Trick of Treating Fun!

We had fun trick or treating tonight with the kids. It was actually quite warm out tonight (high 80's) and I was worried about the kids getting too hot with all the running from house to house that they were doing. But they did great, we have a TON of candy (my kids are going to be in sugar coma for the next month I think), and it was a lot of fun!

Raelyn with Shelby & Morgan (her friends from next door)

Trick or Treat! Check out Myles and the way he has his bucket held up behind him, running at full pace to get more candy!

Myles was the cutest thing ever. The 1st house we went to, he wasn't too sure about what he was supposed to do. He was kinda shy and scared until they dropped candy into his bucket. As soon as he realized he had gotten candy, he started laughing and he was all smiles. He was a trooper and went from house to house all excited about getting candy. He would throw his bucket up behind him and march from house to house with a permanate grin on his face. His bucket got so full, he was dragging it behind him. If I tried to help him carry his bucket in any way, he started screaming. He was very worried we were going to take all of his candy! We did finally empty his bucket in the stroller so he didn't have to drag it anymore, but man that was a fight in itself! Gotta love a boy on a misson for candy:-)

My two boys.....I LOVE this picture! It is moments like these that melt my heart and make me so thankful my kids have each other! Through all the fighting and tears, my kids love each other like only siblings can. As their Mom, it is one of my greatest joys to watch this bond between them!

Adalyn fell asleep about an hour into our trick or treating!

Happy Halloween!

Here are pictures of the kids all dressed up!

Adalyn as a Monkey!


Myles as a cow!


Raelyn as a Princess!


Broedy as a scarecrow (can you believe my Mom made this costume for Lee, oh probably 18 years ago?!?) Yes, I saved a LOT of the costumes my made for my brothers and I!

Happy Halloween!!!!

95

Yes, 95! That is what the tempature was today here in sunny Arizona! At the END of October! It's crazy! Yet, somehow it's nice to not have to plan halloween costumes around snowsuits this year. Who ever thought I would worry about my kids melting on Halloween?

The even crazier thing? I've been wearing jeans for the last 2 weeks. I still remember last year when we went to a Halloween party with our friends. I walked over to their house and both of them came out with JEANS on, IN 90 DEGREE WEATHER! I thought they were CRAZY! I remember saying something to them and they both laughed and told me, "just wait, before you know it, you will turn into one of us". I didn't believe them, but after being in jeans for two weeks now in 90 degree weather, I believe them!

The blood has thinned and I have to admit, I don't miss trick or treating in the snow!

In other news, I took Adalyn in for a shot visit today and she weighed in at 15 lbs 0.5 ozs. And she is now rolling from back to stomach and stomach to back. Before long, she'll be rolling all over the house. I'm not ready for my baby to grow up......

And here is Broedy with his wild and wacky hair! It's spirit week at school and Wednesday was wacky hair day so Chris colored Broedy's hair with colored hair gel for school.

The simple things in life.....

Chris & Adalyn napping together on a lazy Saturday afternoon!

My Helpers!

The kids love to "help" me around the house! Here are Myles and Raelyn helping me clean the floors this week!

Myles, my helper boy! He truly loves to help me around the house.

Holding the dust pan for Raelyn

Raelyn & Myles, I'm so in love with these kiddos.

We love this girl!

It all started this summer!

The school had a program this summer set up that any child under the age of 18 could eat Breakfast and lunch at school for free every day. Chris was at school already heading up summer school and I had just had Adalyn, so I was all about not having to fix lunch everyday! So, every afternoon we would walk over to the school so the kids could eat lunch in the cafeteria with the summer school kids!

One particular teacher fell in love with our kids and would always come over and steal Adalyn from me! She loved to hold her and everyday, I would sit and chat with her. Chris and I were talking about our trip back to MI and she mentioned how fun that sounded. One thing lead to another and before we knew it, we had made plans for her to come to MI with us for the summer. I figured anyone willing to travel 32 hours in a car with Chris & I, our four kids and our Golden Retriever must be crazy (which isn't a bad thing...I think I'm pretty crazy myself)!

I have to be honest and say, there were times when I thought "this could be a disaster". I didn't know this person very well and I was going to be spending a lot of time in a car with her and if our personalities clash, I'm going to be stuck with her for a few weeks. But, I was excited about it too. If you know anything about Chris & I, you realize we are pretty laid back, crazy and often do things "normal" people wouldn't do. Like taking someone you don't know very well on a family vacation. Or going on vacation for a month after you lose your job. Or living on daycare income while going to school full time. Or moving 1900 miles in 2 1/2 weeks. Or getting a puppy while on vacation. Or....I'm sure all of you can add your own "crazy" things Chris & I have done:-) In all honesty, it's one of the things I LOVE about my husband. I love that together we put ourselves out there and take risks a lot of people would be scared to take. In return we have had some great adventures and made some great memories for ourselves and our children.

Anyway, back to this person!

I have to say taking her on vacation this summer was one of the best things we have done! I feel so honored to have this person in my life. She has become family to us! She adores my children, she has a heart of gold and goes out of her way to help us in lots of small ways, she is a great friend and I don't think she realizes just how special she is to our family. And the best thing is she moved into a house three doors down from us so we get to bug her all of the time:-)

If you had the wonderful privelege of meeting her this summer when we were home or if you are lucky enough to live near her out in Arizona, you know I'm talking about Alissa! We love this girl and I feel so blessed to have her in our life!

The only beef I have with her is that she teaches English as a second language in Kindergarten which means Raelyn won't be able to have her as a teacher next year! We've considered teaching Raelyn spanish this summer so she can be in her class next year but Raelyn isn't too keen on repeating all the spanish words I keep trying to teach her!!

