Merry Christmas from the Madsen Home. I am such a lame blogger. Seriously.... one of these next couple months I will post a picture of my cute kiddos at Christmas but in the meantime, we survived. Santa must have got the wrong household because my kids were definitely not as nice as what they received!!! It is honestly the best to have the joy of these little guys at Christmas. It's so fun! I was a little surprised the Murphy was way more interested in the candy than any toy! He started with the candy at 7 am and didn't stop until 10 pm! I am thankful for our savior and his birth. Christmas is magical... it brings such an awesome, peaceful, joyful filling to our home. If only it would last until next December right?

BTW - My friend, Danyale.... she was the creator of the cute card! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Happy #3 Mays

Happy Happy Birthday Mayser Dear...

On the 17th Mays turned 3!! We had a small family cake and ice cream gathering while Mays stayed totally enthralled with his new batman cave and all it's fun accessories.
Mays woke up so excited for his big day. We let him start the morning with a present at which time he got his pirate ship. This kept him busy all day.... until THE CAVE...

So don't get too impressed but I had purchased a set that would go with his Pirate Ship and pirates. Rather than go spend tons of $$$ on a cake I went and ordered the very affordable Costco cake and used his new toy to decorate! Seriously... how did I not think of this with 6 kids like 10 years ago. He really thought it was the coolest thing EVER!

And I must admit.... it did turn out pretty good!

3 Top Phrases from my favorite 3 Yr Old!

"I neber seep witchu guys." Which he always says when he sneaks downstairs into our bedroom at bed time. Um... he honestly sleeps with us on a daily basis. Eric and I just giggle every time we here, "I neber seep witchu guys."

"Mommy... you and dad are my bes friends. Bof of you de same." He's always worried about showing favorites.

And last but not least.... "Murpy.... I lub you... momma says I can't tay your name right but I lub you anywaz." He tells him this all the time. Although Mays is our "mean" boy... he is such a sweet heart! I can't believe he is already 3! He is LOVING school and asks every morning, "Is it my day for school." He has come such a long way since August when he would cry for hours just thinking about school! We love you Mayser and our family would not be complete without you!

Happy Anniversary To Us!!!

So Eric and I celebrated our 12th anniversary this weekend. We kinda took advantage that our actual anniversary was on a Sunday. We went out to dinner with my sister and her husband on Friday and told our kids we were going out for our anniversary.... and then we went out again on Saturday night and told our kids it was for our anniversary... and then on Sunday we were getting ready to go to Mick's Priesthood Preview and when Macee asked what I was getting ready for I joked with her and said, "Dad and I are going out for our anniversary." She didn't think it was so funny!

I love this man a thousand times more than I did when this picture was taken. I didn't think it was possible... ya know... when you are young and engaged - that is love right? Well we all know how "more" amazing love can be after going through years of ups and downs and kid after kid and job changes and relocations and... you know... I may complain (once in a awhile).... but he is the most amazing "hands on" dad and a HUGE help to me around the house. I cannot wait for the next 50 years of marriage to this man! Love you babe!!

It's about Time!!!

As many of you know, Gwy had his tonsils out last week! What a trooper! He was a miserable soul for many days. Between Gwy and his tonsils, Eric with Bronchitis, Maddux with an ear infection, Macee with Strep and Mick with the swine flu.... Needless to say, I have had my share of sleepless nights for awhile. I would have uploaded more pics but it's 2 am and I am tired! I added a bunch to facebook so you can check them out there!Work has never been crazier. My poor husband is ready to put a hole through the computer. He has been home fairly early (6ish) now that it get's dark quicker (love it!). He says he pulls up and still sees Shari's car in the driveway and cringes.... I am hoping one of these life times it slows down but judging on the last few weeks... It's not that I am behind... it's just that I can't keep up? I have no clue why that is underlined... anyway... Halloween was a success... my kiddos love Halloween. Eric's sis, Em and his mom, Vicki threw a big bash the night before Halloween for all the little kiddos! They had so much fun! We bobbed for apples, ate doughnuts off string... ate nummy food and got LOTS of candy. We headed down to Cleveland after Mick's football game on Halloween and surprised my mom! It was fun and we actually did the old fashion door-to-door trick or treating. My kids loved it. Someone called Jenny while we were out and told her that if we had time to run to Elmo and go to the assisted living home. All the old people had dressed up and was waiting for trick-or-treaters but none had shown. We loaded all 13 kids up in the car and headed for Elmo! It was heart warming! All these cute elderly folks were ecstatic to see these little Buzz and Woody's and princesses.... The kids sang some Halloween songs and LOADED up on candy. Macee still talks about how it gave her a "warm fuzzy."

Anyway, Macee is just getting ready for the Nutcracker now. Performances will be Mon, Nov 30th and Tue, Dec 1st. I am going to pre-order tickets next week and they are $5. Please let me know if you would like to attend. Tickets at the door are $7!!! Many long hours of dance goes into this preparation.

As for the rest of us.. Mick started basketball and we are all getting ready for the Madsens to come and spend Thanksgiving with us! We can't wait... my big debate.... do I put up my Christmas decor before or after? I know traditionally it's supposed to be after but I have all this new fun stuff to decorate the house with and have never been able to decorate for Christmas. We moved in last year the week before Christmas so we were lucky to have a tree!!! Ta Ta til next month!!! Did I mention my hot husband turns 40 next week???? CRAZY!!!

Halloween 2009

Maddux was a pirate... I can't beleive this is the only picture I got of him! He was super cute! Gwy was Woody. Not a very happy one in this picture but oh how stinkin cute he was. To see him and Mays next to each other was too cute!Mick... 6th grader not too excited to dress up! I think he told me he was an injured basketball player?

Macee was a cute Lehi Cheerleader! Thanks to friends who loaned her the uniform! She wore it everyday for 2 weeks!

Mays was Buzz!!! Cute boy!

And Murphy was something different each hour. We have so many stinking costumes and he liked to dress up! No picture of him.... Sorry!

After looking at a couple blogs I couldn't go to bed without actually doing a Halloween post. I mean really... What do I blog for? It is my journal and when I look back and wonder where my cute Halloween pics are or what my kids were in 2009 so there is my quick overview!

(Can't get my pictures to turn Arrggggg!)

Boring

I am ecstatic to report life at the Madsen house has been boring! Most blogs I caught up on tonight were detailed reports of sickness, pneumonia, swine flu inundating their homes.. We are kickin it healthy... knock on wood.

Mick finished up fall baseball, entering football playoffs and starting basketball at the end of the month.

Macee just dancing! Getting ready for the nutcracker. She got the part of the "Russian" again this year.

Maddux just finished up his first year of flag... LOVED IT! It was great to have something that was "his thing."

McGwire - we did find out he has ginormous tonsils and he is scheduled to get them taken out, along with his adenoids, the first week of November. He is very nervous and asks about it every day.

Mays - Loving school.. he wakes up and ask "is it my day for school?"

Murphy - Starting to show a little too much attitude!!! But he is starting to talk SO WELL! I love this stage in their life!

Like I said... a little boring! But I thought I better post to get family and friends off my back! We are anxiously awaiting Halloween. I love this holiday. And last but not least... I think it's because I am getting old but dang FALL IS GORGEOUS! I have never noticed the awesome colors as much as I have this year. I can't get enough of the red, orange and yellows!

One Last Post....

(My favorite picture)...

That is... before I go to bed! Please read on below... yes... I posted 4 times tonight! I can't believe how far behind I was! It has been such a busy month! I finally was able to hook up my laptop so I unloaded pictures tonight. Unfortunately there is no rhyme or reason to these random pictures that I am going to post. I just thought they were very cute and "blog worthy"

I know... mean mom that let's her kid cry while taking a picture... Well... he was actually throwing quite the tantrum and it made him very angry when I took a picture of it! Cute little naked man (Maddux had just fixed his hair in the bath tub).

My cute ballerina!

I am guessing Gwy had his own personal photo shoot in my car!
I personally can't get enough of these pics... the eyes... the cute freckles...
Priceless....

Many of you may wonder how my crying school boys are doing? Well as for Maddux... the gum idea worked (thanks Tiff). And as for Mays... Our cute friends that own AWESOME Harley's agreed to take Mays on rides every day he didn't cry... he is cured! Thank you Thank you!

