Maddox's Tinkerbell 4th Birthday Party



Maddox got a light up/singing Tinkerbell birthday card from Aunt Kelly!! She absolutely loved it and by the end of the night had actually learned the words to the entire song. ( and so had we :)  Kennon thought it was pretty cool.  That Aunt Kelly knows just the right stuff to purchase. 



Boy did we have a fabulously great weekend and the weather was SO perfect for all the festivities.  The Knowles family joined us Friday evening so the cousins got to get their groove on Friday night and play around a bit together. We managed to get all 4 kids down and then Tyler, Brooke, Eric and I were able to enjoy in some good ol' adult conversation and adult beverages!!   ( after Brooke and I hand crafted the Tinkerbell wings) . I am so thankful they are close by to be able to get together so easily now.  Love my little bro and what a special friend I have in Brooke.  Most of you know we had decided on the Tinkerbell theme for Maddox's party, directed by Maddox.  Before we went to bed Friday night we started talking about Tinkerbell visiting the Kies house (  this was sort of ploy to get them to go to bed and maybe Tinkerbell would come in the middle of the night). So after we got the kids down Brooke and I put together the wings for the Pin the Wings on Tinkerbell game. I am not crafty and Brooke claims she isn't either but I'd say our wings turned out pretty darn cute. We positioned them high above the kitchen table and when the kids woke up Saturday morning they were excited to see that 'Tinkerbell' HAD been thereto deliver the wings!! They were super excited.  We loaded up for Maddox's soccer game. I was hoping that having Aunt Brooke, Carter and Uncle Tyler present would sort of coax Maddox into playing the game but she is going to take her own sweet time with that part of her soccer experience. She does great during all the drills but then just gets scared for the game part. She did actually keep her feet on the ground during the game this week as compared to week one where she spent much of the game time up in Eric's arms. So hey, we are making progress.  Tinkerbell came again while the kids were taking their much needed afternoon naps.  She spread her Fairy dust on the table in letters  shaped to spell MADDOX!   It was pretty cool and the kids were excited to see she had visited again.  I kinda felt at that point that a Grand Entrance from someone dressed as Tinkerbell would have put the icing on the cake but I didn't really formulate that in my plan ahead of time.  As it was, the kids had a good time playing Pin the Wings on Tinkerbell,  hot potato, reading books with Aunt Diane and eating pizza and cake. We had the neighbor girl Priya over to join in the festivities.  It seemed like everyone had a great time.  Thanks to all the travelers who made the trip over and showered Maddox with wonderful Princess themed gifts. We are so lucky to have everyone so close by to join us.  

Aunt Diane playing Hot Potato with Maddox Priya and Carter..!! The kids have been loving that game...  what a good choice Pap Dick.  

Hot Potato

Our homemade Pin the Wings on Tinkerbell game. If you look closely you can see Tinkerbell under the wings!!   Aunt Brooke and I put together the wings Friday evening after the kids went to bed but we have Aunt Diane to thank for the great idea of pipe cleaner and tooling wings!! 

Tinkerbell left Fairy Dust in the shape of 'Maddox' on the kitchen table while the kids were all taking their naps!!

Maddox's favorite food: Orange Melon ( cantaloupe ) and TRI colored pasta

Maddox's favorite toy:  Baby Doll and stroller 

Maddox's favorite color: Pink Purple and Yellow

Maddox's favorite past time: Dancing and twirling in the living room with your little brother to Friday Night Dance Party music

What does Maddox want to be when she grows up: Tinkerbell or Cinderella

Maddox, you continue to surprise us each day with your thoughtfulness and occasional kind loving actions to your friends and little brother Kennon.   You are very sensitive and need lots of re assurance in new situations. We are excited to see you learn the new game of soccer but are not surprised by your timid  and fearful personality for the majority of the game.  You still take afternoon naps usually about 1 to 2 hours long and if you don't get your nap...LOOK OUT...you can be kind of crabby.  You hate to be woken up ( by your brother) in the middle of your sleep cycle. You are a great sleeper and require a lot of sleep.  Your teachers at Kindercare tell us you are 'so smart' and well behaved.  You make us laugh each time you and your brother dance and twirl like crazy fools  around the living room.  You love to read books to your baby dolls and to your little brother Kennon and display lots of 'teacher like' qualities.  We love you to pieces Maddox and are excited to see what you have in store for your next year of life. Happy 4th Birthday. 

