BOO and I mean YOU!!

This month, that has been a re-occurring theme around our house.  My children will run around and inadvertently yell "BOO, and I mean YOU!" in their loudest voices possible.  Who started it? Why Maddie of course.  And whenever your eldest child comes up with a catchy phrase like that you know it will stick around for awhile.  Although it got pretty annoying, I have to admit it was pretty darn cute to hear Eli repeat it back.  He always misses a word or two in that sentence and most of the time will yell: Boo....Mean YOU.  Anyways......

We had a BUSY, fun, BUSY, beautiful, BUSY, sugar-high, BUSY October (notice a reoccurring theme around here?).  There were definitely several high stress moments in the past few weeks with Jesse super busy recruiting for IB, me working full time and then some, attempting to keep the house together between the two of us, and lots of activities to do.  Some of the things we did included:

*Pumpking picking at our favorite Riverview Farm complete with running through the beginning of the corn maze they had set up.  I will add pictures about this later.

*Decorating our house with a cute spiderweb after my cute neighbor Natalia prodded me on my way.  We also added some black windows with DO NOT ENTER tape and had pumpkins galore, and a spooky "Cocoon Mummy"

*Our annual Spooky Halloween Dinner, this time we invited some friends over to our house and we all chipped into to put this together.  I'm already planning on doing another of these next year and have found some more time consuming dishes on Pinterest I am dying to try out.

 Michelle and Catherine, my two AWESOME, PATIENT, KIND friends and babysitters

Michelle, Andrea and I; seriously love these girls

*Barbeque Dinner at one of the professors BEAUTIFUL Vermont estate on a cool Sunday evening compliments of the Christian Club (of some sort at Tuck).  I will also have to post these pictures another time.

*Pizza Dinner on Halloween at Sachem's clubhouse and then trick or treating with Daddy a few hours later

{it was quite the adjustment for my kids to bundle up with coats, mittens over the top and long sleeve shirts and pants underneath their costumes--I cannot wait for them to all look like the kids from The Christmas Story come December}

*Trunk or Treat party with our church in the middle of our first official snowstorm

FYI: Robby refused to hold still long enough for me take pictures of him, imagine that?!

J and I dressed up as Pharaoh and Egyptian Princess (Cleopatra sort of). No pictures recorded of the two of us, so don't be surprised if this costume gets pulled out next year as well

*The constant disaster scene at church as Mr R continues to struggle with Primary (he just cannot sit still and really struggles with this in Singing Time.  He also tends to upset and angry when he is reprimanded.  We are still struggling to come up with a solution for all of this, but really really want to find something so he can enjoy {I will even take tolerate} church)

*Cookie decorating with two of my favorite families in Sachem Village! (we sure missed you Maren and are already penciling you in for next year)  The kids were really good and played around us and/or watched a movie while we talked and frosted.  Robby did come and frost one cookie, which he immediately proceeded to eat.  I have a feeling if Miss M would have been there, she would have been right in the thick of things decorating away!

*And of course LOTS of time spent outside playing in the snow.  Maddie was so excited to come home on Monday and tell me that she built a snowman at recess with several of her friends.  Robby has been spending hours outside with his monster trucks making "tracks" for them to race on.  And Eli will basically run outside fully clothed in winter gear or almost naked without a thought in mind about the weather.  He will then proceed to stay outside until we make him come inside to gear up.

 Still proudly announcing ourselves as "Arizonans" despite the snow

All in all, we had a really good time this year and feel very blessed to be in New England experiencing everything on our own for the first time (although I have begun to really miss my family). 

Now without further ado, here is my cute breed all done up for Trick or Treating:

 Mr E as Leonardo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

*I think this has been my hands down favorite year to experience Halloween with E.  He was so excited and "in to it" for the first time and actively participated in everything.  He also 100% picked out his costume on his own.  As I began to plan costumes for the children, I turned to him and asked him what he wanted to be figuring he would have no idea.  Instead, he looked right back at me and immediately replied "Teenage Ninja Turtle".  When we got the costume in the mail, he was thrilled to find out it was Leonardo and immediately recognized this without me telling him.  What can I say?  That boy is obsessed with the Turtles right now!

