Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Happy Birthday Madison!!





Sunday, May 24th was our little girl’s 3rd birthday! We had a super fun party for her friends Saturday evening and could not have asked for more perfect weather! It had rained for the previous 3 days (well, been overcast for 2 and then rained for 1 if you want to be technical…) so it was cool, clear and beautiful. My sister Tawnya came down with her boys for the weekend, and Yvette with Brad, Braquel, Brandon and Ryan came Sunday for the day. It was such a great weekend and let me just say Madison got spoiled and here are pictures to prove the fun and the spoiling!

The only sad part of the weekend happened Sunday morning. We had a beautiful rain shower and were forced inside. We decided to open presents from my family and when I asked Clint where the camera was… “Ooooooh! Please don’t be mad at me!” he replied followed by a mad dash out the back door. Yup. It got left outside after the party Saturday evening and was covered in sand and rain. It works (miraculously!) but has so much sand stuck in the lens that it won’t open, thus it won’t turn on all the way. I gave it my best shot, with little luck and have no idea how much it would be to get it cleaned, or if it would even be worth paying to have it done. I love my camera and am so sad to see it sit there, sad, lonely and full of sand! We were able to get the pictures off it and actually got it to turn on all the way once (sand grinding inside, AAAAAAH!) and take one more picture, but it’s stuck shut now. And as you all know, I am a picture-taking freak so I’m really missing it!

The last picture it took… at least it’s a cute one, eh? Supple silver lining…

Since I didn’t get to take pictures of the Family’s presents, I’ll tell ya really fast what she got on Sunday: Russell and Jonnet got her an All-Terrain Tricycle that can hold up to 600 pounds… I think it’s half for Clint! Yvette made her a Tinkerbell Book Box. It has a book and two figurines so she can act out the book, a Tinkerbell costume, headbands and a Wondermarker coloring book. So FUN! My niece Braquel MADE her a purple Quillow with an “M” on it, which Madi loves! And Aaryn and Manon (his fiancĂ©) got her a Tinkerbell puzzle and really awesome marker coloring book set. I thought it was pretty cool that she got so many Tinkerbell things, fun coincidence!

Memorial Day was filled with a lot of swimming and slight sunburns. Clint and I saw the new Star Trek move with Brian and Marie that afternoon and I have to say that it was a definite 2-thumbs-up kind of movie. It always helps when the lead guy is pleasant to look at though. :0) All in all it was a fun birthday weekend, and now that my house has been post-guest-cleaned, it’s time to kick back and enjoy the spoils!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Photoshop and Dance Recital

I have been having probably too much fun with Photoshop lately and wanted to show off the result of Madi's most recent nap times...


I love the color of her eyes in this one, so here's a close up. And no, I didn't change the color, those really are her eyes!




And here are some picutres of Madison's dance recital last Saturday. It was so flippin' cute! She was adorable and SO fun to watch! I wish we had a better view of her and that I had brought my tripod to steady the camera... live and learn!









Sunday, May 3, 2009

A NEW Toy! (But who is it for??)

That is that real question! Only time will tell!!

We used our tax return this year in a way that we hope will be VERY beneficial to our family because it will give our highly spirited daughter an outlet for her masses of energy… AKA we bought a swing set. Not just a swing set, it’s more or less a guesthouse with a lot of bells and whistles! :0)

We finally got it last Friday, but didn’t have a chance to get to it Saturday. It was a good thing though cuz we got to work on it a little bit everyday, making yesterday a lot easier.
Monday we went through all the parts, built the rock wall, climbing ramp and tic-tac-toe panel.

Tuesday we built the chimney and sunburst dormers.
Wednesday we built the left side of the fort.
Thursday we… I mean I built the right side of the fort! (go me!)
Friday I prepped the rest of the yard, moved most of the wood into the back, labeled and organized it.
Saturday the boys showed up at 6 and got to work putting it all together. By 8 they had the fort built and square. By 8:30 the swingbeam was up. At this point I left (more on that in a minute) but Clint called me at 11 singing "We got a swingset! We got a swingset! We got a swingset, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Lookie at our new toy!!

But, is it for Madi and her friends or Clint and his? Hmmm...

My absense from the rest of the morning's hard work was due to Madi. Her dance class took their group pictures at 9 and were in the Cinco de Mayo parade at 10. Those girls were so freakin cute! I know it's totally cheesy, but I'm so excited and in shock that MY little girl is one of those cute kids in their dance costumes waving like they're princesses!

We picked up pizza on our way home and let the kids run wild (in play clothes, not their costumes) while the Daddies vegged on the floor and the Mommies zoned (we were sympathetically tired!). It was a fabulous day!