Back to the Blog!

I've gotta get back into this again! I thought to myself, "I'm crafty. I make cute things. I can create yummy recipes. Why am I not sharing these types of things?" It may have a little to do with my own personal insecurity of not being good "enough". I might be good at something, but not good enough. Well, to heck with my insecurity, I'm just gonna do it and see what happens!

I love to share (a lot has changed since my oh, so selfish childhood days). Having kids teaches you that sort of thing. After all, sharing is caring, right?  With that said, I'm going to try and turn this into a blog about sharing all of our family fun, which will also include yummy recipes that I've been creating, fun crafts that we do, and maybe even a sewing tutorial or two. Everyone else is doing it, so why can't I? I want to be famous on Pinterest, too (in a joking yet, semi-serious tone).

This will be a fun little adventure. I really want to learn and grow in lots of different areas, and if you stick with me you'll get to grow and learn right along with me!

I'll share lots of different things, from crafts to health and well being. I might try my hand at learning how to be a better photographer (I'm a REALLY bad one)! I'm not gonna try and replace our dear, sweet, Emily Mann with Rabbit Ears Photography. I just want to be able to post pictures of food that actually looks scrumptious, not pics of crusty crock pots, or dark shadowy blobs with parsley accents. 

One thing I'm learning in this life is that NOTHING is perfect and that's OK! It's OK to not be perfect. As long as we are all trying our VERY best that's all we can do. Things don't always go as planned. In fact, for me, NOTHING ever happens the way I PLAN them to. As discouraging and disappointing as that is, I'm learning to be OK with that.  It's a very hard lesson to learn. I just want things "MY WAY" all the time." If people would just do things my way, it'd be so much better!" HAHAHA. God has a different plan and I just have to go with that one and be OK with it!  So, don't expect perfection from me. Like I said, I'm learning...publicly...scary...but exciting! I think this will push me in ways I've never been pushed, and that is always a good thing!

So, whatta ya think? You up for this adventure with me? Eeeek, it's kinda scary! I'll either totally embarrass myself and feel like a huge failure, or I'll keep plugging along and make this a huge success!  Let's hope, for the sake of my dignity, that this goes a little as "planned" and I can do the latter!!

Ok...so who's with me? Will I have any followers?

What happened to blogging?

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY need to start blogging again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Growing up too fast!

The last few days as I lay with the girls before bed, or have a conversation with them during the day I've found myself welling with tears and trying to hold them back. My girls are growing up so fast!!

Madison, my very first little baby is asking me math questions and learning to add. She's writing words and learning to read. She offers to help more often then not. She absolutely loves to be a big sister. She loves to be right by my side pretty much at all times, and as annoying as that can be, it makes me feel so good that she loves me that much to just want to be with me all the time. It's made me realize I need to soak it up for what it's worth and just spend as much time as I can with her. When Maddie was a baby I made up this beach song and Glen and I were singing it last night and I told her that I remember the night I made it up like it was yesterday. I was sitting in our old rocking chair, in our old house. It was dark and I was putting her to bed. She was little and I was rocking her in my arms and rubbing her legs. She didn't have long hair, she didn't weigh 35 lbs, she was just little and she was my only one. Just her and I. I made up this song: "We're going to the beach gonna have lots of fun. Swim in the water play in the sun, We're gonna build a sand castle have a picnic too, We're gonna shout "Hurray, wooohooo!!!" We're gonna have so much fun at the beach!" When we sang it the other night, the memory flooded back to me and made me get teary. I wish I could go back and just hold that little baby Maddie in my arms again. Where did the time go??

