December already??

Wow, again almost 3 months have passed since my last post. I guess I am not real faithful at this blogging stuff.
The rest of September...Madie chose the Olive Garden as her Birthday meal choice. I guess she really does take after her mom.
Tom Gunderson turned 30 and Rachel threw him a Vegas party. Kevin and I dressed as Tacky Tourists. It was a great party!!
Madie played soccer again in September. It was FREEZING for most of her games.
Madie's birthday party...she had her friends birthday party at Becky's floral in Mankato. The girls decorated pots and then got to make their own bouquet of flowers. They had a lot of fun.
SICK--Madie got what we believe was H1N1. She was so nice that she shared with her mom and I got sick as well.
October...I am not sure where that entire month went, but the highlight of the month was our family dressing up as the Flintstones for Halloween. Kevin was Fred, I was Wilma, Madie was Pebbles and Brady was Bamm-Bamm.
November...a busy month of running, but nothing fun to report. Thanksgiving was late in the year and we hosted the Clarke's at our place on Thursday and the VanLoy's on Saturday.
Kevin again went Black Friday shopping. He chose not to even go to bed on Thanksgiving night. He got almost all the Christmas shopping done (although I did help from the comfort of our bed at 2:00 A.M. at Walmart.com!)
Christmas is right around the corner. Hopefully I will be better at posting in December...that is the goal.

First Days...

This week was the first day of school for both Madie and Brady. Madalyn started 1st grade at Washington Elementary with Cindi Hashimoto. Brayden started pre-school at 5C's preschool in North Mankato with Mrs. Willaert as his teacher. They both LOVE school, so that is great. Madie could not wait for school to start this week, let's hope that lasts.
Tomorrow Madalyn turns 7 years old. She was born at 3:46 A.M. on September 12, 2002. It was one of the happiest days of my life. We will be celebrating her day with lunch, and a friend staying over. On Sunday her grandparents and aunts/uncles are coming over. We will have her party with her friends later.

Where did the summer go??

