Update

Lots going on around here! Time for an update.

We got rid of the minivan last week. Although I was very happy to be getting rid of this particular minivan, it was sad to be moving out of the minivan stage of my life. We decided that if we were going to need a new car, we should probably get one that was better on the snow than a Honda Odyssey. It was a tough winter trying to get around in snow and ice with the van in Iowa....let alone Canada. I am already missing the sliding doors and the awesome cup holders, but the kids are getting better and getting in and out and I'm on the hunt for a coffee mug that fits in my current cup holder. (I'm not a fan of travel coffee mugs...I think the coffee tastes weird out of them!)



One other thing I'm missing about my van is my dog sitting shot gun! Since the house is on the market and Chris is gone most weeks, we decided that she would be better off up at Chris's parents house for a few weeks before we move. We are so thankful they agreed to take her. It is really making our life easier here. The kids had a rough first day when she left, but since then have been just asking about her periodically and the alligator tears have stopped. Actually Ivy asks about her the most which is not what I expected! Thankfully, Chloe is feeling right at home...getting to ride with David on his errands:)




This last weekend we had our first going away party. It was fun in that we got together with a bunch of neighbors and other friends, but it was sad that the reason was because we are moving! It is starting to hit me more and more each day. Max told me the other night that he doesn't think we need to move..that he really likes it here. About broke my heart. I think the weather getting nicer has something to do with it. Every night they're outside playing with neighbor kids until it's dark. The house is officially on the market and we've had 2 showings. The house has never been cleaner and now I just need to keep it that way! Below are a few pictures of the kids enjoying the outdoors! We had a picnic out on the driveway the other night even though they were having spaghetti. We also got to watch my cousin Kelsey play tennis here in Dubuque and the other picture is of Max yelling out "go" for the plasma car races down the hill that happen around here most nights at 7:00pm:)







Yesterday Chris and I were honored to be the Godparents for my friend Marie's baby girl Clara at her baptism. It was at a really beautiful church in Dubuque and despite being on Palm Sunday, (a long long mass typically), the service went fairly quickly and all of the kids were really well behaved. Clara smiled through it all and was a total champ. We had a really nice brunch afterwards too!



And one more thing...Max and Mya had another gymnastics meet yesterday afternoon. They both worked hard on their routines and got 1st place! (Max had no competition, but he's still pretty pumped about getting 1st:) We are really hoping to find somewhere in Edmonton for them to continue with gymnastics. It has been really good for them to be in something together and they have both improved so much!

This week...we're hoping for some more showings and to hear about whether or not the kids got into the school that we chose! Keep your fingers crossed:)

Max's first Basketball team!

Max just finished his very first basketball season! He was on a team called the Runnin' Rebels that consisted of kindergarten-2nd graders from his school. They improved so much as the season went on and only lost a few games, despite playing in the 2nd/3rd grade level through the area YMCA.

Max loved every minute of it and always had a smile on his face. He wasn't the star of the team, but you would have never known it. He was pretty sure he was the reason they won every game. Some of his comments were so funny. One game they won by a lot and he told me afterwards that he didn't shoot much because they didn't need any more points! One of the last games he was guarding a boy with just a few seconds left and our team was up by 2. The little boy traveled which allowed us to get the ball and let the time run out. Max was sure he was the reason we won the game despite having zero points and barely touched the ball the whole time:) I love this age for so many reasons. I know this will not always be the case. Both Chris and I could tell that he was starting to really get a feel for the game by the end of the season...often times going to where he "thought" the ball would go to get the rebound. He needs to work a little more on dribbling and seeing the ball and the boy he's guarding at the same time. He does not need to work on his confidence:)

March one photo a day

Day 60: I walked into the kitchen and almost stepped on this. Instantly I was glad it wasn't legos.
Day 61: We had Max's birthday party at the tennis club
Day 62: 7 year old in the house!
Day 63: It's never a good sign when Chris needs 2 suitcases....


