The Tired Princess and the Toliet Paper Cake

Grandpa Doc's 60th Birthday

My Dad turned 60 and to surprise him, all of his daughters made it home. He was very surprised! My Mom threw a party for him Saturday night. Unfortunately, a winter storm warning rearranged some travel plans, like instead of Ashley, flying out of Wausau or Rhinelander on Sunday morning, she needed to get to Minneapolis; so we made a night out of it and my Dad and I drove Ashley to the Cities. We started our own drive home a little before 2 and didn't make it home until 7:30. The roads were terrible but I was most impressed with my husband's driving, dodging accidents like a pro race car driver. We were happy to get home but glad we made the trip, got to see everyone (but Brian) and got to celebrate with my father. Happy Birthday Dad!

Lessons at Mt. La Crosse

Gundersen hosted a night out at Mt. La Crosse so lift tickets were offered at a considerably reduced rate and lessons were free. I took advantage and the kids had a blast. This was Kya's first ski lesson and Therin's second snowboard lesson. I thought about attempting to bust out the snowboard myself today but made the right decision and just watched and helped the kids (I kept busy and got enough of a workout running up and down the hill to help Kya.) I think we'll be ready for the chair lift/bigger hills after another day on the bunny hill. You could tell how fatigued the kids were after an hour and a half because it got harder and harder to make it up the tow rope; so it was time to head home for a hot shower and food!! Both Therin and Kya were complimenting each other on how well they did on the ride home. I was proud of them both and wished Travis could have been out there with us on such a gorgeous day!!! It was 50 today in La Crosse and so I had the kids wear rain pants and rain jackets instead of their usual winter gear-it wasn't nearly as water logged to bring home!!

Champ

Therin competed in a wrestling tournament in Tomah on Sunday. His first match was against a kid from Tomah who he lost to last weekend. Therin was a little nervous to wrestle him again but beat him by several points. He won his other two matches. I was even more nervous than usual because this was the first meet Travis was not at to coach Therin. I warmed up with Therin (which I had never done) and was amazed by the kid's power being only half my size. Sorry, there aren't more pictures but I had to record the matches for Dad and since I've had so much trouble loading a 30 second video, there's no way I'm trying one that's 5 minutes! Next weekend we head to Wausau and will wrestle at the Warrior Invitational.

What a week!

This week has been a week of so many things and emotions.....
sickness and weight lost: Where is the closest thing to deal with another "snot rocket?" No more notches on the belt to tighten.
frustration: attempting to load a video 3+ times to the blog
sadness and loss: divorce and a terminal diagnosis, pondering questions like "What do I want my own 'funeral' to look like?"
hope and love: a wife who will hopefully save her husband by donating 60% of her liver (Could you get any closer to being soulmates?)
purpose and fulfillment: struggling with questions like, "Why are we here?" "What am I contributing to better the world or how can I?"
friendship and connectedness: being there to listen, support and encourage those we care about
and the mundane: the never ending question of "What to make for dinner?" even if I will not be eating......

It has been a busy week but a good week. So many blessings among the struggles....
I hope you are all healthy and writing loves notes for those you care about on Valentine's Day; you never know how much someone needs it, will appreciate it or how many more times you'll have a chance to tell them.

Behind

Well, I am finally getting back to the blog this week. We have quite a few things to post about: a live video of Therin playing a song on his viola, Valentine's preparations and crafts, Wednesday afternoon skates, etc. Today, we went to Therin's first wrestling meet this season in Westby. All of Therin's matches were against tough opponents and the matches came down to the wire. He walked away with 3rd place and we were proud.




I am still battling my cold. We are dog sitting, Max, for the weekend. Tomorrow we are excited to watch the Packers in the NFC championships! Go Pack!

Check out this blog to see pictures from our visit to the McHenry's in the Cities January 8-9th. http://mcblogsblog.blogspot.com/

7 january

if i had to live off scones or vegetables for the rest of my life, it would be a tough decision.

Well, per request here is the scone recipe:

2 c. all purpose flour
5 T. sugar + 1 T for topping
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
6 T. chilled butter cut into small pieces
2/3 c. + 1 T. half and half
1/2 c. halved cranberries (I used dried currants but pretty much any fruit works or I suppose chocolate chips if you have a sweet tooth.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Stir in 2/3 c. half and half until moistened. Gently fold in cranberries. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently 5-10 times. Pat into a circle 1" thick and cut into 8 wedges; place on baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining half and half; sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown 12-15 minutes. Let cool on rack and try not to eat them all yourself!!

Can freeze scones before baking.
I halve this recipe often if I won't have help eating them!

6 january

i almost called jacqui to say, "i expect an injury within minutes."