 Robby as "Red" Iron Man

Mr R cracked me up this year.  He had been telling me he wanted to be Iron Man since he found out Halloween was coming (in September).  I figured this was because he remembered dressing up as him last year.  I tried to sort of steer him into being a Pro Bike Racer because he LOVES doing "tricks" on his bike and is always pretending to be in a race.  We bought the biker costume which he also liked, but then proceeded to announce he still wanted to be Iron Man.  Last year I bought him the black Iron Man but he was pretty determined to be Red Iron Man this year.  Finally I caved and bought him yet another Iron Man costume.  The end result = TOTALLY worth it.  He has loved his new costume and probably worn it almost every day for the past three weeks.  We have more than gotten our moneys worth for it and I am pleased to add it our new collection of Super Hero costumes.  The boys have had many play sessions in their costumes already, and I know we have many more to come :)

 Missy as a Kitty Cat--sassy one I might add

Maddie has been a princess of some sort on Halloween for as long as I can remember, so when she announced that she wanted to be a kitty I literally jumped with joy.  It's such a relief to move onto something else.  Since I don't really know how to sew and was far to busy to shop locally or come up with a creative version on my own, M and I hopped on the computer one evening after her brothers were in bed.  Together we searched Amazon for the perfect costume.  Let's just say I was shocked to find the vast majority of "children's cat costumes" to be totally inappropriate for anyone, let alone a child.  We finally found this number and she has loved it!  It is the perfect kitty costume that completely fits her personality.  The only bummer on Miss Maddie's end is that she has been under the weather for a good two weeks of October and so she didn't quite get the same experience as the boys this Fall.

My boys :)

Robby

*Thank you for being the "big brother" around the house while little Miss is off to school each day.  You take particular pride in being the oldest one at home and can somehow do "more" to help Mommy with your older sister gone.  

*Thank you for your big hugs you give me when I get off work.  I tend to be emotionally drained as I conclude my long work day and all I really want to do is sit on the couch and watch a television show and unwind. These hopes are dashed the moment I walk in the door and am bombarded with messy floors, sticky faces, and a constant string of needs divided between the children.  Your hugs make all of this somehow okay and must contain some of that magic "unwinding" power.  I instantly feel myself take a few deep breaths and visibly relax when you give full arm hugs to me.

Thank you for helping clean up your room.  You were so excited to get out the wooden train set on Saturday that you did so well at cleaning up your room.  There wasn't any whining, or pouting or even begging of help from your mother.  Instead you went straight up the stairs and worked hard at straightening up the room.  The next thing I knew you were back downstairs with a big grin on your face as you announced I needed "to coooooome see nooooow!"  I love how proud you were of yourself.  I love knowing you felt that gratifying feeling of completing a difficult task.  Those are precious lessons learned that I hope you don't ever take for granted.

*Thank you for all the effort you put into controlling your anger.  It makes me so sad sometimes to see how hard this is for you.  Just today it made me cry when you told me "sometimes I get so angry and I don't know why."  We then had a conversation about how emotions are normal and not "bad" or "naughty" things to feel.  Emotions are a part of life and part of who we are as humans.  Our job isn't to make ourselves not feel a certain way, but instead to learn how to control these emotions we feel.  We talked about how we are learning different ways to express our emotions in a non-hurtful way.  I am so proud of everything Robby has learned the last month or so. He has gotten so good at breathing deep and "breathing the anger out", is able to tell me, or other people when he needs to be alone, and we can sometimes even talk our way through these challenging emotions.

A few weeks back, Robby told me that "when I get really angry, I feel like I cannot control my body. I feel all hot in my tummy and it makes me want to hit or kick and then I say not nice things."  We have discussed many a time the purpose of this life.  Heavenly Father has entrusted us with these beautiful, sacred bodies.  Our "job" on earth is to learn how to gain control over our body.  Our conversations together bring me back to a particular scripture in Mosiah 3:19 that says "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and become a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord...."