Riley... Riley, Riley, Riley. I just love that girl! She is the funnest little thing in the world, just a ray of sunshine in my heart! They all are, but Riley has this way about her that is just so humorous. She's a little stinker, but in the cutest way imaginable. She's talking in very complete sentences these days which is so cute to hear. When you ask her a question and it's a "Yes" answer she answers with a very confident "Yeth" and when I call for her she says, "Yeth mommy" or "Yeth mother!" It's SO cute! I think she got it from the movie Tangled, but, who cares, it sounds so polite! She still loves to push boundaries, which makes life challenging, but life obviously can't be perfect. We believe Riley was definitely sent to teach us MANY lessons in parenting! You can't do anything but love the girl. She LOVES her sisters so much. I've never seen her be mean to the baby even one time since Chloe was born. Whenever she is with her she's kissing or hugging her, and it's SO genuine. She looks up to Maddie so much and I'm so glad that she has Maddie to look up to as a good example.

Ahhh, and Chloe my little Angel! She's actually starting to get quit the personality. She is VERY happy, but if she gets upset she's not quiet about it! She HAS to be heard, of course, because she's 3 out of 3. It's hard for mom to get right to her all the time every time she has a need. I do my very best though. Chloe is army crawling all over. She started off rolling well over a month ago. She's been rocking on her hands and knees for awhile now, but still just feels more comfortable rolling or scooting. She's on her way to pushing herself up to sit and kind of does this tripod sit on her side. It's funny. She is EATING!! and eating, and eating!!! She LOVES real food, no jarred junk, the real deal veggies, fruits, breads, crackers, cereals, beans and rice, etc. Nothing mashed or pureed, just straight up whole cooked stuff! She's got two bottom teeth and her two top teeth are coming in and they look HUGE! Neither Maddie nor Riley had teeth that big! HAHA it will be funny to see when they come in all the way. She is SUCH a teething trooper! She is hardly fussy at all about it! Nighttime has been a little harder, but now that they are starting to poke through she's sleeping better. She talks so much! She makes this "kelk,kelk, kelk" sound that kinda reminds me of the Disney character "Goofy" and when we were in Hawaii she was making this sound that kinda sounded like she was saying "Chloe", it was "Coi, Coi" who knows maybe she was! Actually, every time I get her from a nap or come into a room that she is in I smile and say a very enthusiastic "Hi!" and a couple of times I think she's actually said "Hi" to me first! Haha, maybe, maybe not, but either way she's ALWAYS happy to see me!

I feel SO blessed. We're SO lucky to have these three beautiful girls with three VERY different personalities, yet they all love us so much. I'm so grateful that I get to be a mom and be home with them to teach them and LEARN from them. I can't wait to see what they do or say next!

Just some fun moments

So, I don't have one story in particular to talk about but there have been some funny little things that have happened over the course of the last couple days. First and foremost...Chloe rolled over for the first time yesterday while getting her pictures taken!!! Yay Chloe!

Second: Last night after the girls had already had a bath I noticed it was particularly quiet so I got up to see what the girls were doing. Maddie was playing and I heard some weird grunting/breathing (don't worry...it's not what you think). So I check the bathrooms, of course, and Riley is not on either toilet but I can hear her breathing hard in the bathroom...excuse me, while I chuckle this story is funny...So I go all the way into the bathroom and she is in the tub slipping and sliding everywhere, trying to get out, so she's breathing all hard and trying to stand up but she can't get her footing because she spilled out the entire bottle of their shampoo and was sliding ALL over the place. As soon as I came in she started crying because she wanted out, but I couldn't get her out because I needed to get all the soap off of her. She continued to try and get up but would slide. So, she's bawling and I'm cracking up with tears in my eyes! It was SO funny! She'd get up and then slide all the way down to the other end of the bathtub. Then she'd be on her hands and knees and they couldn't stay in one spot, they'd be slipping. I wish I would have gotten it on video, but I would have been torturing her even more than I was just by laughing! Anyway, that was the highlight of the night. It was hilarious.

Oh and I posted this on facebook, but thought I'd jot it down here so I have record of it. Yesterday on our way home from a friends house I stopped by Wendy's to re-fuel myself, my blood sugar was so low I couldn't see straight, and I got Maddie a Frosty. As we left the drive thru Maddie tells me, "Mommy, Wendy is a really nice girl." It was too cute!

I love my girls. Things around here are hectic but they do and say the funniest things.

Ughhhh...

