All Peoples Clap Your Hands For Joy

Advent 2010 Week 1 - Christmas Tree

2010-12-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

We got off to kind of a slow start this year. We had a CRAZY busy Thanksgiving complete with lots of family, lots of food and lots of snow which of course meant lots of sledding! Brant left right after Thanksgiving for a week in Florida and I did my best but Advent took a back burner until Dad got home. We spent this weekend really whooping it up and putting together a plan to get caught up on our readings. Every year we do a "Progressive Tree" and decorate it every night through Advent completing it Christmas Eve with the kiddos new ornament and the star. This year's tree adventure was rather mild compared to years past. We opted for the tree farm rather than the expedition to the mountains. No worries forgotten twine or chainsaws. It was quite pleasant and I am very thankful for the Shelton's Tree Farm in Cashmere.

Violet's First 6th Birthday At The Beach

2010-10-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

When we asked Violet what she wanted to do for her birthday she said that she wanted to visit Beach Grandma (aka Gram Pam, Grandma Beach) and make bead jewelery. Both Brant and I immediately said "DONE!" with great enthusiasm. Brant was stoked to spend the weekend on the beach with his mom and I also loved the idea of fall days on the beach, but truthfully I was just as excited as Violet to play with beach Grandma's beautiful beads!Simon making sure Violets new necklace is attached properly.

Violet busy at work making her bracelet.

Just look at all that fun! I must admit I am becoming addicted!

Gram Pam and some of her beautiful work!

Changing Plans!

2010-10-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

We have a very busy weekend ahead of us and grandparents are coming to town so today I was gung-ho at getting 3 days of school done in two days. This means I needed super on-it school age kiddos and cooperation from the youngers as we were plowing through lots of lessons. I was sure it was possible from the vantage point of "technically" we can accomplish the allotted work in 2 days...however I was aware Benji may have different plans since he's 4 and gets rather bored and destructive around 12:30. Ether way I knew we could get the work done even if it wasn't pretty. I am one of those people who likes to make plans and stick to them even if everyone around me is miserable. I am usually so into my plan that I may just make myself sick or near to tears in order to take it to its intended fruition. Well, we were up, fed and doing a quick house pick up when the plan started loosing its momentum and I began to internally panic (realize it was only 8:30am). Benji began his typical lack of self-control over toys which gave me prime training opportunities...over and over again...After about 30 minutes and several trips to the "proverbial woodshed" Benji was calming down and ready to move on. PHEW! Time to start school! I was walking down the hall-way holding Benji's hand when Miss Vi walked passed us saying "Be-en Tage knocked over ALL your guys"...Sure enough Ben flipped out...again...and we were back in the bathroom/woodshed. We prayed and I sent Benji on his way, but first I made Miss Vi ask him for forgiveness for provoking him...She did so and Benji headed back to the castle full of playmobil to continue his battle between good and evil. Vi then turned to me and said "is it time for school?" and I said "It will be after we take care of your sin in "the bathroom"." From that point on her little emotions went from a sweet, precious young girl to an ugly, possessed, strong willed little sinner. So much for my school day plans and honestly I was at peace because I knew her little heart was way more important than reading and math. After HOURS ( I am not kidding) of bathroom time, bedroom time and bible reading time Brant came home and helped us sort out the mess. All three boys were off playing war, my house was wrecked, there was nothing for lunch and I really wanted to cry. But I just remembered in all things give thanks, which is what I did. Benji and Vi were both pooped from their morning of soul training and Tage, Simon and I were able to accomplish quite a bit this afternoon. I do believe God rewarded the boys and I with a very productive afternoon. If I had done my typical clenching of fists not willing to let go of my plan type behavior today could have been quite ugly. I am constantly shocked at my inability to ask God what His plan is for us before I make my own. I am hoping days like today will help me remember to go to Him first, and then make our plans.

Curriculum Choices

2010-09-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here is what I know so far...

We are joining an informal co-op this year called Classical Conversations. It is informal since it is new to our community and we are starting a bit late, we are hoping to have a formal campus next year. Classical Conversations will meet once a week and will introduce our lessons and memory work for the week. Subjects covered by C.C. are math, science, literature, Latin, history, geography and fine arts.

Difficulty keeping up with reading was one of the main reasons we brought the kids home to school. We have taken in lots of information on different phonics, language arts and reading programs and have decided on the following.

Teaching Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Writing Road To Reading Phonogram Cards and Interactive Cd
Sonlight Launguage Arts 2 Reading Program

As for math, all I have to say is I am thankful for my husband. I am thankful he likes math (I do not) and is willing to help teach it! For now since Tage and Simon are so close in age they will be doing math at the same level. They are welcome to move through their books as fast as they want! OH!! I almost forgot...We are using Singapore Math Level 2.

Learning Curve

2010-09-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Before I get to far into this post keep in mind that I have been homeschooling all of 4 days so please do not take this as an advice/ I know what I'm talking about type post. This is mostly a post for me to document all of the bazillion things I have had to research, decide on and act on over the past two weeks. I have learned a lot about myself, my kiddos, my relationship with God and what an absolutely amazing husband I have!

Things Learned So Far:
(In addition to being reminded how none of this is possible without God's help,kindness, love and mercy, and how thankful I am for a husband who is actively participating in schooling our kids and structuring our day.)

1. A home school cannot possibly function without a printer!
We purchased an Epson Stylus NX420. It's a beauty! It's a wireless printer, which means you can simply pick it up and move it where ever your little heart desires! I am fanatically opposed to computers and all their clutter, cords and massive dust...which is quite humorous since I am married to a computer geek and we have at the moment 3 computers networked together throughout our home. Oh and don't even get me started ranting about all the random hard drives, software and other unmentionable computer pieces we have scattered all over the house!:)

2. Finding the right tables or desks for your schooling area is key! I love these desks from IKEA! They were only $20 and they are working out quite nicely!.

3. A friend of mine suggested a whistle for outside games and such. At first I chuckled and wondered if that was really necessary since I only have 4 kiddos.....YES it is necessary. It has come in handy for play time and get their attention time. I love it and so do the kids!

4. It is ok for the kids to have lots of snacks! The first day I was hard core no more than one snack from breakfast to lunch. Benji was a puddle by the end, so I have been providing several snack opportunities throughout the morning and that seems to be helping a lot. All this learning business is hard work!

5. Even though they are home they must raise their hand to speak! We have 4 kiddos...4 grades...and only one of me. In order for us to come out on the other side loving one another we need to be sure to use our manners and wait to be called on before speaking.

6. We are training them how to be schooled at home before we dive into our hard-core curriculum. Since they have been in a day-school setting we wanted to be sure they understood what it means for mom to be their teacher.

7. Freshly cleaned carpet and freshly painted walls did my heart good when thinking I was going to be spending a lot of time in one particular room of the house. I know many people may roll their eyes at this...But hey, that's who I am like it or not! There is a fresh/newness about our home school room that I love.

8 Who cares if the dishes (or the laundry) are done. I can do them later!

9. Celebrating accomplishments is a must! Today we had Wendy's for lunch to celebrate our first successful week of homeschooling.

Very Busy Saturday - Picture Diary

2010-09-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Our day started with an 8am football game, then dance and the Harvest Festival! Next week we add soccer...oh and swim team!

Seasons Change

2010-09-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

(I just love this picture of Ben...totally unrelated to this post...:))

Here we go again! A new school year has begun and I was supposed to have a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, kindergartner and Pre-kindergartner all at The River Academy. I was supposed to start my new job as the Director of Advancement at The River Academy AND the First Choice Pregnancy Center of Wenatchee had offered me an amazing part-time development position as well! We have moved from infants/toddlers to school-age kids and it was time for us all to move to the next phase...kiddos to school and mom to work to help pay for school! I can honestly say this is the year I have been dreaming about and have spent many hours working and planning to get it all organized. Little did I know God was in the midst of planning too. It was happening right before my eyes and I was so focused on my own selfish day-dream of big kids, school and work that I failed to see Gods hand closing doors and opening new ones! God very obviously closed the door (for now) at The River Academy and opened the doors at home...They are WIDE-OPEN here at home! We are all home now and I have become an educator, a teacher...A job I can honestly say I would have never wanted! I am seeing the flaws in my selfishness and I am thankful for this opportunity to nurture the soul of my children and to help them develop a love for learning and a love for the Lord our God. We are participating in a home-school co-op called Classical Conversations and I can't wait to get my hands in all the wonderful history we get to study! I have so many thoughts I hope to have time to share. For now this is all...Blessings on all your adventures this school year!

Kinder-Prep Graduation

2010-06-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Violet is officially a kindergartner! She graduated from Kinder-Prep and can't wait to start doing all things "The Kindergarten Way" Here she is with her class and receiving her award from our headmaster Mr. Devris.

Baseball Championships

2010-06-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

One of the advantages to having your kids so close together is that they are able to play on sports teams together thus making it so Brant and I are managing less activities. This year Tage and Simon played A-Ball which is baseball with a pitching machine as the pitcher. This was Tage's 3rd and last season in A-Ball and Simon's 1st season. We have had the same coach all three years and once again he took these boys to the championships! We won the first two games of our tournament which put us into the spot for 1st or 2nd place making all the boys anxious with anticipation. Tage had Simon convinced that we would win the whole thing since we had the previous 2 years, but it wasn't our year and we lost 22-0...OUCH! The great thing is the kids got trophies and tickets to the concessions which made the painful loss seem like it was years ago! Tage's batting average for the season was in the 760's and Simon's was 716...I think the Mariners should start scouting...Don't' you?

