Day 2

Here she is day 2... yes, this is a uniform school.

Well, she came home feeling a bit overwhelmed yesterday but thinks she will like it. The kids and the teacher were all really nice and she was happy about that. She was also happy to have scored 2 goals in the lunch time soccer game (boys against girls). We spent most of the evening doing homework - oh my! Today she starts school an hour earlier than yesterday because Tuesday, Thursday and Friday she has a Spanish class. We are letting her try it to see if she can catch up even though she has missed a semester. At first she didn't want to go but then she remembered in Brazil a lady who spoke Spanish was able to help translate Portuguese which is the language she wants to learn.

Please keep us in your prayers as we are both a bit overwhelmed with this and have a lot of adjusting to do. I'm still in a bit of shock but really do feel good about it.

Oh My Goodness...

Adia started school!!!

I know she is 10 (a few weeks shy of 11) and that she is in 5th grade but this is the first time in her life that I am not her teacher (officially anyway). This decision was such a tough one but Kyle and I feel so strongly this is in her best interest and we are so excited for her. Although if you would have seen me crying as I walked away from her class today I doubt you would have believed my excitement. But my baby girl looked so big and so nervous! I hope she has a great day today and I pray God's biggest blessings on her in this new season of life!

Here are a few pictures of the Big event.

Adia - 5th grade

Dropping off some stuff in the class room.

Every day the whole school (K-8 with about 220 students) gathers in this gym for prayer, reciting the verse they are working on and announcements. It was really cute! The principle is the lady in the jacket.

Here she is (unaware of me snapping a shot) in her class with her teachers arm around her. Mrs. Sept is introducing her to her "buddy" - the girl she shares a desk with.

If you are wondering why we are starting her just a week before Christmas break it is because this is a kind of low key week with lots of fun Christmas stuff. We thought is would be best to get to know the setup and the kids now in this atmosphere and then come back after the break and get adjusted to all the academic stuff.

Miracles Really Happen!

This past weekend Kyle and I got away (yet again) to go to our good friend Brad Barttels (Kyle's best man at our wedding) wedding. Somehow he met this beautiful girl named Lindsey got her to fall in love and even marry him - it's truly a miracle. Here are a lot of pictures from our trip... we know there are a few of you that would loved to have been there. So now you can experience the whole weekend with us - kind of.

Kyle met up with all the guys on Thursday night for the bachelor party - pizza and root beer at Brad's house. Oh these boys are wild! Then together we met up at TK Burgers for lunch on Friday. I can not tell you how good it was to see them again. So many good memories!

Dave, Brad, Kyle and Andrew!
Here we are following Brad, Andrew and Beth to Brads house to hang out until the rehearsal dinner.

They had an awesome dinner with family and close friends the night before the wedding.

The Bride and Groom to be!
Here is Brad and his mom cutting the cake!Brad's brothers Trevor, Chad, Tyler and Tyler's girlfriend. They got old huh?

Here is Linda wearing the teeth Brad sported at my wedding.

Kyle and I ready for another night out!

Brad and Kyle... so cute!

Brad's parents with the beautiful couple!

Pretty Carrot Cake.

Go Lindsey!

They seriously looked so in love and SO HAPPY together.

We are THRILLED for them!

And of course Andrew pulled out the video camera and got some great film.

And I can't mention my weekend and not add that I got to stay with one of my bestest friends - Kristen and her beautiful baby Taylor (oh and Mike too). Thank you so much Kristen and Mike for letting us crash at your pad... we had so much fun with you.

Are her eyes for real???

She sure loved my camera!

Clarification

Just to clarify the whole "fence training" comment from a couple posts ago....

We were all in the backyard having fun when I realized all 5 of the kids are playing on the play structure and I wanted a picture. My kids all (except Kaden) love having their picture taken and think they can pose photos really well. After the slide picture the big girls climb on the fence and ask me to put Adison up there to take a picture with them. Then, of course, Kenyon jumps up and wants Kaden up there too. So we give in and kyle holds Kaden's hand so we can get a picture. Then, because we are kind of weird and Kenyon really could climb the fence when he was barely 2, I thought it would be funny to have a picture of them up there together.

