Look Who's Home!

We are so excited to have daddy home again. The girls want Greg to hold them constantly. In fact I will walk into a room and Greg will have picked up one of the girls and they are just hugging. I am so grateful for his safety and willingness to serve our country.

Ben Ten Birthday party!

My beautiful daughter Madison had a birthday this week. On her birthday we woke up and I made her eggs and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. At school I surprised her with a balloon, Burger King, and cupcakes for her class. She did not tell me what she wanted for her birthday, so we went to Toys'R'us and she picked out a Ben Ten car and a Hello Kitty game for her DS. Then we went to Chuck-E-Cheese. It was a day filled with fun for Madi. Then on Saturday we had her birthday party with friends. She wanted a Ben Ten theme. (If you do not know who Ben Ten is, don't feel bad. It is a show on Cartoon Network about a boy who can turn into ten different aliens. These aliens help him to rid bad aliens from our planet. Oh and he turns into these aliens because of a watch called the omnitrix). The party was a lot of fun. Instead of buying a themed cake, I decided to make one. This is my attempt to make the omnitrix.
Does it look like a watch?
Each of the kids got an alien mask to wear. Here is Madi explaining the rules to the first game.
Here are the kids in the line to play shoot the aliens.
We had a launcher that the kids shot the paper aliens with.
Of course the cute little kids were content to sit and watch
Then we all headed into the kitchen to eat pizza.
Thanks to Megan M. for picking up the pizza for me. You are a life saver.
Little Cesears pizza and bread sticks, Yum!
The second game we played was pin the tail on the donkey. I really wanted to play pin the omnitrix on Ben Ten, but I could not find a Ben Ten poster anywhere. I am not kidding I went to 5 different stores looking for one. Oh well, the good old fashion donkey works great too!
The kids could not wait to open the presents...
They all had a good time helping Madison...
I think all of the presents were opened in less then 3 minutes.
She loved everything she got!
After the whirl wind of presents, we put icing on sugar cookies to look like omnitrixes (do you see a recurring theme here?!)
They used green and black icing.
My beautiful Madi!
My beautiful Payton!
Madi concentrating very hard.
Landon content to just eat the cookie and play with the balloons.
I helped with the black frosting. I guess the clean freak in me did not want black icing all over my table! :0)
Megan with her cookie!
Then we hit a pinata. We picked a shark because, well, I'm not sure what goes through Madi's head. I guess because there were no Ben Ten pinatas and sharks are the next best thing?!
Madi hit first.

Then we went from littlest to biggest.
Everyone got one turn, then Madi broke it. It was perfect.All the kids ran to grab the candy.
Then we sang and ate birthday cake.
Happy Birthday Madison!
We were going to play nusical chairs with the theme song to Ben Ten, but I completely forgot. The party was so much fun and exhausting. I am so grateful for all my friends who helped me out since Greg was not here to help. Megan D. who showed up early to help me finish last minute things. Tara who brought her camera (mine is broken) and took all the pictures for me. Kim who helped me clean up, and Megan M. for getting the pizza. I could not have done it without everyone. I am blessed to have such great, wonderful, awesome friends.

To end this super long post, I wanted to tell each of you how much I love my daughter Madison. She is a great person. She is very intelligent. She remembers everything that she hears. It is scary how much she remembers. She is progressing like a great 6 year old. She is very helpful. Her new favorite thing to do for me is clean the dishes. She is such a loving sister. She is very talkative and will ask you a hundred questions, because she has to know about everything. I am the luckiest mom in the world. I have the most wonderful kids. I can't wait to see how they grow up. Well, I better stop the post. It's bed time for my girls. Good night!

Payton

Payton had to get her first cavity filled today. She did a great job! We did not hear a peep from her during the whole procedure. I was amazed. Madi usually screams and cries the whole time. I am so proud of Payton. Now I get to enjoy her company until Madi gets out of school. I have some great kids!

It has been a while

It has been a while since I blogged. I have been really busy, plus my camera broke. I am so sad. But, my birthday is right around the corner and I am hoping for a new camera!! Hint, hint Greg. Anyway, things are crazy busy. I just wish I had a day to sit and relax. I have had a migraine for the last two days and just want to rest. But, I know I can make it 39 more days! That is when Greg will be home!! This last year I have grown a lot. With that growth comes a wiped out lady. I am SO glad its almost over. If anybody knows anybody hiring, Greg will need a new job when he gets home. I have to get the girls ready for bed, okay they get themselves ready, but I better go supervise. Love you all!

Crazy Week

This week has been a difficult one for all of us. Wednesday Payton came home from school crying and whining. I am not kidding when I say she cried/ whinnied for 5 hours. I asked her why she was upset. She asked why daddy was always at work. I told her that daddy worked far away and I emphasized that daddy still loved her and would be home soon. She continued to be sad. I then remembered over hearing a boy ask her why her daddy never picks her up from school. The boy asked such an innocent question and we all had to suffer for 5 hours. Payton was so miserable. Good thing we get to sleep and forget our worries.

Friday Madison came home from school crying. I asked her why she was crying and she told me she had a horrible day. I asked her what happened and she told me that somebody stole her brownie and she didn't get to play kickball at P.E. She was so devastated, so we went to the store and got her a candy bar.

Today I was angry because a women was complaining that her husband was gone for 10 days and her kids were acting up. I was fuming. My husband has been gone for a year and I have kids acting up every day!! I was sending hate vibes. Now I didn't say anything. But now that I look back at the situation, why couldn't I just be sympathetic. I should have been nice and understanding. Well, at least I kept my big mouth shut. Next week will be better. I know it will!

2nd attempt

Here is my second attempt of making cupcakes from my cookbook. It was fun and easy. Are they perfect? No, but I never omitted I was an artist! :) I can't wait to give them to my friend Megan. She just had a beautiful baby girl.

New Years 2010

For New Years Eve we went to my grandma's house. It was a lot of fun. I have not been there in 10 years. My girls got to have fun with my cousins.

Me and my grandma

Four generations: Madison Ann, Jennifer Ann, Beverly Jean, and Michelle Ann
Oh and Payton walking away

Me, Grandma and Grandpa

my sister Sarah, my cousin Ray, my brother William and my momMy girls are sitting on top of my cousin Mark

My brother William, Aunt Jeanie, Cousin Alex and cousin K.C.

Aunt Lisa and cousin Rebecca

I got to spend time with 2 Texas friends. Candice (not pictured) and an old high school friend Sarah and her husband. It was great to catch up.
We also got to see my brother bless his new baby, Major Robert Powell. It was a great end to our Christmas vacation. Happy New Year!