Lucy is 10!

Not sure how an entire decade has flown by since this little sack of sugar entered our world and made us parents...

...but our Lucille Lorraine turned ten this year!

She was born on a crisp Tuesday morning, just as the first snowflakes of the season were falling and polls were opening for election day. Hearing Dan exclaim, 'It's a girl!' was one of the best surprises of my life.

We kicked off the birthday weekend with a little celebration at home for our Lucy Goose. Roman gave her some twinkle lights - one of our girl's favorite things these days. Grandma Nola gave her a little holiday waffle maker - as you can see her Dad does not thing that we need any more fun and festive small appliances in our lives! Haha!

You can't have a birthday without Dollar Tree balloons, am I right?

Lucy made cupcakes for her special party with friends. She chose lemon cupcakes with purple frosting + sprinkles. Yum!

Here we are - Rolling into 10! Lucy could not wait for her party at High Rollers this year. She is pretty much taller than me in those roller skates. 

And check out Lucy's wrist - she was so pumped to get a Gizmo watch this year. I love being able to track her down and send messages when she is out and about in our neighborhood. ;)

Per Lucy's request we got the White House Room at High Rollers for her party room. Don't these girls look official with that big desk?

Here is our neighborhood crew + Callie! :)

Roman absolutely loves to roller skate so he was thrilled to tag along to the party. We said that he could invite Benson since Ember was coming to the rink too. First - how cool is Benson's hair? Second - Roman was a hot & sweaty dude after a few hours at High Rollers. Skating is a good workout!

 

Here are Ember and Nora ... unfortunately Ember fell right away in her skates and hurt her wrist. We later found out that she had a fracture! Dang it! She will officially go down in history as a kiddo who got a fracture at one of our children's birthday parties. Insert palm to face emoji here.

Here is our Future President of Cupcakes...

This is Lucy with some of her besties - Callie and Aurora. 

The kids had an awesome evening - High Rollers is definitely a hit among the 8 to 11 year old crowd. 

Happy Birthday Dear Lucy!

We love you so very much!

November Happenings

Here are some Storm family updates from November. 

Roman has been in a city basketball league this year - he spends his Monday evenings learning about b-ball basics and will move on to 3 on 3 games this winter. 

One of Leo's favorite things these days? Spaghetti! Messy and delicious.

Yes, I am one of those weirdo moms who on occasion will snap a picture of her kids sleeping. Haha! Just look at this sweet baby boy though! Love him to pieces. 

I took Ranger to the dog park and I saw this awesome Stick Library box. How fun is that!? 

Grandpa Ken & Grandma Nola's hunting cabin is getting really close to completion. The boys went to visit and the zipped up to the lofted area right away. They absolutely love playing in that space. 

 

I was reading the parish paper from church and I had to laugh at the events for November 14. Classic Wisconsin - A Blessing of the Blaze at church and venison snacks in the fellowship hall after services. I love it!

girl

Speaking of all things November - here is my autumn girl, born on election day, sporting blaze orange, making a Veteran's Day card! 

My 2021 canvas arrived and Dan hung it for me! Love these photos of the children - it is so fun to see them grow. 

Leo is thriving in his toddler gymnastics class this fall. He loves the beam!

He is great at his floor exercises and adores a good obstacle course.

He is working on his arm strength during parallel bar time.

Love spending my Saturday morning at the Sports Center with this guy.

There is nothing better than a crisp fall day at the park! 

That's life lately! 

Halloween 2021

We had an awesome Halloween at the Storm household! 

The big kids decided to go as a creepy girl and a skeleton.

And Leo was the cutest lil Bucky Badger in all of Wisconsin. :)

Roman posed for a picture with his favorite neighborhood boys - Wyatt & Owen and Isaac & Jonah. Love this crazy crew that destroys our basement on a regular basis. Haha!

We snapped an obligatory picture on our front porch with our Jack-O-Lanterns.

Our first stop was visiting Hope Lutheran for their Trunk or Treat. We met up Lucy's friend Callie the Pink Power Ranger in the parking lot. The kiddos were even able to grab hotdogs at the event. Dinner of champions!

We returned to our neighborhood; the girls found Abby and they were off to the races.

This year Leo really got the concept of running up to doors, saying 'Trick or Treat!' and 'Thank you!' The only issue was that he wanted to eat his candy immediately. 

Our neighbors have a robotic lawn mower; like a roomba that zips across their lawn. For Halloween they had it dressed up as a ghost! It seems like a good idea except I walked by once and there was a bunch of dog poop stuck in the wheels. 

The big kids wanted to hit every house in the neighborhood but our little guy retired early. Look at this sweet boy and his pup waiting for trick or treaters. 

Lucy went trick or treating with her girlfriends and Roman was feeling a little left out so his Dad took him to some other fun and festive neighborhoods!

Lucy, Harper, and Callie had some serious trading going on after their Halloween adventures!

Both of these children got a ridiculous amount of candy! Enough to last a year!

Roman's teacher sent her second graders home with an assignment - making bar graphs of their candy stashes! He has never had a better time doing math homework. Haha!

Hope everyone had a spooky and safe holiday! :)

Mound Hill Park Castle Hike

On Halloween morning the kids and I headed to Elk Mound to visit the Mound Hill Park Castle. This is a 3-story observation tower built in 1937, later dedicated as a memorial to deceased Dunn County postal employees...and it is said to be haunted so it was perfect place to visit on October 31. ;)

Even though the sign said that this Park is open until October 31, the road was already gated shut and locked. What the heck!? We parked the car on the side of the road and the kids and I hiked up this crazy steep entrance to the tower. It was a perfect fall day! 

We had lots of fun kicking up leaves.

The hike to the top was no joke but we made it!

The kids raced to climb the tower - the view from the top was spectacular! You could see for hundreds of miles. 

The windows were wide open {no bars} so Roman was feeling nervous about his little brother. You can see his protective arm draped over Leo's shoulder. Very sweet. Roman is very protective and concerned about his baby's whereabouts at all times.

Here is the stone that memorializes the deceased rural letter carriers.

Lucy snapped a picture of mama and her boys at the top! Do you like my festive cobweb sweater for Halloween? 

We didn't run into any ghosts but had a delightful and chilly picnic at the top. 

Lucy loves a silly selfie!

And just like that we made our way down the hill, throwing up leaves and catching them on the way. We only had a couple of falls! ;)

\We will definitely be back for more hikes and picnics in the future.