Hard Work Paid Off

Brett and the kids put a lot of time and effort into their Awana Grand Prix cars. Saturday was the day they got to see all of their hard work pay off. It was a busy Saturday, as usual. It started with me on a conference call from 8:00-9:30a.m. I'm going to start selling Kelly's Kids clothing and I had to do an online training. Brett put Emalyn down for a nap while I was on the call and then the kids and him went up to church to check their cars in for the race. They were happy that all of their cars weighed 4.9 ounces, none of them were over the weight limit of 5.0 ounces. Then they brought Maddi home and Brett and Cade went for basketball team pictures. Maddi, Emalyn and I went to church and Brett and Cade met us there just in time for the adult and teen race for the Grand Prix.

Brett's car did well, but wasn't as fast as he had hoped it would be. Brett's car is the orange one 3rd from left.

He ended up winning 2nd place in the design category. They gave 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for novelty, design and speed categories. Emalyn went on stage to accept the award with Brett. Daddy is her favorite person these days and is stuck to him like glue when he's around.

The kids were all very proud of their daddy after the awards! As soon as it was over, it was time for Brett and Cade to leave for their basketball game. Maddi, Emalyn and I stayed at church and waited for the 3rd-6th grade races to begin.

This was Cade's car. It said Delta Swim, the name of his swim team.

This is Maddi's car. She started out with a hot pink car, added some yellow spray paint and then added some white flecks and then put on cross stickers.

Some of the other cars in their age group.

I enjoyed looking at the cars and the creative ideas. Our family doesn't get too creative, they are in it for speed!

Maddi's car won her first race. Brett and Cade weren't back from the basketball game yet, but we sent a text to let them know. Brett arranged for Cade to get all of his playing time before the 4th quarter and they left the game early to get to the grand prix. They showed up just in time for Cade's first race.

Someone was happy their daddy was back!

Cade was excited to see how fast his car would race. It wasn't as fast as last year, but it did well.

Maddi's car getting ready to race, 2nd from left. The tank on the left of her car was 6.7 ounces. Poor thing drilled all kinds of holes in the car but it was still too heavy. They ended up letting it race anyway, but it wasn't eligible for a speed award. The car to the right of Maddi's was a long john donut. The boy was quite proud that it had real sprinkles on it. I think it got 2nd place in the novelty category.

Maddi was very excited that she won 2nd place in the design category and she also won 2nd place in the speed category! She was the only kid who won two trophies! Go Maddi Girl!

All of the winnners!

Maddi was so proud of her two trophies. She has had so many struggles academically this year and this was a nice boost for her self esteem. Cade handled her winning very well and was happy for her, but I think he was hoping to win for speed too. Brett did everything the exact same for all of their cars, so I guess it was a lot of luck in how fast they really were.

Maddi and Cade are so lucky to have Brett for their Dad. He loves those kids so much and would do anything in the world for them.

And I had to throw this one in...Miss Emalyn was over it and ready for a nap! She is such a trooper and gets drug along to so many activities. She really is a good baby but she was done at this point. Of course later that day, Brett and the kids were already talking about their ideas for next years race. I'd say they had fun!

Swimming, Dance, Basketball and Football=Worn Out!

Our wirlwind weekend started at 6:45 a.m. Saturday morning when Cade had to be at the school for warm ups for his swim meet. Brett took Cade and then Emalyn, Maddi and I were there at 8:00 when it started.

Take your mark, or whatever they say.

It's the dreaded butterfly! His second event was the 50 fly and again, he was dqd. Poor guy. He is almost always disqualified from the butterfly for non-simultaneous arms. He just get can't his right arm all the way out of the water. I think he's on the verge of getting a complex about this stroke. He did awesome with everything else and even got first place of all 8 and under boys for the 25 breast stroke. He was so close, tenths of seconds away, from getting regional times in the breast and back races. Cade is really enjoying swimming, he's feeling a sense of accomplishment, and it's such great exercise.

This picture makes me laugh. There is a boy we have nick named "touch boy" on Cade's team. I would guess he has a serious case of ADHD. He can not keep his hands to himself. He is constantly touching Cade or another swimmer. Cade was in the lane next to him for a race and the whole time they were waiting (in lane order) he was talking to and touching Cade. Cade looked up at us to make sure we saw who he was sitting next to and made a face and Brett snapped this photo. Cade likes the kid, it's just comical how he can't keep his hands to himself.

Maddi, Emalyn and I left the meet at 11:15 Saturday so Maddi could get ready for dance. She had dance from 12-3. I picked her up and met Brett and Cade at the gym for Cade's first basketball game that Brett is coaching. It was painful to watch. Most of the boys have never played basketball before. Brett did a great job of staying calm and encouraging the boys. I think we'll see great improvement by the end of the season. The kids were constantly double dribbling or simply picking up the ball and running with it. Many of them were having so much fun "guarding" or chasing their oppenent around the court, they weren't even watching the ball. Cade did well and took a few shots, but no baskets. I think their team lost something like 8 baskets to 0.

