A Skiing They Went!

Matt has hoped and talked about the day when he could take his kids skiing, after all he was once ranked 7th in the state for skiing (see honey I listen) and has the poster to prove it, well that day came yesterday.  Caden and Maggie went skiing and they LOVED it! 

Excitement of getting our boots!

The cheering section

If you know my kids well, you will know that this was easy for Maggie, she will try anything at least once and truly has no fear.  She talks about going skiing every time we pass Perfects on the way to Memaw and Papaw's house.  As we drove out to the slopes yesterday she says, "I am excited to ski but I don't know how to ski.  How will I learn to go up the hill then down the hill?"  I explained to her that she was going to ski school and that they will teach her.  I proceeded to tell her that daddy had to learn one day and so did mommy, her reply, "you don't ski mommy." Well Maggie I can say I have been down a black diamond in Colorado - not gracefully but I made it down.  No I am not the best skier but I can do it and I secretly do enjoy it!  She was ready to go and was taking her lesson seriously and could not wait to actually go up the hill and down the hill! 

Ski School!

For Caden, this was a huge accomplishment and just another showing of how much he is growing up - Papaw Chris cannot call him a wussy anymore after this day!  He is the cautious kid who is always looking over this shoulder to make sure you are watching him and that he is not alone.  He is continuously processing things, on the way to the slopes he asked Matt how they could go skiing if there wasn't any snow?  He is the kid who will say that he wants to try something then back out at the last minute.  Not on skiing day - there was a crying moment as he went faster down the hill by himself but daddy came to the rescue and all was good.  The thing I love the most is not how proud I am of him but how proud he is of himself for skiing as he says,"all by myself."   Caden my buddy, you learned to jump today! 

Getting our skis on!

Our skis are on!

And we are moving

Up goes Caden

Up the hill goes Maggie and their instructor

Waiting to go down

You can see the fear on Caden's face!

The "run" that caused the crying!

Daddy to the rescue

Maggie coming down the hill that she went up!

Cale and Mallory came along - I believe Cale would have went if we put skis on him, he is the most daring out of the four kids.  Mallory was content to watch all of the skiers and just was excited to get herself dressed in her hat and gloves! 

Wondering why we were here...

Patiently waiting.....

Me and My little troopers who were hungry and tired

Mallory trying to put her gloves back on

A huge thank you to Memaw Donna for coming to watch this and for bringing along your awesome camera! 
A big thank you to the Gordon boys for hanging onto the cold weather gear to outfit Caden!
The BIGGEST thank you to Kyle at Perfects and the Perfect family - Kyle was their ski instructor and did GREAT with them and the Perfect family has done a great job of creating a kid learning center that was perfect for the little ones!  You all know how to make people want to come back. 

Caden and Maggie are already talking about when we can go back and I think that their Christmas list for next year just got easier!  And for us - we just found out that 2 of the 4 kids are in for a Colorado vacation sometime in the future! 

Middle of the night snuggles

Last Friday I was talking with my friend Megan about being exhausted from being up with the little ones in the middle of the night.  She has a beautiful 3 month old daughter who decided Thursday night was party night for her and mom, Megan even had coffee on Friday - she NEVER drinks caffeine so you know it was a rough one.
Well as we were writing back and forth during the day I told her to cherish those middle of the night moments with Miss Abby because they are gone before you know it and even though they are tough you can survive through them but to enjoy the time with her.
I actually made the comment that I miss those middle of the night snuggles with the little one who just needs a bit more of mommy time.  Those moments when all is quiet in the world and it is just you and this amazing little creature.  Those are wonderful moments and are gone oh so quick.  I don't miss the exhaustion but when you are in what I call "baby mode" you train your body to operate on less sleep and to be able to handle the middle of the night snuggles the next day.  Once you are out of that practice it is definitely harder to do when they come unexpectedly.

Boy did I ask for it....
Our little pickles, Miss Mallory, was not feeling well Monday night.  She has a horrible cold and cannot breathe very well.  She went to bed like any other night but woke up about 11:00 and for the first hour of her being up I got my snuggles and quiet time with my little one.  It was perfect, I sat with her rocking and just enjoying her needing mom a little longer that night.  I sat and thought about the email exchange with Megan and how much I truly do miss those moments of quiet snuggles and just holding your baby.  Then it amazed me how big she is getting and how hard it was to hold her unless she is curled into a little ball. However, that moment of enjoyment passed once she did not go back to sleep until 2:30 AM.  I know she was excited about Valentine's Day but to be up to bring it in at midnight is a little obsessive if you ask me!  So we walked and rocked and tried to lay down in the bed and on the couch, we tried to get daddy to put her asleep but no she just wanted mommy so back to the couch we went and FINALLY she got to the point of comfortable and went back to sleep.  I on the other hand got approximately 2 hours of sleep - if you call sitting on the couch with one leg making sure she doesn't fall and the other on the floor so you don't fall sleeping then I got 2 hours!

