Picture Memories

Reading the girls a bed time story:

Chances are good if Grandpa is wearing a hat, Maisie will put it on.

Apparently I didn't get a drink quickly enough for the thirsty girl. She climbed the counter to get her own cup. 

 

I thought it was funny that Sadie was "reading" a chapter book.

Before taking this out to the recycle bin, Maisie drinks the last few drops.

 Analise washed a lot of veggies for me awhile back. She pulled this tomato out and said, "It looks like Jesus on the cross." I agree.

Sadie drew her first person this week - me. Not too bad, despite the crazy hair. She even wrote mom up there without my help.

And then later in the day Maisie drew a picture of me; I am wearing a red dress and jumping in the grass. I liked the detail she added to the picture.

Preschool Girl

I never thought I would send a daughter to preschool for two years. I stay home so they can be home with me as much as possible. However, with Miss Maisie, two years of preschool is a good thing. She needed last year to challenge her and give her her own thing. And this year, my mother's (and teacher's) heart just knew she wasn't ready for Kdg. And honestly, I wasn't ready to send her. She would have been one of the youngest in her class; I prefer to have her being one of the older ones in her class...esp come the middle school and high school years.

It's already been fun to see the difference a year makes in preschool. She has more confidence in what her does; her school work looks better; and she knows her letters MUCH better now. In addition to all that, her class is loaded with great friends! And even better, the moms are my friends. :)

Here she is the night of her open house. Their theme this year is water.

 First morning of preschool; she was SO excited!

We are so very thankful to have this preschool opportunity at our church. We have three wonderful teachers (one is a man), 15 great kids, and not only is she learning Pre-K things, but I know she is also learning God's Word.

Maisie, we hope this is another great year, and my prayer for you is that you will be a good leader this year. May you try your hardest and make good choices as you enjoy your time here. I love seeing you excited to go each morning, but you are also excited to see me when I pick you up. I know this year will go fast, so let's enjoy the time we have together!

Memories on Mable

In all my excitement in blogging about Labor Day, I forgot about another exciting lake day. I don't think I will ever forget...

It was a nice, relaxing day on the boat. Analise was on the other boat to be with the boys, and Grandma came on our boat. The outher two girls took a little nap. Brandon fished, and I read "The Help" while sunbathing up front. It was heavenly.

After the girls woke up, they wanted to ride Big Mable with me. Being the good mom I am (hah!) I decided to go with them. We had a nice relaxing ride. We waved to the other family members on the other boat as we went by at top speed of probably 10 mph.

See how relaxed we were? For awhile the girls scooted forward and kicked their feet.

We were all snuggled together as the boat made a loop around, and then the girls inched foward. That combined with going slower around the turn, the rope going under the water lead to a "not so relaxing ride." It went so quick...water spraying us, water coming up on the tube, to the tube going under water and all three of us sliding off and into the water.

Disclaimer - two phobias of mine:

1. water in my face

2. things over my head

So we slipped down into the water, and the tube flipped over us!  I remember the feeling all too well. I first thought I would be trapped under water (my worst fear was coming true) and then realized were weren't trapped under the water, but the tube was over us. I took a couple of deep breaths and focused on getting the girls. Maisie was under the tube with me, crying like I expected. Sadie was outside of the tube, crying like I expected. It was easy to reach Maise, and I kept reminding her that she was floating; we were fine. I then used mighty mama strength (hah!) and lifted the tube over us so we could get out. We swam to Sadie and calmed her down as well. So there I am in the water with both girls holding on. I look back to the boat and what do I see? My handsome hubby swimming out to me (with no life jacket on.) It really was a sight for sore eyes. He flipped the tube over and we got the girls on up. We then got out of the water. Whew...what a ride. 
What made it more memorable was Brandon in his hurried attempt in getting in the water slipped on the back of the boat and really hurt his foot; he felt it for days.
And the other family members on the other boat witnessed it!  I wish we had it on video.

Later at supper we all shared our version of the story with many laughs, and compliments on how I held myself together. That was a God thing.

And on the way home we saw another beautiful sunset. A good ending to quite the day.

Labor Day Weekend/Fishing Frenzy

Even with all the planning we did for Labor Day weekend, the weather had the nerve to change and make us in turn change our plans. Instead of heading down to the lake Friday evening, we waited until Sunday to head down. Friday night we went out to eat with D, S and boys. They then came over for cookies, and the kids played outside.

Saturday we did things around the house and ran some errands. Saturday evening all the family got together for a fish fry. It's been several years since we've caught enough fish to have a fish fry dinner. It was lots of fun!

Sunday after church we packed up and headed to the lake. The weather was now cooperating and was much better. We got there the same time as D/S and boys, so we decided to go out together; it was the first time all summer we were on the same boat.

