A fiddler in the making!

Last night we went to the Shuptrine's for a garden celebration, and our little friend Flynn gave Maddie his tiny violin!! What a great gift! Flynn's parents assured me it wasn't more than a few bucks on e-bay, so we need not worry about Madelyn's handling of it... that said, it looks and sounds great for a beginner's instrument! Flynn put a sticky note on the case reminding Madelyn to rosin her bow before playing, and just now in our last little "jam session," Madelyn has rosined at least 3 times! Too much fun to watch her play and make up songs!








Here are also some pictures from a fun time last night. Madelyn and Flynn were kindred spirits in playing with the hoses and tempting fate with the sprayers!

nother busy week - I suppose they all are from here on out! We've had some fun family adventures out in Kelly lately... went out to Kelly last weekend to celebrate our anniversary! There is a prescribed burn up the middle fork of Ditch Creek, and it was really smokey, so rather than hike up to our wedding spot, we played in Kelly proper. We hit the Kelly School playground, the Landale's, the Hoovers, and last but not least, the Kelly sandwich shop. Here's Madelyn playing on the swing with Sunny.


Mike and Madelyn also joined me in Kelly for our school potluck on Thursday. Madelyn had a great time playing with the "big kids," and exploring every nook and cranny in my classroom. Out of the entire experience, what impressed Madelyn the most was not my guitar, or the cool musical instruments in the art room, or the K/1st grade doves, but my blue "stick-um"... that tacky puddy stuff that you use to hold things up on the board. She was telling her teachers at school all about it the next day. Funny what stays in those little minds!

Today Madelyn and I were busy hitting the garage sale circuit this morning. Then she and Michael went to the last Farmer's Market of the season while I snuck out and helped our friends Margot and Andy pack up their house (in-town move). Margot is 35 weeks pregnant and headed for at least 4 weeks of couch surfing... So many friends helped us out when I was preggo and moving, I can't help but feel like I need to do everything I can for them!

This afternoon Madelyn played around the house with our neighbor Mya (9 yrs old). She just could not get enough, and clearly idolized Mya to no end. Here she is on Mya's porch, waiting for her to come out and play with the squirt bottle.



Meanwhile, Mike was up on the roof getting us all decked out for winter - running some heating cable so that our ice dam disappears this time around!

We're headed to the Shuprine's house for dinner tomorrow afternoon for a full evening of garden harvesting and great friends and food! Can't wait:)!

snippets from the week

Whew, my first 5-day work week in a long time! I know that sounds awful, but I am out of shape for that sort of thing!? Here are a few snippets from the week... pumpkin muffins with Papa, a little yum-dance, and ponderings from a 2.5 year old...

Maddie and Sita, buddies again!

I just can't get over what a great picture this is of Madelyn and Sita! Sita was with Maddie for the first year of her life (Sita's mom, Jess, took care of Madelyn for daycare) Maddie visited for a day before school started... Madelyn summed up her day as, "Sita had a hard time sharing." I"m sure the same could be said of Madelyn, but look at this happy little moment in the day! They look like such big kids - how did that happen?!

The Long Weekend

What a fast week! I was completely wiped out by having kids back in the classroom... On Thursday, Mike found me crawling onto the couch at 8:10pm and I was out for the night! I am out of shape for this business!!

We had a great long weekend though - we went up to our friends the McReynold's house for Lexi's birthday party on Saturday. Here's Madelyn and her friend Isaac eyeing the cake, and Madelyn's face of ecstasy eating the cake.



The McReynold's compound is like a kid's (and adults!) paradise... they live in tepees all summer, have a massive trampoline straddling their creek, tree houses with slides (see picture), rope swings, a climbing wall, an outdoor child-size artist studio... needless to say, Madelyn was one happy and exhausted camper after the party!

On Sunday, we finally fulfilled one of Madelyn's summer-long dreams... to ride one of the horses at Snow King! We made our way up Snow King, and Madelyn got to ride on Apples, the white horse for whom her white goldfish is named after. She sat up there by herself (with me keeping her centered on the saddle!), and went on a little 3 minute tour of the hillside. Oddly enough, she didn't seem quite as jazzed as I thought she would be.





Maybe it wasn't quite what she was imagining:) She seemed equally as excited to play at the Snow King playground afterwards...

MK Broken Arm Update

Well after seeing the bone doctor yesterday, I had some good news! No fracture, just a slight elbow dislocation, some bone bruising and strained ligaments. So, no cast, just some range of motion exercises and a sling to rest and protect the arm. I will follow-up in a week and hopefully if all goes well in three weeks time will be fishing, golfing and maybe even biking again.

It has been fun to interact with Maddie as I spent Tuesday with her and she was a great helper to her injured papa. We were able to get out and about a bit and she helped carry bags to the car, get dressed and pack a snack pack. Every morning she wakes up and asks me "is your arm getting better". Happy to be on the mend!