Our October...

Well, the Halloween decorations are all put away and my Fall Scarecrows are out...a telltale sign in our house that November is here and Thanksgiving is almost upon us. It's hard to believe that the holidays are right around the corner. The day after Halloween I was in Wal-Mart and "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" was playing....craziness.

The first of October we went on our yearly trip to McCall's Pumpkin Patch. It's definitely become a Fall family tradition for us as we've gone every year for a decade now. We started going when Kyler was one and it's amazing how much it's grown and changed in 10 years. It's just not Halloween until we've gone to McCalls and picked out pumpkins for the kids' jack o' lanterns. Tim, Shayla and the girls met us there and we had a great time or as the kids put it, "One of the BEST days of the year".

The kids had their Fall Break from school this month. Mike had to work and so we didn't do much. I ended up taking the kids to lunch and the movies which we all love. We all get to watch a movie and I get a couple hours of peace. Everyone wins.

Both boys wrapped up their Fall baseball season. Kyler's team almost ended the season undefeated but ending up losing their last game. It was a TOUGH game, too. Kyler was catcher for most of the game and he got hit in the mask twice and his cleat once from batter's throwing the bat. The team handled the loss really well. In fact, I don't think you would have been able to tell they lost at the end of the game. Of course, their team party was right after the game so maybe that had something to do with it. Kyler limped for a few days after the game, but was back to his crazy 10 year old self in no time.

Kamden had a fun first season of T-Ball. He had the same coach as Kyler did for both Spring and Fall which was nice and worked out really well. At the last game Kamden was last batter which is USUALLY a cool thing in T-Ball because it's like they hit a home run as they get to run all the bases at once. I thought he'd love it, especially since he likes to slide home "like Kyler". Well, we forgot to tell Kamden it was a fun thing because he freaked out and got embarrassed when everyone started cheering for him and barely made it around all the bases and then didn't want to bat again even when the coaches told him he didn't have to bat last. So....Kamden sat the bench for the rest of the game...by his choice....little TOOT! Ahhhh...the joys of the strong willed child. He did love his first team party and trophy so it still ended on a good note.

Mikaela is still dancing away. She would never admit it but she loves a challenge. I've learned that the minute dance gets redundant or "boring" as she puts it, she wants to quit. Her tap class is always challenging because she's with older girls so she never complains about it. She goes back and forth with ballet. When they're learning something new, she loves it. When they're reviewing to make it perfect before they move on, she wants to quit. I'm just glad we finally figured out why she has this love/hate relationship with ballet. Both are good for her though...the challenge and reviewing to make it perfect...so she'll be staying in ballet, even when it's not as fun.

All three kiddos got to go to Payten's birthday party this month. It was a lot of fun as we got to see a ton of family and the kids got to ride to the party in a hummer limo and then play AND sleep in two bounce houses. Mike and I stayed at the party until after dinner and then since we were kid free for the night we went to the late show. It's not every day the kids get to play with tons of cousins, ride in a limo, have a party and a sleepover. Mike and I got to do that (with the exception of the limo ride) PLUS get a kid free evening! Can't beat that!

Halloween was so much fun this year! The night before Halloween we had friends over for dinner and pumpkin carving. On Halloween morning, Kamden and I went to the school for the kids' Story Book Parade. Kamden lucked out...he got to watch and walk in the parade with both Kyler and Mikaela and then go back for Kyler's class party. Lucky little boy! When they got home from school we got them all dressed up and went to the Schimke's and trick or treated with them for a little bit and then came home and trick or treated around our neighborhood for hours. Kyler was the Faceless Phantom again, Mikaela a Princess and Kyler was Spiderman.

Halloween is always the beginning of the madness for us because we have Kyler's and Mikaela's birthday parties before Thanksgiving. Definitely makes for a busy start to the holidays. We hope you're all enjoying the cooler weather and all the beautiful fall colors! We wish you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family that you love! As always, keep us posted!

Sending Out Lots of Love and Hugs,
The Glade's

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Love little ones imaginations.....

I love my little guy's imagination and how his mind works! We really do lose the "magic" of the world as we get older which is kinda sad. If only we could see things like they do.
Kamden is always saying the cutest little things and is constantly pretending SOMETHING. I love it!
The other day we were driving home from dropping the older two off at school and I came to a stop sign and stopped.

Kamden: "MOMMY!"

Me: "Hm?"

Kamden: "That red sign has magic powers!"

Me: "Really? What kind of powers?"