Maddie and I were talking as Riley napped and Chloe sat next to us cooing and gurgling. The sun was shining on us as we sat next to the window on the heater vent. Then came the words that hit me like a ton a of bricks..."Mommy, I want my tummy to be flat like Ariel's." I said, "you have a flat tummy." She said, "Na, uh, look." She lifted up her shirt to show me her cute little tummy. She then said, "I need to do weight loss." Again, my jaw dropped. Did my 4 year old just say that? What in the world?? Does it really start this young??? She went on to tell me that she saw a commercial about it. I felt my stomach do a total flip and I wanted to cry. I went and told Glen what our FOUR year old daughter had just told me. I didn't want to make a HUGE deal about it because I want her to feel like she can tell me stuff like this and not have me flip out. Glen told her that Ariel was not a real person, that she was just a cartoon, and told her she was beautiful just the way she is.

As I sat there folding laundry I wanted to come up with something that might make sense to her about how everyone is different. I came up with this as she colored quietly on the floor

"Maddie, you know when mommy draws something for you and then you try to draw it, it looks different? And daddy's pictures look different than mommy's and your friends make pictures and they look different? But they all have something that is very neat and unique about them?"

"Yes." she replied.

"They all look beautiful. They are all art. You wouldn't like it if I told you your picture didn't look pretty, would you?"

She said, "no."

Then I told her that "Heavenly Father created each of us. We are his art. He made us all different, but he thinks we are all beautiful and special. When we look at someone else or at ourselves and want to change something that makes him very sad. Does that make sense?"

"Yes." she said

I told her again that she was beautiful just the way she was. I don't know how much of that sank in, but maybe one day she'll remember what I said. I know I'll have to keep reiterating all this as she grows, and not just to her but to Riley and Chloe as well. Being a girl isn't always easy. I hope that I can instill good, positive self esteem in all of them. I know it starts with my example. I hope I can be a good example of a woman with good self confidence/self esteem. I know it also starts with the type of relationship they have their dad. A father needs to show love and kindness towards his daughters and wife, so that his girls don't go looking for male attention in all the wrong ways.

I'm inches away from destroying Ariel and every other DUMB princess that makes my little princess feel she has to look like them!

UGHHHHHHH!!!!! Just ONE more thing for me to have to worry about and work on! I need a vacation!

Kids say the darndest things!

There is much to be said for Riley and her personality. She's a little firecracker. She's sweet and loving, but then she can flip a switch and be the most EXTREME opposite! We love our Ri-Ri no matter what kind of mood she's in. Even if it's a bad one we're still smiling at her (kinda sad to be smiling when she's crying, but you should see her sometimes...it's ridiculous)!!!

This morning I had LOTS to do. Glen actually took Maddie to school on his way down the mountain, but I had to pick up the house and fold all the laundry and in between all that I had to get food, put on a movie, dance to a princess song with Riley, feed Chloe, get more food, dance some more, and shower!!! Anyway, Riley was bummin that I couldn't spend all my time dancing with her. As much as I would have LOVED to dance around and twirl like a princess there was so much I needed to do. She started to get a little attitude-y with me. As I picked up toys and dress up clothes in her room I asked why she was being so snotty with me. She turned and looked at me, put her hands in the air, shrugged her shoulders and said, "hmmmm, I not know." I kind of chuckled and she gave me a smile and chuckled herself.

It was a cute moment. We have lots of those moments around here and I really need to be better and jotting them down.

Just last night Maddie was going potty before bed and she was looking down while she tinkled and said, "I'm trying to make a snowflake with my pee!" I just started cracking up and told her, "Good luck!!!"

