Double Digits

So Maddie turned double digits on January 13. She turned TEN. Did you hear me? 10! I don't know how in the world that happened...but it did. Right before my very eyes. I love this girl. I aDORE her. She is kind, sweet, funny, creative, smart, sensitive, thoughtful, loving, obedient and just an overall awesome kid. She loves: playing with her cats, making silly videos on her itouch, playing soccer, finding and listening to music on her itouch, watching HGTV and Shark Tank with me (on Fridays, Saturdays and breaks of course), dressing and doing her American Girl dolls' hair, and playing with Barbies every so often. Maddie has lots of friends from school, her Indian Princess Tribe, the neighborhood and her soccer team. She wanted to have a slumber party for her 10th birthday and that's exactly what we did! We kept it small, which wasn't easy, but was necessary for me. And after the fact, knowing they did not all fall asleep until 2:30 am, thank God we kept it small. It was a fun night. We kicked William and Mike out for the night so it was just me and 6 ten year old girls!

 I took them to Islands for dinner. 

 They painted and decorated picture frames for a craft. 

 There was lots of singing and dancing. Lots. Until about 10:30 pm. 

 I set up a pseudo "photo booth" upstairs in the hall . 

It wasn't a huge hit but we got a few fun photos from it. 

 Maddie, Gigi and Jenna. 

 Maddie and Meredith. 

 Alexis, Reagan and Jenna. 

 Ice cream sundaes for dessert. 

Lake Arrowhead Resort

I looooooove Lake Arrowhead! I absolutely love everything about it. It is SO close yet SO far away. It feels like Minnesota to me and I love the casual, laid back and relaxing vibe. We were lucky enough to get away for three nights the last weekend of the kids Christmas break. It was awesome. We stayed at Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa which is another one of my favorite places. I love the decor with the gorgeous stone fireplace and cozy couches in the lobby and the heated outdoor pool and hot tub are prime for a family with an almost 10 and almost 8 year old. 

This is the first thing the kids did when we checked into our room Thursday afternoon. They suited up in the hotel robes and toasted some ice cold water on the balcony. 

 We planned to spend Friday skiing at Snow Valley but we had so much fun and such a great day out on the slopes that we bought tickets and skied on Saturday too. The snow wasn't exactly great but it's a perfect place for the kids who are still learning and perfecting their skills. It was super exciting because William finally let go of Mikos and started skiing down the slope on his own! I was so proud of him. He's actually really good which doesn't surprise me. He's very athletic. It was really fun to be able to all ski down the hill together. Hopefully we can plan a trip to Utah next year. 

Our seasoned skier. 

 My first chairlift ride ever with William. Such a cutie!

William on the slopes. My almost 8 year old with serious attitude. Lord help me!

Maddie and I at our most delicious dinner of the weekend. Mikos scouted out this adorable little place called Stone Creek Bistro. It was outstanding. Hope to eat there again next time!

Ringing in the New Year! Welcome 2015!

New Years Eve was a little different for us this year. Grandpa was just getting home from the hospital and was busy recuperating from his surgery. Grandma was busy nursing him back to health. In the past we've spent NYE at Larry and Helen's house but we decided to mix things up a bit and celebrate at OUR home. It was a relaxing evening for the parents and good fun for the kids. Sonja, Russ and the boys joined us and we invited our good friends the Shortalls to come over and really make it a party! We ate lots of yummy food, enjoyed some delicious beverages and chatted the night away. It was exactly how I wanted to ring in the New Year. 

 Dan, William and Maddox playing a little chess. 

Our friends- Triplets! How cool is that? 

They are in the same grade as Maddie, 4th grade, almost 10.

 Maddox, Mason, William (back row)

Meredith and Maddie (front row)

 Mikos barely hanging in there after a long day at work.

 Meredith, Maddie and Grumpy Cat.

And this is what we did New Years Day, January 1, 2015! I helped Maddie "stitch" and "stuff" this doll. It took ALL day which went along perfectly with staying in our pj's ALL day long. Perfect day. 

Christmas 2014

December was a crazy month as it always is! I turned the big 4-0 on December 17. My dear friends Shannon and Susannah, along with Mike, planned an amazing surprise dinner for me the weekend before my "actual birthday". Boy was I surprised! I had a hunch that Mike was up to something but I had NO idea that when we went to meet what I thought would be just Shannon and Jason for dinner, there would be 22 people there to celebrate with me! It was SO awesome and SUCH a fun night. So I'm not posting pics from that night but on my actual birthday, Wednesday December 17, we all went to Disneyland with Sonja, Russ, Lynda and the boys.  It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season as this was our year to not travel to Minnesota but celebrate Christmas here at home in California.

  Love the Christmas cheer at Disneyland in December.

Mikos had to go into work on Christmas Eve for part of the day. The kids and I decided to do what we did 2 years ago when we were in CA for Christmas and went ice skating for a couple of hours. After, we met up with Mikos for the most delicious lunch ever at Umami Burger in DT Anaheim! Best burger I've ever had. Seriously. I need to go back.  

 Christmas Eve dinner and fun with the cousins at Mike and Lynda's house. 

 Christmas morning at our house. My babies are getting so big, aren't they?

 Christmas mayhem. 

 My little tween. 

It's 2015 and I'm back...I think?

Wow! It's been a LOOOOONG time! I'm not sure what got into me over the weekend but I decided to pull up this 'ole blog and actually had to set up a new password and all just to get into it. What a gem it was to rediscover! It was such fun going back over the entries I'd spent time journaling and felt such regret that I quit when I did! I'm thinking it's time to jump back on board??? SO MUCH has changed since I last blogged. It is now January 2015. Maddie is in 4th grade and just turned 10. William is in 2nd grade and will turn 8 in a couple of weeks. I no longer work and am going on 2 years in March of being a full time mom. Mikos is at a new company, Harbor Distributing (coming up on a year already in April) and we have these two new additions to our family. We love them so! 

 Aster- the "pretty" kitty

Stella- our "beautiful" kitty

So this is my first post of 2015- my re-entry into the world of blogging and journaling. As my first post, this is a "test" to see if blogspot will let me continue posting under this domain without charging me a monthly fee. We will see...here goes nothing!