The GLORIOUS day of Madison's birth........

Happy Birthday Madison!

13 years ago at 4 lbs 12 oz coming home from the hospital......

...and here she is 13 years later. We have had quite the celebration over the past 24-36 hours. We have a new teenager! The celebration started Friday morning the day before her birthday. Her sweet friends made her a fun sign to wear around school. She was so excited because it was no ordinary sign...it had BLING! She is definately a girly girl!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures....

Straight from Heaven!

Tara and Madi... BFF's

This was in Hawaii....during her "Ariel" days. She truly thought she was a mermaid. When she saw these rocks she wanted to sit on them like Ariel and sing the....ahhhhh song.

First day of Kindergarten

Ok, now I'll stop with the old photos...
Her official b-day started late Friday night with her friends "kidnapping" her right after she fell asleep. They went to Denny's and showered her with gifts and love. She had dance this morning with Ms. Olga (Russian Ballet instructor) who was "actually very kind and nice" today. That was a gift in and of itself. We rushed home and anxiously awaited a trip to the movies to see High School Musical 3. The movie was great and we especially enjoyed the CD Rachel made just for our "travel" so we could have some great songs to rock out to. Truly a fun afternoon with great friends.

We hurried back to meet the rest of the family for dinner at Macaroni Grill. She waited until after dinner to open her presents so we could all be together.

There are just no words...maybe creepy?

beautiful baby & beautiful mom

Bert pretends like he has no interest, but this says it all!

We will continue the celebration tomorrow when I will cook her favorite meal.....G'ma Kate's Chicken Noodle Soup, hot rolls and Chocolate Cake.

I love this girl so much. There are so many reasons I can't list them all. Here are only few...

She is as sweet and beautiful on the

inside as she is on the out

fabulous fashion sense and even tries to help out Mom

loyal to friends & family...even ratty looking Winston

patient, kind and virtuous

does her best and is up for a challenge

she's fine being her daddy's little twinkie even at 13

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Highlights of her gifts ...... Buckle up and prepare to be bedazzled! We are going to find gems on everything we own. Yep, she got a bedazzler. Has been waiting for it for months. She also enjoyed the cash from Gma's and Gpa, gift cert's, new poster, jeweled necklace made by a pro, music, movies, lots of fun stuff. Thanks everyone for making her day great!

Some days are just like that....

Today I am one proud Mom. I mean that in the most humble of ways. Sometimes we have to grab hold of the good and squeeze as hard as we can. That's what it was like today- all day. When I woke up this morning (actually yesterday morning now) I was still in a restless state of anxiety.

I must give a bit of background here. As many of you know Cameron & Cecia spent the summer in Chicago while Cameron did a internship for British Petroleum. Upon their return he is in his final year at ASU. (WP Carey Business School, Supply Chain Management). Sept. and early October bring companies from all over the globe for recruiting and interviews which has lead to Cam spending the last several weeks doing interviews.

Fast forward to this morning. Cameron flew back from Minnesota Wed night after interviewing with General Mills. Since I am the most patient mother I know, I let them have time to discuss the events of his trip together with no interruption. (Truthfully, I was going to call but time slipped away) When I realized it was too late to call did I call anyway and wake him up? Nope, I was patient. I knew the boy would be tuckered out and needed his rest. So at the first light of day I knew he would be headed out to class so I did what any good Mom would do and called immediately. I woke Cecia up and probably the baby too. She told me Cam had stayed up until 3am to study for a mid-term and was heading out to school in a few. Cam would call on his way to school to catch me up but all went well. Next thing I know (about 15-20 mins later) Cecia is calling to say General Mills just called to extend an offer. Gmills knew he had deadlines on other offers and wanted to make sure he knew right away they wanted him.

Sidebar....When did he become a man? He will soon be a college graduate, he's married and he's a dad. I think I am old. It seems like yesterday I was combing his fabulous hair into his signature "pompadore" and rushing him off to school. He is my first born and with that comes many responsibilities but mostly teaching me "Mom protocol." Things like ....never ever run onto the field...even if the kid on the other team trips you into a head over heels flip and you land on your back with the wind knocked out of you and you can't breath or move....never ever. When you move to Arizona, even though it seems like a good idea, you shouldn't just sign your kids up to be on the swim team without some real swimming lessons. Kids will laugh when you hang on the lane floatys because you can't even float.........stuff like that and so many more.

Cecia put Cameron on the phone. I couldn't even choke out the words I'm so proud of you... so thankful for you.. without bawl-babying up. With the words that the formal offer will be sent and decisions will be made comes the reality that they will be moving far away and taking Jack with them. I'm not sure where in the book it says that's alright. I want to crawl into the fetal position in my closet and cry my eyes out but I'm pretty sure there is "mom protocol" out on that somewhere.

I am thankful. I am happy. I am relieved. I am excited. I am stinking sad. They are blessed.....we are blessed.

Now it's Friday morning and today is my day with Jack. I'm going to hold him tight and squeeze me some goodness to hold onto. Then I am going to whisper "Daddy protocol" to him. After all he is the first born and that responsibility rests on him. I wonder if he'll be teaching me some "grammy protocol" while he's at it? I can hardly wait.

I know you're disappointed but the photo of the pompodore will have to come later. The scanner is not working.

The GLORIOUS day of Kim's birth...........

Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday dear KIM-MIE, Happy Birthday to You! Here are just a few words that I think best describe you. Hope your day is as great as you are!

I love this photo of Kim. It shows her fab style, she looks beautiful and yes I did crop her right out of the middle of the pic. Too bad....today, it's all about the B-day girl. I'm so grateful to have a friend like Kim.