Homecoming Parade/Powder Puff Game

Isn't this the COOLEST haircut EVER!?!?!?!

According to Addi it is SO cool!  We were sitting, waiting for the homecoming parade to start when I kept hearing Addi say "Mom..., Mom...."  I turned around to see her pointing to this man sitting a couple of benches in front of us and saying " Isn't that SO cool!  I like the way it is shaved all on the top and has hair just around the bottom and the sides."  My response was obviously "YES! should we take a picture of it?"   She was so excited and who wouldn't be to see such an awesome haircut!


Yes, the boys look like they are auditioning to be the next Ronald McDonald but in reality they are just showing their school pride.  They got to be in the homecoming parade this year with the kids from their school and it just so happens that their school colors are gold and red.

These two crack me up.  They were more interested in playing and pulling silly faces than they were anything else - AND....finding older men with COOL haircuts!

Powder  Puff Cheerleaders

These guys were the most exciting and entertaining part of the night.  OK, the flag football game was alright but seriously, some of these boys were having WAY too much fun prancing around in their cheer leading uniforms which made it that much more fun to watch.

Spring!

 Could it be that nice spring weather has finally arrived?!?

I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of my kids enjoying the WARM spring day.

Even if it only lasts for today..... 

Getting Jesus' phone number

Addisyn and I were having one of those days today.  She didn't go to bed last night like she was supposed to - instead she kept coming out of her room "needing" to tell me something, or once in her room I would find her playing at her table with toys or looking at books.  Needless to say, it made her very tired, and SASSY and DEMANDING all day.  She had been sent to time out several times - which only made her cry and then get mad at me because she wanted her blanket.  There were times that I thought I was going to lose it because I was SO tired of it, and several times that I just laughed at the way she was acting and talking - really if you had heard her she was talking and sassing like a spoiled teen-ager - My laughing at her only made her madder which made me laugh harder. 

Since Addi and I were the only ones home, we had Eggo waffles for dinner.  Her response  - now picture this in the sassiest little voice you can - "Great, waffles! and they don't even have SPRINKLES on them!"  I told her that sassy little girls don't get sprinkles on their waffles and if she had asked nicely she probably would have had sprinkles.  Instead she had to eat the waffles "without sprinkles"!  While she was eating I picked up the phone to call my mom.  Of course, in the same snotty, sassy voice , Addi asked "WHO are YOU calling?"  When I told her I was calling grandma she asked "WHY?!"  I was still laughing at her sassy attitude.  Just as my mom answered I told Addi I was calling grandma to get Jesus' phone number.  Her face immediately changed from sassy, to scared, shocked and sad with the biggest, saddest frown on her face.  She then started to cry and said "I don't want you to call Jesus"  I asked "why don't you want me to call Jesus?"  And she said, still crying and hugging her blanket, "because I don't want him to kill me."  I told her I was not going to call Jesus and that Jesus would not kill her.  I felt bad that it scared her but my mom and I could not stop laughing. 

Addi really is a sweetheart (most of the time) and she LOVES Jesus, so threatening her with a phone call to let him know she was being naughty broke her heart.
I think I might have found a new way to get her to behave - The next time she is being naughty - I just might pick up the phone and tell her that I am calling Jesus.

Cookie Creation

How does a cookie with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, a dash of oatmeal, coconut, peanut butter chips, carmel, and marshmallows sound?.....
That is the creation that Addisyn and her cousin Mayci came up with today. They were SO excited to bake something and decided that regular cookies just wouldn't be good enough. I definitely had my doubts when every ingredient that was set on the cupboard was added to their cookie dough. However, it was their creation and I told them they could add whatever they wanted to them. When they got done, all of the boys (Britton, Jayden, & Gavin) got to be the tasters and try to guess what was in their piece of cookie dough - and you know....they got it right!
and
The cookies aren't too bad.  The carmel is a little hard to chew but other than that...they are really
Sweet & Rich!

Happy Birthday Addi!

