Happy Halloween!

My Cupcake is Three!

My "sweet" girl turned 3!! I can hardly believe it. Where has time gone? We decided to have Madi's birthday party at Benny Russell Park. Although it is October, it was still quite hot! All the kids had a blast. They got to decorate their own cupcakes, which was a big hit!

Madi received many great presents, but her favorite by far is from Aunt Suzie, Uncle Ed, and the kids. She got a new kitty!
Meet Anna Grace (named after her friend from church). We have since shortened her name to Grace.

Thank you to all of Madilyn's friends and family who came out to share her birthday with us!

Stampin' It Up!

Unknown to me, Nana was making cards for the ladies at work when we entered the scene. Madi just couldn't resist, she had to join in on the fun! Nana, being the patient grandma she is, welcomed Madi's little hands. They had a great time and thanks to the newspaper, cleanup was much easier! Thank you Nana for always being so patient!

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Happy Grandparents Day!!

I just had to share this picture!! For Grandparents Day, Heidi (or Tia as Madi fondly calls her) helped Madi make cookies that resembled her grandparents. Madi was heartbroken when on the way to the car, her D cookie fell and broke! It was pitiful! Needless to say, after the D cookie incident...the Nana cookie didn't make it all the way home either! And boy was she delicious!!

We Have Another Fish On Our Hands!

Summer is coming to an end! We have officially started back to school. We are trying to soak up the last few weekends of being able to enjoy the pool. Madi started swimming this weekend all by herself. She has been attempting it for a while now, but she (or should I say, I) was too scared to let her go to the deep. Today she did it! Jumped right off the side in the deep, flipped her hair back, and swam to Nana! I'm so proud that my 2 year old is swimming!!!
She is getting way too big, way too fast!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Okay...I love my kids to pieces, but if I could change one thing, it would be their mindset that you must rise with the sun. This theory is beneficial during the school year, but when summer comes, it drives me crazy!!! So, I decided I was going to try something new with Austin. I bought a clock for his room and we had a long discussion about him staying in his room until 8:00. If he wakes up earlier, he can watch TV, draw, write, color, read...anything...just STAY IN YOUR ROOM! The first 2 days went fine. Last night before bed, the following conversation took place:

Austin: Mom, can I PLEASE get up at 7:30 instead of 8:00!!! PLEASE!!!
Mom: Austin, 8:00 isn't early, you'll be fine.
Austin: But mom, my body just wakes up at 7:30, please!
Mom: No, Austin.
Austin: You know mom, you can't destroy a person!!!

WHAT??? Where did he get that from?? Brittany was at the house when it was time for him to go to bed and she went and tucked him in. She came out and told me that he told her, "My mom is trying to change me into something I'm not." Where do kids get this stuff from??

Sweetness!

Kentucky Down Under

What a fun day!!! Teresa has done a wonderful job of thinking of fun ways to entertain the kids and I can't tell her how thankful I am!! Thanks Teresa!!! We went to "Kentucky Down Under." It is a little piece of Australia located in the little down of Horse Cave, KY. It was a two day pass, so we went on Monday and then went back on Tuesday and took GG with us. When you first enter the park, you get to go and hand feed birds. The birds just flock to you as soon as you open the door and sit on your hands. I had a difficult time taking pictures because the birds were landing on my camera (too bad I didn't have someone to take a picture of that!). The birds were really sweet and didn't bite at all.

There is all kinds of animals native to Australia to see. We got to go on a walk-a-bout and pet kangaroo and emu. Nana was holding Madi while we were walking and Madi informed her, "Nana, you can put me down, that chicken (referring to the emu) won't get me." Below is a picture of Madi's "chicken."
There was a reptile show. We (not meaning me...meaning the kids and nana) pet the lizards and green boa. I was busy taking pictures, so I missed that one...too bad...maybe next time. NOT!! I was surprised that the kids weren't afraid to pet them. It was fun to watch.They also had an area called the "Woolbarn." All kinds of fun things happen at the Woolbarn. We got to watch a border collie herd sheep before we entered the barn. Once inside the barn, the guides brought in different types of sheep and a cow (which took care of his "outside business" inside...stinky!!!). The kids milked the cow and then got to go and pet the sheep. Madi went to pet the sheep (brown and white, pictured with Austin) and it proceeded to head butt her. I guess the sheep was threatened by Madi's beauty. Madi burst into tears and caused quite a stir and luckily we didn't leave with a bruise...just a funny story!




There was a place to pan for gold.
And another feeding cage for birds. These birds weren't as nice as the first. They would snip at you and try to take the cup from your hand. We didn't stay in there for very long.

So all in all, I must say that Kentucky Down Under was a huge success!!!

Water Parks and Worms

The day after Kiera left, we hit the road of our annual Kentucky/Cincinnati trip. We carried Hannah along with us because her family was a various mission trip locations. We arrived in Kentucky on Thursday. We pulled up and to much of Madi's surprise there were dogs everywhere! The Kindreds love dogs and so does Madi so she was ticked pink!On Friday, we went to a water park in Bowling Green with Rachel and Teresa. Austin and Hannah loved it. Madi, on the other hand, kept falling down and wasn't too happy about that!!

After the waterpark, we went to Rachel's for pizza and then came back to the house and the kids played in the hot tub. Madi wasn't sure about the bubbles, but they all had fun!
On Saturday, we got up and went to Aunt Mary Alice and Uncle Leroy's house for lunch and fishing at the pond (which Austin was thrilled about!).
As usual, the flowers were beautiful at her house!
They searched for worms forever, but only found 3. Luckily, before we went, Austin caught a few grasshoppers in the yard to use as bait also. They caught one catfish and 3 bream, pretty successful for the amount of bait they had!

Family Fun Day

Last Saturday, our church as a family fun day. Unfortunately, Austin wasn't with us, but Madi had a blast! There were slip 'n' slides set up, water balloons, playdoh tables, and, as you can see, shaving cream!! I'm really surprised that Madi let them put it all over her because usually she hate when she is messy, but she loved it! It was so cute to watch her! After the kids played for a while, we went inside to eat. They had a contest for who could grill the best meat, bake the best dessert, and make the best ice cream...so needless to say, there was a lot of wonderful food!!
It was a fun day for sure!

Madi, Darcy, and Georgia at the playdoh table