Disneyland

For those of you who have not kept in touch with us these past few years- we are still Disney fanatics! The first year we moved to CA, the kids and I went 17 times. We absolutely love Disneyland and could not imagine getting sick of it. We went on Saturday to celebrate the first week of school. It was crowded- but when you go often, it doesn't really matter. We refuse to stand in lines, we have seen all the shows and we love to eat and people watch. If ever you come to town, we would love to go with you!!

Any cute girls want to ride Thunder Mountain with me?


Steve & Madalyn on the tram on the way in.


Westin & I on the rocket ride at California Adventure


Chad finally found a cute girl to ride with him!


Getting ready to blast up!

Summer Fun!!

I wish I would have started this blog during the summer when I had plenty of pictures! Now that summer is over, I finally downloaded them. Here are a few highlights from our summer:

Chad at a surf camp in Ventura. He did really well- but my good pictures are video!


Chad and his surf instructor at the end of the day.


Chad and his friend Austin after surf camp.


Most of the kids on our camping trip with the Kelleys in Ventura (where's Grace?)


Madalyn taking a surfing lesson from Sister Billings in our ward.

Madalyn and Taylor on our annual Newport Beach trip All the cousins (except for Kelan) All the cousins (now you can see Kelan) Westin with AJ in San Diego Westin with his friend Jackson on our camping trip in Ventura

Our nights

If you have ever wondered what the Kanow family is doing every evening- let me give you the run down. We get home from school at 3:30 and rush to do homework and get dressed in order to leave the house by 4:30. I drop Madalyn off at the gym at 5:00 for cheer, take Chad to the field at 6:00 for football, pick up Madalyn at 7:00, go back to the field to watch Chad until he is done at 8:00. We then go home and eat dinner( can't eat before- you might get sick). Sound fun? As crazy as it is, I wouldn't change it for the world because my children LOVE it!

I took these pictures at practice tonight. Chad had a scrimmage. After practice, the coach was explaining the procedure for weigh in tomorrow. I captured some pictures of Chad listening (I know- its amazing). The pictures didn't turn out exactly as I had planned. It is kind of hard to know which one your child is when they don't have their jerseys on. Chad is crazy about football. He lives and breathes football and is actually really good. He never, ever complains even though he practices 10 hours a week. We can't wait for the season to start. He has a pre-season game on Sept. 1st. Go Chad!

Madalyn also practices for cheer 10 hours a week. I tried to get some pictures tonight- but they were pretty much done when I got there. I will get pictures next week. Madalyn is in a competitive squad. They have a history of winning regionals and even going to nationals in Florida. They do cheers, stunts and dances. It is very entertaining to watch. The only problem is that she doesn't cheer for Chad's team, so we will be going to two games on Saturdays!

What does Westin do, you ask? He has the important job of being a spectator this season. He can't wait to play t-ball in the spring!

Got Kleenex?

Westin made it through his first week of Kindergarten! He absolutely loves school. He had a great time looking for the Gingerbread Man all week. They baked him on Tuesday and he ran away! They finally found him today after looking all around the school- they asked the librarian, the nurse, the cafeteria ladies, the office staff, the music teacher, Mr. Ben (the custodian) and no one had seen him. They finally found him in the Principal's office! I just happened to be at the school when they found him- it was very cute.

On the first day of school, we were given a packet of Kleenex with a poem attached. Everyone told me not to read the poem. Since I have been so emotional about my baby going into Kindergarten, I didn't read the poem until tonight. So- here it is

The First Day

I gave you a little wink and smile as you entered my room today.
For I know how hard it is to leave and know your child must stay.
You've been with him for five years now and have been a loving guide,
but now, alas, the time has come to leave him at my side.
Just know that as you drive away and tears down your cheeks may flow.
I'll love him as I would my own and help him learn and grow.
For as a parent, I too know how quickly the years do pass
and that one day soon it will be my turn to take my child to class.
So please put your mind at ease and cry those tears no more,
for I will love him and take him in when you leave him at my door.

