EASM

McKenzie!! :( Family Time :)

2010-03-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

So to make a long story short...

I got home from work the other day and McKenzie had chewed her way through our back door in the garage. She had been scratching at if for a while, but she got through it. I should have taken pictures, but I was so mad. Since we are moving I had a goodwill box right by the back door and everything in the box was chewed and strung all over my back yard. So I was busy picking everything up at 8pm. :( I called my brother in law James and said I need some help. I told him what had happened and he came right over to help me fix it. He did a temporary fix that would work for the night.

The next day I went to Home Depot to look for a door. I bet they laughed so hard when I came in. My first question was "Where is your door department?". He just smiled and said I will take you there. Do you know what you are looking for. I said yes a metal door. He asked me if I brought the measurements and I said "no, aren't all doors the same size?" He smiled again. I had no idea how many choices of doors their were. I wanted a metal door so she wouldn't be able to ruin it. They only came with the door and the whole jam. I told the guy I need to bring my brother in law back here to help.

So Nicole and James met me at Home Depot. Our door is pretty small and has concrete on the bottom so there was no way to make it bigger to put a different size door in. So we bought stuff to fix the whole. Since we are moving and she is still going to scratch it we fixed it so it would work for a while. I can always order a door for their when the house sells. It looks really good!!

Here is a picture with the patch with the door shut with Kenzie's beauty marks.

Here is the back door with the patch and he painted it the same color of the house.
I think that it looks so good. You can't even tell. You can see McKenzie has already started to scratch it, but it hasn't made any indents yet just dirt marks. I am going to cover the window so she can't see into the garage and I link that will help.

Here is the door with the patch.
James said once you stain and paint it it will look really good. I said once I?
He said ok once I do it. I said that is better. :)
Thanks James for all of your help!!
I couldn't have done any of it without you.

While James was working on the door Nicole and I hung out with the kids inside.
They had a great time playing together.

Shane and Ben chilling and watching Planet 51.

Madison watching a movie with her pillow pet.

Ben watching TV with Shane's pillow pet. He thinks it is his. :)

What a cutie!!

Sam on the dog bed with the kong.
It was 10pm by that time and he was tired so what ever kept him happy.
Yes, Denise on a dog bed with a dog toy in his mouth

The three kids chilling together!! We will sure miss times like this.
That is why we have to take ever advantage we get to spend time with family!! :)

Happy 1st Birthday McKenzie!!!

2010-03-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to McKenzie.
Happy Birthday to you!

Our puppy is 1 today.
We love you Kenzie!!!

McKenzie at 8 weeks

McKenzie in our front yard.
Our grass was a little long, but almost as tall as our sweet puppy!

McKenzie with her giraffe.

McKenzie was taking a nap and Madison covered her up with her blankey while she was sleeping.

Sleeping puppy next to a small kong.

Eric and Madison and McKenzie cuddling on the chair

McKenzie with the toy that Eric bought her

Sweet girl!!

Shane with the puppy

McKenzie on the back deck at 8 weeks

McKenzie on the back deck on her 1st Birthday.

We are so happy to have her in our lives.
She sure is rowdy, but she is a great pup.

She is awfully cute too!!! :)

Hangine with the Watts Family

2010-03-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

It is so kind of people to come and visit us.
We really like visitors.

Here is a night that we had with the Watts Family.

Here are some of the great moments had by all....

Mike should never fall asleep.
Alia was sticking stickers on his face!

Here is the final project.

Alia and Madison playing with babies on the couch.
These two love playing together

I love those girls!!

Alia in Madison's double baby stroller.

Alia never gets anything that she wants at my house and here is proof:

She is so proud. Popsicle just her size.

She loved them.

Thanks for coming over and hanging out with us. :)

Better late then never... Valentine's Weekend

2010-03-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

Eric was home for Valentine's Weekend. It is always nice to have him home.
We had great weather again which was nice as well.
Plus, we had Alia Saturday morning while Denise and Mike moved.
It is so fun to have her. She is a joy in our lives.

Here are some pictures from that day. Yes, we went on a walk again.

Shane riding his bike.

Madison riding her bike

Alia pushing the stroller that she rode in

Alia running around. Having a great time.

**DENISE CLOSE YOUR EYES**

Alia saying HI to McKenzie

Close up of the sweet girl.

Shane pushing Alia.

Eric and Kenzie

How cute is that?!?!
Shane is pushing Alia.

What a fun weekend. We love having that sweet girl at our house.

Spring Weather in the WInter?!?!?

2010-03-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

It is not often that we get Spring Weather in the winter. So when we do we have to take advantage of it and that is exactly what we did a few weekends back.

Here is a few things that we did..

Madison rode her new bike for the first time that she got for her birthday. She is a pro.

Shane taking a picture with his puppy. He loves her so much.

Shane training McKenzie to sit. Even though that is one of the commands that she knows good. He just likes reinforcing it!!

Here she is in the middle of sitting. It looks like she is doing something else, but she isn't.

Here he is saying "good girl."

We sure have fun taking her for walks and bike rides.
We have been able to do that for a few weekends in a row now.
It's nice to have spring weather in the winter!!

We miss you DADDY!!

2010-03-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Eric came to visit us this weekend.

He just left... :(
The kids and I miss him very much. He will not be back for a month and a half.
Usually he comes home every three weeks.

Here are my babies making crafts for their daddy.

They are so cute. They had so many ideas in their little heads of what to make.

My sweet boy.

My sweet girl.

Shane concentrating on his art work/craft.

Madison concentrating on her artwork/craft.

Shane showing off one of his projects.

Madison smiling for a quick pic, but quick is all I could get.
She told me that she is making special crafts for her daddy!!

My girly and her finished products.
She said "I hope that my daddy likes these"
I said "of course he will"
Here is my buddy's projects.

They both worked so hard. They are sweet kids.
We will be SO happy when we are together as a family together.
It is crazy how much I took my life for granted.
When we are back together I will take so much less for granted.

We love you so much DADDY!!

Valentine

2010-02-18T18:58:00.001-08:00

I read the most AMAZING VALENTINE this year...

Handmade Valentine that Shane made at school especially for Madison

Dear Madison,
I love you
You make me
funny and I couldn't
have a better
sister
Love,
Shane

Curly Sue... I mean... Curly Madison

2010-01-27T18:41:00.000-08:00

Madison has to have her hair curled for every competition. She gets so tired of me needing to curl it every Saturday not to mention that I have to get her up at least by 6:30 to have it curled. So we decided to try sponge rollers and see how they worked on her hair. That is what a lot of the mom's use at the gym. I thought that her hair was to short to use them, but as you will be able to tell by the pictures... it isn't.

Here is Madison this morning before I took her curlers out.
Can you tell that she just woke up?

Front View

Side View

Other side view

Here she is... Mrs. America

She looks so cute!!
Her hair was much shorter

Look how curly it was

Back view of the curls

I am glad we tried this. This is how we are going to do it every Friday night. That way I get put makeup on her and put her hair in piggy tails and off we go!!

Madison's Pirate Party

2010-01-26T16:57:00.000-08:00

Madison had a pink pirate party for her birthday party with her friends. She calls her real birthday her "fake birthday" and her she calls her party with her friends her "real birthday".

Unfortunately I was super busy with the party that I didn't get very many pictures. She had a lot of people there. She had 25 kids and at least 40 adults. You could tell she was having a ton of fun. She had a smile on her face the whole time and was running around having a blast. We had her party at Papa's Pizza.

Here are some of the pictures I was able to get.

Here was the star of the party.
Pirate Madison

Here are the decorations that were on the table

Here is the sign that I had made for the party. It matches all of the decorations! :)

Here is the cake table and party box table. If you don't know I am kind of a freak when it comes to decorating and parties so it killed me that these had to be on the same table. I usually have a cake table and a present table and the party boxes usually go on the present table. oh well... It was still cute. The girls got purses to match the theme and the boys got treasure chests.

Here is another picture of the decorations with some of Madison's guests.

Here was the pop table with all of the labels.

Here is the close up of the labels.
They match the theme. :)

Here is Madison's pirate cake

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Madison
Happy Birthday to you

Madison blowing out her candles

Here is the pinata.

Usually I buy pull string pinata's which I thought this was. It wasn't. :( It was a real pinata. How could we use a bat and break a pinata at Papa's Pizza?... We couldn't. So Madison's strong Daddy broke it in half and dumped out the candy!!

Kids getting candy.

More kids getting candy.

Madison opening her presents

Madison opening her chair that she can color.

I am trying to organize all of the presents. Let's just say- that was a job.
Here friends were very generous

Thanks to everyone that came to her party.
Everyone helped make it such a special day for her that she will remember forever.

Happy 5th Birthday Madison!!

2010-01-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl. I can't believe that she is 5 years old today. We have been privileged to raise her for 5 years and can't wait for many years to come. She is such a joy to have in our lives.

