Waiting for Malia...no more! A new beginning of life with Kaden Madison and Malia

Sunday Update

2012-01-29T19:38:00.004-07:00

As usually and repetitive, it was a busy week followed up by a busy day! Maddie had dress rehearsal today. It started at 9 so I dropped her off so I could run to church (mommies werent allowed to stay) and then left church early. After they were done, all the moms had fun plans for our little Rising Stars! We took them to a paint place where they picked their of crafts to paint! We were excited to get the girls together so they could just be silly and hang out and get to know each other better while having a blast! It was also really fun for us moms to get to know each other better. I didnt know a couple of them very well but after chatting for a few hours I really enjoy all of them!! They are all super sweet... no crazy dance moms in our bunch!
The girls had a blast and we were excited to give them a few good luck gifts for their upcoming comp season!
Malia wore this outfit yesterday but put it back on when she got home from church I guess.. she looks like a 80's baby.. all she needs is some puffy bangs! But I really love the pants!
Kaden has been working on a school project.. this is Ares, God of War (incase you couldnt tell)

This charm has all sorts of good luck for her to keep on her bag! She also got some good luck socks, necklace and a dance band!

These silly girls get along so well!

Happy Korean New Year

2012-01-26T09:58:00.009-07:00

This week was Seollal or the Korean New Year! They dress up and get together with family and have a big celebration. They dont dress up in their Hanboks as much as they use to but some families still do. Ive wanted to have a session with Malia in her Hanbok for a long time but always forget or put it off and now over 3 years after she first wore it for her 1st Birthday party we finally did it! After seeing Rory's photos I knew I just needed to get it done.
Problem is that its not exactly pretty outside right now and most days are to cold!! But we had a break in the weather yesterday so we pulled it out and rushed to the park. It wasnt as shady or pretty as I was hoping but we had fun and I really love a few of these shots.. and some of them just crack me up!

She kept putting her arms out like this.. I think she thought those sleeves were wings!

LOVE her eyes

And this is what you get if you try to make her look and smile ha!

Gotta love her mischievous grin!

She was really loved the wind! And I was loving her giggle!

Two of my faves!

So hard to look towards the sun mom!

Sunday Update

2012-01-22T19:26:00.003-07:00

Its that time of year where the weeks fly bye and at the end of the week I wonder how we got everyone to there destinations, school work done, and kept our sanity!
Dance is keeping Maddie very busy as they prepare for upcoming competitions, conventions and even a fashion show!
Kaden has baseball practice a few times a night along with some weight lifting after school when our schedules allow it. It seems like there are numerous things on the calendar every day and when I lay down to sleep I have to do some mathematical equations to figure out how to fit it all in! But I love seeing the kids happy doing all the things they love and Malia loves her dance classes too. We are wanting to get her going on swim lessons.. as soon as these next couple of months slow down!

Today Maddie had hair and makeup lessons and rehearsal at her studio so we missed church but Rich took Malia and Kaden. When we all were home together the kids enjoyed some outside time but it got pretty chilly so Malia came in for some cuddle time! She has been doing a little more cuddling with me lately and I cherish the moments!

3rd Grade Showcase

2012-01-22T19:21:00.002-07:00

Maddie had her 3rd grade showcase on Thursday! She has been so excited about it for a couple of weeks now. She has practiced the songs and was so so excited to get to play the recorder, with a little nervousness in there too.
She did great, she smiled the whole time and played her recorder and other instrument great! I cant believe its already showcase time, that means its almost the end of the year.. I mean really the time just flies and shes going to be a 4th grader before I know it.

Malias many faces

2012-01-21T17:56:00.004-07:00

Malia gets a treat every time she has a good violin practice.. which really isnt necessary because she loves to practice but I started it the first time and she remembers! So the other day we made some cookies and she got one after her practice. I thought it would be a great time to test out my new lens indoors!! At first she thought she needed to smile for me, so I told her to just eat her cookie.. so she did!

After a very large bite that made her giggle..

This girl gets very focused on whatever she does, including eating a cookie!

And I love this picture, she looks kinda sad but she wasnt obviously! Just really focused on that cookie!Last bite pleasure smile! lol love love this girl!

Happy 14th to us!!

2012-01-21T17:32:00.002-07:00

Fourteen years is almost half my life, so I can happily say that for half of my life I have been married to the best husband!! On Monday we celebrated 14 years of marriage, which for both of us is quite the feat because we both grew up in broken marriages and to have a happy, successful marriage took a lot of beating of odds.. and so to those odds I say SUCK IT!! HA
In 14 years we have fought hard for all 3 of our kids, Kaden was a turd and tried to come early many times and was a horrible pregnancy, I was warned not to ever get pregnant again but after really feeling like it would be ok and the God had given us the ok after looking into adoption Maddie was brought to us and then Malia was another gift from God where we literally had to fight with blood sweat and tears to bring her home.
We have laughed till we cried and cried till we laughed, we have fought just enough to let us know we are worth the fight. We have lived in 2 apartments and 4 homes. We have enough memories to keep us wanting to create more. I love this man with all that I have and I believe he feels the same.
I complain over small things and feel quite small when hearing what other women have to deal with when it comes to their hubbys. I know I am one lucky girl, I have a husband who makes sure he gets home in time for me to go to my dance or work out classes, he was always good about getting up with babies and was a diaper changing champ. He cleans the kitchen and does laundry when I need a little extra help. He spoils me rotten and has stuck with me through illness which to me was quite a big deal, he lets me squeeze his arm when he gives me my shots and doesnt even budge. And he is a good daddy to our babies. He sings to the girls at bed time and is the dad that says I love to you to our son and doesnt laugh if he needs to cry.
My friends, I hit the jack pot with my husband!!! I love you Rich, thanks for being all that I never knew I wanted!

Case in point, he spoiled me rotten, he got me this amazing camera/purse bag and I am in love with it! He also got me a new lens and a polar watch so that I can work out more efficiently!

Interesting week ~ Sunday Update

2012-01-15T18:59:00.003-07:00

I love Sundays! I especially love a Sunday that church is in the morning so that we have the afternoon to be lazy and hang out! We spent a long time outside because it was such a gorgeous day, seriously the weather was a dream! And the view is amazing!
Rich, Kaden and I all had a little football fun while the girls did some jumping!
This week has been a roller coaster to say the least. But all is good thank goodness! Of course Maddies peanut butter scare is weighing heavily on my mind and Im really needing to find a good way to go about making changes with little info out there to help me.
Kaden started baseball this week which means we have busy busy schedules ahead, good thing he loves baseball because if he didnt I would have no problem letting this sport die.. just not a big fan of sitting around in the heat watching our team get creamed.. hopefully this year will be better though!
Malia is loving her violin, she has her rhythms down pretty good! I got a few pics of her practicing today but somehow deleted them :( But it was pretty cute because she is all of a sudden putting her pinky up like its tea time.. I think that might be the right way to hold it too lol! I need to get video off my phone and put it on here.. Ill try!

Yaa he can still jump over.. it is almost track time ya know!And this is a inside joke but look I have gel nails.. Im pretty excited about this!! Thanks for the hook up Becki!

PEANUTS VS MADDIE

2012-01-13T19:19:00.004-07:00

Yesterday was an eventful day for my poor brave Maddie Paddie! I was at the dentist with Kaden when I got a call on my cell and immediately I recognized it as a school number and my heart sunk. It was the nurse letting me know that a boy in her class had rubbed peanut butter on her.. she was ok and wanted to know if I wanted her to administer benadryl. YES give her the benadryl and I quickly explained to the dental staff why I was leaving and I raced to the school in a panic. When I walked in the nurses station Maddie was sitting on the bed, calmly sucking down the benadryl. I asked her if she was ok and the nurse came over from talking to principal to talk with me. After asking Maddie what happened and hearing from the nurse that the principal was talking with the student Maddie and I left so she could change her clothes and wash... and get back to Kaden!
So this boy, who sounds like gets in trouble frequently snuck in a peanut butter snack (for the second time this week), which is banned in her class room and went and rubbed the peanut butter on Maddie, her desk and then the other boy in her class that is also allergic to peanuts. GASP!! I cant even imagine a 3rd grader having that kind of ill intent.. I mean that is scary!
So Maddie luckily only had it on her clothes and is fine, she came home and napped and was a little worried about going back today and maybe having the boy mad or mean to her but she went and had a good day.. she was actually worried about him being in trouble and as I said some maybe not so nice things about this boy she scolded me, yes I am luckily raising a daughter who is way better and sweeter than I!
This boy got written up, lost recess privilege and his parents were called (though didnt seem to concerned).
I have decided that after 4 times of her having to come home in the last 2 years over coming into contact with peanuts that I need to be an advocate for her and figure out how to make the school a safer place for her and the other students. I know this is going to take a lot of time and research but I have to make my daughter safe. I would be happy to have any help with this!
I think my biggest obstacle will be parents.. parents who make comments saying her allergy is her problem and they should be able to eat whatever they want. Like a PB&J sandwich is so much more important than my daughters life. Really the things I have read regarding this is sickening! Just a few days ago a 7 year old girl died after being given a peanut at school. Yes people this is serious!I mean look at this sweet girl! This is her new Harajuku minil outfit from Target.. she said she feels like Miss America in it.. I just think she looks adorable!
And my lovely husband who cant handle having a gift for me early gave me my anniversary gift early!! A new LENS!!! Im so excited, I got it after school and snapped a few pics of Maddie out in the cold, Im pretty impressed with what I got that quickly.. in the cold.. without really fixing all my settings!! YAAA for new options!

To make Daddy proud...

