Color me mine...

One of the things Madison wanted to do for her birthday was paint a piggy bank at "Color Me Mine". So last week we took Maddie and Taylor over there. Of all the things they could pick out to paint, they both wanted the pigs, and they both wanted their pigs to be polka dot. So here is the "Before" picture of their pigs....


















Here is their "work in progress"

Here is Russ and his attempt with helping Madison










Here is Chad tagging along with us just being patient because afterwards we were going school shopping for him. Of course you can see, he's still a bit swollen from his wisdom teeth being removed, this is 'day 4' for him, and he's still not completely happy yet...

Here are the pigs after the painting, but before the glazing...

Here are the cute finished products and the proud artists.

Madison's first day of kindergarten...

Today was Madison's first day of kindergarten. I had such mixed emotions... First of all, the obvious, she's my baby. I will never again experience this. It means she's growing up, and as I stated in a previous post, I really am trying to do everything I can to freeze time for my kids, but for some reason, it's not working. Even though she's been used to going to preschool and us leaving her, for some reason today she didn't want me to leave her there. She was so excited, but once we got there, she clung to me and didn't want me to leave her. Once I left, she did really well, and can't stop talking about her class now, plus she got to bring cookies to her class because her birthday was yesterday. Here's a few pictures of her, and one of her and her best friend, Emma.

Happy Birthday to my baby girl...

Today is my baby's birthday! She is now 6 years old... I can't believe how fast she's growing up. We had her birthday party on Saturday at 'Bouncin' Off The Walls' and she had a blast. I just love her so much, she's such a sweetheart. I love you Madison Rylee...

Happy Birthday Lauryn....

Happy Birthday to my cute neice, Lauryn! She is turning 7 today and I can't believe how quickly she is growing up! My sister and her family live in Virginia, so we only get to see them once a year -- I wish it was alot more! Lauryn --- we love you and hope you have the happiest birthday ever! We can't wait to see you next year...




















I also wanted to say Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law, Clemente. His birthday was on July 27th. And we didn't forget him, we sent him a gift and called him, but I feel bad that I failed to mention his birthday in my blog..
Clemente, I want you to know we love you so much, and we had a blast with you when you guys were here visiting in June. You kept us in constant laughter and tears that night on Lori & Len's back deck. I'll never forget how funny that night was! XOXO

School carnival...

The first week at Taylor and Maddie's school, they always put on a carnival. So tonight, we took them there for a few hours, and of course the kids always have fun on the rides, and playing tons of games where they win cheap prizes (I always end up sneaking a few in the garbage each day to clean them up --- shhhhh!)

Taylor & Maddie with Abby & Tiani

A carnival wouldn't be a carnival without cotton candy. But of course, my daughter, Taylor, chooses a bottle of water over cotton candy. Maddie jumps at the chance for sugar any time she can get it.

No pain, no gain...

Two days after having his wisdom teeth removed, now Chad is really not feeling good. As you can see in this picture, he doesn't look happy one bit. He's swollen up like a chipmunk, and putting ice packs on his face constantly, rinsing his mouth with warm salt water, and has been on pain pills and antibiotics for two days. He said this wasn't what he signed up for. He's hoping the swelling goes down before his first day of school on Monday. We'll see when we take his picture before school on Monday... You're a trooper Chad!

Poor Chad.....

Chad must be very wise.....
Right? Isn't that what it means when your wisdom teeth come in? His wisdom teeth appeared at the ripe old age of 17. they say wisdom teeth usually appear between the age of 18-20. He got his braces on about 6 months ago, and the orthodontist wanted a few teeth to move before he had us go have them removed. So we had an appointment made for him to have them removed today, and since he didn't want to be awake for the lovely procedure, we made the appointment with an oral surgeon, because apparently, they are the only ones that can put patients to 'sleep' for the procedure. So here is the picture before and after, so you can see Chad's half smile that shows a bit of worry in his face before ---- and after, well, I think he's just plain annoyed... You did a great job Chad! I love you!

BEFORE

AFTER