Life As We Know It

What a busy life we lead...

2009-05-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Things have been crazy around here. Soccer, hunting, end of school year and yardwork has consumed our lives.

This week is my last week of work. I officially have three days left. Exciting but scary. Let's face it times are tough right now and the thought of having the next 3 months off brings some anxiety. I'm very torn what is the best road to take for our family. I waiver back and forth about me entering the workforce again full-time, as does Brad. The extra income would be extremely helpful but what about the kids?? Brad's schedule can differ on a daily basis and we really want one of us here when the kiddos are home. As hard as this decision is I have to trust my faith in god to guide our family in the right direction. For those that do read this blog if you could spare a prayer for our family that would be wonderful.

Zach recently visited his new school. The same school his sister attends right now and again next year. He's eagerly awaiting moving up to the Intermediate Center. Me on the other hand is in awe of how fast time flies. Zach has recently giving me a run for my $$$. He's all over the place with his mood and I continue to tell myself that he must be going through some emotional/brain growth. See if I convince myself of thisI may be able to keep some of my marbles;-) He's a great kid that is very intelligent. (He's definetly smarter than his mother and teaches me something new every day;-))

Alli has grown up so much in the last 6 months. I call her my bag lady, mother hen. She has this crazy love for bags. All shapes and sizes. She'll definetly someday stimulate the handbag makers. She must get that from Grandma Patsy. She's also all about being organized and on task. Every night she gets her bookbag ready, lays out her clothes for the next day and decides on her breakfast. What 10.5 yr old does that??? I'm 35 and have no clue what I'm wearing tomorrow, let alone to bed tonight. I just humor her;-) Remember I'm trying to keep my marbles...lol!

This spring has been a very busy soccer season. Alli has a HUGE passion for soccer and this season is extra special for her since her dad is one of the coaches. Her first two seasons of travel league they didn't win a game and so far they only have one loss this season. I love to watch her play and she plays with such passion that it gives me chills.

Since time is flying by so fast I will just post some recent pictures...lol

1st tournament...3rd place!!

Brad and his prize Mr. Turkey. Turkey down on his first morning out.

Some little girl has her 3rd Birthday tomorrow on 5/19. She's recently conquered the quest to potty training and is bringing so much joy to the family. Happy Birthday Aubrey!!

Sydney and Gage. Gage has a birthday on the 25th and will be 5.

My little brainiac reading when he should be sleeping;-) Nice hat don't you think. Compliments of grandma Patsy.

I love this boy ssooooooo much!!!

Someone is developing quite the personality. Never a dull moment. This picture cracks me up. I'm not sure what she was doing but trust me it was pretty comically!

Happy 29th Birthday Susie!

2009-04-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday! Love you!!!

Easter 09'

2009-04-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday. Good food, good company and good times. All these kiddos bring so much joy to our lives. We're so lucky!!!

Can you tell we love our daddy?

Look how great my mom looks. That is one hot mama!

Aubrey and Miles!

Gage:)

Zach loves his grandma.

Ethan

Aubrey with her shiner

Logan all dolled up.

Logan and Aubs

Syd

Allison

Great Wolf Lodge

2009-04-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

Back in February we got a good deal on a family suite at Great Wolf Lodge and since we had no plans for spring break we thought it would be the perfect time to go. That and the fact that outdoor soccer games start this weekend and run through June;)

Brad had a great time chillaxing!

Zach on one of the rides. Man do we love those water slides:)

Zach's friend Adam came along. He is much nicer for the camera than my son!

Alli was all bruised up and exhausted by Saturday!

Brad and the Easter bunnies according to him!

A semi smile for the camera!

Brad the big kid hanging with the little kids.

The goof troop. Each of the kids brought a friend along for the fun. So it was mom and dad vs. 4 kids. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back again someday!

Spring Break 09'...

2009-04-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

Haven't you heard we're in a recession. Therefore most of our Spring Break was spent at home. On Wednesday the weather finally got nice enough that we spent the day at the park. The kids had a blast and I was so glad to see some of that bottled up energy getting released;-)

A rare moment...lately there hasn't been a lot of love between the two of them.

Isn't she cute??

My climbing boy! Love this kid:-)

I love this picture of Syd climbing over the chain wall. Such concentration.

Little Miss Aubrey and her new smile for the camera. She's so much like her momma!

My new park friend...John.

Gage...he's such a sweetie!

Another one of Syd that I just love!!!

Zach and the Spring sky!

Well long time no blogging!

2009-04-13T16:32:00.001-07:00

So it looks like I've been MIA for awhile. Life has been busy.

The last time I posted was right after Brad and Zach's accident. I'm happy to report that they didn't have an ache or pain from it. Thank god! The insurance company ended up totalling the truck....surprise! It ended moving quickly and within a week Brad had a new baby to take care of. I think he's very happy that winter is over;-)

Allison just finished up her indoor soccer season and that girl is all about soccer. It definetly is a passion of hers. I think she'd play everyday if she could. Alli's coach knows she's ready to play when she has her headband on;-)

Mr. Zach has had a lot going on since the accident. His teacher decided to retire in Jan. We knew that she was retiring in June but were very surprised about her early retirement. Zach really liked Mrs. Wolfgram a lot and loved all the science she taught. After a little time he's adjusted to his new teacher Mrs. Hurda and loves school again;-)

Zach is just like his dad and loves anything to do with hunting. Especially shooting archery. This has been his best year yet and he's very proud!! He started shooting when he was 3.5 yrs. old and has been aiming at that goal of a trophy for some time. This year he did it. Now we need to get the shelf up to display it:-)

St. Patrick's Day this year was sad for our family. Brad's grandma Ruth died after a three week battle with larynx cancer. She died surrounded by love, just the way she wanted.

Well this spring has also brought another hunter in the family. My baby girl got to do her first turkey hunt. My 10yr old carried a 20 gauge. Can you say nervous mama?? This ended up being a wonderful experience for her. She got a turkey in 20 yard range and just missed it. Bummer! She loved it and will definetly do it again. Can you say gray hairs for her mom!

Posing with me. Yes the safety was on!!

This is one very happy dad!!

My girl decked out in camo.

The hole she shot in the tent. They didn't want to scare Mr. Turkey so they shot right through the screen.

What a Saturday...Roll over accident!

2009-01-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

So here's the gist of it. Today was the day we planned on turning in our jeep that lease is up on Monday. Zach had bball practice and then we were heading into Russ Darrow. Alli and I were in the jeep and took the back road and Brad being Mr. Cautious decided to take the HWY 18/151. I didn't know that was his plan and kept looking for him in my mirror. I even tried calling him a few times and just got his voice mail.

Then my phone rang and it was him and he said that please don't panic Zach and him are ok but he rolled the truck on 18/151. Thankfully he wasn't going too fast and it only rolled once. But what I'm more thankful for than anything else is the fact that Brad let Zach ride in the front seat. Most of the damage was done to the back of the cab. Were pretty sure the truck is totaled and neither of them have one single scratch on them. Thank you god!!!

