Cut Me Some Slack...The Entertainment Budget is Tight!

I guess you could say I have Disneyland taste on a SouthTowne Mall budget.  I know that everyone is feeling a bit of the Economic Pinch these days, but come on...that pinch must hurt pretty bad to make the Bears resort to the mall for family recreation!

Somebody please tell me that there will come a day when we will look back on these times and laugh! 

We will say, "Remember when we used to take the kids to Hot Dog on Stick for dinner and let them play at DinoTowne for a night out!"  

It will be funny then right?

The way we were snapping pictures you would think we were at Disneyland! :)

Look at the action!

You can't beat an evening that ends with an IceCream Cone!

I don't care where you are!

Economic Pinch or not...the Widdowson Bears will find a way to stay entertained!

Easter "Hop"penings

We had an amazing Easter Weekend with our family.  

Here are a few pictures to document the fun we had together!

Grampa Bill and Gramma Minnie came to spend the weekend with us!  We had a wonderful time planting flowers, decorating Easter bags, EATING, listening to Grampa Bill share his testimony of Jesus Christ with his family.

Mia and Jordan connected at the hip!

Jada lookin' cute!

Auntie Jen and Vivy blowin' bubbles!

LaToya and Jada enjoying the fruits of the hunt!

Oooo...Jon so Suave!

You might be wondering where Jon and Mia are in this "family picture"?  

It is Easter...the Widdowson Bears never get a family picture at Easter...it is becoming a tradition.  Mia is always pouting in some bedroom because she hates her Easter clothes and Jon is trying to patiently coax her out.  

Oh Well!

Benj' Go Over There and Be a Man...

"Benj' go over there and be a man!"

WHAT!!??

This is coming from a man who literally threw me to the dogs to protect himself! (Another story for another time! :) Jon will try and deny that he is not deathly afraid of dogs, but I have too many Jon vs. Dog stories to verify and validate that he in fact is MORTIFIED of dogs.  (This personal little detail about Jon makes the following video clip that much funnier!)

(For those of you who might wonder if the kids were in any danger...let me ease your mind.  This dog named Riley is a super kid friendly dog who has been raised around small children.)  

Sticking To My Goal...

I challenged a friend to a post a week with pictures.  Looks like he is not rising to the challenge...what's up Michael Hill!?  Since I can not back down from a challenge I will continue to post despite the lack of interesting events in my current life.

Today, I am sharing some pictures of my little ones.  They are all so very different and I think these pictures show their differences better than I can describe.  So humor me and  take a look at my little bears in all their GLORY!

This is Mia learning to shred on her new Tony Hawk Board.  Kinda scary!

Lil' Lito lookin' like a Ladies Man already!

And yesterday

VivyAnn came upstairs dressed as this beautiful princess.

She said, "Mom, would you like to take a picture of me?"

Who could resist.  Thanks for indulging me guys!

Love,

Mind'

For Those of You Who HAD to See MORE!

A Sensational Six Year Old!

My baby is growing up! 

 

She was born March 13th, 2003 at 1:30 a.m, and from that time forward she has blazed her own trail!  

Without knowing it Mia has helped Jon and I become the kind of parents we want to be.  She keeps us on our toes and challenges our thinking.  In many ways Mia & I are extremely different from one another, but one thing we are exactly alike in is our need to have the last word!  Let's just say it can get interesting between the two of us. :)   Lots to look forward to when we hit TeenageHood!

Here is a list of 10 Things I LoVe about my MiaBia!

1.  She is a deep thinker.

2.  She takes risks, but knows her limits.

3.  She absolutely loves all of her family, immediate and extended.  She is constantly thinking about her Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles and Cousins.  She anticipates their visits more than she does major holidays and her birthday! :)

4.  Mia loves to read!  (Another thing we have in common.)

5.  She takes being a big sister very seriously and she is fantastic at it.

6.  She reveres her Papa Bear.  It is very sweet the way she looks at him.

7.  Mia has amazing Faith in Prayer.

8.  Mia loves to play hard.

9.  She loves to take treats to her friends.

10.  Mia does things according to Mia!

The following pictures are of Mia's Birthday Weekend...done Mia Style!

Friday the 13th turned out to be a great day to turn six.

Mia enjoyed a (before school) breakfast at Kneaders!

She met this little green turtle at Kneaders and could not bare to part with him.

Mia didn't want a traditional Widdowson Birthday Party this year. 

I was a little bummed about this...but tried to be enthusiastic about her choice of party venue.

Nothing like the good ol' bowling alley to celebrate a momentous occasion!

She absolutely loved every minute of it though!

She got an authentic Jack and Jill bowling pin for being the Birthday Girl!

A group of professionals!

(These are just a few pictures of the things we did this weekend.  Please see slideshow if you are dying to see more of the action! )

We had a fantastic time celebrating Mia this weekend!  She brings her entire family immeasurable pleasure!  We love you Meetla Beetla! 

Ok...so it has been awhile!

I haven't blogged for awhile.  What can I say Facebooking is so convenient!   Convenient, but not necessarily as satisfying.  

I miss hearing all of the details about your day to day lives.  I miss your rantings and ravings. I miss your pictures and I miss your sweet kid stories. 

I hope you haven't forgotten about me.  Check in on the Widdowson Bears from time to time.  Can we go back to the way things were before I fell of the blogspot! :)

Love,

Mind'