The Funniest April Fool's Joke on Valentine's Day Ever

Here are the cards:

 

Here is the face she made upon hearing Madi "read" her card:

  

 

The reason?  This is what we heard:

Dear Madi,

You are my favorite daughter.  And you are the smartest and most gorgeous-est in the family. 

Love You,
Dad

I Am Thankful For...

cute cousins

girl time

build-a-bear (or bunny)

                             

little brothers

turkey dinner

beachy bonfires

crab boil

poolside cupcakes

adult beverages

cool castles

affectionate OSU fans

Mollie Likes Presents

Madi found this video and was more than happy to upload it.  Love that toward the end of this improv song, you hear Madi ask, "WHAT are you singing?"

I'm Madi, I like to stay on the computer a lot,

on her own computer that GG and PaPa got her,

Mollie likes presents, and that's ME, me - you know me, me, me

Don't think about me or Madi, think about my friends,

If they get hurt, think about me or Madi if we sprain our ankle,

or have to go to the doctor office,

Phineas and Ferb!

       

Summer Track 2012

Summer means lounging and swimming and movies.  Track means sweating, running, and pain.  The two words shouldn't be put together, but the girls did not really know to object when I informed them of this "fun way to get your exercise" in the month of June.

They quickly realized that track practice , which was run by high school football coaches, was a little more intense than any of us had anticipated.  However, my glass-half-full child woke up each morning (without complaining) and tried to help her little sister see the value in all of this. 

And then there's Mollie....

She groaned, grunted, threw fits, had meltdowns, and complained the entire month of June about having to get up in the morning, running for no apparent reason, racing against kids who were older than her, the length of the races, her shorts, her shoes, and the sun being too bright.

Ironically, she is a natural at all things track and one would think she would grow to enjoy the winning of ribbons and the coming in first on a regular basis?!

And then there's Madi....

She is not a speedster, or a long jumper, or even a discuss-shot type of girl.  However, when she is approached to fill in for the kid who did not show up for the mile relay, she volunteers.  She is also a smart one.  The last track meet of the month was at Three Rivers where Madi had figured out the art of "strategery."  She saw the line for long jump and then went and asked how many girls had signed up for discus.  When the coach said, "zero" she grabbed her track buddy and explained that regardless of how well they threw, one of them would get a gold and the other a silver.   

  Discus throw:  Silver

400 meter relay: First place 

Beach to Bay 2012

                             Four out of the "six sexy senoritas"
(A few of us had other suggestions for team names, but this one never got officially overturned).

....and in the words of little Trista (from the video of Mollie's birthday):  "If you say that you're sexy and you know it, it means that you really are sexy." 

Sexy:  Putting your best effort in during your leg of the race
Not Sexy:  Realizing your team placed 1,632nd (or something like that) out
               of 3,000 or so teams

Sexy:  Not giving up, despite the humbling previously mentioned reality
Not Sexy:  Realizing the team with the person who wore a Scooby-Do 
               mascot costume (even the head) destroyed your team's time

Sexy:  Enjoying the journey (regardless what Scooby-Do does or does not
          do)  


Only winners would get up at 5:00am following a grueling day of relay running and marathon walking in the hot Texas sun in order to see something that pictures just don't do justice.  But, I tried anyway.... 

there ain't no party-like a hotel party-cause a hotel party don't stop

 2 sisters + 2 sisters + 1 Hampton Inn =


                                Party Time


It started at Chuckie Cheese, where the the big sisters acted as if they were too cool to be excited about going, but promptly forgot how lame it was after hitting the jackpot on the jump rope game.......

 It continued with this big and this little dominating on hoops ~ seriously, they were "on fire" to the point people were gathered around in awe.

The good times were moved to the Hampton Inn's pool where Lolaloopsy (who came with two outfits, floaties, and shoes), naturally wound up buck naked AS ALL BARBIES AND BABIES DO?  Why is this?

 Nothing like a sauna.........

 To get these party animals sleepy.......very sleepy.....(parents can hope, right?)

Bailey is my kind of girl ~ easy going and up for anything.  Plus, she likes crab.  She hit it off with Madi immediately and I think they had a few vent sessions where I believe I heard them discussing all the injustices that come with being a big sister.

And Jonathan and I were really patting ourselves on the back for how smooth everything went when we had these partiers in bed by about 11:00 pm.  Everyone had big fun, there was very little drama (even with one birthday girl who can occassionally attemp to be a diva), and chances are, they were worn out enough to actually sleep in.

And then we heard it.  A coughing/gagging/something really bad is about  to happen sound at 4:30 in the morning.  One poor sweet little partier was throwing up, while the other three (and me) screamed at the top of our lungs.  And this is when I realized yet another thing I like about Jonathan.  He is calm and collected and can think fast.  He had the situation taken care of in about 3 minutes.  All we could do is go back to bed and pray it was just too much chlorine down the wrong pipe sort of thing.

But when morning came and the other partiers went down to do some damage to the waffle maker, this little one cried for her mama.  So sad.

We dropped them off and were digging around for all their belongings when Bailey asked if there was something else we had given them for a party favor?

Swim goggles...
Beachballs...
Stomach bug (check)

So, let this be our lesson.  We won't be doing any more early high fives over what great party planners we are because kids always have a trick or two up their sleeve.  


**While scanning for a song on the radio, we were forced to "leave it here!"

Stars Align

Once in a blue moon, stars align perfectly:

*Camera batteries charged 
*Lighting (not too bright, not too dark) 
*Little to no wind
*Suitable background 
*Kids in clean clothes 

Madi, age 10, favorite Christmas toy:  BB Gun

Mollie-claire, age 6, favorite Christmas toy: BB Gun

Bode, age 19 months, favorite Christmas toy: Buzz LightYear ("umbuzz")