Dear Santa,

We are certain that you check blogs for updates on what children would like, and parental recommendations for the Naughty or Nice list. So here you go:

Rylee - Age 6 - Favorite colors: Red, Blue, Purple, Pink. Size: 6 (sometimes 5, but if you bring her size 5, please remove the tags as you will be told that you have not purchased the right size. You and I both know that someday she will appreciate being thin, but not today).

We would recommend that our sweet 6 year old be on the Nice list. We would however, recommend you talk to her about her attitude, specifically when being told "no." Please let her know that sometimes parents don't have 52 reasons for everything, and are usually too exhausted by giving the excuse the 2nd or 3rd time to continue. We do love this precious girl, and are thankful for what a great Big Sister she is.

Rylee would like: An Aqua Sand (Santa, really....what the heck is this??? Your little helpers cannot find it in any freakin retail stores), a Wii (which we were told would be on sale at Costco after Christmas....can you pull any strings?!?), and that's it. Pretty simple.

Madison - Age 3 - Favorite colors are Pink and Black. Size 4 or 5 (yes, you read that right....and she's only 3).

We would recommend the Nice list for this one as well. However, when asked if we should tell you if she has been naughty or nice, she said "just tell him I tried." So there you go. When upset, she still lets us know that "my real mom and dad will be here soon to get me anyway." Maybe you could address that with her, we get strange looks from others when she does this. The other thing that gets us strange looks is her insistence of wearing her swimming suit every day "in case it gets summer this afternoon." I did "win" yesterday, and she wore a shirt with her swimming suit bottoms and skates...go mom! Otherwise, a very sweet, creative, unique child she is.

Maddie would like a pink baby bottle. That's it. She has consistenly wanted this for 6 months, even though we have 52 in our house.

Kennedie - Size 12 - 18 months (she's a peanut!) Love of her life: Elmo

We would recommend the Nice list for this one as well. Just seems wrong to recommend the Naughty list for anyone under 2. She does do a great self time-out. When she's upset, we tell her to walk herself into the front room. She does, and turns her siren on (yes, she can scream louder than a police car), then calmly walks out. Impressive, I know.

Daddy - Likes Black, and anything boy-ish (who can blame the poor sucker, in a house with 4 girls).

I would recommend the Nice list. Despite one incident this year, when he spent more than our mortgage on a watch, he really is a gem. He has more patience than any man, and is almost as nurturing as any woman (please don't tell his Police friends that, Santa). He is a keeper.

Not sure what he wants....if you find out....please drop me a line.

Mommy - Size: yah, right...not happening, Santa! Likes anything that Sparkles

I think anyone who births a child (or 3) deserves to be on the Nice list. I think the hours of labor, hours of praying for our children and husbands, gives us immunity to being on the Naughty list. If you only knew the hours we spend, tears we cry, joy we feel, all related to or dependent upon the actions of those in our family, however small or large....you would agree.

Mommy would love anything, really....just loves to watch her kiddos on Christmas Day (although another Cancun trip this year would make me smile alot too!).

Thank you Santa...with love,

The Nelson's

****My wonderful Sister in Law took our family pics....blogger is not letting me put more on for some reason...will post them soon. Erin Wilkes Photography is on Facebook!****

Stairway to Kevin

Yesterday:
My precious blonde: Mom, when are you going to see Kevin?
Me: huh? Oh, the Kevin I work with, next time I'm at work
My precious blonde: No mama! No!!!!!
Me: Why don't you want me to see Kevin?
My precious blonde: I don't want you to die and go see Kevin, you know, the Kevin who lives with God.
Me: Oh...Heaven....not for a long time!

First Sleepover

I heard a comedian the other day who talked about Halloween when he was little:

Your parents tell you that you can dress like anything you want, knock on strangers doors, get all the candy you can possibly carry, stay up past bedtime, the night is yours! But oh yeah, there is one little thing... people might put razors in the candy to try and kill you so make sure to check it first.

