Under the Sea

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Libby had her second performance of the year tonight. They participated in the Solon High School Dance Show.

Patriotic Program

Maison had his Patriotic Program tonight for school. They did such a great job as always! Below is a video of some of the songs they sang. Maison's body movements and reactions to the music definately bring a smile to my face! He cracks me up!

Click Play to Have a Grand Ole Time

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So does anyone truly know the cost of raising and Olympic athlete? The kids officially enrolled in gymnastics at the beginning of February at Iowa Gymnest. They each attend class Tuesday night from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. So far they really seem to enjoy it!

After the 3rd class, Libby's teacher kept her after for about 15min to work on some skills. She came bopping out and Miss Mary came over to talk to me. At first I was a little apprehensive because the class Libby is in is for kindergarten through age 9, and I was afraid Miss Mary learned that Libby isn't in kindergarten! I just put her in that class so they could both go on the same night at the same time! I was somewhat relieved to find out that age wasn't an issue. It was her ability.

So the girls in Libby's class range from age 6 to age 9. Miss Mary informed me that she sees great potential in Libby. Even though Libby has only been there for 3 weeks, she can out skill everyone in her class including the 9 year olds, who have been there since the fall. I must admit I was intrigued and VERY excited for Libby! Miss Mary asked me if she could move Libby into the Stars group for the remainder of the year and summer, in hopes she could move her into the TAG group in the fall and next spring or fall have her on a pre-team squad. I was stunned to know that a 5 year old child who has only spent 3 hours in the gym has that much potential. I asked Miss Mary to give me some time and we headed home.

I asked Jason if he was ready to mortgage the house to the hilt. And proceeded to tell him Libby's news. We started looking at the cost and the potential for both Maison and Libby because Maison is equally amazing and what one does the other wants. Maison doesn't seem too competitive, but Libby on the other hand, if she gets a taste of blood, we won't be able to stop her!

I started asking around thinking maybe Libby wasn't as talented at Miss Mary led me to believe. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. Not a single parent or child we know whose child has been in or is currently in gymnastics has ever been invited to join these "invitation only" classes. So maybe she really is great?!

At this point, we have opted to keep her where she's at. The cost right now is too much and too much just doubled when you look at the Stars group. Too much doubled becomes too much double plus half when you move into the TAG group...do you see where this is going? Too much doubled plus half plus the car and the house becomes entirely way too crazy when you're only 5! Will she be washed up when at 12? That's just CRAZY!

So, this past week when we were getting ready for "nastics" Libby says..."Mom, I'm only going if I can be on t.v.!"

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Kids Write the Funniest Things

So this past week has been somewhat rough at the house. We have been very fortunate this winter as far as illness is concerned because no one has really been sick...no tummy flu or colds. However, Libby has had this really nagging cough. No stuffy nose, no fever, no nothing other than this cough. (For those of you that don't know, Libby sleeps on the floor in Maison's room, which is a whole story in itself.) So we have been doing Mucinex, Vic's Vapor rub on the chest, and running a humidifier in the bedroom, all in hopes of helping that cough. Cause honestly if I have to hear that one more night, I'm moving out!

*Sidenote: Did you know you're not supposed to put Vic's Vapor rub in or around the nose?! WHAT!? When I was a kid I used to stick that stuff right up my nose holes, not so much because I needed it, but because it smelled AWESOME!*

So, now that you have some background information, on with the story. Jason and I have been recording American Idol to watch after the kids go to bed. Last night was no exception. We sent the kids off to bed and headed for the basement. After Idol, we headed upstairs, Jason to the bedroom and I myself to the kitchen to lay things out for Libby's preschool snack. Jason comes to the kitchen and says "You've got to come see this." I smile, only knowing that it can't be good and proceed to follow him to our bedroom. I round the corner into our room and see this dry erase board propped up on my side of the bed.

Traveling Cousins

Great Auntie Janis and Great Uncle Beau stopped and stayed with us over the weekend as they traveled to and from Omaha. The kids had a great time together! They haven't met but only a couple of times, but they just picked up where they left off last time! They already have plans for Easter. I don't think us adults know what those plans are, but the kids do!

The kids played outside in the snow for just a little while only because it was too chilly the be outside for very long. Libby and Ella made a slide out of the pile by the driveway; Georgia shoveled the grass; and Ian made a beeline down the block!

Super Bowl Sunday

We had some friends over for the game and our family proudly wore their Colts gear. Libby calls them the Horseshoes, Maison calls them the Ponies, and Izzy, well, she just claps when you say "Yeah Colts!"

Maybe next year!

Pinewood Derby 2010

Last year we watched someone send their derby car down "as is"... a rectangular piece of wood with wheels, and it did way better than Maison car, which was carefully carved and shaped. With that in mind, Maison decided he wanted to leave his car pretty much as it was in the box.

He decided to make a SpongeBob car this year. Daddy helped him drill the holes for the sponge look, and he even let Libby help him paint it! We were very proud of him for coming up with the idea and doing the work himself!