Kennon getting his hand on a little frosting before the cutting of the cake!

Kennon had his first official DRY day at Kindercare yesterday. We were happy to learn that there are a couple of boys that have now started potty training.  So the teachers said that will help!!  He has been totally waking up dry in the morning WITHOUT waking him at 2am to go now. I usually just wake him up when I go to bed about 10.30pm and then he makes it the rest of the night waking about 5:30-6 yelling in the hallway ( also waking up Maddox...gggrrrr) 'Daddy I have to go potty'. Eric wakes from a dead sleep and rushes down to help into onto the potty.  We are so proud of him!!  He is a talking fool.  Just in the last week he is literally stringing together  5 to 6 words at a time and is really finding his own in communicating with us.  He and Maddox are starting to play in the basement SOLO while I am upstairs WITHOUT pulling each other's hair out.  They play school and baby doll with Kennon being the baby doll and Maddox being the mom, of course.  She even helped him go poop today....not sure how all that went down but they were both so excited to run upstairs to tell me that  Kennon had told Maddox he needed to go poop and she apparently helped him fulfill the task in the basement toilet unbeknownst to me.  Uncertain how the whole wiping experience worked itself out but I didn't see any carnage so they must have handled it ok.  

All the cousins....Maddox baby Reid, Hannah, Kennon and Carter

We got back the kids pre-school professional pictures taken by Our Savior. If you'd like to see them go to www.kristingeertsphotography.com  Click on the 'full screen' link that is in the bottom left. Then go to 'proofing' top left.  Enter the password as below and then click on submit.    Oddly enough when Maddox and I were going through her class a boy on her soccer team named Carter showed up!! Carter is the coach's son and he TOO, despite being the coach's son, is pretty timid.  Maddox must not play with Carter at Our Savior all that much because she doesn't mention him and she did not even realize he was on her team....which is not surprising given the fact that both Carter and Maddox are generally hanging on their parents' legs :)  You'll figure it out soon guys!! 

Maddox's class password    MWAM6

Kennons's class password  MW4 

I think both of their pictures turned out pretty cute. 

So I got the advantage of Aunt Brooke's FLASH on her good camera.  Need to either get our good camera fixed or upgrade to a new one. The Iphone just doesn't take very good indoor pics. I think Maddox looks a ton like I did at her age in this picture  Reid looking a little hesitant...

Had to put this one in because I love CARTER's expression!! So funny! 

Maddox on the way to Church School on her birthday day. She got to decorate the yellow crown they sent home with her last week.  I tried to get her to write her own name and put a '4' but alls she really wanted to do was put stickers all over it!! 

Maddox's First Soccer Game!!

Kennon helping Eric shovel the rock....!!  Anything to shovel and he's right there to help. 

Despite the extremely hot weather we've been having the last couple of weeks we have been going to town on our landscaping.  Eric planted 4 large trees in our backyard on Thursday and spread 1 3/4 tons shooting star rock in our new plant bed dedicated to Grammy!! Everything looks great.  We are especially excited about our trees.  We purposely picked fast growing trees that do well in clay soil...a Sunset Maple, 2 Royal Frost Birches, and a Quaking Aspen.  I especially like the Quaking Aspen...reminds me of the great times we had during all of our Colorado visits.  The leaves just flutter in the wind. I think we are done with the landscaping for now.....other than watering and trying to put a stop to the pesky voles that are eating up parts of our yard.....!! GRRRR....!! 

