Our Monthly Update.

Well my monthly update is starting to become a habit and I apologize for not updating more. Things have been really busy at work and by the time I get home I am exhausted and not in a blogging mode. With the kids starting up sports again things are going to get really busy. I will try and do better but make no promises. Maddux has been playing in an indoor soccer league to get ready for the Spring league which starts in a couple of weeks. He was asked to play by some of his friends and really enjoys it. He is on a pretty good team and they have not lost yet. I think I may look into it again next Winter as it is good exercise and get them out of the house. He has played 3 games so far winning two and tying the other.


Here he is tracking down the ball.


Not sure what is going on in this picture. He either really has to go to the bathroom or is preparing for a hard rebound to come right back at him.


I am not sure what you call this kick but all I know is that you can see the ball (blue spot) at the top of the screen. He was standing about 15 feet away from the goal and appears to have kicked the ball straight up and hit the roof. Again, not sure what he was going for here.


Here are Payton and Nolan dressed in aprons, made by Connie, ready to go to work and help out in the kitchen.


Here are our two little chefs helping make dinner. Nolan has often been one to volunteer and help Jennie or I but now Payton has gotten into the action. They really like to be a part of the process in helping make dinner or whatever we are preparing.


Payton has become very fond of using the potty and we may be weeks away from being completely out of diapers. She has been sleeping through the night and waking up dry which has made us very proud. She loves to sit in front of the TV on her potty and do her thing. I personally think she just likes the treat. It is funny because she will go to the bathroom 4 or 5 times in 20 minutes. I think she is just going little bits at a time to make sure she gets a treat after every time. I guess whatever works is fine as long as we get her out of the diapers.


Sometimes you just have to push a little bit. I think she must be trying to get one of those tootsie rolls that her Uncle Greg promised her. She really has no shame in going wherever or in front of whomever may be there. It will be really nice when she is out of diapers for good (for Jennie).


Finally we have Maddux with another missing tooth. We were very happy to see this one go as it has been dead for the last 3 years of so. He hit it on a chair and it had been black ever since. He lost this tooth while brushing his teeth this morning and really did lose it as it fell down the sink and into the drain. He is hoping that the tooth fairy will take a note in leu of the real thing. I think he will make an exception.

Our Monthly Update.

Well I know that everyone has been wondering what has been going on with us since our last blog a month and half ago. Everyone has been fine but the monitor on our laptop computer died and we can't download pictures on our desktop so we had to go out and get a new iMac. We are now back in business so I will update you on our last six weeks. We haven't been super busy which is nice as we gear up to the Spring and all the sports that go along with that and Summer. The next 4 or 5 months are going to be very busy for us.

Valentine's weekend Brooklyn and I continued our yearly tradition of hitting the daddy daughter dance. A night out on the town with dinner, dancing and ice cream. Brooklyn has a group of friends who accompany us and this year Greg came with Addysen and Brynnley. As usual the night was a lot of fun and something that I will always remember as the years keep whisking by. It is something that Brooklyn and I look forward to every year and are glad that we have something like this to participate in.


Brooklyn and I ready to hit the town. As you can tell we are dressed to impress.


Brynnley, Brooklyn and Addysen getting ready to cut some serious rug. It took a little while for Brynnley to get warmed up but once she started, there was no stopping her.


Brooklyn and Addysen demonstrating some of the Justin Bieber moves. I felt sorry for Addysen because she wore some shoes with 2 or 3 inch heels and they could not have been comfortable at all. At least she will now know for next year and can wear something a little more comfortable.


Greg and I with the girls on our way home. It is nice because because they bring in a professional photographer to give everyone a picture together and then the girls each get a flower (or two) on the way out. It is really a great evening and something special that we look forward to every year. A couple of years and I will get to take both of my girls.

For Martin Luther King weekend I took the kids to go visit my grandparents in Indiana. Jennie had to stay for Church responsibilities but I like getting down to see them any time I can. It is so nice to be so close and have the means to head down there whenever they allow us. We also lucked out as we got snow the night before we went down and were able to spend some quality time on the hills with the sleds. Although it was a quick trip it is always good to see my grandparents. We are blessed that my grandfather is still alive and that he can get to know his great grandkids. He may not spend a lot of time playing or interacting with him but I am grateful that our kids have the opportunity to know their great grandfather.


