HAPPY EASTER!

Spring Break and Beyond

Whew...we have been so busy I haven't been able to keep all of you updated like I want. Please bear with me! The end of March was Spring Break (however, in Wisconsin, it's still winter!). Anyway, we took the boys to Wisconsin Dells for a couple of days and stayed at the Kalahari Hotel & Resort. This is a massive complex complete with a indoor and outdoor waterpark, movie theater and theme park. Our room was, of course, in a whole other wing and was literally a 2-3 mile walk to the waterpark! The boys had a blast and it was nice to get away from Wausau for a few days. Jason and Kyle also got to try their hand at surfing. Unfortunately, I was across the waterpark with Kory so was unable to get any pictures. I don't believe either of them ever got to their feet, but did ride the board on their knees for quite a while. It looked like a lot of fun, but I didn't have an "appropriate" swimwear along to attempt it. Seriously, you need a wet suit...the boys had a hard time keeping their shorts on!

The boys enjoying a ride along the lazy river, which lead into the wave pool. There was some serious current in that wave pool...I had a difficult time not being knocked to my butt!

We spent one of the mornings at the theme park, which had go-carts, a ferris wheel, rock climbing wall, mini-golf, laser tag, bowling and a ropes course...just to name a few. We rode the ferris wheel and played mini-golf and laser tag. The line was way too long for the go-carts and the boys really wanted to get to the waterpark!

The last weekend of Spring Break we took a trip to my mom's to visit with my sister and her family who had driven up from Kansas City. It was too short of a trip, but it was so good to see all of them again. Tara's kids are growing up so fast. I can't believe Kayla is 14! The kids picked up right where they left off...never skipping a beat as though they had just seen each other yesterday. It was sad to have the time end, but will hopefully see them again this summer.

Of course when we are all together we have to take family pictures much to the kiddos dismay!

Jeremy, Tara, Kayla (14), Blaine (11) and Brian (9)

Me, Jason, Kory & Kyle

My sis and I with Mom

The whole crew with Grandma and Grandpa

The weekend after Spring Break, my mom and step-dad came to visit and my mom was able to stay a few days. While she was here we decided to paint the boys' bedrooms and decorate them as they wanted them. So here they are all completed...

Kyle's "Brewer's" room

Kory's "Harley Davidson" room

I spent last week finishing up the rooms and cleaning out closets...yuck! Then we headed on into Easter. We spent Easter with our friends, Josh and Emily, at Josh's parent's house; enjoyed a delicious ham, salads and all sorts of yummy desserts! It was a beautiful day too...the sun was actually shining!

Jason is gone the first part of this week to Nebraska, then to Minneapolis on Thursday. He'll be home Friday and we are going out to eat with some friends. On Saturday I am headed to Appleton for a girls weekend with my friend, Emily. I am so excited to get away and do girl things and have no real schedule! I will be leaving the boys on their own to go turkey hunting...I hope they have good luck. I can't wait to hear the stories from that adventure...turkey blinds + Kory = a potential for disaster :)...hee, hee!

Well have a good week and God bless.

Finally the front teeth are gone!

Kory's front teeth, which have defied gravity for a couple weeks now, are finally gone. He had a dentist appointment yesterday to get a couple cavities filled and I took advantage of the moment and asked the dentist to pull them out while they were in there! Whoohooo! He came out in tears, not because anything hurt, but because he was so mad at me! Jason has been begging Kory to pull them out for two weeks and in Kory fashion, Kory has refused. They were seriously starting to point in opposite directions and watching him eat anything was torturous, but NOTHING could convince him that it was better to have them out than in. Hence, my above action to have the dentist pull them when he wasn't expecting it. And who said mom's weren't smart?! (hee, hee) But I have to admit I am going to miss his little chipped tooth!

I believe spring is finally here in Wausau (knock on wood, cross fingers, etc.) The snow is melting leaving huge puddles in it's place; the sun is shining; the birds are chirping....aaahhh! It's always fun to see what toys appear in our yard each spring. You know the ones that have randomly been asked about throughout the winter that you can't find and are slowly discovered in the puddles and mud in the spring :)....fun! Now what can remedy this problem...oh yeah...listen to your mother and pick up all of your toys before the snow comes!!!!! Maybe someday they will learn. Another fun spring project is cleaning 5 months worth of the dog excrements out of the yard. Seriously, it's a mine field! I wish I could say that this is something that Jason so willing does, but no, it is a pleasure bestowed upon me...yippeeee.....just the job I wanted....yuck!

