Sunday School!

Our church has been going through a transition period and was in need of some Sunday school teachers.  I love my Sunday school class and couldn't imagine not being with them.  I had been feeling like I needed to get more involved and do more to "serve".  After praying about it and speaking with some staff....I now teach the 3 and 4 year olds on Sunday mornings.  I just cant seem to get enough of the littles:)
  My dear friend and wife of my sunday school teacher graciously agreed to help me.  We have been at it for about two months now and it is going well.  I love kids and there is nothing better than being able teach them about God!  I have the best little helper too...Turner.  He is in my class and loves going early with me to set everything up.  It is good time spent with him.
  Church is keeping us busy and I cant think of a better way to spend our time.  To God be the glory!

State Competition!

Two weeks ago we ended Maddie's competition season with State.  We are so proud of our girl and how far she has come this year!!  This has given her so much confidence and taught her so much more than gymnastics.  She brought home the gold medal in vault in her division and bronze on bars.  She finished 3rd overall!
  She had a big support group there to watch her.  Mimi, Boo Boo, Nonna, Megs, and her brother and sister were there to watch.  Afterwards we ate lunch downtown to celebrate and Saturday she had her nails and toes painted.  She has worked hard this year and cant wait to see what the future holds. 
  We go tonight to see what level the girls will be competing at next year.  We have debated about doing it another year because it is such a huge financial and time commitment.  We are leaving it up to her and I think she will stick with it.  She really loves the girls on her team and is constantly doing gymnastics at home.   I kind of like being a "gymnastics mom" and just want her to be happy and able to do what she loves:)  Great job Mo!!
 

Upwards Soccer!!

It is soccer season and Maddie and Turner are both playing at church....with their daddy as coach!!!  They are excited and this is their time to be on the same team.  They started practicing last week and their first game is Saturday.  Looking forward to the next two months on the soccer field!

12 Months Old!!

Our baby is now 1 and this will probably be the last monthly post.  She weighed in at 23 lbs and 30 3/4 inches long.  Our girl is in the 95% and doing great.  She talks all the time and we understand about 5% of it:)  She still isn't walking and doesnt seem to be in any hurry about it-that is ok with us!
  She is off formula and is drinking milk like a champ.  She probably drinks 4-5 cups from her sippy cup during the day and we are still giving it to her in a bottle before bed.  She has gotten back in a good sleeping habit and we are so glad!!!  She will put herself to sleep and is mostly sleeping through the night again.
  She is eating great and doing pretty good about trying new things.  She loves blueberry muffins, ham, pizza, cheese, and applesauce.  She loves her Boo Boo!!  If he is around, that is normally who she wants.  It is sweet:)
  Enjoying this time with Harper and can't wait to see what the next few months will bring!!  It has been a quick year.

1st Birthday-Circus Style!!

I cant believe our baby is one years old!  This has been the quickest year ever and we have enjoyed Harper Doodle to pieces.  She brings everyone joy and her brother and sister adore her.  She loves them just as much!  We invited a few family and friends over for a circus style party.  I love having a springy birthday.  First time ever to be able to celebrate outside!!
  Mimi and Boo have had all the grands first birthdays at their house and this one was no different.  How awesome that my mom is in her second week of radiation and still insisted we have it there.  Dont know what we would do without them!  Nonna and Marci made the trip to celebrate Harper as well.
  I think everyone had a good time and Harper loved munching on her cake.  She wasn't messy, but she just kept on eating:)  We finally just got her out of the high chair.  Our girl received a whole summer wardrobe and lots of fun toys. 
  It was a great day and I will do a separate post about Harper at 12 months.

Hello Spring Break!!

We have had a great week and loved having everyone at home.  The weather was pretty fantastic and we kept the kids busy.  Most days we rode electric scooters, bikes, our John Deere tractor, the wagon, and jumped on the trampoline.  I took the big kids skating, Kev took them to Pump It Up, and we all went to the zoo.  We also had London and Cade over for a play date.   It has been busy!
  Maddie also went to gymnastics everyday but Thursday to prepare for State.  I have been busy planning a sweet baby's first birthday party, which is tomorrow!  So hard to believe, but more on that tomorrow.  We have enjoyed the week and I have a few pics to share from it.

Snowed In!

We have had numerous threats of winter weather this year and nothing has happened.  Of course the weekend we go out of town, we come home to a winter storm.  It rained the whole way home and started sleeping Sunday night.  The kids and I didnt have to go to school till Thursday and Kev was out till Friday.  It was great and what's even better is Spring Break is next week:)
  We took H to the doctor for an ear infection and started her on antibiotics.  Thankful we caught it early and hope we get to enjoy next week.  The kids played outside In the snow/ice and had a big time.  Turner lasted longer than anyone!  The bottom picture shows how Harper felt about coming inside:)  We spent most of the time at home and everyone enjoyed having a few days off!

Nashville Nights!

We had a great weekend in Nashville for Maddie's 4th competition.  We stayed at the Opryland hotel and it is beautiful!  It was our first time and an experience in itself.  We spent a lot of time walking around, went on the boat ride, played games in the arcade, and swam in the indoor pool.  Kev took the kids to get breakfast Saturday morning while I got ready.... $41 later and they had fruit loops to eat.  This place is no joke!
  Nonna and Aunt Marci joined us Saturday.  Brittany and Michael live in Nashville and we met them for dinner at the Aquarium restaurant in Opryland Mills mall.  It was a neat place and everyone enjoyed their dinner, except Kevin:(  I could have spent days at that mall if 1. my kids weren't with me and 2. we had money that I could spend.  It is amazing.  The kids spent a ton of time on their feet that day and were troopers.  Harper spent 90% of the weekend in her stroller and just went with the flow.  She is such a good baby!
  We had to be at the convention center at 7:30 Sunday morning so the kids went to bed early.  Maddie was excited that morning and Marci, Brittany, and Michael came to support her.  The last two meets Maddie had a hard time staying with the music on her floor routine.  She was rushing a few turns and ending her routine early.  She has really been working on her turns and slowing down.  She did great and scored a 9.05 (I think).  I love seeing her take correction well and working hard to fix it.  She placed 5th and this was her toughest meet yet.  There were over 1700 gymnasts at this meet!
  She scored a 9.35 on vault and placed 3rd.  This is proving to be her strongest event.  Her beam routine looked great to me but she didnt place.  She has had some trouble with the bars and over rotated her back hip circle.  Her stride circle looked great though!  One thing I have noticed is she always does best on her first two events.  It doesn't matter which ones they are, they are going to be her two highest scores.  I dont know if she gets tired or bored, but there is usually a big difference.  She ended up 6th all around and we are looking forward to State in a few weeks.
  After the meet we headed back to the mall to eat at Moes and tell everyone goodbye.  The weather was supposed to get bad and we wanted to get home before it did.  We all enjoyed our little Nashville vacay and hope to go back over Christmas sometime.  I have lots of pictures to share!