Remembering Summer and Looking forward to Fall

Once again, it has been too long since I have written but for good reason, it was summer, and we had ALOT of fun! Time got away from me but I was creating all kinds of memories and it really has been one of the best summers of my life. I watched Hayden and Vanessa blossom and grow into their own special people.

Hayden has become more confident and he brightens my day with his laugh and wit. He is turning into such an incredible boy, full of life and love, he gives the best hugs and is so genuine by nature. I'm so proud of him, he is incredibly smart.

Vanessa, my sunshine, has blossomed into a butterfly. She's so free and flutteres around dancing, singing, playing piano and making up songs. She amazes me with her talents, her smile is the sweetest and she gives me so much love all day long. She's sassy, giggly, funny and just plain beautiful. I adore them both and I LOVE watching them grow and discover themselves and their likes and dislikes. They amaze me everyday and I feel truly honored to watch them every step of the way along their journeys in life.

Here are just a few, of the MANY moments, captured in photos, of some of our summer fun:

Summer 2010

Vanessa at the beginning of June, practicing for her recital, she is the little one all the way on the left. So cute! This was her first year of dance with Calista and Kaitlin Swanson. She was recognized at the end of the recital for most improved dancer of the year! I cried!:)

At one of the many playgrounds in our town.


In our backyard, roasting marshmallows to make smores.

Mackinac Island

Hayden playing t-ball for the first time and this is his sport! He LOVES t-ball and actually did very well. He's a baseball kid!

Vanessa dancing at the KC & The Sunshine Band/B52's concert, at Summer Celebration, in Muskegon.

One of many times at the beach this summer.

Right before the 4th of July Parade


Eating and picking blueberries at Grandma Deb and Grandpa Bob's farm.


One of those really special moments captured in a photo, I just love her innocense.


This was during our first camping trip.


At Christofferson's farm getting peaches, plums, grapes, apples and nectarines.

Hayden doing his third annual Gift of Giving donating school supplies to a teacher. This is Ashley McDonald whom he had for Kindergarten.

We also did many other activities from swimming lessons, floating down the river at the state park, camping in Silver Lake, going to Pennsylvania/Hawaii, swimming in their little pool, riding bikes, gardening, catching lightning bugs, going to Sandcastles museum and doing the summer reading program at the library, just to name a few more. Hayden won the grand prize for the summer reading program and won 11 gift certificates and t-shirt. He was very proud as we were too!

Now it's time for more fun, a different fun. Fall brings some moments where I really cherish, this is my favorite season...I love the changing colors of the leaves, the football games, baking and cooking all the comfort food, relaxing watching a favorite show with my favorite blanket, going to the apple orchards, eating my favorite apple-Sweetango, going to the pumpkin farms for fun, Halloween, canning and knowing that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner brightens my days.

Hayden is in First grade and doing AMAZING! I actually am super duper proud of him. His teacher Mrs. Kasley told me one day that she felt honored to have him in her class that he is an excellant role model for the other students. She said he is the best behaved and works the hardest, I couldn't believe it, she brought tears to my eyes as I stood there listening. She also complimented his writing and reading abilities, she said he has great handwriting and he is reading at a second grade level.

Vanessa is in 4 year old preschool and you would think she has been going to school for years she is that into it. She cracks me up! Her teacher is Mrs. Cooper and she is GREAT! She teaches alot with music and art so Vanessa comes home singing all kinds of songs and is always so proud to show me any work she has done. She is writing her name really good and coloring beautifully. She stays in the lines and it is real nice and neat. She is also doing excellant and I'm so proud of her.

If I seemed to brag alot about my children in this journal entry, I am...because they deserve it.

With the death of Brian's father, this summer I stepped away from everything that I volunteer with and concentrated on Brian and the kids and having fun enjoying every moment life brought us, not that I hadn't any other year but it was important for me to just relax, have fun and watch my children grow. Enjoy the simple things, not answer the phone or be outside so much that no one can get you on the phone....smiling. Now that school has started, schedules are created, calendars are filling up with dates, times, appointments, meetings, parties etc...I love that too...smiling again...After a relaxing summer, I was ready to jump into craziness but a little less crazy.

