{FutUrE deNtiSt??}

Ayden is a brave kid!  He likes blood and guts!  Anytime anyone in our house has a really bad owie, Ayden is right on top of them and is not afraid to watch blood pour out of someones body....while he figures out how to "fix" them!  When I have to get bloodwork done, I turn my head and cannot watch or I might throw up.....all while Ayden's eyes are peeled on my skin as the needle pierces it and the bottle starts to fill with blood!  Ewww!!!  When Jeremiah was in the hospital after his bike accident this past summer, Ayden wanted to stay in and watch while they did the stitches....the doctors wouldn't let us and made me take him in the hall....little did they know that Ayden could've handled it like a champ....it was his mom that needed to be sent to the hall!!  :)  Anyway, so Ayden is a toughie....we have nicknamed him Dr. Ayden!  There have literally been times when Jeremiah has had bad owies from mountain bike crashes and Ayden had to be his assistant to clean and bandage everything up because it made me too queesy to watch!!

With all that being said, it is no surprise at all that Ayden would pull his own loose teeth out!!  His top 2 teeth have been loose for probably months!!  We have been bugging him to keep wiggling them to get them ready to come out....I've given him many apples to eat to try to "force" them out!  Nothing!!  A couple weeks ago, on Sunday night, our home teacher was over and we somehow mentioned that Ayden had some loose teeth!  Ayden got all excited and started wiggling the tooth right in front of everyone and before we knew it, his tooth was out!!  I could hear it cracking and it was making me sick!!  It was so fun to see his cute little smile....losing those top front teeth is the cutest I think!  :)  We couldn't believe he did it himself....he said he just needed an audience to watch him pull it out!  HA!  Typical Ayden!!  :)

Ayden went to bed and anxiously waited for the tooth fairy to come!  At 3:30 am, he came into our room all excited saying that the tooth fairy already came and brought him $5!  He was so excited!  We celebrated for about 5 seconds with him and then told him to go back to bed because it was NOT MORNING TIME yet!!!  A few minutes after 4 am, Ayden was in our room again....even MORE excited than the first time.....saying that he had pulled out his other tooth!!  Now he was missing both of the top two teeth!  He tried to go back to sleep to see if the tooth fairy would come again, but he just couldn't sleep!!  So he went and watched TV and you can imagine what kind of day we had with a boy that woke up at 3:30 am!!!  Luckily it was a holiday and the kids had the day off school....so we just hung around!

The tooth fairy came again.....another $5!  Geez....tooth fairies these days.....I remember being excited about a quarter!!!  On Tuesday, when Ayden went to school, he was so excited to show his teacher and all his friends.  His best friend had a loose tooth too, so at recess, Ayden pulled his tooth out!!  Yes....the friend's tooth....not even his own tooth!!  We decided we might need to start paying him to KEEP his teeth in his mouth!!  :)

On Wednesday, I got a call from the school saying that Ayden had slipped in the mud at recess and his clothes were covered.  So I had to take new clothes in!  As soon as I walked into the office and saw Ayden in the nurse's office, he yelled at me, "Mommy, I just pulled out ANOTHER tooth"!!  I didn't believe him at first until he showed it to me in his hand and flashed me another toothless smile!!!  Oh my....silly boy!!!  That was the 4th tooth he pulled out in 3 days!!!!  I had him hurry and change his clothes in the bathroom....I was a little embarrassed cuz he was kind of making a scene (again, typical Ayden....he is a LOUD boy)!!  After he changed, we walked out of the nurse's office and into the main office.  That is when I took a second to get all excited for him and tell him what a cute smile he has!    We talked quietly for a minute in the corner of the office before I said goodbye to him.  I told him we would go to Toys R Us tomorrow and that it was a good thing we didn't go yesterday (when he wanted to go and spend his money from the first two teeth)!!  I carried his tooth in an envelope that the nurse gave us and I kissed him and hugged him and said goodbye!  We both turned and walked away and when I was almost to the door to exit the building, Ayden yelled, "MOMMY"!!  I turned around and tried to say "what" in a quiet voice!  He yelled back at me, "If I keep pulling my teeth out, we will be debt free with all the money I am making"!!  LOL!!  I laughed and buried my head as I made a bee line for the exit door....mortified of anyone that may have heard that (and how could they not have)!!  It was funny.....I love that witty kid that has such a fun sense of humor!!!  :)