Here are some pictures of her when she was a baby

Here are pictures of her at her 1st Birthday Party

Here are some pictures from her tonight at Red Robin
on her 5th Birthday

Madison hugging Red Robin

Madison while they were singing to her. She got that hat at preschool today

Happy 5th Birthday Madison

I decorate their doors on their birthday's so when they wake up they are all decorated. They love it and look forward to it every year. Here is Madison's door and then her standing by it.

The sign that I made for Madison's door.

Her door all decorated.

Close up of Madison before she went to school. She still has wet hair. :)

The "birthday" girl standing by her door.

Eric came home today and the kids didn't know. He surprised them and they loved it.
I am so glad that my baby girl had a great birthday. We love you so much Madison.

Happy 5th Birthday!!

Firsts for Shane and Madison

2010-01-18T17:12:00.002-08:00

This was an exciting weekend for Shane and Madison!!

Madison has been practicing her cheer leading since June and she had her first competition this weekend. All of her practices were finally worth it. It was so fun to see her Tiny squad get so excited for their first competition. They won 1st place this weekend. Unfortunately, Madison missed the awards ceremony because since I am a single mom now since Eric is in Arizona we had to leave the competition early to take Shane to his first basketball game(which I will talk about in a second).

Here is Madison in her competition!!

(I can't get this video to load so Eric will have to help me when he gets home)

Here are some pics of her competition:

Emerald All-star Tiny Team

My little poser...

My sweet girl. She is so pretty!!

She has a competition every weekend until April. We have to go to Portland, Salem and Tacoma. Can you believe that we have to drive 5.5 hours to a cheer leading competition? I can't but I will do if for my sweet girl.

Shane just started basketball. He loves it. He keeps asking me to get him a basketball hoop, but since we are moving soon I told him that we needed to wait until we moved. So he says that he will be better next year when he can practice more. He is the tallest boy on his team by almost a head. The coach says that he is building the plays around Shane. That puts a lot of pressure on the little guy. The first game was a little crazy. Shane shot at the wrong basket, but didn't make it. Thanks goodness... He also took of dribbling the wrong way. That isn't too bad for his first time playing basketball. He also got the majority of the rebounds. He is now really good at stopping after her rebounds the ball and passing it to the point guard. It didn't work out to well when he dribbled. He is like his mommy in that sense. I always got the rebounds and then passed them to the point guard. When you have as big of feet as Shane and I it is a better idea just to pass the ball. A few times he was running down the court so fast that his long legs got away from him and he would just fall. I think that will happen for a while until he grows into his body which might take a while. He is so fun to watch. Since I played basketball it is really fun to see my kid playing. I am the loudest mom out there cheering for Shane and telling him what to do. It makes me think of my dad at my games. ;) Shane scored a basket with more to come...

They have the kids read the rules at the YMCA Basketball games which I was not aware of. I had to take Madison to the bathroom and when I got back I saw Shane reading with the referee with everyone watching him. I automatically grabbed the camera and started filming him. My father in law told me that the referee gave Shane the piece of paper to read and Shane said I can't read all of that. She said read what you can and I will help you with the rest. I am so proud of him for doing that. He is only in the first grade and I thought that was very brave. Look at the smile on his face when he finished. He was so proud and I was so proud of him!!!!

Shane reading the rules...

It is amazing seeing how much taller he is than the rest of his team.

Shane after his first game

Shane and Grandpa Alan after his game.

I am so proud of both of them for trying new things and being brave even though there Daddy wasn't able to make it. They also missed Grandma and Grandpa Warren, but that is why I taped it!! So they both could see them.

Communication with Eric in Arizona

2010-01-11T19:36:00.000-08:00

Eric has been away from us since January 1st. It has been 10 days. It is really hard for the kids having their daddy away that long. Tonight they were able to talk to him and see him on the computer. They talked to him for about a half of an hour. Shane did his homework while he was on there. He read daddy his books. It was so cute to see how excited they were to see him...
Hopefully we can do that every night.

Shane trying to figure out how to read to Eric on the computer

Shane showing Eric the book while he was reading

That got too hard so Shane just read it normal while Eric and Madison listened.

The kids were so glad to see Eric and by the smile on Eric's face he was glad to see them!!

One important thing I forgot to post from 2009, but won't forget

2010-01-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

Here is our family picture from August 2008

Here is our family Picture from August 2009

Here is a Eric and I in August 2008

Here is Eric and I in August 2009

Ok... So what is the big difference between 2008 and 2009??
Our weight...

Eric and I worked really hard in 2009 to lose weight. We started by working out and then we decided that we wanted to start running. I don't know where that came from since I have hated running my whole life. Eric ran cross country in high school, but hadn't run since then. Not only did we starting to run, but we decided to run a half marathon. There is a lot of training that it takes to run a half marathon. We were doing a long run every weekend from January until April. The half marathon was in May. We ran it and did very well for our first one. It was great for Eric and I to be able to spend time together. Eric lost 40 pounds and I lost 50 pounds. The best part about it is that we have kept it off and are in the process of losing more.

Happy New Year- 2010

2010-01-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Hello Again...

My New Years Resolution is to keep my blog updated. I debated weather to go back and fill you in on what the Schwake's have been up to for the last 7 months, but I just thought it would be easier to start fresh.

As many of you know from my Christmas letter we are moving to Arizona. January 1st Eric filled his truck and started the move to AZ. The kids and I are going to be in Eugene until Shane gets out of first grade in June. These 6 months will be long and hard, but we will be able to handle it. We are excited for what this move will bring us. More to come on that...

Eric and the kids on New Years Eve.

As many of you know we have a chocolate lab named McKenzie. Needless to say she is a love, but a handful. I found this wonderful lady who trains dogs. She keeps them at her house for a month and trains them for you and then she teaches you what the commands are. McKenzie is leaving for her house today. As Shane says "This will be sad, we are losing a member of our family." I assured Shane that she is coming back and she will be a better dog because of it.

McKenzie with her Christmas Candy Cane.

What else... Shane starts basketball on Wednesday. He is so excited. He has already had 1 practice before the break and is excited to start basketball again. Madison gets back into cheer leading on Monday. They took an extended break over the holidays. She has her first competition on January 16th.

Highlight from this summer:

Shane played Pop Warner football and loved it. He sure learned a lot and is excited for next year. Go Sheldon Eagles!! He is number 6 and the back of his jersey said SCHWAKE (that way you can find him in some of the pictures better).

Shane opening a wholeShane coming out of the tunnel. Can you tell he loved it, by the smile on his face?

Good defending Shane.

Shane blocking.

Close up of Shane concentrating.

What a cutie!!

Here are a few pictures from stuff that happened last year:

Shane's 1st Grade School Pics

Shane's 1st Grade School pic (Body Shot)

Madison's Preschool Picture

Madison's Preschool Picture (body shot)

The H1N1 hit our house. Eric and Shane had it. :(

Madison and Alia (cousin) at the pumpkin patch

Our very own Clone trooper and Hannah Montana

My sweet girl...

What beautiful and loving kids.

Madison at cheerleading

Madison before her school performance. She did so good. She had a solo.

She loved her sparkly tights.

Madison and Eric hanging an ornament

Shane and Madison decorating the tree.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve in their new jammies.

Look for more updates on a weekly basis.... Looking forward to a great 2010.

We have had a busy summmer!!

2009-07-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

We have had the crazy busiest summer. I have so much to post and a messy house. We have a boat so we are on the lake all summer. I need to take one Sunday afternoon and catch my blog up. Look for an update coming SOON!!!!

Here is a teaser...

Madison and I on the boat

Shane and Madison on the boat!!

Shane's Kindergarten Graduation

2009-05-09T17:08:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that Shane is going into first grade. He goes to a private Kindergarten so they make a bigger deal out of graduation then the public schools. He went to Springfield Christian Kindergarten. It was really good for him. His Kindergarten class had 12 kids. That is unheard of for Eugene area. They do a winter and spring program and the graduation is part of the spring program. He had a solo and got kind of confused during the performance. Mrs. Fisher said I was so suprised that he fumbled a little. She said that he did so good in practice. I told her that it was probably his nerves with all of those parents. He still did a really good job.It was pretty cute.

The graduating class of 2009.
I can't believe how much taller Shane is.

Close up of the giant. :)

My little boy!!

Shane getting diploma from Mrs. Fisher. She is a great teacher.

Shane with his diploma.

Shane leaving the performance.

Alia and Madison watching the graduation.

Madison loves taking pictures of herself. It is really funny because she would take the picture and then realize that Eric was in the picture and she would get so mad. It kept happening over and over again. She just kept sighing.

Eric did it again.

Madison posing before the graduation started.

Shane and his best girl friend Gracie Mae.

