Life, Love, and All the Craziness

Happy 5th Birthday Ryan

2010-04-12T05:48:00.001-07:00

My baby is 5! I can't believe it! It seems like the last 5 years have flown by! I still can't believe he is 5! I do know that I have really enjoyed the last 5 years and I am very proud of the little boy he has become! He is absolutely amazing!

Ryan had many ideas on what he wanted his theme to be for his birthday. We had Transformers, Batman, and Monster Trucks. In the end, he decided on Batman, no wait I think it was Monster Trucks. Yeah...at the last minute he wanted Monster Trucks, wait no, he changed again to Batman! Yikes...I really think he wanted both and couldn't decide. We found a Batman Monster Truck....Perfect! 2 in 1! His cake was both! Perfect, he thought it was really cool!! Nothing makes me more happy than seeing Ryan so happy!

Madison picked out a giraffe for Ryan. I think Ryan pointed it out everytime we were at Toys R Us.

*I am giving on up on arranging photos on this blogger. Anyone have suggestions. When I add the photos, they all end up at the top, and I cannot move them. I had more to add and more to say but just am frustrated on how to move the pictures...Kristin....Jennie....Jodi...help a girl out!!!

Where did October go????

2009-11-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I have missed the whole month of October. Not that there was nothing going on, I just haven't had the ambition to sit down and blog. October was a lot like a roller coaster ride. We had lots ups and lots of downs! Geez...the ups were great! We had lots of family time! Pumpkin roll, Lewis Farms (twice), birthdays, a brand new baby being born into the family, and of course Halloween! On the other hand, it was a very emotional month, my uncle having open heart surgery, having to put our beloved dog Tucker to sleep, the threat of illness lurking around every corner, (thankfully we have not been hit), Ryan deciding that he does not want to go to preschool and now cries when I drop him off, and others trying to interfere on how we should be raising our kids! It's been a rough ride, but it's now November and the rest of the year is going to be great! We are going to stay healthy, Ryan is going to get over this hurdle of suddenly being so attached to me, and we are going to continue to do what is best for "OUR" family!

Ryan's first day of Preschool

2009-09-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

oh yes, I am behind! Very far behind! Will I ever catch up, probably not, so we will just start with Ryan's first day of preschool and go from there! Ryan was very excited to start school. He was very excited that Mrs. Simon was going to be his teacher again! I thought this is too easy! He is doing great! We are going to do great! I even told Mike, you don't have to take the day off, he is going to be fine. Well, Mike took the day off anyways, and thank goodness he did! Ryan cried, I cried, and it was awful! I guess I better just get use to it! I did get a call from his teacher and said the crying did not last at all! He was fine and having a great time. He really does love going to school, we just have to get over the initial part of dropping him off! Last week was worse than the first week, and this week has been better than last week. (if that makes sense) So, I guess it's just baby steps and bribery! Call me crazy, but if it makes it easier on me, I will do anything that little boy wants!! This weeks bribe....Going to the movies! Whatever works!! Anyway, I am so proud of my little boy. He is growing up so fast and I cannot believe it! Where does the time go~ Love you Ryan, you make me so PROUD!!

*Anyone else having a problem with moving pictures around? I uploaded these and could not move them....so sorry..I like to put the pictures at the bottom of the post not at the top! Crazy blogger! Or maybe I am the crazy one! *

Mission: Accomplished

2009-08-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

We have finally made it! Madison is potty trained. It has been over 3 weeks with no accidents and best of all, she tells us when she has to go! I am so very proud of her! I cannot believe how different it was training a girl over a boy. Ryan was exactly 3 years old when he was fully trained. Madison 2 years old! In Ryan's defense, I had just had Madison when we started training him, he was just over 2, and a new baby and all the hype that comes with the new baby, may have set him back. But he made it! Either way, both of them make me so proud! They are both my babies and I can't wait to watch them accomplish everything life has in store for them! Way to go Madison! You are such a big girl!!

Madison's Birthday Party!

2009-07-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

I think all Madison's birthday celebrations have finally came to an end. We ended the celebration on Saturday with her birthday party! She had a great turn out and got lots of great gifts! Her big surprise from Mom and Dad was a horse. No, not to keep, but to have at the party to ride. She was so excited to see the horse. She just loved her. The horses' name was Jasmine, and Madison reminded everyone what her name was. She still talks about how Jasmine came to her party. Madison loved to pet the horse and even Aunt Hilary showed her how she could feed her apples. She loved doing this. She sat on Jasmine, but as soon as Jasmine started to walk, she freaked. She cried and wanted down. She did not like the fact that she moved I guess. All the other kids LOVED riding the horse. It was so great to see so many kids enjoy Jasmine...in my opinion...Money well spent!!

She really loved this horse, but just didn't want to ride her!

One of my favorite pictures!

Another Favorite!!

Madison got a lot of great gifts! She is very spoiled. A big thank you to everyone for the great and very generous gifts! I guess even the drum my dad (Papa) got her! Don't worry Papa, she will bring it to your house every time she comes. I wouldn't want you to miss out on all the fun! She had a very exciting day and I am so glad everything is done. I still can't believe she is two!

All Madison's friends riding Jasmine!!

Yup, even Uncle Mike had to take his turn!

Happy 2nd Birthday Madison!

2009-07-15T05:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! I can't believe my baby girl is 2. Just doesn't seem possible. They grow up so fast! I really wish life had a pause button, just so time would go by just a little slower!

Madison has been celebrating her birthday all month. She loves it when anyone will sing Happy Birthday to her! She will keep asking me to sing it to her over and over! This past weekend was no exception! On Saturday, it was her chose to go to Red Robin. Both her and Ryan love that place. She had her choice of guests too. She had to have Grammie, Papa, Uncle Jay Jay, Austi, and of course Mommy, Daddy, and Ryan! She couldn't wait for "all the people" (that's what she would say) to sing happy birthday to her and clap for her! She really enjoyed every minute of it! My mom brought her a Dairy Queen ice cream cake and she got a sundae from Red Robin! She is just like her dad when it comes to dessert, she LOVES it!!
Papa and Madison

Grammie and Madison.

Enjoying her OWN Sundae!

Sunday was her actual birthday. Mike had to work. We were up at our usual time, a little before 7. Madison had donuts with candles and chocolate milk for breakfast. Yes, we had to sing happy birthday to her again. Actually I think we had to do it twice!

Her breakfast, her request...the simple things in life!

Since Mike was working, we were going to meet my cousin Annie and her two kids, Emma and Luke at the beach! We packed a lunch and headed to the beach around 11. It was a great time. Ryan really loved playing with Emma! Madison had a great time, she loves the beach and loves to go swimming. After a couple hours we headed home for naps.

Ryan, Emma, and Madison playing at the beach!

Madison and Luke. The water was pretty cold, but that did not stop them from using their swim rings!

As we headed home, Mike called and said he was on his way home too! We got home, put Madison down for a nap. We decided that she would open her presents after her nap! If we did it before, she probably wouldn't nap, so it had to be after. She woke up and was very GRUMPY! It took about 15 minutes to get her in a semi good mood. We told her she had a present outside in the backyard. She started to head outside to find.....

Her Jeep! She loved it. She does pretty well with it! She likes to have Ryan help her, well sometimes. After riding around the yard a few times, we had her open the rest of her presents!

There she goes!

After opening her presents, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese! Her choice again! It wasn't to busy and the kids had a great time. Uncle Jay Jay and Austin met us there! And YES, Chuck E. Cheese now serves beer, so going there in the future won't be so bad!!

Madison had a great a day and was exhausted by the end of the day! So was I!!! Her birthday party is this Saturday, which promises to bring LOTS of fun!! We are so excited!! Happy Birthday Miss Madison! We love you!!

A Weeks Vacation

2009-07-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

I am still recovering from last week, and it has taken me awhile to get into the mood to write anything down! Last week Mike was on vacation, and we had big plans for the whole week! The kids wanted to do Michigan's Adventure and that's all they wanted to do! We had been watching the weather and it looked like Wednesday was going to be the best day. Well, on Monday it didn't look the best. We had already called and made our reservations for a cabana in the water park, and had until Tuesday to cancel. So on Monday, I mentioned to Mike the thought of taking the kids to Kings Island, instead of going to Michigan's Adventure, when the weather was going to be crappy. The only thing in our way.......the 6 hour drive. We debated and debated. The kids usually can only make it an hour before getting restless and want out of the car. So this 6 hour trip would be pure torture! Well, we decided to do it! The only way to find out how they will do, is to do it! So I got on the Internet, booked our hotel room, bought our tickets, and we were on our way Wednesday. On Tuesday night, Mike hit Family Video and rented about 5 "new" DVDs. Lots of Dora, Diego, and the Backyardigans! I packed lots of snacks, both Leapsters, lots of books, and other toys to play with! I was ready!

Mike was so excited to meet Spongebob!

She couldn't get enough of Dora!

Madison the Dora stalker! We had to go and find her a few times!

Ryan and his best bud Diego!

We left at 7:30 in the morning for the 6 hour trip! We stopped in Kalamazoo for a potty break at Mike's parents house. Then a couple hours later found a nice park to eat lunch and let the kids play for awhile. The kids did FANTASTIC! Only one melt down by Miss Madison, and that was with about 1/2 hour to go. She was so tired, but did not want to give up! I think she thought she was going to miss something!!

We got to the hotel, unloaded and headed to dinner. After dinner we found an IKEA so we had to go shopping there! Mike really liked IKEA. Even thought we had to do the "shopping with kids" tour, he was quite impressed! I think he may even be ready to go back without the kids! We headed back to the hotel and the kids were sleeping by 8:30!
On Thursday we were heading to Kings Island. We had breakfast reservations at 9, we were eating with the characters. The breakfast SUCKED! It was awful! But I guess what we were paying for was to see Dora and Spongebob! After you have been to Disney World, NOTHING compares to what they do, so my expectations were high. Madison was in love with Dora and wanted to keep going to see her!

Ryan and Madison on the Backyardigan's swings!

They got along so well, because they didn't have to share a steering wheel!

Me and Madison on the carousel!

Mike and Madison on the Monster! Madison turned a little green, but wanted to go again!

So precious!

Ryan atop the Eiffel Tower! He loved it!

The kids had a great time at the park. The Kids area was great! We spent the whole day in the kids area. Mike and I didn't ride any of the roller coasters of anything. Man, things have changed since having kids. Before we would have been racing from roller coaster to roller coaster, this time we were running from the Backyardigans swings, to Swipers Sweeper! I wouldn't have it any other way! To see the expressions on the kids face made my day. It was priceless!

This picture says it all! These are the faces that we saw all day! I LOVE these kids!!

I haven't been to Kings Island in about 20 years. We use to go there every summer when we lived in Indiana! It sure has changed a lot! It was great to get away and have a nice mini vacation! I am glad we took the challenge with the kids, they did so GREAT and I survived to talk about it!!

***NOTE: Sorry about the pictures being all over the place! Blogger would not cooperate, and I finally gave up!***

The kids and the Zoo!

2009-06-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we decided to take the kids to the Zoo. Every year we try to go to the Zoo on Mother's Day. It's just something I love to do and the kids love it too! We get to John Ball Zoo, only to be turned away because they had a gas leak! They were evacuating the zoo and told us they should reopen in a few hours. We decided it would be the excellent time to feed our animals, since it was real close to Lunch time! It worked out perfectly. Ryan picked Applebees for lunch and then it was back to the zoo. By the time we got back, the zoo was open! The kids had a great time. They especially loved the petting zoo. We had to visit it twice. Ryan now thinks he can have goats, cows, and chickens in our backyard!! We headed to Holland from there so I could go shopping and the kids could feed the ducks. (That's the only way I get any shopping done, I have to promise them they can feed the ducks!
Madison feeding the birds! We couldn't get her out of the cage!

Ryan got his bird to get right on the stick! How cool!

If we could have fit this goat in the stroller, Ryan probably would have taken it home!

They had a blast!

On our way home, my brother called and asked if we wanted to go miniature golfing and go-karting. This was Madison's first time on a go-kart, and she LOVED it. She wanted to go again, and threw a fit when we walked away. Golfing 18 holes with 2 four year olds and a 1 year old was not so pleasant! Madison made it 3 maybe 4 holes. She would just go and drop her ball in the hole and clap and say "I did it!" Ryan would just put his ball close to the hole and try to putt it in!! That would take about 5 or 6 putts, so I can't imagine how long it would take him if he started where he was suppose to!

This is a favorite...look at her smile!

Mike trying to teach Ryan how to play!

She got a hole in one every time!! Look out Tiger Wood

The kids had a great time and the best part, they were exhausted and in bed early that night!!