Forget chores, this kid now realizes that he can pull out teeth and make much more money doing so!!  HA!! So if you have a kid with a loose tooth, you better keep them away from Dr. Ayden....ready or not, it may be coming out!  :)  Jeremiah thinks we may have a future dentist in the family!!  :)  We may not even have to wait til he's old enough to be a dentist....he may get us out of debt before the end of 1st grade!!! :)

{ToDaY}

My plan to take more pics & blog hasn't really gone very well since my last post!  So last night I got my camera out and set it on the kitchen counter so I would be FORCED to take pics today!!  I just need something to push me over the edge and get me to start taking pics again!  Maybe we are just at a boring stage in our lives!  HA....that is a joke....I think we are too busy to be bored!!  :)

My alarm clock went off at......

Yes, that is technically still night time and I know that I am crazy for getting up that early!!  But I have been getting up then 4 days a week religiously for the past 3 months to run....and it has been the greatest thing EVER!!  Mostly because I am getting up that early for MYSELF!!  It is all about me for that one hour out of the day where I get to do something just for me....I get to be selfish for a minute, which is the greatest feeling ever since our roles as moms and wives usually doesn't allow for that for the rest of the day!  So I have thoroughly enjoyed that part of my day for the last 3 months....even if it DOES mean that I am waking up in the dark!!!!  And sometimes even the rain......

I was dressed and out the door by 5 am to go meet the other 3 girls I run with!  It was pouring rain, dark and chilly!!  But on the bright side, my car said it was 52 degrees out....woohoo....it was warm compared to the low 30's that we were running in a couple weeks ago!!

I was home by 6:00 am with 6 miles under my belt.....soaking wet and cold!!  I love uploading my runs to see how many calories I burn.....741 calories burned BEFORE breakfast?!?!  Now that is a great way to start your day, right???  :)

Jeremiah was getting ready to leave for work!  The joys of being a bike/train commuter means that when it's raining out, you get to wear your yellow banana suit!!  HA!  He usually has soaking wet feet by the time he gets to work, so today he tried putting grocery bags over his shoes!  HA!  It worked!  He will be mad at me for posting this pic!!  :-/

Can you believe that by 6:00 am, most of our family is bright eyed and bushy tailed?!?!  The only one still in bed is Maddix and that is only because he's trapped in his crib until someone comes to rescue him!  I'm super jealous of the moms whose kids sleep in until 7:30 am every day!!

I hurried to take a shower while Maddix was still in bed and then like every morning, we scrambled around getting 3 little people bathed, dressed & fed....it seems like no matter how organized I am the night before, it is always a scramble the morning of school!  Oh how I dread school that starts at 7:40 am!!!  :(

We usually walk with our neighbor friends, but since it was raining, I piled all 3 kids into the car to drive Ayden the 1/2 mile to school!  I swear sometimes it takes longer to load everyone in the car and drive than it does to just walk!

When we got home to a quiet house at 8 am, it was time to feed these 2 little monkeys some more breakfast....

I cannot complain about the day from 8:30 am - 2 pm.....Zoey went to a friends house at 8:30 am and then went to school from the friend's house!  So I didn't see Zoey all day and it felt like she was in 1st grade like Ayden!!!  It was nice for a day....not sure how I will feel about it when TWO of them are gone all day long!!  Maddix slept from 8:45 am - 12:30 ish!!  It was quiet and I did a whole bunch of nothing!!  On Thursdays, I usually go help in Ayden's classroom after Zoey goes to school, but today I didn't have anyone to watch Maddix, so I couldn't go!

