Kids riding horses!

Cameron

Clayton

Kenzie

Calvin

So my friend from Tracy invited us to come and check out her awesome home! We had a great day and the kids loved it. So much to see and experience. They have chickens, a wonderful trail through the woods, a pond complete with tadpoles and they keep bees!!! But the highlight of the day was the chance to ride one of her horses. Would love to tell you more but I am in a HUGE hurry just to get the pics up. Enjoy!!!

Dancing Machines!

So on September 17th we got to attend cousin Nicki's wedding. All of the kids were invited to attend and although Cameron was gone camping we decided to take Clay, Cal and Kenzie along. It actually went better then I expected. Calvin came to the ceremony with me (Ben stayed out in the van with Clayton and Kenzie as they were asleep. The mass was beautiful and Nicki was a beautiful bride too. We went to the bar and the kids were good there too. Then on to dinner and dance. The kids were so excited to go to the dance. It was GREAT.

We made it through dinner without any major issues and then the dance began. The dance was so fun!!!!!!! All three of the little kids danced the night away. Then one by one they crashed hard and soon I had three little pumpkins sleeping under the table. It was very cute.

Clayton, Kenzie & Calvin

Calvin and Clayton doing the garter toss.

Pictures tell the story!

The twins took a 4 week pee wee football class this summer. It was pretty funny. Here they are in action learning to hike the ball. Clay in green and Cal in orange.

Overall the boys did great. Clay seemed to really like it and Cal was not to interested. I know they both learned a lot and so did I.

Cameron has started 5th grade tackle football - here he is at practice. 1st game is coming up this weekend.

Cameron showing the boys how to rollerblade!

Clayton in all his gear for rollerblading! Takes longer to put it on then he stays in it but he really seems to enjoy this.

Calvin tried out his to but did not like it as much.

I just wanted to throw an extra picture of Kenzie in - no rollerblades for her yet.

We got the chance to go to the zoo for Zoo al la cart with my cousin Maggie, her husband and their wonderful little daugther Kendall. It was a great day!!!

The kids on the train. Cam has a blue mouth from his shave ice.

I also thought this was hilarious - obviously Cameron did not think it was all that funny. Calvin was pretty excited about it!!!

OK so these pictures may need a little explaining. My mom and I went to a rummage this summer. She saw this dress and loved it. I well to be nice - did not love it. I did think it was funny as I had a dress similar to this when I was in high school that I actually wore for my senior pictures with a sun hat (no laughing at the time it was kind of neat). Anyway - we did get the dress and then my mom found a hat too. We decided that we should be photographers.

( I won't quit my day job.)

So the funniest part of this story is that we call "the dress" Kenzie's ugly dress. I couple days after our 'photo shoot' Kenzie saw the dress in her closet when we were putting on Jammie's and was she got upset yelling that she wanted to wear her "uggggie wess" (her ugly dress). It was so darn cute and she was very serious about it.

Well the boys did not like to be left out of our photo taking. And I just loved this one of Calvin so I needed to share it.

You have to be kidding me. My kids are weird. Clayton decided one day that he wanted to put on his clean underwear over his dirty ones. Then Calvin encouraged him to put on his clean underwear too.
Well everything in our house gets out of hand. Needless to say brother Cameron encouraged this and we ended up with Clayton packing on the underwear.

When he finally got sick of putting them on he had a total of 19 pairs of underwear on. The kid could hardly move. It was very funny - glad my camera was nearby for this one.

We got to squeeze in one last Brewers game with the kids. My Mom and Dad took our family and my sister's family. That day the Gigi and Papa had the kids in the morning and they made these great signs! The kids had some fun with these (a couple fights too). Although the Brewers could not pull off a win that night it was a great time.

Gigi and Kenzie!

We also started SCHOOL. Cameron is a 5th grader this year and this is his last year at St. Peter's. Who is parenting this child and letting him have that hair? Oh, it was me... I guess I figured that it could be worse and it really was not hurting anyone. I also do not think it will last real long.

Clayton and Calvin have also begun 4K at St. Peter's this year! They go everyday from 7:30 to 11:00. I was terrified of how I would get them all up and ready in the morning but it has been going pretty well so far - not easy but we will adjust.

Clayton!

