A smattering of photos...

Well, since I can't sleep--almost 9 months pregnant and can't seem to get comfortable, I might as well post some pictures. It has been a crazy, busy past few months, but filled with good things. I'll post some pictures to document some of the events.

Celebrating Grant's 5th birthday with Mexican food!

Grant requested the oreo-pudding-fresh berry dessert that is becoming a favorite around here.

Can't believe he is 5 already! 

 I don't know why my camera is acting up, but this is the before picture of our living room before we had the wood floor installed.

Ta-da!!! We love the wood floor as it really opens up the area, and makes our dining area bigger.

 Grant, Garrett and Shayla making posters for the Green Bay Packers

We were able to get free tickets through the Boosters Football program, so I loaded up the kids and headed for Green Bay (about 4 hours away).  We had a blast, even thought the Packers lost. 

It was their first pre-season game against the Browns.

 Packer's Mania!!!

 Lambeau Field is amazing! We had such a good time. Wish Tyler could have been there, but he was traveling...

Here he is next to a giant Budda. From August 15 to Sept. 15th he visited China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil and Chile (I think I missed a few countries in there...) and was gone for 25 days. We were so glad when he got home last Friday--home to stay now until after our baby arrives!!!

 6th grade band for Ty--we now have a percussionist in the family!

 8-months pregnant baby! Taken on Aug. 27th.

 Miya's first night in the bottom bunk, sharing a room with Shayla. She is notorious for getting out of bed to play, but at least she doesn't leave the room. She will happily play for hours until I threaten to put her in the baby crib to sleep. She loves being so grown up and can't wait to share everything with her baby sister. Let's just hope that excitement holds up to the reality of losing her place as the center of the universe.

Football season has begun! Ty playing tackle and Garrett playing flag.

 The last hoorah of summer! Camping at Willow River State Park with friends. 

This is the fort the kids built and hung out in--I was quite impressed!

 Hiking--I hiked down all the hills and then waited at the beach for a ride back :) Not a bad way to hike.

 Lots of beach time--Shayla and Miya building sand castles

Ty and Jackson had a blast canoeing in the river--not sure if they spent more time in the river after swamping it or in the canoe...

Catching frogs at night--a favorite with the kids

 Back to reality--first day of Middle School for Ty!

 First day of 4th grade for Shayla!

 First day of 2nd Grade for Garrett!

 And first day of Kindergarten for Grant!

 Getting off the bus on the first day--so grown up!

 The Running of the Llamas in Hammond, WI.  Yes, llamas. The owners of all of the llamas in the area race them down main street for the grand prize of a bucket of salad greens. They race in groups of 4 and then the winners of the first heats race each other for the title of grand champion. The kids had a blast picking who would win and cheering on their llamas. (you can see some of the llamas in the background of this pic).

Oh, the suspense, waiting for the race to begin

I realized i haven't taken "after" pictures of our finished basement. I'll try to post some soon. For now, all I have are these of the under-the-stairs-kid hideout.

A talented friend of mine painted a mural on the wall of scenes from the cabin. she used chalk-board paint, so the kids can draw with chalk on the walls and add their own details to the scene. It turned out great, and the kids love hanging out in their fort!

Here is the other wall--across from it is a moose in the water.

It's a little piece of the cabin here in Wisconsin--we love it!

odds and ends...

There is so much I'd like to blog about, but I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water just LIVING all of these experiences each day. Maybe someday when things slow down I'll go back in time and archive more of these event.

For now, I'm just going to post a smattering of fun pictures and events that have happened in the last 6 months or so. Enjoy!

 Ty was introduced to the sport of Lacrosse this spring by a good friend and instantly became a fan. It is part hockey, part football and very fast paced and physical. What's not to love about it? 

 Grant graduated from preschool in May 2012. Here he is with Ms. Angie.

This preschool was nicknamed "the farm" preschool and it's name did not disappoint. 

Everyday he got to help feed the goats and chickens, go for a hike through the woods and climb the best climbing tree a kid could imagine. He had such a good time and did great!

 Ty performing in his last elementary school concert. 

They were singing Oklahoma and even did some square dancing--I loved it!

 End of the year field trips--this one I took Grant and Miya to. It was a little town that had been restored to what it was like 100 years ago. Miya loved the old schoolhouse.

 Garrett, Grant, Miya and I after our picnic on the field trip.

 Shayla played traveling soccer this year and enjoyed it.

She had to give up gymnastics though, and is excited to go back to it in the fall.

She still spends time every day working on her back handsprings and flips on the trampoline.

She is SUPER excited about watching gymnastics on the olympics this week! (me, too!)

