SK Lee Stories

A day in the life of Ella

2011-07-22T23:04:00.000-05:00

I recently found a camera at a garage sale and gave it to Ella. She has been on a rampage taking photos around the house. Needless to say the kids get plenty of practice posing for pictures - but it's pretty humorous to listen to them direct each other around. "Sit here, do this, smile". One morning when we were skyping Ella decided she wanted to have a picture of Baby Nora on her camera so she took a picture of the computer screen. Actually a pretty good idea. Cyndy asked for the picture so I downloaded the memory stick from Ella's camera. Thought I might share what a little 5 year girl finds interesting enough to take a picture of. These pictures were all taken on the same day and within 30 minutes. I guess now I know what they do all day when I'm not looking.

Looks like a good day!

Ella's Dance Recital 2011

2011-06-14T20:34:00.000-05:00

I wasn't able to video the actual recital, so this is video from the dress rehearsal - not quite as good, but still super cute! Ella had such a fun day, she LOVES being on the big stage! In this rehearsal she looks to the side some to see her teacher ,but she was so proud after the "real" show to tell us that she did her dances without even looking at the teacher! She was so happy that she could hear us cheering for her, but said that she was "concentrating on doing her dance, so she couldn't see us in the crowd". I keep wanting to cut dance out of our crazy schedule, but every time I see her up on that stage I think "maybe one more year"! There is just something about seeing her up on that stage with the lights, and music and costume that makes you smile so big that your cheeks hurt.

Madelyn learning to ride her bike

2011-05-26T21:26:00.000-05:00

I decided to give Madelyn a try at riding her bike with no training wheels. She can balance so good on her scooter that I thought she might be able to do it. So just out of curiosity I took the training wheels off her bike, to give it a whirl. The video below is seriously how quickly she learned. I didn't catch the very first time on video, because I didn't in a million years think she would actually do it. But the very first time, I ran with her a couple feet and then let go without her realizing that I had let go. She biked on her own for about 15 feet, before realizing that I wasn't holding on. Then she stopped pedaling. She didn't want to try again for a little bit, but once I knew she could do it, I wasn't above bribing her. A popsicle can go a long way for a little kid in Spring. After I saw how good she did her very first try, I went in to get the video camera and the rest is literally how it went. I remember with Collin, running around the entire block holding on to the back of the bike for weeks. As you can see in the video, we barely had to run behind Madelyn at all. She literally had it figured out within minutes. Amazing....I guess being the 3rd child has some advantages.

Ella's Pre-School Graduation

2011-05-24T22:09:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that Ella is already done with pre-school and ready for kindergarten. She has made lots of new friends, learned how to read, how to count to 100, beginning math, and on and on. So she is more than ready for that next big step on to kindergarten, but I am not. She can't wait for summer to be over so she can go to kindergarten, but I can wait. I have learned to treasure moments with her, the good and the bad. The hours and hours we spend playing games, reading books and doing puzzles. The rollerblades on and off a hundred times in one day. Finding or even making up worksheets so she can have "homework" to do. Endless hours of practicing dance and listening to Bella Dancerella. Snuggling on the couch or just simply listening to her laugh. I get a pit in my stomach just thinking about a day without her. I know the time has to come when I have to let them go, even if it is just a little. But I thank God every day for giving me the wisdom to appreciate the time that I do have with them, and to cherish every moment.

Ella had so much fun singing and dancing.

Madelyn spends a lot of her life trying to be just like Ella. Ella loves being the big sister and having Madelyn look up to her. During the slideshow, Madelyn snuck down to sit by Ella. It was so adorable. But if that wasn't enough, Madelyn then climbed right up into Ella's lap.

Ella and Teacher Kari. Ella has had Kari for 2 years of Pre-School and is really going to miss her next year. Luckily they will be in the same building and Kari has promised to stop in and visit.

Grandma, Madelyn and Ella

And of course the day would not be complete without her very best friend Cole by her side! I know I'm biased but aren't they adorable?

Camping at Sibley State Park

2011-05-23T21:27:00.000-05:00

This is the earliest in the season we have ever attempted camping. Because we were not sure what the weather at night would be like, we decided to give the "camper cabins" a try. This is simply a very small cabin with 2 sets of bunk beds and a small table, but more importantly a roof and an electric heater. We arrived at the park at about noon, had some lunch, unpacked and were on the trail by 1pm. What a treat to have no tent to set up. We did the loop up to Mt. Tom. It is about a 3 mile loop. We brought the backpack carrier for Madelyn, because we were not sure how she would do hiking. She started out asking to be carried quite a bit, but after we insisted she walk at least the first half, she did eventually give up. She not only made it half way (to the top of Mt. Tom), but she made the remaining half of the loop also. All 3 miles on her own 2 feet - what a big girl! This was a nice hike with a cool observation deck at Mt. Tom. We got back to the cabin and the kids wanted to tackle geocaching, so we headed down by the lake to do that. They are getting really good at this, and hardly need any help from mom and dad at all! We had a bonfire, roasted hot dogs for dinner, and of course had smores. Got in a little playing catch, before settling in by the fire just in time to see a couple deer run right through our campsite. It was so cool. We went to bed in nice warm beds, and all slept pretty good. We woke up to rain and more rain. We spent the entire morning and afternoon playing games, listening to music and reading books. It was a very lazy day and lots of fun. The kids said their favorite part was sleeping in the camper cabin on the bunk beds.

One of Madelyn's favorite things to do at camping is drinking as much as she wants from the water cooler.

The kids thought it was pretty cool to hike up to a mountain named after their grandpa.

Taking a small break to get in a quick map reading lesson. Collin is starting to get pretty good at orienting himself with a map.

Geocahing

Found the treasure.

Lazy Sunday morning.

Madelyn at gymnastics

2011-05-19T21:49:00.000-05:00

I had no intentions of signing Madelyn up for gymnastics at this age, but when we showed up and there were two little 3 year olds in the pre-school class going on during Ella's gymnastics, I just couldn't resist. For once in her life, she could have the chance to be doing something fun, instead of just watching her brother and sister. She COULD NOT wait for her turn to do gymnastics. On her first day she had a hard time figuring out the concept of "stations". She had only known open gym, and this coupled with a natural 3-year old attention span didn't go so well. She did something one time and then was ready to move on to the next more exciting thing. She was basically running wild in the gym, but her coach is awesome with her and just kept reeling her back in. After that first hour, I was sure he was going to boot her right out. I later learned that the other 2 girls in the class had already done a year of gymnastics in a parent/child class. Coach David said he already had them trained like little puppies. Clearly Madelyn needed a little work in that area. But he insisted that she would catch on, after all she has been watching Ella for a year now. He was right, already the next week she stayed on task much better! She has a huge smile on her face the ENTIRE time. She absolutely loves it. She loves being a big kid!

Baseball Season is in Full Swing

2011-05-14T23:33:00.000-05:00

Collin's first baseball game of the season. He is playing for WB baseball association this year. His first game was on a rainy, cold day. He was so worried that the game would be cancelled. He is really excited about playing baseball this year. I'm pretty sure Collin had his hands in the air, cheering for one thing or another for most of the game. Every run was "the game winner" and every out was, "the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs - world series style". He really had a great time. After the game Connor got in our car to head home and he said, "Collin did you see that home run I got"? Collin responded, "Yeah, dude - did you see my slide at 3rd"? It was pretty cute. I love these years, when life is good and easy and the kids are truly their own biggest fan!! I know it won't last forever, but I hope that Collin is making memories that WILL last forever - I know that I am!

Mousey's Birthday!

2011-05-13T15:20:00.001-05:00

Very randomly one day, Ella decided that April 28th is Mousey's birthday. She started wrapping presents in the morning. One thing led to another and before you know it we had a party, complete with balloons, presents (which were toys wrapped up in computer paper), cards, cake and even some neighbors. It was quite the celebration. Ella has such a love for life and creative imagination sometimes I just can't stomp on it, and that is how things get out of control and we end up with a birthday party for a stuffed animal. The things we do as parents to see joy on our kids' faces!!

Connor, Cole, Carly and the rest of the Gerrell's helped to make Mousey's party feel like a party!

Summer Baseball???

2011-05-13T15:20:00.000-05:00

Ella, Madelyn, Cole and Carly trying to keep warm at our May baseball practice. It was in the 30s with snow flurries - ridiculous.