Madison's New Haircut

2009-05-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

I finally got tired of combing out all of the tangles. It is hard since I go to work at 6 am and Eric gets the kids ready and he isn't much for doing her hair. So it was always a tangled mess when I got to it. We had talked about getting her haircut for a long time, but I just hadn't had the guts. I didn't want her to lose her curls, but as you can see she still has them. She absolutely loves her new hair cut. She said that it is going to be much more manageable. Where did she get that I wonder?

Madison's new haircut.

Madison posing for Aunt Denise.

The back of her hair.

Her new haircut straightened.
She wanted to have it straightened for Shane's kindergarten graduation.

Madison being sassy. She looks so cute!!

Our trip to Puerto Vallarta KIDLESS!!!

2009-05-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Eric won a trip from work. It was 4 days and 3 nights. I thought we are barley going to get there and then we are going to have to come home. That is not what happened. It was SOOOOOO much fun and so relaxing. I have never been able to lay at the pool from 9 am-6pm with people coming to ask me what I want to eat or drink every 10 min. It was an all inclusive resort including room service. We ate like PIGS!!! I had the best time of my life with my husband. We enjoyed each other with no interuptions which we aren't able to do with kids that often.
The first day we looked around and had a dinner on the beach. Then next day we went on a catamaran snorkeling adventure. The boat ride was about 3 hours there snorkeling for an hour and 3 hours back. I love to lay out so it was perfect. Then we went out to dinner at a 4 star restaurant at the resort for free. We ordered 5 appetizers, 4 meals and 5 desserts and anything that we wanted to drink. We didn't have to pay a cent. That was awesome. We had dinner with some friends that won the trip as well. We didn't eat all of that food by ourselves. ;-)
The third day I laid by the pool from 9am-6pm. It was so relaxing. Eric went on a zip line adventure where they went out on a 45 min boat road, then road Mercedes SUV's then went zip lining through the trees and in the water and then took the boat back. He was gone for 8 hours and I stayed at the pool the whole time. Then we went out to dinner in down town Puerta Vallarta. They took us to 3 art gallery's in we ate in the 3rd one. We had an awards ceremony as well. The next day we just lounged at the pool until we went home at 3pm. Eric stayed in the shade the whole time with his friend.
My mom and dad watched our kids and they both got the flu while we were gone so that was the hard part, but who better to take care of them then my mom. She raised me so I feel so comfortable leaving them with my parents. Eric and I had a great time.

Here are a few photos from our trip!

The view outside our room.

Eric at the swim up bar in the infinity pool.

This turtle came out of the ocean during the day. She worked her way up to the top and started digging a whole and she laid her eggs. It was crazy to see. The guy who was helping her said that they usually don't do it until it is dark.

Here is the guy helping her. They take the eggs to a safe location.

Eric and I the first night at the beach diner. What a pretty sunset!!

Eric sitting on the seat on the catamaran.

Eric and I imitating the titanic...

The dolphin that swam by the boat.

Sun tanning on the boat!

Eric and I sitting on the boat together in the wind.

Eric on the big chair

Eric boogie boarding. See his little head?

Eric and Joe toasting in the infinity pool.

Eric snorkling in the infinity pool. I told him that he wasn't going to find any fish. LOL

Eric relaxing in the hot tub... I told him he would not find me in a hot tub in Mexico.

Eric and I at dinner

The sunset outside the restaurant window.

The water aerobics class that I did the next morning.
It was the most enjoyable exercise that I have ever done.
In an infinity pool over looking the ocean!!

Our friends Joe and Mary

Eric and I dressed up for the nice dinner downtown.

Eric and I at the art gallarey. Isn't it beautiful?

The mariachi band that played at dinner. It was amazing.

My choclate cake from room service. The flower was raspberry and kiwi puree to dip the chocolate cake in. Can I just say DELICIOUS?

My good bud Laura and I.

Eric and I on the beach.

Eric and Nick in the shade.

Me in the SUN!!!

Me in the sun in the pool. This was a great way to tan because I didn't get to hot.

Mary and I in the pool.

My baby and I!! Thanks for taking me on such a great trip. I am glad that we were able to spend so much quality time together. I LOVE YOU! XOXOXO

She's here!! McKenzie or "Kenzie"

2009-05-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

So the long awaited arrival of our puppy has come. We got her last Saturday. Eric and I have wanted a lab ever since we were married, but we had to wait until the kids were the right age. It is just like having a baby again. She potty's on the floor, she cries, but boy is she cute. She is already part of our family!! We love our little kenz kenz. :)

Kenzie learning to sit.

Kenzie asleep on Shane

Do you see a pattern?!?!

Shane holding McKenzie.

McKenzie fell asleep on the coach and Shane covered her up with a Dora blanket since she is a girl.

Shane loves her so much!!

Kenzie playing with the giraffe toy that I bought her. Giraffe's are my favorite animal.

Chewing on the toy.

Sleeping next to her kong.

She looks like she is in a field. Can you tell that Eric needs to mow! ;-)

Shane training McKenzie in her penned area. We penned off the hallway for her to be when we need to do something. That way she won't have to be in her kennel all the time.

Shane saw that she was sleeping in her area so he got her a pillow and a blanket. What a nice brother. ;-)

Shane showing McKenzie how to pose. LOL

She is licking Madison.

Madison holding her. Madison is still trying to get used to having a dog.

Kenzie chilling..

Kenzie on Eric's chair with Shane

Chilling with Eric on the deck watching the kids play.

We will update soon with more pictures of her since she is getting so big so fast!!

Our 8th Anniversary- April 28th, 2001

2009-04-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to do this post yesterday, but we had a busy day and I was tired and fell asleep.

I am still 8 years later so amazed with the man that I married. I love him so much and he is a great husband and father. I love anniversary's because it is a day that we can reflect on our relationship.

Our wedding day!! 4.28.2001

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico- 4.26.2009

Since we went to Mexico last week we decided that we weren't going to go out alone that we were going to take our babies with us. Shane and Madison were so excited. Shane got in the shower and did his hair. Madison wanted her hair in pig tails. They got very excited!!

We took them to The Vintage. Shane had fish and chips and Madison had spaghetti. Then after our dinner we had cho0coate fondue. The kids had a great time. The hard part is that the restaurant was pretty slow for kids. We were in the restaurant and Shane said "mom is this an anniversary restaurant?". I told him no people can come here for anything.

I thought that was really cute.

Eric and I across the table from each other last night.
Madison took this picture. She is a great photographer.

Shane and I at dinner

Madison at dinner with her lemonade!!

Shane with his banana, marshmallow and strawberry to dip in chocolate.

Shane dipping it in the chocolate.

Right before it went in his mouth! YUM...

Madison enjoying her fondue fruit!!

Madison posing with her chocolate!!

Shane and Madison showing how much they liked the chocolate!!
Aren't they so cute?!?!

After dinner in our jammies. She didn't want to be in the picture.

Madison and I. She sure got into it fast!!

Eric and I. She took a great picture of us!

She took some of herself!! Where does she get that from?

and more...

We had a great Anniversary and it was great to share that with our kids.
I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who lives and breathes for his family.

Here's to 50 more years!!
Love you Eric.

Happy 6th Birthday Shane!!

2009-04-17T22:29:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that my baby boy turned 6 today. He is a very special boy. He is such a sweet and loving son who is full of energy. I am so glad that he is a part of our family and that I have the privilege of being his mom. It is so fun to watch him grow up and to see his excitement for the world around him. He says the cutest things and is so loving to his family. He was sitting on the couch the other night and he looked at Madison and said "Madison I love you". He then looked at me with the straightest face and said mom "How come I love Madison so much?" That is just one example of what a loving and sweet kid he is. Time goes by way to fast. It seems like yesterday that I brought him home from the hospital and now he is 6. Where does the time go? Days like this help me realize how fast time goes and how I need to cherish every minute with my beautiful children. He is such a joy to have in our family!!

Shane and Mommy the day he was born

Shane and Daddy when he was just born

Shane's hospital picture. He was a beautiful newborn.

Shane's birth announcement picture. He was 3 days old.

Shane when he was a couple of weeks old

He loved that pillow.

Denise and Shane sleeping..

Shane at around 1 yr old. I loved when he would stick his bum up when he slept.

Eric and Shane first thing in the morning. They were sure happy boys!

My happy blue eyed boy.

Shane 2 weeks ago on the beach. He wrote his name and then wanted to stand by it!

Shane with his cousin Alia. He sure loves her!!
You would think they are brother and sister with how he treats her.
He really watches out for her.

Shane at Easter last weekend! Isn't he handsome!!

Happy 6th Birthday Shane!!
I love you so much.

It's a boy!! Samuel John

2009-03-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Nicole had her baby and he is the cutest little boy!

Samuel John

He was born at 5:07 am
March 29th

7 lbs. 6 ounces
18 1/2 inches long

Baby Samuel

Me with Samuel at 6:00 am. That was early!!