I tend to be slightly neurotic. That's what happens when you work in Mental Health (at least that's my excuse, I was likely crazy before college too...but my education fine-tuned it!). I had a talk with Rylee before her first non-relative sleepover (which she is at right now, and I'm not even driving by the people's house stalking them...yet.....yay for me!). I told her "you are such a big girl, and I'm so proud of you. You are going to have a blast having milkshakes, movies, and a make-over! How fun to sleep over. Are you excited? (R - "Yes"). Great, well we don't know these people very well, so make sure to go in the bathroom and lock the door to change, same thing for going potty. Do not change in front of her parents. You tell me if anyone makes you feel funny. Grab the phone and call 911 if anyone hurts you." Her little face went from excited to scared to death. Crap.

Fast forward 1 hour...I sidetracked her, got her back on the excited train, got my neurosis in check. Then I couldn't find her. I walked in our room, where her Police Officer dad was having the same talk with her. Poor baby...

Tough balance talking with your kids and warning them...yet not scaring the crap out of them. I hugged her goodbye and sent her on her way, with tears in my eyes (seriously, you would think she was going off to war). I think we need to watch less Marley and Me in our house, we're sappy and emotional.

And as a head's up....if your child is doing a sleepover at someone's house and you don't know them well, plug the parents names into azsexoffender.com, also the Maricopa County Courts website to make sure they have no criminal records, you can also check out if they have any financial liens against them at the Arizona Recorder's website......just saying....not admitting.

The surveillance system

So when Todd got a surveillance system for the house a few weeks ago, I wasn't really thrilled. I mean, seriously, do we need to have cameras all over and two monitors? We're not in the mafia, I promise.

Our lawn service guys were suppose to come today. Todd left a check under the front mat when he went to run errands. When he got back, he remembered that the lawn guys weren't coming due to Veteran's Day so he went to get the check back. It was gone.

We went to the monitor. It just runs live feed, but when there is motion, it starts recording. So we went back to all the motion detected today. First we saw two Jehovah's Witnesses walk up to the door and open their Bible. Nope, they didn't steal the check. Then, in the next frame we saw the check poking out from the corner of the mat. Fast forward a few minutes, and the neighbor girl comes over to play. She rings the door bell. She looks at the check. She looks in the house windows. She picks up the check and runs away. Ha, busted! Poor kiddo, Todd called her mom and she had to come apologize and bring the check (all ripped up) back over.

I guess Todd wins this battle.

Date Night

I was at a function at Maddie's preschool the other day and a mom asked me how many kids I have. I explained that I have 3 girls. She responded "I'm sorry, how awful." It hit me in my gut. She was insulting the loves of my life. I think girls are amazing. More amazing than that though, is the side of my husband I get to see.

We were sitting at dinner tonight when Maddie was doing her craziness at the table. Todd told her to stop or "we won't get to have ice-cream like we planned." I immediately lit up..."Yes, Ice Cream?!?!" I love taking the kids to ice cream, it just thrills me (ok, so I really just love eating the ice cream, but it sounds better to say I like taking my kids). Todd gently let me know, "um...not you...just me and Maddie." Todd may not always pick up his clothes, clean up after himself, etc...but he makes his daughters feel loved.

I love what "date nights" entail. I get to talk with the special girl about dates. "Why did your daddy pick just you?" "What do you say when he buys you ice cream?" "Remember to let him open the door for you and push in your chair."

They got home from their date and I asked Maddie again "why did your daddy pick you?" She remembered "He treasures me." Wow.

Kids say the darndest things...

I haven't posted in forever, and keep seeing our names creep down further on everyone else's Friends/Family sidebars, as all you motivated people post, then your names get higher up on the list. So, we will be on top of everyone's lists for the next few minutes....So there. No pictures though, I haven't transferred pictures since last Christmas and have hundreds on the camera.