Sunday Update

2012-01-08T19:19:00.003-07:00

Ya, thats right we are Tebowers!! I decided that after a very sad non picture non blogging year last year, I needed a new goal to keep me on track. I was so sad at the end of the year to realize I had taken about a 1/4 of the photos and blogged about a 1/4 that I had the previous year of my 365 challenge.
I also quit doing the IHF challenges and though I dont think I will participate every week because sometimes I just dont have the appropriate pic to go with the theme I want to try really hard to push myself to get amazing photos for the challenges.
So I am going to at least get 1 pic of each kid and blog at least every Sunday for an update! This is an easy goal.. or should be, so bring it on 2012!
This first week of the new year was a good one. The kids got back into school and the busy-ness began!

Little Miss Sass had a good week, she was so happy to get back to class and seemed less wore out with Maddie and Kaden at school. She hasnt been taking naps for quite awhile now but she ended up taking one almost everyday for the last week of break! But now shes back to her no napping chipper self.

This is Kaden tonight.. DURING the Broncos game. He was pretty tuckered out after a long night of partying with friends. We had to pick him up early from his friends for church and he fell asleep during church and then during the game haha!

Maddie was so excited to see her friends and teachers at both school and dance. Her dance company is preparing for all of her upcoming competitions which start the first week next month, so we are doing a lot of prep and rehearsals for that. Today she was able to see and try on 2 of her costumes and they are so cute, her favorite was the dress for Tap! I cant wait to see it put all together on stage, she has been working so hard on these dances and is so excited to be on stage!

I Heart Faces ~ Best Face

2012-01-08T17:46:00.002-07:00

This week IHF is all about your best face photo! I was lucky enough to photograph so many gorgeous faces this past year but this photo stuck out in my mind! I had wanted to to a couples session for so long and when my friend approached me about her and her hubby getting just their photos done, I was elated! It was one of the funnest sessions I have ever done and turned out the most photos I think Ive ever done! I love this one in particular because, well first off Erica is gorgeous but look at her smile!! She looks so happy and so in love with her cute curly haired hubby.. I just adore it!

Make sure you go over to IHF to check out all the other amazing faces!!

Maddies testimony of Dance

2012-01-05T17:54:00.003-07:00

Maddie had to write about what she wants to be when she grows up, what college she would like to go to and why. After days of her writing down ideas and working on it she finally finished today! I am really proud of her.. and Im not gonna lie I had to help her a little, getting things in a good order but she read and watched videos and made 2 pages of notes and what she wanted to say, I was so proud of her ideas and thoughts!

What interests you today that might make a great career for you in the future? Why?
My favorite thing to do is dance! I love to dance everyday and I think it would make a great career and job. I think if I was a dance teacher I would love going to work everyday. I dont think I would ever get bored and I would be able to stay healthy. Teaching dance would be so fun and teaching kids how to love dance would make me feel so good and happy.

2. What would you want to study in college to prepare for this career? Please identify a college or colleges that you think would be especially good to help you prepare for this career.
I would like to go to Jilliard, a college that focuses on the arts. I think it would be a good school for me and exciting to live in New York! Julliard dance division is a four year undergraduate program getting a bachelor of fine arts degree. I would get really good dance lessons and twenty four credits for the Liberal Arts. I think I would love going to Jilliard College because they really help you learn to be strong and believe in yourself.
Julliard will help me learn how apply and get long lasting jobs that will help my career. I would love being able to dance all of the time, to have really good teachers and be in major dance productions. After learning from some of the worlds best teachers and getting really good dance jobs, I think it would make me a really good teacher too.
I think my experience at Julliard and having good dance jobs would help me to know how to teach kids to love dance, to love being healthy and how to be good dancers and maybe really good teachers too.
I cant wait to go to a really amazing dance school so that I can be happy doing what I love, which is dancing and hopefully help other kids to be happy dancing too.

Though I never want her to be that far away from home (and Rich says we will move to NY if we had to) I really hope her love and passion for dance stick with her, or if it changes to something new I just always hope that no matter what she loves that she will go for it, I think this girl is amazing, I think she is kind and will be someone that other girls will look up to because of her sweet personality and how outgoing and comfortable she is. I want the world for this girl and I hope she gets it!!

1002 posts! Last day of Winter Break!

2012-01-04T16:51:00.013-07:00

Oh last day of break, we were so sad to see you come already! Our break ended up being really nice and pretty relaxing! But we knew we had to do something fun with the kids for the last day of break. We got up early so we could go have a yummy breakfast at CrackerBarrel.. dont judge, I know we are under elderly age but their pancakes are the BEST!!
After indulging in some yumminess we told the kids we were coming home but we drove into Denver and surprised them when we walked up to the Denver Aquarium! It has been a really long time since we had been there and they were excited!
We took our time looking at each section. Malia was speachless.. not sure if it was excitement of concern! She is always good about holding our hands but she kept trying to run ahead to the next one she kept saying!
I am always amazed at how ugly fish are.. seriously and some people eat these things.. barf!
But I am always amazed at how beautiful they are also.. some of the colors are so incredible you just have to stare because it looks fake!
Kadens favorites have always been the turtles.. this little guy was pretty cute, he had places to go!YUCK!Kaden is so good about letting me take pictures of him...I think the funnest section was the otters.. they had just been fed and gave us quite the show!I kept trying to get pictures of Malia but the all ended up like this because she couldnt give me 2 seconds to take a picture..So freaky!Thats a huge fish people!My favorite as a kid!Malia thought the bubble was pretty neat!And pretty sure the bird freaked her out!Awww kissing turtles!Maddie was so freaked out about the sharks! They turned on Jaws music and she kept looking around saying, whats that whats that! They also play oceanic music throughout and she kept getting scared lol My favorite to watch were the Jelly Fish.. they are so strange but so neat!

When you get to the end there is a pool of manta rays (I thought of you and Rory Melissa!!) And you can pet them and feed them, so we did! Rich tried it first!

I think this is about as far as Maddie got!And while Maddie was trying to feed one, it splashed and did this to Malia....OMG I was laughing! She just sat and spit! After I wiped her down she was still willing to do the feeding!Still willing...Trying, but getting nervous...And now she started screaming and crying lol! I mean aww poor thing!! She did recover very quickly after saying she DID NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL!Kaden gave it a go too! And you better believe I wasnt willing to smell like fish for the rest of the day!Maddie was so excited to see the octopus and the dang thing was squished in a ball hiding!I love having the kids home, I love the down time and non schedules, I love wearing work out clothes everyday, I love hearing my kids get bored enough that they want to play with each a lot! I am bummed that school is back in session but it is always so nice to be back on a schedule.. even if its a super busy one! Maddie and Malia were both so excited to get back to school and dance and Kaden was excited to see his friends of course! I have to admit that only having to entertain Malia today was very nice and tomorrow she will have school and I might just have to veg on the couch the whole 2 hours!

Happy New Years!!

2012-01-01T16:16:00.007-07:00

Happy New Year everyone! 2012 WHAT!! How did that happen? For the last month I was continuously shocked when news shows would do a year wrap up or when Barbara Walters did her top 10, I kept thinking why are you doing this so early!?
2011 was an interesting year, I learned a lot about a lot of different things. I had ups and downs with friends and family, we moved and for some reason my kids kept growing. If fact Kaden is now taller than me.. not just a hair but by a few inches, Im not excited about that and I did have a good cry!
Kaden had a great year, he is really coming into his own and turning into a very nice young man. He does really well in school, and if he would just ALWAYS turn in his homework he would be a straight A student. He has a good group of friends that are always at our home or he is always with them, that has been an adjustment for sure! He is quite a handsome fella and he is trying to keep out of the girl drama that comes with being a good looking fella lol! He played basketball, baseball and football, he also tried track for the first time and he did really well in every sport. Baseball is his favorite sport, its not mine but I guess I better learn to love it for him! Im dreading this new year, it means I will have a highschooler.. a freaking highschooler people! We are very proud of him, he has been in quite a few situations that have tested his strength in his religion and his character and he has done us proud. Even though Im dreading him growing, I am excited to see him grow! He is getting to the age where he will probably want to be with his friends instead of us, last night in fact he was with friends to celebrate the New Year instead of us.. I am trying to let go, but be sure I wont let go to much!
Maddie paddie has also had a great year! She is still super sweet and easy going. She is for sure my easiest child and when we have to reprimand her for something it is always hard because it hardly ever happens! She finished her dance season in the Spring by trying out and becoming part of Dance Dimensions Company. She has been practicing a lot because next month is the start of the competitions, which she is very excited for! She is doing great in school, she normally has a tutor to help keep her on track but so far this year shes done so well that that hasnt been necessary. Her teacher adores her and has told me numerous times that she wishes she had a class for of Maddies, it would make her life easier! Maddie is also growing fast... to us, shes still a teeny tiny next to everyone else her age, but she has decided that she likes being small.. its fun she says!! The biggest part of her year was her decision to become a member of the Church, we were very proud of her and seeing her get baptized was incredible! We sure love our Maddie paddie, and cant wait to see her continue to grow!
Malia Malia Malia lol. She continues to prove that the last child is the most difficult, but in saying that she compared to other 4 year olds, she is a piece of cake! She always amazes us with how fast she can pick up new things and she always craves knowledge and new things. She is my little smarty pants! We recently had a scare thinking she had some hearing loss.. turns out it was just a whole lot of wax stuck in her ear, what a relief! Her pre-k teachers have already talked to me about having her tested in the Spring so that she would skip her next year of pre-k and go right to Kindergarten, I dont think we want to do that but I agreed to look further into it as the year passes. She is very excited to start playing the violin she got for Christmas and Im hoping that she ends up loving it as much as I think she will. We also have realized she really does have a knack for the water so we are looking into getting her into some lessons soon! I really cant wait to watch her grow, she is super sensitive, outgoing, loving and pretty darn cute!
Rich had another successful year at work, he beat some work records and some of his own, it might not be what he thought he would do when he grew up but he is successful at it. He is a great dad and a great husband and I appreciate all that he does for us!
I had an up and down year. I have had to come to terms that as long as Im healthy and on the medication that I am on that I wont ever get back to the size I want to be, my body isnt going to look like I want it to so no matter how hard I work out I just need to exercise because I have learned to love it, not because of the hope of having my old body back. I have really learned to love to work out, I love feeling strong and being able to keep up with the kids. I love to challenge my body to do harder things and when I walk away feeling great, it really makes me feel strong, mentally and physically! After having to cut some friendships off this year and having a lot of negative things said and done to me I really had to ponder and pray and search for the problem within myself. I allowed negativity to bring me down. And just when I thought I escaped it something new would pop up. After a long year of these ups and downs I finally realized that I cant change what people think, do, or say. And I think the biggest problem I was having was hearing a title put on me and I was taking it in a negative way, when in fact most of the things I was called were empowering and positive, even if they didnt say it that way they are all things I am proud to be. I am not an eye for an eye person, I have been walked on by friendships my whole life because I allow people to walk all over me... until I finally cant handle it, and I dont want to put myself in that position anymore, where there are unhealthy friendships, I will immediately pull back, rather than letting it drag on and on. I dont make New Years Resolutions but for this year I want to better accept myself and let go of other peoples titles and embrace who I am. Most of all I want to continue to be the best mom I can be, be a good wife to my husband and a great friend to those around me that I have learned deserve my friendship.
I have great hopes for this New Year, even though Ive been dreading it and the changes that come with it. I hope you all have a great prosperous New Year!
We had friends over last night to celebrate the New Year! It was a super fun night! We played minute to win it games for most of the night, and it was pretty hilarious! I didnt take a ton of photos but here are a few.