Shane with Samuel

Madison and Shane with Samuel

Madison, Ben (Nicole's son), Corey (Nicole's step son), Samuel, Shane and Alia (Denise's Baby)

Congratulations Nicole!!
You did a great job and Samuel is absolutely beautiful.
Enjoy every minute with your bundle of joy. We love you!!

It's a girl......

2009-03-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

When you saw the title I know you were puzzled because
I am not pregnant and Nicole is having a boy.

But.....

Our puppy was born yesterday!! :-)

We finally decided that it was time for us to get a dog.
Our kids are old enough now and we are ready to get a dog for them. We haven't chosen which one is ours, but one of these females will be ours. We are still trying to decide the name. Shane and Madison wanted Sandy and I wanted McKenzie "Kenzie" and Eric doesn't care. So on the way to swim we had a discussion about the dogs name. I told Shane and Madison that we can name it Sandy, but I would call it Kenzie. Then after a little more discussion Shane said "I have an idea Madison. We can name our next dog Sandy and we can get a yellow lab. Yup that's what we will do." Eric Said "next dog?". Shane said "yup". Eric then said "I don't think we are getting another dog." Shane said "yup we are getting a yellow lab so we can name this one Kenzie and the next one Sandy. Then Madison said "You can name it Kenzie, but I am calling her Sandy". Does that sound familiar or what?

So long story short I am not sure what we are naming her, but we will have a puppy in 8 weeks!! The kids are very excited to meet their puppy!!

"Rules for Shane's Room"

2009-03-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

Isn't he cute?? He came up to me yesterday and said "mom, I have made some rules for my room." Knowing his age I knew it was going to be something about no girls allowed, but I let him finish. He said "NO girls allowed in my room only boys". I said ok.
Then I went to his room and this is what I found.....

YES!! You are seeing it correctly he wrote on his door. My first thought was how cute!! He is growing up so fast. He can write He and She. My second thought was how in the heck am I going to get this off of his door. I said "Shane you can have rules for your room, but they need to be written on paper and then taped to your door". He said "mom, I am so sorry". I said that is ok, let's go in the kitchen and we can hang a sign on your door. I then said "when did you learn how to write he and she?" He said "in class today". While he made the sign I used the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to get the ink of the door. Of course it worked. I love those!!
Here is the updated door.....

We then went to swim and he lost his tooth in the changing room. When we got home I said Shane you have a problem. You said no girls in your room so when the tooth fairy comes she is going to think that she is not allowed in your room. He said "OH NO!!" I need to change my sign.
Here is the updated sign....

It says "she", but he wanted to write next to it "Tooth fairy and Madison only", but he didn't have enough room. I was still sad that I wasn't allowed in. He said "mom you are a girl!!"
He is growing up to fast!!!

ERIC

2009-02-28T16:13:00.001-08:00

The only reason why I am doing this post is because it is a great picture of my man.
He is such a great man, dad and husband!
I Love You!!!

SNUGGIES!!

2009-02-23T21:05:00.001-08:00

Eric has been wanting a Snuggie for a while. So I got him one for Valentine's Day, but it came today. The kids have been looking forward to it coming. So it was on the porch today when we got home from work/daycare. Shane and Madison ran in the house got the scissors and started going to town. The Snuggie comes with a free book light. They both opened it up and put it on. I got a few pictures of them right when they put them on. They are so happy.
They couldn't wait for Eric to get home so he could see. I think that I am going to need to buy one more because Madison now wants one.

I can still use my Oregon blanket. I don't need a Snuggie. :-).

In case you don't know what a Snuggie is it is a blanket that is like a robe, but instead of puting your arms through the holes around your back it goes in front so that your arms don't get cold when you are on the couch.

Here is Madison and Shane with the snuggies on siting on the couch.

Here is Madison with the snuggie on and the book light reading one of her many princess books.:-)

Eric, the kids like the snuggie as much as you do.
The kids took them to bed tonight so I will have to post a picture of Eric in his snuggie later. Sorry Hun, I know it was your present. He is such a good sport!!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

I love holidays!!!

I woke up before my family and made signs and got their Valentine's surprises out.
Here is what my wonderful family woke up to.

I cut it down this year from what I usually do, but they enjoyed it.

Then the fun started....
We watched Alia for Mike and Denise and they went to Portland for a romantic Valentine's get away. We had her for a little over 24 hours. She is so fun and not to mention adorable!! She was a very good baby. She slept 12 hours at night. That is my kind of 10 month old. We had a blast with her.
Thanks Denise and Mike for letting us watch her!!!

Alia on her First Valentine's Day at the Schwake's!

Madison and Alia playing.

Me snuggling with Alia. Madison wanted to take our picture.

Shane and Alia. Shane loves her so much. I thought that she would be old news when her parents came to pick her up, but Shane was acting like she just got there. He LOVES her!!!

Alia being a goof and having a blast with the train table.

Alia right after she woke up. Look how happy she is.

We went to Papa's Pizza for the heart shaped Valentine pizza deal like we do every year. Alia loved the egg that Madison got out of the chicken machine.

I told the kids if they went to bed good when Alia was here that they could help take care of her in the morning. (I don't bribe them...;-)) Madison wanted to change her diaper like she does her baby. So here is Madison trying to change a 10 month old's diaper.
It is little different then her babies. Alia is alive and moves. :-)

She needed a little help from Shane. It was so cute to watch them.
Shane was trying to talk to her while changing her diaper and it sill wasn't working.

So finally he had to really help.
Just like a man to not dig in hands first right away!!!

Then it was Shane's turn. He wanted to feed her her morning baba.

Shane feeding Alia her morning bottle.

We had a great day with her. I hope that we get to watch her again soon.
It is fun having a baby around.
When she left it was amazing how we missed her. Love you Alia!!!

My baby lost his first tooth!!

2009-02-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that Shane lost his first tooth? It fell out at daycare on January 30th. The tooth fairy came and gave him $5. He was so excited. I still can't believe that my baby lost his first tooth. :-( I love that little guy so much and he is growing up right before my eyes. It was a big step for him and he will tell you all about it if he sees you. He has 3 more loose teeth so I am sure that the tooth fairy will be visiting our house again soon. ;-)

Shane's new tooth fairy box that he painted at Madison's party. The tooth is in there but we couldn't get a good picture of it. That is where he had it for the tooth fairy. I told him that it is supposed to go underneath his pillow and he told me no way would he do that because the tooth would fall out of the box. He told me that he wanted it on his dresser. What ever makes him happy I will do.

Shane with his missing tooth. It is hard to tell that it is missing due to the fact that his permanent tooth grew part way in before he lost his baby tooth.

Shane, Madison and Alia chilling on the couch. Don't they look so cute.
They both love Alia so much!!!

Alia was over the night the tooth fairy came so here we are and Shane is reading us a bedtime story. I still can't believe that he is reading. Like I said he is growing up too fast!!
Can you believe how big Alia looks in this picture?

Madison's 4th Birthday Party

2009-02-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

This year it was hard for Madison to choose where she wanted to have her party. I am kind of a freak when it comes to birthday parties. Some say that I over do it, but I don't believe that I do. :-) After much discussion between Madison and I she chose to go to Potters' Quarter. She had a great time and I know that her friends did as well. She chose High School Musical 3 for her theme. She dressed up in her High School Musical cheerleader outfit. She is really into HSM and cheer leading. She still talks about how much fun her party was. The kids were able to paint a piece of pottery and then we had little drawings for random stuff during the party. We also had a edible arrangement which is a bouquet made out of fruit. The one that Madison wanted all the fruit was covered in chocolate. Is she my daughter or what? She is already planning next years.

Princess Madison at her 4th Birthday party!!

The cake and party favor table.

Madison's High School Musical Cake.
Not to make you hungry,but it was white cake with Marion berry and whip cream center with cream cheese frosting. It was amazing. I am wanting a piece now! :-)

The party favor and cake table close up.

Here is the party table.
The kids had microphone cups to drink out of since they were all stars in High School Musical.

Madison painting her birthday plaque.

Shane painting his transformer. Look at that concentration of a true artist. ;-)

Julian painting his dinosaur.

Abigail painting her flower cup.

Nicole and Ben painting his elephant bank.

Denise painting Alia's princess dish. She will have it at Alia's 1st Birthday party if you want to see the finished project.

Half of the table painting pottery.

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to Madison.

Madison blowing out her 4 star candles.

Madison opening her presents. She had so many friends there that it took a while, but Madison loved every minute of it.

Madison had a great time and thanks all of her friends for coming to the party and for the gifts. She is already planning the next one. She is counting down the days. She is like her mommy and loves parties. As you can see I do not over do it.

Annie!!

