iPhone post

I do not take nearly the pictures on my camera that I did before I got an iPhone. I always have it with me so I just snap pictures of the kids with it all the time. I decided once in awhile I'll do a post with some of my favorite photos from my phone!

Here goes....

Chris and I had a St. Patrick's party to go to last weekend but first we made a stop at HyVee to get some groceries without kids. I had to snap a pic because of the fact that we were grocery shopping on a Saturday night...


I love finding the pictures Mya takes...


first day of spring....


reading the paper before bed


spaghetti face


Max and Mya love to show me their creations and always want a picture


I love our neighbors. We started the "Friday after work happy hour" at first sign of spring...a sunny day that reached 40 degrees.


my biggest and my littlest

16 months

Ivy turned 16 months old last week. She has been a little bit of a crazy girl lately! Her favorite things to do are draw on her face with markers (they have been put away which does not make her big bro and sis very happy), climb on the kitchen table, take dirt out of the plants, scream to go outside every time the door opens, get on the top bunk, and play on the stairs! Makes for a really relaxing day for this mama:)

(this was her after I took away the marker)


This is the age Max was when Mya was born. Still kind of blows my mind how we got through that. I can't imagine bringing home a newborn baby right now and chasing around a little one who could very easily still choke on objects, eat something that was contained poison,climb on something dangerous, etc. When I mentioned to Chris that Max was 16 months old when we brought Mya home, he asked me if Max was this crazy at that age. I couldn't really remember so either he was and I chose to block it out or he was not such a wild child!

One thing that is very similar about Max and Ivy at this age is their love of books. I remember vividly how tired and "done being pregnant" I was at the end of my pregnancy with Mya so I used to sit on the couch in Cedar Falls and just read to Max. He would sit for 25 or 30 minutes and I'd just read the same books over and over again and sometimes I would even shut my eyes because I had the books memorized. I'm doing the same thing these days with Ivy. Her favorites are "Where's Spot?" and "Moo, Baa, La, La, La". Mya was taking some pictures with my phone the other day and captured this one.

Random happenings

This week has been a bit crazy! Started off last weekend I went to Milwaukee to have a Luther girls weekend! Kindel and I rode up together on Friday night and didn't turn the radio on once....we live less than 90 minutes away from each other, yet our crazy hectic lives get in the way and we never get to catch up! Then we got to Emily's house and caught up with Rachel, Bree, Megan and Emily until 3am! It has been a few years (okay maybe 10 years) since I've stayed up until 3! Saturday we got a much needed coffee, went on a brewery tour, ate dinner and went to a wine bar. Unfortunately we lost and hour of sleep that night so I've been dragging a bit this week. It was all worth it though! So great to see the girls again.


pretty much a sign that we should have been on that brewery tour when we ran across this beer:)



About an hour after I got home from Wisconsin, Chris turned around and left for Georgia. He had to go there for work from Sunday-Wednesday. The kids weren't sure what was going on! My sister came down Sunday to spend a few days with us which was very much appreciated since Monday was my birthday! I had a great day, but honestly the best part came first thing in the morning. I had to wake the kids up because of this daylight savings deal and when I got Mya up, she got about 6 inches from my face and the first thing she said was, "how old are you?" It was adorable...she must have been dreaming about my birthday or thinking about it through the night because she was really excited about me being 33! The rest of the day was filled with shopping, phone calls, texts, e-mails, flowers and cake!




Tuesday morning I had to wake the kids again and Mya was acting a little strange. She wouldn't eat her breakfast and was telling me her tummy "hurted." Then she went to the bathroom, so I figured that was the problem and I took her to school. I headed to volunteer at Max's school and got a call 15 minutes later that Mya threw up at school:( So I went to get her and she ended up being a pretty sick little girl. The rest of the day she threw up every time she lifted her head off the pillow. All she wanted was for me to hold her, but every time I did, she got sick. Thankfully it only lasted 12 hours and she made it to the garbage can most of the time. Chris was feeling terrible that he was away during this and I was having to deal with it by myself and have a crazy 16 month old who I was trying to keep away from Mya. Little did we know...the next day I would be the one feeling sorry for Chris. He ended up getting sick in Georgia! Total nightmare...he had to get through the day with customers and fly home late last night. He is still not feeling well, but he's having to push through. We pretty much can't wait for the weekend!

6 years old!