Thank you for being YOU my little Rubba Dubba!  I thank God daily that you are mine.  You have helped me more fully realize my potential as a mother.  You have molded me and refined me into a more patient, loving Mother---and you continue to do this.  For that I am eternally grateful.  You have allowed me to learn more about unconditional love and helped me to be more cognicent about showing my love to my children.  You have taught me more about a pure heart and have helped me turn towards my Father in Heaven for assistance.  There have been days that all I can do is cry as I pray to God for help during my weaknesses.  I have seen how God is slowly making "weak things become strong" in my own life.  Thank you for being YOU  

Fall Formal

Jesse and I had the chance to go to the "Fall Formal" dance together for Tuck's business school on Friday evening.  It has been YEARS since we have dressed up and gone all fancy to a dance.  In fact, I think the last time we did something like this we were still dating. We had a lot of fun and I loved getting to know some of the TP's and students that are in Jesse's class.  The funniest part was that most of them didn't realize that I actually live in West Lebanon.  I got asked over and over if I was in town visiting.  I smiled back and let them know that I do indeed live in town, I just don't get out to most of the Tuck events due to work and kids.  The next conversation piece that was addressed was kids.  People were incredulous that we are so young and have THREE kids.  They automatically assume we have WAY more kids than anyone could handle and are doubly amazed when we told them we actually wanted several more children at some point. It's so interesting to spend time around people with a much different outlook on life.

Nevertheless, there was dancing, snacking, drinking {water and soda for us of course}, laughing, singing along to the AMAZING band, and lots of people watching.  Thanks babe for letting me come with you to your Tuck party :)

Maddie

Dear Maddie,

*Thank you for being such a great sister to your two younger brothers.  I love what pride you take in helping Eli take baths and get dressed.  I love how you will sit and read stories to Robby at bedtime while I put Eli to bed.  He snuggles right up to you with a look of contentment as you bring the stories alive with your animated voice.
*Thank you for being so confident in yourself, I love how you can proudly proclaim "I pretty much look like the cutest thing ever today".  I actually envy the way you think you are such a good artist, gymnast, bug-catcher, princess, or whatever else you come up with. I sincerely hope you continue to carry yourself with such high esteem as you grow older.

*Thank you for helping me make dinner tonight.  You kept asking me "is there anything else I can do?", which filled me with love to see how much you enjoyed helping out.  You take such pride in cooking and always quick to point out "wow, we made this food ALL by ourselves!"

*Thank you for snuggling up with me tonight during our "kid movie night".  I so enjoy your cuddle sessions you have with me.  I especially love when you ask me to snuggle with you at bedtime.  Sometimes I fall asleep and wake up several hours later with you tucked right against my body= LOVE IT.  You also give the greatest morning hugs right when you wake up and are quick to point out how well you slept.

*Thank you for always wanting to learn and grow.  I love how inquisitive you are and your love for learning.  You are always excited to tell me what you learned at school and are very good at getting your homework done.  I love being able to teach you about your body, emotions, and spiritual topics.  You are very good about listening and asking thoughtful questions.

*Thank you for still having an innocence about you!  I was so worried that now you are in 1st grade certain aspects of childhood would be taken from you.  I am happy so say that this has not happened yet.  We haven't had to deal with the Santa Claus/tooth fairy/etc issues or any "naughty" language problems.  Please continue to have that aura of innocence, Mom is not up to the challenge to delve into these subjects.

*Thank you for your kindness with other children around you.  There are many kids in our neighborhood right now that are much younger than you.  You are always willing to play with them and treat them kindly.  I never hear you tell one of them they are too young to play with you. I love how you will play princess with Natalia (our 2 yr old neighbor girl) and then go hunting for bugs with Damon (6yr old boy) in the same day and never think twice.

*Thank you for being a great helper with the laundry.  I love how carefully you sort your pajamas with their matching piece and then fold and put them away.  You will always ask me if you cannot remember which goes with which.  Even if you grumble about doing this chore, by the time you have finished your clothes you always ask if you can fold and put away your brothers as well.  Someday you will understand what a huge help this is for your Mommy.

