Maddie gets a pedicure

One of my friends gave Maddie and I gift certificates for pedicures and since Maddie was sick all last week and we were stuck at home we decided that we were getting out of the house on Monday. We made it a girls outing to get our pedicures! This was Maddie's first full blown pedicure. She's had her nails painted many, many times but never "put her feet in the water" as she calls it. Her feet barely fit in the water even sitting on the edge of the seat and it filled to the top. LOL

She was a little nervous at first. As most of you know, Maddie isn't the biggest fan of men and of course it was a man doing it. She stared away for the first 5 minutes or so then she warmed up to him. He has a 2 yr old daughter himself so he was trying to talk to her and being silly with her. She said that him rubbing her feet down with scrub tickeld but she liked it.

The man did a great job on her toes. She got a french manicure and then he did little strip sparks behind the white and a cute little black and hot pink design on her big toes. This might just be a new little mommy/daughter treat every now and then!

Opening Day

Saturday was opening day for Ashton's spring baseball league. I wasn't sure if they'd play with the weathermen calling for rain, but we did. It was a little cool out but the boys did a great job!

Here is a couple of pics of Ashton at bat and swinging at his pitch. Alex did a great job with capturing the ball coming in. Ashton hit every time at bat but got out on first once. He played a good game. We just need to coach him on a few things.

Alex got some great pictures of Ashton running the bases too, including him sliding in to home plate. We told him he probably needed to stop watching the ball and run faster to home but otherwise he is doing pretty good! We're very proud of him. :)

Here is a picture of Maddie and I all snuggled up watching Ashton play. The entire last week of spring break Maddie was running a fever. We took her to the doctor and after a round of tests, they couldn't determine anything wrong with her. They gave her antibiotics and said it must be something viral.

Thankfully, Maddie is all back to normal now! It was a long week and we're all very happy to have her little spunky self back. :-)

Preds game for the boys

Last night, Ashton and Alex went to the Predators game. Ashton was so excited to be going. He got to go watch Alex play the night before and as you can see, he can't wipe the grin off his face. The picture was one he had Alex send from the car to tell me that he loved me! Aaaahhhh! I love that kid! He is so sweet. :-)

Here he is posing with the CARDBOARD Nash. LOL

Daddy just can't say no to dippin dots and popcorn!

I think they had a good time! Ashton was so worn out this morning that he slept until ten o'clock which he has never in his life done before!

KK's Birthday

Friday, the kids and I went to KK's for the day to help her celebrate her birthday. They were so excited to get to visit and play. When we got there, my dad was there and he took Casey on a ride around the block. Addison was NOT happy about it and stood in the driveway crying like her mom was never coming back. LOL

Here are a couple of pics I took of them:

Casey and I got to enjoy some much needed time together. I painted her fingernails and we just talked. It was so nice!! The kids had a great time playing together and for the most part there were no incidents. :-)

Of course, the kids had more fun playing outside and so I had to get a few pics of that. Dax WILL NOT look at me for anything when I take his picture. I think I took about thirty or forty pictures and I have maybe four of him looking remotely in my direction. Addison, on the other hand, is just like her mom and can't keep her eyes open for a picture. :(

We had a nice visit and can't wait to get back for another!

Baby Ducks

On Monday, Alex decided that the kids would enjoy baby ducks. I said, yeah they probably would like that, but I really thought that he was just kidding. After Maddie's gymnastics class, he took them with him saying he was going to take them to just see the ducks. Nex thing I know, the kids come in having each picked one out. The Perry family has two new additions to the family, Churp and Izzy.

The ducks are cute and they have a little home in the garage under a heat lamp for now. Alex told the kids we couldn't keep them forever. He explained that we'd have them until they got bigger and then we'd have to release them outside so they could run and play and be with other ducks. We've decided that we're going to see if Ashton's teacher, Mrs. Dawn would like them at her farm and if not, we're going to put them by Grammy and Papa's pond to live. Either way, they will get a good home when they leave ours.

"I like God!"

Ashton has been doing a "book" as he calls it. This all started because at school they have a writers notebook and they draw pictures and then write what it is. It encourages them to spell out words as they sound. He doesn't usually get them all correct, but he's getting better and better. Lately, he's been wanting to do the same thing at home but he does it all on individual sheets of paper and has told us he's making a book.

Last night, he brought down a stack of ones he'd done and wanted us to look at them. Typically what we do is look at them and then write under what he has the correct spelling (like Mrs. Dawn does at school). This was one of the ones he did last night. We were so proud of him!!! He spelled it all correctly and Alex thought it was cute that he had done God's body as a cross. I asked him this morning if he just "liked" God and he said, "Well, I really love God, but I know how to spell like so I just put that." LOL We are going to have some of the cutest little "books" to hold onto and share with him when he gets older. I can't wait!!!

Weekend with Addison

Last weekend, Addison (my niece) came for her first weekend with us. She has been to our house a million times, but this was her first time to spend the night without her parents for more than one night. Ashton and Maddie were both excited and Addison seemed pretty stoked herself. Saturday afternoon they kids just played her and then Alex and I had dinner plans with with some friends, so Papa Monkey came over and stayed with the three of them. They had a great time and Ashton is still telling me about all the "boy" things that he and Papa did while we were gone. :-) Sunday, we went to church, had some playtime, did some shopping and then had more playtime. Addison was getting worn out with all our activity but still having a good time. She told me once that she was missing her mommy and daddy but having fun at my house. :) Yay!!!!