2009-01-31T21:05:00.000-08:00

Madison and I LOVE the movie Annie. I watched that movie all the time when I was little. I have almost all of it memorized actually all of the movie memorized. I found out that the musical was coming to the Hult Center. Shane likes it as well, so I called the Hult Center up to order tickets. The only tickets that they had left were in the 4th balcony. When I talked to the lady on the phone she said that from up that high it is hard to see their faces. I wasn't going to pay $50 a ticket when we weren't even going to be able to see them. I told the kids that we weren't going to be able to go since there were no good tickets left.

On the way to work on Madison's birthday I was listening to the radio. They said in the 7 o'clock hour we are going to be giving tickets away to Annie. My first thought was that if I could win those that would be the best birthday present Madison could get. The only problem was is that I was going to be at work and I am not able to listen to the radio there. So since I love e-mail I e-mailed the radio station and let them know that it was Madison's birthday and I was not going to be able to call in when they were giving out tickets due to the fact that I was at work. I told them that it was her favorite movie and I tried to buy tickets but there was only the nose bleed section left. Then I sent the e-mail......

An hour later I got an e-mail back saying that they had tickets for us at the front desk and to enjoy the show. I was so excited!!! After work I went to go get the tickets and there was only 2. I was bummed... What was I going to tell Shane? He liked the movie as well. So I told Madison at her party that night that I had gotten some tickets to Annie. Shane said I can't wait to go. I told Shane that I only got two and it was for Madison's birthday. He started to cry and got really sad. That broke my heart. I called the radio station the next morning to see if there was anyway for me to get 2 more tickets. They said that they have none now, but if I check back right at 5 on Friday they might have more. So by that time Shane was over it and was going to have a Daddy and Son night at the movies. So on Friday I still went back and they had 2 tickets so I got them, but Shane still didn't want to go so I gave them to my babysitter.

Madison was talking about it all day at daycare because we were going Friday night. The play didn't start until 8pm. That was almost Madison's bed time. This was a once in a life time event so she was able to stay up. So she was telling Lori what she was going to wear all day. So we get home and she said mom I am wearing my fancy dress. What are you wearing? I told her that I was going to wear black work pants and a shirt. She said mom, you have to wear a fancy dress with me. So I thought what fancy dress do I have. So I looked in my closet and I got the maid of honor dress that I wore in Nicole's wedding. It was FANCY!! I felt so out of place, but my daughter wanted to dress up with me so I did it. We had a great time. It was probably the best musical I have ever been to. Not to mention the first adult musical I have taken my daughter to. It was really special and she was a really good girl. I won't ever forget this night. It took everything that she had not to sing to the songs.. She is so precious..

Madison and I in our fancy dresses before we left for "Annie"

Madison wanted me to take a picture down by her.

Madison in the Hult Center. She was so excited for the show to start.

Madison and I in the Hult Center before Annie

I forgot to mention a couple of things. If you click on the pictures to make them bigger you can see our glitter. Madison loves glitter and so she made me wear it as well. :-) The other thing is that we were in the third row and there was a real orchestra playing the songs at Annie not just a recording. Madison thought that was the coolest thing.

Happy Birthday Madison!!

2009-01-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

Our baby girl turned 4 today. She is such a big girl. I can't believe how fast she has grown up. She is our little princess and brightens our life everyday. She is such a joy to have in our family.

Enjoy some pictures of Madison as a baby. It seems like it was yesterday, but it was 4 years ago.

Pictures of Madison today on her 4th Birthday!!

Madison loved this game. it is a roller coaster simulation. She said it reminded her of Disneyland. She said can we go back there. I told her someday!

Madison eating her pizza! :-)

Madison and Mommy at Chuck E Cheese.

Happy Birthday Madison.

We love you!!!

New Years Resolution's.....

2009-01-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

Isn't that what we dread EVERY year is coming up with a New Year's Resolution. This year I am over joyed about it. We had a goal setting class at work and it was about goal setting. We talked about starting our New Year's resolution now so that we are ahead of the game when the New Year got here (that was in the middle of October). When I heard that in October I have to say I was a little skeptical that I would participate. The way I looked at it I had 2 months to eat as much junk food as possible!! :-) Of course, that class came and went and then it was time for us to write our goal on the board if we wanted to and start it. So I wrote my goal like always...

Lose 10 pounds and exercise 3 times a week.

The same goal that I start out with every time. I was supposed to achieve this goal by January 1st. So I worked out and started my diet.
Drum roll please...... On January 1st I had lost a total of 33.5 pounds and I had worked out most weeks 3 times. I definitely over achieved my goal.

I have set my New Years Resolution now to lose 45 more pounds. I am so excited to see what this year brings.

I would love to hear what everyone's New Year's Resolutions are.
I wish you all the luck for your goals in 2009.

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

Our New Year's Eve was laid back like every year. We always stay home and celebrate it with the kids. This year I had sparkling cider, plastic champagne glasses, party hates, blowers, poppers, streamers, etc. to celebrate. The kids thought it was the best party in town. Here are some of our fun times!!

Getting ready for the big party!!

Practicing for the big count down.

Making sure that his blower worked. We had one dud that night! :(

Posing for dad before the big countdown. Can you see in their faces how excited they were?

All of us toasting to the new year!!

Madison and Eric sharing a glass. They were being silly!!

Shane and Madison partying in 2009!!

I bought these poppers for the new year that were going to be awesome. They had surprises inside. Here is Shane and I pulling it apart. There was no gun powder in them they were just paper. I thought it would be better stuff inside. I guess that I should have known at 50 cents a piece. They had these really cheap party hats inside and a small toy. One had a blower and I blew and the stuff flew out of it. There was an eagle in one and a man and a parachute in the other one. Shane had a blast and wish that I would have bough more.

Here is Shane in his hat from the poppers.

Here is Madison's hat from the same poppers. She LOVES that she got her favorite color (purple). You can tell that they had a good time. If that is not a happy smile, I don't know what is. She also loved her "party necklace". That is what she called it!!!
Shane very proud to be drinking his sparkling cider out of a big boy glass.

Eric had a wild moment and let Shane do the poppers in the house. He thought that he was such a big boy. It is the ones that you pull the string and they make a pop sound and confetti comes out of them. needless to say my house was full of confetti.

New Year's Day the kids and I made gingerbread teddy bear men.
They had so much fun painting them.

We had a great night and can't wait to do it again next year!!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-29T16:57:00.000-08:00

Here we are at Christmas dinner.

All of my family was at my parents, but we were sick the day before so they did not want us there. Sad huh? I wasn't planning on having dinner at home so the table is full of Christmas card stuff. So we had Shari's in to go containers. We sat with the kids at their table. We were home all day, so the kids didn't even get dressed. This is a Christmas that we will never forget.
What a precious little family.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas as did we!!

Happy Birthday Eric!!

2008-12-29T16:45:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!!

I just wanted to wish my husband a very happy belated birthday. I was VERY sick on his birthday with the stomach flu. His birthday is December 24th. I love him so much and just wanted to make sure that he didn't think I forgot to make a post for his birthday!

Last Day at Disneyland. :-(

2008-12-26T12:47:00.000-08:00

DAY 5: California Adventure/Disneyland
Just a few of our favorite things....

We spent the last day at the parks by dong all of our favorite things again!!
We went to both parks and rode the rides we loved again!!

Shane, Eric and Madison waiting to get into the park.

Screaming in California Adventure. Eric loved this ride. Madison wanted to ride it but she was too small!! :-( Shane wanted nothing to do with that ride. :-)

Madison, Eric and Shane on the Orange Stinger in California Adventure.
It was one of Shane's favorite ride!!

Shane loved the "orange ride". He rode it about 5 times on our last day. It makes Eric and I dizzy and Madison was too short to ride by herself so we took pictures of each other while Shane rode the ride.

Eric and Madison having fun!!

Madison and I posing for a picture together.

This wasn't one of our favorite things, but we hadn't done it yet so we did it the last day. It was a Bugs Life in California Adventure.

This was one of Madison's Favorite things.
Talking and getting her picture taken with the princesses.

Madison with Mickey.

Shane and Madison with Jane Porter from Tarzan.

Jungle Cruise!
We rode that 5 times I think.

Mary Poppins with Shane and Madison.

Madison and I on Autotopia. We rode that I swear 100 times. No really but it felt like it. They absolutely loved being able to drive. Shane told me that this ride is where people practice driving to get thier license. Aren't 5 year olds cute. :-)

Shane and Eric on Autotopia!!

This was dinner our last night. We were so tired of fried food and the kids had seen a lot of people walking around with these turkey legs. So I told the kids that they could get one and they also had corn on the cob at this stand and they love that as well. Here they are sharing the corn.

Here is our second pose and I held the nasty turkey leg in the background. I didn't think that it was that good. They sure liked it..

Here we are coming home. They are watching the DVD player in the van. This is what they did for 24 hours.

