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We LOVE a good party!!!

Tomorrow this little guy is going to be one...ONE!!!

I can't even wrap my brain around that.

Oh how we love this little boy in our lives.

He is such a joy.

Pure joy!

Tonight we had a little party for him...we will celebrate at the station tomorrow too!

We had a lot of cake...a lot of wrapping paper, and best of all good friends...yep, they were all little girls...but he needs to get used to that...

Here are some pictures to tell the story of the night for me.

He wanted that fire!!!

He loves marshmallows.
My girls were all a little weary to dig into their cakes whenthey turned one...
So I thought if I put marshmallows on it...he would dig in...
It worked...but I am pretty sure he would have dug into it with out them anyway!

Elsie helped him out a little until she got her own to eat.

Opening presents!
How how fun it is to be the birthday boy!!!
My favorite picture is on the bottom left.
Isn't it a giant dump truck a MUST HAVE if you are a little boy???
Can you tell how much he loves it????
I am sure that thing will get some miles on it.
We had such a fun night!
Thanks to our friends making it such a fun night!


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Oh...and

GO BRONCOS!!!!!

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We LOVED this city project idea!!!

Today Madi...and all the other 3rd graders...turned in their businesses to be put together into a city.

This evening we went and saw them all put together into a very large city.

Seriously...this is such a fun idea.

Each kid made a business at home...but in class they each made a home to be displayed into neighborhoods.

Such a fun idea!!!

Madi's station turned out great...

Let me preface...parental help was required!!!

Although the ideas were all Madi's, the hot glue-ing and hard stuff was left to Mom and Dad.

My favorite?...the flag she painted on some paper.

See how it is waving in the wind!

Here are some shots with it in the city.

The little yellow house is the house Madi created in class.

Pretty stinkin' cute!!!

Just one street of the city that was laid out all over the gym floor.

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And I just had to post this...

Cassi got home from school and wanted to make lunch for Cassi and I.

I think she wanted to make something special because today Brent went to school and had lunch with Madi and then helped score points with Madi in the run/walk club.

So Cassi wanted something special for us.

First she told me to go into the office and not to come out.

When she finally had me come out...she had this waiting for me.

Tablecloth and everything.

She said she couldn't think of anything to make so she got some apples out and put a plate of Ritz crackers in the center of the table.

Oh, and filled our cups with Root Beer.

Such a little sweetheart!

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We LOVE Dressing-up for school!

Today was WACKY WEDNESDAY and they were supposed to wear stripes and bring a dime for a school fund raiser they are having.

I laid out the pink shirt and the blue shirt for Cassi to pick which one she wanted...and she came down this morning with both on...hey that's pretty wacky if you ask me!

So it worked!

Madi isn't always so gung-ho to dress up..she wants to dress up...but not too much.

I think it was because she was embarrassed on pirate day during red ribbon week...she got all dressed up to find out no one in her class did...she didn't like that.

So now she is very careful with what she chooses to wear and doesn't make it too crazy.

These two are just like night and day.

Hey...that is what makes the world go round...right!

Anyway...I think they both looked darling!

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AND

I got my pictures today and I love them...I am having a hard time picking what I want...and what to post and what to save for Christmas...you know...

But I will post some soon!

Thanks again, Amy!

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AND

Don't buy your 2010 calendars yet...

I have one set in my hands right now...the then and now calendar...

The beef-cake needs to be fixed a little, but will be back by next week.

I really want to do a good job selling these for the Fire department burn-out fund...so help me out...

They would make great gifts for Christmas!

Let me know if you want one!

Only $10.00!

I will try to get a picture posted tomorrow...but you know you want one!!!

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I LOVE my family!!!

I also LOVE that picture day is FiNaLlY over!!!

My awesome friend, Amy, and I swapped family photos...

Today was finally our day to do it...but it almost wasn't.

Remember how windy today was...

Well, this was already a rescheduled day due to weather and we were gonna try tomorrow...but we decided to just get it over with.

I am glad we did.

Family pictures are exhausting...and it doesn't just start on the day of pictures.

I think I put way too much time and stress into these outfits.

I wanted them to be fun, but a little funky, but also show the individual personalities...oh and did I mention that I didn't want to spend much money doing it!

Well, these are the outfits I came up with.

I will start with Madi.

Her undershirt is one of mine...just pinned in the back.

Her over shirt was also one of mine, cut and sewn to fit her just right...and a belt I made for her to bring in the dark blue.

I think it portrays Madi's proper-ness, and perfection-ism.

Cassi's red top used to be a dress, but I saw this Levi skirt at a second hand store and thought it was SO CASSI!

So I cut the dress to show the skirt. I know...I am weird.

I just came across the socks and also thought they were SO CASSI...so I had to get them...and they helped bring the turquoise color to her outfit.

Then I made some little flowers to put on her dress to help them tie in together.

I think it portrays Cassi's cRaZiNeSs!

Elsie is wearing a sweater dress that was mine...just never looked good on me and I knew the color would be beautiful on Elsie...so I cut and sewed...cut more and sewed more...until is was just right.

I also made a cute flower pin for her dress the help bring in the red.

I think the outfit shows Elsie's sweetness and her love-ability!

Lucky for Porter and Brent, boys clothes are nearly as fun to modify...so they are pretty plain...but pretty good looking if you ask me!