Day 64: She loves to lick the beaters! So nice to not to have to deal with the dairy allergy.
Day 65: She fell asleep on my bed like this. The girl loves her some blankee paci:)
Day 66: One of the first nice days to build a snowman.
Day 67: A happy house kid train down the slide!


Day 68: Max and Ivy rolling a snowball for another snowman
Day 69: Max and Mya after their performance in the Bell Tower theater kids production
Day 70: Happy Birthday to me! My first big girl sunglasses thanks to my hubby and the assist from my sis
Day 71: My three having some morning iPad time.



Day 72: Mya and Olivia enjoying themselves in the Dells.
Day 73: Grandpa Rog taking the two little girls on the lazy river!
Day 74: A visit from Tony's sister Erin and her family while we were in the Dells! 7/8 of my sister's nieces and nephews all together:)
Day 75: They must talk about the leprechaun a lot at school because Max and Mya decided to go out hunting for one


Day 76: Look what that pesky leprechaun did to our toilet!
Day 77: My friend Marie bought the digital version of Frozen so we had family movie night in front of the computer!
Day 78: We went to Parkersburg to visit some good friends who just moved there and Ivy fell asleep like this. Apparently we were being too loud for her or something!
Day 79: I was going through some of my old school stuff and found this t-shirt. there were even a couple of phone numbers on there! I almost called...:)


Day 80: We went to the hibachi grill with some neighbors! The kids loved it and the food was really yummy!
Day 81: Max and Mya bought these little egg things that hatch into an animal after sitting in water for a few days. Ivy picked up the alligator and I'm pretty sure thought it was real!
Day 82: Lunch with my Mya at Panera!
Day 83: My kids can have fun with a box even if it's not put together. I wonder why I buy toys sometimes.


Day 84: I decided to let Ivy have a picnic lunch in my room while watching Mickey Mouse. It was a big mistake. Now she refuses to eat lunch anywhere but on a towel!
Day 85: I was thinking Chloe was getting a little chunky. Now I know why...
Day 86: Plasma car fun in the rain!
Day 87: I'm going to miss a driveway/yard full of neighbor kids when we leave. There's always someone to play with around here!


Day 88: A cousin sleepover at Grandma's! This didn't last much longer after the picture:)
Day 89: A walk with my dad to start a beautiful spring day in Iowa!
Day 90: Coordinating sisters watching a little Curious George while I make dinner. I didn't even plan those outfits!

#tbt

My mom must have been cleaning out her photos the other day and sent me a few of Max that she found. They just melted my heart. I can't believe how little he was! Since I was not blogging at the time of these pictures, I thought I'd do a "Throwback Thursday" post!

This first one was sometime in early spring of 2008, shortly after he turned 1. I remember how much I loved that coat and hat he was wearing!

The thing that sticks out from this one is how big and clean his blanket was! Of course it's already in his mouth, so the clean part wasn't going to last much longer:) This was the summer after he turned 1 and was about to become a big brother.

And this last one he was a little bit older, but I just love the picture of him and Chloe looking for squirrels!

Canadian spelling guide

Moving to Canada is probably the easiest place to go if we had to move to a different country. So many similarities-- we look the same, talk the same (mostly), dress the same, etc. There are a few differences and some of the spelling of words is one of them! Chris has a phone from Edmonton already and one day he sent me a text and the word neighborhood was spelled neighbourhood! He said the phone autocorrected itself to that spelling:)

One of Chris's co-workers sent him a handy spelling guide with all of the differences between American and Canadian English. Here are a few that are going to take some getting used to!

Canadian spelling in bold (I couldn't get this spaced any better for some reason!

