Updates and personalities

Summer is here and we are busy. Family Update:

Caleb won 2nd place in kid wrestling this year...he did a phenomenal job. This summer he has been in wrestling, jujitsu, junior golf, and summer camp. Right now is now in Texas staying with his Uncle Jeff. He loves hangin with his cousins Layla and Rocco. He has a wrestling camp in Iowa in mid-July, and then the football season starts at the end of July. I've said it before...and I'll say it again -- this kid is busy.




Grace loves her summer camp. She has been taking swimming lessons for the past week and has been making great progress. She comes home and shares all of her accomplishments. She is such a girly girl, and would love to start modeling. She is a beautiful little girl with personality--- I think she just may be famous one day. I can't keep her out of her platform sandals!





Ronan started t-ball this year, and he did a wonderful job. There were times in which he thought the dirt was more entertaining than the game. He is such a little athlete --- scooping up the balls, hitting to the outfield, and even running the bases. He recently turned 4 on June 28th. We had a pool party at our neighborhood pool. This kids is a fish & a dare devil. He literally will do front flips off of the diving board.


Lucie is...well one of a kind. She is actually a perfect combination of all of the kids. She is smart like Caleb, beautiful & prissy like Grace, and sweet and athletic like Ronan. She truly is the "baby" of the family...she has everyone wrapped around her tiny finger.



Bryan has been training like a mad man. Biking, weight lifting, cardio, swimming. He and his friends are training for adventure races. He will be participating in a 40 mile bike ride this weekend in Ottawa to benefits cerebral palsy. On top of all of that, he finds the time to spend with the kids by taking them on bike rides, to the pool, games & practices. We even find time for family movie night...which entails the latest horror flick. Yes, I let my kids watch that shit!!

Me -- well, I am just busy taking care of the kids & working. I have my monthly bunco night with a great group of crazy ladies. My friends (aka The B's) have gone out numerous times to celebrate...love those Bitches! Bryan and I have even been able to sneak away to enjoy a dinner for two --- not six. Life is good.

The House: The yard is in and the landscaping is almost completed. Whew!! Hard frickin work.

From 2008 to 2009...

This busy year is almost over…

Wow, we have had an incredibly busy 2008. Six birthdays, sold a house, built a home, moved out, moved in, sports, three kids in school, holidays, ½ marathon, 1 family vacation, 10 days in the hospital…are just a few of the major events this past year.

Grace celebrated her 5th birthday on December 4th. We always celebrate birthdays with our family and closets friends; but this year she had her first “friends” only party. The party was a success, thanks to the help of some of my closest friends.

On the day of Gracie’s party, Ronan suddenly started complaining of a tummy ache. He was so ill that he didn’t even get to partake in the birthday festivities. At first we thought it was the nasty stomach flu…if it only would have been that simple. He continued to vomit and complain of severe stomach pains throughout the day, evening and wee hours of the morning.

Early Sunday morning we took a trip to the ER --- at which IV’s were given and x-rays taken. We were sent home with the diagnoses of a terrible stomach bug. Ronan only got worse. He was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning. Bryan, my mother (an RN) and I tried to convince the doctors that it was something other than the flu. We begged & in most cases forced them to take tests, scans & x-rays. Still, as of Tuesday mid-morning, the diagnoses was still flu & severe constipation. Wow, were they wrong!

Late Tuesday afternoon an adnominal scan was ordered (keep in mind we begged them to do this scan earlier that morning). The scan confirmed a bowel obstruction. Ronan was rushed to emergency surgery that evening. His recovery time took a bit longer than expected, and he was put through procedures that could have been avoided with the right care. He was a resident of the hospital for 10 days – finally discharged on December 18th. Thankfully he is now recovering nicely. Eating, pooping (huge milestone), and playing at almost the same pace pre-obstruction.

Christmas couldn’t have been better…Ronan was home and well.

New Year's Eve was pretty mellow this year. We took the kids and headed over to Chad & Cissi's house. It was actually a miracle that I didn't fall asleep before midnight --- I was so damn tired. I am usually up until at least 1:am everynight -- just doing crap around the house after the kids go to bed. I think it all caught up with me on 12.31. Go figure! It probably would have been different if I could have thrown down several cocktails. Plenty of time for that in 2009.

Goodbye 2008...hello to 2009.

Ronan's last official picture of 2008 --- so fitting!

Lulu's last picture of 2008 --- wow almost 2!

Hello 2009.

Cheering in the New Year!

The Graham Cracker Bully!!

What do you do when your son is the bully of the classroom? I know what I do...dread getting the daily report. Ronan started preschool a few weeks ago, and has been having some issues with keeping his hands to himself. He really is a sweet little boy, an aggressive sweet little boy. Luckily he has very patient teacher. I have had a few discussions with her and she is confident that he is ready for preschool. According to her, he is very bright and catches on quickly. He actually has been showing improvement this week; his teacher indicated that he is "thinking" about his actions. So what has he been doing up until this point? These are actual reports from his teacher.