My dress and boots are borrowed from my friend Jenni...(every professional picture I have had taken in the last few years...I have worn clothes from Jenni)

The striped top is a dress I found at another second hand store...half off, yippee!

So I cut it right down the middle to make it a little jacket.

I know...crazy me again.

But that is why the outfit matches me...I am crazy!

I Took my camera so Amy could take a few shots so I could post one tonight!

I am so excited to see how the others turned out!!!!!

Thanks Amy SO MUCH for doing this for us!

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I LOVE my Madi time!

Madi and I don't always see eye to eye.

And it makes me sad.

I want BADLY to have a better relationship with her.

I think we are both trying.

Tonight Madi helped me get all the younger ones to bed and she and I stayed up for a little while working on her city project.

That is what Madi thrives on.

One-on-one time.

I need to try harder to give that to her.

It is easier for her to open up and tell me about things in her life when there isn't chaos all around us!

I do enjoy my time with Madi and I hope she enjoys this time with me.

It is a very important thing for a girl to be able to talk to her Mom about important things.

I just want her to always know I am there for her.

I love that girl.

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I LOVE the Reflections program...

Seriously...there is no better program...asking a child to express how they feel through art!

This years theme is "Beauty is......" and the child makes a work of art, in all different categories, that explains the theme.

The girls finished up their projects this afternoon because they are due tomorrow!

Nothing like waiting 'til last minute!!!

Madi wrote...

"Beauty is nature"

And she painted these lovely purple flowers.

Cassi wrote...

"Night is beauty"

Cassi's evolves from several different themes...at one point she had a deer drawn at the bottom, a popsicle stick tree glued on one side, it was a beach at one point, but I think the final outcome is just wonderful.

I told her that I can't wait to hang it up.

Madi had a great idea..she wanted the picture to pop...
But later this evening I read the rules, and they state that they can't be 3D.
Bummer...
I told her we would take it off, but when she gets it back, we will glue it back on and hang it that way!
I think it turned out perfect!

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I LOVE to de-clutter!!!

I know...shocking...the girl who takes everyone else's junk actually throws stuff out!!!

Haha...

Today was a very productive day.

I love those!

Christmas is fast approaching and every year we like to weed out the toys...WAY DOWN.

The kids help us out and we let them know that we are donating them and the toys will get to go to kids who are not as fortunate as them.

It is easy to get rid of the stuff you don't want...but some things...were a little harder to let go.

But the kids learned that it isn't much of a sacrifice if you don't WANT the toys anyway.

They made some good choices...kept what they needed and gave the rest away.

I think we have pretty good kids.

Elsie was willing to give it all away, she kept throwing any old thing into the donate bucket...

She had a great time doing it...I am not sure she understood that they were going away.

Silly girl.

We still have A LOT more to go through, but we had a car load of stuff to take to DI.

Madi kept saying that it felt good.

And it did...it felt really good.

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And, just so you have a cute picture to look at instead of garbage bags, I will add this one.

I can't believe Porter is almost one!

I am making a birthday book for him (free from shutterfly...yay!), with all his monthly pictures and I needed a 12 month picture...so this is cheating, a week before he is one...

But isn't he SO CUTE?????

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I LOVE this chair!

And so does Elsie.

I saw this chair at Goodwill not too long ago.

I loved it and I wanted it...but I did not want to pay $30 for it!

I thought for sure it would be bought by some lucky person ASAP.

The next week I went into goodwill and it was still there!

And guess what...it was half off!

$15

YAY!!!

So I got it and brought it home.

It sits in Elsie and Cassi's room.

Once I paint the room and get it how I want, this Pink and Gold chair will fit perfectly!

It has made story time at night much more comfy for me.

It has also allowed Elsie to get in and out of bed.

Up until now, she just stayed in bed, or waited to be put in bed.

Now she has learned to climb into the chair and get in bed, or the opposite way too.

So here is our new daily routine.

After school Elsie has lunch.

Then we go up to bed, where she used to take a nap.

Now she enjoys her quite time playing with her kitchen and being "Mom" to her babies.

She loves this alone, quiet time.

And I think she needs it.

She gets so much interaction and stimulation at school, I think it is nice for her to take the time to calm down.

So thanks to this chair she is able to get down and continue to use her imagination but also get some quiet time.

But, like you see in the picture...sometimes she still needs the sleep...and she doesn't always quite make it out of the chair....

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I LOVE fun school projects....

All of Third grade gets together and makes what they call "CITY".

They each make houses at school for a neighborhood.

But at home they get to create a business of their choice.

Of course Madi chose to replicate Dads fire station #7.

I can't wait to see how it turns out and I can't wait to see the whole "CITY" put together!
Madi is painting her pavement to put the station on.

It's gonna be cool, just wait!

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I LOVE extending the lives of old clothing....

Yes, those are the feet cut out of Porters 6-9 month jammies.

Oh come on...you can't tell me you have NEVER done that!!!!!!!

But seriously...I think I have a sickness...

A sickness that you will see unfold in a week or so.

We are getting out family pictures done soon...

The girls outfits are all altered from some other outfit...Cassi's is from an old dress of Madi's...Madi's is made from an old shirt of mine, and Elsie's is from an old dress of mine.

I know, I am crazy!

I do this kind of thing more often than you would think.

I am crazy, I realize that.

But when you see something, not being used, that can be transformed into something usable, WHY NOT!?!?!