Milczarek Family

Goodness!

2008-11-14T11:26:00.001-08:00

I haven't really found the time to keep this page updated, so here are some pics for now. In the meantime, come see me on Facebook!

It's Attack Daddy Night!

Look what I built!

Punk Rocker Girls

My big punk rocker!

Petting the goats at the zoo.

Sydney is 2!!!!

2008-05-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Sydney's 2nd birthday as a family. Some would think celebrating as a family at home would mean small and quaint. However, with a family like ours... it's not quite so small or quaint. It was a very nice family get together and everyone brought something to contribute to the meal. We know many people who are far from "home" and don't have family close, let alone family as large as ours... we are grateful for our family.

Happy Birthday Sweet Sydney. You are loved more than you know...

Her Birthday started out at music class. For some reason, Miss Sydney is not all that excited about music class. She loves to sing and dance at home, but the second we walk into that room, she gets grumpy. It takes almost the whole 45 minute class for her to warm up and by then, what's the point!

This was Sydney's actual Birthday celebrated with the four of us. Cupcakes and sisterly love all around!

Okay, now I told you we have a huge family! This is just half the room.

This is Sydney's cake. It's a Cars cupcake cake. I wish I had a better picture, it was so cute. She even goes to bed with them sometimes... silly girl!

Just Sharing Pics

2008-04-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Things around here are just as crazy as ever and we are loving it. Nothing new to share just some cute pics of my girls. Miss Sydney will be 2 in May! It's just crazy, but I can't wait until all the diapers are gone! woo hoo!!!!

This is an Easter picture. I'd love to say this was a candid beautiful sister moment, but no, I had to ask for them to give loves. Still cute though!

Miss Sydney with her sherbert. She has to make sure she gets the stuff she spilled!

Okay, now this one needs a bit of explaining... every single day when the girls get out of the shower, one is a monkey (the brown one) and the other is the elephant (the blue one). For some reason it makes more sense to them to walk into the bedroom and curl up on the floor instead of drying off. They also take on the behavior of the animal they are wearing. It's too cute and I love it although it makes for a longer timeframe between showers and getting dressed and increased probability that Sydney will PEEEEEEEEE before I get a diaper on her!

Mackenzie and her friend, Mauren went to Shamrock Farms to visit Roxie and all her friends. We had a great time and learned a lot about the process of getting the milk to our stores.

These are my lazy babies, every morning they want their warm milk in a sippy (this is the only time Kenzie will get a sippy and hers has ovaltine in it). They are so cuddly and sometimes they let me cuddle too as long as I don't get it in way of their cartoons!

Easter

2008-03-25T18:20:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of all of us coloring Easter eggs
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Little Miss Sydney having more fun coloring herself than the egg.

Yes I'm cute and yes I colored my face, but give me some credit I only dropped one egg!

No pictures please, I'm busy.

Now why are we coloring eggs again? Oh yeah to make the biggest mess possible... oh well, I'll have fun and just accept it!

I can't wait, it's almost ready to take out... it's going to be so pretty!

Okay, and as a friend mentioned in the posts, I didn't include any pics of the finished product. I don't know why I didn't think of it considering we have over 30 pictures of the finished product! Yes, Ryan took close ups of just about every egg and we made 3 dozen!!!

Here are all of them. We cleaned up all the dyes, threw away all the trash, put them on the table as a centerpiece, and then put them in the fridge! We got to enjoy the finished product for all of 5 minutes. I eat so many devilled eggs that I'm a little freaked out about my eggs sitting out for the time it takes to color them. I have to report though, that all is well after eating them!

The beautiful girls in their Easter dresses. This was the best picture I could get.

The Frog Prince

2008-03-03T22:46:00.000-08:00

This is an absolutely beautiful picture of Mackenzie and her cousin, Cami. Oh how I wish my digital camera was more powerful!

My sister's kiddos and Mackenzie went to the Frog Prince at the Mesa Center for the Arts put on by EVCT (East Valley Children's Theater). They had a great time and it was a cute play. They dressed up as princesses themselves and drew a lot of attention... fitting for the princesses they are! Thank you to my sis for suggestion we go. I see more EVCT plays in our future!

And one last picture of the girls ready for the show... for the most part, they sat there VERY still and enthralled for an entire hour!

Snooooowwwwww!

2008-02-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

We went north Sunday to Strawberry, AZ (just north of Payson) to play in the snow. We had a great time and the girls loved it. Ryan and I are a bit sore and bruised up from the sledding, but the girls seemed to have made it out unscathed. There's not much else to say other than enjoy the pics...

I'm ready to go! This is Mackenzie's first time out in real snow. She says there is no real difference between real snow and snow cones! Oh how I wish we get a chance to go when the stuff is actually falling from the sky so she'll have a better understanding.

Wipe Out! That is Sydney and Mackenzie. They were lucky enough to be wearing bulky snow gear so they didn't feel that fall. Mom and Dad on the other hand were not so lucky. We both have bumps and bruises!

Could I BE wearing anymore clothes?

My first snowman. The snow wasn't fresh enough to roll into big balls so we just piled up some and here he is..... Mr. Snowman.

