A dinomite birthday

Our little boy turned 4! Why do they keep getting older!? This year we decided to celebrate Dinosaur style. Zack insisted on a blue dinosaur cake, that looked like Rexy (from Caillou). Of course he was disappointed when I added purple spots because Rexy doesnt have purple spots. Grrrrr...oh well. He is becoming very opinionated in his old age. Anyway, his party was about to start, and I wasnt about to scrape off the frosting and start over. He invited 4 friends from his primary class, and all of them came. We started off with lunch including dino nuggets, dinosaur shaped PB&J, dino bone bread sticks, dinosaur eggs (grapes), and green dino juice. Then it was time for games. The first one was a dinosaur egg hunt. They each got to find 3 dinosaur eggs and then hatch them to find one or two dino's inside. Next up was pin the horn on the triceratops, followed by a dinosaur feet race, while balancing a dino egg in a spoon. By then, all the 3 and 4 year old boys had lost interest and they just wanted to go up to Zacks room and play! So we proceeded on to the present unavailing. I guess 3 year old boys dont understand the concept of giving gifts yet, because all the 3 year olds tried to open the gifts for Zack and see what they got! They were so disappointed the gift inside wasnt for them. Good thing we had awesome party favors to give them, so they didnt go away empty handed! After presents it was cake time! 5 minutes later they were back upstairs, so we pulled out all his train tracks and race car set, and put on Ice-Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs to keep them busy, until pick up time. And to think I was actually worried about fitting everything in! 5 days later was Zack's actual birthday. He wasnt feeling very well, as once again the sickies hit our house. Grandma Taylor called and sang a happy Birthday song, and at the same time, her present arrived at our door. So she got to listen as he opened it. Youll notice in that picture that his eyes are all red and watery, because he wasnt feeling good, but I think getting another present cheered him up. Later that evening, we celebrated his actual birthday as a family, by consuming cupcakes and opening the family gifts. When Zack realized he was getting another celebration, he figured it was another birthday, and this time he was turning 5. Too bad for him, I get to keep him 4 a little while longer! Family gifts included a paper jams guitar, a roads rug to drive his cars on, and a new lamp for his room. He stole Daddy's lamp a while ago and uses it at night when he goes to sleep. He was excited to finally have one to call his own. So that about sums it up. We cant believe how big he is getting. Of course we have realized just how quickly the time goes and I hate to miss an opportunity to let him cuddle me still. He is a total Mommas boy (Yay me), and loves to sit on my lap, and give hugs and kisses. Although, now he doesnt want to marry me anymore...I think Ryan turned him away from it...now he wants to marry Katelin. I'll take what I can get, while I can get it. Enjoy the picture slide show!

Surprise!

Spring break came early this year, so what a better way to get some Wisconsin winter relief, then to take a little trip to...

The Dells!

I was pretty proud of Ryan for being spontaneous and going along with my impromptu plan of surprising the kids with a spring break mini vacation. Usually, spontaneity isnt his strong suit. I guess this winter has got him as desperate as the rest of us. So Monday rolled around like any other day off of school, and I fully used our plans to my advantage by telling the kids that if they were super well behaved and helpful, then we would go do something fun on Tuesday. Ryan called later, to see how things were going and added to the fun by telling the kids that he would take the day off and come with us for whatever fun thing we were going to do...if they were good, but dont tell Mom...its a secret. (:

Of course the kids were angels, so Ryan "managed" to get the day off. I got everything packed and ready to go on Monday night, after the kids were asleep. Tuesday morning, we told them to get on their swimsuits because we were going to try out a new indoor pool that Ryans old boss (Megan) told us about, but it was a little further away. Of course, they werent expecting 2 1/2 hours away, so we did hear a lot of..."how much longer?", and "are we there yet?", to which the reply was always "almost!" As we started getting closer, there began to be some signs advertising some of the Dells parks. Alissa saw one of the signs actually advertising the place we were going to and said, "Hey, look! Maybe thats where we are going?", and Madi corrected her by replying "No, thats a condo!" Haha...so funny.

