Our March and April...

Oh my gosh! Can you believe that it's already May?! I can't believe that there's less than a month left of school already! Time always goes by fast for us but Spring hit and I swear it went into mega fast forward. The weekdays and especially the weekends have just become a blur. I can't wait for Summer so we can take a break from our schedule and just SLOW DOWN and BREATHE a little. March was the month of urgent care for us. I swear we were there 10 times between the five of us. In February my blood clots were just getting out of control and so I had to break down and join a gym and take Kamden to their childcare while I worked out. I know when kids get around other kids they get sick and we all went through it when Kyler and Mikaela started kindergarten but it was NOTHING like this. These germs had to be just freaks of nature because it went through all of us and we haven't been sick like that in years, if ever. By the time I got it, they put me on two different strong antibiotics and a narcotic for pain. Mike got it too but didn't want to be put on antibiotics because they kill the good germs too and he didn't want to catch anything at work and get more sick so he probably had the hardest time of it and is STILL getting over his lingering cough. Not fun...needless to say, we had to work out other arrangements as far as me working out and Kamden doesn't go to childcare anymore. It just isn't worth it. We had Spring Break and Parent Teacher Conferences in March. Conferences went really well. The kids love school and it shows which always makes you proud and your heart smile. For Spring Break we didn't go anywhere. I was hoping we'd get a break from everything but no such luck. The only break we got was from school and all their other activities stayed the same. But we still had fun during the day and went to the movies a bunch and the park almost every day. They also had two sleepovers that week. Shayla's girls spent the night with us and then ours went to their house for a night too. On the night they stayed at Shayla's, Mike and I actually got to go out which is a very rare occurrence. It was Chuck's birthday and they were celebrating at a dance club so we got to go dancing which is even rarer! It's been years since we've gotten to go dancing so we had a blast but were so tired. We definitely don't have the energy we had in college. That part of getting older is not fun. The kids had a ballroom competition the end of March. The youth class did a group dance so Kyler, Mikaela and Jayden all got to dance together and compete. They had so much fun and did a great job. Mikaela got to get her hair and make up professionally done which put her on cloud 9. Her Daddy on the other hand wasn't so happy with how grown up and mature it made her look. I have to say the look on his face when he first saw her was priceless. Kyler and Jayden competed in 6 different individual dances together and took first place. We were really proud of them because they had really worked hard, especially the month before the competition. Kyler wrapped up his basketball season. They ended up taking second place so they did really good and had a great season. He had a little overlap between basketball and baseball but now our lives seem to revolve around baseball. I tease that we should just pitch a tent and forward our mail to the ballfields until June because it feels like we live there sometimes. We absolutely LOVE his coach though. He's the exact right coaching style for Kyler and Kyler is just flourishing playing for him. I have to say, it's pretty cool to see. We've never played club ball before but one of the teams had some injuries and they asked us if they could pick Kyler up for the rest of the season. It's a huge compliment for Kyler but also a huge commitment. I honestly don't know how these families literally LIVE baseball. Mike and I had to have a serious talk about it because Kyler isn't the only member of this family our lives just can't revolve around him and baseball but in the end we let him because we figured he would learn so much and it's just for two months...like how we tell ourselves it's JUST two months? ;) It's been interesting so far because it's literally a whole new ballgame, no pun intended. It's way more competitive and intense and some of these parents are just outright crazy. My favorite one of all is the overweight attorney who's kid is (of course) amazing in all things ball and feels it's his moral duty and right to scream at the kids after every play telling them how they did it wrong and could have done it better. But my very favorite part is the fact that he's literally NEVER played ball in his life. Uuuuummmmmm....live through your kid much???? Mike and I learned fast that instead of sitting in the stands, we needed to sit in the outfield with the other parents who think that it really is JUST a ballgame and they're JUST kids who JUST want to play ball and have fun. At the end of the day though, Kyler is in heaven playing for both teams, is learning a LOT and is able to tune out the crazy parents and just play ball....so that's what matters. :) Mikaela is still working hard on her dances for her recital in June and loving every minute of it. She got her costumes already and is SO excited to wear them. Her recital just can't get here quick enough and she's got a daily countdown going. She's constantly tapping in the kitchen and practicing ballet and her splits in the living room. I love that she's found something that she loves. Her class at school had a fieldltrip to the Planetarium which I got to go on to help chaperone. I love all fieldtrips but my very favorites are ones to the theater and the planetarium. They're definitely the best of the bunch. Kamden was in gymnastics and was doing pretty good. He never wanted to go, but once he got there, he had fun. We took him out for the Summer but he'll probably go back in the Fall when school starts back up unless he decides to play T-Ball again. We never know with Kamden. He's had a little bit of a rough month. Mikaela did a cartwheel in the living room and accidentally nailed him in the eye with her foot. He got a doozy of a first black eye. Then last weekend the three of them were wrestling in the living room and somehow in the midst of that, he got his bottom middle tooth knocked out. Yep, it's all fun and games until the little one gets his tooth knocked out...literally. I told Mike at this rate, CPS is going to show up here pretty soon. Boys...never a dull moment. Kyler and Mikaela are getting ready for the Spring Musical at church this month. Kyler has a singing solo and Mikaela a speaking part so they're both really excited about that. It'll be fun to watch and we're all looking forward to it. Our Easter this year was very nice and relaxing. We got up and saw what the Easter Bunny brought the kids and then went to church. After church the kiddos hunted eggs outside and then the Schimke's came over for lunch. After that we did absolutely nothing and the kids ate themselves into a candy coma. ;) It was as close to perfect as I think you can get. We applied for and got our passports for our family vacation to Mexico this Summer. Mike's been to Mexico before but for the rest of us, this is our first time out of the US so we're all pretty excited. It's been 3 years since we've been on a family vacation so we're ready and can't wait. And other than that, when we're not taking, picking up or at something for the kids, we're outside getting the yard ready for Summer. It's a stress reliever for us and we enjoy it for the most part. This year we're not as motivated as we usually are so we're a little bit behind schedule but we'll eventually get there. :) We hope you're all enjoying your Spring, almost Summer weather. We've lucked out this year so far (knock on wood), as our weather has been beautiful and not very windy. Hopefully, I didn't just jinx it. ;) Sending Out Lots of Love and Hugs, The Glade's