This and That

2009-01-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

Things have been fairly calm around here. Knock on wood;-) The kids are back in school and quickly got back on schedule. This weekend was pretty quiet. On Friday Alli went to a sleep over and Brad, Zach and I watched movies while I scrapbooked some. On Saturday Brad worked most of the day and the kids and I made a Target run. Man that store is an addiction of mine. I will admit. I could so easily spend, spend, spend there. (And have:-0) I was impressed that I left there under $100 and actually bought things that we needed.

On Saturday night we went to Platteville to watch UWP play UWSP in womens bball. My cousins wife Megan is an asst coach for UWSP and Alli has been eager to attend a college game. We were very fortunate and were able to visit with Megan and Josh's beautiful twin boys Aidan and Brody along with Ron, Kathy, Josh and Jordan. Words cannot express how cute the twins are and so well behaved. Very content with chilling at a bball game at the young age of 10 months. Impressive!!! We really enjoyed the game also. It was a great experience for Alli to watch and it was all she could talk about on the way home. I must admit that Alli has been on the fence about bball and this really helped her. Brad and I were really surprised at how observant she was to the head coach. She kept commented on how the coach would yell but also had a lot of good things to say to the players. I found it extremely interesting that she picked up on this. It makes me wonder if there is more reason she is on the fence. Something for us to noodle on.

Today has been a lazy day for us here. I cleaned around here and scrapbooked while Brad got the jeep ready to turn in(lease). We watched a movie and hung out with the kiddos. A perfect Sunday.

New Beginnings, my word for 2009

2009-01-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

Little Miss Brace Face!
Grandma and Grandpa's bed filled with all of their grandkids on Christmas!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Steinhoff gave someone a cell phone for Christmas. Yikes!!!

She got her funky junky socks!!

Lego man!

Happy New Year!!! A little late but that's ok it's been busy around here.

So I did a lot of soul searching in the last few months of 2008 to define the changes that I wanted to make for 2009. 2008 brought a lot of heartache for me personally but also an incredible amount of personal growth. So it leaves me to believe that there is a reason for everything. My mother in law Linda is great for making me see the glass half full. So like I said although it was a difficult year it was one of growth. I've made many goals for the next year and am very hopeful that they will materialize.

It's only the 8th of January and I can already say that this year has been filled with excitement and buzzing. But good excitement! Brad has been extremely busy at work and we are so grateful for that. With the struggling economy right now we are forever grateful that he's working. Add that with being busy, life is good there. I will admit that we really miss him around here but let's face it we can't have our cake and eat it too. No complaining coming from us;-)

We had a wonderful Christmas here. Unfortunetly for us(I think) one of our kiddos realized this season that Santa was not so believable. Alli was questioning the subject prior to Christmas but I told her that "you don't believe, you don't receive:-0 That really stopped her in her tracks and she was all about convincing us of her belief. Well fast forward to Christmas Eve and the kids were eager to get to bed after the Junck Christmas. Awhile after they were tucked sound in bed Brad and I double and triple checked they were asleep. Well we got everything set and put ourselves to bed at about 11pm. At 1130pm Miss Alli came in our room to let us know that Santa had come. Long story short her suspicion of Santa got the best of her and she's a REALLY good faker at sleeping. BUSTED!!! Oh well she's ten and in 4th grade. So at 1130pm Christmas Eve we were up opening presents. Oiy!!!

Zach man had the best day and Christmas yet, or at least I think. He absolutely loved everything and has been nothing but busy since then. I love that kid;-)

The new year also brought trips to the orthodontist in our family. Alli has officially started braces and it feels like I'm a mom to a tweenager. This is a lot for a mommy to take in seeing braces on her firstborn...plus seeing my firstborn carrying her new pink cellphone that grandma gave her for Christmas.

More to come soon;-)

The weather outside is frightful...

2008-12-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!

2008-12-20T16:44:00.001-08:00

So this is what it looked outside when we woke up Friday morning! Alli braved the elements and went out to play right away. I on the other hand took this picture from the warmth of the kitchen:-)

Sugar, Flour and Sprinkles oh my!!!

2008-12-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

The kids had a blast making their gingerbread house today. My kitchen will never be the same again but like I said fun was had by all. Check out their snowmen Bob and Bobby!!!
Daddy showing off his building skills.

Alli left us cracking up with her snowman Bobby. She has quite the imagination.

This kid just knows when mom has the camera. His favorite facial expression. What a dork!!!

Man did we ever give this mixer a work ot today!

It's all about the details!

Zach loves this dang sifter. He wanted to just keep sifting.

Alli thought the cookie press was a pretty cool gadget.

Who doesn't love cookie dough??

It's Lovely Weather for a...

2008-12-20T15:40:00.000-08:00

sleigh ride together with you...ok I know that it's a sled;-)
Brad and Aubrey after Brad got little Missy to go down the hill with him.

John with his everyday face:-0

One exhausted little girl!!

Gage was full of energy and couldn't get enough of this hill.

Rosy cheeks!!!

Adam and Mr. Birthday Boy!

Snug as a bug!

It's a snow day!!!!

Aubrey and John!

8 Years Old...Happy Birthday Zach!!

2008-12-19T07:50:00.001-08:00

It's so incredibly odd that my baby is already 8!!! Where did the time go?? Zach is such an amazing child that has filled my life with such joy and love. When I reflect back on the day of his birth it's hard not to be overcome with emotion. Zach has taught Brad and I so much!! He's has such a wonderful balance of kindness and compassion mixed in with a lot of humor. There's NEVER a dull moment with this kid. I'm so thankful that eight years ago today my family, friends and many others rallied around our family with their love,support and prayers. All of those things gave us this most amazing gift. Happy Birthday Zach!!!

Tearing open his presents this morning!

Bright eyed and busy tailed!

Encyclopedia of Immaturity!!! Perfect for this kid:-0

What a haul!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY ZACH!!

Day 11

2008-12-11T17:29:00.001-08:00

Wednesdays are a special night in the Junck house. Brad shoots archery league on this night and that means that the kids and I have a mom's night. I let the kids pick the dinner and help make it and we then just hang out and end the night by reading in mom and dad's bed and falling asleep. Brad gets the lucky job of transporting growing kiddos back to their beds when he gets home. Last night the kids chose biscuit pizza's.

This is the pose I get from Zach now everytime I try to take his picture. Lovely isn't it??

How's that for a BIG cheese!

Ah they're goofy;-0

Alli feels the same way about everyday math as her mama!

Hard at work and not crying...a rare moment when it comes to Math.

Some recent scrapbooking

2008-12-10T18:47:00.001-08:00

Day 10...O Christmas Tree

2008-12-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

I've tried a gazillion times to take a decent picture of our upstairs Christmas tree with no luck. Oh well it's very pretty in person;-)

Day 9...The weather outside was frightful

2008-12-09T17:21:00.001-08:00

That's my man clearing the neighbors snow...what a guy!

