VALENTINE'S DAY STUFF

On Tuesday, Jake had his Valentine's Day party at school. Emily's mom brought cupcakes in ice cream cones. They were to celebrate BOTH Valentine's Day & Emily's birthday. They were DELICIOUS!! Jake's class passed out their Valentine's and played games during the party. After the party, Jake went home with his friend Paul until it was time for swimming lessons.

After swimming lessons, I brought Paul & Jake back here for a sleep over (there was no school on Wednesday). The boys stayed up until about 11:00 watching a movie. They got up around 7:00 when I got Allie up for school.

Allie had her Valentine's Day party at school on Wednesday. Her class got to pass out Valentine's and also frost and decorate cookies. She loved every minute of her party.

After school, we picked up Allie's friend Jordyn and we all went to Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch and to play for awhile. After Chuck E. Cheese's, we came home and the boys played with Jake's PS2, while the girls played dress up. All of the kids were home in time for dinner & we were off to Religion class for the evening.


All in all a GREAT Valentine's Day!

Jake eating his snack during his school party.

Jake & Paul looking through their Valentine's treats at school.
Allie & Jordyn yesterday afternoon.
Jake & Paul yesterday afternoon.

Jake showing me the gold dollar coin that Nana & Papa sent him for Valentine's Day. Both kids have a bunch of these coins from Nana & Papa.

"SUESSICAL"

The kids and I joined some friends on Sunday at the musical "Suessical". We went early and had green eggs and ham first. We also got to listen to some storytellers, who happened to be 2 teachers from Hansen, which made Jake very happy!



BIRTHDAY

I celebrated my 29th birthday again last Thursday! Allie & I shopped in the morning and had lunch at Applebee's. We came home & "rested" for awhile since Allie was getting over her fever bug. I let the kids choose where we'd have dinner and as usual McDonald's won! My friend Kristin & her son Paul joined us for dinner. We headed to swimming after that. Jake did a dive (more like a belly flop) into the 11 foot pool and swam to the side. What a GREAT gift!!

On Friday night, Mom, Dad, Mandy, Ben, Michael & Kim came up. We ordered food from Pepper's and had a delicious cake that Mom made for me. I even humored the kids by blowing out a candle.

On Saturday, we all went to Jake's basketball game. He thinks it is SO cool when people come to see him in his activities. After the big game, we all went out for breakfast. The kids & guys went home to watch Iowa basketball while the girls went shopping. After shopping, everyone went home except Michael & Kim. We went out to Carlos for dinner and came home to lots of talking & staying up late!

The picture is of Ben & Jake fast asleep on the air mattress.

THE RESULTS ARE IN...

Allie's throat culture came back negative for strep. She just had a virus. Today, she is feeling much better. Her temp is down and she is up and about like normal.

SICK??

Still no word from the doc about Allie's throat culture. I'm guessing that we'll hear something tomorrow sometime.

She woke this morning at 5:00 with a temp of 102.5. I asked how she felt & she said GREAT! I gave her some ibuprofen and she crawled into bed with me and went back to sleep until about 7:00 (I didn't get much sleep). I took her temp again & it was down to just under 100. She laid in her bed and watched TV all morning. She came skipping downstairs around 11:00 and told me that she "cleaned her room & made her bed". I took her temp & it was up over 102 again...not sure where this child's energy came from w/ a temp that high! I gave her more ibuprofen & sent her back to bed. She did nap this afternoon and is now "soaking in the tub". She acts fine & says she feels fine, but that temp still keeps spiking once the meds wear off! We'll see what tomorrow brings.

STREP THROAT????

Allie woke up this morning with a temp of almost 102 and complained of a sore throat. I normally would have given her something to take the temp down and had her rest all day. However, I got a call last night from my friend telling me that his daughter Mallorie went to the doc yesterday & has strep throat. Allie & Mallorie were together ALL day on Sunday during both a birthday party & the Super Bowl. SO, I took Allie to the doc this morning & the initial strep test came back negative, but we are waiting to hear about the results of her throat culture too see if it is in fact strep throat. Allie pretty much laid around all day long & watched TV. I served her lunch in her bed and she thought that was really cool. She'll stay home from swimming tonight and school tomorrow since her fever is still hanging around. We'll see what the doc says tomorrow when her lab tests come back.

