A blast from the past

We had to start Labor Day weekend with great company--- and great laughs. Hoov made her trek back to Chicago land for an old teammates wedding and we got to catch up --- without the kids! Hoov left her two boys in good hands and we left ours with whoever would take them.... I am a little jealous-- she got to sleep in and not have a kid wake her up at some ungodly hour for a snack! :) Hope you slept well Hoov... We also met up with another teammate, Erika who was our tour guide in 8 inch heels, maybe not 8, but pretty close.... :) It was a good night, good laughs, and good stories of which I'm still questioning---- Erika...

Hodag Fest (MU swim/dive reunion)

The Rhinelander Hodag made an appearance in Chicago this past week.... just so happened it coincided with a Missouri swim and dive reunion.... Good friends, good times and lots of laughs-- 10 years is too long!


Lindsay (Hodag), Amanda and Erin


Some nasty shots


Who ordered these?

And what reunion is not complete without a push-up contest?

Go Rikki!

Tawney, Molly, Kim and Erin

Goofy, just plain goofy

An attempt to be serious, but really?

Julia and Greg

Captain Morgan and Greg

November, November, really its almost December?

Geez, time flies.
Last time we posted, we just got back from Iowa and here we are almost December. Geezzz... After returning from Iowa, we managed to stay healthy a week and then we got hit with croup. Kylie was the first with the seal barking cough and then promptly passed it to the twins. It was a fabulous week. (For those of you who don't know croup- its a lovely barking cough accompanied by the cold that never ends). All three of the kids ended up getting the steroid to help them breath and Anika added an ear infection onto her week of sickness. I think we are almost 100%- Anika still has a "funny" voice.

But we certainly cannot keep Odin out of this.... he added in the week of hell, I mean sickness. Not only were the kids sick, but Odin couldn't seem to keep things together either. Poor hound couldn't keep anything in him. After 3.5 days of Odin feeling lousy, had to hire someone to come take Odin to the vet because the kids were too sick to leave the house, thankfully Katie came to the rescue and got Odin to the doc. He got some fluids, meds, and seemed to be okay... until yesterday when we noticed he'd been puking his food up again. So, back on the bland diet. We are now thinking its the dog food--- maybe the new blend of food by Iams, who knows.

So anyhow.... We had a good remotely healthy Thanksgiving. Chris did a great job on the meal. LOTS of leftovers, but so many meals to make from them.... Over the long weekend, got to see Hoover, who I have not seem in 2.5 years. So great to see her again and meet Parker-- MOVE back here soon please. :) Chris let me leave the house and run with friends, so nice. Its been a long time since I've been feeling this good running..... Long time. And in between all the crying, whining, feeding, and complaining, all the Christmas decor is up. All in all, a great family weekend.

Here are some pics from the weeks past..

Anika and Shay playing on the computer-- this is one moment where they were not beating each other up or pushing one another off the chair- amazing.

Aleks, Kristin, Parker, Shay, Amanda, Anika and Kylie--- this is when we thought we had control...

And then we lost it.....


Shay and Kylie cooking on Thanksgiving with Daddy.

Missouri

The Barr family came to visit us a couple weekend agos... Great to see Darin and meet his family. Hopefully we'll get to Coumbia at some point to visit them and see the good old places in town!

Kylie, me, Darin and Ethan (the other kids where with Chris and Nikki)...