Ella's Dance 2011

2011-05-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

Ella is dancing at 4th Street Dance Center this year. It is hard to tell at the beginning of the year if Ella really likes dance or not, but the more she learns her dances and as the recital starts to approach she loves it. It is not uncommon to find her singing away and practicing her dances at home. The other parents are always amazed at how well Ella knows the dances, but it is because she LOVES to "practice" at home. Her songs this year are: "Purple People Eater" and "Rolling". She may not be girly all the time, but put a pair of tap shoes on her and she is girl through and through!

Look at those curls.....

Easter 2011

2011-05-03T15:52:00.002-05:00

Easter 2011. Before going to bed we had the kids place their Easter baskets by the patio door. Madelyn was very skeptical about leaving her Easter basket un-attended all night. It took a lot of convincing to get her to leave it. She wanted to sleep with it in her bed. Later that night, I was up in the top bunk with Collin snuggling at bedtime. From below I heard Ella whisper to Matt, "If you and mommy get up really early will you take a picture of the Easter bunny". Then she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, I'm sure dreaming of candy filling her Easter basket. They were of course up before us to discover that, in fact the Easter bunny had come. After the usual excitement a few too many pieces of candy we headed off to a fabulous church service. We were joined by Mary and Terry and were lucky enough to spend the rest of Easter with them. We enjoyed a nice bike ride to Frog Hollow Park, decorating cupcakes, and hours of fun playing outside with friends. Of course, most importantly we wanted to remember what we were really celebrating. We spent some time reflecting on what the resurrection of Jesus means for each of us. What it means about how we live our lives here on Earth and ultimately our gift of heaven that awaits us. As the kids get older, it is amazing to watch their unconditional faith. We talked about how not everyone believes that Jesus died and then came back to life. That there is really no way to prove it, and that it is something that we have to choose to believe. That you don't have to believe it because church is telling you to or because it is what mommy and daddy believe - but because it is something that you truly believe yourself. This is a difficult thing to understand - even as adults. But we are so proud and pleased that our kids have placed their faith and trust in Jesus and want to live a life here on Earth that would make Him proud. It is one of the most important decisions they will ever make and it is so exciting as they get older to watch them start to form their own opinions, beliefs, and faith! We love them so much, and it is my prayer for them every day!

Collin being silly while mommy adjusts her camera settings. The kids are starting to get used to this and don't even mind being my "fill ins" anymore.

Madelyn crashed hard after all the excitement from the day. She slept for about an hour. Matt went up to get her to eat dinner. He carried her down and she didn't wake up so he lay her on the couch. We finished making dinner, ate dinner and cleaned up dishes before she woke up.

Grandma brought cupcakes to decorate. Both Ella and Madelyn helped to decorate them. Ella lasted through all 2 dozen and was still sad when there was no more left to decorate. We ended up bringing them outside and letting all the neighborhood kids dig in! It was a great way to end a great day.

Treasure Hunt

2011-05-02T14:37:00.004-05:00

The kids have been looking forward to the annual treasure hunt since Christmas got over. We watched and giggled as the kids searched for clues inside and out. Even Madelyn was able to figure some of the easy ones out. And although I made Collin's clues more difficult this year, thinking that I would stump him at least once or twice - he prevailed!

There was of course "treasure" at the end of the treasure hunt, but for the kids it truly is the thrill of the hunt that they love!

Climbing "The Pinnacle" at REI

2011-04-30T09:43:00.000-05:00

For our Family Night out this week we went to climb "The Pinnacle" at REI. This was the first time the kids have attempted climbing. Before we climbed Collin says he "was a little nervous" - but I think he was more nervous than he was letting on, because Ella had to go first. In true Ella fashion she got the harness buckled on and went for it. She was not nervous at all. She was given a little instruction and then off she went. She started out strong and got about 1/3 of the way up before she paused and looked down. Then the nerves set in and she froze. It took quite a bit of convincing to get her to let go of her death grip on the rock and lean back to repel down. She finally did come down and as soon as her feet were planted on solid ground she was already asking, "Can we come here tomorrow"? I think once she realized it was safe she wanted to give it a fair shot. I felt a little bad for her. I think if she hadn't gone first she would have seen that it was safe and probably made it quite a bit further. I can't wait to see what she does next time.

Collin was excited to climb, but I could tell that he was nervous. I was guessing that he would make it about as far as Ella, maybe a touch farther. He is definitely our more reserved kid and it takes him awhile to get up the courage to try something he is nervous about. I figured he could give a try this time and maybe next time we came back he could give it a real shot. He was all business. Let's get buckled in and get this over with. He started up the wall and just took off. Before I could even snap a few pictures he was over half way up the wall. The next thing you know he is ringing the bell at the top. Now keep in mind this is a 55 foot wall - that is WAY up there. I am scared to look down when I get to the top. Still in doubting mode, I thought, "Wait until he looks down and has to let go, we are going to have to call the firefighters to get him down". But to my complete shock, he looked down, smiled, and repelled down like a pro. He never hesitated one time throughout the entire climb. Because he is the one that is usually doing stuff so that he isn't shown up by his little sister, you could just see the look of pride and accomplishment on his face as he got closer to the ground. I know he was really scared to do it, and I was so proud of him! He demonstrated such courage. It was written all over his face - I can do anything! It was so great. Shortly after he got unbuckled he even said, "Next time we go to Mall of America, I'm riding the upside-down roller coaster first". A roller coaster that we spent the better part of an evening trying to convince him to ride, but Ella wasn't tall enough to try it first and there was no way he was going to be the first to go. It was such a great thing, to watch him go for it and make it! I think we may have unleashed a new sense of confidence and courage, hopefully we won't regret it!

You would think that after watching the kids do such a great job, that I would think, "If they can do it, so can I". But I got half way up my wall. looked down and shouted, "okay - that's enough for me, (like let me down from here). But then I could hear Matt and the kids yelling, "come on you can make it". I couldn't let my 7 year old have more courage than me, so up I went. I will for the rest of my life tell the kids...."remember the time that I wanted to quit on the rock wall, but kept going.....". If I had to nearly die, at least I should be able to use it for example for the next 50 years!

Matt also climbed and made it over a cliff on his wall that had previously haunted him. All in all we had a great night, and I think learned a lot about ourselves through our little family adventure.

UPDATE: We went back to "The Pinnacle" this week. Ella was DETERMINED to get to the top. Collin went first and scampered right up again. Ella started out strong, but several times along the way, she would pause and look down. By the look on her little face, you just knew that she was scared to death and wanted to come down so bad, but she did NOT give up. Ella is one little determined girl. She was not going to let that rock get the best of her and she WAS going to make it to the top. And that is just what she did. After several pauses in which I thought she was for sure done, she kept moving and eventually she did make it all the way to the top. There was no way she was coming off that rock without first making it all the way up. We had such a great time doing this together. Collin learned that he can accomplish things that seem scary if he just gives it a try - and that it might even turn out to be fun. Ella learned that if she puts her mind to something she can do anything!

That's a LONG way up!

Collin practicing repelling down before heading up.

Collin at the top ringing the bell.

Mom's turn.

Daddy conquered his rock!

I'm not kidding it's WAY up there!

Video from Ella's Showcase

2011-04-29T22:31:00.000-05:00

Here is a short video clip from Ella's Gymnastics Showcase.

Ella's Gymnastics Showcase

2011-04-28T15:23:00.000-05:00

Ella had a big audience for her gymnastics show: 2 sets of grandparents, 3 if you count Denise :), Cyndy, Nora, Megan and Elizabeth....13 in all!! She had a great time showing everyone all her gymnastics tricks and LOVED getting a medal at the end.

As usual, Madelyn can't wait for her turn to be in the spotlight.

Ella proves once again, that she has no fear!

Her she is doing a flip into the pit.

Ella kept going to Nora in-between each "trick" to make sure she was watching, or maybe just to give her yet another kiss and hug. She couldn't even pose for a picture with her special medal without first showing it to Nora. We are sure going to miss having her around all summer, but we're already looking forward to seeing her this fall.

Ella works really hard and has lots of fun at gymnastics. We are so proud of her.