Maddi had a sleepover at the dance studio that didn't start until 8:30 p.m. This was the first year we let her stay the night. Truth is, we didn't want to have to stay awake and go get her at 11:00 p.m. as we have in the past. She had a great time and stayed up until about 3:00 a.m. I went to pick her up Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and everyone was asleep. She was supposed to be awake and dressed and ready to go. We then went back to the swim meet where Brett and Cade had been since 6:45 a.m. Sundays meet was much faster and me and the girls were out of there by 9:45. Brett and Cade had to stay because Cade was in a relay. When we got home, Emma and Maddi napped and I cleaned the house.

The Bears were playing the Packers at 2:00 so we had the Laymans come over after the swim meet to watch the game and hang out. Maddi slept until 1:30 p.m. when she was woken up by the kids banging on drums. Abby is Maddi's age and swims with Cade so Caley and Maddi hang out together at the swim meets. This is Caley, Cade and Emalyn playing before Maddi was awake. The kids were really into the game, because there was a big rivalry at their school with Bears and Packers. Maddi and Cade borrowed Bears jerseys from our friends to wear to school Friday because their teacher gave them bonus bucks for being Bears fans. The Bears lost but we had fun watching. When the game was over it was time for showers and bed. It was one busy weekend and I think we were all worn out by the time Monday came.

Favorite Things

These pictures are from last weekend showing some of Emalyn's favorite things. She loves to put the game piece from Trouble on her finger. It reminds us of ET. She has all these random things she plays with and that would be one of them. If she sees it on the counter or coffee table, she has to have it and she immediately puts it on her finger. Silly girl!

She LOVES her baby dolls. This soft pink one is her favorite, but she also likes Maddi's American Girl Bitty Baby. She takes baby with her everywhere and she is so nurturing, she feeds it her empty bottles, sippy cups, her food, pretend food and she brings the baby around to us and says "mmmm" so we'll give her baby a kiss. I know not all girls play with babies, but it's genetic in my family. I loved them, Maddi loved them and Emalyn does too. Cade never had any interest in real babies or baby dolls.

Emalyn also loves to sit against things. She'll back up into the recliner, the back doors, the shower, the bath tub, whatever. She sits back and plays with her baby and feeds it or she'll sit with books and read them.

Here she is doing another favorite thing...twirling or spinning. She spins around and around and then tries to walk and cracks up that she's walking crooked and crazy. Where does she get this stuff from? She makes all of us laugh all the time.

Big smiles as she's backing against the door to sit down.

Trouble times two. Cocoa has always been very tolerant of Emalyn, but she's learning that this annoying little human can be a great friend in crime.

Cocoa is thinking, yes, open that one first and then the top one and I'm free!

On several occassions I have put Cocoa in the kenell before we leave the house. As I'm gathering our things, Cocoa runs out of the kennell because Miss Emalyn has unlocked her and let Cocoa free. Cocoa likes her kennell, really. She'll go in there on her own to nap but when I tell her to go in she won't always go in. I can even leave the kennell door open and go out to the car and come back in and find that Cocoa has gone in the kennell on her own, but for some reason she doesn't want to go in when I tell her to go in. Emalyn is getting too smart and is making my attempts at getting Cocoa in her kennell even more of a challenge.

This was also from last weekend. Cade, Maddi and Brett spent many hours getting their Awana Grand Prix cars ready. I like this picture because it shows how nice Cade's teeth are getting. Braces are the best! He had some really crazy teeth there for a while but they are looking so nice now.

These are Brett and Cade's cars. I think Maddi's was still drying from another coat of paint in the garage. Brett decided to enter a car this year too in the adult category. He has spent countless hours sanding, painting, drilling holes to add weights and who knows what else getting these cars to perfection. He is an engineer with perfectionism tendencies and he takes this stuff very serious. Good thing I have had no part in this because I think we would have killed each other during this process. The good thing is that the kids and Brett have had a great time together working on these cars and that's what it's all about.

Five for Friday

1. Emalyn is at such a fun age right now. She still loves her baby doll and carries her all over the place. She usually cuddles her like in this picture, but she just realized the baby had a tag to hold it by and started holding it like this...

...thankfully she's not holding a real baby.

2. Brett is coaching Cade's basketball team this year. This is the first time Brett has coached him in a few years. They both seem very excited about it so hopefully Cade listens well and Dad isn't too hard on his son :)

3. I'm pretty sure Emalyn is trying to learn how to say Maddi. She says "maaaaaa, daa daa" She even said it yesterday when Maddi was at school and I went into Maddi's room to put some clothes away. Maddi is of course thrilled and Cade is not so thrilled.

4. I'm really not a fan of Illinois right now. They have just passed law that the state income tax is increasing by 66%. I hate having a state income tax to begin with and now we will pay several thousand dollars more per year to this stinking state. Ugh...