Addisyn turned 4 on Saturday, September 11th.  Every time we told her happy birthday, she kept insisting that she was 3 NOT 4 and that it WAS NOT her birthday.  On our way to soccer games that morning we passed the church which was surrounded by flags for 9/11.  We started talking about it and what it was and when we said September Addi said, "September?! my birthday is September!"  It actually took us most of the day to really convince her that it was her birthday.

The Cake

Addi doesn't really like cake but she LOVES Oreos!  I decided to make her a "cake" made by stacking the Oreos into a tower and putting candles on top.  She LOVED it!  Instead of ice cream and cake, we had ice cream and Oreos.

The Presents 

Addi was so excited to open everything she has been wanting and asking for for weeks - The books Pinkalicious and Purplelicious, The Polly Pocket Glamper, a Leapster from Grandma and Grandpa, and a new helmet for her NEW BIKE!

The Bike

I LOVE this little girl.  She has definitely been my 9-1-1 baby from day one and I am grateful everyday for her.  She is silly, sassy, stubborn, smart, happy, loving, sensitive, independent, and mischievous.  I LOVE the way she says "Scunscreen" and "Smarshmallows".  I LOVE her "fancy" walk.  I LOVE how she bats her eyes and says "please momma, please" and then grins because she knows EXACTLY what she is doing.  I LOVE how she calls her brothers "my boys" and her dad "dadda".  I LOVE that she refers to Jesus as "My friend Jesus" like she knows him personally.  I LOVE everything about her - even though she cut her hair!  AHHH!

Happy Birthday Addi!

My Daughter has a MULLET!!!!

Need I say More?!?!

Addisyn walked into the kitchen Sunday afternoon as if nothing were different, no sign of embarrassment or shame, but looked at me without saying a word until I noticed IT!
Sadly, I almost didn't notice it.  I was in the middle of getting dinner ready. When I did notice, I did a double take, and with my eyes WIDE open asked "What Happened to your Hair?!?"
I feel so bad because she got this sad little look on her face when she said she had cut it.  She was sad because she knew I didn't love it and because she KNEW she was not supposed to have her scissors.  Needless to say, she was quite tidy.  She had put all of her hair into the garbage can and had put her scissors away without being told and the best part is, knowing that I was still in shock, she just kept trying to comfort me by saying, "It's alright mom, hair will grow back."

Sweet and "SASSY"!

Addisyn FINALLY got to start school on Tuesday.  Talk about torture!  Her brothers started two weeks ago and she has been asking when she gets to go to school everyday since then.

 

She was so excited to wear her new "school clothes" that have been hanging in her closet for weeks.  She got up and picked out her pink and black striped outfit, and her shiny pink "school shoes".  When I told her she could just grab her pink flip flops she informed me that she couldn't wear THOSE shoes to school - and said "I need my pink "SCHOOL SHOES". 

Before we headed out the door, Addi had to load her Tinkerbell back pack full of "important" and "necessary" items from her room like her blanket, barbies, stuffed animals, barbie and doll combs, bouncy balls and various other random toys she could quickly find to put in there.

Addisyn confidently walked right into school, found her backpack hook and walked right to her seat.
There was absolutely no hesitation.  She was so excited to be going to school like her brothers.

 

Addisyn LOVES school!  However, when I asked her how school was and if she loved it she answered with a sigh and a little drama to her voice "yes,...but I don't like my teacher".  Why?  "Well, I just don't like having to go up and down the stairs - it just makes my legs SO tired". 

She seriously cracks me up everyday. And her first day of school pictures say it all!

Sweet, and Sassy with a little Attitude!

Spring Dance Recital

I tried!  I REALLY did try to get a "normal" happy, smiling picture of Addi in her ADORABLE dance costume - Hair curled, make-up on etc.  But what I want and think is cute, is completely another thing according to her.  Pictures started out OK - she was adorable and happy as long as she was pulling faces then...Well, this is our version of "normal"  when it comes to pictures and I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Even though she didn't like having pictures taken, Addisyn was beaming when she walked off of the stage after her performance.  She danced to Pooh's Lullaby and was so cute and she performed the darling routine so well.