Left the house at 1:45 pm to start picking up kids from school and we ended up at Target (for me to get some groceries and Zoey to pick out a bday present for a friend's party this weekend) and then Toys R Us (for Ayden to spend his tooth fairy money.....more on that in another post)!  

I love when we get new legos, cuz it is guaranteed that the kids will be busy for AT LEAST 2 hours!!  YAY!!!

While Ayden did legos at the kitchen table and Maddix took nap #2, chef Zoey helped me in the kitchen with dinner!!  Mmmm.....muffins......I always have to fight this girl when it comes to licking the spoon!!!  :)

Don't these look delish?!?!  Honey Raisin Bran muffins.....we love them here at this house!!!  :)

I was making homemade Roasted Corn & Tomato Soup for dinner.  I cooked everything on the stove and then put it in the Vitamix to puree......it was scalding hot and I turned it on high by accident right away and it exploded all over....burning me!  Ouch!!  What a mess to clean up!!!  :(

But it turned out delicious.......well, most of us thought it did!!!  We battle Zoey most nights of the week about dinner time......here she is throwing a fit cuz she doesn't get a muffin since she didn't eat her soup!!  Oh my DRAMA!!!!

Looks like bedtime, right?!?!  Zoey read her school book to me (she is turning into an amazing reader and it is so exciting to see) and then was fast asleep in no time!!

Maddix took a quick shower (since he smelled like poop from an awful diarrhea diaper right before dinner) and was right behind Zoey with falling asleep!!

Ayden scrambled to do 1 last homework page that we forgot about!!

And then had to get in his 20 minutes of reading!!  He has really blossomed into a great reader the past couple weeks....I think our 20 minutes a night is really paying off!!  :)  He is FINALLY able to read a chapter book and is really enjoying being able to read!!  I'm not quite positive, but I might be sleeping in this picture.....remember what time my wake up call was this morning?!?!?

And here we are.....all kids in bed, a blog post done, jammies are on and I am ready to plop myself in front of the TV with a blankie to watch something on the DVR!!  Jeremiah is busy in the garage so I get to watch WHATEVER I want to!!  :)  He has been doing a whole lot of this lately.....

.....welding here in this pic, but he is busy busy trying to build his own bikes!  Maybe one day soon I will get my husband back!!!

On the bright side, tomorrow is a no run day so I am really looking forward to sleeping in.....until 6 am!  Isn't it sad when you wake up at 6 am and that is called "sleeping in"!!  Oh my!!  What a day!!  It seems like when you really document your day, you realize WHY you are so tired at the end of it!!  :)

{oN bLogGinG sTriKe}

I can't believe this is my first post since New Years!!  Sadly, I haven't taken many pics since New Years either!!!  I pretty much do this every year....I think I get sick of pics & blogs after Christmas and just need a break!!  But I really need to get my camera out and get going on pics & blog posts again....I surely do not want this to become a habit!!  :-/

Here's a bunch of randomness....a few pics from my camera, but mostly things I posted on Instagram!!

What weird weather we have been having....record colds last week and now 80 degrees today!!  Yuck!!  Where is the happy medium?!?!  I think I would much rather have the cold right now....I am so not ready for warm weather again!!  Love some of the skies that we have seen lately though....this crazy weather and especially the winds always make it so pretty!!

One day last week, I was craving some frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon, so after picking the kids up at school, I surprised them with a yummy after school treat!!

Ayden's favorite....strawberry yogurt with gummy bears....

Maddix had cookie dough balls.....that I HAD to order AFTER we had already sat down and started eating cuz he wouldn't stop screaming....he wanted his very own yogurt and did NOT want to share with Mommy!!

Zoey's favorite....strawberry yogurt with m&m's & chocolate chips......

