Little House on the Prairie Musical with Zoe

When I was a little girl, growing up in Wisconsin, I discovered "Little House on the Prairie" book series by Laura Ingles Wilder. I loved those books and read every one. I still remember how sad I was when "Jack", Laura's dog died. When the TV series aired with Melissa Gilbert starring as Laura, I was thrilled. I watched every week. I don't think I missed an episode.

When I heard that Little House on the Prairie, the musical was coming to Madison's Overture Center, I wanted to go. So, Zoe and I went to the Sunday matinee on 24 January.

Prior to going to the show, we went across the street to the Orpheum theater and restaurant for Brunch. (Here's the brunch menu, if you're curious). We had first discovered this brunch before attending the Nutcracker at the Overture in 2007. It was Zoe's first experience with smoked salmon - and she reminds me of our experience regularly. Plus they were playing "The Grinch" on the lobby wall during brunch and she liked that. The brunch was a delicious and I had remembered....and they were playing "Casablanca" but only after I had reminded them.

Melissa Gilbert had been ill during the week and missed many performances. Fortunately, she was in the first half of the performance we saw on Sunday afternoon. Her son, Michael Engelbright was in the performance as well. It was a delight! We loved the show. The person playing Nellie Oleson was hilarious!

During the intermission, we had our picture taken in an old buckboard from the early 1900s. The Wisconsin Historical society provided the website to view scanned original letters from Caroline Ingalls to other relatives in Northern Wisconsin.

I bought Zoe a set of Little House on the Prairie paper dolls. When we got home, everyone helped cut them out and set them out. Zoe said she wanted to share her dolls with Grandma Stallman.

Clara's Friend from Out of Town

While Clara was going to school at Shorewood Hills elementary, she made many friends. One of her best friends was Sahalie Donaldson, who moved away at the end of 4th grade. Sahalie lives in Utah. She came to visit her friends in Madison over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

Sahalie boarded a plane alone and came to visit Clara, Maxine, and Elena. She chose to come at this time because Elena, another good friend of Clara's was about to depart for 8 months in Italy. (She left on 19 January)

Clara had the privilege of hosting Sahalie beginning the afternoon of 16 January, Saturday through the afternoon of 17 January.

Saturday afternoon the girls "hung out", went to the library, and looked at pictures on the computer. After supper, they got out the "Harry Potter Scene It" game and played with Tristan and Zoe.

On Sunday, we backed a lunch and drove to the Wisconsin Dells for a day at Mt Olympic indoor waterpark and indoor theme park. I was concerned it would be packed - but it was a light day. The girls were able to go on every waterslide without lines. Tristan also had no difficulty go on as many waterslides as many times as he wanted.

Zoe, Neo and I stuck to the kiddie slides, the lazy river, and the hot tub!

The indoor theme park was a lot of fun. It was small and enclosed. The crowds were small and I wasn't worried about the whereabouts of the children.

Tristan headed for the arcade and spent most of his time there.

Clara and Sahalie had fun going on all the rides. Sahalie treated Clara to dippin dots ice cream.

Zoe was cautious about going on rides to begin with. But once she tried things, she was very happy to go on a 2nd and 3rd time - alone.

I took Neo on the Go-cart and the bumper cars. I gave Tristan and Neo some money for skeet ball while I took Zoe on the roller coaster. Later, Neo played mini bowling while I took her on again. He loved he mini bowling!

There was also a ball zone that Zoe, Neo and Tristan enjoyed playing at.

Neo pleaded to go on the indoor roller coaster "The Mouse" but he was too short. No amount of showing him the height requirement or explaining to him would satisfy his demands to go on. So I took him through the line. When the attendant told him he was too small, he sobbed! Half an hour later, he was begging to go on again! By the time we left, he was screaming and crying that he wanted to go on the mouse! He screamed all the way to the car! I guess we went out with a "bang" not a whimper. :)



Thanks for coming to visit, Sahalie!