*Thank you for being such a great reader.  I love how you proudly announce you finished another chapter book.  I think that this fall you have read a new chapter book nearly every other day.  It just blows my mind how quickly you picked up reading.  Last year at this time you had barely learning 50 sight words and now you are reading book after book.  Many days you will lay on your bed and spend at least an hour of the day reading about Fancy Nancy, Junie B. Jones, Spiderwick Chronicles or any other book you can get your hands on.  I also love how attentive you are to the fact that Junie B. Jones "sometimes forgets to use nice words". You will bring me the book and point out the No-No words and we quickly scribble it out and substitute a more appropriate word.  {relax, nothing too naughty,  mainly just 'dumb' and 'stupid'}

*Thank you for all the drawings and notes you give to me.  I love how you will spend an entire afternoon making your own "My Friend Frog" book.  You write the best notes about how you love our forever family, about shopping with Daddy, and even being scared for Halloween.  The other part that is so amazing, is how particular you are about spelling the words correctly.  Once you learn how to spell something, you rarely forget and consequently you have a pretty amazing list of words that you know how to spell correctly.  Some of your best notes to date include:

"Me and Dad are going shopping with my brothers.  I am going to Walmart.  I'm going to buy some ice cream and buy some Apple siter (cider). The end"  {complete with a picture of the four of them)

"Get tape off before you open it. From Maddie. For Mom and Dad" {outside of a taped note}
"Dear Mom and Dad. I think I'm scared of Halloween and you know before I wasn't but now I'm scared of it.  From Maddie. For Parents Tiffany and Jesse. Love Maddie" {inside of taped note}

---Maddie had the funniest paper that for the life of me, I cannot find.  It was about her friend Damon.  It went something like this "Me and Damon are best friends and I love him.  I know that he loves me too.  Someday Damon and I will be married.  I will be his wife.  He will be my husband.  We will be married and have a family together. The end."  Maddie makes so many stories, that most of the time I throw them away with hardly a glance.  I was going through a spiral notebook and ripping out all of the used pages.  For some reason I glanced down and started reading this note.  I got a good laugh when I read it.  I ripped it out and took it over to my friend Michelle's house the next day so she could read it as well (Damon is her son).  I meant to take a picture of it and now cannot figure out where it might be sitting.

*Thank you for your childlike Faith.  I love how reverent you are in Sacrament meeting at church.  You love to look through the hymn book and have even gotten good at following along and singing during the hymns. One of your favorite songs we sing in church is "Praise to the Man", you also like "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet".  I also like the notes you write during church.  A few Sundays ago, during someones talk you wrote this: "Going to church is when we Learn about Jesus and when I go to church I feel good inside and someday I want to return with him and I no {know} the church is true in the name of Jesus Christ Amen."  I love to see how easy it is for you to believe in the goodness of God and that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins.  Although I know that someday you will have to stand alone and gain your own personal testimony, I love the childlike hope that you possess.

*Thank you for your good heart.  Today while watching the movie "A Little Princess" you touched me in several ways.  First off, you really truly cried when Sarah finds out her Father has died at war.  You couldn't believe how sad it was that Sarah no longer had a Mommy or Daddy.  You then cried again when Miss Minchin (sp) accused Sarah of stealing and called the police.  You were so upset that someone would be so mean to a little girl.  I could hardly console you until she finally found out that her Dad was alive and she was safe from Miss Minchin at last.  I was particularly shocked by how upset this movie made you, because you have never reacted to a movie so intensely.  I was glad there was a happy ending to nail onto it.  Although I don't particularly suggest upsetting your child like this, we had a pretty in depth discussion afterwards about the movie.  We discussed how blessed we are to have a Mommy and Daddy at our house, food always in our cupboards and on the table at meals, warm clothes as it's getting colder, and love in our home.  We also discussed how important it is to share with other less fortunate than us.  One thing Maddie asked me was "if I keep feeling crabby and sassy, will I act like mean Miss Minchin when I get older?"  I had to smile a little and then quickly reassured her that my job is to help her learn how to grow and be a kind person.  I also told her that she is a very nice girl and would never turn out like that.

*More than anything else, thank you for loving me unconditionally Miss Maddie, even when I probably don't always deserve it.  I feel so blessed to have you continually willing to forgive me of my wrongdoings and accept my weaknesses.  I am so glad that you were chosen to come to our home and I feel blessed to be able to be your Mother.  You know just when to boost up my confidence by telling me how pretty my shoes are, or how nice I did my makeup or thanking me for cleaning up your room, etc.  You also allow me to stumble and fall as I parent you and still look at me like I'm the smartest person in the world.

xoxo,
Mom

What have we been doing?

