Memorial Day Picnic!

This afternoon we went to church for our Memorial Day Picnic. We had bbq, spaghetti, and chicken to eat and the kids ran around with all their friends while we visited with ours. Kevin and Maddie joined in a game of kickball. It was hot, but fun. I always love spending time with our church family and tonight was no different. I love the outfit that Maddie wore tonight. I am quite the fan of Tori Spelling-don't know why, but I always watch her shows. She has a clothing line called Little Maven, which I would never buy at regular price. At one of the consignment sales, I picked up two of her outfits and Maddie wore one tonight:) It was perfect for the holiday!

Typical Saturday!

Today Maddie had a three hour dance practice and the kids had two birthday parties to attend. It made for a busy day!! I think 3/4's of our weekends are spent partying it up with the little ones and we wouldn't have it any other way! Today Turner and I helped Lo Lo celebrate her third birthday. Maddie cried and said that she has to miss everything. This is the second party she has missed in two weeks due to dance:( Megs went with us and Turner had a good time.

This afternoon we all went to DJ and Alicia's to help Ethan celebrate his 6th birthday. This is our third party of his attend and they are always so much fun. They always involve swimsuits and swimming is Maddie's favorite thing!! There was a huge water slide bouncer that kept the kids entertained for hours. The ice cream man paid the kids a visit and the birthday boy got in the truck and passed out ice cream-it was precious!! It was a great party and we love the Simpson family!!

Turner went again without a nap today and the kids had no trouble going to sleep tonight! We have a busy day again tomorrow with church in the morning and then again in the afternoon for a picnic. I am sure I will be taking plenty more pictures!

3K Complete!

Wednesday was Maddie's last day of school. She had such a great year, had wonderful teacher, and made many new friends. I loved being involved at her school and am going to really miss her teacher Mrs. Amy and Ms. Ashley. I am discovering a lot lately just how much I hate change!!! I just have to get over it-the kids are going to go through A LOT of teachers before all is said and done. They had a program that Mimi, Boo Boo, and I were able to watch and then a little party in her class before we took her home. Each child was made a book with pictures taken throughout the year. I was so excited and thankful for one that little keepsake. She gained 3 lbs and grew 3 inches this past year!!!

After we left school we took Maddie to Mo's to celebrate. My sweet girl had a tummy ache and cried that she wanted to go home after one bite of her moo moo cow. She was supposed to be going home with Mimi and Boo Boo so that I could go back to work. I ended up taking her home with me so that she could rest. She felt better shortly after and they came and picked her up. I hated our day ended on a yucky note, but the morning was fun!! Daddy had exams at school so wasn't able to attend, but I took a ton of pictures to capture her important day!!

Dance Show Pics 2011!

The show is upon us and this year and we have a pretty cute little Snow White that will be strutting her stuff! We had pictures made today and all the girls looked precious! We are probably going to sit out of dance next year and give gymnastics a try. I am wanting Turner to do it as well and we just can't afford for them to do it all. I was fine with that decision at first, but as we are getting ready for the show, I am getting kind of sad. It is so busy the month of May with the extra practices and so many extra expenses......but it is SOOO cute watching everyone on stage and seeing all their hard work pay off. So....we are planning on starting the gymnastics this summer and we will see if she would rather do that than dance in the fall. Here are some pics from today though!

Happy Birthday London and Cade!!

Yesterday we headed to the Arwood Barn to celebrate London turning 2 and Cade turning 1!! It was the cutest party ever! There were goats and chickens, lunch boxes with chicken, apples, string cheese, and juice, and tables set up for coloring and stickers. Maddie had a dance practice since the recital is a few short weeks away, so it just Turner and I. He was scared of the animals, and never got too far from my side, but he had a great time. I took him in the house to change his diaper and he was ready to play with London's kitchen. The kids were precious and had such a fun party.

I love those two kids and was so happy to be a part of their special day!! I hate that Maddie had to miss it, but we are planning on getting together again soon!

Park Date!

Let me start by saying we did so many fun things last weekend and I didn't get a single picture!! Maddie went to her first party at Sweet and Sassy and had a great time. Kevin took her because I wasn't feeling well but took videos and pictures from his phone. It was little girl in her class's party and I hate that I missed it. That night we took the kids to their first Redbird's game. I had the camera ready and the batteries died when we got there:( We went with our Sunday school class and had a good time.

This week was busy with end of the year choir and mission friends parties, and I met Maddie's preschool teacher for next year. I have loved Maddie's teachers this year and am sad to see the year end, but think that she will enjoy this next year as well. Kevin has the next two weeks off from football and we are looking forward to having him at home more. Work has been crazy stressful for me and I am hoping things will settle down soon!

That brings us to today. The kids and I had a playdate with Bailey and her momma Ashley at a park in Arlington today. We had never been and it was an awesome park!! It was huge and the kids loved it. We played for a while and then headed to McDonald's for lunch. My Friday's off are coming to an end soon and I want to take advantage of the ones I have left. I love getting together with our friends, allowing me some "mommy time" and giving the kids some "friend time". It was a beautiful day today and we enjoyed spending it with friends!!!

We have a birthday party and dance practice tomorrow, along with dance pictures on Sunday. I am ready for this recital to be over!!! Maddie is missing two parties due to rehearsals on Saturdays. I will have my camera ready though tomorrow as Turner and I help London and Cade celebrate their birthdays in the morning!!!!