Zoe's 7th Birthday

Zoe with the fruit kabobs we made, Neo with his own creation


Zoe (with Erin) blowing out her candles....

Zoe turned 7 on Sunday 10 January 2010. To celebrate, she had her first friends invited party at Madtown Twisters, a gymnastics facility in Madison. She invited her entire class - 13 children (7 boys and 6 girls). Plus her best friend, Erin. In addition, her 3 siblings (Clara 12, Tristan 9, and Neo 3) came along. All attended, save one little boy who wasn't able to attend, because his sister was having a birthday party on the same day.

Clara and Tristan on the trampolines.



Zoe with her friend Erin (Erin is 10 days younger)

We made fruit kabobs. Neo made his own version with apple wedges. We also had a veggie and apple platter. (I didn't think the apples would spear well - but Neo showed me otherwise).

Neo landing in the foam blocks

The party started at 11am with 1 hour of time in the gym. There were trampolines, foam block pits, balance beams, bounce house, a rope to swing from, and a maze. The children had a great time.

Soulara, Grace and Ellie enjoying pizza

At noon, Papa John's made the pizza delivery - 6, 14" pizzas. Zoe had "My Little Pony" paper plates, cups, and napkins. We went with "generic" party hats - that the children had fun with. One girl wasn't able to play in the gym so she joined us in the party room for lunch.

Lorelei made this great pillow for Zoe :)

We had cupcakes with 7 candles plus the number 7 candle. It took Zoe several trys to blow all the candles out, perhaps because of all her missing teeth?


Jackson, Arun, Aidan, and Samuel

Afterward, some of the children wanted to go back to the gym...while others wanted Zoe to open the gift they had given to her. Zoe received many lovely gifts with many proud prouncements of "I picked that out myself".


Zoe and Ella

The party was a good opportunity for me to put names with faces in Zoe's class - and to meet their parents. I haven't met many since Zoe started at St James school in October.

When we got home, Zoe opened a few more gifts. We had more fun with the birthday hats. Then we wrote the thank you notes and took them to school on Monday.

Zoe's new robe and "paper dolls" book from Grandma Stallman

Last Day of Winter Break

Neo and Tristan with their snow creatures
Tomorrow, Monday January 4, 2010, we get back to it. The kids to their schools and Dave to his work. Neo will begin a new preschool program on Tuesday. It will be good for him to have other kids to play with. He will miss his siblings very much on Monday.

On the first day of break, December 21, we drove down to Mineral Point to reclaim Apt 3. I had evicted the tenant in court on November 24 and spoke with him immediately after the hearing. He promised to be moved out by the 30th. The court ordered he leave the apartment in 10 days, or December 3rd. On December 4, I showed the apartment building to prospective buyers and the tenant was still living in the unit. I went to the court, secured an order from the judge to have the sheriff evict the tenant. Sheriff spoke with tenant and he agreed to be moved by December 14. On the 15th, they called to say they thought he was gone. On the 17th Sheriff called to say he wasn't gone, we'd have to change the locks. On the 18th, I had my handyman go with the Sheriff to change the locks. On 31 December, I showed the apartment to a young couple who were thrilled! The new tenants and their 2 cats have moved in.

Rain turned to ice

December 24th, and it's raining again. Neo and Tristan were playing in the yard. Neo was waving a stick around when he got a piece of bark and ice in his left eye. Finally, after Christmas eve service, we took him to the urgent care. The looked for any foreign object but didn't see anything. He was very brave as they put in two different drops - first to numb, then to test for a scratch. He broke down when the were in the middle of irrigating his eye. Poor boy.

Clara with her Coal
On Christmas eve, our tradition is to open the stockings which always have a small treat and new pajamas. Clara's pajama bottoms fit, but the top was too small - the sizes were mismatched! So she ended up with a "lump of coal"

Standing water on path at Vilas
The day after Christmas, we went to the Hallmark store for our annual "special" ornament purchase. We each pick out an ornament, write the date on it. When they are grown, the children will take their collections with them. We went to a few sales - and Tristan bought some special coins at the coin shop as part of his Christmas gifts - he had received money from grandparents.

