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Author Archives: Cathy O
To all the Halloween Costumes I’ve Made
This year I’m going to end up buying both of my kids’ costumes. I failed today trying to make a re-wearable mummy costume. It’s fun to look back and see what costumes worked well. Happy Halloween!
It’s the one time of year during which I wish I had better sewing skills. I mean, I can hand stitch things: sew a button or make a quick patch, but I do not own a sewing machine. I do, however, like the idea of making Halloween costumes for my kids when I can. In honor of such Mama O. made costumes, I dedicate this post and will share my AWESOME costume for this year.
To all the Halloween Costumes I’ve made, you’ve helped me find new ways to be creative and resourceful to ultimately make my kid’s happy. There has been frustration and exasperation along the way, but in the end, we’ve made it through the struggles and pulled it together in time for fun trick or treating.
The Creativity Costume Award
Way back when I started making Halloween costumes it was out of necessity. Exhibit A: Big Sister…
View original post 789 more words
Kid Problems
We’ve learned that gummy vitamins are not the best for kid’s teeth, so I bought a chewable kind.
My son’s reaction:
“I have to eat 150 of them.”
And later –
“The world is against me.”
The horror – chewable vitamins.
#kidproblems #firstworldproblems
In reality, he’ll only eat 75 because they are shared with her sister. That might be a tiny bit of consolation.
Fly on the Wall: ___ There it is!
Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 6 bloggers are inviting you to catch a 
glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.
Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:
Here’s who you’ll be hearing from in my house:
- Me, Mama O.
- Daddy O.
- Big Sister, age 8
- Little Brother, age 6
Since I have been writing these blog posts since 2014, I have my own Fly Post Page. Check it out if you want to hear more craziness from my house.
Happy Dad
Mama O. to Daddy O. on a Friday afternoon: Have you been drinking?
Daddy O.: No, why?
Mama O.: You just seem extra funny. I guess you’re happier on half days of work. (His company has summer hours, so he works 9 hour days and enjoys a half day most Fridays. It has been really nice – we’ve all been happier on Fridays!)
Our Kids
We had some extra quiet time around the house as our kids went with their grandparents for a mini-vacation this summer. During that time, Daddy O. remarked, “I guess we can’t get rid of all of our children” (referring to our fur baby, Sumo Kitty sat at the breakfast table with us).
Sumo Kitty – this is her typical annoyed expression
We were talking about face recognition capabilities. For my laptop, I explained that the camera scans for my face and then logs me in. Little Brother said, “Since Big Sister is a miniature version of Mom, I bet she could login to your computer.”
We tried it, and it didn’t work….yet.
Here is a picture of us together.
Mama O. and her mini-me.
This summer we’ve been watching baking shows. Nailed It was definitely a favorite in our house. I think that’s why our kids are getting more adventurous. Case in point: Big Sister added bacon to her cereal. Who wouldn’t want bacon flavored Cheerios?
Anything is better with Bacon!
Historic Action Figures
Daddy O.: What are these?
Mama O.: They are Play Mobil figures my parents gave to the kids from their trip to Germany.
Playmobil figures from Germany. The writing in the book is in German, translates to Book of the Old Testament. The New Testament translated by Doctor Martin Luther.
Big Sister: My guy looks nothing like Martin Luther King Jr.
Mama O.: No, it’s Martin Luther, a famous German who translated the Bible from Latin (just keeping it high level).
Daddy O.: Who’s the other guy?
Mama O.: I think it’s Albrecht Duerer, a German painter.
Daddy O.: What?! I didn’t know they made historic, German action figures?
Mama O.: Pretty awesome, right?! LOL
My German major and one German Art of the Middle Ages class IS being put to good use.
Tip for the Outdoors
While camping and hiking, we remind kids of the saying for poison ivy, “Leaves of three, let it be.” The kid’s aunt chimed in, “Leaves of four, eat some more!”
Remembering Past Summers
Last summer we took an amazing family vacation to South Dakota. My scrapbooking hobby always runs behind, so I have been putting together some pages from last year. Since he saw some pictures from our trip, Little Brother asked me, “How long did we drive to South Dakota?”
I responded, “About 7 hours was the longest we were in the car.” And then he said, “That was painful.”
This is more of the summer grumpiness we experience with Little Brother every year. Last year, he said, “Adults almost always ruin my mood – especially you Mom.” I’m not going to lie, I can’t wait for back to school time!!
Lyrics from Another Time
Does anyone remember the song “Whoomp, there is is!”?
Our kids heard it and immediately thought that they were saying, “Poop, there it is!” Sigh…you have to love potty humor.
It’s no surprise that this is what Little Brother painted when we took some time to paint at our local pottery shop.
Poop Emoji bank (Little Brother), Pony (Big Sister), and Soap Dish (Mama O.)
Okay, that’s all for me and my crazy crew. Now be sure to check out those other fun Fly on the Wall blog posts!
Summer Trip to the North Woods
Hi!! I recently saw my blog’s renewal come through, and I realized it’s been forever since I’ve written (so says bloggers everywhere at some point during their blogging life).
I decided to share some beautiful photos and a few highlights from our camping trip in Wisconsin’s pristine north woods. We ventured to Northern Highland – American Legion State Forest – the largest state forest in Wisconsin, spanning three counties and over 200,000 acres. Our campsite was near Crystal Lake, north of Minocqua and Woodruff.
Just look at these huge trees around the site.
My crew looked very happy before leaving on our hike. You can just see the hammock and our tent in the background. We had to walk a bit from our car to access our campsite.
Here’s a view of from our hike around Fallison Lake. Simply Gorgeous. Needless to say after 2.5 miles, my crew was not as eager to finish hiking. Fortunately, we hiked with a bigger group of extended family, so the kids kept each other going, while the adults spaced out to accommodate different speeds.
View from the trail around Fallison Lake
After our hike, the kids enjoyed swimming in Crystal Lake, a small, peaceful lake without the noise of boat motors whirring across it. Daddy O. and I borrowed kayaks from a family member and had fun paddling around.
In St. Germain, a short jaunt from our campsite, we spent time with a big group of family, enjoying numerous pot luck dinners and time to catch up. On our way back from one such gathering, Daddy O. and the kids fished on a small pier. We were the only people on the lake!
Sunset view on a small lake near St. Germain
I read my book and took in the solitude of the evening. We all watched a few mama ducks cross the lake with their babies in a long line behind them. One baby duck let out loud squawks, upon being left behind, so mama duck and her babies circled back to rescue the lost baby. The duck siblings seemed to celebrate his or her return to the line-up – a sweet scene. Fishing wise, there wasn’t much luck: only Big Sister caught one small fish.
We ended up spending some time in the city of Minocqua, eating at Minocqua Brewing Company and Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty. The shanty was kitschy with red and white checked table cloths, up-north cabin decor, and all-you-can-eat family, style, hearty breakfast food.
Giant Paul Bunyan outside of the cook shanty. You can’t miss it!
One morning we grabbed some coffee at a place in Woodruff. We sat outside on their back patio, savoring the view.
Another lake in the North Woods
All in all the camping trip and family reunion up in the north woods was a huge hit. While tent-camping for three nights IS a lot of prep and work, our family really has a lot of quality time together on these kinds of trips. As our kids grow older, it may be more difficult to get away between sports and activities, which makes this time together even more special – just look at me and my sweet girl!
Mama O. and Big Sister in the north woods
Cheers to summer, family-time and exploring together!
