Happy Halloween!

Minnie Mouse doubled her output from last year.  She covered 10 houses in the neighborhood versus 4 last year.   Some of the houses were "tarey." (Scarey).  However, she had a lot of fun filling everyone's bags full of candy when they came to the door.
Michael was the perfect Tigger.  In this picture, he was coming after me.  I was "tared."
Michael is at a stage of growth in which he is packing on the pounds.  The tigger costume fit with the pudge rolls.
Tigger and Minnie getting excited to go trick or treating.
Josh, Tigger and Minnie hanging out on the front porch.  It was a beautiful evening for trick of treating.

Fall fun...it finally feels like fall (not winter)!

Doesn't this look like fun?   I couldn't resist.   
Backyard fun with leaves.   
Backyard fun with pigtails!
Michael is having so much fun trying to stand.  He wants to be like his big sister so bad.  I really think he says "Nana" for Natalie.   We went into her room this morning to get her out of her bed and he said "nana" right away.   Michael is practicing very hard to stand on his own.  He pulls himself up ...
then he lets go with both hands!  Yeah Michael!  He stays up for quite a few seconds and then puts his hands back.  Then he tries again.  
We you're having a fun fall also!

Snow, football, Sunday oufit, and rice krispies...

Hi there!  Here are some random pictures from the past couple of weeks.   Hopefully you get a good laugh because both Josh and I chuckled during each one of these moments.  

Natalie's choice this morning for Sunday attire ...she is practicing for Halloween.

Michael is really good at putting fist fulls of rice krispies in his mouth, or I should say, he attempts to put fist fulls in his mouth.  I would say 1 out of every 100 rice krispies make it into his mouth (the rest go on the floor).
It snowed yesterday!!!  Natalie ventured out in her pajamas, boots and a vest.   I don't know if she really remembers seeing snow last year, so she explored the snow like it was the first time.   I also chuckled when she saw her breathe a few days ago.  She practically hyper ventilated trying to make lots of smoke out of her mouth.   

Josh had a Monday night Packer party with Natalie and Mikie.   Can you tell who we were cheering for?   

I hope you are doing wonderful and enjoying the change of seasons!

Things are a changin...

We took a good hike through the park.  Natalie walked the whole way.  This is a change from previous excursions.  Nice job Natalie!  In the picture below she is the "line-leader" and she is carrying her "whompin' stick."

Natalie smiled in this picture.  This is also a change from most pictures (-:
Michael now expresses his happiness by clapping.
Michael's sleep habits have changed (for the good)!  He is sleeping from 10pm to 5am straight! Yeah Mikey!   Josh and I feel like different people.
Oh yes, the biggest change....I cut 8 inches off my hair.   

Good stuff...

Some of the latest happenings with the Wiffler crew...   

Michael learned how to pull himself up onto his knees in his crib.  He also got up onto his feet, but he was too quick and I couldn't get a picture.  Michael is also trying very, very hard to crawl.  He can practically do a jazzercise routine on all fours, however, he just hasn't figured out how to put everything together to crawl.  

We had some busy days moving rocks around the back yard.  Natalie supervised the operation while painting pictures.   She is an artist in the making.

During a recent cleaning of the garage, Michael found new freedom on his "bye-bye" chair.  He officially goes "bye-bye" when in it.   There is no stopping him down the driveway.
Natalie had her first swim lesson. Yeah!  She is very skilled however, she is not interested in listening to the teacher.  She would much rather jump off the side hap-hazardly and splash all over. 
Oh "my boy".. here are his 6 month pictures....

We also had a fabulous labor day weekend in LaCrosse.  Unfortunately, I don't have pictures.  We spent one morning with the Gartner clan and they have pictures posted on their blog.  Check out the link.    Fun, fun, fun....

Take care!  Love,  Jeanne, Josh, Natalie and Michael

Summer needs to be longer in Minnesota

Josh wishes that summer would last longer because his weeds could grow some more.  I think he has finally conceded that his prized beans are just velvet weeds (Thanks to his Auntie and mom).  He still hasn't pulled the weeds yet.  
Nani and Lizzie want summer to last forever when they are at "Grammi Camp."   They had 2 week long adventures at Grammi Barbs house.   They played hard.  Auntie Amanda and Uncle Eric helped keep them on the go.  
Summer time is the best!  This is when you can take a bath in the pool.    Nani and Lizzie gave Uncle Eric a good washing too!
Cousin Brooke and Nani are outfitted in their summer attire....Hawaiian Hula outfits.    
We fit 8 people in 1 tiny pool.  Now that's summer fun!
Everyone enjoyed riding the Mule at the land. Lizzie enjoyed it so much that she fell asleep. 
Cousin Peo spent the summer afternoon on the land learning how to be a good 'ol Wisconsinite.  He shot a BB gun and sling shot, then proceeded to play with aluminum swords.  Camille, are you proud?  Peo loved it all.

Hello!

Hello family and friends.    Here are some pictures and stories from the past few weeks.  

I made another attempt at a picture for my office.   Someday we will all be looking at the camera at the same time.

Michael (aka "Inkie") turned 5 months old!  

Michael (aka "Monkey")
Natalie gave Michael and Daddy a "time out."  

Toddler mountain biking.
Cousin Pompeo and Auntie Camille came to visit. Yeah!   Natalie got a super cute gift from them...a Minnie mouse outfit and a stuffed Minnie Mouse.    She gets some good laughs in the stores with this outfit. 
It's Minnie Mouse!
The Nunnie Bandit strikes again!   So, we couldn't find Natalie on Saturday morning.   She was hiding under our bed with Michael's pacifier in her mouth and she was going to town on it.   NOTE:  the gun is a plastic thing from Josh's bachelor days.  Nice.