Trick or Treating

It was a cold night, but Mark and Makenna were champs when it came to trick or treating.  Matt took them out and they spent an hour and a half out there.  They only came back a couple of times to dump their candy because their bags were full.  We have more candy then anyone needs for a lifetime.  I took a huge bowl to work to try to get rid of most of it.  Aunt Cebra, Uncle Mike, and Marci came over to see the kids and help me pass out candy.  Craig and Judy came by before trick or treating and we also went over to the neighbors right before.  It was a Fun Night!

 My two cuties...Look at those Baby Blues!

 Makenna's Bling

 Black Ninja

 What a Cute Ninja!

Grace, Lilly, Makenna and Mark

Halloween Party

Matthew and I had our 9th Annual Halloween Party last weekend.  We had a great time like always.  We went as the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.  My friend Jill came over before the party to do my makeup.  She did a fantastic job.  It was just mere coincidence that Matt's sister Marci showed up in an Alice in Wonderland costume.  So we got a good group pic of us.  :)  Enjoy!

 Matthew and I

 Me, Matt, and Marci

My crew from work

Halloween Preview

I don't know how well my pictures are going to be on Wednesday for Halloween because it is supposed to be miserable outside, so I wanted to put some up to show some pics of Mark and Makenna in their costumes that I took last week when it was beautiful outside.  Mark is (of course) a Ninja and Makenna is a Peacock.  Happy Halloween a day early! :)

Happy Birthday Grandma

 My Grandma at her Surprise 80th Birthday Party

 A couple scrapbook pages I made for her



Today would have been my Grandma Harrison's 85th Birthday.  I think of my Grandma everyday and dream of her often, and today is and always will be her Birthday to me.  I miss her tremendously and know that she is smiling down on all of us.  When I told Mark and Makenna that today was her Birthday, they said, "Well, I bet she's having a party up in Heaven today" and I said, "Yeah, I bet you're right." She will always be our Angel.  Happy Birthday Grandma...We Love You, Miss You, and hope you're having a Great Party. XOXO

Mark

Here is one of the pictures that Cristy took of Mark.  I think he looks so handsome.  He is doing amazing in school and just got his first report card with grades.  He got an A+ in Spelling, an A in Math and an A- in Reading because of his handwriting.  It's pretty bad when I get upset about an A-.  His handwriting is horrendous though, so we have been trying to work with him on it.  The problem is he just rushes through everything and doesn't take his time on it.  He reads everything though and is finishing up his 3rd Magic Tree House book, so I am very proud of him.  He's also doing great in Taekwondo and just earned his Yellow Belt.  He was very excited.  And most importantly, he is still my sweet boy.  :)

Makenna

A Picture of Makenna at Ogden Gardens. Matt's Cousin Cristy did an amazing job with Fall Pics of the Kids. :)

So here comes another Makenna Classic... They must have had Fire Safety Day at School recently b/c both kids have been talking about fire detectors in our house, etc... So tonight, they asked what causes Fires...So I said, it could be a number of different things...candles, an iron left on, electrical, matches... That's why we don't play with matches. To which Makenna started freaking out and replied, "Oh No! Matches! But we play Memory all the Time!" I lost it. Ahhh. Gotta love Innocence sometimes. :)

Sweet Steelers Family

 Cousins! (One of these things is doin' their own thing...) :)  

Me and my sweet baby boy.  Doesn't he take after his Aunt Ashlee? :)

We went to PA for one last visit before the kids started back at school.  It was a great visit with my family.  We went to Kennywood on Saturday and had the Fantasy Football Draft on Sunday.  I love seeing my parents and my sister and brother, and no offense to any of them, but I LOVE huggin' and kissin' on my Niece and 2 Newphews.  I could hug and squeeze on them everyday if I could.  I miss them so much when I don't get to see them for a while.  Jackson is getting so big and I just can't believe he will be amost 1 when I see him again.  I love that girl and those boys so so so much! :) 

Mark's 1st Packers Game

Matt & Mark before heading up to Green Bay

Matt took Mark to his first Packers game up in Green Bay.  They had a Blast.  Matt took a couple of customers and their kids as well.  They went tailgating and then Matt said Mark made it through all 3 quarters like a champ.  He said he was exhausted, but had a great time.  He was very excited to get a white Aaron Rodgers jersey just like his daddy too! :)

 Mark and Matt at Lambeau Field

 Down at Field Level

 Cheesehead Mark :)

I LOVE this Pic of them! SO Cute!!!

Swimming at MiMi's!

 CannonBall!

 Round-Off

 Makenna and Terry

Makenna, AnnaRose, Alessandra, and Mark

We all went to Aunt MiMi's for our Annual Summer Swim Party and had a Blast as usual.  Mark and Makenna were much more daring this year off of the diving board.  Mark was doing all sorts of tricks, jumps, and twists.  Makenna did a great job swimming without any floatie's.  They also had such a good time with AnnaRose and BFF Alessandra.  It was such a fun day and it was so great to be able to spend time with family.  

Family Beach Day

Madison, Makenna, Mark and Tyler

Me and the Weakland Boys

Having A Blast!