CENTIMETRE CENTIMETER
COLOUR COLOR
FAVOURITE FAVORITE
KILOMETRE KILOMETER
LICENCE LICENSE
MOUSTACHE MUSTACHE
SCEPTICAL SKEPTICAL
DEFENCE DEFENSE
THEATRE THEATER
CENTRE CENTER
CHEQUE CHECK
FAVOUR FAVOR
GREY GRAY
CANCELLED CANCELED
MOULD MOLD
SCEPTICAL SKEPTICAL
FIBRE FIBER
FLAVOUR FLAVOR
TRAVELLER TRAVELER
OFFENCE OFFENSE

Let's just say I'm not expecting 100% on the kids' spelling tests right away!

Also, as of last Friday, we are officially renters in Edmonton! It was a crazy, stressful process, but our patience and persistence paid off and we are really happy with how it all turned out. Here's a picture of our new place. Chris will be moving in next week (with basically 2 suitcases!!) so I'll post more pictures when he sends them to me!



And no, it's not a town home. That's just how close the houses are together up there! And the sold sign is from the previous owner...we are renting from them:)

Wisconsin Dells

The kids are on an extended spring break this week. They had last Thursday and Friday off and this whole past week. My brother and sister-in-law planned a trip for us to the Dells and the dates worked out perfectly with our break! We stayed at a cabin and brought in all of our own food and drinks. It was organized really well except we forgot to communicate about who was bringing chips so we ended up with a few extra bags;)

Every day pretty much went the same...wake up, cook an awesome breakfast, go to waterpark, come home, kids jump in warm jacuzzi tub, dry swimming clothes, eat lunch, nap, go to waterpark, come home, kids jump in warm jacuzzi tub, dry swimming clothes, eat dinner, kids go to bed and parents/grandparents crash!!

There were a few other highlights along the way. Tony's sister Erin and her fam live close to the Dells so they came over Saturday night and we cooked dinner and enjoyed some adult time while the kids went wild. Max got to do laser tag twice while we were there for his birthday present from Amanda and Brian. Max wasn't a fan of the dark slides, Mya loved them, and Ivy did every slide she possibly could have and loved every minute. They got tons of quality cousin time too! Mya and Olivia were inseparable as usual. Thank goodness for Grace's personality...at only 18 months younger than the other two girls, normally you would expect lots of hurt feelings, fights, etc. but she is pretty comfortable in her own skin and loves to entertain so she doesn't seem to mind too terribly that Mya and Olivia are attached at the hip!

This was another one of those vacations that was mostly all about the kids, but it helped a ton having my parents there. My mom took over Grady duties while at the water park and also got the kiddos snacks, towels, etc. Grandpa Rog was in the water with the kiddos the whole time (except for when he was going down the black hole:) All in all, besides losing Max once and Grace twice, and Tara/Tony not being there, it was a great little getaway. I would highly recommend it!

Random update!

Wow....those two weeks got away from me! I guess we've been a little busy around here and the blog has gotten pushed aside:) Chris is home this week and the kids are on spring break so I hope to get back on track. Here's an update on what we've been up to the last two weeks.

Max's birthday celebration started out on Sunday March 2nd with a birthday party at the tennis club where I work. He invited 8 friends of his. They had a great time playing tennis, eating cookie cake and drinking gatorade!



Later Sunday night, Tara called to wish Max a happy birthday from Japan. Since it was already Monday morning there she had her kindergarten class sing to him over FaceTime. It was pretty neat and Max kept talking about it the rest of the night. He even had some ideas for what Tara should be doing in her classroom:)




A couple of weekends ago the kids and I drove to Cedar Rapids for the day to see a couple of college friends of mine. (Emily and Kindel and their families!) It was so fun to get the kids together. The 6 big kiddos (3 boys and 3 girls) are all within 2 years (to the day actually) of each other so they had a ton of fun playing outside, playing games, going to the batting cages, putting on dance routines, etc. Who knows...maybe they'll all be at Luther someday:)





Monday March 10th the kids had their final performance at the Bell Tower Theater. They performed two short plays. One was a penguin story and the other was Humpty Dumpty. They each played a penguin in the 1st play and the 2nd play Mya was a soldier and Max was a police officer. Since Chris was out of town, I enlisted the help of MK and Mike to keep my 2 year old at bay and video tape so I could attempt to watch!





