Eggs, Eggs and More Eggs!

In regular tradition, the night before Easter we dyed eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide on Easter. The kids had a blast dying the eggs. Kadee drew a bunch of designs on her eggs with the wax crayon and Cole really got a kick out of the fact that he could change the color of the egg just by dropping it in the glass of colored water. Chance hung out in his highchair and watched everyone. I think he would have loved playing with the eggs himself but we would have had some major problems since his new game is to drop everything he gets a hold of and see if he can get someone to pick it up!

Cole-man dying his eggs.Julie came over and helped. Thank goodness because the thought of handling three kids by myself and throwing dye into the situation just scares me!Mom came down to join the fun also! She made yummy Easter eggs out of rice crispies and we dipped them in chocolate and white chocolate. They were DELICIOUS! Kadee decorated her rice crispy egg with white chocolate chips to give it a spiky look.The rice crispy eggs turned out so good!
Kadee and Cole were pretty pleased with the eggs they dyed. We put them in the fridge for the Easter Bunny so he could hide them for the kids the next day.

I love the holidays, especially the prep that goes into making these holidays so much fun!

Happy 5th Birthday Malachi! ARRGH!

Cole's buddy Chi had an Awesome Pirate Party for his fifth birthday. The kids got to make their own Pirate hats and got an official pirate eye patch.Cole and Chi talked pirate talk as all good pirates do!
Cole got see his buddy Cooper too! They spent a good chunk of time running up and down this hill. Every birthday party should have one (a hill that is...it was great entertainment!)Chance just enjoyed be outside. Captain Dallas led the kiddos on a super-cool treasure/scavenger hunt throughout the park.Until they finally made it to the treasure!The treasure chest was filled with smaller treasure boxes filled with party favors for all of the kiddos.Then it was pinata time! The kids really whacked away at the poor thing!

Cole was hilarious and decided he was going to extend his three turns into ten turns and just started attacking the pinata. He was swinging the stick so hard that everyone was a little scared to get too close for fear of their lives! Then it was time for the yummy cupcakes...

Chi made sure nobody touched the loot until it was good and ready! (Notice how he is brandishing his sword!)

It was a really fun party and the kids had a blast!

Abe is Home Safe and Sound

Our dear friend and co-worker, Abe finally made it home from his almost year deployment in Afghanistan. We were all so happy he made it home safe and sound! He gave Chi a big hug!

The Mandalay Bay hosted a wonderful welcome home ceremony and several big wigs including the Governor and a Senator helped welcome the guys home.

I am sure it has been a long year for Abe and I bet he is glad to be home and able to just relax safely with his family. We will never be able to re-pay him for his sacrifice. I only hope he knows how grateful we are for him and his fellow brothers, how much we missed him, and most of all how grateful we are that he made it back to his family safe and sound.

Ride Em Cowboy!

My mom treated us all to some bull riding. Tuff Hedeman Championship Bull Riding was over at the SouthPoint so we Cowboy'd Up and were in for a great show. The kids of course wanted to wear their Cowboy hats so they could look like all the other cowboys and cowgirls that would be there.We got settled in to our seats, got some snacks and anxiously awaited for the show to start.The show definitely started off with a bang!And there were some great 8 second rides!

The kids made it on the TV cameras quite a bit so I am anxiously waiting for the online episode to be released on GAC to see if they got there 15 seconds of fame or not.

The best part about the whole night however was after the show was over. All of the bull riders came back out to sign autographs and the kids got there cowboy hats signed by all of the riders. It was pretty cool for them to take the time to show their fans some love!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Cole is an official baseball player now. Okay, let me correct myself, an official t-ball player. I am so excited for him because he truly loves playing baseball. Baseball is what makes him happy so I knew there were no ands, ifs or buts about it, he needed to play.

I will be honest, I was extremely nervous for his first practice. My son is not the best listener so I went in thinking that it was going to be rough. Boy was I wrong. I really need to give Cole-man some credit. He was probably the best listener of the whole bunch! Now I can't wait till he gets his little uniform and has his first game! Watch out world, here he comes!

Happy Birthday Charlie!

My honey tuned a whopping 33 today! He loves those two weeks in March when I am actually three years older than him. He never fails to remind me!

We had a great birthday celebration. Charlie's parents came to visit from ABQ. On Friday night we took them to Brio at Town Square. We had been dying to try it out for a while. It was delicious. There calamari was delicious, they fried it with peppercinin's...YUMMY! And they had the best dessert ever, it was a sampling of nine different desserts (all in little itty bitty dessert cups - the perfect portion so you didn't feel too too bad!).

