Halloween 2010

Halloween was slightly uneventful this year. We missed having Grandma and Grandpa here! Here were my two cuties though!!!

Cozumel 2010

Another great time in Cozumel. Great family time with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Pat, Auntie Khris, Uncle Ryan, Auntie Lisa, Hollie, Hannah, Kaitlyn & Caleb. The kiddos are all getting so big and each year they gain a little more independence. This year no big bumps and bruises for the kids! Yeah!!! Someone invited the jellyfish on our vacation which we could have done without but we didn't let them get us down. The boys were all very excited to see a huge Baracuda... us girls chickened out and decided we didn't really want to see it! We had so much fun with you all... can't wait for our next trip wherever it may be!

Madi got her hair braided at Mr. Sancho's... we hiked two miles down the beach there and two miles back and the lady braided it so tight we only made it 2 days. Oh well... it was cute while it lasted.

At the market there was a bird.... A couple of really pretty birds. Go figure you had to pay to take pictures of them. What's new??? Drew got to go first... he did not want the bird on his head to Daddy got to get in on the action too!

Madi got one on each arm...

Hanging out on the swing before we take the long trek back!

Drew having a blast jumping in the water! We have come a long way in the last year!

Madi lounging in the shallow end of the pool.

Family shot

My favorite pic of Madi this trip...

My little guy has changed soooo much since last year.

Humoring mommy even with the sun in their eyes!

Taking in the beautiful Cozumel morning with Daddy!

How special to have Grandpa and Grandma with us this trip!!!!

Taking in the sunset with Mommy...

Hurry before it washes away!!!! Oh how fast that happens!

Our Crew for the week!

Sweet cousins... we missed you Manos!

My two cutie pies that are getting WAY TOO BIG!

Bringing back memories...

An October trip to Wisconsin meant that we could actually visit the pumpkin farm that we went to as kids. I was so excited to share this with Madi and Drew!!! We went on a weekday to avoid some of the crowds so not too much was open but we did get our own personal hay ride! We fed the animals and fed them and fed them oh... and fed them some more... The kids had a blast running, climbing and jumping around the hay bale maze. Probably my biggest excitement from the whole experience was that it was cool enough to wear our jeans and sweatshirts!!! Finally a trip to the pumpkin farm where we weren't in shorts and t-shirts and still hot!!! Side note to this all... Madi found a pair of Grandma's pretend glasses while in Wisconsin... she was attached to them and wore them constantly... I was able to wiggle them off for a few pictures but not many!!!

Drew's First Day...

Again my post is slightly delayed... in my defense, I have not had a lot of spare time lately! So here goes... Drew is officially a Busy Bug! The preschool year has started... for the last time! :( Oh My! Drew is in Miss Sharon's class and he is an old pro now being that it is his 3rd year and his last! He is so excited to have the same teacher that Madi had when she was 4! He is having a great time and doing well! He loves reading the instructions on the worksheets and is so excited to get homework on occasion. Let's hope the excitement for homework still exists in a few years!

Backtracking a bit... Again!!!

So I just managed to get the last few pictures from our summer trip off of our camera. I always seem to get ahead of myself in the blog with pictures that get sent to me. Oh well. Back to the last couple of notable times from our trip. My two talented and creative nieces, Michaela and Hollie, always keep the little girls entertained. Of course the little ones love that they are playing with the older girls. They choreographed dance routines with the little ones while we were home. Can I just say... ADORABLE! They were so cute and so made me miss living closer to "home" even more. I am so sad that Madi and Drew miss out on these times with their cousins more often! Anyhow... back to the story -- they even choreographed a routine to Super Mario Brothers Music for the little boys. Too funny! It was awesome. The night before we had to leave, they gave the little girls "bunny makeovers." They were so cute... see for yourself below!

Love the bunny paws by Kaitlyn & Madi

Later that evening my really good friend, Rochelle, came with her son Riley to visit! Rochelle and I have been friends since... well how old am I again?!? We lived next door to each other from babies until we were 5(I was seriously traumatized when her family moved but we have never lost touch and it has been 30 years now!) We had a great time visiting... I am sad our visits are so far in between!


The 2 mamas and all their kiddos...

This pretty much was the end of our trip in Wisconsin and our trip altogether. As my brother put it the next night was big time blubber fest. I think being there longer made it even harder to leave. Though I am so proud of my Mickety Mack... She held strong WAY longer than she usually does! There were not too many dry eyes that Wednesday night and those tears washed me completely through Wisconsin and a good portion of Illinois.

Since we got back it has been nothing but craziness... but such is life. If I survive through another school year's worth of Thursdays between school, preschool, school, dance, tball and meetings, I should be able to survive anything!

Madi is a first grader!!!

Madi was able to meet her teacher last Friday night! Here is a picture of her and Mrs. Maggart... her first grade teacher. Mrs. Maggart is so incredibly sweet! She is going to be awesome for Madi! Madi was so excited after Friday and could not wait for the first day to arrive! Now a couple of days in; all is going great(except for getting up so early) and Madi loves first grade! P.S. Madi proudly wearing her Teravista shirt that many of this mama's hours went into!

All the cousins...

We managed to get the cousins all together for some pictures... Hopefully we can make this an annual event.