Christmas time is here...

I guess the kids were good this year cuz St. Nick made a visit to our house on Saturday evening and left some good for the younger Maurer's! This year everyone scored a new book, some candy and a Coke! I keep reminding the kids that SANTA still has time to change his mind, especially when the whining and flipping over the couch type of behavior surfaces!!!! Sometimes I wonder how naughty you have to be to really come out with nothing...

Halloween come and gone

After a months worth of laboring on our 2009 family costumes, "The Nightmare Before Christmas"crew, came to life in celebration for the wonderful holiday of Halloween!

Much to my dismay, people thought I was Raggedy Ann(she never had facial scars so I am not sure where that came from) but Jack got lots of compliments and James had fun moving him around town. The kids celebrated as the trio of LOCK, SHOCK and BARREL. Pip was even in on the fun as Jacks cute pet Zero. Although it was freezing outside the kids raked in a ton of candy and fortunately avoided any frostbite. I think that this was the last year that I will be able to do a group theme, however, because with each passing day my children become more and more independent!!!(not always a great thing...)




The semi-annual party went well with a visit from the Seiler's in disguise as the Adams Family, mom as a blonde witch, Devon as Jay, and Chris as "the Green Man".

No longer a lion

Wanted everyone to see our new dog! Can you believe it?...he does have eyes...

It comes in three's....right?

In the hopes that the old addage "Life comes at you in 3's..." we are hoping that our run of bad luck is over and things can start looking up again. Let me explain:

1. Friday night, Owen comes down with the flu...not a quick throw up and it is over flu, but a wretching all night and most of the next day flu. He overcomes it and is better by Sunday, all is well! ...Quinn gets on the bus Monday morning, right as rain. A phone call 1 1/2 hours later comes in letting me know she puked (not pucked) on the bus and I need to pick her up. Heaven help me! Of course mom and dad are gone and Chris and Kate are so busy "working" at sleeping that I can't get them to answer the phone. I end up having to call in to work and cancel out my afternoon (fortunately, that is all I was working anyway) so that I can take care of my sick baby (not that I mind in the least because my children come first, but it is fun for me recount these facts as certain people need a little bashing occasionally and it makes the story so much better!).

2. Monday continues with a trip to the basement to wash the puke clothes only to find that my washing machine is no longer on line! That is to say, the GFI is OK, the breaker is working, but the washer will not turn on. Calls are made to every repair shop in town, only to find nobody local services my "high end" washer! I am stuck in the throngs of FLU SEASON with no washer! (It cannot get worse, it cannot get worse, the soup was good, the soup was good!)

3. Finally get Quinn to take a nap, sit down for 5 seconds to catch my breath and listen to the wind blowing pretty hard outside...BANG CRASH BOOM! I think "Good lord, the garbage can went over and I am going to have to clean it up, damn the wind!" But no, it is an even better surprise for me as I run to the door and find not garbage in the driveway but the neighbors tree laying on my garage! Am I losing my mind? Nope, that is definately the dying/dead tree that she has been saying she needs to take care of for the past 5 years laying on the garage!



Call insurance to find that in fact she is not responsible for HER tree as it is now laying on OUR property...I can feel a case of that flu coming on (or perhaps it is just my head saying it cannot take much more)...neighbor walks over to say that she's sorry but she called her insurance and they said that SHE is not liable and the tree is OUR problem...all I can do is look at her and remind myself to keep breathing and not lose it!

Put some calls in to tree cutters in the area for estimates on getting the tree off of our garage, advise the other neighbors to keep their respective kids out of our yard and away from us (as we have the flu...and I am pretty much not in the mood to deal with other peoples children...especially you know who!),google someone to fix my washing machine, yell at the boys to get their homework done NOW, and finally cry into James shoulder as he tells it will all work out! My only consolation is the knowledge that life/bad things happens in 3's...we are done now...we can move on...just realized that Gavin has not taken his turn with the flu yet...

ugh.

Quinn turns 5!

My baby has turned 5! That is 5 fingers or 5 toes worth of years! She had a good day! Fortunately the flu that she had the day before disappeared and she was right as rain for her big day! After a cold and windy morning, Quinn welcomed friends and family to celebrate her birthday! And celebrate we did! She now has a good sized collection of Barbie dolls from her friends, and make-up from her aunts(thanks a lot!!!).Quinn also received her first 2 wheeler from us which she is enjoying parading up and down the street all sparkly like...ahhh, to be 5 again!

Last weekend of Summer

We were fortunate enough to be able to spend our last weekend of the summer of '09 up north with the Creagh family! After leaving Manitowoc early Saturday morning we hit the Geocaching trail and managed to find 15 caches before arriving at our destination in Boulder Junction. It was a fun morning, even though it was cold and rainy, and no matter what our children say afterwards, they enjoyed every minute of it! James and I decided that it was the "fastest" trip we've ever taken up north despite the fact that it took us all day.