SO, to get caught up on the strange things our children say, which make us laugh and feel normal on a daily basis:

Maddie: Very good news here, actually. She informed me tonight that she can stay with us a bit longer. Apparently her parents are in the hospital and will not be able to pick her up until Halloween now. Her brother George (Whom she sometimes calls Pooshy, which is much less politically correct, so we like days when he is George) has been in the hospital for a very long time, due to the 10 booboos on his face, you know. SO...I'm hoping she at least stays for Halloween night , I would like to Trick or Treat with her....she's a blast to be around! She's not making any promises though, not sure what time her parents will get out of the hospital that day.

Rylee: Is God's constant way of humbling me. She says to me the other day "you know that story in the Bible about the 2 sisters, I think Mary and Martha. Well, one of them runs around being crazy and doing chores, and the other takes the time to talk to Jesus when He comes over. I think you are like the one who runs around alot and wouldn't sit with Jesus if He came over." Crap.

Kenzie: Is head over heels in love with "Melmo". I know I will look back on these days with envy when she's in love with a stupid High School boy in baggy (or worse, skinny) jeans and wish that she was still just in love with the little red hairy moster, Elmo we love you.

School Days, School Days!

We officially have 2 kiddos in school! (Although Maddie only goes for 2 hours 2x/week).

Rylee started 1st grade at a new school this year. I was more nervous than she was, I always admire her confidence. She marched into the new school like she owned it. I love hearing about her days...every detail is very important to her. I asked her after one of her first days what she did when we dropped her off (we drop her by the playground and its free-play until the bell rings). She explained to me that she took her backpack to her classroom and set it down outside. She then "practiced walking to each of the different places I might need to go, because they walk us everywhere now but I bet soon they'll let us go by ourselves." I asked what she meant. My precious 6 year old..."I started at my classroom and walked to the bathroom, then back to the classroom and to the office then back to my classroom and to the gym then back to the room and to the library." Week 3, she has conquered the school.

Rylee's bus pulling up. Her first time ever riding a school bus! A very huge deal.

Today was Maddie's first day of preschool. She started by ripping off the necklace she was wearing, shouting "my teacher will just Hate this!" I then took her into the room where she was happy and played...until she saw a little boy having a fit. It then occured to her that this was an option. She immediately clung to my legs and started screaming. I pried her off, kissed her little blonde head and left. I was so eager to hear the details of her day. Here is what i got from my precious blonde:

Me: "How was your day"
Precious blonde: "BAD"
Me: "What did you do?"
Precious blonde: "Nuffin!"

Me: "What did you have for snacks?"

Precious blonde: "pills"
Me: "What did you play with outside?"
Precious blonde "I went swimming" (there is no pool)
Me: "Did you ride the bikes"
Precious blonde "They're all broken!"
Me: "Did you meet new friends?"
Precious blond "Yes"
Me: "What are your friends names?"
Precious blonde: "Jelly, and my brother George came to play too"
Me: "did you like your teacher?"
Precious blonde: "No, she locked me in a dark room" (very not true)
Me: "can I take a picture of you, my beautiful pre-schooler"
Precious blonde: "NO!!!! Fine, but I'll only show you one of my blue eyes!"


A very sleepy, very grouchy 3 year old, who will not show both of her beautiful eyes. So there.

Nightmare help

We have been through our share of nightmares, and have managed to come up with solutions to all (I REALLY enjoy my sleep and will ponder how to fix sleeping issues for hours!). Here's what we have conquered:
Kidnapping (Rylee's fear) - Had her watch me set the house alarm at night
Birds flying in and biting her bottom (Maddie, who else?) - reminded her that our dog, Cisco, eats birds
Monsters (Maddie's) - Created "monster spray" which made the suckers vanish

Now, our new nightmare is this: Maddie is absolutely scared to death that when she sleeps, her eyes will change colors, specifically that they will turn green. Todd had to sleep with her at naptime yesterday, and she has woken me up every night this week to make sure her eyes are still blue. Now...I have tried logic (do your arms/legs/hair change while you're sleeping...no? then your eyes won't either) but it's not working. She will start about an hour before bedtime with the panick "but my eyes will turn green!" I'm kind of lost on this one, but really ready for a solution so that I can sleep through the night again.....suggestions???????

