Happy Father's Day

What a beautiful day to celebrate Father's Day. After another inch of rain last night and three more this past Thursday, it was wonderful to see the sun the entire day today! I think it really made Tim's day as well to actually not have to pace the floors wondering how much rain we are getting and when it will stop! We celebrated this morning with my parents and spent all day Saturday with them and then we went down to Spring Grove, IL to see Tim's parents. Addyson got to see all her cousins this weekend which is so much fun for her. She just loves all of them dearly. She got to make homemade ice cream with Grandpa Pat and Andrew and of course, she had to try the Morton Salt that she was helping put in the ice cream maker. That didn't sit too well with her and she was salivating and making the worst faces after that! haha! I guess even three year olds tend to put things in their mouths that they are not supposed to! Tim said he had a good Father's Day and the girls and I would like for him to know that he is the most special man in the world and we love him with all of our hearts. No matter what happens we will be there for him and family is what is most important, not the material things you may lose, but the love you get from those around you. Happy Father's Day to all of you out there!

Crazy Weekend

So this past week has been insane. For us, it started with a four hour rain on Thursday morning, sunny skies with a sprinkle here and there on Friday and then getting walloped over the weekend. It is hard for us to believe what our house endured Sunday night. I am sure you have heard of all the severe weather that Wisconsin received over the weekend. Saturday, we had tornado sirens going in the late afternoon and then the rains came along with a little hail....it put the water next to our house halfway into our backyard and side yard. Sunday, in a panic, the fire department was called to try to pump some of the water away from the infiltration basin and into the pond in our subdivision. They did what they could, but had to quit around 7PM.....8 o'clock was when the rains came again.....we got hit with severe storms one after another...the water level next to our house kept growing until around midnight I could see the water from the basement window. I was pretty much eye level with it. Tim and I were defeated and figured our basement was doomed, so we made the decision to move whatever we could upstairs and hope for the best. Rainwater started coming up the sewer drains and our basement bathroom's shower drain, so Tim plugged them so we could get the rest of the stuff out of there and we went to bed around 2:30 AM assuming the worst and was shocked to find in the morning that although we had a new lake next our home, it hadn't come in the basement! This picture shows the back part of our house with the water butting up to it. In the background you can see how the water is completely over the road and flowing between our neighbors' homes.

This second picture is actually a photo at the end of our driveway showing the water across the road (Thanks for the picture, Jamie!). I had to call the police department to have them close our street so that people would stop driving through it, because it was causing a wake and the waves were hitting our house. Lucky for us, we weren't hit nearly as hard as some of our neighbors who had standing water in their homes and especially the families in Wisconsin Dells who had their homes completely swept away by flood waters. It puts a lot into perspective when the whole state is declared a state of emergency. We are all so thankful that we still have homes and all of our families are safe. Now we have to brace ourselves for more severe weather predicted to come tomorrow night into Friday. If we get the 2 inches of rain they are saying, we may have a flooded house this time. There has not been enough water receding yet to feel safe with any rainfall!

On a better note, Morgan started sitting up on her own last Thursday and now likes to sit and play with her toys. I always felt that Addyson was such a changed baby when she started sitting up and could see the world from a normal view instead of always lying down and looking straight up. Morgan seems pretty content sitting around and even tries to reach for things so who knows how long it will be before she decides to move her body to get stuff and then maybe crawl. Don't get me wrong, I do not think "crawling" will come soon....with Addyson, it took her awhile and then she could only "army crawl" until she started walking at 11 months. But with Addyson always taking whatever Morgan has away from her, Morgan may get the motivation to move to get back what her big sister steals!

Addyson had her first dance "recital" yesterday. It was pretty cute seeing her and all the other little girls dance around. They were really good at "Going on a bear hunt." As soon as I get the right wire for my video camera, I hope to add that part of the recital to this page. She seemed to really enjoy her dance class so we will be putting her into another one in the Fall.

Baby Antholine is here!

I have been meaning to get this up but could not find any free time this past week. Ashlyn Kate Antholine made her debut on Tuesday, May 27th at 12:23 PM.....coming in at 6 lbs, 11.6 ounces and 19 inches long. She is beautiful with lots of black hair and 10 perfect fingers and toes. Aunt Diana is doing great and already been taking walks with her and big sister Kaylee Bear (as Addyson calls her.) Addyson was thrilled when I told her Aunt Diana was in the hospital having a baby and kept asking me all day long "Mommy, when we can go see Aunt Deeana and Ashwyn Kate?" hehe! She was so excited to get to hold Ashlyn and was also happy because Uncle Bob got her some Sierra Mist at the soda bar across the hall from Diana's room. Somehow, Diana ended up giving birth in the same exact room as I was in with Morgan so Addyson knew exactly where they kept drinks and snacks! Kids' memories are amazing. Ashlyn is a lot smaller than Kaylee was at birth (by 2 pounds, 3 ounces, I believe) which made Diana happy since she gets to tote around a smaller baby. We are so excited that Morgan has a cousin so close in age to her.

While Kaylee's mom and dad were at the hospital, Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Kenny got to babysit and brought her over to play with Addyson on Wednesday. We took the girls to McDonald's for lunch since Addyson loves the playground and then after their naps they got to ride around in Addyson's jeep again. We spent a lot of time with Kaylee this week which makes Addyson so happy.

Yesterday our good friends that live in Illinois came up to see us and go to the Brewers game. Steve, Laura, Jack and Baby Will came during the afternoon and Addyson played with Jack while Laura and myself caught up....Laura is a sorority sister of mine and Tim and Steve have known each other since childhood. I will admit that when I told Addyson we were going to a Brewers game she said, "ewwwww, I don't like the Brewers, I'm a Cubs fan." But once we were there and let her play in the Kids Zone she was pretty happy with the place and didn't want to leave. She even picked out a racing sausage souvenir and says that when we go back, she wants the number 3 guy. As much as we love Wrigley Field, Tim and I both admit how nice Miller Park is and the food is awesome. It is definitely a great park to take the kids to. I am sure we will be back a few times this summer.