Kamden: "It makes you stop, cuz you always stop when it's there!"

Totally love how they think and see things! Only a four year old could give a regular boring old stop sign magic powers. They definitely make things a whole lot more interesting and we could all use a little more magic in our lives....;)

Are we cat people????

I would definitely consider our whole family to be animal lovers. But I've found that even animal lovers fall into one of three categories....dog people, cat people, or dog AND cat people. Mike and I fall into the dog people category. I like cats. I think they're cute and I'll pet them...BUT I'm NOT a cat person. Cats have lots of good qualities. I just prefer cats to belong to someone else. I know I'm opening up a whole can of worms with all the cat people but I'm just not a fan of the litter boxes, the smug attitudes, how they climb on everything and to be honest...they just don't mind like dogs. When I call them, I want them to come now...not when they "feel" like it. This all being said, Mike and I find ourselves in a position where we have to decide if we could be cat people.
Our boys have both followed Mom and Dad and are dog people through and through. Now Mikaela on the other hand is a cat person and has been since she knew what a cat was. She likes Kelsey because Kelsey is old and just sits there...Hailey on the other hand she barely tolerates with all her obnoxiousness. She much prefers the prim and proper prissiness of cats hands down. She's been begging us to let her get a cat for years to which she always got an emphatic no response....which leads us to our predicament.
There has been a beautiful siamese cat wandering our neighborhood for about a week now. Mikaela noticed her right away but we told her to leave the cat alone. I originally thought she belonged to our new neighbors but sadly she does not and is either lost or abandoned and no one in our neighborhood knows where she belongs. I still made Mikaela leave her alone. I could tell she wanted to make friends and I didn't want to encourage that...I wanted her to go back home...or for SOMEONE ELSE to take pity on her and take her in. No such luck. For 3 days she would follow me to the mailbox and I stood firm and ignored her. I did good until our first really cold night where our low was supposed to be 26 degrees and she was meowing outside at the top of her lungs. I SWEAR that cat knew we were suckers from the beginning and we would eventually cave because I did and brought her in to Mike's horror. The kids quickly were in chorus to keep her which we immediately shot down and took her to the vet to see if she's microchipped. No such luck. I've called vets, the pound, the paper, driven around Ventana Ranch looking for lost cat signs...it doesn't seem like anyone is missing this darn cat.
In the meantime...the kids, especially Mikaela are quickly falling madly in love with her and it's mutual. They're getting attached faster than I know what to do with her. Mikaela carries that cat around with her EVERYWHERE. They're quickly becoming inseparable.
So now Mike and I are deciding if we let Mikaela keep her or if we find her a home elsewhere. We've gotten a few offers because she's such a good cat and she's absolutely gorgeous. I've always teased that if I ever got a cat it would have to act like a dog and she almost does.
So...the question is....can we become cat people??? We're still not sure. I don't know if I can get past the litter box and Hailey is obnoxious enough all on her own...with this cat in the house we might need to straightjacket her.
We must love Mikaela a lot to even consider this....but as you can see by the picture...we'd better decide quick. ;)

Reason #782 why you never ask a 4 year old a question you don't want the answer to....

So, we're going through the drive-thru at Burger King the other day. I was pulled up to the window and the nice Burger King employee was handing me our drinks. The kids always roll down the back window so they can wave and tell the employees hi. Kyler is in the front seat and Mikaela and Kamden are in the back.

Mikaela (about the Burger King employee): "She's nice!"

Kamden: "Yes, she IS nice!"

Mikaela: "Do you think she's pretty?"

Now, one of Mikaela's best qualities is that she truly thinks EVERYONE is pretty. She will always find something pretty in everyone she sees. I love that quality in her and I hope she keeps it. Kamden's answer completely caught her off guard...the look on her face was pricess.

Kamden bluntly answers without malice: "No, she is NOT pretty....but she is nice."

Yes, you have to love a four year olds blatant honesty. He's a constant reminder right now that you never ask a question that you truly don't want the answer to. I was so glad the drive thru window was shut and this very nice lady didn't hear a thing.

Ahhhh kids...never a dull moment...even in the drive-thru. ;)

Our September...

There's a definite chill in the air and there's hundreds of balloons in the air every morning..I think it's safe to say October is here! I'm still not quite sure what happened to September but I won't complain because the beginning of October is a gorgeous time of year here in Albuquerque. Balloon Fiesta brings literally hundreds of hot air balloons here every year and it just doesn't get better than taking the kids to school every morning and seeing all of them across the city's skyline....beautiful!

September was busy, but more with the day to day kinda stuff that leaves you wondering where your day exactly went and we tend to have a lot of those days.

The boys are almost finished with their Fall baseball season. They just have a couple of weeks left and we'll be finished with baseball until Spring. Then Kyler will play winter Basketball and Kamden decided he wanted to give Gymnastics another try. This season has gone really well for both of them. They both have great teams and coaches. It's been a really nice start into baseball for Kamden and Kyler's team is still undefeated.

Mikaela is still dancing away. She's excited because they're fixing to start learning all their holiday dances. October is always her favorite because she says the Halloween dance is always the most fun out of the whole year.

The kids are VERY excited for Halloween. They literally had a countdown started 2 months ago so you can only imagine how they are now that the house is all decorated and they have their costumes. Kyler decided to be a faceless phantom again like last year and Kamden will be (I know this will shock you), Spiderman. Mikaela, who went on and on how she wasn't going to be anything girly this year, decided to be a Princess. She just can't resist it...she's as girly as it gets.

We got to go to Cliff's this month which was really fun. Mike's work paid for all the employees to spend the day there and have lunch. Tim, Shayla and the girls met us there and we had best time.

I celebrated my birthday this month and it ended up being a really nice birthday this year....it just kept going and going....I loved it! The Saturday before we took the kids to their Gymnastics Gym for Parent's Night Out so Mike and I got to go to dinner and a movie alone and the kids got to have a blast. I love it when everyone wins like that. Sunday we went to The Schimke's house for lunch and birthday cake...it was WONDERFUL. Then on my actual birthday on Monday I got to get my toes done and go to lunch with Shayla and then to Texas Roadhouse (My favorite!) with the family. So, definitely one of the nicest birthdays I've had in a while.

My leg continues to be an issue which drives me crazy. After going to the dr for injections every two weeks for two months, he's giving me a 3 month break to let my leg heal before he does more. I was relieved to hear that because it was starting to get to be a little much, especially since the veins from the first round of injections still haven't healed yet. I'm still having to be careful because I'm getting the beginnings of blood clots in the healthy veins that are attached to the injected veins but hopefully that will get better with the much needed three month break.

We're hoping to see some changes in Mike's work schedule this month. He got job offer from another facility and he decided to use the offer as a bargaining tool with his current job. He got them to make some changes in his salary as well as working overtime. They were definitely taking advantage of the fact that he was salary and letting him work over 60 and 70 hours a week...now he's still salary but when he works on the weekend...they're going to have to pay him overtime for it. They don't want to do that because his time is expensive...so I think they'll be getting him some more help pretty quick. I have to say I was pretty proud of him and now hopefully, we'll have him home more and when he does have to work...at least he'll be compensated for his extra time he gives them.

Kelsey is having a hard time lately. I think her age is really starting to hit her. She'll be 16 in February and we've really seen her age a lot in the last 6 months. Her back legs give out on her pretty badly. She can't make it up the stairs anymore so she sleeps in the laundry room now instead of upstairs in our room. We thought her kidneys were starting to fail on her which is very common but her vet said no. Her kidneys are great along with all her other organs. It just seems that her actual body is turning on her. She'll have some really bad days and just when Mike and I think we're fixing to have to make a really hard decision, she'll have some good days. It's so hard to see them get old.

As far as our house goes...we're still just taking it as it comes. We were on a realtor tour and got great feedback so I think it's just waiting for the right buyer with the right offer. Now it's just deciding how long we want to do this before we take it off and refinance at a lower interest rate and stay put a while longer. Right now, we're thinking that'll be around Thanksgiving so we don't have people coming through the house over the holidays....but we'll see.

Well, I think that's all our news for September. We hope ya'lls Falls are off to a beautiful start. Please keep us posted and have a very safe, fun and spooky Halloween!

Sending Lots of Love and Hugs,
The Glade's

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September '11 Memories...

Our August....

The mornings and evenings have a little bit of a chill to them but the days are still nice and warm...all the signs that it's September! Our favorite season is Summer but early Fall is a very close second. Weather wise I think September is just about as close to perfection as you can get here in Albuquerque. We love it!

