what a sweetie

Oh Peyton ~ I love you!

a new do

I decided to cut most of my hair off this afternoon. It feels GREAT. Looks healthier. And Trav thinks its "hot". All three make me feel good about the choice I made.

Ode to snacks

May I have a snack? May I have a snack? May I have a snack? PWEAAAASE, may I have a snack? But Momma I am staaarving.

This is what I hear day in and day out. Seriously. It's very annoying. Alex is the most persistant child I have ever met. Between snacks and "laatching Disney" she is constantly asking or talking or singing about something. Usually for snack.

"I love snack, oh I love snack. I weally want a snack. Pretty snacks and yummy snacks. I think Maddy's meeeaaan and I want a snack. Whoa hoh, whoa hoh." Is an example of an Alex song. That she sings ALL day.

Gotta love her. If you didn't, well, you'd go CRAZY.


At least she's cute.. :-)

Nilch, Nada, Nothin

I got nothin. Absolutly nothin. I have been thinking that I need to post something. But nothing is coming to mind. Why?! Where oh where did my words go? Hopefully they will be back soon.

It's soccer time!

I am having some seriously mixed feelings about this soccer season. I can honestly say I am not a big soccer fan, and I really don't like to stand out in the cold and rain. Luckily today it was nice overcast weather so we were all pretty comfortable. But I do love to watch my girl have fun. And that totally outweighs the negatives. Here are some pics from the 1st game of the season!

Lets get the game a movin!

Our little free spirit..

Break time!

Let me just catch my breath for a minute coach!

Guess I'm not the only one who finds soccer less then appealing..

The BEST part of the game for the girls! The parent tunnel!

This week in pictures

We had a VERY busy week this week. I think I was able to get the majority of the hightlights in pictures though. SOOOO, my blog story will be told in pictures this week, with just a short explanation of each one. :-)

Maddy started soccer this week! With Daddy & Grandpa as coaches. They are the Blue Angels! (I know she is wearing orange in that pic, but it was practice and I wouldn't let her wear her new shirt until the game today, post to follow on that!)
Peyton with a pretty soccer ball at practice.

Maddy had back to school night on Tuesday, so here she is in her classroom. Very cool stuff.

Peyton found a new toy.. And I spent about $4 on that box!

Friday was the St James School Carnival. Here is Alex and her friend Sophie who goes to both daycare and pre-school with her.

Alex wanted something BIG, but Mom overruled.. And she got a pretty little butterfly on her cheek. Not her entire face like she wanted. Whew!

These last two are just a couple pictures I thought were really pretty. We went and visited with Diane our daycare lady at the hospital and took her these flowers. She seemed to enjoy them! I know if I were to get flowers I would!

Thanks!

Just an update.. Diane is doing great. She is still in ICU, but will be moved to a regular room this afternoon. She ended up having a hysterectomy along with removing what turned out to be a large cyst. She will be "off" work for 6 weeks, but her daughter Michelle is taking over her daycare during that time. At her house.. Hopefully the kids won't interfere with her recovery. We want our Diane back and better then ever! Thanks for the prayers!

Prayers Please..

I got some news pretty bad news this morning. My daycare provider for the last 6 1/2 years, Diane, is having emergency surgery right now. She was having some severe pain yesterday when I dropped my kids off but she kept the daycare open. This morning when I was dropping off my small kids for the day, her daughter rushed out of the house saying that her mom was in the ER all night and tests found a cantaloupe sized tumor in her lower abdomen. She is a wonderful lady and takes awesome care of my kids. So send some prayers her way.. Thanks!

A new household hazard..for Peyton that is.

Hmmm. What are these boxy looking things that go up? I wonder..? Can I crawl up them? Sure I can! Lets see, put my right hand here, then my left knee goes here, and then my left hand needs to match up with my right hand, and my right knee with my left. Yup. Ok, I am up one of these funny things now. Time to do it again. And a few more times. Oh look! I am at a big space at the top! Maybe I should now turn around and see what I have done! Whoa!!!! Klunk klunk klunk klunk klunk... Oh. Guess that wasn't such a good idea to look behind me after all. I should probably cry now. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Ok, Mommy is here. I really am alright. Just kinda scared a little. Wonder why she is kissing my head so much? She must think I am hurt. I will stop crying now so she knows I'm good. Whew! Ok so Momma put me down again. Off I go! Hmmm.. Wonder what that is...

Yes. If you couldn't get what I just wrote, Peyton took a short tumble down our stairs this morning. She really wasn't hurt. Promise. She is an active and curious little booger though! Always looking for a new thing to explore. :-)

Exciting news!

My baby sister called me last night to let me know she is pregnant! I am very excited for her and bro in law Charlie. She has had 2 prior pregnancies with what is called a Blighted Ovum. Which means a sac developed, but sadly no baby. This time around there is a little sweet pea in there! She is due early May. I know... Seems like a very long time away doesn't it? Congrats Elizabeth!
(maybe this time we will get a boy! Wouldn't that be a strange thing..)

