Let's try this again!

The pictures loaded before the print, so if you would prefer to read first, scroll down and then come back to the pictures. I am still having a hard time learning how to upload pictures easily. They always upload backwards too....so the ones you see first are the most recent. One day, I will get it straight. Just too tired tonight to mess with it!! Enjoy!

Adam and his buddy, Pete

Regan's cheerleading squad

Adam's first day of preschool

First day of school...all the kids on our street!!!!

Dylan and Mrs. Weed

Regan at her table

First day of KINDERGARTEN!!!

Destin, FL 2009

Adam's b-day cake

Adam is 3 yrs old

Preschool graduation

Regan doing backstroke

My favorite picture...she is "diving" in!! Love it!!!

Dylan swimming

Swim team...Coles Crocs

Let's go mom!

Dylan gymnastics

Adam swim lessons with Ms Andrea

Regan dance recital

Okay well, to say that I dropped the ball on this whole blog thing is an understatement. I thought I might try another go at it....we will see how long I can keep it up!

So much has happened in the last 5 months!! Regan and Dylan graduated pre-school, a long summer of swim team, pool parties, hanging out and staying up late, Adam turned 3 years old, a family vacation to Destin, FL, Adam started pre-school (again), Regan and Dylan started KINDERGARTEN, Dylan signed up for year-round swimming, Regan is now a cheerleader, and Adam and Dylan are paying tee-ball!!! Whew. I am sure I have left several things out, but that is a summary.

Our newest adventures are cheerleading and tee-ball. Regan cheers for the Sampson Seahawks (her elementary school) flag football team. They are simply adorable. We just got their uniforms, so the next game I can post pictures of them all decked out. Adam and Dylan are both signed up to play teeball (different teams - age), but neither have started yet. First practices are coming up. This should be very interesting, and fun! Dylan's team is the Astros, but we don't know Adam's team name yet.

So far school is going great. Adam is doing so much better this year (vs last year when I had to pull him out). He goes straight into the class and sits at his seat to start his art project for the day. Most of the time, there is no crying. He is growing up fast. Regan and Dylan are also enjoying school. They are in different classes, but they go to P.E., art, and music together. They also eat lunch at the same time and are on the playground together. Both love their teachers and have received great report cards home!!! They are very tired by the end of the day, and crazy tired by Friday.

Mark won a trip to Cabo through work (sales), so we leave for a much needed vacation (just us) in a couple of weeks. I am getting very excited, but it is stressful leaving the kids. There is so much to pull together and so many lists to make, etc. I should probably start now.

I will try my best to keep this updated. I know I have said that before...several times. For now, I will just leave you with pictures.

Love, Wendy

Avon Walk For Breast Cancer

We did it!! Julie and I walked 39.3 miles in 2 days. The Houston walk alone raised over 1.8 million dollars. WOW!!! We had a great time and met some amazing people. We stayed at The Westin Galleria Friday night before the walk, and went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Yummy!! We met the NICEST couple at dinner. We ended up sharing a table, as they were "crewing" the walk. Donna is an RN and worked on the medical team at various stations throughout the walk. Tony worked the "clean-up crew" helping to take down the stations as the walkers passed through. They are hilarious, and we had such a wonderful time meeting them!

Tony, Wendy, Donna, Julie

We got a great night's sleep and were up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning to catch the bus over to the opening ceremonies at Stude Park. Very emotional opening ceremonies. We cried. It was a great motivator though, so off we went to walk our first 26.2 miles. WHOO HOO!!!

Over 1600 walkers registered

The first half of the day was a piece of cake. We were trucking along at the front of the pack, feeling great. We made it to the lunch stop at 9:30am. It was not until about mile 17 or 18 that things started getting a little uncomfortable. I had blisters that wrapped around the back of my heels. They did not feel good. By mile 23, I was walking on my toes. Julie did great!!! She didn't get blisters at all. Teach me to go buy BRAND NEW SHOES 2 days before a walk. I know, stupid. Anyway, we finished the marathon walk with 3 other amazing walkers. One young man, Mickey, is a 23 year old graduate from The University of Michigan working in Houston at Shell Oil. He was so sweet. The kind of guy that I hope Regan grows up and meets. His mother passed away last year from breast cancer, and he took it upon himself to raise the money and walk the Avon Walk all by himself. He was even a "Champion Fundraiser". Great guy!! The other 2 were a mother/daughter team. They were so sweet and kept us going. It really helped to have a support team there to keep pushing you. We were so tired and hurting those last 5 miles or so, it was entertaining. We just kept laughing at ourselves. The funniest line was "How are you doing, Mickey?" "Oh, I'm fine, I am just trying out different limps to see which one works best". I was so true of everyone. I guess you had to be there. :) Not so funny in type.

