The latest...

Henry still LOVES smoothies, Bryn hates them. Can't figure out her aversion to them since she will eat each of the ingredients I put in them before they are pureed together. Think Jay's distaste of certain textures has trickled down to her.

Garden fever is still strong. Today when Henry was "playing baseball" and running "home runs" he would invariably swing by the garden, jump inside and snag himself some broccoli to chomp on before his next swing. Bryn is still addicted to the Sun Gold tomatoes that keep us both happy!
Just harvested this huge carrot yesterday!

Can you see Bryn in the below shot? I little pink skirt showing through the leaves?
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Here, does this help?

While Bryn was busy scaling the magnolia out back, Henry finally figured out how to pump while swinging. He just couldn't seem to get the tricky straight leg/hang back, then bent leg,/curl up coordination that makes you swing and I wondered if it would ever happen. Waa laaa, he did it.

Grape harvet 2009 has been fruitful to say the least. I think Henry asked me at least 20 times whether or not the seed would grow in his belly and once I convinced him he wouldn't sprout a grape vine, he has almost picked our crop clean. The outer skin tastes like Welches grape jelly, I swear, it is super sweet, while the inner parts are a little sour but worth the pucker. The vines line the fence between Miss Andrea and Lukes house and the kids have taken it upon themselves to be the sole grape pickers.

This is how I found them the other day, sitting atop a rather tipsy pile of wood, picking away.

Showing off her bowl full.

Well, then they had to clean them, with hose water, of course.

Then bag them up. Notice Bryn is keeping an eye on the chickens below, well, with good reason. They like grapes too.

Especially Tina Fey. Bryn jumped off in a flash and let Tina pick at some skins on the table.

Henry then had the idea that they needed to freeze the grapes, since they watch me freezing berries and veggies on a regular basis. Their version requires just some ice cubes in baggies with the grapes and then throw them in the freezer.

With a little help from our friends....

Thought it was time to get some posts on the blog. We have been busy spending our free time with good friends. Don't know how we would survive without them....Both Bryn and Henry get so excited to hang out with their buddies, it doesn't matter what they do, it always ends up with lots of laughter and giggles. The other weekend we spent the day out on Lake Mendota with their friends John and Cole. We finally got them out of the water for this shot.

Does anyone remember that Seinfeld moment with George stretched out on the sofa? That is all I see when I look at the below pic.

Also realized that we haven't taken pics lately of our friends Sam and Abbey. They were over the other day and things got wild and crazy inside and outside. They even threw a dance party in their bedroom upstairs. God help us.........

Last week we got to snuggle with the newest Maher addition....... Baby Beckett. Bryn first, with her attention all on the camera of course.

... then Henry who loaded Beckett with sweet kisses on the forehead (I think Great Aunt Viola was watching.)

Henry and Bryn still can't keep it straight that Beckett is a boy since their house has been full of girls. They wanted to know if we could borrow Beckett and take "her" for a while. How can you not love a baby that slept the entire time we were there?

Hugs for the all the kiddos.

Doe, a deer.......

One of the only movies that Henry and Bryn have watched from beginning to end is "The Sound of Music". Since we try to keep them TV free, they think this movie is the coolest thing ever, not caring how 70s it really is. They look forward to rainy days, which is the only time they get to relax in front of the evil box. I am a huge fan of the soundtrack too, so on any given morning you can find us all singing along with Julie Andrews. The strangest is hearing four year olds sing "I am sixteen, going on seventeen......" UGH, just wait guys.

They have been belting out Do-Re-Mi for a while and I finally got around to recording it for posterity sake. This was the first version.

Following is Bryn and Henry's favorite, just cause Henry is so silly with his headbanger version of this song. Not quite sure what kind of leg stretch Bryn kept doing over and over but she didn't miss a beat with the tune.

Last days of summer

We took full advantage of the last weekend of summer and although we were home, I don't think our neighbors ever saw us. We pretty much left one gathering for another and had the kids in bed and fast asleep by 7:10 pm both nights.

Lately the kids are fighting over who gets to hold Finn's leash on walks to parks after dinner. As if I can remember who held the leash the night before.......



My favorite cheering section, minus Jay (photographer), for the half marathon. John, Kristi and gang even chalked my name on their driveway!

We loved the first annual "Ride the Drive". They shut down a 6 mile path in Madison to any car traffic and opened it up to bicyclists, bladers, walkers and others. Henry and Bryn loved biking on their trail-a -bikes on what is usually a busy John Nolan or East Washington. I probably could count on my hand how many times Henry actually pedaled forward(yes, he was going backward quite a bit). He was just taking it all in and chatting the entire time.

Monday we joined our good friends Miss Jill, Emily and Elliot at Vilas Park and zoo. They were treated to some popsicles (thanks Miss Jill) that changed colors as you licked them so they thought their "camoflaged and tie dye " tongues were pretty cool.

Good bye Summer!

