All About Clayton

Recently, I've gotten alot of messages through Facebook about Emma being my "favorite" child....so not true. Anyone who is a parent knows that you don't have a favorite - you love them the same amount equally. However, there are different things that I love about each of them that doesn't necessarily pertain to the other. Emma is a handful, while cute as a button. Clayton is ultra laidback, a parent's dream. I could have a week's worth the posts outlining their differences!









25 + Things I Love About Clayton (..this could easily turn into a thousand)







Dear Clayton,

1) You were my firstborn~through you,I learned about love at first sight.

2) Based on age, you are hands down the most intelligent person I know.

3) How outgoing you are - you'll talk to anyone about anything.

4) Your drive and your belief in yourself - you are going to be an outstanding man one day!

5) How kind you are to others ~ it's amazing!

6) You are an OUTSTANDING son!

7)..But a more incredible brother..there are days it brings me to tears. Sissy can be tough!

8) Even at just 7 years old, you possess far more patience than I can dream of having.

9) You are not afraid to dream and dream BIG!

10) You still love crawling into our bed to snuggle...someday I'll miss this!

11)You are the best snuggler!

12) You are GREAT at Math!

13) You love to read and are an awesome reader!!

14) You have the happiest disposition I've ever seen in a child...even though you were a REALLY cranky baby. (In your defense, your father and I were pretty clueless....)

15) You know just about every.single.dinosaur.

16) You are probably the most passionate person I know in regards to your family and your interests. You are always "all in".

17) You make friends instantly.

18) Your big appetite - I am SCARED how much it will cost to feed you as a teenager$$$

19) Your desire and visions to change the world - even though you're only 7.

20) You still count Daddy and I as your best friends :)

21) You are ultra responsible. I would trust you with about anything.

22) You are a positive role model for your sister and your peers - keep it up!

23) You have a fearless heart for God- I struggle with this myself and admire it in you. .

24) You are always polite and well mannered - makes for some very proud parents!

25) You always see the silver lining - thank you for sharing it with me. :)

26)How quickly you learn!

27) How you are totally willing to go out of your comfort zone to try something new!

28) Your love of travel and adventure - I hope we have many more!!!!

29)You are fiercely protective - especially of Emma. She's lucky to have you!

30) You are impossibly inquisitive. Thank goodness for the internet - it helps me answer some
of your questions with a degree of accuracy.

Being your Mom is one of the biggest joys..you've taught me so much about myself and the person I would like to be. If there is such a thing as perfection - I see it in you. I love you a bushel and peck and hug around the neck xoxoxo







Love, Momma

Miss Emma Grace

Ms. Emma Grace is now 3 1/2 years old and is quite the little lady! She recently had her first haircut and had about 8 inches taken off. She is a sweet, busy little girl!

Clayton is 6!!!!!!!

How did that happen? How is this sweet, wonderful, amazing little boy 6 already? All we know is that the world is going to be a much better place because of him!!!! This kids potential is unlimited! Clayton, We Love You!

Okay....So Now We Really Are Back!

Breaking news from the Honer Family......we are relocating to Sheboygan, Wisconsin this summer!?!?!?!? Excited? Yes. Nervous? Absolutely! Anxious? Of course. For pretty much all of our lives, we have lived in the same area. Our families, friends and jobs are here. So why are we moving? Brian has accepted a new position with Alliant Energy at their Edgewater Power Station in Sheboygan. We'll keep you updated....I think we'll have to! It's going to feel like we're a world away!!!!!!!!

Okay...Okay...We're back on the blog!

Funny! I didn't really think that anyone checked this and suddenly I get a bunch of comments asking me if I am ever going to update!?!?! If you're still there and checking, I actually have alot of catching up to do so be patient. Naturally, I have a hundred cute stories and thousands of pics so this could take awhile!

For Those of You Who Hate Winter.......

Sharks!?!?! In Lake Redstone????

Hey! Give me that camera! No pics of me in my bathing suit!

Lookout David Hasselhoff!!!

I'm gonna catch me some water for my pail!