Simon is 7!

2010-06-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Way back on May 22nd our baseball lovin boy turned 7! He has grown and matured a ton this year and I am constantly blown away by how articulate he is. He does not play with many "toys" unless it involves some sort of sport (baseball, basketball or football), and would happily spend his entire day sitting around talking to people about life and where it is taking them...sort of an unusual trait in a 7 year old boy! He still has the most beautiful smile and tender spirit and I am honestly so thrilled that I get to be his mom and together with God work to grow him into an amazing man.

For Simons birthday we had a quick party with family and friends after he participated in Jr. Ridge 2 River. Dinner consisted of cheese pizza, rootbeer and a football cake. Now that summer is here we are hoping to get him and some buddies to the bowling alley for cosmic bowling. Here are some pictures of his special day!
Simon with his buddy Brandon

I made this...

Mornings

2010-05-21T23:39:00.001-07:00

I am expecting much grief from my dear sis for posting this picture but it so beautifully illustrates one of my most favorite parts of the day and how I truly love to spend it. MORNING. Simple, quite, beautiful mornings have been rather absent from my life over the past 6 months and I am longing for some of these mornings to present themselves again soon!

Simply put, I am not a morning person in the high energy, quick to productivity kind of way. I love waking early to quiet in both summer and winter. I love rising with my hubby (or sis when on family vacations :)) and discussing life. The kind of life that feels fresh and new. The kind of fresh and new life only a good night’s sleep can create. It is amazing how evenings and nights seem so overwhelming and topics are often left unresolved, yet a fresh new quite morning and a very fresh cup of coffee seem to be the simple solution to so many difficult unanswered questions. We eagerly await warm summer days, early mornings on our deck, fresh coffee, and simple conversations that truly mean so much.

Being Creative With The Kiddos

2010-05-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those warm and overcast days. Everyone thought it was cold outside because there was no sun, so of course a day of movie watching must be in order. I informed them that all the windows were open and I was running around in flip flops a t-shirt and jeans...Needless to say it was not cold and certainly not a stay-inside-and-watch-movies kind of day. They were less than convinced so I pulled out the Popsicles to see if that would do the go outside trick. Sure enough that got them out the door and 30 seconds later the Popsicles were gone and we were back to our old negotiation shenanigans about it being cold and winter like. I really did not want to stop what I was doing, as if dishes are oh so important, so my attitude was a serious reflection of my frustration...YIKES...not too pretty! I quickly realized that I was being a grump and I needed to go play with the kiddos. I pulled out the sidewalk chalk and we had ourselves a grand time making all sorts of mosaics up and down the driveway and sidewalk. It was a sheer delight to play with the kids and frankly I have been thinking about all sorts of different chalk creations I can draw with the kids next time. Sometimes it feels so good to go outside and play!

Mothers Day Weekend...Exactly What We Needed!

2010-05-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

God does a wonderful job of giving us everything we need right when we need it. He promises us that he will provide and I am always so amazed how he works things out in a way that I am completely unable to predict or plan myself. After an extremely rough week I headed into the weekend wondering simply where do we go from here. Here was exactly where we needed to be and here is right where we stayed! Together with Gram Pam (Brant's mom) and my sister's family, we spent the weekend in the back yard under the warm sun enjoying each others company, planting wonderful things like strawberries and annuals, and eating all things summer! I made a barbecued Thai dinner on Sat and on Mother's Day we had a lovely breakfast on the deck followed by an all American summer style barbecue for dinner, complete with hamburgers, hot dogs and watermelon! Mid-way through the day Brant excused me and my sister and let us get away on a much needed coffee date. He held down the fort with seven kids and was more than cheerful when we returned! HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE HIM! He is truly an amazing man! On top of it all I was showered with cards and artwork made by my sweet children, two new chairs for my yard and a simply gorgeous hanging flower basket for my deck. I am filled to the brim with love and it all came right when I needed it!

Nothing Profound...Just Blog Worthy...Most Likely With Spelling Errors and Typos...

2010-05-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in awhile as I have been waiting for something profound or funny to write about. As I wait for "blog worthy" type moments I realize that my current state is "blog worthy". Here is your warning this post is NOT going to fall into the category of cheerful or funny or informative. This post is just a bit of reflection on our past couple of weeks. Life is not always easy and often throws us some rather intense curve balls. I need to write about some of those if I want this blog to truly reflect "Madson Life".
I am not going to sugar coat this...Our school year has been mostly sour with a few sweet moments that our God has graciously given us to help keep the momentum. The sweet moments have come in the form of encouragement from amazingly wise people who love us and our children and promise God will not give us more than we can handle. He has given us the perfect children and there is a right answer for us, for our family. Unfortunately for our children we are learning as we go and they get to deal with our failures and successes along the way. We have tried to recognize when we need to be asking for forgiveness and we have made sure they know when they need to buck up and work harder. This is a balancing act that has been weighted a little heavy and a little light at times. It is looking like (not totally sure yet) we will be keeping our two older children in their perspective grades next year, making it so we will have the following line-up ; Kinder-Prep, Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade. I for some reason find this incredibly overwhelming! I fear there being no wiggle room in case we have another year like this year. I fear my older two children will somehow feel inadequate and possibly internalize a since of failure. The good news is they are happy, obedient children that are just late bloomers. There is nothing wrong with them, just they are loosing teeth later, maturing later thus making the pace hard for them and us. We are still praying about our decision and have a couple other things to consider, but for now we are about 85% sure that next year will look a little the same with hopefully a lot different as well! We are clapping our hands for joy!
In the midst of school trials and Brant working 24/7, we have experienced painful loss. This is really the first time in my life, I have had to experience loss, grief and sadness for good friends who have died way to young. Three weeks ago we received the news that a childhood friend of Brants had taken his own life. He was 38, had a new wife, and a family who loved him dearly. He was a fun-loving guy who was passionate about his relationships. This was a hard funeral to attend considering the difficult situation. Brant really struggled with guilt about not checking in with him more often and has decided that those "old" relationships need to be fed and maintained. We had a wonderful time seeing old friends, in the midst of a sad situation. This was Gods timing and we embraced it. It opened the door for intriguing conversations about friendships we have had and ones we are in, the kinds of friendships we want our children to have and the kind if friends we want our children to know us to be. We are clapping our hands for joy!
Lastly, we have experienced the loss of my dear friend Jenny. She had battled leukemia for 10 years and is now cancer free in heaven sitting next to our Heavenly Father free of pain and hopefully sporting a beautiful head of hair! Today is the first day I have been able to let go of some of the sadness. While I know she was a believer in the Lord and she has eternal life, I really just wish she would have been able to be hear with us longer. She died at the age of 35 and I met her in her last two years of life. I was VERY fortunate to spend a significant amount of time with her over the last year as we trained together for the NIKE Womens Marathon. We talked a lot about her cancer and her intense life experiences. She had wisdom well beyond her years and I truly NEEDED to know her. She was a living, breathing, walking and talking example of the rare jewel of Christian contentment. Vanity was stripped from her as a result of her chemotherapy and steroid treatments and yet she seemed to glow and express the most amazing beauty I have ever seen in a woman. As I sort through my feelings and grieve I continue to clap my hands with joy in pure amazement that God allowed me the opportunity to know her.

Summer In Sight

2010-04-15T12:37:00.001-07:00

I love the expression on Ben's face in this picture!

One sure sign that summer is right around the corner is The River Academy's spring uniform policy change! I usually count down the days until the uniform change because the kids can start wearing shorts and our boys pants are usually desperate for an eternal trip to the garbage not to mention they are usually about 2 inches to short! Monday was the last day for dress uniforms and I had to get a picture so that I can compare in the fall!

First Game Of 2010

2010-04-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

YAAYHOOO! Tage and Simon get to be on the same team this year! I'm sure there are many moms out there who can fully appreciate my excitement right now! As expected (just kidding :))our boys ROCKED the bat and kicked off the season with their first win. We love this team so much. It is our third year with this coach and a slew of little River Academy boys...SO MUCH FUN!Tage and Simon after their big win!

Here is Simon up to bat for the first time in A-ball...No more tee for this kiddo!

GO TEAM! Complete with the little girl blowing a huge Big League Chew bubble! Aren't kids great!

Easter 2010

2010-04-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

Easter brunch before church!

I understand how the weather feels sometimes....

2010-04-08T20:19:00.001-07:00

You get off to kind of a rough start and by the end of the day its all sunshine and tulips! Happy Spring!

9:00am
11:30am

Childhood Girlfriends

2010-04-08T19:51:00.001-07:00

Dearest Paula and Maggie,

Our time together last week has been on my mind daily since we departed. I have thought much about all of the years we have spent knowing one another and how most of my memories of our childhood are vivid and bright as if it was just yesterday that Paula and I were dictating the Tremont Street neighborhood play or when I was seriously stuck on Maggie's bluff as we tried to head to the beach despite many warnings from our parents...I still don't like heights by the way. I am reminded of all the good times, sad times, scary times (mostly in a VW bus :)) and serious loss that we have experienced together making it nearly impossible for us to ever loose touch! All these years of ever lasting loving "baggage" has made it possible for us to pick up right where we left off even as we introduce husbands and children into the mix. Dear friends, please understand that I needed that day of laughing, reminiscing and catching up and I am so happy that we were able to make it work the way we did. You have grown into beautiful amazing women and I feel so blessed to have you as my life long friends! Please come visit soon! Love and miss you lots! Rach

Spring Break Part 3 - Ferry Boat Rides

2010-04-08T19:36:00.001-07:00

One of the highlights of our travels to Grandma and Grandpa's house is always the ferry boat ride. Usually the kids talk about it for days before our departure and then relish in the "experience" for days following the 30 minute boat ride. About the time they are done playing ferry boat it is time to leave Grandma and Grandpa's and they get to anticipate and experience 30 more minutes of pure boat riding bliss! This visit we had an absolutely beautiful boat ride out of Seattle and spent most of the ride on the deck. I personally prefer having everyone inside as I truly fear loosing one of my children over the railing...silly I know, but true. Our boat ride back to Seattle was very cold, extremely windy and rather rocky. It was difficult to stand and made it so everyone stayed pretty close to their seats. I was much more comfortable with that!

