Fall update...sort of...

Our fall festivities started with the USU homecoming parade. Kylie started dance classes in September and has been loving it! She had the opportunity to ride on a float in her first parade a few weeks ago and had a blast. I don't know what my deal was that day, but I totally started crying when she passed me. I was so proud of her, but at the same time so sad that she was actually old enough to ride on a float without me. I felt so grown up when I was old enough to do that and it's been hard lately realizing that she's not my baby girl anymore. I can't imagine what kindergarten next year will bring!NORTH LOGAN PUMPKIN WALK

The community has a free pumpkin walk every fall where different companies and organizations decorate pumpkins and display them in a park. Everything is made out of pumpkins and squash and some were very intricately painted. The keebler elf display and the michael jackson were our favorites! This was our first year attending and we loved it. I of course brough a camera with dead batteries, so I only got a few pictures before they died. Then, I took a ton with my phone but am not in the mood to download them right now, so sorry...this is all you get! ha ha

So, for those who don't know, USU's mascot is a bull and we're the "Aggies" (for agriculture) This is a cow. Check out the pumpkin milk sack thing with the carrots for utters. It was just too funny not to post!
These really are made of something in the squash family. SHOCKING I know!

Madison was too cold and scared to venture into any of the (limited) picture taking, so Kylie is our star:)

OLD NAVY GIVE AWAY

My friend Kerrie just started a new blog about saving money and using coupons. She has an awesome give away to get a $50 off a $100 Old Navy purchase. Check out the entry rules here: http://kerriekouponkueen.blogspot.com/

JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH!

Do you ever have one of those days when you just can't get enough of being a mom to such amazingly cute kids? My kids have done a great job of making me feel like that lately. Kylie is getting so grown up and mature (more on her later....when she'll hold still long enough for some pictures). Madison is our new little motormouth. That kid never shuts up!!! I am so entertained by her at times that I forget about everything else and we just chat till I realize the lasagna idea is out the window...again...and we're doing spaghetti...again...So tonight, while picking her nose and asking me if she can take some pictures of me, we decided to have a little impromptu photo shoot.

She wanted to show her newly aquired skill of making fishy lips. Her new favorite kissing technique has been mastered!

And then she refused to smile till I allowed her to capture my fishy lips.

She asked me to do a happy happy cheeseburger pose but then got mad when I wanted her to say cheese instead of cheeseburger. She was not amused...can you tell?

Then we got our happy happy cheeseburger picture after all.
After viewing the pictures on the camera and seeing one of herself where she was not smiling, she got very concerned and was telling me about all the millions of times when she was not happy. I even got to hear a detailed description of when she threw up in her bed...about a month ago...

Then she cracked herself up (which she does often) and made her "I crack myself up" face.

Again...like I said before, I can not get enough of my kids! Madison seriously does not shut up. I have to shush her about a thousand times at night just so she doesn't keep herself up with all of her stories. She has this cute, petite little voice and you'd never expect someone her age and size to talk so much. It's actually quite surprising. Lately we have played so much. She loves to fly around on my feet like superman, and faces the wall with her hands over her face counting so I can hide. But I have to say her favorite game of all it catch. I stand at the bottom of the stairs and she sits at the top and we throw a nerf ball back and forth to one another. She congratulates me on good catches and squeels when she catches it to tell me it was a great throw. I wish everyone could meet her just to know how much fun she is.

LIFE ACCORDING TO MADDI-

1. She loves to argue about silly things and depending on the day...she is either "Maddi Kewi (karri), or "Maddi kewit (carrot)"

2. Babies eat from their Mommy's belly buttons and they get to eat whatever we have just eaten. Madison usually feeds her baby after drinking"chwocolate miwlk" because it's her favorite.

3. Baby dolls should never throw rocks because they will end up sitting in time-out for the rest of the day.

4. If you tell your mommy sweet things throughout the day like "mommy, I wuv you, you'we so pwetty like a pwincess" She will do almost anything you ask.

5. She's very well informed about bad vs. good choices and will be more than willing to let you know when you're in the wrong. We've been teaching Kylie about modesty and Madison has apparently picked up on it because when we're out in public, she (and Kylie as well) will say "ewww Mom, that's gwoss. She's 'inproprate'. That's a bad choice huh Mommy!"

6. She understands us very well. When she has made a bad choice, she walks herself to time-out and after about a minute or so, she'll yell to us. "Mommy, Daddy, I'm weady to make good choices! I am sowwy for ______ I be a good giwl now."

7. If you're not paying attention to her, she says "HELLO! I'm talking to you!" in a high pitched voice till you listen. Last weeks scenerio: Terrence wasn't wearing his seatbelt yet (we were in the parking lot) and was on the phone and Madison was sitting in the back seat saying "HELLO Daddy! Get buckled. HELLO! I'm talking to you!"

We love that little girl. Now I have to see if I can get some pictures of Kylie so I can tell you all about how great she is. I suppose this is really more for me than anything. It's a great reminder on the hard days, but those seem to be getting even fewer and farther in between!

SHE'S FIVE!!!

My little Kylie is 5! I can't believe it's been five years already. If that doesn't make me feel old enough...Kylie asked me if television was invented when I was a little girl. Ummm.....EXCUSE ME?! I asked my mom that same question when I was her age!Back in the simpler days, she ran on my schedule and rarely cried about anything. She was such a great baby. We had so much fun!