Here they are on the way home at bed time. Aren't they cute, snoozing away!! :-)

Needless to say we had a great time. It was great fun for our children and we enjoyed watching them every step of the way. If we could afford it we would go every year, but we might realistically go again in 3 years.

Disneyland Continued...

2008-12-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

Day 3: California Adventure

We were planning to go to Goofy's kitchen and have breakfast this day. When we got to Goofy's kitchen it was going to be over $150 f0r us to eat breakfast!! They quoted me a different price over the phone and would not honor that price. So unfortunately we didn't eat there. I couldn't see paying $150 for a couple of waffles and eggs. I know that is not like me. I like to spend money, but I just couldn't do it. The kids were bummed, but we went to the "jungle" so they were happy with that. We paid $30 at Rainforest Cafe. What a savings!!!

Shane posing with the Ape at Rainforest Cafe "Jungle as Shane and Madison call it". He didn't want to take a picture with me and Madison. He wanted it all by himself.

Madison and I with the Ape at the "jungle".

As you can see from Madison's shirt she loves Zebra's. When she saw this Zebra on the door at the "jungle" she wanted me to take a picture of her so that I could put it on my blog. Those were her exact words.

Shane and Madison with Mr. & Mrs. Incredible.

Shane and Madison loved the Monsters, Inc. ride so they were very excited to see Sulley. we rode Monsters, Inc about 15 times.

Shane and Madison with Sulley.

Shane with Woody!!

Shane with the Wall-E statue that they had.

Madison and Eric on Tower of Terror. This ride takes you up 10 stories and drops you. It is Madison's favorite ride. Her and Eric rode it 5 times. She is a brave girl. He brother tried to ride it and we had to exit.

Shane and Madison with Handy Manny.

Day 4: Disneyland- RAINING

We got to Disneyland at 10 am and we left at 2 pm. It was POURING!!! That was ok it gave us a chance to go to the motel room and rest and take naps.

Shane riding one of his favorite rides. Buzz Lightyear. You would aim at targets and get points. Shane'shigh score was 15,000.

Madison and Eric on Buzz Lightyear.

Shane, Madison and Eric on Dumbo. They were VERY wet. We went home after this ride.

Since it was raining we went back to the Hotel. We had lunch and then we took a nap. After we got up from our nap we went to Red Robin for dinner. Then we got a crazy idea to go swimming in the pool which is an outdoor pool. So we went in the hot tub and then Shane wanted to go in the swimming pool. So the good mom that I am I went with him. Man that was cold. We stayed for about 10 mins and then we went back in the hot tub for about 5 mins then we went back to the hotel. Then we all sat on the bed and the kids ate Twinkies and watched the Muppet's Christmas. What a night!!

Here we are chilling. Shane still has some Twinkie left in his hand.

Eric doing what he does best. Surfing the web.

The last day to come in the next post.

to be continued........

We are back from Disneyland!!!

2008-12-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

I knew that we were going to have fun, but I never imagined how much fun we would have. I thought the worst part would be traveling in the car for 30 hours and that was the worst part, but we had so much fun spending time as a family. The way home was the best because we talked about how much fun we had in Disneyland. More than 2 times the kids just randomly would say "Thanks so much for taking us to Disneyland." I LOVE my kids!!
Enjoy the times that we had.

DAY 1: Disneyland- Happiest Place on Earth!!

Me and the kids right when we got into Disneyland!! We are on Main Street.

Madison and I on Autotopia. They both loved that ride, they were able to drive. I think that we rode it about 10 times and I am not exagerating.

Our cute family posing with Minne Mouse.

Shane and Madison with Pluto. You can tell this is one of the first characters they saw. They were a little shy.

Shane and Madison with Mickey Mouse.

Shane, Madison and Eric on the train.

Day 2: Disneyland- Rainiest Place on Earth! :-)
Princess Day!!

Andrea, Madison and Shane in the bus on the way to Disneyland.

All of us in our rain gear with Pooh and Eeyore. Eeyore is my favorite character. I am glad that we got his autograph and a picture. :):)

Shane and Madison with Tigger. It took them a while to warm up to the characters, by this time they were loving it. You can tell in Shane's face!!

Madison and I on the rocket ride in Tomorrowland.

Madison is such a little princess herself so she really enjoyed seeing all of the princesses. Instead of chasing them all over the park they have an enchantment princess area where they all are. There are 3 of them there at a time. So we waited inline for 3 hours to get all of them. That was fine with Madison though. She loved this part. So here are all the pics with her and the princesses.

Madison with Mulan.

Madison and Cinderella.

Madison with Snow White.

Shane had to wait for Madison while she saw all of the princesses. So in the princess village they had story time. So needless to say Shane went to a lot of story times because Madison was in the line for ever. So they picked him to dance with Cinderella. Let's just say "He loved it".

Madison chatting with Belle.

Madison and Jasmine.

Madison and Ariel looking at all of the princess autographs that she has. They were very friendly.

Madison posing with Ariel.

They also had a time that you could learn to dance like a prince/princess. Since Madison was in the line Shane also learned how to dance like a prince. We got it on video. Let me just say this is priceless!!

Goofy and Shane posing in Goofy's house.

Madison and Goofy.

Schwake Family by It's a Small world! Doesn't it look pretty during Christmas time all lite up. The whole inside was decorated for Christmas as well and they played 3 different songs inside. (Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells and It's a small world after all)

Princess Castle all decorated for Christmas!

There is Day 1 and Day 2. I tried to put day 3, but my blog froze. Maybe that is a hint for me to take off some of the pictures, but I don't take hints. LOL Hope you enjoy the photos!!

4 days until.....

2008-12-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!

We are all very excited!! The kids can not stop talking about going to Disneyland. They have never been to Disneyland before so they are ecstatic. We are taking out laptop so I can blog at night about what we did. (I have great intentions, but you know after 5 days of Disneyland I am not going to want to blog at night.) We will see what happens.

Our Stockings!!

2008-12-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

I had to post a picture of this. I LOVE OUR STOCKINGS. I got them embroidered with our names and they all match. I love hanging them up every year. If I could leave then up all year I would. :-) I know I am kind of a dork.

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

2008-12-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite things about Christmas is our tree. We love decorating it and we love having the lights on ALL the time. The kids enjoy decorating it as well.

Shane concentrating hard to put the ornament in the spot that he wanted to put it.

Grandpa Alan , Shane and Madison putting one of our heavy family ornaments on the tree. Grandpa had to help because it is a very heavy ornament.

Shane putting another ornament on the tree. He LOVED decorating the tree this year!!

Madison wanted to put her ornament on a tall branch so I had to lift her up. She had a great time decorating the tree as well this year.

All of us putting more ornaments on the tree.

Once the tree is done the kids LOVE getting their pictures taken in front of it. i swear we took about 20 different poses. Shane went to his room to grab stuffed animals as props! :-)

Madison in front of the tree.

Shane and Madison in front of the tree.

The finished product. The bummer thing is that you can't see the lights very well. Trust me it is really cute. :-)

Cute little family with Eeyore.

Our family pic in front of our tree.

Shane and Madison with Eeyore and look in Shane's hand he wanted to hold Eeyore. He is such a sweet little boy!!

Happy boy with Eeyore.

Shane and Madison in front of the tree. Look at Shane's face, that is a proud boy in front of his tree.

Family Christmas Adventures

2008-12-06T16:12:00.001-08:00

Eric, Shane and Madison getting our tree. ( I am always taking pictures and never in them, but I am here too. ;-))

We love getting our tree. We usually go to a farm, but since we are leaving on vacation on 14 days we needed to get it so we could enjoy it. So we just went to a local tree stand. I was surprised with what a great tree we got. If you can't tell I am a little late at posting this, we got our tree last weekend.

ELMO MAKES MUSIC!!

2008-12-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to Elmo makes music. It was at the Hult Center. The kids had a blast and so did the adults. All 4 of us went with Nicole and Grandma Kathy. I make sure that we go to all of the kids musicals at the Hult Center. The kids have a great time.

Madison, Ben and Shane excited to go see Elmo makes music!!!

Picture that Shane took of the performance.

Ben, Madison and Shane after the performance.

"Sesame Street Live!!"

My new Sassy Dew ;-)

2008-12-01T17:26:00.000-08:00

Madison took this pic so it is a little off center. It gives you the idea though.

Here is a close up of the back showing how it is stacked.

Here is a little further away view of the back.

To give you a little bit of the background. I have wanted to get my hair cut like this for about a year. I talked to Eric about it and he HATES short hair. He didn't want me to get my haircut. So since I respect his feelings I have not gotten it cut. So 2 weeks ago I had a hair appointment. I asked him again if he cared and he said yes. I told him I have 2 hours to change your mind. So an hour before my appointment I asked him again. He said "fine, do what ever you want" So can you tell what I wanted? He hates it, but he will get used to it. I love it and since I have to do my hair everyday I am glad that I did it!!!