Malia is just over a year older than Avery but boy did they play cute.

And both of the girls stayed up to watch the ball drop.. Malia is now napping today because of that!

Family Fun!

2011-12-30T18:15:00.004-07:00

Well the trampoline has been a big hit with everyone! The kids spend hours at a time out there which is a added bonus for me! We all got our front flips down which was exciting!!
Malia is hilarious, we all take turns doing "tricks" and hers is to roll up like a potato bug and just sit there, cracks me up!
I am feeling sad that the break is almost over, I always love the easy going non running around just hanging out part of breaks. When I did laundry this week I had more work out gear than real clothes (because I love wearing my pink workout gear) and it was awesome!
Oh break dont end!!

And this is my gorgeous girl.. seriously I would do just about anything for her perfect skin and gorgeous teeth!

Tubing

2011-12-28T17:31:00.007-07:00

We had such a fun day today! We have been wanting to go up to Colorado Adventure Park for awhile and today was finally the day! We got up early so we could get ready for the 2 hour drive and it actually went by really fast!
The longest part of the day was waiting in line to pay but after that it went by fast. They have a magic carpet ride that takes you up the hill so you dont have walk which was so nice! We took the "easy" ride first and all went down together and it might have been "easy" but it was so fast! I think we all had a moment of OH CRAP but when we got to the bottom we were all laughing and ready for more!
The girls were dare devils and wanted to go on the scary hills. They were all pretty mild.. once you got to the bottom anyways lol We did 2 hours and hit every hill. Our favorite was the "easy" one because it was the fastest. We went down all together a bunch which was always funner!
On our very last trip up the hill the magic carper wasnt working and the climb up was tiring! We were so happy that we were done because if we were just starting we would have been dead tired!
We will for sure make that at least a yearly trip, it was a really fun day!!

We all made a pack to scream like girls for the video!!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T18:45:00.007-07:00

Oh happy day!! Its Christmas and the joy in my home today has been that of giggles and laughs and thanks and love!!
We agreed last night that we would wake up at 6, figuring that they would be up around 5 and that would have been fine. Except I was up at 12 and 1 and 2 and 3 and then at 4 I finally just got up and waited hoping they would awake, but they didnt, until their alarms went off at 6! They were all super excited! We all brushed our teeth and prepared to see if Santa came.. well he did!!

Maddie as her routine visited someone elses pile before being redirected to her own lol! She ended up being very happy with all her things which included lot of dance stuff lots of girly stuff like lip gloss makeup and jewelry!
Malia wasnt quite awake but she found her stuff right away and the first thing she wanted was her new violin! She will be starting lessons next year and Santa just knew she needed one, since she has been asking for a couple of months.. this girl loves music. Her love of music also lead Santa to bring a little drum set that she has barely taken a break from today, she loves it!
She also got book lots of clothes soem dolls and some fun girly stuff too!It gets harder and harder to shop for Kaden, clothes are easy but actual gift are hard! This year Santa thought Kaden should have his own tv since the old big screen we put in his room broke! He was shocked and very excited that he never even thought to ask for one! Well Santa is smarter ya know!

The girls both got these adorable Disney dolls, Maddie got Bell and Malia got Mulan and the resemblance to both girls is kind of amazing! They both love them, we even let Malia take hers to hurch!

Malia is big into dress up so Santa brought a whole lot of princess dress up for her!

EVERYONE enjoyed a little drumming!

Malia was excited for her huge candy bar... mid chew...

The stockings are usually the last thing that get looked at, deep down in Maddies stalking was a note from Santa and the Elves letting her know she needed to look outside because there was a gift that was to big to be in the house and that her daddy would have to help put it together because he was so tired and didnt get to finish it... she was beyond excited to find...

Yep, bring on the fun, or spranged ankles lol

Malia LOVES her violin!! She already mastered a rythym!!!

We only had an hour of church today which was nice, and the Christmas program was really neat. The music was really sweet and it was really nice to hear the story of Jesus' birth!

We all enjoyed some bouncy time!!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-25T18:29:00.003-07:00

Oh Christmas Eve how I love thee. I love the traditions we have and I love the excitement that the kids share!
We Started our day by taking the kids swimming at the gym. It has been a few months now since we have all swam together but let me tell you my little fish aka Malia is still got mad swimming skillz!! She absolutely loves the water and Rich is pretty excited to finally have a kid take after him in the pool!
After swimming we went home and watched the Broncos and got ready to go do our secret Santa shopping, my personal favorite!!
We headed to the mall and all separated with whichever parent made sense. After about 45 minutes we were already done! So we headed over to Red Robin for our annual Eve dinner. It was awesome because the waiter was great and the place was empty!
The kids were so excited to wrap and open secret Santa gifts so we rushed home to wrap gifts, we then headed out to go look at Christmas lights, we were surprised by how many houses werent lit up but there were quite a few really good ones.. one of these days we will go Grizwald on our house!
When we got home it was time for Secret Santa gifts and everyone did a really good job with their gifts! We also opened our Christmas Eve Jammies!!

Malia got Kaden some gift cards and a PINK iphone cover lol!

Daddy got Maddie a Disney doll and a cool cup!Maddie got mom a sweet pair of VS cropped leggings.. my favorite and picked me out some perfume!

I picked Malia out a Jessie from Toy Story some slippers and a cool cup!

Kaden got Rich some really nice shoes to wear with jeans he said!

Then it was time for showers and jammies. We all nestled in by the fire while Rich ready Twas the Night Before Christmas. And as usually the kids ran to bed because nobody wants to be awake and miss Santas visit!

I really love Christmas Eve, I love the bustling stores with everyone so excited for the next day and like I said I just really love seeing the excitement in my kids eyes and voices as the talk about what Santa just might bring. Malia repeatedly asked if she was on the nice list, and we had to keep reassuring her that yes she was!! So darn fun!!

Kids programs

2011-12-22T12:41:00.002-07:00

Here are a few videos from Malia and Kadens end of the year performances!! Malia was of course the cutest in the bunch and knew all the words!!!
Kaden had 2 seperate performances but Im just barely loading the old one. He hates being in choir but he actually has a nice voice and he was pretty much the only boy you could hear.. out of the 4 of them lol!!

To hear or not to hear.. that was the question.

2011-12-21T23:13:00.004-07:00

So we had a small hearing scare with Malia the last couple of months. It started when we got a letter in the mail for the school letting us know she failed the school hearing test. We just so happened to be going to her 4 yr well check that day so I figured I would bring it up with the doc. Before I had the chance the nurse gave their standard hearing test and she completely failed that. The doc was surprised and I told him about the failed school test. After asking me a few questions it started sounding more and more like she might have some sort of hearing loss. BUT he gave her his own distract and talk to her test and it was clear she could hear fine. After his questions I was a little worried because she had been what I thought was "ignoring" us a lot lately (Calling her from a different room and no response or even being very close and not getting a response, wanting the tv/music louder).
So we made an appt to get a real test done and went in last week. Well after a lots of questions and failing an initial test they looked into her ears and BAM there was a lot and I do mean a LOT of wax in there. They were pretty surprised. Her pediatrician has tried to clean it out before but she always freaked out so he left it alone. She was very very good and sat and breathed deep through the cleaning and wa'la a few tests later she tested PERFECT HEARING!!
I was very relieved, she said that things were louder and ever since she seems to not be ignoring us.. well as much ha!
So yes it was a small scare but I am very very grateful that it was a very easy fix and that the specialist just had to be a glorified wax cleaner!!

Malia's XMas dance

2011-12-21T22:04:00.003-07:00

Malias tap/ballet teacher put together a little Holiday dance for the parents to watch last week! It was pretty cute.. Malias favorite part was the finger pointing/hip shaking! My favorite part was her skipping.. something I have seen her do with incredible ability.. that day, not so much!!

