Star of the Week

Back in February (little behind on this one) Madi was the "Star of the Week" in her kindergarten class. She was so excited! She was given an "All About Madilyn" poster which got to hang in the classroom for the week (and now hangs above her bed). She also got to take "Q Bear" home for the weekend and fill a jar up with a favorite thing for the class to guess how many items were in the jar. We chose to put in hair clips (cause we've got a few.... :) 

It's hard to see, but Madi's poster reads:
I am 5 1/5 years old
My favorite color is: purple
My favorite animal is: a lamb
My favorite food is: blueberry sprinkle mufffins
The temple is my favorite place.
When I grow up I want to be a scientist.
My favorite thing is do is art
If I had one wish, I would wish for: a trip to Disneyland with mom and dad 
(and actually the very next day was the day we surprised the girls with a trip to Disneyland)!

Having Q Bear around for the weekend was a treat and we made sure it was a good time:

Q shaped pancakes for breakfast

Fun on the trampoline at Boppi and Grandpa Al's

An exploring adventure of some sort.

At church - Madi and her friend Lily.

Then one week after Star of the Week, Madi was chosen to be spotlighted in primary. As I was giving my counselor the info to spotlight, I realized how much I have not yet recorded about Madi on my blog. I've been meaning to do an update for months now, so here it goes (it's a long one):

Madi loves making lists and writes everything down- I'd be shocked if she's not a fabulous journal keeper/blogger in the future. An extreme example: we were playing a game of Candy Land and Madi had to write down the name of the person who was in the lead at each turn (got pretty annoying though and was slowing the game down so I had to stop her). She does currently have a journal but doesn't write on a regular basis yet.

The other day she came home and was complaining about her "terrible day." In trying to figure out the root of the problem I suggested she make a list in her journal of all the bad things that happened and then all the good things. Her list:

I came to the conclusion that her "bad day" stemmed from doing a page of homework wrong and then had to redo it during "Tag Time" at school. Madi wasn't bummed about missing tag time, but she was devastated that Mrs. Newton made her cross out the incorrect number sentence in marker before rewriting the correct one! Luckily, Madi had some good things that had happened that day- like painting a picture of a tulip, giving Mrs. Newton a present (it was her birthday), and eating a cookie after school (it was crushing me to see Madi so bummed out over something so little, so we made cookies).

Another list- her schedule for the week (which she insisted on making a calendar for so she wouldn't forget all the "many" things she has going on):

She also constantly leaves notes around the house: notes reminding Elle not to make a mess at the art table while Madi's at school, notes to thank me for things, notes to remind us about stuff. The other day I found a really nice letter written to the tooth fairy (she has yet to loose a tooth and I think is getting anxious). I liked this note I found on my bed a couple weeks ago:

Madi loves making books and writing stories and her pictures just keep getting better and better. On Sunday she drew a picture of "Our Eternal Family." Along with our family, she included an eternal family of butterflies, an eternal family of ladybugs, caterpillars, birds, and even moths. It was awesome! I'll have to include a picture of it on here when I get it back.

Her most recent book:

Drawing pictures is her solution for everything. Someones hurt - draw a picture! It's someones birthday- draw them a picture. Someone's sad - draw them a picture! It's really sweet and I love how much time and thought she puts into her drawings.

It's such a treat for me to see the different personalities of our kids. When Madi was little, and an only child, I naturally thought her personality was the norm. Boy was I wrong! I've come to learn what a unique personality Madi has.

Take for instance, her incredible will power - I know of no other child that when given treats and candy, will save it and never EVER eat it! Just like when she was a toddler, Madi still only eats little bits of food. If she's given a cookie, she'll eat half and then save the other half for later. She's great at listening to her stomach and stopping when she's full, even when there's a big bowl of ice cream in front of her!

She's a big saver and likes to keep things nice. Most kids, when given something, will use it up or wear it out. Madi will put it away in a special spot and keep it nice forever.

