Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Warning: Only read if you have 4 hours to do nothing!

Where to begin?
Not at the beginning, that’s for sure!
I’ve been blogging for 7 years and never taken a hiatus this long. Let’s just dive in!

We are loving, absolutely loving, Colorado! What other place has such amazing weather that you can go skiing on Friday and then go for a long warm hike and picnic on Saturday? Or be out in tanks and shorts at a football game and wake up to snow the next day? That’s what our weekend look like in Colorado these days!

JMad is staying busy with work. He’s learning a lot and really likes his colleagues. When not working he can be found with his second love CrossFit. Yep, I’ve seduced him to the dark side!! It took a couple of years, but he has finally had a drink of the CrossFit kool-aid and loves it. He’s building his own gym in the garage and is getting pretty good. I think I could still take him!

Caleb continues to challenge us as parents, disciplers and disciples. He is so materialistic and is drawn to the wordly things in life. There are moments where he is so difficult to parent (and be around for that matter) and then there are other moments where he is such a joy ( I have a feeling God says this about me too!) God continues to use this child to humble us and keep us on our knees. I believe with all my heart that God specifically uses this child to teach me more about His character and my character too. Caleb has been doing CrossFit kids and AWANA and both have been really good for him. Caleb is a natural leader – he was nominated for Student Council and loves being active in school leadership. We signed him up for camp this summer (the camp I was a counselor at!!) and I think he will have a great time. One thing that stays consistent with my boy is that he loves his mama. And, mercy, I love him too!

Luke continues to amaze us with his love of school, learning and athleticism. I went to his parent/teacher conference a couple of weeks ago and that child continues to stay at the top of his class. Luke has this fantastic teacher who has gone out of her way to come up with work that will challenge him. She has even had to go to other grades in search of work for him. (BTW – this has given me a whole new appreciation for what a “good” teacher is!) He loves math and is always asking me to make-up math tests for him at home. While he is super smart, he is also a huge mess. He is our personal, “Little Einstein.” His appearance is always disheveled and his teacher laughed when she showed me his desk. It was such a mess that he uses the empty desk next to him to hold his overflow papers. His backpack is an equal disaster – found his teachers Christmas present in it at the end of January!! Luke also loves football and plays in a flag league. He shocked us all by scoring 2 touchdowns his first game ever! (I think Caleb was most thrilled for him and kept yelling, “Number 1 Fan” to his baby brother!) Luke also really loves Jesus and is always sharing his love for Him with his friends at school.

Lily Kate is the mama and my little mini-me! My brother came into town and I wanted to run at the gym before he got here, so I say to the twins, “Let’s hurry to the gym and run because Uncle Mark will be here soon.” Lily Kate immediately says, “Oh, no! I didn’t get a chance to clean the floors!” Seriously, this child is my replica. Yep, at her parent/teacher conference her teacher said that she is the mama of the class and has a flair for drama. I think it is her “mama-drama” that keeps her and Luke fighting all the time. Those two bicker the most, but always want to play together. Lily Kate is by far my most helpful child and loves to work side-by-side with me. Love her!

Ella is the baby. That girl keeps me laughing with the crazy things she says. She totally melts my heart most days with her antics. Ella has made huge progress in school and is being taken off her IEP for OT/behavioral play. She’ll be reevaluated tomorrow for her speech, but her teachers are thrilled with her progress. She loves art and is working hard at learning to ride her trike.

Honestly, I can’t believe my twins will be 5 next month. I’m overwhelmed at the thought! A couple of months ago I signed the girls up for Kinder – my babies are going to school next year!

I’ve found my little niche here. I have friends that I could call if I needed something, but I don’t have friends to call just because. Those ‘just because’ friendships are my favorite and I miss them. Luckily, while I don’t have any of those friendships here, I do have them all over the country. I continue with my obsession with reading. To be honest if I have any spare time, I’ll pick up a book. Hence, why no blogging. A couple of weeks ago I read 7 books in a week. Thankfully, for my family’s sake, that doesn’t happen very often. I still am obsessed with CrossFit and love coaching it. I have a fabulous ladies bible study and it has been amazing. Unlike any study I’ve been in for a long time this one is filled with women of all ages. So much wisdom! My exciting news is that I’ll be going to Africa in June! So exciting and overwhelming. I’m going on a mission trip and maybe I’ll blog about how all that came about. Pretty exciting God stuff!

Our sad news of late is that Titan Dog, our family dog that we got when we first got married, got out and we never found him. It has really been hard for all of us, but especially me, which is surprising because that dog made me crazy more often than not. We are going to Alaska this summer for our family vacation, but when we get back we’re planning on getting a dog...or two?!

Well, I guess I’ve made long enough…
Here are some pictures of late. Isn’t that all people want anyway?!
The Kids on the first day of school!

My street in the fall.  The colors here are ah-may-zing!!

Nana's visit in the fall

Check out the colors and LK's sass.  That girl...

The boys first real snow!!!  They were thrilled to get to walk to school in it!

Ella, ready for the snow.  Seriously, it took longer to get the girls in their gear than they even spent outside.  So I got smart and made a new rule...

LK stylin'.  New rule is you must stay out longer than it takes to find your snow stuff and get dressed.  We didn't have snow boots yet, so we wore our rain boots we never got to wear in SA!


the Princess girls at Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Our first Air Force Academy football game!  We tailgated before we some friends - my first tailgate party!  The awesome part (that I don't have pictures of!) of this day was our friends we went with are USAFA grads and played on the football team, then coached the team when he graduated.  So after the game we got to go on the field and meet the players.  My boys are football FANATICS and were beyond thrilled!!  One of the players even gave Caleb his sweat band from the game.  I think Caleb slept with it for a week -yuck!!

Our annual tradition of Operation Christmas Child.  Whew shopping for 4 kids, with 4 kids was something! 

Christmas Girls!

Caleb and Luke are in a duct tape phase.  They make skateboards, shoes, ties, belts, wallets, cars...with duct tape.  Here's Caleb and Daddy with their ties.

Caleb's first time on ski's.  This child loves to ski, has no fear and is really good!

Aunt Carami came to visit and make gingerbread houses

Ella wanted me to take a picture of her "Daphne smile".  This girl loves Scooby and the gang!



Uncle Mark and the Beauties

My little ski boys!

Mountain Man Maddry doing some spring skiing

I think it was the warmest ski day I've ever skied.  Here are my boys as we head down!

Hiking the next day!  Love Colorado!!!!  Ski one day, hike the next.



4 comments:

Toby and Rebecca said...

Good to see your blog updated! (not that I am one to talk)
I am sorry to hear about Titan. Dogs are such special members of our families. You can be annoyed with them 95% of the time, yet they still know you love them. I have to admit I'm a bit jealous of your frequent snow days. Wishing it hadn't been so long since I was on the mountain. Just one question- when are you going to try the real sport and hop on a board? ;)

Karen said...

So good to see you back blogging. I've been wondering what you've been up to. It looks like you all are enjoying Colorado. Can't wait to see more updates.

Sab Mad said...

R-to-the-Becca!

Luke has no interest in boarding. Caleb is desperate to board! We wanted him to learn to ski well first. Next year we'll let him try. And you will likely NEVER see me on a board. Whew, that looks hard!

Elizabeth said...

SO happy that you blogged! Facebook just isn't thorough enough!

Your Luke reminds me so much of my Jake. Super smart with lots of quirks-I love it!

I am planning my trip to Colorado to see you:) BEST place to live in the whole world!