I felt bad for my little gal - she was miserable but she is doing better now and mommy is still catching up on sleep.
I do miss those moments and I know that she wanted mommy when she was sick so I try to remind myself that I can catch up on my sleep much later in life. Right now, I am cherishing those moments of the quiet time with her.  I know that Mallory had no idea how much I missed them, and now that I am not so tired, I am grateful and have a smile that goes with my quiet memory of rocking and holding.
But Miss Mallory Lynne, let's not make it a habit.  You are a cute little character but let's enjoy those moments on more normal hours. 

Just a little funny note to record for Mallory, Monday night after bathes Matt asked her if she wanted to come downstairs to get some milk.  Her reply as she sticks out her hand of chubby little fingers, "I'm fine" JUST LIKE HER BROTHER CADEN! She is his mini me for sure!  Matt about fell down the stairs when she looked at him and did that - another fine kid and many laughs for us!  I know Mallory will not ever get the true humor behind her action but we are giggling about it, she said it just like Caden used to and with the attitude of no worries.  Too Cute as my mom would say!

Her Snickerdoodle Muffin

Maggie is quite possibly one of the sweetest little girls I know.  I may have a biased opinion but she has a big heart and loves, loves surprises and she loves her siblings. 

Two weeks ago when Matt was out of town, she had a surprise for him, she reminded him every night that she had a surprise but refused to tell him what it was, and she could not wait to give it to him when he returned home. 

The Surprise was simple: snickerdoodle muffins.  Matt loves snickerdoodle cookies and my mom knowing this found the new snickerdoodle muffins at the grocery.  Being that I think she is trying to still make up for a comment on Matthew's cleaning skills a few weeks back she bought them, wrapped them in a gift bag and gave them to Maggie so that she could give her daddy a present. 

So the snickerdoodle muffins were given to her daddy, she was proud, and she apparently loves them too as she ate most of them.  She shared with everyone but I do believe she consumed the most. 

Where does this story take us you wonder, well yesterday morning, as we do every morning, Cale was laying next to Maggie while we were getting all of the kids dressed.  He had on his new Mr.Potato Head shirt and I asked Maggie, "do you like Cale Man's shirt? It says he is a Spud Muffin."  Maggie's reply, "spud muffin, no mommy he is my snickerdoodle muffin!"

Seriously, I am not making this up and this story does not do justice for the love in her voice, the smile on her face or the pride that was beaming out of me and the laughter coming from Matt.  We just stood there for a minute completely awed by this little person and her funny yet true love for her brother.  And now Cale is not only her Buster but her Snickerdoodle Muffin!  He sure is a cute muffin whatever flavor it may be.

And to my Maggie Lynne, you are truly so sweet and innocent, I hope that you will stay that way forever!  Keep making us laugh, you will always make us proud and continue to show the love you have for your siblings.  You are a wonderful sister and a beautiful daughter, we love you our little rooster!

                       

Happy Valentine's Day!

The kids wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

We had parties at school, gifts from our grandparents, lots of junk to eat, lots of hugs and kisses and just an all around great day.

From our Spud Muffins and our two little Minny Mouse friends we hope you had a great day too!

The day was ended with a viewing of Toy Story - on the portable DVD because they could - but by showing love for one another and just being brothers and sisters.

4 years ago today...

I returned to work for the first time as a mom.  Wow 4 years ago and it blows me away to think how much has changed in not only our lives but in my career as well.

I hated that first day back to work after being off for 11 weeks with Caden and Maggie.  They were still so small but they were in goods hands - no, make that great hands - with Memaw Connie and Papaw Eddie. 

It is weird but I remember exactly what I wore that day, not much fit but I remember that outfit.  I remember crying on the way to work, not quite feeling myself.  I remember getting to work and sitting down with my boss to talk about the transition back into a full time job versus my life of the last 11 weeks of full time mom.  That was one of the longest days of my life but yet the reward at the end of the day when I got home to hold those babies was just amazing and made up for everything. 
Sure, I missed them (and still do everyday), but I made it through that day and so many more after that. 

