Taco Bell Birthday Girl

We don't go out to eat very much. Getting 3 kids to behave and enjoy paying too much has to be worth it, so when we do go out, it is somewhere fairly nice. A few months ago, we were discussing where to go out, and Kaci requested Taco Bell. I told her that we were not going to go there, and probably never would. She thought about it for a minute, and said (in a sing song voice) "We Will S-OOoomeday!!!"

So, guess where she asked to go for her birthday dinner? Mmmhmmmm... She could have picked ANY restaurant, or had her Mom who is taking culinary classes make her ANYTHING, and she picked Taco Bell!

Do you know how easy and cheap it was to make her day??? It was the BEST part of her birthday, she walked/danced in the door with her birthday dress and tiara, and the whole meal was magical. She sampled everyone's food and loved every bite! In fact, when she was going to bed that night, I asked her what her favorite part of her birthday was. In her sweet sleepy voice, she said "Taco Bell!"

Even when we saw that the employees couldn't even hang a sign right side up, we still walked in the door and trusted they could read instructions on how to prepare a taco!

Have Mercy

We had a fun time celebrating her birthday. She asked for a scooter for her birthday. Her sweet Daddy showed up at the school with her new one, and Shanna's for him to ride, and let her ride home like the big kids.



Kaci showed the maturity of grown up girl, and said that her carrot cake could have white frosting this year. (If you look at pictures from past birthdays, she has always wanted bright pink frosting on her cake.) That pleased me a lot, because I have this thing about food coloring. (It is similar to my thing about Jello.) It also pleased me that she still loves carrot cake. I made carrot muffins for her 2nd birthday, and that is what she always asks for.

We missed having Shanna here to help her celebrate, but hope she's having a fun time at Eco Week. We are having a BIG party this weekend, we invited her whole school class, as well as friends from the neighborhood and church. It should be crazy and lots of fun!

Eco Week!

Shanna left for Eco Week this morning. They are going to Pingree Park, the same place I went for Eco Week when I was a kid! She was really excited. We have been packing all weekend, which has been a struggle. She had a long list of things to take, and conditions up there could vary from nice weather, to rain to lots of snow! We had our rounds about which shirts she would take... (yes Shanna, it is important to still look presentable even though you are "roughing it") If she would take shower items (yes, showering is important even though you are "roughing it") etc etc... I let her set all her gear out, so that she would have the experience of deciding what to take, but "helped" her pack it all neatly into her suitcase! She left with a smile, I guess that's all that counts, right?

Shanna with her BFF Caroline


Sara helping to say "Bye Bye Sha-Sha"

And they're off! I hope she has a fun time, they'll be hiking, doing a ropes course and lots of other fun activities. I miss her already!

Happy Birthday Kaci!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Kaci!

I love being your Mommy.

I love how you make me giggle!

I love how you have the best "bed hair" when you wake up in the morning.

I love how you sing and dance and twirl and spin, not caring who is watching you.

I love your sense of adventure, how you are never afraid to try new things.

I love your sweet voice, especially when you say "Mommy"

I love your knock knock jokes, and how you taught Sara to tell them too.

I love how smart you are.

I love your sweet snuggles.

I love how your smile lights up my day!

Happy Birthday Sunshine!

Sunflower Farm

We went to the coolest farm this weekend. They had a zip line, huge tree houses with nets and bridges to play on, they had ponies to ride, goats and sheep to feed, tractors to play on, horses and cows to pet... We had a blast!

Kaci and Sara got to ride a pony. Sara wasn't too sure at first, but she was loving it by the time her turn was over. I felt bad that Shanna was too big to ride, she has been wanting to ride a horse for a long time. Shanna did have lots of fun on the zip line. She has been building zip lines for years. (Remember the story about her trying to hook Kaci's car seat up on the one she built in the backyard when Kaci was a baby?!) I helped Sara go down it a few times by running alongside, holding on to her. My Dad came with us, and the girls had so much fun playing with him. He even found a hammock for a quick nap in the shade!

My Bad...

Once upon a time, I kept a blog to update family on our daily lives...

Then we moved and I stopped because we saw the grandparents more often.

Time went by....

Stories were told...

Kids grew up, and I think I forgot to blog about how much I enjoyed each moment....

Today, Tyler and I reflected on memories on my blog. He reminded me of when I used to post pictures and captions of what happened each day...

I know I need to start again. I barely have time to sit down in front of a computer, but I want my kids to read about how I feel about them.

I need them to know how much I love them.

Do you ever wonder how much your parents loved you??

I recently found a home video of me, when I was 6. I was sitting at the breakfast table, eating cereal. I was so happy, my grandparents were visiting, my Dad hadn't left for work yet. I was so excited to go to school.