Is he not the cutest dude!!

My snow angel:-)

Basketball season has concluded.

2008-12-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

What a dork!!! He says he's done going to bball games for a while;-)

That's my girl #14!!

Although we did enjoy the season it is soooo nice to see it end. Alli and her team had their end of season tournament at MATC this past weekend. They lost the first game on Saturday and won both games on Sunday. It's amazing to see how much the girls improved throughout the season.

We have a short break now until Basketball starts for Zach in January and soccer starts for Alli in February. A much need breather;-)

Day 8

2008-12-08T16:11:00.001-08:00

Every year at school the teachers give the students books for Christmas. Here's a glimpse of the book that was chosen this year. I had a lot of fun wrapping and decorating these:-)

Day 7

2008-12-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

Every year I pick a new Christmas book to add to our collection. I love wandering through Barnes and Noble!! This year I chose the above book and I can't wait to read it with the kids and my students at school. Definetly a tradition that I hope to continue!!!

Day 6

2008-12-08T16:00:00.001-08:00

The Christmas cards are addressed and just need to be stuffed and mailed. Hopefully by tomorrow;-)

Day 5

2008-12-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I love about my job is teaching the children the true meaning of Christmas. When I first ask a lot of them what is Christmas, they usually respond presents. It's so neat to see their reactions when you tell that Christmas is really Jesus' birthday.

One of my favorite gifts I've ever received from my parents is my nativity set. I actually cried because I was so excited. The kids and I love when it's time to set it up each year.

Day Four

2008-12-04T14:11:00.001-08:00

So my sweet daughter has this thing with being late. She's so responsible and gets so irritated at the thought of being late. I know I shouldn't complain but she gets all excited about it when we're not even close to being late. She truly drives Zach and I crazy:-) So today since I had my camera in the truck I thought I would take a few pictures of her. Dang did this make her mad, because you know we didn't have time for pictures;-)

Little Miss Sour Grapes!!

Zach absolutely loves razzing this poor soul!

Mother get me to school now!!! This isn't funny!!

How's this for a white Christmas??? I love it:-)

Day Three

2008-12-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

I'll start day three with a picture of a cute Christmas tree that my mom and dad gave me for my bday years ago. My mom made the felt tree skirt. She covered the tree in kitchen ornaments and I love it:-)
Oh how I love snow flakes, everyone is so different just like us;-)

My newest snowflake ornament that I just got as a gift this week.

One of my favorite snowman ornaments.

Day Two

2008-12-02T14:26:00.001-08:00

So what do you see wrong with this picture?? I literally send 3 pairs of gloves, 2 hats, snowpants and boots to school with them each day. So why did they meet me at the door from walking home today like this??? Thank god their cute!!!
We're going the easy route for outdoor Christmas deco's this year. Last year we couldn't find the lights on the bushes until April and since there is that superstition that if you don't have your outside lights down by Ground Hog's day you'll have bad luck all year, I'm not chancing it!!!! I need a good 2009;)

See those beautiful red twigs??? My daddy went and cut those down for me and mom;) What a guy!!

December Photo A Day...Day One

2008-12-01T15:23:00.000-08:00

So my goal for December is to document the 25 days of Christmas. Think I can remember that?? The verdict is definetly still out on this. So here's hoping for daily blogging: )

On the 25 days until Christmas, old man winter moved in. I'm not sure how much snow we ended up with but as you can see enough to enjoy some outdoor play;)
This is Zach's pose without a goofy look (his favorite thing to do for the camera right now)

I had a day all to myself and so I took advantage of no peeking children and did a little wrapping. See Alli has taken after her mommy and loves to peek at her presents. How can I get mad though. She learned from the best;)

The great Christmas tree hunt;)

2008-11-29T06:22:00.001-08:00

To be continued....

My moms so talented!!

2008-11-29T06:11:00.001-08:00

I love going to my mom's during Christmas!! She has the most amazing talent of decorating. Enjoy!!

So Thankful

2008-11-29T05:37:00.000-08:00

A house full of wrestling kiddos! We're so lucky!!!

Yes are family is full of nuts!

Thanksgiving was such a wonderful day! A day filled with love and emotion. I have so many things to be thankful for and this year I especially took the time this year to really think about all of them!! It's so easy to forget all of things that are good in our lives, this is a perfect time to reflect on those.

I'm so thankful for my loving husband who has stuck by my side through some very rough times this past year. My two amazing children who are well just amazing;) My parents who have been my rock! My sister and her wonderful family that I love so much. Health. Warmth. Jobs. Our home. Brad's parents that are so very supportive and loving. Brad's sister and brother in law that bring us so much laughter and unconditional love. My wonderful friends and the list goes on and on.

This year I'm especially thankful for the chance to spend time with my grandfather. Our relationship in the past has been very strained. As I explained to the kids this past week. That we all make choices and sometimes those choices aren't good ones and are ones that can strain relationships. But we must always remember that the Lord forgives us for our mistakes and us as people must do the same and make peace. That is exactly what I did this week. I made peace with the past and had a wonderful day with my grandfather. My heart aches knowing that this very well could of been the last time I see him. What I do know is that I love my grandfather and my grandfather loves me and the past is the past!

LM 30 days of Christmas

2008-11-16T09:29:00.001-08:00

I was asked by http://www.lifetimemoments.com/ to make a project for their 30 days of Christmas. I made this photo carousel for my mom for Christmas and can't wait to give it to her.

Twelve Fridays November

2008-11-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

Just a few fun layouts I did for Twelve Fridays DT this month.

Bad Blogger...tsk..tsk

2008-11-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

Ok sorry for my little hiatus. Life has just been busy, what can I say??? So here's a little recap of all of us;)

Brad is still deer hunting like mad looking for that doe so he can get his "trophy" buck. One thing I would like to say is that I would just love 5 minutes alone with the ding dong that came up with this earn a buck idea. Did they not think of us poor wives?? I've heard oh so many stories about seeing the big one and having to let it go because he needs a doe first. Poor guy just sits and tells the same old story and this poor old wife just hears blah, blah, blah:0 I'm about ready to take a road trip, find a doe roadkill, stick in arrow in its side and call it a day! Other than deer hunting Brad has been busy working. Something that we definetly don't take for granted!!! Especially considering the state of our economy!

Allison is busy with school and basketball. She only has a couple weeks of bball left and I'm not sure that she has a BIG love for this sport. I think of she sticks to it and gains some confidence in herself that she'll be fine. We'll just have to wait and see;) On the school front we just had her PT conference on Tues and she is doing really well. Alli's teacher had such kind words to say about her that I actually started crying. I'm so proud of the person that Alli has become.

Zach man is of course never a dull moment!! He is constantly leaving me in awe. He's very quick witted and always cracking Brad and I up. We had his PT conference on Thurs and found out that he's quite the student:0 We knew that things came easy for him just not this easy. He must get the brains from his dad:)

I've been busy scrapbooking and keeping the kids on track. I did get to take a weekend get away last week to Michigan with 70 other ladies. Lot of scrapbooking and laughs!

