The First of Many

We will be getting the "official" gymnastics pictures in a few weeks, but I couln't help post this picture when I got it from another team mom.  Maddie is in a group called "Mighty Mites" at her gymnastics center and is loving it!  If she is anything like her mommy, this is only the first of many more to come!!

Our Halloween Dinner

 For several years now, I have had several friends tell me about this little tradition they have at their houses to have a special Halloween feast. 

And I have loved it and wanted to copy ever since.

This year, I told myself that I would do it, no matter how crazy life was.

Once again we hit some serious madness this past week with schedules, Jesse's studying, sharing one car, work, etc. and I have to admit that I had already thrown in the towel on this idea. Until Miss M reminded me on Thursday afternoon that we hadn't ever done our "Spooky Halloween Dinner."

So what was a mom to do?

Well I threw all the kids in the car, went to the grocery store and tried to come up with as many things as possible that could be tied into this dinner.  All in all I was pleased with the results and have convinced myself that this will be a necessary tradition to be repeated each year...just maybe with a little more planning :)

 Our table set up

 "Worm Pie" {aka: Lime Jello with gummy worms}

 "Brains" Decoration {aka: cauliflower in colored water---thanks Bryn!}

 Pink Lemonade with a "floating hand" {aka" ice frozen in a glove}

 "Bandaged Fingers" {aka: hot dogs wrapped in tortillas with ketchup}

Building Blocks {& Friendships}

Do you ever have those toys that somehow get thrown into the back of the toy closet and seem to be lost for months at a time?

That is what happened to this fabulous box of blocks that my Father-in-law made for the kids a few years ago for Christmas.  Just recently with the weather cooling off, we cleaned out the toy closet and found these beauties all ready to be played with.  Now my kids have been spending every evening after baths building castles, fortresses, dungeons, mansions, and even "evil dragons" per Robby.  I love to watch their imaginations run wild as they talk each other through all sorts of colorful images and details of their game.  Most of all, however, I love how sweet they are to each other when they play good together!

Flashback

 I got another wonderful DVD of pictures from dad, aka family Camera Man, and it was so much fun to dig through the files he added and finds some old ones.  These pictures were taken last February on my bro Ben's 19th Birthday.  It is amazing to see how much each of us have changed in an 18 month time frame.....

 Hard to believe that Ben's hair used to be that long....so glad you chose a clean cut version these days buddy!  Also I cannot believe how tiny Mr Eli was back then

 Miss Maddie styling herself in Snow White attire at 3.5 years old

 And this picture is just proof that I do indeed gain weight in my face when pregnant and thank heavens the gym has helped get rid of those chubby cheeks :)

{Never mind the fact that Robby looks like a cancer patient in this picture}

Hope everyone has a lovely Thursday, and perhaps I will find more treasures to add to my blog!

Candy Buffet Birthday Party

This year I asked Maddie what she wanted to do for her friend birthday party.  At first she decided on a "pajama party" but when she made the decision to invite some boys that idea was quickly vetoed.  I had told she could pick to either have a co-ed party or do a girls only pajama party.  Well...of course she picked the co-ed party and so we thew together a "Swimming" themed party.  The one request she did make was for a "candy buffet".  I didn't even know what that was until she told me she wanted one.  I even asked her what it was, and she went on to describe it as a fancy table with "different sizes of glass jars with different colors of candy inside them."  At that point I googled the words and lo and behold she was right.  I am not sure if my daughter is really only five years old; sometimes I feel like she is five going on sixteen.  Either way, I felt like I had to at least put some effort forth to fulfill her one birthday wish.  We searched several different stores in search of semi-cheap candy to supply and I have to admit I thought that it turned out rather well.  Plus the kids seem to all enjoy it as well :)

We ended up inviting a boat load of people to her party.  She has had several play groups over the years, preschool friends, school friends, neighbor friends and finally primary friends.  I think we ended up with approximately 20 some odd kids at our house that day.  Even though it was quite chaotic, they all had a really good time and no one got hurt (yeah!).  We borrowed my good friends bounce water slide and blew up our inflatable pool.  We even pulled out water balloons with the intention of having a water fight, but the kids were so busy playing we didn't need any other entertainment.

