Once Upon A Time...

Hi! We're the Schmidt family. Mike, Julia, Mekenna, Catalina and Caroline. And we can't forget about our pets, Boba Fett, Mike's boxer, Coco Sue de la Rue, our long haired chihuahua, Mr. Biggs, our big fat munchkin cat and Barky Mons Naster, our beta, named by Caroline.

Things are pretty exciting right now for our family. We are having a house built and we're getting very close to our closing date. We visit our house every day (on school days) and watch the progress. The girls love running through the house and visiting the rooms that will belong to them. We're all so very excited to finally have a home big enough to fit our family and all of the girls can't wait to have their own space!

Since this is my first blog, I'll give you an update on everyone, kind of bring you up to date...hence the word "update". Haha...

We'll start with Mekenna.


I can't believe how big she's getting! In just over a month, she'll officially be a teenager! It just blows my mind!

This year she started Junior High, she's doing very well, as usual, she's such a good student! Her quarter report showed all A's and B's. We're so proud of her! She's still playing the violin in the orchestra, although it was a tough decision for her. She was only allowed one elective, and Orchestra was it. She was really wanting to take a Spanish class. Mike says the military offers a really good program for free, so we're looking into that for her. She's getting a lot more social so we're doing a lot more running around lately so she can visit with her friends. It'll be so much easier when we actually live in the neighborhood her friends live in!

She's also old enough now to babysit, which she has done quite a few times now, and proven to be very responsible! She always gets the girls to bed and keeps things under control. It's so nice for Mike and I to be able to go to dinner and a movie every now and then and know that she's okay at home with her sisters. She's also a very good cook, especially experimenting with new spices to put on pasta to make it tasty. I always love her creations!

Now for Miss Caty...

In just 4 more days she'll be 11! Man how time flies!

She's such a sweetie and always smiling and giving love. She's just a joy to have around! She loves to help out around the house and is always quick to respond when I ask for things to be done. She's really good at remembering to take her medicine and we haven't had any seizures in a really long time! Thank goodness! She's working hard at getting her homework done, it is her absolute least favorite thing to do, but we're getting better at it. I have definitely seen progress and I know she's really trying. She's such a good girl and doesn't ask for much. She's SO helpful with Caroline too! She plays with her and keeps her entertained, which is really nice for me when I need to get things done.

Although she's only in 5th grade this year, next year she moves to Junior High...or Middle School. In Queen Creek they start in the 6th grade, kind-of an introduction to Junior High. She won't have to go to a lot of different classes but she'll be able to get comfortable with the campus. I really like the idea.

And finally...the princess, Caroline

Caroline's 4 and a half years old but she knows it all! Just ask her, she'll tell you!

We've taken Caroline out of daycare to save for the house so she hangs out with me all day. We've gotten her some workbooks and she LOVES doing her "homework". I'm sure she'll be more than ready when kindergarten comes around next year! She's always so eager to learn!

She LOVES Boba, he's her best friend. They play all day long! She also loves swimming, we've been going quite a bit lately and she stays in the water the whole time we're there, which is usually about 4 hours! The pool we go to has a really large area that's only 2 feet deep, she's so comfortable in knowing that she can just stand up that she no longer uses anything to help her float and she's been teaching herself how to swim. Every now and then she asks us to take her to the "big side" so she can jump in and swim to us. Then she swims back to the side. She's doing really well, although we have to be careful, she's gotten some false confidence and jumped in the "big side" last weekend to Catalina who wasn't even paying attention! It was so scary for me, I ran as fast as I could to get to that side of the pool, but by the time I got there she was hanging on to the side of the pool, all smiles! I almost had a heart attack! She's always been such a daredevil!

Me and Mike

Things are finally falling into place for us. Our days are happy and we work every day towards family closeness. We aim for positivity in our home. We pray together as a family every night and once a week we go around to each person and we say what we're thankful for. It has really helped strengthen our family bond. I look forward to many many more happy days.

So that's our family...there's more to come!