My girls were excited to be with the boys.

 Most of the time we fish at the lake, we troll. Which basically means your poles are in the water while the boat moves at 3 mph. However, this time of year is my favorite type of fishing - chasing the gulls. This is when the shad (small fish) are swimming together and the sea gulls like to dive in for a catch. Not only are the shad swirling in the water, but the white bass are also there to eat the shad. So we know wherever the gulls are diving means white bass. So, you put on a pretty shad lure and cast into the water where the other shad are. I love it. I get to cast as far as I can and not worry about snagging a tree behind me. :) I did take into consideration others on the boat before casting...

When we got on the lake we found a cluster of about 40 boats.  The adrenaline began to flow - let the fishing begin! Nephew A put his pole in the water and immediately had a fish. We had five people fishing at once. It became crazy at times.

Aunt Sarah kept others occupied and out of the way. :)

 I think during the afternoon we caught 20-25 fish. Sometimes more than one person was reeling in at the same time. I think I caught about 12 on my own. Lots of fun. A funny memory was when I cast out and felt a big tug; I thought I had snagged my line on a log. Wouldn't you know it...the other family members were now on the other boat fishing as well. I was struggling  in bringing in my line when Brandon looked at the other boat and saw his mom struggling as well. We had caught each other! What are the odds that two lures could catch each other when the boats are at least 50 yards apart. It was so funny.

We were just about ready to come in for the day, when I got another big bite. I reeled it in and saw how big it was. My response, "I need a net!" D came to the rescue and brought in a 3 pound walleye. Whoohoo! I didn't even have a walleye lure on my line, and we haven't caught walleye for a long time. The boat was electric with excitement. The boys were impressed their aunt could bring in that type of fish; I was shocked and excited, and Brandon was so proud. :)

 All six kids on our way to the dock. Sadie's hair cracks me up.

 They made me pose with my fish, which the kids named Wally. It took me awhile to get the guts to pick this fish up, and I  had to wear gloves. At least they matched my shirt. :)

I told Brandon that was the most fun I've had on the boat all season. Fun family, fun fishing and lots of laughter. We were probably the loudest boat on the water.

Back at the cabin we had a pizza dinner with everyone, and then the girls got to sleep in the camper for the first time. They were thrilled and slept well. Brandon and I slept okay...

Monday we went back on the water for a little more fishing and then headed home late afternoon.

It was a good weekend despite the change in plans.

11 Years

On August 26, we celebrated 11 years of marriage. Wow. I hadn't been planning on doing much to celebrate; our nights were pretty full. However, one day at lunch Brandon said to me, "I was going to surprise you for our anniversary, but I need your input." I was thrilled he was planning something! And he did a great job, I might add. He told me he had lined up child care so we could go golfing and out to eat. Now, I know most women wouldn't want to go golfing on their anniversary, but I had told him several weeks ago that I would like to golf before the summer was over. I enjoy golfing and know when we golf together that I am in for some laughs and good times.

I picked Analise up from school and took all the girls to Grandma and Grandpa's. I came home and met up with Brandon. We loaded the truck with our clubs and headed out. It was just starting to rain, so we changed the course last minute to get north  of the rain showers. We got a cart (which might seem silly for only playing nine holes, but I wanted to be together, not chasing our balls all over and then meeting up on the greens.) It was so much fun being outside in the country on a beautiful day. It was relaxing, funny and he even gave us a thrill ride on the cart. I'm sure that doesn't surprise my dad. :)

After we were finished golfing we drove back into town and ate dinner at a local BBQ place. From there we went home, put the girls to bed, and then he pulled out our wedding video. I thought that was romantic. We watched it on VHS while he dubbed it to DVD.

 It was a lot of fun to watch the wedding; it brought back so many fun memories. We saw friends that I haven't seen since, family members that are no longer with us, and it was good to hear our vows again.

Things have really changed in 11 years, but our love has only grown stronger.

I never listen to country music, but Brandon has a song on his Ipod that the girls and I love to listen to  -"Stuck Like Glue." Most of the song doesn't apply to us, but a couple of lines always stick out to me: "No one knows me better" and "you do that thing that makes me laugh."

During our Pastor's message to Brandon at our wedding, he told Brandon that I wouldn't always be a mystery to him; that is so true now. No one knows me better. And Brandon can always make me laugh. We have inside jokes that go back to our honeymoon. And to this day, he makes me laugh like no other.

Thank you sweetie for 11 great years and a great night celebrating!

The Second Grader

Analise is officially a 2nd grader! (and has been for three weeks...always behind in the blogging...) So far so good. She seems to enjoy it, but I am learning that her favorite time of the day is OTTER time. (Our time to enjoy reading) Surprise, surprise. She also loves science, music, art and PE.