I Will Love You Forever

2011-04-27T20:56:00.000-05:00

Madelyn did not get a nap today. By 7:00 she was so tired. She did not even make it through her normal 15 minutes of singing Christmas songs at bedtime before falling asleep with Matt still lying in bed next to her. This NEVER happens. About an hour later, I heard her kind of whimpering in bed. I went up and she said she had to go potty. I got her up and she barely opened her eyes. I couldn't resist the urge to take this sleepy little girl in my arms and go to the rocking chair.

As I sat down she snuggled in next to me, barely awake. I know that the number of times that she will curl up and sleep in my arms is now numbered, and so I closed my eyes to soak it in. It is amazing to me how some things have remained the same. Her "little body" is not so little in my arms anymore. Yet aside from the weight of her laying on me, so much is just how I remember it. The sound of her breathing, her legs curled up against her belly, the feeling of her chest rising and falling, the warmth of her skin against my hand, the way she clenches and releases her fist until she finally gives into deep sleep and her hands lay limp on my chest. Then pure bliss as you know she is finally asleep. Knowing that you should lay them down, but sneaking just a few extra minutes anyway.

The days of babies are not so distant for me. I remember wishing they would sleep through the night - even just once. But now days, I find myself wishing they would wake up in the night, wanting mommy's arms around them - even just once.

Spring Fever

2011-04-27T20:53:00.000-05:00

Madelyn LOVES her new rain boots, she wears them every chance she gets. Rain, snow or sunshine!

Easter Eggs

2011-04-26T20:33:00.000-05:00

Finishing up decorating our Easter eggs. Madelyn was the last one standing. I think she would have decorated 4 dozen eggs if we had that many.

The kids blew out all their own eggs this year -- willingly!!

I guess maybe we should have used that little metal tool to dunk the eggs - oops.

Helping take care of Baby Nora

2011-04-20T14:38:00.000-05:00

We were so lucky to have Baby Nora stay with us again. The kids even got to help feed her this time. Of course they all had to have a turn.

We went to the basement for a quick photo shoot. Mom is this what you had in mind?

That's better. Look at that little sweetheart! Nora 4 1/2 months

A day at the rink

2011-04-19T22:01:00.000-05:00

We have been trying to take advantage of our lull in activities between hockey and baseball to give Madelyn a chance to have some fun. We went to open skate again this weekend. This time we talked Megan and Jake into coming with us for some fun on the ice. Ella spent her time practicing "cross-overs" (a hockey term that I certainly wouldn't explain correctly). Collin raced mom around the rink, and I won! I suppose in fairness, I should mention that Collin skated backwards the whole way. Jake did a great job keeping up considering he has barely spent any time on the ice at all. And after some coaxing, Madelyn got up the guts to let go....now if only I could get up the guts to "let go"! Or as parents do we never really "let go" and I should just give up trying and hold on for dear life as long as I can.

Winter at the North Shore

2011-04-18T21:22:00.000-05:00

We spent a weekend in March up at the North Shore. We had plans of doing lots of hiking, but when we got to Gooseberry Falls we quickly realized that hiking was not in our near future. The trails were literally pure ice. There were spots that you could barely crawl, let alone hike. Even mommy and daddy wiped out a few times. It was just way too dangerous. So we cut our losses and headed to Larsmont. We spent the weekend playing on the rocks by the lake, breaking giant ice chunks, playing games, watching movies, staying up late watching hockey games, and lots and lots of swimming. We spent a lot of time talking, and lots of time just being quiet. Maybe even a little time falling asleep in front of the fire, snuggled up watching a hockey game late into the night. There were not a lot of stand-out moments, but countless little memories that I will cherish for a very long time. It felt so great to take a breath from our busy life and just soak in pure happiness.

This was the trail that we had planned to hike on.
As you can see it is just all ice and STRAIGHT
down past the fence. So, we improvised and the
kids slid on the ice instead!

We were determined to give it a fair try, but as you can see, even crawling wasn't working.

Gooseberry Falls

The view from our room.

Lazy morning movie time.

The kids broke the ice, slid on the ice, threw the ice and even tried to wear the ice!

The evening ritual of making smores in the fire before bed.

Collin's fort rules

2011-04-15T17:39:00.000-05:00

Every now and then the kids get in a kick of making forts. This most recent time they took it to the next level. They built spots for their jammies, they had bookshelves, maps, directions and maybe the most ridiculous....rules for the fort. Collin came downstairs, found an old cereal box, cut off the top, and put a sign on it that said "please take one". He then made up a list of rules for his fort and wrote sign with a line after it on the bottom and put them inside the cereal box, next to his fort.

So if you were not sure about Collin being a "rule follower" - I think this pretty much seals the deal!

1. Leve the signs alone.

2. Don't touch the ecuitment unless you get

permishen.

3. Ask me to sign on the bottom.

4. Don't touch my jamies!

5. Just look at the signs on the way.

6. Careful with the books

Ella's Big Hockey Game

2011-04-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

Ella's first "big game" for hockey. Ella has been so excited all season for her big game. Her turn finally came. We did everything we could to make her game seem as special as possible. But nothing could compare to her best friend (and entire family) showing up at her game to surprise her. They came with balloons and everything. I'm pretty sure that having Cole there at her game meant more to her than if she had scored a "hat trick"! It really meant a lot to her. She was so excited and happy to have everyone there that she struggled to really play any hockey. She spent most of the game either in the net playing goalie or waiting back at the blue line (she claims waiting for the play to come to her) practicing her crossovers. At least she got some skating practice in. But none of it mattered, all that mattered to her was that everyone was there to watch her. You could see the smile from ear to ear across the ice and through her mouthguard. She loved every minute!!

All those balloons that you see in the crowd are for Ella - ALL of them.
Along with most of the people that you can see. Thanks
Gerrells for your spirit, it truly did mean the world to Ella.

Ella really couldn't ask for anything more in a friend!

Nora comes to visit....and Bill & Cyndy too!

2011-04-14T17:12:00.000-05:00

The kids loved having their new cousin, baby Nora stay with us for a week this spring. Nora was very understanding. Ella literally couldn't keep her hands off the poor girl. Whether it was tickling, smooching, hugging, tugging or plain old smothering - Ella couldn't stand to be away from Nora. Collin was typical Collin - he just loved Nora in a sweet and caring way. He was always so gentle and concerned. He loved singing and reading to her. Madelyn was of course a little over the top with Nora - somehow her voice was always at least 10 notches higher than it needed to be and she was always 10 times closer to Nora's face than she needed to be. Madelyn loves her and Nora will learn to appreciate Madelyn too someday I'm sure!

Madelyn's new sleeping bag

2011-04-13T16:39:00.000-05:00

Madelyn was very lucky this year. She got about a month long celebration of her birthday. We were still celebrating on March 23rd with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Terry. Madelyn was so excited to get her very own sleeping bag for camping this year. It is hard to believe that we are going to be without the pack n play this summer in the tent. I am having a hard time watching Madelyn slip into her sleeping bag all grown up. Madelyn on the other hand, couldn't be more excited! We are going to have to work on the "packing light" concept - if it were up to Madelyn she would bring ALL her "friends" with her.

Reading Books

2011-04-13T16:23:00.000-05:00

Collin and Ella curled up under a blanket reading a book together. Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time!

Collin's 1st Book - Age 7

2011-04-13T15:02:00.000-05:00

Cyndy gave Collin the idea to make a book. Without any further instruction, suggestion, or help at all - Collin wrote this book all by himself. It's hard to see but he even made little baseballs with the page numbers inside, and a copyright on the front cover. This book took him about 2 or 3 weeks to finish, but he is so proud now that it's done.

Collin LOVES space!

