Update

This entry is really more for myself, so I apologize if you find yourself here and get bored from reading, or if you feel like you’re reading a Christmas letter. ;) So what have we all been up to? Well, Joe, since Christmas has really been into opening and closing doors. In fact, whenever we go to leave the house, I have to make sure our door the basement is kept open, so Simon, our cat, has access to his food and litter. It never fails that after we’re all bundled up and ready to go, and I go to open that door, Joe follows me and immediately shuts it. I think he feels it’s his duty because he is very serious about it. He loves elevators and we get the comment often, “I think Joe is going to be a doorman”. LOL. We’ll see.  Joe is talking more, though we don’t usually know what he’s saying. He also likes to sing “Jingle Bells” and a few of our favorite worship songs. It is so fun to listen to him. He has recently taken more of a liking to books, and also loves to help mommy put the silverware away. He is also into emptying things out (the bookcase, the shoe shelf, baskets full of toys, etc. and it is very common to find piles around the house. He is easy to laugh, easy to cry, AND easy to throw a temper tantrum! He makes us all laugh, and keeps me on my toes! Lydia is getting to be such a big girl. She has been exerting more and more independence. A good thing, and a trying thing! Far gone are the days when Lydia didn’t have much of an opinion about what to eat, what to wear, where to go, etc. She still has a great love for books, and sometimes we’ll find her in bed (long after her bed time!) sitting up with a book while she struggles to keep her eyes open. Lydia is in Cubbies at church this year, and is learning a ton of scripture, and having loads of fun. There are not many places she’d rather than be than Cubbies. It is so sweet to hear her speak God’s word, and sometimes sing it too! Speaking songs, she is an avid fan of Veggie Tales and doesn’t tire of Larry, Bob, Mr. Lung, Junior, etc (though mama does!). She loves watching me cook, bake, and is always asking “what are you making mommy”. She even helps out with the stirring, pouring, and tasting sometimes. As for me, I’m chomping at the bit (no pun intended) to have my jaw surgery done and behind me, and getting these braces off! I’ve figured it out, and by the time they’re off, I will have been in braces for 15-20% of my life. As much as I want the surgery done, I DO want it to be the right time and I’m trying to be patient.  I’m using the extra time to research different kinds of pureed foods and yummy smoothies. Marc has been really busy with work, as they have a big release coming up. He and I both, will be happy when things slow down a bit. So that’s what’s up with us. Thanks for reading.

Thanksgiving and Christmas 2011

The last few weeks(months) have been spent preparing for and celebrating the various holidays that fall this time of year. It has been busy busy busy! I’m always a bit sad when it’s all over, but it also is good to get back to routine. I'm going to attempt to summarize what we've been up to the last few weeks. This Thanksgiving we stayed around Illinois.

THANKSGIVING
We ran a 5K, the Frozen Turkey on Thanksiving morning. We dressed the kids up in their costumes for extra warmth and went to run. We all had a lot of fun, and Marc and I were happy with our times as well. We ate Thanksgiving dinner with Marc's extended family at Marc's aunt and uncle's home in Round Lake.

CHRISTMAS
Our Christmas festivities started with our MOM's Christmas Tea at church. My friend Kristin came and we together, provided the music for the program. That following weekend, was our Christmas program at church, which Marc and I (and Lydia) participated in. Marc was the projector guy for the program and I sang with the choir and helped with the kids, as well as helping lead worship. It was a busy night, but were blessed to have parts of both of our families(and Debbe, a long-time family friend!) attend. Here's a pic of the kids at home after the program that night.

The following weekend we went to Marc's Christmas work party, celebrated our 6th anniversary with a nice breakfast at Walker Bros., and then we drove up to WI and had a family reunion/Christmas gathering at my cousin, Jenny's house. It was so fun to see everyone, especially around Christmas. Here's a pic of all the Wise's

Here's a pic of my family (Tom Wise & Company (minus Andy & Amanda)

And here's one of our family

Big thanks to Jon's dad for taking all the photos! The next day we went to Marc's aunt Sharon's for another pre-Christmas celebration. Sharon has a kazillion Christmas decorations throughout her house that light up, sing, and move. The kids, of course, loved it! The week leading up to Christmas Lydia and Mommy did some cooking/eating in the kitchen. Lydia helped me make the peanut clusters I usually make!

At the end she got to lick the spoon!

