Wonderful Concert

Congrats to Elle and Trevor for making the state honors treble and mixed choirs. The concert was wonderful as usual, and held at Overture Hall in Madison which is a wonderful venue. We also enjoyed dinner earlier with Jake. We got home late, but thanks to Kristin, indulged in some caramel sauce (from Little Farmer) over malted milk ice cream:)

Pumpkin carving fun and LOTS of seeds!

This weekend Eva, Devin, Stacy, Mike, and Elle and I carved 12 pumpkins and roasted seeds. The house still smells delicious:) I'm including a sample of the carvings in the photos today. Today it's back to the regular work week, although I work just a short shift, which is nice. Tomorrow is busier, with Paul and I working almost 12 hour days, but Wednesday I'm off. Thursday evening we will be in Madison with Elle for the State Honor's Choir Concert at Symphony Hall. Afterward, we'll have a late dinner with Jake. I'm looking for a good restaurant in downtown Madison, if anyone knows of one, shoot me an email.

Nashville babies!

Beautiful trail!

The Peebles trail is really quite nice yet. However, there's not many leaves left, and not much color. Here are a few highlights from our hike. Walked 6 miles today.

Thanks Charlotte

Thanks to our friend Charlotte for the wonderful action pictures taken at the 'Cardinal Skippers' workshop. Grandma Marilyn said she is interested in going to the group's performance in the spring. They are very good! Doing a little hiking this morning, and then packing for my Nashville trip. Staying until Friday, and then Elle and I head to Madison for the weekend...a busy fall:)

Cute Peyton

Thanks to coworker Nellie for the cute photo of Peyton. We are lucky to sit for her at least once a week, and she is a very cheerful little girl:) Today we celebrate another Packer win with brats and burgers. Paul and I walked this morning, and Elle and I are hiking a trail this afternoon. Later, Paul is playing for the 'Strike Up The Band' fundraiser at 6:30 at Goodrich for anyone interested. Marching Cardinals will be there too, but not Elle, who has a conflict and has to go Cardinal Singers instead. Tomorrow we will move little Eddie indoors for the winter, as the temps will dip into the 30's this week:( Thanks go out today to my new co-workers for showing me the ropes, and being patient with my questioning. I enjoy the new challenges this job brings!

rainy day :(

The day is gloomy and wet, as I head off to St. Agnes and the assisted living to volunteer. The elderly have a way of perking me up though! Elle enjoyed an unexpected surprise yesterday when school was cancelled before noon because of a loss of power. Construction teams hit a power line, and things didn't get back to normal until late afternoon. As a result, the lunch food was donated to area non-profits, and it turned up at one of my group homes:) The guys feasted on fruit pizza, and chicken and cheeseburgers. They were pleasantly surprised. Later this afternoon, we welcome baby Peyton as her Mom has a few hours of work in Oshkosh. This evening, we'll see another round of middle school volleyball games. Happy 'hump' day to friends and neighbors...let's make it a good one!

Eldorado Trail

Exercise and trail walk all done. Now it's time for a little work:) Tonight Chicago plays Detroit. Both Packer rivals, should be a good game!

Mid terms already at Marian!

Paul and Eva are getting ready for midterms this week. Paul's teaching a new class, and Eva is finishing up with her degree. Time just seems to go so fast. Elle had a relaxing day Sunday (pictured on the couch,) after a very busy Friday and Saturday. We all walked about 1 1/2 hours on the Peebles trail, then Elle had a Cardinal Singer practice up until the Packer game. Jake visited later and this morning heads back to Madison. I'm tackling laundry today, and cleaning the basement...not my favorite activity. But I'm heading now to the gym for a quick work out, and later watching Aliyah play volleyball. Also going to buy some full spectrum lights for the house. We used them last year, and they really helped everyone get through the dark winter days:)

Ellie and Jake

Some pics from tonight...more to come.

Thanks once again to the Clementis:)

Fondy Homecoming!

Parade at 5
Game at 7
Marching Cardinals at halftime
Seniors honored (with their parents:)
See you there!

OMG adorable!

Stole this from Facebook...SO cute. My little monkey with a banana:)

Fun with the choir!

Between learning all the new music, the Cardinal Singers took some time out to have fun during their Green Lake overnight. Elle's still in bed resting up for yet another competition this afternoon. Then she can relax a little with a regular school week. We are super happy for the Brewers and the Badgers after some great games, and looking forward again today to the Brewers and of course the Packer game. So much excitement in local sports this fall! After all the masses, we plan a long hike and then home to BBQ and enjoy the games. I'm thankful for a day off tomorrow from training, and a chance to finish up some house projects. Have a great day all!

cedar waxwing

We lost a limb on the autumn olive tree due to all the wind. Today we were cleaning up and saw this cedar waxwing. I actually got to within about 3 feet of him. Pretty bird:) We accomplished a lot today...cleaned the garage and the exercise room in the basement. Now we're assembling a new hutch for Eddie to winter in. Elle is still in Green Lake at a choir function, and later today she goes to a band competition. Another band competition is schedule for tomorrow, and then marching band will be over for the year, with the exception of homecoming next week. I'm going to watch the Brewer game while at the gym, and then later tonight, it's Badger fever:P What a great weekend to live in Wisconsin!