The Nelson Five

Guess who lost her first tooth.....

2011-10-05T09:26:00.001-07:00

A few hints:

-She starts every morning with either "look who's lookin hot today" or "mom, I've been practicing some new moves, wanna see em?"

-She is super duper excited about life in general, which makes losing a tooth that much more exciting

-She has big blue eyes.....

Are you ready?

This is exciting!

My fundraising page

2011-09-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/tinkerb12/2

If you have a minute, please check out my fundraising page. Thanks!

This has to make you smile!

2011-08-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

School Days!!

2011-08-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

I stood in my bathroom getting ready this morning reminiscing over the past couple of years of having Maddie home during the day. I knew we would both miss our movie-watching-cuddle time while Kenzie takes her afternoon nap. This would be such an emotional day for us both. Then my Madison came into the bathroom and casually, but assertively tells me "I don't need you to take me to my class, I'm fine." Really?!? Don't you mean, "I'll miss you mom, give me a hug?" Nope, she has grown into a confident little school girl overnight, and was sure she could handle school without us.

Of course, we went with both girls to school to get them settled, and took a gazillion pictures while wearing sunglasses and crying, a yearly tradition. Does this ever get better? Geez...Rylee is in 3rd grade, time to stop crying mama!

I love this picture, it captures their goals for the school year so well. Rylee wants to get better at multiplication and division, and Maddie would like to have play dates every week.

Where ya been?

2011-07-21T19:05:00.001-07:00

Rocky Point, Cabo, California, and here... It's been a crazy busy summer, i'll update speed-date style:

Rocky Point - Nothing says family togetherness like the 5 of us in a trailer for 6 days, but we do love us some Rocky Point! Great ocean, great friends/family, mangoes, and arctic-cat rides....

Cabo - To recover from said Rocky Point togetherness-time, and to celebrate 12 years of marital bliss, we spent 5 days there while Nana and Papa watched the kids. Nana and Papa were half-way backed out of our driveway, heading home when we pulled into our neighborhood after our trip, not really, but they did look extra tired. We had a great time, played beach volleyball, slept in (till 8, parenthood has actually robbed us of the ability to truly sleep in), visited Cabo Wabo, and did a Sunset Dinner Cruise (here's a fact I learned about myself, I get seriously sea sick. A fact I learned about the boat, the bathroom doors don't lock. Bummer for Todd who spent the cruise outside the bathroom telling ladies to go away, his wife was puking). We also left our camera in the taxi on our way to the cruise-of-doom. Todd calmly told me the camera was gone, and all I could think about was all the pictures of preschool graduation on it, and did what every mother would do...took off running down the pier, through the street, to the hightway where I flagged down a taxi full of Americans, and had them all check the seats in the taxi-van, then realized it was the wrong taxi. I turned around to see my calm husband, and many locals running after me, seeing an opportunity for some payment. The locals ended up calling the taxi company and flagging down the righ taxi, and the camera was saved....phew!!

CA....because we love a good adventure...I flew to CA with the 3 kiddos and our niece. We had a great time, and I saw a whole new side of the TSA employees, who continuously said "You have your hands full" and were very accomodating. Everyone did great traveling, even Madison, who yelled "I'm leaving this plane" at the top of her lungs, while getting out of her seatbelt after the pilot gave his take-off speech. I assured the fellow passengers that she was an air marshall, and we were good to go. We met Nana and Papa in CA, and had a great trip, filled with legoland and eating bad-for-us food that daddy would never have approved of :)

Here are some pics from our trips

The girls at the aquarium, Rylee boogy-boarding, lovers arch from Dinner Cruise, Todd and the Rolling Stones, me at the Cabo Wabo bar,

Home Improvement Help

2011-05-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

So I am the Queen of unfinished projects. Seriously, my home improvement style is somewhere between Autism and ADHD. I get totally overstimulated shopping for home decor, and if I do make purchases, I don't have the focus to put the items somewhere when I get home. Really, I hired an interior decorator to help, you know what my first project was for her? I showed her my corner. That's right, the corner in our front room where I threw everything I bought to decorate with; clocks, frames, flowers, all right there, behind the door in our front room. She helped, but I never called her back to do any more projects.

Then there was the painting of the interior of the house. We picked colors. We agreed. Then I came home while all the men were painting, saw the color they were painting the niches in the entertainment center, and cried. Then like a crazy person (yah right "like" one...uh huh), I asked each of the men if they actually would paint that ugly color in their own homes, referring to it as baby poo. Of course they didn't speak English and just looked at me saying "I don't know." So, I made them stop painting and wait for me to go buy paint. While at the store, Kennedie put all the paint swatches in her underwear "to keep them berry safe" and we had to throw them all away. It was a good day.

If you've been to our house, you've seen these frames. This one has two happy little girls, and says "Kids, they make life sillier" I have great pictures of my own happy little monkeys, but who do you think the girls in the frame are? That's right, I don't know either, they came with the frame in December:

How about this one. A family tree picture that's been hanging over our fireplace for three years, recognize these people? Other than the three pics on the top, I don't recognize any of them either.

SO....here's where I need some help. I know I do not like our kitchen cabinets, and am getting some bids on redo'ing them next week. Todd says I better know what I want before the poor suckers come to our house. I like black distressed cabinets, and white cabinets, also expresso colored.....here's a picture of our kitchen, what would you recommend? Fingers crossed for no tears, and a completed project this time!

Rocky Point Triathlon

2011-05-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

It's over! This year my parents and our family friends Bob and Becky, as well as our friend Dan, and my brother and niece all headed down for the race. The Rocky Point tri has actually been rated as having one of the best after parties in the country, but we were in bed by 8:30 that night, rock on!

The wind was awful, my bike actually got sand-blasted and is missing paint, and my face and arms got a fabulous exfoliating.

My pictures aren't co-operating, so I'll post them perfectly backwards, starting with an overview of the beer tents and after party:

A picture from the bike course, that dirt in the street is actually blowing across

After the swim, shirt and shoes and socks thrown on, getting my once-shiny bike off the rack, ready for the 16.5 miles of exfoliating fun!

Coming out of 1000 meters of swimming-in-the-ocean fun, running up the hill to get to my bike. Note the men behind me, they actually started in the heat before me....some slow men this year (trust me, I'm not fast, so that's actually kind of sad)!

And the end of the backwards triathlon (with no running pictures)

Did you know?

2011-05-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

I might be the last one in the world to have figured this out....but, herego's....did you know that you can push the "Stats" tab once you sign in to your blog to get info on who has viewed your blog, where they are (hello Germany and Russia!), what they searched for to find your blog, etc? Fascinating!

I might even be inspired to blog about more than birthdays....

Next up will be the Rocky Point Triathlon....preview....60 mph winds!

