New Year, New Start?

Okay ... really. For those of you who know me, I am addicted to Facebook - if you would like more frequent updates on the family, join Facebook and add me as a friend! That being said, I will TRY to be more diligent about updating this beast ... so much to do so little time!
Summer vacation was fun ... lots of vacations and outside fun! The kids were anxious to get back to school though (or was that me, projecting?). Either way, school is going really well, too. Madeline was so pumped to have her lifelong dream of getting a dog come true! Oscar is a pretty good dog, but he does chew on a lot of things (like MY shoes and pacifiers). We're glad he's part of our family now, though. The kids have been busy with school, and Madeline is in gymnastics on Saturdays, Girl Scouts, 4H, and hockey. Benny is in hockey, as well. The first part of the season was spent learning to skate and now they are practicing some skills on skates ... it's lots of fun and lots of work!
Aaron has been to quite a few Packer's games this year, and he brought Benny to two of them ... they had some fun time bonding as Packer fans and got in some good father/son quality time. Aaron starts traveling soon, and we will definitely miss him around here!
I took 3 summer credits and 11 fall credits towards my Master's program, which starts this fall officially (cross your fingers that I get in!). I got a B in Statistics but all A's this fall. Right now I'm taking my last 4 credits of prerequisites!
Annalise turned 1 ... she continues to be a joy to have around. She is the happiest, easiest baby EVER! Both Aaron and I think she's about a month from walking, big girl :)
Again, I will TRY to do a better job of keeping this blog updated ... but I can't promise anything! In addition to my three kids, dog, working husband, school work, WAKO, and maintaining friendships (important of course), I started delivering meals on wheels ... I'm a little short on free time lately! Enjoy & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The Months In Pictures

The months in pictures ....


Aaron, Uncle Andrew, and Benny at the Packer's game.

Benny and Daddy's dream come true!

McGown annual family hockey game ... Benny afterwards.

Maddy out on the ice.

Benny playing goalie.

Maddy's Lake Superior Primary Christmas Concert.

Benny's Our Lady Of The Lake Christmas Concert.

Benny singing his heart out.

Annie, cake drunk, after her first birthday cake.

Yummy!

Chocolate cake ... mmmmm.

Happy first birthday Annie-girl!

She LOVES her new stacking cups!

The kids helped her unwrap.

Oh yeah ... we finally got a dog! Oscar Mayer wiener ... a mini daschund.

Maddy's dream come true!

Benny's first day of preschool at OLL.

Madeline's first day of second grade.

Benny stayed on shore during the weekend at the cabin.

But Maddy was a fish!

She loved swimming, boating, and tubing!

Wahoooo!

Benny's sandy face-plant.

Running down sand dunes.

A rare moment in sibling-hood.

Long Time No Post ...

It has been such a long time since I have blogged! Life got very busy for us and once I stopped making time to blog I couldn't remember where I had found the time in the first place!!
As most of you know, Annalise recently spent some time in the hospital due to haemophilus influenza B bacterial meningitis. She is back at home now and doing great ... we are so blessed by her quick and complete recovery and thankful for all the prayers, thoughts, and help we received during such a scary time.
On a brighter note ... today was the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Although Madeline came home with tears in her eyes (she doesn't know how she will survive without Mrs. Beeksma) she is looking forward to June because she has been named June's babysitter for the class's two spotted leopard geckos, Ellie and Jake (pictures to come). Benny is relieved not to have school anymore, and enjoyed showing off his singing skills at his end of the year concert.




Benny also recently had a birthday and is happy to be four! One of his favorite presents was this dalmation style puppy hat (he has been going by the name of Scruffy lately and answering in barks).


We also took a ride on the famed Pizza Train in Duluth! The kids enjoyed the 2 1/2 hour train ride up and down the north shore and loved the Domino's Pizza as well ...

We went with some of our good friends Aidan and Declan ... Aidan is one day younger than Benny so it was fun to have a double birthday party!

On Memorial weekend we had a big family picnic with the McGown's in St. Louis Park ... we enjoyed a big family game of softball, a rendition of Family Feud, and lots of time to talk and laugh!

Cousin Amy and baby Annalise.

Aunt Tammi leading the family in a game of Family Feud.

Auntie Hilly and Annie.

Like Father like Son on the baseball field.

This is gorgeous rainbow we saw following a much needed spring rainstorm ...

Annie Laughs

Recently Benny has had good luck making Annalise laugh ... and I finally caught it on video. Try to ignore Benny's giant head bobbing in and out of the picture ... he gets right in her face to make her giggle :)

Pottery Burn And The Park

On Thursday the kids and I went to Duluth to spend the day with my friend Jen and her two boys (Benny's buddy Aidan and little Declan). We took the kids to lunch and then we went to Pottery Burn, a place where the kids can paint a piece of pottery and pick it up a week later after it has been fired. We had a lot of fun expressing our creativity and hanging out :)

Madeline had her eye on the dragon right from the beginning ... I'm not sure what drew her to this statue but she had a fun time painting him a glittery pink with purple wings.

Benny chose a fighter jet, I'm sure because they didn't have any car pieces :) He decided it should be green and blue.

I painted three plates, each with a handprint of the kids. The staff at Pottery Burn were SO HELPFUL in getting nice handprints of the kids ... she even got a good handprint from Annie!!

Our artwork :)

The kids did an awesome job ... they got a little silly towards the end though :)

These two are so funny. Aidan is a serious, smart old man trapped in a three year old's body and Benny is a clown :) They make a good pair!

After painting we decided the kids needed somewhere to run around so we took them to the park. It was a beautiful day and the kids were excited to finally be at a playground after months of waiting!!!

Benny had to warm up to the idea of slides again, but by the end of the excursion he was going down the tornado slide just like last summer :)

Maddy is the thrill seeker ... she LOVES spinning fast on the tire swing!

Even Annie enjoyed the park :)

I think I am in trouble though ... she is a TWO nuk girl. She needs one to hold and one to suck otherwise she gets upset. This cannot bode well for her future temperment.

Maddy thought climbing the outside of the tube slide looked more fun than going down it.

Benny - a dirtball already and summer isn't even here yet!

When we were about to leave the park a train came by and the kids were so excited they ran towards it at full speed. It stopped right in front of the field and started going backwards - which amazed Benny.


The crew after a long day!

Annie At Mealtimes

It has been a long time since I updated our blog! We have been very busy traveling every weekend since we got back from D.C. and life has been crazy around here! A couple of days ago Annalise had her first meal of rice cereal ... I can't believe she's already five months old! She loved the first feeding so I bought a can of formula to mix her cereal with so I wouldn't have to pump every day but she HATES the cereal with formula :( She gagged and pushed it out of her mouth and made a sour face. Guess I'll have to keep pumping...







We also borrowed a Bumbo chair from my friend Jen, who doesn't need it while she's in Dominica. Thanks to the chair Annie can join Maddy and Benny at the dinner table and drool over their foods! She loves sitting up like a big girl :)

Eastern Seaboard

I have to first apologize to all of my Facebook friends who have already seen these pictures, I'm sure :) Unfortunately, since most of the vacation was spent with the kids and I doing things on our own, I took ALL of my pictures with my phone. I brought the camera everywhere but just found that with having to carry Annalise and a diaper bag, and keep tabs on the other two, it was just easier to whip out my phone than dig out my camera.

Our vacation started with a flight from Milwaukee to Baltimore. The kids liked the airplane, especially Benny. He talked the whole way through the flight asking Dad all kinds of questions about the wings, wheels, drinks, bathrooms, etc. Madeline got a little queasy but held it all in :) Annie, as expected, was a great flier (we pay for that when we drive though).

Dad sat by Ben in the row behind us. Madeline liked that the boys were sitting together and the girls were sitting together :)

Benny was absolutely enthralled with the luggage carousel. I don't know why it amazed him so much but he sat and watched it for the longest time :)

On Friday night we met Aaron in Philadelphia and stayed overnight with him there. On Saturday morning we were able to see some of Philly's sights ... the most exciting part being the Franklin Institute and Science Museum.

They have a real steam engine train there that actually travels on tracks inside the museum ... it only goes four feet back and forth but it's open for people to ride on and learn about ... Benny LOVED this part!

He was so excited even while we were waiting in line! He just stared at the train :)

The lady helping out on the train told Benny he could be the engineer. I think in his sweet little heart he believed he was driving :) It was so cool and he had so much fun!

The also have an old airplane that the kids could climb in and pretend they were flying! You can barely see him but Benny was a co-pilot :)

Madeline sat in the pulley chair where you pulled on the rope to pull yourself up in the chair. She thought it was pretty neat that she could lift herself up :)

The kids hanging out in Daddy's hotel room. It was pretty fun ... all five of us in one king size bed :)

On Saturday in Philadelphia we also got to go to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell visitor center ... it was pretty cool!