Dance/Acro clips

2011-12-21T21:16:00.008-07:00

Maddie has been missing gymnastics for the last year so bad but trying to fit in a new gym that has it with all of her dance and the other kids activities just hasnt been possible. So when the new schedule came out at her studio she was sooo excited that they were adding an acro class!
She has been adding a few skills, it seems to me that she is being pretty timid because she has done gymnastics a lot but its being really careful and taking things slow BUT I was excited to see a lot of progress last week, when the parents got to watch! She has completed an ariel once but keeps getting scared and puts her arm down but she will get it again!

When you get dancers together.. they dance!

2011-12-21T20:38:00.003-07:00

Maddie had her friend Kins over yesterday after them begging for us mommies to finally get something set up! They dance together and get along really well and are both super cute!
I thought it was pretty funny that of course they made up dances and had me come watch their dances pretty much the whole time... it was a lot of dances!
They also were designers and hair dressers, it was pretty hilarious! We have a couple extra mattresses in the basement that quickly turned into a trampoline for them.

I think Kins had about 30 clips in her hair!

I cant believe how long Maddies hair is getting!! Shhh dont tell her I said that she'll make me run her to Hairicas!!

She had some nice cheer moves.

So so happy that Maddie has good friends at dance, she is loving her dance company and has been working really hard for the upcoming competition season! The mommies got a preview at the Christmas party on Sunday and it made me super excited for the craziness that will be coming up!

Play Group

2011-12-21T20:34:00.004-07:00

Malia and Blake get together every Monday for playgroup, its a small play group which is perfect for me!! They get along perfectly though and run and laugh the whole time, its really quite cute! This last time they really enjoyed playing marching band.... thanks again Tami for the really great gift!!
Later Malia ran into the kitchen and told me I HAD to see what she made..

A food smily face.. how dang cute is that!!

Sledding

2011-12-21T20:18:00.005-07:00

Well I am very behind in my blogging, but what is worse than that is that I havent really taken any photos to even have anything to document! I have been a horrible slacker for most of this year and I feel horrible about that! Im trying to think of an attainable goal for next year to make sure I am better about documenting our lives!
A couple weeks ago we had a good amount of snow and the kids badly wanted to go sledding, we have an extended backyard area with a nice little hill so I sent out Kaden and Maddie to have at it, Malia of course was dying to go out to so we joined in the fun! It was a lot of fun!!

Kaden is always so good about playing with the girls and super protective of them, it was to cute watching him sled with Malia.

Malia was mostly into eating the snow.

And Maddie decided that snow sledding/boarding was a good idea.. she actually was pretty impressive!

OOPS

Daddy Daughter Dance

2011-12-02T20:00:00.003-07:00

Is that not just the sweetest!
Maddie and Rich have been so excited for the last couple weeks about their little date night! The Activity Day girls have a combined dance/date night tonight and Maddie was the so excited. It has been the most adorable thing to hear her talk about this night and how excited she was. She has been reminding Rich just about everyday and telling him how to dress and how to behave lol!
As I was curling her hair I had a talk with her about how gentlemen treat their dates and that she is to make sure he opens her doors always and to expect him to treat her like a princess. She just giggled the whole time! Then I had a talk with Rich about curfew and how he better darn well treat her like a princess or I will be "cleaning" my shotgun when they get home lol
I feel very blessed and happy for her that she has a good daddy who makes sure she knows how special she is. She is a daddy's girl and I love seeing them interact, watching their close relationship just makes me happy!
I cant wait to hear about their night!

Is that just not an adorable couple!

My gorgeous girl! She felt like a "teenager" she said! Oh boy! But man did she look pretty!

A week of sick

2011-12-02T19:49:00.002-07:00

It has been a long week, a week of coughing, sneezing, sore throats, running noses, and out of nowhere crying. Both the girls started showing signs of being sick last Saturday and by Sunday morning it was full blown, but I didnt think it was horrible.. I didnt think it would last a friggin week!
Maddie missed dance and school, Malia missed school and dance and After day 4 I lost my patience! But it is really the saddest most pathetic thing to see Malia just laying on the floor and just start crying.. for seemingly no reason other than she just doesnt feel good. Her cough hasnt been to bad really at all and really not a runny nose other than when she is crying, but the girl clearly feels like crap. She has been in a dazed and confused state since Tuesday.. its been weird! And just when I think shes back because shes smiling and having fun the next minute she is pouting and crying again. Im really hoping another night will finally get her back to herself! Poor girl!
Maddie has dealt with it pretty well, her cough was painful for her and her throat was painful but the last 2 days have been much better for her. Though she still feels sick she has been happy and went to dance and to school after missing Tuesday and Wednesday dance, which always makes her very sad.

Ive been letting Malia do whatever she wants.. uh you want cartoons sure! You want candy SURE! You want it, you got it baby! Because she hasnt had much of an appetite and really Im to afraid to tell her no because if she isnt crying or giving me sad eyes Im sure as heck not going to ruin the moment!! Walking on egg shells around your sick 4 yr old.. ya thats me!
Yesterday she grabbed some crayons and a coloring book and just sat and colored for a long time, it was really sweet, and then when I was taking photos and I got a brief smile it really was a sweet moment!

Trimming the Trees

2011-11-27T20:14:00.004-07:00

Today we decorated the house with all of our Christmas Holiday trimmings!! After a couple years of being a bit of a scrooge I was actually excited to decorate!! Maybe its the fact that all of our Christmas shopping is all done.. ya that is a good feeling!
Tonight we decorated the trees and I got a little misty eyed because after years of searching for a certain album I was finally able to download it from Itunes tonight and it made the decorating all the more sweeter! My mom always played the Statler brothers Christmas CD when we were kids and it is still hands down the best Xmas music to me! With every new song I kept telling Rich I was about to cry, it just took me back!
The kids had a blast decorating, I only had to yell at my disgruntled teen a few times and the trees look fabulous!
Most of these pics are thanks to Kaden!

Thanksgiving week

2011-11-27T16:00:00.006-07:00

I have a lot to be Thankful for! Truly. I know a lot of people say how thankful they are at this time of year but I am always aware of how lucky and blessed I am. Yes I have my self pitty moments and why me phases but I really know that I am one lucky blessed girl! I have an amazing husband, 3 adorable well behaved smart kiddos, siblings that challenge my patience but that I love dearly, and some really incredible friends!
We were very lucky this week to have our Zimmers come and visit for Thanksgiving!!!! We miss them dearly and are always hoping that they will get moved back to us one day!
It took no time at all for the kids to start having a blast, for the adults to start laughing, and for a lot of good food to be eaten!
We had plans to go to winter park to go sledding but they postponed the opening to Thanksgiving day so on Wednesday we went up the canyon and found the Zimmers some snow to play in! Those kids were in heaven... there was a literal gasp from a couple of the boys that were in our car when they saw the snow, it about made me cry seeing their joy.
We had a really nice pic-nick amongst a lot of Elk poopies! It was a gorgeous drive.
We had a lot of down time and a lot of outside foot ball time. We played kick the can.. a family fav between us! And us adults even took some time to ourselves to go workout!
On Thanksgiving morning we had a Turkey Bowl, parents against kids. The boys practiced for a long time in preparation... well THE PARENTS KICKED THEIR TRASH!!! WOOT WOOT!!
It ended up being a great work out and so much fun.. not sure if the boys agree to that, there was a lot of trash talk and 2 hand touch might have turned into a little bit more towards the end!
Our feast was delish!! I was worried about the turkey because the darn thing was still frozen in the morning but it quickly defrosted and even though it delayed our dinner a couple hours it ended up being yummy along with the rest of the yummy food!
We were all super sad to see our Zimmers leave on Friday morning. It always feels like there is a mourning period after they leave us or we leave them but it is also such a great reminder of what true friendship is and that when you find it that no matter the distance you can never let it go even if at times it is hard work, it is worth it to the end.
A BIG thanks to them for taking the time to come out, they have a lot on their plate right now and I just hope we were able to help them relax for a few days!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Is Jude just not the cutest!!!
We barely ever saw the kids but when we did they were all grins and giggles.. Maddie and Silas are so dang cute together still!

We saw this from the distance and couldnt figure out what it was at first but it was a hang glider with a fan thingy.. it was cool!

Football time! Everyone wanted in on the action!

We did our xmas gift exchange while they were hear and lets just say that we like to give gag gifts between the adults and always try to top each other.. Rich and I totally won this year!!

And a BIG thanks to Tami for making Malias marching band dreams come true!

Smarty Pants Stats

2011-11-15T20:35:00.003-07:00

Can I just say that this little princess is just so stinkin cute! I adore her so much and cant believe how fast she is growing!

Yesterday Malia had her 4 year well check. Not super fun for her because she had to get 4 yucky shots AND flu crap up her nose. It was really sad, she wasnt to happy about it but recovered pretty quickly.

Her stats were 25% in height and just under 20% in weight. She did however fail her hearing test which didnt seem like a big deal to the doc until I told him we had just found out she failed the school hearing test also. He recommended that we get her seen for further testing, but as the appointment went on and he was able to have a conversation with her while other noises were going on he was really impressed with how smart she was and he ended up not being to concerned about her hearing at all! He still wants us to get her looked at but told me to put it off for awhile for her to be a bit older. The doc was very impressed with her and deemed her very healthy and smart so yaaa!!

Last week we also had our parent teacher conference which seems a little silly for pre-k but it was exciting to hear how great she was doing! I was a little nervous about her being a little head strong and maybe even naughty in school. She is very good at home but there have just been a few times at church that she has told her teachers no and she doesnt always listen. Well at school she is doing great! She is listening and following directions well. Her teacher said she is very sweet with the other kids, if someone is crying she is the first one to go over and tell them its ok, and if kids arent sharing she goes over and tells them that sharing is nice and we share with our friends! Her teachers are very impressed with how much she knows and how quickly she learns. Miss Tara was very impressed with a game she watched her play on the computer where she would see a picture and would have to put letters in the right spot to spell it out.. she said she didnt even need help!