I'll write again soon with more memories to share....

Spring is here!

Yes, Spring is here and I LOVE it! Flowers are growing, grass is lush and green and our family has been enjoying nightly walks after dinner, baseball in the yard and riding bikes up and down our street. Something so comforting about nature in bloom...I am a true hippie/flower child at heart. Earth Day is a big day for me and when I lived in Pennsylvania there was a big celebration by the river that I attended every year up until I moved to Michigan. I miss it so much. One year I will take me kids back to that celebration, there is so much to learn and do that teaches them to care for our Earth and how to give back.

Well, I haven't any new crafts at this time because now I am starting to get ready for the 2nd annual Mom2Mom sale. I have tons of Vanessa's clothes to sell along with toys and shoes..should be a fantastic turnout, we have I believe 30 or more vendors so all of my mommy friends, come to our sale it is May 15th at the Cornerstone Baptist Church. I am starting to fill the living room with sale items...hehehe. I warned Brian that it's going to start looking crazy with stuff everywhere...thank goodness, I cleaned the house real good first and I am organizing all of it in containers so it shouldn't be too bad.

I did do a graphic design project for MOPS, it is a booklet on Farms, Farmers Markets and U-picks...I will scan a picture of it as soon as I finish printing the covers. It turned out nice and I made it purse size so moms can carry it with them. Well, time to go and play with Vanessa, she has been cleaning her room while I posted a new blog. Hopefully, she actually cleaned and didn't just play!...hehehe...Gotta love my 3 year old! Have a happy day!

I have been crafting again!

It has been awhile since I have been on my blog. Our family has been healing from an awful tragedy. Brian's father passed away and it was sudden and not expected...There is still so much pain but with each passing day, we strive to heal a little bit more. RIP Bob Madl, March 27, 2010. We love you and hope you are out of pain and at peace.

On a much lighter note, I have been trying to keep busy and get back into the swing of things. I am posting a picture of my homemade peanut butter eggs I made for Easter...I forgot to take one when I had dozens in front of me so these are the last two eggs. I gave 99% of them away so this is all that is left in our house and I still haven't touched them. I'm down 9 pounds and so I am watching what I am eating right now but that doesn't mean I won't soon split one of these 4 ways with the family...hehehee! Sorry the picture is a little blurry, I need a new camera desperately!

The next project I did was a couple of Monogrammed letters. These are so easy and alot of fun. I learned how at MOPS and now I plan to make some gifts for others. Here is one for Hayden and Vanessa. My pics are crooked but oh well, you can see the ideas. I plan on painting Vanessa's frame white to match her room better.

Now, I have two more projects I am working on and when I get finished I will post them. Have a great day!

St. Patrick's Day and Playdate

Vanessa had a friend over named Makenzie and they had a blast playing. They mostly played dress-up with anything they could find including Halloween costumes. They really were so cute! Here are a few pics!

Vanessa had fun coloring a shamrock for my best friend's birthday, which happens to be on St. Patrick's Day. Here is her artwork:

Notice how there is very little green...hehehehe. The whole shamrock is colored but she used yellow so it didn't scan in great. I know Regina will like it anyways!

I'm working on few projects that I will scan in as soon as I'm done. I'm making homemade Easter cards that are going to be so cute, I can't wait to send them out. Well, this weekend should be fun, we are going roller skating...woohoo! I will write again soon!

My Children

My children have such a way to bring so much joy in my life...it amazes me how many times I cry over their accomplishments or giving heart, they really do reflect what I teach them. Vanessa brought four "dollies" to me, that is what she calls them in her sweet little voice...I love hand sewn dolls that are soft with yarn as hair and Meijer sells one called Groovy Gals that are so cool and trendy. Well, one has long brunette hair that she named "Mary Kisses"...how cute...smiling big...and another has curly red hair she named "Princess Lea".