Blingy lobes

When we were first pregnant with Rylee and found out she was a girl, Todd wanted to know when we would get her ears pierced. I told him I didn't think I had the heart to do it, which was confirmed when I broke down the first time she got her shots. I let him know that he was welcome to get them done, but I couldn't know about it. So a new tradition started (little did we know that we would get to do this 3 times!). Todd has taken each of the girls to get their ears pierced when they were about 1 year old. He doesn't tell me he's going, and sends me a text message once its done. SO....Kenzie has joined the Blingy lobe Nelson girls. (Convenient for us girls, 2 of them have diamonds as their birthstone...poor daddy!)

Don't mess with the sippy

Cuz she'll knock you out! Our Kennedie was in a bar-room brawl, you should see the other guy!

Ok...so she was just running after a soccer ball and went kaboom on her little face...ouch!

The time has come...

My precious 6 year old asked me over dinner tonight "where do babies come from?" She's asked this before, and I've given her general answers (out of a mom's tummy, the dr takes it out...) which have so far satisfied her curiosity. Then she hit me with it "no, before they get in your tummy, what does it take to get a baby in there? How did you get us in there?" Well crap. I'm fairly certain I blew it when I told her that we just prayed, that mommy and daddy are very spiritual together and that's how we made babies. (I figure that at least if I remember all the things I've said to screw them up, I can hand the list over to their future therapists for a good place to start) That really didn't work either because then she asked "well, why do you have to wait until your married if it's just about praying?" Crap again....time to suck it up, buy a book, and do the sex talk deed.

Now the brilliant things I am working on with Maddie:
When Rylee was 3 we worked on safety questions. She actually got lost at the beach once when we were on vacation and when we got to her she was telling a group of people our full names, phone numbers, the city and street we lived in. SO....I've been working on all of this with Maddie for awhile now. Here is why we have a bear backpack/leash for her:

Me: "How do you spell your name?" My precious blonde: "M I D 1255"
Me: "What are your parents names?" My precious blonde: "They will be here to get me in awhile, they're taking me to the movies" or "My mother is in the hospital now, she hurt her toe" (no idea where that came from but it has been a consistent answer of hers for weeks now)
Me: No, what are your mommy and daddy's names? My precious blonde: "Oh, Todd and John Nelson"
Me: "What city do we live in?" My precious blonde: "The new house"

So I'm thinking if we ever lose her she will likely end up returned to a nice gay couple, Todd and John who live in a nice new house and go to the movies alot....not too shabby I guess!

Catching up!

This month has been a busy one...here's where we've been:

Camping: Up north with some friends and family...the big girls played like crazy while Kenzie enjoyed playing in the dirt

Cabin: I took the girls to the cabin overnight last weekend with my dad. Maddie was excited the whole way b/c she kept seeing the ocean (in the forest?!). She was drilling me the whole way "do you have my goggles, floaties, raft?" while I continuously explained that those things outside were only trees and we couldn't swim in them. The girls did have a blast on the two swings outside, while Kenzie enjoyed putting dirt in a bowl full of water.

Vegas: I went to Vegas with a good friend...we had a blast! When I called home, Maddie asked me "is this mommy or daddy?" (after Todd handed her the phone) she then asked me if I was having fun at work (after I had been gone 2 days). Rylee filled me in on everyone's behaviors and drilled me about what I had been doing, eating, drinking, etc...

California: We just got back today from California. We all had a great time! We stayed for 4 days in Carlsbad where we stay every year. Rylee got to go to Seaworld with her cousin and Nana/Papa while Todd and I took the little girls to Legoland. I realized on this trip how big Rylee is getting, she spent more time getting ready in morning than I did....really, we're here already?! Here are some pics from the one trip I remembered to take the camera on:

Success at Dance Class!

