Crafts & Cooking

We've done a couple of crafts this month that I thought were worth documenting. A few weeks ago Madisen created this heart lady (shown in red) with her friend, Mara. I thought she did such a cute job of making it look like a person- face & all. She even drew fingers & toes on the hands & feet. We now have them hanging in our kitchen as our Valentine decor. I haven't quite pulled out the box of decorations & at this point I don't think I will.
Today the girls had some friends over for a play date & they had fun lacing these hearts, loading them with stickers, & adding finishing touches with markers. I couldn't resist capturing the looks of concentration on my girls' faces. And it's also important to note that it was virtually silent while 5 little girls were diligently lacing.
Today I was in the driveway talking to a friend & the kids were with me playing around until they disappeared into the house. A few minutes later, Madisen came running out proudly holding her peanut butter & sugar sandwich. I came in to find that she had helped herself to the ingredients, which included the heel of the bread. This is a girl who doesn't eat crust on anything, but today she ate almost the entire thick heel, crust & all.
{Side note: My girls prefer cinnamon & sugar to honey or jelly on their sandwiches. To each his own!}

Growing UP

My little girls seem to be growing up too quickly right now! They are increasingly more perceptive of their surroundings- & it's obvious by their clever comments.

**Madisen**
She LOVES to sing! I hear her singing primary & other songs throughout the day & I'm constantly impressed at how many words she remembers accurately.

She really is tender hearted & tries to include Caitlyn in what ever she's doing.

Her new favorite colors are pink, purple, & blue. (Notice we've added 2 colors to the repertoire.)

Her fine motor skills have greatly improved over the last few months- she colors in the lines, uses scissors appropriately, and tries to correctly form letters.

Madisen got her first CTR ring on Sunday and she wears it each day with pride! I couldn't resist snapping this picture of my grinning girl who was elated to show off her new jewelry!


**Caitlyn**

You know what they say- The best things come in small packages! So true, she brings 100% smiles to us! (When she's not whining, that is.)

She only knows 1 volume- loud!

It's fun to hear such a little body talk like she's 4. The other day after we dropped Madisen off at preschool she said, "I don't want to go home." I asked where she'd like to go & she said, "To Kiera's."

She also loves to sing & amazes me with the songs she can sing! My favorite is when she insists on singing "Sunbeam" all by herself!

I feel blessed to have these girls in my life!

Madisen's birthday- part 2

Thursday morning when Madisen woke up Bill had already left for work, but the girls were thrilled to see the gifts & streamers he'd set up. Poor Caitlyn squeeled with delight, "My turn" after Madisen opened her first gift. She was disappointed she didn't get a turn!

Madisen was excited to wear her new dress to school. Caitlyn & I got to attend class for the last 15 minutes to do a spotlight on Madisen & share cupcakes with her school friends.
{Please note: the cupcakes didn't turn out as cute as the ones on the web site, I forgot to buy orange Kool Aid- I ended up with Jell-o- and the sprinkles would've contributed greatly to the look!}

After naps we headed to the park for a birthday party. Madisen & I decided to do a Halloween themed party this year to mix things up from the princess party from last year. The weather was absolutely PERFECT- no wind, just sun! Once the guests arrived we started with a game similar to hot potato. You had to pass the witch had around the circle until I said freeze (forgot the batteries for the CD player). Whoever had the hat when I 'froze' the game, had to ride my broom around the circle.

Next we played a relay game. They each got a turn to carry the pumpkin/bear while they hopped on one foot 3x's then crawled through the tunnel, ran around the tree & repeated the course backwards before passing the pumpkin/bear to the next team member.
The pumpkin ring toss was quick but everyone earned a candy corn. Then Bill had a group huddle going for a few mintues where they raced around the grass before joining me in the pavillion for "Pin the Mouth on the Pumpkin". My first contestant was honest enough to say she could see, which is why she hit the exact location for the mouth. I was more careful with the blindfold after that, but one other girl hit it square on!
Everyone's favorite part... cake! This is actually a bunch of cupcakes frosted together to look like a jack-o'-lantern. I found my inspiration for it here. Sadly, we didn't get a great picture but it really did turn out cute! And it was super easy to serve!
Here is my birthday girl enjoying her 'pupcake' as she likes to call them!
And here she is after she opened her gifts, ready to pass out the goody bags. She was delighted with EACH gift! Her friends are so kind & generous! Madisen helped me load up these black Halloween goody bags with fingernail polish, a pad of paper, a pen, some play-doh & a pack of gum for each friend.