Madison Ann

2011-04-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

My big 5 year old! We have been blessed with 5 years of affection, entertainment, and love with you. You are my cuddly girl, you've always slept best when you are with one of us or your sisters. In fact, many nights I wake up to find you on my feet! I cannot believe it is almost time for you to start kindergarden, but I know you will love it, because you have fun no matter what you do! I look forward to watching you grow into a young lady, and am very proud that your lifelong goal is "to be a mommy." I love you, sweet thing!

And this concludes our birthday posts!!!

What did you learn at school today?

2011-04-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Kenzie: "That Jesus dieded, but then he got back up, so he isn't dieded anymore, does that make you happy?" Madison: "Mary came down from heaven and gave me a cross, you know, the Mary that knows Jesus really good." (She has a little embroidered cross, I'm thinking a lady from the church named Mary might have given it to the kids at school.) Happy Friday!!!

Kenzie Lola,

2011-04-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Kennedie! Our little fire alarm, a bit smaller than our other girls were, and quite a bit louder too. I can't believe you are 3! The beginning of this year, we had a little scare with you. When we were camping, Nana noticed some bumps on the back of your head that felt like rocks, a quick call to Aunt Laurel put us more at ease. I took you to the Dr. the next day thinking she would just explain that the bumps were due to you fighting off an infection. Instead, our easy going Dr. looked at me and said "these really make me nervous, they are hard and aren't moving, and don't feel like regular lymph nodes, I need you to go for blood work immediately." She then asked me about our family medical history, including any cancer etc... We spent the entire day finding a lab that could get you in. When we did find one, you were such a little trooper. Daddy held you and you sat there watching the blood come out. A few days later the Drs office called to say your white blood cell count was low, they said it could just be you were fighting off an infection, but they couldn't be sure. We needed to wait another week and take you for more blood work. We did that, and then a week later got the call that you are as we thought, a very healthy little monkey!

You have brought fun and spunk to our house, as only a little girl born on April Fools Day can do! Happy Birthday Princess.

And here are a few pics of you with your favorite things:

You and your lunchbox, ready for preschool!

You and Madison, you love your sisters!

And last; you, a swing, and a pretty dress!

My Rylee

2011-03-22T12:41:00.001-07:00

Rylee Kendall,

Eight years ago (well, as of last Sat...I lost the camera cord until today:)), your daddy was whispering to me "we're about to meet our daughter" as we were in the hospital waiting (26 hours) for you to make your arrival. You captured our hearts from the beginning. Happy Birthday Big Girl, we love your list-making, organizing, conquering self!

Shared Party with Jamison at USA Gymnastics

Can You find all of your friends??????

Beautiful, inside and out.

Happy Birthday TJ!

2011-03-05T15:29:00.001-08:00

Todd is 35! It's impossible to find something to buy this man. It seems like if a man wants something, he just buys it. If he can't afford it, he saves for it. If a woman wants something, we go to the store and have an internal battle over if we should buy it or not, then we end up buying more clothes for our kids or 30 things from the Target Dollar bin and head home without our original prey.

So this year I decided just to do, instead of buy. I asked T to go to my parents house in the morning to help my dad move a tree. He was of course thrilled to death. I packed up our stuff while he was gone and then headed up to my parents. I walked in and told him we were going to run errands. Then we went to Rent-a-vette. I had reserved a corvette for the weekend, but when we got there T asked if they had any Porche's. The man took us in his garage of Bentley's, Vette's, Escalades, Porche's and historic cars and said to pick what we wanted. So T picked a little Porche convertible. We took of riding in style, enjoying the AZ air and headed up to Scottsdale for lunch and shopping. After that, we headed to Talking Stick Hotel and Casino to hang out by the pool and enjoy a full nights sleep with no little people having bad dreams or having to go potty....ah, heaven!

Happy Birthday TJ, it was great having you all to myself for a couple of days!!

Pray for Kate

2011-02-16T19:34:00.001-08:00

If you haven't read this website, you must. A little girl named Kate who was diagnosed with brain cancer, which went into remission. It has now returned and her family is asking for prayer as they face hard decisions ahead. Reading their online journal is heart-wrenching, but their faith is amazing.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

We'll miss you buddy!

2011-02-07T05:26:00.000-08:00

Poncho,

You were such a great dog! Now, great is relative for a dog who ate a sofa, a bag of paintballs, my wedding ring, and about 100 pairs of shoes. You were such a lover, and would get thrilled to death when we walked out of the bathroom (after 1 minute of being in there) like we had been gone all day. You slept on my feet for 10 1/2 years, and if your brother tried to take that coveted spot on the bed, you just layed on top of him. You would only listen to dad, and if I told you to go in your room, you rolled over with your belly up and refused to move. I just left you, because I never really wanted you away from me anyway. You let our babies play doctor on you, sit on you, and pull your tongue out over your head. You watched as we brought 3 babies home, and sat next to their swing in the living room each time. One of your favorite things to do was to take the trash out with me, you would "heel" all the way to the trash can and back in the front yard, quite an accomplishment for such an excited boy. You were so in love with everyone in our family.

We cried with the kids last night, and are so sad for your brother who is looking all over the house for you. You are greatly missed already my friend.

Girl Scout Cookies!!!!!

2011-01-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

Do you love Girlscout Cookies?
Do you love Rylee?
Do you love us and want to spare us from going door to door?

If you've answered yes to any of these questions......

it's time to buy Cookies!!!!

4$ per box, money due when cookies arrive (mid-Feb)

Thin mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, DoSiDos, Trefoils, Lemon Chalet Cremes

Thanks! xoxo....us.

Tis the Season

2010-12-16T19:34:00.001-08:00

Anyone else losing brain cells by the minute? Anyone out there:
-Find yourself giving fish food to your dogs? Poor guys sat in front of me, eager for their glucosamine as I sprinkled fish flakes on their faces.
-Forget to put jackets on your kids, and when they cry, respond with "just move around alot, you'll be fine."
-Thank the dog for licking the cheerios off the kitchen table, grateful that you don't have to clean it now?
-Have your kiddo wake up at 10:30 at night to say "um...mom, you never got my homework out of the car today."
-Spend 3 hours trying to load songs on a new ipod for your daughter for Christmas, text a friend to ask for help, then realize it's not plugged in all the way?
-Wear your pajamas to drop the kids off at school, thinking noone will see you, then almost run out of gas and find yourself at a gas station by a high school in camouflauge flannel pj's.
-Sing loudly to yourself in the car, to the point your daughter says "mom, stop! There might be other 7 year olds in the other cars"
-Set the house alarm at night, then walk straight to the back door, and open it for the dogs to go off. I'm sure the neighbors enjoy the alarm as much as my kids do when they are sleeping.

Ah....Tis the Season

Feeling Defeated

2010-11-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

When you are feeling defeated, surround yourself with the things you love most. Here is Kennedie. I refused to take her boots off and change her for the 52nd time today. I then found her in her closet, surrounded by the things she loves most, shoes. Head burried in her knees, crying and talking to her shoes.