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Easter 2012 Memories...

Our January and February....

This year has started out with a whole plethora of ups and downs and everything in between. I hope this isn't a foreshadowing of what this year has in store for us.

The kids went back to school after being off for 2 1/2 weeks. They're always excited to get back to their routine and their friends which is good. I love that they love school.

Kyler is wrapping up his Winter Basketball season. He has his final tournament this weekend. All his games were on Sundays this time which was new for us. It ended up being nice in the fact that we didn't have to worry as much about conflicts but bad in that it didn't give us a "day off" on the weekend. They've had a good season so far. They lost their first two games but then they started figuring out how to play as a team and not only learn strategy but actually use it and have been winning since then. Hopefully, they do well in the tournament but if not, it's still been a really good experience for him. As he's wrapping up basketball, he's starting up Spring Baseball. For the majority of the time he's played, we've been very blessed with amazing coaches and this season is no exception. The coach he had his first year of machine pitch drafted him and Kyler is thrilled. He's more than ready to get started and can't wait for his first practice on Friday. Mike and I always take a deep breath when we get the schedule because Spring Ball is pretty intense and we know what's ahead of us. Kyler on the other hand just thrives in it and truly loves every second. There's no such thing as too much baseball as far as he's concerned.

Mikaela is busy learning her recital dances. Both her tap and ballet teachers are giving them challenging dances and she's loving that. She can't wait to go to class every week which is fun to see. I love to watch her dance as she's starting to come into her own and really fall in love with it. Her teachers are noticing too which has helped boost her confidence.

Kamden is back in gymnastics and doing pretty good. MUCH better than our experience a year ago which was a relief. He had a choice to make because we told him he was going to do SOMETHING. He could play T-Ball or he could go back to Gymnastics and he picked Gymnastics. So far he's having fun....fingers crossed it stays that way.

Kyler and Mikaela are getting ready for a dance competition in Ballroom the end of March. Mikaela's doing one group dance and then Kyler is doing two plus a few dances with Jayden. They're both having fun and I love that they're learning something cultural that they can do for the rest of their lives if they wanted to.

Kyler and Mikaela are also back in the church choir getting ready for the Spring Musical. Mikaela wants to try out for a drama part this time and Kyler is trying out for a solo again so we'll see what happens.