Lately Malia asks how to spell a word and I tell her to tell me and she sounds it out and figures out how to spell it.. uhhh crazy!!

She also has rhymes mastered! Her and Maddie say words and then finding a rhyme for it and I can not believe how quick she is to figure out some of the words! And if its a harder word.. like one that I cant even think of a rhyme she just makes up a word but it always rhymes.

Now this girl is super smart but she has a little stinker side to her too. On Sunday we had our Primary Program where all the kids get up and sing songs and little sentences that they say. Well Malia nailed her line "Feast upon the word" with no help BUT during everything else she was a wiggle worm and during the singing she was dancing and blowing kisses at people! AAHHH I wasnt sure if I should laugh or go grab her! THEN someone who sat with her class later let me know that she has cooked with onions in the morning and Malia let her know that she stunk! OOOPS!! The girl is OBSESSED with smells right now.. she gets that from me, I have a very sensitive sniffer!

So that is a pretty long update but shes a pretty amazing girl. I sure am lucky to have this princess in my life! LOVE HER!!

My Christmas wish list...

2011-11-10T13:23:00.003-07:00

So you might be expecting some sweet post about how I just want world peace and for my family and friends to have all they want and a great New Year right.... naaa I want a flipping personal chef ya'll!!
Sure I want that other crap too, I want my friends to be happy and my family to have peace bla bla bla BUT
Really really what I want is to not be confused when I go to the grocery store. I am having a major food identity crisis. I go into the grocery store and I dont have a clue what to buy. We have changed our eating habits so much in the last 2 years and in response have cut so much out of what we eat that when I get to the store I cant think of anything to buy! Organic, meatless, and healthy... and to find that in our little area shaaa right!
I get to the grocery store and I end up with crackers a few fruits some chips and orange juice. Seriously it is redic! I get so overwhelmed at the thought of making dinner I dont even think about it until its time to eat and then it is a scramble!
So instead of becoming these super healthy food conscience people, Ive become a very confused scared mom who ends up feeding her family probably more crap from the rush to feed them something instead!
Add to that the crazy schedules that we all have and really who could blame me for this very simple small wish list for dear ol Santa. So Im putting it out there...
Dear Santa,
I would love a chef for my family for Christmas. He doesnt even have to be good looking (though that might be nice too!) it would just be for a few nights a week. I would just like someone to come in with a healthy, nice meal. Nothing fancy nothing that you would find on top chef, I mean really Im not THAT picky! Just nice meals that my kids will eat and that I wont feel guilty about feeding them. And dear Santa if I can just have this 1 itsy bitsy small gift I promise to be a very very good girl all year, I will spread love and do good to all mankind!!
I love ya lots,
Food Confused/food identity crisis lady AKA Kris.. your biggest fan!!
P.S.
I promise to leave really yummy cookies this year and Ill even buy real milk instead of soy this year!!

All Hallows Eve

2011-11-01T16:34:00.009-06:00

First off how cute is he! He wasnt sure about dressing up but he did and he looked pretty cute. He was Larry from Ace Ventura! Soo funny!
Maddie was a balerina and she used one of her recital costumes which was perfect for me!! And Malia was a witch.. with NOO scary makeup per her request!

CRAPPY LIGHTING!! But these are my cute girls!

Maddies class party and Parade

Ive been dying to get a photo shoot with these corn fields that I drive by everyday and finally yesterday it was just me and Malia after we dropped Maddie off at dance and there was a little bit of drama with a sheriff and maybe a white lie but I got it done and I got these darling photos in less than 1 minute!!!!

Oh Larry.. love the crazy hair!

This is what happens when Malia wants Maddies eyelashes.. success on 1/2 of them lol

Pumpkin carving

2011-11-01T16:25:00.004-06:00

On Sunday after we fed the missionary's dinner we carved pumpkins! After having snow sit on them for a couple days, some of them were kinda mushy so we skipped carving the one Malia chose and she got mine. Everyone decided to do their own thing rather than using the templates which was fun! I was hoping Malia would just be happy coloring hers but she was all about cutting.. not so much into putting her hands into the icky insides!

I did some real crappy photos here but I am struggling with wanting to take good photos right now.

In10sive Convention

2011-10-16T20:20:00.002-06:00

This weekend was Maddies first convention of the season! It was the in10sive. There were a lot of impressive teachers but not Tyce D like we though :( But still Maddie had a lot of fun!
I was so impressed with how much quicker she is picking up choreography, I just love watching this girl dance and seeing her concentrate and then really light up during the dancing!!
It was a long but really fun Saturday!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-16T19:47:00.008-06:00

We did our annual pumpkin patch trip to Anderson Farms on Friday!! It was a lot of fun! The weather was perfect and it wasnt to crowded and the pumpkins were glorious!! Oh and this year we didnt get thrown up on.. always a bonus!
While Kaden and Maddie raced around the track, Malia posed!!

The Rich got in on the action!

On our wagon ride the girls tried to feed the big horned Texas Cow but it never came close enough.

Rich the photogragher! Sorry Kaden!The field they took us to had humongous pumpkins! I wanted one but we didnt want to actually have to carry the darn thing!

Maddie and Kaden had a hard time finding the right one.

Malia wanted a teeny tiny itty bitty one she kept saying!

Then we fed the goats!

Then we saw the new baby twins!! They are just 2 weeks old! I wish they didnt poop, make noise or need care because I totally want one, they are so cute!

The girls took a ride on the train ride while Kaden and I raced!

It was a good leg work out!

Our 3rd Gotcha day!

2011-10-12T13:15:00.002-06:00

On Sunday we celebrated our 3rd Gotcha Day. Well actually we started in on Saturday night by going out and taking the girls to build a bear (as per our tradition) and then to dinner.
I woke up early in the morning thinking about Malia and our long journey to her. I was very emotional and couldnt go back to sleep so I went downstairs to watch tv and Malia came down and joined me... on my lap! She NEVER sits in my lap, she NEVER cuddles! BUT she sat with me for at least 30 minutes and just snuggled which made me even more emotional!
After Rich was up we sat just the 3 of us and watched her Gotcha Day video and I bawled. Watching Malia watch and ask questions was really neat and it seems like this year shes able to understand a tiny bit of what adoption means.
She ended up wanting to watch it over and over. When Maddie woke up she sat and watched it with her (and Maddie cried) and when Kaden woke up she watched it with him (and Kaden cried). It really brings us all back to that day and the emotions we all had during that very important day!
We sure love this girl more than anything and we know how lucky we are to have her part of our lives.
Click HERE to watch our video

Crazy Hair Day

2011-10-12T13:10:00.002-06:00

Last Wednesday was crazy hair/sock day at school. Maddie has been planning how she wanted her hair for weeks and was so excited about it! I gotta say she always looks cute no matter how her hair looks but she looked pretty rad with her crazy faux hawk!!

Maddie insisted on Malia having one too.. and she loved it!

My big 4 year old

2011-10-07T19:51:00.011-06:00

Four years ago (yesterday) a sweet baby girl was born in South Korea in the outskirts of Soul. I very brave mother made a very hard decision, one that I am grateful for but I am not unaware of the hurt and pain that came with this decision. I think of her always especially the week leading up to Malias birthday and on her birthday I always sit and pray and give thanks to her birth mother.
Here is an update for her..
Malia is so smart, I mean so so smart. The kind of smart where other people notice right away. Ive gotten so use to it that when we are around other kids her age I am shocked at how slow they are and then remember just how smart Malia is!
Malia is funny, she has this hidden humor about her where she doesnt even want you to realize she is funny, but she is. And when I get a peek of her hidden sneaky smile it cracks me up!
Malia is still a super healthy eater, she loves all veggies and fruits, she is not a big fan of bread.. what in the world!!
She is a great singer, memorizes songs after hearing half the song.. seriously! She is very musical.
She is obsessed with smells right now. In fact her teacher told me last week that when kids that arent quite potty trained have an accident in class Malia lets them know right away. This is sometimes embarrassing because if something stinks she pipes in and says whats the yucky smell.. and there is no fooling her, she knows exactly what it is!
Malia adores her brother and sister, they have their moments but they are so sweet with each other and seeing them play and giggle is always a sweet mommy moment.
She makes friends really easy, everyone seems to be driven towards her (kids and adults) and she eats up that attention.. when she feels like it. Sometimes it takes her a minute to warm up, she plays hard to get but really she turns on her charm pretty quickly.
She is a challenge at times I wont lie, her and I sometimes butt heads and I think its because she is so smart, but I just love this little girl so much. Rich and I adore the heck out of her.
She is the world and is ready to let herself be know.

We had a little photo shoot for the big 4 year old! It was fun, she was acting shy with me until I told her to pout and then I started getting real smiles and lots of laughing!

Malia wanted pancakes for breakfast so Daddy made them, fruit for lunch so I made her shortcake with fruit and whip cream.. big hit! And then we did Qdoba for dinner, her fav beans and rice!

After eating she opened her gifts. The biggest hit was her leapster ipad! She is going to end up with a very sore neck everyday because of this toy I think.

For the first time ever I had to send one of my kids to school on their bday, I was sad about that but Malia was excited! She had a fun sash to wear so everyone would know and make sure she felt special, then she got to hand out fun little cookies to everyone!

She was very excited when daddy brought in the mail and she got to open all her cards!

For weeks prior I kept asking what she wanted, the only thing she could come up with was CAKE!! Well thats easy! We had someone make this cute little cake for her, it had strawberry filling which was a big hit for this little one!

She was very happy all day! It was a good day and its always good to see her so happy!

Malias first Jog-a-thon.. and bad mommy!

