Fiddler on the Roof

My dad surprised my little sister Jolie and I with front row tickets to see Fiddler on the Roof in Milwaukee. We were very excited!!

Jolie goes to the theatre a lot, and thought she knew how to get there... But of course, Wisconsin roads are always in a state of construction, and there are always crazy, poorly marked detours... SO.... We got a bit lost. Eventually Jolie found the way there, but then we needed cash for parking. Of course. Jolie jumped out of the car, and ran to an ATM. Here she is running back to the car, heels and cash in hand!

When we finally got in, we were only a minute or so late and because we had great seats they let us in right away. Jolie and I apologized as we tripped and stumbled our way to our seats. The show was amazing! We enjoyed every second of it. We also had a lot of time to just sit and chat, which was SO necessary. I really miss and love my baby sister, and it was nice to have a chance to reconnect with her. :) Thanks dad for the great surprise!

cousin Cris!

Cris is my nephew, he is my sister Holly's son, and believe it or not, this is the first day Matix and Hawken met him. :) Obviously, they LOVE him!! :) They wrestled and ran loops around my dad's living room. It was so fun to watch. The boys are really loving their time here with all this family. Thanks Cris for humoring my little guys, they think you are SO cool.

the farm

We spent a Sunday afternoon at Grandpa Louie's farm. Auntie Jolie, Alexandra, Bradley, Grandma, Grandpa and our little family all walked over to see the new baby chicks.

Checking out a few of the the tractors.

I love this picture of a chicken running as fast as it possibly can to get away from Matix. :)

Auntie Jolie is queen of catching chickens. She caught a few baby chicks for the kids to hold. Hawken wasn't so sure, but Matix and Alexandra ate it up!

The fun continued with tractor rides from Grandpa Louie. Such fun!

STEP 1 is DONE!

Although we had tons of fun visiting daddy at his library study spot these past few weeks, we are SO happy to not have to go back there! :) And I bet Paul is even more happy!!

The boys, as is the tradition, made Paul some signs for when he got back from his test. They were loving watercolors and crayons. I think their pictures are super cute.

Paul got back from his test feeling great! He will still have to wait to get his scores, but feeling good after an all day test is a good sign! :) We got extra family time yesterday, and will everyday after until rotations start!! Yay! I am so happy!

race track

Grandma Kim has a race track that is everyone's favorite. It has been fun to watch this 3 year old, 2 year old and 1 year old learn how to play together and share. It is a developing skill for all of them, and I think they are all getting better at it. Hooray for new experiences so they can learn from each other, not just me all the time. :)

Off topic, Paul is currently 25 minutes into his 8 hour exam. Please send him prayers and good thoughts so he can focus and be able to apply all his knowledge correctly. We are so excited for him!!!

slip-n-slide

On one of the only nice days we have had here, auntie Jolie surprised us and came over with a slip-n-slide! My boys still thought it was a little cold, but they had fun anyway. Bradley and Alexandra loved up every moment, regardless of the temperature. We also set up the little pool.

Break for some cool melon on the porch.

Alexandra and Matix chased around and dumping water on each other. I love this picture, Matix still had his cheeks full of melon! :)

First Friday

Every first Friday of the month Racine has a party downtown. Paul and I had never been to it before (they just started it a few years ago), so we went for date night. It was pretty fun. When we got there we ran into 4 of 5 of my sisters and a few nieces and nephews. So fun. Of course we had a mini photo shoot. Left to right is Jolie (#6), Becky (#2), Heather (#3), Robin (#1), and me (#5)... We missed you Holly!

Everything was fine and silly until Jolie exposed Heather!! No we didn't get that on film, thankfully, but we got the just before and right after. Everyone in the crowd saw lots more of Heather than she had planned... :)

Paul was busy running races with the kiddos. They had a blast and I am sure slept really well that night.

last day!

Today is the last day Paul has to ride my mom's awesome light blue-green, covered in flowers, baskets on the back bike to go study!!! Tomorrow he will take the USMLE step 1 licensing exam!! It is a loooooong test, but he is ready for it. Send him happy thoughts and prayers! :) We can hardly wait to have more time with him! Hooray!

dance recital

My sister Heather owns a dance studio here and the weekend before last was the end of year recital. It was SO much fun. My sister Jolie is one of the choreographers, and my nieces Kyra, Chloe, and Alexandra were each in a dance class this year. My nephew Hunter also had a guest appearance in a dance. I wasn't sure how the boys would do sitting for so long, but they LOVED it. Especially Matix. He was just mesmerized. Very cute. Hawken danced in front of the seats to the songs most of the time.

Here is Alexandra, she is on the far right, stealing the show.

I didn't get a very good one from Chloe's dance, but she is on the far left.

Kyra was in a super fun hip hop dance and was the best one from her group (third from the left).

Hunter, with his scary make-up from his appearance in a Nightmare Before Christmas dance.

After it was over, we all went up on the stage and got to play with some of the props. So much fun! It was a family affair for us and we got to see 4 out of my 5 sisters, their kids, grandmas and grandpas, cousins everywhere. :) We all had a blast. (Matix with Alexandra in a TV)