What IS in a name?!

I wanted to update those of you I haven't talked to in a while. Remember the cute kitten we "adopted" recently and Madigan named Tinkerbell? (If not, see about 3 posts below) I've got a funny story about that cat...
After Madigan and I got back from my parent's house a few weeks ago, Tinkerbell was playing around and turned over on her back... and something caught my eye. It seemed Tinkerbell had some interesting "developments" while we were gone. Still not completely sure (and getting NO help from Ted who refused to look), I began to look on the internet to see how you could tell gender of kittens before it became obvious. Still not 100% sure (and a little overwhelmed by the conflicting information on the internet about it), I decided to just ride it out before really confusing Madigan who has been working hard on identifying people (and animals) as "boys" or "girls". So, we've waited and watched and sure enough... more developments. And so now, I'm ready to announce the addition to our family of a MALE cat. And that's where the real problem lies. While I am well aware that there are many gender neutral names out there, I just don't feel like Tinkerbell is one of them. However, Madigan is really fond of it. We opted to stick with the Neverland theme and just change HIS name to Peter Pan (or Pete for short), but Madigan is having a hard time with it. At least 90% of the time she still calls the cat Tinkerbell. Whenever she does try to use the new name, it comes out something like "Tinka Pete" or "Peta Bell". A few days ago, she came in the room talking about Peter Pan. Ted said, "Who is Peter Pan?" and Madigan responded with "Tinkerbell!" She occasionally makes a very concerted effort and gets "Pete", but those times are still few and far between. I think she's more concerned about us - "Man, Mom and Dad are losing it. Did they already forget our cat's name?!"
Oh well, it'll come eventually...(Sidenote: I took this picture after Madigan placed the cat in the bouncy seat, buckled him in, and turned on the vibrating button. The cat went fast asleep and remained like this for over an hour!!)

THE BIG 3-0

Today my husband turned into an old man.
That's right, today is Ted's 30th birthday!!
He's actually handling it pretty well. :) I could list a million things I love about Ted, but I'll just tell you my favorite two...

1) He's a wonderful husband
2) and an amazing father
(can you tell Madigan's fond of him as well?!)
I thank God for the blessing that Ted is in both mine and Madigan's life and am very proud of who he is and his desire to live a godly life.

In honor of his birthday, Madigan would like to sing a song. Since we haven't perfected "Happy Birthday" yet, "Twinkle Twinkle" will have to do.

Happy Birthday, Ted! We love you!

The Game

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from the Ranger's game that Ted and I went to while Madigan was at Camp Pa and Gee Gee's. We had decided that rather than buy each other birthday presents we would just put the money toward getting good seats for the game. Since the Ranger's aren't an overly popular team, we were able to get even better seats than we thought possible. We were on the FRONT row right behind the on-deck circle! Here's a picture of our seats. So, we knew they would be good seats, but we didn't realize how good until we got there. There was no one in front of us except the ball boy (Jason) and bat boy (Michael) and no net! All of the Rangers had to walk right by us to get to the on-deck circle, so I was within reach of Ian Kinsler, Milton Bradley, etc (unfortunately Josh Hamilton and Michael Young did not play - but we still got to see them). Don't worry - I didn't touch any of them... This was our view of:

Ian Kinsler praying in the on-deck circle,

Marlon Byrd flirting with fans in the on-deck circle,

Milton Bradley swinging the bat in the on-deck circle,the batter, catcher and umpire,

the pitcher,the Ranger's dugout,a meeting at the mound,

an argument between a batter and the umpire,

the umpire throwing the batter out, :)

the Ray's manager arguing with the umpire over the batter who got thrown out,the Ranger's mascot "Captain",

and the post-game high-fives/butt slaps.

Obviously, it was a great game and a FANTASTIC birthday present (did I even mention that the Rangers won?!) We took this picture on our way back to the car. That's the new Texas Stadium that is being built in the the background.

Thanks to my parents for keeping Madigan so we could do this! It was awesome! Go Rangers!!!

Vacation in the Lone Star State

**Warning - Long post ahead...**

My dad turned 50 this weekend, so we all headed to Rusk, TX to celebrate! After a wonderful weekend, Ted and I left Madigan with my parents and her cool cousins and went to Arlington for a Texas Rangers game. It was fantastic (there will probably be a separate post coming about the game later - too many pictures to sort through right now!). Then, Ted flew home on Monday, I visited with some great friends in the metroplex and then I went back to my parents and spent a couple of days there. Amazingly, Madigan made it just fine without me... and I actually did very well too :)

Happy Birthday Pa!!

We got to Rusk on Friday, but didn't start the birthday celebrations until Saturday. That evening, we took him out to Shogun's Restaurant in Tyler. Matt, Susie, Avery and Ella and Mema and Papa drove in and met us there. It was REALLY good! Plus Madigan learned a new skill... eating with chopsticks!

Next, we headed back to Jacksonville for a SURPRISE party for Dad (and was he ever surprised). Gotcha Pa!He handled it well though and even got some nice presents to take home (a package of Depends, some Tylenol Arthritis, etc) from his thoughtful friends.The girls had a good time playing with all of the other kiddos at the party. But, Madigan's favorite part was chewing on the "balloons" off of Pa's cake. Her LEAST favorite part was getting kisses from a really big dog... :)All in all, it was a great party and happy birthday celebration. The next morning, we all got ready for church. Here are a few pictures of the girls all "prettied up".

Camp Pa and Gee Gee

After church on Sunday, Ted and I headed out to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, Matt and Susie drove to San Antonio, and "Camp Pa and Gee Gee" began in Rusk. That meant that Madigan not only got to spend time ALONE with Pa and Gee Gee, but that she got to hang out with her cool cousins

Avery (almost 7 years old)and Ella (almost 5 years old)

And this was no ordinary camp! There was a tent...but it was inside the house.
There was also swimming... a LOT of swimming!

Madigan's favorite part of swimming at Pa and Gee Gee's was that if you didn't have a swimsuit to wear, you just didn't wear one!I know this picture is blurry, but see if you can see her face - every time she went down the slide, she closed her eyes tight and opened her mouth wide!Nothing like relaxing in the pool...I had to post this picture - this is what Madigan's diaper looked like after swimming. At one point, Ella said, "why is her butt so big?"!!There was also a lot of eating at this camp. The menu consisted of a very nutritious helping of popsicles, popcorn, cookies, candy and icing off of Pa's cake. But unlike "normal" camps, this camp also had some additional features to offer. Such as...

An awesome sandbox

swings in a hammockrides in Gee Gee's "yard bug"art/craft timeand bubble baths!

I still can't figure out why she didn't miss me?!?! Needless to say, Madigan had a wonderful time and is already looking forward to visiting Camp Pa and Gee Gee next summer!

Trip to the Zoo

After I returned from the metroplex, Mom and I took the girls to the Tyler zoo. It was really nice! We saw penguins, elephants, giraffes, snakes, and tigers. And yet, the girls got the most excited when they saw turtles and squirrels! Go figure! Here's a picture of Ella and Madigan checking out the exotic box turtle.

They also really liked the snow cone exhibit...However, their favorite part was the petting zoo where they got to brush the goats. "Let me at 'em"
Can you see Madigan's face in this picture? She's not sure about Ella's driving!They all had a wonderful time with Gee Gee at the zoo!

As you can see, it was a wonderful trip and we all enjoyed getting to kick off our summer this way. Thanks to Pa and Gee Gee for a great time and for taking such good care of Madigan. This is a picture I captured of her on the ride home. Anyone else tired?!