Spring Break Part 2 -LOTS of Indoor Activities

2010-04-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

We had an absolutely beautiful February and early March complete with LOTS of sunshine and warm dry days giving us LOTS to look forward too for our week and half of spring break. As I expected spring break arrived and we have experienced LOTS of rain, LOTS of wind and unseasonably cold weather. That mean LOTS of indoor activities at Grandma and Grandpas. Brant was in Wenatchee working so we were out numbered and I must say my parents were great sports! There were times where I just could stand it anymore and through the boys outside in the weather despite its nastiness. For the most part we kept the peace and engaged them in arts and crafts, egg decorating, and LOTS of make believe play with army guys and polly pockets

Pretty serious war games!

Grandma showing Ben how to build with dominos

Violet was busy with polly pockets the entire week!

Tage painting "A Sunny Day"....wishing we had some of those...:)

Painting in Grandpa's shop/ "Art Studio"

The "Art Studio" AKA Grandpas Shop

Gardening God's Way

2010-03-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

Plant three rows of peas:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul

Plant four rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness

Plant four rows of lettuce:
Lettuce be faithful
Lettuce be kind
Lettuce be obedient
Lettuce really love one another

No garden without turnips:
Turnip for meetings
Turnip for service
Turnip to help one another

Water freely with patience and
Cultivate with love.
There is much fruit in your garden
Because you reap what you sow.

To conclude our garden
We must have thyme:
Thyme for God
Thyme for study
Thyme for prayer

"A Child's Book Of Grace"

Spring Break 2010 Part 1 - Lake Cresent Hike

2010-03-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Brant drove us over to my parents in Sequim on Saturday and then left Sunday late afternoon for home. He has one of the biggest work weeks of his career this week so we decided it would be easier if the kiddos and I were gone. We did manage to pack a lot in his 48 hour vacation. We got up Sunday morning, went to the early church service, and then headed north for Lake Cresent in the pouring down rain. Lake Cresent is near Forks (where the Twilight movies are filmed) and the Rain Forest for those of you who are not familiar with the Pacific Northwest.

Hiking to the falls
So cute!

One of the bridges we crossed.

I love the bridge!

Oh and this tree was just breathtaking!

Everyone loved the tunnel! See the rain coming down...Typical spring weather!

VERY wet kiddos~

After we made it to the top.

Oh My Goodness We Made It!

2010-03-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

Warm fall day at my parents. See the silhouette of the Olympics in the background!

Spring break is here and I am kicking it off with an extremely late night of packing! I can honestly say there is nothing I'd rather be doing?...Um, well I would love to be done with this part and sipping a nice warm cup of coffee with my parents, looking out of their beautiful windows at the rugged snow covered Olympic mountains surrounding the Sequim Valley...BUT first things first...RIGHT!!! My packing adventure is slightly different since we are hitching a ride over and taking the train back. Because the kids and I have to hoof it over the ferry and then a few blocks to the train station I was thinking less is more, what ever the kids can carry they can take. As I'm sure you have probably already predicted, this is proving to be harder that I thought it would be. There is between a 50-80% chance of rain forcasted for our entire trip which means rubber boots, coats and lots of layers. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa have a rather nice washer and dryer. Well that's all for now! We'll post pictures of the week as we can. OH and BTW!!! I have a random comment to share. I decided to color my hair tonight too...that turned out wonderful, but the bangs I cut for fun are a big mistake...BUMMER!
Cheers!

A Little Bit of This AND A Little Bit Of That!

2010-03-24T19:56:00.001-07:00

Oh how we can not wait until spring break! This is our last week of school until the 6th of April and as always there seems to be EXTRA stuff to do! We are feeling the push but seem to be able to get through it thanks to longer days and LOTS of sunshine!

Four Square After School
Practicing Spelling

Penmanship!

A Little Rest Before Dinner

Thoughts on Paper...Blog Paper That Is...

2010-03-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like your in the dark? Do you ever feel like you can see God working but the outcome is just still too fuzzy to make out? I'm sure everyone answers are an overwhelming YES, and if not than I confess I am alone in the midst of the desert...but I really doubt that! I have spent the past several months trying to figure out where and what I am supposed to be doing in the months ahead as all my kiddos will be venturing off to school. Honestly it REALLY does feel like just yesterday that I was telling the University of Idaho that I would not be coming back to work after Simon was born. Now I'm sitting here with 4 kiddos growing and maturing rapidly before my eyes wondering what I will do once they are all in school. I know that Ben is only going to be in pre-school but really the point is that we are privatly educating them and the expense is quite large. Assistance from me is crucial in order for us to continue sending them to TRA. I am perfectly capable of working to help cover the cost of tuition and frankly kind of like the idea of putting my old rusty brain to work!
I keep getting hung-up on little issues that allow me the opportunity to almost talk myself out of working all together! Here are a couple internal struggles I am having...
First, I seem to have lost my nerve along the way! I'm not sure where it and my self-confidence went??? The self-confidence thing is a rather tricky and messy little personal character trait. If you have too much your teetering on the cliff of self-righteousness if you have too little your expression is bleak and you lack a bright cheery aroma that shows you have confidence in God and his promises. I know the ideal place to be is in the middle...moderation is always good and for the most part I think I'm there....only....this one little area is so hard to pinpoint and tie down. How do I sell myself and the importance of the past seven years to a world who does not value mothering, hospitality, being a wife, budgeting, LOVING GOD and growing in faith. Putting it all on a resume has been a rather interesting and uncomfortable experience.
Second, I have this expectation that I need to find something meaningful and worthy of my absence away from the home, which is hard to do in Wenatchee, knowing full-well that if I REALLY want my kids at TRA I need to be willing to do whatever God brings my way...oh and cheerfully would also be nice. This may come in the form of a job at my kiddos school, serving my community through non-profits, making coffee, or scrubbing toilets (certainly hope NOT). My point is that I need to be open to Gods plan for me regardless of the task. I need to be praying for guidance and for OBVIOUS door slamming answers. I am rather dense so subtlety is not my strong suit.

Thank you friends for listening, sometimes thoughts just need to get written down rather than bouncing around in the brain! Have a fantastic Thursday!

BEN

2010-03-24T19:33:00.001-07:00

This is pretty typical for our little character. Sometimes pictures say it all!

Perfect Light, Perfect Time, Cheerful Kiddos!

2010-02-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

Remember those times as a child when you would play around on your mom and dad's bed? Isn't that one of the most comforting childhood memories you have? It is for me. My mom is the QUEEN of perfectly made beds, which made climbing in and messing it up so much more fun! Simon and Violet were playing around on our bed this afternoon and I couldn't resist, I had to take pictures! The lighting was perfect, the kids were cheerful and I had time...Three things that happen at the same time only on rare occasion!

Winter and Weekends!

2010-02-02T21:38:00.001-08:00

Friday nights are usually spent as a family watching one of mine and Brant's childhood favorites. They are usually new to the kids which helps to keep everyones interest.

We are a larger family with busy kids and lots of energy, which makes winter hard since most actives are tailored for indoors....UNLESS of course you bite the bullet and invest in copious amounts of ski gear and hot chocolate! Which is exactly what we have done.
Here is Ben getting his stuff on before he heads up the hill. He can do it "his own self"!

Simon is the continuous "snow plow". The little person behind him is Ben.

Let's Brighten Things Up A Little!

2010-02-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

SEE!!! Sunshine and now snow on Feb 2nd...Beautiful!

Lets face it. I have been in quite a blogging rut over the past few months. I see my blog address listed in my favorites and get a very unnerving feeling inside as if my blog is some bill that's long over due and I will deal with the consequences later by not paying! Yes, I am aware how unhealthy that sounds and frankly rather silly. I need to be posting and writing frequently so that we have some written evidence of our kiddos childhood since I am terrible at getting pictures printed. So here goes yet ANOTHER attempt at getting back into the blogging groove. I am starting by changing the background to something cheerful and spring like and posting pictures of our sunny day and my two young-ens coloring nicely at our table this morning! Simple daily pleasures posted here at ALL PEOPLES CLAP YOUR HANDS FOR JOY!

They sure are getting big!

Advent 12th-17th

2009-12-17T21:59:00.001-08:00

Advent Readings for the 12-17th

December 12 - Luke 1: 32-33

December 13 - Luke 1:34-35

December 14 - Luke 1:39-40

December 15 - Luke 1:57-80

December 16 - Luke 2: 1-7

December 17 - Luke 2: 8-10

Can You Say BAKLAVA!!!