December 26 was very warm. It had been raining for 2 days and above freezing so the snow cover was beginning to melt, causing backups in the sewer and standing water everywhere. It was strange to see the ice rink melted again. We went to Vilas park to walk in the slush and played on the playground.


The kids and I went bowling. Neo loves to bowl! They played two games. Neo bowled a higher score then his siblings in the 2nd game. Tristan was not amused. We bowled again with my dear friend Kathleen and her children on January 2nd. Neo and Rachael tied. Neo was using bumpers, Rachael wasn't.

Took Clara and Neo to see the Holiday Fantasy Lights - you can see the capitol in the background

During the 2nd week of break, I took the kids to the bargain movie theatre ($2.50). They saw "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and I took Neo to see "Julie and Julia". I really like it. Neo ate his popcorn with cheese flavoring, then went to sleep. The other patrons were surprised at how good he was.

Christmas Eve Ice

It snowed yesterday and overnight. The rain began this morning. It was freezing rain at first, then changing over to rain as the temperatures rose. The forecast is for more rain into the night then changing back to snow as the temperatures fall below freezing again. What a mess things will be on Christmas day!

Our neighbor was on his roof removing snow!



Neo and Tristan used the new snow to build snow folk.


I must be distracted by the ice and snow this year because I forgot about my appointment for one of my favorite events of the year: the Christmas Eve American red Cross blood drive at the Alliant Energy center. There is music, Santa, a festive atmosphere. Really a wonderful event - and I missed it.

While Neo was outside in the morning, he was waving a stick around. A piece of ice and the stick caught him in the eye. After Christmas Eve church service at Blackhawk church, I took him to the Urgent Care. He explained to the doctor what happened. He was very brave while they looked for any foreign matter. But he began to cry about 1/2 way through the eye irrigation procedure. What a way to spend Christmas Eve.

I think I hear Santa arrive about 11pm. Norad Santa watch confirms that.

The Big Snow

The snow cover we had prior to the "big event"

On Tuesday 7 December, Dave left for work about 7am. There had been a 1-2 inch snowfall overnight - just enough to make the roads slippery. Dave called at 7:30 to say that he had lost control of his vehicle while merging onto the beltline. He said his car had done a 180. Fortunately, he was not injured and the car came to rest on the side of the road, facing the wrong way. He said he backed up and drove to work. There was a small amount of damage on the car - on the bumper. He was very fortunate.

Tuesday night the weather forecast was for a large storm coming our way. This storm had already created havoc for the western part of the United States. The school districts were convinced and closed for Wednesday before the snow really began. At 3am, we were awaken by flashes outside - lightning with the snow? Then there were pops and more flashes and our power went out. It stayed out for 2-1/2 hours.

By morning, there were 15 inches of snow on the ground. The snow event was one of the largest in Madison's history. The snow was wet and heavy. It clung everywhere! It was a beautiful morning. Everything covered in white. Many tree branches were down. The large pine tree next to our house had several broken branches...which might have been the popping noises we heard. The branches not broken were bent over from the weight of the snow.

With the temperature right at 32, it was a mild day - perfect to spend some time outside moving snow and playing in it.

Our kids helped with shoveling but also created snow forts and went sledding down the small hills in our backyard.

I had just gotten the snow thrower repaired and tuned up a couple of days before, perfect timing. Even with the snow blower, it was slow going clearing the snow from our driveway and sidewalks. Dave managed to injure his back while shoveling. He said he felt a disc move and heard a pop. He walked around bent over for most of a week. He finally went in for chiropractic adjustment on Friday 18 December.

Because of the amount of snow, the city of Madison was closed down. All nonessential employees were ordered to stay home.

