January 2013

I hope to do a monthly recap at the end of each month. This one is a little late.... We have been busy in January! I think we did something every weekend. MK has attended a ton of birthday parties since the beginning of the year. This is Colin's

This is Williams. They ate before getting hot and sweaty at this one.

We also went to Gaspirilla. We took MK and a few friends to the Children's parade one weekend and then Wes and I went for the grown-up version the following weekend. I didn't get many pictures of either. Here are a few of MK and friends before and after the parade.

We started walk/running on Monday nights. It feels good to run again. MK had her 1st bike accident. She scrapped her knee up pretty bad, but survived and got back on the next time we went out.

I'm sure I have forgot somethings, but that sums up our January for the most part.

2012 year end review

January

We started the 2012 with sweet Rayleigh turning 1! Not much else happened in January (that I can remember or have pictures to show!)

February

February is always a hard month for me, especially the 1st few days.

Grampie got very sick and passed away in February. This picture was taken by one of my cousins. I love it!

MK with her cousin Cameron sitting with Grammie. This might have been in March....

Madelyn ran the Gasprilla's Children race for the 2nd year in a row. She is already started asking me about her next race.

March

Grampie's memorial service was the 1st part of March. While everyone was together, we took the opportunity to take pictures. Here is me with my Dad, my siblings and their children (and Nat too!) There are several birthdays in March, but they are all grown-ups, so not much celebrating was done and there surely aren't any pictures!

I think I blogged about work once or twice in the few blog post I did in 2012. This is a picture of my awesome team. Since the transitions, I don't get to work with most of these awesome ladies any more. I miss this team!

April

We went to Disney World for Madleyn's 4th birthday. She had a blast! We had several family members go with us. This picture is at her birthday breakfast at the Grand Floridian Hotel. She got picked to help open the restaurant with Mary Poppins. We liked it so much, we upgraded our tickets to annual passes. This has definitely been the year of Disney. We have been to the parks 5 or 6 times since April.

Prior to Disney, we had MK a small party at the local park. This is really the only picture I have from the party. She had lots of fun.

Relay for Life was again in April. Our team decided we would be taking a year or more off from Relay. This picture was with us and our trophy! This was my 3rd official year on the team and 4th Relay with them. They/we have won the spirit award for the last 8 years!

May

Madelyn made Mother's Day cards for all her grandmothers and great grandmothers. We didn't tell them and surprised them with mail! That's all the pictures I have from May. I don't know why we didn't take more pictures in May!

June

Madelyn had her 1st (of many I'm sure) dance recitals. She loved it and had such a great time! She dances ALL the time.

We also welcomed this little guy into the family! Daniel was welcomed by big sister Rayleigh and parents Cheryl(Wes's sister) and Kenny. MK and Wes made the trip to Alabama shortly after his birth to meet him. I couldn't go because of work.

July

July was a quiet month for the most part. MK spent the 4th with cousins. She loves hanging out with them. We are lucky they live close enough we get to spend time with them!

August

August brought another new family member! Sweet Analise was welcomed by big brother Matias and parents Jason (my brother) and Natalie.

Madelyn officially started Pre-K. It is at the same daycare she has been attending since she was 18 months old, so it was not much of a change. It's crazy to think she will be starting Kindergarten so soon! She is so smart already. She reads on a 3rd grade reading level and does math on (I'm guessing) at least a 1st grade level.

September

We went to Alabama in September to help my Mom move. She got a new house that is so much better than her old house. All her out of town siblings happen to be in town that weekend too! This is my grandma with all 7 of her children. They do not all get together often enough!

The little kids had a water gun fight in the backyard. The "little kids" as we call the younger generation always have fun playing together.

October

October is always a busy month for us. Of course we got lots of pictures!

Mom had a house warming/blessing. This is her picture wall that Natalie and I did thanks to inspiration from Pinterest!

The weekend we were there was also the boys birthdays. There birthdays are one day apart so we try to celebrate them together! This was a very last minute thrown together party. The kids had lots of fun and that's all that matters. These three kiddos love each other!!

We went to Disney for Matias birthday. The top picture is Madelyn waiting to get her face painted at Hollywood Studios. She was so excited and happy to get her face painted. This is most definitely one of my favorite pictures of the year!

Here are out Halloween pictures. Of course there are a ton more! Madelyn was Merida from the new Disney movie, Brave. Matias was a Prince and sweet little Ana was Snow White. Because Matias' birthday is so close to Halloween, the kids got to wear their costumes while at Disney as a test run.

November

We went to Alabama for Thanksgiving. We didn't take very many pictures... who knows why! We did do some family shots with the Hubbards. This is the 3 grandkids on that side of the family all in their Alabama gear.

December

We went to Disney to see Santa. Why not see the Jollies Man around at the Happiest place on Earth! We also got passes to Legoland given to us. Madelyn had a blast riding the roller coasters. I love the expression on her face in this picture!

Every year MK's daycare does a Christmas program and all the classes sing. This was the 1st year they put them on risers like this. They lined MK's class up with tallest in the back. She of course was 3rd from the end. Only 2 boys in her class are taller than her! The riser was not very big and she could not dance like I know she wanted to. They did a great job! A bonus, my mom happen to be in town this weekend and got to see her and Matias sing!

