Matilda's First Hockey Game

Ed took Matilda to a UW hockey game.  She had a great time.  They were so close they said they could smell the hockey players.  I'm not sure if that is a perk or a down side.

Knees and Toes!

Adelaide is singing along with her Dora Song Book.  She is working on her Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, she has the last half down pat!

Sisterly Love

Matilda was feeling pretty down.  So Evelyn got straight to work making her a valentine to cheer her up.  And, of course, it worked.

 

Big and Little Sink Baths

Babies are messy.  Thank goodness we have big sinks and they're also cute!  (Look at how embarrassed Cecily is about the blow out that required the bath in the powder room sink! HA!)

Laddie's Surgery

Last month, Laddie got really sick.  He was peeing in his bed, and suddenly started snapping at Adelaide.  We took him to the vet and, at first, they suspected leukemia.  We were very sad, that diagnosis would mean we could pay for chemo that might put him in remission, but not for long, it would mean he was nearing the end of his life.  Further tests, however, revealed it was a thymoma--a large tumor growing between his lungs and pressing on his heart.  Surgery would be curative.
We decided to pursue the surgery.  Ed took him down to the University of Illinois veterinary school.  They performed the surgery and Jim and Joanne took Romper so Laddie could recover in peace.  It took about 6 weeks, but Laddie recovered fully and is back to his old self!  We are so glad.
The tumor was the size of a football.  If you want to see the gross mid-surgery picture, it's after the jump.  If you don't want to see it, it is the ONLY thing after the jump, so don't click.  

Father Daughter Valentine's Dance

Ed took the girls to the Father-Daughter Valentine's dance at the high school.  The girls had a great time!  They got a picture, there was a magician and balloons and a conga line!
They did tell me they want fancier dresses when they go next year.

Official Snow Baby

Matilda named Adelaide her "Official Snow Baby."  They had a  great time outside and even built this snow creature that they decorated with gum drops. 

Science in the Morning

Matilda's interest in science is growing rapidly and she asks to do an experiment nearly every day.  Here are all the girls finding out what happens when baking soda and vinegar are mixed.

Spa Party

Sledding by the Windmill

Bunk beds

It was long past time to get Evelyn out of her toddler bed, so we got the girls what they've always wanted--bunk beds!
 They are really charming and sturdy, and they can be separated into 2 matching twins (which also fit in the room.)
They are very heavy, we had to ask Ed's friend Andy to come over and lend muscle to stack them, but the girls are so delighted.

Also, just getting the mattresses was an adventure! The best deal we found was on Amazon with free 2 day shipping--even better than the discount place down the street from us! We wondered how these mattresses would be delivered. Turns out, they come rolled up in a bag the size of a 5 year old. This provided much entertainment, from the explosive opening of the packaging, playing on the new mattresses, camp outs on the floor while waiting for the beds to arrive, and climbing inside the canvas bags they were shipped in and begging Daddy to carry them around the house.

Matilda's Hawaii Dance

Apparently inspired by Lilo and Stitch, Matilda had to get out of bed and come downstairs to show us her "Hawaii Dance" before she could finally go to sleep.

Peek-a-Boo Baby

Five month old Cecily is loving playing Peek-a-Boo with Daddy

New Year's Day

Happy New Year!  

It snowed so heavily that the storm even had a name--Hercules!  Ed shoveled the drive and walks 3 times (the professional snow removal is twice the regular cost on holidays so we declined holiday service this year.  Of course, this is what made it snow.  lol), and our neighbors came by with the snow blower but you couldn't tell, the snow just kept pouring down.

Adela came today and Ed and I walked to the Cantina to watch the Badgers play against S. Carolina in the Capitol One bowl.  Sadly, they lost, and didn’t play as well as Ed thought they could or should. (Michigan State won the Rose Bowl tonight, which wasn’t exactly a cause for celebration in Casa Gustafson)

Later in the afternoon, the big girls played outside in the snow and Daddy went out to play, too.  They were surprised to find an arrow stuck in our garden!  Daddy took it around to the neighbors just to give the parents a head’s up that someone might be putting a little more oomph than intended behind their shots.  We were surprised to discover it came from all the way over at the South West corner of Easton and Hawthorne!  It’s amazing it made it through all those trees--what a fluke!  All that walking and talking to neighbors was interesting for Ed today, he met (re-met?)another family that lives on the southeast corner of Easton and Hawthorne, the house where he and his brother used to attend River Rats swim parties.  He also learned from our neighbors to the south that long ago, our drive used to be plowed for free by the city because, before our neighbors to the west tore them down, there were two houses at the end of the drive and one was occupied by an important doctor who worked at Delnor and the city wanted to be sure he could get out in bad weather if he was needed.

The plows have been out all day today but are having a hard time keeping up with all the snow.  Thank goodness it’s a holiday and traffic has been light.

The girls skyped with grandma this evening, and Adelaide dumped a glass of water on daddy’s laptop.  Fingers crossed it will dry out and work properly.

Between the football, the snow, the laptop and the fact that Cecily has been teething and crying for about a week, Ed worried maybe we weren’t off to a super start to the new year, so he ate oysters tonight for good luck

(1/1/14 Walking to the Cantina, the spray from the plows easily reaches the sidewalk and beyond.  Despite efforts by most neighbors, the sidewalks were quickly recovered in snow and the roads were slick and slushy all day)

(1/1/14 Matilda’s sweet “selfie” with Daddy)

(1/1/14 Matilda’s “selfie”--proof that “duck face” is somehow imprinted upon all young girls in the technological age)

(1/1/14 Matilda’s “snow-tee” playing outside in her new snow pants.  The very snow pants that made her cry, worried that because they were too big everyone would think she was a grown up and laugh at her.  I’ll admit, the fit is kind of funny looking without a coat, but she’s so tall and skinny and snow pants are bulky anyway, they DID keep her warm and dry, which is the point.)

(1/1/14 Evelyn constructed a zoo, making cages in the snow out of celery sticks to house her grape animals)

(1/1/14 Cecily is teething… we think (hope?).  She has basically been crying and/or being held since 12/26.  It’s exhausting.  For us.  But here’s Daddy baby-whispering, getting C-Liz to take a little nap, finally--note Daddy’s smile, it was a relief for all of us to see her calm!)

New Year's Eve

For New Year's Eve this year, we made crowns for the girls and had a fun fondue dessert!
Adelaide couldn't make it to the toast, but Matilda and Evelyn stayed up and we had fun:

Christmas 2013

Eric, Kim, Ensley, Jim and Joanne all joined us for Christmas this year.  Santa came, the grandkids were spoiled and it was wonderful to see all the cousins together!  Between nursing baby allergies and Joanne's health issues, we had a variety of dietary restrictions, but I enjoyed the challenge of creating holiday dishes that we could all enjoy together.  I don't know if I was always successful, but it was an interesting puzzle.



We got together and booked a photographer to take family pictures as a gift to Jim and Joanne the day after Christmas while we were all together.  That was a circus! But we did get some really cute pictures. We had a nice Christmas and are looking forward to the new year.

Ed wins the Lenovo Consulting Competition

Ed went to Chapel Hill for his December school immersion.  He and his friend, Andy are on a consulting team with the STAR program starting in January, and they competed in a consulting competition in December, and won!

The client was Lenovo.  They won this tablet for their suggestion that Lenovo buy a cell phone company.