Lovin me some daddy at the Suns Game

2010-11-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

Rylee's latest date night, which kept her out until 10pm on a school night, Holy Moly that's a big deal when you are "7 and 3/4."

Catching up

2010-10-28T20:09:00.001-07:00

So Todd asks me every night "did you post pictures of...(insert fabulous family activity)..yet?" Every night I say, "Nope, I will tommorow for sure." Ah...ever just feel like by the time you sit down at night it's all you can do to get back up, brush your teeth, and go to bed? (Add to that that I look for scorpions outside every night for 30 minutes...yes...OCD is fun! lol)

SO...to catch up, we went to Rocky Point a few weeks ago, we had an awesome time camping on the beach for 5 days

Todd and his new toy. We were driving out to JJ's Cantina for lunch one day and had AC/DC "You shook me all night" on when Maddie says "I love this song, we sing it in church every Sunday!" By the way, I'd give anything for his tan skin, look at that face!

The girls: Emily (11) Rylee (7) Madison (4) Kenzie (2)

Sweet Kenzie busy in the sand

Madison and Uncle Michael. Look at the way she is looking at him...I love it! The waves were unusually big for Mexico, so he was out there with her holding her hand. She looked at him and said "I'm having so much fun, it would be so great if you were 4 too!" Aw....

Sisterly love in Sedona

2010-09-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend in Sedona, camping with some fabulous friends and the kiddos. He went to the Trout farm, where it's pretty much impossible not to catch a fish. Todd caught two, I stood there for an hour and got nothing, which is fine since I don't eat them, and can't stand the thought of the hook going through their little mouths. Anyway, here are a few pics:

Todd and Rylee at the Trout Farm

Kennedie ready to be a helper once a fish is caught

The girls going for a morning walk. (could we be any more blessed?!?)

Rylee, BFF Jamison, and Madison climbing a tree.

Flat chested because....

2010-09-10T13:51:00.001-07:00

While driving around today (and right before nap, hence the sassi-ness)

Me: Maybe this afternoon you can ride your bike, it's not too hot out
Maddie: I don't like my bike
Me: Maybe I should give your bike to a little girl who needs one
Maddie: Well maybe I should give your boobs to someone who needs them! (I'm thinking maybe she already did).

I think maybe blondes really are more sassy :)

Genius

2010-08-25T19:21:00.001-07:00

A brilliant little philosopher, who wears tons of pink sparkly eyeshadow with her tank top and swimsuit bottoms every day once said:

"Mom, you are smaller than dad because I only wake you up at night, not him, so you don't get to sleep and grow as much as him."

This one's for the boys...

2010-08-24T20:18:00.001-07:00

For the male readers of our blog...all 6 of you (hum.....Chad, Papa, Grandpa Nelson, Tyler, Ryan, Bob), Todd would like to share his most recent home improvement project, the front door (Tim Taylor would be proud!)

The "before" door -

And, the "after door"

Teachable moments

2010-08-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Thank you to:

The neighbor girl who threatened to kill Maddie. You provided me with an opportunity to
a) tell my girls they do not have to allow anyone to speak to them that way
b) praise her big sister for telling you "that is against the law, and oh no you won't!"
c) demonstrate to them how to be assertive when you came back over to play and I sent you home
d) show my girls that their sisters will always be here for them and show them how blessed they are to have each other.

AND....
The boy who asked Rylee to be his girlfriend. When she told you no, and you ran around the school telling all the 2nd graders that Rylee was your girlfriend, you provided me with the opportunity to talk to Rylee about a) what it means to have a boyfriend, and that she can only have "boys that are friends" until she is much older and b) how boys should respect you.

You two superstars provided me with some wonderful conversations with my children tonight. Thank you.

A Pre-schooler, Pre-K'r, and 2nd grader

2010-08-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a story problem for you:

There are 3 children; a 2 year old, a 4 year old, and a 7 year old. All start school at 8:30. The 3 kids go to 2 schools, 8 miles apart. The 1st child gets out at 11:45, the 2nd gets out any time after 1:00, and the 3rd gets out at 3:15. Kids 2 and 3 need to take their lunches. Kids 1 and 2 will need to take snacks for the entire class every few weeks. What time does the train leave the station?

The morning started with a breakfast of champions. Yes, I took a picture of toaster waffles. Here's why: When I called the girls "breakfast is ready," Kennedie ran to the garage door yelling "ok, give me my bag" (meaning a sandwhich bag full of random food she could eat in the car....um...you think we rush around much?!?!)

Two very happy "morning people" girls, ready for school!!!

One "not so happy in the morning" girl, who had just finished yelling at everyone...something about us being too loud and too happy, her having no clothes, and her hair not looking right. We love you, Rylee....but prefer being around you after about 9am :)

Three sisters praying for each other. Maddie "Jesus, help Rylee be nice, cuz she's not." Rylee, "Jesus, help Kenzie not pee her pants at school." Kenzie "Jesus, it's Madison, amen."

And the big Preschool and Pre-K'rs heading into school. Kenzie walked into class, blew us a kiss and said bye. On the way to school, I told Maddie that I needed her to be a big girl and walk into class with no fussing so she wouldn't worry her little sister. She told me "no, I will cry and hold on to you." I then told her that it makes mommy really sad when she does that. She said "yes, I know, but I'm going to cry and hold on to you." A girl of her word, as we turned to walk out of the room, she tackled Todd's legs and turned on the water works "no, don't leave me." The teacher peeled her off and took her to class, where she did great, and didn't want to leave, and would like to stay until 5 next time....geez (I think she gets her dramatic flare from her father).

Rylee started 2nd grade last week (before our new camera came), and is doing great. Within 5 minutes of walking her to the playground the first day, 5 boys started chasing her. I wanted to threaten them, but refrained. I cried, yes...she did 2 years of preschool, 1 year pre-k, 1 year kindergarden, 1 year 1st grade, now 2nd grade, and I cried on the first day. again.

Putting summer "behind" us...

2010-08-10T09:13:00.001-07:00

Bottoms up Summer! We've had a great one! Now off to school we go...Rylee starts tomorrow, and the little girls start on the 17th.
No pressure to any teachers out there but, you will be our kiddos heros for 9 months....make it good!

Another Fallen Hero

2010-08-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

We stood outside today in the 110 degree weather, with 3 whiny children, to honor you. When your procession started, with the helicopters overhead, and hundreds of your brothers on motorcycles and in squad cars, our kids were quite. They waved to your friends, knowing that they were so sad to bury you, and hoping to make them smile. The firefighters stood behind us, in their suits, hands across their chests. I can't begin to understand your widow's sorrow, as she raises your two boys with only your memory. Please know you received a hero's goodbye today. Know that we were honored to wave and salute your family and friends as they celebrated your life. And know that we are grateful to you for your devotion to a difficult job.