I am still here

2009-06-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

I am trying to think of why I haven't been on blogger lately...sure we have been busy, but I just have not sat down and actually took the time to blog about what has been going on in our household! Ryan has been done with school for about 3 weeks, so that means no more running 2 days a week! We still have a play group in Whitehall at different playgrounds on Tuesday mornings, but the last 2 Tuesday mornings, the weather has been terrible! The kids really enjoy going to the playground, I love it because we come home and they are exhausted! Let's hope the weather will make a turn and it will be nice next Tuesday so we can continue on with our play group!

Mike finished his class last night! Such a relief for him! He starts another class in 2 weeks. He really wants to keep going on finishing his degree. You never know what can happen in this economy, and since his work pays for his school, he might just as well take advantage of it! It is a little different going to school when you have little ones at home and work 40+ hours a week. It makes the process draw out, but he will get there one day, I know he will! I will be the first one standing there to congratulate him!!

Ryan has been enjoying being able to play outside. His new love this summer is playing baseball! A boy after my own heart! We are constantly outside pitching balls to him. He is getting really good! Also, this year, Ryan and Mike planted a blueberry bush, strawberries, and a couple tomato plants (for Madison). We have gotten strawberries already, which makes Ryan very happy. He checks his plants and waters them everyday. He also planted some Sun Flowers...they are popping up and I can't wait to see them full grown!!

Madison, oh Madison! This girl is full of complete attitude! Wow! She sure does give us a run for our money! I wouldn't have it any other way! She is a chatterbox...talking in full sentences and has a lot to say! We went to the store the other day and on the way in, she said "Hey Mama. I am cold! I am freezing! I am frozen, I need my sweatshirt on!" I couldn't believe it..I was thinking, do you even know what you are saying?? hahahaha...she picks up everything she hears from Big Brother Ryan and the rest of the world around her!! We have been potty training for about the last month. She is doing really good! Hopefully we can get her trained by the end of summer! Not holding my breath, but we shall see!

As for me, I am just rolling with the motions! It's summer time! We are really busy in the summer, with everything going on! However, we do just love to sit back and relax and do nothing at all!
I have been planning Madison's birthday party which is in July! I decided to make the invites this year...so that took awhile! Don't get too excited, it's not much, but I thought it was a cute idea! I am still working on Mike to let me have ponies in the backyard for her birthday party....it doesn't look too promising though! She only turns 2 once, right?!?

Well, that is US in a nutshell. Nothing real exciting. I promise to get on the ball and get some new pictures of the kids on here!! Hope everyone has a great summer!! Enjoy it now, because before you know it, it will be over!!

Ryan's last day of Preschool

2009-05-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

The school year has finally came to an end for Ryan! Thursday was his last day! They ended the year with a picnic at Goodrich Park! We had great weather and a great time!! I need to give a big "Thank You" to Mrs. Simon and Miss Bell, who both did a wonderful job all year! Ryan did a lot of cute projects and each holiday party was great! Ryan still thinks it's pretty cool that his Uncle Jason and Miss Bell know each other!

I know I have said this many times, but Ryan has really grown in the last year! After just a couple a months, I had notice how much more outgoing he was in large groups and willing to particiapate! Major accomplishment! This really was a great experience for him, and I am glad I decided to do it! He really did a great job and made me one proud Mama!!!

The expression on his face says it all, he had a great time!

What do you do at Goodrich Park? Roll down the hill of course!!!

They were singing a song and had to give their friend a hug! This little girl is holding on for dear life!! I LOVE IT!

Same song, same girl...doesn't it look like they are getting married?!? I think it is too cute!!

The Class of 2023.....is that right????

Ryan's field trip to Pizza Hut

2009-05-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

Well, Ryan's first year of preschool is finally winding down. He has 2 more days of school left. It's hard to believe. I don't remember my years of school going by as fast as this year did for him! Last Thursday his class took a walking field trip to Pizza Hut to use their Book It certificates. They got a grand tour of Pizza Hut! Ryan was really impressed with the big walk in refrigerator and the big walk in freezer! After the tour, each child got to make their own pizza! Ryan got to put whatever he wanted on it. He choose cheese, pepperoni, and sausage! He was so excited to be at Pizza Hut making his own pizza. A special thank you to my mom for watching Madison so I could go with Ryan! As always, we can always count on her to help us out! Thanks again Mom!

Ryan's end of the year parent-teacher conference

2009-05-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Mike and I had parent teacher conferences for Ryan. I was so proud of him! He did absolutely wonderful this year and has grown so much. So many people criticized me for putting him in 3 year old preschool, and I am so glad I stuck with gut and put him in. I know my child better than anyone and this was the best decision. He learned so much. He grew leaps and bounds, especially in making new friends. We started the year out with not wanting to go and ended the year with wanting to go.

He is beginning to write his name, he knows almost all the sounds of the letters to the alphabet, he can do patterns, knows his colors, I could go on and on, but don't want to bore everyone. I am so proud of this little boy. He makes me so proud to be his mom! Way to go Ryan! Can't wait to see where you go next year!!

Way Behind

2009-04-27T06:36:00.001-07:00

ok..so I have been informed I am way behind on this blog! I know this! However, things are busy. With the weather getting nicer we are outside more burning off energy! So I don't spend too much time inside. Let's see what I have missed:

#1 Ryan's 4th Birthday...(cancel the mother of the year award banquet, it ain't happenin' this year)

It's not that I forgot his birthday, just didn't post anything. (expect for preschool) We did celebrate for like 5 days. Ryan thought his birthday was the entire week. We let him think that, he is 4, no biggie! We had a birthday party for him with family. He got many great gifts and had a great time. He really enjoyed everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Last year he was a bit shy, but this year was totally different. I think he really wanted everyone to sing it again to him. What a difference a year makes!

Ryan got this cool, pirate dress up kit! He was so excited because the brand name was "Ryan's Room"!

His birthday party was on the Sunday before his Birthday. We made sure to make his actual birthday very special too! It started with donuts for breakfast, with candles! May not seem like a big deal, but the kids do not have donuts for breakfast very often. Probably way Ryan requested it! He had to have candles in his donuts and Madison and I had to sing Happy Birthday to him! Yeah, he was KING for the day. Everything he wanted he got!!

After breakfast it was off to Crazy Bounce with the fab five and ALL the kids! Between all of us, we have 15 kids! WHEW.....The kids had a great time at Crazy Bounce! It was a lot of fun! I think even us adults had fun! I don't think us girls said more than 5 words to each other because we were too busy chasing our kids.....and that's the reason why we go out to dinner once a month, just us girls!! After Crazy Bounce we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. I let Ryan think that we were going there because it was want he wanted, but it was actually all in the plan. That kid loves McDonald's. Honestly I think he likes it because he gets a toy. But for some reason most of the time we go there, they are out of toys. (wink wink) By this time, I think we were all exhausted and ready for naps!

The Birthday Boy and The Birthday Girl!!

Ryan on the giant slide!

Sweet Little Teagan, such a doll

Honestly, it was all about food for these 2!

Mya, relaxing after a crazy morning!!

NOTE: Madison is not seen in many of the pictures because she wasn't feeling well. Come to find out she had a really bad ear infection! Poor Girl. Another reason the mother of the year award banquet was cancelled!!

Next, Ryan got to pick where he wanted to eat dinner. First he wanted McDonald's. (I reminded him we already ate there for lunch) Then he said Burger King, I told him it was closed! So, then he said he wanted to eat somewhere with peanuts and rolls. This narrowed it down to 2 places, Logan' s and Texas Roadhouse. Thank goodness he choose Texas Roadhouse! (Mike and I don't care for Logan's) He had his birthday dinner and then they brought out the saddle and sang Happy Birthday to him again!! He loved it!!

I still can't believe my baby boy is 4. Seems just like yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital. Time really does fly! HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN MICHAEL! I LOVE YOU!!

Ryan and Ashley's Birthday at Preschool

2009-04-06T08:27:00.001-07:00

I know I am behind! Trying to catch up before I get way behind and forget everything! On Thursday Ryan celebrated his pretend birthday at school along with his friend Ashley! They both looked really cute sitting together on the chair as everyone sang Happy Birthday to them! Ryan was a little unsure about doing this, but as long as Ashley was going to be sitting next to him, he was fine with it! They both passed out their treats and each got to pick a present from the treasure box. Ryan picked Play Doh and Ashley picked Silly Putty! Kristin anytime you want to trade, just let me know!! =)

Happy 4th Birthday Ryan and Ashley! 4 looks good on both of you!!

Great Wolf Lodge

2009-04-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

I guess you could say we were getting a little cabin fever and wanted to go somewhere warm! We tried Florida, it was warm for a couple days and then it was cold! Mike felt really bad the kids could not go swimming when we were in Florida! So when he got information from work about Great Wolf Lodge having a special, he decided to take us there for a couple of days! I was game, just as long as we got to go to the Outback for dinner one night and that we got to go shopping! I was a little hesitant because I know how Ryan has a fear of water. I knew Madison would be fine, because she is young enough and doesn't really "have fears". Well both kids loved the water park! Ryan went down every water slide and loved playing on the Lilly pads. Madison even went down the big water slides and loved it. I was scared to death, because she had to go by herself, but she did just fine! She kept wanting to go down it again! We had so much fun! They didn't want to stop swimming and Madison even cried when we had to take a break for a nap!

Madison loved the slides!

Ryan pulling the string and getting wet!

By the end of our stay Ryan was walking across all the lily pads! We spend a lot of time in this part of the water park!

He was having so much fun!

Not only does this place have swimming, they have crafts they kids can do, they have a little play area, an arcade, and each night they have story time in the lobby. It was great! On the last night we were there, Mike had Wiley the Wolf bring the kids up cookies and milk for their bedtime snack. The kids were really surprised to open the door and see this big wolf standing on the other side. YUMMY!!

Eating breakfast!

Madison and Wiley!

As the wolf was knocking on the door, Madison was saying what's that sound?

Daddy and Ryan looking to see who is at the door!

It was a Wolf! Bringing us cookies!!

Madison, Ryan, and Wiley! Madison had to have shoes on because she cut her foot and if she saw the bandaid she would tear it off!

The kids really enjoyed the cookies and milk!

Time to update

2009-04-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

I have not had a chance to update what we have been doing lately! Everything seems to pick up and get really busy as summer approaches!! I am very excited for spring/summer so the kids can get outside. We loved those couple of days with great weather! It's hard for a 4 year old and a 1 year old to understand that now it's back to crappy weather and we really shouldn't go outside when it's this cold!! With that being said we found a great place in Holland. It's called Deanna's Playhouse. It is just awesome! We meet my cousin Annie and her two kids, Emma and Luke! Ryan and Emma had a great time playing together! There is so much to do here. They have an art room, (the kids made Easter Eggs), a music room with every kind of instrument, a stage where the kids can dress up and then get on stage and perform, a huge submarine in the middle of the room, a bank, a grocery store (Meijer), a playhouse, and many ride on toys the kids could race around the room. It truly is a great place. What I really liked was they also had a little cafe. You can bring your lunch with you or you can leave and eat lunch and then come back! How great!! We had so much fun and cannot wait to go back!

Meijer....Ryan loved shopping!

Madison Playing in the house! She found lots of babies, which made her very happy!

Madison and Ryan in the submarine

Emma playing dress up!

Luke playing with a ball! I was so surprised they had so much for him to do there!

Emma giving Madison a push around the room!

Ryan and Emma decorating their eggs!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was driving Ryan to school on Tuesday when I noticed on Barry's Greenhouse sign that they had GREEN Carnations. Ryan's favorite color is green, so I thought I would stop and pick up a few flowers for him and Madison. So before we picked him up from School Madison and I stopped and got 4 carnations, 2 for each kid. When Ryan got in the van after school he was so excited. I don't know if he was more excited for the flowers or for the fact that they were green!! He knew exactly what to do with them when he got home...he got out a vase and told me to put water in it. Next he put the flowers in there and told Madison she could not touch them! He checks on his flowers throughout the day to see if they need water and to make sure they are ok!! What a great kid!!

What a warm day!

2009-03-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was a very nice day around here. The kids were outside most of the day, inside only for naps, and then back outside! It's amazing how much Madison can do this year. She is climbing the ladder to get up the slide and she is climbing on everything she can climb on! She loves playing baseball with Ryan. Only one incident of Ryan hitting her with the baseball bat. Needless to say no more playing baseball when she is near! Ryan also loves it outside. He is so hard to get inside when it's time. It's just too bad that the weather only lasted 2 days. I told Mike he had to tell the kids that they can't go outside now because it's too cold!

I think it's time we get Madison her own car. We really had to squeeze her in there!! She didn't care, she loved it!!

Madison very excited she made it down the slide!!

The kids played together so well that day! I just can't wait for warmer weather to stick around. This is just what we needed, the chance to get outside and have FUN!!

Ryan and Madison gearing up!!

