Halloween 2015

Ben and Maddie are at that "prime" trick-or-treating age, so it was chaos at our house. And we spent all day listening to, "Is it time to go yet?"

I also put together this collage of photos from past Halloweens. Look how much they've grown!!

School pictures 2015

Ben and Maddie's school pictures for this year.

First day of first grade

First day of first grade went off without a hitch! Two happy kids. Love their teachers and seemed to flow into the new routine without any problems whatsoever.

Family fun day in Spring Valley

Had a fun day today trekking to Spring Valley, Wis., for a visit to Crystal Cave and Eau Galle Recreational Area. It was the most gorgeous day ever, but both places were nearly deserted. So nice to go site-seeing and not have a huge mob of people. At the recreation area -- where you can walk across a man-made dam -- Ben kept proclaiming, "This is the greatest vacation day ever!"

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

One of my mom's recipes (and a great way to use up garden zucchini):

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup soil
1-3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 Tbl coca
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped (plus extra for the top)
2 cups zucchini, chopped fine (unpeeled)
chocolate chips (for the top)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour 9x13 inch pan and set aside.

Cream butter, oil and sugar.

Beat in eggs, cocoa, buttermilk and vanilla and set aside.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt; add the first mixture and mix well.

Stir in 1 cup chopped walnuts and zucchini.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. (sometimes I've used white chocolate chips)

Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Summer vacation 2015

We had a fabulous vacation this past week (me and the kids). Jamey joined us at the cabin on the weekends and my friend, Dani, and her kids joined us at the cabin the last four days. We went to Como Town, went to my aunt's pool for swimming with all the cousins, Ben had his last two soccer games (and scored two goals in one of them!!), and we got our Mastercraft ski boat back in the water for the first time since before the kids were born. We had a blast!!

Kindergarten graduation

No more training wheels!

It took no time at all for Ben and Maddie (especially) to master a two-wheeled bike. They were also super excited cause Mom bought them new bikes, too.

Last day of kindergarten!

Wow, has the year zoomed by at wicked speed. Seems like just yesterday that they were getting on the bus for the first time.

Cousins

We spent a couple hours today with my cousin's and their kids. At the end, we took this first picture of all the kids. As I was getting ready to post it, I realized it's almost identical to the one below, taken six years ago. Flip around the girl holding Maddie and the one next to them and you've even got them in perfect order. Too funny!

Mother's Day 2015:

February 2009: