I went to see Twilight the night it premiered (Nov 21st), but then I took Maddie the next morning. We had so much fun on our Mother-Daughter day. Maddie enjoyed showing off her "Team Edward" t-shirt. And what would Mother-Daughter day be...without a little ice cream after the movie?
Believe it or not, this was a "small" sundae!
Happy 5th Birthday, Macy!!! This is a cute picture of her in the outfit I made for her birthday, which was November 18th. Her birthday was low key and we didn't have a party, but in "Macy's World" every day is a party! Macy is just one of those happy-go-lucky girls. She is accepting and makes friends wherever she goes. The sun always shines on her and she has a positive outlook on everything. I don't think Macy has ever been sad a day in her life! What a blessing she is to our family! However, there was one little snag to Macy turning 5 years old. Ever since Markie started school in 2007, Macy wanted to know when she would get to go. Our response was always, "When you are 5". The day after her birthday, she woke up and got ready to go to school, and as you can imagine, she was very disappointed that she couldn't go. It took a lot of explaining about when a school year starts, and even though she didn't really understand, she accepted it. She still asks occasionally why she can't go to school, and after answering her, she still replies..."But Mommy, I'm 5 now". Moral of this story: watch what you say to Macy, because she takes everything literally. Another story about Macy that will forever make me smile...Me and the kids had driven to Dallas (from Corpus) to visit my family. We had just left my Grandma's house to drive back home and had stopped at a gas station to fill up. While filling up, Monte called to tell me there were storms all along my route back to Corpus, so maybe I should stay one more day in Dallas. I replied with, "I wished you'd called and told me that 30 minutes ago before I packed the kids up and stuff. You know Macy's gonna have a cow when I tell her." Not 2 seconds after I said it, Macy pipes up from the back of the van in an excited voice saying, "Markie, guess what...I'm gonna have a COW!" and she laughs and giggles about the prospect of getting a real cow! It's totally, classically MACY! She brings smiles to everyone she meets! One last story about my sweet Macy... when I say she is accepting of everyone, it's literally the truth. Her eyes don't see any difference between herself and anyone else. About 6 months ago, or so, I had taken the kids to Arctic Circle to eat lunch and play in the playplace. Along came a girl, probably about 7 or 8 years old, in a wheelchair with mental and physical disabilities. She had a nurse with her as well as her mom. You could tell the nurse loved this little girl very much as she got the little girl out of the wheelchair and put her on the floor to "play" with her. Most kids in the playplace shied away from her, but not my sweet Macy. She didn't see anything different about the girl-all she saw was a new friend and so she went right up to her and said "Hi, I'm Macy!" The nurse told the little girls name, since she couldn't communicate well, but that didn't stop Macy, she kept the one-sided conversation going and played with the little girl on the floor until it was time to leave. She never once asked what was wrong with the little girl, or why she couldn't stand, or speak. She was open and accepting and loving. For a mom, that is the most precious thing to witness. When the gospel says "to become as a child", Macy is the perfect example to me. I love my Macy and I hope and pray that as she grows older, her personality and sweet, special spirit stays the same. Happy Birthday My Sweetheart!
We picked the girls up from school and took everyone on a quick overnighter to Salt Lake City. We got there and had a quick bite to eat and then headed over to Temple Square. It was a perfect evening, the air was cool and crisp, but not bitter. We took pictures by the Temple and then Monte surprised us with...
...A carriage ride! We had a great time and the kids learned a lot from our guide.
Afterwards, the kids just had to pet "Smith". Apropos, huh?
Then we were off to the Visitor's Center and pictures by the fountain. I thought for sure, one of them was going to fall in!
Next we went to the hotel to change into swimsuits for a quick dip before bedtime. The next morning, we were up bright and early for breakfast and more swimming! We left around lunchtime and stopped in Layton at the Chuck E. Cheese. Markie was so excited when we arrived, she asked "Are we in Texas?" We had a fun couple of hours playing, eating, and playing some more! Then we headed home. Thanks for the fun overnight vacation, Monte! You are such a fun Dad!
So it was time to carve the pumpkins and make our silly faces, then...
... we got all dressed up to go to the Fall Booktacular Event. We bought books, played games, won prizes, and ate treats!
A couple of days later, we were off to...
...The Monster Mash Concert!
The girls piano teacher had a small, informal "recital" so the kids could play their Halloween music! Markie was very nervous since this was her first time performing, but she did awesome! Once again, the kids got a treat bag and lots of cookies!
The next event on the calendar, was the huge Melaleuca extravaganza. This year, Dad's department picked rock & roll as their theme for decorating and dressing up. So, the kids and I got up early and went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to turn Grandpa into...
...Billy Idol!
We then went to the girl's school to help out with class parties and watch the Parade of Costumes! Then later that afternoon, we met...
