What a day!

What a day! Maddie and I started out the day at Lucas' 2nd birthday party -she painted up a storm, and brought home a t-shirt she decorated. And the weather!! It was so nice out that the kids were running around outside without coats/hats! Madelyn would tell you that the highlight was the chocolate cupcake and getting a chick painted on her cheek (see picture)...

Then after naps, we went on a beautiful walk down the Elk Refuge Road. Would the spring sun feel quite as nice without having made it through these long winters? I doubt it:) I know, I know, this is only a spring tease, but I like to pretend...

Hats are IN!

Madelyn has decided that her new neck gator from G-ma Jude is far more fashionable as a head band... I have to agree and follow suit:) Thanks Mom!



It must be a hat thing... Maddie's found a few other hats she's been excited to wear around the house lately!

Home for the Day

Maddie and I are home for Presidents' Day today... since everything is closed, we've been doing a lot of projects, including a little water coloring... things started out innocently enough, paints on the cardboard, some experimental mixing, etc:


But after things got a bit messy, I stripped Madelyn down and they quickly turned into this!:)





We've got a body-paint artist on our hands! Watercolor time was followed by a delightful bath, filled with fun colors in the water and on the washcloths:)

We've been playing on the bus this weekend! Entirely inspired by a pop-up book I found at Browse N' Buy - the full "Wheels on the Bus" song, including moving wheels, doors, the driver saying "move on back," babies crying, Mamas saying "Shhhhh..." it's been a big hit. So, yesterday we gave it a try in real life. Madelyn is so excited about it! She looks for the "bus stop" sign, we watch down the road anxiously for the bus to head our way, she loves it when the bus has lots of people on it, there are fun stars on the seat, and she gets to pull the cord when our stop comes up. She sings the "wheels on the bus" song, hand motions included... Plus, she gets her own seat next to Mama, which doesn't happen in the car. Both trips we've taken in the last 24 hours have ended with Madelyn shouting as we get off, "Bus is going to pick up other people!!" She thinks it's the BEST!

A few funny shots

Madelyn was "reading" a magazine with an ad of a little girl who was making this exact face... monkey see, monkey do!

And this is Madelyn enjoying her bike (and 'cool dude glasses' at 6:00 this morning.

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Madelyn's first chore!

I think I have stumbled upon a willing dishwasher-emptier! Madelyn emptied the silverware first, and all of the plastic tups next. Fun to see her grasp the idea of sorting by different categories! Sorry for the gratuitous footage, it's for Grandma Jude:)

Maddie Bikes around the Town

What's been going on

I've had a hard time getting pictures on the blog - someone's little hands pulled out the camera card while I was downloading pictures last week and I haven't had a chance to play catch-up!

Madelyn's been having a great time these days with all sorts of new pretending games and new phrases... lots of tea parties, pizza making, sandwich making, rushing her babies to the potty so they can go pee-pee, etc. I asked her yesterday if she thought we might see one of her friends at the library and she answered, "you never know!"
She's also become a great help (sort of!) in the kitchen... loves helping to mix and dump ingredients.

Last weekend Jess had a baby-shower which involved coming to the party dressed as a pregnant woman. I dug out my maternity clothes and Madelyn found the Baby Bjorn... she thought it was perfect for carrying her baby around in!


Maddie and I are home having a "wellness" day today - she had a random feverish night on Wednesday night, so we're just recovering (sleep and health-wise). We went to Browse today and met up with Jess, who spotted the BEST little bike for Madelyn - RADIO FLYER, a classic! Madelyn loves it! See video...

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