Okoboji 2009

I am posting a little out of order here as our annual Okoboji trip was before Maddi's birthday, but motivation hadn't struck me yet and the birthday posts are usually pretty easy with only a few pics to sort through.

Usually when we go to Okoboji, Jamie and I are doing some sort of race but this year we couldn't go on *race* weekend. Actually, I did run 2x while I was there so that should count for something...right?? Unfortunately, Taco House probably did more damage to my caloric intake than what I ran off, but it still sounds like I was productive.

We have had kind of a weird summer this year in that it seemed like it never wanted to get real hot. You know, that kind of it's-so-sticky-your-hair-melts-to-your-head-as-you-are-trying-to-blow-it-dry, sticky? We had that kind of weather for about one week in June and then, it was almost kind of fall like. Beautiful, but still not hot, hot, summer. My point is, that the whole weekend in Okoboji, I never got in the water once! Nope. Not once. Too darn cold for me! The kids and the dads were far more brave than I (or the rest of the *big*girls for that matter). We still had a great time and enjoyed boat rides, a trip to Arnold's Park, lunch at The Ritz (Garbage Pizza....mmmmmm), Dakota getting sprayed by a skunk (made for a GREAT car ride home), and lots of memories made with our kids. We topped it off with our annual detour to Grandma Connie's house for lunch, and then we were back on the road. All in all, a perfect weekend!

Happy Birthday Maddi

Holy cow! My baby is FIVE! So many mixed emotions come with that but I am so excited for her to start kindergarten and start experiencing some of the fun things her brothers get to. She is beside herself that she gets to go to Van Allen Elementary and ride the bus with her brothers, and the other day she gasped with delight when her big brother Drew confirmed that she could choose from white, chocolate, or strawberry milk EVERYDAY at lunch! Hey-it's the little things that are the big things, right??!!

For her birthday we were pretty low key and are considering a party after school starts so she can invite some of her new classmates. She seemed ok with that and certainly enjoyed the presents from her family. She has most recently been wanting "Julie" from the American Girl Doll collection. She has just recently shown interest in dolls but I was glad she wanted something other than a disney character barbie doll so we decided to give in. She LOVED it and even used her birthday money to buy it a bed from Target's collection of *knockoff* dolls that look almost the same. Top it off with some doll outfits, a Fancy Nancy puzzle, new clothes, and a make-your-own-lip-gloss-kit, and this was one happy birthday girl!

4th of July pics

Just a few pics of the kids before they headed out to a rainy parade! The candy was soaked but yet they still found it tasty enough to eat for 4 days :) Not really sure why Maddi is holding a balloon in every picture, but oh well-at least it's red and festive!!

Father's Day

Father's Day Breakfast in Bed Menu:

Omelet (FOUR eggs, scallions, red peppers, and hot sauce)

Hash browns cooked in lots of butter

Muffins

Bowl of Fruity Pebbles (courtesy of Lars)

Coffee

Dad of course LOVED it, and the awesome cards the kids made with all my scrapbooking supplies. Well done kiddos!!

No Lazy Days of Summer Here!

School has been out almost a month and I can't even begin to understand where the time has gone! Well, ok, that's not true--it has been filled with travel, camps, days at the pool, and baseball for all three of them. WOW! Whoever coined the phrase *Lazy Days of Summer* DEFINITELY did not have three young kids in their house!

Anyway, when I came home from work yesterday I was greeted with two big announcements from my kids. The first was from Lars. He announced that he had passed the deep water test at the pool and showed me the signature "yellow band" that they wear (see pic). He was grinning from ear to ear! In my mind he's still too little to swim in the deep end! He was so proud and he even jumped off the high dive. Way to go Lars!!

The other announcement was from Drew. Yesterday was his last day of Iowa basketball camp and at the end they always have an awards ceremony. Well, he had already won an award for Hawkeye Camp Hustler of the Day earlier in the week, and his team didn't get off to a very good start in their tournament so he assumed he would not be getting any awards on the final day. Much to his surprise, his team rallied back on the final day and ended up winning the whole tournament so he ended up getting a trophy! Drew had a blast and can't wait to go back next year!

While I don't see any lazy days ahead, we sure are having fun amongst all the chaos! Before I know it I'll be stocking up with school supplies...but not before we set out on at least a few more adventures!

Denver

Snacks and new books for airplane =$30

Airplane tickets for 4 =$1000

Hanging out with family and friends in Denver = PRICELESS!

My kids and I had the best time in Denver these past few days and even though dad didn't get to come and we didn't do any *mountain* things, we definitely enjoyed our trip! It was nonstop from the moment we touched down...

swimming pools

parks and playgrounds

watching movies with friends and family

staying up waaay past bedtime

having Uncle Alan go through his baseball cards (he literally has hundreds of thousands of cards! and over 300 signed baseballs!)

trip to the zoo--the hail storm was no extra charge :)

dinner at Casa Bonita

a ride on the light rail--which my children found comfortable enough to sleep on!

and losing a first tooth. FYI--the Tooth Fairy pays more in Colorado

Whew!

When do we get to go back???