2011-04-12T20:38:00.000-05:00

In first grade this year, Collin rotates through a 3-day schedule. Library-Music-PE-Library-Music-PE.....So every third day of school he gets a chance to go to the library and check out 2 books. I am literally not exaggerating when I say that about 98% of the books he has brought home the ENTIRE year have been about space. I can honestly only think of 2 other books throughout the year that have not been space books. Every now and again I will ask him if he ever wants to get books about anything else and he will just say "not really". So, today he comes home and says, "Guess what books I got at the library today"? This is a normal question and of course without thinking I say "space books". He pulls out his 2 books and he has "Space Busters: The Race to the Moon" and the Merriam-Webster "French-English Dictionary". Not exactly what I had in mind when the space books ran out. Seriously what 1st grader chooses a French-English dictionary - are you kidding me?? :)

Madelyn's finally on skates

2011-04-03T20:14:00.000-05:00

Madelyn has been begging for ice skates all winter. We finally got her a pair for her birthday, but hadn't made it to the rink. Today she finally got her turn on the ice. She was SO excited to go. We got her skates on and put her on the ice, she went "boneless" and said she was all done. It had literally been 30 seconds. We sat down on the bench. After awhile I finally convinced her to try again. This time she did it, and once she figured out how to stand she thought it was so great. Her and I spent over an hour going out the door on one side of the bench, skating the 15 feet to the door at the other end of the bench and then walking back to the first door and starting over. She must have made this loop 50 times. She kept saying "I want to go on the ice"! She has literally spent 100s of hours at the rink and never even stepped a foot on the ice until today, it was definitely her turn to shine. Collin and Ella were adorable cheering her on every very slow step of the way!!

Here's a short video clip of her first time on skates.....

Sky Zone

2011-04-01T20:38:00.000-05:00

We had planned on taking the kids to an indoor trampoline park called Sky Zone tonight. Collin has been talking about April Fools Day for about a month now. I meant to get him good this morning and totally forgot. I figured it would be pretty hard to get him after being at school all day, but I decided to give it a try. After I picked the kids up from school, I told them to get buckled because we were not going home. "Where are we going?", they asked. "You guys both need to go to the doctor to get your shots before school is done", I said. This sent them both to tears. My plan was to lead them on until we got downtown to pick up Matt and then let them in on the surprise of where we were really going. But by the time we turned on to Elmcrest, Ella was nearing hysteria, she was so upset about having to get a shot. I didn't even make it past the gas station before blurting out "APRIL FOOLS". Collin was so mad and tried to later claim that I didn't "get him". He says they were happy tears, because he likes shots now! Yeah right!

Anyway, so we went to this trampoline park and had a blast. The kids jumped for an hour straight. It was so much fun. When we got home and I was putting Ella to bed. I said, "Wow you guys must be really tired. Are your legs tired"? Ella said, "I think even God is really tired, because my heart was beeping a lot at that place". (The kids have learned at church that God is always with them, because he is in their heart). Apparently Ella takes that very literally!

Madelyn's 3rd Birthday!!

2011-03-30T22:01:00.000-05:00

Madelyn's three year old birthday party. She is still obssesed with Mickey Mouse and absolutely loved her Mickey Mouse cake. At one point she literally sat at the table and just stared at it for almost a 1/2 hour. She wanted to invite Carly, Elizabeth and Allenah. Madelyn's birthday party was themed after the original Firkus "man house". Madelyn just LOVES to sing so we decided to have a singing party. We gave Madelyn a karaoke machine for her birthday and Matt and the kids worked together to build her a stage for the basement. It was a huge hit! The girls dressed in costumes while the boys sat in a row in front of the stage for their "shows". There was a lot of laughs by the kids and the adults who were watching the show! She had a great time!

Even the boys got in on the action!

It is so hard to believe that our little baby is already 3. She has given up her diapers, her nuk, her crib -- but mommy is just not ready to give up her baby! Even though I can see her growing right before my eyes, somehow I think we are blind to them "growing up". I just know that I am going to blink my eyes and she is going to be in school and gone all day. I am cherishing every moment with her - okay most moments with her! Happy Birthday Madelyn - We love you!

Here's a video to enjoy!!

1st game of Mite Jamboree

2011-03-05T14:21:00.000-06:00

We started out the Mite Jamboree bright and early this morning, but the kids were SO pumped! They got to play on the same ice that the varsity HS team plays on and even got their own locker room. Win or lose it was going to be a great game. We played this year's rivals - the grey team. Throughout the entire game it was close....1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2 and on and on. There was never more than a one point lead. About half way through the game Collin got a break away and scored a goal! They even announced his name, "SCORING FOR THE WHITE TEAM -COLLIN LEE". We were so excited, and I'm pretty sure he was excited too! That tied it at 5-5. It continued to go back and forth until with one minute left in the game a player from the grey team scored to tie it up at 7. So the game went into a shoot out. Our players scored on the first 2 shots to win the game 9-7. It was SO exciting - everyone in the stands was on their feet cheering!! What a blast! Here are some pictures and a short video clip of Collins big goal!

Of course - mommy couldn't be more proud!

photo shoot

2011-03-02T09:30:00.000-06:00

Even though I've had my camera for almost a year now, I still have to practice ALL the time to figure out what the heck I am doing. Usually I just take pictures of nothing, but Kelly had given me the idea of sitting the kids on the bed for photo shoot. So I decided I might as well dress them cute just in case my "practice shoot" worked out. What started out as a practice session with my camera quickly turned into a full-fledge photo shoot. The girls were so cute. Jumping on the bed, wiggling their toes together, telling secrets, laughing and giggling and being silly. I resisted the urge to get "that perfect shot" and was able to capture the girls just being the girls, and still got a few good shots to boot. The definition of "sister" is -a female offspring having both parents in common with another offspring-. Clearly it is so much more than that, I just pray that they will continue to be close all through life. What a gift! There is nothing better in life than a sister.

Madelyn's 3 year pictures

2011-03-01T12:32:00.000-06:00

Here are Madelyn's 3 year pictures from our basement photo shoot. I know there are a lot - but they just turned out so cute, I couldn't help myself!

Madelyn's artwork

2011-03-01T11:38:00.000-06:00

I have recently started working with Madelyn to write her name. I write it in pencil and then she traces over it. On this particular day she insisted on writing Nora's name instead. So I wrote Nora's name in pencil and went to go do something. When I came back she had written Nora's name and drew this picture. I have NEVER seen her draw anything except scribbles. She has never even attempted to draw a straight line or a circle let alone anything that resembles anything. I guess she really wants to impress her new cousin. We put it in an envelope and Madelyn was so excited to mail it to Nora.

Killing time at Dance Class

2011-03-01T11:32:00.000-06:00

This is typically how Madelyn spends her time while Ella is at her dance class. She listens to everything from Black Eyed Peas to Chipmunks to Christmas music.

Valentine's Day

2011-03-01T11:30:00.000-06:00

Ella's Valentine's Day Party at school. She insisted on wearing this ridiculous outfit!!

On Valentines morning I woke up and came downstairs. Typically Collin is up before I get up. When I came down I saw a paper sitting at my "spot" at the table. Collin had written this note to me. I asked him if dad told him to do that and he said, "No I just thought it would make you happy". It sure did!

Ella at gymnastics

2011-02-26T11:41:00.000-06:00

Ella is having so much fun at gymnastics. Although I'm not sure if it's gymnastics she loves or the two other girls in her class. They literally laugh and giggle the WHOLE time. It's no joke, she has a smile on her face practically the whole class. Yet somehow they are also managing to learn a few things along the way!

This is how coach David is starting to teach the girls the
motion of a back handspring. They think they are big time!

Trying a handstand on the big beam all by herself.

Working on vaulting.

Of course their favorite part is jumping in the foam pit at
the end of class - sometimes even Madelyn gets to join
in the fun!

Madleyn

2011-02-22T12:20:00.000-06:00

Madelyn once again has spent a lot of hours at "The Hipp" this year, but that hasn't stopped her from having a smile on her face! She is her brother and sister's biggest fan!

Warm Winter Evening

2011-02-22T12:19:00.000-06:00

We finally had a relatively warm winter night. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and the kids got a chance to try out their new headlamps. The went "exploring" all over the place. When we got back they worked on digging a tunnel in the snow. They were like little night time miners. They had so much fun.

Go Bears!

2011-02-21T15:59:00.000-06:00

We have started going to some of the WBL HS hockey games. The kids had a lot of fun standing right at the glass and watching the game. Collin really got into the game standing up when they almost scored and being able to watch what they were doing. Matt had to keep telling him to sit down because we couldn't see through him. Madelyn LOVED watching the bears (mascotts) skate on the ice. She was absolutely giddy when they would wave to her. And Ella she is a cheerleader through and through. At the last game they passed out free orange pom-poms - Ella must have waved those things around for 99% of the game. The last game we went to the Bears won in overtime and the kids were so excited!!

Kalea and Ella

2011-02-21T15:58:00.001-06:00

Ella finally managed to find a friend that is not a boy! Now obviously Cole could never be replaced, but Ella sure is happy to have a friend that shares her passion for princesses and dress-up!