Every year awards are give for speed, Cub Scout Theme, Patriotic Theme, Hawkeye Theme, Best Paint Job, and Scout's Favorite. This year Maison won the Scout's Favorite award! The boys loved his car and you could hear them chanting "SpongeBob....SpongeBob" as it traveled down the track! Maison received a ribbon and his picture in the North Liberty Leader, our local newspaper.

Push Play to See SpongeBob in Action

Maison's car placed second in Heats 1 and 2, in Heat 3 he placed first. Overall, he was 7th out of 36 cars as far as speed! Who would have thought a holey piece of would could be fast!

2nd Annual Wasserbaun Trip

So the past couple of years our friends Eric and Nancy come this way for a wrestling tournament up in Cedar Falls. We meet them in Amana at the Wasserbaun hotel so the kids can swim and the Dads can race down the water slides. Last year Sqizzerbella was too little to enjoy the pool, however this year was a different story!

Izzy had more fun going up and down the stairs in the baby pool! She would step into the pool over where we were sitting, walk all the way over to the steps and climb up, and start the process all over again.

Maison had a great time in the whirlpool. There were tons of kids and the water was going so fast, kids couldn't get out! It was the craziest thing I have ever seen! Maison thought it was pretty cool.

Happy New Year

Grandmere Mary and Papa Dan came down for New Year's. We had a yummy steak dinner, well everyone but Maison. He still won't eat it, but Libby and Squiz love it! I think Papa lost half his steak to Squiz!

"You're 5 Like Me!"

Forget the ice cream! We have spit!

Libby is currently 5 and when someone has a birthday she always asks "how old are you?" It doesn't matter how old you are, but if you have a 5 in your age she always enthusiastically follows up with "Ooh, you're 5 like me!" So once again Papa Ed is 5 like Libby!

Click Play to Celebrate With Us!

Sleigh Ride

Click Play to Come on a Sleigh Ride With Us!

Papa and Great Uncle Dan took the kids sledding in the backyard after the latest snowfall. Squiz even joined in on the fun, however I don't know if she thought it was as much fun as the kids did!

Libby loves sledding, but she rarely walks up the hill! Someone always has to pull her up! I suppose it's great exercise, but when everyone else is tired, she still wants to sled!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was magical. We awoke to fresh, crisp, white snow on the ground and wells as falling from the sky. It was the perfect Christmas morning! The kids, when I say kids I mean Maison, Libby, Uncle Ryan, and the dogs, had scoped everything out before everyone was up and ready to go!

Click the play button to experience a little Christmas magic!

The Schmidt Family Christmas

We managed to make it back to North Liberty before the storm hit! We spent Christmas Eve with Grama Shari and Papa Ed, Uncle Ryan and Tara, and Great Grama Terry and Great Uncle Dan. It's been about 10 years since I have spent Christmas Eve with my family! It was really great and brought back lots of memories.

Squiz rescued Rudolph before the carnage began! Rudolph has seen 30 plus years of Schmidty Christmases. It's hard to even see the two of them among all of those presents. I don't know who's worse, my brother or my son! If they had their way, gifts would be put in piles according to name and if theirs didn't have the most, they would take them from other people's piles!

I don't know which Squiz loved more, her giraffe or some random box and the piece of cardboard that was found in the inside! Why buy toys when you have loads of wrapping paper and empty boxes?













Libby made quite a hall! She was super excited because she got almost everything on her Christmas list. Everything from the fake snake to scare her brother with to the scary eyeballs! I thought she was going to jump out of her skin!


You know you have way TOO many gifts to open when you fall asleep during all the commotion!

Maison made an equally great haul. I am always surprised by the simple things they like! We can never have too many markers or other "crafty" items at our house! What I love about them is when their used up, I can throw them away without feeling guilty! Maison is quite the movie buff. I don't think there is Disney movie he hasn't seen!

We didn't lose Rudolph in the carnage,

but we lost Daddy!

The Allen Family Christmas

So we headed up to Rolfe for our Allen Family Christmas. It's always hard to decide who's more excited about opening gifts, the kids ... or... Grandmere and Papa Dan.

The kids got more than they needed, like always...the boys lost interest, like always...and the girls got stuck cleaning up the after Christmas explosion, like always!

Mario Cart was a HUGE hit for Maison! Syd, Maison, and Hayley figured out how to wirelessly (I think I just made up a new word!) link their DSes to play and race eachother at the same time! Cool! Of course I had to pretend I knew how to hook them up when Maison was telling me about it because the minute he figures out he is smarter than I...well, I'll be in HUGE trouble!

I think Libby did more than fart when she saw her train case loaded with make-up and other girly products! It was make-overs for all of the girls. Addy patiently waited while Libby applied make-up and too much parfume!

Maison loves passing out the gifts. Unfortunately he can't pass the ones out in front of the tree first. He has to head to the back first because according to him, that's where Grammy keeps all the good presents. I wish Libby was around to open up the rest of her gifts. Unfortunately Hannah Montana had to do it for her!