Ryan couldn't wait for the kiddos to lose interest in the blocks. He was dying to make something. I call it a giraffe and he calls it a horse. That's a pretty long neck for a horse if you ask me!

My Baby's 5

2008-01-15T21:18:00.001-08:00

It's true. My little girl is not so little. On January 14th, Miss Mackenzie turned 5. She met this milestone with some excitement and trepidation. First of all, in her mind, 5 year olds are bigger and stronger which means she can now go two bars on the monkey bars by herself, she can pour her own milk, and she can pick up her little sis. But at the same time, her silly Mom put too much emphasis on the fact that when she's 5 she gets to go to Kindergarten. She's excited but thought that the day she turned 5 she had to "go off to school". She honestly thought we were going to ship her off to boarding school or something. She's worried about missing us. Eeeks. I hope I didn't do this to her. We'll figure it out together.

This week Ryan and I will visit two schools and hopefully decide which one she'll fit into best by registration. Speaking of, registration is Feb. 19th, which seems sooooo early to me.

The whole princess gang at Mackenzie's princess party, minus Sydney who had just run out of the picture.

She's thinking hard about her wish... Want to know what it is? I wish, I wish, that we can all be friends forever. Got to love it!

Here's a front view of Ryan's masterpiece. Every year he comes up with a new creation. At least one of us is artistic!

Towards the end of the night when Mackenzie started to lose her mind. She still takes naps and believe me, she needs them. But on this day, her special day, she convinced me that she'd be fine because she's 5 now. Well, she was well behaved, but a bit more distracted and silly that usual.

The princess wanted to make mini bagel pizzas for her party and I made fruit wands for the little princesses. Here they are at the royal table.

Snow Day

2007-12-17T17:21:00.000-08:00

Sad as it is, Mackenzie Rae had never seen snow until this weekend. Poor thing is almost 5 years old.... anyway, we went to Mother Nature's Farm and to my sister's neighborhood snow days to play and sled in the "snow". Unfortunately, the quotes are because it was fake stuff, not the real stuff. They crush ice and then spray it in the air. Despite all that, the kids had a great time and here are some of the pics to prove it.

Out looking at Christmas lights.

Cheese!

First ride down the hill! Hmmmm....

I think I should eat it!

Shelby taking Sydney down the hill

Sorry for chopping your head off Kenzie!

Gotchya!

A Day At The Zoo

2007-11-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

We are Phoenix Zoo members so we go pretty often, but this time it was for Ryan's company picnic. The girls and I usually go on weekdays to avoid crowds, so Daddy doesn't usually get to go. This time was a family event and we had a great time. We are sporting our tie dye shirts that Mackenzie made for us. Yes we looked a bit goofy, but it was clear we belonged together.

Ms. Sydney Shea first wanting to get in with the monkeys then being "too cool"

Ms. Mackenzie Rae in all her glory!

Couldn't help but post this one!

Sedona

2007-11-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

It's sad but true, fall is two hours away! What I mean is, we had to drive two hours north just to see leaves falling. We just spent the weekend with our brother and sister in law in beautiful Sedona. We had a great time and want to share some of our pictures.

The family on a hike

Having fun on the deck of our creekhouse. Thanks Aunt Shefali and Uncle Gavin!

Sydney attacking her sister

The biggest leaves in the world!

Auntie Shefali teaching Kenzie how to hike

The car ride home!

Halloween Time

2007-11-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Halloween around our house is always a huge thing, thanks to Ryan. Every year since I've known Ryan he's had a Halloween party. We love getting all of our family and friends together for a night of dressing up silly, lots of food, and catching up. In some cases we get to see people we haven't seen since the last Halloween party. This year was no exception, our 8th Annual Milczarek Halloween Party was as fun as usual. Here are some pics...

Some of the guests... Nach Family, Darryl and Suzanne (Mom and Dad) and Graham Family (Kaiden is missing from the pic, probably ran off to play with the other kids)

Barb and Steve (Mom and Dad), Jason (my brother)

This is the pinata frenzy!

Ryan as The Big Bad Wolf, the girls were the three little pigs, but we didn't get any pictures of us. Hopefully someone else got one and will send it to us!

This is our 2nd Annual Haunted Garage! We have a great time making it and this year Mackenzie was a huge help!

More pictures of Halloween night to follow soon! Thanks again to all of our friends and family for making this year's party as fun as always!

Painting at the Phoenix Zoo

2007-10-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

A good friend of ours told us about a neat event at the Phoenix Zoo on Monday. The Wyland Foundation (A non-profit environmental group) Every Drop Counts tour was in town, and the environmental marine life artist, Wyland, was painting a mural at the zoo. The really neat part is that he invited kids to join him. The mural will stay at the Phoenix Zoo at a location to be decided later. I will be sure to update when I know where it will be. The really, really neat part is that Mackenzie got a chance to paint and below is her artwork...

Mackenzie's butterfly

Wyland, the artist, with Mauren and Mackenzie after they finished painting

Wyland with the whole group in front of the mural. Mackenzie is right up front.

