Undefeated Season

We spent Saturday in Richfield for the end of the spring season soccer tournament. After going the whole season with no losses the girls pulled it off this final weekend and came home with the championship trophy for another undefeated season. It was a long day of soccer but it was fun. Olivia went all day without a nap and after this final championship game she couldn't wait to run all the way across the field by herself to go by the girls and see Coach Dad again.
But, not long after she got over there the big girls started screaming, yelling and celebrating their victorious day. I think this scared Olivia a little because she high-tailed it back across the field to me as fast as she could. She only stopped to pick up her shoe she lost halfway across the field and ran the rest of the way carrying one shoe and wearing one shoe.



This was Steve first official season as "head" coach of the U-14 girls and he must be doing something right because the team has really come together and have made the last couple seasons a lot of fun.

When this bunch of girls get into high school and are in that league they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Congratulations Steve and the whole Impact team!!

Great Job!

Memorial Day 2009

Memorial Day was spent with the Pitz clan in Milwaukee. It was a long, busy day but also fun. We all arrived at Grandma Pitz's house by about 8:30 am for some breakfast and then everyone went to the Pinelawn Memorial cemetery for their Memorial Day service. Steve's dad was buried there three years ago and because he was veteran Grandma purchased a flag this year in his honor that will be displayed on his birthday, Memorial day and Veteran's Day. It was presented to his 5 kids during the service. It's a very nice tribute and everyone was able to get there for it so that made it very special and made Grandma very happy. After the service we all went back to Grandma's house for lunch and visiting. The kids had a great time playing whiffle ball Olivia ran and ran and ran. She had a great time too and we were barely out of Milwaukee when her eyes rolled back and she was zonked out for the trip home.

2nd Annual Pitz Get-Together

Sunday was our 2nd annual get-together with the Pitz side of the family. We met for at Timber Rattlers game in Appleton like last year with a lunch before the game and great seats all together to watch the afternoon game. Steve's cousin Sally does a great job of getting the family together and gets all the arrangements made for a fun day. The Rattlers even won 7 to 0. It was a good game and nice to see everyone again. The weather was pretty nice for May. Warm when the sun came out but not too cold when the clouds came over. Olivia had a good time and even watched some of the game. She especially liked the music they played and the funny mascots that were goofing around all the time. She likes to watch them from a distance but gets a little nervous if they get too close.

After an afternoon of hot dogs, her first taste of cotton candy, popcorn, chocolates and ice cream she was able to take a nap on the way home.

We even had time to get our garden planted after we got home and we all were pretty tired by bedtime after a really fun day.

Thanks for putting this all together again Sally!

Gotcha Day 2009 (Two Years Later)

Two years ago on May 14th we met Olivia for the first time. The whole trip is just a blur now and I can't remember life before getting Olivia. She has grown and changed so much in the last two years and has been nothing but a joy and wonderful addition to our family.
She is growing so fast and getting so smart. Every day she learns something new and teaches me something new too.
We just celebrated Gotcha Day with a nice Chinese dinner at home complete with tea in the tea set we bought in China right down to the fortune cookies.
We also had bought a cake because you have to have cake for a party! Olivia keeps asking me if this was her birthday and if she is now 3. It's hard to explain to her that she has about a month to go yet before we celebrate her 3rd birthday.
She did like her Gotcha Day presents though, just a coloring book, more sidewalk chalk and also a small jewelry box that we had bought in China to give to her.

Her new funny phrase......after I finish answering one of about 100 questions she has during the day she will say "Oh, ok, that makes sense". I don't know where she got that from but it sure is funny to hear.




Happy GOTCHA DAY 2009 Olivia!

Mother's Day, 2008

May 14, 2007 in Chongqing China

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was a lot of fun. It's hard to see on the picture but I got a "Camper's Kitchen". When we go camping we use tents and have a limited supply of conveniences but this kitchen set up will come in really handy for storing supplies and giving us some work space when making meals. It also has a sink with a drain for washing up dishes. Now I just need to get on the ball and book some camping weekends to put it to good use.

Early afternoon we were at Grandma and Grandpa Manning's house to celebrate the day. We were there for lunch and dinner and made didn't get home until bedtime.

Olivia was exhausted when we finally got home since she had to skip her nap for the day and had to keep up with all of her older cousins.
She also had to help Grandma open her Mother's Day present.....a new digital camera!

It was a really fun day with great food and good company.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Dinner with Eleanor!

It was time to get together with Eleanor again. On May 11th it will be two years since we left the US to travel to China to get our girls. We spent the next two weeks in China with Alan and Marilyn and our new daughters. It is now hard to remember what the girls were like at 11 months old when we first met them.
Two years later they are both thriving, beautiful, smart and happy almost-3-year-olds. Their birthdays are only a couple weeks apart and they have a lot in common except that Eleanor gained a little brother a year ago.
The five of us met Alan and Marilyn, Eleanor and Wesley at the Fox & Hounds on Thursday night for dinner. This time the girls warmed up instantly. There was no shyness and they were excited to start playing right away. After coloring on the floor for a little while we all headed into the dining area for a great meal.

Wesley is already a year old now and has just started walking. He is very happy and gets along well with Eleanor. Marilyn says when they are at day care she is his protector. Olivia went right to him to try to hold his hand and she thinks he is "sooo cute!"




Usually Eleanor is the chatterbox and Olivia sits back for a while and takes it all in......this time Olivia was non-stop blabbing about everything. She was in such a good mood and so happy. The girls chowed down on their bread, Cheerios, goldfish crackers, spaghetti and talked and colored and they were so much fun. Eleanor is still wearing diapers but Olivia and I took her along to the bathroom and she watched Olivia just like Olivia watched Emma right before she decided she wanted to wear underwear. When we got back to the table Eleanor told Marilyn, "I want to wear underwear too!" Maybe that's the push Eleanor needed and will be potty trained soon.

After they ate pretty well they couldn't sit still in their chairs anymore. We were in a small dining room and they danced around in the corner singing "Ring Around the Rosey" laughing and getting pretty loud. We didn't get kicked out but I'm sure there were people there that were not too enthused about us interrupting their dinners. Oh well !!

Then Jenny had them running to her and jumping in her arms. When Olivia started squealing too loud with excitement we decided it was time to pack things up and go back to the bar area to visit more.

The three hours we were together went so fast but it was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to the weather warming up and getting together somewhere they can really run and get wild.

They are just tooooo cute!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Yes it has been raining a lot lately but the flowers, grass, trees and bushes love it.

This is my absolute favorite time of the year. We have all spring and summer to look forward to. The trees and shrubs are just starting to bloom. The flowers are coming up but we have not started the battle with the weeds and mosquito's yet. Everything is new and fresh and we can come out of hibernation and start spending a lot of time working outside.

We will probably have to mow the lawn this week!

I love it!