Kaden was only on the fence for less than a minute - there was no training and it was just for a picture my son really wanted. So yes, we are kind of crazy, but not that crazy!

And if you want to know why I am doing this it is because my retarded sister really believed that I was putting him up there to teach him how to walk on a fence and she was annoyed with me... come on Stacey! Are we really that bad??? Wait - please don't answer that!

Our Soccer Star

Well, soccer season just ended and I must admit I am going to miss watching my little super star in action. I know bragging is rude but honestly Avery improved so much this season and it was so much fun to watch her out there. She works so hard and is a defensive machine! Her coach told me on several occasions how impressed he was by her good attitude, her hard work and her MAD SKILLS (okay, maybe not in those exact words but close). Here are a few pictures of our CHAMP. She is sweet as pie but don't cross her because she has the will to kill and on the field she is CRAZY!!!!

Here is a hug from her 2nd biggest fan at the end of one awesome season.

And of course her teams name was an absolute perfect fit.

Here is her team at the last game of the season.

GO CRUSHERS!

And THANK YOU COACHES!

Oh wait. Did I mention the season was over but she was asked to play on the All Star team?
Well, she was and they played so good and were undefeated!

Way to go Avery!

Kenyon Creativity & A Little Middleton Madness

I've decided to start sharing some of my sons creative ideas to give you all a giggle and me a release. This boy is too much!

Today I walk out of my room to find Kenyon sitting on a large dry erase board at the top of the stairs (where you see Kaden asleep - I'll save that story for another day).

As I walk towards him I see him smiling so big as he goes sliding down. He picks up the board which is taller than him (as if it's a snowboard) and with a BIG smile on his face says "mom, can I please not be in trouble since you have never said I can't do this and because it is REALLY FUN!" To that I replied "sure., but if you do it again you will be in big trouble" after all - that was a great reason not to be in trouble right? Plus, it was a very creative idea don't you think?

And here are a few pictures to make you smile or just to help you think we are OUT OF CONTROL!

Notice the extra ropes tied all over our playset... only a few near death experiences with those so far!
And here Kaden is jumping to dad after his lesson on walking the fence - a skill Kenyon posessed at about 2 years of age. You can see Kenyon is about to push his pansy brother who is nervous to jump to dad... "come on Kaden, you are 17 months old - it's time to be a big boy and jump". Which he did with no help from brother... yeah for me and my two adreneline junkies huh? And if you count dad I guess I have 3.

Oh and quickly on a more positive note - Kenyon (4 years) can now read 3 letter words... see he's not that dumb!

My AWESOME New York Story

It all started when my wonderful sister and her hubby offered to treat me to an all expense paid trip to New York, my hubby said he could handle me being gone and encouraged me to go and my in-laws offered to help watch my kids while I was away. Thank you to all of you!

Day 1 - My flight was awesome... no matter what happened it didn't matter because I had no kids with me. I arrived to my sisters beautiful home in one piece and was ready to party!

Day 2 - DJ and I went on a little date to go see his super cute toy store and spend some time together. I didn't realize the toy store was named after him, that we would be playing in it forever and that he would need me to go in the toy house with him to complete the experience! It was super fun though. We then walked down the downtown strip and got a bagel followed by a trip to dunkin donuts (which is disgusting but all New Yorkers LOVE) where there was actually a BIG line. DJ was so sweet to me on our date and had super good manners which made me feel super proud of my sweet and friendly nephew!

Then we got home and took a few cute pictures before we headed to the city to meet daddy at work. Here is Gavin who is getting so big and looking SO CUTE!

And here is DJ who turned into such a big boy and cracked me up non stop the whole time I was there! I loved this picture because a.) he looks super cute & b.) it reminded me so much of Kenyon who I hope to be one of DJ's best buddies when they are bigger.

Here we are getting me a taste of why no mother belongs in New York with little kiddos. It is such a hassle to go anywhere - especially the city where Daryn happens to work.

