visit with Laura, Mya & Ally. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins and it was fun to hang out with Laura. On Saturday, Brian and I worked on the roof and the girls just played in the backyard. On Sunday we went to Redwood Falls to see my Gma who is recovering in the nursing home before moving to assisted living toward the end of the month. Grandma Schueller is a tough lady and seems to always be in good spirits. It was nice visiting with her and I think she enjoyed watching the kids. Hopefully the time spent in the nursing home goes quick for her. Its not the most uplifting place to be. I just assume Grandma will be here forever and never think twice to her someday being gone. I'm so glad that we had the time we did with her.







After the visit, my parents joined us in the park to look at the animals and walk some trails. It was so much fun! It was nice that my dad was home and that this was something we could all enjoy together.

1st Day of School

Monday, August 29th:

Hard to believe that it is the 1st day of school partly because we're starting very early this year. It's still August for pete's sake! Well, we were up and at 'em early this morning and the house was a buzzing. We had a minor shoe issue but all in all it was a pretty smooth transition out of the house. Caitlin starts 5th grade and has a boy teacher and is super excited to see what the year brings. If you recall, last year (4th grade) was the "best year of her life!" Emily starts 3rd grade this year and they added another student to that class making it one of the biggest in the school. I believe they have either 19 or 20 students. Rachel will start on Wednesday and is pretty excited and maybe a little nervous. It sure will be nice to have all 3 together in one school this year. What will Natalie and I do with all of our alone time!?!?!?







Wednesday, August 31st:



It was Rachel's big day today! 1st Day of Kindergarten and she was up and dressed before 7:05 this morning! All she had on her face was one huge smile and her eyes were lit up! Things went smooth again. It probably helps that I'm up 30 minutes before the girls to get myself ready! As her sisters got out of the car and ran to the school, Rachel eagerly joined them and got almost to the door and stopped, turned around and ran back to us. She's eager, just not quite that eager! So we walked in and she found her line and patiently waited to be dismissed. Brian and I and the other proud parents followed them to their room and watched as they got comfortable with each other and their classroom. Watching the parents leave their "first" behind, it reminded me of the day Caitlin started and didn't want me to come in with her-just Brian. I remember waiting in the car wondering if she was missing me or needing me. It was such an emotional time. But even though Rachel isn't my first and I wasn't emotional like the first time around it was still hard leaving and wondering how she was doing on her first day. It sure wasn't the same around the house today. It was quiet and Natalie asked a few times where "Shesha" (rachel) was. Even she knew something was different. :)

End of Summer Vacation Fun

As a tradition, at the end of the summer right before school starts Brian takes whoever is old enough, tall enough and brave enough for a fun filled day at Valleyfair. Rachel is a bit too young and short yet for the rides that her crazy sisters and dad like to ride so she was lucky (?) to spend a day home with Natalie and I. I'd like to say we had just as much fun but that probably wasn't the case! Rachel and I did get to enjoy watching a movie together after Natalie went to bed. It was nice to just hang with her! Caitlin, Emily and Brian left at 8:30 a.m. and didn't get home until 9:20 p.m. They rode over 35 rides, got to have Dad to themselves, acted crazy I'm sure and had a super super fun time! Everyone's favorite ride was Renegade (a coaster) They also like Wild Thing (coaster)

Caitlin and Brian got to hang out with each other another night this past week and went to a Twins game with all the alter servers from mass. The Twins didn't win but the kids still had a fun time. It was Brian and Caitlin's first trip to the new stadium.

KeeNeeMooSha 2011

Our annual vacation to KeeNeeMooSha resort was again a nice, relaxing, sunny, fish friendly, end of the summer fun filled week. This year we decided to take Brian's parents 1970-ish boat. It sure was retro and we felt pretty cool and confident riding in the intimate 6 seater. The girls wanted to water ski and tube and everyone wanted to fish so the boat worked out beautifully. We did however have a bit of trouble with the motor. We were all raring to go and Brian couldn't get it going-flooded it. So while he's fixing on it this is what the girls were doing.
The Problem...
The Solution.....
"Are you almost done yet??"
"Maybe we should call Grandpa"
"Oh brother...."

The weather was perfect. Cool in the mornings and evenings, warm and sunny during the day. We did get one rainy day early in the week but that was ok. Sometimes it's nice to do indoor activities as a family too. We took the girls to see the Smurf movie which was pretty cute.

One of our annual favorite activities was tie-dying t-shirts. It's always fun and we love to see how we do from year to year. Brian out did everyone with his. He has very creative juices running thru his body!




Another favorite is the Turtle Races in Longville. This year Caitlin's turtle was her heats "Slowpoke" in which she one a bag of mini-donuts and a chance to race against the other heats slowpokes. In the big race she didn't win but had fun anyway. Natalie got to race a turtle for our resort and her's won! Bragging rights for KeeNeeMooSha for that particular week! She got her picture in the paper, a turtle hat and a free ice cream cone at Frosty's. (HUGE cones!!) My turtle bit me and during the hula-hoop contest for the moms I didn't give up this year and made it to the final two where a very young mother beat me. She must have been early twenties-much more flexible than me! :) There were over 320 turtle races the week we were there. Over 800 during the 4th of July week. Crazy.





We also got some fishing in and Brian and the girls caught enough for two meals. 2 big bass, 1 northern and 1 walleye. Emily and Caitlin are very much into fishing and wanted to go with Brian every chance they could.






The other highlight was watching the girls get up on water skis. Caitlin had tried earlier in the summer and was able to get up after lots of tries. Emily and Rachel were very eager to try as well. I helped steady the girls in the water while Brian drove the boat and hung on to Natalie who by the way was a very good girl not complaining about her life jacket. :) By the end of the week, both Caitlin and Emily got up and went pretty far. Exciting to see! Rachel has the funny story of the trip though. Usually it's a funny fish story but this time it's a water skiing story. The first time she tried to get up I told her, "if you feel yourself falling, LET GO OF THE ROPE!" Well, with first time jitters she didn't listen and drank a bit of the lake because she didn't let go! :) The second time she tried she understood why you let go of the rope, so she was ready to go. On the 2nd or 3rd attempt she's all ready and takes off-BUT...here's the funny part....her skis somehow come off her feet and hook the rope, that she let go of and the skis get pulled by the boat, without the skiier. It was hilarious! We laughed and laughed and laughed. Never in a million years could we do that again!
Hard to see but this is Caitlin skiing


The week went by fast and we met some really nice people again and look forward to next year already! Cabin #2 was good to us and we made some really nice family memories!