Wow, how sad is it that I wanted to blog so that I would not forget the kids growing up and I just missed 4 months of their lives.
A quick update on the summer...
Soccer: Madie played soccer during the month of June. I helped coach which is so funny because I know nothing about soccer except...SCORE! The girls had a great time and learned a lot. That is all that matters.
Camping: We went camping in Wisconsin the end of June and the kids had a blast. There was a big bouncy thing that the kids LOVED. It was cold and rainy, but we got to see Kevin's grandma and aunt/uncle and cousins so it was well worth the trip. We also were in charge of picking up the fireworks for the neighborhood 4th of July party. Brady became addicted to mini-golf this weekend.
4th of July: One GREAT neighborhood party! We had a BLAST. We rented 2 huge waterslides for the kids to play on all weekend. We had lots of food and lots of beer. Nothing better! Played games and had one great DJ (our neighbor Jon). The cops made a few trips by during the later part of the evening, but just came becuase they heard there was a great party on Cole Ct! The waterslides were used on Sunday by Rachel almost as much as the kids:) Kevin went down too...it was HILARIOUS.
Illinois Trip for mom: I went to Illinios with my mom and 5 of my 6 sisters in our van for the weekend. It was a BLAST. We went to meet our sister Barb from SC, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May, so we all went together to support her. The trip down was so fun, we enjoyed the weekend and Marsha FLEW home.
Brady turns 4!! Brayden chose Buffalo Wild Wings for this birthday supper. It was so funny that is where a 4 year old wants to go. His birthday was great, a new spiderman bike was his present this year.
Camping trip #2 of the summer brought us to Fairmont. We went on Friday and hit the Fairmont water park the went to the campground. Jen and Ross, our neighbors, met us in Fairmont. It again was COLD and rainy, but that did not damper the fun. Brady became addicted to croquet this weekend.
Kevin & I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary on August 1st.
Madie and I enjoyed a great girls day...school shopping, lunch, pedicures. Nothing better than spending quality time with your girl!
Spent a weekend on Duck Lake. The kids enjoyed Auntie M's cabin and kayaking. It was the first time any of us had been kayaking. We got very sunburned, but had a blast.
Kevin and I went to Ribfest and Boogie Wonderland. We had not seen Boogie Wonderland since before we had kids.
Carbon Monoxide malfunction: at 10:30 P.M. on August 11th...do you assume it is a false alarm, nope, you call the fire department and head to Rachel and Tom's holding sleeping kids to wait to make sure you have the all clear!
Gunderson's get a speed boat--and it is a blast! Kevin took the kids to Chaska so I could have a day to myself and Rachel kidnapped me to have a day on the lake with her, Tom and Jeff and Mindy. We had a blast tubing. That evening, Kevin met us downtown for a night out. It was a great day. The kids enjoyed being in Chaska staying at Auntie Kims. Madie went to Sam's birthday party at the Chanhassen gymnastics place.
Mom celebrates the 6th anniversary of her 29th birthday! I had a great birthday thanks to the kids and Kevin. Kevin took me to the Jason Mraz concert--it was great. The kids stayed with Jen and Ross and had a great time too.
Weekend at the lake: Went to the lake with the Gunderson's. Headed out on Saturday and Brady puked in the car about 2 miles from home. We turned around and cleaned out the car. Brady decided he wanted to go build sand castles, so we covered the back seat with a blanket, gave Brady a bucket and went to the beach. He was a trooper...and did no puke any more. He even went tubing...the kids first time tubing and both did great. Went back to the lake that Sunday for more tubing!
Makin Salsa...we canned salsa for the first time. We are enjoying it!!
Camping trip #3: We went to New Ulm camping the end of August. As we were packing up on Friday, Madie got the pukes. We asked her if she wanted to stay home...nope, she wanted to camp. So we loaded everything in the van, gave her a bucket and off we went. She puked in the van on the way, puked when we got to New Ulm, puked at the campsite while we set up the tent, puked in the tent while she was resting...then said she was hungry. Ate a TON and then was just fine. We went hiking in the state park, saw a deer and other animals. The kids LOVED Herman the German and the Glockenspiel. Our friends Marsha, Jeff and Isaac joined us for supper on Friday night. It was another successful camping trip--with NO RAIN!!
That sums up our summer in a short version. If I think of anything else...I will post soon. School starts next week. Madie will be in 1st grade with Mrs. Hashimoto as her Teacher and Brady will be going to 5 C's.

Memorial Weekend

As of Friday before Memorial Day we didn't have anything planned for the weekend, which isn't like us. We decided what Priceline.com could get us for a hotel room in the cities. We got a great deal at LeBourget Aero Suites in Bloomington. After we booked the room Brady started to get a fever Friday night. Since we are a family who believes in drugs we decided to drug Brady to get his fever down and go to the cities for some fun.
On Saturday after we had some lunch we headed to the hotel. We immediately headed for the swimming pool. It was small, and hotter than hell in the pool area but the water was good and the kids enjoyed it. After the pool we headed out to supper. We had a coupon for Wolley's steakhouse at the Embassy Suites hotel. Very ritzy place but we decided since it was in a hotel the kids could go to this resturant. Jean had pasta, I had stuffed pork chops, Madie had pizza and Brady enjoyed chicken fingers. Even thou Brady was feverish he still ate a lot of food. At the end of the meal the waiter brought out a bowl full of lemon flavored cotton candy. Kids loved it. After supper we headed back to the hotel where Madie swam some more and Brady rested while watching Wow Wow Wubbze. Jean had a craving for Perkins pie so we all had pie for a bedtime snack.
On Sunday, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel. The hotel was nice to give us breakfast for $5.00. We all got a drink and a menu item for $5 total. Nice deal i think. After, we headed out to the Como Zoo which turned out to be a zoo. After driving around for 20 minutes we finally found a spot about 3 blocks away. The kids couldn't wait to hit the rides so we started out with that. We had lunch while waiting for Sparky the Sea Lion to perform. Kids loved it. I thought it was kinda a short performance but it was nice. We then walked around looking at the animals and ended the visit with a few more rides and the kids getting their face painted. We headed home about 4:30 and got home just in time for supper.
On Monday Jean decided to take Brady to the Clinic in the mall. He battled his fever all weekend and it got as high as 103. Turns out he had strep throat and he got on antibiotics. We just stayed home on Monday and enjoyed the day. We had Jen and Ross over for some steaks for supper then we called it a night. Turns out it was going to be a long night.
Monday night, Tuesday morning was a long night because Brady's fever reached it's highest, it even got me a little scared. At 1am his fever was 104.8. I drugged him some more and cooled him with the ice pack. Jean and I took turns laying with him. Tuesday after his second dose of antibiotics he got better and now he is himself thank God!
It wasn't the best Memorial Day weekend we ever had but the kids had fun and the weather was great.