Maddie's first day of ballet/tap class was 2 weeks ago. First of all, Maddie is an adorable ballerina! I must say, even as a brunette, that blonde hair and blue eyes work really well in pink ballet outfits. So anyway, on our way to class 2 weeks ago she and I were talking all about what to expect. I kind of thought it might be bad when I asked what she thought her teacher might be like and she said "well, I'll bet she has very crazy hair." Maddie tends to judge people solely on their hair do-s (I know, we've had the "beauty is on the inside" talk....she couldn't care less).

SO...we went to the first class and the first 5 minutes were great. Then the teacher asked the girls to change from tap to ballet shoes. Maddie proceded to scream and cry for the next 40 minutes. I stayed outside the room, with all the mortified moms in the hallway looking at me. One asked "are you going to go get her?" to which I replied "no, this is what we do." After all, the kid needs to learn, right? Then it was time to leave class. The teacher stood in the doorway and said "goodbye princess" to each girl. Each girl said goodbye and thank you. I knew mine would not. When it was Maddie's turn to leave, the poor teacher (probably 19 years old) said "goodbye princess" to which Maddie screamed "I ain't never comin back here, never, ever, never again and I ain't never gonna see YOU again!!" I said "thank you, we'll be gone next week but see you in two."

The SUCCESS: We went back today. I had extensive talks with her ahead of time "we must be nice to people, even if they have crazy hair...etc" and she did great!!! She was so happy, she was doing her gallops, leaps, etc... while yelling "look, I'm happy! look, I'm laughing!" Phew..... it's seriously the little things like not being totally morified in public by a screaming ballerina that just make my whole day!

Mexico - without me

Todd took the big girls to Mexico for the week and got back yesterday. Every year he and my parents go to Rocky Point the first week in June, taking the oldest kiddos. It started as a Rylee and Daddy trip, but Maddie went this year too. Kenzie and I stayed home, I got alot of projects done around the house and we practiced finding our head, nose, ears, eyes and mouth...a very productive week.



Seriously, do you know another man who would take 2 little girls to Mexico for the week? He even braved the border with a blonde haired, blue-eyed girl! Luckily everyone made it back without incident.

The pic of Rylee with her fork is of them about to eat clams...yak!

Highlights for the girls:
-Papa put sea-weed on his head and acted like their favorite mermaid, Aquamarine
-Getting their hair braided
-Asking daddy to buy them necklaces, listening to him say no, then watching him buy the necklaces (as Rylee explained)

Maddie's craziness (there is always something, no matter where we go). After cleaning up dinner, nana and papa looked out their windows to see the ocean. Only what they saw was Maddie, standing in the middle of the beach, pants around her ankles for everyone to see. Lovely.

-

Back from Cancun!

We have decided to plan trips according to the latest epidemic's. Due to the swine flu, there was noone in Cancun and it was great! We stayed at a Spa Resort. Our room had a two person jacuzzi, refrigerator constantly stocked, and a private butler. We would pick scents for the room, and the butler would make sure that by evening he had the aromatherapy going throughout. We really couldn't have cared less about that part, but hey, since he asked, we became opinionated (lavender/vanilla being our favorite!). While we went to dinner on our anniversary, the butler decorated our room with rose petals, candles and chocolate cake.

We did one excursion, a jungle cruise. We got our own jet boat and went out to the reef to snorkel. The guide in front of us jumped onto his boat and yelled "c'mon." He took off over the white caps. We were flying behind him, over the waves. The nose of the boat went under a few times, drenching us and we caught air constantly. I've never heard Todd scream like a girl before this trip!

Thank you SO much to my parents who watched the girls for us for the entire week. It was great to know that they were being loved and cared for!

Beautiful turqoise water

.

