Doctor Herrman in the House!!!

We have a doctor in the family y'all! Miss Anna Herrman (formerly Antos) has officially graduated with her PhD from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in Communications. (which will hopefully lead to our families communicating well over the long term. that was a joke. ba-dum-dum) but seriously she has put alot of time and effort, sacrificing things she wanted to do so that she could accomplish this tremendous goal that she set for herself almost a decade ago. Over the years, her passion to teach at the college level has fueled her ambition to finish her doctoral degree before the age of 30. I give her credit... because I personally have never been determined on such an incredible level in my entire life. I am super duper proud of her accomplishment and a little jealous to tell you the truth. Way to go Anna-Banana :) Glad you are my sister-in-law... I plan to ride your coat strings all the way to the end sugar pants!

Great America Trip

Kyra is super excited to go to 6 flags Great America today down in Illinois today. She did some fundraising over the winter (thanks to all that participated) and will be traveling with her band group the few hours to get the via Coach buses (better than a school bus for sure). I forgot how much work goes into piking out clothes for an event like this for a  teenage girl. I guarantee that I was the same way (I still remember the Puma sneakers having to match my mini backpack/purse ... remember Jackie???) but it was fun to spend the time with her involved and excited about something other than her cell phone, Ipad or computer. This whole generation of technology gurus makes me a little uncomfortable. They say (my generation) people in their thirties are "technology immigrants" ... all I can tell you is now I know how Chef Boyardee felt coming to America... quite the learning curve. I had the opportunity to chaperone (my trip paid for) but after a few minutes of consideration (more like seconds) I realized that chaperoning dozens of 13 year olds sound like total hell to me... you couldn't pay me enough to do it... well maybe there is a number out there.

Spring is finally here!!!

Yeeeessss!!! We can finally walked outside without our lungs burning from how cold it is or have our nose hairs become brittle because the snot surrounding them has instantly frozen. Now, for those of you in a much more temperit climate, its only about 55 degrees here but for us that's a great temperature to be outside. No winter jackets just a sweatshirt and we are ready to hit the playground... its like a bear in hibernation--- we got this down pat. I have been trying to get the girls clothes ready for spring (which may potentially be here finally) and hopefully a summer. All their cute little dress and flip flops.. I cant wait. So today we are at the park while I have a bin of extra clothes that they wont wear or wont fit into at the kid's resale store. I am trying to sneak every penny out of the things we aren't using and there is alot of that I guess. So here is my process. Typically I will buy Katie's clothes either at a rummage sale, sometimes a thrift store or on sale at a dept store like Kohls. Then it all gets stored for two years when it fits Olivia (knock on wood this process has worked so far). So granted Katie gets more "new" items but miss Via has so many options its ridiculous. Case in point: Via has 20 pairs of underwear. Is this necessary? Hell no. Is it what a borderline hoarder does to make sure the girls have everything they could possibly need for potentially the price of one package of undies? You bet your biscuits. So I have a problem. I admit it. But I am happy. And prepared hahaha. So after the clothes go to the kids store (which typically results in about 30-60 bucks off the top) then I take pictures of the nice things that didn't sell and put them onto my virtual rummage sales on Facebook. People on these sites pay more than at my traditional rummage sale for the sheer convenience of it so I will et the items sit online for a few weeks which banks anywhere from 50-100 depending if I can find just the right person. Then whatever is left over I put in the rummage sale for close to what I paid. When all is said and done, for the most part I am ahead financially (original investment maybe 35.00 typical payout 100.00) which goes into the pot for the next season. Its a vicious cycle that feeds my addiction but I can rationalize it at this point in life and its working... why ditch something that's not broke? for example: Katie's jammies cost 50 cents, her sweatshirt was 1.00 and her flip-flops were 25 cents. Total outfit cost me 1.75. Via will wear it in two years and then I will sell it (assuming no stains or tears) for at least that. I am sure to sound crazy to some but it makes sense to me :)

PS- my best friend on the planet had a birthday yesterday. We woke up and had celebratory cupcakes (with candles) for breakfast. I think we sang "happy birthday" to Unkie Jackie roughly 20 times before they were sick of blowing out the candles (frankly cause the got short and burnt my fingers).

