Zip Line

Both girls have been on a zip line pretty much yearly since the time they were small. Kaitlyn has always loved it but Madison definitely has her reservations about the whole experience. Well our final activity before we loaded up for our long trip home was to ride the zip line. Last year they didn't have a small enough harness for Kaitlyn and she really wanted to go so instead she just hung out on the 4 wheeler the whole time with my cousin Devon. So this year Kaitlyn sweet talked one of my cousins to bring up the backhoe so that she could take a ride. This zip line would definitely put the Trenton 24th celebration zip line to shame!! There is Kaitlyn, Madison and Curtis all riding down together.

Easter at the cabin

We had a huge Easter egg hunt at the cabin. The younger kids had theirs upstairs and the older kids had theirs downstairs. There were a lot of interesting hiding places for the eggs. Thank goodness they were only plastic eggs because we were still finding them at the end of the day . . . and I am sure they will find more throughout the whole year.

Stories of the week

Kaitlyn: "I have to brush my teeth, I don't want any diseases!"

Madison: I hear a lot of rustling around in the back seat and Madison says "What's this" she pulls out a sippie cup, "Oh! its my cup, I thought it was a monster!"

Kaitlyn wrote me a note today:

Dear: Rachel
Wen will you be hom(home). You are(Kaitlyn asked Curtis how to spell 'are'. "This word is tricky, it sounds like the letter but I need to know how to spell the word") my Mom. You nac(make) me laf(laugh)
Love Kaitlyn

I lost my child

Have you ever lost a child? There has only been once for me and it was for only a short time when Kaitlyn made it to a different isle in the grocery store. That made me nervous but this was terrifying. We were up at my Aunt and Uncle's cabin. It was 11pm and we were finally heading off the mountain to go back to our hotel room. Kaitlyn rode up to Idaho with my Dad so she could hang out with her cousin Nikki. I knew her car seat was still in the van so I knew that she went with my Dad and sister. I knew that the girls would fall asleep in the car so we did the whole potty break before we were leaving. I saw everyone, including Madison go outside so we could leave. Curtis and I were finishing talking to my cousins and then headed outside. My Dad was just pulling away and Curtis asked where Madison was. I knew that my Dad wouldn't take Madison without telling me and he also didn't have her car seat so I was positive that he wouldn't have taken her. However, I knew that she went outside with the bunch. Madison wasn't by our car and I figured she wouldn't go far because it was cold and dark but I was standing right by the door and did not see her go past us. We called for her outside and got no response so we tried calling my Dad but his phone was dead. I went to try my sister but of course my phone was dead and I left it at the hotel and Curtis didn't have her phone number. The next person to call was my sister Laura who was already at the hotel room and probably asleep so of course she didn't answer her phone. After searching the cabin I started looking through a phone book trying to find the number to the hotel room when I heard a little voice. It didn't sound like Madison but the only other little girl at the cabin was Mercedes and her Mom said it wasn't her. Sure enough it was my little Madison covered in soap. "Mommy the bathroom wasn't very clean so I cleaned it". I went in to the bathroom to discover that the entire toilet was covered in an inch layer of foam soap. Madison kept telling me over and over how she needed to clean the bathroom and she was pretty proud of herself. After washing my child and the toilet off we were finally able to head down the mountain to sleep. Of course my Dad was on his way back up the mountain to see if we got stranded on the side of the road. I knew that Madison was fascinated with soap and she takes every opportunity to wash her hands but that foam soap became her obsession.

50th Celebration

Over spring break our family went to Idaho for my Aunt Tanna and Uncle John's 50th wedding anniversary. We love going to their cabin to spend time with the family. I like that the cabin does not have internet capabilities and very limited cell phone range because it means the technology addicted people in my family have to actually interact with people and not with a machine. For the celebration my cousin Bryan took on the huge task of getting pictures of everyone. Here are a few of my favorite pictures. . . I just wish my Mom could have come to be apart of all the festivities!

Life as we know it

Madison went to the eye doctor this week. It has almost been a whole year since her surgeries! The great news is that she can see 20/40. Now she has a new prescription and we have been out trying to find new glasses. This time I will be smart and find a place that has at LEAST a one year warranty. That way I can get the glasses fixed weekly without buying a whole new pair and just maybe I can start getting her to wear them. The one catch is the glasses that I want have the ear pieces that curve around the ears so they will stay on, but they only make them for two and under. That just seems crazy to me because my three year old could definitely use something like that! And apparently most kids don't have to wear bifocals. When I asked about the cost of bifocals at both of the stores we went to, they looked at me strange and asked me if I was sure that she was to get bifocals. And yes I am sure that is what the doctor ordered. I have such a hard time finding glasses I like for Madison. They all seem to hang two inches off the side of her head. However, the cutest glasses of all were the ones she came home in from the doctor's office. They are just like the adult glasses only miniature. And if I haven't mentioned before . . .Madison really HATES eye drops.
The update on Kaitlyn is there is only 10 weeks left of school. I have no idea how I am going to keep that girl occupied during the summer. She is doing so great in school I hate for it to end. During testing in January her teacher told me that she has already mastered what she should be reading by the end of Kindergarten. Now she has started reading first grade books. I am always amazed at how easy reading has been for her. Every book we have gotten from school she is able to open it for the first time and read it with little difficulty.
I will also have to post some of the things Kaitlyn has written about. She cracks me up with the stories she comes up with. They have been learning about having a beginning, problem and solution for their story. I was trying to get the creative juices flowing so I asked her what she was going to write about. She told me that she was going to write about our truck and the problem was that it didn't have license plates. She is as crazy as her Dad when it comes to loving trucks. I know my child is being brainwashed when I ask her what she wants to do and she says she wants to go test drive trucks (later I found out that the quality daddy-daughter time they were spending together was looking on the internet for a truck). Now that we have one she is bummed that we haven't been driving it. Good news is that it should be licensed and registered this week!!

New Addition

We welcomed our new addition to our family at the end of January
Name: Big Red
Nickname: Smokey
Weight: ¾ ton
Length: Only 2 inches to spare in the garage

My husband has wanted a truck for many years. He sold one before we got married and we briefly had one before we went back to school. The justification for this truck was that if we were going to have anymore kids then we would need a bigger vehicle. Well I obviously lost my view that we could fit three kids in the car. However, I know we can fit three in because I installed the car seats to check. But I have to admit it was love at first drive.
We have been proud owners of stick shift vehicles. Having driven both an automatic and a standard, I don’t think I will ever go back. Curtis was set on having a manual truck. The few manual trucks that I have driven have been very choppy and I didn’t care for it. But after driving our truck, once again I have been converted.