 My good friend painted this tree on the wall of our nursery. I love it and can't wait for our little girl to see her new room.

 Grant's first track meet! He did such a great job--everyone in the crowd kept pointing at him and marveling at how little he was, yet how fast he was running.

He didn't quite know what to do with the attention when people would walk up to him and tell him "great job!" He did a great job staying in his lane and loved everything about it (except the starting gun--it made him jump every time :)

 The fruits of his labors

 Shayla is fun to watch--she has great form!

 Ty, Shayla, Garrett, Grant and Miya. They had a lot of fun and each improved their time.

Ty and Garrett participated in the 1 mile run and got 5:56 and 7:32, respectively.

Too bad I can't run as fast as my boys!

 Soccer was fun--the weather was beautiful so it was fun sitting out watching them play

Grant loved his first season of soccer. Whenever someone on his team would score a goal he would run around the field high-fiving everyone and whooping it up like they had just won the world cup.

I love sports the best at this age!

Okay, next to come...

pictures of our basement-finishing project. It is coming along great and we should be finished in a few weeks.

Summer Time!!!

The kids' last day of school was Friday!!!

We celebrated by going to a neighborhood root beer float party

and then hiking at Willow River State Park. 

 Grant and Miya feeding the geese. These geese were NOT shy--they'd try to take the bread right out of their hands.

Made me nervous...

 Garrett showing me his number scroll on the last day of school.

He got to 7,000-something and was proud to have the longest scroll in his class! 

Shayla is ready for the summer!

Ty had his 5th grade graduation--look out Middle School, here he comes!

He got to share some memories of his grade school days and it made me a little sad that he is growing up so fast and a lot proud to hear what he had to say. I thought i'd include his speech here at the end, for the grandparents (I did record it, but somehow it got deleted off of my phone :(

"Through my elementary years I have achieved many goals, and there are many more that I am still striving for. I hope I've shown enough respect to all my wonderful teachers who have helped me reach my goals. Such as ones as little as learning my A,B,C's. My teachers have all helped shape the character I'm today. They've taught me to be respectful, to never give up, and to always think of others first. I hope I can share these characteristics with others someday.

One of my first memories was going to the apple orchard with my wonderful kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Sexe. I remember how proud I was to be picking my own apples. I remember how crisp and juicy the mouthwatering apples tasted! My first grade teacher Mrs. Baumann was one amazing first grade teacher. I remember the bunk bed Mrs. Baumann had. I thought it was so cool! I wasn't here in second grade but I still had an awesome teacher Mrs. Amorelli at River Crest. I can't forget my third grade teacher Mrs. Frydach. She was so patient with me. I remember fourth grade very vividly. Our class talked a lot! I was one of the kids who talked a lot. And I'm still working on that. But Mrs. Ida always kept a great attitude. 

One of my last memories from my elementary school is Camp St. Croix! It was an action packed three days. Full of rock climbing, hiking, delicious food, and many bonding experiences. Mrs. Shimon made fifth grade my favorite year by far because of her exuberant attitude, and loving heart. Elementary school is a blast and it will forever have a special impact on my life." by Tyler K. Hacking

Happy New Year!!!

So one of the Hacking family traditions that we enjoy is eating strange foods to ring in the new year. i forgot to take any pictures this year, but we had a great new year's celebration with some good friends over to share it with. We feasted upon blue-cheese stuffed olives, cajun cheese curds, headcheese (not my favorite), varieties of pate, lots of crackers and cheese, smoked salmon, and of course, bubbly (sparkling cider).

So these pictures are from a few days later when we opened the can of sardines we had missed earlier for the celebration. I love how Miya just thinks it is normal to eat little fish out of a can. I wish I had her same enthusiasm :) Grant has a palate more like my own and he couldn't stomach the little fish. Shayla didn't like them either. All in all it was a great start to the New Year. Still working on my resolutions...

Cabin Time!

Just a quick 24 hour trip, but we enjoyed a delicious cabin breakfast (thanks, Tyler), hot dogs and s'mores for dinner, salamander hunting in the pond, moose spotting and lots of good time to talk. Thanks so much to Ang and Jeff for coming up with us.

Tyler and Lani

Playing guns is always a favorite cabin activity.

Whenever the camera appears, Miya puts on her cheesy smile :)

Angie and Tate

Swimming in the ice-cold beaver pond. Ang and I watched from the side. Brrrrr...

On our trek home we camped somewhere in a beautiful valley in Wyoming. It was a fun end to our vacation.

Grant all smiles for our last breakfast. Until next vacation!