BLUE & GOLD BANQUET

Jake had a Pack meeting last night. It was a potluck and awards were given out. Jake got his soccer belt loop for participating in soccer this Fall.

OLIVIA'S PARTY


Allie went to a birthday party for her friend Olivia from preschool on Sunday afternoon. It was held at the Rec Center. They ate pizza & cake, played "freeze dance" and opened gifts. They also had a style show AFTER they dressed up, put on make up and had their hair & nails done. This was definitely Allie's kind of party!

Here is a picture of Olivia sitting on her throne for lunch. Allie was VERY envious of the throne!
Here is Allie with her make up and hair done. She chose to wear lots of jewelry rather than putting on dress up stuff!
Here is the whole group after their "style show". How cute are they??

SUPER BOWL

We threw a last minute Super Bowl party last night. We had 4 couples and their kids over for snacks and football. We thought everyone would leave at half time because of school today...however by half time it was announced that school was delayed 2 hours due to the cold! So, everyone stayed and watched the Colts win the big game. Jake was disappointed...he was rooting for the Bears. (I forgot to take pictures of the kids playing...DUH)!

BEACH DAY

Last week during Catholic schools week, Allie's class got to dress up in beach wear. Since it was about 25 below zero with the wind chill that morning, we ditched the shorts and flip flops and just went for sunglasses, a hat & her Kiawah Island shirt.

100th DAY OF SCHOOL

Jake had his 100th day of school on Wednesday. I made chocolate cupcakes with the number "100" written on each one. My friend Cathi and I also took little baggies and filled them with 100 food items. Each child received a baggie and they got to dump their baggie into a large bowl to make a trail mix. They counted by 100's to see how many items were in the bowl. 2,500 items later they had their mix!

LATE XMAS '06 or EARLY XMAS '07?? WHO KNOWS??

The Fischer family had our annual family Christmas on Saturday night. Since there are SO many of us (about 30-35 people) & we are all spread out, we typically have our Christmas in late January. We gather as many as can make it & eat, drink & catch up. Since we usually only get together once or twice a year, there is a lot of catching up to do. This year we are lucky...there are 2 weddings to attend & we'll all be together twice this summer! Here are some pictures of the fun...

The next "Fischer" generation...
back row left to right...Ben, McKinzie & Leo
front row left to right...Allie, Jake & Ty
Karlee couldn't come to visit from California & Miss Maddie Thiel will arrive in April sometime!



Troy, Gail & Julie having a toast...

Anne & Will...

Abbie & Jim P...

Mike A. & Katie....
Jim P., Dad & Michael...

Kim & Michael...
Mom & Gail...
Dave, Mike T & Will...

Mandy & Mike T....

Grandma & Katie (Abbie is in the background)...

FANCY ALLIE

My mom got Allie a book for Christmas called "Fancy Nancy". It is about a little girl that wants to be "fancy" in all that she does...a little bit like my dear Allie. Long story short, Allie LOVES this book & she dressed up "fancy" for me yesterday.

MORE SLEDDING

We went sledding again on Sunday. Scott joined us this time & we all had a great time. Jake would like a snowboard now...he stood up on a sled & went down the hill...apparently that is fun!

ME & ALLIE

Jake went to the UNI game with a friend tonight. Allie wanted her picture taken with me before we went to dinner.

SLEDDING

Here are some pictures of the kids sledding today...

FIRESTATION

Jake's Tiger Scout troop toured the fire station today. They did a great job listening and being respectful. For 12 first grade boys that is pretty amazing! After the tour, Jake went home with his friend Mason to play.

BASKETBALL



Jake started basketball today. He got on the purple team with his buddy Paul. They thought that was cool. I forgot to take pictures during the practice...o.k...I was busy talking to friends! Here is one after practice of Jake & Paul.

SWIMMERS

The kids are in the 2nd round of swimming lessons this winter (one more to go). Their teacher, Jamie, is amazing. She has been a swimming coach for 15 years or so & she has made my kids confident swimmers who love the water!