Hit a girl & boy with his graham cracker.
Punched two boys in the chest during show-n-tell.
Called kids bozos at recess.
Wrestled a kid to the ground.
Head butted a kid during snack time (not too sure that happened).
Hit a kid with his foot (notice she didn't say kick).

I still giggle when I read some of these reports. I can picture his cute little face wrestling the shit out of a little nerd kid. I know, that's horrible to say. I completely understand that he needs to learn to act right. Like I said, he really is a sweet little boy. He just gets excited and likes to play rough. Unfortunately, he thinks it's funny...but his poor victims don't.

We're baaaaaaack!!

We are finally in our new home. We actually moved in mid-August…and I think that we will be unpacking forever. Wow…do we have a lot of crap! The past three months have been very busy.

May
We moved out of our house mid-May. This was hard on the kids, as this is the only home they have ever known. It actually took Rony several weeks to realize that we weren’t going back “home”. At the end of May came the last day of 2nd grade for Caleb, and our trip to Branson. The kids had a blast in Branson this year! We tried to cram as much into the week as possible. We visited the tourist attractions, shopped, the boys hiked & fished. The kids even had the rare opportunity to feed a sea turtle, sting rays & sharks.

June
Bryan and I took a trip to San Diego so I could participate with Team In Training in a ½ marathon. Caleb had two out of state wrestling camps. The kids and I took a trip to Texas to pickup Caleb from camp. The other wrestling camp was 50 miles west of St. Louis…what a long fricken drive that was. Bryan was working on the house so I had to tackle that drive alone. I drove to Branson, to Northeast Missouri & to Dallas Texas all within one month. That totally sucked!!

Ronan turned three on June 28th. We had his birthday celebration on July 3rd, shooting off plenty of “illegal” fireworks. The party was a hit with about 30 people in attendance. I still can’t believe my baby boy is three.

July
July is a birthday month -- Sherry, Dad, Bryan, Mom, Vicky & Grandma. We surprised my grandma with an 80th birthday party. 130 of her family & friends showed up to wish her a happy birthday.

Bryan’s dad and step-mom came to visit at the end of July. They were able to stay for a week, which allowed us to spend a lot of time with them. Unfortunately, the house was not completed yet.

August
First day of 3rd grade for Caleb, and both Gracie and Ronan started pre-school. We closed on the house on August 18th and moved in the following weekend.

Branson

San Diego June 2008

Grace @ Uncle Jeff's karate studio, Frisco TX

Cousin Layla & Caleb

Happy 3rd Birthday Rony

Lucie @ Grandma's house for Roan's Birthday

Lucie & Cissi

Lucie's friend Taylor & her mom Shaunna

Rocco, Layla & Roan

The Wunsch Bunch will be back soon...

as we are moving into our new home this weekend. We have done a lot these past few months, from vacations, birthdays & first day of school.

Calgon...take me away!!

Selling, packing, closing, moving, screaming, smiling.

Well, we listed our house on April 8th, and we had a signed contract by April 16th. I figured the house would sell quickly…just not this soon. The closing is scheduled for May 16th, so we (mom & I) are in the middle of packing. Come next weekend we will be staying at mom’s house until approximately mid-June.

The new house is coming along. Bryan started painting (spraying) the outside today, the cabinets are in, the tile is “almost” ordered. According to Bryan, painting, tiling & decking are next on the agenda. He is really putting in long hours over there…missing all kids of family events like baseball games & practices, wrestling banquets, and just everyday kids things. The kids and I truly appreciate his sacrifice.

The kids and I…now that’s a whole other story. I think that we are both driving each other crazy. Bryan acts as a good foundation for the family, so when he is out of the house we seem to crack a bit. I also think it stems from the fact that we are packing (and have been for months). The house was only on the market for a week --- but we showed it over eight times. So, that in itself is stressful. Let me tell you, the house never looked better during that week…I thought we were living in a model home!! I just keep telling myself, this craziness will be over in a few weeks, and then finally some normalcy.

I love our front door!

Kitchen

Master bath cabinets

All dogs go to Heaven!

Most of our friends and family had the privilege of meeting our family dog. Vega has been with us since she was only a few weeks old…she just turned 10 in March. Unfortunately, Vega was diagnosed with cancer about six months ago. At that time we were told that there was nothing we could do for her, and to enjoy our remaining time together. Vega quickly started to deteriorate and her tumor grew rapidly. On Tuesday April 8, 2008 we were forced to relieve Vega from her pain & suffering. It has been a very emotional week. You can tell that there is definitely something missing…a member of our family is now gone. Someday, we will get the kids another dog…but for now we will grieve. Wow, our next dog sure has big "paws" to fill. We love and miss you Vega