Husband Tag. :-)

2008-12-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

WHAT IS YOUR HUSBANDS NAME? Eric Shane Schwake
HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN MARRIED? 7 Years 8 Months
HOW OLD IS HE? 30 (GOING TO BE 31 ON 12/24)
WHO IS TALLER? ERIC
WHO CAN SING BEST? ERIC
WHO IS SMARTER? Depends- Eric is more book smart and I have more street smartness
WHO DOES THE LAUNDRY? ME
WHO PAYS THE BILLS? ME
WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? ERIC
WHO COOKS DINNER? ME
WHO MOWS THE LAWN? ERIC
WHO IS THE FIRST TO ADMIT THEY ARE WRONG? ME
WHO KISSED WHO FIRST? ERIC KISSED ME FIRST
WHO WEARS THE PANTS? ERIC SAYS HE DOES, BUT WE KNOW WHO REALLY DOES. :-)

Eric is an awesome husband. I love that I can make a post all about him.
I LOVE YOU ERIC!!!

I tag:
1. Denise
2. Nicole
3. Liz
4. Katie
5. Anyone else that would like to do it.

We will miss you Grandma Betty!!!

2008-11-14T09:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very hard day. I lost my Grandma Betty. She went from this life to the next. For her I know that it was pure joy to see my grandpa, her mom and dad, her brother and all of her family that have gone before her. But for those of us that are still on this earth we were very saddened for a big loss in our life. She was the best grandma!!! She loved all of us so much.

My mom called us Wednesday and let us know that she wasn't going to be on the earth for much longer. All 5 of us younger Warren Children (Nicole, Julian, Danielle and Denise and Me) and Dad and Alia went to Washington Wednesday afternoon. We arrived at Grandma's house in Seattle around 8. It was so good to see her. She was asleep, but the nurse said that she was able to hear us. So I held her hand and talked to her. It was so good to see her. We then went back to see her Thursday morning before we came back to Eugene we stopped to see her. I knew that I needed to say good bye to her. I am so glad that we went to see her, she had opened her eyes when Danielle was talking to her. She wasn't able to communicate, but she was looking at me. I told her what a great grandma that she had been and I thanked her for Everything that she had done. Then I let her know how much I loved her then I said Good-Bye! I knew that was going to be the last time that I saw her in this life. I am so glad that we went up there. That meant so much to me. I am thankful for my wonderful husband who watched our kids so that I was able to go up there.

She was the best example of a mother and grandmother that I can think of. I have a lot of great memories with my grandma. I am so thankful to her for how her and my grandpa raised my mom. My mom is such a wonderful person just like my grandma. My grandma was so caring of other people, she loved everyone. She was so special to me and I am so sad that I lost her on this earth, but I am so happy for the plan of salvation that I know I will see her again!!!

My Little Family with Grandma Betty!!
Shane loved his Great-Grandma Betty so much and loved holding her hand!!

Grandma with her 4 children

Grandma Betty with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren last Christmas.

Sweet Shane with Grandma Betty

My Grandma, mom, Madison and I 2 summers ago. Grandma was feeding Madison's baby for her. :-)

Even though she will not be with us for a long time, I am so glad that I have the knowledge I have that I know I will see my grandma again and she will look better than I have seen her look in a long time!! Grandma we will miss you. We love you so much!!!

Happy Birthday Jessi!!

2008-11-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

Even though we are thousands of miles away I wanted to wish Jessi a Happy Birthday. We have been friends since the fifth grade. We were best friends in grade school, middle school and high school. Everytime November 2nd comes around I always think about her. She is a wonderful person and mother. She has 5 little girls, that is amazing in itself!!

We love our cousins!!

2008-11-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

We are so lucky to life close to Shane and Madison's cousins. Benjamin came over yesterday for about an hour and Alia came over with Denise and Mike for about an hour as well. Nicole dropped Ben off while she ran some errands and Denise and Mike came over to see the kids, but she hadn't seen Ben in about 2 weeks so she mainly came over to say HI to him. I got a picture of the kids with Alia, but Ben doesn't hold still for more than 1 sec if that so I wasn't able to get pictures of him. I will try next time. We love our cousins and especially that we can see them at least once a week!!

Shane and Alia

Madison and Alia

Happy Halloween!!

2008-11-02T17:14:00.000-08:00

We had a very busy Halloween season. We started with the whole family going the the pumpkin patch with Shane's school(of course I forgot the camera.). We then had a pumpkin carving night also at Shane's school, which I also forgot the camera. We then had trunk or treat at church which the kids had a blast, but I forgot the camera. On Halloween afternoon I took them to Symantec and they were able to trick or treat at our work, but I also forgot the camera. So before we left for trick or treating I made sure to take a picture of them. I usually dress them alike, but this year I let them be what they wanted. Madison said I should have been princess lea. I told her that next year Shane can pick his costume and then we can do hers if she wants to match her brother.

After they went trick or treating we handed out candy at Grandma and Grandpa S. They had a lot of fun doing that. Shane would jump up when the door bell rang and rush to the door to greet the kids. We had a blast!!

On a side note: I usually am not that forgetful with my camera. I will make it up with taking a ton of pictures when we are in Disneyland in a month and a half!!!!!! Can you tell that I am so excited? I think I am more excited then the kids, we'll ,maybe not!! :-)

Madison was a fairy.
Here is the close up after she put on her fairy dust!

Shane was a Clone Trooper (Captain Rex)

Here is the fairy's whole costume.

Here they are ready to go trick or treating.

Interview with Shane and Madison

2008-10-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

My friend Lori interviewed her kids and tagged anyone that wanted to do it. I thought that I would try. It turned out SO cute!! Shane is the first response and Madison is the second.

1. What is something that Mom always says to you? Thank you, please, no/ I don’t know

2. What makes Mom happy? Listen/ Jesus

3. What makes Mom sad? When I hit and pinch/ hitting

4. How does your Mom make you laugh? When she tickles me in the arm pit/ tickle me

5. What was your Mom like as a child? They both just looked at me and said nothing

6. How old is your Mom? 12 no 20/3

7. How tall is your Mom? He said “can I see” 10 ft/ Madison raised her hands and got on her tip toes

8. What is her favorite thing to do with you? Play/ play

9. What does your Mom do when you're not around? Go to work/ cook

10. If your Mom becomes famous what would it be for? Help us/ I don’t know

11. What is your Mom really good at? Dishes/ paper

12. What is your Mom not very good at? Ice skating/ cooking :-(

13. What does your mom do for her job? Work for Symantec/ go to Symantec

14. What is Mom's favorite food? Salad/rice

15. What makes you proud of Mom? Because she loves you. Get it love you/ I don’t know

16. If your Mom was a cartoon character who would she be? Shaggy/ I don't know

17. What do you and your Mom do together? Play/shopping

18. How are you and your Mom the same? When we kiss and hug/she pointed at her and then me and came to me to stand back to back, but didn’t say a word

19. How are you and your Mom different? We play different/ I don’t know

20. How do you know your Mom loves you? Because she kisses and hugs me/ kiss

I tag anyone that would like to interview their kids!! It was a lot of fun.

Shane this is for you!!

2008-10-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

Shane knows that I have a blog and that I post stuff on it. He likes to look at blogs with me. Shane took a couple of pictures. I was looking at the camera and he said mom can you please post these pictures on your blog so people can see what my kitchen looks like?

Incase you are wondering what this is it is his microwave.

He has a double sided kitchen that he got from Santa last year. One side is a kitchen and the other side is a BBQ (like he is outside). This is him posing through the window. My favorite part is the pictures on the fridge that are hanging by magnets. SUPER CUTE!!

This weekend Madison and Shane were playing husband and wife. They play really good together. This weekend they had triplets. He kept saying "mom it isn't hard having 3 babies". He is OBVIOUSLY playing make believe!!

Shane (Daddy) with the triplets

Madison (Mommy) with the triplets

Shane and Madison putting a blanket in the travel bed

Madison loves being a mommy!!

Here I am helping Shane dress one of the triplets

Here is Shane Loving being a daddy. He is giving one of them a bath with the clothes on? This is a good picture of the other side of the kitchen (The BBQ)

I've been tagged

2008-10-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

DENISE TAGGED ME!!!

Four things that I love about my husband:
1. He loves his family
2. He is a hard worker
3. His looks!! :-)
4. His Laugh

Four Movies I watch more than once:
1. Little Rascals
2. Monsters, Inc.
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
4. Annie

Four TV show's that I watch:
1. Big Brother
2. Survivor
3. Amazing Race
4. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Four places that I have been:
1. Disneyland
2. Disney world
3. Caribbean Cruise
4. Upstate NY

Four places I would like to go:
1. Disney world (with Shane and Madison)
2. NY City
3. Disney Cruise
4. ANYWHERE WITH JUST ERIC AND I

Four people who regularly e-mail me:
1. GYMBOREE!!!!
2. Old Navy
3. Toys "R" Us
4. Birthday Express

Four things I would like to eat:
1. Mucho Gusto
2. Papa's Pizza
3. Chinese Food
4. Fruit

Four things that I look forward to in the next year:
1. DISNEYLAND!! (we are going in December)
2. Madison's 4th Birthday
3. Shane's 6th Birthday
4. Weekends ( I love being home with my family)

Four people I tag:
1. Danielle
2. Dani
3. Jill
4. YOU (If you have wanted to do one of these- This is for you!)

