Field Day

Just a quick post to share some pictures of Madi's preschool's Field Day. We arrived a little early, so we hung out outside (much easier to keep Paxton happy in wide open spaces than in a confined area). The kids came out one group at a time so Paxton took it upon himself to go entertain the first group of kiddos. They were cracking up at him. I probably don't want to know what he was doing.
Madi's group finally came out. As you can see, Paxton was still busy entertaining in the background.
The Field Day had all of the important components... hula hoops,

bubbles,

ball games,

and, Madi's favorite, chalk!

A fun time was definitely had by all and Madi claimed it was "the best day EVER"! In fact, she is already making plans for Field Day 2012. :)

Easter Sunday

Yes, I know Easter was almost a month ago. Yes, I'm still behind. Now that we've gotten that cleared up...

Both kids got to hunt Easter eggs this year. Since she is now a seasoned pro, Madi took off to find those eggs that were "hidden".

And before long, she had her basket all filled up!
In fact, hunting eggs was so easy, she even moved on to putting flowers in her basket.
For Paxton though, this was his first egg hunting experience. He had to watch the veterans for a while.
But it didn't take long before he caught on.
And he was very proud of his work. "Check this out Mom!"
We tried hard to get pictures of the kiddos. Here's Madi and her buddy Jenna.
Paxton was a bit too into the festivities to stop for pictures. Madi tried to lovingly hold him...
When that didn't work, she just grabbed a hold of his shirt and smiled!
This was about the best we could do.

Still, it was a wonderful Easter spent worshiping God, laughing with friends and having fun. Who could ask for anything more?

Are there really "cool mom points"?

Because if so, I BETTER have loaded up on them for this. A few weeks ago, Madi's friends invited us to go with them to see Disney's Princesses on Ice. The tickets were cheap and the company was great. The only problem? Hello, did you not read the title? Princesses everywhere! But I did the good mother thing and surprised Madi with a Mommy/Daughter evening. Here she is with her buddies Garrett and Addison.

As you can see, I even packed a Princess dress and let her wear it for the show so that she could be like the other 500,000 girls under the age of 8 who were at the show.
Alright, I'll go ahead and admit it. It really wasn't that bad. In fact, it was even pretty cute. My favorite - the Dwarfs. That Dopey cracks me up...
Madi, of course, liked the Princesses the best. She cheered loudly for Belle...

And when Ariel waved at her,

She waved right back!

Ms. Marti was impressed with how buff King Triton was. I'd be jealous if I were you, Matt Welch.
I did learn that although the tickets were cheap, the snowcones were NOT! Took a chunk out of Madi's college fund for that one.

But, it entertained her for the second half plus she got a super cool souvenir cup, so I guess it was worth it.
My favorite part of the evening was watching Madi and Addi dissect the show after it was over. Look at the enthusiasm!
Needless to say, my little Princess enjoyed the show and I enjoyed my time with her. So as much as I hate to admit it, I give Princess Wishes on Ice two thumbs up.

O-HI-O

As you can see, not much blogging occurred in the month of April. I will attempt to do better in May. First, I've got to try to play catch up. Because even though my blogging stopped, our adventures didn't!

One weekend in April, we flew to the great state of Ohio to go an auction at Ted's great-aunt's farm. It was a bittersweet experience for the family - tough to say goodbye to the family homestead and some wonderful memories, but a blessing to get all of the family together for the first time in a very long time.
The auction itself was quite an experience. Madi was enthralled with the speed with which the auctioneer talked! She hung out with Ted a lot and took it all in.
I got the fun job of keeping up with the other kiddo...
Paxton found some unbelievable treasures on the farm. ROCKS!!!
And flowers! But even as he was getting into something at every turn, who could get mad at this face?!
The family that bought the farm was an Amish family. So there were quite a few horses and buggies there.
Madi asked a lot of questions about the Amish and seemed intrigued by their way of life.

Paxton just liked the horses.
The auction was a success and everyone got a keepsake or two (or more) from the farm. Here's a picture of Gramps at his finest. Doesn't this look like something a man who had knee surgery 2 weeks earlier should be doing?!
Paxton and Madi liked trying out all of the goodies from the auction. Old rusty tools? Coolest things ever!!!
Other highlights from the trip - Paxton found some birds and a squirrel to play with. He seriously LOVED these guys and would walk in the room and start saying "Tweet, tweet?!"
He was not so fond of me giving his pacifier to the squirrel. Ha!
Ted also took the kids on a 4 wheeler ride around the farms. After a little trepidation, Madi climbed on and had a good time. I think she looks WAY too old in this picture.
And Paxton loved it from the first second, of course. "Go faster, slowpoke!"
Before leaving on Sunday, we went back to the farm to get some family pictures. I offered to take the pictures with Kate's fancy camera and zoomed way in on them. This is what I got...
Turns out, Madi made this face in ALL of the 12 pictures I took of them. I couldn't see her because I was too far back and the others couldn't see her because she was in front. Way to go, Madi.

Thankfully, we did get a few other pictures at the farm. Aunt Kate and Madi in front of the barn.

Me and the kiddos

Family Shot

It was a very special trip filled with great family time and memories.