The Morning News with Allie...Christmas Edition

Crazy Snow Dog

This is our neighbor dog, Bentley. He's a well behaved 3 year old Golden Retriever. Since we've lived here, he has really helped the girls, especially Allie, to overcome their fear of dogs. He was outside this morning when I took the kids out to play in the 10 inches of new snow. He was having so much fun, plowing through the snow & eating snowballs. We played with him for a while, until he tackled Meredith, got snow in her face, and stole one of her mittens. He's still a puppy at heart!

Swimming in the Winter

Jason and I took Allie, Meredith, and Cousin Olivia swimming yesterday. I love this pool. It's located in Wittenberg, which is a small town just 30 minutes east of Wausau. They have a great indoor aquatic center with the beach entry, splashing fountains, a mushroom, and a slide. But the best part is, the water is sooooo warm.



All the kids really enjoy swimming. Allie gets more comfortable in the water with every trip to the pool. Meredith has no fear. And Olivia is a great swimmer, she'll even go down the big spiral slide with me.

Another installment of The Morning News with Allie

Here's another one. Let's see if you can figure this out!



UPDATE: Good Job Charity! You are correct! Click on the comments to see her answer.

I have a ton of readers (2) who have education degrees so I would expect them to figure these out without too much trouble. I'm hoping that Allie brings home more Morning News drawings from school. I'd like to make this a weekly occurrence.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Good news everybody...Allie just got home from school and brought home a whole notebook full of The Morning News. So look forward to more of my new Friday series...The Morning News with Allie.

The Mint Cafe

Meredith and I have started a new weekly tradition...eating breakfast at The Mint Cafe in downtown Wausau. The Mint Cafe has always been a favorite of mine, for eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It's your traditional small "Mom & Pop" diner-style joint. It has about 5-6 booths, 8-10 tables for two, and two counters with spinning stools.

Meredith and I have been going there once a week for the past 4 weeks or so. I always get the scrambled egg, cheese, and bacon croissant with hashbrowns. Meredith gets the grilled cinnamon bread with a chocolate milk. And we always clean our plates!!

For lunch or dinner, I usually get the chicken gyro. They have a great kids menu, with burgers and fries, chicken strips, etc. And you can't forget the homemade milk shakes. It is a meal in itself.

A lot of 'regulars' eat at the Mint. In fact, last week when we went in for breakfast, we invited some other moms and 2 year olds from Meredith's school to join us. There weren't enough seats for us all to sit next to each other. But the waitress asked one couple if they would move to another booth so our group of 8 could sit in back to back booths. It was okay, she told us, because they were 'regulars' and wouldn't mind.

Today, I heard the waitresses telling certain people, who I can only assume to be 'regulars', "Merry Christmas, your breakfast is on the owners". I wonder how long it will take Meredith and me to become 'regulars'. We're not there yet, we still paid our regular bill of $10.18. Maybe next year!

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday was a big day at Allie's school. The PTO puts on something called "Winter Wonderland" where the kids get to shop for 3 family members and have their presents wrapped at school. You can send up to $20 to school with them, which I did. So I was very eager to see what she would buy. She brought home a bag with 3 gifts inside, one for me, one for Jason, and one for Meredith. Allie was so excited, she wanted us to unwrap them immediately. I tried to talk her into waiting till Christmas but that wasn't going to happen.




I opened mine first...a pair of dangly snowman earrings.



"Do you like them, Mom?"




"I love them!"




Don't you? You can never have enough dangly snowman earrings.




Next was Meredith's turn...a picture frame in the shape of a cat. What a thoughtful big sister!




We had to wait till Jason got home from work for him to open his present. It was a Nerf football! The perfect gift for any fun Dad.


The best gift was yet to come. In the bottom of the bag was my change from the original $20 I'd sent...$15!! What a bargain shopper!!

Sledding

Our next door neighbors have the perfect sized hill for the kids to sled down, not too fast or too long. We invited Allie's friend, who lives across the street and is in her Kindergarten class, to join us for some sledding fun!

The Morning News with Allie

Can anyone guess what's going on in this picture??

Over the river and through the woods, to get our tree we go!

We got all bundled up yesterday after school and went to pick our Christmas tree. Ever since moving to Wausau, we always go to the same place to get our tree. It's a tree farm owned by one of Jason's coworkers, Dan, a fellow pharmacist. It's a choose and cut kind of tree farm and all his trees, no matter the size or the species, are $16.oo. He also has 3 horses and will give the kiddos rides out to the woods.

It was cold yesterday and the sun was setting quickly so we did not waste much time making our decision. We chose a balsam, it's very fragrant and just the right size (sometimes our eyes tend to be bigger than our living room).

And here's how it looks after a crazy frenzy of lights, ornaments, and two very eager helpers!

Does this look like anyone you know?

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!

We were out there for the ASHP Mid-Year Pharmacy conference. The first time we ever went to Vegas, Jason was a resident pharmacist and was presenting his research project. That was in 2000. Now seven years later, Jason's back again, only this time he's the "expert pharmacist" helping the current resident present her project. Jason's main objective was to gamble and drink, mine was to shop. So it is true what they say...but what actually "stays" in Vegas is your money!