While Mom's Away, The Boys Will Play

Hello All, It's me Matt (Beth's personal assistant) and I have been asked to post something new to the blog, and I am happy to do this. Let's see where to start, I have so much to say. First let me post this picture of Abram James. He was trying to help me wash the dishes, and I think he wanted to see how good our dish washer worked, as you see he was getting up and going inside. Looks like Dad is going to have to have a talk to the boy, and inform if he wants to take a bath or shower you have to do this in the Tub:)

Well let's see Beth is gone for the weekend, so it's just AJ&me this weekend. We just went shopping for X-mas, we got a gift for Eden. There are some really good deals right now, I think retailers are feeling the pinch, and desperate for business. But I would recommend you wait if you can until after X-mas, when you will find the SUPER deals.

If I had to guess, I would think AJ will be walking in the next 2 weeks. He is getting very comfortable standing on his own, but is still not comfident enough to walk anymore than 2-3 steps on his own. I am in no hurry, but it is fun to walk him grow. Beth is also enjoying this process, but she would say "Abram is growing up to fast".

Finally, I am looking for work, I am looking for my calling or next career. In the mean time I am finding work, mostly painting for my brothers, and some other guys I know that own painting companies. If I were just after the $$ I would start my own painting business, as I see these guys can make some real $$, but I am after something that will keep me content for years to come. I am not getting any younger, so I holding out until I find something better. Wish me luck, and keep me in your prayers, along with those others whom are down on there luck.

I wish you all a great weekend, and GOD's GRACE to you all.

HAPPY THANKS GIVING, The Gissibl's!!!!

Well one month has gone by and we are doing pretty good. Matt is keeping busy networking and paints for his brothers business when Abe isn't keeping him busy. Abram is growing so fast! He is getting closer each day to walking. He now can consistently take about 4 steps on his own, walking from one person to another (it is our family's favorite thing to do in the evening). Abram especially loves walking to Eden. I find it so hard to believe that Abram is already 9 1/2 months old! They grow up so fast!!!!

I'm off for a weekend of scrapbooking with my good friends Kim and Anna. I'll post some updated pics when I get home.

:) Beth

Change

Change...Friday marked a day of change for us in the Gissibl household. As I was updating our blog and working on uploading our photos from this past year to the Walgreens website, Matt comes home from work. I asked him why he was home, as it was only 10am. That was when I found out he had gotten laid off from his job.

Change...so now he is back on the job market and I'll be increasing my hours to full time at the hospital. We will be making cutbacks in our lives, but at least we have been living within our means and have been preparing our emergency fund for such a day as this. (I'm so glad we didn't listen to me and use part of our fund to pay off a part of Matt's car loan...).

Change....we know we will be alright and that God is watching over us. Everything happens for a reason and God will never give you more than you can handle. Maybe this change happened to help us grow closer as a family or maybe it's to help us re-prioritize our priorities? Only time will tell.

Fall photos

burrr...we love when the weather gets crisp....bundling up in cozy jamies is always fun!

Eden and Abram in their footie pajamas!

"I'm such a big boy"

Kodi and Matt posing for a photo opp before Kodi's soccer game...sorry I forgot to bring my camera to the game...

More family photos...

The head table at Kim's wedding

Sorry the picture is sort of blurry...

Anna, Eden, and Alison at Kim and Jeremy's wedding

Kodi looking handsome at Kim's wedding on October 3!

Abe with his lovely

"Get me outta here!" :)

Like father, like son

August camping on our land

Back in August, we spent a night at our land in Ithaca, WI. We borrowed Matt's brother's camper and cooked out over a fire. We all had a blast! This was Abram's second camping trip and our first family overnight on our land! We all had so much fun. We waded in our creek - Abram loved swimming and Kodi and Eden both enjoyed the wading also! So many wonderful family memories!
Eden appreciating the beautiful view from our neighbor's hill

Mommy and Abe relaxing in the morning.

An early morning view...isn't the fog beautiful!

Yummy...nothing beats grilling outdoors!

A view of our land from up on our neighbors hill - you can see our pole shed and barn in the photo. We own everything up to the road.

Here is a pic of the kids sitting on our fence as the sun was setting

I love fall!

Eden and Lilly sang at churh last Sunday with the new creation choir

We were in Madison last weekend for a wedding and Abram was completely mesmerized by this street performer!

Nice job on the hedges Kodi and Nicholas

Say "cheese" Eden and Alex

Abram helping with the pumpkin lights

There is something so beautiful about fall. I actually love all the season changes as each season has a special meaning to me. When I think of fall, I think of cuddling down with my family, bundling up in jeans and sweaters and playing in the leaves, bonfires, carving pumpkins, decorating the house for Halloween, and of course helping the kids get dressed up for Halloween!