The kids posing in signers hall.

On Thursday night Aaron set us up in a swank hotel in Ocean City ... the kids (but mostly I) were really excited to see the ocean and collect some seashells.

The ocean was beautiful and we collected a whole bag of seashells :) Benny, not pictured, cried the whole time we were down by the water because the waves and the wind were too loud.

The hotel had a swimming pool, too. Annie took her first dip in a pool! It was adorable to see her in a little swim diaper :) It was also quite a sight to see me with three kids and no lifevests :) After the swimming pool the kids were cold so we went back up to our room and took a jacuzzi (and yes Mom, Amy, Melissa, Vicki - I cleaned it out first!). Annie especially liked this part :)

And once again there were four of us in one king sized bed :)

On Wednesday the kids and I went into the city to check out the Museum of Natural History (or the Dinosaur museum as the kids call it). The kids were especially impressed by this shark jaw :)

On Wednesday we also went to an awesome park called Cabin John Regional Park ... the kids had so much fun playing at something different than the parks they're used to :)

On Tuesday we met Aaron in Alexandria for a trip to Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria. He took us to a candy store that he often takes his groups to and the lady was so happy to finally meet his family that she gave the kids some specific candies they were eyeballing :)

Benny got a three foot long piece of bubble gum :)

Madeline got a giant lolipop :)

This is all of us on the back porch at Mount Vernon ... it was beautiful!

Washington family statues :)

The kids outside Barack Obama's house :) I think Maddy was hoping for a sighting of Sasha and Malia :)

On Sunday Aaron took us into the city to eat lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe :) It was a lot of fun, especially for Madeline who got her first taste of music videos - she was especially enthralled by Pink's video "I'm Still A Rockstar" ...

We got to ride the train into the cities several times ... this, of course, was one of Benny's favorite parts of the trip. He loved having and using a train ticket!

Madeline wanted to act like a true city-kid and stand the whole time on the train. Even though there were plenty of seats she stood and acted naturally when the train started and stopped and lurched her around!

Aaron doesn't like to take a lot of family pictures when we're out and about because he acts like it's kind of a tourist thing to do ... since the train was mostly empty I did convince him to take one picture of us as a group :)

On the way home, as promised, we stopped in Madison to get Madeline her new Birthday Bike from the Trek Store.

The bike she chose is purple and white with flowers :) She rode it around the parking lot and is very anxious for the weather to change here so she can ride it around Ashland!

Annalise is getting to be such a big girl ... I love this picture :)

Aaron called this moment the triple crown of traveling ... all three kids asleep at once!

A Boy And His Dad

I love this picture of the two cutest boys I ever met :)

That's A Wrap

I tried but did not get the camera going in time for her line ...

That's a wrap!

Burger King Birthday

Maddy had her "FRIEND" Birthday party at Burger King on Saturday morning ... she invited all the girls in her class plus some little brothers and old friends :)

All the girls, plus Ashton and Thomas :)

The boys with their whistles :)

Our old buddy Aidan who has been on the island ... and one of Benny's best friends Oliver.

Jane and Lucy, and Jen and Declan.

Declan ... he is so happy now that he is home - we LOVE to see him laughing and smiling :)

Madeline's birthday cake.

Madeline blowing out her candles ....

Opening Night

Maddy did an awesome job in her role as a flower girl tonight at the AHS play "My Fair Lady"! She was so proud ... the kids seem to love having her backstage and on the set ... they even sang "Happy Birthday" to her at the end of the play during the finale! It was a late night for the Mertig family, as her play did not get over until 10:30! Wish us luck for the morning ...

Maddy and her favorite person ... Jake :)

The kids are so good to her backstage ... they keep her busy (and in tonight's case, AWAKE!)

Benny picked pink Gerbers to give Madeline after her performance :)

He waited and waited for just the right time to give them to her ... he kept asking, "do we give her her flowers yet?"

Congratulations on an awesome play Madeline and AHS performers!

Happy Birthday Madeline!

I can't believe my baby is 7!!!

We are going to get Madeline a bike for her birthday ... but we won't be getting it until we go to Milwaukee over spring break on our way to D.C. I wanted her to have something to open today so I made sure she had balloons :) We also got her a small scrapbooking kit for her experiences in the play ... "My Fair Lady"

Happy Birthday Madeline! Oh, and "break a leg" at your performance tonight!!! We love you so much :)

My Fair Lady

Madeline was bit by the acting bug after her performance in "It's a Wonderful Life" and is fortunate enough to be able to have a small role (but more stage time) as a flower salesgirl in the AHS version of "My Fair Lady". They even wrote a line for her ("would you like to buy a flower ma'am?"). Her costume is super-cute and she's having a ton of fun being a high-schooler with the big kids!

We braid her hair, which she says looks like a farm girl :)

She LOVES the dress with the matching bonnet :)

The big kids really take Madeline under her wing ... they really seem to enjoy having her on the set :)

This is Aaron at rehearsal ... it was a looooooooong four hour practice and he was goofing around trying to imitate Benny's usually ridiculous smile :)

Benny spent most of the time playing Mario on the DS ...

Weekends At Our House

Weekends are fun family time around our place :) This weekend Benny got to play his first NHL '09 game on his own ... usually he practices without any defensive players or plays with an unplugged controller while Aaron plays. He actually won his first attempt! The video is super cute, he kept clicking his legs together when he was nervous about a play or feeling the intensity of the game :)

If you want to hear the sound, which you will for the second video because Maddy describes a dream that is quite funny, go down to the playlist and click the pause button ... that way you will hear video sound without the noise of the music. Enjoy!!!

The GAME FACE :)

The I-CAN'T-BELIEVE-I-JUST-WON FACE :)

The Victory Pose!!

Sorry it's so dark ... still, you can see the feet clicking while he plays :)

Often times on the weekends in the evening we let Annalise sleep on the couch while we watch TV or hang out in the living room ... she seems to sleep better where there is noise and activity because then she doesn't feel so alone :)

My favorite part about the weekends is how relaxed we can be in the mornings. Sometimes the kids pile into our bed and we get to talk and goof around. This morning I took a little video so you could get a glimpse into our weekends :)

WAKO Morning

As many of you know, I am President of an organization called Women And Kids Outdoors (WAKO). Today WAKO hosted an event at the Washburn School Forest and Cabin. It was a a beautiful day ... perfect for a hike and some running around with friends! Benny had a ton of fun and was pooped out (literally ... he pooped his pants in the car right before we left) from all the activity. Annalise was a gem, she slept the whole time - I'm sure it was all the fresh air :)


The school forest has some great trails leading through some neat forested areas. This is my favorite part of the walk with the towering pines ...


After the walk the kids tumbled in the snow for a while before we went in to have lunch :)


Annalise slept through the hike ... she LOVES this Baby Bjorn carrier!!

After the hike we ate lunch in the heated cabin ...


Annie slept through most of that, too ... I love this picture. Thanks Amy!!


When she woke up she was all smiles :)

Sea Caves

We spent Valentine's Day as a family today and decided to go to the sea caves to celebrate! Of course, on the way we stopped at the new Arby's in town as well :) It was a long drive and a long walk but the kids had so much fun exploring the lakeshore and slip-sliding on the ice! Some of the pictures are pretty neat but it was hard to capture the whole experience ... it was really beautiful and I'm so glad we went!

I think Madeline was a little worried that this was the extent of the caves :) She was climbing under any jutting rock she could find!!

She was also climbing on EVERYTHING!! It made our walk much longer to have to wait for her climbing on all the uneven surfaces on the lake. For a while all we heard from her and Ben was "Ouch, I fell ... I'm okay"!

After a while I think Benny was falling on purpose ... he likes to eat the snow and kept trying to lick the snow on the ice.

This was the only cave I was able to go in ... I was carrying Annalise in a front pack and it made crawling difficult :)

Aaron and Maddy crawled their way into this little opening and found a sort of cavern inside ... Madeline love it but Benny was too scared to go in ... he thought it might be dark :)

This was the most beautiful part of the hike but the picture doesn't do it justice. It was difficult to climb up to the entrance to the cave so Aaron hoisted Maddy up to get a closer look for us. On top of the tall sheet of ice was a slight downslope towards a crack in the rocks where there was a cave. It was deeply set into the shoreline and was really neat.

Again, Benny chose just to watch because he was a little scared. Come to think of it ... aside from the walking pretty much everything scared him! He wouldn't even accept a ride in the sled because he thought Aaron was pulling it too fast!! Unfortunately, because he did a lot of waiting while Maddy explored, he got cold and uncomfortable pretty quick!

The dripping ice formed stalagtite looking icicles from the tops of the rocks.