Favorite Things

2011-02-21T15:58:00.000-06:00

Collin was "friend of the week" recently. This was part of a project he brought to school. You just can't make this stuff up. The truth is, he had written just snuggling and I was a little afraid that he might get made fun of so I "encouraged" him to add snowboarding....but you gotta love it!

If You Bring a Mouse to School.....

2011-02-18T23:35:00.000-06:00

Ella was so excited to bring Mousey to school with her.

2011-02-18T23:34:00.000-06:00

Ella and daddy's first Father/Daughter dance. Ella was so excited. She had to wear a dress that went all the way down to her feet, and wanted her hair in 2 braids. Daddy even brought Ella a special flower to wear on her dress. They danced the night away and didn't get home until 9pm.

Trouble

2011-02-18T13:18:00.000-06:00

One afternoon I called the kids down for lunch. Ella and Collin came, but no Madelyn. To be honest, I didn't even really notice at first. After about 10 minutes I had completely forgot that Madelyn wasn't there, I ran upstairs quick to switch the laundry over and found the door closed, Madelyn was inside upside down in the laundry - she must have been climbing up on the washer to get her nuk and fell in! Nobody knows for sure how long she had been there. She was past crying and on to the sobbing and was pretty sweaty, so it had probably been awhile - needless to say she doesn't climb on the washer anymore!

Man House

2011-02-18T13:16:00.001-06:00

The "Man House" at the Firkus'. This is becoming quite the tradition. The kids really look forward to singing songs and "being in the spotlight" - literally this year. Ella was a riot she would stand front and center, facing her audience. Collin is a little more shy and Madelyn - well no surprise she is not shy at all! She sang away, most of the time fighting Matt for the microphone. She sang ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star about 100 times! Thanks again for Firkus' for all the entertainment!

Playing in the snow

2011-02-18T13:16:00.000-06:00

Collin got a snowboard for Christmas and he LOVES it. He doesn't beg to do a lot of things....ok well other than watching movies and playing wii...he is just not one of those kids that gets obsessed with stuff. He does however ask ALL the time to go snowboarding. He was able to figure it out pretty quick and even started trying to do some jumps. Ella of course didn't last very long on the sidelines before she had to give it a try too. She made it all the way down the hill on her first try! Even mommy gave it a try - it's a lot harder than it looks :)

We had record snowfall in December.
Look how deep it is!

Collin was so proud of mommy!

Even the adults (great grandma included)
got in on the outdoor action. Don't worry the
hot drinks are on their way!

Christmas 2010

2011-02-16T19:55:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve 2010....The kids had a lot of fun this Christmas. They got a ton of presents and got to spend lots of time with grandma, grandpa, Scott, Sherry, Bill, Cyndy and Nora. On the way home from grandma and grandpas they even saw Rudolph's nose flying in the sky! Christmas Day 2010. The kids woke up to a tree filled with presents and pillow pets. We spent the morning at home and then spent the rest of the day at Telegas opening presents, playing with cousins, eating and snowboarding. Collin got a snowboard for Christmas and both him and Ella really took to it! We had a great Christmas. The kids favorites this year were: Madelyn - anything Mickey Mouse, Ella - barbies and the big doll house, Collin - Legos, wii/DSi games and video watch

Ella insisted on wearing her hair in curlers the night before Christmas so she could have beautiful hair!

Mommy was crazy enough to let the
kids try out their new rollerblades in

the house....that was super cool!!

Can't forget to put out some food
for santa's reindeer, so they know
where to come.

This is what you look like after curlers, snow-
boarding, sleeping, lots of christmas cookies
and over 36 straight hours of Christmas!!

We had a great Christmas. Every year at this time of year I am reminded just how blessed we are. It is when we are surrounded by all of our family, watching the pure joy on our kids' faces that I remember that we have it all! We truly could not ask for anything more than the health of our loved ones, the smiles on our kids faces and the love of our family and God.

Baby Nora!

2011-02-16T19:28:00.000-06:00

The kids were dying to meet baby Nora. When she finally arrived they man handled her for a week straight. Nora was such a trooper. She let them pass her around, sing songs to her, change her diaper, and on and on. Ella was by far the biggest baby hog. She begged to hold Nora all day long. It was so much fun to have her at our house. I'm not sure what was better, watching the kids interact with her or playing with her all day long and then going to bed and sleeping all the way until the morning while somebody else got up in the night to feed the baby. We are so happy to have another cousin!! We are already counting down the days until she comes to see us again.

Letters to Santa

2011-02-16T19:15:00.000-06:00

Cutting down the Christmas Tree

2011-02-16T14:05:00.000-06:00

We got a perfect day for cutting down our tree this year. It was about 40 degrees out the day we cut down our tree. We kept with tradition and joined Mary and Terry to get our tree. Mommy first spotted our tree, but Collin made the official decision that it was "the one". It is indeed a pretty tree. We found it pretty fast this year, and since it was so warm out - the kids were not dying to go home, so a little snowball fight broke out. Just as we were about to round them up, Collin's friend from school and hockey - Tyler- and his family showed up and joined in the fun.

New Bedrooms

2011-02-15T23:17:00.000-06:00

The big bedroom surprise! Daddy and mommy got the kids new "rooms" (really beds) for Christmas this year. We decided to give it to them early so we wouldn't have to be setting up bunk beds on Christmas Eve. Needless to say they LOVE them. Collin especially loves his new desk. He has already spent hours and hours not only sitting at his desk "working", but hours and hours organizing stuff! He also loves his clip on light up in his bunk bed. He loves to be up there reading. Ella was disappointed when she first went in her room (after seeing Collin's)....I wanted bunk beds too, she did not even realize that the enormous doll house in her room was a bed to sleep in!! Once she realized what it was there was a lot of squealing and jumping around by both of the girls. They were literally beside themselves. Ella has said probably a dozen times - "I love my new room". She can't stop smiling about it!

"Blankie"

2011-02-15T21:36:00.001-06:00

Recently Madelyn has given up her nuk - which has been quite an ordeal. She originally said that she would throw it in the trash for some ice skates, but I convinced her to settle for picking out a toy at the store. She very happily threw all her "nukies" in the trash. That is until later when it was time for bed. Let's just say she wasn't so happy about her decision anymore. But I stuck to my guns and told her that her "nukie" was all gone. She eventually fell asleep, and the next day at the store she chose a doll. For the first few days she would ask for "nukie" a lot but never cried about it and always slept great once she was asleep. It was the getting to sleep part that was tricky. She doesn't cry ever, but she sits in her crib for over an hour EVERY time (whether it's nap or bedtime) and sings (well really belts out) songs. She sings and sings until she's all sung out then she talks to her "friends" then she sings some more. Then she tells stories and this goes on and on and on. She is happy as a clam. It's pretty humorous to listen to her every night - it's great entertainment. Anyway.....so since she has given up her "nukie" she has become even more attached to her blankie (that she has had since she was a baby). The problem is she has started wanting it everywhere with her and then when it's time for bed it is nowhere to be found, and we spend a half hour looking all over the house for it. So I started the rule that blankie has to stay in her bed. She struggles with this rule to say the least. So earlier today she had it out and I said that if I saw it out one more time I was going to put it in the trash. An hour later it's out of the bed again. So I went and grabbed it and hid it in her room. She immediately started crying that mommy took her blankie. Collin is upset because Madelyn is upset and asks me where the blanket is. I say, "I told her I was going to put it in the trash and I did". Now of course the second I say this it's one of those parenting moments that you just wish you could take back. There is NO WAY I am taking blankie away for real - because guess who would suffer, but now I've said it, so I've got to go with it. To make matters worse, Collin totally calls my bluff and starts looking in all the garbages around the house and naturally can't find it, because it's not in the trash. He says, "mom didn't really throw it away, she probably just hid it". Now I go ahead and dig myself even deeper - but like I said I couldn't back down now. "I put it at the bottom of the garbage in the garage so it's all yucky and dirty and ruined where nobody can get it back for her". I mean seriously what was I thinking. Collin starts to realize that it's really gone, and I'm pretty sure he's about to cry - Madelyn of course has already moved on. Collin asks me how much her blankie costs. I tell him $35. He comes back in a few minutes with $35 from his wallet. "I want to buy Madelyn a new blanket", he says. Now this is practically all his money and I say to him, "Collin you could buy a DS game or some really cool legos with that much money. Do you really want to spend it on a blanket for Madelyn. Besides mommy was trying to teach a lesson to her. "But she has loved that blankiet since she was born", Collin says. The look on his face could melt your heart. I seriously had no idea where to go from here. We talked about it over supper and Collin insisted on buying her a new one. I didn't know what else to do so I decided to turn it from a lesson about keeping your blanket in the bed to a lesson for Collin on being generous with your money. So I told him to give me his $35 dollars and while he was at church I would go and buy a new blanket and he could give it to Madelyn. Then I grab a Target bag from under the sink, sneak upstairs and get Madelyn's blanket from hiding, put it in the Target bag, slip it in my purse and take Collin's $35. I know you are thinking I am totally conning my own kid out of $35 - but I didn't know what else to do without damaging my reputation for doing what I say I'm going to do. As soon as WOW is over, Collin asks if I got a new blanket for Madelyn. I tell him yes and hand him the used Target bag with the old blankie inside. You can tell he is so happy. I tell him that Target was having a sale and the blanket was only $10 and he can have back the rest of his money. I feel horrible that I just made him give me $10 for this stupid old blanket. But then we walk in the door and he gives Madelyn the blanket and the look on her face and really more importantly the look on his face really was worth a lot more than $10. I found myself thinking why do I have such a hard time letting Collin spend $35 of his dollars to make his baby sister happy? Why was I trying to talk him out of it - instead of trying to talk him into it? He was literally thrilled to make Madelyn happy. Isn't that what true generosity is all about...maybe just maybe it ended up being a lesson not about keeping the blanket in the crib or about letting Collin manage his money by himself, but about remembering that we are so blessed to have the dollars that we have and that we should be using some of those dollars to make other people happy!! Maybe it turned out to be a lesson for me.....Anyway I think the pictures speak for themselves - look at how proud he is!!

