She's 4

I love this girl because:

*She's unbelievably sweet

*She loves to cuddle

*She has an amazing memory

*She's so stinking cute

*She is always kind

*She is a dancing machine

*She has the cutest little voice

*She is a huge help

*She is so in love with Jude and Ella

*She makes me laugh all day, every day

Happy 4th Birthday Angel-face, I love you so much!

Here are a few Maddie flashbacks:

My 4th of Firsts

It was a wonderful weekend of family time, food, fireworks, and firsts.

I ran my fist 5K. And by 5K, I mean the one I mapped out the night before. No competition - no one to laugh at me - it was PERFECT. I even won.

I flew my first kite. Can you believe I'm almost 28, and have never flown a kite? Rob thought I was joking - but quickly realized I was being honest when he asked me to help him launch it. It took five minutes for me to understand what he meant by hold the kite on the sides and then let go when I say.

And finally, I hosted my first 4th of July party (okay - I had some family over). But we had lots and lots of yummy food, enjoyed a massive illegal fireworks display (on a neighbor's dime), played with water balloons, enjoyed good music and roasted smores in our new fire pit.

Hope you all had a fun filled fourth!

Off the Market

It's official. My brother Dan (who I've always lovingly referred to as Uncle George Clooney) has decided it's time to settle down. Yep, ladies - this man is taken. Last night, my darling twin brother proposed to his beautiful girlfriend. We couldn't be more excited for him. We've known Marissa for years (proof? Check out that picture that I posted a few weeks back of me 13 years ago) and she's absolutely the BEST GIRL for him. Not to mention the fact that I'm PRETTY sure their kids are going to come out looking like this:
Congratulations you two, I love you both!

Catching Up

My sister-in-law recently mentioned that I was going blog-crazy. I really don't have any sort of blogging schedule, I just get on here whenever inspiration hits...so please forgive me! On that note - this post is totally uninspired. I just wanted to fill everyone in on a few things.

1. I am not pregnant (you know that was your immediate reaction).

2. I went back to Costco and purchased the oh-so-recommended tortillas. Everyone is right. Fantastic.

3. I've been getting a lot of questions on how I see what has been downloaded from my blog. Unfortunately, it's not actually a blogger feature. I use a free site (HERE) to keep track of my blogs. If you don't have it installed already, you won't be able to see what has been downloaded. BUT, it will help you in the future.

4. Speaking of downloads, the same two pictures were just downloaded in Poland. I really don't get it.

5. I realize that my new background is 4th of July-ish, but I'm really digging it (I can say that since I didn't design it). I think I'm going to keep it for a while. Maybe a long while. We'll see.

I just stole this from my friend's facebook page. (Forgive me Terra!)

This was taken over the weekend at Bridal Veil Falls. Creepy.

Photo by: Randall Sparks

The Interweb

I'm one of those people that throws everything out on the internet...not really thinking about the consequences. A few days ago I read a story online about someone lifting a picture off of a family blog. Have you READ THIS STORY?! Unbelievable. It made me wonder what kind of stuff people could (or would even want to) lift off of my site. I started doing some research on my blog statistics...and here are the pictures that have been downloaded from my blog. I kid you not. I've been downloaded six times in Germany, and eight times in the U.S. Let me know if you see these awful pictures being used against my will. Especially if it's in some sort of "loser of the month" context.

A BIG Help

I'm making THESE (a family favorite) kabobs for Rob's Father's Day meal.  I decided to look for the stew meat at Costco yesterday.  As it turns out, I can pay $10 for 2 lbs of stew meat at "the grocer in my neighborhood" OR I can pay $10 for 5 lbs of stew meat at Costco.  Who knew?  So I froze the second half of the meat for our next kabob dinner, and now I'm feeling rather thrifty and home-maker-like.  Thanks for all of the Costco suggestions.  Rob and I left yesterday with the following items:

Milk

Stew Meat

Pineapple (SUCH a good deal)

Granola Bars 

A pair of jeans for Rob (they're being returned)

Cereal

A fresh pizza for dinner

Cheese

I feel much better.  Thanks, friends.  I think I'll be keeping this membership.  

 I walk around aimlessly, try some samples, get gas, and generally go home empty handed.  Oh, and I pay $50 a year just to do this.  Help me out, friends...what are you actually buying at Costco?