So last weekend Maddox participated in her FIRST ever soccer game!! I had to have been beaming watching her out on the practice field.  Such a proud moment as a parent to have a child in a team sport!! I have to say I was sooooo excited for her but a bit worried about her timid personality.  I started talking about the game quite heavily on Thursday and Friday and especially Saturday morning before we went and she provided a ton of opposition stating she didn't want to go or put on her jersey. But, with a little coaxing, a cute hair bow, and her cool hand me down shin guards we were able to load up in Sienna and head to the game.  We were SOOO happy, or well I should say, Maddox was extremely happy to see one of her classmates from Kindercare there, Nisha....who happens to live in our neighborhood AND is on her team, Team France.  Thank goodness for Nisha!!!  She took Maddox by the hand as her personality is a bit more outgoing and overly compassionate and got Maddox to get out on the field for the practice. The two girls were absolutely adorable together and cheered each other on during the practice bit. Unfortunately Nisha's magic didn't work so well during the game and Maddox closed up like a clam and hung onto our legs.  Luckily there were some other timid kids on the field with their parents which is totally acceptable at this age.  I felt so bad for Nisha. She kept coming over to Maddox trying to coax her to kick and or run after the ball....much like she was doing or attempting to do.  You could just see the compassion and concern she had for Maddox. Nisha soooo wanted to play but just hardly could bear to leave Maddox.  I befriended Nisha's mom and made sure to tell her how proud she should be of Nisha.  Anyhow....they don't really keep score and there are really hardly any rules...it is kind of like 'herd ball' all the kids just run after the ball. But it is definitely evident who has older brothers/sisters who play. Man some of the kids just totally knew what they were doing and were like work horses out there.  We are happy Maddox will be able to lean from them!! ( no significant soccer experience in the Kies house) We are looking forward to this week's game.  Luckily there is a school playground nearby which kept Kennon fairly entertained.  He was so funny...in fact if Maddox had handed him his jersey I"m sure he wouldn't have even needed Nisha to drag HIM onto the field. He was right in the middle of the huddle before the game started. He so wanted to play.   Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jean got Maddox ( and Kennon) a soccer ball for her birthday!! Grandpa Jim was so eager to bring the balls over he rode his Harley to our house on Sunday and surprised the kids with their own soccer ball!!  We had a really nice afternoon sitting in the shade with the breeze. A special thanks to Grandpa Jim for helping Eric stake our 4 new beautiful trees.

Maddox doing a little stretching before her game....totally unsolicited by her physical therapist momma....and I"m serious...she did this totally on her own!! 

Nisha and Maddox....and the cute hair bow...!! 

Maddox and Team France doing some warm up drills. Maddox is second from the left with her arms out. 

Maddox on the field during the game...notice Eric and Nisha are close by and she is not moving!! That's ok Maddox you'll figure it out. 

Bomb pops for snack after nap. The neighbor girl Priya joined us 

We are forging ahead with Kennon's potty training despite some difficult days at school last week.  He does totally fine at home with us but has figured out how to 'get by' at school.  We aren't ready to throw in the towel just yet and continue to shower him with praise for good 'deeds' . We know you'll get it buddy!! Hang in there.  He is remarkably dry after nap and in the AM but just gets busy playing at school.  Maddox visited the dentist a couple of weeks ago. Her track record with Dr. Matt hasn't been so good so we decided to have Eric chaperone her rather than me and she did perfect...no fits in the chair and opened he mouth nice and wide with no opposition!!!  Thank you Eric!!  ( and thanks to cousin Carter and Aunt Brooke for visiting the dentist earlier this summer and giving Maddox the positive vibe on the dentist) Her teeth look great...no cavities and she/we are doing everything just fine.  Braces in her future, however,  likely in grade school which he had told me at a previous visit.  