These iguanas are all over there, luckily they are afraid of people

The infinity pool overlooking the ocean

Getting ready to go out for dinner. It was so nice to not have to tell anyone to sit still, not eat their crayons, use an inside voice etc...

Hanging out by the pool

Cancun is booked!

We leave May 17th! Woot woot! Our big 10 year wedding anniversary Cancun-style!

Tutu heaven

Thank you Aunt Erin! The girls received a package today full of tutu's. Now for a house of girls, this is like getting a box of diamonds and gold. We were getting ready to go swimming when the package came, but just had to try them on.

3 Years ago today

We were having Madison! She is the most fun kid! Maddie never walks; she skips, hops, jumps, twirls, and dances. It is so fun...even though we have 3 kids of the same gender, she mixes things up a bit with her big blue eyes and blonde hair. Maddie has fun no matter what she does (which should prove interesting in preschool in a few months). We are so blessed by this special girl!

We knew exactly what to get her for her birthday today. I took the girls to a carnival on Friday and they both won goldfish. Maddie talked to those fish for a day...until hers died. She would not let us flush him and told us "he's still just SO cute" as she watched him and talked to him all day (while he was bloated and floating at the top of the water). SO...we got her an aquarium for her big day, and she is thrilled.

Happy Birthday to my blond bombshell!

Catching up

It's been awhile, not just since blogging but since sitting down and being organized enough to spit out a thought~! A few things we're up to:

Moving!!
We finally closed on the house today. We signed all of the paperwork, and are moving on Saturday. We took Maddie and Kenzie with us to the paper signing, and made it through without incident or meltdown which feels like a bigger accomplishment than buying a short-saled house in a recession!

Kiddos are good:
Rylee is loving school and would like to get into selling things on Craigslist and E-bay like mom. She has seen lots of people coming through here buying things, and is constantly wheeling and dealing with me to get a share of the profits.

Maddie is great but is continuously sticking things up her nose which is driving me absolutlely crazy. We had the Ben-gay/nose incident a couple weeks ago. Last night she jammed play-doh up there and started screaming. We got it all out....and she did it again. We got it all out again (which took forever, apparently her nostrils are endless tunnels), and while she was screaming I asked why she kept doing that and she replied "I like it....ouch! ouch!" Tonight she jammed a pixo (a tiny bead that you can spray and stick to other tiny beads) up there....far! I couldn't even see it. She was in the kitchen and said "mom, what are you doing?" I said "playing with Kenzie, what are you doing?" to which she replied "Nuffin, just stuck a beetle up my nose (anything small and round is a beetle to her...I don't know). So I looked and couldn't see it, had to lay her down with a flashlight, with her instructions "its blue, now do you see it" and still couldn't see it. After much blowing, we finally got it out. Then she went to grab a pink one. Luckily I got it from her before she did her magical disappearing trick again. I'm hoping we are able to stay away from the ER during this phase.

Kenzie is getting big! We took her in last week for her 1 year, and she is in the 20th% for everything. She is standing and holding onto furniture and is our loudest baby yet. This kiddo can yell!

We'll post some pics soon, once were out from under boxes etc....

One Year Ago...

We were checking into the hospital to be induced! We had shopped for cars all day, because I decided to wait until the day I was being induced to try the 3rd carseat in the car....it didn't fit. We shopped for a car all day, then checked into the hospital at 8:00pm to get things started. Miss Kennedie Lola was born the following day, April 1st at 4:00pm, weighing 6'13! She is named after one of the most beautiful women, my grandma Norma Lola, who passed away in 2001.

Sweet, affectionate, spunky, squishy-faced smile....that's Kenzie! She is very quite, crawling through the house doing her own thing until she needs to be heard, then she pops up on her knees and screams as loud as she can, she is definitely going to give her sisters a run for their money!

