Remembering Grandma...

Today started out as almost every Sunday does for us.  I was the first one up, enjoying the sights and sounds of early morning before everyone in our house, dogs included, is up and awake for the day.  Shortly after 7 a.m., my phone rang and when I saw it was my Dad on the phone, I figured this was probably the call that I'd been dreading to hear for some time and it was.  He informed me that my Grandma had passed away about 3:30 a.m. and while this was news that I didn't want to hear, I almost felt a sigh of relief escape my body after hanging up the phone.  Grandma was 97, had lived a very full life living on her own until just two months ago, and she was "ready to go."  Her hearing had been going for some time now, her eyesight was very poor and her body was just failing.  She had been waiting for the day that she could be reunited with Grandpa, the love of her life, and meet up her Maker for eternity in Heaven and she got that day today.

Gram played a very important role in my life.  She and my Grandpa became second parents to my sister and me when our parents were going through their divorce.  We lived with Gram and Grandpa during this time and after our Dad remarried, we spent almost every Sunday with Gram and Grandpa doing such fun things as going to church, fishing, teaching us how to drive and taking us for our road tests, going for rides, playing cards and lots and lots of music.

Gram hailed from Mount Tabor, WI, which is very near where I live now.  She used to tell my sister and me that we should really find a boy from Hillsboro to marry as those Bohemians are great people!  (Hillsboro prides itself on being the Czech Capital of Wisconsin and is full of Bohemians and I'm proud to say that I'm one of them!)  I did heed Gram's advice and found a Hillsboro boy in 1992 and even though it took him 4 years to get up the courage to ask me to marry him, he did 18 years ago tomorrow and we were married just a few months later.  He may not have been Bohemian, but he was Irish and Gram approved of him. 

Gram could cook like no other.  Her kolache was the absolute best!  I remember when I was little and Gram would make that and all the cousins would come running once word got out that she had made kolache.  She made poppyseed, prune, apricot and apple and we all had our favorites.  Mine was prune.  On Christmas Eves, the entire Bell Family could be found at Grandma and Grandpa's after chores, waiting to eat that kolache she had made.  Many have tried to replicate her recipe and my sister-in-law, Lisa, has come the closest.  Her kolaches are just like Gram's!

I'm very lucky that our boys got to know Gram, too.  They loved going to visit her and see the cows across the road from her house.  She always had candy in her candy dish and that's something the boys never forgot: the candy and where she kept her little cans of pop.

Gram's funeral will be later this week and I know that's going to be an incredibly difficult day for me, but I need to remember the bigger picture.  She's in Heaven now and I will see her again.  She has taught me so much about how I should live my life and I could never thank her enough for all she has done for me.  

Love you, Gram! <3

Banding with the Boys

The boys used some of their Christmas money to purchase looms in January from Jo-Ann's Fabric and Craft Store.  They had been seeing rubber band bracelets that their friends had been making and they wanted to give it a shot.  We figured we'd start out small with some bags of bands and see where that took them.  If they didn't care much for it, we wouldn't be out much.

Well, this simple loom has literally provided hours and hours if not days of fun for the boys.  From bracelets to necklaces and now charms, our house has been taken over by rubber band jewelry!  Their work started out with the simple bracelets and they've now ventured off into making charms and animals.  The boys have scoped patterns online and used countless YouTube videos to assist them in their creations.

In addition to keeping them entertained, the looms have also provided the boys with some very important lessons.

• If at first you don't succeed, try again ~ Not every pattern or creation that they've attempted has turned out.  This is where they need to start over and give it another shot.  This has been easier for Brock to grasp than Jake, but we're working on it.

• Find a passion and pursue it ~ Some may say that making rubber band jewelry is a "girl thing" but we have never told the boys that.  We've always encouraged them to find something they enjoy doing and stick with it.  They've shared their creations with friends at school and have gotten such pride from sharing what they've made all by themselves.

It has been so much fun watching the boys enjoy these looms and see what they decide to create with them. We're looking forward to many more creations!

Baking with Brock

At one of the former school districts I worked in, I had a little boy who was always checking out cookbooks so that he could take them home and make some of the recipes with his mom.  I always thought that was so sweet and wondered if I had a son if this would be something he'd do.

Well, Brock isn't checking out cookbooks at school...yet, but he is scoping Pinterest with me at times looking for neat things he can make.  He is a boy who really likes to bake and he has had a hand in making almost all of his Leader Day treats this year.

This past Tuesday night, we were busy here in our kitchen whipping up cupcakes with Peep bunnies on them.  Brock saw the bunnies at the grocery store and loved all their vibrant colors and thought his classmates would, too.  Brock helped mix the cake batter and then he was the Peep/sprinkles boy as he said he preferred to put the bunnies and sprinkles on.

