Indoor Soccer

The Grandmas also got to go to Grant's last soccer game.  I unfortunately missed it, but Kyle took some pictures.  Grant played great.  Soccer has been a really good sport for him.  He has learned to be a little more aggressive with the ball.  Overall he is a great sport and has a lot of fun playing.  

We will do round of indoor soccer in the fall.

Grandmas Come to Visit

The weekend after Celeste's birthday Cindy and Irene came to visit.  I missed most of their visit because I was at a Girl's Weekend, which by the way was amazing!  I am so glad I went.  There were 14 women who went up to Northern Idaho to stay in a cabin for two nights.  We relaxed, laughed, ate amazing food, watched a few chick flicks, ate treats, laughed some more, got a massage, ate more yummy food and came home!  It was just what I needed.  

While I was away Cindy and Irene had a great time with the kids.  They brought up a few gifts for Celeste's birthday.  Celeste was most excited about the toy that made music.  She could have cared less about the cute dresses and darling outfits they brought.  Celeste knows she is cute!

12 Months

I can't even believe this cutie is one!  She is the happiest baby I have ever known.  When she smiles her whole face lights up.  She is the light of our lives.

Celeste crawls and can climb the stairs.  She  can open doors and cupboards.  She gets into everything!

At her well child check just a few days after her birthday she weigh 12 pounds and 15 ounces (50th percentile) and is 30 1/4 inches (90th percentile). She is tall and skinny like her brother.  

Speaking of her brother look at how much this girl loves her brother.  She loves to do everything with him. 

(Look at those legs in the air)

Including watching him get in the tub.

Soy Sauce for Beginners

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17346827-soy-sauce-for-beginners" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Soy Sauce for Beginners" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363657440m/17346827.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17346827-soy-sauce-for-beginners">Soy Sauce for Beginners</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7108479.Kirstin_Chen">Kirstin Chen</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/947476518">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
If I picked one word to describe this book it would be slow.  I felt like there was a lot of side notes to this story that distracted from the main story.  The book did pick up a little bit about half way through, but this book is not a nail biter.  <br><br>I often read in the evenings after my kids are in bed.  When a book has a grip on me I will find other time during the day to read.  Not the case at all of the this book. <br><br>Gretchen is a good character and is forced to make some tough decisions throughout the book.  Some times I would forget that Gretchen was in her 30's and think she was 16 based on her attitude.<br><br>There were quite a few grammatical errors on the ebook.  Sentences that didn't make sense at all.  That really bugs me.  I have heard ebooks are not the final edited copy, which is good for the authors sake.  Otherwise she needs to fire her editor.<br><br>Clean book.  No swearing and one sex reference, but no explicit details.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2251204-kelly">View all my reviews</a>

"Look at what I can do"

Celeste has been fascinated with the stairs for a while.  I have tried to teach her how to go down the stairs safely.  We have spent a few minutes each day going down the stairs.  However, on May 2nd Celeste figured out how to go up the stairs!  She was so proud of herself.

It is now a few weeks later and I have seen her go down one stair, but she has climbed up the entire flight of stairs multiple times.  

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/831635.Healthy_Sleep_Habits_Happy_Child" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1380493934m/831635.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/831635.Healthy_Sleep_Habits_Happy_Child">Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/157450.Marc_Weissbluth">Marc Weissbluth</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/944458838">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This book has saved my sanity!  I wish I would have read this book months ago.  Check that...Years ago when my first child was born.<br><br>It is a great book for a parent who has bad sleeping child.  I was desperate for my one year old daughter to sleep. She had never been a great sleeper, which is why I should have picked up the book before I did, but I always thought she would grow out of it.  When her sleep patterns got worse not better and I was at my wits end I read this book.  I checked it out of the library and read almost 100 pages the first day.  I was able to begin implementing the strategies right away. It took a few days to see results, but within three days I was beginning to see a side of my child I never had seen before.  She was so much happier and more interactive. <br><br>The book is somewhat repetitive, meaning the author repeats the advice multiple times, but I am ok with that.  It drove home the main points.  I have referenced the book now for myself and for my older child to promote healthy sleep.   I also found the advice for some of the older children a little hard to believe would work.  I am hoping that by the time my children are adolescents they will have good sleep habits and I won't have to test his ideas.<br><br>It has been about a month and our whole family is so much happier!  We are all getting the sleep we need.  I would highly recommend this book for any parent with a child who doesn't sleep well.
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May 20, 2004

Today is our 10 year anniversary.  Our wedding day was so lovely.  It had rained the entire week before our wedding and I was so afraid our wedding day would be rainy.  It was a little overcast, but perfect otherwise.  