Until the end, when she got really cold, Madeline had a fun day and really was a trooper about trying all the new things. People watching her climb and explore were impressed with her enthusiasm :)

After the two mile hike and lots of climbing and sliding the kids were EXHAUSTED and fell asleep in the car. Benny only took about one mile out of town to fall asleep and Madeline was soon after!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!

The Mertig Career Fair

I, Aaron, am taking over the blog again. We have some exciting news on the career front. (And yes, that rules out being pregnant again. :p)

First, Abby is going back to school in the fall to begin a degree in Radiology. She'll have a year of pre-requisites before the program starts the following fall. So if any of you need an x-ray in a couple of years, be sure to request her. She's been wanting to do this for a little while, and she will be able to coordinate being done with school by the time Benny is into full-time school.

Secondly, I got a great opportunity to combine running my own business with Tour Directing to also doing some training for one of the companies aimed towards new Tour Directors. That will allow me to spread out my being out of town so that it's not so heavy in the spring.

To be honest, the three student travel companies I was working for have been beating down my email door to get back into it. Being that I can control my own schedule, can make more money doing Tour Directing, and love it more than teaching outweigh any potential negatives.

Teaching has been good overall for me, but after doing Tour Directing for the last couple of years, and then going back to teaching has been an eye-opener for us. If you've followed my situation closely, I've got an extremely challenging group of 2nd Graders to say the least. That, and the move to 2nd Grade in the first place has been tough. We're still trying to help these kids that are having issues, but most of them are extensions of home issues, and so it's extremely frustrating.

The thing about Tour Directing is that I don't have to motivate kids who aren't motivated to learn, discipline, worry about if they've eaten breakfast, worry about if they're going home that night to an empty house, or worse, alcoholic parents, grade papers, do lesson plans, etc. All I get to do is lead groups of kids who are motivated to learn about history, government, cultural issues, etc. in DC. NYC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, the Western Parks, and so on, not out of a book, but in the actual places that these events occur. How cool is that? And I'm damn good at it also.

The whole Tour Directing thing happened when I got laid off from a 7th Grade job, and didn't get called back until the beginning of this 2008-09 school year. I guess it's a case of when one door closes, another one opens. I kind of liken this to way back in the day when my dad didn't want to transfer to the Twin Cities with the paper company, and ended up working with the DNR. Now, while I still think he was getting paid to fish, I know he loved it. (And Dad, if you ARE reading this, be honest. You WERE being paid to fish, weren't you???) I know it didn't pay as well at the time, but he sure as hell loved doing it. In my case, I am moving to running my own business as an independent contractor in doing something I love, AND I don't have to take a pay cut to boot. Have my cake and eat it too...

So anyways, I'm done writing now. I promise to wait another three months before I contribute to our blog, so you all don't have to read my blithering writing. But now, you don't have to see my name in the paper and wonder why I didn't tell any of you. (Though, embarrassingly enough, my name will be in the paper a 2nd time for not having current tabs on our blue van from the fine folks with Bayfield County. Apparently, when I updated my driver's license awhile back, that didn't update our address for the van, and we didn't get the little reminder card. Oops.)

Aaron, out.

Snow Mountain

Aaron and I took the kids to a big snow hill in the Lake Superior Elementary School parking lot (where the plows have piled the snow high) to climb and play. The kids had a blast climbing up the mountain, sliding down the hills, and fighting to stay on top of the pile! Aaron and the kids played a friendly game of "King of the Mountain" ... you can see his overthrow in the video below :)

Maddy and Kayla posing at the top :)

Daddy and Benny remained "Kings" throughout most of the ordeal :)

The kids ran across the peak of the hill and kept sliding down the sides.

Parts of it were a slippery and steep climb!

Madeline and her buddy Kayla :)

Benny was totally pooped afterwards!!

The overthrow of Aaron on the snow mountain!

Lumberkid

This fall Madeline took part in a basketball camp at Northland College. The kids worked on some basic basketball skills, including dribbling. As part of the program the kids got to have a practice during the halftime of a Northland College basketball game ... Madeline practiced during the Women's game. She was nervous but we think she did great :)

Madeline and her friend Isabel before the practice.

They listened carefully to their coach while they waited for halftime.

Yes, that's Madeline chasing the ball down the court. They had to dribble down the court and back and pass the ball off to their teammate in a relay style practice.

Even though she was nervous, and embarrassed, I know she was proud of herself when it was all over :)

Seriously though, she runs EXACTLY like my sister Hillary :)

Obamarama

Aaron had a lot of fun in Washington D.C. this past week for Inaguration. We are so happy that at least one member of our family got to witness history in the making! He took a lot of pictures (although I think not his best photographical efforts) ... enjoy!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

Overall it was an amazing experience. Aaron is very much looking forward to returning to Tour Directing full time.

Avoiding Cabin Fever At All Costs...

So, after a long weekend LAST weekend I decided that I could not go another three days of being inside with my children. After they started complaining about being bored I dressed them up nice and warm and headed out on a long winter's walk with them. We walked from our house to Movies on Main, then to McDonald's (and back to Movies on Main since I forgot my wallet there - then back to McDonald's) and then back home. It was a long walk - and it was filled with more than a handful of complaints. It was worth it, however, because our house has been quiet and calm ever since we got back.

They did really well until the last four blocks ... then there were tears :(

It was all worth it though!

Family Pictures

Aaron has the fortune of having a photographer in his family - and we were lucky enough to get her to take some pictures of us during Annalise's Baptism! I love the way they turned out and am so happy we finally have pictures of the whole group of us :)

OMG - I'm Old!!!

Today I turned 31 ... and even though I know that's not old, and I don't feel old, it sounds really old compared to the last times in my life I most vividly remember ... if that makes sense :)

Anyhow, the day was made special by all family and friends who offered birthday wishes ... thank you all and I love you very much!

Extra special was the cake that Madeline decorated to look like a purse ... not only beautiful, but delicious as well :) We took this picture using the camera's self-timer, that should explain things :)

Another treat was my friend Jill taking Benny this morning so that I got an extra long nap with Annalise this afternoon (which I guess indicates my age, if I'm counting naps as treats).

This evening my husband and I even get to go out to dinner together, sans children (mostly ... Annie always accompanies us as I am her food source and the mood to eat strikes her quite often) courtesy of Jane who is coming over to sit with the kiddos.

Benny As Annie

Madeline and Benjamin were playing dress-up last night and Benny came out with Madeline's High School Musical wig on ...

Everyone says that Annalise looks so much like Benny, we figure this is what she'll look like at his age :)

Sweet Annalise

I can't believe how quickly time is going by with baby Annie! She just had her 2 month check-up; she measured 23 1/2 inches and weighed in at 10 lbs! I realized how quickly she is growing up so I thought I'd better post some recent pictures of her before she looks like a really big girl :) She doesn't smile while she's awake yet, but she laughs in her sleep a lot!

Rock Band Rockstars

Aaron is our resident rockstar ever since we got Rock Band at our house ... but Benny has some awesome moves to go with Aaron's music :) Whenever Brandon comes over we have a full band ... and Benny digs deep and pulls out some of his best moves!

Annalise's Christening

Matthew 18:5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."

Today we had Annalise christened at the United Presbyterian Congregational Church in Ashland. It was a lovely service and we felt so blessed to have so many friends and family witness and share in Annalise's official welcome to the church family.

Annie is very blessed to have two wonderful and loving godparents. Auntie Chris and Great-Uncle Ken are both very special to us and we feel honored that they are taking this role in Annie's life!

Great Grandma Draeger had a beautiful gown made that Annalise was able to wear. She also had a necklace given to her by Auntie Chris to wear on her special day. She was such a good girl and looked like an angel!

Pastor Robertson led a lovely service and shared some thoughtful words about baptism.

Christmas Morning

This year we were in St. Louis Park for Christmas Eve and Christmas ... of course Santa knew where to find us. The kids were prepared for his arrival and left him cookies and milk - and 8 celery slices for each of his reindeer. As an afterthought Madeline got concerned that Santa might eat the celery on his own, so she made a note that read "For the reindeer" and placed it near the celery :)

The kids had a nice Christmas. Aaron and I got the kids a Nintendo DS to share, which Madeline LOVES. Benny's most favorite gift was a set of hockey skates that Aidan left for Benny to borrow while he's living tropical and a hockey stick my dad bought him.

Sometimes the toys bring out the kid in all of us!

Bye Bye Jenny :(

On Monday before Christmas Jen and I got our kids together for one last visit before they leave for Dominica. Benny and Aidan have become good buddies (born only 1 day apart!) and Madeline loves how smitten Aidan is with her ... he is particularly interested in her reading skills :) We are really going to miss them!

Later that night some of us girls got together for a last ladies' night with Jen at the Deepwater. It is always laughs when we all get talking! Good luck in Dominica Jen ... we love you!!

Here We Come A-Caroling!