August brought our Summer to an end and the beginning of a new school year and the school routine that comes with it. As it is every new school year...it's a little bittersweet. Kyler started his last and final year of elementary school. Every time we think about it, it breaks our heart a little bit. I think there's a little bit of innocence lost in middle school and we're not even close to ready for that yet, not that I think you're ever quite ready for that. He's a 5th grader and is with all the other top dogs of the school. As is life, he'll be back on the bottom again next year but for now I think he's enjoying being the oldest at the school. He loves his teacher and his class so it's a great start so far to his last elementary hoorah. Mikaela started 2nd grade this year. I think 2nd grade is such a fun age and grade. She got the same teacher that Kyler had and we are thrilled because she's amazing! Every day so far she's come home and said that day was "AWESOME" so I think it's safe to say she's loving being a 2nd grader. Kamden was more than ready for the older two to go back to school so he could have his alone time back. Every morning he tells them it's time for them to go to school, but he's also excited when they get off the bus so it all evens out.

Kyler wrapped up his first swimming season on a good note. He won a silver medal with his relay teammates at the city meet. They had a banquet and pool party to celebrate a great season and he won an award for not missing a single day of practice or swim meet. Right now he's back in baseball for the Fall season. He moved up to the majors and has a great coach and team. So far they're undefeated and Kyler has the highest batting average on the team. His coach works them hard but also keeps them humble which I love.

Mikaela is back in dance. She moved up in ballet and tap and she's liking the challenge. She dropped jazz for now because it would have made for a long Saturday schedule but may go back to it next year. This is a recital year so it's definitely going to be a busy year dance wise but I think she's going to love every minute of it.

Kamden started T-Ball this year! He had a choice between that and gymnastics and he chose T-Ball so here we are. We weren't quite sure how he'd do with being only four but he's doing good. He's not a fan of being out in the field, but he loves batting and running the bases. He's a little backwards in the fact that I think he likes the practices better than the games.

We're extending our break from ballroom. With all three of the kiddos in things, there just wasn't room in our schedule for it right now. We're planning to go back after Fall Ball ends.

We got to go to the last Isotopes game of the season which was really fun. We didn't stay until the end because it starting POURING rain but we got to see most of it and the fireworks show still so it still ended up being a really nice night out and the kids had a blast.

Mike had a birthday this month and we also celebrated our 11th wedding Anniversary. For Mike's birthday the kids and I made his favorite meal and cake. I think the kids had the most fun of anyone just helping make everything to surprise Mike. Of course with three extra little "helpers" it's always an adventure not to be forgotten. For our Anniversary, Chuck and Mary Lou, took the kiddos overnight so Mike and I could go out. We ended up going to dinner and a movie and it was so nice. It's definitely the little things when you don't have kiddos. Just to eat a meal in peace and watch a movie with no interruptions...bliss!

Mike's job got better and he was getting home for dinner for all of a week before things got crazy and he had to go back to his long hours again. Neither one of us are happy about it and so something's gotta give because he can't keep this up much longer. It hasn't helped that the surgery I had on my leg in July didn't fix everything wrong with it and so I've been having to go in every two weeks for procedures. Between cheerleading, having really big babies and bad vein genes, my leg is just a mess so I have quite a few more procedures to go before they start on the other leg....ugh. It takes a little bit out of me and right about the time I start feeling like myself again, I have to go back and we start the whole process all over again. BUT, hopefully, when this is all said and done, these legs will be fixed and I won't have to worry about it again for a very long time....fingers crossed.

We're still just taking it as it comes as far as our house being on the market. The feedback we've gotten back so far has been great and we've been on some people's short lists. The US losing their good credit rating didn't help but that's okay. We're in a good place because we're fine if we stay and we're fine if we sell and move...so we'll see where this all takes us...if anywhere... for now and go from there.

I think that's all our news for now. I'm sure we'll have more to report for next month...never a dull moment with this group. We hope you're all doing really good and getting back into your school routines. Keep us posted, we love hearing about everything going on in your lives!

Sending out lots of love and hugs,
The Glade's

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Our July...

Well, it's the beginning of August and all that it entails...our Summer is coming to a close and the new school year is upon us. It's hard to believe that it's already that time of year again. Kyler is in his last and final year of elementary school. It makes my heart hurt just thinking about it. Miss Mikaela will be a second grader this year which is such a fun grade. They both got amazing teachers so they're really excited about that. Usually, they're ready for school to start but this year they're not quite there yet. I think it's because our Summer just flew by and school starting is always a little bittersweet.