We went to the Beach when my parents and my sister were in town for Mark's Birthday weekend.  Doug was able to come for Mark's Birthday for the first time in a long time, so he went to the Beach with us.  Mark, Madison and Makenna had a blast playing with him in the water.  Doug's back had to be sore at the end of the day because they had him throwing and twirling them all around.  My sister, mom and I took turns with baby Jackson in the tent and he did so great.  Tyler was again very happy to play in the sand, but had a great time playing in the water this time too.  My mom and I each held one of his hands and would swing him into the water.  He was laughing and smiling ear to ear.  It was so cute.  All the kids had a great day and were absolutely exhausted when it was over.  What a fun day!

Happy 7th Birthday Mark!

Mark had a Lego Ninjago Birthday Party this year for his 7th Birthday.  We were so happy that my parents and my sister and her family were able to make it out so Mark had both sides of the family to celebrate with him.  Since he is 7 now and into fighting and being 110% All Boy, we decided instead of a regular bounce house, we would get an obstacle course one where there would hopefully be less wrestling and fighting going on.  You can see how excited Mark, Madison, Makenna and Tyler were to try it out before the party even started.  We have also had 0 Rain all summer except for Mark and Makenna's Birthday Party.  We were about 45 minutes into the party when the rain hit, so we moved everything inside, did presents, cake and ice cream and by that time the rain was done and the kids had an even better time on the Obstacle Course slippin' and slidin'.  They were all soaked and smelly when it was all said and done, but they had a blast.  It was a great day! P.S. I still can't believe my baby boy is Seven! 

4th of July

We had a Great 4th of July this year. We went to the Portage Parade as always and then hung out with our neighbors. The adults played Volleyball and the kids ran around like crazy.  We finished the night with Fireworks over the Retention Pond in our back yard and were grateful that none of the guys blew their hands or heads off!

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyler!

We headed to PA for Tyler's 2nd Birthday and the kids were so excited to get to spend time with Madison, Tyler, Jackson, Uncle Ryan, and the whole Harrison/Weakland Families.  Tyler had a great time at his party especially opening presents. It was a great weekend spent with family!

At the Beach

My parents brought Tyler out to our house for Makenna's Birthday Party the first weekend in June.  We kept him for the week and brought him back the next weekend for his 2nd Birthday Party.  While Mark was in school, my parents and I took Makenna and Tyler to the Beach.  They had a blast! Tyler loves sand and diggers so he was pretty much in Heaven when we saw the digger on the beach.  It was one big sandbox for him to play in so he had a great time.  It was a really fun day!

Mother's Day

We had a Great Mother's Day as always! We went up to New Buffalo and had dinner at The Stray Dog and then dessert at Oinks.  We went to Craig and Judy's afterwards for Presents and to relax.  Matt got me everything off of my list including the movie Footloose, New Running Shoes (For when I can run again), a new Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator, and a Gift Certificate for a Spa Day including a manicure and pedicure.  I think he was making up for last year when he didn't get me anything...what do you think? :)

Kindergarten Night

 Landon, Mark, and Jaden

Mark and his Popsicle

Mark had a Kindergarten night at his school at the end of the year.  They sang a couple songs and got to meet the 1st grade teachers.  Afterwards, they all went outside to enjoy some popsicles and play.  Mark of course hung out with his Best Friends, Landon and Jaden, the twins that live down the street from us.  It was a fun night!

Makenna Preschool Graduation

 Our Little Graduate

 Makenna and her BFF Ava

 Grandma J and Makenna

 Aunt MiMi, Makenna & Uncle Jeff

 Makenna and Uncle Mike

Me and My Baby Girl

I can hardly believe that Makenna is done with Preschool and headed to Kindergarten in the Fall.  She is growing up so fast.  I always say she is 5 going on 25.  She has always wanted to do everything Mark is doing, so she walked early, talked early, and now heading off to Kindergarten at an earlier age than he did.  She did great in Preschool (except for occasionally getting in trouble for talking too much during Circle Time), and her teachers said she is more than ready for Kindergarten.  She did miss one question during the year and that was, "When is Your Birthday?" She looked at them, rolled her eyes and said, "I don't know." They said they tried to give her hints and asked her, "Well, is it in March...April...MAY??? She again replied (with attitude of course) "I don't know." So when she got home, I said, "Makenna, when is your birthday?" She said, "May 26th." I said, "Then why didn't you tell your teacher that when she asked you?" And her response was, "I didn't want to." Nice.  She is my stubborn girl.  So then I had to have a long talk with her about school and listening to teachers and so on.  We sent Mark's teacher a gift card in the mail after school let out b/c we were just so busy the last week of school that I didn't get a chance to get one, so when we got her Thank You note in the mail, she said Mark was such a great student and she loved having him in class and that (WAIT FOR IT...) she couldn't wait to get to know our daughter next year.  HA! She's in for a Rude Awakening.  They are absolute Polar Opposites.  Mark is sweet, kind, caring, a people pleaser, and just an all around great kid.  Makenna can be sweet and kind and caring, but most of the time she is fiesty, stubborn, Independent, Bossy, has Attitude, and the phrase she says most often is, "I don't care" with her Boston Accent (when you tell her that doing something will make another person happy)...she just simply does not care.  But she keeps life interesting...and we never have a dull day, that's for sure!