Grandma Swain

2010-08-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe tommorow will be 9 years since my Grandma passed away. Norma Lola Swain, such a beautiful person. My kids never got to meet her, but they each have a piece of her; Rylee has her long, slender body, Madison has her blue eye, and Kennedie has her middle name (and stubborness!).

Some things about Grandma...She love, love, loved Todd. We used to take her to church every week. On the way home, she would inevitably go into insulin shock. I would get in the back of the van, prop her head back, and squeeze gel into her mouth (while Todd watched from the front of the van). I would have drool all over me, and be a sweaty mess by the time she came around. She would then come out of it, and tell us "good thing you were here to handle that Todd, thank you so much, can you imagine if it was just me and Melissa?" So silly...

I remember she always described people by what they were. For example, every time we saw Lewis, the janitor at her assisted living apartment, she would say "Melissa, my granddaughter, this is Lewis, the homosexual janitor." Or her neighbors down the street, "Melissa, my granddaughter, these are my neighbors, they are drug dealers."

She was a stunning woman, inside and out...as was her twin, "Aunt Nai." Can you imagine what the young men thought when they saw these two walking down the street?

Hello, old friends

2010-07-31T17:28:00.000-07:00

Parenting tip: If you put your kids down for naps (you, know, cuz they kept you up all freakin night and you just KNOW they are tired!), then decide to take a nap yourself, make sure your kids are actually asleep. If not, you might sleep for 2 hours and wake up to kids who painted and colored their little bodies. Maddie was completely "sleeved" out. Once we got up, we cleaned them up, and Rylee painted cat faces on everyone.

Madcat telling me "Mom, you may be hot, but I am 'hot stuff' and that's alot better" Um...thanks?

Three little kitty cats.

And, once again we have lost our camera. Not to be confused with it being broken (which was last month). We got a brand new one, then lost it. Crap. If I ever win the lottery ( I don't play but do fantasize that the person in front of me at the gas station wins and can't handle the excitement so they hand me their ticket and run away....leaving me with millions), I will pay someone to follow us around and take pictures with a camera that doesn't break or get lost, then friends, I will blog constantly!

Summer!

2010-06-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

Summer Time! In a nutshell:

Sleeping in (until 7:30....woot woot), Mexico for a week (great fun till we blew a tire and steered through oncoming traffic on the way home), Vegas for a night (sans kiddos, thanks nana and papa), Swimming everyday, Dance Recital, No fighting over hair-dos and school clothes.....

Enjoying these beautiful girls every day! More soon....but enjoy these delicious dance-recital pics for now:

Trauma at Preschool

2010-05-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

So today was the Mother's Day Tea Party at Maddie's preschool. All of us mom's were given lovely hats that our kids made, then sat down to eat a snack with the kiddos. The teacher explained that the kids had made pictures of their moms that were hanging on the wall. The pictures were numbered, no names revealed. We were suppose to go up and guess which one was our kiddo's picture. Beneath the picture they answered questions about their mom. Now, being a seasoned preschool mom, I knew the drill. I did however, also recognize that it would be different with Maddie than it was with Rylee. You see, Rylee has always been very logical, and detail oriented. So when she was in preschool, such silly questions about mom were less silly. She nailed her questionare. While the other moms questionares listed ages from 2-100, Rylee responded "29" yup. While the other kids listed moms shoe sizes between 1-100, Rylee responded "8" yup. I knew Maddie's would be different.

All the moms ran up to see the pictures. I waited for the crowd to die down, and hung out with my Maddie. I hear all the mom react to one picture. There are gasps, loud laughs, whispering, and lots of "hope that's not mine!" I go up to check and they are all looking at picture number 4.
Picture number 4 says:
My mom is "4" years old
My mom is prettiest when she....."Goes to the bar"
My mom always says "Wake up sleep head, let's make brownies"
My mom likes to make "Strawberry cookies"
My mom is funny when "she makes strange faces."

Yup, the mother of #4 is about to be put in place for her bar-hopping behavior. We are, afterall, at a Christian school. I sat back down and the mom next to me says "my son wouldn't even know the phrase "going to a bar"...geez." I agreed with her, neither would my kids.

So the teacher then reads out #1, #2, and #3. Each time, she reads it and you shout out if you think it is your kid's picture. She read number 4. You could hear a pin drop. She finally shouts "Madison!" What the.... The entire room erupts into laughter. One lady says "and we thought you were busy at work when you weren't here." I turn beat red. Maddie turns, her head into my chest. She kept her head buried in my chest as everyone laughed at the picture she worked for 2 weeks on. The teacher then went around taking pictures of everyone with their mom. Maddie sat, tears in her eyes, head in my chest. Then it was time to sing the goodbye song. I told Maddie to go sing, then we could go home.

When I got home tonight, Rylee looked at the picture and asked Maddie what it meant to go to a bar. Maddie was puzzled. Rylee asked her "when does mom look prettiest?" Maddie said "like I told Miss Nancy, when she goes to the Ball, you know, like Cinderella." My heart dropped. I had been totally embarassed and worried about what people thought, when I should have been proud as hell. My kiddo thinks I'm a princess. And while apparently not the most articulate, she spent 2 weeks working on a picture, for me.

So, today I've learned two things:
My kiddo does not know about bar hopping, nor does she think I am an alcoholic...phew:)
On mothers day, remember...a picture from a kiddo is their heart poured out. It's like saving money for months to buy something for someone...I'd never want to see a gift I bought for someone thrown away a week later.

A late Happy B-Day to Maddie

2010-04-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Our camera is still in the shop, I was waiting all week to get some recent pics of Maddie for her b-day post..but doesn't look like we'll be getting it back soon. SO...luckily I have some great pics that Aunt Erin took for us in November. That being said....Monday was Maddie's big day...she is now officially 4.

Happy Birthday to Madison Ann, some fun facts about "Miss Moose."

-Maddie was our biggest baby at birth, but the shortest labor

-She has always been above the growth charts, except now...for the first time she is 95% height and 90% weight

-Daddy picked her name all by himself, he always wanted a "Maddie"

-Madison is a fashion-ista, she changes clothes 10x/day

-She has requested to be called "Madison" now that she is 4, it's a bigger name, you know

-I could seriously eat her cheeks, they're just fabulous!

-She is our cuddle-bug, the one kiddo that can curl up next to us in bed and fall sound asleep (the others chatter, poke our ears/noses/etc...)

-When she grows up, Madison would like to "be a person that writes numbers or have lots of babies." I'm hoping that means she'll be an accountant until she's 25 and married!

As I pray with her each night, "Thank you for my blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby!"

