Madi at 7 1/2

Little Miss Madi turned 7 1/2 at the end of December and it's about time I do a little update on life with my 2nd grader! I actually started this post months ago - this pic below was taken the day after her first field trip back in Sept. 

I know I always say it, but oh how I wish time would slow down just a little. Madi is growing up way too fast! One big change this school year has been Madi finally loosing her teeth! She lost her first one a few days before second grade and then November hit and boom, boom, boom - she lost 3 more in just one week! I realized I never posted pics of her first tooth fairy letter, so here it is:

 Let's take a closer look at that fuzzy pic I took of her first letter to the tooth fairy! :) 

Here she is after loosing her 1st tooth:

Then 2nd tooth:

After 3rd tooth (gotta love that big ol gangly tooth hanging all by itself):

Then it finally came out!

Loosing teeth is such a big deal in a kid's life, because once they loose those first baby teeth, their look will never be the same (sniff, sniff).

Her look has changed so much since the beginning of October when these pictures were taken:

 I found 2 of her tooth fairy letters in my stack of things to document:

She almost forgot to write a letter, but jumped out of bed and whipped up this baby:

The other big change this year was Madi getting glasses!! She's been talking about it for awhile, and I really just thought she wanted glasses for fun. But after a vision testing at school, we were given a referral notice to go see an optometrist, who confirmed that glasses are a necessity for Madi. She was thrilled! Spencer took Madi to her first eye appt - the Saturday after Christmas. I instructed him to take lots of pictures for me!

Madi's pupils were super dilated after the appointment and she had to wear these special eye covers for a couple of hours afterwards!

She was devastated that she didn't get to bring home glasses that very day! She had to wait 3 long days for her glasses to be ready!

And now Madi is a full time glass wearer - another thing that has completely changed her look this year!

Aside from her looks changing, Madi is still my sweet little note writer, journal keeper, talented musician. I am amazed by her talents and I love to see that she recognizes those special gifts Heavenly Father has blessed her with. She made a cute little poster in her primary class back in September:

She pretty much nailed those talents of her's! She's been playing the piano for 11 months now and has already composed her own piece! I didn't even know she was writing music until she played and sang it for me the day before her lesson. Her teacher was so impressed that she had it put onto music paper and then later gave Madi her own manuscript book to write more music in. Madi's already working on her next piece. 

Madi has such creative ideas and and I'm continually amazed at the things she whips up. She was just messing around one day (this was back in Sept or Oct) when she made this display of things that represent her interests and things she loves  - along with her initials M.K.J

I also found this sweet little note she'd written of things she's thankful for:  

"I am thankful for my family, bed, Holy Ghost, Dad that holds the priesthood, love, animals, friends, Pendleton (her lamb snuggly), Lacie (her dog purse), pink blanket, purple blanket, cousins."

Madi is really good about writing in her journal. A lot of times she writes during church. I found these pages in her church notebook (written back in June - I'm guessing around Father's day because of the subject of the paper:

"Dad's have a very special job. You want your daughters to grow-up like you! You want your son to grow up like you. I'm watching you Dad. The choices you make, I will make."

Wow! Pretty heavy stuff huh. No pressure Spence! :)

"Father's and Mother's can teach us to set a good example to our friends. Even when you are out of the house Dad is still teaching you."

Madi's also pretty sure she's going to be a scientist when she grows up. Here's one of the many journal entries I found where she talks about wanting to be a scientist:

Madi and I have a journal that we write letters back and forth to each other. This next letter was written in response to my question of: "what kind of mom do you want to be? What things do you want to do with your kids - maybe some things like dad and I do and maybe some things that we don't do." 

Sure enough - she's still set on being a scientist!

I love reading her journal entries and am always so touched at what a strong spirit she is. Last journal entry from 2014:

And check out this next one (inspired from an FHE on goals we want to set for ourselves):

I am constantly finding writing samples of Madi's that leave me inspired! I'm so grateful for her example. She's so very thoughtful and also writes regular notes to her family. Lots of times she'll write notes to Elle during school and ask to have them delivered to Elle.

She loves making projects for Spencer and I and often leaves love notes on our bed.

I always feel a little guilty when my kids compliment me by saying I'm "clean". I want my kids to remember me as a mom who was always there for them - to talk to, listen to their problems, and make life fun. I don't want to be remembered as the mom with the clean house! 

I'd rather be labeled as "organized" than "clean" especially since I find myself struggling to stay organized these days. It's nice when my kids appreciate all the structure and organization I try to provide in their lives. 