I don't have any new pictures of the kids since Halloween. So I will post new ones at a later date!

Let's get our $$ out of those costumes

2008-10-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

Miss Sydney the rock star!

Abby Cadabby is on the loose:)

Abby Cadabby (aka Aubrey), Go Go Girl (aka Allison) and Rock Star (aka Sydney)

The Scream (aka Zach man)
Optimus Prime (aka Gage...far right) and some of his little buddies!

Halloween seems to fly by so quickly and more often than not the kiddos only wear those expensive costumes once. This year we headed over to some good friends and participated in their neighborhood parade. We had a really nice time:) The kids all looked adorable and it was so nice to take a nice long walk on a beautiful "windy" fall day!

Basketball Season Has Started

2008-10-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

So Alli had her official first bball games this weekend. She played at 9AM Saturday morning in Mt. Horeb and 1230 at Jefferson. Although it is a tad painful to watch, we need to remind ourselves that these girls are only 4th graders and 4 of them are exhausted from playing dual sports the past 7 wks. They lost their first game against Janesville by a whopping four points. The final score was 11-7!!! Yep that isn't a typo folks!!! Their second game they won 30-12. Much better;)

Ten short years ago...Happy Birthday!!!

2008-10-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this a tad bit early but I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be VERY busy around here. Kind of like it was 10 years ago.

October 14th, 1998 was one of the most AMAZING days of my life!!! The day that my sweet little girl came into this world and blessed her daddy and I forever. I'm in awe how fast this past 10yrs has flown. I must admit that it is very bittersweet. If these 10yrs have flown by so quickly what is going to happen the next eight:0 Time can slow down anytime;)

I'm so proud of the young "tween" that you've become. You've become so confidant this past year. You're physically beauty has always been apparent but now your confidance and joy for life shines to all those that surround you. Mothering you has been beyond incredible!!!!

Happy 10th Birthday Allison!!!

Fall in Wisconsin

2008-10-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

This is by far my most favorite time of the year!!

The bigger the better for this little dude!
When did this girl grow up?
And the children of the corn are off on their corn maze mission.

Chicken...check

No I haven't gone goth

2008-10-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Ok now that the color has calmed down a little, I've decided to go dark for fall. It's starting to grow on my a little. When I first got it done Alli's good friend Becca asked me if I was going goth. I can see it now the goth preschool teacher...not;) How about this little hunk!!! Is he not the most handsome 7.5yr old???:)

I've been doing a little scrapbooking in the wee hours!

2008-10-06T14:47:00.001-07:00

A little BOO swag that I made for the house!
An album I made for mom with some pictures from her garden this summer.

ZACH "MAN"
A layout of the buffalo in Custer Park, SD

A project for the DT at 12 Fridays. This little album is made out of paper bags
Another 12 Fridays DT project.
A quick layout for Alli's school album

Bad Blogger I Know

2008-10-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

Gage "Man"
The launching of the catapults. A recent father/daughter project in our house.

I'm open...
They've got spirit yes they do!! Alli and Brea:)
Oiy! He's going to catch up to her in height very soon!
Little Miss Sydney Lou at the Homecoming Parade. TOO CUTE!!
Jen, Aubrey and Zach waiting for the parade to begin.

Alli and her good friend Lauren ready to head out to the Footloose dance:)

I was on the wrong side of the field and haven't been able to get too many great shots of Zach. So that is my sweet dude in the back.

So check out that coach on the left giving the business. Looks like a meanie doesn't he??

Yep that would be Zach way at the other end on the red team.
Homecoming was this past weekend and Alli was showing some school spirit. This picture scares me...she's starting to look very grown up:0

Dang these kiddos are running Brad and I all over the place;) To say that life right now is busy is an understatement!!! The last month has been somewhat of a blur.

Alli is currently playing soccer and basketball. She practices BBall on Monday and Wed evening. She's absolutley loving it!!! On Tues and Thurs evening she is playing soccer. Weekends consist of ball games. I'm so proud of her!! One of the stipulations of her playing two sports was her school work. She needed to make sure she stayed on top of it and remember that it was the most important. It's like a switch was turned because the drama queen act has went by the weigh side...which let me tell you 9 yr old girls have....BAD!!!!:) For the last 5wks she's been proving to us that she can handle all of this.

Zach man is currently playing flag football on Monday and Wed evenings with dad(the coach)!!! It's turned out to be challenging for Brad to keep these kids in the flag football mindset. They are ready for full contact:O They just want to tackle. It's quite comically to watch. Of course he's loving it!!! As far as school, this is something that comes natural for Zach so far. He's a lot like his dad in that aspect;)

Update on my heavy heart

2008-09-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

Ok as many of you may know that I've recently been overcome with worry about my dad's health. Well my new attitude is that I have to look at the glass 1/2 full instead of 1/2 empty. Although the news we received about dad isn't the best news or news that we wanted to hear for that matter. The reality of it is that there isn't much we can do. I love my mom and dad and it really makes you stop and realize that you can't take life for granted. The greatest part of it is that all of the heart meds that dad's on are making him feel better and for the first time in I don't know how long dad is feeling pretty good. We're getting our old dad back!!! Dad's sense of humor has returned and he's looking better each day. (He's actually kind of turned into a funny smart a$$) It's so nice to see color return to his face and most of all his big smile return.

Life is unpredictable and none of us can predict the paths that the lord has laid for us. But I'm thankful that my family has been given this chance to reconnect and enjoy the times we have together.

Now on a funny note. One of dad's recent goals was to get himself some new teeth:) Yep you heard that right...new teeth. See dad has invested ALOT of money in his teeth and continues to have endless problems with them. At his recent dr visit he asked the doc if he could get his teeth. The dr. said that he could tell this was something that dad really wanted and couldn't deny him of this. So dad and mom went to the consult with the dentist and mom decided that she'd jump on the band wagon and get herself a new set also. The only stipulation was that dad wanted his first. It was his idea afterall. So today was the big day. Dad took some time off of work and stayed home this morning with anticipation for his appt at 1:00. For those that know dad they know that it takes a lot for him to take off work. And guess what!!! The dentist was sick or something and called and cancelled. So that means that mom gets her teeth pulled on Monday and dad now goes on Tuesday. Jen will be driving mom and on Monday and maybe dad on Tuesday. So if anyone has any good pudding recipes or soup recipes I could use them:) It looks like mom and dad are going on the soft diet for awhile.

Yep she has everyone wrapped around her little finger

2008-09-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

This little girl is a princess...just ask her! She won't bat an eye and tell you the way it is. Yep I'm in love:)

Some little girl got glasses

2008-09-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

My sweet niece Sydney got glasses today and she looks beautiful. She's pretty nervous about what everyone thinks...I think she's darn cute:)

First day of school

2008-09-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

I can't believe another year of school has started. Where did summer go? I know everyone says that but seriously this was the quickest summer ever. With the vacation and all of the fun we had this summer it just flew by.