Well, looks like Maison can study up on what it takes to be the best pirate ever! Did you know that all pirate flags aren't the same? As for Squizzle, she has her purse, her phone, and her sucker and is ready to hit the road! Libby runs over to Sqizz and says..."Oh look, a we can share your purse!" Libby is such a purse horse!

Unfortunately we had to cut our trip WAY TOO short due to the weather! On the plus side we didn't miss too much as others didn't make it to the Bud Barn either because the weather was so horrible! Everyone was sad to leave early, but there is always next year.

The Playhouse

Okay, I really didn't want to post this without pictures, but we just can't stop laughing! It's just begging to be shared! I promise to post pictures after Christmas!

Papa Dan has had this playhouse for a couple of years, and the kids have been slowly "decorating" it all up. They even finally convinced Papa to store his golf cart someplace else!

Papa and Uncle Rog have been fixing up the playhouse for the kids. When I say fix up, I mean building a loft on the inside, putting a new door on, installing an electric fireplace for heat, and much much more. All without the kids knowing this was happening! It is to be a surprise!

So of course Maison and Libby were more than excited when they saw it! They spent almost 12 hours out there the first day.

Maison to Papa..."What do you think Sydney and Hayley will think when they see it?" (Sydney and Hayley are their cousins)

Papa to Maison..."I think they're gonna sh*t their pants."

Libby to anyone that's listening..."I know the feeling! Because when I saw it...I farted!"

Frankin Baby

Jason, Iz, and I made a trip down to Menards tonight. As we were checking out, Jason grabbed a huge bag of Red Vines, which are generic Twizzlers. I can't stand them! They have a weird texture and pretty much taste like plastic. As we get into the van, Jason give one to Iz to munch on the way home. About halfway home, I turn to look back at her because she is awfully quiet. I couldn't believe my eyes! She was a red gooey mess! Iz has the biggest toothy grin and then rubs what's left of the vine in her hair where it takes up permanent residence until we got home!

All that mess just to save a couple of dimes! As Maison would say..."And that's what you get!"

Our Family Christmas

We celebrated our family Christmas today. Our tradition held fast with each kid receiving 3 gifts. Each received a practical gift, a fun gift, and something they really REALLY wanted. It was a little more difficult with Iz because it is hard to tell what she REALLY wants that is just hers. She REALLY wants whatever Maison or Libby has!

The big hit for Iz was her puppy Violet! I had been looking all over for her and Target and Wal-Mart had been sold out for weeks. It wasn't until a couple of days before our Christmas that I finally found her. Jason wasn't too keen on the idea, but I knew it would be perfect. I brought Violet home and programed her to say and spell Izzy and included a bunch of songs that Izzy likes! The minute she opened it, it was kisses for Violet all day!

Everyone had read and seen Libby's Christmas list earlier in the blog. I just couldn't believe how simple it could really be for her. Against our better judgment, we bought her the game...the loudest and most annoying game known to man...Hungry Hippos! She loved it, however I was a little disappointed because it didn't even have the real glass marbles, they were plastic! BOO!

Maison was pretty set on getting a Nintendo DS. So like the super great mom I am, I hit Wal-Mart on Black Friday at 3 am and waited in line for about an hour in hopes of saving $30. I knew he wanted red, but at that point, I was willing to take whatever they had. I was lucky and got 1 of the 50 they had on sale and even got the color he wanted! I am the best mom EVER!

My hubby even got me a new iPod!

This was the best Christmas ever!

As my brother used to say...

"We came...we saw...we got blowed up!"

Winter Recital

Click Play for Some Banana Split Time

Libby had her first dance recital tonight at Clear Creek Amana Junior High. I LOVE the factthe girls get two years out of their outfits! She says to me..."My teacher said our hair needs to be fancy and we need to wear lots of make-up so everyone can see our faces on stage. So there we were a half a bottle of hairspray, 30 plus bobby pins, and a pound of makeup later enjoying Libby's first recital of the year. She is such a ham!

I really hate filming these things because I end up laughing halfway through because they are so darn cute! I just can't keep it together. However, I made it almost to the end this go around! It started to go down hill for me real quick when she was counting backward from four on her fingers and ended up with her pinky as number one! Jason can record next time! Maybe he can keep it together more than I!

Skating Machine

Maison was invited to a birthday party at the ice skating rink at the Coralridge Mall. I was somewhat hesitant to send him because he has never ice skated before and

I didn't know if he would just get massively discouraged if he couldn't do it. We obviously decided it would be a great opportunity for him!

We dropped him off and watched for a while. He pretty much hung around the edge and made it around a couple of time. We asked him if he minded if we went into Target and got Libby some snow boots. Time we got back, which couldn't have been more than 20minutes. He was a skating machine! He was turning circles and skating backwards! He definitely gets his coordination from his mother!