Monday, December 26, 2011

Maddie's Preschool Christmas Program

Miss Maddie's school held their annual Holiday Pageant and Silent Auction on December 3rd. All the classes took turns going up to sing songs. The Preschooler's had their mommies or daddies with them. They sang songs that they sing each day in school.

Christmas Even 2011 Entertainment

Maddie and her Jingle Bells jam!

1st Dentist Appointment - Nov 11th

Maddie had her first Dentist appointment just after her 3rd birthday. She's pretty good about brushing teeth 2x a day and she was rewarded with lots of little toys and stickers from the Children's Dental Group (The spaceship dentist) during her first appointment. They made the experience really fun for the both of us and even sent a picture of her with the dentist to our house a week or so later.

Maddie received a 100%! Way to go Maddie!



Disneyland Dec 2011

This year for a special treat while Matt had some down time at work, we went to Disneyland. The advent calendar for that day read "a car ride to a magical place". Maddie didn't realize where we were until she saw a Mickey Mouse sign in the parking structure.

We ended up upgrading our park hopper tickets to season passes (the cheapest ones) so we can go back a few times next year. They have a super cute Little Mermaid ride and a Toy Story section over at California Adventure that make it worth the trip to the second park. Next time we go, I think we'll spend a night or two in Anaheim because when going to both parks, we didn't see very much! I doesn't help when you have to wait 45+ minutes to see Rapunzel and 25+ minutes to see Tinkerbell but those are for sure must do's for our family!

We met some new characters this time... Maddie is a bit obsessed with Toy Story so it was very cool to see her get some lovin' from Jessie and Woody!



The castle at night was just gorgeous!






We're a bit spoiled by living so close to such a "magical" place!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Happy Birthday MOM!

Happy 58th Birthday to my mom!  11/11/11 makes for an extra special birthday this year!
Wish we could be in WI to share your day but we're all thinking of you here in Cali!

Love you mom!

AND Happy 38th Anniversary (yesterday). Thirty-eight years is a VERY long time and you and dad should both be so proud of sticking through thick and thin all these years!  Love you both!

Park Talk Printables: Holiday Cards- Tiny Prints

Park Talk Printables: Holiday Cards- Tiny Prints: So hard to believe it's that time again, but just take a walk into any store and it's for sure, Christmas is coming! That means it's time to...

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

A Slideshow of Maddie's 2nd Year

It's a bit long in length, but I had a really hard time editing down the photos and videos that I wanted to include. At two she had many "firsts" that I wanted to share. From eating her first ice cream cone to no more diapers, we feel incredibly lucky to have such a smart and caring little girl. Hope this video gives you a sense of the year we've had!

Happy 3rd Birthday Maddie!


(If you click on "Youtube" on the bottom right of the screen it should take you to my page so you can see the full view of the video)

Monday, October 31, 2011

Pumpkin Love 2011

Two years ago Matt had the idea to grow Maddie her very own pumpkin in the backyard. Last year was the first attempt and he did manage to get a small pumpkin. This year he did a little more research on how to plant and used seeds from that first pumpkin.

Planted 4th of July weekend, the leaves started to grow...

and grow.....

and grow until it took over more than half the garden!



A few pumpkins started and ended... Then one took shape and kept growing! Maddie and Matt would go outside to see "Maddie's Pumpkin" and they would water it together and marvel at it's size.

Fast Forward to October 30th and 50lbs in size (no joke!) Maddie's pumpkin was gorgeous and ready for carving.


Some people might look at this pumpkin as something they could have purchased from the local pumpkin patch... I see the love of a daddy for his little Halloween baby!


Way to go Farmer Matt!



Maddie chose Ariel (from the Little Mermaid) for Mommy's pumpkin and daddy found a cool face to carve


Spoon please, no messy hands here by order of the Princess.








Happy 3rd birthday Maddie. We will always watch over you, take care of you, and enjoy watching you grow! We love you!!!!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Park Talk Printables: More Closet Dividers

Park Talk Printables: More Closet Dividers: After giving the jungle closet dividers to my girlfriend's daughter for her shower, she contacted me to make two sets for her to give to fri...

Park Talk Printables: Halloween Party

Park Talk Printables: Halloween Party: On October 21st we attend our annual MOMS Club Halloween party. It was so much fun seeing all of our little cheeky monkey's friend's wearing...

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wisconsin Trip - Sept 19-24-2011 Part 3

Like most vacations, we ate out almost every meal. Our favorite family place is downtown Hartford, The Mineshaft. We usually visit every time we're in town. They always have new beers (local micro brews) on tap and the food is pretty reasonably priced.. especially if the entire family is going. What once was a small restraunt, is now huge and includes a full arcade upstairs for the kids to play in and earn tickets to trade for prizes.

Because I knew we'd be going out to eat, I thought ahead and purchased a bunch of small dress up items from the dollar section at Target before we left. It was really fun to bust out the pirate and magician. All the kids liked them and I'm sure the waitstaff appreciated it too!

Chey and her Auntie Angie


AAARRRRRGGG!

Plain noodles with side of fun please!

Never seen so many tickets!

Notice the concentration tongue hanging out?

We did take a break from eating for make some gifts for Maddie's Great Grandma and Grandma Doris at a pottery painting place. Maddie had fun and it gave us something to do for a little bit.



After painting the top of the Snow White costume that Maddie borrowed from my mom's house went right back on. She would have lived in it forever if she could have!

One of our favorite parts of our visit was visiting my dear friend Tina and her family. It's hard to believe how much her girls are growing up. They showered Maddie with a million Build a Bear outfits and a new WI cheerleader bear. (good thing we left room in our suitcases!)

Jim's Bakery in Slinger holds very special memories for me from when I was little. It was located around the corner from my grandparent's house and as the oldest I would walk the little cousins and my brother with just a few dollars and come running back with ice cream dripping down our arms. They still make a "baby" size cone that would compete with a "regular" nowadays and very inexpensive. With new owners, I wouldn't recommend the food there but if you had ice cream as a kid like I did... go back and see the cones with the cotton ball ice cream tops that show the available sizes.. judging by the amount of dust on them, I'd say they're circ 1980 for sure!




Maddie and her new build a bear

Kyleigh, quite the ham! Always a grin on this girl!


Sarah remember when you looked at me crazy when I asked if McDonald's had the free baby cones for the kids? Here they are! Must be a WI thing!!

Maddie and her Great-Grandma Marie



It was so sad to say goodbye to all our family and friends but we had a really great time and made some fun new memories!

Wisconsin Trip - Sept 19-24-2011 Part 2

While in WI we were lucky enough to spend an entire day at the Milwaukee Zoo with my brother and his girls. I l-o-v-e my nieces more than anything and so it was really special to see them for more than just a dinner.


Cheylyn Maddie and Kyleigh... three peas in a pod!



The new "smile"

Monkey see, monkey do!



My brother Tim and the girls



Kyleigh has the most energy I've ever seen! It's amazing how she keeps going and going... and with a gorgeous smile!



Maddie really enjoyed feeding the goats!


Cheylyn... she's such a smart girl! She recites the funniest facts about everything!


My mom! She arranged this zoo trip, thanks mom!

So gross but we were witness to a giraffe drinking the other giraffe's pee... uh, yuck!



GGRRRRR

Kyleigh showing no fear!





All tuckered out and ready for a nap!