Another thing that Maddie said to me today: We were getting ready to take the girls to my parents house so Glen and I could go out. I asked Maddie to pick up her room and make her bed. She was kind of whining and grunting about having to do it. I was putting away laundry. I came into the room as she was grunting and I kind of mimicked her and said, "Oh my life is so hard." She got very huffy puffy and her eyes weld up. I asked why she was so upset, she then told me, "I'm just sensitive to the way you were talking to me." Immediately I was put in my place and realized, "Wow, that was rude of me." I told her, "You're right Maddie, mommy shouldn't have said that, it was rude and I apologize." Even though we're the parents we are sometimes in the wrong, which is ok because we're human, but for me I feel it's important to recognize when we've done something wrong towards our children and let them know that we know we were wrong. I don't feel it shows weakness, rather strength in knowing that we aren't perfect and we can always do better. That way they can know that they can make mistakes but try to fix them and become better. I shouldn't have belittled her in that way and I felt shame for it. Thank goodness children are so forgiving!

My children are teaching me so much these days, and I know there will be many more teaching days ahead. They bring me so much joy. I'm so grateful to have each of them. It's not an easy job, being a mom, but I'm so glad that I'm doing what I'm doing. I don't think I'd have nearly as much motivation in life if it weren't for my children and great husband.

Modest Maddie

It's a new year and I need to make WAY more of an effort to blog/journal. Not just so all of you can get a kick out of all the things that happen in our day to day, but so that I can have these memories jotted down so I don't forget them! Everyday there is something interesting, crazy, funny, sweet or sad that happens in this household. I love being with my kids most days, then we have some days where I wish I was on an island FAR, FAR Away from EVERYONE, including the goldfish (YES, we have a goldfish)!

Anyway, today I'm jotting down a sweet memory of our little Maddie. Madison is a good girl, responsible and motherly. She loves to please her parents and make good choices. She doesn't always, but... so goes life! Anyway, we had her cousin over during New Year's and it was almost time for her to go. Maddie had a piece of fleece fabric that she plays with. She uses it for a blanket, large scarf, etc. Well this day she wanted it as a skirt. She asked me if I could tie it for her but her cousin offered to do it instead. Maddie was hesitant, but let her do it. Maddie runs to me, bawling her eyes out and I ask her with concern,"What's the matter?" she then tells me, "It's not modest...BAHAHAHAHAHA (more crying)!" The skirt had been made rather short, with it raising higher up on her thigh. Her cousin looks at me and says, "What does modest mean?" I explained to her that modesty means not showing lots of skin or body parts, etc.

Even though Maddie was very sad, I felt proud that she felt uncomfortable with how the skirt was tied on. It's the simple things that we teach our children that make ALL the difference. Our examples to our children are THE most important thing we can do as parents. We not only have to TEACH or children Christ-like principles but we need to LIVE them. For me, modesty is a simple yet HUGE principle we can teach our young girls, and it starts NOW when they are young... for me it starts when they're babies. No bikini bathing suits on infants (even though they look adorable), no tank tops or dresses without sleeves, and nothing that is revealing in any kind of way. Young girls should dress like young girls, not like adults, and adults should be careful with how they dress so that young girls can look towards beautiful woman who wear classy clothing WITHOUT showing off ALL of their assets!

I'm not a perfect parent AT ALL. There are MANY things I need to polish and work on. I heard a great quote the other day, "Inch by inch, it's a cinch, yard by hard, then it's hard". I think I'll use that as my parenting motto. This way I won't get bogged down with all of the things I feel I need to improve, rather, work on one thing at a time THEN move to the next thing...like blogging!;D

Happy Holidays!

Snowflake Wishes Cranberry Holiday

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Another memory from heaven?

Today, while driving to the lake I had forgotten my wedding ring so I turned around to go back and get it. Once I had it and we were on our way again Maddie was talking to me about being married, saying things like, "If you have a wedding ring then you're married and if you don't then you're not married." Then she said, "Mommy, remember I was at your wedding?" I then said, "Well you weren't there because you weren't born just yet." She very sternly replied back, "Yes, mommy, I was there at your wedding with your grandpa and then I went back up to Heaven!" I didn't really know what to say, other than "Really?" That's the second comment she's made about her and my grandpa being together before she came to earth. Since I was so close to my grandpa it's very interesting for her to mention him in the ways she has, not to mention the fact that they have many similarities one includes their red hair!

Our 4th of July

Yes, we were camping on the 4th this year, but I wanted to make a separate post of them in their 4th of July outfits I made for them this year.