Zach started 2nd grade and loves his teacher. He has a bunch of his good buddies in his class so that definetly helps;) The night before school started it was a big deal for Alli to pick out the perfect outfit. I asked Zach what he wanted to wear and his response was pretty simple and totally Zach..."clothes"! He didn't care what he wore. Kind of like he doesn't care if he takes a bath. That's just how he rolls!!! (According to him;))

Allison started 4th grade. I'm really not sure how that happened. Pretty amazing if you ask me. So far I would say that this has been her best beginning to her school year yet. Of course the fact that her teacher is like 10...ok 25 and that her best friend is in the class helps there to. We've also been keeping her pretty busy or should I say ourselves pretty busy. Alli really functions best when she is busy:) On Mon and Wed she has bball practise and on Tue and Thur she has soccer practise. Add those with 2-4 games a weekend and the girl is busy. We will stand behind her and support her 100% as long as she keeps her school studies up.

That pretty much sums up the first day of school in the Junck house.

Photo Overload!!! We had a GREAT Saturday!!!!

2008-08-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

That uncle Russ and Zach are quite the pair;) I'm not sure who the bigger kid is here but I do know that Zach sure loves Mr. Freckles;)
We landed at a sandbar and Russ's parents grilled out a super yummy lunch for us!
And she can balance!!!
King of the mountain!!!!
Mr. Russ working very hard to send the kiddos airborn. There was so many laughs had today!!
Zach sending Russ for a ride or is it Russ sending Zach for a ride:)

My two main men!!! I love these guys:)
This daddy loves his little girl. So does her mommy:)
Alli's BFF Brea with her beautiful smile.
BFF's FOREVER
I love to see you smile!!! This picture shows how full of life you are!!

My sweet baby!!
Hmm!!! Is that uncle Russ going to send me flying??
Think they had fun?

Today we met Brad's sister Dawn and brother in law Russ at Lake Wisconsin for a day of boating in their super cool boat. The kids have been looking forward to this all week. See the last couple of weeks have been pretty rough around here. It turns out that Alli and I got pneumonia also and spent most of last week in bed. So when Dawn called and invited us the kids were thrilled. The kids love anything water and for sure love their aunt and uncle. Who couldn't. I love spending time with them and I love to see Brad and Dawn develop that adult sibling relationship. They have so much more in common than either of them know. We definetly need to spend more time together because we really enjoy each others company so much. So that wraps up our Saturday. It's going to be pretty hard to top this!!!

Happy Birthday Miles!

2008-08-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

Wishing a Happy Birthday to sweet Miles!!! Today he's nine:) I love Miles smiles and can light up a room! Love you kiddo!

Scrapbooking is good for the mind

2008-08-17T17:40:00.001-07:00

I love this picture of Jen and Aubrey!!
Sassy Pants all the way:)
That's my boy!

12 Fridays Aug Kit
12 Fridays Aug Kit
12 Fridays Aug Kit
A fun layout from 4th of July
This kiddo cracks me up!

A quiet weekend and a heavy heart

2008-08-17T17:33:00.001-07:00

One of the most beautiful, strongest woman I've ever met!!!
A man with a HUGE heart and oh so stubborn!

This weekend has been quiet and very nice.

Lately I've had a lot on my mind and have what I call a heavy heart. Life is full of lessons and I have faith that the Lord won't give my family more than we can handle. Hopefully we can unite as one and be there to support each other in whatever life has to give us. On that note I love you mom and dad!!!

Wonderful camping to Pneumonia

2008-08-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

That's right! What started out as a nagging cough changed a little Sat. night. My gut told me something might be up and sure enough he developed a fever late Sunday afternoon. I took him into the clinic on Monday a.m. and he was diagnosed with pneumonia:( Poor guy! He's such a good patient. Today is a week later and he's doing much better. He still gets easily tired. I love you buddy!!!

A wonderful weekend of camping!!

2008-08-17T17:01:00.001-07:00

I love this man!

Oh how I love this boy!!! He's missing his two front teeth right and man he's cute!!!
Brad being all goofy with the goof troops.
That's my boy working it!
I love this picture of Ethan and Brad. Too cute!
Triple trouble. The girls of the family!

Yep folks you're not seeing things. That's Aunt Jen on the bouncing pillow. That thing rocks! We had a blast on it!!
Miles catching some air on the pillow:)
Aubrey was mesmorized with Ethan and Miles. She couldn't get enough of them.
This would be all of the nieces and nephews minus Logan. Next time we go Logan HAS to come with us!!!
How cute are these four???

Sydney, Aubrey, Ehtan and Gage:)

Last weekend we decided we needed to get away from life and camping seemed like a great option and Jen and John were all game and joined us.

Zach has had quite a summer surrounded by girls;) Since Alli was still grounded (she's a preteen that likes to be sassy at times) we decided that Zach could take a friend. He chose Miles and was thrilled. We didn't want Ethan to feel bad so we asked him to come. So there you have it four adults and 7 kiddos under 9.5yrs.

The weather was beautiful and the kids were awesome. We had so much fun tubing the Sugar River, swimming, playing mini golf, bouncing on the huge pillow, dancing and the lists goes on. Above are some pics from our fun filled weekend.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO LOGAN!

2008-08-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ok I've been a bad blogger since last week. I want to wish my oldest nephew Logan a belated Happy Birthday. He turned 12 on 8/8/08. It's so hard to believe that he's going into 7th grade! Where did the time go??? It seemed like yesterday he was born and now he's quite the athlete and very intelligent!

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

2008-08-07T17:27:00.001-07:00

It absolutely amazes me that this sweet little boy is already 5! How did that happen?? I love this little guy so much and miss spending time with him. Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

A whole lot of soccer going on

2008-07-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

This week is the Challenger Soccer Camp with some very talented english soccer players. The kids are having a blast....even Zach! It turns out that even football players play soccer;) Zach is having a blast and has even asked to be signed up for Fall/Spring MHAYSA. Check out these two cuties in their challenger jerseys and new sets of boots!
Alex, Gordy, Cheesehead and Wobby! One of the greatest things about this camp is that when I ask the kids what they learned each day they say nothing...they just played games. Then later in the day they are showing off to dad all of their new footwork. Their learning by having fun. Got to love that!~ Each day there is a new challenge for the kids. Tuesday was crazy hair day and best decorated ball day. Wednesday was best homeade sports drink day. There was some very interesting sports drinks!
Thursday was dress the coaches day. Here is my cute snaggletoothed son with a rocking afro wig on for Andy!
Poor Wobby(Robby)!
Gordy and Andy all dolled up. It's so hot out today and the coaches had to play with these on. They were dying under there. Tomorrow brings the end of the camp and I think I'm going to have some sad little campers! They wish it was camp everyday.

I just love this picture!

