Christmas!!!

Since I hardly ever post I thought I'd load up this posting with tons of Christmas pics. The boys were so well behaved on Christmas day.. Jonah even asked to open presents and didn't just break into them as soon as he woke up. The toy of the day: the ultimate marble racetrack! Jonah also got a DS this year, so he and Tyler have been playing together (I had one already) peacefully.. on separate systems. Tyler got a razor scooter, except the one we picked up has a defect ...so we have to take it back. Boo. Grandpa made wooden blocks for the boys, and as soon as the boys saw them they put down their DS's and let their imaginations finally open up. I loved it! These blocks are so chunky and unique.. I'll have to add the pictures of them later. Tyler and Jonah got a Buzz and Woody doll, and of course they got their Mario brand toys.. Jonah loves his Toadette doll, and Tyler is crazy about his Yoshi slippers. Merry Christmas from the Madsens!




Kissing the marble race track.. in slow motion. I told them to do it slowly because I couldn't get the picture of them together when they did it quickly. We were laughing so hard when they moved slowly together, humming and puckering up.. that I couldn't get the camera into movie mode fast enough..

this is the pic of them doing it quickly. Obviously I couldn't get their lips on it together regardless of whether they went slowly or fast. Dang.



Coolest toy ever btw..


This is a shape sorting airplane I picked up from Costco. I didn't know it was remote control when I bought it. The controls are big, and Sam loves it.. as do the other boys. Funny how the toys all have an age appropriate range, but all the boys love the preschool and baby toys the same. I love multi-functional fun!



Tyler loves when Penguins of Madagascar comes on.. I love that he can even SAY "Madagascar!" Skipper is huge compared to King Julian.. which is the way it should be, that naughty Julian.. ;-)


All he wanted for Christmas was his two front teeth.. and since he was getting those we thought we'd indulge him instead with the thing everyone his age wants most. What have I done...?


The Lightning McQueen helmet and bell, to go with his scooter that's defective. What could be worse than not getting to play with your brand new scooter the day you get it?! Santa.. you should have double checked!!


hahahaha.. I had to add this in. Sam's present to Ben.. LOL



Tyler is a sandals and slippers guy. He wanted green but they were sold out. Turns out he doesn't even care, so long as they look like Yoshi. So easy to please.. I love my tiger!

Jonah's first day of 1st grade

Jonah in front of his new classroom.

Jonah and his breakfast of champions -french toast and bacon!

Jonah on his new playground outside his new classroom

Jonah and Tyler anxiously awaiting Jonah's first day of first grade!

This is how I'd hoped we'd get to school, but the trike is trashed and Tyler took forever getting home. We're gonna stroll and Jonah will scoot from now on

This is Tyler on our way back. The return trip has more uphill climbs and his trike does not have rubber tires that can take the trek. Sorry Ty, you're too slow for mommy!

Our first morning was sensational! We all walked/pedaled/scooted to school together so we weren't too rushed. Jonah has friends in his class even though none of them are LDS. We'll see how he did upon his return.. with a fresh batch of cookies waiting for him! I miss that Jonah.. but I'll get used to it. I'm sure I can find things to do ;-)

Family Camping Trip

I wish I could have captured this boy in all his glory literally bathing in dirt. Yes, his face is coated in dirt. His clothes are filled with dirt. His feet were black.. literally black. We called him blackfoot for those two days. So gross! But hey.. he had a good time. That's what counts ;-)


That dirt was dusty dirt. And he just sat and rolled around in it, aerating the dirt..I used maybe 20 baby wipes on his arms and feet just so he could eat and put socks on. He did well on his own which was great for us. He didn't run away too often, and he got to see a campfire and sleep in a tent. I wish I had pictures of Jonah.. jonah got to go on the raft trip with the older kids and grandma. It took him some convincing but he got in -with a life jacket- into a river after rafting down it for a couple hours. Lucky..


This is Sam's cousin Clover. Clover is 8 months old and doesn't like strangers :-( My sister in law has video of me making her cry.. I swear, I was only trying to play peek-a-boo. She just wasn't into it I guess.

Again, the happy baby. And this is the way you go camping with a baby. Sam was so good the entire trip! He was completely content being penned. I kinda wish he were walking so he could go exporing a bit. I wasn't about to let him crawl in that dirt though. Who knows what chipmunks would nibble on him! Yes, we were invaded by chipmunks.. every day. They came out and I was beating them off for an hour before I called it quits and Tyler and Sam and I all went back to the tent where I took a nap.. and the kids.. again, content. I couldn't have asked for more from them.