Mike is still extremely busy at work unfortunately. Just when he thinks he's got everything like it should so he can get home when he's supposed to...something will happen or change and he's back at square one. Very frustrating for all of us.

The end of January I had my arms full coming downstairs and didn't see Kamden's shoes on the stairs and fell. I missed the last two steps and fell on my left foot
with it turned in and fractured it. There's nothing you can really do with a foot fracture so it's just going to take time to heal. I'm wearing tennis shoes way more than I ever have because they support it the best and hopefully by the end of March it'll be back to normal.

My blood clots were getting out of control so I had to break down and join a gym. I can only go right after I drop the older two off at school or late at night because of the kids and Mike's schedules. If I go late at night, I'd never see Mike so that leaves first thing in the morning which means Kamden going to their childcare program. It's been a challenge for both of us. Overall, it's good for him so he can get ready for kindergarten. He liked it the first couple of days...after that, not so much. Now when we go he cries. To that I say "tough" because Mommy can have an hour to exercise but it does make for a rough start to the day. I asked him what he's going to do when it's time for kindergarten to which he plainly stated that it's not time for him to go to kindergarten so he doesn't have to worry about that yet. Gotta love this 4 year old's logic. ;) The downside is that he's been constantly sick and is sharing it with the entire house. I wasn't surprised at Kamden but was at the older two and Mike and I. I thought our immune systems were built up, but apparently nothing is a match for these super powered childcare germs. We've been to the pediatric urgent care several times which is getting old fast. It's frustrating that trying to work out for an hour a day is causing this many problems and issues. It truly should NOT be this hard to exercise. For now, we're trying to limit Kamden going to a couple of times a week. Mike's been trying to get home at a decent hour the beginning of the week so I can work out earlier in the evening. That way Kamden's not exposed to as many things. Plus, he doesn't mind going a few times a week which gives me a reprieve from a power struggle, which I win, but is never fun.

I was busy on ebay this month selling the kiddos' out grown Summer clothes. I think I finally figured out a good time to list Spring and Summer clothes. It's a very time consuming process but worth it in the end and helps so much in getting their new Summer clothes.

On a high note, we picked out and booked a family vacation for this Summer. It's been 3 years since we've had a REAL family vacation so it's definitely time. We looked at a bunch of places but finally decided on an all inclusive family resort in Cancun. They promised us that Cancun in June is completely different than Cancun over Spring Break so we're taking her word for it. We're very excited and the kids are already counting down the days!

We sent Abbey in to get spayed and declawed in January. It went very well but as she was healing from that, she got accidentally bumped with the garage door as we were coming in the house and it fractured her pelvis. Apparently, it's a common thing with cats and they can do the same thing jumping off of things...who knew??? I'm learning waaaay more about cats than I ever wanted. Well, between that and healing from surgery...it was just too much and so her white blood cell count went up from the stress and she got a fever and quit eating. So she had to go back to the vet and spend another night. They put her on antibiotics and baby aspirin. She had a reaction (of COURSE she did) to the baby aspirin and got sores all over her face and ears because apparently, cats don't do well with pain killers. Again...waaaaay more information about cats than I wanted. She cost us a small fortune this month but she's almost all healed up now and back to normal. As Mike puts it...no good deed goes unpunished. ;)

Our year is off to a very rough start as our saddest news is that we had to put our sheltie, Kelsey, to sleep Tuesday night. As hard as I thought it was going to be...it was SO much harder. She turned 16 this month so she's been through it all with us...from being with just me in college, to Mike and I dating, to being engaged, to being married and then kids 1, 2 and 3. I can't imagine life without her and we're all heartbroken right now. This last year has been rough for her and she's aged a lot in the past few months. She was struggling and I couldn't remember the last time she was happy and excited about anything. We took her to our vet Tuesday night and he said it wasn't going to get better for her, only worse so we decided it wasn't fair to her to make her keep struggling. It's one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. It'll get easier with time but right now the void she's left behind in the house, our family and our hearts is just SO big. All I know for sure is that she was VERY LOVED and will be VERY MISSED...our sweet little baby brown eyed girl!

That's all our news from the year so far. Hopefully, things settle down...a lot. We hope your years are off to a more uneventful start.

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

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Kelsey...SO Much More Than A Dog.....