I left Aaron home with the kids tonight and I came home to find this:

Usually when Madeline and Benny play dress up Benjamin ends up in a dress ... but this time Aaron gave Benny one of his ties, so the kids decided to get fancy in their Christmas best! They put together a poem and caroled through the house, after all what else would one do being all dressed up with nowhere to go?! Enjoy the music!

Benny, My Hero!

"Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero."

~Marc Brown

Dear Benny, bless his soul, got so sick of listening to baby Annalise cry that he got up from playing with his cars and put her pacifier (affectionately called the 'guk' in our house) in her mouth and held it there to keep her quiet. It's a rough job, trust me, I know, and the poor guy fell asleep once she finally got quiet :) What a great helper he has been with his new little sis'!

My My How Time Flies . . .

To all of my loyal blog follwers I am truly sorry ... this is a long overdue update! Unfortunately I do not have as many pictures to document our past 6 weeks as I wanted - the camera has been an afterthought to all the additional packing it takes to go anywhere these days! By the time I realize I've forgotten the camera we're already too late to turn back.

The first couple weeks after Annalise was born I was lucky enough to have my mom in town to help out with Maddy and Benny - and keep up on my housework! Annalise, like Benjamin, was slow in learning to nurse. Those first days home were a horrible blur of nursing and cat-napping. In addition to the fear of starving my new baby to death, I had an awful experience with the hormonal ups and downs (mostly downs) of the baby blues and couldn't have made it through those weeks without my mom. Luckily the mood swings have evened out and I am feeling much more optimistic and capable these days.

Auntie Chris bought Annie a headband and took this goofy picture :)

Two weeks after Annie was born Madeline made her acting debut in the AHS adaptation of "It's a Wonderful Life" as the young ZuZu (you know the line, "every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings" - that was her). She immensely enjoyed her brush with stardom and is looking forward to acting again soon :) We weren't allowed to take pictures during the play so I don't have much to show you but I hope you enjoy the pictures of her in full costume and during play practice. It was a big committment and I am very proud of her for her hard work!

Grandma Yvonne made her nightgown and we curled her hair with hot rollers before the performance :)

More recently Benny had a preschool Christmas Program at Our Lady of the Lake. I thought once he saw Madeline, Annalise and I sitting in the front row he'd jump off the stage and refuse to take part, but I was proved wrong when he proudly took part in the singing (and motions!) of every song! He was also very proud of himself :)

Madeline also had a Christmas Program at Lake Superior Primary this week. She looked adorable in her "santa" dress and did a great job remembering the words to all the songs! I forgot my camera, but fortunately Roxanne remembered hers and took a couple of pictures of Madeline for me ...

I am also so fortunate to have such a nurturing group of friends who have made this first month so much easier! Thank you all so much for the meals, playdates, phone calls, and cards! I am so blessed and thankful for all of you!

I will do a much better job of keeping this updated now that I have tackled this first belated entry!

Baby Annalise!

AHA! Aaron has taken over the blog, so the content of this is now going to be unedited! (Wait till I pull out the fantastic picture I have in store...)

Annalise Marie was born at just after 8 am on Monday, November 3rd. She weighed an incredible (for a Mertig baby) 8 lbs. 9 oz. Contrary to rumors circulating, the baby was NOT born with a sombrero on its head. That ugly rumor was due to the fact that Abby nearly ate El Dorado's out of business in the final trimester. Of course, upon opening Abby up for the C-Section, I did smell something of a enchilada floating through the air...

Either way, she was big, and does have a fat roll or two. That's nothing of a knock on Annie, it's just Maddy and Ben were two lightweights. She was also 19 1/2 inches long. Without the Mexican headwear, of course. She's healthy, which is the most important thing.

Abby also made it through very well. She talked with the anasteseologist to cut back on the "drowsy drugs", and even made it through everything without puking. That's a big deal if you know Abby. She's currently hungering for anything solid, as they have her on a strictly liquid diet. Please, if Abby calls you requesting McDonald's french fries, (I'm looking at YOU, Vicki), don't aid her in her devious operation.

Anywho, here's a couple of pictures, the last one being the proof that she's doing okey-dokey. (She's gonna kill me.)

Mom and Baby


Posing.

Maddy, Annalise, and the Ham.

Ben decides to be normal. Just this once.

Posing again.

Maddy was REALLY excited the whole day to hold her sister.

The Littlest Pumpkin

Mrs. Beeksma's class held a special presentation of the play "The Littlest Pumpkin" for family and friends today in their classroom. Madeline had the starring role of the littlest pumpkin! She did a wonderful job and so did all of her classmates! Thanks to Mrs. Beeksma for such a fun Halloween treat :)

Everyone in the class got the chance to play a character :)

In the end, the littlest pumpkin is happy to be chosen by some children who want to make a pumpkin with a face, and happy not to be baked in a pie!

The class also performed a classic called "Five Little Pumpkins" and got to take home a pumpkin of their own!

This is the cutest picture of Madeline and her good friend, Kayla, after the show!

Grandparents' Day

On Thursday, October 16th, Mrs. Beeksma's class held a special Grandparent's Day Program in their classroom! Madeline was very fortunate to have three wonderful visitors to share in her moment ... Grandma 'Ola came all the way up from the Twin Cities, "Big" Grandma came up from Butternut, and Auntie Katie was able to take the afternoon off work!
The afternoon began with a student-led classroom tour (to include visiting each and every insect in the classroom :) and finished with some poem recitation by the first-graders.


One of Madeline's favorite poems is "Five Little Pumpkins", which she performed well :)


Of course Benny LOVES feeling like he's part of the class ... and Maddy does such a nice job of including him :)

A Big "THANKS" to all the wonderful guests who came to share the special day with Maddy and also to LSP for hosting such a fun event!

More Fire Trucks!

This weekend the kids and I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in the cities with Auntie Hilly. It will likely be the last time we make the trip with just the two kids! It's always nice to hang around Grandma's and not have many plans ... on Saturday we heard about a community event in Hopkins at the Fire Department. When we got there we were surprised to see that the firefighters were giving rides on fire trucks ... and most impressively they were giving "rides" in the ladder bucket on their new truck! They also had some inflatable slides, free food, a car fire to extinquish, and a spot where kids could practice handling the hose. Benny, again, was scared of most of it ... but he liked the sights anyway. Madeline had a blast!

The new Ladder Truck had a 95 foot ladder and they extended it halfway for the rides ... you can't see her but Madeline is way at the top!

Getting Silly With Friends :)

This week both Benny and Madeline had the chance to have some friends over ... and they started getting just a little silly! Benny had an accident and had to take a quick bath while his friend Ayden was here ... the bath lasted almost an hour after Ayden decided to join Benny!

Madeline had her friend Kayla over after school on Thursday. The girls are always so goofy together but things got pretty crazy when Kayla's big sisters and Aaron decided to play Rock Band ... the girls were dancin' so wild that they ended up on the floor!

Corn Maze And Pumpkin Patch

Aaron, Madeline, Benjamin and I went to Zifko's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch today. It was a beautiful autumn Saturday with temps in the fifties and the brightly shining sun!

Mr. Zifko has a huge pile of pre-picked pumpkins at his patch, which the kids LOVE to climb on and pick through :)

Both Madeline and Benny were excited about the "Cinderella" pumpkins :)

The Corn Maze is set up so that maze-goers have the challenge of finding six scarecrows from whom they must collect coins in order to receive a prize at the end. Madeline read the rules while Benny questioned what the scarecrows would look like and what they are used for.

At one point Aaron hid in the corn and scared the kids as they walked by ... check out the funny video (pause the music on the left if you want to hear the video sound):

The kids were full of energy (in the beginning) and were anxious to collect coins. Benny was especially relieved to see that the scarecrow was cute :) I think it took us 45 minutes (and even then we didn't find all the scarecrows) and by the end Madeline and I were exhausted. We collected a candy prize anyway (thanks to Mr. Zifko) and both Madeline and Benjamin chose a pumpkin for carving as well.

Big Busy Week!

Open House At LSP!

Monday September 22nd!

Lake Superior Elementary School hosted a family night from 4-7 on Monday. The PTA provided pizza and ice cream for all students and families in attendance. The classrooms were open for students to show off their work and the gym was available for running space!


In addition to Madeline enjoying showing off her classroom lizards, it was Aaron's first open house as a 2nd Grade teacher! Maddy was anxious to show off her daddy to some of her friends :)


It also happened to be Madeline's "Giant of the Week" week ... she happily posed in front of her family poster :) Benny, of course, found a quiet spot on the floor to play with cars.


Madeline and her friends Kayla and Samantha enjoyed pizza and milk in the lunchroom, courtesy of hte PTA :)

Benny's New Bike!

