Madeline's 5th Birthday Party

Madeline's party went off without a hitch!  Well, the weather could have been a little cooler, but I suppose it could have been hotter... better to count your blessings, right?

Had lots of people, and lots of "little people!"  Seems that families and friends are growing in number.  The more the merrier.  It was fun to have everyone.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Madeline (and her cousin Kourtney)...

Madeline & Lydia with Emma and Gunnar

Madeline with her Stetler cousins... Nate, Chase and Kourtney

The girls swimmin...

Madeline with her girlfriends from school... Marissa & Sophia

Madeline and Jaelyn having a dance party...

Auntie Amy snugglin up with Lydia and Baby Morgan (Gutbrod)... Gerard, really?!?!? I think he wears this jersey just so people talk about him!  LOL cuz!

Daddy and Lydia

Daddy is grillin... with Aunt Mimi makin' sure everything passes the "taste test"...

Cousin JZ affixing the crown...

Kim and Ryan... sitting back and "soaking up the madness"... must be wondering what they've gotten themselves in to?!?!? Can't wait for December Kimmy!

Nunna and I... "sans makeup"... couldn't we have done this before we sweat our faces off?!?!?

Random pics... Random summer fun:)

Lydia discovered that she LOVES the hose... and being in control of the water flow....

Madeline loves being a model.... and I love her blue eyes:)

Happy 5th Birthday Madeline!!!

To celebrate... we decided to head to the Dells yesterday for a little R & R.  We stayed at the Kalahari and had a blast!!!

Both girls loved playing in the water parks (inside and out!)  John LOVED the flowrider... almost got up to "surfing mode."  Wish I could attach a video to this blog, but I can't.  He did awesome!

Madeline has "got her groove back"... no fear!  Loved the slides and taught herself to swim... she's persistant... not sure where she gets that from...

Lydia had her first day yesterday without a nap (in her entire short life.)  And it was interesting... but she made up for it today.  She loved the water slides and wanted to do everything her big sister did.  It made it fun. 

This morning, we sang to Madeline and she had a HUGE cupcake for breakfast... I am sure that was the highlight of her trip.  She also had a blast with her new PINK baseball bat, I Carly "writing kit", I Carly remote, and pink dumbells.  She wants to get strong for her gymnastics that she'll be doing this fall:)

All in all... great couple of days!  Madeline was exhausted and fell asleep at 6:30pm... we we not even home yet!

Thanks for all the phone calls and texts... Madeline REALLY looks forward to those... it is so sweet to see her LIGHT UP... she loves her birthday and all the conversations!  I don't think the HAPPY BIRTHDAY song could ever get old to her:)

Daddy and his GIRLS!

Momma and her GIRLS!

Happy 5th Birthday Madeline Amelia - 5 is going to be a FANTASTIC year for you.

PACKER FAMILY NIGHT

Headed up to Green Bay on Saturday for PACKER FAMILY NIGHT.  We had a WONDERFUL time.

Met up with Chad, Missy, Jaelyn, Amaya and Morgan (3 weeks old.)  Whew!!!! What a trip!  We are so glad that the Gutbrods decided to go.  We grilled out, the girls ran around and had a blast.

We had great seats in the stadium... close to the field - great views! 

Madeline was loving the cheerleaders, Lydia loved all the excitement and clapped and cheered all night.  John loved getting caught up with the players, and I just loved being with family and great friends.

At the end of the night, Madeline said, "mommy, did the Packers win?"  And I replied "yes they did."  And she cheered and jumped up and down.  Guess she's been watching her daddy for a few years!

Can't wait to make this an ANNUAL TRADITION... Calling all families... join us next year for a huge family tailgate...

Lydia was all about cheerin on the PACK....

Daddy and his girl (who's been eaten my mosquitos... hence the red welts all over her body:()

Momma and her "little cheerleader"... rooting for Greg Jennings this evening... sorry Uncle Gregor.. Jennings won out over Driver....apparently she likes pink over white....

 

Madeline and "her girls" - Jaelyn and Amaya - tailgating...

 

Madeline and Amaya... lovin' life!

Madeline and baby Morgan... happy as a clam...

GIRLFRIENDS for LIFE!!!!

The KOSHUTAS first Packer Family Night together!!!

Go Pack!!! See you in Dallas!

The Many VIEWS of LYDIA JANE...

Nothing like chillin', with my sunglasses on, my bling around my neck while eatin a chocolate covered banana.