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After playing for awhile, we dried off and then had cake and ice cream followed by present time.  Maddie was so excited to have so many of her good friends there and afterwards she said "Mom, this was my most favorite party ever".  Success!!  Thank goodness we have until February before we have to do another party at our house!

 Cute cousin Kaylin pausing for a photo op

 Crazy kids walking up the slide :)

 Eli wasn't too thrilled with being in the water, but he did enjoy drinking Capri Suns pool side!

 This picture of Maddie pouring water out of the fireman hat down herself cracks me up.  Perhaps if I can ever manage to get Photoshop working on my computer, I would love to crop this one in closer....

"Heavy heavy hang over thy poor head.  What do you wish this giver with a bump on the head?"

Maddie wished for almost all the kids to come over and play at her house another time.  Nice try little Missy!

And later after all the other friends had left: Maddie, Robby, Kaylin and Aleisa had a great time playing in the deflated pool.

 Party attendees: Maddie, Robby, Kaylin, Makenna, Emma, Charity, Peyton, Delaney, Kailey, Sarah, Stella, Jude, Braden, Bradley, Jaren, Abby, Ellie, Madeline, Hallie, Fiona, Zoey, Mequell, Aleisa, to name a few :)

as of refresh.....

literally a phrase we repeat in our head WAY too many times a night while working.  Sometimes as I fall asleep I am almost chanting to myself: "as of refresh, as of refresh, as of refresh, etc."  {ie: has NOTHING to do with the post, other than being a phrase for making sure that everything in a chart is up to date} Basically I needed/wanted to document some of the comings and goings of our current life:

YEAH: for being done with my weekend, which means I am home {basically} with my babies until Thursday night.  Although today my brain feels absolutely FRIED from being awake for almost thirty hours :)

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NEAH: Maddie continues to come home from school telling me how she gets teased for being so small.  She says there is a boy "that is big" that stands in the line next to hers in the morning and chants "ha ha ha-ha ha, your backpacks so big and your so small, you must be baby." (or something similar)  I told her to tell the boy to stop saying that, because it hurts her feelings and she said "I don't think so Mom.  I already told him that, and he started chanting about me being a big baby."  She has told me that other kids at school tease her in the bathroom saying she is much to small to be in kindergarten.  The saddest part is she even has some girls that live nearby that she doesn't really like getting together with because they tell her she is too small to play with them.  I know this is just a small and harmless thing, but my heart goes out to my little girl when I hear of hurtful things other kids are saying.  I was also always really small for my age and was teased about that, so I totally understand what she is going through.  Even to this day I hate when people remark how young I look or how short I am. weird huh?  You would think as a grown-up I would be completely invincible to comments, right?  I hope she can grow through this and understand that size has no bearing whatsoever on the worth of her soul.  {and I am hoping she will grow a few inches as well, so that people will stop making her feel bad for being so small}

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YEAH for school picture day this past Friday and our first scholastic book order

{I used to LOVE ordering books when I was in school and would literally be couting down the days until they arrived}  I have been looking forward to this first book order and spent hours perusing the pages with Miss M, in order to select the best books!

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NEAH: Our &#$!% darn Camry bit the dust about one month ago and we have been sharing a car ever since.  I have to admit this is the very first time I have ever had to share a car with another person, prettty much since I started driving a vehicle--I know I know I was spoiled.  It has actually worked out okay, just sometimes it is frustrating coordinating things.

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YEAH: I got lots of laundry done and should be able to mostly catch up with household chores before going back on Thursday night. And then I will be back to square one after my stretch of nights.

