Pet Day

This week Macie had "Pet Day" at preschool.  I hesitated to take our dog Moose because he is so "energetic" to put it nicely!  But I decided that since he is our only pet we should probably just take him.  Macie was SO excited to take him, too.  I put his e-collar on to make sure he would be a good listener and he ended up doing GREAT!  I even had parents complimenting on how good of a dog he is and how well he listens to commands!  I NEVER thought I'd hear someone comment on how good of a dog he is!  I guess our training investment was all worth it?

Anyway, there were a few other dogs and one of the girls brought her pet turtle.  Macie held Moose's leash while she talked about him.  She told everyone how old he was, his name, what kind of dog he is and that he's crazy.  She told them about the time we bought a brand new blow-up pool and only a few hours after we had bought it and swam in it he chewed a hole in in and ruined it...apparently she hasn't forgotten about it! (It was 2 summers ago)

The rest of the kids who didn't bring live animals brought stuffed animals...it was so cute to see how excited they were about even the pretend animals!

Pax forgets that Moose isn't a horse! 

Moose is so patient with the kids...that's the great thing about labs I guess.  I have to say a year ago I wondered if I would ever be able to like my dog because he was SO out of control...but he really proved what a good dog he can be and has settled down a lot...even if he is still kind of crazy!  We love our Moosey!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had such a nice Mothers Day this year.  On Sunday morning we went out to Ryan & Mackensie's house for brunch.  I had volunteered to do it but they volunteered their house so I tried to do most of the food since I appreciated not having to clean my house and prepare for it!  Ever since we took it off the market I have been on kind of a cleaning strike...after keeping it spotless for 6 months straight I just need a break!

Anyway, brunch was delicious!  My mom and dad came along with my grandma and my aunt Nancy who was in town for the weekend.  And thankfully the weather was beautiful so the kids spent most of the time playing outside while the adults hung out and talked!  It was a nice morning!

Afterwards we stopped by Tony's parents' house to visit for a little while.  Then later on we went out to my aunt Charli's for a BBQ.  It was a fun day!

I'm sure I say this every year but I am so lucky to have such amazing mothers in my life.  I have the best mom who would drive 10000 miles if I needed her to do bring me something and would do almost anything for me and my kids (and anyone else!)  Sometimes I worry that people take advantage of her kindness!  She is like my best friend and we talk daily...everytime my phone rings Tony says "What does your mom want?!"  I also have an AMAZING grandmother who I am so thankful to be so close to.  I was lucky enough to grow up a couple houses away and she has always been one the people I can call or talk to when I just need someone to talk to.  She is such an amazing example, too.  She and Macie are like soulmates as well...they are the best of friends and love each other so much.  Their relationship is priceless.

I also have such a great mother-in-law.  So many people have crazy mother-in-laws and I feel so blessed to have mine.  She is so respectful of my parenting style and doesn't ever try to step on my toes or tell me how to do things...even though I'm not even close to perfect. She is always willing to help out and is so great with my kids.  She is such a sweet person.

And of course all of the women in my life who are mothers who inspire me to be a better mother and person!

Motherhood is by far the best job there is.  I am constantly worrying that I'm not good enough and always trying to do better.  There are days that are so crazy & tiring that I just can't wait for bedtime, but at the end of the day it comes down to the fact that I am completely in love with my kids.  I miss them when I'm not with them and I worry about them constantly.  I set a lot of goals when I was younger and I've accomplished a lot of them, but motherhood was always at the top of the list.  There is no job that is more important.  I am so blessed that I have been given the opportunity to raise these sweet spirits...I literally don't know what I would do without them!

Mackensie, Mom, Me

4 generations...my grandma was so mad that I made her take this picture because she hasn't dyed her hair recently...but she's beautiful anyway!

Cute Joey and Mack.  They are getting too big.  I have babysat these boys since they were born and it makes me feel really old to look at them as TEENAGERS!  What sweet boys they are, though.  They have had such a good mother (my aunt Charli) who has raised them with good values, respect, manners, etc. 



Tony's Alumni Baseball Game

On Saturday Tony played in a MHS Baseball Alumni game for all of the old players.  And by old, I mean, back to guys who graduated in 1975!  There were 3 games and the teams were divided by year graduated, Tony being on the 2nd youngest team.  He played in the first game against guys who graduated between 2000-2009, his team was 1999-1996. 