Kevin

Mother's Day 2009

Well Mother's Day weekend started with Madie going to her first sleepover in which it wasn't a neighbor or family member. She went to a birthday party sleepover for her friend from school. Jean thought we would be getting a call in the middle of the night but I knew she would make it all night.
Saturday started with a trip to the farmer's market. I thought they wouldn't have anything but turns out they had asparagus and RHUBARB! Then we picked up Madie and all went to the library. The kids picked out some books and even Jean is getting hooked on Nora Roberts books. After a quick lunch at home we went off to find flowers for Mom. We went to Drummers got some Viola's, vegetables and other flowers for Mom. We came home and quickly got to work. I mowed the grass while Mom and Madie started on the flower bed. We got the flower bed done and moved on moving rock away from the side of the house to plant our first ever vegetable garden. We hopefully will be enjoying cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes and rhubarb. Then we planted the flowers in the pots for the front. All in all the outside looks great, inside is next. We topped of the day watching Tom start an adventure of his own in landscaping their new tree with landscape brick and then played a little beer pong before calling it a night.
Sunday we all went to church for the first time in a long time. After, we finally got to look at the love seat Jean found on craigslist. The high school senior who was selling it took $25 less than the asking price and we found ourselves with a pretty new love seat for our sun room. We came home and Jean opened her presents from us. She liked them but some didn't work out or were the wrong color so we exchanged them on Monday. For lunch we decided at last minute to eat at 101 Main for their lunch buffet. Sadly it sucked. They ran out of their famous popovers and other food. Thank God the kids were only $2.99 a piece. After we ate, we or should I say my wife decided to she wanted to paint the sun room since we got the new love seat. So off to Sherwin Williams! We stopped there and Menards for some other garden supplies. We started painting about 3:30 and with help from Madie and Brady busy playing Wii it only took us 2 hours. It looks great! The color is Brandywine and matches the room and makes it look very comfy. Jean says she will drink the wine and I'll drink the brandy. We are now on a look out for an end table and ottoman.
It was a busy, hard working Mother's Day but Jean was happy and everything looks great and that's all that matters.

Kevin

Is it really May already???

Not sure where the time has gone...although I think a lot of time has been spent at the YMCA pool watching the kids at swimming lessons. Tonight was the last night of the session and both kids passed!! Yeah for them. Brady will now be in Eel and Madie will be in Guppy2. Madie jumped in the deep pool without a life jacket---What a big day! Both kids went down the slide and Brady LOVED it.

Madie is going to a little friends (Adrianna's) birthday party tomorrow night. It is a sleep over, so we will see if she makes it or if we have to go and get her in the middle of the night (or Kevin needs to go and get her I should clarify).

We planted some ruhbarb this week and this weekend we will work on planting all the flowers for the summer.

Brady is FULLY potty trained. He wears underware to bed and everything. YEAH!

Madie still does not have her 2 front teeth. She lost them in September and they are still not in. I am sure glad that I had the dentist X-Ray for them when I had the kids in a few months ago. He promised me they are there, I just need to be patient I guess.

It was a beautiful day today. I went to the Greater Mankato Growth Young Professionals network salsa party this evening and met some very nice people. I really like living in this town!

Love to all.

EVE

What a BIG day at our house today...Brady got his Eve toy from the movie Wall*E.