2011-09-30T14:48:00.004-06:00

Well a jog-a-thon for 3 year olds you say a'gasped!! Ya me too!!
Yes imagine my surprise when I was waiting in line yesterday to sign her in and heard the parents all talking about their kids and wearing the right shoes to jog in... whats that you say I asked?? The kids are jogging today!?
I had read that there was a jog-a-thon but I also saw that it said Friday and I just figured the pre-k'ers were off the hook! Well nope I didnt look in the Tuesday back pack I only look on Thursday because that is when notes come home! But after hearing the news and looking down and Malia wearing a skirt and dress shoes I decided to peek, and sure enough there was a note saying Thursday jog-a-thon. OOOPS!!
As I mentioned in my previous post I am not the most practical shopper.. no jogging pants no running shoes, BUT I did make sure I left my work out class early so I could run home grab her sparly converse shoes and some leggings to throw on under her skirt lol! She looked awesome lets just put that out there!
Malia did awesome, she kept tripping in her "running shoes" but she had fun for the whole 5 minutes of running!
The funniest part was seeing the other Maleah there in the same shirt!! The teachers told me that everyone asks if they are sisters lol even the principal asked me while they were running if they were twins! Ya with the same name?? Come on now people!

The best part was after when they got Popsicles and Malia kept yelling "BEST DAY EVER" which then led the rest of the class to chant after her! LMBO

And again while I hung out after the teachers told me how smart she is.. gotta love that! She also informed me that Malia likes things nice and neat and is very aware of smells and there are a few kids who arent quite potty trained all the way and Malia is always the first to notice and point it out.. hehe

BLUE FREAKING FROSTING!!

2011-09-30T14:39:00.003-06:00

I admit that I am not the most practical shoppers. When looking at my daughters closets you will find pretty shirts, nice pants, cute shorts and lots and lots of dresses! What you will not find is "play clothes" stuff that you can wear to go camping or play in the dirt.
So when I send Malia to school on PICTURE DAY in her cute silk fancy blouse and brand new WHITE jeans I am feeling pretty safe about that choice because like I said it was PICTURE DAY!
Well when I was waiting in like and saw a parent grabbing the left overs of the BRIGHT BLUE birthday cupcakes she brought to share and saw a bunch of blue faced kids waiting on the carpet I about laughed out loud! BUT then when I saw Malia and her perfectly darling white pants and saw a bright blue patch of frosting on them I didnt want to laugh anymore.. I kinda wanted to pull someones hair!
Really on picture day your going to bring blue frosting into class to a bunch of 3 year olds... really! OK thanks a lot!

For the record the teachers werent happy either (they told me) and after getting home and scrubbing and bleaching the pants are now bright white again!!!

Football for Kaden again!

2011-09-17T22:31:00.003-06:00

After having last season off from football because of Kadens pupil injury right before it started I thought we were going to have a 2nd year off because sign ups happened before his year was up from that injury. BUT after going to a couple games and really missing the game, I talked to some parents who thought he could get in and then the coaches and the league and boom he played his second game today. He only started last week and had 1 practice and 1 walk through before he was thrown in. We heard great things from the coaches and other parents right away and how excited they were about his speed and "magic fingers." The coach wanted Kaden to hurry and learn the plays so they could play him more.
I guess he learned them because he pretty much played the whole game offense and defense today. I have to admit that it was pretty exciting watching him play again. Football is the funnest sports to play but his team has had kids have some serious injuries including a boy getting carted off from a serious broken arm today that happened during warm up.
Kaden is having a blast, he is excited to be back in the game and having that camaraderie with his team! AND I gotta say he is playing really well too. He had 2 sacks in the first game and did really well at keeping his side from getting scored on. He has had a few throws to him but it just hasnt happened yet. Yaaa football!

The girls are great little cheerleaders for the team and big brother!

Jog-A-Thon

2011-09-16T13:07:00.004-06:00

Maddie had her 3rd grade jog-a-thon this morning and I gotta say she rocked!! They announced at the beginning that this year it is bigger and if they did 16 laps it would be 2 miles. So that is what Maddie set out to do. She was smart and started slow and kept going and going and going and the 5th graders that were counting her laps were getting so excited and cheering her on and they kept telling me how good she was doing and she started beating some of their laps! At 2 minutes left she had just under 2 laps to go so she HUSTLED and got them done! She did awesome!!! She was red faced and tired like the rest of the kids but she had so much fun.
It was funny because last night and this morning she kept saying she was so nervous and I wasnt sure why but she was and she got the nervous giggles when she was about to start but as soon as that first lap was done I could tell she was over it and having fun!!
Love that girl!!

Malia came and at snacks and didnt have a care in the world what was going on around her.. I grabbed her up and we ran one lap with Maddie and she thought it was hilarious.. she threw her arms up and just laughed (while I kept trying to get her to hold on so I could actually run!) so we only did 1 lap but it was a fun one!

Still smiling towards the end!

Red faced and tired! But she finished her goal!

Ms. BittyBoo AKA Ms. Dink

2011-09-03T21:44:00.003-06:00

Meet Ms. BittyBoo. This is all Rich's fault, he was sick of Lucy not wanting to cuddle with anyone but Kaden and so now I get the pleasure of figuring out how to keep my house from smelling like we have 2 cats! AND keeping it hairless.. with 2 cats.. woohoo!
She is adorable and quite sweet so the kids are of course in love with her. We adopted her from the humane society yesterday. She is "Maddies" kitty so she is pretty dang excited!
She had the name Ms. Dink.. no Im dead serious, Im not sure who the heck names these cats but there were quite a few with very unfortunate names so we named her on the spot and it was actually Malia who came up with Ms. Bittyboo and Maddie loved it (and Rich lol).
So I am officially a cat lady... aaahhhh
Lucy is not to pleased with our new family member. She groans and hisses at her, but mostly just runs away and hides from her.. which is better than attacking her. Hopefully Lucy will get over it and decide they can be fast friends soon!

Festival Performance

2011-08-30T20:51:00.005-06:00

Maddie had a performance in Longmont this last Friday! It was so much fun and she is always so excited to perform. They performed 3 dances from their Spring recital and only had 30 minutes for each dance to practice and they did really good!
Love watching this girl dance!
Malia was our 1/2 tiem show, it was so cute, people were filming and taking pics of her dance.

Malias First Day of Pre-K

2011-08-30T19:21:00.006-06:00

Little Miss Malia had her first day of Pre-K last week! She was sooo darn ready and for the first time so was I! She was super excited ate fast, cleaned her room fast, and was ready with her back pack on! She was a little peeved that I didnt make her a lunch for school though lol!
When I took her she went right in hugged her teachers (and someone elses dad oops) and put her back back away, found her name hung it on the board and jumped right in! I kept saying bye and she didnt care in the least.
She is the only kid that I have worried might not do well in school.. not because she misses mommy but because she is so strong willed and has no problem telling adults no or just ignores you.. working on that! BUT I was very happy to hear her teacher tell me how great she was when I went to pick her up! She has gone 3 times now and LOVES IT!! She could go all week all day and would be in heaven. I am already impressed with her school work that she has brought home. Her matching skills are impressive for the first week of school and her teachers seem impressed by her letter skills too!
Crazy that she is already in school, seriously time flies!

She sat right down and said hi to the kids at the table.. no social issues for her! There is another Malia in the class (but spelled different) who was adopted from China! I was sooo excited to see that Malia wont be the only Asian and adopted Asian!! Yaaaa

And from what I saw she was the only one to find her own name amongst all the other kids!

No looking back.

A family fun weekend!

2011-08-22T18:47:00.004-06:00

We had a great weekend with Becki and the kids!!

So Malia taught herself how to float on her back AND do the back stroke.. seriously she can do the back stroke.. how many 3 year olds do that?! This girl is her daddies water dream!

Kylie got a car while she was here!!!

Little miss must have gotten worn out while she was here because she fell asleep on the stairs at 9:30 in the morning!And the boys did a lot of this..

Maddies great weekend!!

2011-08-22T18:34:00.005-06:00

Maddie got baptized!!!!
We have been waiting for this weekend all year.. her excitedly, me sadly (the whole growing up thing). Maddie decided that yes she wanted to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, and we are proud of her for her decision and so excited for her to now have the Holy Ghost as her friend and guide!
Becki and the kids came down for the weekend to be with us which was very nice. A lot of Maddies church friends showed up and a couple of mine which was also very nice, I know they love Maddie!
Maddie was pretty nervous and made Rich practice dip her a lot Saturday morning. We got there early and Maddie wanted to see the Font and the water was really high and she got a little more nervous but was super excited.
There were really lovely talks given by the other family and Becki, Kaden said a prayer and did a great job.
When it was time for Maddie to get baptized I took her back and hurried out to see it happen. I was a mess all morning and was crying. She looked so pretty in the water, she wore a dress and it was floating in the water and really was an amazing site. She dipped back perfectly so no second tries! When I went back to help her out and to change I was crying and hugged her and she was crying so we just sat there and hugged and cried and then laughed at ourselves.. it was a very special moment that I will remember forever. Her hair was in a braid so it was a quick change.. we beat all the boys out haha!!!
She was confirmed a member of the church and was given the Holy Ghost. It was a very special and neat moment.
Kylie played her violin and Becki played the piano. It was really really neat!!
We celebrated at Red Robin and then came home to swim. It was a great weekend. One that I know she will remember forever.
Yaaa Maddie we are so proud!

My 8th grader

2011-08-19T13:33:00.005-06:00

Yep the rumors are true.. I have an 8th grader, and it isnt all its cracked up to be.. its HORRIBLY SAD!!! I just dont really appreciate my kids getting older, I really really dont! And to see Kaden handle himself so maturely with his new responsibilities makes it even harder!
He is such a good kid and we are so lucky to have such a great kid!
He got up early to his alarm and got ready and after I made him eat a descent breakfast AND dragged him outside for a few pictures, I made him let me take him school! He likes to rub it in how old he is getting and he was talking about "well next year I will be in high school" and well I kinda started crying the turd!
Im excited to hear how his day went but Im sure that he is going to do just fine! Hes a great kid and as long as he can stay focused on school and then friends he will have a great year!!
And he is freaking adorable!

