Fun afternoon at the park

The kids have been dying to "get out of this house". So, today was the perfect day for that. We played outside briefly at home this morning, but the wind was still a little chilly. After naps, I told them we'd go to the park instead. They were raring to go when they woke up, so it was off to the park. We carried their riding toys so that we could walk the track and let them ride. As you can see from one of the pictures, Maddie got tired of peddling and Daddy had to carry her toy, but she loved chasing Ashton in the meantime. It was a short trip, but they had fun and it let them "get out of this house" for a little bit.

Addison for the day!

This past weekend, Casey, Brandon and Addison came to visit. Casey and Brandon planned a "date day" and we kept Addison. We started the day out going to church. This was Addison's first experience going to a church preschool class and her mom and dad were a bit nervous. Addison proved us all wrong and did a fantastic job. I walked her and Maddie to class, Addison hopped right up at the table and started playing with playdough and turned back and told me bye. I checked in on her a couple of times and she was laughing and playing like it wasn't a big deal at all. It was great! She even came home with her first preschool/Sunday school art project for mom and dad. She was excited and so was Casey!!!

After church, we stopped at Waffle House for a late breakfast/early lunch and then headed home. Alex was feeling under the weather, so all three kids and myself laid down in the living room floor to watch a movie and wind down for naps. My two munchkins were not making it easy for Addison to go to sleep, so I had to put them in their own beds. Not five minutes later, Addison was out cold.

We ended up the afternoon, playing dress up and in the "kitchen" making food for each other. All and all it was a really fun day and we can't wait to have Addison over for another play day soon. Hint, Hint for Casey and Brandon. LOL

Hockey Time

Yesterday was a rare occassion. Alex's hockey games are almost always at night and usually pretty late. The kids never get to go watch him. However, yesterday he was a sub for his old team, the Gravediggers, and they had an early game. Since it was early, I took the kids to watch. They were so excited to get to see Daddy (and his friend, Gomer) play hockey. Maddie is going to be the little cheerleader of the family. She screamed for Alex almost the entire game. They clapped when he scored and then got on to him when he got a penalty and had to sit in the box. It was cute!!

These are a couple of shots from the game. Above they are just going after the puck and below they are about to take face off and Alex is in position to try and get the puck.

It was a good game. They were tied at three at the end of the game. Alex and another guy scored in the shoot out and they won. Yeah Gravediggers!!

Big Girl

Yesterday, Maddie decided that she wanted to be a "big girl" and have her toe nails painted. I was painting mine, for the first time in FOREVER, and she saw me. The only thing we've ever done before was clear polish on her fingernails and she really wanted her toes painted. I finally decided that I'd do it. I explained to her that she would have to sit on the counter and be very, very still. She said, okay. I started painting them and surprisingly she sat real still and patiently watched as I painted them. However, that all changed after I was finished and she wanted to cross her legs and swing her feet back and forth. I had to fix her one big toe at least three times and even now it isn't perfect, but I finally decided I was NOT going to fix it again. She wanted me to then paint her finger nails to match, but I didn't want that bright of a color on her fingers, so we decided on a pale, pale pink that basically looks clear. She had to call everyone she could think of after we were done to tell them. She was so so excited!

Alex is now trying to tell her that because she has her nails painted like a big girl, she HAS to use the potty ALL the time, but it isn't working. That is still going to be a work in progress, but she is slowly trying to go more. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope she gets it soon.

Chuck E Cheese Time

Today, Alex and I took the kids on their first trip to Chuck E Cheese. On the way there, Ashton started in with his typical million questions. He is not real big on dressed up characters. He absolutely goes insane over the cow at Chick fil a. It is bad! Luckily, we got there and the only thing they saw was the "fake" people on stage in the band. We played, ate our pizza and played some more. They had a fantastic time!!!

Ashton wanted to show us he could ride the carousel with no hands. Maddie just wanted to ride in the car with Chuck E Cheese, over and over again.

Alex and Ashton had to play this game together. I really think it was more for Alex than Ashton though.

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend, Alex and I had our first weekend getaway since the kids have been born. Yes, it has been that long... 4 plus years. We were a little bit beyond past due. So, we decided that this would be our "Valentine's thing" for each other. Can't complain about that!

Grammy and Papa, Alex's parents, watched the kids for the weekend. The kids were super excited to go over there and they didn't seem to care a bit that we were going to be gone. I went and got them each their own little luggage because they don't like to share and put their things in the same one. They were SSSSOOO excited about that. (I never knew how much fun luggage could be to roll around the house in cirlces.) The kids actually had so much fun, they didn't even want to come home on Sunday. They begged wanting to stay another night. If Alex and I had known, we could've made arrangements to stay another night. :) Maybe next time....

A big first for Maddie

Last week, Maddie got her first hair cut. She was so excited for Miss Teresa to be cutting her hair. I told her she had to sit very still so that she didn't cut her ear. LOL! She talked about that all the way to her appt. When she climbed up in the chair, I started getting nervous because she wasn't real excited anymore. She came through though and was such a big girl and did great!!!

As you can see, she refused to smile for the camera, but she was so excited on the way out!! She couldn't wait to get in the car and call and tell her Daddy how big she was. It was an exciting thing for her. Let's just hope it goes that smooth every time.