She's quite brave- aside from being able to sing in front of hundreds without a sweat, she also has no problem asking grown-ups for help. Almost every trip to the library she'll ask the librarian for help finding a specific book she's looking for.

Making friends doesn't come that easy for Madi. She's actually more quiet and reserved at school and often plays alone at recess and lunch (so she tells me). She's a one friend kinda girl, and is fiercely loyal to that friend. This was a hard thing for me at the beginning of the year. Everyday after school I'd ask Madi who she played with. I think it was stressing her out feeling like she had to find someone to play with everyday. One particular day she was all worked up and informed me that every time she would talk to someone, they'd just run off. In the midst of her venting, she tells me, "I'm gonna start making a list of all the people who walk away from me!" So sad. Then she made a really good friend, even had a few after school play dates. But like most kids, this friend wanted to play with other kids at school- not just with Madi. Madi was crushed about this and since then we've had many conversations about making new friends. We set goals about playing with someone new everyday. She'd make lists of who she played with and who she wanted to play with, but then that got old. Now I've just embraced the fact that kids play alone at school (I know my daughter's not the only one) and that's ok! Instead of asking who she played with, I now ask what she played at recess and lunch.

This whole friend dilemma really had Madi all worked up and mid year she started having terrible stomach aches (I think it started when her favorite friend told her she wanted to play with other people). Madi's a big worrier and these tummy problems really began to affect her. Thankfully my dad had the perfect solution for her tummy issues (he's dealt with a few kids with the exact same thing). He made Madi a penny necklace and included a nice letter explaining the "magic" of the necklace. I tell ya, this necklace was heaven sent! Solved all her stomach issues! You're the best dad!

Luckily Madi always has Elle. They truly are best friends and do everything together.

Madilyn has an incredible testimony of the gospel. She loves watching Mormon Messages and reading The Friend magazine. She's totally self motivated and after reading and/or hearing about something inspiring, Madi will run to her journal and make a plan for what she's going to do to improve.

She listens intently during scripture reading and always has a gazillion questions about who's who -who's bad, who's good and why. The other day Elle wasn't feeling well (we thought maybe it was a bladder infection). Madi was really concerned about her sister and this "infection." My plan was to take Elle to the doctor in the morning. Miraculously, the next morning Elle woke up and felt so much better. When hearing the good news, Madi sat up in bed, totally elated and exclaims, "I said TWO prayers for her last night!" Oh, the power the prayer!

Madilyn has a huge heart and loves to please.

Madi's also very observant and acutely aware of other people- especially their feelings. She's very sensitive, so much that sometimes she struggles with saying sorry if she did something wrong- cause she feels so bad about it and doesn't want to burst into tears.

I was upset with her one night- for stalling at bedtime. She came back in the room after I'd given her instructions to go put some things away. Then I ask her if she's already said her personal prayers and she tells me, "I said one for you."

As humbling as it is, I appreciate Madi's reminders to not get angry or upset about the little things.

Madi is a very bright and inquisitive little girl. She's a total rule follower and thrives off of positive praise. She loves learning, has an incredible memory, and with the proper motivation is an exceptionally hard worker. She usually won't stop until a project is finished (she actually burst into tears the other day after school because her teacher wouldn't let her take a project home to finish).

As you might have noticed in pictures, Madi loves wearing skirts and/or dresses. It drives Spencer and I absolutely crazy. This morning Spencer was actually bribing Madi with money to wear khaki shorts to school. He lost. She despises shorts and won't even wear "biker shorts" under her skirts anymore. She prefers leggings. I never realized girls would be so exhausting!

Madi (who actually told me she would prefer to be called Madilyn- because she doesn't like how her name sounds like MAD) is very kind and thoughtful and always tries to choose the right!

Here's Madi with her Hollywood star- given after singing at the big dinner/auction fundraiser awhile back:

Sure love you Madilyn Kaye!! You're definitely a star in our eyes!!