We definitely got our "pool time" in this Summer with Kyler being on the swim team. We were there every single day of the week this Summer except for Sundays and Kyler didn't miss one practice or meet. He did really well and worked his tail off. At the beginning of the Summer he knew all of his strokes, was what I would call a "swimmer" but definitely still a beginner. He went from coming in 5th, 6th and even 7th place to coming in 1st and 2nd at the meets and qualifying for City. He liked doing better at meets but my favorite thing about him was the fact that he was WAY more interested in beating and racing himself. The first thing out of his mouth after every race was to ask his time to see if he beat himself the week before. He ended up bringing home a silver medal from city with his relay teammates for the medley relay. So proud of our little man and I definitely think we have a swimmer on our hands. He already can't wait for next Summer. And we didn't even get a week's break before Fall Baseball started up again for him so he's already practicing for that 3 times a week for several hours. One things for sure...he's in great shape. You should see his little six pack...it's crazy! He got his coach he had for Spring Ball so he was happy about that and getting to catch again. So, we're at it again...full swing...no pun intended.

Miss Mikaela took it easy this Summer and just took swim lessons. She made a lot of improvement though and got her freestyle down and learned the breaststroke. We're trying to talk her into doing swim team next Summer but as of yet, she has zero interest and wants to take swim lessons again to get better at those strokes and learn the other two. So, I guess we'll see how she feels about it next Summer. She's started back up again at dance. This year is a recital year so it's going to be a little busier than last year. She was going to take Tap, Jazz and Ballet again but with the schedule this year, it would have put us at the dance studio on Saturday for several hours with an hour break in between classes so we made her pick two and she went with Tap and Ballet which I think will work out great and make our lives a little bit easier.

Mr. Kamden took swim lessons too. He's a funny little guy. He's not afraid of the water at all but he's afraid of getting hurt IN the water so getting him confident in the water has been the challenge there. He made some progress and by the end of the Summer would venture off by himself where he could touch and would put his face in the water with some coaxing. But he's still little so we're not too worried about it right now and will keep working on it. He'll definitely be taking swim lessons again next Summer and hopefully, he'll continue to gain confidence between now and then. With Kamden you never know. We gave Kamden the choice between gymnastics and T-Ball and he chose T-Ball so he's already started practices. It's gotten a little more intense since Kyler played T-Ball, especially for Fall Ball...but it'll be good for him and I think he'll really enjoy it. He's ALL BOY so this should be right up his alley. Either way, it'll definitely be an adventure...with Kamden it always is.

Kamden turned the big FOUR the end of this month. I know I always say this, but I can't believe he's already that big! He is all about Spiderman right now so he wanted a Spiderman party in the backyard. His only request was a bounce house, Spiderman cupcakes and Spiderman balloons so according to him, "It was the BEST PARTY EVER!" We took that as it was a success!

We had a nice 4th of July this year. This year personal fireworks were banned because of the fires and so we went to the movies that day and then picked up Mike from work and went to the Isotopes Park for the game and fireworks afterwards. We ended up getting home really late but we had a really good day and a fun time.

We've had some changes this year that initiated us deciding to put our house on the market and "see what happens". This is a big deal for us because we've been here for 10 years and none of us are really good with change. I think Mikaela is the only one of us that "goes with the flow" easily. Plus, it's hard for this Type "A" girl to let strangers tromp through our house without us there but it's gotten a little easier as it's shown more and more. We're looking to stay in the same area, just get into a little bit bigger house so the boys can have their own rooms. Other than a realtor almost killing Kelsey, it's gone pretty well. It's a long story but basically the realtor took it upon herself to do something that I'd asked no one to do and it made Kelsey really sick to where she couldn't breathe and gave her an infection. So after a very hard night and an expensive round of medicine, she's okay, but I was NOT happy with that realtor. Never in my life have I had to fight so hard not to give someone a piece of my mind. I'm still tempted. So, we're stepping out of our box, testing the waters a bit and seeing where it may lead us. We're not desperate and for some reason, buyers seem to think all sellers are so we may end up staying put, and that's okay too. But we'll definitely keep you posted.

Mike and I are doing good. Mike's hours have gotten better this month which is very nice. It's definitely a good thing having him home again, but it's been an adjustment having him home again and he's had to adjust to being at home again. He's been working LONG, crazy hours for 8 months now so it's a good adjustment, but an adjustment all the same. We just hope his hours continue to get better. We have dreams of him actually getting home when he's SUPPOSED to...at 4.

I think that does it for our July news! We hope all of you are enjoying the last of Summer! For us, it's the BEST time of year so we're going to enjoy it as much as we can for as long as we can! We love hearing all your news too so keep us posted!

Sending Out Lots of Love and Hugs,
The Glade's

Click for July Pictures: