Big news

We are on the move. Literally. Mark and I are buying a new house. It is much bigger than the townhome and has a fabulous backyard for the kids. I can envision many nights out on the patio and watching the kids ride their bikes in the cul-de-sac. We are beyond excited! Well for the new house part, but yikes the packing. This bites. I mean really bites. We have been packing for 3 weeks and it feels like months already. Our new house has been empty for a good 4 months and the landscaping is a mess. It's going to take some time to get that back in shape, but it will be so worth it. We should be in the new place by the end of July. I'll send out an email to all with the new address when we are actually there.

6

This summer has been a blur so far. Hard to believe Sierra has been out of school for nearly a month. We have been busy, busy, busy.

We started out with Sierra's dance recital. She says she is done with dance, so I volunteered to be backstage with the kids for her last one. Never again. We are so blessed to have a well behaved child. What 6 year old needs a freaking cell phone? It was ridiculous.

Sierra turned 6 and I completely slacked and didn't post a thing for her birthday. Not from lack of love, but we just were busy celebrating that day. The birthday girl requested breakfast out and Shrek Forever After just as a family. So that's what we did. Andon is NOT a good movie kid right now, but we figure out how to get him to sit still. It involved sticky, sticky suckers. But it worked. We had a great day. But it is so hard to believe our little chick is 6 already. She's growing up to fast. She also had an outing with her BFF from school this past week. We went to Build A Bear and Red Robin then back here for a playdate. So she got to celebrate her big day for 3 weeks. Lucky girl!

Mama ran to the store on Saturday evening and was gone a whole 15 minutes. I came back and was greeted at the front door to a missing top tooth. It seems she and Gunner had a little facial contact and out popped her tooth. She was pretty upset for a bit but she dug that she woke up to money from the tooth fairy. I was not prepared for this at all. Her teeth are not really that loose, so now I have to adjust to a toothless smile. I have to admit she's pretty darn cute!

Look for another post very soon. I can finally talk about our big news!

Congrats Grad!

Sierra "graduated" from kindergarten yesterday. They wore caps and got "diplomas." Even walked in during Pomp and Circumstance. Mama cried of course. It's been a busy, fast, lots of sick days filled year. She missed a lot of school and I can only hope her immune system is better in 1st grade. She even missed 2 days this week. We did manage to make it back Wednesday for their water day. Andon even got in on the fun.

Sierra is in the white hat.

We had early birthday treats for Sierra when we were all done in the water. Andon was more than happy to be one of the big kids.

First day of Kindergarten

Last day of Kindergarten

She leaves Kindergarten a little taller, with a little more confidence, lots of blisters from the monkey bars, and a great foundation for 1st grade and beyond. We are so proud of our chick!

Time flies

It's almost May, seriously!? Where has this year gone? Didn't Sierra just start school? Life is just moving and I'm trying so hard to slow down and enjoy the moment. So sorry this doesn't get updated often. I'm trying! Here's a few updates on our household:

Sierra is reading, adding & subtracting (in her head!), getting tired of dance and wants to play soccer instead. She got her ears pierced 6 weeks ago (per her request). She got glasses about a month ago. Turns out she wasn't faking all those headaches. She was just in her first school musical and played the librarian. So proud of her for getting up there and singing and saying her line. She remains such a bright, sweet, happy kiddo who loves her family dearly.

Andon has cut his final molar, but he still has holes all over his mouth. I assume they'll fill in at some point. He (and Sierra & Mark) have what must be the 200th cold this winter. Allergies my foot! He is newly obsessed with cars. Like, will not go anywhere without one obsessed. He yells at construction sites and emergency vehicles. He is 100% boy! He has learned to feed himself with a spoon, still working on poking our food with forks. He is trying to figure out how to jump off things which makes daddy very nervous.

Mark is back to his normal schedule after working nights and extra days for a month. That was awful and I am so happy things are back to normal. He was not very fun to live with during those night shifts. He said it was prep for re-enlisting, I told him to keep dreaming.

I just finished a pilates class after I did a boot camp. I signed up for another boot camp that starts in May. It's tough, but I really love it. Yes it's me, no one has hijacked the blog. Things have gotten out of control and this is just one step I'm taking to get back on track. I joined the gym with some girlfriends and am extremely blessed to have their support!

We have big news in the works, but I'll update about that later when things are more certain. And no it is absolutely NOT another baby. Pretty sure Mark would leave me if that happened!

9 years

It's been 9 years this afternoon since Mark and I were married. He has stood by my side through the ups and downs of the last few years. I could not ask for a better partner, love, and best friend. On top of that he is a phenomonal father. We balance each other out so well. I am forever grateful to have found the man who can make me laugh, rub my feet, and love me as well as he does. His parents have been married for 40 years and mine would have been married for 35 this past December. I can only draw from that history as we look to the future and the next 50 years.

I love you Mark!

Merry Christmas

Santa has come and gone. Sierra is already asking when he comes back. We had a wonderful time with our families and sharing the love this Christmas. We were all thoroughly spoiled this year as always. Santa brought Sierra a stand up microphone and Andon a ride on toy he can ride/push/pull. They are in love. Sierra loves to sing and Andon loves to push so both are perfect gifts. We are still coming down from the high of presents and cookies.

Sierra and I made sugar cookies this year. Something we haven't done in a few years with mom being so sick and then last year I just wasn't up for it. She had a blast frosting. We did nearly 15 dozen cookies in 6 hours. We're rockstars!

I hope all of you had a very Merry day and wish you health and happiness in 2010.

No fear

Andon is part monkey. I'm sure of it. He just has no fear when it comes to climbing. It started with the little rocking chair, then the couch, then the big glider in his room. In the past 5 days it has been the crib, the cat scratching post and now the kitchen chairs. He has only tried climbing into the crib, but I know he is only days or weeks away from climbing out! It has to be hereditary, Michael climbed every tree or wall he came across as a kid. I saw him scale a wall just this past Thanksgiving. Lets hope Andon skips that for a few years.

Mark is going to have a heart attack any day now. I just shrug my shoulders. He's a boy and well lets face it kids get hurt. Sierra had that fractured ankle at 18 months. Andon is right on pace for that too. I just know we'll be in the ER shortly with stitches or a broken something. Oh well, at least we'll have some stories to tell.

Got it!

Mama I'm part cat too.

No way to stay mad at this face.