A very dear lady from our church hosted a baklava party today. She had us all over and instructed us on how to make this amazing holiday treat...PLUS all the prep work was done and waiting for us upon arrival! It was a lot of fun, and I can honestly say I will only do it again if I have wonderful people around to talk to...It takes a long time and I would hate to do it by myself! Sometimes the true pleasure of cooking comes in the form of fellowship surrounding the food preparation!

Teri and Monika
Julia, Teri and Jessica

Young ladies and very good friends~!

KIDDOS MAKING CHRISTMAS CARDS!

Notice Tage's hat? He won it at Brant's work Christmas party! It's all wool...and actually a really nice elf hat. He wore it all day!

I look really bad in this picture! This past weeks activities are causing for a sleep shortage. I'll catch up over the weekend!

Advent 8th through the 11th

2009-12-17T21:32:00.000-08:00

As with every Advent/Christmas season so far I get busy and don't have time to keep up with a daily blog entry....so here is a photo summary of the 8th through the 11th!

December 8th

New hot chocolate mugs and candy canes are the perfect treat while listening to Matthew 1
December 9th
Matthew 1:18-21

Happy 60th Birthday to our dad Dan! He looks great doesn't he!

December 10th

Matthew 1: 21-25

December 11th

Luke 1: 26-31

Grown-Ups need a little celebration too! We had some friends over for our 3rd annual Christmas Party. We had wonderful fellowship, LOTS of laughing, fantastic food, singing, gift exchanging, and a house full of babies!

I couldn't resist this picture!

The Progressive Tree 2009

2009-12-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

Ben took this job very seriously!

Everyone was most excited about their stockings!
Tage's favorite ornament. A Starwars Stormtrooper.

I have to tell you all about our sweet Simon. Every year we give the kids an ornament and write a little letter to them about why we picked the ornament and what it symbolizes. So far the kids have only been mildly interested in the notes, they usually want to get right to decorating the tree! This year all of them wanted a note or two read, except Simon...He waited to decorate until all his notes were read. I actually had a hard time not sobbing through as I read them. It had been awhile since I had reviewed what I wrote! It was so sweet!

Violet examining the little baby Jesus figures the boys had made in Kindergarten

7th Day of Advent!

2009-12-06T17:00:00.000-08:00

ISAIAH 9:6

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We headed to the mountains with our friends the Holladays to cut down our Christmas tree! We went up high where there was lots of snow so the kiddos spent a lot of time on the ground making snow angles, sliding around, digging, and picking out our tree of course!

Our 4 kiddos with their buddy Jordan! I love how this picture turned out!
Brant, Tage, Simon and Violet dragging the tree to the Jeep. Notice how short Simon and Violets snow pants are! They grew a ton in the last year.
Gotta have one of these shots...everyone is looking in a different direction...very typical!

Brent, Kim, Jordan and Jacob Holladay.

The men had fun too! Both cars were in 4-wheel and there was quite a lot of tire spinning going on!

6th Day of Advent

2009-12-06T16:58:00.000-08:00

HEBREWS 1:1-2
1God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.

Brant and I farmed the kiddos out to friends and family for the night and headed to Seattle (again) to pick up a friend at the airport and do some Christmas shopping! The kiddos had their Advent reading before we left and celebrated in various ways with the families where they were staying!

5th Day of Advent

2009-12-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

COLOSSIANS 1:15-20 15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. For the 5th day of Advent we took the kids out to dinner and headed to the East Wenatchee Christmas tree lighting! It was fun and had a VERY small town feel to it! We ran into lots of friends and got to have cookies and hot cider to celebrate. The picture above is actually at the Westlake Center Christmas Village in Seattle. I liked the picture so I thought I'd share it with you all :)~!

4th Day of Advent

2009-12-02T20:43:00.000-08:00

JOHN 1:18

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."Lets watch a Christmas movie after dinner!"

I adore this picture of Ben! I love his feet/toes, his dogie, his blanket, AND notice the Team In Training water bottle!!!!

Advent Unveiling!

2009-12-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

So here it is!!! My Advent project that turned out pretty darn cute, but took way more time than I was anticipating...as most projects do! Today was the 1st of December which started our official tangible countdown. Ben was the youngest so he got to lift the 1st tree and hand out the oh so yummy chocolate mints while Brant read about our Christmas heritage, Advent and the 12 Days of Christmas. We had to take a little pause in the scripture readings since our guide is last years and we were a day off. We'll get back to the story tomorrow! Happy Advent!

Advent calendar 2009!

I do plan to put more winter/holiday appropriate foliage in my vase, I just haven't got that far yet...Just in case you were wondering :)!
A little close up.

Ben about to lift up tree number1!

1st and 2nd Days of Advent

2009-11-30T20:41:00.000-08:00

1st Day of Advent November 29,2009
JOHN 1:1-5 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

We kicked off Advent and the Christmas season BIG this year! We got a hotel and took the kids into the city!!!!! Downtown Seattle has an amazing way of really getting you into the Christmas spirit! We rode the monorail into Westlake Center, went and saw Santa at Nordstroms, visited a rather spectacular gingerbread village created by Seattle architects and of course had hot chocolate and cookies at Starbucks! Their red holiday cups are just too festive to ignore!

2nd Day of Advent November 30,2009
JOHN 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Tonight was a quiet peaceful scripture reading by Tage, and peppermint suckers while we listened! Can't wait for tomorrow! We're unveiling the Advent calender and the 25 day count down....WOOOHOOO!

Happy Thanksgiving From The Beach!

2009-11-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

We are so very thankful for Brant's mom(aka: Beach Grandma, Gram Pam) and her willingness to serve us over the holiday weekend! She made a fabulous dinner, lives in an amazing place, and has been loving the kids to pieces! We are having a blast! Here are some things the kids said they were thankful for during dinner...

Ben: Breakfast and Milk.

Violet: Thankful for Grandma and for our lovely dinner.

Simon: The colors that God gave us and for the blue sky.

Tage: Thankful for God. He is happy he made humans so that we can live. He also is thankful God gives us rain so we can have plants!

Brant: Is thankful that I love and married him despite his LOVE for flannel PJs.

Rachel: I am thankful for Gods abundant kindness on my family!

I Run For Life With A Smile On My Face And A Cheerful Heart!

2009-11-23T23:14:00.001-08:00

Here goes my public announcement that I will run the Seattle half-marathon on Sunday without whining, fussing, or complaining about how bad it hurts, how cold the weather is or any other thing I usually come up with during a race! My dear friend Jenny who (on the right with the purple bandanna) is in the hospital with her 5th occurrence of leukemia NEVER and I mean NEVER complains or crys about her circumstance, therefore I will endure this race in honor of her with a smile on my face and hopefully a whole lot of bounce in my step as I pound the pavement for 13.1 miles! I will keep running for life....

This Is What We Did Today!

2009-11-21T22:16:00.001-08:00

Now it can snow...

Being Mrs. Under Appreciated Is A Good Thing!

2009-11-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wow! Being under appreciated or overlooked for a good deed or hard work is not something I ever thought would be a virtue. However over the past few weeks I have been studying Esther and while I have learned a lot about being a woman of strength, I have taken much away from Mordecai's character. Mordecai was a wise man. He was intentional in his actions, not acting out of rage, anger, selfishness or deceit. He was a content man who possessed a great deal of humility. After saving the King from murder by his own eunuchs, he was never given a proper reward and or recognition for such a noble act. He was overlooked for five years without saying anything! He continued to be faithful to the King and did not have that burning flame of bitterness brewing in his gut. How many of us can say we would be quiet and calm in a similar situation? Think about your life and all you do. Do you seek worldly gratification? Do you want people to honor and recognize you? The question is this: What are you doing? and Why are you doing it? I have been pondering this a lot lately as I continue to juggle my four children, my husband and various other activities we are involved in. I need to remember that I serve a faithful God who promises to love me no matter what as long as I seek to please and honor HIM in all that I do. The worldly gratification is like refined sugar, it is sweet to the tongue but holds no nutritional value.....

T R E A T I N G 2009 !!!!!

2009-11-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

I like to call it TREATING because that's really what happens! Our kiddos go door to door in our neighborhood and get little bits of treats and blessings from our neighbors who look forward to seeing them dressed up in their little make believe costumes. Some of our neighbors have special treats set aside for our children to make the evening extra-special. I love that we are able to go out and share our wonderful children and their imaginations with our neighbors. It's hard to reach out and fellowship with your neighbors during the week, but days like this allow for us to knock on doors, say hello, share a smile and sometimes a story and make that eye contact that we so often forget is important in our neighborhoods. I'm certain that our neighbors were impacted by the sheer number of kiddos that came TREATING with us, AND by their sweet smiles, abundant cheerfulness and their ability to love their neighbor in the meantime. After TREATING we had everyone in for movies, charades and caramel corn! It was a blast and ending the evening with piping HOT caramel corn was truly one of my personal highlights!

Quite the group! We had two parents dress-up. Castillia Cava was Cat-In-The-Hat and Beth Olson was Raggedy Ann. Good job ladies!
Ben was a pirate, Violet was Maid Marion, Simon was Martin Luther, and Tage was Commander Rex .

Tage and Ben were in serious character mode all day! It was awesome!

"The Corn"

Dad's HOT!

2009-10-31T10:09:00.001-07:00

Last night at Costco while we were sitting eating hot dogs and pizza....

Violet: I need to go potty.

Mom: Ok then (starting to set down my food so I could take her to the bathroom)

Violet: NOOOOO! I want dad to take me!

Brant: Why don't you want mommy to take you?

Violet: Because I want a "HOT GUY" like you daddy to take me....