Two skis in a pod

Some may not have believed that H and B purchased their own waterskiis so here are some videos to prove it. Thanks to Henry, the UPS man knew right where to drop off the skiis (see the picture of them on the door?). Miss Anna helped them fill up the rest of the door with all sorts of artful signs and posters, you can't miss our house, that's for sure.

And here is "poor man's ski boat" as heard by an onlooker at Vilas Beach this morning..... with Bryn and Henry in tow. Each time I missed videotaping them screaming out "HIT IT" before Jay pulled them on top of the water.

Not exactly the way the pros do it, but it's a start!

August and Everything After...

Well, August started with then end of an era. After 20 years of service, our trusty Foxy Lady retired to the greener pastures of the Rawhide Ranch. So long old girl. We love you. Sorry for the drama, but it was actually a pretty big deal. I've owned Foxy for the entire 17 years Jay and I have been together. The rest of August has been a little more low key...

Picking berries with Ms. Kara.

Covering the driveway with chalk with the help of Ms. Anna, the best summer baby sitter ever.

The 112th or something Annual St. Phillip's Church Picnic/Chicken Dinner/Polka fest. Henry's a big fan of the tatos.

Feeling their native Sconnie polka genes.

Keeping watch over Lake Michigan from Door County.

A little Pelletier's fish boil.

We swung by packer practice just in time to catch all the players and their helmet-toting kid companions making their way from Lambeau over to the practice field. This is Aaron Kampman, getting ready for a little work on the new 3-4 D.

Some old school construction with Grandma Hinsa.


It wouldn't be summer without a trip to the State Fair (not pictured, but the cream puffs worked well with H and B) and of course Bay Beach.

Testing the kayak with Grandpa Affeldt.


And last but not least, their latest fascination with water skis. They emptied their piggy bank yesterday to order a pair of kiddo trainer water skis, and Henry stood on the driveway in the afternoon holding up a picture of them for the UPS truck as it drove by so they'd know where to deliver the new skis. Four year olds are absolutely a trip.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We snuck up to the cabin last week to suprise Grandma Affeldt on her birthday.
The singing of Happy Birthday turned into a bit of a Henry clown act.



...and then Grandma took to the water, tubin' it up with the kiddos.


Happy birthday from all of us!

Sunny side up!

Well, it finally happened. After four and a half months of chicken rearing, we had almost forgotten that we might eventually get eggs. Last Sunday, Henry and Bryn got a late birthday present from the chickens. I randomly checked the nest boxes, and sure enough, there it was, right next to the golf ball. We read somewhere that golf balls help the chickens figure out where to put that sort of thing. Hopefully there are more where this one came from.

I was yelling. Then the kids started yelling. Then Jay came running outside and he started yelling too. We thanked the chickens, raced inside, snapped a few pics, and then cracked it into the frying pan.


We actually cooked it over medium. Sunny side up just sounded better.

Birthday week for number 4

B and H got their birthday week started with a trip to the lake to see Grandma and Grandpa. Karyl put her sewing machine to work and made them each a clown outfit. Henry had it on within seconds and couldn't wait to get back home to add his clown nose and red Raggedy Andy hair to his ensemble. He is eyeing the clown shoes at Mallotts, and hoping his feet grow fast to fit into the adult size shoes they sell.

Their new cameras were a hit and they ran down to the pier to take pics of some water skiiers and such.

While Bryn was laying low with a stomach bug, Henry got to try out a lake neighbors jet ski with Jay. Of course he loved the ride!

On Wednesday their friends Sam and Abbey invited them out for a birthday fun day full of mini golf and lunch. Henry and Bryn got to pick the restaurant, no surprise to us that they chose Copper Top, since they get chocolate milk AND ice cream with the kids meal. Bryn was all business for most of the 18 holes and Henry like to "rescue" the balls from the water. Thanks guys for such a great day!!!

Copper Top!

Our neighbor Miss Elspeth, unfortunately broke her leg so she has invited B and H over to her house for story time whenever they please. We used her services the night before our party to get some cleaning done at home.

Finally, Saturday arrived and the craziness started. Our relatives don't follow our no presents rule and they got completley outfitted in cowboy/cowgirl gear, including boots and harmonicas from Shannon, Bruce and Liam.

First game of the party was a clothes pin drop from our upstairs porch as I scrambled to catch the pins as they flew down!

We did a pinata again this year. They all lined up to take a swing. Not much happened until Elliot's first turn and he managed to decapitate the ice cream from the cone and our lawn was covered in treats!

Mr. John knew this was going to be the one!

What would a party be without chickens running around the yard? Emily had the special touch and was able to cuddle a couple of the hens.

Balloon badminton with Grandma.

Since Bryn has been requesting much longer bike rides than they can muster on their own, we decided to buy them trail a long bikes so they can peddle or coast and we can get in some longer distance rides. My parents went in on them with us and watched for the inaugural ride around the neighborhood.

Had to include this video. The best part is at the end of the song when they had a "twin moment" and were just so happy for each other they had to rub noses.

It was so much fun to spend our week with our families and very special friends. Thank you for making their birthday so special.