It NEVER rains in Southern California !!!!?

I think we get the "lame weather" award for the year here in SoCal. Sure we've had some amazing days- but our summer was less than stellar and now that we are into Autumn- well- we got slammed with a storm this week that yes, was much needed, but was not convenient to our plans at all! (Because it's all about us right?) Ho hum- we made due and ran with Mother Nature as we ventured to Disneyland last night for our annual trick or treat night at the park.This year they moved the event to the Disneyland side, instead of California Adventure. This of course allowed for more tickets to be sold, I'm sure. Bundled in our rain gear and Halloween costumes- we set out for the park- with a brilliant display of lightning in the distance. Ah- the things we do for our children!The girls took it all in stride and had a wonderful time. Emily stepped off the tram into a puddle up to her knees and spent the entire night in soaking wet shoes, pants and socks. Never complained once! Such a trooper! Her poor feet though looked worse than prunes when we took her shoes and socks off at the car. Emily is a vampire this year, Madeline is Cleopatra and Ashley is Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog movie.

Did anyone order a pizza???We were able to ride some of our favorite rides (Haunted Mansion- done up for Nightmare Before Christmas and Pirates) and we then met up with the Jarboe family for some trick or treating fun!
Emma wasn't too sure about the whole thing- but she was having a good time by night's end.

We were rained on for a good couple hours in the beginning- but the skies did clear eventually. We left the park happy with many full bags of treats (and three tired girls!).

Back to School, Back to Blogging

Perhaps I have been sidetracked lately. My passion for blogging hit a stand still~ but lately I have heard it calling me. I don't know why I thought I'd have time to blog this summer. To say we were busy is an understatement and despite less than summery weather- we certainly made the most of every day and kept busy busy busy!
We are all back to school now. The girls are in First Grade and loving it. Above is a picture from the first day of school. The longer day has taken some getting used to for them (it's an hour and 15 minutes longer than last year), but each day gets a little easier as we figure out the best way and time to complete homework, have snacks, practice piano and run some extra energy out.

Our biggest news of late is that we have our first broken bone! Madeline fell off the monkey bars at school a couple weeks ago and I got "that" call that I have been dreading since the girls started school. Luckily it is a small fracture- no surgery- no need to reset- just a short cast for 3 weeks and no PE for 2 months. She's doing well with the cast (yes it is her right arm) and has adapted to writing with her left hand very easily. Cutting is the only major challenge and with 2 sisters around- there is always someone willing to cut for her.

We also recently got to go to Disneyland with EMMA for her first visit! She loved it all, even the characters. We look forward to MANY more visits to Disneyland with the Jarboe family! The girls recently discovered on our one on one days the Princess Faire where you can meet princesses up close and personal! We had to take all our girls through- being princesses themselves!
So busy doesn't even describe our lives of late. But it's the kind of busy that makes you smile and realize that your children are going to have wonderful memories!

A Day with Mrs. B.!

We had an amazing day yesterday! I think anyone would say it was a rare treat! The girls' Kindergarten teacher invited us to spend the day at her house. Mrs. B. is a great teacher and we are so grateful that the girls had her for their Kindergarten year! If all progresses as planned, she will be the girls' First Grade teacher next year too! We couldn't be happier!

Mrs. B has horses! Imagine our delight when we discovered this the first day of school! It was a match made in heaven between Mrs. B. and Emily! Below are the girls meeting Diesel. Mrs. B. has 3 horses but to make things easier the girls rode one horse- Bart. They each got a chance to brush Bart before saddling up. Emily was in heaven! The girls put their helmets on and were ready to go! Mrs. B introduced us to many people and animals along the path. She is patient, sweet and "gets" the girls and their individual personalities. They rode two at a time and switched out along the way. Grammie and I walked with whomever didn't ride- but Emily usually walked with Mrs. B., helping. There are peacocks everywhere- we saw quite a few males showing off their stuff to the ladies. Below we are returning from our adventure (notice the peacock on the roof!) The girls give Bart a well deserved treat! Maddie and Bart now have a special connection... While getting some solo riding time Bart almost rolled over on Maddie while she was riding him. Mrs. B was able to stop him from doing so, but the result was a buck and Maddie fell off. It was scary- but she is ok! After some TLC and rest, she was a trooper and got back on him for the ride back to the house. I am very proud of her for being so brave. We kept an eye on her the rest of the day (thank goodness she had her helmet on!) and gave her some Tylenol before bed. She was up and at 'em today- she's one tough cookie!
To finish the day we BBQ'ed hot dogs and then went for a swim in Mrs. B's pool. It really was a wonderful day and we are so grateful to Mrs. B. for having us at her home. It's not often you come across a teacher like Mrs. B.!!!!

