90th Birthday

Our trip to Wisconsin for John's Grandma's 90th Birthday was a quick one, but we had a great time visiting with family, and helping to celebrate such a special birthday. We arrived on Friday afternoon, and spent much of the rest of the day at the farm.

We visited with John's Grandma, Uncle Bob (who I was meeting for the first time) and his friend Michelle.

We also took a ride down the lane in the Gator, and took a little walk through the snowy trees. The kids really liked riding on the Gator, even though it was pretty cold.

On Saturday after our trip to the Dairy, we spent the rest of our time at an Open House Birthday Luncheon for John's Grandma. It was so nice to see all of the love and support that she has in this small community. John's Grandma is quite an amazing woman. She is still living by herself on the farm thanks to some great neighbors who watch over her, and some caretakers who make visits. We really enjoyed being able to be a part of her special celebration.

John's Grandma and her sister
4 generations of Pawlowskis

Makenna with Michelle and Grandma CeCe
John and his Grandma

Family photo with the Birthday girl

Wisconsin Dairy

While we were in Wisconsin over the weekend for John's Grandma's 90th Birthday (post to come), we made our must-stop trip to the Ruldolph, WI Dairy to pick up some "Squeaky Cheese". I have only had squeaky cheese 3 times in my life, all of them since I married John and we started making visits to Wisconsin. I must admit that while I do enjoy a piece or two of squeaky cheese, I am certainly not as passionate about this unique cheese as others (maybe you have to be born/raised in Wisconsin to truly appreciate it), but I do thoroughly enjoy our trips to the dairy. We didn't have too much time to stay at the Dairy, but we all enjoyed watching the cheese being made.

Of course we picked up several bags of the fresh squeaky cheese, but we also picked up some ice cream at the attached "Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream" shop, which was SO delicious!! While I was trying to prevent myself from licking my cup, I noticed the following paragraph on the back of the cup, and thought it was quite clever and funny:

Nutritional Information:

Don't even ask. This is the best ice cream made in Wisconsin, and it tastes so good because it has gobs of rich Wisconsin cream, tons of real ingredients for boat-loads of luscious flavors. That means it's not low-fat, low-calorie or low-anything, and that's why everyone loves it. You want nutrition, eat carrots.

John's Valentine's Gift

Makenna had picked out a card and a box of chocolates for John about a week and a half ago, and desperately wanted to keep them in her room until Valentine's Day. I agreed, and gave her a bag to "hide" them in. Well, Makenna decided to add to John's gift, and kept putting random things into his bag. First thing yesterday morning, Makenna grabbed the bag and wanted John to open it right away. It was pretty hilarious watching him open it.

Some of the best items were: old homework papers of John's, a bill still in the envelope which she decorated with stickers, a baby doll, a bag of Hudson's blocks, a toothbrush (used), a Cinderella dress with no doll, and one of Makenna's birthday cards from her 3rd birthday.

She has since taken most of the items with the bag back up to her room, and has started adding more things, which she says are for John's Birthday...which isn't till April.

Sick Day Projects

Well, unfortunately for us, the fun family nights did not continue much after my last post. In fact, they came to a screeching halt the very next morning, when we woke up to find that Hudson had thrown up sometime during the night. Luckily, he seemed to be feeling fine within a few hours. John was the next to get hit on Monday morning, and then my turn with the stomach flu came Monday night. Makenna was the last of us to catch the bug, and she definitely had it the worst. While the rest of us had the standard 24 hour bug, Makenna was sick for a full 7 days! I didn't even know that the stomach flu could last 7 days. The poor thing was miserable. After almost 10 days of being stuck in our house, we were ready to get out. But as luck would have it, we got hit with a big ice storm that trapped us inside for another few days.

One benefit of being stuck inside for 2 weeks straight was the extra time I had to work on projects. I FINALLY finished Makenna's Christmas stocking (it was only 3 years in the making) and have started working on Hudson's. (I'll post pictures once his is done.) I also decided that I needed another Valentine's decoration since I only had ONE (which is pretty pathetic...I know). I decided to make the wreath found here. When I ran to the store, they only had red and white felt (no pinks), and it definitely took a lot longer to make all of the roses than she made it sound, but I am pretty happy with the way it turned out, and it was a fun, easy project.

It didn't "scream" Valentine's Day to me, so I added a little heart, but I can't decide if I like it or not...what do you think? (It's removable)

Jackpot!

"What should we do tonight?"

That question used to be really easy to answer as a newlywed couple.

Answer: whatever WE want to!

Once you have kids, the question changes to: "What should we do tonight, that will be fun for us and a 3 year old, and a 1 year old, and that will get us home by 7:30 to put the kids to bed?" This question (as most of you know) is a little bit harder to answer.

And, it is a lot harder to answer now that we are in school, and the tag "...and that won't cost a lot of money?" has been added.

Well, so far this month we have hit the jackpot on fun, FREE, and family-friendly activities. Tonight we went to the YMCA's Family Fun Night (free for us as members). Having never been before, we weren't really sure what to expect, but we were really impressed with all of the fun things they had set up for the kids including: a Glow in the Dark Snowball Fight, Campfire Story Time, Toddler Play Zone, Face Painting, Swimming, A Bounce House, Mini Golf, Crafts, and Snacks.

We started at the Bounce House, and then went to the Toddler Play Zone

We then had 6:30 tickets to the Campfire Story time. Hudson kept wandering off of our sleeping bag to try and get a better look at the "fire". (He is the little guy in the stripped shirt standing right in front of the lady.)
After making a quick craft, we headed to one of the gyms to turn in our free smore vouchers (that we picked up at the end of our Campfire Story time), and watched an acrobatics type of show, while eating our gooey treats.
Our final stop of the night was the Face Painting room, where Makenna was just thrilled to get not one but two designs on her cheeks.

A heart on one cheek, and a rainbow on the other, what more could a girl want?

Last weekend we went to a free family night up on campus at the SRSC (Student Recreational Sports Center). Again, we weren't sure what to expect, but ended up having a great time. They had several gyms set up for the family night activities. We headed straight for the Bounce House, which Makenna loved, and then spent a good deal of time in the Toddler Gym, where the kids ran around, played on the gym equipment, and rode around on trikes. We also enjoyed the snacks in the hallway, and ended the night by making a craft; one that Makenna said was the most beautiful picture she had ever made.

They had this AWESOME double trike that the kids loved. They had so much fun on it, that I was tempted (not really) to take it home with me. If anyone knows where to find a trike like this, I'd love to know.

Here is a little video of the double trike in action:

I'm hoping our streak of fun, family-friendly, and FREE activities continues!!

Primary

Today was Makenna's 2nd week going to primary. Last week, she and the other graduating nursery kids were invited up to the front of sacrament meeting to receive a certificate congratulating them on their graduation. Makenna was so excited to get her certificate, and is so excited to be big enough to be in primary.

I, on the other hand, can't believe that she is already old enough to be in primary. She has grown up so much while we have been here in Indiana. John and I have started reading scriptures with Makenna every morning. At first, I think she just wanted to get it over with so that she could watch cartoons, but now she is really enjoying it. The first words out of her mouth every morning are "Mommy, can we go downstairs now to read scriptures?" It always amazes me how much kids love to learn. They really are little sponges.

Sleep

I don't really make New Year's resolutions, but if I did, I think that getting more sleep is always a good place to start. Maybe I need to take a note from Hudson's book, who manages to sleep whenever the need arises.

After eating

At the Homecoming Parade
At the football game
After eating (again)
In the car (always a favorite)
On the floor in the hallway after church
And again after eating...I guess having a full belly makes for a sleepy little guy