Monday, after Ashton was off to school, I took the girls to Pump It Up. They had so much fun!! We've not been there is quite a while ourselves so it was a good treat for them both. Of course, as a "rule" we always go to Chick Fil A after our visits to Pump It Up. Addison was pretty excited about that. She said "more playing"?!?!? They both ate their lunch quickly and were off to the playroom. Neither one of them seemed the least bit worn out yet. How on earth?!?! I was getting tired just watching them.

We ended the day with Addison getting to go to watch Maddie at gymnastics and then she was on her way back home. We really enjoyed having Addison at our house and hope she gets to come back again soon!!!

Athletic Ashton

I think Ashton is going to be our more athletic child. A couple of weeks ago, Alex went for a run down Lebanon Rd and Ashton was upset that he couldn't go too. We tried to explain to him that the busy road wasn't a good place for children to run. Alex finally told him that when he got done with his run on Lebanon Rd they could run in our neighborhood. Ashton was fine with that and off Alex went. I figured by the time Alex got back, Ashton would've moved on to something else. NO! Alex wasn't back 5 minutes and Ashton was hounding him to go do their run. Alex took a short break and off the boys went. Alex was shocked that Ashton could run so long without being winded or stopping. They ran just a little over a mile!! Go Ashton! This is a picture Alex snapped of him while they were running.

Is he ready for a 1/2 marathon already?!?!?!?!

Ashton school just completed a Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser. When he first came home telling us about it, he had to show us how "good" he was at jumping rope. He was so proud of himself, but could only jump backwards. The school PE teacher told him he'd have to be able to go forward in order for it to count. He practiced and practiced around the house. So much that we finally had to take the jump rope away. He literally wouldn't walk anywhere. He jump rope every where he goes even if its with an invisible jump rope. Last week, they had the actual jump and Ashton had finally figured out how to go forward. We're proud of him for sticking to practicing until he learned how to do it. Go Ashton!!!

Maddie got a STAR!!!!!!!

As you all know, Maddie has been taking gymnastics for several months now. Once you master a certain thing, you receive a star. Maddie has been dying to get a star, but just hasn't earned one yet.

Well, two weeks ago, that changed! She had been REALLY practicing her hand stands and couldn't wait to show Miss Tammy that she could do it. She was so sure she'd get a star finally! She tried the hand stand for her teacher, but it just wasn't up to par. No star! :(

They moved on to practice something else and Maddie shocked us all by doing a back bend all on her own!!!! YAY Maddie!! And star here you go! So, Maddie got her first star in gymnastics for doing a back bend. She was so excited. She got to pick one out, write her name on it and then put it where she wanted on the wall. That part was not sitting too well with her. She was so upset she couldn't bring it home to show Alex. He decided not to go that day and she was devastated that he missed her getting the star.

Since then, she has continued to practice on her hand stands and I'm thinking she will probably be earning another star any time. Hopefully, Alex will get to go to the next couple of practices so that he won't miss it and she'll be stoked. :)

Family Movie and Daddy/Daughter Day

A couple of Saturdays ago, Alex and I decided that since we had no other obligations we were spending a day doing something the kids would really enjoy. We asked them for some ideas, but we didn't get very far. We finally decided we would take them for pizza (CiCi's) which they love and we'd go see Gnomeo and Juliet. We haven't had the best of luck with taking Maddie to see movies but we figured it was time for another try. I didn't realize until we got there it was a 3D movie, but it was fine. The kids loved the glasses and thought it was fun that we all had to wear them. The movie was really cute and Maddie did a much better job with sitting still than she ever has before! We were pleased. :-)

Monday was President's Day and Alex had the day off, Ashton had a make up day at school and I had plans to go with our friends, Kevin and Tiffany. So, off to school Ashton went and he was a daddy/daughter day for Alex and Maddie. They had what Maddie has named, "the best day in her life". After taking Ashton to school, they went to the park and played and played.

Maddie liked the new big red chair swing and she has always loved the slides. But Daddy's UNDIVIDED attention was the best part of all!!!

After some time at the park, Maddie needed a slush of course. So away to Sonic they went! Daddy is a sucker for his little girl some times! LOL

Here is Maddie after getting her fingers and toes painted. This is a standard Daddy/Daughter day for those two. Maddie loves it and its her special thing they do. She doesn't get half as excited when I take her as she does when Alex does.

They even shared part of their day with Ashton. Alex doesn't get to eat lunch with him much and so Maddie was more than happy for the two of them to go together. She was, however, a little disappointed the lunch wasn't something she liked. She really wanted to go through the line for a "school lunch". LOL

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, Maddie and I went to Ashton's school to be apart of his party with his class. As you can see, the kids each got a balloon and they made little boxes to put their valentines in.

All the kids seemed to really enjoying running around putting their treats in each others boxes. It was a good way of teaching them how each of their friends spell their names. :-)

Here is Maddie enjoying some of the candy that she was given!

At the end of the day, The Perrys had a nice little night together. I had planned for us to grill out, but when we got home Ashton told us that he really wanted to use "his" money to take us to dinner because Mommy has to cook every day. (aaaahhhhh!!) We told him it was really okay that mommy didn't mind cooking and he got very emotional and said that he really just wanted to show us how much he loved us on valentines (this special day as he called it) and so we finally caved and let him take us. He told us to pick where we wanted to go and so we did. He then informed us he really wanted to take us for mexican, so mexican we went! I am so blessed to have such a sweet little boy. I hope that he stays that way forever!!!!