Collin would literally do anything to make Madelyn happy! He loves her SO much!

Potty Train

2011-01-23T10:43:00.000-06:00

Madelyn has recently been potty training. She is doing great, and really pretty much figured it out in a day or two. Around Christmas we went to the play "A Christmas Story". She of course does not remember much about it since she is so little, but for whatever reason she thought the part where Randy has to go wee-wee all the time was super funny. So as soon as we started potty training her she would yell out, "I have to go wee-wee" and "hold herself" in true Bina fashion! It is hilarious. Also she thinks she is on the potty train and headed to Mexico!! We are never short on laughs with her around.

Mommy's Birthday

2010-12-12T12:24:00.001-06:00

Celebrating mommy's birthday. The kids worked hard to make mommy this special cake. We ended up getting snowed in all day from a big snow storm. We spent the WHOLE day in our jammies playing around the house.

We woke up on mommy's birthday to over a foot of snow - some estimates said 18 inches. The biggest snow storm in a decade. EVERYTHING has been cancelled. Hockey, gymnastics, church and even the Vikings game. There is no way we are going anywhere! Looks like mommy gets to spend her birthday at home with all her favorite people. Although the temperatures were below zero (actual temperature) this morning that did not stop the kids from going out and exploring. We couldn't stay out long, but long enough to snap a few pictures of all the snow!!

You can see that the snow is almost to the top of the
fence and is practically covering the slide.

Annual Christmas Tree Sleepover

2010-12-12T12:23:00.001-06:00

Our 2nd annual Christmas tree sleepover. The kids have been looking forward to this all year. We snuggled in and watched "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", had popcorn, and talked about what we are thankful for this year and what the present that they wanted the most. Collin was thankful for his family, Ella was thankful for playing with mommy and daddy, and Madelyn said her nukie and blankie. Ella wants barbies for Christmas and Collin came up with yet another thing he wants the most, this time it was a new hockey stick. We all snuggled in and around 11pm Madelyn finally ended up upstairs, she just couldn't stop bouncing around and go to sleep. This is one of my favorite nights of the year. I love all snuggling together under the lights of the tree and being so thankful just to have each other.

Advent Project

2010-12-12T12:22:00.001-06:00

As part of our advent book this year we made wintery, white snow scene projects. The kids had lots of fun making hills and mountains out of the snow. They used tin foil to make the landscape and then a mixture of water and sea salt to make snow. It was actually pretty cool, it really looked like snow!

Getting ready for Baby Nora to come!!

2010-12-12T12:22:00.000-06:00

The girls are SO excited to meet baby Nora. They have been getting ready and talking about her coming since before she was born. We got out the car seat to wash it up and the girls spent a half hour "practicing"! We can't wait for her to come to our house.

Ella at Dance

2010-12-12T11:08:00.003-06:00

Ella is enjoying dance again this year. We are trying a new studio and she is really liking it. There are only 6 kids in her class and she is learning a lot and always has a smile on her face.

Collin at Hockey

2010-12-12T11:08:00.002-06:00

Collin is having a lot of fun at hockey this year. He got on a team with a couple of the kids from his team last year, and a couple kids that he knows from school. He is among the kids who played a year of Mites last year and is hoping to be a leader for the team this year. His skating has improved a lot from last year, and he is really starting to look like a little hockey player out there - doing cross-overs and everything! It should be a really fun year. We have white jerseys this year and although we are sad to see the purple go after a great year last year, we are looking forward to watching him excel and helping to teach him what it means to be a leader on the ice and off.

Ella at Hockey

2010-12-12T11:08:00.001-06:00

Ella absolutely LOVES hockey this year. We were not even going to let her play, but some of the other mom's talked me into it. She asks almost every day "how many more days until hockey?" And if there is a time that we are not going to be able to go she literally cries about it. If you ask her what her favorite sport is...gymnastics, dance, soccer, hockey - she will for sure say hockey. She is doing great. From the first day she was able to get up - and down :) really fast. She never gets frustrated and she is so determined to go fast. The first few weeks she couldn't really glide and just more walked on the ice, but I will tell you after the first week it was more like running on the ice - she was just so determined to go fast. She could go faster than I would have thought possible doing this. At the end of one of her practices they played a round of "sharks and minnows". She put it in high gear to get across the ice to win the game. When she got off the ice, she said to me with a huge grin on her face, "so that's how fast I can go!" It is really fun to watch her determination and enthusiasm.

Collin wanted to have #9 again this year. When it came time for the clinic kids to get their jerseys, by total random chance, Ella was given #9. You can imagine how pumped she was about that!

Elizabeth and Ella

2010-12-12T11:08:00.000-06:00

We went to the Slipka's for Jake's birthday party. I figured it would get late so I packed some pajamas. Neither Megan or myself had any idea that we had bought the girls the same pjs. You can imagine Elizabeth's excitement when Ella got her pajamas on and she realized that she had the same ones. They were SO happy. There's no doubting that they are cousins, that's for sure!

Halloween 2009

2010-11-29T15:09:00.011-06:00

Halloween 2010. Collin was excited to be a transformer again this year - especially since he didn't get to wear his costume to school last year because of pink eye. Madelyn wanted to be a bug again, but it was too small so she settled for a princess - but only if mommy would do her hair in a bun like Ella's. Ella INSISTED on being Cinderella. After just getting back from Disney - there was no talking her out of it. The kids of course had lots of fun trick or treating!

Cole and Ella

Madelyn and Carly

Halloween at School

2010-11-29T14:49:00.022-06:00

Ella absolutely insisted on being Cinderella this year! There was no talking her out of it. She got to wear her costume to school this year.

Collin had a parade at his school. Mommy went with Ella and Madelyn. The girls thought it was so fun to see all the costumes parade through the school, and Collin thought he was such a "big kid". It was pretty cute.

Carving pumpkins. Collin and Madelyn did not want to touch the guts. Only Ella actually stuck her arm inside and helped mommy to empty the pumpkins out. Collin and Madelyn insisted on using a spoon. Madelyn wanted a happy pumpkin and Ella of course wanted whatever Collin wanted, and so they ended up with the exact same one. Oh well!

VIDEO OF COLLIN AT SCHOOL

What is Heaven like??

