G-team visits

My folks are/were here this week. We had a brief visit from my mom and a few extra days from my dad (still here). We've been having fun in the sun, playing in the water, blowing bubbles, making laps to the park, got new sunglasses, visited the horses, etc.





Today my dad and I took Maddie to Porcupine Nursery and Garden to scope out the place. Madelyn had a great time with the flowers, 3 dogs, and sprinklers everywhere! My dad probably had the adult equivalent amount of fun - the owners had plenty of questions for him about organic "fertilizers," compost tea set-ups, etc.








We are gearing up for Mark and Ryland's wedding this weekend (wahoo!), which brings Kev and Woolfy and Hazel to town (yipee!), and a farewell party for Mike and Jess (!?)! Here's a picture of Mark's bachelor party poker night (last night)... MK came home as the big winner, dinner on MK tonight!

Back in action!

Happy Father's Day! Madelyn made her Papa a book all about the two of them - here they are reading it together...


Well, obviously, we are back in action, camera-wise. This time we got the "accident" policy that comes with the camera. I have little doubt that in the next 2 years, we will make good use of it! Madelyn was busy reading the camera directions in Spanish...


And currently, we are listening to Madelyn on the monitor - I put her down for a nap 15 minutes a go and she is still chattering away to herself, reading a book in her crib! Love it!

New adventures

Well, Madelyn has hit a major developmental milestone: she has learned to eat black olives off of her fingers with great swiftness and joy!:) I'm sorry I don't have pictures of it, it's really quite a site! She thinks it's terribly funny and has been laughing with chunks of black olives pouring out of her mouth. It turns out she can hold at least 4 in her mouth at a time...

Today we were on "mission: fix up the porch." We ended up at the hardware store and Madelyn had a GREAT time! She discovered all of the pictures of doggies and kitties in the pet isle, sampled the tricycles, and tested out the kid-sized lounge chairs. So fun! Why don't we adventure there more often!

Ah... I think we'll try and shop for cameras tomorrow. I've been taking a bunch of pictures with my phone, but can't for the life of me figure out how to get them onto the computer!?

Bad news on the blogging front...

Well, some bad news on the blogging front... Madelyn and I got home, and it was so warm and sunny that I just had to strip her down and get out the tubs of water onthe porch. It was the first warm/sunny stretch we've been home for in FOREVER. Shrieks of enjoyment, water everywhere, splashing...





Madelyn was having a grand ol' time, and when I turned my back, there was the camera at the bottom of the pot of water. It seems that these pictures will be the last you might see for a short while while we find a replacement....

Other news... today was Maddie's last day with Jess - how we miss her and gang already!! What an amazing start Jess has given Madelyn and friends, we feel so lucky to have had her in our lives. The upswing to it all is that now we get to have more playdates with Jess and Sita instead of just dropping Maddie off!

A picture of Jess and Madelyn in the fall... Jess, we think you are amazing, the best, super-duper, the all star! A million thanks!:)

out and about

We managed to sneak in a little walk in the river bottom in between the rain drops (LOOK how green everything is!). We found one morel right off the bat, and then nothing else except possibly psychedelic mushrooms growing out of cow pies!








Also, all 3 of us hit the pool this evening - Madelyn is putting her face in the water by herself, blowing bubbles, hopping into our arms from the edge of the pool, and desperate to play with any little person who swims on by.

New learning

Boy, it's been really fun these days to watch Madelyn LEARN... here's a clip of her walking her frog in the morning, and after a little practice with Papa and a tutorial on how to flip the frog over, another clip of her in the afternoon.


Last day of school tomorrow for Lisa! WahoOO! It's been a fun but exhausting week, wrapping everything up, meeting with parents, cleaning, sorting, and dealing with extensive cases of spring fever...yesterday we measured/mapped an then rearranged the classroom furniture, today we graphed the results of our watermelon spitting contest, and tomorrow is just a plain ol' FUN day (with early relief...um,I mean early release)! I'll miss the kids, but looking forward to a summer of just being a mom!

back by popular demand...

I keep telling everyone that Madelyn has gotten infinitely better since her last harmonica video and they laugh, but don't you think it's true?! I mean listen to this! And look at her moves! This girl is good!

Little Leopard Cub

Have I posted pictures of Madelyn in her leopard jammies yet? Pretty funny:)
She is busy talking and climbing up a storm today!

A long day

For some reason unknown to us, Madelyn decided to get up at 4:00am this morning... ?! She was not a happy camper by 6am. Teeth? The gaps between her molars and front few are quickly filling in!

I stripped Maddie down for a bath tonight and found a funny surprise (see toes below). Afterwards she cuddled up with her giant bunny and a bottle and looked excited to get the sleeping underway ASAP.



Lots of new tricks underway... most words that start with B are a serious consideration (bottle, baby, bunny, ball,etc) spinning in circles, feeding and giving water to her baby doll, blowing bubbles in her milk and water with a straw (and in the tub), and climbing up and down from couches and chairs by herself.


8 more days of school for Lisa!