Dear Maxwell,

Today is your 6th birthday! Typically, you look forward to your birthdays so much and count down several weeks ahead of time! This year with Disney World coming just a few days before, you haven't been as obsessed with turning 6 as you have in the past.

You were made for kindergarten. You have a love for learning and I can tell that the wheels are turning non-stop. Just last night as I was tucking you in, you were asking me "what times what equals 10?" So I told you that 5 X 2= 10 and then I could tell that you were processing it for a minute and then the light came on...."any number times two is just that number plus the same number!" You then proceeded to rattle off a bunch of examples and had a huge grin on your face. It has been so fun watching you learn to read this year. Hopefully soon you will be reading to Mya and Ivy!

Speaking of Mya and Ivy....you are a great big brother (when you want to be:) You and Mya are the best of buds and the worst of enemies. You have taught Mya so much about sports and video games and it has really come in handy for you because now you have someone to play with! You better watch out though, because she's getting close to beating you in some of the games! You are still afraid to go downstairs by yourself, but as long as someone is with you, you can play for hours. You and Mya are still sharing a room and you're on the top bunk. In another couple of years we will move the girls together and you can have your own room again. You have been asking a lot lately if you can have the "jumping bed" (aka trundle bed) back! Blankie still sleeps with you at night along with a nalgene bottle of ice water and a few stuffed animals.

Your favorite food is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheeseburgers, sesame chicken and pudding. You are not a huge pizza eater, you do not eat sauce of any kind, and you despise all things spicy. You have a really big appetite. Sometimes after a meal, you'll ask for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It reminds me a lot of your uncle Brian. Grandma Pat used to get so mad when she had the kitchen all cleaned up and then she'd have to start making Brian another meal! It just makes me smile because I know it's only the beginning. You have lost 5 teeth and the two top teeth are really loose right now so it won't be long until that toothless grin will be here:) You weigh 45.2 pounds, are 44 inches tall and wear size 13.5 shoes, size 6 slim jeans, and size 5/6 shirts.

You need some work on your responsibility. I think you've lost 3 sweatshirts, 2 pairs of gloves, 1 lunch box, 1 hat and one neck/face warmer so far this year. I take partial blame for this because I usually just take care of things for you if you forget. Your teacher told me that you don't push your chair in very often, and you leave sweatshirts on the carpet quite often. Those same things happen at home so we're working on them. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree with this...I remember in 1st grade Sister Mary Brian hid my shoes from me for a whole day because I kept forgetting to put them on my chair when I left for the day! We also are working on you becoming a little bit less of a messy eater. No matter what we're having for dinner...part of it ends up on your shirt/pants every.single.day.

You have moved up to the second court in tennis so I am no longer your teacher. You're doing great and you love going to tennis. You played basketball this winter at the Y and it went pretty well. It was a little unorganized, but you had a smile on your face the entire time and even scored a basket on the last night! We were so proud of the fact that you were one of the only kids there who passed the ball to others. You are a really fast runner...I have a hard time catching you when we play tag. Balloon volleyball in the basement is a favorite of yours right now along with playing games and cards (war) and of course legos.

Your daddy loves to point out that you're a lot like me (ultra sensitive, know everyone's name, remember silly things, wicked backhand:) but you inherited a lot of your dad's good qualities (and looks:) as well. We love you so much and although we can't believe you're six years old already, we are excited to see what the future holds for you! Happy Birthday Lovie!

Love,
Mommy

March 3rd, 2007


March 3rd, 2008


March 3rd, 2009


March 3rd, 2010


March 3rd, 2011


March 3rd, 2012


March 3rd, 2013

Disney World 2013

We just got back from one of the best weeks of my life! We spent 5 days in Orlando and did everything "Disney" that we could possibly fit in! This sounds very cliche, but that place is seriously the "happiest place on earth." I'm going to do my best to recap the week without making it 4 pages long!

We flew out of Madison last Saturday and had a direct flight into Orlando. It was the first airplane ride for both Max and Mya. This would have been exciting enough! They did great on the flight and we even caught the Magic Kingdom fireworks as we flew into Orlando!