"Reaching for new heights"

"Marching to the Beat of HER OWN DRUM"

Madeline's New Found LOVE.... Cheerleading

Madeline had quite an exciting week!  She had her very first camp: CAMP IWANNA CHEER.  This was the 10th annivesary of this camp, run by the Greendale High School Cheerleading squad.  She did the camp with her friend Ava, the grandaughter of the varsity cheerleading squad coach... so I guess she has an IN.

Madeline absolutely had a blast.  She loves tumbling and can't wait to start her class this fall with her coach, Dana.

The varsity cheerleaders did a great job in running this camp.  Madeline was so excited at the end of the first day, she couldn't wait to go back.  She ended the week with a PEP ASSEMBLY to show off her new STUFF!

Madeline's first day of camp... "PINK DAY"

Madeline' Second day of camp..."Beach Bum Thursday"

Camp "Spirit Day" - Friday

Gramps and Lydia watching the PEP ASSEMBLY.

Madeline and the rest of the K-5 and 1st graders heading out for their routine.

Ava, Madeline and Coach Dana...

SEE YA NEXT YEAR... at CAMP IWANNA CHEER!

Big Wheels... "Less is More"

Madeline has been in the process of learning how to ride her 2-wheel bike without training wheels for about 2-3 weeks.  It has been a long, "frustrating" experience for all parties involved.  Madeline has a lot of both of our personalities... yikes!!!  Can't wait until the driver's ed starts... that's all John.

So yesterday, was a pretty big day.  Madeline was very brave and continually tried to start and stop on her own and really was starting to get comfortable.  She is at the point where we no longer have to help her and she's even doing turns on her own.  Our little court has really come in handy during this process. 

Hats off to Madeline on her big accomplishment! We are officially down to 2 wheels! Enjoy!

Oops!  That's not Madeline... but John enjoyed himself.

Big Weekend of Changes at the Koshutas

This was a big weekend of NEW things at the Koshutas.  Madeline has been sharing a room with Lydia for about a week now (seems that we put a window air conditioner in Lydia's room) and she wanted to make it permanent.  So Madeline moved into Lydia's room, which is now THE GIRLS' ROOM.

Madeline picked out a new comforter set for her birthday with a princess canopy "thing" and got a new twin bed. 

Lydia wanted to sleep in the toddler bed... always wanting to do what her sister does.  So the crib is down, and Lydia is officially in a toddler bed.  Yikes... But notice the picture below.  Lydia is being a GOOD MOMMY and letting her baby sleep in her bed.  How sweet!

Also got to have a nice, HOT, dinner with Nunna and Papa Dan after their 4 week trip out west... 4 weeks, 10 days... all starts to blur together, right?!?! Glad they had a great trip.  Can't wait until Papa Dan takes us all out west again!!!! Wishful thinking, I know:)

Weekend at Auntie's Cabin (Townsend, WI)

So it's been a few weeks since our last post.  Busy, busy, busy.  Kristi wrapped up her class at Alverno, and John finished his first live class at University of Phoenix on Thursday.  He begins a new class tomorrow morning and wraps up his Friday night class this week.  Crazy... I am so glad we have a calendar, otherwise I am not sure we'd know whose coming and going.

Last weekend, Madeline, Lydia and I headed up north with Auntie Amy.  We decided to head up north Thursday night... get a good night's sleep and a full day of play for Friday... well that was the plan.  Little did we know we'd get stuck in a storm and it would take us 2 hours to travel a couple of miles.  A 3 hour trip turned into 5... and we finally crawled into bed at midnight... yikes... who stays up that late anymore?!?!?!

We headed into Lakewood, stopped at the candy shop, grocery store and farm stand for some fresh fruit and veggies.  Yum, yum!

We found things to do, like play "indian."... Lydia loved the cards and poker chips... is she trying to tell us something??!?!

We also headed out onto the lake; Madeline drove the pontoon too!  The girls swam, we grilled out, ate out, snacked... and basically just ate... yikes!!! Auntie kept telling me "that's what you do up north."

On our way home, as we were leaving town, a baby bear cub ran right in front of the van.  Very cool... had time to grab my camera, but couldn't get a great shot.  We also decided to stop at the Glacier Bay Animal Farm in FonduLac.  It's the one that WE ALL pass... with the buffalos.  Pretty cool.  They are actually a rescue farm. 

We were followed around by a donkey and goat, named SISTER and Eddie.  Henry the donkey greeted us later... a very loud welcome!  They showed us the ropes.  Like our own personal tour guides:)

Madeline got to feed camels and baby goats, as well as horses and pigs... boy did those animals love bread!

Interesting... even ended up bringing home some elk and buffalo meat.


Thanks for a great weekend!