End of School Year Activities!!

The last week of school is always an eventful one!

First was Dylan's Martial Arts Graduation. They gave him a certificate and he got to break a board with his foot!


Next was the Dance Festival. Every grade does their own dance on the playground. This year Dylan's grade did "We Go Together", from Grease, of course! I couldn't have been more excited, because this is one of favorite movies ever!! Dylan asked me to see the movie, and decided he was over it within the first 5 minutes. He did, however, ask me to download the song on iTunes and put it on his iPod. He has been listening to it repeatedly for the last 2 weeks!


Last, but definitely not least, was the Classroom Museum. Every student picked a person to do their biography on, and Dylan picked Milton Hershey. It was so cute. Among the 28 students, we had a Dalai Lama, a Mother Theresa, an Amelia Earhart, a couple Kobe Bryant's, and so many more. All the parents went into the classroom one morning to see all the work they did. They each made a poster of their person, with the face cut out, and they put their own little faces in. Just about the cutest thing I ever saw!!


Now school is over, and we have almost 3 months of fun!!

Dylan's REAL Birthday

My baby isn't a baby anymore!! He's 8!! Since I made the Mother's Day blog so sappy, I will try to spare you the emotions today. Seriously though, I can't believe I am the mother of an 8 year old. A smart, gentle, loving, sweet, funny, and gorgeous 8 year old.

Have I mentioned that I am blessed? He couldn't make me a happier mom. Even on his worst day, he is the best kid ever. Fact.

Since his birthday falls on a Tuesday this year, and it just so happens that I volunteer in his classroom on Tuesday morning, I got to spend the whole morning with him! Last night he helped me bake cookies as treats for his whole class. His teacher let him make a crown and decorate it with stickers, and then he got to pick out a story for Mr. Spence to read to the class.

After class, he came home to find his birthday present...which was a new flat screen TV for his room. Not a big one, but perfect size for a boy. He loved it.

Then we went out to dinner with my Grandparents and his cousins. He had a great time! When we got back to Grandma's, we sang Happy Birthday, and had cake...delicious cake that I made!!

Happy Mothers Day!!

Every year, this day reminds me how lucky I am to have 2 amazingly perfect children, who have changed my life in ways that I cannot even begin to explain.

I definitely think that a parent is responsible for how their children turn out...for the most part. And excuse my language, but I work my ass off every single day to make sure they are happy and well-balanced. However, I think their perfection goes way beyond my parenting techniques. Simply said...I'm so blessed.

Dylan was born when I was 23 years young. I say young, because I was really not in a place where I was settled and ready to have a baby. He was a surprise. After he was born, my life changed in so many ways. I was back at work full-time when he was only 6 weeks old. And he was 4 months old when I moved back home with my Grandparents. I didn't keep in close contact with my friends, and I never went out without him. Nope, no dates. For almost 3 years. I don't regret it, ever...not even for a second. Then we moved into our own place, and shortly after that, we met Cody. I never would have married Cody without Dylan's blessing. He loved him from the moment they met.
Then we were a family. For the first year of our marriage, I was convinced that I didn't want anymore children. Cody did, but wasn't pushing it. Then one day, we were on a little family vacation, and just somehow decided that we wanted another little one around. The next 19 months were some of the hardest, emotionally, in my life. We had a hard time getting pregnant, had miscarriages, and just went through a lot. It could very well have taken its toll on our relationship...but we leaned on each other. And just when we were exhausted trying, a miracle happened. When they told me our little miracle was a girl, I cried. I couldn't have been happier. Our miracle was born in January 2009, and we named her Madison.
And now I am a mother of 2. And of course a wife. And they've changed me...for the better. I couldn't imagine my life without them. I am happy here, right where I am. I've never been happier. This is it...and it's SO worth it.










I'm sure I'll tell this story again next year...but at least you have 364 days.

So to celebrate...Cody made reservations at The Farm at The Grove for brunch, and then we did one of my all-time favorite things ever...SHOP!!! I think we all got a Mother's Day gift...I just couldn't resist...ANYTHING!! Cody bought me new Gucci sunglasses...Dylan bought me new perfume...and I bought clothes...for myself and Maddie. Mostly for Maddie. It was a wonderful day. The best ever.

Happy Birthday Dylan!!

To celebrate Dylan's Birthday, we took him and his best friend Aidan to Mountasia...the funnest place ever! (yes I know, totally gramatically incorrect.)

We started with lunch, which of course was pizza, followed by a spacial birthday sundae! They seriously do their best to embarrass the birthday boy...by ringing an alarm & banging the biggest drum you've ever seen. It worked. He was super embarrassed!




We let him open a couple presents today...






After we had lunch, we headed outside to start the fun! The boys did the bumper boats...I elected to skip this one, because the boats come equipped with water squirters, and, well you know...a girl just can't mess up her hair so early in the day!




After the bumper boats, we did the race cars. Both the boys wanted t ride with Cody, because he's just so cool. They played rock, paper, scissors to decide...Aidan won. The whole time I raced the car around the track, Dylan was yelling in my ear..."Mom, this isn't Sunday driving!!", and "My Grandma can drive faster than you!!" Yea, he's definitely growing up!

Then we golfed, and went inside to play video games, which might have been the best part of their day. Cody & I let them have their fun, and I whipped him at air hockey. Don't let him tell you otherwise!

On our way home we let them listen to whatever music they wanted to. You've always wanted to know what an 8 year old listens to? Well let me just tell you...Black Eyed Peas & Linkin Park. Awesome, right?

My story ends tonight with them staying up till midnight playing video games. Of course.

Friday Fun-Day!

The evening started with a little amateur photo shoot on our front lawn...






Then my best friend Jennifer came over for one of our awesome sleepovers! Cody always works Friday's, so it's just us and the kids. We went to Porto's Bakery for dinner, and it was delicious. I'm still going veg, so I ordered the turkey croissant, without the turkey. And the cheesecake, of course. Simply amazing.
The rest of our night consisted of drinking wine, turning up the music, and dancing around the house with the kids. We all had a great time.






Little Maddie loves dancing. Dylan, not so much, but we did manage to get him to teach us the Thriller dance. He even went to bed listening to his iPod with his headphones on, and this is what I saw when I went to check on him...

7 going on 16?? He's growing so fast!!

Seriously...I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Friday night!

The High Chair

Apparently we are going through a little bit of separation anxiety. By we, I mean Madison, who is currently sleeping on the couch...pretty much on my lap.

It's been going on for about 2 months now. She used to go to sleep so nice...in her crib. Even at naptime.
Now, all of a sudden, she will not sleep in her crib at all. I will lay her down, and she will stand up, holding the railing, and jump up & down and just scream.
I've tried to get her to sleep in our bed...but she will only do that if I lay down with her. Sometimes this is ok...and even though I wish it were possible for me to nap every day with her, it's just not.

So, we've discovered, quite by accident, that she is very comfortable in her high chair. Almost too comfortable. If I pull it in the living room and stay nearby, she will fall asleep in there. We just can't try to be sneaky and move her into her room...she catches us every time.

We've tried everything.

This is what has become of bedtime in our house.