First Brewer Game

A few weeks ago I went to my first Milwaukee Brewer's game at the new stadium in Milwaukee. When I say new I guess that is relative because they officially finished construction in 2001... whats a decade between friends right??? I went down with a group of friends from work on a coach bus so nobody had to drive the hour and a half through traffic and finding a parking spot. Which is good because there was a whole lot of booze on the bus (come on its called Miller park for crying out loud) and even more in the stadium itself. Speaking of which-- walking into the dome and seeing the playing field was unreal-- totally surreal. I was overwhelmed with how big and colorful it was... so much to look at. I am still learning the game because after 30 years of not caring there is a bit of a learning curve in terms of understanding the game but so far its going well. I got the basics down but now its learning the details... and trying to remember names. I give men (and women... but lets face it men are sorta dumb) way more credit now in terms of professional sports... cause remembering all this stuff sure is hard.

Hey Man, Nice Shot

The weather this weekend was AMAZING!!! We have had such crappy gloomy days so far this Spring that all this sunshine is totally overdue. I may have even gotten a sunburn I was outside so much. I know the girls totally dug it. Katie and Via have had so much fun re-discovering the outside toys in the backyard. We got the majority of the yard work accomplished and the garage partially cleaned out. I typically would have had the annual rummage sale in April however this year mother nature thought otherwise. Which is retrospect I am totally okay with because I was able to hit some pretty amazing sales myself that I otherwise would have probably missed... see - there is a bigger plan in life... At least that is what I am going with right now. My most recent adventures in parenting happened when Katie decided to take Spunky for a walk on the hill. I usually lock (like padlock) the girls in the backyard because we live on a busy street and I don't want them wandering into traffic. This time (because she was so darn cute with the leash) I let Bella stay out in the driveway while I was working on the garage. No big deal right? Wrong. Miss Adventure pants took it upon herself to walk the dog through our front yard, the side yard, over the hill into the neighbors and then finally into THEIR neighbor's yard. Luckily there were some folks outside that she wanted to befriend and held her up for a while. Now--- two things. Can I really be upset? No. Because I should have been watching her. Am I surprised? Hell no... that's a mini-Trina we are talking about. Once she makes up her mind up that she is going to do something she is going to do it. Bribery typically works but how much ice cream can you really feed a four year old? Don't answer that.

Sunday we spent the day out at my parents home with Anna and AJ. I had to bring along a few loads of laundry and borrow mom's washing machine because we are having remodeling done and there is no water in my basement... total pain but hopefully finished soon. It was either that or the laundromat (which I would prefer as it would provide me with some much needed alone time) but for the sake of time and money (and a free lunch) we spent the day out at my folks. It was such beautiful weather that we decided to eat outside on the patio. Dad has maybe overdone it with all the yard work and getting the flowerbeds going this spring so he was totally tuckered out by lunchtime. His endurance is still good just not insane like it used to be--- which is nice because then AJ and I end up looking not so lazy at our own homes hahaha. When we were doing the "walk around the house" (Where we walk around the property and see where we need to make changes and what the "projects" will be during the summer) As we were evaluating the pine tress (which are enormous now) I am not sure who spotted it first but there was a giant paper wasp nest--- it was so gross and cool! Realizing that it was not safe to have a giant hive in the yard for the safety of the little girls as well as my parents we elected to take it down... with basketballs!!! It was so much fun especially because we were not totally sure it was abandoned so there was a chance that there could still be wasps inside it---arrrggghhhh. but there weren't. AJ and Anna beat the crap out of it and mom being the continual educator in the family, kept the honeycomb looking part to teach the girls about bees and other wing-ed things. A small part of me wanted to see AJ running around the yard from the wasps but I know those sucker's hurt like hell so I didn't push it. However you better believe I was imagining it (love you AJ)