If you think Kennon's expression is priceless in this one check out the one below....something tells me he is gonna be a stinker.... oh about 3 1/2 years old. 

Kennon and Grandpa Jim on Grandpa's Harley. Thanks for making the trip over Grandpa Jim!! 

Orion Fall Festival and first day of Our Savior

Saturday we loaded up the kids and took a trip out to Orion for the Labor Day Orion Fall Festival. I have fond memories of this festival as a kid so I wanted to share the experience with both Maddox and Kennon. We all had an absolute blast and the kids especially enjoyed the park and the rides!!   They were just the perfect age for the activities. Too much younger and I don't think they would have been quite so excited. I was grinning from ear to ear as they ran from ride to ride with gigantic smiles on their faces.  So fun!! The even got to ride on a little mini Ferris wheel just the right size for a 2 and 4 year old. I have to say looking up at the full size wheel got me a little jittery thinking of the kids up that high unattended. But, luckily as we rounded the corner we found a perfect mini sized one!!  We all ate at the park at the Lion's Club food tent and enjoyed our hamburgers and hot dogs, Lays chips, and pop.....that is exactly what they sold back in the 90's. The menu hasn't changed.  I picked up a few new homemade hair bows from one of my high school friend's sister, and after the rides we headed for the PARADE!! Maddox was quick to tell my high school friends and their kids that there would be popsicles  ( like at the Bettendorf 4th of July parade) at this parade.  Nope.....Maddox just TRACTORS....!!  The parade was like 90 % tractors in addition to the 6 emergency vehicles ALL with their sirens whaling and a couple of bands.  Kennon was in heaven, Maddox kept plugging her ears as the emergency vehicles went by.  Too cute. I was really proud of their behavior and we only had one mishap the entire morning when Kennon broke open a rug burn on his forehead,  he had gotten the day before at Kindercare, while jumping in the jump house. But Eric was quick to run to a food trailer and grabbed a band aid as I had accidentally taken the diaper bag to the hair bow tent.   Then he bonked his lip and nose again when he fell during the parade. He is looking a little rough right now!! Thanks to Grandma Kathleen and Becky for providing a comforting hand after the parade fall. Kennon did very well using the kinda yucky park potties and stayed dry during our entire outing.  Thanks to the Kayser family  (another high school friend of mine) for a clean toilet and hand soap as our last potty stop before we loaded back up in Sienna.   And thanks to Amy Kayser's brother in law for scoopin' up Kennon as he ran off down the parade route to one of the tractors unbeknownst to Eric and i ( second child syndrome..!!) We hurried home to watch the Hawks play a fairly good game...although with a poor end result. Next time Hawkeyes. 

Headed home from their first day of Our Savior. They both have on medals that say 'I survived my first day of preschool'  Too cute.

Maddox colored this picture at Our Savior. She is getting very good at her coloring skills and is even starting to draw people...! They don't have any necks...... which is exactly how her mama used to draw them at her age.  

Waiting for the rides to open at the Orion Fall Festival.  Star sunglasses compliments of Grammy. We MISS you every second Grammy. Maddox asked yesterday 'when you are going to come out of your box?'

Maddox driving what looks like a sleepy Kennon but don't let him fool ya....he was having a ball and even had his own wheel to control!!  

Maddox and Kennon on the Amtrak train. 

Maddox and Kennon on the kiddie Ferris wheel. 

You can't see it really well but they were literally BEAMING from ear to ear as they came around.  ( I was too!!)  So fun to see them enjoying themselves. They used one of their tickets to ride the wheel a second time.  A favorite for them both. 

I was excited to find this adorable Princess pony tail holder. I think it looks so cute in her hair.  Maddox is plugging her ears as the emergency vehicles come whaling by. 

Still plugging......

The lady in the blue shirt in the back is the mom of my friend from high school Becky Roegiers ( who is in the back left).  Becky is the best mom and Kathleen the best Grandma....they both came to the parade with extra 'candy bags' and blankets to watch all the festivities!!  Thanks to the Nightingale family for outfitting us for the parade!