Finally, about 20 minutes to arrival, Katelin says "These look a lot like the mountains on the way to the Dells."

I reply "Really? You remember what it looks like?"

"Yeah, I remember everything about it, because it was so much fun!"

"Really? Well, look around, what else do you notice?" There was a big red billboard that said Wisconsin Dells on it.

"Maybe Megan was talking about the Dells!?"

We just started to laugh.

"Actually, we never talked to Megan."we admitted. Looks of confusion. "We are going to the Dells, and we are going to stay there for the night."

Alissa: "I KNEW IT!"

Katelin and Madi "YEAH! AWESOME!"

Anyway, it was fun to put one over on them, because keeping surprises is not my strong suit. I usually get too excited or nervous and it gives it away.

Anyway, we decided to try somewhere new this time, just to try it. Mistake. We really missed the last resort we went to. They had 3 different indoor areas. This place just had one, and there wasnt much of it that didnt include shooting water, so Zack and Brylee didnt get super into it. We spent most the time on the lazy river, which ended up being Zacks favorite part. They did have some fun bigger slides that we rotated going on with Madi and Katelin, and a pretty cool raft coaster. Alissa learned after our last experience, that the water slides are actually fun, so she didnt waste any time getting in as much slide time as possible. But it all got old after the same thing for 2 days. The condo was also a big letdown in comparison to the other resort, but I wont get into that. We still had fun, and it was nice to pretend for a minute that it was warm outside by wearing our swimsuits around for 2 days. So, enough talk. Heres the slide...the slide show I mean.

DDDD 2011

*DDDD-Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance

This year, Ryan was lucky enough to have 3 of his beautiful daughters accompany him to the annual school Dance. For Alissa, it was her first time. For Madison, her last. The girls anticipate this day all year long, and it never disappoints. This is the one fundraising event we actually feel good about! Here they are on their big night. All smiles!

For some reason, Ryan always insists on this pose. I think he is trying to look surprised or embarrassed that the girls are kissing him, but to me he just looks terrified! I think his plans are to re-create it when they get married, and then maybe it really will be a look of fear.
Alissa's first pose as Daddy's date.

Madison, getting too big to sit on Daddy's knee.

Katelin is always our little poser. She tilts her head to the side while raising her shoulders and holding her hands together in almost every pose we take of her. She loves being dressed up and looking beautiful!

There they go...off with my Man! Hands off girls-he's still mine at the end of the night!

When they came home, they came bearing ice-cream sundaes. They even brought one for me so I wouldnt feel so left out. Then I came to find that that was actually their third sundae of the night. "But the other two were really small Mom!" Uh Huh. Someone likes to spoil his girls...at least on one special night of the year. As always, Im sure it will be a night to remember!

Guess who...

...got CONTACTS!

The lady that helped her learn how to put them in said she has never seen anyone her age be able to do it. We know a couple people that got them at her age. I guess they didnt go to the same place. (= Anyway, she is adjusting well, and it only takes her under 30 minutes to get them in...trust me, thats a huge improvement from when she started. It can only get better, right? Im so happy to be able to see her beautiful eyes in her pictures again, and not have to worry about the glare her glasses always gave us...how rude! Im sure the next step will be shaving her legs and wearing make-up. Im really not ready for this growing up thing, but I guess if she has to do it, baby steps is the way to go. 7 more months to Junior High. Big Sigh.

The Great Blizzard of 2011

I wasnt going to post about this since I already published tons of pictures on facebook, but for those of you who dont have a facebook account (ahem...Julie), I guess this can be for you. Besides everyone else was posting about it, and I felt left out. Ryan did remind as well that the blog has taken over as my journal, so I guess for those of you who are sick of hearing about all our snow, than you can just bypass it and leave it for my own personal records.

Anyway, to the point!