2009-03-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

Next week we will be heading to Great Wolf Lodge for a few days! Mike felt really bad that the kids could not swim when we were at Disney World because it was so cold, that he decided he wanted to take them to Great Wolf Lodge. Ryan is still a little unsure of the water, and hates getting water in his eyes. Mike thought buying him a mask would help out a lot. He decided to try it on for us when we got home from Toys R Us. I was taking a picture of Ryan when I noticed Madison was standing in the background posing too! It was the cutest thing ever! I am not sure if the mask will make a difference or if Ryan will spend his entire time in the arcade!

26 days Straight....

2009-03-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

That's how many days Mike has worked! 26 DAYS! Some of these days have been 10 and 12 hour days too. PLUS..he is taking a class from Baker once a week, PLUS...he makes time for his family, PLUS he makes dinner for the kids when I am not home, PLUS He has not complained one time. NOTHING! He truly is the best person in the world! He gives us whatever we want and puts our (me and kids) wants before his own! I never want for anything, neither do my kids! Sometimes I must justify my wants, but I usually get what I want! I could go on and on about him but I will leave at this....Mike is my best friend and the best thing that has ever happened to me! He has given me two beautiful (very active) children and a great life! Thanks Mike, you are the best and WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Tea Party

2009-02-27T12:42:00.001-08:00

On Thursday, Ryan had a tea party at school! The kids got to dress up and were reminded that they had to use their manners. (they were learning about manners this week) It was the cutest thing ever. Ryan had tea, cupcakes, cookies, and strawberries. I asked him if he tried his tea, he looked at me and said "No, I just smelled it"! He doesn't eat or drink anything that does not look familar to him. I was surprised he didn't try it though, because he drinks tea with my mom all the time. But that is iced tea and not warm tea, so there may be a difference. I couldn't tell you because I do not like either!This is what all the parties are about....the food! At least that is what Ryan comes for!

One last picture......I cannot only imagine what Ashley is telling her mom! I have to say, I learn something new from the two of them everyday! It's so great!!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-02-23T07:47:00.000-08:00

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Thanks Jennie! This is just so beautiful! I would love to do a fun photo shoot with this!! I love all the "FLUFF"! How fun!!

Animal Kingdom

2009-02-20T05:22:00.000-08:00

I know, I was doing so good after vaca with my blogs, and then I stopped. I still had one more park to share with everyone. But I got in a funk and just stopped blogging! So here I am, 2 weeks later, trying to remember everything. As I look back, it all seems like a blur! We were just so busy everyday! We have decided that we will not do that again. We will take a longer vaca next time we go. But in the meantime, I don't think we will go back for a couple of years, when Madison is older. Plus there are other places to see in the meantime!!

As for the Animal Kingdom, it's one of my favorite parks! We had a great time. It was cold that day. I do remember it being cold. We started the day at Donald's Safari Breakfast. It was a great buffet, however, we were so RUSHED. They rushed us out of there so fast. We just sat down to eat, and they brought out the characters, at that point the kids were done. Then once the characters got to our table they rushed through everything. Every other dinner with the characters was not like this! We managed and I guess we were in and out in no time. Mike loved the buffet of Krispy Creme Donuts, as did the kids. We started the day at the Lion King show which was amazing. It was absolutely wonderful! The kids loved it! It was a great way to start out the day. we met some characters on the way out. Ryan was excited to meet Chip and Dale. Madison, well we had to go see Goofy AGAIN!
We didn't do "It's tough to be a Bug" because of the kids being scared at the last 3-D show. So we didn't even attempt it! That is one of my favorite shows, but we didn't need 2 little boys freaking out again! Ryan and Madison had a great time on the Safari, which is also one of my favorites. Us big kids rode the Yeti ride (can't remember the real name). Which was fun, but I think I realized, I am getting too old for these kids of rides. (it was a roller coaster type of ride)

The parade was great! I loved everything about it! It was Austin's birthday while we were there, and it was amazing how everyone would come up to him and tell him Happy Birthday. Even people in the parade would come up to him and say "Happy Birthday Austin"! It was so great, and Austin loved it. What kid does not like being able to celebrate their birthday for a whole week?!

We hit the Finding Nemo musical on our way out, which was another great show! The kids loved it! Well, Madison did fall asleep, but it had been a long day!

These last 3 pictures are what happened every night after our long days! The kids basically just crashed. Daddy was even tired after the long days. What can I say, we had things to do and people to see! We had to keep going!!!

Magic Kingdom

2009-02-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

We started the day out with breakfast at the castle with the Disney Princesses. As we first entered the castle we got our picture taken with Cinderella. Madison was in her glory. She loves the pretty girls. The other Princess' that were going to be there was Jasmine, Belle, Princess Aurora (sleeping beauty), and Snow White. (Sorry if I spelled any of the names wrong) The breakfast we had was delicious. The eggs were to die for. I am not a big egg eater, but those eggs were great! Ryan got a sword and Madison got a wand. Ryan thought it was really neat to eat in a castle and was looking for the dragons! It was so cute. Each one of the princesses came to our table to sign the kids books and get pictures! Snow White even kissed Austin and left some of her lipstick on his cheek! We teased him all day about having a new girlfriend! Madison and Belle!

Madison was in love. She even gave her a kiss! It was too sweet!

Ryan and Madison with Princess Aurora!

Madison and Snow White.

Ryan was not too sure of Snow White!

Madison and Ryan with Jasmine. Jason was not impressed with her because of the excessive amounts of hair on her stomach! What a weirdo...I thought we were bringing the kids to meet the princesses, not for him to be checking them out!

The kids LOVED the Magic Kingdom, as did I. We meet a lot of characters and got lots of pictures! We were able to ride everything without a wait, I think they longest we waited was 20 minutes for the Jungle Cruise! It was so nice.

Waiting for Mickey and Minnie Mouse! They were very excited!

Ryan and Madison with the Mice.

My big thing was getting a good spot so the kids could watch the parade. Well, when we were walking away from Splash Mountain a cast member came up to me and started talking to me about everything. Then I asked him the best place to watch the parade and he told me. He also told me to be there 30 minutes before the parade starts. That is what we did. We got our spot 30 minutes before the parade started. I got up to go get the kids some snacks. I got back to our spot and some people who were not from the United States (I think that is the nicest way I can put it) pushed their kids right in our spots, took them right over. My mom and Mike were there with the kids, and tried to tell them, but they pretended to not understand. We waited 30 minutes to get a good spot and they come 2 minutes before the parade starts and took our kids spot. I was furious! But we Just pushed them back and moved right back in...we still got to enjoy the parade. Which was fantastic! The kids loved it. Jason was little disappointed because the day before the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the parade. He was bummed he missed it!

Ryan was little unsure of Captain Hook and Mr. Smee!

We were lucky enough to meet up with Peter Pan and Wendy!

I just love this picture and had to throw it in!

I think I enjoyed the Magic Kingdom the most. We spent 2 days at this park and it was well worth it. The kids basically got to ride everything twice. I think Ryan's favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride, and Madison loved It's a Small World! She loved all the "babies". It was soo cute! Austin loved the Monster's Inc. show. They put him and Jason on the big screen and asked him some questions. It was way cute! Austin thought he was the man of the show! It was great!

Ryan LOVED the Buzz Lightyear ride. We had to ride it 3 times!

We only kept them in here long enough so we could get a beer!

We didn't stay for the fireworks because we didn't want to have to deal with mass amounts of people waiting to get on the bus. After being there all day we were exhausted! We just wanted to get back to the room.

EPCOT

2009-02-09T05:31:00.000-08:00

On Monday we decided we would go to EPCOT for the day! Before going to the park we had breakfast reservations at Chef Mickey's. The kids were so excited. Madison just fell in love with Goofy, so whenever she would see Goofy we had to meet him. I think she got his autograph 5 times! Ryan was excited about meeting Pluto! He became one of Ryan's favorites. At Chef Mickey's we were eating breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald. The breakfast was delicious! We really enjoyed it! The kids really enjoyed the Mickey Mouse shaped waffles! MMMMMM...

Grammie and Austin at Chef Mickey's!

After breakfast we took the monorail to Epcot. We heard rain was in store for the day, so we got everything outside out of the way before the rain! Lucky we did because we got lots of rain. I think we left around 1:30 and went back to the hotel for naps. We all needed naps. I think everyone slept for at least 2 hours! After our naps we headed down to Downtown Disney to do some more shopping and to eat dinner at the T-Rex Cafe. This was Ryan and Austin's choice. Very cool restaurant. I think we had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. While we waited the boys built a dinosaur. It was just like Build a Bear, but with Dinosaurs instead! Madison and I shopped some more and read books to pass the time! After a great meal we hit the stores again at Downtown Disney. Jason even had to stop at an ice cream shop to get some ice cream. It was 8 scoops of ice cream, every topping, whipped cream, and cherries! It cost him 30 bucks and he ate it all! WOW!

Jason's ice cream....Yes he did eat it all!

He was in heaven!!

Grammie and Ryan at T-Rex Cafe. I think everywhere we went he had to sit by his Grammie!!

Madison posing with Sleeping Beauty!

I am glad we decided to do EPCOT on a rainy day because there is so much to do inside. We did a lot of rides that were inside. We took the kids to Honey I Shrunk the Audience. It was a 3-D movie. Ryan and I were the first ones out. It was too scary for him. Next came My mom and Austin, I guess a snake came out and scared Austin, so he was done. Next came Jason and Mike with Madison. They just came out because everyone else was out.

I think this was one of the only pictures I got of all three kids looking at the camera and smiling!

I don't know if I would go to EPCOT again, but then again, we really did give it a chance because we left early because of the rain. Maybe next time the weather will be better so we can enjoy it more!

Disney's Hollywood Studios

2009-02-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

We started our vacation at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We had certain things that were high on our list that we had to do.

Ryan:

-Meet Buzz Lightyear and Woody

-Ride The Toy Story Ride

-Meet Lightening McQueen and Mater

-Meet Mike and Sully

and most importantly

-EAT AT PIZZA PLANET!

We were able to accomplish all of this and it made Ryan very happy.

We started the day off a little later than we wanted too, but it was no biggie. Ryan was complaining of the sun being too bright, so we stopped to get some sunglasses for him. Well this girl was the slowest person in the world to ring people up and take their money. It was awful. The lady in front of me, finally told her to hurry up and get moving. She was asking everyone what they were going to do that day, what they were going to eat, etc. It was pretty annoying. Actually this was a problem in every park, very slow workers. Took their time with everything!

Ryan and Austin loved meeting Lightening McQueen and Mater. We had to go through the line twice, I think we would still be there if we didn't tell them we had to go! I must admit, they were really cool! We watched the Block Party Bash Parade and unfortunately they were having problems so the parade sat in the same place for about 30 minutes! We finally got up and left after seeing the same thing over and over and over.

We ate lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. This was Austin's favorite restaurant. He loved that his dad and his Grammie kept getting in trouble. Ryan was a little more bashful here. It was a great place to eat! We had a blast! I think my brother Jason and My mom kept getting in trouble for putting their elbows on the table. It was great. Then Mike didn't eat his vegetables, so the waiter tried to get him to eat by doing "the airplane". NO GO! Mike as NOT going to eat his veggies. Same thing happened to my mom, she did end up taking a bite though. Sucker! That stuff looked gross!!

We really enjoyed this park, and it wasn't crowded at all. I think because it was Super Bowl Sunday and everyone was somewhere watching the game. No waits for us!!

Home From Disney World!

2009-02-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally made it home. Everything went pretty uneventful and we had a great time! The kids LOVED everything. Ryan did excellent with all the characters. Madison had no problems what so ever! She pretty much ran the show the whole time we were there. We had to keep buying her popcorn to keep her happy! Although, I don't think I will ever be able to get her in a stroller again, EVER! The parks were not crowded..I think the longest we waited for a ride was 20 minutes! Not bad at all! I just cannot believe how rude people were there! I know there are rude people all over but at Disney World it was overpopulated with rude people! I just loved how people tried to act like they didn't understand English either! Amazing! I thought they would understand Excuse Me, but when that failed "MOVE" was the word they understood better! Oh well, they did not ruin our vacation!
This trip we decided not to rent a car and use the transportation provided by Disney. I think the next time we go we will go back to renting a car. The transportation was not bad, but after a long day, you just want to get back. One example of it being extremely frustrating was when we were going to the Magic Kingdom for a second day. We waited outside for the bus forever. As we waited, 4 buses for Hollywood Studios came in (no one was waiting to get on), 2 for Epcot, 3 for Downtown Disney, 2 for Animal Kingdom and none for Magic Kingdom. There were about 100 people waiting for the Magic Kingdom bus, but no bus came. I think we waited about 30 minutes for a bus! This was the last day of our vacation, so we were spent and very frustrated and I think everyone was ready to go home!
The weather started out warm. We had one day of rain, but luckily that was the day we went to EPCOT. The weather did get colder as the week went on. I think by Thursday the kids were wearing hats and mittens. It didn't stop us, we kept going, and the kids did not complain one bit!
I think instead of blogging in one big post, I will post each park we went to as a new post and include pictures from each. That way it will be easier for me remember everything I need to remember.

