Carson's Gymnastics Party

Carson had his birthday party at the Countryside YMCA in Lebanon. It was a gymnastics party!

Every kid there had a blast!

There was so much to do! We sang "Happy Birthday" to Carson then got to pelt him with blocks.

Ty was a little concerned that Carson was going to get hurt.

Ty on the trampoline.

Maddie practiced her straddle, pike, and tuck on the bars.

Ty with a green hoop.

Aunt Tracey jumped with Ty on the small trampoline.

Maddie concentrating on the balance beam.

Maddie bouncing down the long trampoline.

Parachute time!

Carson got to sit in the middle of the parachure before we played cat and mouse.

Ty walking down the hallway after an hour of gymnastics.

Then it was pizza time!

"Happy Birthday to you..."

The cupcakes had blue icing!

Ty got a balloon at the end. He played with his balloon in the car during the entire ride back to Zanesville!

Carson got some cool gifts even though he requested that everyone bring cans that he can take to My Father's Kitchen.

Maddie and Ty had a great time! Thanks Carson for inviting us!

Carson is 5

Carson turned the big 5 on Saturday. We got to celebrate it in Wilmington in the afternoon. First, Carson opened his presents.

Maddie and Ty kept ripping into his presents. Carson let them help as much as possible!

bubble wrap

This gift was huge! It took both Carson and Ty to get it out of the bag!

Pa was being silly.

the birthday boy

Make a wish!

Cheer Camp

Maddie heard about a "cheer camp" (aka cheerleading clinic) that was taking place at Tri-Valley. Even though she was a little young, the kind cheerleading advisor said it was fine that Maddie attend. Maddie was so excited for over a week about this camp! She talked and talked about it. Then she woke up Saturday morning and said she wasn't going. Thanks to the help of fruit snacks and lip gloss, I got her in the car to go watch the cheerleaders!

Camp started at 9:30 am and wasn't over til after 1 pm. That is a long time to cheer and dance! I know because I was right beside Maddie the entire time. I learned quite a bit too!

Brooke is Maddie's cheerleading hero. When Maddie is cheering at home, she is Brooke! Brooke was so good with Maddie. Maddie didn't always want to cheer and dance so Brooke was patient and helped her.

I continued to bribe Maddie to get her to fully participate. I was a little annoyed at the fact she wasn't all that into the camp. She cheers constantly at home! Then Lynda reminded me she was only 2.

When all the parents returned at 12:30 to watch what all the 83 girls learned, Maddie did some movements. However, when it was silent, Maddie busted out with her cheer, "Hey all you Scottie fans, stand up and clap your hands!" as loud as possible!

Cheerleading is tiring! Maddie says she had fun. She gets to cheer at halftime of the reserve and varsity game Tuesday. I'll let you know how that goes.....

More Snow

Ma spent the week with us! We had an early dismissal on Thursday and no school Friday. This is what Ma's car looked like Friday morning.

Ty and Maddie made breakfast.....putting frozen cinnamon french toast sticks on a cookie sheet. In our house, this is cooking!

Ma and the twins watched Daddy work outside.

Daddy had to brave the cold and shovel the driveway. I think we got about 5 inches.

Maddie spent much of the day in this attire.....Ty's Thomas the Train underwear. Maddie and I are not quite seeing eye to eye about her wardrobe. She wants to wear nothing or a Tri-Valley t-shirt and sweat pants. She wants to change her clothes a zillion times a day. If I tell her that she is wearing an outfit the rest of the day, she will "accidentally" spill something on it. I can't believe I am having these issues with a 2 year old! What is it going to be like when she is a teenager?

When Daddy finally got Ma's car cleaned off and the driveway shoveled, Ma left us.

Ty enjoying his breakfast.

Maddie and Ty took their animals on a parade.

Maddie wanted her finger nails and toe nails painted. This is usually Lynda's job, but I did it this time. She sat really still. One nail got smudged and she demanded that I fix it!

Maddie and Ty enjoyed a snack after nap time and 10 minutes of Little Bear. Friday night Chris took the kids to Nate's to play with Braxton while Tiffanee and I met up with some of our other friends and went to dinner and a movie! We are enjoying our snow days, even though we will be making them up!

Craft Night

Chris had an away basketball game Saturday night at John Glenn. The kids and I stayed home and had craft night. I decided to keep them entertained as long as possible with as many crafts as possible. It must have been a brilliant idea because they jumped up in their chairs and yelled, "Yeah, crafts!"

I started simple with some markers and coloring books.

Then some painting. Ty started with the magic paint. This was awesome. You hold the paint brush over the color and the bristles turn that color. The paint is a clear gel that turns colors on the paper. It is like no mess painting!!

Maddie painted her sun catcher first. The sun catchers were a Christmas gift from the Doyle family.It's not easy being a lefty. After awhile I figured out to turn it around for Ty!

Maddie cleaning off her brush before changing colors.

Next, Maddie and Ty switched. Maddie used the light up paint brush.

Ty painted a butterfly sun catcher.

Some of their art work.

sun catchers!
Ty loved painting his arms. He even painted Maddie's too!

They also did some paint by numbers.

Coloring on construction paper....at this point I was multi-tasking. I was hanging new curtains and a new shower curtain in the bathroom.

stringing beads

It got real quiet at this point..stringing beads takes concentration....I love it!

Maddie made four bracelets. Ty dumped 400 beads and spit at least 40 at Maddie. I got the bathroom curtains hung! It was a full night.