California Lov'n

The kids and I headed to Cali last month for a quick last minute trip with my sister Kim and her daughters. We filled each day with beach, pool, food and games... it was the perfect get-away. Thanks for sharing with us Kim!

Lis, Maci and Ethan with cousins Lindsay and Ali.

One of Ethan's many sand castle masterpieces.

Maci with her friends Davis and Lyric.

The gang: Ethan, Licity, Maci, Davis, Tatum and Lyric.

Notice their dinner of hot dogs on bread, popcorn and root beer in fancy glasses. (We were finishing off any left-overs before we left.)

Hooray Maci!

Maci finally did it! She is officially a Big Girl! She had no problem when I told her we were all done with diapers and loves to say "Bye-bye poo-poo" as she flushes the toilet. She's such a good girl! After 7 consecutive years of buying diapers, I think I'll finally plan that trip to Hawaii!

Crazy Days of May

One post a month is not too bad, but May needed a daily update... so, here's a late summary.


On May 3rd Maci turned 2!
She has completed surpassed anything I could have imagined in my second little girl. We love that she follows very closely in Licity's footsteps, but with her own adorable style. She is always smiling and commands attention at all times. She can talk... sentences that make us laugh out loud because they are so logical. She is and always has been a sponge and soaks up everything going on around her. She loves playing with friends and can find someone her size to buddy up with anywhere we go. We just adore this girl!!Her birthday was on a Sunday, so we had Aunt Leslie and her family come over to celebrate with ice cream sundaes. It was a perfectly low-key birthday. Maci was completely happy to get her new and slightly upgraded baby stroller with a new baby. It just happens to be the exact gift she got for her 1st birthday (but who's keeping track?).

On May 8th Ethan turns 7!

This kid is a stud! He is smart and talented and athletic and just recently has come up with this adorable wit. He is a great big brother and is so good to his little sisters (especially anytime before 8:00am with Mom still in bed). It's been amazing watching him grow, each year I'm more and more proud of him!

His gifts included a skateboard, a basketball "outfit" (with much hesitation from his mom) and a Chess set. Plus, we had a slightly more involved birthday celebration for Ethan.

FRIDAY: He was dying to see Monsters Vs. Aliens which had been in the theaters for about a month so finally we let him invite a couple of his best buddies and we did a guys night (and Mom and Lisie). Kyle had to be somewhere else at the time so he and Maci had to miss out.

SATURDAY: We had his baseball party at the batting cages with all of his school buddies. It worked out great. Mom (aka: ME) even packed some hot dogs, chips and drinks just like at the ball park. The boys loved it and had no problem hitting balls for an hour straight (and were even sad when it was time to go).

SUNDAY: We still wanted to hang with the McEuen cousins so we had them over on Sunday for dinner and more birthday desserts. This is Maci with her cousin Brynlee. (Somehow this is the only picture of the night.)

On May 16th Licity has her first dance demonstration.

She was just like an angel... if the angel refuses to smile for the camera, dances only when she feels like it and looks absolutely ADORABLE!

Also on May 16th (and every other Saturday) Ethan has a baseball game. He didn't completely love his first year of baseball, not quite enough action. But, of course he did really well and completely nailed the ball almost every time!

On May 18th Licity graduated Mrs. S's preschool.

On May 20th Licity graduated Mrs. Kate's Preschool.

AND on May 20th we left on our much needed family vacation to Utah. But that post (and other updates) will have to be added on another day!

Easter Threads

A few things I love about Ethan:
He is such a hard worker. He is the most dedicated player on his teams. He loves his sisters. He's extremely independent. He loves to learn new things. He's a great listener. He's absolutely a lady killer (but doesn't have any clue yet).

A few a things we love about Licity:

She is super lovable. She gives the best hugs. She tells hilarious stories. She loves to be equally loving to everyone. She loves school. She's an adorable dancer. She loves to make-believe. She's friends with everyone. She has the most beautiful eyelashes.

A few things we love about Maci:

She is absolutely full of life. She is always smiling. She is super smart. She talks- A LOT. She counts to 20 and spells her name. She takes care of her big sister. She has the most beautiful eyes. She is completely in love with her mommy (and her daddy).

*I took these pictures myself and obviously still need a little work with the lighting :)

Hmm... where to start

It seems like such a long time since I've posted, but really I can't think of anything too fun that has happened. I did miss a post on my trip back to St. Louis for my Grandma Rees' funeral. I wanted to write about it, but when I started, I decided I needed a good picture of my grandma to go with it and so I started digging through my old photos and not finding what I was looking for, I got side tracked, and well, obviously nothing ever came of it... so I'll start again.

I hadn't been together with all nine of my siblings (without our families) since before I can remember. And even better, my parents were able to join us with a short leave from their mission in Romania. So just like the good old days, we rented ourselves a van and piled in together (well two vans). We shared a combination of 4 rooms and had some good ol' Rees family bonding. Being the youngest of the nine, I realized how little I remember about growing up with a full house. Some of the stories were absolutely priceless (and confidential). Knowing that it will most likely be a long time before making it back, it was a great farewell to my hometown.

Maci with her Grandpa Rees and cousin Bradley- she was the lucky one who got to tag along on the trip. I couldn't have asked for a better traveling buddy. She was SOOO good and adorable. By the end of the trip I found myself getting a little annoyed at how many people had to stop us to comment on how cute or sweet or well behaved she was. Not much of a complaint, huh?

Back Row: Rich, Mike, Kim, Les

Front Row: Suz, Amy, Sarah, Rebecca, Me

Maci with Grandma Rees and cousin Colton

In other news, Ethan has started his first season at baseball. I can't say that he's loving it, because he keeps talking about playing basketball and football but I do think it's safe to say that he loves sports in general and this one is doing the job for now. Plus it's the first sport where it's actually okay to slide- and that he likes a lot!

Ethan and his best buddy Caden (who came to watch his first game).

I have some more fun pictures from Easter, but I'm calling it a day for now. Stay tuned!