He has been working on pooping in the potty. And in the last week, he has really caught on. We have talked to him about pooping in the potty for MONTHS...maybe even a year:) He has been wearing underwear since Christmas because he is potty trained, but poop has been a challenge. We were tired of cleaning poop out of underwear, so we started to tell him to ask for a pull-up when he needed to poop.
In the last few weeks, Kevin has really worked with him. He would ask for a pull-up and Kevin would encourage him to sit on the potty. He would sit on the potty and sometimes poop, others not. This week he got it! He seems to be on a schedule of pooping every other day and he has pooped in the potty EVERY day this week.
The rule was 3 times in a row and he got Eve...so he pooped 3 times in the potty this week and TODAY he got his EVE toy.
We are smarter than we look...knowing that maybe he just decided he wanted to poop because then he would get Eve, we told him that if he poops in his pants, then Eve goes back into the box.
He LOVES her, so I am guessing that he will work really hard to keep her.

WAY TO GO Brady...mom and dad are VERY proud of you!

Besides that big news...
I have been going to Maverick Boot Camp at MSU and decided that during this process that I really enjoy running, so I started running. I got new shoes today and Kevin thinks they should run themselves because I paid too much for them.
Madie and Brady are in swimming lessons on Tuesday/Thursday. 2 weeks left...It is great to see them learning, but I will be happy to quit running to lessons twice a week.
Kevin starts softball again tomorrow. I am sure we will not hit the game because it is really cold.

Enjoyed spending time with friends last night at the Twilight Lounge...Jen/Ross; Tom/Rachel; Jake/Josie; and Deb/Koon. It was alot of fun!

Enjoy~~
Jean

Win Twins!

On April 19th we took the kids to their first ever Twins game and first time at the Metrodome. We thought it would be fun to ride the light rail train to the game. So we went to the Mall of America and tried to find where to park for the light rail, turns out we shouldn't park at the mall instead park at the station about a block away. After eating appetizers at TGI Fridays we bought tickets for the train. Turns out there was an accident with a train and a car nearby, so we had to get on a bus and drive about 15 mins to Fort Snelling to get on the train there. After squeezing in the train and a 20 minute ride we just got to the dome to see the first pitch. It was hard to tell if the kids enjoyed the game more or the hot dog, pop and cotton candy they had. They were amazingly good at the game. Brady played Leapster when we got bored and Madie drew pictures of the stadium. The highlight of the game was the ending. The kids after the game got to run the bases and after a long line got to take pictures with TC bear.
The ride home on the train was a lot better and a lot less crowded. We topped of the day with a visit to ToysRus. We found Brady a Wall-E Eve toy that he gets when he poops in the potty 3 times in a row. Madie got a new High School Musical alarm clock. We finally headed home but not before we went to Dairy Queen for supper. All in all, the kids and us had a great day and the Twins even won the game.

Our Fish

Madie and Brady are in swimming lessons at the YMCA right now. Madie is in Guppy 1 and Brady is in Pike. His first time at swimming lessons at the Y. They are both doing a really great job. It will be great to be done with lessons before the summer starts.

I am in "Boot Camp" right now at work. Jen is our trainer and she is working our butts off. My team is Kath Bill, Rochelle Ament and Paula Neinman. We are doing great. Today I did 10 more push-ups and 30 more sit-ups in 1 minute than I did 3 weeks ago.

Work is crazy right now. With the State of MN budget issues, they have made cuts at work. Both my bosses, Pat Lipetzky and Kathy Trauger have been cut. It is crazy....We are all just trying to figure out what our jobs are and go from there.

Happy Spring!!

Easter

On Saturday we had a busy day. Marsha decided to host Easter for the VanLoys at the Americinn up by campus. We only had about 25 family members there but we had enough food for 50. The kids went swimming while I went to Quinn's birthday party. I was the only non family member there, I guess I must be important to his family. Got Quinn a noisy toy that goes on the frig, hope he likes it. Spent about an hour at the party and went back to the hotel. The kids enjoyed swimming and Madie got used to jumping in the deep end of the pool without a life jacket.
On Sunday we went to church. Think we only made it to church 3 times during lent. After church we had Grandma and Papa over for lunch. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, bread and desert. Needless to say I ate to much. Dad took our old gas grill off our hands and it's no longer a eye sore on the side of the garage. He'll take it to the cabin, maybe we'll see it again if we ever get up that way.

