Snow Cave!

The boys have just about the coolest Dad ever….Chuck spent hours with them building their “igloo” as Briggs called it. So sad to see if warm up and melt. More snow soon, please!!!  This is Briggs (inside) with his friend Luke.

Snowmaggedon???

Last week we had our yearly snow storm here in Oklahoma and as usual, it shut the whole state down! We only had about 6-8 inches but other parts of the state had upwards of 12 inches. I know, I know….for my fellow Utahns it seems a little crazy, but I have to admit that we just aren’t prepared for it here. It’s been 5 days and our street still isn’t cleared. Poor snow plow guys…I think there might be 4 of them in the whole city! I feel for them…big job, not enough man power or equipment.

We were the insane “Oklahomans” who were cheering on the storm and hoping it would literally DUMP! We miss the snow so much and LOVE how beautiful it is. The kids have loved having 4 snow days off of school (but they won’t love it when they have to make a few of them up!) and I’ve loved sleeping in…I admit it. I’ve been a bit lazy this week! But what can you do when EVERYTHING in Oklahoma has come to a stand still? Watch movies with your kids? Make cookies? Sleep in? Read a good book? Get your office organized? DONE! I’ve spent the last few years of Snow Days being frustrated with my kids at the fact that I couldn’t get my work done and this year I decided I was going to be more flexible and enjoy the moment. Liam asked me the other day what “Carpe Diem” meant and when I told him “Sieze the Day” he thought that was cool. And I thought…… “Way to go, Maria! You had a Carpe Diem week with your kids!!!” (hopefully they feel the same way!)

I’m ready to get back to our regular schedule now but am so glad we had a fun week together. When is it going to snow again? Soon I hope! Here are some pictures of the kids and their SNOWMAGGEDON Adventures.

Kayla, Snowman :), Sadie & Lydia

Finally....an update! Warning....it's long!

I have seriously neglected my blog over the last 8 months so I'm going to try to be better at it this year. Here's a little update of the last few months:

May 2010
-Chuck turned 37!
-We finished a great school year (Sadie was SO happy to be done with elemetary school!)
Summer 2010
-Maria took delivery of her 7th MK car...a silver Chevy Equinox and we LOVE it!
-The kids played outside and played outside some more....loving summer!!!
-We went to Utah for a visit with Chuck's family and then on to Wyoming for a reunion with Maria's family. Both were so much fun! We went to Lagoon and rode rides until we were sick, spent the afternoon at a waterpark, played at the winter park with Papa Carl---it was at one of the ski resorts and we did the Alpine Slide and a bungee trampoline (which ended up being one of the MOST EMBARASSING moments of my life!) Then in Wyoming we went swimming, canoeing and 4 wheeling at a gorgeous lake in Star Valley, played with cousins and just enjoyed being with our family.
-Lydia turns 3!!! We had a princess party---Grandma Sessions made Mommy a Snow White costume for a MK event so everyone came dressed as a princess...including Mommy! Lydia was spoiled with tons and tons of princess stuff and just loved it!!! We had a joint birthday party with her friend, Daphne and that was so much fun!!!
Sept. 2010
-The kids are all back in school....Sadie is at Middle School in 6th grade and loves having a locker, playing the flute and having 7 classes...the change up all day is perfect for her! Liam is in 4th grade and has the same teacher Sadie did for 4th, Mrs. Polk---she is one of our VERY favorite teachers of all time!!! Briggs is in Kindergarten all day and thinks he is just the biggest kid on the block! His teacher is great too and he's in class with his friend Jaycee.
Lydia is still at her regular preschool and is in the "Big Girl Class" and loves it although the teachers are constantly amazed by her strong personality. She keeps us all on our toes!!!
Oct. 2010
-Chuck became a full partner at his private practice....go, Daddy!!! He is loving his job, is CRAZY busy and is helping a lot of families. It's neat to watch him and sometimes I'm amazed that we are living our "real lives" now....we were working towared this point for so many years. We are so blessed to have such a great provider, father and husband!
-We bought our new house!!! YAY!!!!!!! After waiting to know where we would be permanently, looking at homes, being discouraged by cost etc.......We found the perfect home for our family at the perfect price....2 stories, 5 bedrooms, on a cul de sac, big yard, the schools we wanted our kids to go to, close to our church AND....it has a pool! (Which mom is a little nervous about but luckily all doors lock from the inside with a key....hopefully that means they are "Lydia-proof") Maria has been having a BALL decorating and arranging....I could spend all day doing it!!! It's SOOO fun! p.s. it's also a 5 minute walk to Sadie's best friends house...she is SO happy about that!
-Briggs turned 6! Poor kid....we closed on and moved into our new house 3 days before his birthday so he had to wait a few weeks for his party. At school they had a Career Dress Up Day and he wanted to be a police officer (he was so cute!) so we had a policeman party to go along with that....complete with an officer from Edmond Police coming to talk to the kids and a "donut" cake! YUM!!!
-Halloween was so much fun this year with Lydia being a princess for the church Trunk or Treat and then changing her mind for actual trick or treating and wearing one of Sadie's old dance costumes as Minnie Mouse. I don't know why I'm surprised....that girl changes clothes more times in one day than any of us do in one week!!! Briggs was....a policeman! (of course), Liam was Zorro and Sadie was Athena, the greek godess.
-Mom decorated and decorated and decorated some more. I have had SOOOOO much fun playing house!
November 2010
-Liam turned 10---whoa, double digits!!! He had a Wii championship party....complete with a wii remote cake that the boys decorated. It was fun! We are not a sleep over family but he begged and begged so I told him for this special occasion he could have one and at 2 am I was remembering why I HATE SLEEPOVERS! Ok, that was a little strong but it's not my favorite thing....as a friend at church said, "they should be called "stay up overs!" I LOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE the alternative of late nights!
-Thanksgiving was SO wonderful because Maria's parents, Grandpa and Grandma Sessions came down from Kansas along with Maria's brother, Dan, and family....Celeste and the girls---Trieste, Lily, Ella and Colette. We had a yummy dinner, made Gingerbread houses on Friday and just had a WONDERFUL time with everyone!!! Loved, loved, loved having family here!!! (also loved that we had room for everyone to stay!! Did I mention that I LOVE our new house? )
December 2010
-Grandma Kathie came to visit!!! We had the best weekend with Chuck's Mom....we just adore her and loved going to Braums, the Journey to Bethlehem experience, Mimi's for dinner, cutting down our own Christmas tree at the Christmas Tree farm, decorating the tree, driving around looking at lights and just having fun with her! Come visit any time, Grandma!!!
-Chuck was featured on a "Stateline" program on our PBS station here that talked about Autism. How cool is that? It was a 30 minute program that featured several families and their life with a child with Autism. Chuck was the clinical expert and it was a great compliment to him because the Oklahoma Autism Network gave the producers his name....it made him feel good!
-Christmas was just wonderful.....we stayed home this year and Mommy decorated and kept decorating until there wasn't another spot to decorate! (not really...I could keep going!) It was sad not to see our extended family but we really loved the relaxing, simple Christmas season at home. What a special time to celebrate Christ and all that the season embraces. Such a wonderful time of year!!!
January 2011-
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Another year has come and gone....I ushered in the new year with some type of cold/ cough thing that put me in bed for 4 days!!! Feeling better now and ready to get back into real life. I just have one question? When is it REALLY going to snow??? We had some little flurries today....we were all giddy! But it didn't stick....we need snow!

I am (Maria) going to Houston for my annual MK Leadership Conference this month and it's an exciting time because my MK group is ranked #4 in our National Area (not the whole company...just our group)! It's going to be a fun conference!!!

Liam opted to change to our new school (the one we're in the boundaries for now with our move) and he's been bored in school for the past few years so we opted to have him tested....just to make sure he was in the right grade. Well, turns out that he is as smart as he thinks he is (OH NO!) and so he has skipped to 5th grade. He was very excited about it and this first week has gone pretty well, but it's also been a challenge----he has some catch up to do and it's been good for his pride to realize that he DOESN'T know everything! Keep him in your prayers....this is a good experience for him and we know he'll come out just fine but he could use the extra prayers right now. Thanks!

Well, there you have it......the last 8 months in one blog post. Hoping you are all well, happy and looking forward to the many blessings that will chase you down this year!!!

p.s. most of the events I have referred to in this LOOOONNNNNGGGGG post are on our Facebook page. If we aren't already "friends" on FB you can find us at ChucknMaria Edgington.

OOPS---I DO still have 4 kids...Sorry Briggs & Lydia!

Ok, so I'm trying to update my blog pictures and somehow, in deleting the old pics of Briggs and Lydia (on the right) I lost my kids! :)  I can't figure out how to add their pictures! :(  So, I'll get it done but for the time being, know that I haven't disowned or sold them. Hmmmm....there are moments though---KIDDING! I love my Mr. B---the Human Tornado and little Miss L----the Human Tornado ON STEROIDS!  My life would be so dull and boring without them! :) (And yes, that is Lydia playing "Peek a Boo" with her belly button and Oh!.....Yes...she is wearing her sisters underwear too! Like I said...NEVER A DULL MOMENT! :):):)

More Easter!