I thought they were pretty cute for making them the day before we left!

Maddie and her pelican. She carried that around the whole trip. It was fun to show her the real pelicans while at the beach!

Cute little Riley


Some hugs.

Camping Trip

Every year Glen's family goes up to San Simeon near Cambria, Ca to camp. I've gone a few times, but it's not as fun for me when I'm caring for babies, so this year was the first time I've gone ever since we've had Riley. She's at a good age, sleeps through the night, and walks in the dirt instead of crawls. It was SO FUN!!! I'm so glad I went. I was kind of debating it because of the big belly I'm sportin'... But decided it would be worth it to have those memories with my family.

The campground is minutes from the Ocean. You can hear the waves crashing as you fall asleep at night. We'd spend our days at the beach laying and playing in the sand.

Riley ran...

...And ran!

Maddie LOVED to be chased by the waves. We have a great video, but it was taking forever to load. She also spent a lot of time making sand castles and digging.

She climbed this "mountain" and made it to the top! Isn't she cute!

Riley loved playing in the sand with the new sand toys we bought. She also LOVES hats and picked this one out at Walmart before our trip.

It was a little cooler this day. The ground was nice and warm though, so we took turns napping and relaxed while the kids played.

This is Brenden, Glen's cousin, holding Riley's hat!

This is Leigha and Jeffrey, Glen's other two little cousins. Jeffrey couldn't get enough of Jasper. He was either playing with him or busy trying to find anything that would burn in the fire! :D

We only had room for one dog ( and we barely had room), so we had to bring the smaller of the two. Don't be too sad though, Ginger got to play at her friend Max's house. Our friend's, the Birds golden retriever. They look like brother and sister and love each other! So, she had fun too!

Jasper kept all the younger kids occupied back at camp and of course he didn't mind the attention AT ALL! They walked him, pet him, played with him, over fed him, and pretty much just loved him to death.

This was a wonderful little trip!

Pre-camping S'mores

Maddie had been asking for s'mores for a while. Her and Glen made some while I was gone on my trip so we had all the ingredients. I promised Maddie that we'd have them for family night, but family night kept getting pushed to the next day because life gets a little busy sometimes. Finally we made them! It was Riley's first time having one! Maddie had cleaned up before hand so I wasn't able to get a picture of her messy face...Darn it! Riley pretty much turned into a Smore...good thing bath time was next!

"Yummy, momma!"

Oh, man....I LOVE this one! That's a framer!

Weekend Getaway to San Francisco

Amazingly enough my sister and I were able to get away for a WHOLE weekend! The original plan included my sweet mom but unfortunately she threw her back out AND got a terrible cough, which put her out for the whole week prior to our trip, so she couldn't make it. My sister and I decided to go on without her, only because if we didn't the opportunity would have probably passed us by and then it would be a couple more years before I felt comfortable leaving my kids again.

We stayed with my aunt Gail, my mom's sister, in her cute house in San Francisco. She really made the best of our time by taking us to great little outer towns and restaurants.

She met us at the airport and took us to a little town called Sausalito where we had a super yummy lunch at a restaurant right on the ocean called Scoma's. Jess and I both ordered THE BEST FISH TACOS EVER! After lunch we walked around the town looking at the great shops in search of a birthday gift for our mom. We stopped in at this children's boutique were we went all googly over all the ADORABLE stuff they had. My aunt bought each of our kids a cute (not as cheap as walmart) outfit! So very kind of her! Then we dropped off our luggage at her place and she took us to downtown San Francisco. I LOVE it there. It seemed almost like a mini New York...TONS of people! It was also Gay pride weekend...that made things a little spicier! :D

Here we are on our last day in San Francisco park, which is right across the street from my aunt's house. The park is HUGE. It was for a Dutch Queen, hence the dutch windmill in the background (not sure which queen, so if you're really that interested you can google it!)


This was one of the many lakes within the park. We only walked through a small portion of it and it was delightful! I LOVE this picture.