Chuga Chuga Choo Choo

Last night I went out with some folks from the hospital I work at and for some reason my head is killing me. I only spent 12 bucks but I don't think there was a time that my hand was sans Beer... its a mystery. It would not typically be a problem on the weekend because Timmy is a sweetheart and lets me sleep these off, but today is a different day. We were not able to celebrate Easter with Tim's whole family so we all gathered for lunch and a local brewery/restaurant (just what I need--- more beer). I opted for a root beer (one of their specialties) and a sandwich. The girls had "baby burgers" which are just technically sliders but we like to make everything fancy in this family. So we munched our lunches and visited with Tim's side of the family (which I don't really like to keep track of sides because we have a super awesome family as a whole but for tracking purposes it seems easier for y'all) At any rate-hahaha- we enjoyed visiting as a group and then afterwords we gathered out on the deck where there was a railroad car. It seemed fitting to take our group photos in front of it to stay with the theme of the restaurant. Before everyone was done the girls were getting a little antsy so I took them on a walk-about to explore the old building. We found a set of stairs that about halfway up had a mural of people waiting in the station... I had a field day with this one. "Mommy who are these people?" says Katie "These are the folks in the olden day waiting for their train to take them where they want to go." Olden days? Does that mean they have died?" "Yes maam" "How can I still see them then?" And then baby Via chimes in "They are ghosts!!!!!" which was followed with screaming laughter and sprinting up and down the steps, especially near the painting... they loved it. When we all finally got outside (a few peeps got lost I guess) we all grouped ourselves in front of this railroad car. And wouldn't you know, the signal lights start flashing because a train still in operation was headed our way. I wanted to get the shot so I was standing on the tracks and as soon as everyone saw the gates drop they freaked out-- but I really wanted to get the pic so I stayed just long enough to make everyone uncomfortable but still accomplish my goal... who needs two legs anyway?

MadTown here she comes...

Kaitlynn Bella

Kaitlynn Bella that is. I have realized that you cannot love your kids enough. This was more than evident when Katie and I took an overnight trip to Madison with both of my parents. My dad retired in January but still does some consulting work on the side. This was one of those instances as he is still tied to the University in Madison. Bucky Badger runs through our veins in this family and we wouldn't have it any other way.  Katie was super stoked to find out that we were headed down especially since we stayed in a "water park" hotel. Our first stop was the children's museum (my parents have a membership to all the museums in Wisconsin which is totally convenient) and it totally blew my mind. This was Katie's 2nd or 3rd time so she knew how to navigate the building. Thank goodness because it was overwhelming with all the visual stimulation and screeching children. There were lots of science opportunities along with art projects and a giant tree house. On the roof there was an open garden and a little building that houses baby chicks and other petite animals. Bella honed in immediately on the two college girls that were baking cookies and even talked them into letting her mix a whole new batch. There was a photographer walking around the building taking pictures for the new Madison museum flyer and wouldn't you know Miss Bella Bean snuck her way right in there... that's my girl. There were so many learning opportunities it was almost overwhelming but Katie had a blast. Her favorite area was where you created a pizza or pie made out o felt pieces. There was even an over where you turned a crank and it rolled the food through and "cooked" it, but don't forget the hot pads because it was "piping hot"... she is so cute. There was a total hippie vibe (in a good way) and I was trying to soak up all the inspiration. I even followed this fabulously dressed girl so I could take a pictures of her and totally copy her look... what a creeper huh?

After the museum we stopped at Bascom Hall and enjoyed a delicious ice cream treat. When I was a kid I remember going there and getting a mint chocolate chip cone and sitting on the front steps in the sunshine. Since then they have remodeled the entrance and lil shop as well as the options for cones... I couldn't concentrate because there were so many options and combinations ( I could have spent all day considering the possibilities) however Kaitlynn knew exactly what she wanted: A strawberry swirl on a sugar cone... Bravo girlfriend.

The pool at the hotel was amazing! We had to stop by target and pick up a little floatie device because of how busy it was and to help keep and eye on her (she totally loved it and called it her "Princess pack." Sidenote: she calls me the queen, not because I am her mother, but rather because I am bigger than her -- watch out for this one y'all). We spent the whole night and the entire next morning playing in the water and sliding down the big red slide. She eventually got the courage to try it herself and did it roughly a million times. I think she could have stayed all day but unfortunately check out snuck up on us and we had to bounce on out of there.

Before leaving town though we stopped for a bite to eat at The Cracker Barrel (my favorite) and filled our tummies for the ride home... which I don't remember because I was in a food coma and napped the whole way home (as did Kaite and my mother)... have I mentioned we heart Madison  :)