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NEAH: my kids were SOOOO NAUGHTY this past weekened, including Robby this morning.  Sometimes we feel like we live in a zoo; the things my bigger two kids come up with sometimes....amazing. On the other hand, now that it is another week Miss M is back at school all day which greatly reduces the number of naughty episodes around the house.
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YEAH: for cooler weather outside.  We are looking forward to playing outside after school for hours every evening with neighborhood friends.  Also looking forward to pumpkins, caramel apples, Schnepf Farms, Halloween decor, candy and costumes!!
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NEAH: Eli is growing much too quickly; I am seriously not ready for this.  He is talking so much now and cracks us up constantly.  He loves to try to tickle us and scrunches up his face and laughs like crazy when he does this.  He is starting to resist going to bed and clings to me when I go to lay him down.  It does work...I always end up holding/snuggling him a few minutes longer when he does that :)  He loves to do anything that Robby is doing, such as playing with trains, playing in the sand outside, pretending to cook with the playfood upstairs and putting on Robby's fireman boots. We sure love him; now all he needs to do is quit growing!

Eli loves all the extra one on one time he gets with Mom these days and is especially enjoying perks such as sitting on the counter while I cook and licking the beaters clean!

And finally, just wanted to document that currently this is Maddie's FAVORITE dress/outift at the moment and puts it on immediately once it is washed and hung up.  At least this time I also think it's cute so I don't mind too much :)

 

I'm not a plane

 On Friday, my sister brought her kids over to play after Maddie got out of school.  We all decided to walk to the park at the end of my street and play.  It was as hot as can be and all the kids quickly developed rosy red cheeks with sweat dripping down their little faces.  I felt like I was bombarded with requests constantly for more water. 

***
After we had been at the park for approximately 20 minutes, Maddie requested to run home for "something."  Normally I would have immediately said no, but somehow I felt bad because she is now five years old and I can actually watch her the whole way to our house from the sidewalk by the park.  She was quite pleased that for once I said yes on such a big girl task.  She happily sailed away on her scooter as if the world was at her little fingertips.

***

Now, everytime I allow Maddie to do anything remotely "grown up", Robby jumps right on that bandwagon and thinks he needs to follow suit. As soon as she headed down the street, Robby miraculously quit his busy play in the sand with his trucks and grabbed his bike to also "go home for a feeewww minutes Mom."  I wasn't about to let my three year old take off down the street by himself so of course told him no.  He was quite upset about this and pouted for awhile.  Then as soon as my back was turned I caught him hop on his bike out of the corner of my eye and take off down one of the walk way paths to head back home.  I took off running full speed to catch up with him.  For once I was grateful that I do run because I was able to overtake him and accidentally tipped him off his bike while I attempted to stop his escape.  I felt badly when he blamed me for pushing him off his bicycle, but also pointed out that he had deliberately disobeyed Mommy. {Good thing there were no injuries from this)
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When I had finally calmed him down I said "Now you can't just take off without Mommy with you."  To which he replied "Mom, I'm not a plane."  I was quite confused by this until he said "I am not buzz lightyear either.....I can't fly".  I started busting up laughing.  One minute before I was as angry as can be at having to run full speed to catch up with him, but it was quickly replaced by amusement of his literal interpretation on a phrase.
***
After Maddie finally returned from the house, her and Robby had a great time riding around the park along the pathway.  It was cute to see them chasing each other and laughing as they "raced".

M's 5th Birthday Part ONE

We started Maddie's birthDAY off with chocolate chip pancakes, peaches, and hot chocolate per request :)

Then it was time to get ready for school!