The Glade House is a very sad place today as we had to put our Kelsey to sleep last night. She came into the world 16 years ago on President's Day and so began our adventure together. I met Kelsey when she was just 3 days old and actually picked her sister out because she had better markings and Kelsey was the runt of the litter....but when I went to pick the sister up when she was weaned...she was actually very shy...and I'll never forget Kelsey, so tiny still, come running around the corner like a little tornado tackling her brothers and untying shoelaces. The breeder got onto her while we were there and Kelsey talked back to her and pranced away little tail in the air...so full of sass and spunk. Mike was actually there with me to pick her up and needless to say, right away, we knew she was the one and took her home instead. I look back at how much she's been through with us. She started out with just me, to Mike and I dating, to us getting engaged, to marriage and then kids 1, 2 and 3. When it was just she and I...I was going to college and she was my world. Then she became Mike's and my dog and she was our "child" and went EVERYWHERE with us. She wasn't away from us for more than 2 days until our honeymoon. Then when we had kids and she moved into the "family dog" role instead of the "child" role...she did so with love and grace...and a few temper tantrums (she wouldn't be spunky Kelsey without a few of those at least). She LOVED the kids and they became hers too.
She was loving, loyal, spunky, sassy and SO SMART! Mike used to tease me that I talked to her like she was one of the kids...but the thing is I COULD because she UNDERSTOOD what I was saying. When we put in our backyard, I told her she had to start going to the bathroom in the rocks instead of the grass because she was killing it...and from then on she went to the rocks to go to the bathroom...just like that. Of course, being spunky Kelsey...she had what I called her "bee up her butt" days where she just wanted to get a rise out of me and she'd look right at me and wet in the grass like what are you going to do about this? Of course as soon as she did it, you could see all over her face that maybe that wasn't the best idea and maybe she should have rethought it through before actually carrying it out. :) She knew the names of all her toys, all the rooms in the house and all the doors. If we were going somewhere I would tell her we were going out the garage door and she'd go there and wait for me. She HATED to be brushed and so from a puppy, I could never leave it out because she'd hide it and she'd hide it GOOD and never in the same place twice. SO SMART!
She's been aging and I could see it. She was completely deaf for the past two years. We still communicated though because I'd taught her hand signals when she was a puppy and she'd remembered them. She used to sleep with us, then it got too hard to get on and off our bed so she slept on her own bed on the floor by ours. In the last 4 months, the stairs became hard and so she started sleeping on her bed in the laundry room instead. It's so hard to see them age and not be able to do the things they used to that made them so happy. The last year and especially the past 6 months were really hard on her and we saw her age quickly. Her lower spine and back legs started to give her a lot of pain and were giving out on her. She couldn't play ball which was always her FAVORITE thing to do. She LOVED food and in the last two weeks she lost all interest. Her healthy weight was between 21 and 24 pounds and last night she was down to 14 so she had lost almost half her body weight. Dementia was really setting in and she was starting to forget and just go to the bathroom all over herself, her bed and the house...definitely NOT our prissy Kelsey. We put her on a strong antibiotic in case it was a kidney or bladder infection but it didn't help. Besides to go outside to the bathroom and eat, she literally slept ALL the time.
We have an amazing vet and he asked us some good questions last night. He asked when the last time we saw her truly happy and excited about something.....when was the last time we saw her smile......and when I really thought about it.....I honestly couldn't remember the last time because it had been so long. He said when he looked in her eyes, he didn't see her anymore and it was only going to get harder for her. So we made the excrutiating decision that it was time for her to be at peace and not hurt anymore. The kids came in and told her goodbye and gave her hugs and then went to the lobby while Mike and I stayed with her. Seeing the life go out of her, my logic and my emotions were at polar ends. My mind knew I was doing the right thing for her, my heart was breaking and I felt so sad and guilty.
Grief is it's own entity. Everyone handles it differently. In the beginning, all you can focus on is the last 5 minutes of their life and the 16 wonderful years of experiences you had with them just make you sad and cry. The kids are all handling it in their own way. None of them know life without her but Kyler has been with her the longest and is taking it the hardest. His heart is breaking and he just sobs. Mikaela is sad and cries. Kamden is sad but his young heart and logic is so sweet and innocent. He misses her but he says she's happy and running around with Bama and Jesus and they're both throwing the ball for her so he's not sad and doesn't cry for her or him. And some people don't think kids can teach us things.
Time heals and I know every day will get easier. I know we will start to think of her and all the amazing 16 years we had with her and it will bring a smile instead of tears. But right now...the void in our house, family and hearts is SO big. I do know one thing for sure...she was VERY LOVED and will be VERY MISSED! We will ALWAYS love our sweet baby brown eyed girl!

