Happy Easter!

In the car, on the way home, as our day was winding down, I got on my phone and logged on to Facebook. My niece had posted these words in her status: It's about an empty tomb, not a full basket.

My niece is fourteen.

Kind of puts it all in perspective.

Ryan and I understand the reason we celebrate Easter and one day we will teach Madison too. But right now she's too little and so as we celebrate we have also added traditions such as the Easter bunny, a gift basket and of course the ever popular egg hunt. This isn't to take away from the meaning behind the day, it's adding to it. It's for the kids, kids of all ages, His children.

Early this morning Madison woke up to a great surprise....the Easter bunny had hopped over to our house in the middle of the night and left her with some goodies.





We then dressed in our Sunday best and headed to meet Nana and Pap for church. Madison wasn't shy at all and helped greet other members of the congregation as they entered the sanctuary. She started to get a little antsy but then during the children's sermon they passed out bags of candy to all of the children. Some how Madison ended up with two. She's never had candy before, at least not from us, and she was in baby heaven. Hey, she was quiet, content and it's Easter so I let her indulge.


Two things about this picture: 1) Ryan is tall. 2) I realize my bangs are extremely short and I look like a giant 3rd grader. Long story, still a little bitter about the situation, maybe I'll share another time.

After church, we headed over to Ryan's aunt and uncle's house for a delicious Easter lunch.

Blog Note: No pictures of said Easter lunch were snapped. We were very hungry, since Madison wouldn't share her candy, so we were busy eating.

Once our tummy's were full we headed out for the ever popular, annual Easter egg hunt. Madison is almost 18 months, the age of the next child among the grand children is 19. Therefore, by default Madison got to go first. Madison exited the house, basket in hand, everyone eagerly waiting for her to grab the eggs.



And what does she do?



She sees the cat and starts chasing it, running right passed the egg that was placed in plain sight just for her.



We bring her back in and with a little coaxing from Nana she finds her eggs.





And the hunt was on....



A little chill in the air and drizzle falling from the sky doesn't stop this family nor this egg hunt. Especially because this year we had two egg hunts: the adults hid for us kids and then the kids hid for the adults.





It was an egg-cellent hunt! Especially because I found $11! Bo-ya!



By the end of the day, we were cold, wet, muddy, tired and full. Full with faith, blessings and love.

Easter Eggs

Holidays are fun. They bring a cause for celebration, traditions, family gatherings and mail.

Madison loves receiving mail. She rips each envelope open like it's no body's business. So determined to see what is inside.



Today this little gal even received a special surprise in her envelope.



Ryan already taught her what to do when she receives a special surprise...



Holidays also bring crafts.



Coloring Easter eggs with a impatient, grabby toddler who can't sit still is challenging. She did very well even though I about had a heart attack each time I saw her reach. I just kept picturing the dye spilling all over Ryan's mom's beautiful dining room rug.





Madison loved dropping, and when I say dropping I really mean dropping, each egg in the dye. After clapping for herself and her achievement, she would take the wash cloth and clean up the dye that splattered out. It seems that I have taught her well, when it comes to cleaning up anyway.





Eighteen eggs and no spills later we had some pretty cute eggs, a fun time and one blue hand.





See holidays are fun!

Bits and Pieces

Well, hello there.

We had one of those weekends that was just average. You know, one of those where nothing super great happened and nothing totally terrible happened either. Which I am thankful that nothing totally terrible happened. We just did our thing and rocked out our weekend Bethel Style....whatever that might be. So, here are some bits and pieces from our weekend.


Tumbling

Each class is started by the parents sitting in a circle with their child perched his or her lap. We then sing three songs as we make hand motions for or with our child. Well, this is how it is supposed to begin and everyone else seems to follow these instructions except for one person....Madison.

We are the parents that have the child that is running amok. (Amok...what a great word.) If she's not standing in the middle of the circle dancing then she's running to slide down the slide or show us her stuff on the balance beam. Everyone is singing happily and joyfully while I chase Madison to bring her back to the circle. These are the three longest songs ever, or at least they seem to be.

Any who, Madison wanted nothing to do with singing, circle time or tumbling on Saturday. She slid down the slide about four times and walked across the balance beam once. Then, she was off. Off to the treadmills. Hum, wonder where she gets that, Nana?

We stayed for about fifteen minutes and we were out.



Babies

We like to play babies and we play babies a lot. Madison is already using her imagination while we play. She feeds them, allowing several bites and sucks from their bottles for herself. She takes them on walks in the stroller, until she gets distracted by something she walks by. She is also great at tucking them into bed.



And kissing her babies goodnight.



She even knows when it's time to be firm with her babies and show them who is boss. I wonder where she gets that from?