Vilas Zoo 2006

The New Carousel at Vilas Zoo

**Emma's very first ride on a carousel!**

Mr. Mom

Zonked Out!

The Big Snoozers!

I wonder if my house will be this peaceful tonite........

Wish Brian luck! He is going to need it. This week I am back to work full time in the evenings and Brian gets the kiddos from 4pm until I get home. We have a person in Reedsburn who is watching them from about 2:30 until Brian picks them up when he is done with work. We actually call their babysitter our "Manny". He is a stay at home Dad with 3 children of his own - 3 1/2 yr old twin boys and a 15 month old girl. It is wonderful that the kids are almost exactly the same ages! Instead of feeling guilty that I am sending them to daycare, I feel more as if I am sending them on a playdate. And they both love Daddy so I am sure that anything will go in the evening. I can see myself becoming the "bad guy" already! I will miss dinner and bathtime which are two of my favorite times of their days. But Brian is fairly competent so we will see how it goes.....................

Specialist Colt Froehlich

My brother Colt is supposed to be emailing me some pics....if he ever does, this spot is reserved for him. After 14 months serving in the desert during Operation Iraqi Freedom, he VOLUNTEERED to go and serve in Afghanistan. I am torn between being proud and questioning his sanity. Mostly we are just so proud and praying for his safe return! We are counting the days!

Playing Catch Up With Pictures!!!!!

Emma Grace's Baptism 1/8/06 w/Aunt "Sashi"

Such a fancy dress for such a little girl!

"This dress is delicious!"

Buzz Lightyear Halloween 2005

Raggedy Ann Halloween 2005

Clayton and the 4ft Dinosaur!

Clayton and his BFF "Cooter" aka his cousin Dakota
(w/Aunt Sashi peeking in)

Were they really this little only a year ago???

Enjoy! Hundreds more to come eventually!

Who Is This Little Blonde Boy?

Clayton and Mommy (Emma Grace in belly) **May 2005

"Why don't all the deer let me pet them?"

Mall of America - Camp Snoopy March 2005

I love this picture!!! Hee Hee He's going to hate me someday! But, truthfully, for all the thousands of pictures that we have...there are not that many "butt" shots!

February 2005

Emma seems to get alot of time dedicated to her so here is Clayton's turn! I know that as his Mother I am partial..but I just have to say that Clayton is one of the most incredible children I have ever come across! Everyday I am amazed by him and everyday I learn something from him and usually about him. As parents you always wonder if you can love 2 children (or more) equally. I know now that you can and do and that it is instant. But I must say that at certain times, in certain situations, I do have favorites. For instance, Clay is just this crazy, adorable 3 gonna be 4 year old little boy. He's fun! He talks your ear off! He can (almost!) take care of himself! He's brilliant! He just is so wonderful. Little Emma on the other hand is a bit more work (but man is she easy again after we got the ear infection cleared up! Poor girl!) At times I feel a bit badly for Emma because I expect her to be like Clayton and she isn't. She is her own person and I definitely need to work on respecting that more. However, Clayton has had this impeccable vocabulary and a love of learning since he was 15 months old. Emma barely says, "Bye Bye". Although she is getting better (we're up to about 15 words, I think), I compare her to Clayton constantly and worry that she is behind. Meanwhile, Clayton is memorizing entire books, states and capitals, presidents, just plain weird stuff. He picks up on everything. He memorizes lines and showtunes from movies and repeats them later. It's just incredible. And to top it off, he is just this sweet, affectionate kid. We feel so lucky to have him everyday.

Snow Is Here!!!!

***Once again....blogger problems. I don't get it!*****

Snow pictures to come later this week! Our post must've worked because we have 6+ inches out on the ground. Clayton and Emma Grace are LOVING IT!!!!!!!! We have been sledding everyday. But we do have one complaint - it is not good packing snow! We are limited to snow angels and sledding. No forts or snowmen yet.

Snow....Where are you?

Since there is no snow here yet - here are "snowy' pics from last year. Isn't this Wisconsin? Where is the snow? At least it is finally getting cold enough to start making ice on the lakes again. The last couple days it has been so dang windy that we haven't even went outside much. I am breaking my own rules of an hour outside per day. But I don't care. It is frigid. (I must be getting old to think like that!) Let it snow....Let it snow....Let it snow!

