Cookie Time

While Ryan was enjoying school this week we decided to make cookies. Look at Tori and Maddie, my little dough eaters! Just like their mommy!

Ryan 1st Day of School

Ryan had his first day of school on Monday. Here is a picture of him in the gym before school starts. They meet in the gym and then the teacher takes them to class when school starts. He goes in the afternoon this year. Almost his whole class will be riding the bus with him beginning next week so they are all super excited. My little boy is growing up!

Maddie starts next week and she is met her teacher earlier this week. She cannot wait and keeps asking when she will get to meet her new friends. She is starting at a new school so I'm a little nervous but I just found out today that one of my neighbors has enrolled her boy at the same school so that makes it better.

Sam moves into apartment

Sam moved out of the house and into an on-campus apartment today. She has one roommate so far but the apartment has 4 bedrooms. She will be starting her junior her at Concordia University in Minneapolis. We are so proud of her!!!

Jake Turns 18

Today is Jake's 18th birthday. I just cannot believe that "Jakey" is all grown up. He is a senior this year and plays varsity football. He got a wakeboard from us and his mom and Jon for his birthday. Here is a copy of the letter I sent him for his birthday.

18 Awesome Jake Memories

1. The first trip we went on was to the beach when you were 4 years old. We played in the waves for hours and you laughed and laughed like the happiest boy alive.
2. You used to climb over the back of our couch and jump off over and over and over.
3. You used to sit in my lap and cuddle and it was such a wonderful feeling I would wonder if you would ever outgrow it. (You did.)
4. You weren’t tall enough for the big rides at Six Flags for years, but you never complained and always had a good time.
5. The look on your face when we gave you a bike for Christmas.
6. You used to love to play the game “Trouble”.
7. You used to play “Werewolf” with all the neighborhood kids.
8. You loved to eat broccoli with cheese sauce.
9. You always ran off the airplane at top speed and gave super tight hugs. One time you even knocked me over!
10. You never argued about going to bed. You just got up and went whenever you got tired.
11. You are wonderful playing with little kids. First with Matthew, now with Maddie, Ryan and Tori.
12. You climbed right up the rock climbing wall in the ocean in Cozumel when I couldn’t make it past the first rung.
13. You pray silently before meals. I love your faith!
14. Remember the time you broke the sliding glass door in the vacation home in Georgia!? I had a super big, over the top reaction. Blame it on my hormones, I was pregnant with the twins. I know it was an accident.
15. When you were younger we would watch the ball go down in New York on tv on New Years Eve and pretend it was midnight even though it was only 11 our time. You were determined to stay up but you were so tired!
16. You have always loved fireworks.
17. Watching on the kneeboard this summer at the lakehouse and realizing you were pretty much grown up.
18. You are the best I ever could have hoped for and I am so proud of you! I love you! Happy 18th Birthday!!!

Love,
Cara

Meme Visits

We had a good visit with Meme who flew up here for a few days. She went with us to swim lessons and got to see how much fun Maddie and Ryan have at the pool. We took her to Cabela's for lunch to celebrate her birthday. She brought the kids a puzzle, book and barrell of monkeys which they love to play with. We wish she would have stayed longer!