**A big shout out of THANKS to Sarah for being behind the camera!

A Sad Minute

Our car is in the shop today so Bill came home from work to take Madisen to preschool. While I was explaining to Bill how to get to preschool, Madisen went to the car to buckle herself in. Caitlyn got her shoes & backpack on, "wike Madsen", and took daddy's hand as she said, "Mon daddy. Car seat." Bill asked her where she was going. Her reply, "In daddy's car." I knew taking her away was going to be painful. And it was. She SCREAMED, "Daddy take my car seat. Go wif daddy!" I promptly tried to distract her with the toy car you see in her right hand, but that wasn't working. I asked her if she'd like a few candy corns & that was golden, but they had to be in a bowl. Of course the first 5 I gave her weren't sufficient, she needed a "wittle bit more". Sigh. So here she is, a somber Caitlyn being rewarded for staying home with mommy this morning.

*She wore her backpack for about the first hour. And it's been on & off at least 4 times since then.

My Preschool Girl

My sweet and spunky Madisen started preschool yesterday. It was a bittersweet moment for this mom. I know she's ready for a change & a challenge, but I'm sad to think that she's growing up so quickly. On the up side we still have 2 years together before she starts kindergarten- she misses the Nevada deadline by 23 days. I think it will be to her advantage to be the oldest.

She was so excited to wear her new outfit & take her Princess backpack to school. She & Caitlyn sure adore each other! You'll notice that Caitlyn is holding a "packback wike Madsen" and Madisen wanted to make sure that Caitlyn was included in the pictures.
When I picked her up she was willing to pose for one quick picture with her fabulous teacher! Her class will consist of 6 little girls. She knows a couple of them, but not real well so it will be a good experience for her to reach from her comfort zone. Miss Katherine said that Madisen was cute & funny, not shy. (I thought she'd be shy at first, but I was wrong.) She obeyed, stayed on task, played well with the other girls, and threw her gum in the trash. All things that make a mother proud.

Madisen's Art

Madisen has had an increased interest in drawing & coloring lately. She's getting good at holding her writing utensil & today she drew this picture on her chalk board....can you guess who it is?

It's Bill!! Complete with spikey hair & blue eyes!She's so precious!!

My Madisen

On Tuesday when we got home from the movies, I carried Caitlyn up to bed & came down to make Madisen some lunch. She was quietly playing next to me. When I looked up to tell her that her lunch was ready, this is what I saw.

I know you're asking yourself, "Where did she learn about war paint?", but this is a Madisen original. She found the pink zinc that we use for sunscreen for her nose & cheekbones and applied it herself- pretty impressive for not using a mirror. Then she went crazy with some of my lipstick. The zinc ended up on the shirt before we were through- thankfully it already had paint on the back. Sigh, it's just never safe to have a 'quiet' moment around here unless they are sleeping.

Princess Mom

Of course you ALL know that Madisen loves anything to do with princesses! And she's about as girly as they come. A few of my friends have been taking the princess quiz lately & it got me wondering which princess I would be. The results are in. . .

Intelligent and kind. Your beauty goes much further than your appearance. Also, you make judgements of people based on their personality and not their looks. Attaining all the knowledge that you can is one of your major goals in life, but you are also a person who can make things happen.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Sun, Sand, & Splashin'

We spent our holiday weekend in Southern CA with Bill's family- at the beach. His generous grandparents invited the whole family down to celebrate the 4th! Bill & I are both water babies! Spending time at the beach or lake is theraputic, relaxing, exciting, and comforting. It great to see that our children enjoy the sun & sand as much as we do!

