I have been terrible at keeping this up-to-date, but here is another updated on our family. Maybe after baby comes I will have lots of time to do updated more frequently...HA!
Paul - Paul is working for the Federal Government at the local VA Regional office. He loves his new job and has transitioned from field work to the office quite nicely. He is even keeping his eyes peeled for ways to grow and do more for the VA. In the last couple of years working with Vets and helping them has become a true passion of his. Paul is grateful for the help he has received from the VA and encourages other Vets to look into their options & programs available to them. It is the least we as a country can do for many of these men & women who put their lives on the line for our freedom. Paul has also been hard at work getting the nursery ready for Baby C to make their arrival. Paul has had a lot of help from his brother, Steve, to transform a bedroom in our house into the beautiful and usable space for the baby. So far he has opened the closet making it a more usable space, finished the Hardwood floors, painted, hung wainscoting & replaced ALL the woodwork in the room. He has been a busy body! Now it has been my turn to get the room set up and get organized.
Josh - Josh just started the 2nd semester of his senior year. Just a few short weeks and he will be done with High School. Senior year has proven to be a little more difficult as I think Senioritis set in a little too early. But slowly he is making it through the year. On July 9th he will be leaving for Marines Boot Camp in San Diego, CA. While he is excited for this transition, I think there is a healthy level of fear too. Just like there is/was when any of us left home for the first time. It is a scary move to not "be a kid" living within the confines of home. But I have faith that he will do just fine. Paul & I are excited to watch him grow and mature into a young man. Paul is hoping to be able to go to San Diego for his graduation from boot camp in October. It will be such a proud day for our family.
Claire - Claire is busy as ever and turning into such a little lady! Claire is doing Destination Imagination (DI) again this year. Her coach for the last 2 years has moved up to the middle school level so she is now on a new team and doing a new challenge. This year she is on the Improv team. Their challenge revolves around cause & effect within current events. It will be a FUN challenge to watch - comical if nothing else. Her humor has really come out doing this challenge. Some of the off-cuff remarks and sayings she comes up with are hilarious, paired with her facial reactions, she keeps up in stitches most of the time. Claire is also a Jr. Art Docent for her school, in the gifted/talented program, taking piano lessons & sings in the church junior choir. Needless to say she is VERY busy! Claire has also taking part in helping prepare for the arrival of her new sibling. While she was unsure of how she felt about the baby at first...she is anxiously awaiting "its" arrival in March. Claire has been very helpful in the nursery as well. She helped Paul do some cleaning & filling of nail holes, she has also put together toys & completely organized the changing table contents for me. She is such a trooper!!
Tonya – I have been busy with work and cooking this baby! Here in the 3rd Trimester my evenings at home consist of eating & sleeping for the most part. I am growing and changing all the time now, I can hardly keep up. 40 hours of work each week and the chores that need to be completed at home have become exhausting, but I am trying to make the best of it and do a little everyday. Although on the weekends I seem to overdo it. This past weekend I was able to celebrate with friends & family with a shower that was thrown by my Sister-in-Law Sara, Cousin Lynn & Best Friend Brooke. It was such a fun time!! Thank you to everyone involved & who came to celebrate with me. Baby C & I are truly blessed to have each of you in our lives! I am also preparing for a big change in my life, as I will not be returning to work full time after maternity leave. This is going to be a huge change but I am looking forward to being able to spend the days with my Baby and Paul will be able to enjoys a few nights & weekends bonding with the baby too.
As a family we have a lot of exciting events to look forward to this spring & summer:
March – Baby C’s arrival
April – DI State Tournament
May –Tonya’s 10 year class reunion in Kansas
June – Graduation & Baptism
In the midst of a crazy year, we hope to see & spend time with many of you. We hope that your 2012 is off to a good start and wish you all nothing but the best this coming year!
So I have not done so well with updating this as much as I should...I will try harder, promise! :)
Things have been very busy in our house:
Paul: was laid off late last year from Wausau Steel and has been looking for a job, still. The market is so slow and the trades are suffering. But he has kept his head high and is proactively looking as I type this message. We all hope that the economy bounces back quickly and things can start getting back to "normal". Paul has enjoyed the Wisconsin sports scene in the last year...Packers won the Super Bowl, Wisconsin basketball advanced to the Sweet 16, and now, Brewers season has started. Not to such a great start with the Season Opener Thursday (3/31) - but he has high hopes for his hometown team! GO BREWERS!
Josh: Josh got his first job in August - he is the cart goon for Target as well as a cashier. He loves working - surprise! Not sure if he loves the social aspect of it or the money more. It has given him some good learning opportunities. It was a bumpy start - but we think he has caught on well and is a work horse! Josh is in his junior year and has had to start thinking a lot about his future and what his plans are post-high school. Him and Paul talked Tech schools, working and even met with a Marine recruiter. Josh has just recently made up his mind and has a new goal in mind...Paul and I will be proud to be the Dad & stepmother of a great Marine! This is an exciting & scary decision all at the same time. With Josh's motivation to work and desire to make a difference, we think he will make the best Marine. While Josh is scarred of what the future holds for him (like any 17yo about to leave the nest), he is excited to have a goal and something to look forward to. We will see where this venture leads him. Josh is also currently enrolled in Drivers Ed - so Mequon/Thiensville/Menomonee Falls people - watch out!
