What's Madeline been doing?

What do I say about Madeline? She is our sweet little contradiction!


While she LOVES to get messy, Ride her bike and scooter, Dig up some dirt, And catch a few bugs...She also LOVES to get her hair really curly and paint her nails,Dance like a princess,Play dress up,And take lots and lots of pictures!Her favorite things include swimming (fearless)...Crafting of ANY kind (should we mention PINK EASTER EGG DYE on the living room carpet?!)...Going to school...Playing with her best friend... And most of all, spending Tuesdays with Mommy... our favorite day!

What's Jackson up to?

Here's a little update on Jackson...He turned 6 and graduated from Kindergarten...

Decided he LOVES t-ball...

Became a Legos super-fan...

Learned how to ride his bike without training wheels (and thus becoming his "favorite form of transportation, except for a really fun plane ride")...

Joined swim team...
Went to Waco for his first (and likely only) state swim meet...

Discovered he LOVES reading (in fact, today he lied to his dad. He told him he had not done his reading yet...so that he could read for another 30 min. We told him next time we will let him read anyway, without the fib!)...

Started 1st grade...

And plays Doggie with his sister for hour on end.

We still await the arrival for his 2 front teeth. This blessed occasion has been patiently anticipated for almost 4 years!!

What are we doing?

I know... a year away from blogging. Don't think I have any grandiose plans to keep this up - I just thought I'd do a little update. Here's a picture of our family today:

This was at a little kid's triathlon we did in our neighborhood today. Here are a couple of action shots:

We are having the best summer ever. Why? Not sure... maybe the kids are growing up and we can do more fun things without worrying about naps or strict mealtimes/ schedules or temper tantrums (at least in public). We have spent a lot of time at the pool, of course, and bike riding, and a trip to Hawaiian Falls and 6 flags, and summer movies, and shaved ice, and time with friends - just lots of fun times!! We haven't gone ANYWHERE, really, but I love having the kids out of school and being able to spend more time with them. Part of the enjoyment comes from the freedom of Saturdays off - no summer hours at work on weekends. It's like a perpetual vacation! I feel fall encroaching faster than I would like and I want to hold on to every day as tightly as I can and not let go.

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Posting frenzy

Here come heaps of posts. Mostly I'm posting these so that I can keep up with journaling. I printed out a book with our 2008 blog using blurb.com and I love it so much that I am motivated to keep going. Feel free to skip over most of it - I just want to make it easier when the year ends to make the book. This is my new way of journalling/ scrapbooking and I'm trying to keep sort of up to date. I wish I could insert the older material into older dates, but I haven't figured that out - any ideas, anyone??

And why are my kids sitting on the mantle?

Long car rides

We had 12 hours in the car both ways to florida to keep ourselves entertained. Neither child napped even 1 single minute. Sigh. Fortunately, we had some things planned - a treat and an activity wrapped up to open every hour. Movies, crafts, games, lots of sugar. We made it through nearly intact and almost sane.

Dolphin cruising

We went out on a "Dolphin Cruise" in the bay mostly for something fun for the kids - but we were surprisingly entertained too. Feeding the seagulls was really cool - hundreds of them were swooping down and they would eat right out of our hands. We did see lots of dolphins up close - and it was way cooler than we thought it would be!The kids got to drive the boat for a couple minutes, which turned this boat ride into the FAVORITE part of the trip for Jackson

Alligators

Don't EVEN call them crocodiles, or you will be severly chastised. We ate lunch in Destin at Fudpuckers, home to over 100 alligators. Really.