Madi turned 5!

Seems crazy that 5 years have passed.... it's cliche and everyone says, "time flies", but I guess it must be true because it is how I feel. It was fun to think about how on October 6th 5 years ago it was such a long miserable day... and it carried into October 7th... all day and finally that evening we had miss Madison. Chubby cheeks and pudgy thighs she was 8lbs 1oz and 19 inches long. While her arrival was a great moment, it took a very long time(in my opinion) for her to get here and as I went through the day this year all I could think about was how much I was accomplishing in comparison to the day she was born... I'm weird, I get that... but seriously I thought about it a lot that day. Crazy.... I'm glad she is here and I'm so glad we were blessed to have her in our family. I truly believe that certain kids are given to certain parents for specific reasons. And I'm grateful for the spitfire, piss and vinegar child she is. 

Here is our 5 year old! She is super dramatic and intense. She feels emotion on a higher level than most. She is empathetic, sincere, jovial, and sassy. She can go from being so sweet and caring to infuriated in a moments notice. She can be sobbing about something and it quickly turns into laughter. She is unique and special and we love her to pieces. Here are a few pictures from her special day.

I'm 5!! on both hands! 

It's so hard to be a sibling on their birthday....

All she wanted for her birthday was a fishing pole, markers and a green rubber ducky..Green rubber ducky..... check!

Mason trying out the flip flops...

Mason trying out the green rubber ducky....

This moment made me so proud... A girl after my own heart... a little runner outfit and she loved it :) 

Fishing pole.... check! Well this picture she just opened the bobbers and she was so confused! 

Her pals sharing some cupcakes! Pretty sure we are known as the nasty food house on the block! They were gluten/dairy free.... so ya... they were peculiar in taste. But Madi loved them... just not so sure everyone else did.. hee hee hee

Mason thought they were okay....

The birthday princess!! .... oh wait

I would call these her besties: Amelia, Maricela, Kati

She wanted green frosting.... Hard to do if you don't want to use petroleum nasty dyes.... The green came out like a nija turtle green... and she loved it! 

 A few days later Grandma and Grandpa came to celebrate her birthday! They always make the party better!

Awesome grandma even brought a small gift so little brother could take part too.... 

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Cute snuggles with grandma... 

 This time around we did cookies and they were tasty... I had my fair share. :) Madison was such a good sport and let Mason help her blow out the candle.

 And that is when I realized boys come wired the same... anything with fire=awesome. Mason copies just about everything Madison does, and blowing out candles was no different. He was having such a good time... we just kept lighting matches for him to blow out... and then grandpa jumped in and was lighting two and three at a time.... Kiddos were having a ball!

I love my kids faces in this picture... HILARIOUS to me!

Overall it was some good parties and a lot of fun... and a side of drama(wouldn't be a girl birthday without drama.... right?) Madison is turning into a great helper when she wants to be and is becoming more and more independent. The other day I got distracted and she flipped the pancakes for me... She said, "I didn't want to eat a burnt one.... again!" LOL... ya sorry I don't blame you. Way to take matters into your own hands kiddo. She still says hilarious things, I wish I took more time to write them down, but honestly they come out so frequently I just take them for granted. Madison is such a champ with food too.... it isn't easy being a kid who eats gluten free and dairy free... but I am so grateful for how she handles it. At home it is easy because we fix food that is free from the "no-no's"  but at school and when we are out and about it is hard, because so much crap is in very common and "cool/fun" looking foods. Here is an example of her "amazingness" she comes home from school and says, "Ms. Kim forgot that I can't have red dye so she gave me M&M's, but don't worry mom, I just threw them away." This kind of thing happens a lot, not all the time, she still gets tempted and caves, but I would say 80% of the time she turns down food on her own. I'm amazed because it is hard for me to do that... I just had my own epiphany,.... I have less self control than a 5 year old. LOL.... well guess I know what to work on. :) My point is she is a great kid. She has a lot of passion and feels emotions intensely but I love her for all of it. She has so much sass and I love her facial expressions. The way she will reason her way out of trouble or how she can sneak her way through loop holes to get what she wants, it is funny and will be hilarious in 10 years.... At times it is incredibly frustrating... but all the frustration there is equal amounts of joy on the other side of the teeter totter. We love our Madison Hope and can't wait to see what this year brings.