We're still here- Part 2!

Yikes! It's been awhile since I've ventured over here. Valentine's Day to be exact! After taking this "short" blogging break- I am back and hoping to get on track with regular posting again. I have missed it! I have lots to share but I think rather than trying to go backwards and catch up- I will just start with the present and add updates here and there?? We'll try it and see how it goes!
First up? We have FIRST GRADERS in the house! The girls finished their Kindergarten year with tears in their eyes because they didn't want to stop going to school and seeing their teacher Mrs. B every day. Warms my heart to hear that since education is SO important to us and we want the girls to love school! Several tears later, Mrs. B and I reassured them that this wasn't the end- 1) we are going to Mrs. B's house TOMORROW to ride her horses and hang out in her pool (very cool and special!) and 2) Mrs. B is going to be their First Grade teacher next year!!! YAY!!!!!The girls have grown up so much this year- no more babies/toddlers/preschoolers in this house! They are little people now- with opinions and we are for sure busier than ever. (is it easier? yes- but busier- if that makes sense?)

So for now I will leave you with the girls Spring pictures from April and our family portraits from church taken in January.

EMILY ASHLEY MADELINE

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Valentine's Day was not forgotten in the midst of all these ear infections! With everyone on the mend we took to task addressing and signing LOTS and LOTS of valentines for the girls' classmates.

It ended up being a 2 day process but the girls did a great job! Friday morning they were ready to go to school and deliver their cards!

I got to help in the classroom during the card exhange. All the kids were excited and they all did a great job passing out their valentines! Maddie told every student as she handed them their card, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

On Sunday we had a quiet day at home. The girls opened their valentines' from us and we spent a lot of time outside because the weather has been gorgeous!! It was a great day!!

We're still here! BIG news!

Sooooo.... I'm not doing such a good job with my new years resolution to blog more. I find myself these days pulled in so many directions and with the girls being sick this last week- well- any "spare" time has been spent snuggling, wiping noses, getting drinks, giving medicine and napping (to name a few). In fact- here is my Facebook update from the other night:

3 sick kids, 5 infected ears, 1 set of red eyes, 1 fever, 3 coughs, 2 wheezing= 3 doctor's appts, 3 antibiotic prescriptions, 1 eye drop prescription, 2 on breathing treatments every 4 hours, LOTS of tylenol, 1 home from school tomorrow and 1 tired mommy!

Yep- its been rough this week. But I am full of HOPE that February will be better and I will be blogging more!

January ended up being a CRAZY month! Words can not express the highs and lows we went through in January- stress, laughter, tears of sadness, tears of joy- wow, we had the whole gambit. The end result.....

My best friend in the whole wide world and her husband (whom I fondly refer to as Hubby #2) are PARENTS!!!!

You may remember this post I wrote about in September 2008. Hope! On January 15th Michelle and Mike's hopes and dreams were answered with the birth of their beautiful baby girl, Emma Madison.It has been a very long road for them to get to this place. I have always said that I believe deep within my heart that Michelle and I were MEANT to find each other when we did and become friends. We've run this road to parenting together, supporting each other along the way, picking each other up when one stumbles and cheering the loudest when good news was received.

Adoption is NOT easy. It's a miracle, its a selfless act and its beautiful but its not easy. My heart goes out to Emma's birth mother. What an amazing woman. She also was MEANT to find Michelle and Mike.Emma is PERFECT. She's beautiful, happy and sheer joy! I had the honor of picking the Jarboe family up from the airport on their return. To say I cried like a baby is an understatement when I saw Michelle and Mike come out of the elevator with TONS of baby gear and this little bit of heaven in her arms. I just love this little girl and I love the joy she has brought Michelle and Mike.
With everyone home we are all in baby heaven now. The girls love holding her (though they were a little uncertain at first about her size). Maddie asked to hold her the other night when they were visiting us and when Mike put her in Maddie's arms she started to sing the "ABC" song to her- just like MY DAD used to sing to Madeline almost 6 years ago when she was a newborn! It was a tearjerker moment for all of us for sure!We all love her so much and being sick has made us sad because we can't see her until we are ALL better (girls are almost 100% but I'm down for the count now). We have fun and exciting plans ahead of us! Can't wait to share them all with you!!