 

Easter!

 

Easter weekend was a combination of Sadie's Birthday, General Conference for our church and um...yes....Easter! We spent it in Kansas at Gma & Gpa Sessions home with Dan, Celeste & girls.  We had an Easter Egg hunt and it was COLD so everyone is wearing one of Grandpa or Grandma's jackets...hee, hee. So cute for the pictures! :)

Lorikeet attack!

I went to the zoo with Liam's class and we did the Lorikeet Adventure...not really knowing what it was.  You buy a little cup of nectar and then walk into their habitat and they swarm you to get the nectar. Here are some fun pictures of Liam and his friends...it really was an adventure!

 

p.s. We went with Sadie's class a few days ago and she DID NOT like it at all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Sadie!

Here's Sadie's birthday cake and some of her favorite people....Trieste, Lydia, Ella, Sadie, Liam, Lili and Briggs. Happy Day!

General Conference means CANDY!

For those of you that don't know, our church does a 2 day conference twice a year that is a satelite broadcast for all the members around the world. (it's live in SLC, UT)  I LOVE Conference Weekend and this one was especially good because many of the talks were about teaching our children to develop their own testimonies of the Savior and making the home a refuge or safe haven from the not-so-nice things of the world. It is literally a spiritual feast for us! The trick, with young children, is to make it interesting and fun....and also to occupy them so we can watch and learn!!! :) We have cute little activity books for them but my sister-in-law, Celeste, got the idea to label cups with topics/words that they may talk about and every time that word is said, they get a candy from that cup. SCORE!  The kids were in HEAVEN!!! Um...and so were the adults...yummy treats!

 

Sadie is 12!!!

 

 

I can't believe that Sadie is 12! She is SO excited and loving every minute of it! Especially because her present was a surprise trip to the Taylor Swift concert!!!  We went with our friends Caroline and McKenna and had a great time. Sadie documented everything in her notebook...what Taylor san & wore, plus what she thought about everything! And knew the words to every song...so much fun to go together!!!

Liam...Pinewood Derby

Liam had his Pinewood Derby again and  had a lot of fun making the car with Daddy.  His car won the "Most Artistic" as it had a lightning bolt on it. It was a fun day!

MORE SNOW!

We couldn't have been MORE happy with all the snow storms we got this year....but I think we may have been the only ones! It just feels more like Christmas and Winter when there's snow...we loved it!

Sibling "love"

This picture should "speak" for itself! :)

Three Christmases

We did our own Christmas before we left for Utah (which ended up being Kansas!) and the kids exchanged gifts. We did have some of our gifts with us and so the kids got a second Christmas in Kansas. But we had some of their gifts shipped to Utah and that's where Santa thought we were, so.............Grandma Kathie flew to Oklahoma in January and brought a third Christmas with her! She was definitely the BEST gift of all though!!!  We LOVE spending time with her and had a wonderful weekend together.

Historic and GLORIOUS Snow!

WE LOVE SNOW! So this couldn't have been a better Christmas for us. Here are some of the fun pictures.

Christmas 2009

Well it's been 5 months since I last posted so here goes!!!

 

Christmas 2009 was different than we'd planned but wonderful all the same. We were planning on going to Utah and started our trip out with a few days at Mom & Dad's in Kansas. The weather wasn't very good (if you remember, it was a historically HUGE storm that hit...but we didn't know it was going to be that bad at the time )  but I was chompin' at the bit to get going ( I really wanted to see everyone in Utah!) but Chuck was smart about things and wanted to wait....we stayed an extra day at my parents----luckily! Because if we'd gone ahead and gone we would have been stuck in Denver, in a hotel room, all alone for Christmas! The roads from Denver to SLC were closed and during the night that we would have spent in Denver, the roads back to Kansas were closed! I was very grateful that Chuck was smart about it!!! I think he was being prompted and we were being watched over! So we got "stuck" in Kansas instead!  Thank heavens that we have family that is close now! :) We were VERY grateful for the invitation from Dan and Celeste (my brother) to spend Christmas with them so we all trecked up to Manhattan, KS and had a PERFECT Christmas together. Celeste was the perfect hostess and made us feel so welcomed.   It was just a great time together---Merry Late Christmas! :)