It just happened to be on groundhog day, that all of us in southeastern Wisconsin awoke to find ourselves buried in mounds of snow. Sorry Mr.Groundhog...you wont be seeing your shadow this year! Its okay, they warned us it was coming and had already informed us that school would be cancelled and work closed down due to the impending storm. Imagine how disappointed we would have been if there werent feet of snow on the ground in the morning. We were all very excited as if Santa had come and ran to every window to see where the biggest snow drift was. The high winds made it much more interesting and it reminded me of the mountains in Utah...not size, but shape. I wanted to own a shrink ray at that moment and get on some ski's and ski down the huge snow drifts! Upon a second inspection of the windows, we saw this truck stuck in front of our house. I dont know where he was trying to go, or why he thought his truck could make it through the un-plowed 3 ft of snow on the road, but he didnt get very far.

Our kind neighbors helped shovel them out while we just watched and laughed. Ryan did start to get ready to go help, (we arent totally heartless) but by the time he was ready, they were already moving again...backwards the way they had come.

After the snow had stopped, it was time to dig out. Here's Zack in front of the drift that was against our garage door.
Ryan doing a blackflop.

The view from the front of the house. See Zack poking his head up over the top, trying to figure out how to get over it?

There he is. "Help!"

The play area...destined to be turned into a huge snow fort. Check out the fence...the snow is all the way to the top. Awesome!

My poor apple tree, or the top of it at least.

Im guessing the mail wont be delivered today?

Finally, a path cleared. Zack is much happier to be free!

We found the sidewalk!All done, well...except for the road. The plow finally made it by later that day and left us with another 3 ft long and 4-5 ft deep mound to clear. It was kinda cool to have all the neighbors out at the same time, clearing snow, and helping each other. Thanks to our neighbor...the nice one again...who plowed our sidewalk in the front of the house for us. (: Actually, all of our neighbors are very nice.

In the meantime-

We made the most of the hill in our backyard. Ryan is usually the one who gets to do this, but he was stuck working from home, so I got to go out and play!

Katelin Madi

Me and Alissa. We won the contest for going the farthest distance down the hill. Walking back up was a challenge since it was so steep and deep.

Next up...tunnels!

You cant tell from these pictures, but this tunnel was actually about 5 ft long.

My snow buddies:

Caves:
And a little art work to make the fort more homey.

I actually had a lot of fun out there. It reminded me of when I was a kid. Plus, now I know, if I ever get buried in the snow, I have experience in tunneling out of it. Of course, one of the best parts of playing in the snow is coming in to drink hot chocolate! I think it was well deserved this day. The kids ended up getting the next day off of school as well. Unfortunately, the temps dropped down into the negatives, so the kids didnt get as much play time. They did go out for a bit and came in with really rosy cheeks. Thats okay, more hot chocolate! The next day we were given an optional school day. I opted to let them go. No sense in denying them a quality education right? It was all totally for their benefit...really.

Funny thing: its snowing again right now. (:

My 2011 Word

I have a confession to make.

Im not a very good listener.

I have especially been noticing this lately. My mind wanders when someone is talking for more than the normal amount of time required to give a simple reply to a question. When my kids ask me something, I often interrupt them to give them the answer. Even if I think I know the question, I should let them finish sharing their side of the argument before I jump to a response. It drives Zack crazy. He has shown reasonable frustration with me and has told me on more than one occasion "Mom! Just listen to me!" Ryan has even caught me on several occasions wandering off and not paying attention to what he is saying, or reading. Sorry Hun.

My brain especially switches gears quickly during church, or scripture reading. Granted, I usually have more than one little rascal climbing over and on top of me during church. But on the rare occasion that they are quiet, I still cant concentrate on the speaker. Even when its just me at a Womens conference or training of some sort, I find myself somewhere else.