Upper Iowa River

For Memorial Weekend we went to Decorah, IA for some camping and kayaking on the Upper Iowa River. Except for a little rain Saturday morning, we had perfect weather and were able to do a four hour trip each day. All the kids and our dogs had a great time and we finished the weekend off with some pizza at Mabe's and some Dairy Queen to "fill in the cracks" as my friend Tina likes to say :) You are talkin' my language girlfriend!!!

Kinderfarm Graduation

On Friday, May 22, 2009, Maddi graduated from Kinderfarm Preschool! She was so excited to walk across the stage with the homemade graduation hats they made. She really had a blast there and during the final week of classes they got a new pot bellied pig. They named her Pearl because she is white. Maddi came home from preschool telling me all about Pearl. I told Maddi that one of her teachers had told me that she was named Pearl because she was white. Maddi immediately disagreed and said, "No mommy, she's pink!" I assured Maddi that the whole reason she was named Pearl was because she was white, but Maddi became insistent that she was pink. Not wanting to cause an argument, I waited until Maddi went back to school a few days later and was telling her teacher this story and she laughed and said, "Well, she is supposed to be white, but she got SUNBURNED over the weekend!" Ahh...pink, of course.

T Ball Blast

Lars and Maddi are on the same t-ball team this summer. Truth be told, Lars could have moved up to the next level but since Drew also plays baseball, I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of three kids in three different leagues. Lars is probably the biggest kid on his team and always whacks the ball to the outfield. He thinks that's pretty cool. Being in the outfield doesn't really interest him that much though, maybe his future is in pitch hitting. On a side note, he did tell me he wanted to sign up for wrestling camp this summer, because he wanted wrestling shoes. As long as he has a reason I guess!!

Maddi actually loves t-ball, and is so proud of herself when she doesn't need to use the T to hit the ball. The coaches pitch to them 3 or 4 times first, then only bring the T out if needed. Maddi has also toned down her game day outfit, but still insists on wearing pink Hello Kitty socks. Hey, at least we got her to not bring a purse. Baby steps here, folks.

Unfortunately my pics are not that great but you can appreciate Maddi's socks in one of the pics at least. Maddi is number 1 and Lars is number 12. Also, both of these pics actually show them MISSING their pitches--after I just bragged about them above! Go figure!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

I have officially decided that I have the best family a girl could ask for! I'm not sure how a day could have been more perfect, or how a mom could be made to feel more loved than I was today.!

We started off the day one of the best ways I know how; in church worshiping an AWESOME God that is so willing to take care of our every need if we just let Him. All He asks is that we seek Him out and place our trust in Him. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." Matthew 6:33-34. In the words of Beth Moore (for any of you that have done her bible studies), "Can I get an Amen?!"

After church, Jamie took the kiddos out to do a little shopping for mom. We were kind of sneaky this year as I had gotten a free iPod nano with some credit card points I had redeemed, so I saved it and told Jamie to have the kids "give it" to me for Mother's Day. Since he didn't want me to know everything I was getting, he took the kids out and had them pick out some accessories for it, and then they each picked out a plant/flowers for me. Drew got me an asiatic lily to plant (one of my favorites), Lars got me a huge pot of gerbera daisies (another favorite!), and Maddi got me a planter filled with a bunch of different annuals that is perfect for the morning sun I get on my porch. I also had SEVEN Mother's Day cards from them that they had made.

After gift opening we went to lunch at a mexican restaurant where we needed to get confirmation (for Lars' sake) from the waitress that Ole! and Hola were in fact two different words with two different meanings. Apparently he thought they sounded similar enough depending on where you put the emphasis (I guess??) He of course didn't believe me... Anyway, with him satisfied, Maddi then reminded me that for her birthday lunch last August we went to a different mexican restaurant where they put the "muchacha hat" on her head. She of course meant a sombrero, and they did in fact put a huge one on her head while they sang to her. Maybe I should ask Santa to bring Rosetta Stone for my kids next Christmas!

After lunch I got to spend my dream afternoon in the yard planting my new plants, and then it was time for brats on the grill, cooked by chef Jamie! They were awesome! Unfortunately, he had to go in to work tonight so after he left I just hung out with the kids watching a movie until bedtime. Lars sat in my lap, and Drew laid down with his head on my leg. Maddi was also close by, and the love that I felt for my kids and from my kids was truly amazing!

It was definitely a Happy Mother's Day!

I Enjoy Being a Girl

Costume? Check.

Makeup? Check.

Tights? Check.

Ballet Shoes? Check!

Hair in a bun? Well, almost!

Dance recital time is here again and today was the big day for our little Maddi Belle! This year there was a change of venue due to the horrible flooding last summer, so the performance was held at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. The girls did SOOO great and it was so fun to watch her in our "VIP seats!" (ok, we got lucky and scored some awesome box seating with lots of leg room and great views). Even her brothers were so excited to watch her dance and were troopers throughout the *long* program. Afterwards, Lars went up and told Maddi that his favorite dancer of the whole show was her! WOW!! How sweet! Makes a mom proud! And who can forget the flowers that Lars gives her after every show as well. That has sort of become "his" thing for her and it is pretty darn cute! Anyway, here are some pics of the whole process, including studio rehearsal and pics *post* recital! Enjoy...

T-Ball Practice, Here We Come

So this afternoon I told the kids to go get ready for our marathon 3 hours of back-to-back baseball practices. As I was getting myself ready, Maddi came into my room and announced that she was, in fact, "...ready to go!"