They say everything you know, you learned in Kindergarten. There are a few things that I hope Westin doesn't learn this year. I hope he doesn't learn that sneezes aren't really called bless yous, that soap is not called wash your body, that shampoo is not called wash your hair. I hope that he doesn't learn that he really can't invent a machine to turn him into a baby again so that I am not sad that he is in school everyday. And I really hope that he doesn't learn that a gingerbread boy can't escape from the oven and run around the school hiding for a week!

Misc.

There are some family members (I won't mention names) who haven't been able to come visit us yet. So- I thought I would put some pictures in of our new home. This in no means gets you out of coming for a visit. We love visitors and anyone is welcome anytime. We really mean that!!!

These pictures aren't the best- but you can get an idea. The second photo is a picture from our front door- it was taken before the front yard was even completed-(the stone is missing from the pillars). We love that we have a view when we look out the front. The kids love to play in the culdesac- there are a bunch of kids down there and it is a little safer. Steve designed the front yard. We love to sit in the courtyard when the kids are playing outside. We finally got some furniture out there- but now with football and cheer every night- we don't have as much time to enjoy it. We love the cool weather in the evenings(even in the summer). We actually love everything about where we live. We know that this was the perfect move for our family. We hope to finish raising our kids here. I don't think we can handle another year and a half stay anytime soon! We are so grateful for the friendships we made in Castaic and wouldn't change that time for anything either! We have made some lifelong friends who I love dearly! I am still trying to get some of those people to make the move out by us- along with all our family members in AZ. Any takers???

First Day of School

Today was bittersweet. Everyone did great on their first day of school. I am so grateful for wonderful teachers. The kids all loved their teachers. We dropped Madalyn off at her class first (5th grade). She refused to hold Steve's hand while we walked. He was distraught over this. At least we got hugs from her! We left her there to take the boys to their classes. A girl that lives 2 doors down is in her class- she was happy about that. We then took Chad- he was a little nervous since he didn't recognize anyone. He ended up walking with us to the Kindergarten section- then walking himself back to class (3rd grade). Steve and I took Westin into his class. It was so cute! I could totally teach Kindergarten again! There is one girl from our ward in his class and another girl from another ward that we have met at our pool. Other than that- everyone is new (notice how he didn't know any boys). He had such a cute class. They sat on the carpet in front of the teacher while she orientated the parents. They sat there perfectly quiet- it was so, so abnormal? Not usually how Kindergartners act- it is still the honeymoon phase! Westin was so excited to see his seat and look at all the fun things in his room. I am sure he will have a great year! Tomorrow is the first day that he stays the entire time- today was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. Tomorrow I can be sad....

After school, Madalyn and Chad could not wait to tell me how much they loved their teachers and the new principal (he is pretty cool). Madalyn loves the new school and is so excited to finally be with her brother again. Of course, Chad's teacher told me what a great student he is- so polite and helpful. They both had homework- kind of a bummer for ME on the first day. It was a challenge to start homework and get Madalyn to cheer by 5:00. They were both doing homework in the car. I think it will take a couple of days to get the routine down. All in all it was a great day! Now- I will try to download the pictures.....

It may be a slow start!

Okay- I am finally going to try this whole blog thing. I am apprehensive- but I guess it won't hurt to try. Tonight is the night before the first day of school. I have so much to do like make lunches and iron clothes- but I am stalling instead. I bawled my eyes out when I put Westin to bed. I can not believe that he will be in Kindergarten! My baby will be gone. We had a family meeting tonight to tell the kids how proud we are of them. Madalyn and Chad have always been perfect at school. We can always be proud to be their parents. Now- we have high hopes for Westin!! Lets see if he can rise to the occasion. We said a prayer for each of the kids-- we focused more on Westin!! He is just so used to getting what he wants at home- and he is so dang cute- we can't resist!! He can't be the baby of the family like he is at home when he is at school- I hope we haven't ruined him.

We are so glad that they will all be together at the same school this year! It is the only year- next year Madalyn is off to Middle School (scary). We have so many hopes for them this year. We hope that they will always do their best, that they will treat people fairly, kindly and with respect, we hope that they will choose good friends, that they will set a good example for those around them, we hope that they are safe, that they make good choices. We hope that their teachers will love them almost as much as we do and that they will love going to school.

Tomorrow I will post pictures.... I hope I can figure it out!!!