Just a few pictures I like

A day at the pumpkin farm

We have been visiting a local tree farm for several years now. We go once in the fall for pumkins, grapes, hay rides and to see the animals. At Christmas time we go for a train ride to visit Santa in a log cabin nestled in the woods, roast marshmallows and get a tree. Well about two years ago we quit getting our tree there, way too exspensive. Now it looks like we are going to cut out our fall trip all together. We had to pay a $2 admission ea, well Bella was free because they thought she was only 3! And the pumpkin patch was mostly all green and really big, the kids like to pick out the little ones for themselves, no grapes either. And the word about this place is out and it was crowded, never ever used to be crowded or this pricey. So we just went on a hayride, looked at the animals and then drove the country side where we found some pumpkins for $1 a piece, can't beat that!! So next year we plan to pack a lunch and drive the counrty side in search of our fall harvest of pumpkins and squash. At least we captured some great pictures;)

Bella's 1st day of "peeschool"

Well I had an empty nest this morning, first time in 6 years!!! It was so cute though to see Bella up, dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, shoes and backpack on all by 7:45am:) She was really excited and did an awesome job listening to her teacher, Mrs. Malaska(Mayakka in Bella language). Here are a few pictures from her day. I love, love, love this first one!!

1st day of First grade

Here is Maddie on her 1st day of school. She is in school all day now and it was harder on me than it was on her. She wanted me to just leave the classroom, no whining or crying for me to stay this year:( Tears pricked my eyes as I walked away from her classroom). She is loving it though and when we went to her open house last night she excitedly took me around her room and told me all about everything in there. She is very bright and I could tell that she will be the sweet girl in class that tries to get everyone to laugh. That is Maddie in a nutshell!

I love this new smile!

Need I say more?

Finally.....

I have been waiting for almost two(yes that's 2) whole years to remodel our bathroom. We have been storing all of the stuff we needed to remodel in our garage for just as long, even two old mirrors I found at a garage sale for $1 a piece!! Well Michael had his cousin Bill come out and tile the floor, and he helped with everything else. Thank You Billy!!!!!!! If anyone in Michigan needs tile work done let me know, this guy is amazing at what he does. I really didn't get that many pic's of the before bathroom so I will give you all a little insight , we had berber carpet on the floor(a quick and cheap, move in fast fix), white paint on the walls and trim, a very tiny vanity that only came up to my hips if that, a medicine cabinet over the sink that was scratched and waaaay to tall for me(I had to stand on a stool so I could see to curl my hair), and no mirror over the old dresser, and a really bad shower head that was ready to fall off the wall at any given moment. So here is the new bathroom that I could sit in all day long if I could actually do that. Everything is new( well new to me) new vanity, toilet, shower, paint, mirrors, towel holder, tp holder, floor, and that pretty little light. Ahhhhh now all we need to do is put up the shower rod and we are golden!!! Here is a view going in a circle around our bathroom, it is quite big.

More pic's

A BEAUTIFUL sunset on lake Charlevoix

Vacation

My dad and I.
Lake Michgan.

My dad and stepmom were very generous letting us take our vacation at their place up north. We had a wonderful time visiting, relaxing on the beach and just "being". So here are a few pictures, my favorites....Enjoy!

Fashion show 2008

Well "the girls" have been seperated for a week(we were on vacation) and it didn't take them long at all to get back together and quickly put on a fashion show! I didn't even know they were doing this, but they sure did put on a cute show, I think they may be onto something,lol!! You have to click to enlarge and really see all of the "fancy" accesories!!

Spiderwick Chronicles anyone???

I love this movie and the girls are into it too. We watched it at the theatre and just rented it a few nights back. Our next door friends had rented it too and all of the kids got together and watched it next door. When I came home from work Ruth was telling me how the kids convinced her to give them some salt, only to find it in the window sills:0 Maddie came running over to me with a backpack full of cans of tomato sauce, too cute. But the funniest thing I've seen in a long time is this picture of Bella with her Goblin seeing goggles on and CRAZY outfit!! I love it, it makes me smile every time I see it! She is a funny girl and those kids had a blast playing The Spiderwick Chronicles yesterday:)

Sharing secrets over a root beer

Madison

Maddie begged us for a snorkel and when I seen this one at the $ tree how could I resist!! She was afraid at first and wouldn't even put her face near the water. Then Michael went and threw some coin money into the pool and within ten minutes she had it mastered! That is Maddie in a nutshell, she will not give up until it is mastered. That is how she learned to ride her bike too, on a gravel driveway in less than an hour. I hope her drive to succeed stays with her forever!