My 33rd

I'm a big birthday person and every year I get super excited for my big day! I don't care that I'm getting older. I proudly embrace each year and love the wisdom and experiences one more year has given me! I don't expect a lot on my birthday, mostly just for everyone to acknowledge that it's my day and for the freedom to be able to do whatever I want! It's the one day of the year that I don't feel bad if I'm a bit selfish and put my wants/needs above my kids and husband. With that said, I now have to share the details of my 33rd day of birth- cause it was a good one! Rewind a few days... Madi really did a a good job with catching on to the need of making "mom's day" a good one. She stuck little post it notes all over the house (bedroom doors, closets, dollhouse, etc) reminding everyone to do nice things for me (love that girl)!

She also thought long and hard about a gift I'd appreciate and then took the idea to Spencer. Calvin had broken my bluetooth earpiece a couple weeks ago, and Madi's birthday idea was to glue it back together (so thoughtful!). The night before my birthday, Spencer had to work late and Madi was really concerned about getting my gift ready. So before going to bed she asked me when I'd be getting up in the morning.  She then left a note on my bedroom door letting Spencer know I'd be up at 6:00am. Then she made the birthday card and signed it from both of them- leaving it on the entry table.

When Spence got home and went in to tuck Madi in, she was still awake and whispered to him, "Mom's getting up at 6am... so what time are we getting up to glue her earpiece? 4:30??" Ha! Spencer told her that he would take care of super gluing the ear piece that night and then she could wrap it in the morning.  The next morning, right before I was going to walk out the door for my run, Spence and the kids surprised me with presents! As is tradition, I got new running shoes!! And Madi was just beaming when I opened her little gift.  Such a sweet, thoughtful little girl! As I was about to put on my new shoes, Spence told me that I'd better take a look inside my shoes. This is what I found:

I had suspicions that he was planning on taking me somewhere (I'd accidentally stumbled upon Karlee's open planner when I was at my parent's house a few weeks ago and saw something about my mom being at my house on the 26th).  After getting Spencer's note, my plans of having a nice, quiet, relaxing birthday quickly changed to packing, organizing, and leaving notes for our "mystery" babysitter. I was super excited though and anxious to find out all the details (I'm a total planner and it kills me not knowing exactly what to expect)! I did get a few more details out of Spencer.  I needed to make sure my Sunday responsibilities were taken care of if we weren't going to be back in time for church (but of course, Spencer had already taken care of everything - he knows me all too well :). The rest of the day was such a treat - for lunch I went with a bunch of friends to Panera Bread. Then Madi and Elle made me pictures while Cal napped and I finished laundry and packing.  Spence arrived home at 6:30 pm with our babysitter (my fabulous mother flew in for the weekend).  The kids were head over heals for a Gram weekend! Fifteen minutes later, Spencer and I were on the road.  I was a little stressed leaving the kids right at bedtime, but they were in good hands. About halfway into our drive, Spencer finally decided to tell me where we were headed: The Laguna Cliffs Resort & Spa in Dana Point.

It was glorious! Gorgeous views, awesome gym (that's always a top selling point for me), amazing breakfast everyday (the spinach, mushroom, feta, and egg white omelets were amazing!), beautiful pools, steps from the beach and harbor, shopping, amazing restaurants, beautiful sunsets, and lots of much needed alone time with Spencer! I enjoyed every minute of our time together! Prepare yourself for an overload of pictures of me - Spencer was fabulous about making sure everything got documented (pictures in no particular order)!

Entrance to the resort

Leaving the pool and pausing mid text - probably sending a pic to the kids!

Struggling to get a sunset pic!

Big thanks to the guy that stopped to help us out!

Amazing banana split!

Relaxing!

 

On Saturday morning, we supplemented our gym workout with these killer stairs (118 of them in all!)

On the boardwalk in Laguna Beach - I prefer the quieter beaches, but I did enjoy our walk along the boardwalk with a waffle cone in hand!

