Old Enough?

So today was a day for the two older girls to go to the public library in town for the summer reading program. The program lasts from 1-2:30 p.m. I took them to the library and we returned books. I left a bag with them to check out two books each and then instructed them to walk home. The house we are renting is somewhat closer to the library and Madison is very responsible. I figured this way Olivia's nap wouldn't be cut short and Madison could get herself and Laci home. At 3:10 p.m., Mom started to wonder if I had made the right decision in letting her girls walk home by themselves. I decided to call the library to check to see if they were still there. The librarian was more than kind and the girls were still there. I asked her to have them check out their books and send them home if she wouldn't mind. Luckily, the girls were home in about 10 minutes then. Madison just commented that it took them awhile to each pick out their two books to read this week. I told her that Mom was getting worried!

I am learning to let them do more things independently like walking home from the library or going across the street to the park, but it is hard to see them grow up so fast. It also makes me worry a bit that maybe they aren't ready for these responsibilities yet, but most of the time they are just fine and can really do these things without me. Mom just worries and needs to relax sometimes!

A Day at the Pool

So the girls and I went to the pool on Monday with a family friend and her three girls. We met this family at our church in Denver and the girls all go to school together! It was the first time this summer that we have spent some time at the pool, aside from the swimming lessons that the older two girls are taking. They were super excited. When we got there, the main area for the little kids was experiencing mechanical problems, so it was closed. We made the best of the time though and spent some of it in an area that was somewhat shallow. The older two girls had no problem at all, but Olivia was a little more challenging to deal with in this area.
Here is Olivia just before leaving the pool for the day. She is holding onto a diving stick and "cheesing" the camera. She is sitting on her "Dora" towel. She did pretty well considering I had to be pretty close all the time. Hopefully the next time we decide to go, the other pool area is working again. We did spend some time in the "lazy river" area. They have tubes that the little kids can sit in and then we walked behind the tube - not so lazy for the moms that way, but at least it kept them having fun. Here is another picture right before we left for the afternoon. This is Reeve, she is the youngest of the three girls that we went to the pool with. It is always fun when we get together with this family. We all seem to get along so well and it is great that our girls are so close in age. Their oldest daughter is a year older than Madison, their middle daughter is a year older than Laci, and Reeve is two years older than Olivia. They all play together so well and always are asking when they will get to see them again. I am sure another day at the pool with them will be soon to come!

A Much Needed New Bike

So last night Terry and I went out without the girls - sort of a late anniversary night out. We went to a few stores to shop around for something to do and ended up getting Madison a new bike. She needed a bigger bike because her current bike wasn't big enough anymore. She is just getting too tall! Also, Laci is wanting to learn to ride without training wheels, so she is moving up to Madison's current bike. This picture shows Olivia checking out the new bike!

Madison waiting to see the new bike with her eyes covered up. The new bike is light blue and says "Friendship, Love, Rock N Roll" on the seat. It also says "Girls Rock, Chicks Roll" somewhere. She says it is a bike that "Auntie" will love because of the color and the "Rock N Roll" theme.

Once she saw the bike, she just got on and took off! Guess it was a hit!!!!!!!

What We Have Been Up to Since the End of March

So the past several months have been a whirlwind to say the least! I don't think during April and May that there were many nights that the girls didn't have something to keep us busy. The two older girls are involved in gymnastics now once a week. They also are involved in town soccer and softball/t-ball. Laci played soccer for the first time this year. She really enjoyed it cause she loves to run fast, "Go Redhawks". Madison played again this year for the third year in a row. I didn't take a picture of her (I know - way to go, Mom). Her team was the "Black Cuties" and the funny part is is that Madison played Rock, Paper, Scissors with a little boy and lost and that is what he named the team. We are finishing up softball for Madison right now and Laci also just finished t-ball.

Here is a picture of Madison at her last night of Girl Scouts for this year. She is getting her badges for selling cookies and a small gift from her troop leader, Bev.

We also sold our house the end of March and we had to be out by May 31st. So amid teaching, getting the girls everywhere they needed to be, and other things, we packed up the house and moved into a rental property while we work on getting a new house built! Here are some pictures taken in our last days at our house on Ridgeway Street. Memories!!!

One of the best memories I will always have of our house on Ridgeway Street is of Olivia and our dog, Lily, standing at the living room window and looking out. They look almost the same height at the window together.

This picture is a little hard to make out, but if you really look close, you can see Lily and Olivia at the window, but they are looking at each other!

Madison and Laci in the living room at the house on Ridgeway Street.

One of the worst things about having to rent while we build a house is that our dog, Lily is currently living with Terry's twin brother, Tracy. Tracy and his fiance, Kim, are spoiling her rotten, but I sure miss having her at home with us.