Just 2 more miles to go....the smiles are FAKE....we are HURTING!!!!

WHOO HOO!!! We finished the first day!!!

That night, Julie and I had lights out by 7:20pm. We were exhausted! We were up again at the crack of dawn again to walk another 13.1 miles. We stopped at the medical tent for some blister wrapping and advice on Julie's hurting hamstring. I got tape, she got ice. We were good to go. Piece of cake.

We were so ready to finish the 13 miles, we skipped lunch on Sunday. We were done by noon!!! It was such an amazing experience. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone!! We met so many people along the way and had great conversations about why they were walking. Amazing people. Many people actually follow the walk across the country and raise the $1800 for EVERY walk. WOW! That is dedication.

My blisters are now healed. I feel great. I am ready for next year :) Bring it on!!!!

Love,

Wendy

Adam's video

So it was still a little time consuming, even though I had already done one. I realized that I have very few pictures of me pregnant with Adam. I guess juggling two 2 year olds during the pregnancy did not allow for many photo shoot opportunities. Anyway, the beginning of the video is an attempt to show what the pregnancy was like.

Overall, I think it turned out great. I love the songs. I will treasure it forever!!!

Enjoy!


Adam Cade 2006

Keepsake video #1 finished!!!

I have been wanting to make a keepsake video of the pregnancy and birth of all the kids. I finally got around to it the other day and now that I have completed one, I don't think it will be hard to make more! I love watching this...it brings back so many memories!!! Some of it I remember like it was yesterday, and other parts I barely remember at all.

I have not figured out how to download video from our video camera onto the computer, but when I do, I will add the birth video to the movie. If you don't care to see me at my ABSOLUTE WORST, I would advise that you not click on the link! Don't worry...there is nothing graphic other than a pregnant belly. I just look horrible during the hospital stay.

Adam's video is next!

MAKE SURE YOUR VOLUME IS TURNED UP!!!



Regan & Dylan 2003


Love, Wendy

Disney was Great!

We had a great time at Disney World! The drive there was not so bad. We stopped in Pensacola, FL after about a 10 hour drive and slept at a hotel. We were up the next morning at 8am and drove into Orlando. We went swimming as soon as we got there. The hotel was awesome!!! It was a time share resort Marriott. There were 4 heated pools!!! The kids were as excited about swimming as they were about the Disney parks. On day 1, we hit Magic Kingdom and covered only about 1/3 of the park. On day 2 we went to Hollywood Studios in order to meet the Power Rangers. That park was more fun than we anticipated it to be. Everyone had a great time. We went back to Magic Kingdom on Wednesday to see more characters (princesses, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto). Unfortunately, Regan was not doing good that day with her breathing, so we ended up leaving early. On Thursday morning, the boys went swimming while I took Regan to a CVS medical clinic. They gave her an antibiotic and recommended to continue breathing treatments. Later that day, we made our way back to Magic Kingdom for the night parade which was AWESOME!!! On Friday, we went to Animal Kingdom and did a safari....which was very cool! We left for Pensacola on Friday afternoon and arrived late that evening. We were up again by 8am for the long drive back to Houston. It seemed to take longer to get home than it did to get there...isn't that how it always is??? Overall, it was great!! The pictures are in random order, and this is only a few I pulled out. We took over 400 pictures and lots of video!! Enjoy!

Adam was not a fan of the characters. Maybe next year!

Dylan was the hula hooping KING! Everyone would stand around and watch him! Regan did great too, but Dylan was constant. Regan also did the jump rope out by herself in the street which was awesome! I have video, but don't know how to put video on here.

One of the 4 heated pools. They had a blast!!

Hooray for swimming!!!

Still going!!

Pluto was the favorite!

Regan and Dylan with the little einsteins.

Yellow power ranger. That is her name. Adam was not too thrilled.

So sweet.

Monster.

Posing with the Yellow Power Ranger.