OH MY GOSH look how big he is waaaaa!

Back to school already!?

2011-08-18T21:23:00.006-06:00

How is it possible that summer is already over? It is way to hot and seriously I could really use another few weeks with the kids home to make it feel like it is school time. Summer just flew by. We had a really busy but great summer. I feel so lucky that my kids are so great that I am not one of those parents dying to get my kids out of the house, I am actually just so darn sad. I really love having my kids home and having our own busy little schedules without the added school. But the kids love school, they have great friends and great teachers and I am excited to see them continue to learn and grow in all areas of life this year! Rich gave them fathers blessings last night which always helps us all! I am so thankful for him and for what he is able to provide for us.
Kaden doesnt officially start until tomorrow but he is a WEB leader in his school, which is pretty much just a small group of older kids helping out the younger kids so even though today was only for the 6th graders in his school he had to be at the school pretty early to get ready for the newbies. He studied his notes on what to do and had a really great time today! So tomorrow watch for his official first day of school photos... if he will let me!
Maddie had her first day!! We went to her back to school night last night and she picked her seat in the very first row (so not me) and her friends quickly came in and found seats next to her.. guessing that will change soon! So this morning she came grinning into our room already dressed and just so excited that it even put a smile on my face! She has such a great little spirit and I am so sad to have to share her with the school! She went and saw all of her last few teachers and tutors and omg they ran to her and grabbed her up and all hugged her and told her how much they miss her. Her first grade teacher wants her to come in and be a helper and let us know that she had been asking all the 3rd grade teachers who has her and those that didnt that they were missing out lol love that she is so loved!
Maddie was a little nervous on our way to school but as soon as she saw one of her friends she was off and ready to go. She did let us walk her to class and take a couple pics though! She said she had a great day and really likes her teacher, I think Mrs. Norris is going to be a great fit for her!
Malia will be starting pre-school this year and today was an open house, so we headed over after we had dropped off Maddie. This little girl is so so excited for school.. how do they even know what it is and that they should want to go? Well I dont know either but she has been so excited and has been trying to be extra good so "she can go to school" cracks me up! She got to meet her teachers and play with a few toys and she wasnt to thrilled that we couldnt stay and is already asking if she gets to go back. Im thinking her off days are going to drive me nuts!!
There is another Mahlia in her class that is adopted from China that I took a pic of a few months ago so I was really excited about that! How neat is that!!
So we all had a great start even though I think we all would have loved a little more summer time! Hope you all had a great first day too!!

Good thing these girlies are sassy right!

Seriously love this photo!

Doesnt her teacher look like exactly what you picture sweet little teachers should! Love it!

And sorry for all the crap photos.. my ISO is way off and I didnt even notice until I was editing.. oops!

Eight is Grrrreat!!!

2011-08-08T13:03:00.010-06:00

Maddie is 8!! Yesterday she turned eight and I just can not believe my sweet girl is getting so old. Truly it makes me so sad seeing her grow up way to fast for me! She is just the sweetest loving fun caring talented gorgeous girl. We just love her so so much and are and feel so lucky that she chose us to be her family. Lucky lucky us!! Love you MADDIE!!
It was Sunday so we couldnt really go do anything fun so we kept it low key by waking her up (she slept in Kadens room to party) and she had the biggest grin on her little face! Then we went upstairs to open presents. She only had a few small requests.. a dog purse (which was sold when I went to get it :( .. so in that case the walking dog, and a crown. So we added a few things to her list for her. She loves her dog the most and we got her a phone and we are really hoping she doesnt loose this one!!

These are out of order because we did presents first but then Rich made her chocolate pancakes per request of the bday girl!

Oh that cup is so darling it is her birthday cup a friend of mine made.. she has an etsy store if you want one too. She totally personalized it and Maddie just loves it!!

Oh the dog.. it freaking sheds!

Because 8 is so important in our church, you get to be baptized if you choose to do so... so we tried to focus on this aspect of her turning 8 so she got new scriptures and a CTR ring and other baptism jewelry and books. She also had her bishops interview and she passed!! So she will be baptized in a couple weeks and she is really really excited, especially now that the interview part is over!

She was pretty surprised about the dog!

My pretty pretty girl!

She "felt/looked" like a teenager she thought.. so cute!

And at the end of the day we had ice cream cake and it was a hit for our little chocolate lover!

Party time

2011-08-06T13:30:00.009-06:00

Yesterday Maddie had some friends over for her Birthday party. It has been a couple years since she has had a party so I knew we were going to have to do something big.. but she decided on just a pool party and it was the easiest party we've ever done!
I think the girls all had a super time. What a bunch of sweet cute girls Maddie is friends with! I love love seeing Maddie have a good time and she was all smiles the whole day!
We went swimming for a couple hours and then ate some pizza went home for gifts and desert which was also simple because she just wanted brownies.. but I added a bit of fun and made whoopie pies!

Kaden was a big hit for these girlie girls and they made him play the shark while they all swam away.. it was cute and he was a good sport!

After pizza (which I was really impressed with these girls putting it away!) they all lined up and asked Rich to throw them in the pool! So he got an arm workout!

And Malia wasnt going to miss this fun.. so glad Kaden was there to be the catcher!

Opening presents is always the most exciting part right!

Lindsey brought lots of girly stuff!

And Kinsey brought a fish.. Maddie is pretty excited about that.. me on the other hand?? lol

Chandler Bing brought some girly fun too!

Abby brought a fun bracelet decorating kit that has kept Maddie very busy!!

Courtney brought a sand decor kit and fun girly clips!

These girlies like their chocolate too!!

Maddies 3rd week of Intensives

2011-07-30T15:05:00.003-06:00

Maddie had a great week of intensives! It was her final week before the fall schedule starts next month so she will have a few weeks off and she isnt to excited about the long break. (I kinda am)
She had an absolute blast though! She was a little nervous because her 2 buddies were out of town and she wasnt sure who would be in her class but I knew it wouldnt matter and sure enough she came out after the first day not caring who was in her class!
She did hip hop, ballet, musical theater, contemporary, tap, jazz, and I think Im forgetting one?! Anyways she loved the teachers and loved the classes and came home every night continuing to practice what she had learned! We love hearing her talk about how much she loves it, it makes the time and money all worth it when you see how much fun she had!!
They also learned the SYTYCD day of dance challenge which was so fun!!

Beans and Rice

2011-07-25T12:58:00.004-06:00

Wanna know how to make this girl happy? Give her what she wants!! Wanna know what she wants in all the world?? Beans and rice.. and if you throw in a learning video shes all yours!!
Maddie had intensives this week and Kaden is with a friend so it was just her and I and all she wanted to do was watch Tad and have beans and rice! Well that was easy!

Pretty sure she was annoyed with my pictures... this is the ok hurry up and let me eat my food lady!

Videos

2011-07-24T19:40:00.003-06:00

Here are some videos of Rich and the girls swimming the other day. Maddie has totally taught herself to swim and now she is so comfortable in the water she just does tricks the whole time. Malia had decided that when she is wearing goggles that she is invinsible and becomes crazy in the water.. no fear.. which means a lot for me!

Shwimming!

2011-07-20T18:29:00.007-06:00

We had a great morning at the pool. Rich was off and Kaden didnt have friends over or baseball and Maddie didnt have dance SOO we finally had a day to just be with each other and enjoy the day!! It was really nice!
These girls are both becoming quite the little swimmers! Maddie is able to do the breast stroke under the water has all of a sudden caught on to the free style and is way better than me coming up for air in between strokes and yesterday taught herself the back stroke! Those of you who know Rich and his swimming background can imagine what a proud daddy he is!
Then there is Malia who is fearless in the water. She dunks herself, holds her head under the water... and today started swimming under the water from Rich to me with about 5 feet between us!! She is awesome!
As soon as she would come up she would point and yell again.. and then she would pop up and just mumble because she didnt want to waste time with words Im guessing, it was so funny!
Kaden being the brother he is likes to go around and splash us all and try dunking me and Maddie! We had so much fun!
Well until I came home and saw that because I didnt put on sunscreen right away on my face I am now covered in my dang freckles.

Maddie has also perfected the under water summersaults.. forward and backward.. four in a row!

Jumping into the tube.. pretty funny!

Rock stars

2011-07-20T18:18:00.004-06:00

We played a little rock band last night.. and we rocked it! LOL the howling that must occure outside when the creatures of the night hear us must be good!

Potty Mouth Challenge

2011-07-17T22:03:00.002-06:00

So heres the deal... I swear. Yep I admit it. I say all the good ones.. A word B word S word D word and the occasional.. and yes I know its absolutely disgusting but when Im really really mad the F word has been known to escape my lips.
Now this isnt an every day occurrence. I can go days without saying these choice words BUT certain emotions evoke these horrid words from my being and as soon as they are flying out of my mouth (usually when Im just beyond ticked) I feel stupid, the word can be half way out of my mouth and Im telling myself STOP but I just cant, and if Im worked up they keep on coming.
Yes Im that dumb!
SO I have been trying really hard to stop myself but keep realizing the "trying" isnt really doing anything for me. SOOO I am ratting myself out, I am putting it all out there because it seems if I call myself out and put it out there in the public so that I have to be held accountable I usually can succeed in what I am challenging myself to do.
Rich has created my own little reward system (ya Im 4 and need one of those) so if I can go 2 weeks without saying a naughty word I get a reward and then if I go another 2 another bigger and better one as a grand prize will follow. Then I figure after a month this should be out of my system!
So I need any friends or family that I chat with to rat me out if I slip. I hate this part of myself, I know its unattractive I know its horrible when my kids hear it I know it makes me look dumb its just a really really bad habbit that Ive had since probably Jr. High that I need to break!
So Ive already gone well ummm today with a clean mouth and heres hoping I have enough sense in me to just quit!