Can I just start by saying how excited he was for this game!  We played catch all week and on Friday night we went on a date to the batting cages.  It was funny to see how giddy he was to relive a moment of high school!

Tony did pretty well, he had one base hit and struck out 3 times but he played 1st base, catcher, and right field really well.  His brother Casey was on his team as well.  They didn't win the game, but it was fun to watch.  I think they are going to start doing this yearly...they do it as a fundraiser for the current team so it benefits everyone.  And I don't mean to be cheesy but I have to add that watching Tony get out and play baseball in his baseball pants/uniform and seeing how into it he was...it was just plain sexy!  :)

Anyway, Tony was pretty upset that he didn't hit a homerun but I'm sure he'll work on it for next year!  We ran home and he showered and we grabbed lunch then went back for the 2nd game which Tony's other brother Kip played in.  By the time the 3rd game started we'd watched 5 hours of baseball and the kids were done so we left.  But it was the oldest 2 teams and would have been fun to watch!  What a fun day, getting together with people we don't usually see.  Oh yeah, and for the record, Tony was really sore the next day!  Haha!

Goodnight Routine

I just wanted to document our nighttime routine.  Of course we do the brush the teeth and go potty/change diaper thing first.  Sometimes Tony and I split the kids up and tuck one in but sometimes we do it together.  When we tell them it's bedtime sometimes Pax will run and jump in Macie's bed and pull the covers over him and say "I sleepin"...it's too cute!

Seriously?  Could they be any cuter?!
(P.S.  That giant stuffed dog is Macie's newest thing that she has to sleep with...along with her blue bear "Bluie", pillowpets, and a few blankets!)

My kids LOVE books which makes me happy.  We have to read a story before bedtime every night. Macie is learning to read so she helps out a lot.  And Pax will finally sit and listen to a book without losing interest.  His current favorite is "The Potty Book for Boys"....he requests it EVERY night!
Macie's favorite right now is "Green Eggs and Ham."

And of course we say our prayers.  Macie is getting really good at saying them on her own and Pax will say "Heavy Fodder, mank you for dis day" then as one of us continues on with the prayer he'll kind of copy words here and there.  If we try to leave his room without a prayer at naptime or bedtime he yells "Fold Arms" until we go back.

Both the kids have to sleep with humidifiers to drown out noises and Macie has a butterfly nightlight.  Pax has to have his puppy, binky (still), monkey, and a blanky over him.  Nothing is sweeter than checking on them while they are asleep and seeing their sweet little sleeping faces.  We have enforced a strict "no kids in our bed" rule during the night but on the weekends they will come in in the mornings and snuggle with us in our bed and watch "Bubble Guppies" so we can get a little more sleep!

Pax usually goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes up between 7:45-8:15am.  Macie usually goes to bed around 9:00 and wakes up around 7:15-7:30am. 

Love those two!  :)

Easter

Well I'm a little late posting Easter, but oh well.  The week before Easter I took the kids to see the Easter bunny at the mall...Pax was creeped out and wanted nothing to do with her...can't say I blame him!  You'd think they could come up with a better costume than that!

This year with both kids birthdays and a busy week before Easter, we didn't dye any eggs.  Luckily Macie didn't even notice!

On Easter morning the kids were super excited to see the baskets that the the Easter bunny had filled for them.  They got some cute things.  Then they hunted for their special eggs...Pax was more interested in the candy from the first egg that he found and didn't really care to find the rest.  Macie found all of hers really quick and of course had to open every one of them to see which ones had money so she could put it in her bank!

I love 1pm church when it comes to the holidays.  The kids were able to enjoy their new Easter treats/toys and we made a big breakfast and just hung out all morning.  We went to church and attempted to get something out of our meetings which isn't always easy with kids!  I was really looking forward to Relief Society but after being in there for maybe 15 minutes the nursery girl brought me Pax with a poopy diaper.  Not only had he pooped but of course it was runny and soaked through his pants.  I changed him but his pants & onesie were still wet so I had to run home with him, put his pants in the wash, change his onesie, throw the pants in the dryer and be back to pick up Tony and Macie. 