Our December....

Happy New Year! It's always hard to believe when a new year rolls around. I swear it takes me a quarter of the new year to actually remember to write the correct date. I'm hoping that happens to everyone and it's not my age or my memory.

Our December is usually pretty low key for the most part but this one ended up being pretty hectic.

The first weekend in December, Kyler and Mikaela performed with the Children's Choir at church for Christmas. They had two performances that weekend and they all did a really good job. Kyler had a little solo which he loved and had a lot of fun doing. Kamden sang with the preschool choir at the spring performance but decided to forego the Christmas one this year. He said he was "tired" from baseball....I'm rolling my eyes as I type that. He's such a stinker.

Kyler started basketball which thrilled him to no end. He's loving everything about it...his team, his coach, his practices and can't wait for the games to start next weekend. They're on Sundays this year which is new for us and we haven't decided if we like yet or not. I guess we'll see.

Mikaela wrapped up this semester of dance. She got measured for her recital outfits which she LOVED. Getting measured for special outfits is definitely one of the fun "perks" to being a girl and she loved every second. She also got to see what her recital outfits will look like. Seeing them put her over the moon and I have to say, they really are pretty. Her instructors did a really good job picking them out. She performed her December dances in both her classes. I was really impressed with her tap dance as they only had one practice before they performed it. They're definitely starting to pick up new dances quicker. She's very excited for this semester because now they finally start learning and working on their recital dances.

Both the kids had fun on their last day of school before Winter Break. Mikaela got to wear pajamas to school and had a "Game Day". Kyler had a Gingerbread House Making Party with pizza, snacks and dessert afterwards. Mike had the day off so he got to go with Kamden and I which was fun. Kamden always enjoys getting to go and hang out with the big kids but it wore him out. He almost fell asleep on the 2 minute ride home.

We had a lot of Christmas events this year which was fun. Mike ended up having two company Christmas parties to go to. One with his current employer and then he got invited to his previous employer's that he worked 10 years for as well. We really enjoyed both. It's not very often we get to get dressed up and spend evenings with only adults. We also got invited to some friends' for dinner and Gingerbread House making which was so much fun! It's always nice when all the kids get to play and the adults get to talk and everyone has a great time. The Schimke's took Kyler and Mikaela to the Menaul school to see what used to be the Bug's House for their birthdays and they had an amazing time. So, I think it's safe to say, the Glade family had a very nice December as far as Christmas parties and get togethers go.

The first Monday of the kids Winter Break, I had an appt with my vascular surgeon for what I THOUGHT was just a check up to see how my leg was doing and to re-evaluate. Mike took the day off and I was glad because I found out I have another blood clot (UGH!) and he ended up doing more injections....grrrr....NOT what I had in mind the week before Christmas. Injections are never fun but this time he did them on the back of my leg so sitting is not easy. Needless to say, our trip to Clovis wasn't very comfortable...good thing it's short. I'm so ready to be done with all this leg/blood clot business.

The kids' winter break was really nice as not only did we get a break from school, we got a break from EVERYTHING....sports, dance....everything. To not be on our "schedule" for two and a half weeks was OH SO NICE! The kids got to play with Jayden and Payten several days and have a sleep over, we had a few play dates and we got to go to the movies a few times. Yes, it was a very nice break. But that being said, it was also nice to get back into our school routine again. Kamden was definitely ready to have his quiet time during the day back.

Kyler officially turned ELEVEN on the 28th. It's so hard to believe he's that old already. He had his party in November so for his actual birthday he got to pick where he wanted to eat for his family birthday dinner. He picked Azuma where they cook everything at your table. He loved it so I think it's safe to say, was happy with his choice.