Maddox and Kennon playing in the sprinkler....clothes style!! YES....I let them play in their clothes :)   They were squealing with delight!! Something about playing in your clothes totally tops playing in a swimsuit!! 

Kennon is doing really well with this potty training. In fact he has gone like 5 nights in a row with no accidents at night until last Saturday he chugged an entire sippy cup of water at like 8PM and I knew he wouldn't make it. But, that's ok.  He was dry today....Monday AM He has been doing really well.  We are still having about 1 accident per day at home and at school generally speaking but he is telling us when he has to go and definitely seems to be starting to control it a bit more.   Although he is playing with the 'control' a bit. Letting out a little and then holding the rest in to keep playing....we are starting to know the 'hold look' so we know to then run him in to finish his business.  More praise is needed we think to get him off of the 'hold style'.  Most importantly he only had 1 accident at school on Friday and he had no accidents at Our Savior on Wednesday!!  Way to go buddy!!  We are so proud of him and keep showering him with positive rewards including MMs and match box cars.  We have this week, started standing. They suggested standing at Kindercare as he just was not able to get his pants all the way down to avoid the almost horizontal stream in the seated position. So he has been doing a little of both, some standing which keeps the unders dry and some sitting which he requires a little assist with still.  But definitely making progress. He is not even interested in sitting on the Thomas toilet seat anymore. Just sits on the potty like a big boy or stands on the stool.  That is totally fine by me....one less thing to keep clean.

Both Maddox and Kennon started at Our Savior this past week.   I dropped both of them off Wednesday AM at like 8.45 and they happily went into their separate room. Maddox was just a hair clingy but Kennon went right in remembering he had played with the trucks the week before at the Open House.   When I picked them up at 11.45 they both came sprinting out the door into my arms with the biggest smiles I have ever seen and their back packs bouncing on their backs. They definitely had a fabulous time.  Not only did Kennon keep his unders dry he went potty in the potty there as well.  I was like a tornado through the house while they were at school.  So efficient without 4 little feet underfoot.  I'm looking forward to getting some projects done while they are gone and getting back to cooking. My latest LOVE is spending a little extra time in the grocery store switching out one main stream item for an organic one... ( in honor of you Jody!!).  It is amazing what I have been buying with crazy chemicals!!  Super fun to sit and read the labels and pick something that at least sounds a little healthier.  But never fear there will still be a cake with OODLES of frosting for Maddox's birthday. 

Maddox's behavior has been better this week. We have tried to shower her with Love and positive reinforcement which I do think works.  She and Kennon play very well together when they are outside.  In the house they tend to get in each other's space. Wednesday afternoon it was so hot out we had popsicles as our snack after nap and then they played for what seemed like an hour in the sprinkler without any bickering or issues!  The neighbor Priya came over to join us too.  They had a good time and allowed me a chance to pull some weeds that are growing in our new sod.....grrrr..... They grow in between the strips of sod where there is just enough soil and space where the grass hasn't grown together as of yet and with the hot sun the weeds just proliferate there.

Hope everyone had a great holiday.  I"m off to buy some trees!!  With the prospect of houses behind ours sooner rather than later we thought we'd better start getting some privacy built up.  On the list a Quaking Aspen, a  Sunset Maple, and either a Paper or River Birch.....all researched by my fabulous husband to grow QUICKLY ( unlike the Oak in our front yard) in zone 5 as well as in clay soil and with beautifully turning leaves in the fall.  The Birches in particular are good at soaking up water....planning to plant those out in the swale by the culvert! We are also finishing up the mom's memorial plant bed this week. The 3500lbs of  shooting star rock will be delivered to our driveway on Thursday. The bed looks fabulous and all the plants, including mom's transplanted from Aurora are all growing and healthy. Love to garden!!