Below Gavin is giving me the full experience of trying to meet Daddy for dinner. He is not impressed by the city at all and although boys love trains - hour subway rides are not included.

And this picture just cracks me up because they look like they belong there - even though they DO NOT!!!

Here they are in front of Daryn's work (with the 2 American flags on it)...

And here is a picture of my purse being scanned so I could go inside and see his desk... wow! Daryn seems so important huh? Then about 5 minutes after this I took a picture of Daryn and Stacey and a security guy started freaking out and telling me no pictures are allowed in this building... oops!

And since Kyle didn't get to join me in person I thought I should include a picture of him and I at the Statue of Liberty (kind of).
After that Daryn gave me the quick tour of lower Manhattan (the New York stock exchange, 9.11 site and much more) then they took me to a wonderful dinner and then we took 2 very tired boys home where they could go to bed which is just what they all needed - except for me who was still on CA time and got to watch instant Netflix on the big tv (don't know how they do it but it was truly magical) and I finished season 4 of Lost!

Day 3 - After I slept in late we got ready and took DJ to preschool. He is the cutest school boy ever and was so proud to show me every detail of his morning routine.

And here is his AWESOME teacher who is guiding them on the hay ride!

That night I got to babysit for my hottie sister and her cute hubby who showed up with flowers to whisk her away for a fancy dinner on the Hudson river.

Gavin was such a good boy and after a big dinner (of yams and banana's) he went to bed with NO FUSSING (praise the Lord!) and DJ and I had big plans to make a balloon solar system, practice writing his name and watch a fun movie!

Day 4 - After Daryn went out to breakfast with Gavin and brought home super yummy donuts for Stacey and I we were off to see the sights. She showed me where she lived when she first moved there, where her church was and all kinds of things I have heard her talk about. Below is just a cute building I LOVED.

Here is their church...

And here I am paying for 12 hours of parking so Stacey and I could head to the city with no kids in tow. SO EXCITING!!!!

She treated me to Phantom which I LOVED! The only part I didn't like is that you can't sing along. :( After Phantom we headed to a super fancy dinner which ended with a delicious chocolate souffle - YUMMY! Then we headed for a tour of the city by a super cute boy on a bike. I saw Rockefeller center, Time Square, Trump Tower, went in The Empire State Building and much more. We were glad the stores were closed as we browsed by tons of super cute stores and picked out our favorite pieces in each window. I had such a great time!

Day 5 - We hung out and relaxed at home. DJ played with his famous Geo Tracks that he is amazing at building. I watched a great movie (The boy in the striped pajamas).

Daryn even hung out with me but I couldn't ask what he was doing because it was illegal for me to know about his report since Kyle and I might base our investments on what I hear.

Then that day we headed to Harbor Park (DJ and Stacey's special park) to try and get a family picture - which didn't work out that well. But I did get a few shots I really liked! This one of DJ is probably my favorite picture from our 2 hours of snapping shots!

And to end I just have a few words to Stacey and Daryn...

To my beautiful sister Stacey, how could I thank you enough - I had so much fun hanging out with you and your boys! It was such a needed break from life and I felt so spoiled by every detail of the trip you had obviously thought out just for me (chocolate cakes, perfect restaurants, fun days, lay around days and so much more!). You are such an awesome sister, host and friend and although I LOVED the trip I must say it makes me want you home all the more so I can come lounge at your house anytime I want (and we don't have to get Daryn to pay for it). Thank you again... I love you, your boots and every minute of my trip (well, except that one night).

And lastly I want to say THANK YOU to Daryn (who I am assuming Stacey will make look at this). I know this was all Stacey's idea but I know if it weren't for your love for my sister (and kind of for me too), your hard working/great money making skills this trip would only have been a dream. I seriously had so much fun and I even enjoyed hanging out with you/making fun of you! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I can't wait until we live closer and it's a little more even... you and Kyle vs. Stacey and I. Oh the laughs!

I LOVE YOU MILLERS!

And I miss you already... thank you again!