We hurried and got ready to go then headed to my aunt and uncle's house in Centerville.  We had dinner with all of my family there and it was such a BEAUTIFUL day that the kids were able to play outside the whole time and of course loved it!  We had an egg hunt after dinner and Macie got the golden egg...she was so excited she found it...it had $5 in it!

Anyway, we had a fun day!

The Easter bunny left the coolest reusable plastic cups with straws.  I had been searching everywhere for them because we have smoothies on a daily basis and I could never find kid-sized cups so we always used the cheap cups you get at restaurants.  So I may have been a little more excited about those cups then they were, but they have definitely gotten their use!

I love that face!

My favorite part of Easter is getting to dress my kids up in super cute outfits!

Macie & Mack found the golden eggs!

Everyone checking out their loot.

This is the best (and only) family picture that we got all day....the sun was so bright we couldn't even look at the camera!  (And Pax wasn't happy about having to part with his candy!)

Cute Macie and Molly...they wore the same exact outfit so they could be twinners!



Macie's 5th Birthday!

How sad is it that I had to work on my daughter's 5th birthday!?  It made me feel really bad but since we mostly celebrated the Saturday before it was okay.  She woke up before I left that morning and I had a little gift for her....Little Mermaid squinkies and a new outfit for her day. 

Mom spoiled her throughout the day and let her choose all of her meals...she chose McDonalds pancakes for breakfast and Little Caesars pizza for lunch.  During my lunch I was feeling guilty for not being with her on her day so I went to Target and bought a few more presents for her. 

I met Tony, Mom, Macie & Pax at Wingers (Macie's choice) for dinner.  Then we went over to Mom's house and had cake (a yummy Schmidt's cake that Tony picked out for her) with my grandma and Dad.  Then we stopped by Tony's parents' house because Grandpa Dennis LOVES Schmidts cakes and we felt we needed to share....so we had cake with them and Casey & Tracey who were also over there.  She had a fun birthday week!

We sure love Macie!  I can't believe my baby is going to Kindergarten this year.  I am so proud of the sweet girl she is becoming and how smart she is.  She is always saying funny things and making us laugh.  Happy Birthday Macie!

Macie's Birthday Party

As much as I love having spring babies, having 2 birthdays within 2 1/2 weeks with Easter right around the corner can sometimes be kind of stressful!  But I wouldn't trade it...because once we're done, we're done for a year!  Anyway, Macie's birthday is always right around Easter as well as LDS General Conference so planning a birthday party can get kind of tricky.  We had it on the Saturday before her birthday this year (March 31st), between conference sessions.

Macie had a "Sweet" party and we had a candy/sweet shop that everyone got to take home their choice of sweets in their bags.  Almost everyone we invited was able to come so we had a full house but they had fun!  We ate lunch, played "Pin the candy in the mouth" (kind of like pin the tail on the donkey but my own version), played a gumball in the cupcake pan game that I came up with on a whim, ate cake & opened presents!

Macie had a great time but I could tell she was a little disappointed that her boyfriend Dallas wasn't able to come.  His 92 yr old great-grandma was baptized into the LDS church and understandably it was something he had to attend.  However, he stopped by a little later to bring Macie a cute little gift (some darling earrings & a bracelet) and we sent him home with some sweets and balloons for him and his brothers.  That completely made her day...she was so happy after that!  We sure love Dallas!

Since we pretty much celebrated Macie's birthday on Saturday we gave her our gifts that morning.  She had to wait until after ice skating lessons to open them but it was the first thing she did when she got home.

We got her a new scooter, a barbie set, some books, and a few other little things.

The Sweet Shop....the balloons in the middle were wrapped and put on a stick to look like lollipops.  I had planned to line them up on the walk into the house but it ended up being a super windy day so we kept them inside.

We decided we'd better feed the kids something healthy before we loaded them up with sugar!  They had turkey sandwiches, chips & strawberries for lunch.

One of the party favors that I made most of the girls (some left without theirs) were the gumball necklaces that Macie has on.  I saw it on Pinterest (my favorite!) and had to make them.  They turned out pretty cute!

Top Row: Crew, Rilyn, Molly, Halle, Savannah, Macie, Grace
Bottom Row: Guya, Kally, Pax, Maddie, Bailey, Mia, Rachel

Someone was a little tired from a long day of partying!  :)