2010-11-29T14:44:00.001-06:00

Last night we were doing our Advent time and one of the questions in our book was, "What do you think it will be like in heaven"? So I asked the kids to each tell me something that they thought about heaven. I expected some of the regular responses like, you can eat candy all the time, you can stay up all night, there are lots of rides like the Mall of America, etc...something along these lines. Ella said "I will get to see God a lot", and Collin said "It will be peaceful". I kind of chuckled and asked Collin, "What does peaceful mean to you"? He says, "you know like quiet and calm". I mean seriously what 7 year old boy do you know that describes his heaven as peaceful? Only Collin, and the funny part is - that really is his heaven!

Naples, FL

2010-11-29T14:43:00.000-06:00

After a week in Disney we headed to Naples, FL to spend some time with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Dixie. The kids were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and we were all ready for some relaxing after our crazy pace at Disney. We spent our first day lounging by the pool. Perfect after 8 days of Disney. We definitely needed a little down time! The kids swam and mommy soaked up some sun. We spent an afternoon playing at the beach. We went out for dinner by the water and played a little mini golf with grandma and grandpa. Collin got a hole in one on the first three holes. He was SO excited!! Madelyn hit the ball once and then went and picked it up and dropped it in the hole - for a "hole in one" every time, Collin and Ella thought it was hilarious. We are so glad that we got to spend this special time in Naples, it makes us miss having grandpa and grandma close by!

Disney World 2010

2010-11-12T20:31:00.027-06:00

We decided to head to Disney World this fall. My good friend Kim and her family invited us to stay with them at their condo. 4 adults and 7 kids in one place for a week.....how do you say "no" to that?? As it turns out 4 adults and 7 kids in one place works our really good, especially when you spend 99% of your time at Disney World and run the kids until they are so tired they BARELY have time to play their DSi at night! We were also lucky enough to overlap with with Megan, Brian, Jake and Elizabeth for one day of our Disney trip. Collin and Jake were kind of off on their own, they seemed so old and the girls were three little peas in a pod walking around the park together. I'm pretty sure the only time Madelyn walked anywhere on her own two feet was when she was with Elizabeth. We had a GREAT time! Thanks Kim and Travis, we will never forget this week!

P.S...I know there are a lot of pictures here, but I took 1200 pictures over the course of the week, so this is nothing!!

We spent our first day of Disney at Sea World. We started out with a bang. We did a full day at Sea World. We loved the dolphin and whale show - we watched it almost 3 times (mommy just had to catch the end one last time before we left)! I liked when all the dolphins jumped together and Collin liked when the guy was surfing with the dolphins. The kids also went on the Atlantis ride and had a lot offun.

Next we hit Magic Kingdom. We covered a lot of ground our first day at Magic Kingdom. We started out admiring the castle. The girls were in awe and wanted to go inside so bad, but it was closed. We met Mickey and Minnie Mouse (Madelyn's favorite) and all the princesses. The girls LOVED meeting the princesses and had so much fun getting all their autograph books signed. We rode the Barnyard rollercoaster(for little people). At first Madelyn was not so sure, but by the end of the trip she was literally running up, and riding "no hands" like all the big kids. Even the older kids had fun on this one - I'll admit, it was pretty fast for a little kid roller coaster. We got front row seats to a the afternoon parade, took in theshow at the castle and of course rode all the big rides: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. The kids all voted Space Mountain their favorite and must have rode over 20 times by the end of the week. Ella was just shy of the 44" mark so we had to buy her some thick shoes and fill them with 2 inserts. It was so ridiculous that she couldn't even walk. We had to carry her to the line, get her measured, carry her up to the ride, ride the ride and then carry her backdown. But it was so worth it for her to be able to ride the big rides!! She had more guts than most of the boys!

Matt and Megan

Ella and Elizabeth

We started our day at Epcot by meeting all the disney characters. The kids got autographs from Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. They thought it was hilarious when Goofy couldn't figure out Ella's autograph book and kept pretending to drop it. They were laughing so hard!! Rode some super fun rides. Ella's favorite was Test Track because it went really fast. Collin's favorite was Mission Space because it wasn't boring because you push buttons. We did breakfast with the princesses. The girls LOVED this. They got to meet Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Ariel. Madelyn was nervous at first but warmed up after a while and gave each of the princesses a hug and blew a smooch. Ella was just in awe. She was pretty much left speechless by the whole thing. It was pretty cute to watch. By far their favorite part was doing the parade with the princesses. The girls got to parade around the restaurant with a princess without any adults just them and Cinderella! We ended the night watching the firework show.

Here is our entire clan....(minus one Tate) it was quite a group. On the day that we met up with Megan and Brian we could literally take up an entire rollercoaster by ourselves!

One of the kids' favorite rides in all of Disney was Mt Everest at Animal Kingdom. It is a super fun roller coaster with a Yetti inside! The first time around Ella was not tall enough and only Parker was brave enough to ride. After some convincing Collin decided to go and LOVED it and we snuck Ella in a few times. She of course loved it also. The kids ride "no hands" the whole way! We also went on the Kali River ride and got plenty wet. Another high light was the Jungle Safari Jeep Tour. We got up close and personal with hippos, elephants and within feet of a giraffe. He literally walked right up to our jeep and then crossed right in front of us. It was so cool.

The overall theme for the rides at Disney was definitely "NO HANDS!!" (unless of course you were one of the boys doing a "gun show"!

We spent our last day back at Animal Kingdom just the 5 of us.

Madelyn after the 3D bug show.

What our car looked like on the way home from Disney!! They literally went all out until they crashed.

Ella's Birthday at Mall of America!

2010-11-12T20:07:00.006-06:00

Ella's birthday. We spent the evening at the Mall of America with the Gerrells - per Ella's request. She has been begging to go to the Mall of America with Cole since about October 8th last year. The kids had a ton of fun. They were able to ride all the big roller coasters this year. They went again and again and again, until they literally shut the place down! Their favorite rides are the Log Chute and the Fairly Odd Roller Coaster (this one about did the moms in....).It was a really fun night, and as it turns out great practice for Disney. Ella and Collin are already counting down the days until Scott and Sherry bring them again in December, they look forward to it as much as Christmas!

It was late when we got home, but Ella managed to stay awake to open presents! She is obsessed with horses lately and wanted this horse trailer and truck so bad.

Happy Birthday Ella!

2010-11-12T19:54:00.006-06:00

Ella's 5 year birthday party! Mommy did her best work on Ella's cake this year. I tried something new and it actually turned out pretty cute! I had to make 4 circle cakes and pile them on top of each other and then shape it to look like Cinderella's skirt. Ella loved it! We took Allenah and Elizabeth to Kids Hair to get "funky hair and glitter nails". The girls had a lot of fun (and as you can guess the mom's had a lot of fun getting all that color and glitter out of their hair). We came back to the house and had pizza and cake, opened presents, played freeze dance and did Bella Dancerella. Ella said her favorite part was opening the presents!

Riding Horses

2010-11-05T20:05:00.006-05:00

We surprised Ella by bringing her to one of my friends' house so she could ride a horse (for her birthday). She had no idea what was going on. When we got there she was asleep in the car. She didn't really want to wake up and was being really shy. Then she saw the horses. She was literally jumping for joy. She was so excited just to see the horses. You can only imagine how happy she was when she got to go inside the fence, feed them and of course ride them! All the other kids got bored with it pretty quick, but not Ella she just kept wanting to ride and ride. She especially liked when Rob got on there with her and trotted a little. It was pretty fun to watch her pure joy.

Ella turns 5!

2010-11-05T19:45:00.005-05:00

Ella's 5 year old pictures....

A is for Apple

2010-11-05T19:18:00.009-05:00

I am planning to make Madelyn an ABC book for her birthday next year and thought I should get some "A is for apple" pictures this fall. They turned out to be some of my favorite pictures of the year. We had so much fun walking around the apple orchard. The kids even got to pick an apple off the tree at the end of the trail.

We of course couldn't leave without feeding the chickens....a summer favorite for Ella!

Twins Game

2010-11-05T19:03:00.006-05:00

Collin and Ella's first Twins Game. We went with grandma and grandpa. It was a really fun game, the Twins won 9-3! Collin even called a homerun, which he thought was pretty cool. Collin had a lot of fun watching the game, keeping track of balls and strikes, watching the outs, and watching the runs scored. Ella had a fun time watching just about everything except the game and waving her homer hanky every chance she got.