Well that's all I have for now. The next blog will have our trip to the Twins game, the kids first game ever. Hope they can sit through it all. Kevin

April 4th and 5th

This weekend we did some more fun stuff with the kids.
On Saturday we picked up Madie's school friend Sydney, and we all went to Drummer's Easter Egg Hunt. It was a fun time for the kids. It didn't take long for them to find their eggs. Afterward, we came home and made our own pizzas. Sydney went home about 4:30 and we headed out to buy a lot of groceries. During our trip Madie started to have tummy aches, didn't even eat anything at HyVees buffet. We got home and she laid in bed. Threw up once and was fine the next day. Tough girl gets over sicknesses fast!
On Sunday after church and after lunch we went to open swim at MSU. The kids loved it. Madie and Jean swam 16 laps in the pool while Brady enjoyed hanging on my back while I swam. I topped my excerise, by going to play basketball at the Maple River high school with Father Sutton. Needless to say I'm still sore from the activities.
Sunday night we decorated Easter eggs with the kids. They always enjoy coloring eggs.
This week Madie has spring break so no school and I get my daycare helper back. It also means more kids in daycare for the week.

Kevin

Where does the time go???

Just an update to fill everyone in on the last 2 weeks. Brady still is not poop trained...I am SO tired of changing poop on a 3 1/2 year old I could puke! Today I took him in to the Doctor and he has pneumonia, so trying to nurse him back to health.
Madie is having a play date with her friend Sydney on Saturday and is so excited. They have been planning this for weeks!
This weekend we went to my sister Kerri's in SD...what a long drive! The kids were really good. Thank GOD for travel DVD players in the car. We watched Mitch play basketball, did a little shopping and just hung out.
Friday night on the way to SD, we listed to the MSU Maverick Women's BB team win the Division II National Championship....GO MAVERICKS!

Thursday of last week, Madie has her last session of Swimming lessons. She passed Polliwog!! GO MADIE~~
Madie and Brady both start swimming lessons next Tuesday. Madie will be in Guppy1 and Brady will be in Pike.

Stressful week for me at work...our Dean's position was eliminated last Monday and we are being reorganized, but yet to know what that really means. It has been stressful, lots of anxiety...just the not knowing is driving me crazy!

Ok, so that was all random! Hopefully it will not take so long to post next.

My Life would Suck Without You

My new favorite song...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bap-oZI-Grc I was walking around the house the other night singing "My life would suck without you" and Madie asked why I was singing...I said because I like the song. She said, well mom...my life would suck without you too!

This weekend I played Volleyball in the cities with the girls. It was AWESOME. We had just the right number of goldschlager shots! We took 3rd place...yeah for us!!

Monday I had the day off and got a body wrap, lost 7 inches! Too bad they came back plus some:) (just kidding).

Another day in warm sunny Minnesota!

Monday March 16th

Jean had the day off and after Brayden came back from Speech class she took him to 5 C's preschool for a visit. He loved it and wanted Jean to leave him there. During the visit Jean took Brady to the restroom. While in the restroom Brady had a hand full of sudsy soap bubbles and when the automatic toilet flushed, since he doesn't like the noise, covered his ears with his hands and got soap in his ear and on his face. Wish I could have been there to see that.

Oh No...

Madie had swimming lessons last night and she ROCKED! It was awesome to see her do so well. Today was BEAUTIFUL outside. The kids played a lot.
I just went online to check the score of the MSU women's BB game and they lost:( When I saw the score to the game I said "Oh shit"...Brayden walked over to the computer, looked at the screen and said "Oh No" (having no idea what I was looking at). It was the cutest thing ever!
On Friday I am going on a field trip to MSU with Madie's kindergarten class. They are celebrating Dr. Suesses Birthday.
The weekend will bring the kids at Grandma & Papa's...Kevin and I SLEEPING!! YEAH. Looking for a new matress and going to the hockey game with Jen and Ross. A fun filled weekend for all.

Another week went by....

Here we are Sunday night again...Monday I had volleyball in the evening, so headed out with the girls. Tuesday, Madie started swimming lessons again. She is going at the YMCA and is a Polliwog. She did GREAT! Swam with the boy teachers and everything (which is a big deal because during the summer lessons, she cried about boy teachers). Brady and Kevin came with us to lessons and Brady cried because he wanted to swim. Kevin took Brady and went to his volleyball game. Madie and I met them their and the kids and I watched Kevin's team play.
Wednesday, I stayed home sick...I think I had the "after flu"...I had the fever and body aches, but did not have the pukes, which is OK with me. Lent started today--Kevin gave up swearing and I gave up soda.
Thursday, was another snowstorm...make that storm 500 of the winter--at least it seems. The kids got out of school early, so Madie did not have swim lessons on Thursday night. My first of the caffeine withdrawl headaches happed today.
Friday...the caffeine withdrawl headache was HORRIBLE today. Good thing it passed. My sister Sherry and I went to the play at MSU on Friday night. Kim was sick, so I was Sherry's date. The play "Noises off" was hilarious!
Saturday...we went to the MSU basketball games today. We watched the entire women's game and some of the men. The women won their game and finished the season 26-1. After the games we went out for supper.
Over the week...Brady ate us out of house and home. We need to take out a loan to feed that kid. All he does is eat right now. On the Wii Fit, he has gained 3.5 pounds in the last month. I am afraid how much that kids will eat as he gets older. Today he ate, breakfast, lunch, snack, a TON of supper (chicken, corn, rice, apples, cottage cheese, salad), then we went to ColdStone for ice cream, he ate all of his, we got home and he was hungry---ARGH!
Brady also has been getting dressed himself. He says..."I need to get my dressed on". It is really cute.
Brady has been asking for a pull-up when he needs to poop, so that is nice. At least we know he is getting the understanding of feeling he needs to go.
We are hoping the flu has passed...not only through the 4 of us, but also all the daycare kids.

Love,
Jean

What a week!

We had a lot of fun last weekend staying with the kids at the Sheraton in Bloomington and going to Nickelodeon Park at the Mall of America. Brady said he liked the Diego ride the best, Madie liked the Jimmy Neutron Atomic Collider (it was the one she went on with mom and she laughed the entire time...mom sat with her eyes closed). We headed to the MOA at 10:30 on Sunday morning when it opened and left at 5:00...it was a long day! After the park, we headed to the Disney store and the kids enjoyed that. High School Musical, Camp Rock, Wizards of Waverly place all caught Madie's eye while Brady spent his time with Wall E, Toy Story and Cars. The kids were great and we had a blast.

Not sure where all the time went this week...it seems like only yesterday we were planning to go to away for the weekend and here we are with another weekend gone!

Kevin and Brady had the flu yesterday...puking, fever, etc. Seems like mom is the only one that has been safe so far. I am sure with my crappy imune system it won't be long until i am puking!

Hope to blog more this week!

Take care.
Jean

Here we come weekend!

Madie felt great today and went off to school for her valentines party dressed in all red. Kevin made the kids heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, heart shaped sandwiches for lunch and cookies with hearts for snack.
I took a bath tonight and while I was in the tub, the kids decided to take a bath downstairs. While I was still in the tub, Madie came upstairs and firmly scolded me for taking all of the hot water. It was really cute.
Brady is watching Toy Story (for the 900+time) and Kevin is readying a book to Madie.

We need to get packed for our weekend at the Sheraton in Bloomington and a trip to the Mall of America Nick Park for rides, etc.

Happy Valentines day to you all!
Love the Clarkes'

What a week...

Monday I hit the Doctor to see what was up with my shoulder...ended up going to Physical Therapy. Missed VB with the girls and it sounds like without me there was not a lot of drinking done after the game. Does that mean I am the bad influence??
Tuesday...Kevin had volleyball and I had a meeting at church so Jen (our great neighbor) came to stay with the kids for a little bit.
Wednesday...all hell broke loose. After school Madie headed into her room because she was cold and wanted to lay down. She said her tummy hurt so Kevin gave her some Pepto. When I got home, I made her soup, she took 2 bites and said she was done. Headed to our room to lay down again and puked all over the bedroom carpet, in the hallway trying to get to the bathroom, and then in the bathroom. Kevin and I sanitized everything in the house...hope that it helps and nobody else gets the bug.
We are headed to the Mall of America this weekend to go to the "carnival" as the kids call it and stay at a hotel, so hopefully we will all be healthy!
Today is Thursday and after going into work at 6:15 to get ready for an event, I came home to stay with Madie so Kevin did not have to close daycare...she has not puked all day and in fact is bouncing off the walls!!
Kevin and I were talking last night about fun things the kids have said over the years and I wanted to write one of Brady's favorites for a while...I am happy, You are a meaner guy!

Signing off...
Jean

Where did the weekend go???

The weekend has come and gone again! Brayden was spinning on Saturday morning while watching his movie (Madagascar 2) downstairs and fell and hit his face on the endtable. A black eye for him! He is still cute as ever and when Kevin got home, he said "Hey tough boy" and Brady said, I am not tough boy, I am just spinning boy that feel down.
Madie was such a big helper, she got Brady an ice pack and water to help him feel better.

Sunday morning I was reading the paper and there was a cold stone coupon in the paper. I said, they have 6 cupcakes for $10...Brady said "I'll buy that for $10"...it was so cute. Kevin and I both laughed.
This afternoon, Kevin and I were taking the snowman stuff down and putting up the "generic" stuff. I was headed to the basement from the entry way and feel down the stairs. My shoulders/back are so sore tonight. I have spent my fair share of time crying today becuase I hurt.
I need to sign off...it hurts to type.

Finally Friday

I did not ever think Friday would get here this week. It was long!
We were all lazy this morning, so I drove Madie to school. She wanted pancakes for breakfast so dad made her "Tootles"...pancakes shaped like miekey mouse with mini m&m's and chocolate chips.
Supper tonight was make your own pizza night...mini pizza's for the kids and Kevin and I had BBQ chicken pizza.
After supper we headed to the mall for errands. Kevin exchanged his running pans we got him for his birthday. At scheels we all had samples of fudge! yummy.
We went to look for a new chair for the sunroom tonight as well. Did not find just what I was looking for so keep looking.

Brady is downstairs watching Madagascar 2 and Madie is upstairs watching Camp Rock. They LOVE movies and picking out movies to rent at the "movie store".

Love to all!

Day 2 of blogging

Today was a busy day for the Clarke's...It was about 40 degrees outside so Kevin took the daycare kids outside. Tomorrow is Owen's last day at daycare. His parents are taking him back to the center he came from.
Madie went to the bus with her dad this morning which is unusual, normally, I take her to the bus, but I got up late because of a headache. After they left for the bus, I noticed Madie's lunch in the fridge. She decided she needed to take lunch to school because they were having taco's and she does not know how to fold the taco:) When Kevin got home from the bus stop, he hurried off to school to give Madie her lunch. What a great dad! This afternoon, Madie went to the dentist to have her 6 year molars sealed. She did great...no big deal to her. Kevin took the kids to McDonalds as I went to a wine tasting event for the Young Professionals Network. I met them at the book fair at school.
Madie came home with me and Brady rode with dad...boys with boys and girls with girls:) Madie and I are going to watch Grey's Anatomy now. Our Thursday night ritual...cuddling on the couch watching our show together. She has to promise not to be crabby if I let her stay up late.
Brady was a big guy today and stayed dry all day again! YEAH...I think pee training has been obtained, poop will come right??

Day 1...of blogging that is

I keep thinking that I don't want to forget my kids growing, so here I am blogging!
I hope to write all the fun things that my kids say...things they do...etc. here to remember forever.

Madie is 6 years old right now...she has lost 5 teeth already. Her 2 front teeth have been missing since September and she still does not even have new ones showing. She is in kindergarten and a very rule abiding girl. She is a wonderful person. Today she started getting her valentine's ready for her friends at school because she has to bring them to school by next Wednesday (like 1 week is not long enough!). She packed her own school lunch today because they are having taco's tomorrow and she does not know how to roll her own taco and make it stay like I do. It is amazing the issues they come upwith!

Brady is 3 years old right now...he is officially "pee trained", I think. Pooping, that is a different story. He was pooping in his underware, but we have convinced him to tell us he has to poop so we can put a diaper on him at least (less cleanup on our part!). Brady got a hair cut tonight...he does not mind that at all.
Brady always has something funny to say...I will try to keep writing them as I think of them, but a few months ago...(as he is sitting on the toilet, pulling up his penis to look at it) "mom, it does not work".

Kevin is back in school at South Central and doing daycare. I am working at MSU.