Madison's Birthday Party

For Madison's 8th birthday party we did the same thing that we did for Megan's -  a baking party.  We basically did the same thing.  Although Madison didn't want to make their own aprons.  We had 10 8 year olds over to frost their own cakes, make their own pizza and play some games.  It was a great night!

This was about 3 days after we went gluten free with Megan.  So on top of getting ready for 10 eight year olds I also had to make a gluten free cake, pizza crust, and make sure all other items were gluten free.  It was a tad overwhelming.

We split up into two groups.  One made pizza while the other frosted cakes.

Then we switched (I had a young women, Ella, come over and help(bottom left corner))

Lilly

Claire

Anna

Zoe

Madison

Ivy

Hailey

Chloe

Delaney

Oops - I didn't get a picture of Megan with her cake. 

Then we played some baking themed games.

And opened presents

And ate our cakes!

It was a great party!

We actually had Madison's birthday party almost 2 weeks before her birthday due to scheduling.  Her real birthday was on a Sunday.  Megan had planned for about a week to decorate her (their) room.  She cute up paper into little tiny pieces of confetti and made posters and banners and streamers.  She even put a blanket up over the bottom bunk so she could wake up at 5 am and decorate it with out Madison seeing.  It was all pretty adorable.

On the morning of her real birthday we had french toast bake for her breakfast and she got her first set of scriptures for her birthday.

And that night we had oreo balls for her dessert - and for dinner was... of course... mac and cheese!

She wanted Dane and I to come to lunch with her the Friday before her birthday.  I called the office to find out what time lunch was and when I got there we found out they gave me the wrong time!!  I had missed it and she thought that I had forgotten.  She took it in stride and wasn't too upset.  We came the next week.

A few things about Madison right now:

• She cant walk very far with out doing a cartwheel or some sort of flippy thing.  She barley touches our carpets as she is usually jumping across furniture.  
• She didn't play soccer this fall so she could focus on gymnastics (she made it into the advanced level)
• She is a really good reader and likes to read books.
• She is making some new friends at school - Mia and Brailynn
• She really wants to be independent so Jason and I decided she can ride too and from school by herself IF she gets up on time and gets all her stuff done.
• She loves to bake and watch baking shows.

summer lists

Just for record keeping purposes here are our summer lists.  As you can see from the picture I have little hands that rip lists all off my walls and then rips them apart. 

This first list was what we wanted to do while in Utah.

Baptism pictures

The Denver temple closed for renovations from June to October.  Mid-July Madison realized she wouldn't be able to take her baptism photos there (as they also closed the grounds).  We discussed driving the 2 hours to Fort Collins but it wasn't "her" temple and I just couldn't find a good time for us to make the trip.  One day I was driving past the temple and a security guard was sitting by the gate in his truck.  I went to talk to him and told him about Madison.  He said if I brought her by at 6:00 he would open the grounds just for her!  It was such a special experience to be on the grounds all by ourselves.  Madison mentioned several times that she felt the spirit.  She was so kind and thanked the security guard several times.  We also got to hear cool stories about temple security (he has worked there since it opened in the 80s).

First Day of School

We started school on a Wednesday.  It has taken us several weeks to figure out a new morning routine - and even now (6 weeks after school has started) we keep making adjustments.  Originally I had wanted to keep doing a morning devotional with all of us.  But Madison is usually not awake when Brock leaves and I am not wanting to wake her up and Brock usually doesn't have a second to spare.  These are lame excuses - but they are reality right now.  So for Brock's devotional we listen to a conference talk in the car on the way to school and he and I say a prayer in the car before he gets out.  Then I do the real devotional (either CFM mini lesson or Friend article) and pray before the other kids leave for school.  It isn't perfect - but, hey, at least it is something.  I am still trying to get in a work out in the morning and change almost weekly how and when I do that.  Still haven't really found a solution.

Brock started Middle School this year!!!  I am so excited for him.  I feel like he is so ready.  Ready to be challenged and stretched, ready to do hard things, ready to have more independence and autonomy.  I drop him off in the morning with his scooter and he scooters home.  It takes him about an hour to get home cuz he "plays around" after school.  He often goes to King Soopers and buys something, or at least gets a free cookie.  He sometimes goes to Trailblazer, often he goes to Coyote Creek where his 2 friends are having recess and he plays with them.  He has gone to the park, or to Subway.  he just has to be home by 4.  So far he is DROWNING in home work and expectation.  But it feels like every week is better then the last and I think he is getting the hang of it.  He has AMAZING teachers who do require a lot of him but are so willing to meet him where he is at, validate him, scaffold him, and then try to push him one step higher.  I am grateful every day for them.  Brock  is working hard.  He is stressed and overwhelmed.  But he is happy.  He wakes up, gets in the shower, eat breakfast and packs a lunch with out complaining.  He helps around the house and loves nothing more than to play with Dane.  I can't wait to see what this kid does!

This has been a great start of the year for Noah.  Last year we started the year in crisis mode - but not this year!  He has been working hard since March and he started the year with a great mind set and has been rocking 6th grade.  He was nervous because his 2 best friends (his only friends he said) weren't going to his school anymore.  But he has an amazing teacher that he loves and he has found a few new friends.  He hasn't come home angry or frustrated.  Noah is our morning rock star.  He wakes up early, on his own, gets Brock up, showers and get all his stuff done (including job) super quick. This is going to be a good year for Noah.

So far this has been a little bit of an emotional year for Megan.  Right when school started we found out she has celiac disease (post about that later).  As she has been dealing with that there has been a lot of girl/friend drama.  But Megan has been taking it all in stride.  She loves to share with me/us her feelings and tries hard to work through her problems.  She has the coolest teacher in the school, Mr. Bologitz and is really excited about that.  She was very excited about starting school and for her first day.  She loves to read and is the only one to ever actually do her own personal scripture study and stay on top of Come Follow Me.

She bought this panda back pack with her own money.  She was pretty excited about it.

Madison was not thrilled to start school.  She did not (and still doesn't really) like her teacher and her 2 best friends were in another class together.  She had quite a "woe is me" attitude for the first 2 weeks.  But things have picked up and she has made some new friends in her class.  She really wanted a school uniform to wear for the first day of school.  Her favorite things is riding her bike to and from school by herself.  We didn't let her at first but then Jason and I decided she was old enough.  She thrives off the independence.