When the Wife and the Kids are Away...

Ted will play...with power tools, paints, and plumbing, that is! The kids and I returned home exhausted from our trip on Tuesday night to be greeted with a completely remodeled, beautiful front bathroom. Words can't tell you how fabulous it looks, so I'm going to just get to the pictures.

Before: A blue and yellow sailboat themed bathroom
(ignore the sheetrock patches on the wall - we'd already removed a broken towel rod the week before)
After: Isn't it wonderful?!
I LOVE the gray flooring and the white and light blue walls.
He even replaced the brown medicine cabinet and sink trim with...

a lovely white.

And probably my favorite part - he changed the ugly blue countertop and brown drawers to...

a gray countertop that looks great with the flooring and white drawers/cabinets.
(And yes for all of you overly observant people, this picture was taken before the new doorknob was installed.)

We still have some finishing touches to put on it (towels, wall deco, etc), but I think it's pretty perfect. What a great way to be welcomed home!

Spring Breaking in Texas

For the first part of my Spring Break, the kids and I headed to Rusk, America to spend a few days with my parents. We arrived on Saturday and just hung out most of the day. Pa and Paxton caught up...

while Madigan worked out on the Total Gym.
The next morning, we got dressed up for church.

Mom wanted to take a picture of us, but Paxton had an important call to finish first. :)The pre-church picture

Since we were in the country, Paxton decided to try to fit in by wearing his overalls.
"So, you been farmin long?"
On Monday, we worked hard to squeeze as much fun in as possible in one day. Madigan, of course, insisted on some Yard Bug rides. This time, Paxton and I joined her!

Gee Gee and Madi throwing sweet gumballs into the creek

Paxton wasn't as crazy about the sweet gumballs. Gee Gee and Madi also managed to make time for some artwork. Check it out!
Pa and Paxton were not interested in painting and glittering, so they just relaxed on the front porch.
Madigan always likes to go horseback riding at Pa and GeeGee's.

And this time, Paxton was big enough to take a ride!In case you can't tell, he liked it...
Since Easter is just around the corner, GeeGee made the kids Easter baskets. Pretty cool, huh?

And once the candy was out of the eggs, there was only one thing to do. Hunt Easter Eggs!



Look at what I found!
Madigan wanted to let GeeGee have some fun too, so she hid the eggs for her. I thought it would be fun to hide some up high (since GeeGee is a bit short), so I helped too!
Madigan quickly saw that GeeGee would need some help and took pity on her. "Here GeeGee, let me give you a hand."
Unfortunately, my plan backfired and I had to hunt the eggs next...
Apparently I needed some help as well.
Madigan was excited to show Paxton her eggs. He was incredibly impressed, as you can tell.
Later that day, Mema and Papa arrived for a visit!!!
Mema came bearing gifts, of course. Thankfully Madigan was there to show her how all of the cool toys worked. Paxton enjoyed his bonding time with Mema...and thought Papa was quite interesting! He seriously just sat and stared at Papa for the longest time.
And on Tuesday, Auntie (my great-aunt) came to lunch to see the kiddos (and me too, I'm sure!)
It was a wonderful trip, but it wasn't long before it was time to saddle up and head home.
Since returning to Arkansas, Madigan has apparently lost the ability to play by herself for any extended amount of time and Paxton bursts into tears if left in a room by himself. So the spoiling was a success. :)

Thanks to Pa and GeeGee for making our trip so great and to Mema, Papa, and Auntie for coming to see us! We love you all!

Spring Break is here!!

One of the perks of working part-time is that I get to start my Spring Break a day earlier than everyone else. We're quite excited about Spring Break in this house!
(The mascot for the school district I work at is the Wampus Cats, so my co-workers got this onesie for us when Madi was born. I almost missed my chance to get Paxton in it since he's a tad bit chunkier than she was.)
Madigan decided to start her Spring Break off with a little primping. Actually, she did this earlier in the week, but I was trying to make these pictures fit with the Spring Break post.
These are some fancy Hannah Montana nails she picked up out of the treasure box. I'm trying to decide whether to just go ahead and admit defeat on the whole girly thing or to keep fighting the good fight. :) I'm afraid it's a lost battle. More posts to come of our Spring Break fun...

These Boots are Made for Walkin...

And that's just what I'll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!

Madigan found my boots yesterday and decided to try them on. Pretty stylish, huh?
While she was strutting her stuff in the boots, Paxton was sporting his new look. That's right - short, bald and beautiful.

(Actually, while we're on the subject of baldness, I do have to tell you that the boy is finally starting to get some of his hair back. Not much, but a little. And what he has sticks STRAIGHT up!)They make quite a pair, but I sure do love them!

Return from the Dark Ages

A week and a half ago, we lost internet access and our cable connection. We got it back on Friday. During that time, I was repeatedly reminded of how dependent we've become on technology. Beyond not getting to check email or facebook, I actually had to use a PHONE BOOK to look up a number. I'd almost forgotten how to use one. Needless to say, I'm grateful to have the internet back.

Since we had no internet, I'm again behind on blogging. So, what's gone on in the last few weeks? Well we certainly haven't just been laying around...

For one thing, Paxton turned 4 months old. Here is his monthly basket picture.
Plus a few outtakes..."This is my zombie look!"And since the big boy is now 4 months old, we introduced rice cereal into his diet.
As you can tell, it was a big hit.He does, however, like how his belly feels after he's done!
Yesterday, our church hosted its annual Community Day. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Madigan had a blast and was even brave enough this year to get her face painted.
This is her sassy pose...
We've also spent some time with our friends. This is Paxton's good buddy Mac. Aren't they cute?!And as always, Paxton has spent some time modeling. This is part of his winter wardrobe.
"Umm... these gloves taste great!"I know I've already posted a video of us tickling his to make him laugh, but can you really get enough of that?


I also videotaped Paxton squealing a few days ago. And I thought Madi was going to be our talker!


And one last video - this is of Madigan telling us about her imaginary friend Courtney. As you can tell, this kid has no shortage of imagination.


We've definitely had fun, but it's left us a bit tired. So, I'm going to close tonight with a picture that really sums up our last few weeks.
Good night!