Well friends (mostly self), before I get any more behind I am going to write a small note about some of the fun things we have done since arriving to NH with accompanying pictures.  They may be a repeat from another blog post, but this time I have pics added in.

#1: Hanging out on the porch A LOT with all the rain.  The kids love to sit out on our front porch on the camping chairs and watch the pouring rain.  Every now and again they throw their rain boots on and run out into the rain :)

#2: Apple picking.  Within a week of being in New Hampshire, we met some fun new friends that took us apple picking at another lady in our Ward's house.  She had two huge trees that were filled with apples to be picked.  We had a great time getting to know people in our area and ended up scoring with two bags filled to the brim.  The best part was the yummy applesauce that we made at Maren's house!

 Our cute friend, Miss Leah Bean. She was my little buddy and hung out next to me for part of the time.  I sure love her sweet smile and the icing on the cake is her cute little laugh that she does!  We sure love her.

#3: Meeting some of the most FANTASTIC women around and having a girls night out within weeks of moving.  We all went and saw "The Help" at the Nugget Theater in downtown Hanover.  The movie theater was tiny and the food was unimpressive, but the company was perfect. Now if only we could plan another one......

{Michelle, Maren, Tiffany-me, and Andrea}

#4: Getting to hang out with these two cute little fireman feet, instead of unpacking boxes.  I cherished all the time I got to spend with my children during my "in-between jobs" period of time.  I know I should have accomplished even more during that time, but man was it nice to sit and play with my babies!

#5: Spending time with the coolest ever Daddy, that took the children down to an old train station while Momma was at work.  The kids all came home talking about the fun they had!

Robby

 Eli

Maddie with Robby {not really sure what she is trying to do?}

#6: Boy Haircuts.  I sure dread the time when Jesse pulls out the clippers and announces it is time for the boys to have haircuts.  This time it was a complete surprise; when I left for work the boys had hair and when I was finished, their hair was nearly all gone.  I am so glad that both of their hair grows incredibly quickly

#7: Our beautiful, mystical sunsets such as this.  We are incredibly lucky to live in such a beautiful place.  Now as the colors on the trees change, it has only gotten prettier!

#8: Bringing the painter out of Robby {or rather artist as Miss M would say}.  Robby has gradually picked up the patience and joy of drawing/coloring/etc!  His newest fave is water-painting during the day; him and Eli will spending hours painting the day away :)

#9: The infamous blackberries that Maddie spent HOURS collecting when we first arrived here in August. We froze some of them, added some to our salads, and ate the rest....yummy!  The blackberries are gone of course from our forest backyard, but we can't wait until next summer to send the children out to pick them once again!

#10: As you can tell we get LOTS and LOTS of rain around these parts and our rain boots have become a staple accessory around our house. The best part is the kids already had these in AZ, it was just a dress up item before.  Now I just need to pick myself up some stylish boots of my own and I can run outside and play with them!

{R and M on one of the many cold, rainy days}

#11: "Morano Gelato" trips with the boys.  There is this really amazing Gelato shop in downtown Hanover.  We love parking near the main street and window shopping along the street.  When we are finished, we typically will stop by our gelato shop and enjoy a bite.  The boys love the chocolate flavor and my fave is Caramel and Chocolate Chip.  

{I could just EAT up this little face of his}

12: Park time: we have enjoyed this unique little playground right next to Home Depot and the boys love how it actually has a sandbox built into it.  It has been an adjustment for the kids to go to parks that have bark chips on the ground, instead of the typical sand we are accustomed to in Arizona.  The boys LOVE the fact that this park has a spot for them to dig, build and enjoy themselves.  Miss M also loves their swings and is pretty proud that she can "pump" all by herself! 