This year we are having another block party with pizza and a bonfire. We did this for the first time last year and it was a hit for everyone. It is fun to pull chairs out front and put a bunch of pizzas on tables and just hang out before trick or treating. This weekend, Kodi, Eden, and I are going to make a skull pinata. Last week, the kids and their friends decorated the front of our house with plastic spiders and spider webs and we hung our pumpkin lights up. I love spending that time with the kids outside as they get a kick out of decorating the house. It is so much fun!

This weekend we are hoping to squeeze in a little time at a pumpkin patch to pick out our carving pumpkins (we will most likely do this on Saturday). Both Kodi and Eden have soccer games on Saturday and Sunday (they both are enjoying the fall season of soccer, two more weeks then they will be done until spring with soccer). Tonight we will be heading down to Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee for a fish fry and a fun night of polka dancing. The kids are all super excited! I am hoping it won't be too loud for Abram.

Abram is now 8 1/4 months old and is keeping us super busy! He has officially started cruising! He cruised along the couch and futon this morning!! I can't believe how fast my baby has grown! Time sure does fly...

That's all for now...take some time to cuddle with someone you love and go for a walk and appreciate all the beauty God has filled our glorious Earth with...take in the beautiful fall colors and the crunching of the leaves below your feet!

Wow, it is hard to believe that it is October 1 today! Time sure does fly by. This has been a very busy month for us in the Gissibl household. Matt was gone 1/2 the month for work travel and we are hoping that he will be home most of October. Fall is always a busy time for him and his work. We both feel like we have been flying by the seat of our pants just trying to function to stay afloat. Hopefully more time will come our way in the next few weeks.

One of Matt's distributors, Rob from South Africa, has been staying with us this week. It was been a blessing to get to know him. I only wish Kodi and Eden would have been able to visit with him more (he is here until Sunday, but we are heading to MN today). Right now I am procrastinating packing us all up for MN. So far I have the kids and my wedding clothes ready (my dear friend Kim is getting married on Saturday). Abe is napping right now and the kids are both at school.

Kim is getting married on Saturday in Minneapolis and we are all so very excited! I have known Kim for about 20 years and our friendship has only grown with time! She is the sweetest, most genuine, caring woman I know. I don't think Kim has an evil bone in her body. It is truly an honor to stand up beside her.

Kodi and Eden are both playing soccer this fall and are having fun with it. No games for Eden this weekend but Kodi has one on Sunday (which we will be waking up super early to drive home for the game). Both the kids soccer skills are growing and most importantly they are both having fun with their teammates this year.

Abram is almost 8 months old and I can't believe how quickly time has flown! I'll post pics next week of us at Kim's wedding (Kodi and Abram have matching outfits :D...so darling!).

Take care and have a great weekend!
Beth

Grandma Nancy and Abram enjoying their dinner after we had a wonderful week with Grandma Nancy visiting from MN. We canned 96 quarts of tomatoes, did a little shopping, and enjoyed some much needed quality time with each other!

Abe enjoying some zuchinni as we were canning.

Grandma Nancy cooking the tomatoes on the stove...we ended up with about 5 pots of tomatoes for soup and sauce!

Canning tomatoes 2009 with my mom and our neighbor Irene...we had tomatoes coming out of our ears!

Abe loves to play with the pots and pans in the kitchen :)

Daddy with a very sleepy Abram after my cousin Martha's wedding (August 09).

Kodi and his friends (Alton and Sam) at 6th grade orientation

Eden and her 3rd grade teacher Ms. Murphy

The girls in Chicago for Kim's bachelorette party (from Left to Right, me, Anna , Sarah (my sister), Kim, and Alison. (all are friends from high school). We just finished doing Pilate's in the park.

Abe and his toy basket :) He loves to pull toys out and play with them.

Breakfast with the girls (college roommates, the two Megans and their babies, Sophia and Will)

Fall is here!

Wow! Time sure does fly by quickly! It is hard to believe that September is already half way over!!! What's new in the Gissibl household....

September is always a busy travel month for Matt...at the beginning of the month he spent a week in Germany for the Eurobike show. Then next week he heads down to Vegas for the Interbike show. It sounds like his traveling requirements are going to pick up this year as they are seeking to increase business. Matt has been enjoying riding his bike (as usual) and had a pretty killer race today (he actually took out a tree...), he is sitting next to me on the couch recovering. 5 hours after the race, he is finally feeling a bit better. :) This weekend we have our annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival bike race up in Hayward, WI. Matt has his preferred start this year, so hopefully this race will be promising.