Getting Ready....

2009-01-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well it has been awhile since my last post. Things have been crazy busy around here. I noticed I didn't even blog about our Christmas morning! Well it's been a month, and I will just say, we had a great Christmas. Santa was very good to everyone!
We have been very busy this last couple weeks. We have been getting ready for our vacation and then of course everything seems to go wrong or something happens right before we go or do anything. This time it was Mike's car. The transmission decided to go out. We needed to get a new one...so after a week of being in the shop and $1700.00 later, the car is back on the road. Last week, I had to get the kids up at 5:45 am and pack them up and take Mike to work. We had to do this for 3 days. The kids did great, did not complain one bit. It was very cold and made for a very long day! I think going on vacation really kept me from being put in a mental hospital. It was a very stressful week!
So here we are a few days before our trip, I have already started packing. I thought it would be easy, but with the kids, it's a little harder, especially with Madison. Diapers and wipes and all the "baby stuff". Ryan was easy to pack, he actually helped me and had so much fun! I had fun watching him! We were right on track and everything was going according to schedule! Then I get a call that someone wants to come through the house. Which in this terrible market, is great. But we have not had ANYONE through in about 6 months, so why now...I really didn't want to have to reorganize all the toys this week, but it looks like I have to. The frustrating thing is nothing is probably going to come out of this, but it might, and that small possibility keeps me trying to think positive! Oh well, DISNEY WORLD IN 3 DAYS!! That is keeping me sane!!

Christmas 2008 with our Families

2009-01-05T07:34:00.001-08:00

I am finally trying to get back to our regular schedule. Mike has been off work since December 19, so it's been really great having him home. We had a great Christmas! We started out by having Christmas with Mike's family on Saturday the 20th of December. We use to do Christmas Day with Mike's family, but last year we decided it was time to start our own traditions with "our" family and stay home on Christmas do, so the kids can actually enjoy their presents. It was always open presents and leave, and then the kids couldn't even play with anything until the next day. It was fair to them, and it wasn't fair to us. I love watching them play with their new toys. Such great joy on their face. So with little complaining this plan works out great! The kids had a great Christmas in Kalamazoo. I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures. We all got great presents and the kids had a blast.

Christmas Eve is when we Celebrate Christmas with my family. We didn't think we were going to make it to Ludington because of the weather. It was terrible. We had made back up plans just in case. We made it, just took us longer to get there. My only fear was not being able to get back home. We made it back, but it was a long trip home. We followed my brothers, just in case any of us went off the road.

The kids had a great time at Grammie and Papa's house. Great Grandma B. and Great Grandpa B. came down to see the kids. Took Ryan a little bit to warm up to Grandma B. but all it took was Grandma B. reading him a book to get him comfortable. We got some great gifts and had great food. My mom always puts on a great spread! The cheesey potatoes were my favorite this year, and I got to take lots home! YUMMY!!

Madison took right to Grandpa B. She wanted to sit with him! She probably would have sat with him all day if we would have let her! Madison got her Bitty Baby, and was in love. I don't think it was because she was a Bitty Baby, but because she was a baby. She loves babies!! Ryan his fire station he wanted and was so happy! We thought we were going to need a U-Haul to get home. Soo much stuff!!

Mike and I were happy to get gift cards to the mall so we could get clothes and stuff we need for Florida. I love getting gift cards, makes it so easy to getting what you want and need.

We thank both our families for giving us a great Christmas. I know the kids are very spoiled and never "want" for anything. We are all very fortunate!

Ryan's School Christmas Party

2008-12-22T05:23:00.000-08:00

Ryan had his first Christmas Party at school last Thursday (12-18)! He was so excited to go to school for his party! We made cookies the night before and he couldn't wait to share them with his friends. Mike ended up working a half day and was able to make it to the party too. Ryan was so excited..he had his Daddy and His Grammie at his party. He was ready to perform. His class sang wonderful songs and were so cute! They did a really great job. The cookies all the parents made were great and we enjoyed them, Madison especially! That girl loves her cookies!!

We are so lucky to have such a great teacher for Ryan. Mrs. Simon and Miss Bell are wonderful! Once again, they did an excellent job with the party and the kids. I tried to explain to Ryan that he is on a short vacation from school. He didn't get it, but I am sure he will enjoy the break, but be ready to be back soon.

Ryan's Gingerbread house

2008-12-18T17:58:00.000-08:00

Here it is! These things are so difficult to do. Especially with a 3 year old. Getting the walls up and the roof on is the hard part. Oh and telling a 3 year he has to wait and not touch anything until it's ready. Thank goodness for the Wii, because that kept him busy while we waited.

Once the walls were up and roof on, it was time to decorate. I tried to be very "controlling" and explain how it was suppose to be, but Ryan told me I was wrong. So I just let him do it all by himself. I put the frosting on and let him go! He had the best time! I am glad I let him do his thing, because he was very proud of it when he was done. I think it turned out great!!! Well, until I see Jennie's or Kristin's pictures! Then mine will probably look like homeless shelter! (Maybe they will not have time to do theirs!! Ha ha)

After Ryan was done with the Gingerbread House, Mike asked a good question...."Now What?" HMMMM....It still looks cute!!!

What a Weekend!!

2008-12-14T17:56:00.000-08:00

Usually I am ready for the weekend. Cannot wait for it to get here! Well, this weekend was a little different! Friday, I was taking a shower when Ryan came into the bathroom and had to go potty. After he was done, the toilet starting bubbling. It has happen before so I knew what was wrong. Damn Sewer or as Eddie would say in Christmas Vacation "Shitter was full". So I told Ryan to just step back and not flush the toilet. What does he do, yup he flushes the toilet. The toilet starts to over flow. I jump out of the shower and turn the water off at the toilet. No prblem. I figured we would wait for Mike to get home, tell him what happened and have him call Roto Rooter!!

Mike gets home and calls Roto Rooter. They say they will be here in about an hour. I thought, wow that's great on a Friday night. So around 4:30 he shows up...brings in his big machine and begins doing his thing. The kids didn't like the machine and it was loud, so we hung out in my bedroom. At one point, Madison wanted out and to see what was going on. I open the door and I look at Mike and he gestures for me to be quiet. All I could hear was hissing. Then I hear the Roto Rooter guy say something about hissing outside and inside and he smells gas. Then he says he is feeling light headed. (He was talking to his office on the phone, and it was a 2 way radio.) The next thing I hear was the lady on the other end say, if you smell gas and hear hissing, you need to get out asap because that place could blow. She said to call 911 and get out. I went into freak mode!! I grabbed the kids and ran to the neighbors. Mike followed. Explained to our neighbor what was going on and asked if me and the kids could stay for bit. In the meantime, the fire department was arriving And then Mich Con. As I watched from the neighbors window, all I could think about was our house exploding. Mike came over to check on us and I told him to grab the computer with all my pictures on it, just in case! I know, crazy, but they were letting him back in the house because they didn't smell any gas in there and they said it was safe to go in. So Mike grabbed our little hard drive just in case.

Well, to make a long story short, the gas line went through the sewer line and when Roto Rooter was cleaning out the sewer line he hit the gas line. They finally found the leak after digging up the side of our yard. They had to bring in a back hoe to dig up the yard. So finally at 9:30 everyone was gone. My mom had happened to call and see how things were going in the midst of all this and Mike filled her in. She was on her way home from work and turned around to come get the kids. Thank goodness! So there we are at 9:30 with a house with dirt tracks all through it, no water, of course no sewer. We got the all clear to stay in the house, but we chose not to because of not having water or a toilet to pee in.

The next day we called Roto Rooter to have them come back out to fix everything and put it all back together. We were finally up and running around 2 pm but broke. We had to shell out 700 bucks for this whole mishap. However, it was all Mich Con fault for running the gas line in the sewer line in the first place, so we will be calling them in the morning for total reinbursment. I will let you know how that goes after the call! Let's just say we are ready to put up a HUGE FIGHT!

Here is one picture of Mich Con out in front of our house. I didn't get any pictures of the fire department because I didn't have my camera. I wanted a picture of all the lights and all the excitement. This will have to do!!

My New Baby.....

2008-12-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Here she is..................

For the last month, my camera has been giving me problems. The zoom button, was "slipping" and not working right. I never really liked the camera. It was a Canon, and I was really not on great terms with it! So on Saturday night, I was having problems again. I told Mike I needed a new camera. I was not taking the chance of going to Disney World and my camera taking a crap on me! So we decided to call Circuit City to see if we still had the warranty on the camera. We bought the camera just over 2 years ago, and got the protection plan with it. We usually don't get the protection plan, but with having kids, we thought it was a good idea. Luckily we did. However, we had to have the box, and EVERYTHING that came with the camera. Of course, we were never told this was when we bought the protection plan. Being 2 greatly organized people (not really)..we had kept EVERYTHING. This was a shock, because we usually throw everything away. So we packed up the old camera and headed to Circuit City. I hate Circuit City. I hate them! I was going in ready to fight. We went in, talked to a guy, and since the camera was 2 years old they just gave us money on gift card to pick out a new camera. So I had 475.00 buck a roos to pick out what I wanted! I debated, between a regular digital and a SLR. I really wanted an SLR, but I just don't have the time to figure everything out before the holidays and before our trip! So I settled for this camera. It is great! I LOVE IT!!! It has a smile button on it and when the kids smile it will take the picture automatically. (have to get them to smile first, arghhhh) I have been taking pictures of any and everything, to try to get the "feel" of the camera. It takes me a long time to get comfortable with a new camera. But I love it!

We are not ones to spend the extra money on these protection plans these places offer..but I am sure glad we did with this one.

No other pictures yet, I am still trying to figure out how to get the pictures off the camera and on the computer....Mike can not get home soon enough!!!!

Another week gone by....

2008-12-08T05:15:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that Christmas only a few weeks away! The time is flying by. I am still working on getting a picture for our Christmas cards. The kids are not cooperating very well! That's OK, if I can't get any good shoots, I will be sending the ones with the kids are crying. At least it will show their true frustrations of what I make them go through!

We went to see Santa yesterday at the Mall. Ryan said he was going to talk to Santa and sit on his lap. I was shocked and excited! So we made it into the mall when Ryan started walking really slow, and he didn't look so well. I stopped and asked him what was wrong, and he started to cry. (We weren't even by Santa yet) I asked him what was the matter, and he said he didn't want to see Santa! I told him he didn't have to. I was not going to force him! So we made it to Santa, of course Ryan didn't change his mind. I didn't push him and let him do what he wanted. Madison on the other hand, she is still young enough where she doesn't really know what is going on. So Madison got her picture taken with Santa, ALONE, AGAIN. She sat in Santa's Chair while Santa stood behind her. After that picture we tried one of her sitting on Santa's Lap, No go, she started to cry. But at least we got one of her with Santa. Mike made the comment to me..."Disney World is going to be so fun!" Ya know what, it is and the kids are getting their picture taken with Mickey Mouse even if they are crying...hey maybe it will make for a great Christmas Card for next year!! We have just over a month to "make" Ryan and Madison like humans who dress in costumes!! I don't think it is going to happen! Looks like I will be getting my picture taken with Mickey Mouse instead!!
I know another post WITHOUT pictures. I promise to post pictures later today...if I have the time. It seems it's going to be another long day today!!!

Weekend in Review

2008-11-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

First I would like to say that I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was great and I really enjoyed Mike having the entire week off. It kinda felt like I was on vacation too! He is so great and we LOVED spending more time with him!
We had our plans set for Thanksgiving. My family on Thanksgiving Day and Mike's family on Friday. This has always worked out great, because there is NO WAY we could do both families on Thanksgiving Day. It usually works out without hardly any complaints. We made it to my parents house on Thanksgiving morning. The kids were so excited about the "party". Madison helped my mom and I cook all day. She snacked on everything. Even though last year was her first Thanksgiving, this was her first Thanksgiving to eat. Last year she was only about 4 months old, so she really didn't eat anything. That girl can eat, and loved everything! When it came time to eat, Madison didn't want to eat anything. I didn't push her because I just thought she was full from snacking all day! Ryan didn't eat much either. I didn't push him because he is a picky eater and just let him do his thing. Well it was a couple hours later, when all the excitement began. I was cleaning up and my mom was playing with Madison, when all of sudden, I hear my name being called. I run to the living room to see Madison getting sick. My mom was holding her and she had gotten sick again. All over Grammie. I felt so bad. I grabbed Madison and ran into the bathroom. She was so scared. I gave her a bath and she was good to go. I thought she had gotten sick because she ate too much. My mom took her and laid with her in bed when again she got sick. Another bath, another change of clothes and she was good to go. In the mean time, Ryan was hanging on my leg and wanted me to hold him. I told my mom, something is not right with him. I put him down and he got sick at my feet. This is when we realized the kids had the flu. Ryan got a bath, a change of clothes and was good to go. So between 6:30 and 8, Madison had gotten sick 6 times and Ryan twice. I had no idea how we were going to get home. We decided to make a break for it...Ryan with a bucket in hand we headed home. Madison got sick once on the way home, before she fell asleep. Ryan fell asleep around the same time. We finally made it home. Got the kids in bed, I started laundry, Mike ran to Meijers for Pedilite and 7 up. Madison got sick only one more time around midnight. Poor girl!! She got the worse of it.
There was no way we were going to make it to Thanksgiving for Mike's family on Friday. We were not going to drive 2 hours there and 2 hours back with 2 sick kids. The 45 minute drive from my parents was hard enough. We needed the day to rest. Especially since I went out with the crazy people shopping Friday morning. Got most of shopping done with a few exceptions. I had a lot of fun with Theresa and My mom. I never thought I would be able to get up mom out the door at 3:45 am to go shopping, but I did! I was proud of her. She kept up with us young girls great! Even though we lost her in Meijers for about 45 minutes. She was probably looking to buy Madison more baby dolls.....I didn't know Madison needed 100 baby dolls for Christmas!! We finally found her sleeping on a bench at the front of Meijers...ok so maybe not sleeping, but that's what we accused her of! She was waiting for us, and we had no idea!! We walked around Meijers for a long time being followed by floor walkers and all!! They probably thought we looked suspicious walking around that store so many times!!
The kids are finally starting to feel better. Madison is still having "issues" but at least we don't' have to follow her around with a bucket!!