Our first ride was on the "horse go round"

Getting Ready for Disney

We leave bright and early Saturday morning for Orlando!! I have new DS games, new movies, and new books, markers, crayons, coloring books, etc., all stashed away and ready to be pulled out at that first moment of boredom. The car seats have been washed, the car cleaned out, and most of the things that can be packed ahead of time is ready to go. Now the mental preparation begins :)

We started this week out on a rough note. Dylan had a croup attack on Friday night. We ALMOST went to the ER, but managed to control it from home this time with steroids and breathing treatments and a long night in a steamy bathroom. He has been fine ever since, other than his normal asthma cough every now and then. THEN, Adam had a croup attack on Sunday night. Again, we ALMOST went to the ER, and we probably should have. He was the worst I have ever seen him, but we did manage to control it from home. I think I have built too much confidence from all of Dylan's experiences to handle things on my own. Have I ever told you how much I hate going to the ER? Anyway, I did take him to the doc on Monday and she put him on an antibiotic and gave him 2 steroid shots. On Wednesday, he went downhill again, and back to the doc we went. Have I ever told you how much I hate going to the doctor's office? Now he is on Tamaflu. Nice. My hope is that he gets better before Saturday, and nobody else gets what he has!!! Can I be that lucky???

Regan has 2 loose teeth...she wanted me to add that in here. She wiggles them everyday. I guess I wouldn't go so far as to say they are "loose", but they do wiggle...a little. hee hee. She wants to lose a tooth so bad! I need to find some tooth fairy pillows soon.

I don't have any new pictures to post, but I know I will have TONS when we get back next weekend. I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!!!

Love, Wendy

So much is going on these days, I just don't know where to start. Too much has happened since my last post to back track, so we will just move forward! Mark and I both ran in the marathon this past weekend. He ran the full (26.2 miles) in 3 hrs 13 min and I ran the half (13.1 miles) in 2 hrs 45min. Yes, I finished before him and therefore accomplished my goal!! Whoo Hoo!!! Very sad that it was so close and he ran twice as far as I did, but hey...he is a natural, I am NOT!!! He enjoys running, I do NOT!

The kids are all doing great! Knock on wood....NOW!! Regan is in dance classes now and she loves it. Her favorite is tap because of the shoes. Dylan is taking gymnastics and he is doing great. We moved them to the YMCA so they could both take classes at the same time instead of sitting and watching the other one. It has worked great so far. Adam is still doing mom and me gymnastics at Cypress Academy. He loves it. I am ready for him to be potty trained so that he can move to the pre-school class and I can just watch instead of participate. I know I will look back and miss those days, but right now I am ready for him to move on. Call me crazy.

In other news, we will be taking our first Disney vacation in early February!!! I am so excited! I think I am more excited than the kids! We are driving (not too much looking forward to that part) so it will be a long trip for everyone. Mark wanted to run the Austin marathon this year which happens to be on Feb 15, the day after we get home from Disney World. He asked if I thought he would be too tired. I just laughed. Oh no, 2 days in the car with 3 pre-schoolers, 5 days walking Disney world with 3 pre-schoolers, 2 more days of driving with 3 pre-schoolers....I think he would be in great shape to run 26.2 miles the following day....don't you??? Hee Hee! I guess he is in for a rude awakening. After all, he works all day and does not spend ALL DAY with the kids very often, much less 9 days in a row! This should be fun.

I started training for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer this weekend. The official walk is not until April, but it will be intense. The first day is a 26.2 mile walk, followed by a night in a tent, and then another 13.1 miles the second day. My friend, Julie, and I are doing this together to celebrate her being 10 years cancer free. So far, the hardest part has been the fundraising. I am required to raise at least $1800. in order to participate. Thank you so much to those of you who have already contributed. I really appreciate your support!!! We went to a launch party this weekend and it was so inspiring. We need to find a cure for breast cancer, soon. If you are interested in participating with us, or if you want to make a donation, click on the link below for more information! Thanks!

http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk2009/Houston?px=4516496&pg=personal&fr_id=1750&et=seWujYCrFcarsJ8qAmGHDw..&s_tafId=310694

Now for pictures...they are getting so big!! If you get a chance, leave a comment at the end of this post so that I know who actually reads this blog. Maybe if I know that people actually check it, I will be more motivated to update it.

Everyone take care! I will try to update again soon!

Love, Wendy