Bentleyville

This place is absolutely amazing!!! We took the boys there this eveing to see Santa :) It was Cainen's first visit ever to sit on Santa's lap and I don't know if he was really afraid or if he was just cold. Non the less we had a fun time. Bentleyville became a yearly event for families when a man and his wife started decorating their home in Esko a couple years ago and it has grown into such an amazing spectacular event! They start putting up lights and decorations Sept 8th, with over 14 acres to light up they have to. There are several million lights, 600 plus snowflakes suspended in the trees, 230 lighted reindeer scattered throughout the woods, a dozen pallets of cider, coffee, and cookies are served, also Santa is there every year on a gigantic sleigh to greet the children and hand out winter caps with Bentleyille imprinted on them. The entrance to Bentleyville consists of a 78 foot long, 28 foot high steel framed castle and a lighted tunnel....Christmas music fills the air. Everywhere, themed displays of mostly custom-made lighted steel frame holiday decorations brighten the woods along 700 feet of paved paths. From skiing polar bears to gingerbread kids romping in a playground to playful penguins to a delightful carousel to a downtown with old-fashioned streetlights to the Twelve Days of Christmas characters with musical accompaniment, Bentleyville shows off the spirit of Christmas in a big way. There is a Cookie House, a commercial Popcorn machine, 6 fire pits to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. There is parking a mile down the road where buses pick you up to shuttle you inside Bentleyville for safety purposes. This place is absolutely unreal, it is magical and enchanting!! We look forward to it every year.
Thanks to the Bentleys'

Hockey Season

Introducing this years hockey team......We are in full swing of Carson's Sixth Hockey Season. I can hardly believe he started skating when he was 3 years old! This young man has become quite the hockey player and is a true joy to watch. He has learned alot about himself and made some wonderful friendships along the way :) I am one proud mother!

The tree is up

Our decorating is done.....awwwww, what a sigh of relief! We bravely decided to keep it in the living room in front of our big picture window hoping we would be able to ward Cainen off. HA what a joke that has been. On Thursday my mother (who bless her heart, watches him while we are working) called me at work to tell me "He did it, he knocked the tree down and looked like the witch on Wizard of Oz with his little legs sticking out" You can hardly get mad, in fact I laughed and then hoped she was able to take a picture :) Cainen is such a trooper, he did not cry at all. My mother lifted the tree and he apparently had a very confused look on his face. What I would have paid to see that!
I can hardly blame him when a tree turns out so pretty and colorful......

Fun in the Snow

We had our first official snowstorm that left us with 7" of snow on Saturday, for early December that is the most we have had in years.........not certain I am ready for this?
Non the less it was a crazy day, we were busy decorating, and getting things done around the house that we had been neglecting. There was no hockey either so we definitely had to take advantage of that!
During all the hectic hustle and bustle and I will not lie, some frustrating arguing, we did all manage to make it outside for some fun time. It was Cainen's first snow and he absolutely loved watching the powdery white fluff fall from the sky :) He was hysterical when the snowflakes were falling on his long gorgeous lashes......

Not enough time in a day

WOW!!!!! I feel like such a failure, we were supposed to be at the rink for 7am hockey practice...instead our internal alarm clock decided we would not wake up until the coaches wife called me at 7:14 :( Carson was pretty upset with me and I feel extremely guilty!!!! I brushed my teeth quickly threw on some clothes (beige socks with black shoes....ICK) and off we went. The only way I got Carson out of bed so quick was by promising him french toast sticks from Burger King, hey don't judge it worked!
Now I am on my way back to the rink to pick up the kids socks that match their jerseys before we head to Silver Bay for a game.
Man what a morning, there are plenty of days I wish I didn't need sleep so I could everything done that I would like to.........there just never seems to be enough time!
Hopefully the game will go well and our crazy morning will be forgotten.
Happy Sunday

Our Future Packer

What we have been up to

I have been a bad blogger! Life has been crazy busy but I have loads of pics to show you what we have been up to.
Our little Cainen is now 7 months old, he has 4 teeth and is in to everything! He has been crawling now for 3 weeks and can pull himself up onto anything and everything. He is at the stage where he wants things he can not have, his pouty face is the cutest thing ever!!!!! Cainen adores our dog Lambeau and they have become very good buddies since Carson started school. They enjoy looking out our front window together as you will see. Lately Cainen has started getting into his books, not necessarily reading them because apparently they taste good. He loves all kinds of different foods and is a really good eater! He really loves when his brother feeds him as well. Not sure how they manage to do it at such a small age but he just melts our heart, we are in LOVE!
Carson got his first 4th grade report card this Friday and we were thrilled with the results. He is a great student and doing quite well. Carson is an official Spartan now!!!! Hockey is in full swing and I became the team manager. This title comes with plenty of work, as if I am not busy enough right :) We will be traveling alot this year, in fact we will probably put in more than 1100 miles for our tournaments alone. But Carson loves it and he is getting better everyday, he is quit good. Mike and I get goosebumps when we see him on the ice because he loves it and we love to watch him!
As for Mike and I, we are just loving being parents! Life is complete.... kids to keep you on your toes, dreaming with your childen, playing as if nothing else matters in the world, and LOVING unconditionally.
Life is busy but it doesn't get better than this!