Why did we spell her name so funky!?!? Well, we had a really hard time deciding on names. One night Todd was at work, and he texted me "how about Kennedie?" I, being an emotional, very pregnant female, thought "wow, he thought of a name, and even came up with a cutsie little spelling, it will be so sweet for me to tell her that her daddy came up with that!" So we named her. Then my brother asked (in his ever so tactful way), "why did you have to spell it wrong?" I explained that Todd wanted it to be unique and more feminine, to which Todd replied "huh, I thought that was how the President spelled his name?" Oh well... so Todd can't spell, but I do like the spelling anyway!

Here are some pics of our 1 year old princess

(PS....there is yet one more birthday post to come in a couple of weeks.....we are (were) freakishly fertile in June and July and managed to have a little girl 3 out of 5 springs!)

Why?

Why do children stick things up their noses? I am grateful that we have never gotten anything stuck up there, but honestly, I feel like its just a matter of time. Maddie snuck upstairs the other night when we were all watching a movie. She came down screaming. I recognized the smell. She had put fingers full of Ben-Gay muscle rub up her nose. That's some serious menthol up there! Poor kid, I tried to clean it out, but then she was off the charts hyper all night......related....or just Maddie....not sure.

6 years ago today...

Our first baby was born! There is nothing more exciting or special than having that first baby. After 25 hours of labor, 3 hours of pushing, and vacuuming her out....Rylee Kendall was born. She is an amazing, bright, creative, responsible and organized girl. Some of her favorite things are: writing, making lists, making chore charts, organizing her money, shopping, and eating Ramen noodles. She is incredibly driven and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her. In fact, in talking about how we will handle buying cars for 3 kids, Todd came up with a plan that he will match whatever they save for their first car. Then he said "Let's not tell Rylee, she'll start saving now and I'll have to buy her a Bentley." It's true, she is one motivated kiddo! Rylee is the kiddo that asked me one day on the way home from preschool (when she was barely 3) "why do kids even bother coming to school and coloring if they can't stay in the lines?" Affectionate, caring, and sweet as can be, we are humbled that she is ours!

Happy 6th Birthday, Big Girl!

Camping

We just got back from a great camping trip to Sedona. We went with two other families who have kids around our kids ages. Yesterday we went to Rainbow Trout Farm. For 1$, you rent fishing gear and get to catch trout (for about 10$, you get to keep them). After you catch them, you pay 50. for a lady to chop the heads off, clean them, and pack them in ice. The kids watched her do this.....Their reactions: Rylee got really quite and teary-eyed and Todd ended up talking to her about the purpose that Jesus has for fish she stayed sad and refused to eat the fish for dinner. Maddie asked "Is she going to cut my head off and cut me up too?" I explained "no" to which she asked, "but why not?" To which I responded "you are not a fish, you are a little girl, we don't cut little girls heads off or eat them." To which she responded "Aw....alright." Here are some pics:



















This is the warning sign
by the fish cleaning

A very Skateland Birthday

Rylee had her birthday party at Skateland today. She had never skated before, but had heard that Skateland is the coolest place to have your party so was set on having it there. She actually did a really good job! We had pizza, cake, and no broken bones!! Quite an accomplishment with 19 kids there. We actually had some parents just drop kiddos off and leave them, with a quick "he's never skated before, so here's my cell phone number..." Wow! I was also amazed by the 50-60 year old men there, still wearing silk shirts and pants from the 80s, skate-dancing. I think those same men were there when I had my school skating parties there in 1988, they must be very tired by now.

Getting ready for the party Maddie

took her own snap-on skates and

threw a good-sized fit when they

suggested that she wear their

skates.

Daddy skating with the

birthday girl

I wouldn't put skates on, but led the kids in the line cha cha dance....woowoo raise the roof! I thought we were all dancing together, but now that I look at the picture.....maybe they were

all just looking at me like I was crazy?!?! Oh well, I thought we had fun.

Maddie skating with Nana, she skated and screamed "I awesome!!" the whole time (Maddie, not Nana).