5. The kids just went back to school last Monday. Today, Friday, they had a half day and Monday they are off all day. One day I'm going to count the number of weeks in the school year that they actually go to school the whole week. Speaking of school, little Maddi continues to struggle with school. It's so inconsistent. One day she does really well and the next day it's like she's never seen any of it before. The school is doing some testing and we are meeting with them later this month to see what the next step is. Last year she had such a great year and this year she just can't grasp it. Pray for our sweet Maddi and for everyone who is working with her (doctors and teachers) so we can figure out what's going on in her little mind.

14 Months!

Miss Emalyn is 14 months old!

This was her one year ago. Wow! She has grown into a little toddler and what fun it's been to watch her.

Some of her favorite things:
reading books, (favorites are Mommy Hugs, Animal Homes, Noisy Kisses)

Playing with her babies and feeding them bottles or her own bottles and sippy cups,

Playing with Cocoa, playing hide and seek (she'll come lean on me behind me if I'm sitting and she'll pop out to the side for me to tickle her), putting lids on and off things (like water bottles and tupperware), puzzles, and basically just walking around the house looking for things to get into. lol She loves to spin around in circles and still loves music and dancing. Just so we'll remember this one day...she loves the pieces from the game Trouble. She really likes the blue one and she puts it on her pointer finger and we call her ET. She woke up in her crib with a piece on her finger one morning. We had no idea she took it to bed with her. So glad she didn't put it in her mouth and choke on it.

Just recently she got her 4 molars and a tooth is coming through on the bottom. In talking with other moms, I guess we are very lucky that those molars popped in without any real issues. She had a runny nose for about a month and that was probably the only real side effect. She's getting picky about foods but still likes to eat. Her favorites are: raisins, bananas, blueberries, froot loops, yogurt, apples and applesauce, any meat dipped in ketchup, brocolli, corn and green beans.

She has started saying Momma! I love it! She says it so funny with her mouth with kind of like kissy lips. She's say Dadda sometimes too if we say Da Da Da. We were beginning to wonder if she would ever talk! She can understand so much and she can do what we tell her to do. She makes sounds but mostly just sweet little coos. She is just the sweetest little thing. She's learned how to shake her head no when she doesn't want something and she's learning to nod yes but she's not real sure when to use the yes nod. She barks every time she sees a dog in a book or TV or if she hears one bark.

This is such a fun age! We are all just loving our little 14 month old Emalyn Faith.

Happy New Year 2011

We had two families over to ring in the new year. What a difference a year makes! Last New Years, Emalyn was a few weeks old and this little guy, Dalton, was just starting to grow in his mommy's tummy.

Ellie and Emalyn were so intersted in Dalton. On a side note, the ladies at the gym were telling me last week that when Emalyn was there it was just her and a 4 month old in an exersaucer and a 3 month old in a swing. Emalyn would go push the baby in the swing and then go play with the toys for the baby in the ultrasaucer and go back and forth between the two. I think she is becoming very nurturing like her big sister Maddi was/is.

Emalyn was "petting" Dalton and Ellie wanted to hug the poor guy. 3 little cutie pies.

It was time for the kids to burn off some energy with Just Dance 2 on Wii!

All the kids were dancing, even if they didn't have a remote to play with. So fun to watch!

Still dancing! I love how Ellie's trying to do gymnastics. lol

The spectating parents.

Ellie found Emalyn's ball that she never plays with. All of a sudden Emalyn wanted her ball...

...but Ellie won that battle. Ha ha!

Emalyn got her ball back and now those two are checking out Cocoa's kennel. It's so fun to watch Ellie and Emalyn interact as they grow up. Next year at New Year's will be even more fun with those two.

Happy girl with her ball.

Maddi is a kid magnet. They just love her! She was dancing with the little girls.

Sweet sisters!

Brett got his hands on the camera. Here's Cocoa enjoying the party.

And Brett enjoying the party! He was in rare form after enjoying some whiskey he got for a Christmas present.

And now an Emma face.

Blowing kisses saying good night. We had planned on saying Happy New Year at 10:00 pm and then putting the kids to bed. The kids did sparklers at 10:00 and then Emma and Ellie and Andrew went to bed. We let the older kids stay up and watch the ball drop at 11:00 our time in New York.

Then Brett let the kids shake up the champagne like crazy so the cork would fly.

Big smiles from everyone.

They were all quite happy to see the cork shot all the way across the yard. We ended up staying up until after 1:00, even the kids. Jack and Grace spent the night after the kids came up with a plan of making pallets for everyone and then saying they were tired and wanted to go to bed. They all crashed out quick. However, Cade was up at 2:30 a.m. and said someone puked in his bed. Well, it was Cade that was sick. Too much junk! I barely slept all night waiting for the other kids to get sick as well. They never did, thank goodness. Everyone slept until 7:00 and was happy when they woke up. Hard to believe another year has gone by. We are thankful for our health and many blessings and hope it continues into 2011!