Kodi is now in 6th grade and has had a decent start to the school year. The homework load is starting to increase, which makes for some long evenings of studying. Kodi has had a great attitude about it so far and has really applied himself. Hopefully he will have a successful first year. I was personally surprised with his vocab words -- Matt and I had to look up a few in the dictionary to make sure they were spelled correctly (superintendent, demagnetize...). Soccer has kicked into full gear and he had his first tournament this weekend. They didn't win any games (but they were playing level A and B teams and Kodi's team is a C team), but they all played very well. I caught the last half of his game today and saw his team score 2 points -- bonus!

Eden is now in 3rd grade and is loving her teacher, Ms. Murphy. 3rd grade marks a big transition for the kids in Tosa. It is the year where the parents are expected to begin helping less and the kids are now responsibile for so much more. It will be fun to watch Eden grow as she makes this tranisiton. Matt is coaching E's team this year and their practices have begun. Her first game is this weekend. We shall see how they do this year as a team.

Abram is a moving and a shaking now. A busy little body that keeps his mama a running! He is now crawling like made and is pulling himself up to a stand with ease. He likes to walk when we are holding his hands but he has made no attempts (thank goodness...it's too soon!) to do so on his own. He is 7 months old already and I am just shocked at how quickly time passes! This next weekend, Abe will be in MN with his grandparents (my family) while Matt and I are at our bike race in Hayward.

Let's see, that leaves me..not much new in the life of Beth. Abram has been keeping me pretty busy, that is when I am not at work. I have the house childproofing almost finished...Abe loves to play with the pots and pans in the kitchen. I am looking forward to a weekend up north with Matt this weekend. Abe has been getting better with sleeping through the night...though he still occassionally wakes up crying around 2am. Last night he didn't, so I am praying that tonight he will sleep through the night.

Well, it's time for me to hit the hay...tomorrow is another day :)
Thanks for reading up on us Gissibls'

Mommy's first weekend away from the family...

That's right, tomorrow late morning, I will be heading out of town for the weekend for a surprise bachelorette party for my dear friend Kim....as far as she knows right now we are going to an Amish farm (wink, wink). The 5 of us are all super excited to relax with one another, site see, and of course go out dancing! I am hoping I will do well being away from Abram for the weekend. Poor daddy is feeling a bit under the weather, so hopefully he will fair up nicely with all 3 kids :).

Next Wednesday, Kodi has his orientation to junior high. He is so excited to ride his bike to school and to be in middle school. Wow, it is sad how fast they grow up! Hopefully he will still have time for Matt and I this year :).

Soccer practice is also almost ready to begin (Kodi started this past Saturday and Eden starts the first week of school). Matt is coaching E's team and Kodi is playing on the Tosa Select C team.

Let's see,...what else is new here in the wonderful world of Gissibls. Abram is now sitting on his own, he loves eating his veggies (so far we haven't found one he doesn't like), and he is also as happy as ever! This morning the two of us went to baby yoga at Destination Maternity and we had a blast! We have not been able to go since June (as Kodi and Eden are normally at our house on Thursdays, but they are on vacation with mommy this week), it was a little more of a challenge this week as Abe is much more mobile then he was in the past. He has a nice starter crawl going and if he sees something he really wants, he can find it :).

This afternoon, Abe and I are heading to the mall to get his 6 month pics done. I'm praying he will be happy after his nap :)

I hope all is well for all of you! Thanks for checking in on us!
Beth

Hot Hot Hot

It was a hot and steamy weekend here in Tosa. Today, Matt, Kodi, and Eden went on our annual church bike ride (which Matt organizes). Unfortunately with the hot, humid weather, it was too warm for Abram outside, so the two of us stayed home. Lucky for me took a nice long afternoon nap allowing me to clean our house :). We are all tired here tonight and we will most likely play a board game or watch a movie after dinner.

It felt really good to have a weekend at home...it isn't very often that we are around Tosa all weekend and it was especially nice to not have any "running around" to do. On Saturday, I worked, and Matt took the kids to the State Fair. Then we had ice cream cones at Nana's house later Saturday night. Friday, Matt had a half day of work, so did some yard work and then played UNO.

Let's see...we are starting to think about going back to school. Kodi is super excited to start 6th grade and is even more excited to ride his bike to Longfellow Middle School. Eden is slowly warming up to the idea of school starting again, this past week she found out she will have Mrs. Murphy (who is one of the wonderful 3rd grade teachers, who is super cool -- Kodi had her a few years ago). Even better yet, Eden's best friend Lilly is in her class. It is of note that Lilly hasn't been in Eden's class since junior Kindergarten. So the girls are very excited for that. Only about 3 more weeks until school starts.

Not much else is going on in the Gissibl family right now. Abe is getting bigger everyday. He had his 6 month check up last week and is now close to 28 inches long and is 17 1/2 pounds. Tonight we are going to start him on sweet potatoes, which I am sure he will love :).

Have a great week everyone!