Playdate with Treybug!

Last night we had Mary and Treybug over to play! We realized it had been almost two months since we had gotten together and that is entirely too long!!! Mary is pregnant with Jonathan Garner and isn't having an easy pregnancy. She was a trooper though and decided to come on over anyway and I am so glad they did. Maddie, Trey, and Turner played outside just about the whole time and had a blast. Those kids ran up and rolled down the hill in the back for about 30 minutes. Maddie was a little itchy last night, but was smiling from ear to ear. They are good about including Turner and Trey is just an easy going kid that doesn't seem to mind Maddie's bossiness too much:) Watching them, you can tell that she is constantly telling him what to do-I wonder where she gets that from?

This is another friend I have had since high school and our babies are only 5 weeks apart! They have grown up together and love each other as much as Mary and I do. Again-I am so thankful for this friendship and can't wait to meet their newest addition!!! It was a fun night!

Mother's Day 2011!!

Sunday was a Mother's day and I had a great day being loved on, and spending it with my mom! I woke up Sunday morning to gifts from everyone. Kevin bought me a book and cookbook that I had asked for and was super excited. Turner had painted me a coffee mug from Paint a Piece and it turned out so cute! Maddie's gift was with Mimi so I didn't open it till lunch-she made me two potholders that she and Mimi had been working on for weeks before school in the mornings. They turned out great and she was so excited and proud to give them to me. She tried so hard to keep it a secret from me, but had let it slip a time or two last week. I acted surprised and just love the things that they make for us.

After church, we headed to Friday's for lunch and gave Mimi her gifts. Megs and I bought her a cookbook and flip flops and she seemed to like them. I am so thankful for my mom and the relationship that she, my sister and I share. Becoming a mom myself has made me appreciate mine so much more!

It was a great day and I am so blessed to have two precious one's call me mommy!!

Pizza and Fishing at the Arwood's!

Saturday we took the kids to Kelly and Tim's to play with London and Cade, and to go fishing! Turner got a fishing pole from Santa Claus and this was his first fishing adventure. I don't think he was very interested. He stood with them a while, but then joined us back at the house. Maddie stayed out there for a long time and finally caught a few fish. The kids played so well together!!! It amazed me that we had a four year old, a two year old, an almost two year old, and an 11 month old together and there wasn't one argument or fight we had to break up!!! They love each other and I am so thankful our kids are close in age and we are able to spend time together with each others families! Kelly and I have been friends for 16 years (makes me feel old) and I am so grateful for her and our friendship! It was a great day!

--I hate I didn't get a picture of Cade! He is oh so cute!!!

Answered Prayers!!!

Today has been an unbelievable day!! Maddie had a doctor appointment today with her allergy/asthma doctor. It has been two years since she has been tested and he felt like it was time to do it again. Kevin did not think we should put her through this at all. It was horrible the last time, we have dealt with the peanut allergy for 3 years, and we really assumed she would just always have it.

23% of children will outgrow peanut allergies.

Maddie had a +4 reaction to it 2 years ago. The doctor told us right before they tested her, that he didn't expect her to have outgrown it, but was hoping it had diminished some.

Maddie tested NEGATIVE for all tests given!!!! She was kicking and screaming and having a fit, but her back remained the same. We kept waiting.....and waiting.....we just knew the golf ball size welp was going to form and start driving her crazy. It never came.....God is so good and the power of prayer has been fully demonstrated to me today. It put tears in my eyes and took my breath away. Her eating or not eating peanut butter/nuts is not the big deal. It was the worry that she would get a hold of something or be given something when we weren't around that could hurt her. It feels like such a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.

The plan is for us to go next week and have blood work done. If the antibodies for nuts is high, then we actually will still do what we have been doing. If it is low enough, we will go back to the doctor's office where they will do a "food challenge" there and introduce peanut butter to her. That was a relief, as both Kevin and I knew we wouldn't feel comfortable just giving her some ourselves. So, we will have more definate results in a few weeks, but this was such great news today!!

She also tested negative for everything else which is just hard to believe. We were planning on going in there today and figuring out how to tell Maddie that she was going to have to start getting shots weekly. Dr. Hill took her off her Zyrtec and said that there was no reason to give it to her anymore daily. He said we just use it as needed. So....I think the only issue that left us with was asthma and we have it pretty well controlled. We do flovent twice a day for six more months and then he is going to try and lower that dosage as well. That will leave us with cingulair-I think we can handle that:)

We skipped out of there and went straight to TCBY for some yogurt. It was a well deserved treat and I can't think of a better way to start of the weekend! We are so blessed, so thankful, and are gonna just keep on praying...because our good Lord is listening!!!!

On a side note---I am sure that office thinks we are nuts!!!! Taking Maddie to the doctor took Me, Turner, Megs, Mimi, and Boo Boo all piling up in that waiting room. Daddy arrived as soon as he got out of school. I walked in to sign in and just said "it takes a village". My whole family knows how terrifying doctor visits are to Maddie, and were there to support and love her. I called Nonna when we were done to give her the news, and she was yelling and crying at the news. My children are so loved, as are we!! I don't know what we would do without our family and their love for us was evident today!