3 Months from Today

We will be leaving for Mexico, returning to the place we were married to celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary! We can not wait :)
So in honor of that I thought I would share with you the pictures that I spent my morning staring at in disbelief that it was that long ago already!
Oh and my diet is not coming along so hot.....sorry honey I will not be looking like Jessica Alba on the beach! LOL
As many of you know these photos are courtesy of our amazing wedding photographer Jessica Claire!

Utopia Salon and Spa

Wow how life can change in just one blink of the eye. This last year has consisted of a few salon changes for me but this last week was the icing on the cake. When I went to school for Cosmetology I went because it was something I had always been interested in, I tried the four year college thing and my heart kept bringing me back to my original interest. So when I finally entered into the program I learned more than I thought I ever would, I learned that I was going to have the career I had always dreamed of and was going to love it. At graduation my instructor took me aside to give me a big hug while doing so she whispered in my ear and told me "You will do great things, dream big and you can achieve anything. Your talent is raw and that is rare. You can see your heart through your eyes when you are behind the chair."
I will never forget that! After school I was fortunate to work in a very busy, professional, fun salon where I gained a wonderful clientele base that I feel I deserve because I appreciate them and I am good at what I do because I love it. After 3 years there the time had come when I felt I wanted more so I went on to open my own salon with another stylist friend of mine. That was the highlight of my career. I could see myself there for a long time....my visions started small and remained that way until I knew it was time for greater things with the salon, it was moving in the right direction and I wanted to take the next step. However my partner and I had hit a bump in the road, our visions were no longer the same and I found out I was pregnant so I graciously stepped aside leaving our salon to her. I felt like all of my dreams were crashing down around me yet at the same time I knew I was doing the right thing, my heart and gut told me so. I don't regret that decision and I never will yet a small part of me felt like a failure, a let down, someone who had such a strong passion for what she was doing just let that all go?!!
Well I have that drive and passion back and I could not be more thrilled.....I have gone through alot of turmoil and changes but have finally found somewhere I call home. Somewhere I can go to work and laugh again, a professional environment where the ladies and I all share the same goal. Going there makes me smile and feel good about me! I am a true believer in the saying: "Everything happens for a reason" I now know my reason for all the heartache I have felt in the last year and the payoff is huge!
Enjoy my new home, these are just a few images....the pictures do not do it justice so if you are ever in need of a cut or color please call me at 715 3921700 because you have to see it in person, you too will love it! I know a shameless plug right? Had to :)

Apple Festival in Bayfield Wisconsin

Every year in October our family goes to Bayfield for their Apple Festival and it is a great time! The orchards are gorgeous and full of the most plump, shiny, delicious apples you have ever tasted in your life. This year the weather was chilly and foggy so we were not able to get pictures of the beautiful islands. Still the food was plenty and most everything had apples in it including delicious Caramel Apple Cheesecake that Mike and I chowed down on :) I wanted an Applebratwurst but the line was ridiculously long so I passed. We did however find short lines and had pizza, mini doughnuts, kettle corn, Indian tacos, chicken gyros, apple cider, and I topped my day off with yummy sangria.
We all left there with full bellies and 25 pounds of apples!

Packer Upset

I can not believe we played like that!!! What an upset, had we won that game the Pack would be sitting pretty right now, break my heart. However with 4 turnovers you can not win a football game.
As disheartening as that game was I must say there was still smiles and laughter at our house. The boys had a blast and Cainen must have laughed at Carson for a good hour. Carson and Meme (my mom) were playing catch with a Packer football and Cainen thought that was the most entertaining thing on earth!

Some sneak peeks for Staci

I hope you enjoy these Staci. Life has just been crazy......sorry I haven't gotten you the pics yet! I sure enjoyed our photog chat and it was great to see you and meet your family!
For those of you who do not know what I am talking about I will fill you in.
On the 22nd of Sept I had the pleasure of second shooting a wedding with my aunt. We shot the wedding of Staci's sister, Amber and Wayne. (Staci has a rockin blog...The Landis Family I have under Blogs I Visit. She has amazing pictures and adorable children) The wedding itself was an absolute blast!! The bride was gorgeous, the groom gave me a great, fun challenge for the day because he was not up for photos, the kids made me smile all day, and let's face it a wedding is just a great celebration of love! How can you not have a wonderful day?!
Here are just a few of my personal fav's.

I just LOVE these children, they kept me more than entertained! Absolutely gorgeous!