Sunday we woke up bright and early and headed out to Animal Kingdom. We had very specific plans for each day and although it makes for a lot of work in the planning stages, it was totally worth it. We went on the safari ride first and it was unbelievable. Every single animal was out and a rhino was only a few feet from our safari truck! After that, I took the kids on some kid rides while Chris did Everest. Later in the day Max decided he wanted to do Everest as well, but it was probably a mistake because it was the last roller coaster of the week for him! nothing like starting him off with the best! We saw two shows at Animal Kingdom (Finding Nemo and Lion King) and both were absolutely spectacular. We saw a few characters along the way too!



Sunday afternoon we left Animal Kingdom and headed to Epcot. We were only there a short time, but it was very memorable. We did a couple of kids things first. We rode a Nemo ride and then did Turtle Talk with Crush. It was one of the neatest things we did all week. Crush (the old turtle from Nemo) talked interactively with the kids and taught them how to "speak turtle". It was amazing and the kids loved it. After that we headed over to Norway for the princess dinner. We ate dinner with Belle, Aurora, Ariel, Snow White and Cinderella. At one point Chris was putting food in Mya's mouth because all she wanted to do was look around at the beautiful princesses. This was one of the most expensive meals we've ever eaten, but worth every penny. Mya was in heaven. After the princess dinner, we met up some some friends from Dubuque and rode a ride with them before heading back to our room. I don't think I have ever felt more exhausted than I did that night when I laid down in my bed!




Monday morning we got up and headed to Hollywood Studios. Chris and Mya headed right to Toy Story Mania (the feature ride at Hollywood Studios that has a wait time of over an hour most of the day) while Max and I went and signed him up for the Jedi Training Academy. Max got to go up on stage and battle with Darth Vader....it was a little scary for him, but one of the highlights of our entire trip. Also at HS, we got to see a couple of shows...Disney Junior Live on Stage and Beauty and the Beast. Both were so good. We ate lunch with Special Agent Oso, Jake (from the neverland pirates) and Handy Manny. We headed back to the resort for a couple hours of swimming and then went back at night for the Fantasmic show which we all loved.



We decided to save the best for last and went to the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday. The skies were not looking good, but we had our hearts set on making the most of it, and that we did. We stayed through rain and eventually the skies cleared and it was a beautiful late afternoon/evening. Because of our strategic plan, we got on every single ride we wanted to and most we did in the first 2 hours! We took advantage of the fast pass system and waited in line for 15 minutes at the most all day long. We did Winnie the Pooh, teacups, Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo, Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear, Race Cars, Aladdin's carpet ride, Jungle Cruise, Mickey's Philharmagic, Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Barnstormer, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. we met White Rabbit (from Alice in Wonderland), Aladdin and Jasmine, Rapunzel, Woody and Mickey at the Magic Kingdom.



Quick side story about the Big Thunder Mountain RR....Mya was dying to go on a roller coaster, but she was too short for most. I saw a couple of kids on this ride that looked about her size so Chris decided to give it a try. She (without us telling her) stood on her tippy toes at the entrance and they let her in! Once on the ride, Chris told her to put her arms up. She said, "the whole time?" and Chris said yes. So...she did! The little dare devil put her hands up on one of the biggest roller coasters at Disney World! We cannot wait to go back and do some of the other rides with her when she's over 40" tall!



One of our favorite parts of the day was the Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it! Parade. The characters came down Main Street on floats and ended up getting off of their floats and dancing in the streets with the kids. It was at the perfect time because we were starting to fade and it gave us an extra burst of energy to get through the rest of the day! After the parade we headed into the castle to the Bibbity Boppity Boutique so Mya could get transformed into a princess and Max into a knight. It was another major highlight of the trip. The kids were in heaven and Chris and I were smiling ear to ear.





After the boutique, we watched the electrical parade and then the fireworks show from Main Street. This day was one of the best days of my life...seeing the magic through the kids' eyes brought tears to my eyes several times throughout the day. It was awesome. We can't wait to go back in a couple of years when Ivy is a little bigger!

We have a few people to thank for making this trip such a great one. Some good friends of ours in Decorah...the Mahers, have been to Disney several times and they let us use their Disney Points to stay at the resort and they upgraded us to a room with a full kitchen and washer/dryer (which we loved and took full advantage of). They also took the time to make our plan with us so that we could take full advantage of each park. Chris's brother Jeff stayed at our house with Chloe and my sister and parents took care of Ivy so we could enjoy this time with Max and Mya. We are so glad we took our kids when they were these ages...they may not remember every detail, but taking them at a time when they truly believe in the magic was worth every penny. We will for sure be repeat customers to this place!