Once in the great north woods we settled in for a couple bottles of wine and a toast to the "new baby", a steak dinner, a nice night walk around a very empty Camp Manitowish, a game of cards, a video and bed. Sunday morning we all went for a nice walk into BJ to find a few local caches and a blueberry patch that was an unexpected surprise! Everyone helped to pick a nice bag of blueberries which the Creagh's turned into some lovely blueberry muffins.

Since this trip helped us achieve our goal of 200 found caches, we celebrated with a dinner at HuHot in Green Bay and reminisced about the summer and all the great adventures we had! Although this summer wasn't the hottest we've ever had, we found that we had really enjoyed ourselves and look forward to fall!

1st Day of School

It's finally here! The first day of school and 2/3 of the Maurer children were excited and happy to be going! Quinn and Liam got on the bus just fine this morning, and while I cried at the sight of my baby getting on the bus, Jane jumped for joy and shouted, "...yeah! He's someone else's problem!!!"

I would like to say the excitement for school continued when I got home to set the boys on their way....Gavin was all smiles and Owen, well...he was Owen. The boys got on their bikes with the combination to their bike lock written in their bags and said, "Mom, you don't need to come with us..." hmmm, you'd think I would have been in tears again, however, this day has been coming and I was happy to see them off!

The dog and I hardly know what to do with ourselves! All this quiet is erie...

Zoom Zoom

Great News!! We made it under the wire and were able to purchase a new vehicle, a 2009 Mazda5, which we brought home on Wednesday evening. To make a long story short the van was falling apart and we couldn't get rid of it fast enough! By taking advantage the only government program (so far)that we were eligible for and trading in James' truck, we found we could afford this mini mini. Our new toy seems to be holding up to our busy schedules so far and we hope that it will last us at least until Owen starts driving...(which is only 6years away)! Scary!

Anyhow, celebrate with us our efforts to go green and live with only one vehicle. The true test will be when the snow flies!

Gavin's First Communion

On April 19th, Gavin celebrated his 1st communion. It was a cooler day, but sunny and he did a good job remembering everything he had to do. There were 4 other kids making their first communion as well so mass was a little bit longer, but not by much. Perhaps it felt like forever because Gavin kept asking me if mass was almost done...After mass we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for coffee and cake and relaxed the rest of the day.

Overdue updates

James let me buy a camera! Woohoo! I got one that goes under water and can be outdoors in all types of weather. So far I am pretty pleased with it, but I guess only time will tell if it remains great! Anyhoo, I have lots of photos and updates to tell you all about so here we go:

Let us start with a day at Blue Harbor!
Jane and Kate convinced me that I needed to take a morning and Quinn and go to Blue Harbor resort and water park with them. I wasn't sure if I should go, but in the end they won the battle so off we went for a morning of swimming and fun. We did not tell the kids where we were going, only that it had to do with water. Quinn and Liam were ecstatic with the day and we all had a fantastic time, as you can see from the photos! My camera held up very well, and everyone had a turn using it to take photos.

Quinn especially liked shooting the lifeguard at the kiddy pool, as you can see in the last photo. The guy stood and posed for her but the picture was blurry, which was a total bummer because she was totally scooping on him! I wonder if I need to worry....

I guess next comes my birthday. The big 35! Not so much a special day anymore, but just another number to add to my years on this earth...thanks to all who called and sang. I baked my own cake and decorated the house for myself, but James did buy me my new grill which I couldn't be happier about! It is wonderful, and has every little thing a griller could want. We know it does burgers and ribs really well but the true test will be if it can brew beer...we will let you know!


Three days later our Gavin turned 8! He had a great day which began with opening gifts and finding out that he got the video recorder/camera that he really, really, really, really wanted! Many thanks to all who called and gave him presents! He had a special root beer cake and cookie dough ice cream to finish off the day!


This wouldn't be a good post from me unless I put a few pictures of our baby on it as well. Pip got a haircut(from me), which didn't turn out too bad...now I know why groomers charge what they do! I was able to shave his back 2/3 but his front legs and head were left alone as he was done with me after 2 hours of wiggling and yelling. We were calling him our "little lion" as that is exactly what he looked like. A few days after that our he became an it! The poor guy had to wear a cone around his head as he tends to be a ball licker. Nice...however,the cone didn't work out so well with stairs, crate time, or eating so we got him a onesie which worked out much better, as long as he didn't pee on it. What a cutie!



And last but not least Jesus died for our sins and rose again! Easter came and went and brought us all a lot of smiles. We met up with the Seilers for the annual church easter egg hunt. Fortunately this year it was nice enough out that the kids were able to hunt for eggs outside! All of the kids got to find 41 eggs which was way higher than Quinn could count! The eggs were schrewn all over behind the church and everyone went wild scooping them up. 41 pieces of candy later for each child and we were all on candy sugar highs!




The easter bunny also made an apperance and we Maurers got some new DVD's to watch. The hunt was on when we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's after church easter sunday. Quinn found her basket first, followed by Owen and then Gavin who had a little harder time locating his well hidden basket. Grandma Bonnie would have been proud of the feast we had that afternoon, and the picture of the food was taken in her honor!



