Back to School Pics

Here they are on Emma's first day of kindergarten. Those large things Emma is carrying are the kids lunchboxes. I love filling these things with yummy goodness every night for the next day and they love eating it all up! They come home almost or completely empty every night!

Labor Day Weekend

We have survived the first few weeks of school. Everyone is back into the swing of things. This weekend we were blessed with cool fall-like weather. We really enjoyed our three day weekend and now are preparing for a short week. Lucas will return to school (he was at a parent from school's house this week), Emma has snack this week (and can't decide between grapes with dip or apples from the farmer's market), Tim has finished all of his graduate classes, and Sarah is heading up the church's financial peace university class starting on Wednesday. To say that life is slow here would not be the truth, but we are enjoying our lives and try to remember on a daily basis that God has blessed us with many things that other's only long and pray to have.

This weekend we spent time relaxing, sleeping late, eating well, cleaning hous, and much much more. Friday night we watched Lutheran play football for the first half then it was bedtime. Saturday we spent the day cleaning and grocery shopping. Sunday was another day spent relaxing since we went to church on Thursday night. Monday we were blessed to go to the Brewer's game with friends from work. Here are a few pics from the event.

Emma pushing up her shades to see the field better.

Lucas relaxing while tailgating before the game.

No, the game wasn't boring, Lucas was just that worn out that he fell asleep during the 8th inning! He slept through screaming, loud music, and even fireworks!!

A wonderful summer!

This summer has been filled with many joys and sorrows, but we have been blessed to see God's hand at work in everything! The summer started with the normal chaos of ending the school year. Right around this time, Sarah's folks accepted Calls to teach at Christ Lutheran in Little Rock, Arkansas! This was a huge leap of faith! The summer was then filled with many family parties, saying good-bye to friends, family, and then finally each other. We have discovered a few things about Little Rock: 1: It's really hot! 2: It's kinda far away from our house in Wisconsin. We went to Little Rock this summer to check it out with Mom and Dad. We had a great time, but hated saying good-bye in the parking lot of Mimi's! (Side note: don't ever go there for a quick lunch! It took us 2 hours, after being seated!) We then traveled on to see Peter and Emily in Kansas City. Once again, it's very warm there as well. Anyways, we had a great time exploring both places, seeing the zoo's, meeting new people, and having some great family time. As the trip ended we drove home. Once we were home, we realized that August had crept up upon us while we were gone. This meant the end of summer! We have crammed in a few more fun outings with the kids and will continue to squeeze these things in as time permits, but alas school is starting. Tim has just finished his first week of school and Lucas has finished his first week on daycare. Lucas did not do so well with the transition into leaving a couple of days this week, but will hopefully improve. He does love being there and we've seen him grow in his language development and social skills in a week's time! Emma and I will start come Monday morning! I will have my lovely 5th graders and science students. Emma on the other hand is embarking on the world on kindergarten! How did that happen? She used to be this little baby that I carried around, now she's preparing to read and write like the "Big kids!" All in all, God continues to bless us as we continue to serve Him as best as we can. Enjoy the pictures from our trips. I plan to do better about updating during the school year as well!

Summer is Here!

Emma woke up to this on her birthday! Our neighbors are wonderful.

Opening up her lemonade stand.

Yes, Lucas wanted to jump off the diving board.

If you click on the picture, you can actually see the joy in his face!

A Future Pastor???

If you listen closely and watch the hands, you may be able to catch Lucas giving the blessing. This does give me some hope that the boy is getting something out of the service, other than we don't throw Cheerios and we shouldn't yell at all in church!

An Adventure!!

This Saturday we took the day off. No cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, or anything else boring like that. We took the kids to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum in the morning and the spent some time in the afternoon at Discovery World. We are really enjoying having passes to these two places. As you can see from the picture below, so are our kids. We had so much fun and were so busy that Lucas fell asleep before we were out of the parking garage! Needless to say, it was a much needed fun-filled day. We ended the day with buying some long awaited fish for the fish tank and a yummy crock pot dinner waiting for us at home. Now, time to get ready for Monday morning and more snow!