The city roads were not cleared very well. On Thursday, schools were opened. Dave went into work. Zoe wasn't feeling well so stayed home from school. We drove Tristan to school, then stayed home. When it was time to pick Tristan up from school, we found that the city was still a mess. The roads were not cleared very well and still very slippery. Traffic crawled. It took me 40 minutes to get to Shorewood - a trip the usually takes 10 minutes.

There was a truck stopped on Regent street because the power line had dragged on it. Because of the truck, Clara's bus was diverted. It took her 1 hour and 10 minutes longer then usual to make it home.
Dave called to say the he had lost control of his car again on the way home. He said he had plowed into a snowbank to avoid hitting another vehicle. It took him 2 hours to get home after calling AAA for road assistance to get out of the snowbank.

Catching Up

It's December 2009 and we've managed to get integrated into our old life, more or less. We are living in our house. I am working part time from home and managing our 4 unit apartment building. Dave is working at the same company he worked at prior to our departure. Tristan is back at Shorewood Elementary school. Clara is back at Hamilton Middle School. Zoe didn't want to go back to Shorewood, so we enrolled her at St. James school, where she happily attends 1st grade in a class with 14 students.

It took months to feel like we were "home." Part of this is because of the reception I received upon my return to Madison (for more details, follow this link then click the back button to continue on in the blog). It took Dave's work more then 2 months to bring him onboard upon our return. Getting into the swing of the schools and work really helped to settle us in.

We have some wonderful friends and neighbors. But these relationships have changed because of absence. We have changed too. We are settled. Madison and our house feel like "home" but....we'll keep our options open.

Thanksgiving Visitor

Dave's mom, Grandma Stallman, came for a visit on Tuesday 24 November. She had some difficulties with unreliable aircraft on the way out, so her flights were changed and delayed....and her bag was lost. Her bag was delivered Tuesday night.

We enjoyed grocery shopping in preparation for Thanksgiving meal on Thursday 26 November. On turkey day, we worked together to create the Thanksgiving feast - including a turkey and a tofurky. Everything was delicious!

On Black Friday, I got up early to score a good deal on a new digital camera and other gifts. Clara came with me. The lines were incredibly long just to enter the Target store at 5:15 am - and the store had been open for 15 minutes already. Grandma gave each of the children money for Christmas and they spent it before the day was through. Grandma got to see the gifts they chose for themselves.

We went to Olbrich gardens as a family. It's a beautiful place and was a nice outing.

Grandma left for home early Saturday morning. She didn't have any trouble on the way back.

A Week with the Cousins in Beautiful Washington

Neo 2-1/2 and Eve 1-1/2


"The Cousins" range in age from age 12 years to 18 months

The goal of our road trip through California and Oregon was to spend time with "the cousins". They live on the side of a mountain on the outskirts of beautiful Belfair, Washington with their mom and dad - Aunt Ranae and Uncle Paul. It was the first time they got to meet Neo. It was our first meeting of their youngest too.


Aunt Ranae at Olympia State Park

We arrived about 4pm on Sunday, July 5. We departed on Sunday, July 12 about 10:30am. During our visit, we went on several natural outings - to the beach of Puget Sound, the river, and state parks. We also visited the zoo in Tacoma and went to Chuckie Cheese to celebrate Isaac's birthday. But mostly we talked and the children played.


Zoe and Eve at the Zoo

Ranae made some delicious meals. Everyone ate a lot. The eight children made a lot of noise at times. They all got to stay up past their usual bedtimes. I was limping around on a painful knee.


Enjoying icecream and a video in the living area

Their very large dog, Teddy, frightened Neo a little at first because of his size. Clara was delighted to have a dog to walk. She didn't appreciate his early morning barking spree.


Clara with Teddy, Ian following

Everyone had a fantastic time! It's a visit my children will not soon forget. My three oldest were ready to remain on so they could continue to play and have fun.


On a hike