Rocky Point

2010-04-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Rocky Point for the Rocky Point Triathlon. The race was lots of fun. I'm sure Todd would have signed up to do it with me, but someone stole his tennis shoes out of the back of our truck 10 minutes after we got there:) My mom and some family friends went too. The race was awesome, I got to see Todd, Nana and the girls at each stretch (after the swim, bike, and run) as well as the finish line. Unfortunately, our camera is in the shop...I'd like to think it has more flattering pics on it then these ones I pulled from our friends, but with padded bike shorts and ocean-nappy hair...I doubt it.

Geez, could I look any more dramatic? The water was suppose to be warm so I didn't take a wetsuit. Of course they had a cold front, and it was 67. Couple that with people swimming over each other, kicking, scratching, and lots of waves. Rough stuff. After getting out of the water, you run through the sand and up a hill to grab your bike.

That's me, a tiny spot on the long desert ride. The route was hilly but fun. (Wishing the swim picture was this zoomed out :))

And heading in toward the finish line and slip n slide...yay!

Pimp my ride...or don't

2010-04-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

I got a new car in October. I wanted the new Tahoe because it has an isle between 2 bucket seats in the 2nd row. I was so sick of "she's touching me" and "she's pulling my hair" or, my personal favorite "she licked my foot!" When we went to the lot, the only one they had was all black. Being inpatient and not wanting to drive around looking for other options, we bought it. Within 2 days of owning it, Todd had it pimped out. He put black tint on the windows, and black rims on the tires. However, I am at the point in my life where no amount of pimping out will make me, and my 3 pink carseats, look cool.

Now, this does have it's perks. When you go to through the drive-through, you worry about if your food will be made right and if it's all in the bag. Those same 17 year old boys are now my homies. I go through and it's all "dude, nice ride."Geez. My first day in the car after said pimping-process, someone at work said "nice dubs." I said "you too!" thinking it was maybe a new way to say "good hair day!" Geez... for a 30 something year old girl (really, not SO into the 3o's to be called "30 something" cuz that implies your all the way into them, and I'm not...yet) I'm really not schooled in "murdered out rides" (another compliment from my drive-through buddies).

Now, for the down side. Not good. Not good at all I tell you.

I was pulled over about a month ago. The officer came around the side of my vehicle with his hand on his gun. Somehow I got off with a warning, after he told me I was neglecting my responsibilities to the community. Ouch. Then the kicker. I got pulled over yesterday, with my big girls in the car. The officer pulled me over for tint. Once he heard that I'm married to an officer, he tacked on a speeding ticket. Seriously, I was at almost a dead stop in a construction zone in down town Gilbert at rush hour. SO...two tickets later from this not-so-nice man, I lost it. I tend to have a bit of a temper, won't say where I inherited that from (but it's not my mom). I called Todd and went on and on, I rattled something about him needing to rent me a car or I'll get shot. So anyway, he finally fixed the tint. I drove his truck to work today and when I got home, Maddie told me "daddy fixed your windows so that you'll stop complaining now." Nice.

But, I do have to brag on him for a minute. For all the knuckle-headed moves he might make (seriously, don't they all?!?!), he has to be the best daddy ever. He and my dad took the girls camping last weekend. He took Kenzie and Maddie on Th night, then I went out and picked Kenzie up and he kept Rylee and Maddie Friday night. I don't know too many men who would take 2 and almost 4 year old girls camping without mama. brave. Here are some pics from the daddy/daughter/papa trip:

Happy Birthday Baby!

2010-04-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Kenzie is 2! This will be the first time in 4 years that we have not had a baby under 2 in the house:( But, what a blast watching this little one grow up and learn more and talk up a storm. A few things about our girl:

-Loves, loves, loves Barney!

-Loves, loves, loves shoes!

-Says everything fast and in 1 word "Iwantmore" "Iwantshoeson"

-Loves to be held

-Is love, love, loved!

She has basically spent her first two years here, on my shoulder

Happy Birthday Love!

A short post, but at least it's a post...

2010-03-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Our camera broke, so we are waiting for our new one to arrive in the mail anyday....so no new pictures to blog with, bummer.

We did have an excellent date-night tonight. Actually, a double date. We had a sitter watch Kenzie so we could take Ry and Maddie on a double date with us. We took them to the movies. I was explaining to Maddie that it would be like watching a show on TV, but the screen would be bigger (no this was not her first movie experience, apparently she forgot the last one). She was so excited and asked "will it be bigger than a fat lady!?!" So off to the movies. We payed for Princess and the Frog, then followed Todd into Chipmunks. We all sat down and the movie starts. Todd looks at me and says "oh crap, we're in the wrong movie, how did that happen?" Uh, we followed you, into the theater under the large bright yellow sign with 3 chipmunks, ding dong!

Anyway, movie was great. Maddie's dreams were realized "it really was bigger than a fat lady" and everyone is sound asleep now, a great night!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2010-02-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

It's so true, the best thing you can do for your spouse is love your kids, at least for me. Todd knocked it out of the park today. He texted me on Wed "don't get the kids anything for V-day, I have it covered." This was a relief b/c I had tried to buy them a bunch of stuff at Target about a week ago. I bought things from the dollar bins etc...then picked up some fabric softner. I put the fabric softner on top of everything then discovered at the check out that it leaked all over everything. The cashier took everything out of my cart that was ruined and threw it away. Instead of being a big girl and going to buy more, I got mad and left. Todd is just smoother than me as a rule.

I'm so impressed with this man. Really, even after almost 11 years of marriage...still impressed. He got everything right today, and that's not easy when shopping for 3 kids.

He got each girl a sweet card, an outfit (even got the sizes right!), a stuffed animal, and candy.

It's alot to remember...let alone making it out of the store without ruining everything.

Anyways....here are some pics of our day...and Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Good Morning

2010-02-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

I love days I don't work, I get to sleep until 7. Up at 7, wake kids up at 7:30, leave the house at 8 to get Rylee to school. Today I didn't work.

So when our house alarm started blaring at 6am today, I wasn't thrilled. I have thought about what to do in this situation (thanks to the monsoon in August that blew the door so hard the alarm went off at 2am). I knew that Todd was out of town (in Vegas, lucky sucker) and the girls were in their beds. Rylee and Maddie came running into my room, screaming and crying. I yelled to the girls and asked if they had opened a door or window, they yelled back "no." I checked the alarm panel, back door opened. SO...I left the alarm blaring (sorry residents of Gilbert, Mesa, Chandler, Queen Creek for waking you up at 6) so that the alarm company would dispatch the police. I yelled at the girls to hudle on my bed while I ran to get Kennedie. I knew I would have to run by the ajar back door, and was shaking. I then grabbed the phone and started to dial 911. Luckily, I only dialed 9 when Maddie started yelling "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I immediatly hung up the phone and asked her what she was sorry for. She started yelling (yes, alarm is still blaring) "Worms, I wanted to find worms!" I turned off the alarm while she explained that she woke up early to go digging for worms. When she opened the back door, the alarm went off, so she slammed it and ran to get Rylee. Which is when they ran into my room and our drama began.