Ella's 1st day of 4 year old pre-school

2010-11-05T18:47:00.004-05:00

Ella's first day of 4 year old pre-school. She has teacher Kari again, and this year has Cole and Vaughn in her class! Ella is also finally making some friends that are girls. She has started talking a lot about Kalea, we even had her over to play, which Ella thought was SO cool. Last year Ella's teachers said she was VERY quiet, they could hardly get her to talk. I kept saying, "ELLA, are you sure??". When I went to Ella's first conference this year, Teacher Kari giggled and said we are finally seeing the side of Ella you kept talking about. Kari said she is so different this year, talking away and laughing at everything. She said Ella is such a treat to have in class. She is doing great in school again this year. She knows all her letters and has been really good at being able to write for awhile already. She is even starting to try and sound out some simple words. I am the most happy that she is finally coming out of her shell and starting to make some new friends. We couldn't wait for everyone at school to meet the Ella we know and love. We are so proud of her determination and hard work at school.

ELLA AND VAUGHN IN FRONT OF THE HUGO ELEMENTARY SIGN.....THE SAME SCHOOL MOMMY WENT TO WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL!

Go Bears!

2010-11-05T14:39:00.005-05:00

We made it to a couple of the WB Football games this year. These pictures were from Homecoming. It was a beautiful night and half our neighborhood went to the game, so the kids had so much fun. They took up an entire front row and I think spent more time goofing off than actually watching much of the game. Unfortunately the Bears did not have a very good year (at least for any of the games we attended), but it was fun to watch Collin get into the game and start to learn some of the language...."Was that a flag?", "First down!", "3rd and 5."....etc. Madelyn ate popcorn the entire time and Ella of course just wanted to watch the cheerleaders for 3 hours straight. At one of the games that the Bears were especially struggling, I told a couple sitting behind us that when you come with 2 girls who just want to watch the cheerleaders, you are always guaranteed a "good game"! Hopefully some of that football spirit will rub off on Collin - I can't wait until he's old enough to give it a try himself. Mommy will be his biggest fan! For now we'll have to settle for flag football, which was fun to try this fall too!

Ella

2010-11-04T22:04:00.005-05:00

This is Ella doing what Ella does best.....smiling!! She has a way of making fun out of any situation. Even though she has been to a million soccer, hockey and baseball games that doesn't slow her down. On this particular rainy day Cole and Ella were having so much fun I couldn't help but snap a few pictures! This is one of the reasons we love Ella so much, her shear love for life, it is simply contagious!!

Collin's Fall Soccer

2010-11-04T21:34:00.007-05:00

The "HUGO BEARS"! We had a really fun team this year. Michael and Matt decided to coach a team, so we were able to get almost all kids that we know. Collin was one of the leading scorers. It was really fun to watch him start to learn a little strategy - even if it was just to get in front of the net and wait for the ball to come. There was a lot of team spirit and even some score keeping by the kids this year! Soccer is for sure one of Collin's favorite sports and it was so great to watch him excel at it! We are so proud of how hard he continues to work and his attitude on the field.

Soccer Players

2010-11-03T15:38:00.004-05:00

Just like her big brother!! Most of Ella's life has been spent wanting and doing whatever it is that Collin is doing. Her favorite color is green (because that's Collin's favorite color), she wants to play hockey (because that's what Collin plays), and she spends a majority of her time playing "megatrons" (Don't ask, I have no idea - it is some make-believe game that Collin and Ella came up with), but it's what she does because it's what Collin likes to do. So this year she got her chance to play soccer - just like Collin!

Ella's turn!!

2010-11-03T14:42:00.006-05:00

After years of watching Collin play hockey, soccer, t-ball.....it was finally Ella's turn. We signed Ella up for fall soccer and she was SO excited. She ended up on a team with both Cole and Vaughn. It was 4 year old soccer....pretty much what you would expect, a whole bunch of kids running around in a big clump chasing after one ball. I will say it seemed a little easier to handle knowing what to expect from watching Collin. Ella did great she ran fast, tried to get the ball and even scored one goal - but in true Ella form she literally had a smile on her face the whole time. She could go an entire game without really even touching the ball and still be having the time of her life!! I will say that whatever she does, she does it with a lot of heart and we love her for that.

Off to 1st grade

2010-11-03T14:02:00.005-05:00

Collin's "Meet the Teacher Night". Collin has Mrs. Doran this year. He is not in Connor's class, but has a few kids from kindergarten in his 1st grade class....Danielle, Megan and Nathan. He does not seem at all nervous about knowing where to go, having a new teacher or a new class. He is really excited to start 1st grade - even though he knows there won't be a lot of time for playing this year. He is also really excited because his class is right next door to Xan's class. He will get to ride the bus to school on Mondays with Xan and he is really looking forward to that! On his first day of 1st grade, he was the most excited to get to have recess first and then eat lunch. Of course the important stuff!!

Collin was like a mother hen bringing his sisters into his school for Meet the Teacher Night.

Labor Day at William O' Brien

2010-11-03T14:00:00.006-05:00

We spent Labor Day at William O' Brien State Park this year. It was a beautiful day to do some hiking. Collin and Ella covered twice as much ground as the rest of us. They insisted on running ahead, climbing on everything, going off trail, etc. We had a great time just spending some time as a family. We talked about what the kids were excited about for school and what they were nervous about. It is hard to believe we are about to start into another year of school. It is hard to believe that we have a 1st grader or that Ella will be gone every afternoon. It is especially hard to believe that mommy will have an entire hour to herself every afternoon!! In all seriousness though we are so excited to watch the kids grow into the beautiful people they are becoming.

Fall Tent-Out

2010-11-03T13:55:00.003-05:00

Neighborhood bonfire and camp out! We set up a tent and had a bonfire. We ended up with 8 kids and 3 dads sleeping in the tent. The kids had so much fun running around in the dark, playing by the fire and playing swords. When it came time for bed we tucked all 8 of them (Collin, Ella, Cole, Connor, Vaughn, Torin, Cooper, and Alaina) into their sleeping bags. It took them about an hour to settle down and finish with their ghost stories, but by around 10:30 or 11pm they were quiet. Ella woke up once in the night, but otherwise all 8 slept until 6:30 in the morning. They did great. Might be a new tradition to wind up the summer!

The morning after the big tent-out!!

Fall Photos!

2010-11-03T13:52:00.002-05:00

Madelyn the fish

2010-11-02T22:49:00.006-05:00

As the 3rd child, Madelyn does a lot of things faster or sooner than the other two kids did. But this summer she surprised us by learning how to swim without her life jacket. She puts her face in the water and starts kicking and paddling away. It is truly amazing (I think!!). She just literally has no fear of the water. She has even started jumping in the pool near the ladder and swimming to ladder all by herself without her life jacket.

VIDEO OF MADELYN SWIMMING.....

Collin's birthday party!

2010-11-02T21:58:00.004-05:00

Collin had his Birthday party at Stars and Strikes playing laser tag. The kids had a lot of fun and so did the moms and dads - so much that Collin, Ella, Mommy, Grandma and Sherry went back on Collin's actual birthday to play again.

Collin has been saving for a Dsi for a long time. For his birthday he asked for money to put towards buying the Dsi. As you can see he was pretty excited to open those cards with the money just falling out -- although, maybe not more excited than his cousin Jake!!

The three cousins. Ella, Madelyn and Elizabeth

Collin turns 7!

2010-11-02T21:56:00.002-05:00

Last cabin trip

2010-11-02T21:45:00.005-05:00

We had one last great trip to Lake Moses this summer....

A beautiful Lake Moses sunset.

Collin trying water skiing for the first time. He got up on his second try. Not bad! Then he cracked his head with one of the skis and was done with water skiing for the year. We'll try again next year.

Collin also tried kneeboarding. He got started very easily and made it around the whole lake no problem. He is definitely getting more brave with age!

Ella trying knee boarding - as usual she has no fear and did great, even learned to steer herself a little. She also made up her own trick "The Isabella" where she holds one hand up in the air!!

At Telega's Lake

2010-11-02T21:38:00.004-05:00

We spent an afternoon at Terry and Mary's lake this summer. The kids swam their hearts out. Collin was even able to swim all the way out to the swim platform without his life jacket on - under mommy's close supervision. But their favorite thing to do was diving. Collin had just tried diving for the first time a few days earlier and didn't really know how to do it. Within a half hour he had it all figured out. Him and Ella must have spent 2 hours jumping and diving into the lake. They had so much fun, and we had so much watching them.