Tuesday, September 23rd

On Tuesday Aaron took Benny to the bike shop to pick out a new bike! He learned to peddle his trike like a champ this summer and we figured he'd do better next summer on a big boy bike if he had some practice this fall. He loves to peddle up and down the sidewalk and already feels he's ready for long bike rides with Dad and Maddy :)


He picked out a blue and silver Trek with training wheels :) Sometimes he needs help getting rolling, but he's getting stronger and stronger!!! Enjoy the video :)

Copper Falls
Wednesday September 24th

On Wednesday Benny, Jane, Oliver, Lucy and I went to Copper Falls for a hike and lunch with some other WAKO families. We enjoyed the cool weather on the hiking trails and were amazed at all the fall colors! Benny ran back and forth on the trails, I'm sure he walked three times as far as I did!

Benny found some leaves for Madeline ... he was especially fond of the deep red ones!


Benny and Oliver are starting to be such good buddies :)

Vehicle Extravaganza!

Saturday, September 27th

The Vaughn Library held a vehicle extravaganza for children this weekend. There were several fire trucks, police cruisers, ambulences, and city vehicles for kids to climb in and on. Sparky the dog even made an appearance! We brought Madeline and Benny along with Maddy's friend Kayla and our cousin John.


Madeline and Kayla were wary of Sparky and Benny wouldn't even go near him! They eagerly posed in the scoop of the excavator though :)


Madeline ran from vehicle to vehicle trying out the driver's seat in each! Benny wouldn't sit in any of the cars and was pretty much traumatized the whole time :(

Caramel Apples With Friends

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Park Date With Ayden

Benny and his buddy Ayden had a phone conversation this morning and they each invited the other to play ... since it was such a nice day we decided to meet at Pamida Park for a while so the two could run around. Benny and I try to keep busy in the mornings while Madeline is at school.

Benny and his buddy shared granola bars on a bench at the park and then ran off to play. The park has a ramp to get up to the playground equipment and they were eager to pose for pictures :)

Benny is really embracing his potty training :) He was anxious to show off his skills outside at the park watering the tree! We also took a walk down to the Bayview dock to look at the water.

Ayden's baby sister had a good time cruising around using her mom, Jill, as a walker :) She is such a cutie :)

Benny's New Preschool

Benny started at his new school today, Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Preschool. Head Start was not working for our family - the class size was much too large and many students in the class had needs that obstructed the teacher's ability to manage the whole classroom in a way that we were comfortable with. We visited OLL and were much more comfortable with the number of students and class management. Additionally, we like the religious aspect of his new preschool and are looking forward to only sending him two days a week. Madeline was able to drop him off with me today since she was home from school not feeling well :( Although he cried when we left he seemed to have a ton of fun and told us all about his day when we picked him up. He said he painted an "agergator" (aligator) with green paint, played outside on the playground, and played with the car track inside :)

Benny posed by his locker with his new Lightening McQueen backpack ... he loves having his own spot to hang his coat and backpack :) There is another little boy in his preschool named "Ben" so we made sure that the teacher labeled his stuff with "Benny" (my dream come true :).

Benny was more willing to smile with Madeline by his side :) He was really sad when it was time for us to leave ... he especially wanted Maddy to stay with him at school. When we got home he went right to playing with his cars and refused to take his backpack off!

Girls Night Out

Some of my friends and I got together this Friday night to have a "Girls Night" at the Deepwater Grille. Thought I'd add this picture so some of you can put faces to names of people I'm always talking about hanging out with :) We had a good time dining and chatting without our children and I look forward to having these nights more often!

From Left to Right: Brenda, Becky, Jenny, Vicki, Me, Jane (top), Sarah, Jill (top), Jen

Benny's First Day of School

Benjamin started pre-school today at Head Start here in Ashland. He absolutely loves his teacher, Miss Dana :) He wouldn't pose for any pictures (as you can tell in the photo with his teacher) so I had to sneak in some candids while he was playing and working. I am feeling very nervous about having him at Head Start because it is every day from 11-3 and is a very large class of students. I plan on volunteering a lot so I can spend time with him in the classroom - although he is quite confident to play on his own :) His favorite parts of school are free play time and outside time, what else would I expect?!

The first picture is Benny with his teacher, Dana. One of the reasons I decided to sign Benny up for Head Start is that Miss Dana and I studied Early Childhood together at Northland College. I know her teaching philosophy and believe in her dedication to her students. Benny is very lucky to have Miss Dana for a teacher :) The next picture is Benny playing in the "dramatic play" area of the classroom. While most of the boys head for the building blocks Benny prefers to "cook" food in the microwave and serve his meals on plates :)

Every day at Head Start Benny will get a lunch and a snack. We missed lunch this morning because I had a doctor's appointment but we made it to school in time for afternoon snack! The kids were served banana-strawberry smoothies and graham crackers. Benny LOVED that they got to pour their own drinks and ate several graham crackers :) We also had a lot of time to play outside this afternoon, and it was a beautiful day! After several trips down the slide Benny found the giant sandbox full of excavators and dump trucks. He played in the sand box until it was time to go home!

Finally at the end I caught him almost smiling :) He may have been squinting in the sunlight but it looks like he was trying :) Watch for more pictures on Monday because Benny didn't get a chance to ride the bus today but on Monday he'll ride a bus to and from Head Start!

First Day Of First Grade ... And More

Madeline started school today at Lake Superior Primary in Ashland, WI. She was so excited to start school and loved meeting new friends, class pets :), and her teacher!

Madeline was anxious to use her new "Bratz" lunchbox that grandma bought her so she packed a cold lunch today. She said she only had time to eat her mandarin oranges and some pretzels before it was time to go outside ... she didn't even open her juice! The picture on the right is Madeline with Mrs. Beeksma ... her first grade teacher. Madeline loves her teacher and particularly enjoys all the nature in Mrs. Beeksma's room ... the class has a millipede, two lizards, meal worms, caterpillars, and a fish.

Benny wanted his picture taken too ... he posed with Madeline by her locker spot :) Today was also Daddy's first day of school! He started second grade - as a teacher :) I think Aaron was more nervous than Madeline for the beginning of school; although Aaron says he had a good day with his new class as well :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, Madeline learned how to ride a TWO-WHEELED bicycle without training wheels! We were nervous that this day would never come as Madeline had little-to-no patience with the learning process :) Luckily Dad helped her try, try again and she took off on her own for the first time over Labor Day weekend!

Brewers: The Houston Series

Last week we went to the Brewers - Astros series in Milwaukee. The kids loved staying in a hotel with an outdoor pool and had a lot of fun at all three Brewer games :) Unfortunately, our camera did not have batteries and we didn't pick any up until our last day of vacation.

Some unpictured hightlights:

Benny leading chants of "Wets go CeCe (as in Sebathia)" and "Go Bwewews!" In the left field bleacher seats.

Madeline eating stadium popcorn with two hands like she'd never eaten food in her life :)

Benny yelling "Wets go Manny Parwa" during the third game of the series.

The awesome seats we had during games one and two.

The 'Fonz' (oh yeah) throwing out the first pitch during game two :)

The heated outdoor pool!

The kids got to play in the Kids Zone (basically a playland) before the games and they stopped long enough to pose on a bag of peanuts :) As usual Benny watched the game from Daddy's lap because the seats fold up on him when he's on his own.

Madeline tried her best to stay focused and interested and followed the first game pretty well :) After that we brought activity books and pads of paper to keep her interested.

Madeline And The Monkey Bars

Maddy was really pleased the other day when we were at her school playground because she realized she finally could do the monkey bars all by herself! Enjoy ...

Camping At Temperance River

We spent this week camping at Lamb's Resort in Schroeder, MN (near the Temperance River). My Mom (Grammy 'Ola), Dad (Grampy Dan), Hillary, Madeline, Benjamin, and I spent four nights on the north shore.

The first picture is the view from our campsite. It was beautiful! Madeline made a pirate ship for her and Benny to play on ... that is her pirate ship flag waving in the background :)

Benny spent a large portion of the time blowing bubbles, or asking other people to blow bubbles. He was a good sport about camping for the most part ... only a couple of grumpy moments :)

In addition to hiking and swimming at the mouth of the Temperance River (an amazing swimming hole that I reccommend to everyone) we went swimming in the Baptism River and hiked around the riverbed for a while. The water temperature from Lake Superior is much colder than that of the rivers, and the mouth of the river was a wonderful place to swim.

We spent one day in Grand Marais, MN ... we had breakfast at "The World's Best Donuts" and did some shopping up and down the main streets.


One of the most fun parts of camping was seeing how my kids handled being dirty. Benny was dirty from head to toe and LOVED it! Madeline didn't take to it as well :)

Madeline and I spent some Mom 'n' Daughter time down on the rocks on the shore of our campsite looking for rocks and wading in the cool water :) Benny absolutely LOVED the time he got to spend with Grampy Dan!