It wouldn't be a trip to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's if there wasn't some type of present. My grandmother always seems to find the perfect gifts for the kids and it gives them something to do while they are there. They love to play in the basement but need other things to do as well.


Brooklyn on the bottom of the hill after one of her rides.


Maddux cruising down the hill. I don't know how he can see anything with his hat covering his eyes.


I think Nolan had the best time; at least until you see the next picture. He has the best facial expressions of anyone I have ever seen.


This is after an encounter with a tree. I got going so fast and didn't know what to do so he just hung on and ran right into the tree. His face slammed right up against the bark and left him with a little reminder. I will say that Nolan is one tough kid because after about a minute of crying he grabbed his sled and headed right back up the hill. I think the snow and cold may have numbed some of the feeling and he was more scared than anything. This picture is about 5 minutes after we got back. He was one wore out little boy.

Basketball season has also ended for Maddux and Brooklyn and now we will shift our focus to soccer, baseball and softball. Maddux will start playing in an indoor soccer league next week which transitions right into the regular league. Baseball will be right around the corner and Maddux will be one busy boy. Brooklyn will we playing in a Spring basketball league and then start soccer in April. Nolan just got done with his first session of swimming and will start karate next week. He will also play soccer in the Spring with the other kids. Times are going to be very busy and will only get busier as Payton gets older and the kids get into different things. I keep telling Brooklyn that she needs to hurry and grow up so she can start driving everyone all over the place. I only have pictures of Brooklyn playing basketball as I coach Maddux's team and Jennie is not one to take pictures.


Brooklyn sprinting down the floor to get back on offense. This may be the fastest that I have ever seen Brooklyn run however I do think the picture adds some speed on as well.


Brooklyn has started to get a little more aggressive and I do have proof. At the beginning of the year she really didn't want anything to do with the ball and would shy away. Towards the end she started to get into the game a little more and even scrapped with some of the other girls. Jennie believes there may be hope for her yet. She still has a long way to go but she is slowly making progress.


We couldn't have a six week update without a picture of Payton. She is getting so big and a blast to be around. She is the girl version of Nolan. A quick funny story from the other week about her. Jennie has slowly been trying to get Payton out of diapers but has had very little luck. She will wear her "big girls" every once in awhile and will sit on the toilet but doesn't do anything once on there. Well the other day we hear her calling for mommy and wasn't sure of where she was. Well we found her sitting on the toilet going poop. She had taken off her pants and diaper and got on the toilet all by herself. It was her first time and she couldn't wake to call Grandma to tell her the good news. Grandma has typically promised the kids a treat for the first time that they use the potty and Payton wanted to make sure that she collected on that promise. Her treat of choice; fruit snacks. We were very proud of her and hope to be out of diapers in the near future.

One last picture of Maddux, who just lost one of his front teeth last week. If it had only been the black one. We have been waiting for 4 years for that thing to fall out and it is still there.



Now that our computer situation is back up and running I promise to get back on the regular track with our blogging. We will be getting very busy and should have plenty to talk about. We hope that everyone is doing fine and will talk to you all later.

Maddux's 7th Birthday

Saturday marked Maddux's 7th birthday and does he know how to throw a party. He went roller skating over the Christmas break for the first time and decided that he wanted to do that for his party. The next thing you know we have 21 kids and 10 or so adults at his party. It was a lot of fun and I know Maddux had a very good time. It is amazing at how fast the time goes by and how quickly Maddux has grown up. He is a very mature little man and has been such a blessing to our lives. He does very well in school and is our little athlete. His teacher routinely compliments him on his maturity and willingness to help out with any and everything. The following are pictures from his party as well as a photo story of his life.


Maddux with his friends and cousins during his special birthday dance.


Maddux cruising around the rink. The first couple of laps he goes around holding onto the side but as soon as he gets his roller legs warmed up he is all over the place. He did very good for his second time out.


Liam, Maddux and Cannon taking a break. They were playing a sound that Maddux does not like so he had to come off the rink and cover his ears.


Here are the "Beliebers" showing their support for Justin Bieber. They actually left during the cake because the DJ played a Justin Bieber song.

Here is a quick recap of Maddux's life in pictures.