Inside Maddy's Mind

This afternoon, after I picked all my girls up from Daycare, we were driving to go to Gwamma & Gwapa Murphy's house when we saw these 2 teens walking down the street. They were both dressed "goth/grunge" like. In almost all black, tall black Doc Marten boots, you know the kind of clothes I am talking about.. And one of the kids had, uh, his (or her) hair pulled up in a REALLY TALL mowhawk. With spraypainted circles on it. (I am still wondering how much aqua spray he (or she) used to get it to stand up that straight for a long period of time..)Maddy, my sweet blonde haired, blue eyed, innocent little girl, noticed...it. And of course asked me why said kid dressed like that.

UMMM. Crap.

Me: "Well Madikins, everybody expresses them self a little differently then everybody else. And those kids, well, have their very own, uh, style."
Maddy: "What do you mean by expresses, Momma?"
Me: sighing because I can tell this is going to be a fun conversation.. "Ya know how when you are happy you sometimes will shout out for joy? Like, YAY! Its a stay home day?!"
Maddy: "Yeah"
Me: "Or when you are so sad, you will cry?"
Maddy: "Yeah"
Me: "That's a way to express your self. Its when you are showing on the outside, what you feel on the inside."
Maddy: "OH!! So those kids must feel kinda dark inside huh?"
Me: "Yeah, I guess you could say that."
Maddy: "So could you expwess being nervous? You know like when you walk into, uh, like the 6th, or 4th, or 3rd gwades.. and 1st gwade too? And you are walking through the halls and you don't know youwa cheacher and any kids in class, and your heart is kinda jumpy and your tummy feels funny, and you kinda maybe want to cry cuz well you are nervous? And you are maybe a little bit afraid? Like that Momma?"

CRAP!!!

Me: "Oh sweetie, were you nervous when you went into school? Are you still nervous?"
Maddy: "Yeah, I was pretty scared.. But I am much better now. I have a new best friend. Her name is Peyton just like my baby sister Peyton. She even spells it the same. And I LOVE my cheacher Mrs. Taylor. She is so nice. But she did tell me that we are only going to get 3 recesses for a little bit longer, then we will only get 2."
Me: "Oh, that stinks, but I am very glad you are not nervous anymore. I want you to tell me if you ever are ok?"
Maddy: "Ok, I will"

**Whew**

Wow. Thats all I could think. My little 6 year old has quite a lot going on in her sharp, still needs to be sheltered, mind. And all I can think is I have 3 of these sharp minded kiddos to deal with. I am gonna be brain dead before Maddy gets through Elementary school!

Alegator's 1st day of Preschool!

She is getting so big..
Always laughing!

I swear her backpack is a big as she is...

It seems like yesterday my sweet Alex was born. Now she is a pre-schooler. I am so very proud of my little Alegator! I love you Alex!

Peyton is 9 months old!

On the day she was born

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months Old

4 Months Old

5 Months Old

6 Months Old

7 Months Old

8 Months Old

Today at 9 Months Old

1st day of 1st grade!!

1st day of Preschool at St James

1st day of Kindergarten at Memorial Elementary

1st day of 1st grade at Buel Elementary

Wow! Where has the time gone? Maddy Grace is a 1st grader. She started 1st grade at Buel Elementary School this morning. She is an amazing little girl and I am proud to be her Momma! I love you Maddy!

Vacation recap

Shoot.. We're home. I wish vacation could last longer! We had a great time in Sunriver. Swimming, playing games every night, playing at the park, playing basketball, eating great food, and for me reading and taking pictures. I took over 300 this week. I can't imagine ever doing that will 35mm film. Ah, I love technology! And I also read 4 books. Big books. Totalling approx 2200 pgs or so. Granted they are considered "teen" books and were also very fast reads. But I became addicted! It was the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. They are books about Vampires and Werewolves, among other things. But I truly enjoyed them. I guess it shouldn't be so hard for me to understand why I liked them so much. I loved the Harry Potter books. I would read all day everyday if I could. But I think my family would have a tiny problem with it...

Maddy learned how to "swim" this week, and Alex learned how to float on both her front and back. Alex was swimming from the wall to us by her self also, but we were only about 10 or so feet away and most of it was the pushing of the wall part. BUT she was comfortable which is a great thing! Maddy is like I said able to "swim" now. What I mean by "swim" is she can move her arms and legs to propel herself forward. But, she has to stand up to breath. I tried to teach her to roll over onto her back and float for a while when she needs to take a breath, then to switch back to her tummy to continue the swim but heck no! Momma doesn't know anything.. I am very proud of her though. She has always been my most, um, cautious child. Peyton sort of enjoyed the water. When I was holding her. She is turning out to be a total Mommy's girl. As much as I love it, it can be really hard when she will go to no one else but me. Oh well, I am sure she will outgrow that phase soon enough. Pey is also cruising against everything now! She will even take one step to go from the couch to the coffee table. Crazy huh! She will be 9 months tomorrow. Well I am going to end here with some pictures of vaction.
(I am asking for forgivness now.. There are a bunch! Sorry!)