One of our stops along the Baptism River hike had an overlook at the lake. There wasn't anyone else to take a picture but that was our crew, minus me :) Although the water at our campsite shore was really cold we did swim a little bit. Madeline was the best trooper with swimming ... she didn't seem to mind the cold at all!

She even swam out to a rocky island (about a 10 foot swim)! Benny really started to like the peeing outside business :)


We were all so sad to leave our campsite and are already looking forward to next year's trip! It is so beautiful to be camping on the North Shore and relaxing by the campfire.

Packer's Family Night

On Sunday, August 3 Aaron took the kids and I to Packer's Family Night in Green Bay. The Packer's host an annual "family night" practice at Lambeau Field ... complete with tailgating, moon bouncers, and fireworks! The kids had a blast (Benny thought he was at a real Packer's game) and it was an overall pretty cool experience.

Benny insisted on wearing his full Packer's uniform to the event :) Maddy also got a new pink jersey for the season! Both kids were so excited about the treats at the game ... watermelon, corn on the cob, brats, dippin' dots, and water all for $1 each!

Although Benny was a little too young for most of the moon bouncers Madeline picked a couple to do :) The kids tent that they had set up was free and was full of all kinds of fun things for kids ... meant to mimic training camp :)

The storms kept the practice from starting right at 5:30 ... it wasn't the rain but the lightening that kept us waiting in the atrium for over an hour! Luckily someone was visiting all the waiting children making balloon animals :) Madeline got a long red weiner dog (his life was short) and then she waited with Benny in line to choose his creation!

He chose a black butterfly :) Both kids had shining eyes as we finally got to enter Lambeau Field! The event started with the National Anthem and a flyover by a Chinook Helicopter. Benny was especially thrilled!

Madeline enjoyed herself too ... she really likes the atmosphere of big games and events. The stadium was sold out and packed; pretty impressive for a practice!

Maddy At Maslowski

Benny decided to stay home with Daddy tonight so Madeline and I went to Maslowski Beach to cool off and relax in the sand :) She's really in to collecting rocks, sticks, driftwood, and to my dismay and disgust, feathers.

Summer Reading Program

The Vaughn Library in Ashland hosted a summer reading program called "Bugs, bugs, bugs!". Both kids signed up and did a lot of reading ... especially Madeline (she even got her very first library card this summer!). Throughout the summer the library held programs for kids surrounding the theme of insects ... they had movies, guest speakers, art projects, etc. At the end of the program to celebrate all the reading, they had an ice cream party! The kids played games, won prizes, and got to build their own sundaes :)

Benny put too many toppings on his ice cream and decided he didn't like it; he traded his bowl of ice cream for a bowl of 'smarshmallows. Madeline licked her bowl clean :)

One of the prizes that all the kids won was a free ice cream from Dairy Queen ... both kids were pretty excited about that!


Benny's name got drawn for a t-shirt that reads "catch the reading bug!"; Even though Benny won the shirt I'm pretty sure it will be shared between the kids :) Madeline won a book bag to carry her library books to and from the library.

Whittelsey Creek Wildflowers

Today we went with WAKO (Women And Kids Outdoors) to Whittelsey Creek Farms to visit with friends and pick some flowers! The farm specializes in sunflowers ... unfortunately this growing season has not been great for their sunflower crop. However, they had a lot of other wildflowers to pick and a beautiful greenhouse to visit. Madeline even got a ride on the little tractor! The kids had a great time picking a bouquet of colorful wildflowers!

Although Madeline was squeamish about all the different bugs in the field at first - especially the grasshoppers that she kept stepping on (I HATE GRASSHOPPER GUTS!!), she did love chasing the butterflies and was espcially proud of her pickin's at the end :)

Pioneer Days in the Nut

On Sunday we left Wausau and went to Butternut for Pioneer Days ... the kids enjoyed the carnival (especially Madeline - the ride daredevil).

Maddy convinced Aaron to take her on the Spider, the Ferris Wheel, the Tilt-a-Whirl, and the Trabant! Her favorite was Trabant but Aaron could only stomach that once ... instead she rode the Tilt-a-Whirl twice!

When we arrived at Butternut Park for the carnival Maddy noticed this sign next to the baseball field. She was impressed that our last name was up on a sign!

After all the rides at Pioneer Days the kids got to take a spin in Grandpa Gary's new ride ... an old Dodge Omni :) He drove them around the yard a couple of times, and the whoops and hollars could be heard from the house! Hmmm, you might be a redneck if .....

La Quinta

While we were in Wausau we stayed at a La Quinta Inn. Although we ended up in a smoking room (yuck) they did have a nice swimming pool and the kids convinced me to swim on four separate occasions over the one day we were actually in Wausau!

Visiting Old Friends

Aaron had a tournament to scout players this weekend in Wausau and we were lucky enough to be able to join him ... this meant we were close enough to our old friends Megan and Jonathan Pyatskowit and their children, JJ, Elise, and baby Seth, to visit for a day! We enjoyed beautiful weather on Saturday and were able to go for a walk in Megan's new hometown of Shawano, WI.

The first place we walked was the doughnut shop! The kids were so excited to see each other they held hands the whole way (except JJ, who was soooo excited about his friends that he had a ton of energy to run).

We also stopped at two parks on the way home ... Madeline LOVES to get an "around the world" push on the tire swing :) Benny has really missed Elise ... he affectionately calls her "Esie-buggy" and I think he actually has come to believe that that is her real name!


The kids also had time to chill out and watch a movie. Benny decided that Megan has the best treat in the whole world ... blue popsicles!

In fact, he liked them so much that he had three!

One of the most exciting aspects of our visit was being able to meet the newest Pyatskowit ... baby Seth. He is a very happy baby and is so adorable with his red hair!

Daddy's Home For Good!

After his last trip Aaron is finally home for the rest of the summer! The kids are so excited for him to be home and were very excited to see the gifts he came home with :)

Aaron has spent the majority of his touring season on the East Coast (focusing on Washington D.C., New York City, and Boston). He got a change of scenery for his final trip ... he visited Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, Vegas, and the Colorado river. I have put a slideshow of his pictures on our sidebar if you'd like to check out his trip!

7 Years Ago Today ...

Today is our 7th Wedding Anniversary ... enjoy the glance back in time :)

Matt And The Kids

On Saturday, June 12, the kids and I decided to check out one of cousin Matthew's baseball games ... the game was close (and exciting) and we were so proud of Matt! Benny was especially excited to see Matthew up close wanted his picture taken with our family's famous player :)

Afterward Benny said "And when Matt play for a Brewer's we go watch at the big place!"

Of course, even though cousin Kathryn isn't a baseball playin' star the kids still think the world of her, too :)

Corny Beach

On Friday, July 11, we met some friends at Friendly Valley Beach in Bayfield. It was cold, windy, and the water was choppy :( The kids were disappointed so we met our friends Haydn and Ellyn at the St. Louis School Park in Washburn instead; luckily they had the idea to try out Corny Beach! Even though it was quite a drive it was well worth it ... the weather was warm, the sun was shining, and the waves were high! The kids enjoyed pretending they were in the ocean and had a lot of fun playing in the sun and sand.

Baseball Pictures

Madeline had another baseball game tonight. Although Aaron has the camera with him out west I was able to get Madeline's baseball pictures from Northern Photographics. The top picture came as part of a "Memory Folder" with a team picture on the bottom half ... the bottom is a trading card (her stats are on the back!). She has three more games left in her season :)

Benny The Dinosaur

I spent Wednesday (July 3) cleaning out the kids' closets and dressers to make room for their clothes. Many of their things I hadn't seen since we moved here in October! One of the greatest finds was a dinosaur costume I bought for Benny last summer at a garage sale; Madeline and Benjamin have had a ton of fun playing "Dinosaur Chases Princess" and "My Pet Dragon". Madeline even took a couple pictures of Benny in his new get-up :)

Aaron has also been home for the past week. One of our greatest disagreements is how to put the kids to sleep at night. After one of his nightly battles trying to get the kids down I took this picture to show them how cute they look when they're actually asleep. Benny begs Madeline to sleep with him every night so she can rub his back :)

Twins Vs. Brewers

On Sunday Aaron took the kids and I to a baseball game at the Metrodome. The kids have seen games before but they always love riding public transportation to the 'Dome and enjoy the atmosphere (and food) at a Major League Game :)

I'm pretty sure Benny LIVES for these train rides :)

The first, and most anticipated snack, was Popcorn :) To follow was a stadium sundae!

Benny pooped out towards the end and fell asleep in the 6th inning.

P.S. The Twins won :)

Long Weekend With Grammy

We took a long weekend to visit Grandma in St. Louis Park, MN. We left on Wednesday (June 25) after Baseball practice and stayed until Sunday (June 29). It was nice to have almost three full days with Grandma!