All of our family and friends made it to our wedding.  It was so nice to share our day with so many wonderful people.  I love to look back at our wedding pictures and look at how much things have changed.  

Kyle and I love each other more today than we did 10 years ago.  We have been through so much together.  I look back at our pictures and think, "we didn't know or understand anything."  We were so young and in love.  

I still think we are young and in love, but much wiser now.  I can't even begin to fathom what the next 10 years have in store for us.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Maybury

Lee, Kyle and Chris

(they look so young!)

Me and Blair

I was looking at this group picture and realized how much our family has changed.  Yes, some people have passed away, but our family has really grown in the last 10 years.  

We are missing six spouses.  Six of our cousins/friends have gotten married.  Two share our anniversary of May 20th.  Allen and Gretchen were married in 2005 and Derek and Cyndi 2011. 

We have added 24 children plus Grant and Celeste so a total of 26!

Six people have passed away Bernell, Grandma Toombs, Grant Maybury, Grandpa Art, Albert Maybury, and Uncle Jim.  

We are celebrating our anniversary by going on a week cruise to Eastern Mexico. We leave in 10 days! I am so excited to spend some quality time with Kyle.  I am a little nervous to be gone from my kids for more than a week.  I am sure we will have a great time though!

Celeste's First Birthday

Celeste is one!  I rounded out the rainbow theme with balloons and star sprinkles on her cake.  Grant was a great birthday helper.  He helped decorate the night before.  Celeste was also a good girl.  She wasn't a huge fan of the cake, but didn't pitch a big fit like Grant did.  

Grant loved helping her open her presents.

Do you not love this tutu?  Isn't it adorable?  I made the bow to match.  I also made a cupcake onesie.  There will be lots more pictures to come of Celeste in her tutu.  I had some professional pictures taken for the special birthday occasion.

The Cake

I found this rainbow cake in a magazine and I loved it.  I thought it would be so much fun for Celeste's birthday.  I made the cakes about a week in advance and then froze them.  I frosted them all on her birthday.  When you cut the cake it looked so awesome!

This is the first time I have ever done anything more fancy than just frosting a cake in a pan. I was really proud of how cool it turned out.

Crazy Star Wars Birthday Hats

At the end of April I helped kidnap my friend Auna for her birthday.  Six ladies met together at 6 AM for breakfast.  It was hilarious!  No one was at the restaurant at 6 AM except for these two old guys.  We came in wild and crazy.  We all wore these Care Bear birthday party hats.  

We had a fun breakfast and would have loved to stay longer, but our husbands all had to go to work.  When we left I kept all the birthday hats for Celeste's birthday.  Seeing how they went with the rainbow theme.  

One morning Grant came out of the bathroom with 4 party hats on his head.  It was funny!  It made my day.  He was proud of himself and asked me to take his picture.  He decided he looked like a character off of Star Wars.  I agreed.    

Getting Crafty

When Grant turned one I tried to make his birthday special. I wanted to do the same for Celeste.  A first birthday is more for the family and parents than the child.  The one year old doesn't have a clue what is going on.  I knew that would be the case and so I wanted to make/do something for her she would like.  

I decided to make a rainbow tutu.  Long story about how I came to this idea, but I thought it would be fun.  I watched a you tube video on how to make a tulle tutu.  I was lucky because tulle was on sale at Hobby Lobby for 50% off!  

It was easy to make.  I cut wrapped tulle around this box that was exactly 15 inches!  Just the size I needed.  I then cut the tulle into strips.  Then you just take the tulle and tie it into a crocheted head band.  It is super easy and just wait until you see how it turns out!

Easter Sunday Part 2

We got Grant ready for Easter by talking about the resurrection for about a month before Easter.  We talked about the true meaning of Easter and fun reasons for Easter.  We tried to keep it spiritual, but we also wanted to have some fun activities for the kids too.  

The Easter bunny brought the kids a new swimming suit.  Celeste got a little splash pool and Grant got a slip and slide.  We had a small Easter egg hung after church and after Sunday dinner.  We just put all of Celeste's eggs on the ground and she had fun putting them in her basket and then taking the eggs out again.  We actually hid Grant's eggs.  He had a great time finding them.  

We also got the kids a pair of Croc sandals.  These are my favorite sandals for kids.  They protect the kids' toes and stay on their feet better than flip flops.  I can wash them in my washing machine when they get stinky.  

After the egg hunt we stayed outside and enjoyed the nice weather.  Kyle pushed Celeste on the swing and she had a blast.  

It was a wonderful day!