Too Long

2007-10-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

Goodness! It has been too long since our last post.

Ryan and I just celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary yesterday. On our anniversary, we enjoy talking about our actual wedding day and every year we say it feels like it was just last year. It's really fun remembering what a great day it was. The only thing that stunk was that it was 105 degrees out. Our wedding was at 10am, so the wedding itself was nice, but it started getting so hot that our poolside reception didn't last too long! That's okay, because we had an after party at my parents house and got to continue the celebration.

We are really in the swing of things, just in time for all the holidays to kick in and mess up our routine. Oh well, that just keeps us on our toes and having fun. Mackenzie had her first sleep over at Bama and Papa's house last night for THE FIRST TIME. She had a great time and said, "she was having too much fun to miss us!" That was so sad, yet so great to hear. Sydney really missed her sister while she was gone. She didn't really look for her, but she really seems out of sorts until her sissy came home. They are all napping right now, Daddy too. I look forward to spending time with the whole family as soon as everyone gets up. Here are some of our more recent pics. Enjoy.

Here is Sydney keeping busy while we were cleaning the garage.

Anyone notice a trend here?

Here is Mackenzie dressed and ready for her dance class.

Look, I'm floating without any help. I'm a Duck right now, next year I'll be a Seahorse!

Hi!

Here is Mackenzie looking way too old for 4 1/2!

This and That

2007-09-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

First, Mackenzie started Jazz/Ballet combo class last week. Here is a picture of her in first position (ballet). She loves dressing up for class and reminds the teacher every time that she is a good listener and some of the other kids are not. Although that is true and I am very proud of her, we need to work on not pointing out others' faults. Any ideas on that one?

Next, my friend and neighbor introduced me to www.bountifulbaskets.org . It's a produce co-op that gets its produce from a warehouse that distributes to our local restaurants and grocery stores. You pay $15 dollars for the basket and get between $35 and $50 worth of fruits and veggies. The pick-up dates are every 2 weeks and you can participate whenever you want. I did it this last weekend and I am very happy with what I got. Here is a picture of what I got this week all for just $15. They also sell other things like granola, honey, olive oil, and peaches.

Great Time

2007-08-29T12:41:00.001-07:00

It's been too long since the last post. First of all, we had a great time in NY with family. We have a huge family and we are so grateful for their hospitality while we were up there. Click on the picture of the girls looking out the plane window below to view the pics from the trip. There are a lot there, but if you have the time, you have to see the beauty of Niagra Falls.

Trip to NY

As for the normal stuff, Mackenzie starts preschool (just two days a week) in two weeks. She is excited and more than ready. Sydney is repeating just about every word we ask her to and now has a vocabulary that includes up, ball, purple, apple, and of course "no". I honestly think she's forgotten how to say momma. She will say, "hi daddy" when he gets home from work or on the phone, but I haven't heard momma in a long time! Oh well, I'm still excited hearing real words from her. Here are some of our latest pics of the girls.

This is Sydney's new silly face, I love it!

Mackenzie swinging away in cousin Doreen's backyard

Beautiful girls and getting ready for our trip to NY

2007-08-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here the girls are drinking their morning milk and watching cartoons. Shhh! Don't tell Sydney, Kenzie's milk is chocolate!

Sydney wants to be just like her big sis, she is willing to push her out of the way to do it too. Here they are in Mackenzie's new reading corner. She is so proud of it.

Now Ryan just had to be mean and take a picture of me packing for our 11 day upstate NY trip. I'm sure he's documenting my overpacking problem for further discussion, i.e. rubbing it in when I have to pay the over 50lbs. fee at the ticket counter.

I truly can laugh at the fact that I was thinking I could fit both the girls clothes and mine it that bag!

Trip to Tucson

2007-07-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our trip to the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson last weekend. Actually, these pictures were all from the water play-area at the zoo, but you gotta do what you gotta do to keep cool right?

Playin' in the pond

Adorable

Woohooo!

Look what I did!!!

Great Fun

2007-07-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

I'm ready for the bike parade!

115 Degrees, do I need to say more?

Daddy and Me, where to next?

Sydney's got the right idea!

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Mackenzie insisted on calling the 4th Flag Day. We tried to tell her that there is another day with that name and the 4th was Independence Day. Try convincing a 4 year old that you know what you are talking about! Maybe next year.

Well, lets see... here are some pics of our week. We would love to hear how everyone else celebrated. Let us know.

~C

Happy 4th!

2007-06-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well, the 4th falls on a Wednesday this year, but that's not going to stop us from having fun! It should be a "blast" at the park this 4th, with the new attractions and activities they will have this year.

We decorated Kenzie's bike with 4th of July regalia for a parade and we plan on spending a little time in the water attractions since its supposed to be 114 degrees that day! "But it's a dry heat"

We should get some nice shots from the festivities, so we'll post 'em later.

~R

New Blog

2007-06-24T13:20:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

We created this site to keep all of you up to date with us and to hopefully stay in contact with those of you we don't get a chance to talk to often. I will probably update once a week, so stay tuned!