I knew that having three girls would bring drama into our lives, but at freakin 6 am on a non-work day???

Our hearts go out...

2010-01-29T19:17:00.000-08:00

To the friends and family of the Gilbert Officer who was shot last night.

There are constant reminders to us of the frailness of life, especially with Todd's job. This officer was shot 3 miles from our house. If Todd was working last night, he would have been one of the officers following the suspects, as they were shooting and throwing things out of their vehicle.

We visited the scene tonight, and read the cards on the flowers and candles. Amazing support for this officers family. We ached for his two girls (10 and 12). We explained to our kids that an officer was hurt there. Rylee felt it pretty hard and had lots of questions for us. Maddie thought that that was where Jesus was buried. Either way, we talked about praying for the officers daughters. Rylee was very upset that some people know the rules, but still break them. She asked why the bad men couldn't express their anger appropriately, by walking away or talking about it (nope, she's not a therapists daughter).

Our hearts go out to this family and to all the officers who worked with him. Truly the loss of a hero.

I thank God that Todd has been kept safe. I'm so thankful that he was able to call me after the shooting he was involved in 2 years ago. I'm so thankful he wasn't injured.

The Joy of Having Girls

2010-01-07T19:26:00.000-08:00

I get to re-live my childhood. Asking my mom to put soft hair rollers in my hair at night "but leave the front out so I can make big bangs." Sleeping in rollers all night, knowing that in the morning, I would take them out and have gi-normous hair, the best! I would couple the big hair with my ankle-zip Guess jeans "mom, you have to wash my Guess Jeans and Sweatshirt so I can wear them with my curly hair." Now, if all of these fabulous things lined up on a day where there happened to be a Skateland skating party that evening, it was true heaven. I knew that I would look hot, skating with big hair and Guess Jeans. Ah, bliss.

I love that my sweet Rylee wanted soft hair rollers. I love that she woke up at night, excited for the morning. I took them out in the morning, now....I remember looking hot, not like a poodle. Seriously, I thought, this is what I looked like? But just like me, my little poodle felt like the most beautiful girl in the East Valley. How fun!

In other news....Maddie related, just this week:

-She shoved yet another bead up her freakin nose. Luckily we got it out, I didn't even have to use Daddy's cop flashlight to look for it up there, progress?

-While at the park, in front of lots of lovely families, she yells (because I'm never standing in whispering distance when she says crazy thing, always yelling distance) "Mom, how long are you going to be in jail for this time?" I turned beat red, and ignored her. I had nothing. Maybe she was thinking of her "other mother"...let's hope

Christmas

2010-01-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Well, Santa delivered again (seriously, why does he get all the credit for bringing the best toys??). The big girls got bikes, daddy got a new electric remote controlled car, mommy got a coach purse, and Kenzie got all things Elmo. Some pics of the big day:
Alright so I only found one picture. Geez. I guess my New Years Resolution is to take pictures.

Catching up after the Holidays

2010-01-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

The girls had their first real dance recital in December. They have been going to a dance studio for about 6 months, and got to perform in a recital, on stage, at a High School. Special emphasis on "stage" and "high school" as it was the coolest thing in the entire universe to get to go to a High School in the first place, then to get to "check out their backstage" (as Rylee squeeled). Dress rehearsal (all 6 hours of it) was a bit rough, Maddie had a complete meltdown because they didn't open and close the curtains "I NEED curtains!!!!," then another fit when it was over "I'm not done, put me back up there!!" They did a fabulous job during their performance, both of them just lit up getting to be on stage in front of hundreds of people. Of course afterwards, daddy gave them each a dozen roses...aw!

Dear Santa,

2009-12-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-19T06:02:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-14T13:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-10-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-07-10T19:21:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-07-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

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

Tutu heaven

2009-05-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-03-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-03-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-03-20T13:50:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-03-06T18:35:00.001-08:00

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!

2009-03-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

Happy 33rd Birthday to....

My girl's favorite person!

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

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

The third child

2009-03-01T16:09:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-27T21:18:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-02-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

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.

A great weekend

2009-02-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

Todd took our two big girls out to the desert to camp this weekend, which gave me a wonderfully quite weekend. Tell me, do you know any other man who will go camping alone with two girls?!? (Besides my dad, I don't know of any other man this brave). I love that he takes them for some daddy/daughter bonding time. Rylee loves to come back and tell me "you'll never know how many marshmellows dad let us eat, and he even forgot to brush our teeth!!" Reminds me of that Bill Cosby episode "Dad is great, he gave us some chocolate cake!" That is the type of dad Todd is, I love it! I enjoyed the weekend alone with Kennedie. We ate cheerios, played ball, went shopping, and watched Barney, fabulous!

Here is daddy. The only thing that could make this a sexier pic is if he was holding a vacuum or scrubbing a toilet.

Here is my little daredevil. She now guns the gas and stands up while weaving in and out of trees and cactus!

Here is Maddie, who loves to dress like Daddy. This is one of her favorite shirts, you can't see well in this pic, but it has a bloody skull on it and she wears it constantly so she can look like Todd.

Maddie adores dirt. She can sit in dirt for hours and dig, talk to herself and fill buckets up. What a life!

Home is where the heart is, the mall is where you poop!

2009-02-18T15:23:00.001-08:00

As the mother of a 10mo old, 2 year old, and 5 year old I spend many hours talking about, cleaning up, and listening to talk about bodily functions. My conversation with Maddie today went like this:
Me "Maddie do you have to poop?" (trust me, a mother knows, and the answer was yes!)
Maddie "yes"
Me "Then go in the bathroom please, call me when you're done" (yippee, lucky me!)
Maddie "No, I want to go to the mall"
Me "Okay, we can talk about that after you poop"
Maddie "No, I Wanna go Poop at the mall"
Me "Huh?"
Maddie "Yah, I poop at the mall now, in the store with the fridgerators (Sears)"
Me "No, we poop at home, because we are at home"
Maddie "But it's more fun to poop in the store with the fridgerators!"
Me "Well, we have a fridgerator here at home, and we'll go to the mall later, so that's gonna have to work, go poop!"
Maddie "Otay, but you're bossy!"

No idea where this one came from...we really don't make a habit of going to Sears to poop, I promise!

Thank you Leah!

2009-02-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

My good friend Leah is starting her own photography business and let me bring the girls over to her in-home-studio yesterday for some practice. She took some amazing pictures! It was so nice to have their pictures taken with professional backgrounds/lighting/etc... but in someone's house. They could run and play and eat snacks in between shots. Check out their pics on her blog:
http://handsandfeetphotography.blogspot.com/

Maddie's new TV

2009-01-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

My posts seem to be about Maddie alot, being 2 1/2 is just too entertaining!