Madison with straight hair

2008-10-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to see what Madison's hair would look like straight for a long time. She has really curly hair. So before church yesterday I asked Madison if she wanted me to straighten her hair. She got all silly and she said YES!!! She said "we can't tell daddy though". She knows how Eric does not want me to ever straighten her hair. I let him know before we did it. I can't do it again because I am sure that it is not good for her hair, but it was fun for one time. IT LOOKS SO CUTE!! I think it makes her look older.

Madison Front view with straight hair

Back view- It looks so long straight

My little princess before church

My handsome PRINCE before church

The Next "Hannah Montana"

2008-10-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry you have to turn your head to watch this but it's so cute.

Oldie but Goodie

2008-10-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

My kids watch TV at daycare once a month and this month they watched Little Rascals. I watched this a lot with Denise when she was little. She loved this movie. I totally forgot how my kids might want to watch older movies like this. They also like the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Do you have any oldie but goodie movies that your kids watch?

Working Mommy LOVES her Daycare!!

2008-10-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

I love my daycare!!!! Since I am a mommy that has to work I love the fact that I have the best daycare EVER!! Lori treats Shane and Madison like they are her children. We have been going there for 9 months and have enjoyed every minute of it. Madison is 3 and Lori has taught her how to write her name. Lori has preschool time with the children everyday. She used to be a kindergarten teacher so she knows what she is doing. Thanks for all that you do Lori and Grandma Janie. We love you both!

Kleenex house

2008-10-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

Wanted to let you know that we have not fallen of the face of the earth. I have been sick for 2 weeks. I had a cold that turned into a sinus infection. It was also end of quarter at work so I wasn't able to take time off and rest so I think it has lasted longer than it would have if I would have rested. I am on antibiotics now and feeling better, not myself yet but better. Why when the mommy's are sick nothing gets done in the home?

With Kindergarten comes.....

2008-09-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

Fund raising. :-(

If you would like to look at this link feel free. Shane goes to a private Kindergarten so they are not funded by the government just by us. So any help that they can get would be great. Last year he went to preschool there and with the fund raising profits they paid for a brand new play structure for the kids. This year they are putting in new swings for the kids. The nice thing is that all the money they earn goes to the kids.

http://www.nicholsonfundraising.com/index.asp?PID=28370

Thanks! Shane

Labor Day Weekend Camping Trip

2008-09-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

It was the Sunday before Labor Day and Shane asked me "mom, when are we going camping this summer? All we ever do is go on the boat". I remembered at that point how much Shane loves to go camping and I didn't organize a camping trip. I felt really bad and checked on Honeyman's website and everything was full for Labor Day Weekend. I knew that it would be but I had to check. I was able to find Sunday and Monday night. So I called Eric at work and said can you take Tuesday and Wednesday off to go camping. I told him about the conversation that Shane and I had and he said OK!! So we went camping on Sunday night- Tuesday morning. We had a blast. We did a lot of fun things!!

Shane and Eric have always wanted to go on a dune buggy ride. So we decided that they could do that and Madison and I would go shopping in Old Town (Florence)

Shane and Eric before they got on the dune buggy. They were both like little boys in a candy store. So Excited!!
Shane and Eric on the car with their safety goggles on. Shane was so excited that he gave me a thumbs up!
My baby boy was so excited!
Here we go!!
Here are the boys after they came back. It went very fast and Shane cried most of the time. I asked him if he ever wanted to do that again. He said "NO MOMMY, NEVER!!". At least her tried it. Eric would do it again he loved it!!

Madison and I went shopping and we got an art project for them to do at the campsite while I was cooking lunch. I always have to keep them busy camping or else they can drive me nuts ;-)

Shane and Madison working on the art project. Madison painted a piggy bank an Shane painted a treasure chest.
Shane concentrating on his treasure chest
Madison focusing on her piggy bank. Unfortunately the piggy bank dropped of the car on the way home and it broke into hundreds of pieces.

After lunch we decided to go to the lake right in the campground. The kids love the water. It was freezing cold with the wind, but they had a blast.
Shane playing in the sand.
Eric and Shane running down the sand dune and jumping and falling in the water.

Here is Madison joining in with them.

They kept running down, jumping in and walking back up the sand dune. They kept doing that over and over again.

Here is Shane falling in the water. Isn't that a big splash, he said.

Here they are ready to go. They were so tired and cold. Madison didn't want to get up. She said that she had to be carried.

So of course being the daddy's girl that she is, her daddy carried her.

Eric and Shane needed to stop to wash their feet off. What happened to the "goddess"?

She waited on the picnic table for Daddy to get done.

Then daddy came and got her when he was done. She looks really tired. ;-)

When we got back to the motorhome I was outside getting food ready for dinner. When I went inside I caught them both eating a cinnamon roll from breakfast. Camping is so fun, you can get away with anything.
What is camping with out being able to watch a movie on the portable DVD player by the campfire. They never had anything like that when I was little...

So then we had dinner and then it was time for the campfire and making smores. I always buy stuff for smores and then when we start roasting the marshmallows that no one likes them. Even though we don't like them I still have to make them. I had a couple of bites, but I was the only one.

This is how Shane makes a Smore'. 2 Pieces of chocolate with un-roasted marshmallows.

Eric, Shane and Madison cuddling by the campfire.

Madison and I in front of the campfire. I try to not look like this when I'm not camping.

What is camping in Florence without miniature golf. Shane grew to love miniature golf at camp Harlow so when we saw this place we had to stop and let him play a round.

Look at that stroke.

Madison trys but most of the time ends up putting the ball right next to the hole and tapping it in.

Our camping trips are always full of fun and you can tell I like to take pictures. Eric told me to tell everyone that when we were on the dunes I dropped the camera in the sand so in order to keep taking pictures we probably need a new camera.

Boating Fun!!

2008-09-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

We went on one of our friend's boat at the beginning of the summer. The next weekend we had our own boat. We absolutely love it and it is a great way to spend quality time together as a family. We are out on the water every weekend. The kids love to be in the water. They have both been on the tube and are pretty scared unless they are on it with us. We listened to the last duck game on the boat. :-) Enjoy the pictures!!

Shane being a big helper getting the boat ready to go
The "boys" getting the boat ready to leave.
Shane and Madison on the boat
Madison "posing" on the boat. She loves to get her picture taken.
Shane and Eric tubing
Madison and Eric tubing
Shane and Madison's favorite thing to do in the lake is to have Eric take the boat in the middle of the lake and turn off the motor. They both go to the diving platform on the back of the boat and they jump in and go swimming. Here is Shane swimming in the middle of the lake and Madison playing on the tube.
Shane and Madison playing on the tube
Madison decided that she wanted to go by herself. She was very brave. Unfortunately she didn't have enough weight and when Eric took off and she went straight into the water and fell off the tube. We had to turn around and go get her. She had fun despite that. Last weekend I found an inter tube that is a car, so next time we go out we will need to try that one. I think that the kids will like that much better.

As you can see we have a lot of fun on the boat. Much more boating to come for our family!!

Family Pictures

2008-09-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures that were taken of our family. We had a lot of fun. We took them in Henrick's park. My nephews girlfriend (Ashlyn) took them. She does a great job. She moved to California this weekend. We will miss her. Thanks Ashlyn!!

Shane's First Day of Kindergarten

2008-09-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

It was Shane's first day of Kindergarten today so we took some pics. His sister wanted to join along so she got dressed up in "school" clothes for Lori's. Shane is going to Springfield Christian Kindergarten again this year and has Ms. Fisher. It's great because he has only 12 kids so they get a lot of 1 on 1 attention. Can't wait to see what this year brings and how much he grows.

Shane looking Grown Up!

Shane Striking a Pose (this is for you Denise)

Madison's "first day of school".

Madison Striking a Pose! (Denise she does it better than you. :-)

Shane said "Let's pose together". Sure looks like it is hurting him though.

I'm a blogger!!

2008-09-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

OK! So I am now an official blogger. I have wanted to be a " blogger" for about a little over a year. After Michelle gave me Jessi's blog spot link I thought I have to do one for our family. Then all of my sisters got a blog about 2 months ago and I decided that I just have to take 5 hours to sit down and start my blog. So that is what I did. I decided that it was time. We got family pictures taken so I thought it would be a great time. We have had a busy summer and in future post you will see all that we did.