Lily loved to "flop" down on the kitchen floor and cool off at the house on Ridgeway also. She tended to do this after getting a big drink, so she would slobber the floor up good! Oh, boy is she high maintanence too. She needs her ears cleaned constantly and her nose wrinkle cleaned too, but she is worth it!

We got completely moved the weekend of Memorial Day - the buyers were very pushy and even ended up getting in to paint rooms before we had everything out! I wasn't happy about that, but it is over now. We had a few days to get some things situated at the rental house and then Terry and I packed up and went to Playa del Carmen Mexico from June 2-June 9. This is a picture of the beach. Beautiful!

This is where we spent most of the time - by the pool. The large "hut" in the back of the picture is a bar and buffet area. We ate many breakfasts and lunches here. Good food and relaxing time.

This is on the resort - these plants all lit up with blue lights. The picture doesn't really do it justice - it was very cool!

On the resort at night, there is entertainment and this is where it happens. On the left is another buffet area, it is larger than the one by the pool. On the right is a sports bar.
The last night we were there, the entertainment was the resort's version of "Deal or No Deal", Terry got picked to play. He opened boxes and then got offered some deals. Well, he said "no deal" three times and had to do a shot of tequila each time. If you know Terry at all, he doesn't drink, so it was quite entertaining. He ended up winning a $750 romantic dinner for two, but we weren't able to use it since we left the next morning, so we gave it to a couple who had just gotten married at the resort that day! Hope they enjoyed it!

Terry on the plane ride home - wanting badly to see our girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Olivia at McDonald's - what a stinker!

Madison, Laci, Olivia, and Kendall at McDonald's. I went over to my mom's one day last week when Kendall was there and we took the girls to the Amish to a couple stores and then we went to McDonald's for lunch. They had fun.

Now this week the two older girls have started swim lessons and they are also involved with the summer reading program at our public library. July will be sure to go just as fast. Hope to give you some updates of house construction soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 6th Birthday Laci Jo!

Laci Jo turned 6 on Monday, March 28th! She is wearing her new "pink cowgirl boots" that we had to get her (this picture was taken at school in her classroom)! Her birthday list was very specific for Mom and Dad this year: cowgirl boots, a cowgirl hat, a four-legged horse, a lasso, and open-toe high-heel shoes. She got the boots and hat. I have yet to get a picture of the hat on her!! She is loving being "6" for all of two days and this morning she said her teeth aren't very loose. The dentist told her last week at our 6-month check-up that at around 6 years of age people begin to lose their teeth. I am sure she will be a little behind in that because she didn't get her first tooth until she was almost 10 months old. Laci is becoming a sweet little girl who is much easier to deal with. We no longer have meltdowns about what to wear each day! She is loving that she is able to read on her own more and more. Oh what the next 6 years will bring - I am sure Laci will be 12 before I know it- seems like the blink of an eye sometimes!!

Some Lovin' for Locks of Love

So Madison and Laci went to get their haircut tonight!! Madison got about 12 inches cut off and Laci had 10 inches to cut off!!
Here are the before and after pictures!! Madison before the haircut with LONG and THICK hair!! This is her 2nd donation to Locks of Love!

After picture - it looks a little better now when we got home because I wet it down. In this picture, it is still a bit wavy from having braids in.

Laci before the haircut with her braids in. Her hair is much thinner than her sisters.

The after picture! After I took this picture, Laci couldn't stop jumping around the place and saying how much she loved her haircut! (Thank goodness since we couldn't change it if she didn't like it!)

Oh, and we can't forget Olivia! She got a cut too! She hair is long, but I just had it trimmed to clean up the ends. Her hair is more in-between the two other girls, a little thinner than Madison's, but not as thin as Laci's. It was another crazy night getting them all around and home to bed, but I guess that is what makes life interesting and another reason why I don't get any blogging done anymore! =0)

2011 Already!!

So it is February of 2011 already! Oh my goodness, how time flies. I feel so horrible that I am not blogging near as much as I used to. I love facebook and keep up with family and friends that way. Quick and easy! I am going to try to post some new pictures of the girls on here soon!

So what is new with us?? Not much! Olivia was sick over Thanksgiving so Terry took the two oldest girls and went to his parents for awhile and then later I went with the two oldest and went to my mom's. Christmas was fun and Olivia was really into opening presents. We spent time with family!!

In January, Madison and Laci started gymnastics and they LOVE it!! They are both in Girl Scouts as well, so January was very busy!!

We had two snow days this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was glad we were able to get to school Thursday, even though we had a 2 hour delay. The girls were fighting at home a lot!! Oh, and on the first snow day, Olivia managed to get up on the bathroom counter and paint her toenails. What a mess!! I should have taken a quick picture, but I wanted to hurry and clean up to avoid more mess. She is a stinker!

Terry and I are still debating putting the house back on the market in the spring or adding on??? It is all stressful to think about and so much money too!! Who knows what will happen??

Well, keep checking in from time to time. I will eventually get back into a routine with this blog!!