Cute in Curlers

I absolutely LOVE the way little girls look when their hair is up in curlers!

For Addisyn's big end-of-the-year dance recital she had to have her hair pulled up in the front and curly in the back.  I have only put her hair in curlers one other time and it didn't turn out so great. So, for dress rehearsal I thought I had better try curlers again to see if we could get better results.

Addi was so adorable checking herself out in the mirror, thinking she looked all grown up, and having a great time blowing her own hair dry.  She is so into "I'm growing up mom" and "I'm big" that being able to put real make-up on, along with the curlers, made her day.  She "pranced and "strutted" her stuff all around the house and made sure her daddy saw how beautiful she was.

Moments

This is one of my all-time FAVORITE Pictures.

I have always loved pictures taken of just the grandparents and grandchildren but I had never thought of taking a picture with my aunt and her great nieces and nephews.

It was definitely a challenge - mad kids, crying kids, uncooperative kids, but in the end all we needed was one good picture.

Mia (my niece), Britton, Trevon (my nephew), Gavin, Earlene (my Aunt), and Addisyn

Tutu's and Tap Shoes

Addi had her first dance program in December. She was so excited to show us the cute little routine they had been learning in class as well as her leaps, plie's, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd position, etc.

It was the cutest thing to see her excitement, her little shy smile, and her beaming smile when she completed each part of the program and noticed her mom, dad, brothers and grandma and grandpa watching and cheering her on.

Addi did an amazing job on her first performance
and
she LOVES dancing!!!

It SNOWED!!!

My kids have been looking forward to the snow for sometime now so when it snowed a couple of weeks ago they couldn't contain themselves.

Addi made one snow angel after another, and rolled and played in the snow until she was too wet and cold to move.  She FINALLY came in "needing" hot chocolate and telling me how "yummy" the snow tasted.

Britton and Gavin immediately hit the slopes with their sleds, sandboard, and snowboards.  It wasn't a GREAT hill unless it had at least one JUMP on it that allowed you to "catch air".

I smiled all day thinking about how much fun they were having.  BUT, I am NOT ready for snow!!!

Trick-Or-Treat!

Halloween 2009

Halloween couldn't have been over soon enough for me this year. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Halloween, but once again I was FRANTICALLY trying to MAKE another costume. I thought I was going to have it easy this year.

CINDERELLA

Addi decided to be Cinderella and she NEVER changed her mind. She was so excited when the cute neighbor girls brought over "her dress". She came running into my room all excited telling me "mom, my dress came!" After that, everyone that came to our house got to see her Cinderella dress. We even made her a cute necklace out of ribbon to match Cinderella's. The only thing she wanted that she didn't get was blue Cinderella hair. She has a Cinderella Barbie with a streak of blue hair and she decided the night before that I should spray her hair blue like Cinderella.

GRIM REAPER

After Britton's werewolf costume last year I was ECSTATIC when he said he wanted to be the grim reaper this year. I already had the make-up and the robe, I just had to make the robe a little shorter. The only thing I had to find for him was his scythe which only required a quick trip to Party Land.

LEPRECHAUN

Gavin, on the other hand, made Halloween very challenging this year. In March we walked into Target and he saw the stuff out for St. Patrick's Day. He got all excited and said he was going to be a Leprechaun for Halloween. So, I bought a hat and a bow tie thinking this will be great! What an easy costume right? WRONG!!! Have you ever tried to find stuff for a Leprechaun in October!?!?!