Lucas enjoyed getting up close and personal with the fish.

Lucas is really enjoying the Vande Graff generator!

Emma playing with the Vande Graff Generator! Dad was thrilled to show this to her!

Can we see a future banker here?

Lucas running the train!

What's been going on here lately.

Lawnmower snowblowing

Tiny hill sledding

Papa's car driving

Duck Mask Doing

Refridgerator Magnet Playing

Treat Making

Snow day....or Not!

So, once again the weather reporters of Wisconsin have gotten me all excited for a wonderful day at home with the kids. Once again, it didn't happen! UGH! On Thursday we spent the entire day at school teaching/learning. Tim came to school with snow clothes for Emma and a bundled up Lucas. He bundled up Emma and took the kids sledding at the beach! It's nice to have that so close to us at school. I closed up my work at school and headed over to join them. The kids and the adults had a blast slipping and sliding down the hills. Lucas threw "snowballs" and rode around on the sled being pulled by Mommy or Daddy.

Otherwise it's been a good week getting back into things at school and at home. Tim was fortunate enough to go to a Packer's Play off party at the New Berlin Ale House. He had a blast. Emma was happy to be back at school and seeing her friends and teachers. Lucas has taken a new found interest in the potty. We put him on it when he requests, wait, nothing happens, and then we throw a little party. He is so very proud of himself! I am back into the swing of school and my work-out schedule at home. I'm back at working on my goal and will make it!

Here's some pics from sledding.

December 31st and January 1st

This year for New Year's we decided to have some fun. We got together with friends of ours from college and took our two families to see the Harlem Globetrotters! This was an amazing time. This four year olds loved everything about the night. Lucas loved it whenever they were playing basketball and Maddie loved the music that was being played. Of course the adults had a good time as well. Afterwards we came back to our house, had lot's of good food, played the Wii, and put the kiddos to bed. The next morning was filled with lounging in jammies, sitting in boxes, eating a great breakfast, and of course more Wii. That night Grandma and Grandpa Lorenz came over for dinner and more Wii. It was a wonderful time that was had by all!

December 26th

While we were still in Illinois, we got to enjoy some beautiful landscapes. Emma wished and prayed for snow for Christmas, knowing that I couldn't promise that, I led her to wish for some other things. We have since asked Emma to start wishing and praying for these things on school days. The weatherman had forecasted 1-3 inches of snow. By the time lunch came around we were under a winter storm warning and the snow had been falling since the night before. In the end it snowed from the 25th until the 27th. We were able to enjoy an entire foot of perfect fluffy snow. Emma had all of her snow clothes and loved playing out in the gorgeous snow while daddy and papa shoveled. Lucas on the other hand preferred to watch it from the inside, playing with a bit of it in a bowl.

December 25th

On Christmas Day, we get up early in the morning, pack the van, get the kids loaded up, and head south to Elgin. We had a wonderful brunch and then a great time exchanging gifts. We quickly dressed the kids and then headed to Naperville to my grandparents condo. It was a little tight there with all those people, but Lucas found a way to try out Carlo's new scooter.

December 24th

On December 24th we gather at Grandma and Grandpa Lorenz's house. By we I mean all the aunts and uncles and cousins. In the picture above you can see that there are a lot of cousins. We have 7 kids, 7 and under! It's a great and noisy time had by all. We had a wonderful dinner, opened presents, went to church, and came back for more treats and fun. It's a wonderful night and a great way to celebrate Christmas!

December 23rd and Cookie Time

On December 23rd, it is our family tradition to have a "fancy" dinner, open presents, and have the neighbors over afterwards. Emma and I also decided to bake some cookies that morning. We had a great day and always enjoy. The kids had a blast playing with their new toys and books. Lucas even insisted upon putting on his new pants, over his jeans that he was already wearing!

Emma's Christmas Program

On December 14th, we gathered at church to watch the preschool and kindergarten Christmas program. It's always a special event and a great way to kick off the last week before Christmas break. Emma did a great job and loved singing her songs and telling the story of Christ's birth. It is such a joy and priviledge to watch our daughter grow up in the love of Christ!