At tonight's lesson, Jake practiced his diving (sitting) and swam the crawl with breathing all alone! He was pretty proud of himself & gave me a big "thumbs up" from across the pool. Allie is working hard on her strokes & breathing while using a kick board to help her float. She almost has the back float nailed too.

SNOW

We got about 4-5 inches of snow yesterday, overnight & this morning. The kids insisted on playing outside for awhile late this morning (there was no school due to MLK Day). It was really cold and the wind chill was below zero, but I let them go. They ended up out for about 30 minutes before heading inside. Jake exclaimed that he was FREEZING...he should have been. There was snow EVERYWHERE...down his sweatshirt, up his sleeves, in his boots etc. I could have made a snowman out of the snow in his sweatshirt hood alone! It appears that he must have been rolling in the snow or something! Allie wasn't quite as snowy, but still cold enough that she needed hot cocoa & a squat by the fire!


Allie has dance tonight. Jake & I will have 45 minutes to kill downtown. I think that Cup of Joe is calling our name (hot cocoa for Jake). Tomorrow, the kids are back to school & we are back to our running...swimming lessons, meetings & volunteering will take up our day!

BEST FRIENDS

This is Ben, Jake, Paul & Adam at the bowling party. They are Jake's best friends & all live within a block of each other. Tomorrow, since there is no school for MLK Day, they have big plans to play in our back yard (& Paul's since it backs up to ours). They are planning a giant snow ball fight I think!!

BOWLING WITH JAKE'S FRIENDS




Jake had a birthday party with his friends yesterday. We went bowling. The boys from Mrs. Wyckoff's class were invited. We ended up having 10 boys bowling in 2 lanes. They had a great time. Thank God Michael/Kim were there to help with crowd control & also my friend Kristin (Paul's mom) and her husband Patrick stuck around to help out. After the boys bowled for an hour & a half, we had cupcakes & ice cream sandwiches & Jake opened his gifts. He got 2 footballs, flags to play flag football, a spy kit, football cards, 2 football DVD's, Star Wars Legos, a PS2 game, a bug maker, Star Wars action figures, an airplane & a sling shot. We finished up by taking a group picture & sending the boys on their way home.























ASHLEY'S PARTY

Allie went to her friend Ashley's birthday party yesterday during Jake's party. They played pin the tale on the unicorn (which Allie won) and some other games. They had a cake & ice cream too. Allie said it was GREAT playing with Ashley, Hallie, Olivia & Abbie!

FAMILY PARTY

We were supposed to have a family birthday party for Jake today. Unfortunately, the snow & ice kept the family away. We got up after calls from both sides of the family saying that the ice from last night & the snow that was forecasted for today was going to keep them home. Michael & Kim were here & we watched the weather & decided that they needed to try to beat the storm home. SO, we quickly stuck a candle in a cupcake (leftover from yesterday) and sang Happy Birthday to Jake (he thought it was cool to get a cupcake for breakfast). He opened up gifts from Kim/Michael, Kelley/Mike, Tracy/Rob, Great Grandma Marge & Julie/Jim. He got a couple of footballs (you can never have too many), Target gift cards, some money, a baseball book & a Denver Broncos stocking cap (which he's worn most of the day).



After Michael/Kim left, we lounged around and I sent the boys out to Wal Mart to pick up Jake's b-day cake that we had ordered for today. We then ran to Target to spend Jake's gift cards. He got a Light Saber and PS2 games. The snow started falling around 3:00 as we were leaving Target...it hasn't stopped yet!



Enjoy the pics from this morning & tonight!

UNI GAME


Scott, Jake & Michael went to the UNI basketball game at the new McLeod Center. They used some of John's (Scott boss) season tickets and ended up in the 2nd row. They said that the seats were AWESOME! After halftime, Jenny (John's daughter) switched seats with Jake & he got to sit on the floor. He was really excited about that. He danced during time outs & had the crowd in stitches. The only bad part of the night was when UNI lost their game. (The picture was taken at Beck's on the Hill during dinner before the game).

I have lots more to post later from this weekend.