On our second day we made the two hour drive up to Carmel, which is one of my aunt's absolute favorite places. Since I had never been there I soon came to see why she loves it so much. It's such a cute, romantic little town! The homes there are AMAZING, the shops are adorable and there were so many wonderful restaurants to choose from. It was in Carmel where we found a birthday gift for our mom, a cute sun visor (she really needed a new one), and some acorn and pine cone soaps that smelled of fir trees (they go perfectly with the theme of her bathrooms).

We then took a "little" walk down to Carmel beach, which was beautiful, with white sands and gorgeous trees. I say "little" because it was actually a pretty big HILL to climb back up. Easy going down, NOT so easy going up, especially for a pregnant lady with a FULL bladder. It was worth it though.

On our drive home we drove through Monterey. I would love to take the kids up there sometime. There seemed to be lots of family activities! We stopped in at this little crepe shoppe for a quick "snack" before ending our day trip. Ohhhhh yummy, so, so good! Another great day!

Awww, gotta love the beach hair!

I Loved this tree!

Jess and I have to admit, the first night was the hardest, but it got easier to be away and we really enjoyed ourselves. We'd usually end our days with dinners at home and a good movie. It was kind of nice not having to wrestle to get the kids to brush their teeth and go to bed those nights. My aunt was so sweet and treated us the entire time! Thank you so much aunt Gail! We love you very much!

Little Fashionista!

So, our little Riley, whose not even 2 yet, has taken on a real thing for clothes! I guess they all do at this age, but it truly fascinates me how picky Riley is about her outfits these days and how GREAT she is a choosing her own! She will literally kick and scream if I pick out something she doesn't want to wear. So, I let her do it and it always works! Both of the girls LOVE dresses and skirts! I'll have to get some more pictures of her outfits because really, they always match and are super cute! I guess I've trained her well!


This picture is of one that made me decide that I could no longer have her clothes folded on top of the changing table, rather they needed to be put in bins that are harder to open! She's quite the climber and decided it'd be fun to climb up and throw all her clothes on the floor after mommy had JUST re-organized them! AHHHHHH, so aggravating, but I guess the clothes were just too inviting for a toddler!



Riley LOVES to wear her sunglasses wherever we go! Right when we get in the car they're the first thing she asks for! What's even funnier is her "I'm so cool" demeanor that she takes on once wearing them! It's the funniest, cutest thing ever!

"Yeah, I'm cool...WHAT!?"



Here's an outfit that she chose completely on her own! I HAD to get a picture, I just thought she looked too cute! She's wearing Maddie's skirt. Luckily it has an adjustable waist, still big, but worked. Tell me she didn't do a great job at picking that one out!

Oh, who could resist that adorable little face? Muuuuahhh, I just love her!

Here's my belly

Here I am at 25 1/2 weeks

It's grown since then, that was only a week ago!

Raise your hand if you Love Sundays as much as I do!!!

So, my friend was telling me how chaotic her Sundays are and asked if they were just as hectic for me as they were for her. This was my response: (She found it so entertaining she suggested I post it and asked if she could post it on her blog as well!)

