Sweetest Dad Ever

So, I just have to let it be known that Brett is the Sweetest Daddy Ever! After working a VERY long day he stopped off at the store to get his little Maddi girl flowers because he is so proud of her and happy for her that she made company. Not to leave Cade out, he bought him a Transformer so he'll have something to play with at all the dance events he'll be drug to. Brett is going to put the flowers on Maddi's dresser so she'll see them when she wakes up. She will definitely be crying over the flowers. She is so sensitive and sweet it will melt her heart. Isn't Brett awesome!?! He was made for little girls and big ones too, huh?

Maddi Made Company

Just wanted to update everyone with the exciting news that Maddi made the company dance team! Poor girl was so nervous all day because we thought the results would be on the website first thing this morning. We didn't find out until 4:00 this afternoon, but she was so excited and relieved to find out she made it. So now all of our time, money and energy will be dedicated to dance this next year. We will know what dances she's in after their week long camp in two weeks. See what I mean by time?!?

Kitchen Sink

Maddi had tryouts for the competitive dance team at her dance studio and she was very nervous about it. To calm her nerves I told her we would go and celebrate her hard work and efforts by going to the Colonial Cafe which is a restaraunt that is known for it's ice cream. They serve a banana split in a kitchen sink. The kids couldn't wait to get their spoons in there!
A kitchen sink has 6 scoops of ice cream, 3 toppings, 2 bananas, whipped cream, nuts, and cherries. Doesn't it look pretty? It didn't stay pretty for long!
This is what was left over. Me, Brett, and the kids couldn't finish it all. We had 1 1/2 bananas left, some vanilla ice cream, melted whip cream, and other mush. Next time we're getting another flavor instead of vanilla. Who needs vanilla?
Along with the kitchen sink you get a bumper sticker to show off what a pig you are! One for each of our cars....I don't think so. Notice Maddi is wearing Brett's wifebeater undershirt. She was still wearing her leotard and tights from dance and was freezing. Brett got tired of her complaining so her took her to the bathroom with him and took off his undershirt and made her wear it so she'd be warm. I guess if our children are going to dress like that we should get those bumper stickers on our cars, huh?

So, Maddi's dance auditions went well. We'll know Tuesday if she made the team or not. Poor girl can't stop thinking about it. I think she'll make it, but it will be a very sad day at our house if she doesn't make it. It's hard to take rejection, especially for a 6 year old. They learned a ballet, lyrical, tap and jazz routine and there were four judges. They performed the dances in groups and if 3 out of 4 judges thought they were good enough then they are in. If only 2 said yes, then they would dance again and see if a 3rd judge would agree to let them in. Maddi said she only did the dances once, so I guess that's a good sign. There were a lot more girls than I thought there would be, so I don't know if they will all get in or not. We can check online for the results on Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed!

Yet Another Encounter with Nature

So....in the past few months that we've lived here that it's actually been warm enough to go outside, we've have had baby ducks, dead and live rabbits, doves, and tonight...6 frogs calling our house their home. Enough of nature for me!!! I'm almost ready for it to freeze again and all of nature to vanish for a while. Frogs freak me out! We were in the back yard enjoying the nice cool evening when the kids noticed a frog in our window well. For all of you Texans, a window well is where the windows are from the basement with a ladder should you need to escape a fire or something like that. Basements are cool, but sort of freak me out. Window wells definitely freak me out, especially when there are dead rabbits or living frogs in them!!!
We had some plastic grocery sacks that had blown into our window wells and with the rain the other day, there was some standing water in the bags. Some nasty slimy frogs had made those wet bags their home. A family of 6 frogs to be precise! Brett climbed down there and put them in a box and I insisted they find a new home by the wetlands. We walked accross the street to the wetlands area and set them free. Cade was insistant that these are Gods creatures and we must be kind to them.

Mom, notice the Priority Management box. Brett has had that box for years and keeps his golf balls that he hits in the backyard in that box. The golf balls in the backyard is a whole other blog. Anyway, the box has been laid to rest now that it has been home to 6 slimy frogs. Now if only the golf balls were laid to rest!
How would you like that thing living in your window well? We checked our other two window wells on the side of the house and there was one dead frog in one of them that we left there as it was getting eaten by maggots. Lovely! We will be getting window well covers soon!