Tyler wtih bed-head the last morning. Ha ha.. :-) We were all happy to go home, although the boys would rather have gone to Silly Grandmas. They wouldn't stop talking about it, all the way home. Argh. We may have to take another trip to Oroville before the summer's out. They absolutely love it there.

Final Swim Meet

Jonah is quite the swimmer, and we suspect he'll have earned the award for most improved swimmer at awards night sometime at either the end of the month or in September. At any rate, CCSL (Contra Costa Swim League) was last weekend and I am so glad it's over. Swim meets -although enjoyable from a get-to-know the swim families event- are a pain! You drag your family and a camp load of stuff to the meet and wait 5 hours to swim in 2, maybe 3 events. Okay, okay... I am griping. Having a baby at the meets wasn't fun, and giving up all my Saturdays in the summertime along with the prime time afternoons (every M,Tu,Th,F) for practice and Wednesday nights for meets was a big deal for me. If we do it again.. which we probably will.. the chillens will be older and more.. practical I think. Tyler, our runaway, will acually be swimming in events instead of running away from us.. which I hope will help. He's warming up for his second event above: breast stroke. I-Y-SCOOP-SHOOT! LOL

I'd like to think Jonah enjoyed himself. He still doesn't realize the importance of meets and racing, but that's totally okay for now. I'm just happy he's completely water-safe, especially in deep water. He made some friends, too. We all did. He has two little friends Madison and Kelsey. Kelsey is A team, Madison is with Jonah on the B team. They both trained with Coach Carol on diving during the last week.


Jonah got to be in the medly relay at the end of the day, so he did 3 events: free, breast, and back. Here he's showing us the stroke. We do this before every race to get him focused on what he needs to remember. Back is his favorite stroke.. maybe because it's Coach Beth's favorite? He's on his back doing the stroke without anyone holding him up this year. Good enough for me!


Here Jonah is trying to show me I-Y-SCOOP-SHOOT! It's the movement and reminder for breast stroke. And a fun way to remember how it goes.. also, you have to shout it. If you can't swim and smile, why swim?



These are Jonah's coaches. Coach Beth -the coach, and Coach Sofia our other favorite. Sofia has babysat for us and loves all three of my guys. She swears she's gonna kidnap Sam and take him home. They are both sweethearts and I'll miss having them as coaches next year.


Sam at the meet. Everyone loves Sam. He's the happiest baby you'll ever meet. He's almost never grumpy especially after hours of having to be practically penned.. or at least just severly contained. We are thinking about getting a baby corral for next year.. that way he can get around hopefully without getting away... like Tyler, that sly guy. Tyler ran away 3 times where we couldn't find him. At this meet there were 5 teams total, and it looks like a circus on the middle school's baseball field. Imagine losing a child in all that.. everyone's moving and kids are everywhere. It's worse than Disneyland. Thankfully it's over, and we're enjoying being lazy. Or at least I am. Next week we'll visit the pool. I love summer :-) I love it even more when I have no where to go and nothing to do. But I think I will miss swimming. I made some friends. I really am just a gripe. Deep down I know we're in it for the long haul. It's in our blood. We'll see how far we go.

Girls Camp Expedition

This is a shot from the top of the cliffs where I jumped down into the water. See? I can be brave..


Our hike at sunset. We are lost at this point as we try to find -oddly enough- "Lost Lake." I wanted to make sure I caught a picture of the sunset where I was furthest away from civilization. The colors you find in the wilderness outside city limits -this far out anyway- are amazing. Everything is bright and true.

I have a thing for water. I love falls and rivers and lakes. I love the sound the water makes when it runs over the rocks. In a crystal clear river I love to look down at the river bottom and see the shiny pebbles. I love feeling the rush of the water through the current -to me it's as exhilarating as feeling the wind on my face. I absolutely love the smell in the air and all the sounds around me -birds, branches snapping, wind, trickling and gurgling water. I could have sat on that rock in that river all day if I had some kind of support on my back. This is where it's at.. excuse my grammar..


I forded the river about a mile upstream to catch up to the girls who went off exploring. An adult had to be with them, and the adult at the time was me because the other leader was simply chillaxin. The girls were overzealous and went upstream in bare feet, one or two of them in water socks. One of the girls who went in bare feet cut her foot and had to hike on that foot later that day. And that foot foolishly enough didn't have a sock on it! Can you even imagine it? Ouch! I'm so glad to have had these boots. They are definitely broken in now!