SERIOUSLY!!!! She said that... I instantly started laughing and Brant responded with..."How can you say no to that"!

Sneak Peek!

2009-10-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

Taken today at her little birthday party...more to come SOON!!!

Chair Time With Ben

2009-10-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here’s a shocker...The Madsons have TONS of energy and we have to train our children and ourselves for that matter, to sit quietly without movement and noise. For some families this comes naturally...NOT for ours! We instituted "Chair Time" way back when Tage was a toddler and have practiced it off and on over the years with the older three kiddos. Ben however has NEVER experienced "Chair Time" and lately I have noticed things would be a lot easier if I would work with him on it. NOTE!!! Your kiddo strapped into a car seat for long periods of time during the day does NOT constitute chair time...I can speak from experience! Now on with the story...Here is how we do chair time...

1. Put a kitchen/desk chair in the middle of the living room floor.

2. Let the kiddo pick out 3 or 4 books depending on the length of time they will be sitting.

3. No toys, blankets etc...Just kiddo and books.

4. Set timer. I started Ben off with 10 min and we will work up to 30 min over the school year.

5. Remind them that there is no talking or singing or noise making and they have to stay on the chair until they hear the beeper.

6. Blessings at the end! I let the kids pick one of the books they were looking at for me to read while they eat a cookie! Lots of praise, hugs and of course cookies!

Ben did a fabulous job today, and we read "Where The Wild Things Are" when he was done. I think that book is quite fitting...Don't you!

Chelsey's 1st Birthday

2009-10-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

I may very well be in trouble for posting these before Michelle, but hey...I remembered my camera and if I don't keep posting I will never get caught up!

She wasn't crazy about the birthday hat.
Yummy cupcake!

Wanna taste mom?

Oh SO happy!

Grandkids Oh MY!

2009-10-02T13:33:00.001-07:00

Here is on of my favoriate pictures from the summer. We spent a week at the Sandpiper Beach Resort (on the Washington coast) with my sister's family and my parents. On the last day we had an all kids and grandparents photo shoot....I love the end result!

Tractor Rides

2009-10-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Classic...and Yes, it is an O'Douls...You'll have to ask my dad why they were drinking O'Douls
Cousins LOVE a good ride in the wagon behind the John Deere!

Giving and Running!

2009-09-22T09:01:00.001-07:00

PLEASE GIVE!!!!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/nikesf09/rmadson

Salmon Festival in Leavenworth...One of our many TEAM fundraisers...

Some of you know that I have joined TEAM in Training, which is an organization that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Our Wenatchee TEAM has 20 female members and we are all raising money for blood cancer research and patient support while training for the NIKE Women's Marathon/Half Marathon in San Fransisco (Oct. 18) I am a fundraising mentor for TEAM In Training which has allowed me the opportunity to come up with MANY creative ideas on how to help get this TEAM to $65,000 by the end of October! YIKES is right. We are almost there and I am just sending out one last reminder for any of you readers who may want to help! Simply click on the link above and give directly on my fundraising page. FYI...fundraising totals on my website are wrong...I have personally raised $2400 and need to be to $2800 by the middle of Oct.! SOOO, give up your coffee money for the week and hop on over to my page and help me end the fundraising season STRONG!!!!

Violets Very First Day Of School...EVER!

2009-09-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

I didn't forget pictures of Miss Vi, she simply didn't start school until today. This is a day she has been waiting for since we first started dropping Tage off at The River Academy. Over the last 2 years she has been well aware of where her first class room would be and who her first teacher would be thus paving the way for an easy transition this morning! She had no problems getting up, was happy to have her hair brushed, and made sure to hop right into the car when it was time to go. Once we arrived at school she walked herself in and really wanted me to leave...she had work to do. I love her ability to be social when she needs to be and am thankful for moments displayed in the last picture below, reminding us that she is still "little" and not quite ready to run with the big dogs (her brothers)!

I love her little back pack. It is a flower with leaves as the straps, so fitting for our sweet Violet!

Oh my, I can't stand it! They are darling aren't they!

Tage is going to be her protector! He is READY for the job, and Vi keeps reminding him how important it is...:)

Getting comfortable with her surroundings.

Hard work and obedience is exhausting!

Well Hello There!

2009-09-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

It's official! I'm off my blog vacation and back at some form of routine involving school, meals, choir and homework. I'm hoping a routine will allow for some blogging time so that I can share our fun little adventures with you all. If not, I have failed and you will have to join Facebook to get the one sentence updates on how were doing. I'm optimistic about my blogging future, so don't give up on me yet!
Today was Tage and Simon's first day of school. Tage, as always, was up early and dressed before breakfast...Simon on the other hand was slow to rise, dress and eat and by the looks of the following pictures he was less than excited...UNTIL he got there.

Huge Tage and very unhappy Simon
Tage ready for the 1st day of 2nd grade

Simon pretending to be ready for the 1st day of 1st grade

Tage at his desk with his little brother who SOOO BADLY wants to be in school!

A much happier Simon. Settled and over that hill of uncertainty. He was chatting with his neighbor when I left.

"The Ben" Turns 3

2009-06-23T21:17:00.001-07:00

One day at Tage's baseball game our friends little boy was introducing us to different people he had met at the ball park. He came over and introduced me to his friend by saying "This is Mrs. Madson, she and Mr. Madson have "The Ben." We all laughed for quite a while at his most perfect, yet simple description of our Ben. Ben is quite frankly a unique little guy, as you can see from the picture above. He is the baby of the family and is still a toddler by grown-up standards but he has a deep BURNING desire to be six instead of three. He works hard at keeping up with his older brothers and has mastered many coordination skills that many six year olds are still working on. He doesn't exactly have a quiet gentle spirit, but he does give BIG, STRONG, LOVING bear hugs...you just have to be sure and practice holding your breath because they do take your breath away...literally!

We Call Him Daddy

2009-06-23T10:32:00.001-07:00

Brant with all his kids...Note Carmel is in the picture ...

Some people call him Crazy,

Some people call him Nuts,

Some people call him a Saint (really...people in our church think he is amazing with kids...he really is),

Some people call him UB (Uncle Brant).

We know and love him as Daddy. Our leader, protector, full-time in-house comedian, and teacher of Gods Word. We love and adore him and are so thankful for his loving servants heart. Happy Fathers Day!

Latest Dollar Store Find!

2009-06-15T21:29:00.001-07:00

Every once in awhile you can't pass up a good Dollar Store find!

Hot Pink Gerber Daisy's...So Fun!

New Picnic Table!

2009-06-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

After a sudden burst of wind, our glass patio table went from a single usable table, to a broken into a billion little glass pieces very unusable table! It was a mess, let me tell you! Brant spent hours picking glass out of the grooves of our deck with a butter knife, after his shop vac exploded from over use! Our good friends The Lindmas felt sorry for us and gave us this super cool and very useful old fashioned picnic table...We love it! Tage spent Saturday sanding it and I hope to stain it this week. Oh the joys of summer!

Champs!

2009-06-15T21:08:00.001-07:00

All I can say is this...

A-Ball Champions two years in a row!!! GREAT kids, AMAZING coaches, FABULOUS families...What a great way to spend the past 8 weeks!

Time For A Little Visit!

2009-06-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone one needs to hop on over to my cousin Nell's blog today! She has posted two pictures of our most honored and lovely great-grandmothers. Out own little Miss Vi is named after Granny. Go take a look... Casual Friday Everyday

We Made It!

2009-06-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

I was actually wondering if I was going to make it through to the end of the school year. The kids have been troopers and have just plowed through all the end of the year stuff without complaint. I on the other hand have had to remind myself to behave like my children...cheerfully plug along wtih out complaining...YIKES...It was hard! Here's to a summer full of lazy days, good food, sunshine, swimsuits, ice tea, sunscreen, baseball, neighborhood kids, lots of fellowship and good books! Call if you want to come over for a play date!

Tage's first day of 1st grade
Tage's last day of 1st grade...Oh so cool and a few inches taller!

This is much more of the "everyday" Tage!

Simon's first day of kindergarten

Simon's last day of kindergarten! He has grown a ton...If you ask me~!

Simon Is 6!

2009-06-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

My six year old buddy!I love this picture! In my opinion it just screams boy!

On May 22nd my sweet smiley boy turned 6! Since birth he has had a smile that melts hearts and a sweet tender heart! Simon is a consistent, loyal little fellow who loves just hanging out with friends and family when he is not playing baseball! For his birthday he wanted to go bowling with friends, which turned out to be a GREAT birthday venue!! We had an all boys bowling party followed by a family (girls included) BBQ and cake party. I can't believe Simon is already six and will officially be a 1st grader in 4 days! Time does fly and these kids do change at rapid rates. I'm holding on, and keeping my eyes open so I don't miss these precious times with my kiddos!

Abundant Beauty!

2009-06-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today I finally had a chance to sit down and digest the past 3 weeks, look over pictures and sift through over 140 messages in my inbox...WOWZERS!!!! This is the kids last week of school and then it's time for a bit of rest and relaxation around here! Aside from the rather insane schedule we have been keeping this past 6 weeks I was able to reach deep down and find that little spark of creativity that often gets stifled and stepped on in this season of life that I am in. A few months ago my very dear friend Sue asked me to help her with her oldest son's wedding rehearsal dinner. I was delighted and honored to be a part of such a wonderful families celebration and took FULL ...and I mean FULL advantage of being creative. Here are some images of the evening. Pictures really don't do it justice!

Brant and I the evening of the wedding.
Head table.

Seating cards.