Harvest!

Late in September we headed to WA to enjoy some harvest! I love the smell of the orchard and the opportunity to pick fresh apples, pears, berries and more from the "farm". So here are some pictures from our trip. I didn't actually take very many, we were busy canning peaches, and other things. 

I think all kids do this at one point in their life... Perhaps i'm wrong though...

 We have been making some changes to our diet lately, trying to cut out more gluten and dairy and incorporate more fruits and veggies.... But there has still been this need to bake! I love baking, but getting rid of wheat makes that incredibly hard. Here was an attempt at some GF snickerdoodles.... they weren't that great.... They were okay right out of the oven... but the longer they sat the more chalky/rice like they became.

Who sleeps like this?

Roxy too came to WA... She was in heaven. Loved the fruit and Daisy did a great job of showing her how to pick her own berries or apples.... 

Just another reason why she is a pretty good dog. Loves kids, and is as gentle as her big, clumsy, puppy dog style can be. 

Madi decided the bush needed some pruning... Watch out!! its a little scary!

WA wears her out!

We went to the fruit stand in Chelan and she was able to feed the goats. She loves it there! She talked to them all the way to the car, while she was getting in the car, and even once the door was shut.... Best part, the goat was bleating back the whole time! 

Homemade BBQ sauce in the making. When my mom and I get together to do a project it usually takes 3x as long, but is 2x the fun! We may not be very efficient but there is bound to be a few laughs or two! Just ask her about the ketchup we made... :)

Going to have to work on that picking technique... 

Roxy was stealing apples from my box every chance she could. This is what was left of one when I found her chomping.

 Once we made it home I found my garden had suddenly become fruitful and I had some more canning to do!

This is actually from my garden, once we got back home. I turned these guys into a italian sauce...

 Brian has a cousin that plays football for Rocky Mountain College, we went to a game and found his whole family was there! It was super fun to see everyone!

These guys were loving the hill and playing together.

Cousin time!!

We braved the public and took our group to Texas Roadhouse... It got a little exciting, especially since the kids almost outnumbered us adults!

A boy after my own heart. This guy LOVED the rolls... who can blame him? Those rolls are divine... We side-step the diet for those guys...

Here we have another example of our changes. We have regular lasagna in the back, and rice pasta with spinach in the front. I'm still working on our food... It will be a long adjusting period, but we are getting there.

Here is an example of something nasty. Definitely won't be making this pumpkin bread again.

 As you will see in the following pictures, Mason has discovered the toliet. He loves flushing things down.... So far we have only lost a few items to the inevitable flush, and nothing super important... but a lot of toliet paper has been sent the way of the drain in the last week.

 My niece does this super cute excited face on demand. Ever since we saw it we have been working with Mason to get him to do it... We finally turned a corner and he has started!! But only when he wants to... so we are working on it still... this is the best I have captured so far.

 We are doing family pictures soon, and I am so so so excited! For our anniversary(back in May!) Brian bought me a session with a local photographer, and I scheduled it for the fall... because.... I LOVE FALL and all the colors. Well this is a transformation of where the outfits started to where they are now.... but I'm sure there will still be a few more changes. This is so I can laugh at myself next year when I think of my 6 month preparation for some pictures.... Ya, I have a problem...

Its a work in progress... I'm hoping I've got it all set, but today I will be making everyone put their outfits on and snap a few more trial pictures... :) Ha! It has been a lot of fun, but so annoying at the same time. I need some fashion skills... because I have none..

Madi's birthday is tomorrow! So excited for her! She will be 5?!? I think that means we are officially in the parenting business.... I think I say that every year, but with each year it feels like it is a little more legit. ha ha ha I'm pretty sure that isn't how it works. But ya I feel like i've finally been inaugurated.