Tonight after coaching basketball she came over and cut Raelyn's hair for me! Raelyn was WAY past due for a good hair cut and Alissa came to the rescue!

Here are some pictures:

Alissa cutting Raelyn's hair.

Alissa & Raelyn with her new haircut! Aren't they both cute:-)

5 months old!

Adalyn Grace,

My precious little girl. It's been 5 months since I held you for the 1st time. I am so in love with you. You have the most precious smile and I love the way you light up when you hear my voice or see me walk into the room. Last night you were sound asleep with Daddy when I walked into the room and started talking. You instantly woke up and were looking for me and it melted me right then and there.

I love your soft, fuzzy hair and the smell of you head. I love the sound of your laugh when I give you kisses. I love your chubby thighs and your big, beautiful, blue eyes that have such depth to them. I love your little feet and the way you your grab tightly onto my finger when you are nursing. I love the look of pure contentment on your face when you fall asleep nursing.

I am enjoying every laugh and giggle, every snuggle, every chance I get to take a nap with you snuggled up next to me. I am enjoying watching you grow, yet at the same time I'm trying to treasure your infant stages. I know all too well that in a blink of an eye you will be one.

You started rolling from your back to your stomach this week and you enjoy being on your belly. You hold your head up so well and have started reaching for toys and objects that are in front of you.

You are adored by everyone you come in contact with and your siblings can't seem to get enough of you. Daddy and I often just stare at you in awe. We both really enjoy our evenings with you when your siblings are in bed.

I love you so much my precious little one.

Love,

Mommy

My baby rolling over:-)

On her back

starting to roll

here she goes

and over!

2nd Grade Fun!

Today all the 2nd graders had a pumpkin carving day at school. They got to carve pumpkins and they weighed the seeds from the pumpkins and did some other fun activities. Chris took the day off so he could attend with Broedy.

Here are a few pictures of their fun day at school!

Broedy & Chris

Broedy's 2nd Grade Class!

Being Goofy:-)

Broedy's class and all the parent volunteers being silly!

Broedy & his pumpkin

Getting ready to carve his pumpkin! You can see the scale at the bottom of the page. The kids gutted the pumpkins and then weighed the seeds.

Broedy carving his pumpkin!

Pulling out the seeds!

The finished carved pumpkin!

Kids Stats!

I wanted to write this down before I forget! Chris took Broedy & Raelyn to the doctor's last week for a check-up and Broedy weighed in at 51 lbs at age 7 1/2 and Raelyn weighed in at 31 lbs at 5 years old! Chris couldn't remember how tall they are so I need to measure them sometime this week!

A week with Grandpa & Grandma Bedford

Grandpa & Grandma Bedford headed back to Michigan today. It was fun to have them visit and sad to see them go. It's always nice to have family around.

Here are some pictures from the last week when they were here!

Adalyn loves the jump a roo!

Raelyn helping Grandpa play cards with Daddy!

Myles helping wash the table after dinner one night!

What a crew! Trying to get a picture always proves to be fun when the four kids are involved! The kids got gift certificates for Halloween for Burger King fries from Grandpa & Grandma and were showing them off to the camera!

Raelyn & Myles climbed into Grandpa & Grandma's Bed!

She feel asleep when we were playing a dice game one evening! She is just too sweet for words!

Lake Pleasant!

We took a ride to Lake Pleasant and let the kids get out and look for shells. It was a fun afternoon with Grandpa & Grandma and the kids!

Broedy collecting shells.

Myles helps collect shells too!

Grandpa watching the kids!

My three kiddos!

Watching from the car! I had to feed Adalyn and with the wind, it was pretty cold by the lake!

One Year....

Today it has been one year since the kids and I boarded a plane to move out here. One year since I said good-bye to my house, to my family, my friends and all that I loved back in MI.


It's been quite the year. I've grown as a person, I've learned to love mountains and desert landscape. I've learned to love warm weather and have realized that as a family, we can survive without parents, grandparents, siblings and aunts and uncles.


In all honesty, it's been a good year.


That doesn't mean I haven't had bad days....days when all I want to do is go back home, where I fight the urge to cry all day long, where I would give just about anything to see my parents, where I watch one of my children and ache at knowing family doesn't get to watch my children grow. Days that I long for a cold night in front of my old fireplace watching the deer in the backyard. Trust me, there are those days. But, there are many good days too....


Days when I know without a shadow of a doubt that we are where God wants us to be. Days when I watch my children swim, play and have fun with friends and realize that because of our move, we are stronger. We are a stronger family, I have a stronger marriage and we are blessed with wonderful friends and a wonderful church family. It's been a good year of learning who we really are as a family and watching God work in ways I never thought possible.

I've been stretched as a person and for that, I feel that I'm a better person, mother and wife.

It's hard to believe it's been a year and as I look back, I am amazed at how far I've come and how much I've learned. Michigan was wonderful and where my roots will always be, but Arizona is great too and for that, I am thankful!

Swimming with Grandpa & Grandma!

Grandpa & Grandma Bedford were out for the week and the kids had fun swimming with them one day! The water was 82 and everyone had fun!

Myles sporting his new swimsuit!

Broedy with Kalae, his loves this dog!

My kiddos on the waterfall!

Daddy with Adalyn and Myles

Myles was trying to take a nap in the pool!

Broedy & Raelyn playing with the turtles!

Grandma & Myles

Grandpa & Chris having a waterfight!

Raelyn - love that smile!

Our bathing beauty, Adalyn!