The girls LOVED playing with their cousins. They were initially intimidated by the roaring waves, but warmed up to the idea of the water washing up around their ankles & then retreating. And of course Madisen found some dress ups- I swear she can smell them a mile away.
Caitlyn & Connor were playing on the island- before it became an island in the water (pictures of that fun adventure when Bob shares them). You may wonder what Caitlyn is doing, but she's blowing bubbles thorough a slotted spoon. We felt cheated when we opened a new bottle of bubbles to find that there was no wand- so we had to make do with what we could find.On the evening of the 4th everyone got fancied up & we snapped some family pictures- it sure is handy to have a professional photographer in the family. (More of those when I get them.) I couldn't resist the opportunity to get some beautiful shots with my honey on the beach--at sunset no less!
Caitlyn slept peacefully in her bed while the rest of us enjoyed 2 spectacular firework shows- in sweatshirts! We were located between 2 piers that both have fireworks. Madisen preferred to keep her eyes on one- so she didn't miss anything. her favorite ones were pink... and they looked like spiders.Saturday morning brought shopping and slip n' sliding. Madisen wanted to go alone & decided that once was enough. In theory this should have been super slick. But for some reason it required a lot of soap & pushing to make the tubes go. Someone discovered the boogie boards & then things were really moving! If you timed it just right, you could ride the wave out into the water.I made the mistake of putting the girls down in the same room at the same time. About 20 minutes after I laid them down, Karlea (my sister-in-law) said, you may want to take your camera & go check on your girls. I walked in the room as I snapped the first picture- hence the blurriness. We went to plan B & had them take naps separately!

Women in black- coordinating suits were NOT planned!

Daddy's girls!

The Library

We've been making frequent trips to the library lately. We rarely get there for story times, but still enjoy going & playing with their puzzles & reading books as we exchange our old books for some new ones. Yesterday we went with our friends Wyatt & Mara- who my kids just adore. Mara & Madisen are 2 princess peas in a pod! Here they are stopped for a snack before heading home.

It's fun for us to have a boy around!
(Thanks for the pictures, Sara! We have ordered a camera & it's on the way- WAHOO!)

My Big Girl

I snapped this picture of Madisen the other day because I thought she looked so adorable. She seems more grown up every day. She really enjoys reading books; with me, to me, or to herself. She's also getting more inquisitive. For instance the other day, she was asking when we were going to dance. I said, "On Wednesday." And she said, "What does Wednesday mean?" So I tried to explain the days of the week- but it's a little abstract. I'm working on a project to hang in her room so she can get a better grasp on it.

Pink Jeep

Last week our cute neighbor Rebecca shared her pink Jeep with Madisen. Rebecca was a little timid about it so she was glad to have Madisen take the wheel. Madisen was NOT timid... she just punched the gas and was going over the rocks and all over the driveway.

Since the Jeep doesn't have a fantastic turning radius, we took the girls to the end of the street where they could have some freedom. I love this picture of them riding off into the sunset.

After a while Caitlyn was starting to feel left out. She kept pointing and saying 'ride'. So Rebecca obliged and let Madisen drive Caitlyn around for a bit. You can see what Caitlyn's favorite part was- the phone! We're so glad that Rebecca shared with us! THANK YOU!

My Princesses

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I have very girly girls! I love it and these pictures prove it! Yesterday the girls & I ran a few errands together while Bill was out running (training for a marathon is time consuming!). Our last stop was Babies-R-Us, which happened to be next to a brand new PetsMart. They were having their grand opening so the girls just had to have a balloon. So we ventured over to get a balloon & look around at the animals. Madisen got her face painted & of course she chose a princess. The lady painting her face commented on how still she was sitting & that she must be used to having make-up put on. I assured her that we reserve make-up for Halloween only, but Madisen wishes she could have it more often.

{If you look closely you can see the lipstick rings around her mouth. She REALLY likes to put on my lipstick all by herself anytime we are going somewhere. Yesterday someone said, "Looks like someone really likes chocolate!" I decided that I better start 'helping' get it off her skin.}

On to Caitlyn who wants to do everything like her sister. The other day Madisen decided that Caitlyn needed to wear a dress up skirt, like her. I will say that Caitlyn did not protest & added her own touch with the headband.