I asked my friend Amy to do the calligraphy and then I added a little floral touch!

We had a BEAUTIFUL house to work with!

View from the stairs.

My Day..Wild Flowers and Good Company!

2009-05-10T22:57:00.001-07:00

Thank you SO VERY MUCH Joe and Susan for sharing your beautiful hillside with us! We had a lovely time and enjoyed your hospitable company!

Summing it up with pictures!

What Can You Buy With Teeth?

2009-05-10T22:42:00.001-07:00

The above missing tooth of Tage's brought a one dollar bill and a pack of gum from the tooth fairy. Little did we know that this lost tooth was the beginning of a mass massacre on the mouths of young children in our home over the next couple of days. The morning after the tooth fairies arrival brought new attention to the concept of loose wiggly teeth. When Simon realized there were goodies on the other side of lost teeth he decided he needed to step it up and participate in this game of loosing teeth. Before we knew what was really going on Tage was running up stairs yelling "We have and emergency!!!" Simon was right behind with a mouth full of blood and 2 teeth hanging...literally...out of his mouth! There was not an ounce of panic just a bit of concern wondering how much trouble he was going to be in for convincing his brother they needed to knock his teeth out so he too could get that coveted pack of gum and dollar bill. A few days later after we pulled the teeth and moved on, all filled with different lessons learned, I found Violet sitting in her room wiggling her teeth. I asked her what she was doing and she said..."taking out my teeth." Agggg!

If you haven't noticed...

2009-05-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've taken a little involuntary hiatus from the blogging world lately. With the sun and warmer weather comes much activity mostly away from home which is where my computer sits lonely waiting for more Madson pictures and stories to be documented and stored. My posts are likely to stay sporadic, at least until school is out. Bear with me, I'll be back to normal soon...At least I hope to be...:)
Below are a couple of pictures from the Apple Blossom Run last weekend. We had just finished so our faces are super red...This is just the beginning of a new training season. We have a team working towards the Nike Womens Marathon in San Fransisco this fall....BTW...I am doing the half not the whole...13.1 is good enough for me!

My sweet beautiful friend Sarah and I
Ashley...my super amazing mommy friend who had a baby 3 months ago and pushed both her newborn and 3 year old in the race! I love her, she is such an inspiration to me!

Mom...Fire...

2009-04-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Which is what he said when he appreared looking like this...

Because he was playing with this...NICE!

These Are The Days...

2009-04-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

These are the days to remember, are lyrics to a song that has no title or artist, at least that I can remember (FYI:I am really bad about knowing names of songs and artists). However, as I was sitting here clicking through pictures from our AMAZING spring day it was there first thing that popped into my mind, thus the title of this post. I am not sure how we so casually fit in all that we accomplished today, but I have to say I am so thankful for days like today and will pray before bed that we have many more like this one! Nothing really spectacular happened. I mean we didn't come up with a genius plan to fix the economy or automatically remedy the crisis of our diseased back yard...we just lived and spent time together. Early this morning I met the girls for a nice long run along the orchards in Cashmere followed by a little hike up to the Pinnacles, then back to Kim's house for coffee before we all dispersed and "really' started our day . Then we were off to the Apple Blossom Kiddie Parade followed by lunch, yard work, budget, meal planning, grocery shopping, BBQ, and then finally a family movie complete with cookies and ice cream. My love tank is full I feel ready for church and a healthy dose of sabbath rest tomorrow!

All of us at the parade. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Apple Blossom!
I'd say Ben cheered and clapped for one too many Jr. High Bands!

My lovely front yard!

More of the greens filling in around our big tree in the front.

Family movie night!

Tage ROCKS!

2009-04-22T13:32:00.001-07:00

One really good principle coming out of the Growing Kids Gods Way (GKGW) class is the constant reminder that we need to encourage and build up our children (duh...right!). By using lots of pre-teaching, question asking and positive reinforcement we can help our children desire to have a heart for the Lord thus leading to a heart for obedience. Over the past few months our oldest, Tage, has struggled a little with different school related issues...social and academic. While we know he is only a first grader and likely will continue to have school related issues off and on through out his tenure at The River Academy, we really want to nip these things as quickly as we can thus making room for the next bump...whatever that may be. My personal opinion is that God's timing for these little bumps is not an accident. These little bumps are falling on open and ready to apply some of our new parenting skills ears! One particular little bump we are working on is related to Tage's neatness, or lack there of and class room diligence. Tage is ready for the year to be over (as am I) and seems to really need a little extra "you can do it" push.

So we have decided to institute the "Tage ROCKS" jar. One of the jars is filled with rocks and sits ready for Tage to arrive home from school with "Outstanding" neat work, and/or a note from his teacher telling us he was really 'with it' in school today. Also, if while Tage is doing his homework and he comes across something difficult and tackles it like a man with no fussing or whining he will get to move a rock from one jar to the next. Once the second jar is filled with the rocks TAGE gets to pick an outing or date with Brant or I going and doing whatever he likes, within reason...of course. Last night he had a plethora of emotions surrounding his rock jars, thinking there were to many rocks and it would take to long to fill the other jar etc. While in the thick of his reading homework he read the word "astonishment" without an ounce of difficulty and I promptly moved a rock from the full jar to the empty jar just to get the ball rolling. He perked right up, became VERY enthusiastic and finished his homework strong. He woke up this morning cheerful and ready to do neat work at school so he could earn more rocks for his jar. TAGE ROCKS!!!!

Every Violet Needs Her Own Garden

2009-04-21T14:06:00.001-07:00

Actually we don't have any Violets growing in Miss Violet's garden!

Serious Business!

Doesn't everyone sit in their garden and wait for the flowers to grow! I love little girls!

Time For Sunscreen!

2009-04-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Lunch time today. Silly kids, warm weather and ooops...no sunscreen! They all were a little pink by the end of the day. That's ok, they were also super tired and very cheerful when we put them to bed. It's amazing what a little Vitamin D can do for the spirits!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2009-04-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

With lots of water and sun of course! Today Vi and I planted her little flower garden. She has sweet peas, poppy's and some pretty little blue bell type flowers. We are starting with seeds, I generally don't have much luck starting with seeds...we'll see. If we don't see sprouts in a few weeks we'll head down to the local nursery and pick up some annuals! Once we tilled the ground and planted the seeds Tage and I made Vi this cute little sign. She was VERY excited! The boys think they need a little garden spot too, maybe I can convince them vegetables are the way to go!

Something's Wrong!

2009-04-19T20:45:00.001-07:00

Looks bad doesn't it! It's one of those things that continues to bug the dickens out of me, and yet I have NO control over it...I hate that! The grass (new this fall I might add) sits in the backyard all diseased and pathetic looking waiting for sunny days and water to help it wake up...I have done my part...Raked, seeded and given it TONS of water. It actually looks better than it did, hubby says it just takes time. I hate that!

Reminders Are Always Good!

2009-04-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, people who read my blog...I just got a good old fashioned reminder about being in fellowship with those you love and feel VERY inclined to encourage you all to hop on over to Femina and read it for yourself! The post is called "Pick it Up," and talks about the importance of being in fellowship with our spouses and keeping short accounts. The author of Femina is Nancy Wilson and she is the wife to Doug Wilson the pastor of Christ Church, were we used to attend in Moscow, Id! Read the post, it's worth your time!

Seasons Change

2009-04-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

We have officially gone from winter to spring and by the looks of Miss Vi we have also moved from toddler to big girl...ahhh...Seasons are a beautiful thing.

Easter Pictures...First..

2009-04-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the kiddos in their nice looking Easter clothes. We went to the 8:00am service which worked out perfect for our full day of Easter celebration and fellowship! Hopefully I will post on our day of celebration soon...it was in my opinion the way Easter should be...more on that later.

Cousins, we were missing three of the 12 kiddos.
Madson Kiddos...Aren't they SO cute!

Simon and Nezzy....Handsome boys!!

Tage and Nezzy...can you tell Nezzy likes "photos"

Ben, and the cheeze grin!

Miss Vi, she looked so pretty

And So It Begins!

2009-04-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today was Tage's first game of the season! They played quite well and won their game 2-1. Of course that doesn't matter...right! :) Here are some pictures from the ball park, more to come tomorrow after Simon's first game. I am so happy we live about 2 blocks from the ball park, it makes this all SO much easier! I have to admit, I really like this baseball business!
Just to confuse you all, this is Tage about the same time last year! I think he looks A LOT smaller!

Back to the first game...Here is Tage and his good buddy Ronan.

Ben really thinks he should get to be in the dugout with the big boys! Notice, the new head wound next to his eye...

Vi waiting in HER chair for the game to begin.

Vi's First Trip To The Salon

2009-04-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is one of those moments that I am SO thankful that God gave me one little lady to raise! Today was just sort of a blah spring day, not much sunshine and just simply not oozing with that "lets play outside" feeling! Once I got Tage and Simon off to school and Ben down for a nap I pulled out the nail polish and painted Violets fingers and toes. Then while she was sitting on the stool I thought this would be a great time to give her hair a little "trim". It is amazing to me after years of giving Violet "trims", that I continue to think I am qualified to do this job. I often fret and grumble to myself as I am telling Vi to "hold still", "put your head down," "were almost done" etc...all the while I am horrified by the uneven mess that lays before me. My sweet little darling is always so complementary saying "I love it" and don't "I look so beautiful mommy!" Today was the day...Today was the day that I stopped dead in my tracks, looked at the mess I had started, picked up the phone and called Salon Capelli. They got me right in to my amazement and SERIOUSLY gave Violet the royal treatment. She has a darling "even" haircut, and feels as though she was treated like a true big girl!

