Maddie is 12!

Maddie's Interests:

• Having fun
• Cheerleading
• Tumbling
• Hanging with friends
• Babysitting
• Reading
• Baking
• Music
• Roblox
• Making Videos
• Animals

Dear Sweet Maddie,

You are such an amazing girl and I feel so beyond blessed to have you as my daughter.  Your heart is as sweet and as pure as they come!  It's been fun watching you share your birthday with Fuzzy and Truffles this year!  You adore those guinea pigs so very much and have had lots of quality time with them these past many months!  You often have them out and they remote learn with you!  You are a very good sister to Emmie and Dane and you've been in "charge" of them more and more when we need you to step up as babysitting isn't really happening these days!  Emmie and you call each other bunny and Emmie wants to be with you all (and your friends when they can be around) of the time!  Middle school has been great for you and you've made some new friends along the way and stayed tight with the "minions" and many others.  You like all your teachers and they all have wonderful things to say about you.  You've done extremely well during the challenges of Covid and always try your best to remain positive.  You had a gingerbread party in the garage this year to keep things safer and the weather cooperated.  It was a beautiful day!  We went to Lincoln Park Zoo lights with the Newtons, Falcos, Gram and Papo after your party.  We ate thai food outside the zoo picnic style.  We are so super proud of the young lady that you are.  

Love you SO MUCH!!

Emmie is 7!

 Emmie,

Oh Emmie....you are something else!  You are your own girl and we love that about you!  You have an opinion and you aren't afraid to share it!  You have so much love in your heart and love your family and friends so much.  You love to cuddle and give hugs. You are such a good "momma" to the guinea pigs and you take great care of them.  You had a great year of kindergarten and made many friends and learned so much.  The end of it was difficult, but Fuzzy and Truffles helped by bringing some excitement into the house.  You missed your friends so much and you didn't love learning from home.  Once summer came, you were back to being with friends and you were SO happy to be with them.  You spent the most time with Ella and Brenley, but have many other friends you love being with as well.  You love to dance and make videos.  You are a champ at taking pictures and my phone is full of selfies taken by you!  You like LOL dolls, like to color and read Junie B. books.  You did cheerleading for the first time and loved it.  You had many good friends on your team!  You also played soccer and tennis and had friends there as well so you were happy to go.  You like to make others laugh and you are a bit of a goofball.  You are also a sweetheart as stated by your 1st grade teacher.  You kicked your walnut and pecan allergy - woot woot!  You like pecans now! :)  You are still a bit of a picky eater and LOVE candy.  

For your birthday this year, you wanted to decorate cakes and make crafts.  This is the same thing you've wanted the past 3 years, but that is what you like. :)  We planned the party, but the weather and a false covid test messed things up.  We had to go to Plan B and you had a birthday car parade, which you enjoyed very much.  We put up the tent at the end of the driveway as the rain was coming down a bit as the cars drove by.  We also went to dinner at Siloh with your cousins and you had a great time.  I was just happy we were all able to spend your birthday with you!!!

Thanks for bringing so much love and joy to our lives.  We adore you!

Love always and forever -

Mom

1st day of school - 1st grade!!

Your "go to" hair style these days is your bun buns! :)

Cheering for Dane's football team - Go Gophers!

Birthday morning presents!

Birthday dinner!  You got pasta and mac and cheese as your side!  Not sure how often that is ordered! :)

Stats: 

Weight: 48.2 (37%)

Height 48.75 (63%)

BP:102/42

BMI: 14 (19%)

Happy 10th Birthday, Dane Train!

 

Friends since pre-school!

Basketball Boy!

A new love for fishing!

Baseball - awesome first season of travel ball!

First day of going  back to school - October 2020

Dane's birthday - neighbor friends over for lunch.

Dane Train #5,

Ten years old!  You are such a special boy with so many gifts and talents.  You were given the bee award by your teacher for showing good character.  You have many friends and have many different groups of friends.  You love to play sports, but want things to be fair and don't want any disagreements.

You are super determined and once again took the "most laps" title at the tiger trot and ran your heart out.  You and your friends had a hilarious skit in V-show and I laughed so hard seeing you as an "old man."  You had a great first season of travel basketball and your team was super defensive and had a winning season.  You are a great point guard and know how to move the ball around the court well.  You also did a great job on your first season of Warriors!  You showed that you are one heck of a baseball player and earned the primary position at first base.  You are a smart player and you don't make many errors.  When Coronavirus hit and everything shut down, you missed your friends so much.  This was hard because you have always been so busy, but we took family walks and made more time for family fun.  When baseball started up again, it was so fun to get back into the sports and activities!  We had a great summer and you rode your bike around with your friends for the first time on your own.  You guys had a new kind of independence along with more free time and you were the "bike gang".  Starting 4th grade was a new adventure being remote only at the start.  You also had increased responsibilities in math and reading.  You are working hard and doing a great job.  For your birthday, we were able to do an outdoor party at Centennial.  You had pizza, played football, ghost in the graveyard, then ghost stories and glow football to round out the night.  It was a great time and you have a great group of friends.  You have been fishing more and started the "no clue" fishing club on Mondays after school.  You will go rain, cold or shine as you love it!  