I see that innocent girl, and want to hug her. I want to protect her. I know the trials she will go through, and I want to tell her that things will be amazing.Whatever is thrown her way, she will overcome them. Se will be blessed, but she will suffer. It is almost an out of body experience to want to hug the little version of yourself to prevent heartache.

I have survived times things that I don't understand. How am I supposed to lead and guide three little girls' lives that I am trusted to lead??

My daily life is a balance of guidance, organization and vision for five unique lives. There are lunches to make, homework to supervise, laundry to do, floors to mop and bathrooms to clean.. things to organize and futures to shape.

What keeps us going? Is there really a recipe?

I have decided that mostly it is hard work and dedication.

Just keep doing what you know best.

And try harder the next day....

And so my story continues.

Lory State Park Hike

We had a fun hike last night at Lory State Park

Kaci's Preschool Graduation

Kaci had her big Preschool Graduation. She had the best teacher, and we loved her school. The last unit they did was American History, and that was also the theme of their graduation. They learned to play handbells, and did a few patriotic songs with their bells. She was pretty sad that school was over, but is so excited to start Kindergarten!

Shanna's 10th Birthday

Shanna turned 10 on May 5th. She had her first slumber party. (Yikes!) It actually went pretty well... We were all exhausted the next day though.

Her friends thought I was crazy. (Maybe they already knew that though) I made a big point about how they were ladies now, and needed to be on their best behavior for dinner. They went as far as changing into Shanna's dresses, I had a nice tablecloth on the table (plastic) and served their first course. After I cleared their plates, I came over and dumped spaghetti and meatballs all over the table. I'm sure their parents heard all about it the next day!

I can't believe my beautiful daughter is growing up so fast. I love you Sha-Sha-Shananigans!!

Mother's Day Pictures

I had an amazing Mother's Day... I am so lucky to be loved by so many people!

My Sweet Girls

I love the days where you see your kids shine and you wonder if you might be doing something right! (There are many days in between where you second guess your parenting skills and wonder how to find more hours in the day to teach more lessons and skills.)

I love Kaci's teacher. She always finds something to praise Kaci about when I pick her up. I never feel that she is sugar coating things, or saying things just to talk. The things she says are genuine, and always make me feel good. (Well, there was the one day when she praised Kaci's soccer goalie abilities. She said she came up with a great new strategy, and that was to lay the goal down so that balls couldn't be kicked in and cross her arms and smile a smug smile... that might have been a little sarcastic!) Today, she told me that Kaci is the only kid who can tie her shoes. Not only does she tie her own shoes, but other kids go to her to tie theirs. I love that she is so willing to help other people.

Shanna is always the underdog. She gets ignored and passed over because her younger sisters need more attention and yell louder. Yet, she is always quietly helping, and never asks to be noticed for her contributions. The one constant thing that I hear from each one of her teachers is how kind she is to her classmates, and how enjoyable she is to be around.

Now, for little Sara... well, maybe it is her age, and maybe it is because she is child #3, but she is definately a firecracker. She likes to kick the fake pumpkin on our coffee table like it is a soccer ball, sneak up the stairs when no one is looking, bite my cheek when I am expecting a kiss. BUT, at the same time, she loves to be read to, loves to snuggle and watch TV, and is AMAZING at her phonics. She knows what sound every letter makes. (I won't even get started on how annoying the movie is that she screams about if we don't watch EVERY time we are in the car.)

My kids are such a joy. They might wear me out, and I want to check out instead of doing laundry and dishes and bedtime, but it only takes a sweet voice to say "I love you Mommy" or a sweet sleepy snuggle to charge my batteries enough to make it through another day.

I am so blessed!

Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

To my sweet Kaci:

You are sweet, happy, spunky, silly, groovy, beautiful, graceful, cute, adorable, stylish, innocent, trusting, sweet natured, and I can't believe I am lucky I am to be your Mom! You bring me so much sunshine and joy every day. I hope you feel my love every day. Thanks for making me so happy every time you smile! I can't believe it was 5 years ago that I held you for the first time. You have grown up so fast, and are such a smart and beautiful girl.

You are so special to me!

Love, Mommy

Monday Morning, 9:15

I think I am becoming too much of a perfectionist to blog anymore. I keep thinking I need to get Kaci's first day of school pictures up before I can blog anything else... When I go to edit those, I think about how I still haven't given the grandparents a single framed picture of Sara to hang on their wall so I start editing a picture of her to print. Then I remember that I need to start laundry, then I see a dirty countertop that needs cleaned...