Sitting in the chair waiting for the cut to begin

Vi was so still and cheerful through the whole thing

Miss Vi with her beautician Arland! They had so much fun together. Arland told Vi all about her daughters... and so the "beauty shop" talk begins!
Back view

Aunt Katie babysat tonight and Tage took this picture of them at the table. Look how similar their hair cuts are!

I'm Ready For...

2009-03-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

Warm summer days planning on the beach...
Shorts with no shirts (for the boys), sundresses and flip flops

Playing in the creek in Colville at Grandpa Madsons

Inter-tubes, sun burns, popcicles and iced tea....

But most of all I'm ready for...The FREEDOM of being outside without needing wind, rain and snow gear all at the same time!

Soft Hearts

2009-03-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Where to begin??? The deal is we are working with the kids to have a LOVE for their neighbor, who ever it may be. Whether it is our direct geographical neighbor, an unknown person at the grocery store, a brother or sister, parents, grandparents, teachers and friends at school, you get the picture...we are ALL neighbors in Gods eyes. This is really a bigger issue than it seems. As toddlers and little ones we are always telling the kiddos to share, be kind, and love their neighbor in relatively supervised settings. Once they enter that "kid" stage and you start sending them out into the throws of "life lessons" (ie:school and sports) these simple little principles seem to form peculiar not so simple identities. Issues of fairness, obedience, attitude, and pride trickle in all at the same time. So hmmm...what to do?...hmmm..Pray, praying first is always good...and hmmm...hold them accountable...yup that's good too...seek forgiveness if that is necessary, truly important...BUT...don't forget about THEIR hearts. Whatever the situation may be, we need to sit, hug, snuggle, talk and pray with our kids and work out their emotions. Let them know it is ok to talk to us and let us know how they are feeling, starting at young ages. If we close the door and don't allow for talks about issues at school, or in the baseball dugout (or where ever your kids lives exist) their questions and unresolved sin could turn to unresolved bitterness that will crop up into ugliness later.

Government Guide...Seriously Unnecessary!

2009-03-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

I must be in a blogging mood today...Wow three posts in one day! So here goes my latest soap box~

In the mail today we received this nifty little resource called the "2009-2010 Government Guide", direct from Linda Evans Parlette, Senator for the 12th Legislative District. It is about 25 pages long and has information on all elected officials, school districts, counties etc. It irritates the dickens out of me that the state of Washington is billions of dollars in debt, cutting budgets like crazy, threatening layoffs, and tax hikes like mad but still spends tax dollar money on stupid blankety blank blank like this! ALL of the information provided in this "Guide" is available to us in the following locations; phone books, libraries, local government offices, and the Internet....and probably more places that I am not thinking of. What did I do with my little book? I threw it away, like most people in the state will do...talk about a waste of resources! I did however send in the comment card expressing my disapproval for expenditures of this matter....paying my own postage of course. Will Linda read it no most likely not, it will probably get dropped in the rotating file cabinet...

Growing Kids Gods Way...No Brainers

2009-03-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

We are in our 9th week of Growing Kids Gods Way and we have learned a lot! There have been many "DUH" or "NO BRAINER" moments, where we ask ourselves..."Why didn't we think of that?" The truth is, even the simplest things are not always easy to figure out when you are smack dab in the middle of raising small children, so I am very thankful to The Knight family for opening up their home and encouraging us in this awesome job of raising our beautiful children...With that said here are some of our, "Why didn't we think of that"...moments...

Pre-Teach our children. Talk to them about right and wrong in times of cheerfulness and non-conflict. It is more effective to train and teach when they are not in trouble. Then when they sin or mis-behave we can remind them of the expectations that we have been discussing as a family. A fun way to do this is by role play or acting out different scenarios to help teach the children proper behavior. I love this because it can be fun and everyone laughs and really sees the silliness in ugly behavior when it is acted out by different family members. Turn off the TV and do this...it is fun!

5 Minute Rule. Seriously this is one of my favorites...and frankly is a big fat DUH!!! Give the kids a 5 minute warning before dinner time, or bedtime, or homework time, or when you need them to come in from outside. It gives the kids time to prepare to comply, and gives the parents time to prepare as well. Often times I give a command and am not ready myself to deal with the consequences if they ignore me or whatever. It shows the kids you care about what they are doing and want to give them sometime to finish-up...the 5 minute warning takes care of that. It has really helped here at The Madson home.

Interrupt Rule. This was a much needed tool in our house! Everyone wants to talk at the same time and usually it is MOST important that they have my attention when people are visiting, or I'm on the phone, or when we are out and about somewhere. The rule is to have them simply put their hand on our leg to let one of us know they need to say something. Then I, or Brant, puts our hand on theirs acknowledging that they have something to say. It gives us as parents an opportunity to say, "Excuse me for a minute, Violet needs to tell me something." It is much more effective than them running up to me, saying my name loudly 10 times, putting their face in mine, all to say..."Can I have a cheese stick." We are working on this, it will take sometime to get into the habit...for the kids and us. :)

Notes from Dad. The kids have really enjoyed a surprise "I Love You" note from dad in their lunchbox, backpack or nightstand. It is an extra-special little boost of their confidence to have DAD go that extra mile to let them know HE loves them. They have all responded differently, but in very positive sweet little ways. This is so important...we plan to do it always...I hope Brant even does it throughout their adulthood.

Speech Meet

2009-03-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

Last week The River Academy elementary held its annual speech meet competition requiring all students in 1st-6th grade to memorize a poem, or bible verse and recite it in front of their class, judges and various parents, grandparents and siblings. This was quite intimidating for some of the children, however the 1st graders did an amazing job, no one forgot their lines and everyone kept their composer...I AM IMPRESSED!!! Tage did well he earned an "Excellent" award which I guess would be similar to second place. As you can see below he was quite pleased with himself! I also posted his poem below...It was darling!

Chums

Arthur Guiterman

He sits and begs, he gives a paw,
He is, as you can see,
The finest dog you ever saw,
And he belongs to me.

He follows everywhere I go
And even when I swim.
I laugh because he thinks, you know,
That I belong to him.

But still no matter what we do
We never have a fuss;
And so I guess it must be true
That we belong to us.

Little Peak

2009-03-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

Here are 3 You Tube clips from Sat evenings River Academy Benefit Dinner. Look for Simon in the "Kindergarten Sound Off" and for Tage in the "TRA Benefit Dinner Slide Show". I am also including the 11th graders Jamaican song they performed...it is just too fun to not share with you all.

Uncle Jim and The Ranch

2009-03-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

Uncle Jim is a REAL cowboy. Just ask all of my kids, and me for that matter! I just asked Violet to tell me something about Uncle Jim and she said..."He looks like a cowboy and I love him." Ahhh How sweet is that! In all actuality Jim IS a cowboy, a retired one. He grew up on the family ranch and then proceeded to run and operate it himself until he decided to retire a few years back. He ran cattle and grew wheat among many other very important farming duties, of which I am not even remotely close to qualified to write about. The first time I ever met Uncle Jim and Aunt Freda was when Brant and I were just dating and he invited me to branding (more on that in a minute). I was a young lady around 19years old and had grown up in Western Washington spending most of my youth on the beach looking for beach glass and sea shells or in the forest playing on moss beds...that is until I met Brant. He and his family introduced me to a whole new world...Eastern Washington, farming, Washington State University and AHHHH...Branding..Yes, old fashion branding at The Madson Ranch. That was my first introduction to Uncle Jim and Aunt Freda. I survived and am positive most of the family is still quietly laughing at the site of me being there...but hey...I actually loved it after I got over the shock of calves being roped, horns being ripped from their heads, and boy parts cut and well I don't know much more then that...I decided it was better to stop asking questions. Anyhow, over the years I have grown to love and appreciate all the history and family heritage that exists around "the ranch" and the people who have lived and worked there. We talk about it often with the kids and try and make a point to go up every now and then for a visit. The kids love it, we love it and I think Jim and Freda don't mind us in small doses.

Miss Violet hugging Uncle Jim. She brought all her library books on horses to the ranch for Uncle Jim to look at...Just in case he needed to learn a little bit more about horses. :)

Vi, Uncle Jim, Soren, Benjamin (wearing Jim's old hat) and Miss Helen...Tage was to busy breaking ice with a pitch fork to come in for pictures.

Andrea Hudson Photography

2009-03-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

My good friend Andrea is "officially" launching her photography business and has just finished her website. I would encourage you all to check our her beautiful work AND consider using her for your next family picture session! In addition to her amazing photography she has a passion for children and will be giving 10% of her proceeds to Orphans Hope, how can you say no to that!

Andrea Hudson Photography

Orphans Hope

Nezzy's Evening With Us...WE LOVE HIM!

2009-03-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

Sig gave me permission to post pictures before her, so here goes!

Nezzy slept a bit in the car on the way home from the airport. He warmed right up when we got home, we gave him a tubby and some warm jammies and he was ready to explore. Really, he was most interested in anything with buttons (remotes, radios, cameras etc). He LOVES UB and seemed most fascinated with all our lights and light switches. We take so much for granted....Oh this morning he was wandering around and became quite fascinated with the oven. Opening it, touching it, looking inside. It was really cute.

UB (Uncle Brant), Ben, Sig, Nezzy and Brooke right after 24 hours of travel. I think they look great!
Ben and Nezzy strapped in for 3 more hours of travel. Nezzy was tired and a little unsure about the seat belts.