2008-07-21T11:22:00.001-07:00

The Tooth Fairy Has Been Busy

2008-07-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

What a weekend for teeth at our house. Zach lost his first front tooth and if you look closely you can see that the other front tooth isn't too far behind. So dang cute. You should here him talk. Alli then lost one yesterday. The timing couldn't be any more perfect. See the kids are really late or slow in losing their teeth. Alli's actually had to have 4 pulled for ortho reasons. Six months ago when we were at ortho they said that they wanted two of the top ones gone by her next checkup or they would have to pull those also. So tomorrow is her check up and she officially has said goodbye to those two teeth. Her poor teeth have a mind of their own and I'm afraid that they are going to cost us a penny or two.

A quick visit to Chicago

2008-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to CHA in Chicago with www.LifetimeMoments.com . I met up with Becca, Diana, Jackie and Kate on Friday and we went out for dinner. We had a good time. The service at the restruarant was less than stellar but it beat cooking:) The cosmos were good and we might of had one or two too many.

Saturday was like heaven walking around the floors of CHA and seeing all of the new releases for the scrapbooking industry. As most of you know I'm pretty addicted to scrapbooking. It's my therapy. I love it. This show had so many amazing new product lines and what the designers did with the product was stunning. I have so many projects that I want to get started soon. Definetly ignited my mojo:)

Been doing a little scrapbooking!

2008-07-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

Swimming, swimming and some more swimming.

2008-07-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

Aubrey enjoying a ice cream cone!!
Miles
Ethan
Zach loves to boogy on down!

Miss Alli sunshine!
Look who learned how to dive!!! He caught on very quickly and is pretty good at it.
Logan taking Aubrey down the water slide. Man I can't believe how old Logan is getting and little Miss Aubrey adores him: )
Allison enjoying a lollipop during break.
Mr. Gage is turning into quite the little fish. He loves the water slide!!

I love this picture!!! Is he not the cutest dude!!!

Yep that would pretty much sum up what has been going on around here. We've been spending a lot of time at the pool. The kids are sporting some pretty good tans.

Fourth of July

2008-07-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

Oh! Ah!!!

Getting ready for the show.

Yep I guess we believe in putting the kiddos to work. They had corn cleaning duty:)

Four of the goofballs!

We decided to have a low key 4th and just hang out here at home. Jen had to work so we invited John and the kids over for dinner and fireworks. A good friend of ours Brandon didn't have anything going on, Kari was in a wedding the next day so he also joined us with his three sweet boys. So our low key evening had 8 little kiddos, three dads and me:)

What an amazing week!!!

2008-06-29T20:03:00.001-07:00

Our vacation was so much more than we could of imagined. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was breathtaking. The kids had an awesome time and we miss it already. 3200+ miles in 7 days. A vacation everyone should take:)

Jackson Hole, WY

We loved this place and hope to visit there again soon!

Is this not the greatest candid shot?!? The kids were awesome on vacation. They were always willing to keep going without complaint. They had a wonderful time and even suggested that we drive straight through on the way home. 21 hours with no complaints.

I love this man so much! He made this trip possible and we had the best trip ever!

The Grand Tetons!

What an amazing experience. We all loved this so much!

White water rafting the Yellowstone River.

I wanted to see a bear and that I did along with his cubs:)

Mr. Big Boy!

Old Faithful!

Brad is in heaven. He's surrounded by a her

The grand canyon of yellowstone. This picture doesn't look real to me but this is exactly what it looks like.

Yellowstone is so beautiful!!! We would go back in a second!

After the winter we had did we really want to see snow? Oh what the heck. The temps were in the low 70's and beautiful. It was kind of neat;)

Yep that's right! I was at 9666 ft. Who would of thought being so scared of heights. I think I've
taken on a new appreciation for heights. Switchbacks and sudden drop offs do that to you;)

The kids first view of the mountains. Mom and Dads too;)

Custer Park. Brad has a new friend. This guy and many other ones made themselves right at home in the truck windows:)

This would be Bessie. We were so lucky and saw hundreds of buffalo. If we were brave we could of reached out of the truck and touched them.

The two goofs! I loved all of the laughter we had during this trip.

Our "princess" and I. Allison is such a girl! She loved all of the history in this trip!

Mt. Rushmore was beautiful and one of my favs. As a whole we all loved visiting South Dakota!

The Badlands! Breathtaking!

Some fun pictures from today!

2008-06-16T16:39:00.001-07:00

Seriously one of the sweetest boys ever!!!

Allison...wow where did the last 9.5 years go?

Little Miss "I know what I want" I love that about her:)

It's so hard to believe that Syd is 6! What a sweet, amazing little girl!

Who would of thought that sweet little boy could have a little bit of stinker in him. Oh how Gage loves to drive his little sister crazy;) Yep he has me wrapped right around his finger though.

How many can we fit in a baby pool??

My Quilty Admission

2008-06-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

Ok so I must come forward and admit a tad bit of anxiety about our upcoming vacation. I'd consider myself very family orientened. In the past I had issues going away for vacation because I worry that my extended family may need me and I won't be there for them. Everyone that I tell this to laugh and think that I'm crazy. But this time around another part of me is really excited to finally experience such a wonderful vacation with Brad and the kids. Brad and I have been married for 11 years and together for almost 18 years and this is our farthest that we've been away from home. Unbelievable!!! Packing is coming. Of course I'm packing way too much but hey I'm new at this. Now everything would be perfect if Allison, Zach and I would get over these icky colds or whatever it is we have;)

7 days until vacation

2008-06-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yep that's right and I haven't even started to get ready for it. I know that I have all of next week but the kids start the rec dept summer activities and I'm watching Jen's three little ones while she goes to school/work. I need to kick it into gear.

Last day of school!!

2008-06-12T07:28:00.001-07:00

Today is officially the last day of school. The kids were so excited to be done! I will have more pictures to post later when I go help out at their class parties. This should be fun. Spacey mom double booked herself at two schools at the same time. Can you duh! Hey I'm getting old...afterschool today I have a 2nd grader and a 4th grader. How did that happen so quickly??

Scrapbooking Lately

2008-06-12T07:20:00.001-07:00

12 Fridays kit
12 Fridays Kit

12 Fridays Kit

I've been doing some scrapbooking lately for a scrapfest that I'm particpating in at http://www.lifetimemoments.com/ It's motivating me to use up some of those supplies that I hoard. I also finished my design team work for http://www.twelvefridays.com/ last night.

Happy Birthday Brad!

2008-06-12T07:14:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to the World's Best Husband!

I'm so lucky to be married to this sweet guy!

It's kind of nice to be married to an older man for a couple

of months!:)

Happy "Anniversary" Dad

2008-06-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Boy!

Busted!!!

Auubrey kicking Brad's butt into gear!

Oops! Double post;)

Where did they go?

Mr. Gage wondering what happened to those tires!