We love you so much, Dane train and we are so so proud of the 10-year-old you've become!!!

Love ALWAYS and FOREVER,

Mom 

Stats:

Weight - 64.2 (27%)

Height - 54.5 (46%)

BMI 15 (19%)

Maddie is 11!

Dear Maddie,

My oldest, super sweet girl is 11!  We love you so much and are SO crazy proud of your caring heart.  As grandma says, you are a very special girl and your heart sets you apart.  You have had a wonderful time at Roosevelt and are now in 5th grade.  You love your teacher and everything about school.  You have a nice group of friends and you are always finding ways to bring people together.  You are a friend to everyone.  You've enjoyed competitive cheer and have progressed so much in your first year on the team.  You have the best facials and smiles as you perform.  You ran your heart out in your final tiger trot and ran 23 laps - your all-time best.  I think you may be a runner down the road!  You put so much time and effort into your camping birthday party this year.  We somehow got all the tents done!  Good thing you are a planner and gave us plenty of time to get things together.  

Words can't express how proud of you we are.  We love spending time with you and know you have a super bright future ahead.

Much love to my "moodles".....

Love you forever, 

Mom

Emmie is 6!

Our little stinker is 6!  Em keeps us laughing and also keeps us on our toes.  

 Tiger trot (it was on the rain date) was on Emmie's birthday this year which was super fun!

 MOST LAPS! :)

Dear Emmie, Zoom, Zoomie, Zuma, Ems, Emma,

Oh girl you are something else!  You are a silly, goofy, strong, loving, caring, smart, sensitive, leader!  Your laugh is the best and you have always acted older than you should!!!  You have been going to Jefferson for morning kindergarten and Roosevelt for afternoon kindergarten.  You eat lunch at school and you take bus.  You are a big girl!!!  You like school and have adjusted really well.  You are in class with Brenley and you two have become very close.  Ella is still one of your best friends as well and you two are hilarious together!  You started doing gymnastics and are taking piano lessons.  You love to sing, dance, act and be dramatic.  You also love makeup and getting your nails done.  You don't like being told "no" and we are working on having you cry less when you don't get your way.  You are quite the artist.  You love to draw and you have some natural talent!  You love to create and follow how to draw videos.  You also love Youtube and we have to set a limit for you because you would stay on way too long!!  You are a great runner and you and Brenley got the most laps at Tiger Trot on your birthday! :)  You are one awesome girl who we adore so very much!!

6 Year Old Emmie's Favorites:
Food: Mac and cheese
Candy: Nerds
Ice Cream: Mint Choc. Chip
Movie: Zombies
Song: Shotgun
Color: Blue
Sport: Gymnastics
Game: Tic Tac Toe
Subject: Art
Book: Plant A Kiss
Animal: Dolphin

Love you Emmie girl!!!
Mom

Dane is 9

 Pizza before the game at Dags!

Tips for the boys

Pregame huddle....

Dane has one request for his birthday - sports!  We looked into several ideas, then thought about heading to a Maine South Football game.  We had pizza before the game and then headed over for a special pre-game surprise.  The boys had a great time!

Dear Dane (Train),

Our boy is 9!  You are a very determined boy who is full of heart!  You continue to LOVE sports and it's your favorite thing to with your friends and with dad.  You have been playing lots of baseball and you made the all-star team this year which was super fun.  You pitch and play first base most of the time and you do a great job.  You can be hard on yourself as you want to be your best for your teammates.  You've been enjoying 3rd grade and you are in class with many of your good buddies!  Luca, Finn and Dane are back together (you were together in Kindergarten too) along with Rocco, Sully, Constantine and Bennett.  You are also in math with Mrs. Buti and you have been learning math at a very fast pace.  Your confidence is something you can always work on - you are so capable in so many ways!!  You are very fortunate at how most things come pretty easy to you.  You've been into golf since you were very young and your golf skills are really good as well.  You and dad love golfing together and dad says you will beat him in just a few years.  

9 year old Dane's Favorite Things:

Food - Ribs

TV-Show - Dude Perfect/That's Amazing

Book - Stink/Magic Misfits

Subject - Health

Color - Pink and lime green

Candy - Reeses and Skittles

Sport- Basketball and Golf

Sports Teams- Warriors, Saints, Chiefs, Bears, Bulls

Athletes - Steph Curry, Rondal Moore, Carsen Edwards, Klay Thompson, Alvin Kamara, Micheal Thomas, Drew Brees

We love you so much and we are so SUPER proud of you.  Keep smiling that big Dane smile and remember to keep it right upstairs!

Love, Mom