Calvin

And Kenzie did not want to be left out so she wanted to be dressed for "shoell" to and needed her backpack too. I thought she would be upset when we dropped the boys off and she had to leave with me but she did not mind to much. I think she was excited to have some quiet at home. Speaking off quiet I could not believe the amount of stuff I was able to do that first day with 31/2 hours with just Kenzie. Of course I set my hopes high to keep pace with that first day and that has not happened again!! I am enjoying the one on one time with Kenzie but I also miss the boys. And one thing it is not is quiet. That girl is like her mother - she has a lot to say and never stops. It is fun to just get the chance to really listen to her. Funny I did not realize just how smart she is. She told me she wanted to go to school and then went through the whole routine of what the boys do when they get to school. I did not realize how much she picks up of what she sees. I am sure it will be a crazy school year and so far all the boys are liking school. Calvin did tell me the first day that he did not like it though because his friends were not playing with him they were listening to the teacher! How dare they???

This past weekend we went up north to the cabin with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Gerald, uncle Tom and Joe. We had such a nice time. We just got to enjoy hanging out. The kids have SO MUCH FUN there. They were all well behaved and even helped out with moving some wood and loved every minute of it. They got to hike it in the woods to put up trail camera's and just had a great time enjoying the fresh air. Every time we go it gets easier and easier with the kids. I can not believe how independent they are all becoming. Unfortunately I was not attached to my camera this trip but I did catch a couple funny pics showing how exhausting up north can be.

Kenzie actually fell asleep while in the swing.

Clayton crashed on the couch before he could even put his legs up!

That's what we have been up too!!!!!

More Birthday's - More pictures

I can not believe that it is the middle of August already. It has been a crazy month. I have been working more then usual to keep up with my job getting a new data system that we will be running soon. We are also trying to enjoy every last day of the summer. We are trying to make some trips to the parks and just get out and enjoy the great weather. We also made a last minute trip up north to spend some time with the Schmidt side of the family. That is Ben's mom's family. It was such a wonderful weekend. We got to swim, fish, and relax. When we got back it was time to party. Cameron's 10th Birthday was Tuesday the 9th and Kenzie's 2nd Birthday was the 11th. We had a combination party for them on Saturday. We just realize over and over how lucky we are to have such wonderful families. Cameron has also started football and it is intense! 4 nights a week he has practice from 5:30 to 7:30 with scrimmages on Saturdays. He is also trying out for the Select baseball team this coming weekend. This kid is intense sports all the time!!!!! The twins are also getting more and more into sports. Right now they are in a four week Pee Wee football class. It is pretty interesting to watch them and their different personalities come out. I will try to take some pictures at the next class!!! Other then that we are just trying to get ready for school to start in 3 weeks!!!!

Cameron in the splash pad in Jackson.

Calvin, Kenzie, & Clayton at the splash pad.




Calvin, Daddy & Clayton - Ready for fishing up north!

Clayton the fisherman!

He was a great at fishing. He had a lot of patience. He would just sit and watch the bobber and when it went down he would reel it in all on his own. He really enjoyed it. He wanted us to keep every fish even the small ones.

Calvin

Being as opposite as you can get Calvin liked fishing but has NO patience. He did not really like to watch a bobber and had more fun playing with the minnows in the pail. He also liked touching everything he could find in the boat.

Kenzie may need a little time before true fishing for her. She did ok but is a little young for actually having a pole in the water. She did help reel some in and wanted to hold/touch all the fish. Mostly she just napped in the boat.

Grandpa Gerald also taught the kids how to dance!

Clayton and Kenzie LOVED the dancing.

Ok so these pictures just made me laugh. We stopped at this little fireman's picnic up north after church on Sunday and the kids got little prizes like their fireman's hats. The boys became dancing machines. It was so funny.
Clayton!

Calvin

Cameron's 10!!!!

Kenzie's 2!!!!

Ok this picture just shows Cameron's hair! Cameron has been growing his hair out and it had gotten pretty long. I really liked it like that but he thought it was to much work because he had to wash and comb it everyday (can you imagine!!!). So he wanted to buzz it and I did not want him too. We agreed on a trim on Friday but on the way there he asked about getting a Mohawk. Those of you who know me well know I am not in agreement with this but decided that it is his hair and it is ok to try it for a little while. We compromised on leaving the sides longer and it actually turned out looking somewhat respectable. We will see how long this lasts.