#13: Getting used to my cell phone constantly slipping out of my hands and into my four-year-olds paws.  Robby has successfully learned how to use my cell phone almost as well as I do, and is always asking me to borrow it.  He loves to play the games, map quest our location, and shop at the market for apps. As J's school prepared to start in August, it seemed as though there was some kind of event to attend on a daily basis.  To cope with this, we began to let Robby play on our phones to entertain him at these big events.  Now he thinks it is a right of his to have some kind of phone time each and every day :)

{Our cute little neighbor girl, Natalia, with Robby at one of the Tuck barbeques.  She was so cute and kept picking up my kids soda and saying "mine?"  Natalia and Eli are only a few weeks apart in age and they crack me up when they are together.  Natalia speaks Spanish primarily at home and so when they argue/fight she will yell at him in Spanish and he yells back in English}

#14:  Lake Pinneo the end of August.  We met up with a bunch of families (minus hubbies) at the Lake before the weather turned cooler.  The kids all jumped in the water and we ended up staying all morning into early afternoon.  We had a blast and were glad we could participate in one final "warm weather" activity before the fall/winter came.  Robby still talks about going back to the Lake with his swimsuit; I am afraid he would be in for a real surprise this time around.  The hurricane that came a few months back, completely wiped out this cute little beach we went to :(

 {Eli's famous dead-man hang he did on the tire swing for probably 45 minutes that day- he is white-trashing it in a diaper}

#15: Friday Sing at Mt Lebanon Elementary School.  Maddie's school is kind of "small town" and on Friday's all the children meet in the gym and sing songs together for about 30 minutes.  It is really cute; one of the school staff members pulls out their guitar and they sing there way through song after song.  Parents and family are all invited and you can have your student come sit with you during the sing time.  We finally went to this a week ago Friday.  Miss M was sooo excited to see that we came and proudly sat right next to me the entire time.  She had the biggest grin on her face as she showed me all the songs she could sing.  Her favorite song is "Yellow Submarine".  The boys were pretty good at the school as well, so we may just have to come back next time I am off work on a Friday!

Our Chant

Rain, Rain go away.

Come again another day.

Little {Maddie/Robby/Eli} wants to play

Rain Rain go away!

These Days

Until I finally get caught up on my blog--and can really record some of the fun we have had, I want to jot down some tid bits about our lives in NH:

1. Berry Picking {and apples}: this has been one of our very most favorite parts about being back East.  We have been several times to a small farm about 10-15 minutes from our house and have enjoyed every minute of it.  The blueberries and raspberries are fantastic and the kids LOVE helping me pick the fruit.  And then of course they also love helping me eat them as well! Maddie also found a patch of blackberries in the forest behind our house and we have enjoyed those as well.

2.  Montshire Museum: a fun science museum that is minutes away from our house.  We have been there twice and the children really like the fun water area in the back.  They can wear swimsuits and splash around in the water as they learn how to connect plastic PC pipes together to make the water fountains squirt in a different direction.  The kids have also liked the exhibits inside and with year long passes, we will definitely be frequenting this place.

3.  Lunch date at Paneros:  today I took the boys with me and met up with some really great friends for lunch.  The boys were very well behaved, the food was delicious and the company was even better.  These ladies have seriously made moving far away from our family and friends worth every bit of it!!

4. Lake Pinneo in Vermont:  a few weeks ago we met up with a bunch of people from our church and spent the middle of the day at the beach.  It was so much fun for my kids to put on their swimsuits and get to splash around in the lake and build sandcastles and moats on the shoreline.  Eli especially loved the playground there.  It was the perfect sized lake and we definitely enjoyed some extra rays of sunshine.

5.  Weekly get togethers with our fellow Tuckies:  we have really enjoyed all the events that Jesse's business school puts on for their students.  We have also loved how many of the people in our neighborhood are also in business school and some even have children.  It seems like something is always happening around here and I find myself spending a lot of time going to potluck dinners, visiting friends, taking kids on bike rides, etc.

6. Daily trips into the forest:  I don't know if I can stress just how much my children love the forest in the backyard.  It is difficult to describe how much joy shines on their faces as they are foraging in the forest for frogs, crickets, spiders, squirrels, etc.  Just today they caught two frogs that are safely placed in a big plastic container on our front porch.  Maddie has made a habitat for them inside the container, complete with grass, twigs, water, and leaves.  We will see how long they live. I have to admit that I am NOT a bug/animal person but I really do like how it entertains my children.

