Ballet Beauty

Thursday was parent watch week at Maddie's Ballet class. She was so thrilled to have Mommy and Daddy there to watch as normally they don't allow parents in the class. She wanted me to braid her hair the night before so she could have "kinkies" the next day. We are so proud of how well she listened to the teacher and followed along. I feel bad saying it, but almost kind of not what we expected from Maddie because, well...she's Maddie! Recital is at the end of May and I think she'll definitely be ready! After class we went out to lunch with Daddy at Wendy's. What a fun morning of being together...we love you Maddie girl!

Every kid does it once...

Maddie...there is no one like Maddie...she is our mischievous one...the little troublemaker...spunky, cute, but when there's an interesting situation to get yourself into...Maddie finds it!! I remember I did something similar when I was a kid...most kids do it at some time or another and today it was Maddie's turn. I was sitting at the computer and I hear "Owww...Mommy!" I look over and Maddie is standing there holding a toy train up to her head...then as she got closer I realized it was practically connected to her head...by her hair!!! In the adventurous spirit of Maddie, she put the train on top of her head, pressed the button to make the wheels turn, and proceeded to wind her hair around the wheels. And boy was it caught!! I tried to get Quinn to unscrew the screws by the battery compartment (thinking maybe it provided access to the wheels), but he said it wasn't likely. After about five minutes of trying to make any progress, I asked again and you know what? I was right - the wheels popped out and the train came off! I guess it had weakened the hair because it didn't take much fidgeting and the hair just kind of broke off, freeing Maddie from the wheels. We thought a picture by picture play might be fun...what a kid!

Molasses Cookies Made by Madison!

Maddie and I had some extra time this morning to spend making cookies together. It was a spur of the moment thing and we had a great time full of fun. Papa Al wasn't feeling good on Sunday, so we decided to make him some cookies we know he'll love (It's Nita's recipe) :)! Maddie did most of the work herself, including scooping the dough into balls, rolling them smooth and then rolling them in sugar. Then we put them on the stones to bake and flatened them with the bottom of a drinking glass. She was such a sweet girl today - I really think she loves spending time one on one with Mom. After the cookies, we had lunch, cleaned up and then went to the park for a brief 15 minutes of swinging and sliding. It was only 34 degrees and sooo cold! But the sun was out and that made it nice. There is an older couple at church that have had some health problems and Maddie and I then took them a container full of the cookies we made. Mr. and Mrs. Bush LOVED seeing Maddie (she gave them the cookies herself along with big hugs) and loved that we stopped by with the cookies. (I was a bit nervous cause I just dropped in without calling) After that we decided to check out books at the Library and then it was off to pick up Grace from school. All in all, it was a great day - busy, but a good busy and It felt so good to spend some quality time with Maddie. Faith was there too, but just along for the ride! She's growing up so fast...I hope she stays little for a while longer...

Our Sweet Princesses!

The girls decided to get all dressed up this morning - complete with fake hair! Too cute not to snap a picture and post it on the blog - I'd fail my mommy responsibilities if I didn't! Faith is not feeling well and is taking a nap, but maybe some other time we'll get a cute shot of her to post. Have a great week everyone!

Maddie

What a hoot!!

Grace the painter

OK, so the kids were finger painting, and things started to get a bit out of control. So what to do? Well, break out the camera of course!!

When did she start to look like such a big girl?

Faith

Grace loves to color

My better judgment caused me to remove the other pic. of Grace. Sorry honey.

Many faces of Maddie

Determination

Faith has started crawling - more like dragging herself across the room by her arms and pushing with her feet. She's not quite up on her hands and knees, but still quite fast at what she does! I took this about a month ago and I just liked this shot. The look on her face is sweet. She's growing up fast! 

Snuggling with Nana & Poppa

The girls love to get in my parents' big King size bed and snuggle. I decided to grab my camera and snap some pics because they all looked so cute - even though dad was fading fast! The pics were a little overexposed because I shot them in the dark and the flash compensated by coming on full force, but in black and white they turned out decent and I think they are really cute!!

 

Heidi - "Love me, love my cats!"

I know this pic is blown out, but I liked it. Sidney is such a pill to most, but you'll never totally convince my mom of that! She has a big heart for her kitties - even Sid! He's her baby!
 

Two peas in a pod

Maddie is so taken with her Poppa Wes - she talks about him all the time at home and sticks to him like glue when we visit Ohio. I must say that my dad is such a great grandpa! He loves to play with the kids - whether it's hide and go seek (one of their favorites) or playdoh or walking in the woods looking for Pooh's house or coloring or just dancing to records in the living room and having a blast - they LOVE it! Here's Maddie and Poppa coloring and conversing...


 

Columbus Part III - see below for parts I & II

Yes, Faith was there too, although you wouldn't know it since this is the only picture we took of her the whole weekend! Love that precious face! I don't think she liked Poppa's hat!

Two brothers - Quinn and Matthew. Love them!

Maddie, Grandpa, Grace and Quinn - haven't taken many pics of Grandpa in a while. With the condition his health is in I'm glad we got one of him and the girls. I love the way he's looking at Mads. He seems quite taken with her everytime we visit and mom says he talks about her a lot. She's a crackup that's for sure!

Grandpa and I - I think the last time we took a pic together of just us was hmmmm.....never?