As I started writing this, I was putting Sara down for a nap. It is a rainy Monday morning. Shanna doesn't have school, Kaci does. The dishes are done, bills are paid, 3/5 of us have eaten breakfast, laundry is started, baby is now asleep and I am headed downstairs for a quick workout. How's that for a random update?

First Day of 4th Grade!

Shanna started 4th grade today. She was excited, but really nervous. I hope her day is great and she comes home with a big smile! Kaci misses her, she was asking at 9:30am if Shanna's school was almost over. I miss having her here too, but am excited to have her back in school and get our routine back in order again. Dance started this week also, we will be busy busy!!

I was looking back at her previous first day of school pictures, and I can't believe how fast she's growing up!

4th Grade

3rd Grade

2nd Grade

1st Grade

Kindergarten

She informed me that she is already half way to being in college... Is there any way to slow down the next 9 years?? Sweet girl, stop growing up so fast!

Summer Fun.. Swenson Style

Washing the dog...

I love these people... and the dog.. (the dog most of the time, the people all of the time) I love seeing my kids being able to experience moments like this. Look at this hot man who is their Daddy!!!

Summer fun also means letting child #3 stuff her mouth full of chocolate.... fully knowing it will stain your clothes. She is enjoying it though!

Oh my sweet Kaci... she got to be "Bat Girl" at Shanna's softball game tonight. She was so proud... and so cute!! Notice the chocolate on her face too!

Sara was fussy, so Shanna gave her an old binkie. Sara loved playing with it...

She especially loved the challenge of picking it up off the floor with no hands!

Sara loves flowers!

This summer has been crazy, busy and also fun. We have been swimming lots, biking, taking care of our garden and flowers and looking forward to a weekend in the mountains!

Money, Spiders and Butterflies

We took the girls to Denver today for a tour of the US Mint. I have no pictures, because along with purses, strollers and bottles, cameras were not allowed. I guess if I was responsible for $80 billion worth of gold, I would take precautions like that too.

We didn't even bring our good camera which was a bummer because we went to the Butterfly Pavilion after our tour. It would have been so sweet to photo the girls' faces as the butterflies flew around them.

We did however snap a few pictures with our grainy cell phone camera of Kaci and Rosie. Who is Rosie? Rosie is the tarantula who lives at the Butterfly Pavilion. You get a sticker if you hold Rosie. I don't know where Kaci gets her sense of adventure, but she was the only one who wanted to hold Rosie. I love that she's up for trying anything. She wasn't scared, and even went back to hold Rosie again.

Sara might end up being adventurous like Kaci because she was reaching for Rosie. I didn't think pictures of a one year old holding a tarantula would be very appropriate though. We'll let her hold Rosie next time maybe.

Summer's Here!!

I have been so bad at keeping my blog up to date. I don't seem to sit down until I fall into bed at night. I have been wanting to post pictures of the last few months, so here's the quick (meaning sitting and editing a slide show for the past hour) way of showing them off!

Shanna turned 9, (I need to get the pictures off the other computer to post of her parties)We had crazy end of the school year events. Field trips, days at the park, Kaci's preschool graduation (kind of... she isn't quite old enough for Kindergarten next year) Shanna's last day of school, Sara started walking and then turned one... Every day has been full of adventure!

I am still trying to settle into a good Summer routine. I feel like I am either too lazy or too much a Drill Sargent. I am loving having the girls here, especially Shanna. I feel like I never get to see her during the school year. We have been riding bikes and hoping for nicer weather so that we can swim lots.

Happy Summer!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sugar & Spice

Kaci wants to do "Big Girl" stuff. We made cookies three days this week. I love her sweet smile and funny off the wall comments...

I took my eyes off of her for one minute...

Oooohhhh... is she a handful!

In My World...

You'll find this funny if you have seen Horton Hears a Who... You know the part where the little girls says something about "in my world, everyone's a pony and they eat rainbows and poop butterflies..."

Well, tonight Kaci was eating milk and cookies and was drinking her milk with a spoon. I told her to stop and to pick up her cup to drink.

She says, "Well, in my world, people use their spoons to drink milk."

(I am trying not to laugh, because we have been working very hard about teaching them not to argue...)

So, I told her that in her world, she still has a Mommy who can tell her what to do, and that she better put her spoon down and pick up her glass to drink.

And she says "well then you better go back to your world, because people here don't like rules like that."

I was bursting at the seams trying not to laugh and to be the stern parent who doesn't-like-being-talked-to-like-that. It didn't work so well. She is so hilarious...

Screeching Sara

Sara's new trick is to screech like a screech owl when she thinks she is being ignored. Should I mention that she thinks she is ignored A LOT?

I think this picture came after she screeched for 5 minutes straight and we gave in... The look of victory