Abby, Kenzie, Elise, Kaylee, Calvin, Clayton, Isiah, Lauren, Xavier, Cameron
These are all the of the kids cousins in age order.

Two more GREAT DAYS!

I sure wanted to keep the fun going - so after our great Thursday we made plans with Grandpa Dick and Grandma Grace to go to the Washington County Fair Friday. We had my nephews for the day so the three of us headed out to the fair with all 6 of the kids at 9a.m. The weather was Sunny and HOT. This is the group shot (minus me) when we were just starting out. We were going to take an after photo but by the time we left at 3:30 no one was in the mood for photo's!!!!

Isiah, Clayton, Calvin, Grandpa Dick, Kenzie, Cameron, Grandma Gracie & Xavier

Can you tell it is sunny!!

One more group shot before the fun starts!!!

Isiah, Clayton, Xavier, Cameron, Calvin & Kenzie

First we went to see all the animals. Poor Isiah was disappointed because he really wanted to see a Penguin. None of those at the county fair sorry buddy! All the kids got the biggest kick out of the baby Llama that was nursing from its mother. They were all right up close watching. The fair is oh so educational. They also liked the horses. I love the Clydesdale's. They are huge and amazing. To busy with the kids and did not get to many good shots but I did get one in the dairy area of almost all our animals!

Clayton, Isiah, Cameron, Calvin & Kenzie

The kids all loved the Dairy area. They had a great little "Farmer for a Day" event where the kids came and got a basket and then had to go through a maze of things and collect farm items and then turn them in at the end for a prize. They loved it! It was very cute.

We also went to the Rooster crowing contest which did not turn out to be that exciting as none of the contestants were to interested in crowing. We caught a bit of the cat show and all the kids decorated some tin cans at the 4H booth. Then we hit the food and finally the RIDES.

The rides were the kids favorite part of course and it was very cute watching them decide who to go on which ride with! When it was time to pick their last ride Calvin choose the Tilt a Whirl. And I was taking him and Kenzie. They both made it but did not make a peep the whole ride. They said they liked it but I hardly believe them, they looked a little green when we got off! All the kids did well and when the rides were over we gave them ice cream and went home. Six hours at the fair with 6 kids was enough for all of us!!!! Or so I thought!

Then we got home and Ben got home from work and we decided to go back to the Fair. Cameron was gone so Ben and I just took the three little kids back. This time is was PACKED. We had gotten some free ride tickets from Ben's cousin so we thought we would just take the kids and use them up. Again a great time. Feeding some animals, rides, food, and the "Farmer for a Day". Another fun outing for all of us! It amazes me how well our kids can behave sometimes. No decent naps and they still did great till after 9:30.

Kenzie feeding the goats.

Clayton and Calvin were a little nervous and they would not put the carrots in their hands just hold the cups.

Kenzie, Clayton, Calvin!

Clayton and Calvin on the Roller Coaster - The front car!

Daddy and Clayton on the Bumper Cars!

Daddy and Calvin on the Bumper Cars!

Daddy and Kenzie on the Carasol. This was Kenzie's favorite the entire day! She loved the "Horses"!!!!

Today was a really great day also. It was ALL STAR day for Cameron! Ben coaches Cameron's Boy's Minor's league along with Cody and Sam. The team did a good job this year. They ended the season in fourth place. They won their game today! Cameron was chosen by his teammates as one of the two All Stars from their team and got to play in the ALL STAR game today. It was awesome to see him play with the other all stars. Proud mommy moment! He played great in the game. He played catcher and 2nd base. Made a great throw from home to 1st for an out and had a little base hit that brought in the run that tied up the game 5 to 5. The game ended in a tie but it was a good comeback for the ALL STAR's who were losing 5 to 0. Very exciting and everyone ends up a WINNER! He was the most excited about his trophy!!!!!

Cameron up to bat!

Cameron ready to run at first!
Cameron with the All Star Team!

In front in the darker blue shirt.

Tomorrow should be another fun day -- Ben and the twins are going to Church and to German Fest with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Gerald and Kenzie and I are hanging out with Cousin Kelly and Maggie and their little girls for a girlie play date. Yippee!