Winter in Wisconsin

Well, I'm not sure what the record books show, but it seems to me that this has been the coldest and snowiest winter that we've experienced in the past 16 years. There have been wind chills in the -40 to -50 degree range, with schools and some businesses closed because of the cold.  And I'm not sure about this either, but it seems like the ground has been snow-covered ever since the first snowfall.  A long time, anyway.  And as I write this we're getting another 4-7 inches.  And I know, our family members on the other side of the lake have had even MORE snow than we have. Needless to say, spring will be very welcome when it ever comes.

Since we celebrated an early Christmas with the Midwest family members, our actual Christmas was rather quiet.  On Christmas Eve the Brassers came over for chili after our church service.  On Christmas Day we had a relaxing morning and then went to a movie in the afternoon.  We found out that a LOT of people go to the movies on Christmas Day.  We couldn't even get in to either of the afternoon showings at the Majestic---had to go to New Berlin.  We saw "Saving Mr. Banks" and enjoyed it a lot.

On Dec. 27 we went down to Chicago for a "field trip" with Roger and Sheryl.  We toured the Dreihaus Mansion, which was very interesting and enjoyable.  There was a special exhibit of Tiffany glass works, which were beautiful.

We ended our outing with a delicious late lunch at Quartino (or is it Quartino's). I'd highly recommend the Italian donuts for dessert---they are served warm, with chocolate dipping sauce. Yummy!

When it's cold and snowy outside, what could be better than being warm and cozy inside and working on a jigsaw puzzle?  I've done about 5 puzzles over the past couple of months. This one was my favorite:

And Dad even got into the puzzle action---surprise, surprise!  He actually requested a puzzle for Christmas, specifically a puzzle of the map of the world. He chose to do his puzzle on the ping pong table in the basement, and no, I did not banish him to the basement.  I suggested that we get out a second card table.  He probably figured that if the puzzle was out in the living room, I would sort of take it over.  And I probably would have.

We also had a little visitor for a few days between Christmas and New Year's.  The Verhulsts needed someone to take care of  their cockapoo, Murphy.  We enjoyed having Murphy around---he's a very nice dog.  And we probably spoiled him a bit---I don't think he sleeps on a bed at home. :)  But Dad was reminded that it's not all that much fun to take a dog outside when the temperature is below zero.

On New Year's Day I made the traditional olie bollen while watching the Rose Bowl Parade.  We went over to Brassers later to watch the Rose Bowl game.  Uncle Lew was very happy with the outcome of the game!  We also saw another movie in January---we like the senior citizen specials at the theaters on Friday afternoons.  We saw "Nebraska" and I REALLY liked that movie!  Maybe it was because of my small town Midwest upbringing.  But I also thought that Bruce Dern's performance was great. I'd like to see that movie get some awards. 

We took a trip to Iowa the 3rd week of January.  We gave Jeremiah a day off from daycare and enjoyed a day with him.  Among other things, we did some Duplo construction.

Jeremiah's Duplo car wash

On that Friday we all drove to Wisconsin---I  rode with Rachel and Jeremiah and Dad drove by himself.  And Adam was at our house waiting for his family when we got here.  Jeremiah was VERY happy to see his Daddy!

There was no question about who was going to read bedtime stories!

On Saturday Rachel and I went down to Chicago where we did some very cold shopping on Michigan Ave. with Abby.  We were mainly looking for bridesmaid dresses.  Chicago lived up to it's nickname, and we nearly froze as we walked from store to store.  But it was a fun shopping trip!  We also helped Abby put together some of the wedding invitations. While we were in Chicago the guys went to see a model train display at the Mitchell Park Domes.  That was a big hit with Jeremiah!

The Wissinks went their separate ways on Sunday morning, but not until they had some of Grandpa's pancakes.

Jeremiah had discovered the plastic bin full of Beanie Babies, and he found one that he wanted to adopt.  So "Whisper" the fawn is now living with Jeremiah, and his name has been changed to "Soft."

Dad has been trying to keep the birds happy by keeping the bird feeders filled. It's always fun to see how quickly they gather when he's been out to fill it.  But the deer also seem to have a 6th sense about when he fills the feeder, because they usually gather late in the afternoon and take care of anything that's left, either in the feeder or on the ground.  I think we've had as many as 5 or 6 deer out there at one time.

January is when the First Graders at BCS have their Penguin unit, and so Dad made another command performance as Mr. Penguin.  He made a big hit, as usual!