Six Flags Great America

We went to Six Flags Great America with Emily and another family. The weather was somewhat drizzly at times, but not too wet so it kept a lot of people away that day and we were able to ride anything we wanted. I took the camera and barely took any pictures. Maddi was so incredibly brave. She was busy keeping up with Emily so she forgot she is really a scaredy cat or maybe she has really outgrown some of her fears. We went on all kinds of roller coasters and water slides and tubes that she would have never even dreamed of doing before. Cade went on them too, but he isn't afraid of much.
Maddi and Emily riding together and Cade and some random boy are prepearing for a kiddie coaster. We stayed all day and were one of the last ones to leave the park. We were asked to ride in a trolley in the parade which was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast waving to everyone all around the park. Afterwards we got to meet all of the characters and where was my camera? In our bag with Emily's grandma. Oh well, maybe I'll learn to take the camera with me.

Downtown Naperville

We enjoyed the nice weather on Sunday and went to Downtown Naperville. We walked on the Riverwalk to the park and ate lunch on the patio of a restraunt, went shopping and then went to the Children's Museum. The kids thought the bench with statue children was really funny, so they wanted a picture with their statue friends.

Player of the Game

Cade was "Player of the Game" last week at his baseball game. He was so proud! He hit the ball from the coach pitch each at bat. They get 5 pitches and if they don't hit it, they use the tee. He usually uses the tee at least once each game. He's holding his gift card for Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts. His last game he said he wasn't going to try to be player of the game anymore. Quite the over achiever, I mean under achiever! Last night was the last game. It will be nice to have Tuesday and Thursday evenings back again.

Brookfield Zoo

We are really enjoying the nice cool summer here. It's been in the low 80s with no humidity and lots of sun. I need to remember how nice we had it in the summertime when winter rolls around which will be sooner than I think. We went with some neighbors to the Brookfield Zoo on Friday. It's such a nice zoo, but we hardly saw any animals. We were at the children's zoo a long while, they played at a playground and played at other random places around the zoo. They were having fun, so we didn't quite make it to the animals. We did pet the stingrays and that was pretty cool.
Emily (our neighbor and Maddi's best friend) and Maddi decided they were going to paint their faces like monkeys.
Maddi, Emily, and Cade posing in front of the monkeys. We did find the monkeys since the girls were one of them.

Rest of the trip

So, after the beach and the whole key fiasco, I couldn't find my camera. I searched all over and figured it was on the beach somewhere along with the keys. The morning we packed for the airport I found it in the outside zipper of my suitcase. I was quite excited. Never did find those keys, though.

We saw Joel and Sara and their baby Grace, who is a few weeks younger than the twins and I don't have any pictures of her because my camera was M.I.A. She's a cutie and we enjoyed visiting with them.

We had a great trip and at times it seemed to drag out with us being away for two weeks, but now that it's over it seems like it was so fast. Thanks to Todd and Breezy for letting us come and watch their little angels and for their hospitality. Thanks also to all of our friends and family who made the trip to the Woodlands to visit us as well. It was great seeing everyone. It was also nice to get home. We got filled up on Mexican food, Chick-fil-A, Sonic and Wings and More in Texas so we'll be good for a while. Our first meal here yesterday was Chicago style pizza!

Galveston

When Todd and Breezy came back, we went to Galveston with the Thelens. We started out at the Aquarium at the Moody Gardens.
Colby (2), Carson (4), Caleb (5), Maddi (6), and Cade (4). Carissa spent the day with Sonya's mom.
Brett took the kids out in the ocean. The problem was that in his pockets were the keys to Todd and Breezy's suburban that we were borrowing. The keys fell out and we were stranded. Way to go Brettley. At least it wasn't me making the mistake this time! We spent the rest of the day figuring out how we were going to get keys.
Love those Texas beaches! Seaweed all over, brown muddy water...gotta love it! Chris and Sonya with Carson and Colby.
I burried Cade in the sand and he loved it! He can't stand stickers or stamps or anything on his skin, so I was quite surprised that he would like the sand.

Happy Fourth of July!