This is my camp buddy Katie VanHoven. She is my camp savior! She stuck with me the entire week. She was my shoulder, my confidante, my right hand lady. She guided me through Oakland Girls Camps politics. I would have been so lost and been so bored without a friend if I hadn't had her. She rocks my socks!


Again, me and water. I didn't bring a swim suit to camp but it didn't stop me from wanting to get in. I rolled up my pants and got in waist high before climbing the rocks to get a shot. The river downstream was breathtaking, but I didn't want to chance my phone getting tossed in the water so that shot will stay in my memory until I return. I loved this place the most.

A New Day

So shoot me.. I know I haven't blogged in a while. We all go on hiatus.. even Oprah. I took a break. I think of it not as slacking off but rather gathering and organizing. No one reads this anyway! What do you care! hehehehe ;-)

This summer we've kept extremely busy around our household with lots and lots of Dolfin swimming. Jonah is a 6 and under and is on the B team which means he's in it for the experience and not so much the race. That's how swimming should be at his age anyway, so I don't mind at all. Tyler started the season without the ability to blow his bubbles underwater so he couldn't start with the rest of the minis. Today he is doing backstroke and butterfly and caught some pennies on the floor of the pool which is more than what Jonah could do before he was a mini. Next year he may be a 6 and under and not bother with minis at all. We'll see.

I got to go to Girl's Camp this year! It was the best week of my life!! Okay, not the absolute best, but it ranks highly in my adulthood as one of the best. I got to get back to nature and remind myself why I love this planet earth. I got to go on an overnighter.. first time EVER! AND.. I got to jump off a cliff! Two cliffs actually! And live! It was exhiliarating to say the least. I posted the story on my facebook if you're interested to read up on my memoirs from camp -in my notes section, pt. 1 and pt. 2.

Sam had his first birthday. He's been waiting to devour cake like this his whole life, so I was glad to give him nothing but the best! -Costco! Jonah had a train cake, Tyler had a balloons cake. Sam gets the sunshine cake. All of them have more than enough frosting for even me, and all I had to do was order it. I know.. I'm lazy when it comes to the first birthday. He didn't even get to his presents! Sam is a happy guy, and whether I make his cake or not his birthday will come and go, and he'll have plenty more birthdays for me to show off my cake skills.

The summer is coming to a close soon. My favorite season is approaching! I look forward to the autumn time the most. Autumn is such a pretty word in itself, and the colors and smells and happenings in the fall are most exciting to me. I'm such a boring person.. but at least I look forward to things.. usually with a plate of cookies in hand ;-) All I ever do is.. well, DO. I don't spend enough time writing or pondering or reading. I need to exercise my mind more. I need to write creatively more often. Kelly has done such a wonderful and fantastic job with her novels. I want to be that. I have stories in my head, dangit! Ah, all these things I wish I could do and never get around to all because my thoughts are always so unorganized. The swimming helps.. I started swimming about a month ago and since then I've had more time to myself in a day. Yesterday I did 3600yds which is a ton comparitively. I never thought I'd enjoy it so much. And now I can't get enough.

Back to reality for a sec. I hope to start lessons up again come September. That should get my mind in gear. Jonah will be a big 1st grader so he'll be gone 6 hours out of the day. I want to start Joy School about that time also, which means 3 or 4 weeks out of a month for 2 days out of the week.. for 2 hours out of that day I'll only have Sam. Oh the thinks you can think, if only you try!

I'm glad there's forgiveness in blogging. Man I sound drab.. what the smack happened anyway? LOL I wonder when 17 Again comes out on DVD..

My familly at the wedding

Tessa's wedding was the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to. Her dress was glorious.. the flowers were breathtaking.. her cake, exquisite. She was an absolute royalty in that gown. Sadly we didn't get to catch any pictures of her or her new husband.. ah, Tessa Delisle. She's deliriously happy btw.. but this is a picture of my little family just after the ceremony. Me and my men.. story of my life ;)

And of course here are the babies of 2009 for us Coltrins. Sam was born in July, Clover's birthday is near when Twilight came out in theaters.. I think the week after.. and baby John was born in mid December. And this is their first gathering. I had to get us all together before the other two flew away (one to Utah, the other to Texas). I love my family!