But now I could swear she's already a pre-teen. She is in love with Hannah Montana and all she wanted for her birthday was clothes and a cd player with a Hannah Montana CD. SHEESH!

She won't come out of her room now, because she is so excited to jam out with her new cd. She cracks me up.

Anyone who knows Kylie knows that she is HIGH energy, and extremely curious. (sometimes at a naughty level) Unfortunately, there are some people who only see her as that and they don't get to meet the Kylie I know. She is so funny and smart and sweet. She loves to make people laugh and is the best big sister in the world. She's a great helper to me and knows what to do to earn privelages. She cleans and vacuums the front room all by herself almost every day. (wish it was that easy in her bedroom) She loves to be read to and we spend about 30 minutes every night reading books from the library together while she curls up in her blanket on my lap.

Funny things: She loves HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and every time she watches it she sighs and says "Troy Bolton is so totally cute!" (in a cheerleader peppy voice)

Loves practicing dance, and would rather jam out to music and do cartwheels in the front room than play any game or with any toy in the world.

Loving things: After Madison got in trouble the other day, Kylie came to her in time-out and gave her a big hug and scratched her back while Madison layed her head on Kylie's lap.

Tells me how beautiful I am and how much she loves me, even when I'm having "fat" days. She seems to have that intuition in knowing when I need to hear it most.

Most of all...I love my Kylie Ann and she is such a light in my life. Despite the difficult lessons and trial and error of trying out this "mom" thing for the first time, we have so much fun together!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLIE! WE LOVE YOU!!!

JDRF Walk Day

I have to start out by telling everyone who donated THANK YOU! We were able to meet and exceed our goal by 161%!!! We had a fantastic walk day and I am so glad we got to do it.Poor Maddi was so ornery all day. She went to bed at 11 and woke up at 6:30 so she was not thrilled about the whole thing;(

They had some snacks at the half way point, so we took some pics while waiting in line. Elyse decided to join us and we had so much fun together.

We took this picture while walking...note the blurriness...

Beautiful Logan River trail.

Cynthia our team captain getting ready for the walk.

Poor tired, bashful Madison.STORY: This family dresses up like this as a hobby and then use what they make (birthday parties and the like) to raise money for this walk every year. They are completely in character and won't even talk to friends and aquaintances without being their character! The mom even shaves her head bald for this! (a little weird I know but pretty dang cool!) Their costumes were super authentic down to the crazy contact lenses and painted bald head.
Pretty great photo opp. He was trying to tell us about a new facial moiturizer he uses, but then he smiled with those disgusting teeth and I lost the point of the conversation. All I can say is WOW!!! That's dedication right there.

Cindy made us this flag. The theme for the walk was "super hero's" and so we decided to do a superman type thing since our name is pretty close to "lois and clark".

Thanks again to everyone for your support. We appreciate you all more than you know!

Last Chance!

DIABETES WALK FOR A CURE

Today is your last chance to donate! Our family will be walking tomorrow morning at 9:00a.m. So far, I have only reached 30% of my $100 dollar goal. Remember that even $1 helps, so don't feel like you can't make a difference too. We all know someone in our lives who suffers from the effects of diabetes, so lets work together to show them we care! The simple donation instructions are located in the post below.


LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

WALK FOR THE CURE

TEAM "LOLA AND CLARKY"

We have this pretty amazing guy in our lives who goes by Papa Clarky. He is a no nonsense, no drama guy who can put even the worst situation in perspective and seems to go through life stress free. (whether that is true or not is debatable, but he makes it all look easy;) ) He entered my life about 9 1/2 years ago and I have always known him to have diabetes. We had the opportunity of living with him and my sweet Mother-in-law Sharon for just over a year in Louisiana and the girls both got to have some pretty great memories with him. Every morning, Kylie would rub his belly and kiss it for him after he got his morning insulin shot. She would tuck him in and pick out some matching jammies for him to wear when he was sick. She even tried kissing the BIG ouchies he would get when his feeling was weakening in his legs.

Papa Clarky still stands strong though his struggles with this devastating disease, even through the particularly hard times. He is the hardest working person I have ever met and has a work ethic like no other on this earth. He has taught his children well and it's about time we gave something back. The girls may not be able to kiss him better, or rub his belly everyday for him anymore since we live so far away, but I want them to know that they CAN do something to make a difference. Terrence and I along with Kylie and Madison are going to be participating in the walk for a cure event this Saturday in Logan. My friend Cynthia and her family are also members of our team and are walking for their grandma named Lola. So...we named our team "LOLA AND CLARKY". We are so excited about the prospect of being able to see a better prevention effort or possibly even cure diabetes in our lifetime. We are trying to raise money for our team to make this possible, so if you are willing or able we would LOVE to have your support.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has made supporting the cause very easy. Here's what you can do:

1. go to the following link http://www.jdrf.org/

2. click on the "donate now" icon at the top of the page

3. click on "click here to donate to a walker" icon

4. Type in my first and last name (Laura Mills), our team name (lola and clarky), and select Utah as the state.

5. Click on my name at the bottom of the page

6. click on "donate to this walker"

7. Type in your information and submit!

You can even remain anonymous if you choose, so I don't have to know who you are, but of course I'd like to know who to thank;) I want to thank everyone for their support and am so excited to see how much money we are able to raise!