Isabella

I just "had" to post this one of Bella, isn't she cute? She is not really crazy about getting in the pool but boy does she love to wear the swim suits!!

Maddie is a thinker....

I just love this outfit that Maddie decided to wear this day and the thoughtful look on her face. I'm not quite sure what she was doing, I guess I should start taking more time to just be with her and then I probably would have quite the story as to what she was doing.

This one is for you Mom and Paulette

My mom and Paulette were complaining that you couldn't see Bella's dress good enough, so here you go:))

Time, why does it pass so quickly?

I can remember the first day that I brought Madison home from the hospital, nervous, excited, and fearful. Fearful of not being a good enough mother or that I would be able to provide all of the things that she will need. Little did I know that all she would ever need was her mommy and daddy's love. Maddie has been an angel in my life, trying at times, but still my little princess. I remember saying to Mike, " I wonder what she will look like when she is 2 and walking and talking", now she writes sentences and reads stories and invents all sorts of things.

Wednsday was her kindergarten graduation and let me tell you it was a tear jerker. Her teacher was wonderful, we all love her. The kids did a play that they learned in fine arts and then Mrs. Foster played a slideshow with emotion filled songs that made all of the moms cry all over again. We each recieved a copy too. I came home, watched it again, and cried all over again. Here are a few pictures. Maddie's teacher is the one on the left and the teachers aide is on the right. The other picture is with two of her best friends, Elizabeth on the left and Matilda on the right. They were quite silly:)

This is Maddie and Shyla, another best friend.

And here is "Peyton" I think all of the girls talked about him;)

And of course Bella and I got dressed up for the occasion. Thanks Paulette for Bella's dress that is the only reason she would wear it, because "Pauyette" bought it;)

Maddie did it!!

Maddie has been begging to get her ears pierced for the last month now. We explained to her that she will have to earn it, she instantly ran upstairs and scooped the litter box, and a few other times too. She really did earn her new earrings, doing the dishes, cleaning her room, helping her sister, and putting her clothes away. I was very proud to see that she was willing to keep up her hard work for so long, seeing that it is not so easy to work for something you want. I thought that after driving 20 minutes and walking through the mall(I hate malls) that she would chicken out. She did at first then we walked around for a minute and she said she was ready. She did it, she didn't cry until it was all over, my very brave girl:)) She never forgets to clean them either. You can't really tell in the picture but the earrings are little pink and white daisies. Nothing like when I was little, it was just birthstone studs with really large posts...anyone else remember those beastly things?

Yard Sales and really good deals

Last weekend my mom and I went to a city wide garage sale outing. My very best friend Paulette came too:) We had a really good time, the weather was alot warmer than it was last year. I had to buy a pair of pants at a sale last year and put them over my shorts, it was that cold. So onto the deals... the first is this lovely set of dishes, actually it is two sets one is high dollar and the other is not. The asking price was $25 for each set, I offered less and the final price......$35 for all of them. Curious as to how much Churchill dinnerware retailed, I got online to find out that the pattern I have(peony rose) is selling for $25 a plate!!!! By far my best yard sale find of my LIFE! I have a $200 set of dishes plus another really nice set for a great price, made my day. I only paid $1 for the antique salt and pepper set and $2 for the candle holder. Another great deal I found was a jogger stroller for $8. The personal trainer has a daughter the same age as Bella and lives on the street behind us. She had suggested that we run together, "Oh I'd love to but I have no stroller for Bella" was my response thinking I am getting out of that one. Well when I seen the stroller for that price I just had to, can't wait to see her response when I tell I have a stroller now. The girls have been busy for days playing with all of the new treasures that I brought back for them. It was like Christmas in May and they know it when I pull in the driveway.

Mommy makeover day with Madison

Today I went to Maddie's school and got pampered. I had a manicure, massage and a facial complete with makeup. It was such a fun time. Maddie was in her glory with the makeup and looking around at the other mothers, she didn't do to bad of a job.