My cute Woody and Buzz (upside backwards).

I loved this pic of my boys and Eric's parents! I totally lucked out in the in-law department!

Maddux in the Light

So, many of you know it's been all about Mick and his sports or Macee and her dance, or the little ones. I have always struggled with my handsome man Maddux feeling like he isn't getting his share of the pie. He wants SOOOOOOO badly to be 12 like Mick and his friends and yet I have to give so much extra attention to the little people at our house... I know it sounds so dumb but it kinda gives my heart a few aches! I love this boy tremendously. Although very confident... he is so sweet and kind! Well... anyway... he was able to play flag football this year and he is so stinking cute. I miss watching this game where there are no pressures and you can just giggle at the kid picking the grass or giggle at the kid that got knocked down and is crying (reminder... this is a contact sport)! I was actually able to get Maddux's latest touchdown on video! He watches it over and over again where he "jukes" a kid? Or so he says! I cannot wait to see what we have in store for us with this little man!

Climbing Mountains

Sunday afternoon the kids were really wanting to get out of the house. I wasn't feeling good at all and we had stayed home from church. Now that I am in the nursery the last thing I want to do is spread ANYTHING!!! So around 6 we decided to go for a drive and we ended up at Bridal Veil Falls. We told the kids we would climb mountains. Well... "Hello Mom" my boys definitely knew that climbing mountains didn't mean a paved road so we went off road. We climbed closed trails (don't tell) and hiked right up next to the falls. It was gorgeous... the colors were absolutely gorgeous and we had a wonderful time!

Madsen Family Fun

So as a Madsen tradition we went to what us Utah County people would call a "Cornbelly's"... but way more fun! We had such an absolutely great time with all the cousins. Many of you might get bored with the pictures but there were a few that couldn't be there with the kiddos and I took extra pictures just for them! BTW - had to announce.... we have yet another male addition to the Madsen family. Angie, Eric's younger sis, had her 4th baby boy last night. I am pretty sure they named him Cameron and cannot wait to see and hug him! Good job Ang!!!

Whirlwind....

So... it's been awhile... I shall admit!! So where do I start? Maddux started Kindergarten the last week in August! I wish I could say he loves it but I feel like I am leaving him at Nursery when he's 2 all over again! Any suggestions?

This kid is big and tough and stinkin cries when I take him to school! I'm glad he likes home life so much but I do want him to love school and I worry that he is starting this in Kindergarten! Of course, I cried when I dropped him off! Call it hormones or let's be honest.... I'm a big baby (hmmmm.... linking his problem to mine)!

Well both McGwire and Mays started preschool the 2nd week of Sept. Miss Jennifer is so fabulous and if you have 2 kids going to preschool the 2nd is 1/2 price. Therefore I pay less than $30 per month for Mays to go twice a week. Many will ask why??? He is only 2 (3 in November)... Here is my explanation/justification... whatever you would like to call it. When you grow up in a large family my younger boys are often being carted from one field to the next... or even worse... dance competitions! Mays has 4 older siblings that attend school and he wants to be a big boy! So... this is HIS thing! We make a big deal out of him being so big! Well for someone so excited who could have guessed he would cry at the door every day I left him. I was finally to the point that if it happened any more we would just hold off and try in January or even next year (he will still do 2 years of preschool after this)! But thanks to his sweet friend Bella being there today.... there were NO tears! We will keep our fingers crossed!

So although he looks ever so excited on the first day of school...

You can tell by the fake smile on his face that his excitement had quickly turned into fear as we walked through the doors!

And then there is Gwire. My social butterfly! He loves friends, people, anywhere but home. Should I be worried?

He was ready to go and wishing he could go every day! This is a pic of him and his cute teachers Miss Jennifer and Miss Jessica!

McGwire goes Mon, Wed and Fri and Mays goes Tues and Thur! Murphy had his back pack on ready to go one day! And there is my streaker McGwire!

So then... over Labor day weekend the Tigers played a little Fall baseball! It was so great to reunite with our Tiger Family for the weekend! What an absolute enjoyable weekend of baseball and friends.

And to top it off.... guess who won the tournament?