My birthday started out with a bunch of friends coming over to watch the Bachelor finale with me! The show ended up being horrible, but at least I had good company....and good cake! My friend Emily texted me the next day on my actual birthday and said her present to me was not having to watch Juan Pablo anymore! One of my friends posted this the next day on instagram:)



Birthday party part 2! My neighbors had me and the kiddos over Wednesday night for dinner and cake. They grilled burgers and it made me realllllly want spring to hurry up and get here! So thankful for good neighbors.





Walking in and seeing this kind of stuff just melts my heart!


Our neighbor Maggie came over after school one day last week and they wanted my phone so they could take some pictures...this is what I saw. That girl can jump!



I have no idea on this one...found it on my phone:)


I got my camera back out after a long break and took some casual maternity shots for a good friend of mine who is having #3 any day now! It was really fun to get back at it. Here's one that I took off of my computer screen so the quality is bad, but you get the idea:)



Next up: Wisconsin Dells trip and we are officially renters in Canada!

7 years old!

Dear Maxwell David,

Yesterday was your 7th birthday! We had a little party with 8 of your buddies on Sunday at the tennis club and you loved every second of it. We are pretty proud of the little guy you've become. Here's a little about you at 7 years old.

You are a very easy going kid. If I have to sacrifice one kid to take the cup no one else wants, the piece of burnt toast, the seat in the car that has the worst view of the tv, I usually pick you. Because typically, you don't really mind. I try to reward you for being like that too when we let you stay up a little later than the girls and let you keep a stash of girl scout cookies in your special drawer:) You are always thinking of others and you have a very soft heart. There's a chance you're better at talking to adults than most adults.

At this time, you're still dead set on being a pro football player when you get older. Even though we have never really exposed you to the sport! After you retire from the NFL, you say you want to be a spy or a janitor. I'm going to put my money on you being some sort of engineer or someone who deals a lot with money. The idea of creating new things and selling them really interests you. At Christmas time you wanted me to make a bunch of cookies and then walk around to the neighbors and sell them! I had to explain that at Christmas time we make cookies for neighbors as gifts, not to sell:) I am so so tired of all the cardboard that gets dragged out of the recycling bin, the tape, scissors, construction paper, markers, staplers, etc. that are all over my house, but I know someday it will all be worth it. Besides being creative with crafts, playing with friends and the iPad are your favorite things to do these days. Right now you're big into Hay Day and Minecraft.

You are very active and want to do everything. I think you're over committed the way it is, but it seems like at least once a week you ask me if you can do something else! You are really liking basketball and we've seen you improve immensely since the first week. You now know the difference between defense and offense and you are figuring everything else out too including how to give yourself a mohawk during halftime in the drinking fountain.

For some stats...you're 50 pounds, 46 inches. you wear size 13.5/1 shoe, size 6/7 slim pants and size 7 shirts. You have lost 8 teeth (9 if you count the extra tooth that was surgically removed) The permanent teeth that have come in are quite large and we've already had a visit to the orthodontist to see what in the world we're going to do with your teeth and jaw in the coming years! You are still a comfy clothes kind of guy and quite possibly the messiest eater and drinker around. Speaking of eating..you are an excellent eater. If I would let you, you'd eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a second dinner each night. Eggs are about the only thing that you won't eat and for some strange reason you don't really like mashed potatoes. Milk is still your drink of choice. We've let you try pop, but you're not really a fan...unlike both of your sisters:)

You are doing really well at school. You are a strong reader and love to do math. Writing stories is one of your favorite things to do and I have several saved in your storage bin....mostly because if I ever need a good laugh, I'll know where to go:) Right now you're enjoying books that involve dogs and cats the most. Last week you came home with an award because you showed good character by stopping to pick up some trash that had fallen out of a garbage can without anyone asking you. I'd say your friends at school are 50/50 boys and girls. You average eating school lunch 3-4 days a week and I pack it for you the other days.