Then I got her two Culture Club Kids, which are very cute fabric dolls and one is spanish/mexican looking and she named her "Nancy" and one is asian and she named her "Milka"...all on her own she came up with these names and her favorite book right now is called "Can you say Peace?" where it tells you how to say peace in different languages. She really is starting to show her motherly nature in everything she does and something cute and funny that she recently started doing is, when I'm sitting on the couch she will come behind me with her stool and stand behind the couch and wash and style my hair...how cute is that!!! Could she be a future cosmotologist?

Vanessa is very much a fashion queen also, she has to be stylish and she is fussy! When we go shopping she will let me know for sure if she does not like something, it really is too funny and I do crack up when she isn't looking. Well after typing this I thought I should take a picture of the dollies and her favorite book so here they are below.

Now for my incredible son, Hayden. He amazes me everyday with his heart and intelligence. First, he colored some beautiful dinosaur pictures for different family members and wrote messages to each of them but what made me cry was when he brought me one and it said "I love you. This is for you Mom!"...It was so touching and so sweet.

We went to his teacher conferences and he is doing so well in the class that Miss McDonald wanted to change the report cards for him. Everything is rated 1-3 and she said Hayden needs 4's. How awesome is that! He blew us away with his reading level, for Kindergarten they should read at level 2 and he is at level 10, which Miss McDonald said is where 1st graders are right now. She said 1st graders have to read at a level 18 by the end of the school year and Hayden will start first grade at level 12 or 13. WOW!!! He may up like I did, in 4th grade I was at a 6th grade reading level.

His handwriting is better than some adults, seriously. He is just doing incredible, we are very proud of him and I'm pretty sure he is even proud of himself. He flourishes in school and really strives to be the best student. He comes home and tells us how many kids got warnings and ended up with a white card, how many got time outs and ended up with an orange card and how many had to see the principal with a red card etc... So then we will ask well what about you, what color were you...he says, "Green, I'm always on the green". Green represents good in class. Hayden has had one white the entire school year and it was for only the first half of the day and because another boy got him a warning. The second half of that day he was in the green and all the rest of the year green. Such a great kid!

Hayden has also taken up some new sports, skiing and ice-skating and really LOVES both, which is awesome and exciting! Vanessa even liked ice skating, she hasn't tried skiing yet. So, that is a slight update on the kiddos. I love them so much, they really make me laugh and giggle and just smile all day long. My pride and joys!!!

Crafts/Snacks

For Valentine's Day, I made these cute little snacks that the whole family gobbled up. I got the idea from a good friend who is always doing amazing things. All you have to do is take small pretzels and put a choclate star on top, place in the oven for 5 minutes and when you take them out you place an M&M on top! Easy!

Now I am working on a project that I started at MOPS, it is a banner for Vanessa's room. I'm so excited about it because when it is done it will be super cute! Here is my rough draft:

I will post more pics when I am done with it.

Next up is making some St. Patty's Day crafts and/or snacks...hmm...this could be really fun! I know I will have to do them while drinking my annual shamrock shake from McDonalds...I look forward to them every year. Kind of a funny thing but they are so good!

February already!

Oh my where did the time go? This winter is going by fast which is fine with me since I have the gardening itch...smiling. Lately, I have been doing some projects for ME, which I rarely do and I have done some things I am so proud of. First I made some aprons...I haven't sewn on a sewing machine since 7th grade...hehehe. So, this was very rewarding for me and I am posting some pics of them. If anyone wants the know-how just ask and you shall receive...smiling.

Here is the one I particulary wanted to do because we have an accent wall in the kitchen that is merlot red.

This next one was an extra one but turned out beautifully. I can't wait to use them!

The next couple of projects I need to take photos of and then I will post...Well, here is to me and my endeavors...hehhee. Good night!