A Day with my Little Ladies

I really wanted to go snowboarding last weekend...  The girls decided that they wanted to come along.  The boys decided to stay home and have some MALE bonding time.

It was a beautiful day on the slopes.  While getting on the first lift, Caitlin sat down and we noticed only 1 ski came with us.  OOPS...  The people behind us grabbed her ski for us.  She was very worried.  I reassured her that we could safely exit the chair lift together.  I grabbed onto her and had her ski down with one ski on.  It was a SUCCESS!!!!  She thought that it was so cool.  I love how just the little things in life make kids happy.

We played follow the leader for the day.  I always had to be in the back.  If I get next to or in front of them, they freak out.  They worry about crashing and me not being there to help them.  Actually it has happened before, but I had to climb back up the hill to them ----  EXHAUSTING...

I am so happy that they like to ski.  It feels great to be able to do it again after so many years sitting out!   I definitely feel a little older.  Getting up and down to put my binding on and off after every run is a little harder 9 years later...

Snowmobiling

We have only been able to ride the snowmobile a few times this winter.  Thankfully last weekend, we were FINALLY at home WITH snow on the ground!  The kids are at a great age.  I let them go out by themselves and ride laps around the house.  Izzy chases and barks at them the whole time.   It brings back so many memories of my brother and I.  We would ride the snowmobile until my parents turned the lights off in the back yard :)

Caitlin is so much more brave this year.  This is her on the sled laying down.

 I love all the different seasons that Michigan has!!!  Our winter wonderland...

MCAT'S ROCK!!!!!

What an awesome season and experience.  I am so happy that the kids started swimming with MCATS in November.  It is a great team and I just adore their coach, LIZ.  My kids have always been little fish in the water, but hadn't learned any technical skills.

We have been swimming three days a week since November 1.  We have had several meets throughout the season.

Madison with her great friend OLIVIA

 I just love these two girls --- So cute!

 Blake won the SPORTSMANSHIP of the year TROPHY...  I couldn't be prouder of him.  That totally sums Blake up.  He is the sweetest 9 year old that I know.  There about 75 swimmers and he won this!

 Awesome support --- notice their MCAT shirts???

 Madison is sitting in the chair.  She is waiting for her heat.  She is always soooo nervous until she steps on to the diving blocks... THEN all serious.

 This is one of my favorite pics of her swimming.  Still can't believe how awesome she is and only 7!!!

 Great Cheerleaders

 Did I mention that it is extremely hot and humid in the pool area???  Caitlin needed a little cool off time.

 Two first place and a second place ribbon.  She only swam three races.  Can't get much better than that for the first season :)  We can't wait until next season!!!!

Picky Eaters

It is definitely my fault that my kids are such picky eaters...  From the time that they were babies, I have never been a great cook.  I don't like to cook and actually have no idea where to even start.  BUT, I do love baking -- Caitlin and I love baking muffins together.

My kids love meatballs.  We do eat these once a week.  I usually always make their turkey meatballs very plain and then make some for Brett and I that actually have seasoning on them.  I bought ITALIAN style ground turkey instead of just the plain turkey.  I figured that they would never know.  Madison took the first bite and said, "these taste different"...  I just started laughing...  Blake said that they tasted like rubber.  Since I spent the time making them, they were going to eat them.

Caitlin suggested plugging her nose and said that they didn't taste so bad...  Got to love kids!!!!!  You would have thought that I was making them eat lima beans (YUCK - I even hate those).  Madison ended up crying about it!!!!  In the end, they all plugged their noses and ate them.

Caitlin loves putting on dresses and dancing around the house...  She can really shake it!!!  We are definitely in trouble.

Avalanche Bay

We spent two nights up at Boyne Mt and NEVER even skied.  Our kids were so excited to do the water park.  I must say that the water park (Avalanche Bay) was really fun, but snowboarding at Boyne MT was hard to pass up...

Chocolate pancakes on her birthday!!!

 This was priceless...  Madison was so sweet with Caitlin!

 Sisterly LOVE

 Blake loved getting water dumped right on top of him...

 Vertigo (aka toilet bowl) was an awesome water slide...  Cait could ride it as long as I went with her.  We had a blast on that slide.

 Birthday Treat.  Madison is so shy.  I think that she liked her dessert though.

 Nothing like being in an outdoor pool to watch fireworks on your birthday.  This picture shows the ski hill still lit up.  They then turned the lights off and shot fireworks from the top of the mountain.

 Crazy Blake - running into the snow and then jumping back in the pool.

 Not quite sure if her head was even on her pillow before she fell asleep Saturday night.

My 8 Year OLD

I still can't believe that Madison Belle is 8!  I love when the kids have a birthday.  It is so cute how special they feel.  We try to make a HUGE deal at our house.  I try my hardest to feel like it is all about them that day!!!!!  I wish that I was so excited to have a birthday :) We normally have a big friends party wherever they want.  However, this year we convinced Madison that instead of having a big friends party that we should go up north.  It took a bit of convincing (and I still am letting her have a few girls over to spend the night --- I am such a sucker) Grandma and Papa took us all to Boyne MT for the weekend.  I will post more on our weekend later...

Caitlin and I took balloons to school and surprised Madison.  We actually went into her room during lunch/recess and tied them to her chair.  She had no idea that they would be there when she returned to her room.  She LOVED it!!!!!

 Thank you Blake ---  Madison loves to dance!

 Caitlin picked out a horse.

 Thank you Aunt Christy and Emily --- Justice ROCKS!!!!

On the GO - AGAIN!!!

I am packing again...  We have had such a busy last few weeks.  We are going to Boyne MT. to celebrate Madison's 8th birthday.  We will be going to the waterpark and skiing.  The kids are more excited about the water than the snow --- NOT ME!  I am not a huge fan of being wet for long periods of time.  I love swimming and waterslides, but can't stand to be damp for hours...  I can do it for one day for the kids though.  It will be fun now that they are all grown up.  The last time that we went for a weekend to the Great Wolf Lodge we had a baby and two toddlers.  It was so much work...

I can't believe that we have outgrown the SUBURBAN...  We just got a new Yakima rack for it.  It will be so much easier to pack now.  Caitlin will be so happy that skis and snowboard can go up top.  She usually gets wedged in the back with all the STUFF!

Mall of America

Caitlin and I spent a wonderful weekend in Minneapolis.  We were celebrating a great friends' birthday.  I have known about this trip for  a very long time, but was keeping it a secret for Caitlin.  We went with the Deforest girls.  Aspen turned 6!  It was so nice to be able to spend time with just Caitlin.  It is sometimes very hard to get one on one time with three kids.  Caitlin is the most easy going child and I was so looking forward to a RELAXING vacation with friends.  We had a direct flight from Kalamazoo.  The girls were adorable on the plane.  They sat on one side of the aisle together...

We told Caitlin the night before about the trip...  This was her reaction!

Build -a-Bear was the first stop

 Off to lunch at American Girl

 Heather and I loved our time together as well

 The girls and dolls loved their special birthday party!

 We spent hours on the rides...

 Caitlin loves roller coasters

 I love this smile :)

 Silly girl - we will never forget our time together!!!!  We also visited Rainforest cafe, Lego store and the water park...