Today's The Day!

2009-03-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

We are headed to Seattle today to pick Sig, Nezzy and Brooke up at the airport! God's timing was amazing and Nezzy's Visa was granted to him much quicker than anyone was expecting! Our hearts are excited and anxious to meet our new little nephew! Simon and I got to talk to him a little on the phone this morning while they were waiting to catch their flight out of DC...I'm not sure what he said, but he ended his conversation with "Chow"...how cute is that! Please be praying for safe travel as we go back and forth over the passes.

Tage's 100th Day Project

2009-02-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

Tage designed and built a ship out of 100 Legos...It was really a neat looking ship!

Tage with his tally list. He grouped his Legos in 10 groups of 10 and kept quite a tidy little tally sheet so he could make sure he accounted for all 100 Legos.

Simon's 100th Day Project

2009-02-28T21:41:00.001-08:00

For Simon's 100th day project we painted 20 hand prints, giving us 100 FINGERS!!!

Brant calls this one "caught red handed" :)

Cozy Saturday

2009-02-28T16:55:00.001-08:00

Ben and I post nap, sipping coffee and watching a movie...Some Saturdays are like that.

Moments of Glory

2009-02-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

If you would have asked me 15yrs ago I would have never imagined myself as a pre-school teacher, daycare provider, or children's activity coordinator...alas here I am and am loving most every minute of it. Today had it's typical moments of glory, like when Ben (my 2yr old) decided to poop on the potty by himself. Before I go on I do need to commend my little devil. He has managed to completely potty train himself in less than a week with pretty much NO help from me. I would have chosen a different week to potty train since we have 2 extra toddlers...but hey if he insists more power to him...right? Oh ya, back to that moment of glory when he decided to poop on the potty by himself. I was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch, my sister and friend Jen were helping organize chaos when Ben came sprinting out of the bathroom, nude as can be, covered in smeared stinky POOP! YES, THAT'S RIGHT...POOP. To help with things my wonderful sister decided to attempt the uninviting task of cleaning Ben up. She guided Ben back to the bathroom (not touching him of course), opened the door and then very gently said..."it's all yours." With a heavy, not so cheerful walk I managed to make my way to the bathroom only to discover massive amounts of POOP spread from one end of the bathroom to the next. With a loud sigh and quick pinch of my breath I looked at Ben, and wondered...WHAT ON EARTH COULD HE HAVE BEEN THINKING!!! DOES HE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DISCUSTING AND...WELL DISCUSTING THIS IS? I of course did not say that to him, instead I said "hey buddy, wanna take a tubby?" He was more than happy to submit to my lets get clean request and hopped right into the white fluffy bubbles. Really, that whole incident took a matter of 15 minutes from start to finish and was long gone out of my memory by this afternoon. You would think I had had enough mess for one day, but out of some sheer whim I decided to let all 6 kids paint! It was fun, happy, VERY messy and caused Brant to have a small coronary when he saw a little paint that somehow made it's way to the carpet...but I must say...I have won the most favored aunt and mommy award for the day and probably the year!

Ben and Simon showing off their FINE artwork!
Helen and Soren

The Troops!

Our Little Lady

2009-02-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

The Essence of Cuteness

They Made It!

2009-02-24T08:17:00.001-08:00

Grandpa Madson (he is staying with 4 of the older kids) called this morning and said that sometime in the night Signe left a message saying they had made it to Ethiopia and were at the guest house showering and getting ready to go and meet Nezzy. Right now they are probably at the US Embassy as it is about noon tomorrow and their Embassy appointment was scheduled for the 25th of Feb. Please pray that their appointment goes smoothly and they are able to have a quick approval of Nezzy's immigration to the US.

I apologize if my terminology sounds strange, I am not sure of the exact specifics regarding Embassy paperwork etc... :)

Things are going well here. Busy, as to be expected, and mostly sane. The lack of sanity comes on mine and Brants part. Last night I decided to purchase some new shelving at Costco, which meant Brant had to put together all the pieces and parts before the troops were up and into it in the morning. In the midst of cardboard, screws, and instructions I realized that part of my wedding ring was missing! We spent the better part of late yesterday evening tearing through all the garbage, all the Costco stuff, the van, and found NO ring. Bummer! Today I will call Costco and hope someone found it there. If not...Well, I'd rather not think of if not right now...

Ethiopia Bound!

2009-02-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

I have the grand opportunity of documenting the first stop on the Schumakers' journey to Ethiopia! Today, February 22, 2009 Rick, Signe and Brooke left Wenatchee headed for Ethiopia this evening, leaving us with their 2 youngest children Helen (3) and Soren (5). For the next two weeks we will have 6 children under our roof in the following age categories...Tage 7, Simon 5, Soren 5, Violet 4, Helen 3 and Benjamin 2...I know what your thinking... when I say it out loud or see it written like this, my heart speeds up and a fine mist of sweat starts to form on my forehead, but really it is going to be fun just fun. I have things planned...special toys put away that I can pull out in moments of sheer chaos, AND I have an AWESOME hubby that loves playing with the kiddos, and is also ready for our adventure! We feel so blessed that Rick and Sig are giving us this opportunity to participate in their adoption and we all can hardly wait to meet little Nezzy! Please pray for safe travels, and ease as they are united with their new little son.

Back sides...SOOOO Cute!
Brant is driving Rick and Sig to Seattle so I am a very single parent this evening! I kept everyone busy with movies and popcorn.

Rick, Sig and Brooke as they were about to take off. Most of the bags contain many blessings for the children and orphanages they are planning to visit while they are there.

We LOVE Aunt Katie

2009-02-20T09:11:00.001-08:00

Our little Miss Violet with one of her VERY favorite people...Aunt Katie

Mid-Winter Break, Play Dates, and Duck Taped Diapers!

2009-02-20T08:31:00.001-08:00

This past week the kids have been home on mid-winter break. I can't tell you all how much I love that The River Academy gives us a little break in the winter. I get stir crazy and so do the kids so a little vacation is really nice and much appreciated. We have relaxed and enjoyed each others company, slept in most mornings and eat late breakfasts that sometimes morph into lunch. A vacation from routine has been nice and makes me appreciate the importance of our "regular" schedule. Along with late nights and late mornings we have managed to squeeze in some well needed play dates with the kids friends! Yesterday was an especially fun day since I got to play too! While the kiddos were busy with their friends, I got to visit with my lovely friend Sarah (mommy of Baz and Keelauna) over coffee and lunch. Of course, as always our conversations were often interrupted by much activity but that didn't seem to stop our overwhelming appetite to chit chat the afternoon away! In fact at one point I found Ben playing in Baz's room with no pants or diaper on...he said the "biaper was broken." As usual I didn't bother to bring extra "biapers" and Sarah does not have babies so we resorted to tape...DUCKTAPE (sorry no picture) that is...the always on hand, usable for every scenario tape. I can honestly say I never thought I would ducktape a diaper onto any of my children...but hey...it worked! By the end of the day the kids were wiped out, and this mommy had a full social tank! Fun, Fun Fun!

Tage ready to go play with his buddies Gabe and Sam...He is dressed to play "Narnia"
Everyone ready to go!

Violets bags are packed full of groovy girl dolls and ponies!

Ben's Head Wounds...

2009-02-15T20:53:00.001-08:00

It's turning out that a typical Sunday for Ben involves some kind of serious gash to his head brought on by church pews, communion cups and seat belt holders...go figure~! As with most bloody head wounds these are not without great drama and usually include lots of bleeding, serious screaming, panicked siblings or cousins, shaving of the head, starry strips, Motrin and a beer/glass of wine for the tense distraught parents who keep wondering..."WHY?!?!"

Ben's front...now only sporting a scar near the right eyebrow between the eyes. This little wound bled like the dickens AND was caused by him smashing his head into a communion cup at church.
Back of Ben's head which is quite a mess right now...The obviously bloody fresh wound is new today and caused by him falling backwards onto a church pew...no good! The not so fresh wound above it, happened last weekend while piling out of Aunt Siggies van...He will have some mighty fine cowlicks once these all scar over!

From Start To Finish In One Day!

2009-02-14T18:04:00.000-08:00

Lookie here what I made today! I purchased these cork tiles sometime ago and decided I did not what to adhere them right to the wall, which gave me an excuse to head on over to CraftWarehouse to find something to add to my cork cube dilemma. I was browsing the frame isle not finding the right size when I stumbled upon an entire display of frames, cork cubes, dry erase sheets, magnetic board, chalk board paint and many other dandy little "odds and ends" to make it work! By the time I was finished I was out the door with all the essentials, and a little more I must confess. It was fun, fast and easy...looks great...and will be serving a MUCH needed purpose in the kitchen.

Valentines Picture Show...

2009-02-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day Surprise!

2009-02-14T11:19:00.000-08:00

Good Morning and Happy Valentines Day!

We have a little tradition here at the Madson home, that on Valentines Day the kids go away while I make a special meal (always breakfast, even if it's dinner time) and set the table with surprises and goodies for them. Usually we do it at dinner since it is hard to pull all that off at breakfast during the week, but since Valentines Day is on Sat this year we had a wonderful late morning breakfast!

The menu...Real homemade pancakes, fresh strawberry puree, eggs, and of course chocolate milk..you can't have a Valentines Day meal without some sort of chocolate involved!

The goodies...New activity books for the kids, AND very LARGE heart shaped suckers...they loved it!!!!