Then the week before Christmas we had a chance to wind down before winding up again. We do our family Christmas(Marc, me and the kids) Christmas Eve day, so the night before we ate pizza, opened one gift (PJs for the kids) and then watched The Nativity Story. Joe really just played instead of watching, but Lydia intently watched it the entire time. It was so, so neat seeing her make the connections from all we had been teaching her throughout December (about the birth of Jesus)to the movie. Christmas Eve morning we did our thing (Cinnabons for breakfast, singing Christmas carols around the piano, reading the Christmas story, opening gifts, playing with the gifts). I had to take a picture of the cinnabons, as I was so happy to finally find a great recipe for these. This was pre-frosting.

In the evening we headed to Marc's stepbrother Mark's house for the Revoredo/Howard Christmas. It was a great time of catching up with everyone and being together. Then on Christmas we headed to Marc's mom's for a Woerner/Revoredo Christmas. There was lots of gifts, food, and fun! I love that we always get a family picture in.

Then later that night we headed up to WI for our final Christmas(and birthday celebration for me) with the Wise's. Was great to see everyone there and hangout together. Joe loved eatint the rolls for my birthday dinner and was "cheesing" it up for the camera!

Door County Vacation

Marc, the kids, my parents, and I had the privilege of visiting Peninsula State Park in Door County and camping there for 5 days. We were blessed with gorgeous weather the entire time!!!
We all had a great time! The kids loved sleeping in the camper with Grandma and Papa, and Marc and I enjoyed an extra hour of sleep each morning in the tent. (The only down side to the tent were the raccoons we could hear rustling around each night.) We drove up on Labor Day, stopped at Bay Beach on the way, and arrived to our campsite around dinner time. We quickly set up camp before the sun went down.

We enjoyed many activities during the week including biking, hiking, eating ice cream, driving around watching a sunset, playing at different parks, walking in the sand along the beach, reading (I even finished the book Hiding Place - a great read!), cooking dinner over the campfire, roasting marshmallows, star and moongazing, and even more! Joe had lots of opportunity to practice his walking on all different kinds of terrain, which he loved! Marc and my dad even went into town one night to catch the Packer's opening game! Because the kids were off schedule, but still needed sleep, we took a longer car ride each day, and they were able to get their zzzzzzz's. We thoroughly enjoyed Peninsula State Park, and will most likely return there sometime in the future.

Stopped at Bay Beach on the way, the kids loved the lady bug ride!

Empty campsite!

Look at all that stuff.

Kids having fun so far!

Walking along shore - Lydia's favorite pasttime!

Beautiful vista we saw while on a hike!

Self-taken of course.

Yogurt - num num num!

A bunch of pictures from Door County Bluff Headlands Park - we saw many interesting rock formations that reminded us of Stonehenge.

Lydia loved pretending she was an explorer on a one mile hike we took in the woods.

Beautiful sunset on our last night there.

SMORES!

August Happenings Continued......

Camping and short visit to Port

Ate lunch and ice cream downtown by the marina. Here's a cute pic of Marc and Joe, and Grandma Ellen with the kids.



Our first time ever camping with the kiddos, and it had it's highs and lows. More highs though. :) We joined my cousin Jenny, her husband Jon, and their little boy, Tryston, who is just a few months younger than Joe. We camped out at Kohler - Andrae State Park near Sheboygan, WI. Considering I grew up 25 minutes south of there, I can not believe I had never been there before. It was beautiful!! Highlights of camping were: walking along the cordwalk with a spectacular view of Lake Michican, and then along the beach (in fact this was Lydia's absolute favorite part of the trip!), waking up in a tent together and enjoying the first hour of the morning together listening to God's glorious creation, and getting to chat with Jenny and Jon around the campfire once the kiddos were all asleep. Lowpoints: Joe waking up at 4:30 the first morning, and not going back to sleep, combined with the rain that same morning at 6:00 am. Also, a lowpoint, Lydia was afraid to use the camp bathrooms. Needless to say, camping with 2 little ones takes the adventure of camping to a new level. :)

Our tent(the blue one), as a well as a playtent(pink) we set up during the days for the kids to play in.
Lydia enjoying the campsite.
Jenny and Tryston

Yum yum! Blueberry pancakes!


And in final news, Joe is walking! He took a couple of steps Sunday night after we got home, and then was walking across rooms all by himself last night! I will try to post a video soon. We happened to have a bunch of close friends over who were all able to share in our excitement for lil' "Jo Jo".