After seeing pretty much every pregnancy sign in our newly adopted kitty and even her going into what seemed to be every sign of labor...the only thing we didn't see was...kittens. Yep, Abbey went through a full blown false pregnancy and I now know waaaaay more about cats than I EVER wanted to. Poor thing, you have to feel for her but it's probably for the better. The last thing the world or our family needs is more kittens. The cure for a false pregnancy is getting spayed so she has an appt in two weeks with our vet so we won't have to worry about her having a real or a false pregnancy again. Never a dull moment...never, never.

For Christmas we stayed home. We love being home Christmas morning. The whole day was so relaxing and as close to perfect as I think you can get. For New Years, we drove to Clovis to see our family. If we have a second home, Clovis is definitely it. I don't know how you can be surrounded by that much family and it not feel like home. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the entire family while we were there, but we got to see a lot and we had a great time.

I think that's all our December news. We hope your 2012 is a phenomenal one! Having all of you in our lives, definitely enriches ours! Keep us posted, we love hearing about everything going on in yours!

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

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Our November....

Merry Christmas! There's snow outside and Christmas music and decorations everywhere! I just love the beauty, magic and mystery that only this time of year brings! I can't believe that there's only a few weeks left of school before winter break and Christmas is just around the corner.

November was a little crazy and brought some changes our way. Like my best friend Katrina eloquently put it, busy is a word we often use, but doesn't even begin to cover it. So true!

The last week of October, a lost or abandoned 6 month old cat began wandering our neighborhood. Mikaela noticed her right away to which we told her to leave the cat alone. For 3 days the cat followed me to the mailbox and I ignored her. I wanted her to go home or someone ELSE to take pity on her. I love all animals but Mike and I and the boys are dog people through and through. Mikaela, however, has been a cat person since she knew what one was. We did a pretty good job of ignoring her till we had our first really cold Fall night and she was meowing outside our door. I swear she knew all along that we're suckers. I brought her in to Mike's horror. I thought she had to belong to someone because she's beautiful. I made it perfectly clear to the kids that we were NOT keeping this cat and we took her to the vet to see if she's microchipped. She's not. I went on a mission to find her owners. I checked craigslist, the paper, called the pounds and rescues. I looked for lost cat signs and put up found cat signs....nothing. As fast as I was looking for her owners, the kids were falling in love with her and it was mutual. When no owners were to be found, we had to decide if we wanted to keep her or find her another home. Mike and I had to decide if we could be cat people. We took a month to decide and during that month, the kitty actually worked her little way into our family. Mike was the hardest sell and I think she knew it because she followed him everywhere. But I think what won us over in the end was the fact that she gives real hugs. Sweetest thing I've ever seen. So, I still don't know if we're cat people but apparently we're THIS cat's people. ;) Kitty got a name, a collar, a bed and there's actual cat toys in our house...I'm still shocked....but Abbey has moved in. Oh and there's one more recent development...she's apparently pregnant...little hussy. ;) I tell ya...never a dull moment in this house...ever. ;)

Both Kyler and Mikaela had their birthday parties this month. Mikaela decided to have three friends go to the movies to see "Puss In Boots" and then come back to the house for pizza, cake, ice cream and a sleep over. Kyler's birthday isn't until December but we've found that people get really busy after Thanksgiving and so we celebrate it early now. Kyler had so much fun at his party last year, he decided to repeat it again this year. He had a bunch of friends go swimming at the Aquatic Center and then come back to the house for pizza, cake and ice cream. Afterwards a couple of the boys spent the night. They both thought their parties were a hit so I think it's safe to say we had success. :) I'm still having a hard time believing Kyler is ELEVEN and Mikaela is EIGHT! Where does the time go??? :(

Kyler and Mikaela are back in Ballroom again with Jayden. We had taken about a 5 month break but are back into the swing of things...no pun intended. ;) They're all three taking the Junior Ballroom class and then Kyler likes to stay for the class afterwards with the older kids for more experience. Kyler and Jayden are finally getting to take private lessons together which was the plan all along so they could dance together. It's been fun and they're all enjoying being back.

Kyler has his first basketball practice of the season this Saturday and he can't wait. We needed a little bit of a sports break after baseball and so we didn't let him play the Fall basketball league like we usually do and just signed him up for Winter. You would have thought it was the end of the world that he wasn't playing a sport every second of the year by how he's been driving us crazy asking if his coach has called and when practices start. He was able to get the same coach that he's had for the past 3 years so we were excited about that. He's a great coach...works them hard but is still patient and easy going... so it should be a good season.