There are lots of times when I wonder what it would be like had I not gone back to work, but my career is part of who I am, it helps me to be a better mom by focusing my time with them towards exactly that, time with them and it allows me to still be Trina - sales gal, not just the lady who has two sets of twins.  I think the job of a stay at home mom is a wonderful job, one that I just cannot imagine myself doing but that I respect with appreciation for all of those who do it. 
We mom's, we have lots of careers in our lifetime, it is ever changing.  You start as the diaper changer, feeder and cuddler.  You move to the play mate and the one who hands out punishment, then onto the taxi driver and cheerleader and eventually the best friend, or so I hope that my children are as close to Matt and I as we are to our parents. 

So why this post now?  It just hit me as I was walking out here to write about something else that 4 years ago today my life changed, once again, and I proved to myself that I could do more than I ever imagined I could.  I love that I remember that day in detail, I even remember what the kids wore as well.  I love being a mom, I am grateful for my support system I have at ConAgra Foods and I am eternally grateful to my husband for his support and Memaw Connie and Papaw Eddie for making that return to work possible.  Looking back at that day makes me say, "wow, we sure have come a long way"

Caden and Maggie's Valentine's 2008

On the morning when I returned to work

Learning to Jump

If you have never stopped and watch a child who is learning to jump, you should, it will teach you a lot about life.  Cale and Mallory are both learning to jump in the physical sense but what they do not know is that they are learning more than just being able to jump and their determination to accomplish this jump is teaching me so much more about them and myself. 

Sheer determination - that is what you get when you ask them to jump.  You get lots of giggles, lots of stomps and lots of tries but no one can yet get off the ground.  I know that one day this determination will lead them to getting their feet truly off the ground, but until then I will watch them trying and just think about this small task as I tackle things that I may not always think I can do and just remember that eventually I too can learn to jump once again.

My children never stop amazing me, each day that I am privileged to be their mommy is a blessing, a lesson and an absolute joy.  Not every minute is beautiful or easy but is that not why we need to learn to jump? 

So the next time you think that you cannot do something remember that you to had to learn to jump at some point.  You may not be able to jump the highest but you can jump, and you got there through sheer determination and continued tries.  This is a lesson that we often forget and one that I hope my children never let slip. 

Cale and Mallory, these jumps will come before I know it and truly before I am ready but I am proud of you.  You try so hard and get closer and closer everyday.  No one will ever tell you that you cannot jump off the ground so as life gets harder and things seem to be the impossible, remember that you have learned to jump before and you can learn to jump over whatever lands in your way.

If you have ever tried to capture a child learning to jump on film you will know it is not easy.  Maybe tomorrow I will figure out how to put the video out here!

Cale determined and Mallory cheering him on!

Cale's First Hair Cut

Okay so it really was not a cut it was more of a trim but the fact is he looks stinking cute with the curls and longer hair so let's just get over that he will have longer hair for as long as he can. 

January 19th was my normal appointment with the fabulous Miss Cherie, Caden and Maggie had theirs scheduled and I thought why not give Cale a little trim too to show daddy I would do it.  (Photo disclosure - this process is about Cale not me and the color on my hair at the time but he is the 2nd son that has had his hair cut while on mommy's lap and she with color in her hair)

Me not agreeing to cut Cale's hair has been a topic of discussion since November - he has been called a girl at least twice - and I did call Cherie to cut it one day but she just so happened to not be working that one Saturday!  Matt really did not believe I would do it but I must say that now I think he agrees with going to a trim instead of a cut - when he looked at Cale's scar this weekend, the one from the Christmas Day incident, his comment was, "guess he will need longer hair to hide that scar forever, huh?"




The before - not really sure what is going on





Time to trim the curls, I wasn't breathing

I can tell you I was nervous, ask Cherie, she was the one holding the scissors but I was the one holding my breath to make sure that she didn't cut too much off!  She did great and I have one cute little son, okay so he was cute before but now his hair is handsome and has some direction to it!


I think Cherie was testing to see if she got enough and to make sure it didn't tuck behind the ear!





All done and handsome as usual - with CURLS!



And I have to thank Cherie, she has cut 3 out of the 4 kids so far and Mallory will be about12 months before she needs a haircut but she will be there one day. 

My kids truly believe that Cherie is the only who can cut their hair and our diva Maggie LOVES to go see Miss Cherie! 

Thanks for being not only a wonderful hairdresser but a patient and awesome friend!  

A huge thank you to Kate and Aunt Haley, gals you were wonderful photographers!

To my Cale man, you look absolutely handsome and I am glad that one kid has my curls, even if it is one of the boys.  As for the scar, it is a part of you and a story to tell your future children. 

Embrace it and use the longer haircut for as long as you would like! 

We Love You, scar and long hair in all!