GRAMMY 'OLA'S HOUSE
It was very hot this time we visited Grammy 'Ola in the cities. Luckily she had a small pool on hand and the kids splashed and played in the water to keep cool :)

Ahhh, sometimes they love each other so much :)

THE ZOO
On Friday we took the kids to Como Zoo to see the animals, visit the new butterfly atrium, and ride some rides. It was a really hot day but the kids LOVED every part of it :)

In the Conservatory there is a new wing called "The Tropics" ... the kids enjoyed seeing the gigantic fish, the anaconda, tarantula spiders, and various other snakes, lizards, and insects.

The newest attraction at the Como Zoo is the Butterfly Atrium (Butterflies in Bloom). It is shaped like a giant caterpillar tent; when you enter the tent you are surrounded by colorful flowers, butterflies, and fruits. Madeline really wanted a butterfly to land on her, but Benny would only get down to take this one picture.

We visited the giraffes first :) Madeline loved that they were really tall (like on TV) but Benny HATED the smell :) In addition to the giraffes we also saw zebras, tigers, monkeys, apes, flamingos, seals, buffalo, sheep, snow leopards, and wolves!

Even though the animals were exciting, the best part of the day was the rides :) Benny was too small and uninterested but Madeline enjoyed a ride on the swings and the go-karts. She also went on a "grown-up" ride and needed a chaperone ... good thing Grammy 'Ola was there to accompany her :)

B-Day Party In Butternut

On Sunday June 22 we drove to Butternut to belatedly celebrate some June birthdays; Yvonne, Matthew, and Benny all had a chance to party with family ...

Right when we got to Grandma's Benny dove for the present pile and kept threatening to open gifts!

When finally it was time he tore right in! He opened lots of "Cars" themed toys and clothing, which he loves :)

He also got a case full of tractors, road signs, and driving cones ... Madeline was a champ and helped him read all of his birthday cards.

Grandma Yvonne made him the cool racecar cake!

Mmmmmmmm :)

Long Lake Beach

Today was the first REALLY warm day that we were able to get up to Long Lake. We went with our friends Jane, Eva, Oliver and baby Lucy; we had lunch at the beach and were able to get lots of playtime and sun between the "scattered rains".

For those of you that haven't been, Long Lake has a beautiful beach. After crossing the picnic grounds you walk down a set of stairs to an enclosed beach. When you're used to swimming in Lake Superior the waters of Long Lake feel deliciously warm!

Although the water was nice, the sand is soft and clean (compared to other local beaches) and the kids spent most of their time digging in the sand to fill buckets :)

At one point during the day it started to rain; afraid of a downpour we packed up and headed up to the vans ... when we saw that the sun might be starting to peek through we decided to wait it out. The kids had a good time playing in the van and horsing around in the parking lot :)

A good part of the afternoon was spent snacking on chicken and graham crackers :)

Benny isn't used to the sound of flies buzzing by his ears yet :)

Picture of #3

We had an ultrasound today at the hospital here in Ashland ...

The whole family came to watch the baby kick and wiggle (the kids decided it looked like Skeletor). Everything looked good and the baby seems to be growing well. Madeline was especially happy to find out that the baby is a GIRL! She smiled from ear to ear and couldn't stop giggling :)

Maddy's First Baseball Practice

Maddy is playing T-Ball (The Basics of Baseball) this summer. You can find a schedule of her practices and games along the left-hand side of our blog if you're interested in watching. The first practice was mostly a "get-to-know-baseball" practice.

They started out by warming up and getting to know the bases :)

They also practiced some catching a throwing (and even got a chance to run the bases). Madeline's friend, Eva, is on the same team as her ... buddies and teammates :)

Benny was a little unhappy at first, he thought he'd be playing for the Brewer's this summer ;) Instead he was stuck on the sidelines ... he was happy when another teammates little brother wanted to play catch with him though!

Benny's Belated Birthday

Since Aaron missed Benny's 3rd and Golden Birthday we brought a cake and celebrated his birthday with Aaron at the hotel.

He LOVED his Matchbox cars cake and blew out all the candles in four tries :)

We got him a Lightening McQueen card that makes music, he was enthralled! We also got him a track for his cars and a bubble gun ...


Happy Birthday Benny!

Science Museum and Public Transportation

Over the weekend we met Aaron in Minneapolis for a weekend stay at the Marriott. On Sunday we decided to take the kids to the Science Museum (a favorite of mine when I was little) to do some exploring. Enjoy the pictures!

Madeline was intrigued by the Earth/Sun model that spun to show the seasons and the cause of day and night (I think it finally made sense to her). Aaron helped the kids do a practice newscast ... Madeline read the teleprompter while Benny made silly faces into the camera.

Both kids LOVED the dinosaur exhibit and posed on a smaller replica of dinosaurs in their "natural" habitat. The tube on the right represented the "belly of a beast" and the kids enjoyed pretending they were eaten up by a giant dinosaur!

Maddy took a turn controlling the giant wave machine. She also took a look at the river through the telescope at the museum.

One of the Science Museum's newest exhibits is a towboat (in use until 2002 they use the front half of the towboat as an actual room at the museum). Madeline pretended she was driving and Benny acted as first mate :)

We also took the kids to see an Omni-Theater movie. Madeline enjoyed the sensation of flying over the Alps but Benny wasn't so sure ... he kept asking "Why we movin'?" and finally fell asleep about half way through.

While in the cities we also took Benny on a much anticipated "train" ride on the light rail. He LOVES public transportation (buses, subways, etc.) and really enjoyed his experience in Minneapolis. In fact, he talked about it for about 15 hours straight both before and after his ride and he still covets his ticket :)


Maddy enjoyed herself but doesn't have quite the same passion for mass transit :)

Field Day

On Friday, June 6th, Lake Superior Elementary School held it's annual Field Day event for the last day of school. Generally the activities are held outside, but with the threatening weather the festivities were indoors this year. In addition to games, art projects, and dancing, the school rented inflatable obstacle courses for the kids to climb. Madeline had a ton of fun, and volunteering was such a treat ... the kids were all so excited to see what the school had planned for them!

Madeline and her classmates listened carefully while Mrs. Graff explained all the fun things the students would be able to do ... her class all wore red so they'd be easy to spot in the busy gymnasium and hallways. They waited in line, anxiously, to try out the obstacle course!

This was the larger of the two inflatables. The other one was more of an obstacle course and this one was kind of a climber with a giant slide at the end.

They also had hula-hooping and dancing set up in the gym for the kids. Madeline was worried because she doesn't hula-hoop very well :( The last picture is of Madeline and Blaze, one of her new friends from Kindergarten.

Madeline's "Graduation"

Madeline had an un-official kindergarten graduation (a field trip to Prentice Park) on Thursday June 5. The kids performed two songs and were presented with their memory books from Kindergarten ... then parents and kids had a chance to picnic and play at the park!

Madeline got a little nervous with all those parents watching her, but she got into it when her favorite song "5 Little Ducks with a Quack, Quack, Quack" was being sung!

The memory books that they gave the kids are full of pictures and work samples from throughout the year ... it was a very special gift and we are so thankful to Mrs. Graff for putting that together for us. The picture on the right is of Madeline with Mrs. Graff (her classroom was known throughout the year as the "fish" classroom - each room had a different animal mascot. We made the fish T-Shirts at the beginning of the year at Muffins with Moms; all the kids wore them on field trips and special class days).

This is me and Benny with our recent graduate. He is such a weird-o and will not pose for pictures anymore :(

Benny is 3!

We started Benny's special day by going to County Market for his favorite breakfast, a doughnut :) Afterwards we spent some time playing NASCAR on the X-Box ... his new obsessive past-time. We also brought cookies to Madeline's classroom so Benny could share his birthday with his friends in Mrs. Graff's room. Our friends Jen, Aidan, and Declan came over for pizza and cupcakes to help celebrate ... Aidan and Benny are best buddies and were born only 1 day apart!


He got his "Birthday Crown" from Mrs. Graff :)

He even taught Aidan how to play his favorite game ... and they both got into it for a while!

Home Again Home Again

Well, the weekend was filled with fun and adventure ... but the trip home was greuling and we all dealt with it differently ...

Madeline started to lose sanity and put a diaper on her head (noticing, with pleasure, that her pigtails fit out the legholes) and Bejamin slept a large portion of the way.

Remembering ...

We had a very special Memorial Day with Great Grandma Joyce. Grandpa, Hillary, the kids, and I went to visit Grandma and take her to my Grandfather's grave in Hopkins. We met my Uncles George and Roger and they came along too. I had never visited my Grandpa's headstone and it was nice to see so much of the family together. We miss Grandpa a lot and think of him often!

Grandma posed with the kids outside by her garden.