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-11-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

The jacket is to die for! I love it! Madison would look so cute in it! I hope to win..it would be so nice to finally win something.

It's Monday

2008-11-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

It's one of those days already. Ryan and Madison are fighting like cats and dogs. He just whipped Madison with his blanket. He has been in my dad's birthday cake all morning. He is very sneaky about it too. Something about the red and black frosting all over his fingers and face tell me he was in the cake. (even though he said he wasn't) Ryan is on his 3rd set of pajamas because he likes to make more laundry for me to do! I asked him why he keeps changing his pajamas and his response was because I like to wear all my jammies! As I type this, Ryan and Madison are putting all their books into Madison's crib! Nice!! I guess at least she will have something to read when she takes her nap this afternoon.
To add to this day, It's snowing out, I have to go to the grocery store and I don't want to! I hate bundling the kids up and venturing out in the snowy weather! I guess I will be talking to Mike about moving somewhere warm when he gets home! Whew...ok now I feel better....I am off to get all the books out of the crib!! I hope everyone elses Monday is going better than mine.

Chicago ~ Shopping with the girls

2008-11-13T18:34:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday a small group of friends decided to go on a girls only shopping trip to Chicago. We all had to make purchases at the American Girl Store for Christmas, so instead of paying the high shipping, we decided to go and get away for the day! ALL of us really needed this time away. We all have kids, who we all love dearly, but us moms need a break too!

We began our day at 5 am. I don't think we stopped laughing until 2 am when we got home! It was the best time I have had away from home in a long time! (even though we didn't get to see Oprah) We had some great pizza for lunch..I can't remember the name of the place, (Kristin, you have to help me out here) but it was great. We also found the best popcorn. I guess people will line up for blocks to get this stuff, and Oprah loves it too, so it must be the best!! We did some shopping all around. We even went to a scrapbook place that was off the beaten path. I kept looking at Jennie with a very concerned look on my face, and of course she kept assuring me that we were ok! I just get a little scared when there are places with boards over the windows and Michael Jackson is walking down the road. Ok so not really Michael Jackson, but Kristin said it was him! TOO SCARY!!

At the end of the day we finally made it to the American Girl store. We all made our purchases and were very happy that we made this our last stop! Jennie bought enough to start her our store out of her house! We had a lot of bags!!

We decided to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, which was delicious! Thanks to Kristin and her mom for the extra money for drinks!! Here is the story behind Kristin's mom "Raising her Right". We went to the restaurant to get a table. She put her name in downstairs, I put my name upstairs. Which ever one called our name first, that's where we were going to eat. Well, after waiting about 45 minutes, we were told our table upstairs was just about ready. Well, we still had our other pager for downstairs. Kristin said she was not going to waste it and give it back to the hostess she was going to give it to the next person who walked in the door. So she did. The man and his wife thanked her and went downstairs. (they probably had a 10 minute wait compared to a 70 minute wait like everyone else) We got to our table and got "settled" in when this guy walks up and says to Kristin...."You are Kristin?" I think we all about died, because we didn't know how this guy knew Kristin. The we realized it was the guy she gave the pager to. (we forgot we told him the reservation was under Kristin). He thanked her and pulled out his wallet...He threw money on the table and said buy drinks on me! It was so amazing! He was so thankful what Kristin had done (and so were we). So here is a picture of Kristin with her Money!! What a great way to end a perfect day!

I didn't take a lot of pictures, I think I was too busy people watching and looking for weirdos. Mya--this is the only picture I have of you, well it was of you and Jennie in a cab, but Jennie looks like a cartoon character, and I don't think she would like to me post that picture..it was great meeting you. You were so much fun!

Oh, One more thing. Kristin gets money for being a great person and giving a man her reservation....Mya and I on the other hand, give a lady 65 cents only to have the same lady ask us for 65 cents again later down the road. We thought we were really helping someone out...that was our good deed for the day, but I really think it was a scam!!

Thanks girls for a great time! I can't wait to do it again! This time we will find OPRAH!!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-10T06:31:00.000-08:00

Halloween this year was wonderful! We had great weather and had a great time! The kids and I went to Toys R Us for a pre Halloween parade. It was ok..I expected more...but Ryan enjoyed walking around Toys R Us in his costume!

The kids were very excited to go trick or treating! I think Ryan had been practicing for a week, and he was even teaching Madison what to say! She had it down! We were ready to go.

We decided to go to my brother Mike's neighborhood. Jason and Austin also joined us. Ryan loved having his cousin trick or treating with him. Poor Madison couldn't keep up with the boys. My mom and dad also joined us on our adventure! The kids were very excited to have Grammie and Papa go trick or treating with them! I think we only went trick or treating for about an hour and the kids got tons of candy. (which Mike has been taking to work each day)

Ryan's Halloween Party

2008-10-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today was Ryan's first Halloween party at school! He was so excited all week. (I think I was just as excited as he was) I was so impressed with all of his singing! I love watching all the little ones sing and dance. We loved every minute of it! Mrs. Simon and Miss Bell really did a great job and I give them so much credit. Having 18 3 year olds all in one room and all under control is very impressive!

Ryan was so excited to see Daddy, Grammie and Papa at his party. I guess Me and Madison are the ones who drop him off and pick him up everyday, so we are pretty boring, but when Daddy, Grammie, and Papa come...LOOK OUT!! Gotta love him!!

As I look at the video and the pictures I took today, I have to admit I got a little teary eyed because I am seeing him grow up to be a very independent little boy! Mrs. Simon stopped Mike and I on the way out today and said, "He doesn't look like the little boy who walked in here in September, does he?" And he doesn't, he has grown so much in the last 2 months! In September he was the little boy who didn't want to go to school, didn't want me to leave, and would cry when I would leave. Now he wants to go to school, he doesn't care that I leave (he still requires a big hug and a big kiss before I leave), and he does not have any tears when I leave! What a difference 2 months and a great teacher make!! (now let's hope Mrs. Simon is around for when Madison goes to school, fingers crossed!!)

Halloween Gifts from Grammie

2008-10-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, I don't EVER remember getting gifts for Halloween. Especially what my mom got the kids. We went to Sam's club the other night and the kids fell in love with these animals. Ryan loved the dinosaur and Madison loved the horsey. They are extremely cute but for Halloween??? What happened to candy, and Mom did you now read my last post?!? Just because both the kids cried and said they wanted one, she got it for them! They are really cute and the kids do really love them. But now I have to find room for these too! Geeze, I thought Christmas was just around the corner! If this is what they get for Halloween, I wonder what they will get for Thanksgiving??????

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT BELOW

This next picture Ryan did all by himself! I was on the computer and he kept saying... "we are all together mom" I just said "uh huh Ryan, that's great". He kept saying it and saying it, so I finally turn around and see this.........

I about died! I couldn't believe it! I was laughing so hard...of course I had to grab the camera and take a few pictures! Of course, this is all innocent to him, but to most adults, well, um..you have to admit, it's pretty damn funny! I wonder where he gets this stuff from! It must be his dad!!

Thanks again Grammie for the very friendly animals!! I just hope we don't have babies, because I DO NOT have anymore room in my house!!

Dear Santa.....

2008-10-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

I know it's getting time when you are going to be getting a ton of wish lists from many kids. Well, when you get Ryan and Madison's list please consider these photos before full filling their wishes.

These kids have just about every toy Fisher Price makes. Believe it or not, Ryan is always complaining about never having any toys to play with. The kids could start their own band with all the instruments they have. (I must say Madison is pretty good on the piano) Remember Santa, this is only the stuff we have upstairs. Our basement and our garage is full of toys! I don't know why you would bring all these toys for Ryan and Madison each year! It just amazes me! So this year please downsize everything! Maybe a couple cars for Ryan and a couple dolls for Madison. So when you get their list or when they sit on your lap and tell you what they want, just remember these pictures!

Update on Miss Madison

2008-10-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

First I would like say thank you everyone who called and everyone who wrote "Get Well" wishes to Madison. Also a BIG HUGE Thank You to my mom who picked up Ryan from preschool today, so I could take Madison to the Doctor. I know Thursday's are a very busy day for her and she didn't even hesitate to do me a favor. Ryan LOVED that HIS Grammie picked him up from school. I guess he ran right into her arms and Mrs. Simon said, well I guess I don't have to ID you! I love it! OK back to Madison...her temperature this morning was 104.5. Up last night with a 104 temp too. Well, first off last Tuesday when she was at the Dr. she was almost 25 pounds, today barely 23 pounds. The Dr. looked at her, and she does have a start of an ear infection and her throat is RAW! As her lymph nodes are swollen. So she is one sick little girl! We got some drugs and hopefully she will be feeling better really soon!! I hate seeing her so sick! Thanks again everyone! Oh and thank you Mom for taking Ryan for the night...I don't think I could have paid him to stay here!

One Sick Little Girl

2008-10-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

I just want to start by saying I sure do not miss the nights of having to get up with a little baby. Last night was a big reminder on how much I need and love my sleep. Madison decided to spike a fever yesterday afternoon, I think at that point it was 102. I gave her some Motrin and it didn't seem to bring it down. So I did Tylenol about 2 hours after the Motrin. This seem to bring it down. She seemed to be perking up a little bit. I figured it was just teething. Well at 2 am she wakes up and is on fire. We put her in bed with us and she tossed and turned for about an hour. Around 3 I gave her some Tylenol and some water. She kept saying "wa wa", meaning water. Well, the water and I am guessing the Tylenol didn't stay down. I was wearing everything she had just drank. We got everything situated and took her temperature. Under the arm it was 103.1. HOLY CRAP! So actually it was 104.1 (all you moms know we need to add 1 degree to under the arm temperature) More Motrin and Mike suggested I take her in. So we ended up in the ER at 3:30. By the time we got there her temp was 103.4. They did a chest x-ray, an urine sample, and checked ears and throat. Everything came back good, so it's just a good ole' viral infection, which we have to let "run it's course." We were home by 6 am. Just in time to see Mike off to work and Ryan was getting up! I was hoping t get some sleep but that didn't happen. So needless to say, today was a very lazy day and all of us never got out of our PJ's. I think we pretty much laid on the couch all day. Madison still has the fever, although it has came down, it's only 103. 2 now. I just hope she starts to feel better soon. I just worry so much when babies get such a high fever. The doctors always say not to worry about high temperatures, but I still do! Let's just hope we get some what of a good night sleep tonight!!

Happy Birthday Mike!!!

2008-10-14T03:50:00.000-07:00

Today is the day Mike turns 33. I am sure he doesn't mind me telling the whole blog world how old he is! I am still younger so I can do this!! When I find Mike, I found gold! For anyone who does not know him, he is wonderful! He is absolutely my best friend. He will do anything for anyone at any time of the day! He gave me 2 beautiful children, even though one of them took A LOT of work, he did not complain one bit:). He gives me anything I want. He works hard at his job, even though sometimes people don't' give him credit for it! He truly is a hard worker. The word "Lazy" cannot even fit into a sentence when you talk about him.

Mike is a great father. He loves his kids more than anything in the world. I remember when he found he we were having a boy, he was so excited. He wanted a boy so bad. He was so proud to tell everyone about his little boy! Seeing him hold that little boy for the first time made my heart melt. Then came the day when he found out we were having a little girl! He was so proud! He love s Ryan very much, but I am going to tell you there is something about Daddy's little girl, that just gets him. He loves that little girl so much and it makes me fall more and more in love with him when I see him with her, (and Ryan too). I don't know too many dads who bought their little girl a shirt that says "I love Daddy" in size 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months. Yup Madison has the same shirt in all sizes. I don't know what we are going to do once she outgrows 24 months! He is just so WONDERFUL! I don't know what I would ever do without him!!