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How old are you Maddie?....."Fiiiiiive"

I rode my bike to school with the kids in the bike trailer per request as well {and I have to admit I was sweating to death upon returning home}

I met up with Maddie for lunch and ate with her and her cute kindergarten friends---although they go to lunch at 10:55am so I wasn't that hungry.  We bought lunch at the cafeteria and I had to catch up her account from back charges. Speaking of which...funny story:

Apparently several weeks ago she realized she could just walk up to the cafeteria ladies and buy a chocolate milk on her card without telling me.  Finally her teacher e-mailed me saying that she wasn't allowed to buy milk at lunch anymore until we updated her account {ie: payed up}.  What????  I didn't even know that they would allow a child to buy things off a card that has NO MONEY on it.  Needless to say Maddie and I had a discussion about this and I promptly paid up. 

 After eating lunch, Maddie asked if I would come to the remaining of lunch recess with her.  It was so neat to stay and watch her interact with all the kids at school.  I always have this worry that my kids won't have friends, will be picked on, or just plain not fit in (I am sure every mom worries about this), but it was fun to see Maddie run around with all sorts of friends and play.  She has a fun group of about 12 girlies that ran with her, played Red Rover, chased boys, talked about silly bands, and all searched to find ladybugs in the grass with.  I even felt like a rock star!  They all thought I was awesome being at school and would run over and tell me all kinds of funny things!  Wow, I never knew a group of kindergarteners could make me feel so good about myself :)

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Finally it was time to come home and begin the cooking/cleaning in preparation for Maddie's family birthday party.  Robby and Eli were little champs in the kitchen helping me.  After Maddie got home from school, we had last minute touch ups to the meal and dessert before familiy arrived. 

Maddie with her balloons!

The yummy food buffet style as usual

Maddie's requests for dinner were:

#1 Chicken

#2 Broccoli

#3 Strawberries

*I think I can handle that*

The cute three year old cousins!  Kaylin of course with her baby in tow and Robby with his "little blankie"



I am in LOVE with this little man's eyes {Zacky}

Papa with Eli

It is always amazing to me how much all my kids adore their Papa.  He truly has a way with children and it shows.  They know when they are with him he will protect them, play with them, include them in what he's doing, and more than anything love them with all his heart.  Many thanks to Jesse's father for showing my kids unconditional love

Cousin Kaylin

I accidentally bumped into Lori spilling on her shirt....good thing she has a little Sis like me to clean up my mess :)

{I LOVE this cute apron my Sissy-in-law gave me for my birthday}

Maddie with her "cake" (Berry Trifle Dish)

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I had been trying and trying to decide what I was going to make on her actual birthday for dessert.  I didn't want to do my traditional Giant Cupcake because I had just made it the day before for Nona and Joanna's birthday.  And besides, I was already planning on making that on Saturday for her friend party.  I was in quite the dilemma until Maddie mentioned to me she wanted "berries" on her birthday {specifically strawberries}.  That was when the lightbulb turned on and I made a trifle instead.  I have to admit it was delicious....now I just need another excuse to make it again.....

Maddie with her Aunt Jo

Joanna, Maddie, Esther, Lori and Kaylin

Maddie holding her Mylar Balloon that she loved.  I don't know what it is about kids and balloons, but mine are pretty much obsessed with getting balloons for birthdays.  I made sure I picked up enough so that each of the kids got to play with one.

My sweet brother, Ben, even came all the way out to our house for the party.  I was so excited to see him, even with all the chaos that a normal family party entails.

This year Maddie had a specific wish list of things she wanted for her birthday:

#1 "Big Girl" Scooter

#2 Barbies

#3 Barbie Movies

#4 Silly Bands

#5 Make up

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It was hilarous to see how excited she was for her presents.  She especially LOVED the new Mermaid Barbie doll we got her.  Awhile ago we rented a Barbie Mermaid Movie and it was the same doll that was in that movie.  She was hilarious as she went from present to present saying "ohhh thanks".

While Maddie was busy opening presents, Robby entertained himself by trying his hand at the new scooter

Even Eli joined in on the scooter fun

It felt like non-stop partying, or preparing to party from the time I woke up until I went to bed, but we had so much fun!  When Maddie went to bed that night she said "Mom I had so much fun on my birthday....can it still be my birthday tomorrow"

:)