{This picture speaks for itself. What you can't tell is how delighted she is with the clapper in her left hand that she was excitedly waving all over. She circled the kitchen at least twice waving that clapper the whole time!}

My Helper

Madisen was quite the 'helper' yesterday. I had taken a late shower just before we needed to head to the grocery store. Right as I finished getting ready someone knocked on the door. I ran down to help my friend unload some things from her car into our house. The girls stayed upstairs for a few minutes, then Madisen wandered down. I went up to get Caitlyn & you can see how I found her below. Madisen had 'helped' with her hair by filling it with lotion. She managed to find the ONLY bottle of lotion that I have that's not locked up & rubbed it all over Caitlyn's hair. Sadly, we didn't have time to bathe before we went grocery shopping, so Caitlyn went as is. I only wonder what people thought of me.

I had to get this outfit on camera. I'm having a hard time getting her to wear anything but this dress up skirt & short sleeves right now. But I INSIST she wear long sleeves & pants when we leave the house. Here you can see that she put the long sleeve shirt over the short sleeve one & put the pants on under the skirt. This is how she went to the store. It's cute right???

Dancin' Girl

Caitlyn is getting more sturdy on her feet every day. She stands up in the middle of the room all by herself & then S-L-O-W-L-Y takes a few steps. She'll even walk across the room if she's feeling brave. So the exciting news of the day is that SHE CAN WALK!! I haven't been successful in getting the walking on camera, but the other night I captured her dance moves. (Notice what she does when Madisen gets near.)

P.S. We have no idea why it rotated sideways when we uploaded it to the computer. We'll work on that for the next movie.

Madisen's Comments

Tonight while I was saying the prayer at dinner, Madisen whispered "Don't forget me". As in, I was supposed to remember to be thankful for her. Both Bill and I were giggling so hard that I had to end the prayer quickly.

A few weeks ago Madisen and I were eating breakfast together. She was wearing short PJ's and had her legs up, (despite all of our reminders that our feet stay down at the table), when she noticed that there was hair on her legs. She said "Mom, there's hair on my legs." And I replied, "Yes, there sure is.". Then she said, "Can I use your purple thing to get it off?". I had to bite my cheeks to keep from laughing, but explained that she can't use a razor until she's older.

Madisen the Photographer

Lately Madisen has been asking to take pictures. After Bill or I take a picture, she asks to use the camera. Here are Madisen's photography 'skills'.

{This one is actually pretty good!}
(Side Note: the sheet on the couch. Madisen has a nasty cough & has just lounged around watching movies for 2 days. We're praying that she gets over it quickly so we can enjoy the holidays!)

{Tonight I was playing the piano for FHE. Caitlyn is looking a little bit like a ragamuffin.}

{Is it obvious that she's a little short?}

Happy Birthday Madisen!

Yesterday was Madisen's 3rd birthday! Since daddy is out of town, we celebrated her birthday on Friday. After we went to the Dairy, we had a little princess party with her friends. Enjoy the pictures from our birthday celebration.

{Our version of a cake walk: They earned a candy corn if they were on the princess that I called out when the music stopped. This game was one of their favorite & we played it at the beginning & end of the party. I got creative with what I called out: color of hair, dress, ribbon, shoes, etc.}

{Pretty, pretty princess (AKA Duck, Duck, Goose)
This was another favorite that we played at the beginning & end}


{We played a game with balloon boppers, but it wasn't a hit.
Dad had more fun than the girls with this one.}
{We decorated princess crowns.
They all turned out so cute & unique!}

{Opening gifts is a little like 'bunch ball'.}

{Madisen got this set of shoes from Makayla.
Immediately ALL of the girls NEEDED
to wear a pair of the new shoes.}{Of course, the cake & the ice cream were pink}
*When I figure out how to post a video
of singing 'Happy Birthday', I will.*At the very end daddy was having races with
the girls to keep them busy until their moms showed up.