Happy Birthday Mike! You are a wonderful person and We love you so very much!!!

Mike and Ryan Mike and Madison

Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you!!

This is the way we ROLL!!

2008-10-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Today was the annual Pumpkin Roll in Montague. It's always a great time, hectic, but a good time. Well, this year was no exception. There were tons of (rude) people and lots of strollers. It is fun though, I really don't think they can be any more organized than they are. This was Ryan's 3rd time doing it and Madison's 1st. Ryan LOVES it, he was so excited this morning and couldn't wait to get to the big hill. It was great weather too! We started early so it was a bit cooler, but by 11am it was nice and warm.

I ran into my cousin's wife Amanda and her two boys. We stuck together and then once the kids rolled the pumpkins we kinda lost her. Like I said there were tons of people there! But I am glad our kids got to hang out and eat cookies before the event started.

Mike was the lucky one who got to stand in the herd of people with the kids and wait for starting time. I told him he could do this year, because I got to do it the last 2 years. I was able to stand on the sidelines and try to get some pictures . It was hard but I was able to get some good shots. It was great fun, but I was also glad to get out of there right after the kids rolled their pumpkins!

After the pumpkin roll we had plans to go to the Norton Shores fire department open house. This open house is by far the best in the county. It is organized great and they have great activities for the kids. The kids were able to shot a fire hose, go in a smoke house, and go for a fire truck ride. I asked the driver if Ryan and I could ride in the front and he told us to jump on in. Ryan LOVED riding in the front. He was able to pull the horn whenever he wanted and thought he was pretty special to be up front when Daddy and Madison had to ride in the back! He did keep checking on Madison to make sure she didn't fall off!

Sorry about the same picture twice, I couldn't get it outta there! This picture is of Ryan in the smoke house. He insisted he go by himself. It made me sad, because it just shows me that he is growing up and doesn't "need" Mike and I as much as before! He still needs us of course, but just these little things shows us that he is becoming independent!

Fire Trucks at the Mall

2008-10-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

As everyone probably knows, October is fire safety month. It seems like just about every fire station has something going on. Well every year we try to take Ryan to the mall to see the great display of fire trucks and other rescue vehicles. We made it this year, however it was an icky day! It was raining, it was cold, it was just plan miserable. Didn't stop us though, I told my brother Jason and Mike to suck it up and be big boys that a little rain won't hurt them. The boys loved it, even thought it was raining. It seemed like there wasn't as many trucks there this year or people. Probably because of the rain.

Inside the mall, they have a huge set up with all kinds of different booths with activities for the kids. Well since it was raining, EVERYONE was inside. There was no way I was waiting in line for this. So what else you going to do...GO SHOPPING!! Thanks to Kristin on the great tip that The Children's Place was having a great sale! I didn't shop too long though, I was on a time limit set by both my brother Jason and Mike.

Something little

2008-09-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

I got this little survey in an e mail from Theresa today, so I thought I would just post it here and answer the questions. Just something fun to do.

Four, Four, Four, Four...

A) Four places that I go to over and over: preschool, Mom's house, work, and Target (I LOVE Target)

B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly): Mike, Theresa, Michelle, and my mom

C) Four of my favorite places to eat: Outback, Olive Garden, Mom's house, and Chen's

D) Four places I would rather be right now: Somewhere really warm, sleeping, (because my kids like to get up BEFORE 6 am), Las Vegas, and probably the mall.

E) Four people I think will respond: Let's hope some people from Blogland!

F) Four TV shows I watch: ER, Super Nanny, General Hospital, and Desperate Housewives

Ok..if you are reading this it's your turn. Copy and paste in your blog and answer!! Have fun!!

No More Paci for Madison

2008-09-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

Mike and I decided that this past weekend would be "The Weekend" to take the pacifier away from Madison. We wanted to do this when she turned a year old, but just kept pushing it back. With Ryan, we took it away at exactly 1 year. It was tough! He would cry and I would cry. I swore I would never give my next baby a pacifier. I think it took about a week of crying ourselves to sleep, but then it was done and he didn't miss it. Now it is Madison's turn. I think we were really dreading taking it away because of how difficult it was with Ryan. So every weekend would roll around and we would make up some type of excuse why we couldn't do it. Well, Mike finally said to me, we are taking it away on Friday night. I agreed, but could only imagine what this would bring. Well, Friday night she went to bed and it was only about 25 minutes of whining, not full crying. OK one night done! On to Saturday at nap time. It was tough. She would yell "Mama, Mama, Mama," it brought tears to my eyes. Then when she realized I was not coming to get her, it turned to "Dada, Dada, Dada." Eventually the tears stopped and she went to sleep. The rest of the weekend went great! She did wonderful. Hardly no tears at all...and today at nap time, no tears either. I am hoping this is not a fluke and she is going to make this easy on us!

Taking the pacifier away "cold turkey" is hard, but in my opinion it's the only way to go. I know, just like everything else we do, everyone will always say it's much hard on us parents than it is on the kids, but boy do they know how to make us feel guilty!! Let's just hope the rest of the week goes smoothly and she forgets she even had that ugly "thing".

First Full week of Preschool.......DONE!

2008-09-12T04:19:00.000-07:00

Well, both Ryan and I have made it through the first full week of preschool! Ryan did really good on Tuesday. He did start to cry as soon as we pulled into the parking lot and walking into school. But it wasn't a "big" cry it was more like just tearing up. Once we made into the classroom, he was hanging on to my leg pretty tight. Another teacher came and took him, and got him interested in something else so I could leave. As I was walking out, he had already settled down and was good to go! (for the record, I only got a little teary eyed) It's hard to hear your child cry, when you know that you can make him stop by comforting him. Thursday was an even better day. Although the tears did start at home this day. He told me "I can't go to school because I am too little." So cute. As soon as we turned down the road that leads to the school he said he didn't want to go. I just changed the subject. We got to school and he did surprisingly well. There were only a couple tears (no tears from mom, yay) and when his teacher saw him, she asked him for a hug and Ryan ran right into her arms. This made me feel so good because this showed me Ryan does feel safe with her. He will not give just anyone a hug. As he was hugging her I left, he was fine! This was a major accomplishment for him! (and for me, for me not to cry!) He really loves school once he gets there and he tells us about his day all day. So he need to get over the anxiety of me leaving him and he will do wonderful!
As for a little Madison update, she is doing great! Talking up a storm, never stops talking. Her vocabulary has grown so much. Everyday she says something new. She has even put together sentences. "Where's Daddy?" "Daddy go Night Night!" I love it! Oh and Daddy's big accomplish is what he taught her. I ask her "Who's girl are you?" She will answer "Dada"and then laugh! He thinks he is so smart!! Don't worry Mike we are working on changing that! hahaha She loves taking Ryan to school. Loves seeing him after his day! She really does miss him when he is gone! But she really enjoys playing with his toys and stuff she is not "allowed" to play with when he is home! These kids really are my life, and I am enjoying life so much right now! I am so thankful and lucky for the family I have!

Ryan's 1st day of preschool!

2008-09-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked a big milestone in our household. Ryan started preschool. I really don't think I would have put him in preschool this year, but he needs to get away from me and learn how to socialize with other kids. He loves to play with other kids, but sometimes just does not how to initiate play. He has been with me since day one. The only people that has ever watched him is my mom, my dad, and my brother Jason. I am very fussy about where my kids go, and I want to make sure they are well taken care of. It's just hard to let him go. I know he is growing up, but he is still my baby!
Ryan did very good at school. His first day was only an hour long and we got to stay with him. Mike took the day off of work to support me. Well, I didn't know that we got to stay with him on the first day until after Mike took the day off of work or I would have had him take Thursday off of work. Thursday is going to be a different story. It's going to be a very hard day. Before we left his school on Tuesday, Ryan and his friends were sitting on the rug listening to the teacher. Mrs. Simon was talking about the end of the day routine to the children. Then she started talking to the parents about what to do on Thursday. How we need to just drop the kids off and walk out the door and don't look back. Well, apparently Ryan thought she was telling us we could go, because he started crying right there! I felt so bad for and still have the picture of him covering his eyes and crying. It brings tears to my eyes right now! I went over to him and told him I wasn't going anywhere and he was leaving with us today. Poor kid. Like I said it's going to be rough on Thursday. Thank goodness I will have Madison to lean on!!!

Hanging up his backpack!!

He loved the science table! Making new friends!

End of summer Zoo trip

2008-09-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

It was getting towards the end of summer and we realized we had not taken the kids to the zoo yet. So we decided to go to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek over Labor Day weekend. Mike and I were very excited to get away for a few days. (even if it was only to Battle Creek) We had been getting things together all week. On Thursday I went to go get into the van. I opened the passenger side door and noticed that the glove compartment was open and stuff was all over the seat. I thought, why in the heck was mike digging through the glove compartment and why wouldn't he put it back. I put my purse on the seat and opened the back door to the van. It was then when I noticed Ryan's DVD players were gone. That's when I realized someone decided to help themselves to them. I was so upset! So I went inside and called the police to make a report. Finally after 1 hour and a half (yes 1 hour and a half) the officer showed up to take a report. I told the officer these people stole my sanity. With my parents living in Ludington and Mike's parents living in Kalamazoo we travel quite a bit with the kids, so the DVD players are a lifesaver!! But what do you do, chalk it up as a loss and move on. If that's all these idiots wanted, so be it! I mean they didn't hurt my family and what they took was only materialistic. Oh, they must not have liked country music either because they didn't take any of my CD's. This right here tells you how dumb they are!!! =)

Ok, now on to the trip to the zoo (without a DVD player). We really thought we could make it without it. Boy were we wrong. Ryan kept his sister awake the whole ride. He would touch her, she would cry. He would take things from her, she would cry. He would pull her pacifier out and throw it, she would cry. Let's just say it was a long trip.

We finally made it to the zoo and had a great time. This zoo does not have many animals. I guess their big draw is the giraffes. Which was great. Ryan loves to feed the giraffes and Madison loved touching their tongues. She didn't want anything to do with feeding them. I had to feed them so she could touch their tongues!! It was so cute!!

We stayed in a hotel close to the zoo and went swimming that evening. The kids were sleeping by 8:15 and I think we were close behind. As for the DVD players, we stopped at Target before leaving Battle Creek to purchase new ones! It was a nice quiet ride home! This a highly recommended device for anyone making long trips. Just make sure your vehicle is locked at night or bring them inside.

Madison is almost as tall as this giraffe.

Ryan loved the drinking fountains. Last year he hated them....this year we had to stop and a take a drink every time we passed it!!

Ryan and the elephant.

Madison very sleepy after the LONG trip to the zoo.

The kids riding the cow!

Madison was not too sure of the petting zoo. But who really enjoys touching stinky animals!!

I think Ryan forgot that the giraffe had a big tongue! I love his expression on his face!

Ryan feeding the giraffe!

Look at that tongue!!

Madison LOVED touching the tongue!!

Look at how excited she is. She touched his touch and then turned away giggling!!

Uncle Chris and Aunt Heather come to visit

2008-09-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Mike's brother Chris and his girlfriend Heather decided to come across Lake Michigan on the Lake Express Ferry to come for a visit. We were very excited to be able to take Ryan and Madison down to the channel to watch the boat come in. Ryan and I made a sign to welcome them to Muskegon. It was a little hard for Ryan to understand that Uncle Chris and Aunt Heather's car was on the boat too. He was shocked to see their car on the boat. Ryan really does enjoy it when Uncle Chris comes to visit. Chris always has "new" things to teach the kids. I just hope Ryan doesn't decide to share all these ideas to his friends at preschool!
The kids waiting for the boat! Ryan looks like he has been waiting forever, but it had only been about 5 minutes!

Here comes the Boat Ryan, get your sign ready!! He was so excited!! Notice Madison in the back, She was happy as long as she had food.

He finally made it!! "HI UNCLE CHRIS"!!! (Aunt Heather had to go down to where the car was to drive it off)

The kids waiting for Uncle Chris to get off the boat!

Thanks for the visit Chris and Heather, we all enjoyed having you here!!

Playing catch up.......AGAIN

2008-09-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

Well here it is the unofficial end of summer and I am playing catch up on the blog again! Things just got real busy and I haven't had a lot of time to actually sit down and post. So...I am going to blog some of the events that have taken place in the last month...yes Mike just informed me tonight that I did not have a post in the whole month of August. These events are in no particular order...heck I don't think I can remember which came first.

Michigan's Adventure

Mike took a couple days off of work so we could take the kids to Michigan's Adventure. We made it to Michigan's Adventure and had a blast. The kids had a really good time. Ryan wanted to ride all the rides, even the roller coasters. Of course, he was not tall enough, so we had to stick to the "baby rides". He really had a good time. He took me on the log ride and then he wanted to take Daddy on it too.