Mikaela is wrapping up this semester of dance. They're starting to get ready for their recital in May. This month they pick out their recital outfits. They're learning their Christmas dances for December and then when they come back from the winter break in January, they'll start learning their recital dances. She's very excited!

Kamden is still busy being Kamden. He really "gets" Christmas this year and is so excited about all things Christmas. There's nothing like seeing Christmas through the eyes of a four year old, I promise you.

School is going really well for both kiddos. We had the whole week of Thanksgiving off because Monday and Tuesday were Parent/Teacher Conferences which was really nice. The conferences went really well...all good things, so that always makes you proud and brings a smile to your heart. Both of them also had fieldtrips this month which was fun. I went with Mikaela's class to the theater to see the play, "Miss Nelson Is Missing". Fieldtrips to the theater are always my favorite! Mike got to take a day off work and go on a fieldtrip with Kyler's class to hike Sandia Mountain. It was a little chilly but they still really enjoyed it. While the kids were out of school, we got to go to the movies a few times....we just love going to the movies and jump at the chance when we can.

We had a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving this year. Usually we make our own turkey and Thanksgiving dinner but this year with Mike working so many hours, we decided to forego that and just decorate the house for Christmas. We still got to have a fabulous Thanksgiving Dinner though because The Schimke's had us over and it was WONDERFUL! It was a perfect day.

We decided to take our house off the market the day before Thanksgiving and we'll reevaluate things again in the Spring. We got great feedback from buyers and the realtor tours, I just don't think it's the right time market wise or for us. We were always okay with staying or moving, so we're content and happy staying here for now. I have to say, it's nice not having to worry about people tromping through our house, especially throughout the holidays.

Well, I think that's all our November news. Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas surrounded by people you love and the brightest of New Years!

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

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Dramatic 4 year old anyone???

Last week Kamden was helping me in the yard. We needed to blow the leaves before it snowed and froze the leaves where they were and I would have to look at them until Spring. We also needed to bury the Christmas light cords outside. We'd gotten the leaves all cleaned up and it was lunchtime so I took Kamden inside and made him a small sandwich and a drink. He wanted two small sandwiches but I told him to eat the first before we made a second. About 10 minutes later I was burying cords in the front yard and Kamden came outside and asked me to make him another sandwich. I told him that I couldn't make it right this minute but would after I got finished burying the cords.

Kamden: "But my (he says "my" for his "I"s) going to STARVE!"

Me: "You are NOT going to starve Kamden, you JUST ate a sandwich...you can wait a few more minutes for another sandwich."

Kamden: "See, you just said my going to starve"

Me: "Seriously Kamden"

Kamden going back into the house with his head down: "Yes, my seriously going to starve"

Me: "You're just fine...I'll be in there in about 5 more minutes"

Kamden: "Okay, but my be seriously starved then"

Um...drama, party of one. ;)

This is such a perfect example of Kamden because when I got back in the house about 10 minutes later, he'd made his own sandwich and was eating it.

Little stinkpot. :)

Abbey....

It was a big decision and took a lot of soul searching (a whole month's worth) but we might just be able to be "cat people". Or THIS cat's people anyway. ;) We won't push it just yet. There's still a part of me that still believes I'm a dog person and is even a little embarassed to be seen in the cat aisle at Wal-Mart. Not that there's anything embarassing about being a cat person. I've just always been a dog person and now my identity is being shaken up a bit. *stop laughing* It cracks Mike up that I zip down the cat aisle as fast as I can and actually hide the cat food and litter underneath my basket with things surrounding it so no one can see it. I know...like anyone cares. See, logically I know it's silly but my emotions have yet to catch up with my logic. ;)
We must be meant to have this cat because I worked very hard to find her owner and there's just not one to be found. While I was working to find an owner, she was just working her way into our family...and shockingly fitting right in. Mike and I are more surprised than anyone. Who would have thought??? She's smart and actually behaves better than our dogs...but what won us over in the end was...this cat actually gives real hugs. Sweetest thing I've ever seen.
So, we've officially adopted kitty and finally given her a name....meet the newest member of the Glade family...Abbey. She has a name, a collar, a bed, cat toys...she's all moved in.

And there's ONE more thing.................

We found out she's PREGNANT...little hussy. ;)

Never a dull moment around here...never. :)