Thanksgiving

As a general rule of thumb, I try not to be too cheesy. The girls will not hesitate to tell me if they think I'm being too sentimental or mushy. Unfortunately, this is one of those times that I will be mushy-gushy. With Thanksgiving approaching, I look at my life and think about the many things that I am thankful for. Out of everything that I am thankful for (family, friends, job, etc) I am most thankful for my adorable, healthy, children.

A family that we are very close to suffered a terrible loss earlier this year. A freak accident took the life of their 7 year old daughter. The accident has definitely given me a new prospective on life. I discipline less, watch my tone, hug and kiss the girls more, and make sure I never leave them without telling them how much I love them. The thought of losing one of my children is too much to bear and I pray every day that I will never have to cope with the type of loss our friends are currently dealing with. A few nights ago, they were on Fox 2 news sharing their story with the world. They have been so strong, but you can still see the grief in their faces as they talk about their adorable daughter that died more than 8 months ago.

The moral of my story...I am thankful. I'm thankful for my children. I love them more than anything and worry about them constantly. They drive me crazy. They make me laugh. They are beautiful inside and out. In my eyes, they are perfection. They are kind, and loving, and caring. They don't see imperfections when they look at me, they love me unconditionally as I do them. I thank God every day for the gift he has given me.

GO PRICELESS!!!

This weekend was awesome! We had a two day cheerleading competition and two of the three teams competing from our gym won 1st Place! Mackenzie's team name is Priceless and they did a fantastic job. They got 1st Place medals (even though they were the only Level 1 Youth team competing that day) and you would have thought they won the Olympics. I absolutely love seeing the girls out there competing and showing everyone how awesome they are. I couldn't be a prouder parent.

Maddie didn't compete this weekend. A normal five year old would have been dreaded sitting thru hour upon hour of watching other teams compete. Madison is not your typical five year old though. She is obsessed with cheerleading. She sat completely still (with the exception of the times she was cheering the teams on and yelling 'Go Pride') and watched every single team compete. She was perfect the entire time and kept being passed around from coach to coach and cheerleader to cheerleader. It's like she's the Pride mascot. They love stunting her because she's so little and she loves the attention.

March Madness

The year has just begun and it's already a hectic one! So much has happened, and will happen in 2009, it's sure to be a memorable time for all of us. My sister got engaged (woohoo) and is planning to get married next year, hopefully somewhere sunny and warm, the girls and I like to get our tans. : ) The girls and I are going to be in a wedding this September and couldn't be happier. (Love you Allie!!!) My BFF Chelle is giving birth TODAY!!! I can't wait to see little Conner. If Addy is any indication, he's going to be gorgeous!

This weekend Maddie had her first sleepover! She's had a friend spend the night before, but this was the first time she stayed over at a friend's house. It's hard to believe she's growing up. It was just last week that I had to, gasp, register her for Kindergarten. Just thinking about it makes me tear up, maybe I should schedule the entire first week off of work instead of just the first day?

I was lucky enough to spend part of this past Saturday with my adorable nephew Camden. He gets cuter every time I see him. He's crazy about Maddie, and I have a feeling it's because she's close to his size. LOL!

It seems like Spring has finally arrived so we took the opportunity to spend some time at the park yesterday. Mackenzie has decided to start rocking the side ponytail, wow, doesn't that bring back memories? It was a beautiful day, my goal for this year is to get outside more often with the girls. They love it, and it's very relaxing for me.

Wham Jam!

This past weekend was the Wham Jam Competition in St. Charles. The girls did really good. It's amazing how far they've both come since they first started cheering last June. I didn't get to stay for the award ceremony (had to rush off to fundraise at the Dome) but Mackenzie's team placed 4th and Maddie got a medal so all in all, not too shabby! I think there are only two or three more competition left, and then after try-outs we'll know if Maddie made the same team Mackenzie is on. Won't that just make my life SO much easier? Keep your fingers crossed!

My Baby is 5!!!

It doesn't seem possible but Madison turns 5 today. As most know, I'm slightly crazy when it comes to my girls, and today is another hard day for me. I can't believe that she's already that old. She starts Kindergarten in 7 months, and is very, very excited.

We celebrated her birthday with family on Sunday at Gateway Fun Park. Little did we know, we have a Deal or No Deal rockstar on our hands! She won the "million dollars (200 tickets)" three seperate times. I attempted to play, and won a mere 40 tickets. At the end of the party, we pooled the tickets together and she got to spend roughly 1900 tickets. After quite a while trying to figure out what to get, she settled on a few stuffed animals and lots of candy.

She got her DS! Even though she figured out a way to get the information out of her sister, she was very excited to get it. She hasn't put it down since. Luckily, between herself and Mackenzie, they have plenty of games to keep them occupied.

She's growing up fast, but I couldn't be any prouder of her. She's a smart cookie, and doesn't hesitate to put you in your place if need be.

Mackenzie's 8! Can you believe it?

My baby turned 8 years old last Thursday. It's hard to believe she's gotten so big, so fast! We had a small party for her Thursday night after her drama club performance and then another party Friday night for friends and family.

I made pink cupcakes with pink icing and got to display them on my brand new cupcake stand. They turned out cute, but Maddie told me she'd rather have a cake purchased for her birthday than have me make them. Isn't she sweet? LOL!

Saturday we took Mackenzie, Madison, and two of Mackenzie's friends to get their nails done and out to lunch. Afterwards, everyone spent the night at our house. The girls had fun, and loved being treated like grown-ups at the nail salon.

This weekend is Maddie's birthday party, and I think we're going to the pizza place. It should be fun and I know Maddie's dying to challenge us to DDR.

Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful Christmas Day with our families this year. The Monday before Christmas we went to my mom's house and made Christmas cookies like we do every year. The cookies were covered with sprinkles and icing, so I'm sure Santa appreciated all of the hard work.

We spent Christmas day with both of our families and the kids opened mountains of gifts. Maddie got her Cupcake Maker and Mackenzie got her Nintendo DS, both of which were at the top of their lists so they were thrilled.

They also got their first American Girl dolls, and have been attached to them ever since.

Thanks for all of the wonderful gifts, we have wonderful families and were grateful for everything this holiday season.