Friday begins the boys' spring break...yay! We are leaving on Sunday for the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells for three days...three days filled with water slides, laser tag and video games. The boys' are so excited! It will be awesome to just hang as a family with no distractions! Then the next weekend we are going to my mom's to visit and see my sister and her family....Yahoo!!!!!

Well I'm off to finish up this busy week...then vacation here I come. Enjoy your week.

Kyle's Voyage of the Mimi Research Project

This is my Voyage of the Mimi museum project. My topic is the Caribbean Reef Shark, commonly known as the Gray Reef Shark.

This is the first step on the painting.

Here's the second step, we finished the paint job.

Here's the third step. Mom and I put on all the text.

Here's the final step with added pictures.

If you're wondering what the Voyage of the Mimi is, it's about a kid from Ohio named C.T. (Ben Affleck) who went to visit his grandpa, Captain Granville, captain of a Charter Boat named The Mimi. C.T. travels down to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. There he meets an old friend of Captain Granville, Pepper, who has a prosthetic leg. Pepper looses her leg because she had bone cancer in her leg. The doctor said that it was either the leg or Pepper would have to go. C.T. also meets two archaeologists, a Mexican, Victor, and American, Terry. Quiche, (pronounced Kee-chay) Terry's daughter, becomes quick friends with C.T. I won't give away anymore because it gets ALOT better!!!!!

Can I get off this ride, yet?!

I cannot believe it's been over a month since I have written anything. Let's just say life has gotten the best of me! Since my last post I have been back and forth to doctors offices, an ER visit and hospital stay with Kory with nothing to show for it but a huge medical bill! Jason and I still think it's his appendix and wouldn't be surprised if we are in having it taken out at some point this year...but doctors' know best, right!? I have been working two days a week for Principal Financial lending administrative support. I LOVE IT! Driving Kyle to his baseball camp one day a week...the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays I coordinate childcare at MOPS...Wednesday's morning bible study, One Way and G180...every other Thurs., Kory's classroom...every other Friday, Kyle's classroom. In between all of this, Jason has been traveling quite a bit for work so there's the thrilling adventure of "single" parenthood. I am truly not whining, but I am at the point on this roller coaster ride where I've had enough and would really like to get off! Oh and let's not forget about the dogs...Gunner is old and lazy except for when company comes then he's crazy hyper. And...Max....he is doing much better...much less toilet paper has been eaten and we are down to only a couple of accidents a week....yay!

On our "down" time we have been catching up on the TV show "24"...it's very addicting. We are on season 4...only 3 more to go to be all caught up. The way I see it...we'll be all caught up by the end of March :)

Well, this is my life in a nutshell. I am hoping to be able to chill and jump off this ride and be better at keeping all of you updated...hopefully with more positive highlights of our lives.

Take care and have a wonderful week.

AAAAHHHHH.....(pull hair).....AAAAAHHHH....(scream)....sigh!

Grrr...Max....

he looks so sweet doesn't he?!

We have had Max now for 3 weeks so I thought a little update was needed. Let's see, he hates his kennel so he whines and barks and goes crazy when put in it. AND...pees in it on a daily basis, goes outside to about a million times a day, chews on everything, torments our 8 year old springer spaniel, Gunner and can put away food like nothing I've seen before. He has unrolled 4 rolls of toilet paper (the boys can't remember to close the bathroom door!), chewed up my slipper, "marked" his territory under the Christmas tree too many times to count. I'm not sure what it is but the red tree skirt just draws him in. He has gone from a sweet little "infant" to an incorrigible 3 year old in no time flat! Just the same, we love him dearly and most days I can laugh, but there are moments when I would like to scream and drop kick him across the room (don't worry I will never do that).

After all of my ranting, I suppose I should shed some positive light on the poor little guy...he does go to the door when he wants to go out, sleeps all night (on our bed, nothing like someday having a 70 pound dog lying on your feet all night), loves to cuddle and is as cute as cute can be!

Welcome Home, Max!

MAX

Okay...so Max is the surprise from two posts ago! On the way home from Jason's Christmas party, we stopped and picked up our little bundle of joy, Max. The boys had no idea we were getting a new puppy. So....when we arrived home they were so shocked they were speechless (quite an accomplishment for our boys!)

Max's introduction to the boys!