I made a trip to DI and got lucky. I found a very small pair of boys dress pants that were a dark, sage green. I found a green crochet vest in the women's department and another small cream colored vest in the boys department. I thought I could dye the small vest green. - DIDN'T WORK - the dark green R.I.T dye turned it khaki brown. SO, I got to sew once again and make his vest smaller, remover the buttons and sew on new gold ones, cut off the pants and sew elastic in the bottom of them, sew elastic to his hat to make it smaller, and try to make a beard. After looking at fabric stores I ended up at the Dollar Store and found an orange fuzzy purse that I cut off and sewed elastic to. To finish it all of he wore white tights - because I could NOT find any green and white ones, and we sprayed his hair orange with orange hair spray. He was a little upset in this picture because we ran out of hair spray Halloween night. He had already been in his costume 3 other times for a school program, a school parade/party, and his aunt Cindy's Halloween party.

Needless to say, I made several trips to several stores and was completely ready for Halloween to be over.

Britton , Gavin, and Addi were lucky this year. They got to trick-or-treat with two sets of cousins. First Kim showed up with Ryker and Haylee and the five of them took off around the neighborhood and then around 6:30 Jayden, Tegan and Mayci came over to trick-or-treat the rest of the night. Once the kids were done trick-or-treating, we headed over to Kim's to hang out and enjoy the rest of Halloween.

Just for you Sis.

I know it is a little early for Halloween pictures but my One and ONLY sister keeps reminding me that Halloween is coming and that she still hasn't seen my kids Halloween pictures from last year.

Every time I look at these pictures I just smile and hope that this year won't be so hectic.
I am reminded of what a challenge it was to find a cape for Gavin.  It shouldn't have been so difficult but we could NOT find a kids cape anywhere and finally found a short adult cape which luckily worked just fine. Plus, I borrowed a red vest that had to be tailored to fit. 

Then there was Britton who wanted to be a Werewolf - BUT - he didn't want the werewolf costumes in the store that had masks and "just made you look like a wolf."  So, after looking at every possible Halloween/Costume store, I ended buying fake fur, ripping a pair of old jeans and a flannel shirt, and SEWING, his costume together. Then, we had to put brown make-up on his face and glue, yes GLUE fur to his face.

I am actually really proud of myself, because I am not a seemstress.  What should take no time at all or looks like it should be really easy takes me FOREVER! 

Regardless, their costumes were super cute and they LOVED them.

The other reason I can't quit smiling when I look at these pictures is that little Addi was
TERRIFIED
of her brothers.  It took a long time to convince her that they were not going to hurt her and that they were "nice monsters".  In fact, it took a lot of convincing for her to believe that the "monsters" were actually Britton and Gavin.

Happy Birthday Addisyn!

Addisyn turned 3 last Friday, September 11.  Her Favorite book right now is "Alice The Fairy" by David Shannon so it was really fun to celerate with all of her friends by having a Fairy Party.

I was lucky enough to find matching fiary wings and fairy skirts so each little girl was "transformed" into a fairy when she arrived.

After their wands were decorated, we played "fairy freeze dance"

while they danced to the "Tinkerbell" soundtrack.

They were all SO cute and had so much fun dancing and pretending to be real fairies.

Did somebody say FAIRY DUST?

Hopefully the sugar rush wore off before bedtime.

***

The Cake

After the party the race was on to get Addi's birthday cake done.  I had invited Addi's grandparents and great aunts over for dinner and cake and ice cream but it all had to be ready in time for people to eat, Britton to get to soccer practice, and for my parents to get to the airport.

Thanks to Gina - my amazingly talented Sister-In-Law - helping me all afternoon, I was able to decorate this fun Tinkerbell cake.

***

Family

Addi and Mason had so much fun playing all day.

They couldn't stop giggling and laughing and thought everything was Hillarious.

All throughout the day on Wednesday, Addi kept whispering to me "I want princess music". 

 It was so cute to see the expression on her face when she opened her Disney princess CD.

Addi was spoiled with Barbies, music, movies, money and dress-ups.  I think Gavin had as much fun with the dress-ups as Addi.  He was being so silly and dancing all over the living room.  He is such a good big brother and so willing to entertain and cater to Addi.

Happy Birthday Monkey!