Little Rock Marathon

Well, Spring Break is almost over and I still have several posts I need to do. Stay tuned and I'll try to get them up on the next few days.

Two weeks ago, a group from our church helped with the Little Rock Marathon water stop. We've done this for 5 years now and love it. Plus, we get free T-shirts that say Little Rock Marathon so when we wear it the rest of the year, people think we ran the marathon (yeah right!) This was my first year to take Madigan along for the fun. She enjoyed it until the marathon actually started. Then we had a little freak-out moment. Thankfully, Mrs. Laura took care of her while I passed out water for the first few minutes. Then Madigan got over her fears and had a great time (and was actually a good helper...I'm thinking of renting her out.)

Pre-freak out

Breakfast of champions

Hangin' with her friends
This is what the kids did for fun after the runners came through - Cup TowersThis is what the big kids did for fun...
(Chad rocking the port-a-potty - WITH Dwayne inside. Gross!)

All in all, it was a great time. Thanks to Dwayne and Chad for organizing our group and making the Mile Four water stop the best! Counting down to next year...

Funny Stuff

Madigan has come up with some funny things lately. I don't know where she's getting half of it, but it's brought us some laughs.

1) Madi was doing a puzzle at the kitchen table. She gave an exasperated sigh. Ted said, "Madi, how's it going?" and she replied, "Well, it's not going good!"

2) Madigan was riding in the car with Ted yesterday and was trying to get a sticker off of the sticker sheet. She tore it a little and very annoyed exclaimed, "Now it's RUINED!"

3) Madigan was again working on some puzzles and I told her to do something. She replied, "Don't say that to me." Before I could light into her, she looked up at the ceiling and said, "Bad choice, bad choice, bad choice..." I had to finish hiding my laughter before I could get on to her.

4) Madigan on the piano - IMPORTANT - if you are sensitive to loud noises, you'll want to turn the volume down some for this one...



5) I've gotten pretty good at interpreting everything Madigan says even though she still lacks her "l"s. However, one day we ran into a slight communication problem...
I was cooking and Madigan came in the kitchen holding her pink cell phone. She said she was going to call Mema and Papa. I asked what she was going to tell them and she replied, "I'm going to ask if they have awake." Confused I said, "If they are awake?" She shook her head and said, "No, if they have a wwwake." Still not understanding, I said, "A rake?" Madigan rolled her eyes and said, "No, a WWWake. A POND!". Finally, I got it, "Oh a Lake!". She smiled, made her call and then came back to report that Mema and Papa did in fact have a lake and said she could come fishing in it.

6) And my favorite - I gave Madigan a kiss and said "I love you, Princess". She smiled and replied, "I love you too, Queen".


I'm still not sure what we're going to do with her when she's 13, but she' making us laugh these days!

Long Live the Spring Break!

There are lots of debates surrounding the best way to create a public school calendar. Do we move to year-round or leave the summers vacation? A week for Thanksgiving break or just Wed-Fri off? How early can we start in August and how late can we go in May/June (aka, how short can we cut the summer without a riot)? While I have my opinions on all of these options, I'll keep my mouth shut so long as they leave alone the SPRING BREAK. Oh, the Spring Break...I'd write a poem in honor of the Spring Break if only I wasn't so tired. Which brings me to WHO needs a Spring Break. Before working in the public schools, I thought school breaks were built in for kids. Ha! Our kids are doing great right now. It's the adults who are daily wilting away. So, we welcomed those two simple words - Spring Break! And now Madigan and I are enjoying some time at home and some awesome Spring weather. Here are a few pics I captured today.
And my favorite... (I promise, she pulled this out with NO prompting whatsoever!)Since I do have the week off, I plan to post several entries this week of things that have happened recently. Stay tuned!!

The New Dress

My parents came to visit several weekends ago (I'm a little behind on blogging) and brought Madigan a present. Shocking, I know. But this was no ordinary present. This was a bright, shiny, sequence-sparkling, fringe-dangling, neon PINK dress-up dress.



Picture a flapper dress from the 1920s.



Now imagine that dress on a 2 year old...



What do you get?

My daughter

Make sure you note the matching gloves/sleeves. This dress does not get put on without them. And yes, it also came with bright pink high heels. Because the outfit just wouldn't be complete without the shoes... Anyone remember Daisy from The Great Gatsby? I think she would be proud.

I'm not really sure what Madigan was doing in this picture, but it's pretty funny so I thought I would post it.

Thanks Pa and Gee Gee for turning my baby into a flapper! She loves the dress and loved seeing the two of you even more. We're looking forward to seeing you again soon!