It's been quite an interesting two weeks since Max arrived. Christmas company and a trip to Grandma and Grandpa Olson's...whew! I think we have all weathered the events quite well, but Max did get a little spoiled so this week there has been some curbing of behaviors! I think we are down to a couple of accidents a day (I think he pees on the floor just out of spite!). I have to give him credit...he goes to the door and whines, but if you don't hear him right away, he doesn't wait! Max has quite the personality...a bit incorrigible at times. You know not quite different than a defiant toddler. He tries to play with Gunner, but Gunner really just tolerates him and ignores him if he can. But, that can be hard at times, especially when Max plows into him when he is least expecting it...like when he is trying to scratch his ears! Max has won many battles over the rawhide bones. Gunner's approach is to just walk away and then maybe this annoying little thing will go away! Max loves food and he never fails to finish off his bowl (and Gunner's). But, he hates his kennel! I AM determined to win this battle and he WILL be sleeping in there by next week!

Christmas with the Rieth's

Whew! Christmas is now over and the house is quite. It's hard to believe after having 12 people and 3 dogs in your house for 6 days! But....it was so much fun to have all of Jason's family here for Christmas. Enjoy the slide show!

A month of the Rieth's

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted anything. So I'd better get busy catching everyone up on our lives.

November was filled with the boys' birthdays, parent/teacher conferences, hunting and Thanksgiving.

BOYS' BIRTHDAYS!

We have a family tradition for birthdays...the boys get to pick wherever they want to eat on their birthday and do whatever they want to do for that day. So on the 9th our beloved Kory chose McDonald's (...ugh!) for his birthday dinner and he wanted to just hang out at home. Unfortunately Kyle's birthday fell on the Thursday so his day was spent at school, but he chose a local restaurant...2510 Family Restaurant for his birthday dinner. Since their birthdays are only 4 days apart, we decided to have a bowling party (that's what us Wisconsinites do) for them the weekend after their birthdays. It's a pretty sweet set-up...we got 3 large pizzas, unlimited refills on two pitchers of soda, however many games can be bowled in 1 hour and a bowling pin for each of them (which their friends all signed). They each invited 3 friends and bowled away. My mom and her husband were also able to join us for that weekend.

Kory and his friends

Kyle and his friends

The table and bowling lanes

The new 7 year old!

The new 11 year old!

The cupcakes that were purchased were mostly frosting...yuck!...and well, Jason couldn't resist...and here is the result...hee, hee....

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES

The boys' parent/teacher conferences went very well. Kory's teacher, Mrs. Lewis, had nothing but wonderful things to say about Kory...such as...Kory is a sweet boy who is kind, compassionate and respectful of everyone. Everyone loves him and wants to be his friend. Academically Kory is doing marvellously...he is in the 2nd highest reading group, a very good writer (thought completion, spelling and penmanship), and a quick thinker in math. So no complaints here on the parent end...we are very proud of him. Kyle's teacher, Mr. Miller, also had nothing but good things to say about Kyle. He is above-average to average in all of the subjects. Mr. Miller has been impressed by Kyle's responsibility and goal setting (as have Jason and I). He has become the little student, not that he ever wasn't, but we have just noticed him settling down and school becoming more important to him. There is much less reminding him of what needs to be done! So again, no complaints here...we are also very proud of Kyle.

HUNTING

Well, there's not much to report here because I don't believe there are any deer left in Wisconsin! Here is how our opener day unfolded....up and at 'em at 5 am and in the tree stand by 6:15 am and then we sit....and sit....and sit! It was a extremely frigid day that day so after bundling up with many layers and feeling much like the kid on A Christmas Story...I still froze! I made it until 9 am sitting quietly in the stand not seeing anything except a few chickadees and two blue jays. I packed it up and headed to the truck. Oh and to top it off I came down with pink-eye the day before so I had an itchy eye and had to wear my glasses. If a deer came along I most likely wouldn't have been able to shoot it anyway because I wouldn't have seen it through the fog on my glasses! Jason came back about 9:30 and then we met up with a friend. Jason and six other guys drove several sections of woods from 10 am to noon while I sat in the warm truck thawing my toes. We headed to a little bar for lunch....yuck!...the food was good but we smelled so bad after leaving, the deer could probably smell us miles away! Well, we were back in the stand by 2 pm and sat some more...still not seeing anything. It's really bad when you can't even think of anything to think about...nothing like making time go by slower! I'm not a huge conversationalist and do quite well being silent, but 11 hours of silence can make one go insane! Anyway, at 5 pm we headed home with not one single deer. Jason has been out twice since opening day, but has yet to see a deer let alone shoot one. Oh well, there's always next year...so all the hunter's say! I really just want to see one and shoot one so I can say that I did it and be done with this nonsense!