This was from a holiday party at a friend's house. She was so cute all bundled up in her warm clothes. Too bad she only needed them a few days!

Christmas season wrapped up with lots and lots of gifts for MK! This is one spoiled little girl!

We ended the year with MK's 1st sleepover! She had 3 friend over for a New Year's Eve party. They were great and got a long so well. 3 of the 4 of them made it til midnight.

I hope everyone had a fabulous 2012 and is looking forward to a wonderful 2013!!!

Madelyn Kate is 4

I've been meaning to do a post about MK since her birthday, but life has just gotten in the way. I finally sat down and asked her a list of questions I plan to ask on (or around) her birthday every year. I can't wait to see how her answers change.

We were not planning on having her a birthday party because we were taking her to Disney World. A few weeks before her birthday she told me, "I don't want to go to Disney because I want to have a birthday party". We were originally moving the last weekend of March and ended up not moving, so I had a a surprise party. The above picture is her and her friends at her party!

Here are the questions I asked her:

What is your favorite color? pink

What is your favorite toy? Madyson bear This is a bear that was sent to us on a flower arrangement that MK has recently found and taken everywhere with her

What is your favorite fruit? strawberries

What is your favorite tv show? Dinosaur train

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? sandwich I then asked what kind of sandwich and she said "all"

What is your favorite game? Pretty Pretty Princess

What is your favorite thing to wear? Rapunzel dress

Favorite snack? Cheez-Its

Favorite animal? Monkey

Favorite song? ABCs

Favorite book? Charlotte’s Web

Who is your best friend? Ian Pass

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? French toast sticks; cereal

What is your favorite think to do outside? Play hide and seek

Favorite drink? Apple juice; milk

Favorite Holiday? Halloween

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Pillow pets

What do you want to be when you grow up? Work on the computer

Where is your favorite place to go? Alabama

What is something Mommy always says? Go to timeout

What is something Daddy always says? Go to sleep

And what blog post is complete without pictures?!?

MK and Tink on her birthday! She was disappointed the other fairies were not there, but was excited to see Tink.

MK and Handy Manny at Hollywood Studios. She had lots of fun at the Disney Junior area.

This was a few weeks after her party. The dress is made from bandanas. She loves posing!

Trying on her costume for her 1st dance recital, which is this weekend (June 1). She dances ALL the time and is pretty good with the lingo too.

Other things about MK at 4:

*She can read pretty much anything

*She likes to play dress up and Barbies

*She has a thing for Pillow Pets (she has 8 or so)

*She can do simple math, mostly addition

*She loves to draw and write

*She can work the computer by herself and likes to play PBSKids.org

*She has become more aware of Madyson and sometimes talks about her "baby" sister. Other times she is her big sister.

I'm sure there is a TON more, but this is all I can think of right now.

Anniversaries

I'm back! at least for one post!! We'll see how often I visit.

The most dreaded week of my life is fast approaching. I guess it's not really the entire week usually, just a few days of it. Last year the 1st week of February was by far the worst week of the year, possibly the last several years. I'm optimistic that this year will be better. For those that are wondering what in the world I am rambling about, the 6 year anniversary of Madyson's death is fast approaching. I saw this

on Pinterest the other day. It is oh so true. I do miss my sweet girl every day. It makes me sad to know MK will never really know her sister. It makes me sad to think of all the 1st we didn't get to have with her. Then I remember those 10 months we did get to have with her. Seeing her do more than the doctors thought she would. Watching her turn her head to look as she heard her Daddy come into a room and started talking. So many things she could do!!


Enough of the sappy stuff. I've made myself tear up and know I'll need the tears next week. Next week is also my 7 year anniversary!! We share it with my grandparents. This makes it extra special to me. Wes and I have been together since January 2002. 10 years! He drives me bananas but I can't imagine spending the last 10 or next 10 (or the follow 100 either) years with anyone else. We've been through a lot together. He works so hard to provide the best for MK and I. We miss him terribly when he's gone. Luckily we get to see him at least weekly (most of the year anyway). This is us just before Christmas.

here is my grandparents taken just before their 50th Anniversary back in 1999. Just kidding, I can't find the picture already online and am too lazy to hut it down and scan it tonight. Maybe this weekend, or at least before our anniversary I'll get it scanned.

I'm done blabbing for now, but hope to come back next week and do a blog on what's happening at work. It's too much to add to this blog.

I've been super crafty lately. I have been very inspired by Pinterest. Since joining this site I have made several things. Today alone I made MK a dress and tights. Enough words, here's some pictures.

I made this a few weeks ago and did not like how they turned out. You couldn't really see the letters. I painted them white today a like it so much better. The letters just POP off the pages now.

MK helped me make her shirt. The ghost are her feet print in purple paint. She had fun helping me.

Take one of turning Daddy's shirt into a dress for MK. The arm holes were a little small and she did not like how it fit. I cut the sleeves off and came up with this....

I think you can tell from her facial expression she likes this one so much better!

Here is a Rapunzel wig I made MK from a tutorial I found on Pinterest.She loves it and has wore it a lot.


I have found a ton of ideas I can't wait to try. Come back often and see what else I come up with !