Ok I've been a bad blogger again. Oh well, things have been busy. On June 2nd it was dad's "anniversary" of his 29th bday. He was a little bummed about the whole thing. I think that Jen, John, Brad and I made up for that;) He needed new boat tires and we wanted to make sure he couldn't use that as an excuse not to enjoy some fishing this summer. So we went ahead with our plan on that Monday! Dad came home to his boat on wood blocks and was thinking what now. Shortly after he got home John and Jen arrived with his new tires and John put them back on. All is good!

My last post for the night...I promise

2008-06-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

A little something that I need to drop in the mail tomorrow to my cousin's wife who had twins on St. Patty's Day! I made one for my sweet aunt {grandma} and one for the new mommy!

Singing the Gallbladder Blues

2008-06-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

So I had a pretty cruddy week here. It all started on Wed. when I was suppose to visit some friends in Milwaukee for lunch. I was really looking forward to it. I came down with something and it wasn't pleasant. These ugly symptoms progressed into Friday. Friday afternoon I thought I was feeling better and decided to venture out to the Frolic (town carnival) with the kiddos. I did really well until the end of our evening and decided it was time to head home. John and Jen watched the kids while Brad ran me home.

The night went downhill from there. All week I was having this upper side pain to go along with my other symptoms. At about 1:00AM I thought I was truly going to die. Either that or in labor. And I knew that wasn't the case. I tried waking Brad to call my sister to take me to the ER with no such luck. I tell you that man is one sound sleeper. Somehow I got myself through the night in one piece minus my sanity. Alli had a 9:00AM game in Sun Prairie and being the nerotic mom that I am I wasn't going to miss it. (Good thing I didn't, she scored twice!) I was actually somewhat comfy throughout the game. Things started up again a little bit when we were headed home and Brad and Jen made me go to the ER. Ok I must say that I HATE the ER. There isn't much that I wouldn't do to avoid a trip to the ER. It's just an unpleasant place to be and takes soooo long. I didn't want to be there...period! Suprisingly I got placed in a room very quickly and had a young male nurse. They must of been pretty slow because before the nurse could take my history the MD came in. So there I was in this dreadful room with two good looking males getting ready to tell them all of my wonderful symptoms. I felt like I was going through childbirth again and was an open book. It wasn't long after the exam that the dr. got things rolling. A paramedic student came in and put in an i.v. That was a scary moment seeing the word student on his name tag. He did a good job though. He took a ton of blood also. Things were really looking like it was my gallbladder. After being a pin cushion it was off to U/S we went. That was pretty quick and uncomfortable.

In the end it turns out that I don't have gallstones but still have something going on that they are unsure of. I'm on a bland diet and meds to stop my stomach spasms. I was so incredible grateful that I got to burst their surgery bubble for at least now. I'm thinking that if I have another attack I may not be so lucky but at this point I need to just be good so that I can make it past our vacation! Oh how I love medicine!!! NOT!

Birthday Party Recap/Memorial Day Weekend

2008-06-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

And here is Mr. Birthday Boy!!! Gage is officially four!! What a clown.

It's her party and she cried if she wanted to. Bless her little heart. This is one of the only pictures I could get of her smiling. It turns out that she ended up going to urgent care later that day and she had a broken collar bone from a fall out of the bed she took earlier that week. Poor sweetie!

Is she a cute kid or what???

Grandpa John W. playing kickball with the kiddos. What a good sport!!!

I love this picture of dad! This is so him, always with his thinking face on!

Miles, Sydney and Zach being all goofy!

So we had a pretty quiet Memorial Day weekend besides the big birthday party! Brad gave me a scrapbook pass on Saturday, so I scrapped most of the day away. It was so nice. The weather was great so the kids and Brad spent most of the day outside. Brad spent 6 hours washing his truck while the kids played with the hoses. Summer is definetly in the air:)

The Great Hunt

2008-06-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

Kevin with his 1st Turkey!
Brad and Ben posing with this poor turkey!

So tonight a buddy of Brad's came over with 2 cd's for Brad from there great hunt a couple weeks ago. I must say that the video was hilarious!!! Ben did a great job video taping their hunting weekend and Kevin did a great job putting the video together, with polka music and all. Here are a couple of pictures of their weekend. Kevin came home with a "nice" looking turkey;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAGE!!!

2008-05-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th birthday little dude!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUBREY!!!

2008-05-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Princess Aubrey!!!

This morning when I talked to sassy she said she was three and that she loves Melmo (Elmo)!

It is so cute to hear her say "My Birthday"

What a weekend!!!

2008-05-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ok so what was I thinking??? Brad left on Thursday to go hunting. My inital plans were to have a relaxing weekend with the kids. The weather was way to nice not to do anything productive. So being the person I am and always biting off more than I can chew!!! I decided to order our mulch for the flower beds. Not just a little mulch a driveway of mulch. Did my mom drop me on my head as an infant? How could I possibly get all of this done before Brad's return?

I tell you I have the sweetest sister in bil alive. Jen called shortly after I placed the order and had really thought about what I did. She must of sensed how overwhelmed I was because before I knew it she pulled up in the truck and John shortly came down the road on his riding lawn mower and trailer. He may be a little redneck but I love him anyway because he came to the rescue and by Friday at 8:00pm all of that mulch was out of the driveway and placed in the flower beds! They were my saviors!!! If it hadn't been for them I would still be out there hauling wheelbarrows. I owe them big time. After they left I realized that I hadn't fed Zach yet and so we ran to Subway at 9:00pm and then ran clothes over to Alli for a sleepover at Brea's. Zach and I ended up staying there until midnight. Paula and Denver (Brea's parents) had their driveway poured that night and them and the crew were having a few beers in the garage and chatting it up. All and all it ended up being a great day. Definetly productive!!! Surrounded by good family and friends.

On Saturday Zach and I slept in. When we got up we waited for Alli to come home and headed to Madison for my veggie plants and a Target run. We planted the rest of our planters and our garden when we got home. I ended the day finishing up the memory books for preschool and watching P.S. I Love You. Which is an awesome movie. A must see.

So that pretty much recaps our Friday and Saturday! Brad is due home today and I can't wait. This means that I get my bed back and can get some sleep. Sleeping in the middle of the kids leaves for some restless sleeping;)

So on Friday Zach and I went on an all day field trip with his class. We went to Olbrich Gardens and The Aldo Leopold Center. The weather was beautiful and the sights were pretty spectacular:)

The boys checking things out at the Thai gardens.

The flowering crabs at Olbrich were in full bloom and looked amazing!

We had lunch at a wonderful park in Monona. Zach, best bud Shane and Courtney:)

Looks like someone else was having fun:) Gracie showing off her antlers.