THANKSGIVING

My dad and his wife were able to join us for Thanksgiving. They arrived on Tuesday afternoon and stayed until 4 pm Thanksgiving day. My dad's wife, Sheila, had to work on Friday so they had to leave on Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with them. My dad taught me how to play cribbage. It's something I have always wanted to learn how to play since I was a child. I remember sitting on dad's lap every Thanksgiving/Christmas/Easter watching him and Grandma playing, but could never understand what they were doing. I can't say that I completely understand everything now, but it's slowly sinking in. I guess I understood it enough to beat him twice! :D We enjoyed turkey and all the fixin's and stuffed ourselves to misery. Afterwards I think all of us took a short nap with, of course, the TV playing in the background. The rest of the week, we hung around here doing absolutely nothing! I mean nothing! We actually planned a trip to Wal-Mart just to get out of the house...now that's insane.

We are now back into the grind and the craziness of the Christmas season begins. Kyle started basketball today so it's practices/games twice a week through December. This weekend Jason and I have tickets to go see The Nutcracker here at the Grand Theater. We somehow have to squeeze in getting our Christmas tree beforehand. We have Christmas party at Jason's office on Sunday with a busy week to follow! More Christmas parties next weekend and then preparing to have all of Jason's family here for Christmas! I hope I can keep everything in order and stay sane.

In two weeks we'll have an addition to share with you all...hee, hee! You'll just have to wait. Until then have a wonderful week.

Halloween

Halloween is here again. I really detest this "holiday", but the boys really like having another identity for a couple of hours. It's all for the candy, right?! After the boys gathered their loot and our doorbell rang numerous times, we took the boys out for dinner and bowling (a much better way to spend the evening of Oct. 31st, I think). We met up with good friends of ours and had a blast!

Kory...I mean... Indiana Jones!

Aaaaargh...Captain Jack Sparrow

Looking pretty tough!

A close-up of Indie

Kyle "Jack" Sparrow

Kyle had black eyes for the remainder of the evening!...hee, hee, hee. It's a good thing he wears glasses! As far as the bowling scores...I was the big winner the first game with a whopping 108...and Kyle won the 2nd game with 124....way to go! I like bowling on Wii much better...I can break 200 and I am a pro bowler with a sparkly ball and everything :)

An update on the hunting excursion...Jason came down with a killer cold and was miserable (and still has a cough 2 1/2 weeks later!)....Gunner CAUGHT a skunk 2 hours into the first day of hunting and smelled so bad he could gag a maggot (Jason's words)....so one call to the vet and a home remedy of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and soap scrubbed onto Gunner, the smell was a little less potent. (He still smells like the nauseating smell of puppy breath when you get up close to him!) BUT...they did bring home 9 pheasants...yay!

Last week was pretty relaxing. The boys had Thurs/Fri off of school so we just hung out at home...slept in...stayed in our pj's till noon...you know...those sorts of things! Now we are back into the grind!

Have a great week and God's blessings to you!

CRAZY BUSY!

It's been a crazy, busy couple of weeks. I really don't think we could have packed anymore into them if we needed to! This week has been quite busy too, but as we approach the end it is slowing down a bit. Jason and Kyle leave tomorrow morning to go pheasant hunting in Valley City, ND. They will be gone through next Tuesday. It is usually a family trip, but because it's such a spendy trip, we decided that Kory and I will stay home this time. So I'm not sure what we will do, but it will be nice to have a weekend with nothing planned!

I started a new job as the administrative assistant for North Central Wisconsin's FCA program. I can do it from home and it is only 5 hours a week. So far I have easily fit the hours in between being in the boys' classrooms, a weekly bible study and helping out at MOPS twice a month. And, a little extra cash doesn't hurt. :-)

Jason has been as busy as ever. He is still out of the office more than he is in the office on the road driving from project to project for meetings and such. He was up and at 'em at 4 this morning because he needed to be in Eau Claire by 6:30. Yuck! He definitely needs a break and his hunting trip will be a nice little vacation.

Well we managed to fit a family photo shoot into our busy lives last weekend. My good friend, Emily, took them. She is awesome! Here are a few of the shots...there are so many goods ones it's hard to choose!

I hope that this post finds you all doing well and enjoying the fall colors and weather. Take care and God bless!