It's been awhile! These boys deserved this! I think the last tourney they won was the Fall Extravaganza last year? Correct me if I am wrong ladies! So I stole the team pic from Zane's facebook. Holy Cow... didn't realize how crappy my camera was until I saw how clear Dawn's pictures were. Mick E is on the front far right corner!

And then... a few days ago... we shall call the day from HELL!!! We have a fun park/swimming pool only 2 blocks from our house. Shari is wonderful and walks the boys down at least 2 times each week! Maddux called me around 1 in an absolute panic!!! This would be his words, "Mom - Gwire is bleeding really bad on his head... we think he's hurt... HURRY quick!" I jump in the car and drive to the park. There the little man was, lying on the table with blood everywhere! He was totally fine but I knew stitches were going to be involved! So I ran him a couple blocks to the doc and he stitched him right up! I told the doc if he could avoid stitches I would prefer glue but he said because of the depth of the cut he would definitely have to do stitches. Honestly.. Gwy was so tough! He could see that needle going into his gash and still managed to not cry! I was so proud at how big he was trying to be!! So what was he doing? Riding his scooter, with a helmet!!! Oh well... I figure 5 crazy boys... this will be a yearly occasion for us! Besides Gwy, Maddux had staples in his head a couple years ago... I do consider myself lucky.

So back to work and then off to a football game! I have the cutest girl that I drag to the football games to watch my kids so I can actually watch Mick. Football is a little quicker than baseball and you can take your eye off the game for a minute and miss that one good catch or interception so... poor Morgan get's to babysit. They play right next to the Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove which is stinking awesome! What a great little hour outside for my kids while I watch football right?

Well the game had about 10 min and I texted Morg to see if she wanted to start gathering up kids... she called 5 minutes later in tears and said she couldn't find Murphy. At first... not a panic... it's a big park and he was surely somewhere... So I jumped up and Mick's good friends Cameron and Broc were running right behind me... what cute boys! Broc has a broken ankle... pretty sure he hasn't ran that fast for awhile!! Anyway... as it get's darker and I look more and other friends start helping... and everyone at the park starts helping the panic hit!!! We were 50 feet from a main road... if he left the park he would be walking across busy parking lots. For any of you who have lost a child... you know where I am going...

Everyone was yelling his name but he's only 17 months... he's not going to respond... I am looking in EVERY bathroom... running up to the main road... after 20 minutes I am literally sobbing and thinking the worst!!! It was pitch dark outside... Do I call the cops? Do I start screaming? There were at least 30 people just searching for my baby!!!

When I heard Eric yell that he had found him I literally fell to my knees and sobbed! It had been a little bit of an emotional day and ok... can't explain... you mothers all know what was going through my mind! Eric had found him clear over by the concession stands (go figure).... playing with a lady from Juan Diego. He just wanted to share her drink! HEHE!!! My little man had walked across the parking lot (eeks) and made his way over to where he knew we spent MANY nights playing baseball! For a 17 month old... he's genius! Of course he had no clue he was lost so then there was poor Morgan!!! I don't know who was worse... her or I! I just hugged her and kept letting her know it was okay! Honestly... it never did enter my mind that although this park was fabulous... it was so dangerous when watching more than a couple kids! The same thing would have happened to me had I been there!

I got home from dropping kids off and walk into the house. Eric gives me a hug, kisses me on the forehead and says, "I love you." So I climb into bed later that night and literally have a breakdown. I got down on my knees and thanked my Father in Heaven over and over for watching over my family! It's times like this when I am so thankful that I am not doing this on my own! So here is to my little Murphy who forced his way into our world (thank goodness)! I CANNOT imagine life without him!

I know this is a long post but I must give my friend Mel Hansen a public THANK YOU for her offer the next night! She called me the day after my day from you know where and asks if my boys can come play with her while I go watch baseball! Really? Who does that? I understand 1 or even 2... but all these little men! They had an absolute ball and I am sure Mel fell into her bed that night so grateful her kids were grown up! That is..... after she took some major Ibuprofen from listening to my boys jam out on Brittney's drums all night! Luv ya Mel! You will never know how much I appreciate you and enjoyed a non-stressful night at the ball park!

ps (sorry about the side pics) Having issues with computer and didn't have the time!