"Oh, and I just LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE going to church with toddlers!!! It's so fun! I don't understand why you have such a hard time at all. It's pure bliss for me, like so totally relaxing. I'd rather be there with Riley screaming and throwing stuff, and trying to run up to the podium over being home any day! I mean who doesn't want to take a high strung toddler to sacrament meeting 3 hours past nap time? I wouldn't have it any other way, you know, because the spirit is SO strong when I'm hauling my child out kicking and screaming because I don't understand what she's asking for, because SHE doesn't even understand what she's asking for, because she's so beyond tired it's ridiculous!!! Having Sacrament last was the BEST idea (that someone who clearly doesn't have small children around anymore) came up with! I mean really, the BEST idea ever! Oh and yes, I LOVE getting my girls ready for church in the morning BY MYSELF (because my husband has meetings... another brilliant idea by someone who no longer has small children around)!!! And guess what? Not too far from now I'll be dressing THREE, 1....2...3...GIRLS in dresses with tights and hair bows (two of which are able to run away and scream "I don't want to...", plus packing a diaper bag, books, and coloring supplies, then I have to carry in the baby, and if she's in the wrap I'll have to put the wrap on, then get ALL THREE of my kids out of CAR SEATS, grab the big dumb diaper bag, make sure we're all holding hands, and walk into church! That's IF the baby is in the wrap, if she's in the car seat, I'll have to get the big dumb car seat out, plus the big dumb diaper bag, plus make sure Riley doesn't run into oncoming traffic, then make sure we're all holding hands and walk in! Should I smile when I walk in like I'm the happiest mom on the planet? Like I have the lightest load while wearing stupid dress shoes and church clothes that have hand prints with crumbs and food on both shoulders, maybe even on my buns because my kids hold onto my skirt instead of my hand after eating crackers that got all soggy and are now rubbed on me and crusted on! Yes, Yes I should, because it's a total BLESSING to be stressed, tired, moody, impatient, walked all over, puked on, pooped on, sucked on, screamed at and whined at! Ha, I crack myself up, I should write a book! I really do love being at church, but it's not always pleasant. I just find comfort in knowing I'm where I need to be and so are our kids! It will get easier as they get older I suppose, as in the sitting in sacrament quietly and not having to bring stuff for them to do, or dress them, or carry them in part. I don't know what types of challenges we'll be facing then!"

I forgot to mention having to also carry in my Primary Binder and Scriptures on top of the big dumb diaper bag and car seat, plus two small children while in heals, but hey... Did I mention I can juggle and walk across hot coals at the same time?

Disneyland

We had the BEST day at Disneyland for Maddie's Birthday. We went ON her actual birthday, which fell on a Wednesday so it wasn't too crowded. It looked like it was going to rain on our way there, but once we got to the park something magical happened and it was a PERFECT day!

It was nice going just the four of us this time. Last year we went with my whole family and Glen's two sisters, which was also a great time, but it's really hard to keep track of everyone! This time we went on lots of little kid rides, some that Glen didn't even know existed and he WORKED there! It was a surprisingly relaxing and fun day! Both girls were great, I was a little worried about Riley, because she's such a busy girl but the day definitely kept her busy enough!

Maddie and Tink!

Riley passed out on Pirates of the Caribbean!


Riley FREAKED out on the first 4 rides, the Carousel being the 4th, then after that she gave up and realized this was what the day was all about so she coped by hiding her head into my shoulder on some and then others she just quietly rode along!

In Toon Town

Daddy, Maddie and Mickey!

Mommy, Maddie and Minnie

(Riley was playing in Toon Town with either Glen or I while we waited in the line to see the characters, she was TERRIFIED of the characters!)

Minnie's Kitchen

Our Little Family

Disneyland really is a magical place!

Maddie's 4th Birthday!!

The pictures are not in order but for some reason I couldn't copy and paste them this time. Oh well!

Our Little Maddie had a

Little Mermaid

Party

Opening her presents! I didn't put them all up, but she got great gifts from family and friends!

Maddie next to her cake wearing her Little Mermaid costume!

The BEST cake made by Denise (and Heather)! Isn't that amazing!

Handing out her invitations

Maddie's BEST friend Lexi!

I still can't believe Maddie is FOUR!!! She's grown up so much, even since her Birthday, which was back in March. She's a very sweet little person. She loves to draw and knows how to write her name, my name, Riley's name and Daddy! She's very determined to get things right and won't give up until she's got it! She wanted to learn how to make the number 5 so she drew and drew and drew until she got it. Now her new challenge is trying to draw a person like how mommy draws them. I told her I LOVE the way SHE draws people because it's her own special way. She's not quite satisfied with her own version of a person but is working on perfecting her art! I think she's got a lot of Mommy and Daddy's qualities, Mommy the perfectionist, Daddy the perfectionist and a little OCD!!! More important, she's striving to do things in a way that she thinks is the RIGHT way and I don't see any harm in that! We love our little Maddie girl and are so proud of the person she is and of who she will become!