The next night we headed to Hanks at Green Valley Ranch for a fancy-schamncy dinner! It was delicious. We made it just in time for 1/2 price Martinis. It is absolutely gorgeous in this restaurant, talk about swagger!

The next night Charlie decided he wanted ribs for dinner. He makes the best ribs, seriously! He boils them in beer for about two hours and then grills them. They are FABULOUS. Of course this meant he had to cook his own birthday dinner, but he never really minds grillin.


I got him his favorite Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake (Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake) for dessert.
And my mom made homemade lemon meringue pie to supplement the cheesecake! Cole of course helped put daddy's candles on.

It was a great weekend and I hope Charlie has a wonderful year! I consider my self ever-so grateful to spend another year with my honey.

Our First Sleepover

Well we finally gave in and let Kadence have her first sleepover at our house. She asked her friend Morgan to stay the night with us. The girls had lots of fun playing with barbies and watching Kadee's new Barbie movie. (Our life lately is Barbie, Barbie, Barbie - I don't mind though cuz it brings back lots of memories, Barbies were my favorite!)

We had one little spat, nothing major but it worked out kind of well because it kind of settled them down before bedtime. Amazingly they were out cold by 9:30 pm (not bad I thought).

The next morning we woke up and headed to Dunkin Donuts for a early morning treat
I think Kadee really enjoyed having a friend sleepover and it wasn't nearly as bad as I kind of anticipated. I have a funny feeling that this is the first of many. I just hope she never gets wind of my sleepover's in high school. I literally had the entire cheerleading squad spend the night at my house on more than one occasion.

Thankful For Each and Every of My 35 Years!

Today I am 35. Really, I am 35? How does time fly by so quick? I have had an absolutely wonderful birthday for the following reasons:

* I had a FANTASTICALLY FUN Pre-Birthday celebration lunch with my co-workers. We are a tight knit group and realized once again how lucky I am to have this second family in my life. I love them all to death!

* I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with just my hubby to realize just how much I am still in love with him. While walking side by side he asked me why I don't hold on to his back pocket like I used too. I responded that he used to say I was pulling down his pants so I stopped. (Note to self: Hold on to his back pocket more often, he misses this).

* I spent the night before snuggling on the couch with Kadee and Cole watching Where the Wild Things Are. We have been looking forward to this movie, because it's Cole's favorite book, and was one of mine when I was young. For the first time Kadee cried during a movie. She was so sad that Max had to leave "The Wild Things" and she wept. My daughter is getting more and more like me everyday and wears that heart of hers on her sleeve.

* Charlie got up early in the morning to give Chance his bottle which meant a couple extra winks of sleep for me.

* My daughter woke me with the sweetest smile just to say "Happy Birthday".

* Charlie cooked me breakfast and made my bacon extra crunchy just like I like it.

* Kadee, Cole, my mom and I went for a walk. Cole anxiously looked for worms and ended the walk with me giving him a piggy back ride.

* I snuggled with Chance as I watched Terms of Endearment. This movie kills me every time, but reminded me all too well how truly blessed I was. Chance played peek-a-boo with me and the light in his eyes when he smiles melted my heart.

* My sister once again sacrificed her free time to watch the kids so Charlie and I could have a date. Outback it was and as always it was delicious.

* Charlie took me to Yogurtland for my new FAVORITE dessert. I split the bowl in half with peanut butter yogurt on one side covered in Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Cheesecake yogurt on the other half covered in coconut, cheesecake bites, caramel and white chocolate chips. (Yes I am trying to lose weight but...It is my birthday!

I have had a WONDERFUL birthday and I pray and hope it just means that this year will be a WONDERFUL year!

I Would Know This Face Anywhere

So I hopped on the Butte Newspaper's (The Montana Standard) website to try to find the article on my nephew being selected as Butte's new probation officer. I didn't find the article but I did see another article that showed a pic of a guy who looked awfully familiar! My brother Rick! I'd recognize that face anywhere!
He is the fireman facing the picture next to the stretcher. The headline was:

Stand off: No one hurt after man threatens suicide
By John Grant Emeigh of The Montana Standard - 03/05/2010

Happy 72 Dad!

Grandpa turns 72 this year! We celebrated with a delicious dinner and of course, desert! Unfortunately (but in a good way) Dad had started Nutrisystem so he enjoyed the Nutrisystem Meatloaf meal, which he insisted was his favorite and couldn't have any of the chocolate cream pie that Grandma made to help him celebrate.

The kids helped grandma decorate the pie.And of course helped Grandpa blow out the candles. I thank god for every year, day, minute my pops is here with us. He is such an important part of my life and plays such an important part of my kiddos lives. Happy Birthday pops, here's to another great year!