While this getaway was exactly what we needed, I couldn't help but find myself missing the kids. Everything we'd do would remind me of one of them and I couldn't stop thinking about how much they'd love this or that. Not only was it was my first time being away from Cal overnight, but it was hard to turn off my "mommy brain". I'd find myself thinking about what they were doing and wondering how everything was going. My mom actually had to tell me to stop calling and enjoy my alone time with Spencer! But seriously, it's not easy to switch from 24/7 mom duty to total relaxation mode.

So naturally I was so excited to see those kids of ours Sunday afternoon!

They were thrilled about the surprises we'd brought home for them - body wash and lotion from our hotel room (love the little things that make kids happy)!

Gram had prepared dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert (not only was dinner ready when we walked in the door, but the house was clean and kids were adorable- she's amazing I tell ya)!

This birthday definitely goes down in the books as one of the best!

Little Red Hen

Madi's kindergarten class had been practicing for this play for weeks and it turned out adorable! I pretty much had all the songs memorized with how much Madi would sing them at home... "Little Red Hen, Little Red Hen... got no help from her lazy friends!"

Madi played one of the "lazy friends" (which label she wasn't thrilled about :), but she sure made a cute little cat!!

Then they ended with the Chicken Dance! 

I had to leave at the end to go pick Elle up from school (bummed me out not to get pictures and give hugs afterwards), but luckily Spencer was able to stay for the "after the show"/ cast party! Loved the cute handout they gave all the parents:

Good Job Madi! You're a natural performer!! 

April happenings

Just a few random things we've been up to the past 2 weeks:

Jumping in the leaves in the spring! The wind blew down a bunch of leaves that Boppi raked up just for the girls to jump in! They had a blast!

Both girls had dentist appointments. It was a total nightmare (not what I had expected since Madi did so well 6 months ago)! At one point both girls were in full hysterics about not wanting their teeth cleaned. Madi finally did lay down and let the hygienist clean a couple teeth (she's much easier to reason with), but that was it. She wouldn't even let the doctor examine her teeth while she was laying in the chair. And Elle only managed to open up for the hygienist to take a quick peak. Such difficult little girls! They've been banned from candy since this experience and not allowed any til they agree to cooperate at future dentist appointments. Oh, and I set up separate appointments for next time - both girls flipping out at the same time was a little out of control!

We've been having lots of play dates over here. It's always a treat when we get to have the Bell kids over:

Madi started piano lessons last week and since we don't have a piano yet, our little keyboard has been serving as what Madi uses to practice! Thank goodness Boppi and Grandpa Al live close and we can borrow theirs until we get one.

I got us a soccer ball and am determined to get the girls conditioned to start some organized sports!

Spencer's been working like crazy for the past two months - lots of late nights, most Saturdays, and quite a bit of travel (Fresno and Oakland recently). But I gotta give Spence a shout out cause he's one awesome dad! There's been several times when he knows it's gonna be a late night and he'll stop home on his way back from a deposition, hearing, or a flight to play with the kids before heading back to work. It's amazing what a little bit of time with dad can do to make everything better. One night he stopped in at 5pm, read a story with Elle, went over homework with Madi, played trains with Calvin, ate a quick dinner with everyone, then headed back to work- leaving everyone happy and content with their individual time with dad. The other night, after not seeing Spencer for 2 days, Calvin was so thrilled to have his daddy back that he layed his head on Spencer's shoulder and stayed like that for 5 minutes!

This past Saturday Spencer didn't have to work at all (just stayed til midnight on Friday)! It sure was heavenly to have a full day with him around. We spent the afternoon at our favorite beach in Carpinteria and then hit up Padaro Beach Grill afterwards. Practically a perfect Saturday!

Now I'm gearing up for my birthday on Thursday and hopefully another fun weekend! Wishing a happy birthday to all the family I share my birthday week with: Uncle Curteis, Ani Calhoun, Aunt Lindsay, Kaitlyn Terry, and Evan Jenkins! It's a great week to be born!

Happy Birthday to us!