I have quite a large stack of Madi's writing I want to have documented, but I'll have to save it for another post. She always seems to have something to write down and record (like mother like daughter huh :)! This morning she worked on finishing a book she's writing, then mid morning we went on a hike to Paradise Falls and for the whole first half of the hike Madi walked with journal in hand -recording her findings!

For Grandpa Al's birthday she made him a book of big words (it's their thing - Grandpa Al gives Madi a new "big word" to learn almost every time they see each other). She made a list of big words, then illustrated each word with it's meaning. I need to make sure I take a picture of the finished product.

Madi really is one unique little girl - which sometimes worries me because she doesn't have a lot of friends and seems to be quite a loner, but I am glad that she beats to her own drum, knows who she is and what she stands for. I have a feeling she's gonna be a great leader someday. 

Sure love my sweet Madi Moo!!

Happy HALF Birthday to Elle!!

Love this sweet 5 1/2 year old of mine! We spent her half birthday at the zoo, beach, and then dinner at Padaro Grill. Elle reminds me so much of myself as a little girl. She's responsible, loves little kids, has a giggle that's infectious, and is such a happy go-lucky kid. I love how she helps me to calm down when I'm feeling stressed. She has a way of calling me out on my craziness in a loving way that makes me want to slow down and reevaluate why I'm freaking out. She's the best babysitter and plays so well with Calvin. She's kind, loving, thoughtful, and so very sweet. I feel honored to be her mom!

Happy New Year!!!

We rang in the New Year with this group of crazies!!! Well, minus the kids who were all in bed by 7:30pm (my kids are lightweights and can't handle staying up late yet). What a blast it was to have Bob, Amy, Matthew, Porter, Karlee, Jeremy, and Leila all here for a visit!! The Rudd's arrived Sunday the 28th around 10pm and surprised the Evans (who didn't have a clue they were coming) who got in an hour and a half later. We were super stoked about all our visitors and had great plans in mind of going to the beach, sandhill, outlet shopping, and just relaxing in our warm CA sun. Unfortunately that week was the coldest it's been in awhile (which pretty much scratched all plans of soaking in the sunshine) not to mention we had a weird sickness going through the house (extreme exhaustion with fever and chills - same thing I had Christmas Eve). Spencer and I felt bad that we weren't able to show our guests a better time. Spencer was out of it for a good chunk of one day, Elle the next day, and Madi the day after. Calvin just got my cough (the one I've had for the past month)!! Aside from that, Porter napped at least twice a day, and Leila & Cal's afternoon nap was usually right when Porter was waking up. So we pretty much just hung out at home in front of the fireplace. I felt bad for not having more fun and exciting stuff to do and/or show our company, but it honestly was great just being able to hang out - to play with Porter and Leila (who are growing up so fast), to chat with Amy and Karlee (who I rarely get to chat with), and to have Bob and Jeremy to hang out with! We stayed up late every night eating junk and playing games - Bang and Sync Up were the favs!

We bundled up and went for a walk one morning to discover that it was actually a pretty nice day!

Everyone loves Leila!!

One afternoon we loaded up and went to the beach. A quick diaper change for Porter turned into a impromptu photo shoot!

Love those girls faces!!

A visit to the harbor usually means dinner at Andrea's. We were lucky enough to bump into Jocelyn Michael, and Collin while we were there which totally made the night! How wonderful it was to have so many of my favorite people all around one table!

Madi had an eye appointment the day before everyone arrived and was really hoping her glasses would be ready before everyone left! Sure enough - she got to pick them up on Tuesday and was more than excited to show them off!

Naps in front of the fire - this was Elle's day of not feeling well. But after a couple naps and some tylenol, she was as good as new!

The next day Madi wasn't feeling good.

Naps and tylenol again did the trick!

I loved having extra adults around to keep all the littles happy and entertained. 

Leila sure loves her Uncle Spencer!

Sweet cousin relationships are always my favorite to watch!

Porter is an absolute doll! We were all smitten!

Backyard soccer game!

Kar and Jer left on New Years day. Had to take a quick mom and kid pic before leaving. It's gonna be fun to watch how our families grow and change over the years.

Amy and I spent a fun day at home with the kids while Spence, Bobby, and Matthew joined Spencer's dad, Michael, and the Terry family for a day of sailing. They went out to Anacapa, saw 4 whales and a bunch of dolphins! I'm so glad it turned out to be a good sailing trip. Amy and I loaded up the kids and joined them at the end for a quick sail around the harbor.

I feel so blessed to have such close relationships with my siblings and their spouses. I was honored that Karlee, Jeremy, Bob and Amy took time out of their busy lives to come and play for a few days. Love you guys! Thanks so much for coming!!