7.  Puppies:  they seem to be everywhere and Miss M in particular is obsessed.  We have a neighbor with a small little dog named "Owen" and they are all particular fond of him.  Maddie seems to have a sixth sense, in that she can almost sense when he is coming out of house and will quickly follow suit.  I am glad that his owners are very friendly, nice people that don't seem to mind my children always bothering them :)

Maddie is SIX years old

It finally happened....I officially have a SIX year old.  Maddie thinks it is incredibly cool and completely normal to now be six and somehow I still can't wrap my mind around it all.  So many thoughts swirl through my head.  I remember her at 2 weeks old with eyes wide open refusing to sleep at 1am, at 9 months old and already walking around the house with a huge grin on her face, 15 months old and climbing counters to get to the bowl of Christmas candy while I innocently slept in the bedroom down the hall {to my credit I was 9 months pregnant with R}, at 22 months and in the ER in Hawaii with croup after suddenly developing a scary cough, at 2 years old and changing clothes every 2 minutes and crying big alligator tears when I had to leave her in nursery at church, at 3 years old and so excited to be a big sister again to another brother, at 3.5 years old and so excited to finally be going to Miss Tanya's preschool with all of her playgroup buddies, at 4 years old always planning the next play date with friends and sitting on the couch next to our front window watching for when Abby got home from school, and at 5 years old starting kindergarten and as sassy as can be about me walking with her to her classroom.  Oh how the time flies....I wish I could just bottle her up right now and preserve this age.  It is such a precious, innocent age where fantasy still exists, life is full of endless possibilities and life almost seems magical.  I love hearing all of her latest adventures out catching butterflies, caterpillars, frogs, toads, and other bugs.  I love how she is very grounded and understands real life from fairy tale, but at the same instant carries this "anything is possible" attitude.  It is truly refreshing at times.  I also love how she thinks of rules in a very black and white frame of mind.  She will accept my simple explanations and completely accept them right then and there.  I know this will change soon :)  I love how she wants to be so grown up and independent, but still needs me to love her and reassure her.  I love some things she owns as her own responsibility {baths, dressing, brushing teeth} but completely leans on me for assistance with other things {packing lunch, doing her hair}.  

Due to moving so close to Maddie's birthday, we elected to do a rather small celebration this year {off year} and had decided next year will be her bigger friend party.  On her actual birthday, the boys and I brought balloons and doughnuts to the school at the very end of the day.  Maddie's eyes lit up as she saw us walk in the room and she ran over at full speed yelling "Mommy!" I don't think I could ever get tired of that :)  

After school, we went to our favorite berry picking farm, "Riverview", and spent a few hours picking raspberries, blueberries and a bag of apples.  For dinner we stopped at Pizza Hut and had some yummy cheese pizza per Miss M's request.  We opened a few presents on her real birthday and then she decided to open the rest at her small party the next day (Saturday).

On Saturday we had a few families in our neighborhood over for a barbeque lunch.  Our menu included:

Teriyaki Bacon wrapped chicken and pineapple kabobs on the grill

Corn on the Cob

Barbeque Baked Beans

Fresh Fruit

Capri Suns

Veggie Tray 

After eating, the kids decorated cupcakes with all sorts of yummy frosting courtesy of Maren and then we opened presents.  It was a super easy and relaxing party this year.  Maddie thoroughly enjoyed the two day celebration, other than her special mylar birthday balloon accidentally escaping into the heavens above {she seriously sobbed about this for about 5 minutes}.

{delicious cupcake courtesy of Miss M}

Some of her six year old presents included:

Jewelry making set from Damon

New Scooter and pink helmet from Mom and Dad

Bright Blue "fancy" dress, Tangled chapter book from Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield

"Guess Who" game and Bottlecap candies {a hit} from Nash

Fur Real Dog (small version) from Robby and Eli

New Barbie Movies and Candy from Mom and Dad

Window glass coloring set from Nona and Papa

{modeling her brand new outfit from Grandma S---and yes we are raising America's next Top Model at our house :)}

{Damon, Maddie and Robby pausing for a picture while digging in the rocks for "a buried treasure"}

Love you Miss Maddie but can DEFINITELY wait for another one :)