She's a good little mommy. I know where she gets this from. *wink* *wink*



And like all good parents you just need your space sometimes and you have to kick the kids off the couch. She got this from Daddy.



Potty

Madison has been showing signs that potty training may be in the near future. She says potty which sounds like "poppy" and uses sign language to say potty and she has began to pull on her diaper and asking to be changed. Even though we have signs we still aren't close to even begin the process of potty training just yet. However, we did introduce her to her new potty. I just wanted to have it around so her and her potty could become acquainted.



Look at this poor little face, saying Mom really? You're taking pictures now?



Yes, honey, get use to it.

Laundry

Mr. Foster was our Economics teacher in high school. On the chalkboard he always wrote these words: There's no such thing as a free lunch.  Ryan and I laugh because we both had him and we both remember these words. Along with "Gravy on both?", the lunch lady said that, not Mr. Foster.

Anyway, we are prepared to pass these words of wisdom on to our Madison. Baby girl isn't too young to be doing chores, right?



Hey, you have to take advantage of these early years when they think that chores are fun. Although, I'm not quite sure she thinks this is fun. Look at her face. It's as if she's asking, how come you get to take pictures while Daddy and I are doing the laundry?



Just do as I say child...don't ask questions.
I run a tight ship.

Photoshop

I played around a little bit with Photoshop on Sunday while Madison took a three hour nap. These are my creations....

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


On Sunday, it dawned on me that Easter is only a week away. I had intended to send out a cute little Easter card. If I had I might of used the picture above but guess I missed the boat on that one. Whoops!

Goodnight

Every night Ryan and I tiptoe into Madison's room to see her before we go to sleep. This is exactly how we have found her the past few nights.



It is a good night.

Love,
K

Madison's Noise

Last night, after Madison finished her dinner, she began making this noise. I'm not quite sure why or where this noise came from nor am I sure why I find this video completely hilarious but I do and so I will share.



Goodnight!

I'll take baby for $800 Alex.

**NOTE: I wrote the post below yesterday but Photobucket was doing some "maintenance" to their site so I couldn't add pictures but it's all good now so here you go.

Here I sit in our living room, it's Monday evening, Jeopardy is on the television turned down to where it's barely audible because instead I prefer to listen to the chatter of Maddie O. I tucked her in about twenty minutes ago but apparently she's not ready to fall asleep yet. I can hear her babbling away and about the only words I can make out are "Hi baby" and a "mmmah" every now and again because I know that's the sound of her giving her baby a kiss.

I am happy to report that the pacifier is a thing of the past and has been quickly replaced with her baby. Yeah hoo!



Saturday was a big day for us. Our tumbling class resumed and I couldn't have been more excited. Excited for the fun that Madison was going to have and for her to finally wear her leotard and leg warmers.



As you may notice, the attire of the other children is totally everyday wear. Sweatpants, t-shirts, sweatshirts, legging, etc. Obviously a leotard and leg warmers is totally not necessary but man it's oh so cute! I mean seriously look at her!



I was thankful that Ryan's round of golf was cut short due to the rain. He was able to make it to our class in time and helped me capture our little tumbler in action.



Her favorite activity is the slide. She loves it and finds it so hard to wait in line for her turn.



My favorite part is the giant parachute. Mostly because I remember playing with one that looked exactly the same when I was in elementary school. It was a blast then and still is today.









Maddie O. mastered the balance beam for the first time today. She took her time placing one foot in front of the other and when that didn't work, she just turned to the side and side-stepped her way to the end. Genius I say. Genius.



As I stated before, we had a big day Saturday. So, what came next you ask? Um, a visit with the Easter bunny of course.



I'm sure Madison would have preferred if we had just left the Easter bunny out of our day because from the way she acted she could have done without a visit with the Easter bunny.





She tried though. She waved and said "bunny" but a hug was out of the question. Her friend Emma even tried to show her and tell her it was alright to give the bunny a hug but nothing.



Our little gal preferred to visit with the bunny from afar.



Whew! It was a busy morning. Upon arriving home Ryan changed Madison out of her Easter dress and put her in.....



Christmas pajamas, of course. Hey, never mind the fact that it's one o'clock in the afternoon and April. If the pajamas fit, wear 'em. Besides Ryan had a special surprise for Madison when we got home. After watching her at her tumbling class, he determined that she needed a slide of her own at home. So, now Madison has a slide of her very own. Right her in our living room.



And she's loving every second of it!



So, is her baby.



Someone is going for Daddy-of-the-year and if he keeps this up he just might win!



We finished off our Saturday with a little march from the ants. Yeah that's right they came marching one by one or more like fifty by fifty. Check this out....



Gross! I'm just thankful it was it Maddie's room and not ours. Kidding. We got it cleaned up and have become more watchful of our little grazer and her snacks.

Bye for now.