My Grandma made a flag to plant near Grandpa's grave. The picture on the right is my Uncle George, my dad, Uncle Rodger, Grandma, Benny, Hillary and Madeline at the cemetary.

Hangin' At Grandma & Grandpa's

On Memorial Weekend the kids and I went to visit Grammy and Grampy and Auntie Hillary in St. Louis Park for some family time before Hillary goes to Utah for six weeks. The kids had a ton of fun playing in the driveway with their bikes, bubble-bathing in Grandpa's claw foot bathtub, practicing rock-climbing, and hangin' with cousin Hailey.

It has been so long since I blogged that I thought I should include a picture of Benny with his new haircut! He was running up and down the driveway at Grandma and Grandpa's that he skinned his knee, TWICE :(

Grandpa's old fashioned claw-foot bathtub makes the best bubbles! The kids always look forward to baths at their house!

We had to go to Dick's Sporting Goods to shop with Hillary for her gear for field camp in Utah. Madeline took one look at the climbing wall and said she wanted to try! She got about halfway up the wall before she got tired and she wasn't scared a bit ... she even liked the part when she fell off the wall and swung in the air so high off the ground!

The kids spent most of their time playing outside. Grandpa raced Benny up and down the driveway with his bike.

On Sunday Denae and Hailey came over for a visit. Grandpa and the neighbor had found a baby bunny when they were mowing the lawn and put it in a box to keep it safe. The kids LOVED seeing the baby bunny and were very excited to be part of putting the bunny back in the yard when the mowing was done.

Hailey and Madeline are only 8 months apart, and even though Hailey is taller, Maddy is the one who's older :) Denae and I never pose for pictures so it was nice to get a photo of the two of us :)

Madeline had so much fun rock-climbing that she wanted to take Hailey ... we took the girls to REI in Bloomington to try out their wall. They were such princesses rock-climbing in dresses :)

Madeline climbed like a pro this time :) She made it all the way to the top and rang the bell! Everyone watching clapped and Maddy was quite proud (as were we).

Hailey was a little more hesitant, but she was a great sport. Initially she was only going to "touch" the wall, but she ended up climbing 1/4 of the way up!

Afterwards the girls wanted to get their pictures taken with Lucy and Charlie outside of REI :) Such hams for the camera!

The Edge

We met Aaron on Mother's Day weekend for a stay at The Edge in Duluth. Although we only had a couple days to spend with him the kids and I really enjoyed having some down time with Dad! The kids had a ton of fun at the waterpark and Auntie Hilly even met us for an afternoon at the pools!

Madeline LOVED climbing across the "waterwalk" and she was an expert by the end of our stay!

Us Mertig's call this pool the "toilet pool" (officially known as the Vortex); it swirls around and makes for some fun floating :)

Benny mostly stuck around the "hot" pool, his little body couldn't keep warm :)

Madeline even got brave enough to try some of the waterslides for the first time! She was feelin' pretty proud :)

The kids made themselves totally at home at the hotel; Benny played Leapster and Madeline soaked up some TV time :)

Ouch!

Tonight we went to the Kiwanis Pancake Feed at the Civic Center in town. Benny was wearing his "super fast" Lightening McQueen shoes ... despite the speed of his feet, his head got ahead of them and he smacked his forehead on the cement of the ice arena :( It is quite a bump and it stirred up a lot of attention! He was feeling well enough to take some smiley pictures after a few hours ...

Madeline's new nickname for him is "Bonkers" (she took very good care of him after his accident). Notice the gleam off the goose-egg!

Big News & Other Stuff

Sorry it has been so long! Although a lot has happened I haven't had a ton of time to blog, since a lot has been going on!
Well, for those of you who didn't catch on to the ticker on the left-hand side of our blog measuring our pregnancy, WE ARE EXPECTING! We are all very excited :) We waited to loudly announce our news until we heard the baby's heartbeat, which we finally did hear on Friday May 2 (it was a strong 160). We told the kids on Saturday and Maddy has been telling her friends, teachers, and family like a spreading wildfire! She is so excited and really hopes it's a girl. In fact, she got so excited by the prospect of a sister that she dressed Benny up and told me she finally had "her dreams coming true!" Enjoy the pictures of Benny in his "fancy" dress (he twirled a lot) ... sorry Aaron :(


These next pictures were from a "rock out" session with the Mertig family on Rock Band (our favorite family XBox game). After playing hardcore drums for a while Benny decided he'd like to help Dad with the guitar. About halfway through the song Aaron realized his assistant was fast asleep!

Daddy's Day Home

Yay! Daddy came home!!!

The kids always love to see pictures of what he has seen in D.C.; he had some video of the panda bears from the National Zoo that the kids really enjoyed! He also took a picture of me with the kids ... when I'm home with the kiddos I'm always the one BEHIND the camera!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aaron came home late on Tuesday and stayed until very early Thursday morning ... even though it was just for one day the kids had so much fun playing with him and enjoying the warm weather. He made a baseball star out of Maddy ... she even posed for a picture (and I made her into a baseball card, which she LOVES):

Here are some action shots of Madeline practicing her batting. She hit four "home runs" over the fence in the backyard!

She is really learning to keep her eye on the ball and follow-through with her swing. Notice the muddy tights and shoes!!

Although Benny LOVES to be the batter he ended up playing catcher for a long time while Madeline showed off her skills :) He's got a nice wind-up ... and if you notice he's a lefty!

Madeline also took Benny on a "worm hunt" after the big thunder storm on Monday night ... although she searched through all the mud and puddles all she could come up with was one dead worm :(

Well, the kids and I are looking forward to a four-day weekend! Madeline has off of school on Thursday and Friday of this week for a Spring Break (it's only supposed to be 35 degrees tomorrow). We don't have any plans yet but I'm sure we'll be busy anyway!

Bad Choices

Madeline had a rough day today. The coveted Bratz Baby got taken away temporarily as a result of her "bad choices" ... in an effort to earn back her toy ASAP she wrote me this letter. For those of you who don't read "kid" I'll translate:

"Mom, I am sorry for making those bad choices all the bad choices

I made when I did not say sorry. I love you mom and you love me."

Meanwhile, Benny played with his "hoe bean" (aka "whole bin") of cars on the floor - a common pose for him to those of you that know him well :)

On a brighter note we expect Aaron home tomorrow early in the afternoon! We always look forward to having Daddy home, even if it is only for a couple of days.

The "Big" Grandma Sleep-Over

Proof that they can be sweet :)

Grandma Draeger (affectionately known as "Big" Grandma) slept over on Saturday night; we had a lot of fun reading the new books she bought for the kids. On Sunday we took Grandma to church, brunch, and Wal*Mart. She picked up a new car for Benny and a Bratz Baby for Maddy (she's been begging for one for a while!). It was fun having her visit!

Don't Turn Your Back

Well, I said I'd update weekly but life around here is just so interesting that I had to show everyone the action from the Mertig house on Thursday night. The whole day was uneventful until about 7:15 p.m. when I sent the kids into the bathroom to brush their teeth; a few moments later I heard ridiculously evil laughter and some whimpering ... I yelled from the bedroom "what's going on?" (having no idea I didn't really want to know). Benny came running up to me yelling "Maddy, Maddy, Maddy putta toofpaste in mine hair!" and Maddy followed proclaiming "He wanted me to do it!". Needless to say, Benny needed a tubby after I discovered toothpaste in his hair, on his back, and all over his arms. I sent Madeline to bed immediately and took pictures of Benny unbeknownst to her (I didn't want her to feel pride in her work). Once she was out of hearing range I even chuckled. Enjoy!


Notice the tub running in the background :) That is some sadly wasted toothpaste ... and it had to be the expensive organic stuff ... it couldn't be the Aquafresh.

Fun With Dad

Well, as most of you know, Aaron has been traveling to Washington D.C. a lot lately; he gives tours to school groups from all over the United States. Although it is hard to have him gone so much we're so glad he has been able to find a rewarding alternative to teaching (but we're REALLY happy he'll be back to teaching in the fall - 2nd Grade). He loves the history and culture of D.C. Occasionally he takes the camera on his trips ... enjoy the pictures!



The night tours make for some of the best pictures! The cherry blossoms were blooming last time he was in D.C. ... he said it was beautiful!

____________________________________________________

It was really nice to have him home for a whole week ... the kids really enjoyed having Dad home to play with. He encouraged Madeline to build a snowman on Monday and on Wednesday he took the kids biking in the empty parking lot next door. If you can believe it the pictures were taken only two days apart! Today it was a warm 65 degrees here in Ashland!

While Maddy painstakingly built her snowman Benny looked on and sampled the snow :)



The troublesome two on their bikes!! Madeline is almost ready to lose the training wheels and hopefully this summer Benny will learn to pedal that trike!