So I put her to bed last night and she tells me "I wanna watch TV." I explained that we were done with TV and it was bedtime. She said "NO, the TV in my room." I explained "You don't have a TV in your room." To that, she said "Yes I do, it's up there" pointing to the ceiling. She then asked me to turn it on so that she could watch "My Little Ponies." So I acted like I had a remote, pointed it to the ceiling, kissed her goodnight and walked out. I checked on her about 20 minutes later, and she was still staring at the ceiling singing "My little pony, my little pony, what will today's adventure be" ( A song I know very well). I told her in my big-girl-mama voice that it was time to really go to sleep. She looked at me and said "but I waiting for you to change the channel, it's over and I wanna watch Caillou." I found myself yet again, pointing my magical hand at the ceiling, thinking "good gosh, I hope she knows we are pretending," told her to go to sleep and walked out. She started yelling about 15 minutes later "mama, come turn it off." Apparently Caillou was over and it was finally time for bed. I'm thinking that maybe next time daddy wants a bigger TV, Maddie and I will show him just how affective her approach to TV watching is, who knows, she might have been watching her shows on a 60 in plasma too!

Ding Dong, the facial hair's gone!!!!

2009-01-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

Yay!!!! He shaved, he really shaved!! I'm such a happy girl, now that my man is back to looking like an upstanding citizen!

Kennedie

2009-01-24T20:45:00.000-08:00

Our little Kennedie is now crawling! We now have 3 mobile children......agh! Time to tighten up the zone defense!

Maddie's well paying job

2009-01-23T09:05:00.000-08:00

So we were outside playing the other day and I was with Rylee, looking at the neighborhood cat ("milkfish") down at the greenbelt. Maddie was following two of the kids around (yes, one was the little boy she almost killed a few weeks back), and the two kids took off running home. Maddie took off after them yelling "don't wowwy guys, I comin!" I went up to check on them, when Maddie came running back yelling "look mama, they payed me a money!" They had given her some pennies. She went back into the greenbelt and played by herself in the grass, then went running back to their front yard, and came back with more money. The next time she ran up to their yard, I went too, only to hear them saying "here she comes, get more pennies!" She would run up to the yard, and they would hand her pennies and say "now go play in the grass for a little while." Nice. She actually loved it though, and made some money off of them. So now she asks to go outside and "play the money game." I'm thinking I should start that at home, "go in the playroom and play nice together and I'll give you a penny." I've never gotten to be a daytime talk show junkie, but I might actually get to watch Oprah or Maury or something if I start the penny game at home. Ooh, or maybe I'd have time to make dinner that didn't come from a blue box with a cheezy packet inside! Just imagine...

Kids are so funny, the recent conversations I've had with mine just remind me of how different they are:

Maddie has been on a toe-nail kick. I was driving the other day and she screamed in an excited voice "Mama, I have toenails, do you have some too!?!?!?" I look back to see her holding up her finger nails and say "those are nice, but they are your finger nails, your toe nails are on your toes." She looks down at her feet and screams again "Yes, there's more down there!" Maddie also had a fit the other night because I wouldn't take her toenails off before she went to bed. Yup, that's right, she kept yelling "take them off, I put them on in the morning!" Where in the world she came up with that I'll never know!

On the other hand, Rylee told me today that she wasn't sure about our financial decisions "you know, if you are paying a whole bunch for a new house, you might not want to put Maddie in preschool and have to pay for that now too, do you think it's smart to do those things at the same time?" I explained that Maddie doesn't start until August, but she is still questioning the decision. Good things to worry about when you're 5!!!

We're moving!

2009-01-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

Just heard today that the offer was approved! We should close the beginning of March! Woohoo!

Made an Offer!

2009-01-14T12:56:00.000-08:00

A few months ago (after we had Kennedie, really), I started having visions of our future. They included hairbrush fights, hairspray in the eyes, hours of tears....each and every morning. Thinking ahead to when we have 3 girls in Jr.High or High School at the same time, scared the heck out of me. Our current house would only allow 1 bathroom for them to all get ready in (they could come into ours, but I'm not sure we'll want to be a part of the morning madness). So we started looking at houses. I had 1 criteria....at least 4 bathrooms. Todd had some other criteria, obviously less important, but some stuff he wanted (something about space to store our trailer....boring boy stuff). Well, we made an offer today on a house! It has 4 bathrooms which just thrills me (I think it will be a matter of survival, really) and a basement which would be great for hot Arizona summers. It is a Short Sale (which for some reason means it takes longer...where's the logic with that one?!) so it might take awhile for us to find out if it was accepted or not. So....we'll keep you posted....

So Sweet!

2009-01-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Don't you just want to eat her!?! Too Sweet! (Kennedie, 9 months)

Look Mom, no training wheels! Look mom, I'm eating snot!

2009-01-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

My kids are amazing! We took Rylee to the park after school today and took the training wheels off of her bike. Within 10 minutes, she was cruising around, standing up while pedaling, doing figure 8's! It was so much fun! This is one of my favorite milestones so far, it ranks right up there with learning to pump her legs on the swings. Love it!

Maddie also had a proud moment. While watching Rylee, I heard a bunch of "big kids" (8-10 year olds) yelling "ooh, gross!" I turned around to the playground where Maddie was in the center of the kids, blowing her snot out, then licking it up. I don't know that I could have come up with something to gross out a group of 9 year olds, so I was pretty impressed. Here is our little snot blower:

Oops, sorry about your kid's head!

2008-12-30T18:47:00.000-08:00

I probably won't be winning Mother of the Year this year. Maddie probably won't be winning Child of the Year this year. We were down at the greenbelt in the neighborhood today, and I was the only parent watching about 10 kids. I heard a blood-curdling scream and turned around to see a 6 year old neighbor boy bleeding profusely from his head. I asked what happened, even though I really didn't want to know....cuz I had a hunch. Everyone started yelling "She threw a rock at his head!" pointing to Maddie. So...I loaded up my 3 kids, and the bloody boy and went down to take him home. When his parents answered the door (by this time, blood is covering his head, dripping down his face, onto his shirt), he yelled "She threw a rock at me!" Of course they were panicked "Who threw a rock?!?!" Yup....my kid. You know, they didn't know me, and they didn't know Maddie AND...she doesn't look like me, so I should have said "this little girl did it, I'm going to look for her parents right now!" But it's likely that would have caught up with me eventually.

So I took my kids home and returned about an hour later to have Maddie apologize. Despite our practice "Sorry Taylor" while batting eye-lashes and sticking out the bottom lip, they answered the door and Maddie proudly yelled "I threw a rock at Taylor's head, I threw it hard!" Great. They said they had a nurse friend look at it and she said that if they could get Sani-strips to stick, he wouldn't need stitches. So far they wouldn't stick. Of course.

So now we just wait, and hope that he didn't need stitches, and hope that they have insurance, and hope that there is something good on Lifetime TV tonight....cuz mama needs a break!

The monsters are gone!