His very first birthday and family picture. Look at Brooklyn's red hair.


Maddux and Brynnley with Grandma Elaine and Margie. It is funny because I think Brynnley still makes that same face today.


Maddux when he had some curls (18 months old). I know that Jennie was very sad to see those go.


Maddux at one of his first trips to the zoo (4 years old).


Maddux's bad boy days in karate (5 years old). He was one mean looking kid.


Maddux doing his best David Beckham soccer impersonation. You gotta love the mohawk.


This is one of my favorite pictures of Maddux. I told him to look at the camera and waive the it was perfect.


Maddux standing on third after hitting a triple. Baseball might be his favorite game to play.


Maddux is the king of the beach in Clearwater, Florida.

We are so grateful for Maddux and the blessing that he is in our lives. He is a very special boy and we are glad to have him in our family. Thank you to all of those who took part in his birthday and helped make his day special.

They may stink but still a good time.

And the streak continues. It has now been 10 or 11 CAV's games in a row that I have taken the kids to and they have been selected to do something. I will tell you that kids are key to getting hooked up at the games. That Tuesday a guy from my work gave me his tickets to the Magic game so I decided to take Maddux. When we got to the game we ran into a guy I know, who is the head of security for The Q, and he upgraded our tickets down to the lower sections. He then asked if we wanted to go down by the locker rooms after the game to meet some of the players. Of course I said yes for the both of us. So after the game we went down and met him and he took us underneath the arena and hook us up right outside of the locker rooms. We stood there and waited for the players to make their way out. We ended up meeting all but 2 of the CAV's players as well as 5 or 6 of the Orlando Magic guys. It is so different to see them in that environment. Most of them came out with their children and wives and were more than happy to sign autographs and take pictures. They were really like big kids and were having as much fun as the kids were. We ended up staying until almost 11:00 at night but it was well worth it. Maddux had made a sign for the game and was able to get quite a few autographs on his poster. It is now framed and hanging in his room. I think I may have been more excited to be down there than Maddux actually was. He didn't recognize most of the players but was very excited to see his favorite player Anthony Parker and Antwan Jamison. The following are some pictures from that night.


Maddux getting his hair spray painted before the beginning of the game. Every time we go to the game the kids have to get their hair colored, a tattoo and have their face painted with CAV's themed things.


Anderson Varejao signing Maddux's sign. This is Brooklyn's favorite player.


Antwan Jamison signing the sign. This is probably Maddux's second favorite player.


Anthony Parker (left) and Jamrio Moon after the game. It was funny because Maddux wasn't into the whole thing until Parker came out and walked over to him. Then his face lit up and he got super excited.


Mo Williams. It was cute because his wife and three kids were down right by us and they were running all around just taking everything in.


Maddux standing next to Varejao right outside of the CAV's locker room.


Maddux and his sign at the end of the night. Brooklyn helped him make it during the day and they were very excited for him to take it to the game. We tried to get him on the Jumbo Tron but had no luck. He held that sign up every time when there was a break or timeout during the game.

Last night Maddux and I took his friend, Holden, and his dad to the game as an early birthday present for Maddux. It was Antwan Jamison bobble head night and we were hoping for a CAV's win on this night. The minute we walked in to the arena we had two girls come up and ask the kids if they wanted to be ball kids. Maddux and Brooklyn have done this in the past and we were very excited for the boys to do this. They get to go onto the middle of the court and have the starting five hand them a game ball which they get to keep. Maddux ended up getting the ball from Daniel "Boobie" Gibson and Holden got one from Mo Williams. They were very excited and it made their night. They had a ton of fun and were smiling the whole night. Here are pictures of them from last night.


Maddux and Holden with their balls during the game.


Here they are on the Jumbo Tron, at last.


Boobie Gibson giving Maddux his ball at the beginning of player introductions.


Maddux and Holden after getting their hair painted and faces painted.

The following video has a very funny story behind it. Jed and I told the boys that they either had to get their pictures taken with the CAV's cheerleaders or they had to dance with the Scream Team in front of everyone. The choice was easy as they wanted nothing to do with the cheerleaders. They actually ripped the pictures of them out of their programs and tore them up. Every time they saw a cheerleader they shyed away and yelled at them to leave, your typical 6 year old boy response. Anyways, here is there minute of dancing. If you watch towards the end of the video one of the dance members tries to get Maddux to go down on one knee and pose for him. Maddux wanted no part of that and you can actually see him shake his head no. They even had another guy come over and try to get Maddux to do it but he would not budge. Holden on the other hand as no problem and even busts out some street dance moves.