Brett's first morning on the job. Brett got in to Houston late on the 3rd and his mom left the morning of the fourth.
We went to Chris and Sonya's house for a party and fireworks. Their little girl, Carissa, was very excited about having the babies there. Chris and Sonya have four little ones and I don't see how they stay sane. Why not add a fifth?
Maison and Maddi's turn on the trampoline.
So, we didn't have any fourth of July clothing. We can't buy Aggie clothes in Chicago, so we bought some while we were in Houston. The kids wanted to wear it for Brett on his first day with us. I guess it was the closest thing we had to patriotic clothes.
The kids had a blast with Chris the pyro and all his fireworks. They started with small kid stuff in the daytime. He had big, huge professional type ones at night. The kids were totally impressed. Carson who is 4 on the left, Chris, Cade, Caleb who is 5, and Maddi. Maison is in the background riding a trike. The Thelens have more things with wheels than I've ever seen at one house.
Cade with his goofy smile and Caleb Thelen. It's like a little Brett and Chris.
Maddi finds a new boyfriend wherever we go. This was her latest. His name is Josh and he was at the Thelens party. Did I mention that I'm really not looking forward to her being a teenager? Hopefully she'll get boys out of her system too before she gets much older!

Maddi and Grammy

One night when all the kids were asleep, Grammy, Maddi and I stayed up and watched the Miss Texas pageant. Maddi loved that and the questions she asked were so funny.

Poor Grammy got sick with allergies while she was in Houston. It was so rainy and humid that I prefer to call it a swamp. Case had four teeth busting through his gums on the top, and then Maddi came down with scarlet fever and strep. It all started out great, but each day the situation declined more and more. We were so happy to see Todd and Breezy come back home!

Messy Case. Maddi fed him dinner and then he face painted himself with a biter biscuit. The hardest part of having so many kids is getting them all baths.
Maddi is such a good big cousin.

Houston Children's Museum

On our next adventure we headed to the Houston Children's Museum. Maison found some shoes to try on right away in the little Mexico area. The girl is obsessed with shoes!
Cade got to work cleaning out the pueblo style house. Why doesn't he do that at our house?
Maddi as a Mexican. It was a fun exhibit for the kids. They could go shopping and then bring the groceries back to the house and cook in the kitchen, eat at the table, and clean up.
Maison building with the blocks. Blake and Case are chilling out in the background
Maddi and Maison playing in the water area. Maddi painted her face to be a cat or something. She was in heaven getting to face paint. The girl loves face paint, tattoos, colored hair, etc. I'm hoping she'll outgrow this before her teen years.

Chuck E Cheese

I had all the kids for 1 1/2 days before Brett's mom came to help out. On my first day we ventured out to Chuck E Cheese. It was surprisingly very easy to take all of them. I was like a freak show with all the other moms pointing and talking about how I must be crazy to have so many children so close together. Can't blame them though, I do the same thing when I see a mom with lots of kids.
Maison, Cade and Maddi liked riding the carousel.
Blake on the left and Case on the right. They had fun watching everything around them and then one of them fell asleep in the stroller. It took me a while to figure out which baby was which.
Maison and Cade riding the roller coaster.
Pizza time!

Trip to Texas

So, we made it to Todd and Breezy's and everyone was getting acquainted with each other. Watching 5 children for 8 days is a lot of work. Anyone who is considering having a large family should think long and hard about that! I have not had a desire for more children and this just sealed the deal. Two is company for me! All of the kids and babies were sooooo.... good. They really were, it's just a lot of work to care for that many. This was a great experiment for the kids. Maddi has been begging for another brother or sister and after so many days of younger cousins arounds, she got less and less helpful. She realized that babies are fun to visit, but having one in our house would change our lives quite a bit. Cade learned that babies and younger kids aren't that bad and he'll still get attention. He got more and more playful with them as time went on.
Maddi is holding Case in her lap and Blake is on the left. They are 9 months old. Maddi was so awesome to have around. I'd feed one a bottle and she'd feed the other. Same thing with feeding them baby food. I couldn't have done it without my Maddi girl.
Omie came to see us when we got there. She was there for two days and then she had to go back to work and left on her delayed honeymoon after that. Omie has 7 grandkids now. Getting 5 kids to look as you take a picture is no small task. We had to break out the candy for bribery for Cade and Maison. Cade will be 5 in August and is holding Case, Maddi is 6 1/2 and is holding Blake, Maison will be 2 at the end of July.
The twins are so laid back. Aren't they cute?