While driving in the car, I must have the radio on at all times. I miss out on many opportunities to talk to the kids while they are trapped with me inside the car. It would help if there was no arguing going on, but still. The other day, my Zack again told me while in the car "The radio is too loud mom. Mom? MOM! The radio is too loud!" It really wasnt that loud, really. But after turning it down a couple times and still being yelled at from the back seat, I decided it wasnt worth the good song that was on, and I just flipped it off. I was frustrated for only a second and then realized...hey, its kinda nice having some quiet. See how much kids can teach us!

I dont know whats wrong with me. Maybe its ADD. Maybe Im bored. Maybe Im just too distracted. Maybe Im a dreamer, have an overactive imagination, or Im just plain rude. Whatever the reason, I have chosen to work on it this year, so my word for the year is:

LISTEN.

I found the Chinese symbol for "attentive listening", and really enjoyed how they portrayed it. I need to learn how to give my undivided attention. Usually my attention is divided into a few different directions. I dont know if its normal or not, but I have conversations with myself... inside my head...on a regular basis. I find Im much easier to reason with and get along with then other people. I always give myself the response I am looking for, and I always come out feeling like I made a very good point. If only I could be this articulate and make this much sense when I am talking to other people. I can never seem to find the appropriate and wise response to others like I can in my own head. It always comes later, when I am re-playing the conversation in my head and thinking about what I really should have said. Maybe thats part of my problem. I start thinking of responses to the beginning of a conversation, and in turn forget to listen to the end of it. By the time they are done talking, I have wandered into a complete separate isle of my brain. I know that probably falls into a whole seperate mental issue.

I hesitated telling you all this, because I dont want people to stop talking to me. I do listen most of the time. I just have a hard time when the person talking to me just keeps going...and going, or when I am disinterested in the topic. I would not make a good shrink. As much as I want to be descibed as a good listener, and be able to give useful advise...I dont think I have ever earned that title.

Did you notice the heart at the bottom of the symbol. I especially loved that. Listening is not just something we do with our ears. It requires our heart to be involved as well. If I can get my heart more involved with others...the rest should come easy. I have so much to learn from people with different experiences than me, so why should I only listen to those who I relate too? On the occasions that I have paid attention and listened to someone who is so much different from me, I have really enjoyed it. It needs to become a more regular occurrence. It also shows the eyes. Ah, eye contact-another key to listening that I fail on.

So, if you are still listening, here are the 5 main keys I decided I need to work on in able to achieve my goal.

Dont interrupt.

Be more loving.

Be undivided, concentrate.

Care

Make eye contact.

And please dont stop talking to me, because then I will never reach my goal. I know I have given you ample reason to believe I am crazy, but hopefully with your help, I can become a little less crazy. I hate having to ask people "what?" when they ask me something. Or even worse having to admit "oh sorry, I wasnt listening." This especially happens with telephone conversations, so I try to steer clear from those. So if I tell that to you, then just smack me upside the head and remind me to PAY ATTENTION! Thanks!

When Mom's away

One of the things I love about Ryan is that he is such a good Dad. He loves playing with the kids and is always willing to take them on when I need a time out. This day was one of those days. I went to spend the day with some girlfriends shopping and dining, while he stayed home with the kids for the next 7 hours. One of the things he took on while I was away, was building snowmen. Yes...snowMEN! I came home to a whole family of snowpeople, and Im not talking about my kids. Let the rolling begin!

Zack practicing his act for the circus.

There was a total of 5 snowmen...one for each kid. Here they are showing off their very own creations. Madi's is the tallest f course.

Katelin's is the one with the red scarf.

Alissa used a leaf for a scarf.

All together now. Can you see the one on the end with the rock in the bottom of it? That's a belly button. Guess who's snowman that one is! (:

I guess Zack and Brylee must have gotten cold a lot quicker than the others, because they were not in any final pictures, and their snowmen were a bit bare.

I was very impressed when I got home and saw these winter creations. I didnt think we had enough snow to do it, or that it was good building snow. I was proven wrong. Unfortunately, this snow family didnt last long. It rained the next two days, quickly melting the works of art. ): At least they had fun, and made some memories with their dad!