August Happenings

I have not updated much this summer. I'm hoping to redeem that by writing a bit of what we've been up to at the end of Summer 2011.

Brookfield Zoo with Grandma and Papa Woerner

Grandma Cis had to go back to work this week, but we were able to take a trip down to Brookfield Zoo in one of Grandma Cis's last weeks off, and Papa had off too! Unfortunately, Daddy had to work, but we still had a lot of fun. We saw almost the whole zoo, which I wouldn't have thought possible. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, with hardly any crowds. Highlights were the sea lions (of course!), the butterfly garden(so cool!), the bears, and ice cream!
Lydia enjoying the view from Papa Woerner's shoulders.

Kiddos with Grandma and Papa Woerner (if only we could get Lydia to smile for the camera!)

The photo of the day! The butterfly landed on Joe's head and stayed there for quite a while. So funny!

Cosley Zoo with Playgroup

We went to Cosley Zoo for our final playgroup of the summer. We got there a little early to see the ducks getting fed. This was a big hit for both Lydia and Joe.
Then our friends joined us, and we toured the rest of the zoo, ate lunch, and got a picture of all the kiddos.

Highlights here definitely the ducks, and maybe the turtles and bunnies!

Adventures in the City

Last week Wednesday began like any other Wednesday....

I wasn't exactly sure what we would do that day, though I knew I wanted to be outside because it was going to be a gorgeous day. I thought it might be nice to take the kids and visit our friends Rich and Leeann in the city. Rich was in an accident a couple of weeks ago and was/is still at the Rehab Institute recovering. We hadn't seen them in over a week and I thought a visit was in store.

Now mind you, I DON'T drive in the city. It freaks me out, the extra cars, the unfamiliarity of driving there, busyness, etc. However, where there's a will there's a way, and I bit the bullet, and did it.

I wasn't planning on staying for long, so I brought some snacks and water. In fact I was planning on getting home in time for the kiddos afternoon nap. Well we got down there at about 10:30. It took about an hour and I prayed the whole way down, for God to calm my nerves and for no one to honk at me! He brought me safely there and the kids were happier than usual.

We got some ice cream with Leeann and then came back and visited with Rich while he ate his lunch.

After lunch is when I was planning on going home. But between feeling a bit more adventurous than usual and that it was such a beautiful day in the city, I decided to take the kids to Millenium Park, and wait for Marc to get off work and then drive home with him. I had to stop and get some bottled water and sunscreen, so us "palies" didn't all sunburn and water because I knew we'd get thirsty.

Well, after walking a mile, we got to Millenium Park at 1:20(specifically Crown fountain - where the faces are), and it was under maintenance! Joe had fallen asleep now(it only lasted about 20 minutes). I knew Buckingham Fountain wasn't too far away and that Lydia would enjoy that, so we then walked another mile and it was a hit. Though there is no shade by Buckingham Fountain, so we didn't stay too long. By this time both kids were a bit crabby. Thank goodness for an Italian ice stand nearby! We got a large and split it on a bench in the shade.

Then we walked another mile back to Crown Fountain, hoping it would be working now. And it was! Yay! We stayed for about 2 hours at Crown Fountain, before Marc met up with us. Thank goodness for raisins and teddy grahams, which sustained us(along with the Italian ice and ice cream!). Lydia loved Crown Fountain, and spent the whole time buzzing back and forth between the two faces.

Then we walked the mile back to the Rehab Institute, and had dinner with Rich and Leeann and some other friends. We didn't leave the city until 7 pm!!! It was a great day, and the kids definitely were worn out (as was I!) and they fell asleep in the car on the ride home. I think I was a bit crazy for attempting that - skipping all naps, eating raisins all day, and "living" out of the stroller, but it was a memory I will not forget.

Lydia prancing about in the fountain.
Happy Joe, thanks to all the snacks!

In her own little world, crawling in the fountain. :)

Joe's Dedication Day

This past Sunday we had Joe dedicated to the Lord at our church. A Baby Dedication is where parents commit to raising their child according to God's Word and His ways, acknowledging that the child is essentially "on loan" from the Lord. It was a special day for us.

The idea of baby/child dedication comes from scripture:

And she (Hannah) made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." 1 Samuel 1:11

When God answered Hannah's prayer by giving her a son, she remembered her vow:

"As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there. 1 Samuel 1:26-28

Here are some pictures from that day (this is at our house, after the dedication).






































Also, a friend was able to capture it on video so here is a link to watch the dedication.