These pictures were taken from very far away, so they are not the best quality. But you get the point. Ryan looks like he is really scared, but he actually LOVED it! He also took us on the pirate ship (I think that is what it is called) and I really think getting old is taking a toll on me. I use to be able to handle all of these rides, and after this one, I felt a little queasy.

Ryan did a great job taking care of Madison on the rides. He really felt important when we asked him if he would take care of her on the ride. This is unusual because he usually does not want much to do with her at home. This just goes to show that he really DOES love her.

Ryan was the boss though, there were certain things Madison could NOT touch. That was the bells and all the buttons on the rides. This was his job! She did get her way a couple times though.

I think Madison had more fun in the water park. Ryan was just he opposite. Ryan was very scared of the water. I don't know where this is coming from because we have had this kid in swimming since 6 months old. But I guess as kids get older they develop fears. Water, I guess is one of his fears. He has come around a lot this summer though. Madison on the other hand had NO FEAR. She loves the water and just thought she could take off and go! She even liked to drink the water. I guess she likes the taste of chlorine!

Just look at this pouty boy! He said he was done swimming and wanted to take a NAP!! That really tells you how much fun he had in the water park!! hahahaha....gotta love Ryan!!! We really had a great time and it works out great that the park is only 5 minutes from home. At the end of the day a 5 minute drive home is great!!!

Let's Talk about Ryan

2008-07-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Since it was Madison's birthday a few weeks ago, she got quite a bit of attention out her in blog land. So today I am going to talk about Ryan! Ryan is so full of life! He is so energetic and amazing. I love to watch him, in whatever he does. He amazes me everyday. For example the other night at dinner, he was eating an onion ring and said "This looks like an 'O'." Very good Ryan! Then he took a bite. He said "Now it looks like a 'C'." Again, very good Ryan! The he began to tell us that caterpillar starts with C. I was very impressed! This just goes to show me that he does actually listen to me when I tell him things, or read to him, and explain everything to him when he always ask "Why?"

Ryan however does have a few people fooled! You can look at him and think he is all sweet and innocent (which 1/2 the time he is) but with the flick of a switch that boy can stir up some trouble. He is all boy and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Here is an example of the trouble that "finds him." We went to the beach one day a few weeks ago. Once we were done and were back at the van packing up, I got the baby powder out and started putting it on the kids legs, arms, feet, etc. (If you didn't know baby powder takes sand off of you so easy! That way we can leave the sand at the beach and not bring it back home) Well, Ryan of course had one million questions about what I was doing. So I explained it all to him. End of story. So I thought! That night when I put him to bed it was awfully quiet in his room. Usually he jabbers to himself before going to sleep. I decided to check on him. Luckily I did, because he had gotten out the bottle of baby powder and had "sprinkled" in all over his room. I walked in there and there he was holding the bottle of baby powder saying "Sorry Mama". I couldn't help but laugh. I got the vacuum out and cleaned up his mess. Let's just say this mess was a little easier to clean up than the mess of vics baby rub that he was "making hot chocolate" with the day before! Gotta love him!!

Here are a few recent pictures of MY boy! Love you Ry Ry!!

Ryan wanted to have his towel on his head just like I do. Silly boy! This picture could come in handy later down the road!

Playing at the beach!

Ryan is constantly on the go from the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed. Looks like he must have had an exhausting day!!

Planning for Disney World

2008-07-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

We have decided to take the kids to Disney World the first week of February. I am so excited to be able to take Ryan...and Madison too, but I think Ryan will get a little more out of it! Don't get me wrong Madison will have a blast, but probably won't remember much!
Well if you know Disney, you know you have to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner reservations 6 months in advance, if you want to eat at sit down restaurant. Since we have the little ones, we are doing many Character Dinings. So, I was up late last night "planning" when and where we are going to eat. You know how hard it is to plan when and where you are going to eat 6 months ahead, especially when you have to worry about 2 kids. (3 if you include Mike) So I think I FINALLY have an itinerary. I love being organized and love being in control, but this was a little much for me. I am trying to be the person who doesn't always have to be in control and just let things happen, but I haven't made it to that point yet. So for right now the schedule works, and I will have to call in a few days to make the reservations. Now in 6 months will this schedule still work?? I don't even want to think about it!!! I just need to relax and realize that most of the vacation is now planned and all I have to do is go and enjoy the time with my family!
Kristin~Thanks so much for putting up with all my "Disney" questions. I really appreciate all your help! It saved me lots of time, I saved all your e mails and referred back to them many times!! Thanks again!!! =)

Not much else going on here on the homefront. Mike is taking a few days off this week and we are going to Michigan's Adventure and the Zoo. Ryan asked me if we need to take a plane to Michigan Adventure like we need to take a plane to Disney World. So cute!! (we drive by Michigan's Adventure almost everyday..so I have no idea why he is thinking this!!) I will be sure to post some pictures later in the week!!!

Madison is ONE!! Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

2008-07-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well Madison's first birthday has come and gone, but I still can't believe it! We had a great day on Saturday! We woke up to rain and thunder and a wet yard! I was very nervous and afraid it was not going to stop. It finally did and the sun even came out! We had Grandpa Snyder bring a huge tent (thanks again Old Man) just in case. My theory is if we put it up, it won't rain, if we don't put it up it will rain! So to keep the rain away the boys put it up! It worked out wonderful! The kids had a great time playing. I don't think Ryan, Austin, Emma, Lea Lea, Josie, or Madison ever stopped! I hope everyone kids slept as well as mine did that night!!

Madison got lots of very generous presents, and I thank everyone for that! I really appreciate how everyone made my little girl feel so special! She got lots of great new clothes! They are all so cute! I can't wait to play dress up! I am sure Madison is excited for this too! :)

Madison's butterfly cake. Not that spectacular, but she loved it! We had to take the picture from a certain angle because when I was carrying it out, Ryan went to touch it and fell into one side of it!

Madison's smash cake! I LOVE Ryke's cakes so her smash cake had to come from there! Their cakes are usually really gooey and messy! Just what I love!!! She stared out eating so nice and gentle, but then...............She made one heck of a mess! I was so glad to see her make a big mess for once!!

She got the cutest glasses and hat from Aunt Nancy! She loves the glasses!!

Ryan got her 2 baby dolls, which so loves!! She loves babies!!As long as she was in her chair, had her babies, had her hat on and was holding her sunglasses she was happy!!

Cake Time!!!

2008-07-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

For Ryan's first birthday we made his cake. His theme was Baby Einstein and we made the caterpillar from the shows. Well, since we made Ryan's first birthday cake, it was only fair we did for Madison too! I really just wanted to order a cake and be done with it, but Mike kept pointing out that we did make Ryan's first cake! So we decided to make Madison a butterfly cake. It was much much easier than Ryan's cake and only took about an hour! So I did a lot of complaining for nothing! I have to admit it does like cool. (I don't have picture of it yet, but will post it when I do. It's not much but I know she will love it) Well it's almost midnight, I am exhausted and still have lots more to do tomorrow! Hope everyone has a great weekend! I know we will!!!

Ryan's first birthday cake! Madison's is not as fancy, but it turned out great! (will post pictures later!)

One more picture before she turns 1!!

More Madison

2008-07-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Just a few random pictures of Madison! I love the last one, it's just too cute... :)

Miss Madison!!!

2008-07-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Madison in her first week home! I go back and look at these pictures and can't believe how small she was! It's amazing how much she has grown! As I am looking at these pictures, I begin to think...hmmmm...do I want another one?? I look at the baby pictures and I am all about having more...and then it hit me....a butterfly net! Yes a butterfly net...Ryan is running around the house trying to catch a butterfly and hit me upside the head. By the way, there are not any butterflies in the house , so I don't know what he was doing. Yeah I think 2 kids is plenty! Enjoy the pictures!!

Look at those cheeks! So precious!

Ryan and Madison. He wasn't too sure of her at first!!

Another favorite of mine. Look at how tiny her feet were! So so small! LOVE IT!!

4 days until Madison turns the BIG 1!!

2008-07-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

This Saturday July 12, Madison is turning1. I can't believe it. I get very emotional just thinking about it. You moms out there have to know where I am coming from. Over the next week I am going to be stealing an idea from one of my fellow blogger, Kristin. I will post pictures of Madison throughout her first year! I think it's going to be fun looking back and remembering everything from her first day home to her taking her first steps. (Thanks Kristin, your idea is awesome)

I had a scheduled c-section on July 12th at 8 am. Had to be to the hospital at 5am. After 3 failed attempts to get my IV in, they finally got it right! I almost past out and was ready to go home after that! I asked that my mom and dad would bring Ryan up to see me before I went into surgery. So around 7:30 they arrived, I wanted to see him "just in case". I got to hang out with Ryan for about awhile before they wheeled me away. As they started to take me away, Ryan started crying, which in turned made me cry. I know this was probably really selfish of me for him to go through this, but you never know what could happen. He was fine after about 5 nurses came to his rescue with snacks and juice!

Madison was born at 8:30 am. It was the best thing to hear her cry! I cried, Mike cried , I saw her for a minute and they took her away! I was stitched and set to recovery! During this pregnancy I had Gestational Diabetes, so Madison had to keep getting poked in her heal to check her blood sugar. I think it took about 2 hours before I got to see or hold her. She had a few sugar issues at first. They even talked about putting an IV in her if her levels did not go up. I was a mess. Getting all this information while I could do nothing. I wanted to be there with her, but I couldn't. Mike ended up having to feed her a bottle to try to get things right!

Finally, I was able to hold my little girl!! Mike assured me he followed my number one rule! The rule was NO ONE was allowed to hold before me (well except mike of course). This was a rule with Ryan too! I know selfish again, but I carried this little girl for 9 months so I deserved to hold her first!! Madison weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 in long. She was/is perfect and I couldn't ask for a more beautiful little baby!

This was right before we left for the hospital.

Proud Daddy feeding his girl, trying to get her sugar levels up! The nurse was so great about taking these pictures for us!

Here she is!! Madison Elizabeth! So precious!

Finally getting to hold her!! I can't believe how small she was!

I'm Back..........

2008-07-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

I am refreshed and ready to finish the post from last night...I promise it won't be very long this time! Just a few pictures from the Fireworks. After hitting the parade in Ludington and having a picnic at Grammie and Papa's house, we headed back to Whitehall for the fireworks! It was a little chilly but that didn't bother the kids at all. Ryan, Austin, and Madison stayed awake to watch all the fireworks. I thought for sure Madison would have fallen asleep but she was too nosey! She loves to people watch...I don't know where she gets that from :)

The boys wanted cotton candy! I knew Ryan wouldn't like it, but he had to have it. (we have tried cotton candy in the past and he just doesn't care for it) Austin was fine with that because he ate the WHOLE bag himself! That kid loves cotton candy. I guess I only edited one picture from that night. I am not going to back to edit more...I don't have too much time today!

Madison fell asleep on the way home and Ryan made it home, barely. When we got home we did a few of our own fireworks. Ryan thought it was pretty cool, Mike was bored with them because they were legal!

The kids slept in until 9 am on Saturday, it was great! I think that was the first time EVER for Ryan to sleep in that late. He is an early riser.

We went to the art fair on Saturday, which was fun! Mike knows this is the one event I look forward to every year, so we always make sure we make it! It was a beautiful day and there were TONS of people there!

Sunday was a relaxing day for us! We didn't do a darn thing. I did go grocery shopping but that was it. We let the kids play in the pool for a little bit. We haven't put up our big pool yet, so they had to make do with the little one. Which was great, they loved it!!!

Now I think I am all caught up! I am off to start getting Madison's birthday party together! Please PRAY for no rain on Saturday. We are planning on having her party outside...my house just isn't big enough for 30 + people!

Here are a few pictures from the rest of the weekend!!

Ryan and Madison swimming. Madison loved the water after I added hot water to it!!

SO BIGGGGGGGGGG!! Look at that BELLY!!

Promises, Promises

2008-07-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

I know I said I would try to post at least 2 times a week, however, it's summer and we have just been crazy busy! So, I am going to try to start posting more. I can't PROMISE all of you anything though!

Alright, I am going to try to recap what has been going on in our household since the last time I posted. I am trying to remember...thank goodness for the camera without it I think I would have forgotten a lot!!

This was few weeks back. I won tickets from WMUS to see Dierks Bentley! Not only did I win tickets but a wonderful meal at Burger King! Thanks to my mom for coming to my house to watch the kids so Mike and I could go to the concert! We had a great time. And NO we did not go to Burger King for dinner. I told Mike if we have a babysitter he is not taking me to Burger King! We ended up going to The Station. We absolutely love that place! I have never had a bad meal or service from there. Although the concert had a rain delay, it was still great! It was nice to get out and have a few drinks and catch up with some old friends!