July 28 already? Time flies when you are having fun!

Hey everyone,
Our apologies for not updating the blog much this month. Lots of changes, vacation, and fun times have filled our house this summer. Matt has the luxury of taking a 6 week leave from work this summer and unfortunately had to return to work yesterday. He was pretty tired last night after working a full day in the office. It was very nice having him around the house this summer and the kids and I will miss that.

When I came home from work yesterday evening, Matt informed me that Abe is sprouting his first teeth! YEAH! Another milestone :). His lower two front teeth are just starting to poke out from his gum. Abe also is a busy bee exploring all his surroundings. He is beginning to scoot (usually when he wants a toy or when no one is looking) and is actively rolling. Matt also noted that Abram is starting to pull himself up to the crawl position, though he doesn't last here long. Soon enough we will be chasing Abram around the house. Time to get serious about baby proofing! (So far the living room is in check).

Early in July, Matt, the kids and I took a week long vacation together as I playfully call "Family Fun Week 2009". Our vacation started out with the long drive up to Hayward, WI where we stayed with one of our dear friends, Tim Swift, for a few nights. Tim has a wonderful little "house" cabin in the woods. We love his quiet retreat. Kodi especially loves hiking with Tim's dogs and helping them hunt for chippy's and mice. Eden and I spent an afternoon together to go to my favorite jewelry shops (Firefly).

One night we also embarked on a camping trip at a National Park campsite. It was on this peninsula with the Namakogan River flowing around us. It was truly a beautiful site. Abram and I dropped Matt, Kodi, and Eden off 4 miles up the river so they could kayak and tube to our campsite. What Matt thought would be a less than an hour trip turned into a three hour tour for them...their river trip had its ups and downs but left the three of them with many smiles and memories to laugh about. While they were tubing, I took little Abe swimming and he had a blast kicking around in his little innertube in the water. Kodi and Eden both love camping and after our one night adventure, I think I can prematurely say that Abe will love camping also.

After our 5 days up in Hayward we packed the car up and headed to Minnesota 2 days with my family. Our motive for this trip was to have a surprise birthday party for Grandma Nancy on Saturday, July 11. She was surprised and really enjoyed the party. Kodi, Eden, and Abe helped me to distract Grandma with a trip to the Mall of America. In addition to the party, the kids all enjoyed swimming in Angie and Marvins pool.

Our family fun week 2009 concluded with our second annual block party back here in Tosa. All our neighbors gathered outside for a fun day filled with relays, water games, basketball, good food, and fellowship.

Abe is sitting here next to me on all fours rocking back and forth. I am so excited for him to begin crawling. I have to get him down for a nap. I'll try to write more before summer is over and I"ll upload pics later.

Take care!
B

Happy 4th of July!

Abe's play group friends :)

Daddy with Abe in his kelty backpack

Fun at the parade!

We hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July weekends! It was just Matt, Abe, and myself this weekend as Kodi and Eden were at their mom's house. Saturday morning we met up with the Gissibl Clan at the Wauwatosa 4th of July parade. Matt and I parked at Starbucks, picked up a couple of beverages and enjoyed a nice walk over to the parade site where we had breakfast with Matt's family (thanks Nana for the yummy treats!). Abram was very tired for the parade (as he was up most of the night, who knows why, maybe teething???). But even though he was tired he still had fun watching the firetrucks and everything else going on.

Tomorrow morning we are heading out for our family vacation. We will be starting our week off up in Hayward at Swiftys house where we are excited to enjoy the great outdoors. If the weather cooperates we will hopefully be camping for one night (which Kodi and Eden are both super excited for!). We all love the peaceful atmosphere of Hayward and are looking forward to just enjoying time together as a family.

Our week will be finished up in Minnesota where we will spend a night with Grandma and Grandpa (and of course see the kids' aunties and uncles). Then next Sunday we are having our second annual block party.

It will be a busy end to our family vacation but it will be a fun one :).

Love you!
B

Have you had your Abe, today?
An Abe a day keeps the doctor away!

The four Gizzy's relaxing on the floor after a fun filled weekend! Happy father's day daddy! We love you! :)

Eden and Kodi were playing sharks in the water and shark-man Kodi caught fishy Eden.

Mommy buried Abram in the sand at the beach on Father's day, he had fun playing and asa bonus, didn't eat too much sand!

Abe loves to suck his thumb :)

Eden and Kodi playing at the park :) Say cheese! (they are cute as pie!)

Kodi the mechanic is working under the hood and Eden the mechanic is busy rotating the tires of our new blue car!

Kodi working as a mechanic at Betty Brinn Children's museum.

Kodi with his 5th grade teacher, Mr. Henscher, on the last day of school (it was crazy hair day)

Eden with her teacher, Mr. Honigman on the last day of school