2008-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

You may not know it from looking at our quite house, in our quite suburban neighborhood, but we have had a huge monster problem! There was a "monter face" under Maddie's toddler bed that was keeping her from sleeping every night. The final straw was when she was so terrified to sleep in her own room that she was shaking and screaming. So, after reading an article that compared a child's fear of monsters to an adults fear of walking alone down a dark ally behind a scary neighborhood (the fear is very real, and saying "you shouldn't be afraid won't help), we enlisted some help. We were busy with heading down to Tucson for Chrismas Eve, so I called my parents to mix up some "monster spray." On Christmas day, Maddie opened the package that contained a flashlight and the spray (body spray, with the Monsters Inc... monster pictures taped around the outside). We came home and Maddie and Daddy shined the flashlight around the room, spraying the magical spray and yelling "Get out, go away!" And it worked! Here is a picture of a very satisfied customer of monster spray!

The things moms have to say...

2008-12-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

So you know how you have those days when your kids just seem like angels and you think "wow, we're doing something right!" Then there are those other days......feels like we've had a few of those, as everyone seems to get ants in their pants as we get closer to Christmas. Here are some of the things I have actually had to say recently:

"We do NOT poop in the bathtub!" (that was a nasty one!)
"We do not pee on the stairs!" (that was pretty icky too!)
"Please get the worm out of the kitchen, they have germs"
"When you knocked the barstool over on the baby, you could have killed her!"
"Do not feed your boogers to the baby" then....."I don't care that she liked it, we don't do that!"
"Where did you learn to hold your middle finger up to people?"
"No, mommy is not a monster"
And finally, what they have driven me to say..."If I go crazy and have to join the circus, who is going to make your dinner?" Luckily Rylee is sarcastic enough to just respond "I don't know, but we'll figure it out."
Lovely!

Random Holiday events

2008-12-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

This time of year it seems like every weekend is packed full of activities. Here are a few things we've been up to recently. I wish I could post a picture of when we saw Santa, but only Rylee would sit on his lap, and Maddie continuously screamed while I was holding her, asking me (well, yelling at me) to back away from him, so even the picture of Rylee didn't turn out very good.
I just had to throw this one in. Kenzie doesn't get out very often but is perfectly content sitting in her little bouncy chair at home.

This pic of Maddie and the one of Rylee with her below were taken after we saw Santa. Only in Phoenix do people pay 4$ to go stand in line and play in the snow for 10 minutes!

Rylee and I went to the Christmas Pageant at Phoenix First Assembly, it was awesome! Outside they have alot of Christmas scenes so that you can take pictures of your kids. This was my favorite, turned out much better than the numerous ones she had me take of her with the stuffed animal reindeer!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T19:11:00.001-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving. I ran a 10k in the morning. It seems like every time you run in a race people ask "what's your goal?" Mine is always the same a) don't die b) lose some butt. It was nice to get up and exercise before eating our weight in food for the next 3 days. Todd and I made our first Thanksgiving meal together. Yes, after 9 1/2 years of marriage, we actually made a turkey! My parents and brother came over to eat, then we headed out to my aunt and uncle's house to play some games. We won a turkey balloon and a turkey squeeky toy - so there! It was lots of fun. Friday we drove up to my parents cabin, the kids had a great time running around outside. I have to say, if I lived where it is really cold, I think I would be a recluse and would do alot of online shopping at Old Navy. We headed back on Sunday and put up our Christmas decorations. MANY broken glass bulbs later, the house looks great!

Emily (our niece), Michael (my brother), Nana (my mom), Maddie,

Papa (my dad), Todd, Rylee, Kennedie, me.

After the race, Megan, my dad, Rachel, Bruce, me

That is one proud Turkey cooker!!!!!

Pedicures

2008-11-25T18:08:00.001-08:00

So if you have little girls, you have to do at-home pedicures. The girls just beam when getting their nails done. I kept calling them "little ladies." You know, "little lady, what color do you want" etc.... Maddie then told me, "Little lady, I sure lub you berry much!" Too cute! Of course their feet looked and smelled great for about 10 minutes before trecking through the sand and mud in the backyard, oh well!

A day at the park

2008-11-25T17:59:00.000-08:00

We took advantage of the weather today and headed to the park. I'm hoping to get some updated pics of the girls for the frames in our house. Since having #3, pictures just don't happen very often, and I remember why now after trying to get a 8 month old, 2 year old, and 5 year old to all look in the same direction and smile. We did manage to get a few cute ones though!

AZ weather is the best!! (4 months out of the year)

2008-11-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

Todd took the big girls camping last weekend. They had a great time riding quads. It's amazing to watch Rylee hop on her own quad and take off, probably the scariest thing I have had to watch as a mom. She is like a little Evil Kanevil, swerving in and out of trees/bushes/cacti. They had a blast!

I took the girls to the zoo yesterday, with our friends and the rest of AZ since it was Veterans Day. They had a great time and were totally worn out at the end of the day, which meant great naps...woohoo! I love those days!

Rylee pretending to be...um...some sort of animal that lives in trees, I really don't

remember...

Maddie was thrilled to brush the goats. When I told her we were going to go to the

zoo, she kept yelling "I wanna see sheep!" her dream came true, the petting zoo was her

favorite.

Maddie pretending to drive "mama's vroom vroom."

Rylee telling me "You know I could drive this if I wanted to"

Daddy taking Maddie for a ride on mama's quad.

Rylee's First Race

2008-11-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

I decided this year that I would sign up for races that have Kid's dashes for Rylee. This past weekend was the first one, and Rylee had a blast. My friend Paige and I ran the big people's race, and our girls ran in the kids dash afterwards. It was too fun watching the kids race. She was in the 3-7 year old dash, and about 4 of the kids kept tripping and falling. They were so excited to be racing with people standing on the sidelines screaming, that they just got back up and kept going. The channel 12 News cameras were recording the little ones. It was a great experience for our little perfectionist. She asked about a million times "what will happen if I don't win" and we kept explaining that we run to stay healthy, not to win. Well she did a great job and was thrilled just to be a part of it and to get a T-shirt that matches mom's. And too funny, when I was done running and was again re-iterating to Rylee that the point of running is to be healthy, I lost Todd. I quickly realized that there was a silent auction table, so of course he would be there. Come to find out, he bid on and won a fryer. Great.....it's gonna take alot more running to work that off!

2008-11-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

Dorothy and a beautiful princess had fun at Halloween! Maddie (princess) loved the fact that people gave her candy, and decided that while people were in the giving spirit, she would see what else she could get. She asked one man for his dog "I hab you doggy too please?" and one man for his baby "I please hab you baby?" Needless to say, she just came home with candy. Our friends came over and went trick or treating too, and the kids stayed up till all hours of the night (well, 10pm), on a great sugar high!

Kennedie was in bed by 5:45pm, so no trick or treating for her. I realized that I don't have any Halloween pictures of her this year. So....just picture the little cutie above in a chili pepper costume, pretty cute, huh?