Clayton's Christmas Program

December 20th was Clayton's Preschool Christmas Program. What a little angel! Naturally, he was spectacular! Way to go preschoolers!

Misc December Pictures

Emma Grace with a good grip on Daddy's hair!

All Clayton eats off cupcakes is the frosting!

All for your viewing enjoyment!!!!!!!

The Day After Christmas!

Testing the waters with Daddy

Emma was LOVING the lazy river!

Too much waterpark for Emma Grace!

Splashmaster Clayton!

Emma Grace loves the water! We ended up getting her a lifejacket

because she wouldn't get out of the water and is as fearless as Clay!

Clayton practicing his swimming!

Christmas Night we ended up staying at The Tundra Lodge in Green Bay. I had purchased a package through the Reedsburg Library Auction in October so we decided to use it Christmas night. I didn't figure everyone at the Schacht house would appreciate our early risers (Emma is up before 6am most every day!) So we decided to "hotel it" since it would be a late night. The Tundra Lodge has an indoor waterpark which the kids loved. And since our room wasn't ready when we arrived at the hotel, we were upgraded to the largest suite. Everyone had their own rooms which was wonderful! Too bad we weren't planning to stay there longer! Clayton and Brian spent pretty much all day between the waterslides and the outdoor hot tub. Emma Grace absolutely loved the lazy river. For a little girl who is on the go! go! go! all day long, she was content to spend over 3 hours just floating on the lazy river!!!! Go figure. Here are some pics... (they're a little dark and my battery was dying so there aren't very many)

PS - Would completely recommend The Tundra Lodge! We've stayed in ALOT of hotels and they were one of our favorites.

Christmas at the Honer's!!!!

Nothing better than a good box to play with!! Forget the toys!

A small portion of Clayton's haul..........

Clayton & Santa at the Honer Christmas

Emma Grace's new ride!!!!!!!

Clayton & Emma Christmas Morning

Clay & Emma Grace Christmas Eve

**Sorry for the delays...Blogger was giving me some problems posting!***

Well....we have survived yet another Christmas. Brian and I had exactly zero Holly Jolly spirit this year! And for those of you wondering - I am STILL working on my Christmas cards. Please note that our cards never say Merry Christmas - we tend to stick with Holiday cards as there are slim chances of our cards arriving before Christmas. Hopefully, this week I will get them out!!!

Santa didn't miss our house, that's for sure! After Christmas at my Mom's we were questioning why we even bothered to purchase any presents for them!!!! We opened presents from each other Christmas Eve, Santa came and we opened presents from him Christmas morning, then we went to my Mom's and opened presents at 9am and then it was on to Green Bay for Christmas with Brian's family in the evening. Whew!!!! (No wonder we love Christmas so much...) We took Brian's truck to my Mom's and came home with it completely filled with Transformer's, Pirate stuff, Power Rangers, and lots of Dora stuff! We are still opening new toys daily! Our basement is three rooms full of toys as well as the living room and Emma's bedroom. It is ridiculous. Christmas with the Honer's was pretty much a nightmare for Brian and myself - let me explain. Brian's sister built a new home in 2005. Let's just say it is pretty much for adults which in Brian's family would be fine. We are the only ones with small children. The rest are teenagers or older. Brian's sister has a beautiful collection of Norman Rockwell and other assorted (ie expensive) items that Clayton and especially Emma have no business being around. So Christmas with the Honer's was pretty much 4 hours of HELL chasing Emma and trying to keep her sticky fingers from breaking what it took Bev years to collect. I have never been so happy to see a hotel room in my entire life. On the very very plus side to Christmas at the Honer's - Santa made an appearance! And it was an excellent Santa (we're experts on Santa!) so that was nice for Clayton and Emma. They slowed down for a little bit anyway. And in the end I think all that was broken was a couple of bulbs.....thank goodness! Here are some pics from Christmas. (Next year, I am thinking Christmas at Disney!)