Sunny Afternoon

We spent the afternoon outside today - first we went on a bike ride, then we did sidewalk chalk with our friends. It was fun - the girls got quite creative... How great it is for Madeline to have such good friends to play with!

Dollhouse in Progress

Before Madeline was born I bought a dollhouse kit, and got started on it, but when Madeline was born I put it away and didn't work on it for six years. Now that she is bigger and slightly more patient I have gotten it out and have been working on it. I've made quite a bit of progress in the last couple of weeks, and should be able to put the roof on soon. Madeline thinks it should be finished already of course!

Speaking of Madeline, she's been with Mom and Dad this week-end, and I am sure she's had a great time. She is on Fall Break this week, and will have a couple of young teen babysitters, so I'm sure she'll have a fabulous time! I am off with her next week, so I need to come up with something fun to do with her that is close to home and doesn't cost a fortune. (Unless of course Sophia comes, in which case we'll get to Atlanta somehow :-)

Picture I stole from Tony

Our friend Tony is living basically an opposite life from ours. While we are here happily doing the parent thing, he is in Europe living the single life travelling around doing what he wants to do (mostly sampling beer and sausages it seems from his blog). He recently has been in Madrid, Spain, and wrote a long post about bull fighting. But, mixed in with his pictures of the Matadors and bulls was this beautiful picture that struck me. I hope you enjoy it, too and that he doesn't mind me stealing it!

This is off the topic, but I am watching a show called "Hillbilly" on the History Channel, and I just looked up and saw a beautiful mountainside. I know I didn't grow up there, but when I see those scenes it makes me think of home....

Dentist

I just looked up "root canal" in Wikipedia - yucko! I was not excited, now I really am not! Everyone says it isn't so bad though, and I did deliver a baby, so I suppose I will live! By tomorrow afternoon it will be over with!

90 Degrees in Late September!

It was 90 degrees today! Good Grief! Oh well, when it is 30 degrees I'll be wishing it was 90 :-)

We had a fun day overall today. First we went on a whole family bike ride, which was a ton of fun. There are times that I am sad that Madeline isn't a baby any more, but when we are all on bikes like today I was glad she is finally big enough to do that! Now if we could just get her training wheels off.....

Then Madeline and I walked to the new library. It's been there a few months, so we were tardy in getting there, but it was really nice! We checked out a book that Madeline really enjoyed "Lilly and the Mixed Up Letters", about a girl who was having trouble reading out loud at school.



I got a book titled "Forgive Me" which I have read quite a bit of already. I'll let you know what I decide about it in a day or two...



Steven worked himself to death today, moving dirt around our yard. He made a pad for the swimming pool (I'll put grass seed there, which will hopefully come up before winter), and filled in some low spots. So, I checked him out a movie:



He's watching it now, and I haven't seen most of it, but it looks awesome. I know most of you have probably seen it already, but we don't watch a lot of movies around here, so it is new to us. Anyway, the library is a place that we will visit regularly and often after today!

For dinner I tried my hand at Weiner Schnitzel, and it was good! I enjoy cooking, it's just thinking of something to cook that I don't enjoy :-)

Tomorrow, we are hoping to do more of the same.

Festival

Our little family went down to town today to the annual festival and had a great time! Madeline decided that rather than pay $7.00 to bounce on a big bouncy thing she'd spend her money making sand art, and we had lots of fun making the multi colored butterfly which you see here. After walking around downtown we came home and Madeline played with her friends and I got dinner ready - I was proud of myself, it was a meatloaf with a cheese sauce from Paula Dean along with some mashed potatoes from her cookbook and green beans. We all enjoyed it, and I plan to take the left overs to Dad to eat tomorrow while Mom is at Mamaw's house. I have also pulled out a dollhouse that I started to build before Madeline was born (of course I had to quit working when I had the baby), and have been working on that last night and today. Madeline is quite excited about it! Of course, it will probably take me several months to finish it, so we'll see how her patience with that project holds out!

Balloon Glow

Dad, Steven, Mom, Madeline and I had a great time last night at the Balloon Glow. It was a free event, where about twenty balloonists came and set up their balloons at dusk for the kids to see. I have never been that close to hot air balloons before - it was pretty amazing! Madeline had a wonderful time, and has talked a lot about the balloons today :-) If you get the chance, you should check out one of these. A lot of these photos were taken by Madeline!

Listen to this song!

This video is pretty fun, because of the hamster and because of the goofy song our girl is singing :-) Enjoy!

Birthday Party Week-end

We had a pretty relaxing week-end around here. Madeline went to Birthday parties for Lauren and Buckley, and had fun at both. Lauren's was a trip to Build a Bear, and Madeline actually had a fabulous time. Now she trying to choose between the birthday party we had planned (5 girls and a trip to Roger's Corn Maze) and a trip to Build a Bear with just Mom & Dad. We have a policy around here that you don't get HUGE birthday parties every year (even though tons of kids do). Last year was big and she had 10 girls to the movies, this year, not big. It will be interesting to see which option she picks.

I have been feeling a bit under the weather with the ongoing tooth thing. I have had quite a bit of pain today, but at least I get to talk with the dentist tomorrow about what we are going to do to resolve it.

Steven's Birthday Dinner

Steven has enjoyed a week of Birthday festivities this year :-) Tonight we had his classic favorite - fried pork chops, mashed potatoes and white cake with caramel icing. We had a good time, and he enjoyed opening his Birthday cards - he says thanks to Johnny & Jeanine and Mom & Dad for the American Greenbacks they gave him for his Birthday! (Don't worry, he always spends Birthday money on fun stuff!)

Daphne Hamster

Hi, this is Madeline. Today I got a dwarf hamster and I named her Daphne. I like her so much, she is my best hamster ever. She is small, she has white fur with grey spots, and the fur is really soft. She is very pretty to look at and scurries a lot. I promised that I will take care of her good, and not open the cage when Mommy isn't there. Her cage is cool, it has lots of tubes and fun stuff for her. She likes her spinny wheel. She has a ball that she can run all around in and scurry all over the kitchen. What fun she has! You should come and see her. The end.

Camping Fun

This week-end we have had a great time having a much needed rest from work, and spending time at the camp. It's such a beautiful place! I had fun driving Johnny's Ranger around one of the trails for the first time without a male helper. Jeanine is always game for some fun, and she went with me. Needless to say there was a lot of giggling going on! Madeline had a big time, except she developed a really nasty cough, so we wound up at the Doctor's office today. She got an antibiotic, some cough syrup and has to do breathing treatments for a few days. I am hoping that she is better in the morning. She is dying to go back to the camp! Jeanine made Steven some white cupcakes with caramel icing, which he enjoyed a lot. Hope your Labor Day is going well!