You still have your beloved blankie that you sleep with and occasionally have around the house. Whenever we ask you if you're ready to give it up, you are very quick to answer NO! You still require some ice water in your bed, but don't really have any specific stuffed animals that sleep with you anymore. You're still sharing a room with Mya, but not for long. When we move to Canada, you'll get your own room and the girls will share. You're pretty excited about your new sports themed room complete with a Peyton Manning fathead.

Your daddy and I are so lucky to be your parents. You make my heart melt all the time and I'm so thankful that you are mine:)

Love, Mommy


March 3rd, 2007


March 3rd, 2008


March 3rd, 2009


March 3rd, 2010


March 3rd, 2011


March 3rd, 2012


March 3rd, 2013


March 3rd, 2014

February one photo a day

We made it through February! Normally one of my favorite months. I love Valentines Day and at the end of the month, I'm really looking forward to spring just around the corner! Not this year...I'm not sure this winter will ever end! Regardless....here are my photos from this month:)


Day 32: My happy house friends (minus 2) came to Dubuque for the weekend! We decided lunch at the new Hy-Vee bar was in order. Whoever thought to put a bar in a grocery store was a genius.
Day 33: Ivy has her seat ready for the big superbowl! Too bad it was a terrible game and we hardly even watched it.
Day 34: The bunco crew. These ladies get together the 1st Monday of the month and it's always such a great time. Very little bunco playing actually gets done:)
Day 35: Pulled this out of Max's backpack. Wonder what his teacher thought??!? Very thankful she didn't turn us in! (he meant root beer:)


Day 36: Mya got to wear her new earrings to school for the first time on this day. She was so excited about it and hasn't complained once about cleaning them!
Day 37:I love how well Mya plays by herself. (Max and Ivy...take note) On this day she was in her room talking/singing to her barbies.
Day 38: We had to have an Olympic party for Opening Ceremonies!
Day 39: At the beginning of winter, I had 3 eager volunteers to go outside and shovel. It's getting a little old now, but on this day Max was willing. I think it was the 4th Saturday in a row that we got snow.


Day 40: This must have been a boring day because it was bedtime and I realized I hadn't taken any photos so this is what you get.
Day 41: FaceTime with my super tan mom who was in the Dominican Republic for a wedding. I was uber jealous!
Day 42: A stylish Ivy playing motorcycles before bed
Day 43: Ivy and I had a little fight when it came time for her to nap. So I gave her a little time to herself and found her sleeping in Max and Mya's chair! It ended up being a good nap and she woke up a new person, thank goodness:)


Day 44: We got to go outside for a bit on this day and Ivy enjoyed some time in her playhouse. I knew there was a reason we didn't take it down for the winter!
Day 45: I got the suitcases out for our trip to Canada and Ivy decided she wanted to go with!
Day 46: Got to fly to Edmonton with these two hooligans.
Day 47: Some serious hotel jumping on this day.


Day 48: The world's largest wave pool was calling our names.
Day 49: Some tired kiddos ready to watch a little Olympic ice skating and hit the sack
Day 50: Airport breakfast before we head back home
Day 51: Weirdest weather day ever. Some rain, some snow and a rainbow!



Day 52: Game night. Not the easiest thing to do with Ivy, but we do our best to include her!
Day 53: The kids spent lots of time outside with the neighbors sledding down the icy hill.
Day 54: First time ice skating for our kids. We had a good time, but 45 minutes was plenty:)
Day 55: I think my dog is part cat because when I pet her sometimes she purrs!



Day 56: Came out of the shower to find these three tucked back in the corner behind a plant watching something on the ipad. Apparently it needed to be charged:)
Day 57: We're getting a new car soon so I needed to get a picture of my dog riding shot gun in my car. She rides along every day on our errands.
Day 58: Why not play with play-doh in the nude?
Day 59: One of the best parts of my day! I love seeing them jump off the bus and can't wait to hear about their day.