Our Family

Our Family
October 2013

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Jess in school...

My Kindergarten class. I'm the one in the center, wearing a white vest...



We made yummy gingerbread cookies at school!

Grandma Barb came to visit me at school for Intergenerational Day celebration.

"I love school!
The friends I play with most at school right now are Isabelle and Julianna.
Some of my favorite things to do at school are: play house and restaurant with my friends, make art projects, and go to music class.
Oh, and I really like my teacher, Mrs. Galstad-Roh."

Love, Jessica

Jackson turns 8!

Actual birthday fell on a Tuesday this year.
December 17th, 2013...8 years old at exactly 5:36p.m.!

Your special day began with breakfast in bed, and opening your birthday present from Dad and I--it was your Messi jersey.



We made 'Packers cupcakes' with green and yellow frosting for your treat to share at school.

Later that evening, we celebrated your birthday at home with cake and ice cream...

Then, the next night, we had a birthday celebration for you at Grandma Barb's and Grandpa Terry's.

Grandma Chris and Grandpa Bob were there too.

A few presents from the night...




Happy 8th birthday JT!
At age 8, we see you doing very well in second grade. You are performing at grade level in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies, and excelling in P.E. (& recess).
ACTIVE and ATHLETIC are the best two words to describe you at this age.
A few of your favorite sports and activities right now include: basketball, soccer, football, kickball, downhill skiing, Nerf wars, and karate using your punching bag in our basement.

We see you as a leader among your neighborhood friends (and your sisters), and more of a go-with-the-flow type of guy with your friends at school.
You have your own iPod, which you choose to seldom play...sometimes at night, or during road trips.

Watching football (especially Packers) with Dad, Grandpa Terry, Uncle Ryan, and Logan is something you really enjoy! Dad and you had fun being in a father-son fantasy football league together this year. Unfortunately, your first scheduled visit to Lambeau Field (Dec 8th, GRB vs ATL) was canceled on account of poor road conditions.

Jackson, we are so proud of the smart and kind young man you are growing up to be. Every day, your Dad and I look forward to having conversations with you about things such as: "where does the snow come from?" And "how many people live in this world?" And "Mom, did you know that it is ok to drive 5 mph over the speed limit?"..."Dad taught me that."

We love you, buddy.

Mom & Dad



Friday, December 20, 2013

Hollidazzle Parade, Santa Land, and the Stomach Bug

Our family weekend trip to Minneapolis started out great. We arrived at the Renaissance-Depot Hotel midday on Saturday, had some fun swimming in the pool (well, hot tub for Lia and myself), and then got all bundled up and walked the few blocks to enjoy the Holidazzle parade.


It was a chilly night, but the kids were all troopers and stuck it out watching the parade way longer than I, personally, would have.

After the parade, we walked back to our hotel and met up with many, many Mahlums...
Jason's Uncle Wally, and his three daughters Erica, Emilie, Carrie (& their families).
Jason's Aunt Gloria, and two of their three children Matt and Kristen (& their significant others).
It was a mini Mahlum family reunion, and everyone seemed to have a nice time catching up.
Although I missed the opportunity to capture any pictures, plans were made to make this an annual event, as well as, bringing the idea of a summer family reunion to fruition.


And now comes in the stomach bug...
Poor cousin, Logan, got sick several times that night. And then, poor Jackson was soon to follow, getting sick the next morning.
Despite the throwing up, the boys really hung in there!
We went ice skating on the rink at the Hotel...



Jessica surpised us all with her ice skating skills!

Jackson was a sick little man in this picture. I was amazed he even wanted to attempt ice skating...


Last on the agenda, Santa Land. It was pretty neat, reminded me of seeing displays in Disneyworld. The kids really enjoyed walking through it (minus Jackson's sick stop in one of the bathrooms).

Apparently, this was the final year for the Holidazzle parade; it is being replaced with something yet to be disclosed. I'm happy we were able to see it.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

@ Grandma Chris' & Grandpa Bob's.



Another happy day. Lots of good food, loving family, and three great-grandparents!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

@ Grandma Barb's & Grandpa Terry's.




A relaxing day filled with great food, loving family, and happiness.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Halloween, 2013


Lia went trick-or-treating as the blue power ranger this year. A decision she made after watching a few Power Ranger TV show episodes with her daycare buddies. Luckily, we already owned this costume; all she had to do was dig it out of our dress up box. And, ta-da!...the blue power ranger:


















On Halloween morning, we have about eight different families in our neighborhood kind enough to welcome my daycare for trick-or-treating around 9:30a.m..


Jessica was a cowgirl for her costume party at school, as well as trick-or-treating.


















JT wore a skeleton costume for the school party (no picture).

And, he was the very scary, ghost face, for trick-or-treating (aka -Lia's words: "yawn face")


















We started in Onalaska and ended our Halloween night in La Crescent. All three kids pooped out around 6:45 p.m., and from that point on, they handed out candy, and of course, ate some of their own loot as well.


Friday, November 15, 2013

Jack-O-Lanterns, 2013

We had a fun time carving our pumpkins this year.
Jackson and Jessica drew the faces they wanted on their pumpkins onto a piece of paper. Lia told me what shapes she'd like for the eyes and nose, and whether she'd prefer to have a happy mouth or a scary mouth. Then, I drew the faces onto all three pumpkins.
Jason helped Jessica carve her pumpkin, after she did an "ok" job cleaning out the guts... For some reason, none of the kids wanted to help much with that part; we're happy we decided to only get three pumpkins!


Jackson did most of the carving himself this year...


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The kids were pretty happy with how they turned out!







As we were carving, the discussion centered around costume ideas for school and for trick-or-treating (and daycare for Lia). Well, Jackson had his heart set on being something scary this year. Not knowing this, I first went out and bought him a Mario costume, which was later exchanged for something a tad bit scarier...
And, our two indecisve girls probably came up with at least ten different costume ideas, between the two of them! Thankfully, both Jess and Lia were happy to make a selection from our dress-up box (and Grandma Barb's dress-up clothes as well), rather than buying new.

Pictures of the kids in their chosen costumes in the next post... ;)