What do you want for your birthday?

We are in the midst of birthday season (Todd 3/5, Rylee 3/20, Kenzie 4/1, Maddie 4/26). So I asked my kids today the question that every child is dying to answer:

My most-responsible almost-6 year old Rylee answered:
"A new wallet with a matching purse. My wallet is nice, but there's no place for the change, and I need to save that with the dollars."

My most-eccentric almost-3 year old Maddie answered:
-"Some orange toys"
-"Some new food to eat"
-"Superman," shocked that she even knows who Superman is, I ask "like a Superman doll or something?" She answered, "No, silly, like a person to lay on the ground and lift me up on my belly and sing do do do doooo do (Superman themesong). I answered "huh, that's different" to which she says "yup, I pretty amazin."

So, looks like we might get off with a pretty cheap b-day season b/w the wallet and playing superman!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy 33rd Birthday to....

My girl's favorite person!

And...............









My Favorite International Man of Mystery....yah baby!

The third child

If you've read the BirthOrder Book, you probably know that the youngest child is the one who is usually irresponsible, entertaining...."the clown." The first born is organized, a go-getter. The middle child is the peace maker. I believe it can all be traced back to how you let your kids play in the sand :)

With Rylee (1st born):

We rarely ever just set her in the dirt. We offered age-appropriate outdoor toys like walkers and little ride-on toys. If we sat her in the dirt, we sat on either side of her to ensure that she didn't eat it.

With Maddie (Middle born):
We were excited that she interacted with Rylee, and offered them things to do together outside like a can of bubbles that Rylee could blow and Maddie could pop. Age-appropriate toys had been handed down, washed for her use. She played in the sand, but with Rylee helping to monitor her.

With Kennedie (third born):
We were so thrilled that they were all entertained, that we

plopped her in the sand and the mud left from the sprinklers.
When she ate sand we thought "oh well, what goes in will just

come out." Ride on toys are now in the side yard, covered in

spiders and not ride-able. Her entertainment is sitting in the

grass when wet and eating sand.

She did, however, get a shower....with the hose.

Conjoined twins

Here are our boys. When we bought them we were told that two male labs would be the worst combination we could get. We got Cisco when he was 8 weeks, then Poncho 8 weeks later, they are 8 weeks apart. We met with a dog trainer before we had Rylee and she told us that she wouldn't work with us unless we made sure that our dogs did not share a bed anymore. She said that when they got older, it would cause major fighting. We never talked to her again. Our guys sleep in a big mess of black blob, you can't tell where one starts and the other ends....still at almost 9 years old.

We have had our moments, like when:
Poncho ate a large bag of florescent green paint balls. He and the living room were covered in bright green paint, from the carpet to the ceiling.

Poncho ate my wedding ring. Todd had the lovely duty of going through his "doody" for the next 2 days.

Poncho ate our sofa. I got home from work when they were little, and Poncho was sitting in front of the wooden skeleton of our sofa, which had been completely devoured.

I dropped Poncho off to be neutered when he was little. I dropped him off at 8am. They told me to come back at 5pm. They called me at 10:00am yelling "come get your dog!" over his barking and growling, from that time on whenever we went to that vet we had to come and go from the back door and they always yelled over the loud speaker "code 7".....not sure what that meant but I know it didn't mean they liked us a whole lot.

I heard barking and howling for a couple of hours one day. I assumed it was Poncho and yelled and screamed at him. I finally looked out the back door, to find that he had tried to step over Rylee's swing on her swing set and got stuck. He then panicked, and started to spin in circles. He was draped across the swing by his belly, spinning around and around for hours.

Only in Arizona can you do this in February!

Sorry to my blog friends in Utah, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Colorado....here is a pic of the beautiful day we had today. Running through the sprinklers and eating Cheez-its outside, can you even think of a better day?!?!

Obviously we haven't gone swimsuit shopping yet, Maddie

couldn't find a top, just bottoms.