Spring Concert at ALCS

The night was filled with music from around the world as we enjoyed the kids spring concert at ALCS.

Once Upon A Potty

On Friday we decided that we have had enough of diapers. We put Ian in underpants and started our journey of potty training our youngest. Despite having about 12 packages of pull ups , I figured having him potty trained would be worth it. Over the weekend we had about as many successes as accidents, but Monday was a nice change. Ian only had 1 accident, which was when he was sleeping. We made it through all of our errands and a trip to the west side for the Chiropractor. We are SO proud of him. He is enjoying the reward of a jelly bean for potty and a mini fruit roll up or mini twizzler (leftover Easter treats) for poo poo. So far he has only asked a few times to go, but we know that will eventually change. We look forward to the day he willingly goes to the bathroom to go potty and not having us pick him up and have to encourage him to sit there and work on getting the potty out.

We are proud of our little man!

Ben's Admirals Birthday Party

On Friday we celebrated Ben's upcoming birthday with 6 of his friends. Four friends from Madison joined us after school and drove with us to Milwaukee. We met up at a friends house where 2 more of Ben's friends joined us. We celebrated with pizza, juice, and snacks before heading to the Bradley Center for the Admirals hockey game.

The kids were treated to great seats in section 219 rows Y and Z, with a GREAT view of the rink. The Admirals scored one goal after another against Chicago. We celebrated Ben's birthday with cupcakes during one of the breaks.

Ben was excited to see his name up on the big screen wishing him a happy birthday. This was a very special present from the Boppre family.

The kids also got to go into the Media room to have a special meet and greet with Roscoe. The kids posed for pictures and asked for his autograph.

After the game we headed back to Madison where the boys had a sleepover. Most were so excited from the game that they did not fall asleep until a little after midnight. This did not stop them from waking up by 6am for breakfast. Parents came around 9 to pick up their kids. It was a great birthday...definitely one Ben will remember for a long time!

kids eating pizza at Becca's house before the game

kids holding up their tickets before going into the game

the kids pose with Roscoe, the Admirals mascot

Ben blowing out the candles on his cupcakes

Ben with Roscoe

Ben was excited to see his name on the big screen...thanks Becca and Bill

cheering after another goal scored

Jared, Ben, and Caleb

Boys getting their last screams out before getting in the car to head back to Madison

Happy 7th Birthday Ben!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from the Marthaler Family.

This weekend we headed up to Minneapolis to spend an early Easter with Justin's family, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We enjoyed a delicious meal, great conversation, and games. The kids loved playing outside in the beautiful sunshine with their cousins.

With the 5 hour drive, we decided it would be easier on all of us if we stayed in a hotel rather than head back to Madison. The kids LOVE staying in a hotel. They jump on the beds, run around, and swim in the "cold" pool and the "hot" pool. The kids woke up early to find their Easter baskets that were hidden in the hotel room. We went for breakfast then let the kids indulge in one of their treats. We checked out of our hotel and headed to church at Justin's aunt Sharon's church, St. Michaels. The service was amazing, especially with it being Easter. The kids enjoyed the service as well. We were a little nervous at first since we ended up in the second row, right behind the pastor. Thankfully the kids behaved and even participated in some of the service.

To make the 5 hour trip home easier on the kids, we stopped at Dennis and Judy's house in Eau Claire. The kids love playing with Kevin and Renee and we love having the opportunity to spend time with Dennis and Judy with minimal interruptions from the kids. They adore Kevin and Renee, so they get lost in play. We had another delicious meal, great conversation. Justin and Dennis even got to play trains and build train tracks with Ian.

An uneventful trip back to Madison with all the kids exhausted! Out of the car, in the house for teethbrushing, prayers, kisses, and good nights. Tomorrow we start a new day with Justin out of town on business. We also prepare for the kids going back to school on Tuesday and for Ben's birthday party to the Admirals hockey game on Friday!

Here are a few more pictures from our Picture People trip to the mall on Friday...

Ian turned 3 on February 27

Ben turns 7 on April 14

Moving right along

These past 2 weeks have been fun and stressful. Justin was gone for almost a week on business to his company's Phoenix office. The weather was beautiful there, although he spent most of his time putting in long hours at the office. He was able to sneak away on the last day to see a baseball spring training game.

We found a house (not that we are looking to move currently) that we were very excited about. The house is a bank owned home about 2 blocks from our house. We went to an open house and got excited about the possibility of moving. We started cleaning out our house of excess stuff we have collected over the last 10 years. Closets got organized and areas began to get clean. We put in an offer during a 3 day listing on the house. We found out last night that the bank decided on taking a lower offer than ours (and 3 other offers) and went with a cash offer. I guess Dave Ramsey is right when he says "Cash is King". Money talks. You can get a lot of great deals when you have cash in hand. The positives for this is that #1 Our house is SO much cleaner #2 I have a story for my Financial Peace University Class #3 My house is a lot more organized, but most of all, God is a Great God. We had prayed for his guidance in this situation with moving and selling our house. We know that He did what was best for us right now. Life is uncertain, but we are certain that we have a God that loves us and takes care of us. He knows what is best for us. Although I am really disappointed that we did not get this house (for those of you I have talked to about this, you know that I had already mentally moved in. I even picked out paint colors, had ideas for where furniture would be arranged, etc) I know that God is in control and that He will continue to take care of us and help prepare us for when we are ready to move.

Ben standing next to his science project on the Sun

Ben and Cami were so proud of the hard work they did on their Science projects for the Science Fair. Ben spent a lot of time reading about and learning about the sun with daddy. He decided to make his project explaining the different layers of the sun.

Cami's class had to pick a topic on "Where does ______ come from". She immediately chose ice cream since it is one of her favorite treats. Daddy pulled up a video on the computer about how ice cream is made and Cami watched and soaked up the information. She was excited to make a project that involved coloring and crafts. She is quite the little artist and spent over an hour decorating the box that the project had to fit into.

Both kids received ribbons for their participation, which they proudly display in their rooms.

Cami next to her Science project 'Where does Ice Cream come from'

Korean New Year Party

We celebrated our annual Korean New Year party. We celebrate it a few weeks after the traditional one so the ladies at the Korean church can help our group with food. They enjoy making traditional Korean food for our adoption group. We always enjoy watching and helping them and most of all eating it.

We celebrated with traditional games, such as tug of war. We also enjoyed watching traditional Korean fan dancing. We had a wonderful time. The kids favorite part was "eating the yummy food."

Traditional Korean fan dancing

Kelly, Jared, Cami, and Ben take a turn at tug o war

Ian loved playing tug o war, although he was pulling the opposite way of his team

Ben (hiding behind Justin), daddy, and Cami playing tug o war

Ian playing a hacky sack type game

enjoying some delicious Korean food

When daddys away...

We had a good start to the week, but knew that things would get a little more difficult as the week went on. Justin left on a business trip to Arizona on early Tuesday morning. As the week goes on, we all miss having him around to talk to, to snuggle with, to read stories with, etc. Ian especially misses his middle of the night snuggler. We have been getting along well, but since Justin is working a lot, we haven't been able to talk to him very much. He and 2 other guys from the Madison office are trying to switch over the phone system at the office in Phoenix. They have been putting in long hours and hope to get out tomorrow in time for a baseball game. Thankfully, Justin has been able to get in a run or two to burn off the extra stress.

We stocked up on Pull ups and have been starting the potty training process this week. It may be a long road ahead as Ian is not very excited about it. He willingly sits on the potty (at least some of the time he is willing), but doesn't think the potty or poo poo should go in the toilet. Hopefully things will click soon, but I am prepared for a long road ahead.