Zoey got to take home her preschool mascot that day at school, so "Buzz Bee" got to come with us for a yummy treat.....

Ayden has been super obsessed with legos for the past couple years.....and now that they have come out with the cute girlie lego creations, we have TWO obsessed lego fans in this house!  They used a gift card from Christmas to buy some new ones from Toys R Us!  I was so impressed that Zoey was able to follow the directions and build things all by herself.....with only a little help here and there to find a piece!

We went to Toys R Us again yesterday and bought some more.....they could spend HOURS doing this and I love it!!  At least I feel like they are using their brains a little bit!!

Even Maddix has gotten in on the action!!  Looks like he will be following in the engineering footsteps of his Daddy and big brother!!!  :)

Grandpa Roger has turned us into Green Bay Packer fans and when the game was on last weekend, they all got their jerseys on to watch!  Too bad they won't be able to watch them play in the Super Bowl!!  :(

Ayden and Maddix called Grandpa on the phone after one of the Packers touchdowns to scream and cheer with him!!

Nothing wrong with watching a football game while you carry around a basketball, right?!?!?

So cute....

Wrestling time......

Even Maddix likes to watch....he is a sports fan already!!!

Maddix is our first kid that is a major climber!  I don't remember Ayden or Zoey doing that at all, but he is climbing on everything!!  Heaven help me when he learns to climb out of the crib!!

So glad that Maddix is in this family.....I LOVE more than anything seeing him get older and seeing how much fun Ayden and Zoey have with him now that he can run and play and laugh with them!  He is such a little lover and when Ayden was standing next to him one day, he just grabbed him and gave him a huge hug....and a kiss!!  Melts this Mommy's heart.......

Here is Maddix helping big sissy make an afternoon snack.  I love how he is wrapping his arm around here waist!!  :)

All kids outside playing with their Christmas toys.....

For Christmas the kids got envelopes from us....each envelope has a month written on the front and in each envelope, there is a "date with dad" card and a "date with mom" card for each of them!

Zoey's "date with mom" this month was to go to dinner at your favorite restaurant!  She picked BJ's Pizza and we had a great girls night out together!!  :)

I love this little tradition we have started that will allow us to do fun things each month one on one!!

We went to Chick-fil-A for dinner last Friday night and the kids got crazy in the play area until I could no longer take the chaos!  Holy cow that place is busy with young families on a Friday night!!!

This boy is in love.....his first love.....his basketball!!  It's crazy how obsessed he is right now with his basketball.....I love it!!!  ;-)

Ayden had a friend over after school the other day and they all sat down and watched a show and had popcorn.  I laughed when I looked over and saw Zoey sitting in between the boys....she doesn't even know how lucky she is to have a big brother that is less than 2 years older than her!!  I can only imagine how much fun she is gonna have in high school when Ayden is bringing cute boys over!!  :)

I picked Ayden up at school yesterday and when we were walking home, he pulled this picture out of his backpack!  He showed it to me and very nonchalantly said, "Arthur Luther King (aka Martin Luther King) changed lots of laws.....he made it ok for me to play with Maddix and to have him as a brother"!  It was the cutest thing ever and I decided that it HAS to be the cutest thing that one of my kids has learned at school!!   I love that little ones can be so sweet and innocent about topics that even adults can't handle!!!  :) 

Hopefully this is my last "random" post for a while....I'm ready to get back at it now!!  :)

{hAppY nEw YeaR}

Happy New Year!!!  I was glad to see 2013 come....we had a great holiday, but I'm glad it is over.....it was exhausting!!  Exhausting for all of us.....

We wanted to go up to Big Bear for New Years like we usually do, but we chickened out at the last minute fearing that it would be super crowded....and it was, so I am glad we made that choice!  We are itching to go though and play in the snow!  :)  So we decided to go to my parents in La Quinta to visit with my Grandma who was visiting from Chicago and her sister who was visiting from Arizona.  Jeremiah and I joked a few times that we must be lame if we are going to be spending New Years Eve with a bunch of senior citizens!!  HAHA!