Baptism Prep

2011-07-17T18:25:00.002-06:00

Well the big day is approaching and I am excited for Maddie but so sad that my sweet girl is getting so big!
Maddie will be baptized next month and she is super excited. We were going to do in in Utah but Maddie didnt want to be away from her ward friends and it was really hard finding a church that could meet our schedule there.
I realized how fast the date was approaching last week and decided I better hurry and get pics done for her invitations. So I got her scriptures ordered, I had already found her dress when I was in Utah last so all that was left was to go to the Denver Temple for pics!
The weather was super hot but gorgeous and the kids and I just made a morning of it. And getting to stop and Deseret Book and get some yummy rolls and honey butter made the long drive so worth it!
Maddie rocked her little photo shoot. When I was going through the photos I was just so excited, she is so gorgeous and so sweet and I think it all shows in her pics. I have about 100 photos that I love so I really need to narrow it out and choose which ones that will make the invite!

Busy week

2011-07-15T17:46:00.003-06:00

We had a super busy week. Maddie had week 2 of dance intensives which meant Monday through Thursday 10-3 every day! She LOVED it!! She had so much fun with the new teachers and hanging out with the girls and walking across the street to 7/11 for slurpies!
And Kaden had more baseball. Yesterday he had a double header and he had the best games ever. He was killing it at bat and on 2nd.. it was really exciting watching him!!

Last day at the cabin

2011-07-07T20:57:00.009-06:00

Our last day waking up to that view :( When I woke up that morning I couldnt believe how fast it went by.. well for us! Im sure the Zimmers were like GET OUT!! But we had the best time!
Tami and I started our morning by going to the spa AKA the deck with a bucket of lake water and a razor lol but my legs were SO smooth after it was so fun shaving outside in the sun.. though I saw stuff I dont normally in the dark of my own shower!
We kept busy all day again by boating, skiing, cannoing, eating, and all that fun stuff! By 5 I think we were all pooped and ready to sleep the kids were all ready too and I think they started going to bed before 8! Those of us that managed to stay up later played games and had a blast. It definitely was a sad goodbye at night. I was not ready to say bye to the boys or Tami.
We are so grateful that they had us and so happy that we were able to go. It was really an amazing vacation and we cant wait to come back.. if they will have us... potty buckets and all!!!
I do have to say that I think we all did pretty well and I have caught myself walking away from the potty a couple times without flushing because I forget that I can do that again lol!
We also learned that Malia is a bit of a clean freak.. I had no idea, but she still had a great time in the great outdoors! We were very very impressed with Kaden and Maddie.. they both tried wakeboarding again on the last day so Maddie is a rock star and Kaden not letting me (who tried after Maddie did the last day) show him up.. he stayed in that cold water for at least 30 minutes trying and got so close every single time he just couldnt quite keep his balance after getting up.. we were seriously so proud of him and Maddie! We couldnt get over how Malia was just having such a good time just playing for hours in a bucket of water.. it was to cute.
We sure love our Zimmers and miss them tons already! Thanks for the memories!

4th of July at the Cabin Day 3

2011-07-07T20:02:00.013-06:00

On the 4th we started out pretty slow, it was nice I think everyone was able to sleep in a bit and after a couple late nights in a row I think we all needed it! After everyone was ready we headed off to buy fireworks and do a little shopping for supplies.. aka soda haha!

Afterward we headed to Zips for some lunch which was a hit and while I took Malia potty Rich realized the keys were locked in our car... and after he tried to blame everyone else for it happening and I got maybe a wee bit angry about that (knowing it was him) some how Caleb was able to find a local guy who was available and cheap and came right over and got it unlocked.. I couldnt believe it! On the 4th to have him come was a blessing for sure! And he was just cute as a button and I loved his old van!

When we got back to the cabin everyone scattered and started their fun, swimming boating diving fishing and all that good stuff. I even braved it up and did some tubing. Maddie decided to try to wake board and man if she just had a little more weight and strength she would have had it, then Kaden tried and I think he was just a little to nervous but did give it a couple tries. The water is freezing so its hard to stay motivated out there!

Later we participated in their daily style jumps.. where everyone dives/jumps into the cold water in a new fun way and OMG it was freaking Hilarious.. I cant even tell you how hard I was laughing... but also super impressed with the back flips and high jumps the kids were making.. but mostly Caleb was cracking us up with his!

In the evening we sat around the fire waiting to start our fireworks but when it was late enough nobody else was doing it and we were a little nervous about getting in trouble so we only did a few. Still it was a super fun day!!Oh we also did some family bonding at the nudist resort bwahahaha LMBO

Malia caught on pretty quick to the rowing and took over.. Tami is a good teacher!

Soooo close!!

Pretty awesome shot if I do say so myself!

The Moze.. my favorite! Maddie followed it up with a Moze of her own that cracked us up!

So scared to get wet!

Day 2 A'la Cabin

2011-07-07T15:10:00.009-06:00

Day 2 started with a cold refreshing lake bath... for the boys, us girls are smart and had a nice shower IN the cabin with WARM water!! Then we went to the branch that they attend while they are there and lets just say it was a good time! The people were so friendly nice and happy it was a lot of fun. We got home and Calebs family joined in the fun and early 4th festivities that happen on the lake.
There is a dude with a plane and he does fly bys while dropping watermellon out of the plane trying to hit a barge out on the lake. Then there is a large dock that they come and hook up to the Zimmers cabin that has a HUGE watermellon cannon that they shoot and also try to hit the barge. It was so much fun! They hooked up huge loud speakers and we got to just sit there and be entertained!

Elias serenaded us with his little guitar thingy that I cant spell.. he is really good and quite the singer!

Malia had some serious moves.. the hips were moving for sure!

Of course my girls had to entertain with some dancing!

The plane was super close!

After the show was over he took the plane for a lake drive with his bikini girls holding flags.. it was kinda funny!

Cabin vaca day 1

2011-07-07T13:57:00.007-06:00

We are home after a 5 day vaca to Idaho to visit our very bestest friends at their Cabin in Plummer. There are no words for the amount of fun we had. It was simply the very best vaca we have ever been on. The kids were constantly busy with something fun, the company was great, the kids got along splendidly and us adults had some good laughs!
We had to leave for our flight at 5 so we woke up super early but the kids were so excited they didnt mind.
We flew into Spokane and drove just over an hour to their floating cabin and it was heaven to see them! It took the kids about 3.5 seconds to throw on the swim suits and start having fun Zimmer style. They went sliding into the freezing cold water, cannooing like champs and running around like rock stars! Being the pampered spoiled city kids that they are they fit right in and we were very impressed with how the jumped into everything!

Maddie and Silas took zero time to fall right back into their cute little friendship, I cant say enough how much I love that boy!

The boys were very brave jumping in that water.. my toe didnt even like it!

And Maddie held her own jumping right in with the boys...

But this is the shocked face you get when your body realizes how cold it is!

Malia had a blast just filling buckets of water and spilling it onto the deck... that was pretty much her whole 4 days of fun!

Kaden is a teen!

2011-07-01T22:25:00.007-06:00

What a day! Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! I can not believe you are 13 I mean seriously how did this happen! We have grounded you so many times for getting older and getting taller and it just isnt stopping you and Im calling NO FAIR!!
We are so lucky to have you! You are sweet, sensitive, caring, smart, cute a great brother and great help to me and we are just so proud of who you are turning into. Thanks for being our boy!
So today we woke him up before Rich had to go to work (with previous permission.. dont mess with a sleeping teen!) and he was as you can see hiding from the early camera shot!
He opened his gifts and seemed happy with everything! Rich had gone early to get his favorite doughnuts so we enjoyed a yummy breakfast. He set off to his new game while we did some packing and then his friends started to arrive. They went swimming for a couple hours and then they came back for pizza and he opened some gifts from his friends. Then Rich took them all to Jump Street and it sounds like they had a blast! When they got back we had sang Happy Birthday and at some ice cream cake!
Everyone just left and he said it was the best birthday so far! So happy that he is happy, so happy that he has good friends.. and a nice little girlfriend (well maybe not happy about that but she is a very nice girl and its not a big deal) and dang if it just isnt so much fun seeing your kids have fun and smile!
Love this boy so so much, I am always catching myself stressing about what little time I have left with him in our home before he gets to run off and create new adventures, seriously it makes me so sad to think about that so I will try to avoid that!!
Happy Birthday bud, we love you and are so glad you had a great day!

His sisters sure love him!

Maddies dance intensive with Fusion

2011-06-30T21:46:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Maddie had a fun week of dance at the studio today with the traveling dance company Fusion. They are really amazing and are so good with the kids. Maddie ended up going in late today after not feeling well last night and this morning but around 11 decided she really wanted to go in and when I asked her if she was sure she said its just my dream (In almost tears) and who am I to mess with a girls dreams?! I stayed at the studio just in case she didnt feel good but she did great and the teachers and girls were so excited to see her. I had a really nice conversation with someone from our studio saying what a great addition she is to the company and how happy they are to have her and how great she is doing, what a great dancer she is and then was thanked for sharing her with them! It was really really sweet! Maddie had a great time but I could tell by the end that she was done, she wasnt all chipper like she had been but at the end they get to perform all their dances that they learn and she really wanted to. The first couple I could tell she was fine and then you could tell she just didnt feel great and in between she looked like she was going to fall asleep. Poor thing just did not feel great. But she did great and did have a great time she said!! Here are the videos of the dances!!