She is enjoying recess with friends, and most days she likes to swing.

She has started the Marathon Club again, and I am letting her stay after school one day a week to run.

She has a great teacher - kind and organized. I am looking forward to P/T conferences soon to find out even more. For as much as Analise talks, I don't get the nitty gritty details of her day. It usually goes like this when I pick her up -

Me. "Hi Analise! How was your day?"

Analise, "Good."

And then I ask more specific questions and slowly learn a few more details.

Maisie's Birthday

Even after two parties already, Maisie was super excited it was her birthday. She was officially five! Analise had made a special birthday wish and picture on the bathroom mirror. So sweet.  After taking Analise to her first day of school, Grandma and Grandpa came over to pick her up and take her for a donut date. She enjoyed it all.

Maisie also got a special lunch. I took Sadie to Grandma's house, so Maisie could have lunch with just mom and dad. We went to Applebee's since I had a gift card and coupon for a free kid's meal. :) She liked the one on one time, and spent a majority of it on dad's lap. The staff came out and sang to her, and she wasn't too embarrassed.

 After school Twin 1 stopped by to visit with Maisie. All three girls loved that time. She talked on the phone a long time with Grandmom. Brandon came home from work, and I took Analise to her first CMA for the year. We only stayed for half the class, since we had a birthday to celebrate at home.

The twins and J came over for supper. We had grilled chicken legs, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad and french bread with dip. It was well received. :)

 Maisie opened her presents at the table while Twin 1 finished her meal. (She was late due to class.) She was excited about each one.

Oh Maisie, you are a lot of fun. You grew a lot this past year, and I can't believe you are five. You are generally a happy girl unless you are tired or hungry.  You are my daughter that will talk to about anyone, and sometimes I am concerned about what you might say. However, most of the time it's very kind. You still love pink, especially pink with sparkles. You love to pick out your outfit each day. Most days you don't take a nap, but I've learned you need one about once a week. You are doing a better job of playing by yourself during rest time. In fact, you have quite the imagination, and you can make about any toy have a conversation. Sometimes your markers spend more time "talking" to each other instead of coloring.

You enjoy playing outside as long as it's not too hot. You are the first one to find the nearest shade.

Though I haven't officially done the love language inventory with you, I have a hunch your love language  is physical touch. You have always been my snuggler, and still love holding my hand when we shop. I think your second love language is affirmation. You beam when we compliment you, and you are good at encouraging others. Even strangers.

Your favorite toys right now are Little People, Princesses and puzzles. You still amaze me with your puzzle capabilities.

You went through a brief phase not too long ago where you didn't like sleeping in your bunk bed. I would check on you before I went to bed, and I wasn't sure where I would find you: in bed with Sadie, at the foot of Sadie's bed, at the foot of your bed, or sometimes you were curled up on a pillow in the middle of the floor!

You still love to ask people questions. You probably know many people's favorite colors. You are still a girl of routine, and each night when we go to bed, you want to know what is on tomorrow's agenda.

One the highlights of this past year was when you asked Jesus into your heart. We pray that you will continue to be lead by the Spirit and will use your gifts to serve Him. We love you Miss Maisie!

Family Celebration

We celebrated with the local family on Sunday afternoon. We did things a little different since school started the next day. We went over at 4:30 and opened presents first.

 This purse from Aunt S and Uncle D has carried many of her treasures.

The big surprise was a new bike. She loves it!

After gifts the kids played, and the adults talked before having dinner. Maisie wanted tacos for supper, so it was pretty simple. We also had fuit salad, chips and salsa and corn on the cob.

Family picture with the birthday girl.

Maisie wanted a flower cake.

 I was so pleased with how they turned out. Analise helped me with these easy cupcakes.

The birthday tradition this year is to ask the birthday person a question, and then everyone guesses the answer. Here are Maisie's questions and answers:

1. If you could be one of the princesses, which one would you be.

A: Sleeping Beauty (Sadie got this on right; and her cousin didn't think he'd ever been asked such a tough question before. :))

2. What is your favorite thing to do with mommy?

A: watch a movie (good thing Aunt S for her a new Veggie Tale for us to watch together.)

3. What is your favorite thing to do with daddy?

A: Play the Wii

4. What is your favorite toy?

A: Bike

The second part of this year's tradition is making an acrostic with their name, and each family members describes them using that letter.

M - monkey lover

A - adorable

I - intelligent

S - smiley

I - innocent

E - exciting

L - likable

Y - you are awesome

N - nice

N - nifty

Thanks everyone for making this a special day for Miss Maisie!