...the whole "motley crew" at Melaleuca to go trick or treating through all of the departments. Major props to the IT department, who chose "Star Wars" as their theme and didn't disappoint! Totally awesome! Thanks Dad for the fun time!
A few hours after that, we went to Mom & Dad's ward for their Trunk or Treat. They had it inside and had families decorate a classroom door instead of doing it outside with the cars. So the kids participated in the Halloween Fashion Show and then went "door to door" and got even more candy! I was so exhausted by the end of this day, I had no idea how I was going to make it through the next day which was...
HALLOWEEN!
We took the kids to "BOO at the ZOO", where they had lots of games, fun, and of course CANDY!
One of the kids favorites, was the leaf pile. They had a huge leaf pile where you could dig around to find cool prizes like...
...FANGS!
After a couple of hours at the zoo, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for some traditional trick or treating. We got through all the houses on their cul-de-sac, but then it began to rain! (Thank Goodness) So we headed back for some warm soup and toast that Grandma had made for us! What a fun week we had!
Well, after a balmy time in San Antonio, it was time to cool off with some snow. On October 11th, the kids dug out the winter hats, scarves, gloves, and boots and then...
...headed to the backyard with the sled!
At the beginning of October, Monte and I went to San Antonio for a relaxing long weekend without the kids (thanks Mom & Jenn). It felt like I was dating Monte again! He made all the plans and arrangements. The first night, we stayed at the historic Drury Plaza Hotel. It's in an old, historic buildings in downtown San Antonio that was previously a bank. This picture was taken on the rooftop where the swimming pools are, plus you can see all of downtown. It was very cool to walk around the building and see the changes they had made, in order to make it a hotel. And talk about pampered, our room had an awesome bathroom with a huge 2 person jetted tub and very hot water! Yep, loved that hotel!
That evening we went to the spindle where we were going to have dinner. Downstairs in the lobby was this "longhorn". I couldn't resist, and Monte was a good sport for letting me take his picture! Ride 'Em Cowboy!
The next night, we drove to Austin for a night's stay and entertainment. Monte took me to this great little place in downtown Austin called, Pete's Dueling Piano Bar. It was so much fun! These guys new every song under the sun and could make up funny lyrics to any tune! We had a great time that night!I'm sorry to disappoint, but I have no pictures from my birthday, but I got lots of chocolate and fun gifts! My aunt Katy, and my cousin/little sister Emily and her daughter, Chloe, all came up to see me for my birthday. We celebrated by going to Ruby River for dinner, without any kids (thanks Mom for babysitting)! Also while they were here, we went to the Zoo (of course) and just hung out and had fun! Here's a couple of pictures from Emily's camera...
This is Macy, Jimmy and Chloe at the Zoo. The second picture is of Markie driving Chloe around in the Barbie Jeep. Markie, Macy, and Jimmy all took turns driving Chloe around. Chloe loved that Jeep, but the others quickly got tired of being her chauffeur!
Well, at the end of September, I finally made Markie some cute curtains for her room. Here's the proof (and so my Mom and Grandma can see them)!
Yippee and Hooray for Mom! Today was the first day of school. Madison starts 5th grade today and Markie starts 1st grade. They were both so excited, and maybe a little nervous too! I'm sure they are going to have a terrific day!
So, it was finally the Tanner Family's turn to spend a weekend up at Whitefish. This is one of my very favorite parts of summer! I love to drive up and spend time with the Bendheim family. Yes, they usually live in California, with the exception of summer, when they happily reside in Whitefish, Montana. This year we had a special treat since all four of the Bendheim cousins were there, Tanner, Redge, Robin, and Brooke! This is the "cabin" Bear Brook - the front, the back, and the view from the back. It truly doesn't get any better than this!
We had fun Growling Like A Grizzly...
Loving On Lucy...
Talking With Tanner...
Posing On The Paddle Boat
Jetting On The Jet Ski...
Lounging In The Lake...
My kids have always wanted a powerwheels car, so I saw this one and bought it for Macy's birthday. Yes, I know it's only August, but if I waited until November there would be snow on the ground and she wouldn't be able to ride it. So, Happy Extremely Early Birthday, Macy! We even sang Happy Birthday to her so she'd realize this was her big gift! I'm glad I didn't wait-the kids are having such a fun time driving around!
Well, it was time for Markie's birthday party extravaganza. She wanted a water party, so we borrowed a waterslide and slip-n-slides. The girls had a great time eating goldfish snacks and drinking tropical punch. Later we made bead necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and even rings. Then it was time for cake! Markie's "cake" was in a waffle bowl and everyone elses was in ice cream cones! Markie got lots of fun stuff including Webkins, Littlest Pet Shop, Barbie, Games, and Clothes! Everyone had a blast and enjoyed taking their gift pails home filled with outdoor goodies! Happy 6th Birthday, Markie!