70 Things I Learned from my Mom
In Honor of her 70th Birthday

1. Always write a thank you note
2. Pay your credit card bill in full monthly
3. Establish good credit
4. Social Work is a very rewarding profession
5. Social Work is a very frustrating profession
6. Social Work does not pay well
7. There’s always room for another dinner guest
8. Don’t have sleepovers on school nights
9. It’s best to be the house everyone wants to hang out at
10. Take a family vacation at least once a year
11. Let your kids bring a friend on vacation
12. Never pay full price for clothes
13. Shop the discount stores
14. Children should help pay if they want designer clothes
15. It’s best to have a curfew
16. Check teenagers driver’s licenses before allowing your child to ride with them
17. Accompany teenagers to the coast for Spring Break
18. It’s okay if you’re not a gourmet cook
19. Grades are important
20. Study times are necessary
21. There’s always another boy
22. Sometimes the most effective punishment is nothing at all
23. Go to church
24. Pray
25. Say please and thank you
26. Pancakes for dinner are great when dad’s out of town
27. Cinnamon toast makes you feel better
28. Breakfast is the best meal
29. Sometimes you just need to sit down and have a glass of wine
30. Family heirlooms need to stay in the family
31. Write a will
32. Everyone should know how to type
33. Get a college education
34. Friday nights are for dinner out
35. If you’re going to the beach, get the condo with the beach view
36. It doesn’t hurt to ask
37. Review your bills monthly
38. “The Closer” is a great tv show
39. Politics are important
40. Volunteer at your church
41. Go to Sunday School
42. Meet the neighbors
43. Socialize with the neighbors
44. Stand your ground
45. Know when to back down
46. Choose your battles
47. Get an alarm system in your house
48. Use the alarm system
49. Help out your children’s friends if they need it
50. Know your children’s friends parents
51. Know where your children are at all times
52. Take piano lessons
53. It’s okay to quit gymnastics
54. It’s okay to change your mind about where to go to college at the absolute last minute
55. “Pat the Bunny” is a must have book
56. Reading is fun
57. Read the classics
58. Keep in touch with family
59. Write letters
60. Leftover night can be a good meal
61. The Stage Coach Inn is a great restaurant
62. Mammoth Cave is a great family vacation
63. Take your kids with you on business trips if you can
64. Love your children
65. A housekeeper makes things easier
66. It’s okay to be a working mom
67. It’s okay to be a stay home mom
68. Always leave your itinerary with someone
69. Support your children’s dreams
70. Love is the most important gift of all

Florida trip

We had a really good time in Panama City Beach. We met some friends of ours from Georgia there and stayed in the same hotel. They have a little girl Tori's age and we found out Ashleigh is pregnant again! Congratulations Ashleigh! We had a 2 bedroom suite with a living room on the golf course. We were a little disappointed that our hotel was on the bay, not the beach. We had to take a boat to the real beach. The hotel had great pools and 2 fitness centers and nice restaurants though. Ryan had a near drowning incident in the pool and Mike saved him. Mike looked like David Hasselhoff running down the beach on "Baywatch" when he jumped in the pool to save Ryan. The only person I have told so far was a friend here and my mother-in-law so Mom don't freak out when you read this. Ryan was fine, he just coughed up some water for a few minutes and learned a very important lesson. Listen to your mom and don't follow her to the deep end! Tori LOVES the water so we have decided to take the plunge and enroll her in swim lessons. She doesn't care about getting her face wet and has to be watched constantly. One night we had dinner at a restaurant on a Pirate Ship and that was probably the kids' highlight of the trip. It was really cool. They gave the kids pirate hats and some toys and we bought them all t-shirts. The drive to Florida was not bad either. We split it up into 2 days so only drove 6-7 hours each day. All in all it was very fun. P.S. I even managed to do my training (running) while we were there!

Off to Florida

We are off to Florida in the morning for our beach vacation. Wish us well and that the hurricane headed to Texas doesn't take a detour to Florida! I won't be posting till we get back in a week.

The Wiggles Live!

Last night we went to see the Wiggles show. It was AWESOME!! The kids had so much fun and they were soooo good! Tori sat in my lap mesmerized for a lot of the time. She clapped and waved and laughed and danced. Ryan and Maddie had big smiles on their faces. Maddie continues to ask me if the Wiggles are real. "Yes they're real Maddie, don't you remember we saw them?!" My favorite part of the show was the beginning when they drove out in their big, red car. "Big Red Car" was one of the first songs the twins liked to dance to when they were little. They sang lots of their old songs and new ones too. The cast is amazing. I think they do a lot of improv because lots of times they would just bust up laughing. I will definitely go see them again. (Shhhh, don't tell Mike but I think he really liked it too!!)