The next day we took the kids to the parade in downtown Muskegon! Ryan loves any kind of parade. He loves to get candy and he loves it when there are BIG trucks and fire trucks in the parade. He was scared of the big dragon from Art Van. Oh, and very scared of Furious Fred. But he is kinda scary to me too, so I can only imagine what is going through a 3 year olds mind! Madison did really well. I was a little worried about the noise, but it didn't bother her one bit. She sat on my lap and waved to EVERYONE! It was so cute.

Here is Daddy and Madison waiting for the parade to start!
The next picture is of Mike, Ryan, and my nephew Austin looking down the road to see if the parade was coming!

Ryan and Madison have been outside every second they can! We love to play outside. Ryan's new nickname is Dirtball! I swear this kid rolls in the dirt. I have to remind him constantly that he needs to keep his shoes on. Madison is the same way. Once I put her in the sand box the shoes come off...I guess she likes to feel the sand between her toes! Mike keeps saying he needs to add more sand to the sand box. I told him all I have to do is redeposit the sand from what the kids bring in the house and we wouldn't lose any sand. There is sand everywhere in my house!! Here is monkey boy Ryan! He is becoming really brave on the swing set. Makes me so nervous...we really need a padded ground!!

This next picture is now one of my favorites. Ryan is really getting into pretend play. He has been using my watering can and using it to put "yellow oil" into his car. (remember this is all pretend) You should here him say yellow oil, it really is the greatest.....it's so hard for hm to say. I will have to video tape him on time so everyone can enjoy what he is saying as much as I do. Anyway, back to the picture, Madison and Ryan are looking under the hood of lightening McQueen. Madison is pointing at something and it looks like Ryan is trying to figure out what is "wrong". It's just so stinkin' cute! I just love it!

I hope everyone is still with me. I guess I should have warned everyone it was going to be long! I think I will skip a few things and get to the 4th of July! We went to my parent's house in Ludington for the 4th. Ludington always has a great parade, and the last 2 years we have went, House of Flavors has given out FREE ICE CREAM, not just a little cup, a PINT of ice cream! We are always excited about getting our free ice cream. The parade was great and we had a good view. The parade started at 2, and I think Mike and I went down to down our blanket and chairs around 10:30. Which was really late I guess, because we were almost at the end of the parade. But we had a place where the kids could still have a "front row" seat and still get their candy! (not to mention the free ice cream!) Yeah, let's get back to the ice cream.....it never came! They didn't give out any ice cream! Mike was completely bummed. He brought a big cooler just so he could fill it up! Luckily we didn't tell the kids about it, because they would have been bummed! Here are a few pictures of our day. More pictures of the rest of the weekend to come later...It's late, I'm tired and I am sure all of you have had enough!!
Me and the kids at the parade in Ludington. Madison loved the beads! Papa showing Ryan the horse poop in the road! Yes, the finer things in life! Grammie and Miss Madison! Madison loved the parade again! Daddy and the kiddos! As you can see Ryan is trying to sneak a drink of Mike's pop!

Long Time Gone.....

2008-06-19T11:24:00.001-07:00

WHEW....it's been awhile! I have not had a chance to do much blogging in the last week! It's been one thing right after another, and the next 4 weeks are the same way! Too much stuff to do and not enough time! Let's rewind to Father's Day weekend! We had a great weekend! Had a cookout for our Dads on Saturday afternoon and then Mike had his day on Sunday! Ryan picked out Carnival Games for the Wii for Mike for Father's Day. Hmmm.....was it for Dad or was it for Ryan! To my surprise they both love it! I enjoy playing it too! However, it's pretty sad when a 3 year old can beat me at these games...I just have to practice more when he is sleeping! Happy Father's Day Mike! Thanks for giving me 2 great healthy kids!! Love ya!

I am busting my butt to get things together for Madison's b-day party, which is in 3 weeks! I cannot believe she is going to be 1! I can't believe how much planning and preparing needs to be done for a child's birthday day party! But it is her first and a very important one! Speak of the devil, I hear her waking up from her nap...I think it's a new record she slept for about 45 minutes! Anyone have tips on how to get her to take a longer afternoon nap, I am so open to suggestions!!

Here are a two random pictures:

Madison going in for the full open, full tongue kiss! She really loves her dog, Tucker!

Ryan playing with his ESPN Better Batter Baseball! He LOVES this little machine!

FINALLY FRIDAY!!!!

2008-06-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

The weekend is finally here! I am so glad. However, I don't think the weather is going to be that great..it looks like rain all weekend!! I guess that means we will have to do indoor activities, Like SHOPPING!! Did I mention that Bath and Body Works is having their BIG SALE now! It's time to stock up ladies! I love that place...but I will admit I have I sometimes wonder when I am ever going to use all the lotion I have now. But hey it was on sale, it was a great deal, and I couldn't pass it up!! I do have to shope there either without kids, or when Mike is with to me take the kids, because I just cannot get around that store with a stroller, especially the double stroller. I have only knocked over one display thingy, but in my defensive it was my first time out, by myself, with a double stoller! And that display shouldn't have been there anyway!!!

Well, I am gong to be lazy today and go through some older pictures of the kids and post them. On one of my cameras I have over 500 pictures, yeah 500, the other one only has about 150, but it will still take awhile to upload them!

Here are two of my favorite pictures of the kids.

The first one is of Ryan is 6 months old, he loved taking a shower when he was a baby! I just love the water dripping in his face and his big smile...just so cute! I really miss those baby days!

The next picture is of Madison is about 8 months old. Like her brother she loves the shower too! I knew I had these two pictures of the kids, similar pictures and about the same age. What do you think....do they look alike. I can see a little similarities in the two, but to me they look totally different!!

2008-06-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO????

Alright, I know I am not the only one, but we have been so excited for summer to get here! Well, I just can't believe it is already the 3rd day of June. As I look ahead, I just know this summer is going to fly by again! Our Calendar is already pretty busy until the end of July! Every weekend there is something going on! It's just crazy! It seems the summer months just fly by. We have some much we want to do and it seems we are already running out of time! Luckily, we didn't have any graduation parties this year and so far no weddings! WHEW!!
The only major event we have is Madison's 1st Birthday party! I have been planning for a couple weeks. The first birthday is such a special day. I think it took us about 2 months to plan Ryan's party, just to make sure everything is just so. Mike and I were talking about how special the 1st year of life is. You take a little baby who you bring home from the hospital and is totally dependent on you! You do everything for this little one! As the month's go by, your little one starts to grow......It's just amazing. Madison has went from being a precious bundle of joy to a little toddler who is starting to communicate and taking her first steps! It just amazes me! I just look at her and my heart melts! I know I am blessed to have two healthy and very active kids! I enjoy every minute of them! I love watching them grow, but hate how fast it goes by. Just shows us how we need to enjoy everything in the now!!! I hope everyone has a great summer!!!

A Day at the Beach

2008-05-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so two posts in one day that may be a record for me. But then again, I just downloaded about 300 pictures on the computer! Anyway, today we took the kids to the beach. It was a little chilly, but we loved being in the sun! The kids had a blast. Ryan loves to play on any playground and Madison had a great time playing in the sand. (She really needs to start walking, it would be so much easier!!!) She loved the swings too!! Ryan brought his kite and once we got it up in the sky, he flew it for about 2 minutes and was done! So I got to fly his kite for awhile! I guess it didn't interest him as much as we thought it would.

After being outside for most of the day, Madison was sleeping by 8:15 and Ryan was out by 8:30! Gotta love the sunny days when we can get outside and run the kids tired!!! Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!!!

Hillbilly Rockstar!!!!

2008-05-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night was my once a year expensive night out! Mike took Me and Theresa to see Kenny Chesney in concert! It was AWESOME! Thanks again to my mom, who we can always count to watch the kids for us! And this time, she came to our house, which was so nice!!! Thanks again Mom! You are the BEST!! Ok back to Kenny, I can never get enough of Kenny, and it seems I try to go every year! I will recap the last few years I saw him in concert!! In 2004, I won tickets to see Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, and Dierks Bentley! With the tickets I also got to go backstage and meet Dierks Bentley. I took Theresa with me. We had a great time and great seats! Thanks WMUS!! In 2005, Mike wouldn't let me go to the concert because I was pregnant with Ryan. I was due a week after he came to town, he thought it was too close and didn't think it was a good idea. So I missed out that year! Then in 2006, we got tickets to go again! Well this time it was Jenny, Theresa, My brother Mike, his wife Meredith, and my husband Mike. We decided to go to the B.O.B before the show for some drinks. Well they were having a drawing for tickets, not just regular tickets, SAND BAR tickets...this was closer than front row, it was right next to the stage, standing only. Well, guess who won them? No, not me, but my husband Mike. (BTW~ he doesn't really like country music and still goes to the concerts with me! It's so nice) So we got the great sand bar tickets. I had great views of Kenny's butt and could have touched it a couple of times, but really didn't want to get kicked out! I got some great pictures, and he signed my hat!! WAHOOOO.......We had a great time! Ok, 2007, was pregnant again....didn't make it to the show! So this year Mike promised me I could go! We had a great time and I can't wait to see him again next year!! (if I am not pregnant again! are you catching a pattern here??) Seriously, I am pretty sure we are done having kids!!! Thanks Mike for taking us and putting up with all of our Kenny stalking after the concert!!

Lovin' the warm weather!!

2008-05-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

We are getting so excited the weather is shaping up and it's almost summer! Ryan loves to play outside. If he had his way he would never come inside. Yesterday, my nephew Austin came over to play with Ryan. They raced their Lightening McQueen cars around the yard! It was so cute!

After racing around, they decided to play in the sandbox. Madison loved it! She had someone to play with. You have to understand, that I love having a little girl! I love shopping for her and dressing her in all the cute dresses with the matching shoes, sweaters, purses and hair bows! (Thanks Annie for all the hair bows you have made, we love them!) Well, get Madison around the boys and it's trucks and cars! That's all she wants to play with! She has every "girly" toy you can imagine, yet she chooses to play with her brother's cars, trucks, and even the tool bench! So, yesterday when she was in the sandbox she immediately went to where the boys were and had to join in playing with the trucks! I guess, I better keep dressing her the way I want now, because I have a feeling she is going to have none of it once she gets older...but I can try...right?!? Here a couple pictures of her playing with the boys and "their" toys!!

Here are two of my favorite pictures from yesterday! The first one is of Ryan and Madison. Ryan loves to give Madison rides in his car. I put her in the car and she immediately put her arm around him and away they went! I had to run to get my camera so I could get a picture! I love pictures when they are taken from the back! I just love it! The last picture is of Ryan and Austin! They are the best of friends! I am so glad My brother and I have our boys so close together! (exactly 2 months apart!) They have always been the best of friends, and I foresee them being real close for years to come!!!

Mother's Day Weekend

2008-05-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

Look out world.....here we come!!!!

First off, I would like to say "Happy Mother's Day" to all the mom's who read this! I hope everyone had a great day! We decided to have our Mom's over for a cookout this year. Mike's parents live in Kalamazoo, and mine live in Ludington. So when it comes to the holidays (any holiday) it's very tough! We usually do dinner with Mike's family on Friday night and dinner with my family on Saturday afternoon. That way we can have a day for us on Sunday! By the time Sunday rolls around we are all tired! That is why we decided to try something new, and it worked out pretty good.

The top picture (not the very top) is a picture of my mom and the kids. The second picture is Mike's mom and the kids. Just a side note, Ryan is pretty dirty, he had a long hard day outside! The kids really enjoyed spending time with Grammie and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa! Ryan had lots of new things to show off!

We didn't do much on Sunday. Mike and kids took me to lunch and of course shopping! We were planning on going to the zoo today, but we had to change plans because fo the weather! We do have the rest of the summer to hit the zoo, so it wasn't that big of a disappointment! All in all, I had a great weekend spending time with my family and can't wait for the rest of summer!!!

Adding pictures??? Did it work???

2008-05-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt on putting pictures in a post, I guess I will see if it turns out or not. I am not sure if these pictures are going to be HUGE or you are going to need a magnifying glass to see them...I guess we will see. Anyway, this is Ryan's 3 year picture and Madison's 9 month picture! Ryan did great, usually he is a little stinker! Madison did so so. She was coming down with a cold (later to find out a double ear infection), and we really had to do some wild things to get her to smile. This is usually not the case, she is one smiley baby! In all her pictures I can see she is not feeling well in her eyes! Poor baby!! Well, we have a busy day today so I better get going! I hope this works, Thanks Jennie for getting me hooked!!

Starting a Blog???

2008-05-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is my first shot at starting a blog! I guess we will see how often I can actually post her, and post pictures! I am the worst about taking pictures and leaving them on my camera for weeks, and then finally downloading them, usually about 300 of them! I know it's awful!! I really enjoy reading other people's blogs, so I thought I would give a shot at it. Like I said, we will see!! First I have to see if I can figure all this out!!! Wish me LUCK!! I know I will need it!!