We had a great time and if you ever plan on going to a basketball game, or any other game for that matter, I would strongly recommend taking some kids with you as they are the key. I am willing to lend ours out, for a small fee, as I believe they are good luck. I know other people who have taken their kids and not been chosen to do anything. I just hope the streak continues because Maddux has come to expect these things and I don't know what he will do when he is not asked to participate. I think he believes this is part of the game and happens every time. Anyways, we have a ton of fun and I know the boys had the time of their lives. They stayed awake the whole time home talking about the night and Maddux was still talking about it tonight. Now if we can only get the CAV's to win a game.

Our Christmas Story

It's about a week after Christmas but things have been very busy around here. With Jennie's brother and sister in town with their families there has been a lot going on and I haven't had a chance to update our Christmas holiday yet. As usual the kids got lots and lots of stuff. Although they didn't get their number one wish list item, IPad, they did get plenty of new toys and gadgets to keep them busy. We are grateful to be surrounded by family and love to spend time and visit with them.


Christmas Eve we went over to Jennie's parents for a great dinner, a little Christmas play, by the children, and a night of opening lots of little presents. Bill and Connie have boxes of little gadgets and toys that they wrap up and let the kids take turns picking and opening a present. Then they can trade each other for things that they want. It is a lot of fun and the kids love opening all the presents. It is an hour of straight chaos. The above picture is of all the kids in their costumes ready for their production.


Nolan as one of the Three Wise Men. He has some of the best facial expressions ever.


Maddux as one of the cows in the stable. This is Maddux's new smile. He use to have such a good smile and then went to the fake smile and now this one.


Payton as the other cow.


Here are the kids on Christmas morning right before all the fun. It was funny because we got home late from Jennie's parents the night before and told the kids that they couldn't come out of their room until 8:00 on Christmas morning. Well they were out right at 8:00 but had to wait until Payton woke up to open presents. Jennie told them they could go through their stockings while they waited. Well when Jennie and I came out into the living room they had all the presents separated into piles ready for opening. They were so excited about Christmas and wanted to make sure they were ready to go the second Payton woke up.


Payton with one of her favorite presents. A ladybug pillow pet from her Uncle Spencer.


Brooklyn is a Belieber and has the new shirt to prove it. Her favorite present was a digital camera / video camera. She now loves to take pictures and video different events throughout her day. She also got a paper jamz guitar, some bags with iron-on emblems, some shirts with a peace symbol, some new pajamas, a stop sign and some books and other small things.


Brooklyn and Maddux with their paper jamz guitars. We just need some drums and a lead singer and we could have a band.


Payton with her favorite present. She got a baby doll that moves and makes noises. She saw this thing in the store and loved it. We also got her another baby that plays peek-a-boo as you walk by. She got some new clothes, a couple of play food sets, some play kitchen stuff and her pillow pet.


Nolan with her Bat Cave. This was the one thing that he really wanted and loves playing with his figures. He also got some clothes, some action figures, a remote control car, a frog game, some spy stuff and some games and pieces for the Wii.


Here is Maddux with his favorite present; a Super Hero Squad Wii game. He also got some clothes, some other Wii stuff, a paper jamz guitar, a Justin Bieber board game (that is right he is a Belieber), some spy stuff, some CAVs shirts and some other toys and gadgets.


This was Payton's favorite gift from the night of presents at Jennie's parents house. I also have a picture of Jennie with the same umbrella hat on but she threatened me if I posted it. If anyone wants to see it I will send it to you. It can be our little secret.

For New Year's Eve we went over to Greg and Tacie's for a night of games and lots of food. I was surprised as all the kids made it to midnight. I think this is the first year that Maddux made it. He is one that once he is tired nothing can keep him awake. He has fell asleep during movies, basketball games and the Justin Bieber concert. We had a very fun and busy 2010 and look forward to more of the same in 2011. We want to thank everyone for everything and wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2011.