Kyle's birthday party

Today we went to the Rupes' house to celebrate Kyle's 9th birthday. Lisa made a special cake for herself and Kyle, a white bundt cake with chocolate frosting and sinful brownies for the rest of us. We drank tea from a Russian tea set that Lisa bought in 1994 and had never used. They were so beautiful...I'll have to take a picture of the set the next time I stop over. The grownups talked politics and/or Army stories while the kids played.
The coffee table was filled with chips, salsa, guacamole, and a tray full of veggies. Kyle took many chips, but did eat a couple carrots and some broccoli. It was a cold first day of Spring, with snow covering the grass, but it was nice being together with the Rupes.

*Ella and Katherine having drinks

*Brett and Kyle

*Kyle looking at his new Nerf gun set from his grandparents

*Kyle and Fatime

*singing "Happy Birthday"

*Kyle blowing out the candles

*friends

*two nine year olds

*cousins: Maddie and Ella

*Ella and Katherine playing with the marble game

*Kyle and his Uncle Jeff

*siblings: Lisa and Jeff

*cousins: Brianna, Ella, Maddie

*Brett and Kyle

*friends

*Ella, Fatime, Lisa, Katherine

Happy birthday, Kyle!

Friday, March 19th

Logan called from Animal Kingdom today. He has gone on two rides and is having fun! He found a t-shirt and beach towel that was cute: Pooh Bear standing next to a tiger and says, "Tigger, is that you?" I reminded him to take lots of pictures. Thankfully, he did remember his camera when they left the hotel this morning.

I had a day off today because of parent/teacher conferences. It was so nice to get errands done and some work around the house. We went to Mount Olive's fish fry in the evening. I am telling you it was the best fish fry ever. Then it was time to head to MLHS for Position Day. Our team played at 7:00 and 7:30 P.M. It was the first time for us to see how they would perform in competition. We lost the first match but won the second.
They all did well in some way. It's going to be an exciting season!

Thursday, March 18th

The buses arrived safely and on time: 8:00 P.M. The kids had free time, so Logan and a few others were walking around outside of their hotel. Logan said that it was really hot there. He was bummed to hear that Marquette lost their game.

After school Brett, Katherine, Lucy, and I stopped at the Rupes' house. Today is Kyle's 9th birthday. It was a quick "Happy birthday to you!" and visit. Then it was time to get homework done before volleyball. We had a busy evening...Jim & I are coaching the 7/8 grade boys' volleyball team. Practice was from 5:00-6:30. Then we rushed to Milwaukee Lutheran for parent/teacher conferences. By the time we got home, we went over Katherine's memory work and sent her to bed. Brett stayed up a bit to read .

MLHS Band Trip (3/17/10-3/27/10)

It took many shopping trips to Kohls, Target, Trader Joe's, and Walmart to get everything he needed, and Logan was all set on Wednesday, March 17th.
We arrived at 6:15 P.M. to a packed parking lot.

Brett helped Logan carry his belongings to the bus. Brett has the heavy carry-0n (from Mr. Bartz) with all the drinks and food, all the essentials...water with electrolytes, chocolate bars, gummy penquins, chips, licorice, cookies, and apples.

There were three charter buses being weighted down with luggage, instruments, uniforms, carry-ons, teenagers, and chaperones. God bless those chaperones!

Jake, Logan, and Peter have gone to school together since they were in Kindergarten.

As scheduled, the buses left at 7:00 P.M. Ten days is a very long time, but we believe this experience will be good for Logan. We pray that he and the others will be safe and enjoy their time in Florida.