Claire: Claire just finished her 2nd year in Destination Imagination with Mr. & Mrs. Mohar. They did so great! This years challenge was to describe the energy cycle. They did this through a skit complete with songs, costumes (made by the kids), scene changes & all while demonstrating different types of energy! It still amazes me how much these kids can learn and do all on their own! The competed on the Regional level last weekend (3/26) and did not advance to state - but I think had one of the best skits I have seen. They had definitely improved from last year. Claire has also been singing in the choir at her mom's church and recently got permission to sing/play the piano as pre-service music at our church. This week she also started Track & Field. We are not sure what events she is interested at yet, she is still exploring her options, but I am sure that her long legs will benefit her. Claire is also still taking occasional horse back riding lessons (English riding) and Piano - both of which I see as being lifetime passions of hers. She is doing great in school. This year she tested into the gifted & talented program at County Line which has challenged her on a new level. Her teacher is also good at pre-testing her on new units/lessons and making them more challenging if she needs it.
And then there is me---nothing huge has changed. I am still with Realty Executives Integrity. I love my job and the people I work with. I think that over the last year with new challenges and responsibilities I have grown and changed in so many positive ways. I have also started volunteering with our church's Youth program. I love the fact that I am getting my toes wet in the ministry again. I am planning some fun youth events for this summer that I am looking forward to. I have also continued my hobby of baking and decorating cakes. I am currently working on a couple projects for my nephew, Cameron's, first birthday party this weekend. So hard to believe he is going to be a year old! I will have to post pictures of the cake when it is done.
There is the Chmielewski update! I will try to not let 10 months get away from me next time! God Bless!
Things have been busy as spring is just around the corner. A couple weeks ago, Paul & Claire had their daddy/daughter date night. Paul and Claire got all dressed up and went out on the town. They had a nice dinner & Danced the night away. Claire loved that she got Paul all to herself for a night. Paul, was happier than a pig in mud that he got a chance to spend such quality time with Claire. We both talked, and agree that they should plan more daddy/daughter time. She adores him so much! While they were away, Joshn & I just got a play bums at home. We did some talking and watched movies, great night in my book too!
That week also was exciting for me, I accepted a promotion at work making me the manager for the front desk staff for all of our offices. Time since then has been a lot of training and learning the ropes. First task at hand was hiring a new front desk staffer to take the position of the former manager who took another position in the company. It has been fun and forced me to grow in my own skin. I have learned some lessons already in the few short weeks, all of which have been for the better. I believe that this process is going to make me a better and stronger, more confident person. I am looking very much forward to the possiblites that this promotion will give me.
Last week we celebrated Paul's 40th birthday. The night before his big 4-0 we had his family and close friends over for his favorite dinner (Tomaso's Pizza) and ColdStone Ice Cream Cake. He was in heaven! It was so nice to have everyone together. And thanks to the help of Brooke, I was able to get everything together and pull it off!
Claire is getting ready for her big DI (Destination Imagination) competition. We got a chance to view what all she has been practing for many hours each week. Friday we all met at her school to see each of the teams run through their skits. We might be biased...but we think Claire's team did the best. Although each of the teams were fun to watch. Claire's team has the challenge of doing a skit & building a DI-bot that moves on its own. The story follows a martian that has only one arm, and is wanting to make a piece of art and decides to incorporate a robot to help out. It is a cute story, which the kids came up with on their own. We are looking forward to going to the competition on the 27th to see how they do next to other area teams. If they do well enough, they will be headed to nationals in TN. We will be sure to update everyone when the compete.
So things continue to change around the house and at work. As if life ever slows down, ha!
The house is coming together. We have recently just about finished the living room and are left with only the little touches that make it home. The fireplace is almost complete, except the mantel. The walls are painted, the TV up and all components hooked up as of tonight. Also the new furniture is in place. The house is feeling like it is more set up, than torn apart as it has seemed in the last year.
At work things are now changing again for me. After a great holiday season, I was approached about a change in my job. Last week I accepted the management position for the front desk staff on top of my other responsibilites. I have started some training and will get more into it next week. While management is not something I have a lot of experience in, I am very much looking forward to the growth and challenges it offers. I think that I can really grow and learn a lot during this venture.
As for Paul, much is the same. Working long hours for Wausau Steel and really enjoys his job and co-workers.
Josh is a sophomore at Homestead. He is struggling through Spanish (praise God that this is his last semester!) other than that, he enjoys school. He has a few classes that he found he really enjoys and has talked about exploring them further, engineering & autos.
Claire is still doing gymnastics, while the competition season is done she is training and preparing to try out for level 5. She is also on a team at school Destination Imagination (DI) which is a problem solving group. They have their competition coming up soon and if they place have a shot at going to TN for nationals.
Enjoy!
In an attempt to keep in better contact, and to stay in touch, I have decided to start this website so that family and friends both near and far, can feel much closer and connected. Please feel free to drop us a line, comment on what we are doing and share what is new with you and your family.
~the Chmielewski's