The perfectionist in me wanted to "doctor up" some of the sprinkles he chose and how heavily they were put on, but I needed to take a step back and say, "This is Brock's baking and his way to express himself and I need to let it be."  I needed to remember that this is how he is going to learn and I treasure every minute that he wants to be with me baking because I don't know how long he'll still want to do this, but I'm hoping it's something he continues right into adulthood.  Who knows?  Maybe a cupcake will be the way to some special young lady's heart many years down the road!

The Kickapoo Valley Reserve ~ A Hidden Gem in Our Backyard

As the boys get older and are ever more interested in animals and the outdoors, we've been finding ourselves taking more and more advantage of all of the neat programs and offerings at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Yesterday we took in a program all about frogs.  We got to listen to the frog calls of a variety of different species which live in our area and learn about the best times to hear/see these frogs.  We even decided to be Citizen Scientists for frogs and turtles!  (To find out more information on becoming a Citizen Scientist, please see the Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey and the Wisconsin Turtle Conservation Program.)

Pictures Taken at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve

One program that is soon coming up, April 9th to be exact, is called "64 State Parks in 365 Days" and we will definitely be going to that!  We figured this would be an excellent presentation to learn more about our state parks and what they have to offer.  We have a goal to get the boys to all of the Wisconsin State Parks by the time that Brock graduates.  So far, we have taken the boys to the following Wisconsin State Parks: Devil's Lake, Copper Falls, Mirror Lake, Wildcat Mountain, and Governor Dodge.  We already have plans to hit Pattison and Amnicon Falls this summer when we venture North to Duluth.

Pictures Taken at Copper Falls State Park

The Lake Superior Ice Caves

Many of us living in the Midwest are ready for Spring.  It has been a long, cold winter that started in early November and doesn't look like it's going to be letting up any time soon as temps in the 20's are the expected highs for next week from what I'm hearing.  While some may complain about Mother Nature and how she's been a tough, old bear this year, I would like to compliment her on her freezing over of the Great Lakes and what a marvel that has been.

Starting in late January, the news seemed to be all abuzz about the Ice Caves near the Apostle Islands National Lake Shore.  The images shown of these beautiful winter wonders were absolutely stunning. Newscasts were stating that visitors hadn't been able to walk out to the Ice Caves in many years due to the thin ice, but this year was different.  The Great Lakes seemed to be closer to freezing over every day and the opportunity to see the caves in their winter splendor may just be a once in a lifetime happening.  I told Kris, "Boy, I would sure like to go up there and visit those.  How awesome would that be?"  I didn't expect the reaction I received from him, but he smiled at me and said, "Make it happen, wife!"

You don't need to tell me twice!  I quickly checked our school calendar to see when we'd have a possible Friday off so that we could head up north.  From the readings I was doing about the Ice Caves, it seemed like February was going to be the optimal time to view the caves, but we just didn't have any openings in our schedule until March 7th.  Readings said that many times the ice has thawed by March and the waves of Lake Superior have taken over to leave just the Sea Caves that summer visitors love to kayak to and explore.  We decided to take our chances and head to Bayfield on March 7th.  If the Ice Caves were gone, we'd still enjoy a wonderful weekend away, spending time in a part of our lovely state that we rarely get to.

Early Friday evening, we arrived at the Carriage House which we rented just outside of Bayfield.  What a wonderful place this was to stay for our family!  It had all the amenities of home and was just minutes away from the Ice Caves.  We enjoyed our stay so much here that we plan to go back again some year during the summer.

We decided to head to the Ice Caves on Saturday, March 8, and go early as we heard parking was crazy on the weekends near Meyers Beach where the trek to the Ice Caves begins.  We were there about 8 a.m. and had to park about a mile away which was nothing compared to the 4-6 miles we heard people were parking away on some weekends!

What we saw when we got to the Ice Caves was simply amazing!  Words cannot describe the beauty, so I will let our pictures speak for us.

We spent five hours out on the ice and it was absolutely incredible!  Temperatures were in the mid-20's, there was hardly a wind to speak of, and Mother Nature was at her best.  It truly was a wonderful experience and we're so glad that we went.  Were YOU one of the 138, 292 people who had the opportunity to visit the Ice Caves this winter?

Blogging About Our Adventures

Writing is something that is just in my genes.  Ever since I got my first diary as a little girl, I've enjoyed writing of all kinds.  I express myself best through the written word.  This probably played a big part in my decision to double major in both English and Journalism in college.  Between those two majors, I did quite a bit of writing!

Since getting married and starting a family, I haven't written a whole lot and quite frankly, I miss it.  After our last adventure, heading to the Lake Superior Sea Caves for an early birthday present, I started thinking about writing and blogging about our family adventures.  We do so many fun things and I'd like to have an online journal of them to look back on in the future.  Hence, the creation of this blog.

Last weekend I pitched the idea to my husband, Kris, and told him I was stumped as to a name for our blog. "Why don't you just title it 'The Malphy Family Adventures'?"  Genius!  I knew I married that man for a reason! :-)

And so begins The Malphy Family Adventures!

Our Family

 Photo by Crazy Daisy Photography