Sorry it took so long to update you all with this last months events. Fortunately we can document things again with the new camera and hopefully it will not be so long between posts anymore!

Keeping Curtiss busy

Recently we spent an afternoon at the YMCA at a Big Brothers/Big Sisters event with Curtiss. The afternoon consisted of basketball, kicker, scooter races, field hockey and football. We were exhausted, he was sweaty and everyone left exercised and happy. For a treat we went to DQ for ice cream afterwards which was much appreciated! They sent us this cute family photo which I thought I'd post so everyone can see our growing family!

The big 10!

Owen turned ten years old on March 16th! I cannot believe that it has been ten years since I was in labor for the first time...believe me, labor leaves a lasting impression! Anyhow, he had a great day, got lots of wonderful gifts and celebrated with cake, ice cream and family! Thanks to all who sent cards, gave gifts and called!

Poor Grandma...

I just got done reading Grandmas latest post and couldn't help but feel sorry for her! I mean, it sounds as though her life is just a daily repeat...then I got to thinking about my own life and realized something crazy! I am living her life!!! Listen to this:

(Ho hum and sigh) Well I woke up this morning, in my bed, to the sounds of my children yelling and my husband snoring. I looked at the clock and it was 6:26 am. I still have 4 minutes before my day starts. The dog starts moving in his crate and I realize that if I don't get up, he's going to pee. So up it is, slippers on, down the stairs and outside to the sloppy mess that is the beginning of spring. I stand there as the dog pees and poops for the first time, back inside to feed him and as long as I'm there do my important stuff called making lunches. Just as I start to pour the applesauce in the little plastic dish, someone yells MOM and I am off to do whatever it is I am being summoned for. Back to lunches, and while I am at it I think I'll have a cup of coffee. The hot steaming thing comes out just as I am packing schoolbags and making sure all of the mittens are dry. MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM....good lord, is that the ceiling coming down? as I break up the first of many fights of the day. Back to my coffee only to find the pile of poop on the carpet next to the sink...oops, must have been a little too busy with the MOM stuff to notice that my "precious angel" of a dog gave me some sort of signal that it was time for his second relief trip! Outside with the dog, waiting, waiting, waiting for him to finish, perhaps I should have brought that coffee out with me. Oh my lord, it is 8:32 get your shoes on! we have to leave now!!! Out the door, kids to school, laundry, cleaning, MOM, MOM, MOM, more laundry, cleaning, bills, e-mails, take an aspirin, PLEASE take a nap today, laundry, pick up the boys, whats for dinner, find that coffee is still on the counter(now it is cold, at least Gma gets a few sips in), husband home, laundry, IS YOUR HOMEWORK DONE(for the 50th time)?, STOP JUMPING ON THE COUCH LIKE THAT!, HAS ANYONE SEEN THE DOG?????, THAT'S IT! GO TO YOUR ROOM!!!!,.....I'm sorry for yelling, I'm just tired of saying things 50 times, goodnight, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM...laundry, does the clock really say 10:30, bed.

And I get to do that every day! No visitors either, sometimes groceries, but mostly the same daily monotony! (Sigh) I guess it doesn't get any better....

No excuses...

I realize that I haven't been the best with keeping our blog updated as of late. I only have one good excuse and it goes like this...James vs the fishing pond.


Those were the last events my camera would ever commemorate, so I haven't been able to document the progress of our attic room as I normally would have. Fortunately, Jane graciously came over and let us borrow her camera for a couple of shots. We are very pleased with the progress we have made and the overall look of the room! Thanks to all who have helped along the way, especially James' dad who helped us texture the walls(hiding a multitude of sins!), and also to my dad who helped with finishing off the half wall with some clever woodwork and painting the majority of the green on the walls!



Since these were taken James and I have laid the hardwood floor, appropriately named "gun stock" in color and installed the ceiling fan. All we are waiting on now is the carpet which has been ordered and is scheduled to arrive at the end of the month, and the trim which is still around the doors at mom and dads...the boys spent their first night in their new room and said nothing more than "This is AWESOME!" about 50 times. I think they are pleased!

Pippin is busy...

We have had our little yip per now for about 3 1/2 weeks now. He still has his accident moments but I feel he is really catching on and one day soon will GETit. That is optimism for you! The kids and I are adjusting well to the little guy. We have only lost one Polly Pocket shoe to his tummy so far and I think that is pretty good! We now know that Pip loves carrots and chicken, passes out from the day as soon as the kids are in bed and he will sleep through the night! I have given him at least 5 baths and his first haircut, which makes him look like he has "the Mange", but at least I can comb through his fur. His first haircut will take place with a groomer on the 28th so watch for that update. I figure he will drop about 3 pounds for the camera by getting rid of all his puppy fluff...we shall see!

PS congrats to Rob and Ashley and their new Beagle "Dexter" who joined their family on 1/19/09!