Kids always want to do craft time when they are at Grammy's house......

We started celebrating the new year when it was still light out....great idea since by the time 7 pm came around, it really DID feel like midnight to the kids!!  :)

We have all been bugging my grandma for years that she should get a computer so she can email and keep up with her family!  She has said over and over that she doesn't need it.....that was until salesman Jeremiah Smith came around and got a hold of her!!  After talking to him for 5 minutes, she was convinced!!  So we went to Best Buy on New Years Eve and she bought a cute little laptop.  Jeremiah spent a long time setting it up for her and getting her an email address (which might have been the cutest thing listening to her decide on an email address for herself)!  Here is Jeremiah giving computer lessons.....

While Jeremiah and the older ladies played around on the computer, the rest of us helped Chef Grandpa (I think this might be his new name) prepare dinner!!  

I can always count on Chef Zoey helping out in the kitchen.....

Zoey helped make shrimp kabobs.....

Mmmmmm.......they turned out DELICIOUS!!!  Shrimp, red peppers and pineapple.....all marinated in a delicious sauce and then grilled!!!  Yum!!!  

And Jeremiah's request.....bacon wrapped scallops!  I didn't try these....I am not a scallop fan at all, but everyone else loved them!  

We also had my dad's homemade crab cakes and homemade mac n cheese!!  I must be hungry cuz it all sounds so delish!!!  We couldn't find Maddix's high chair, so Grammy tied him to the chair and it worked just as well!!  :)  Grammy Emmy fed Maddix his favorite....mac n cheese!!!

 

He looked so cute and studious in Grammy's glasses.....

And he liked them too!!  He probably wore them for 5 minutes!!  Cute boy!!

After dinner, we started getting ready for bed and for our New Years party!!  We told the kids it was almost midnight and that we couldn't believe they were staying up so late!!  Good thing they didn't look at the clocks to see it was only 7:30 pm!!  

It wasn't even late enough to see the ball drop in New York, so Jeremiah found the countdown on his phone from last year!!  We counted down and the kids got to see the ball drop!!!

3, 2, 1............HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

Even Maddix figured out how to toot his blower.....

Zoey and Great Grandma Emmy.....

83 year old Auntie Grace and 85 year old Grandma Emmy got in on the action too......

This was what our New Years Eve party consisted of!!  :)

Grammy Con!!!!

It's funny how different New Years Eve is now that we are older!!  I totally prefer this type of New Years over the crazy, loud, partying types that were pre-marriage!!

These 2 sisters are so cute and bicker and fight like an old married couple!!  It is fun to see and listen too!!  This time, I was lucky enough to get one of their little arguments caught on tape!!! HAHA!!!  We all had a good laugh at this one.....there is no denying it now!!!  :)

My grandma thinks that even though my dad is 65 years old that she can still turn him over her knee!!  HA....here she is trying to spank him....can't remember what he said to get in trouble, but it was funny!!  HA!!  Love her!!!

Kids went to bed and us old folks tried staying up to welcome the new year!!  Here's my mom and the older ladies checking out blogs and facebook on the computer....ha!!  :)  We barely made it to midnight!  I think I said "happy new year" to Jeremiah in bed as I was falling asleep!!  I was the first one in bed of this group....can't believe my parents and the 83 and 85 year olds outlasted me!!  :)

We left New Years Day and said goodbye to everyone til next time.....

HAHA.....love this pic of Zoey making faces at herself in her silver bracelet.....

We kept up with our New Years tradition and made homemade pizzas for dinner!!  The kids love making their own pizza creations.....

And this was my delicious hawaiian veggie pizza.....it was so yummy and healthy too!!  :)

Cheers to 2013.....I'm super looking forward to a new year!!  I have a feeling this is gonna be a great one for our family!!!  :)