Ohhhh! Something is very very stinky! Zach loved checking out the animal mounts:)

Zach and Will looking for pond life at Aldo Leopold.

aflac

2008-05-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

I think Brad's little sweetie Aubrey had a new friend!!!
Introducing you to Aflac. So last night after soccer practice I was busy cooking muffins for Zach's class and Brad decided to stop up at the storage locker that father in law won in a auction. It seems his new hobby is bidding on abandon storage lockers. Well in this latest locker there is a van and many other gems, including Aflac the duck. Zach found this pretty concrete duck in the van under a sheet. If anyone has heard Zach's infectious laugh they would know why Brad had to bring it home to me. So while I was in the kitchen the fam returned and I thought Brad must of went straight to the shower because I heard the bath water. Well to my surprise Brad joined the kids and I in the kitchen with the news of a new house member in the tub because it needed a shower???? So I followed the three of them and in a tub of water I found Mr. Aflac followed by many laughs!!! Why does nothing surprise me when from Brad and the kids anymore. So Brad hauled this very heavy 3ft. duck into the kitchen and there as a family we decided that we should send this duck to Jen's(my sister) So Brad wrote on a piece of cardboard: Hi my name is a Aflac and I need a good home and a warm bath. Brad and the kids loaded up the sign and Aflac and delivered this precious gem to Jen's. Brad parked up the street and hauled this duck to her front step and rang her doorbell and took off running. It wasn't long before I got a call from Jen wondering "what the heck"

So now Mr. Aflac is taking up residency at Jen's house and Aubrey is in love with "her duck". So beware you may find Mr. Aflac at your house soon!!!

The recent happenings around here

2008-05-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

I will start off with a picture of my sweet boy who has so patiently waited all year to be the student of the week in his classroom. Well this is his week!!! Mr. Student of the Week! Isn't he just the coolest looking kid. We had to write why we were proud of him. How do we begin??? For those that don't know Zach very well I must tell you that he is the kindest boy I know. He is so incredible easygoing and just takes life like it is. Goes with the flow. He's quite the character and naturally makes people laugh!!! He's very sweet to his mommy! Loves to give his dad a hard time;) and loves his sister, even when she's mean to him. So needless to say I'm beyond proud to be this little dudes mom!!

Well we officially have one turkey season down in the Junck household. After three long seasons of turkey hunting Brad scored his first turkey. I will admit that I'm thrilled!!! That means no more alarm clock going off at 3:45. Thanks to Lynn for allowing Brad to hunt on her and Jerome's land and thanks to Tiny for setting Brad up with the good spots. Now I said there is one season down. That leaves season #2 that is starting for Brad Thurs afternoon when he leaves for the weekend in Sparta. Brad is excited to hunt with Kevin and Ben. I can only imagine the hunting talk that will be going on:) This hunt he will be doing with his bow. We'll see if his luck continues???

Ok so I've been busy the last couple of months trying to get Alli's school scrapbook started. The soccer pictures were starting to pile up so it was time.

2008-05-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

A few layouts I did for this months Twelve Fridays kit! I love this kit club!!! Enjoy!!!

I'm new at this

2008-05-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to drop a note letting you know that this blog is a work in progress so bare with me while I work through the kinks with the links and everything. Thanks!!!

VICTORY

2008-05-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

And of course Mr. Goofball!!! Will they pull off a win????

The queen of the facial expressions!

Have to add one of Alli's best friend Brea. She's working the feet too.

That's are girl working the foot work!!! Pictures are less than stellar but we had lots of movement.

Yes you are really seeing the above title!!!! The Hurricanes pulled off another win! They played awesome! (And Alli didn't even wear her lucky Sunday underwear) Oh the things these girls come up with!???!

Alli switched roles a little tonight on the field. She moved from sweeper to forward. She ran her butt off and her footwork is improving so much. Yes I'm a proud mom;) She had a break-away which I think actually shocked her a little. She kicked it straight on but unfortunetly the goal was blocked. Later in the game she had another chance at a goal and gave that ball a little too much kick and it hit the top of goal hard. It was close and she was happy with that:)

Yep I'm pretty bad at this blogging thing

2008-05-05T19:27:00.001-07:00

Mr. Gage!!! He's such a funny guy full of beans. Always has something to say!

Yep that's my sweet boy in his serious camping mode. He's all about the outdoors.

Miss Sydney and Aubrey paying me a visit in the camper. They didn't mind the weather at all;)

Alli digging our hike. I just can't believe how fast she is growing up!!!

Oh dear!!! Father and son! And people wonder why I'm turning grey??

Alli wanted a picture with mom and of course Aubrey had to be in there. She wanted Nitty all to herself;)

Ok so I promise I will try to be better about this blogging thing;)

This past weekend we went camping in less than stellar weather. Can you say cold and wet!!! It was actually kind of nice though because I didn't have to look at all the things that needed to be done around the house and instead had no choice but to lay around and catch up on the tv show 24. This winter when the writers strike happened and we were snowed in we decided to order 24 from Netflix and were instantly hooked. Oh the life we have. The sad thing is that a few times when we had date night we actually just came home and watched 24. Anyways we started season 6 this weekend and of course it's proving to be another great one:) We also watched 27 Dresses which was a cute movie.

Alli ended up missing her soccer game on Saturday because of camping. She wasn't too happy about this but it was just one game. She has a make up game tomorrow night against Verona. I would love to see the girls pull off another victory. They stunk it up like old cheese this weekend against Milton. I love this age though. They are so ok with losing. I guess one win in 3 seasons will do that to you. It's neat to see how she is progressing as a player. She is definetly a defense player. She is all about keeping that ball away from the goal. She gives it her all. Sound effects and all.

Last night I think I put the finishing touches on the kids summer activities. I think they will keep me hopping. Alli will be doing basketball which she has come to really enjoy along with soccer through the rec dept. Zach will be doing baseball and soccer. He really enjoys baseball a lot but needs more to do. He is a good soccer player and I think we have finally convinced him that soccer is good conditioning for football and that no one will pick on him for playing it. The boy is all about football:) I also enrolled them in a week long soccer camp with the Brits. I think that if anything it will be a way to keep them active. Alli also will be spending some time in summer school to try to boost her confidence in her math skills. Something that she is NOT happy about.

Well wish us luck tomorrow against Verona. Go Hurricanes!!!!

Sniff, Sniff, Cough, Cough

2008-03-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

That's what is sounds like at our house this weekend. Alli came down with a cold a couple of days ago and all she has been doing is coughing. Thankful there is no sign of a fever. This morning Zach woke up feeling cruddy. Tis the season;)

Alli had another soccer game last night and surprise, surprise they lost again:( They have yet to win a game. I'm so proud of these girls. They are ok with losing and have a blast out there. Isn't that what it's all about at that age anyway? Today is nice and sunny and pleasantly warm for a change. The high today is in the 40's. Hopefully some of these mountains of snow will melt away before we add another 2-4 inches to it tonight. Is it Spring yet?? Then of course we'll have all kinds of mud from the melting of the snow. Or at least that's what everyone will be complaining about. I say who cares about the snow and mud. Look at the bright side things could be worse.

Who would of thought, a blog

2008-03-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our blog. Life lately is moving so fast and the kids are growing too quickly. So what a better way for us to keep track of those things then to blog them. If anything it will be a fun place to look back on for us:)