Random thought

I think that mom's and dad's should come with a "counter", sort of like a pedometer, but this would be for the number of times we need to repeat a particular phrase to our children throughout the day.

I just took Jack and Maddie for a walk to get ice cream. Maddie in the stroller and Jack riding his bike. Jack is at the age where he needs to stop and look at everything, EVERYTHING! So, every 15 seconds we'd stop and look at the large hole in the ground, the baby rabbit eating, the yellow flowers, the one blade of grass that was bent in a different direction...the list goes on.

I'd be curious to know how many times I said, "OK buddy, let's keep going", "keep going buddy", "Jack, let's keep going", "JACK we need to move or we're never going to get there", "never, momma?" "JUST KEEP GOING"!

So we finally made it to the ice cream store. I ordered the cones for the kids and wondered if it would be illegal for me to walk home with an open bottle of wine. I opted just to share the cone with Maddie :)

We finished our yummy ice cream cones and headed home. It was a much smoother ride on the way back. Maddie fell asleep and Jack and I had a nice talk about what bunnies think about when they're first born. "Momma, can bunnies even think when they're born? Who teaches them how to hop, if their mom's and dad's can't even talk?" He's so funny.

Maybe next time, I'll start with ice cream and then go for the bike ride.

Happy Fathers Day...a day late

Happy Fathers Day!

I am so lucky to have 4 wonderful men to say "Happy Father's Day" to each year.

Dad (Kyle), Steve, Dave and Nathan you are all truly amazing fathers. I think about how lucky we all are to have you in our daily lives. Jack and Maddie have excellent role models and love spending time with you. Thank you for being my rocks and my sounding board.

Dad, thank you especially for being my meal ticket to an award winning book. The stories I have yet to write down about you, will surely fund our retirement.

Love to you all!

The "funny" of the day...

Last night, (Saturday) Nathan was putting Jack to bed. Jack found his wolf pup that he got for Christmas. It's a pup that's "real". It has sensors in it's back and makes sounds like a real wolf pup would. Nathan and Jack were talking about the fur on the pup. Nathan asked Jack if he thought the fur was from a real wolf. Jack said, "no, but I think they got the fur from Grandpa Kyle's head". Grandpa Kyle has a full head a BEAUTIFUL white/grey/black hair! :)

Summer Fun

Today was such a fun day. Jack has been so excited about "Toy Story 3", so we decided to take him to the theater to see it. We had a babysitter come and stay with Maddie, while Nathan, Jack and I went to the movie. The movie was VERY cute! Jack loved it. I absolutely adore his laugh. I wish that I could bottle it and keep the sound forever.

After the movie we set up our giant water slide in the back yard. Jack really enjoys playing in the water. This time he got out some balls and had fun throwing them up the water slide and watching them roll back down. The water is directly from the hose, so it's pretty cold. Maddie loves watching her big brother. She sat and watched him for awhile and then decided that she too, needed to get wet. She jumped in the pool side of the slide and had a blast. She's getting so curious about everything, that it's hard to keep her content.

Nathan and I got some good use out of the hammock he ordered. It's a good thing we have so many trees in the yard. After the kids went to bed, we enjoyed some quiet time outside. We also had some "smelly" company...a skunk! He didn't bother us too much, but it was neat to watch the skunk dig in the ground for grubs and other bugs.

Enjoy the photos!

This is Madelyn at her 1st birthday party. She is such a happy baby girl that's growing up way too quickly. We have a hard time believing that she's one already. She's walking all over now and fully exploring our house. We finally put a gate at the bottom of our stairway because she just couldn't resist the temptation to climb the stairs. Maddie is saying lots of new words now. We love it when she sits at the bottom of the stairs and yells up the stairs for "Jack". It's so cute for her to want her big brother back in the same room as her. Maddie lights up when we walk in the room. She loves her Momma and Daddy. Hopefully it stays that way :)

This is Jack on our trip to Disney World in March of 2010. He was incredibly excited to be on our vacation. Jack is such a fun loving and caring boy. He's compassionate and LOVES his family and friends. He enjoys art, trains, board games and helping Daddy in the yard. Jack will be starting kindergarten in the fall and is truly looking forward to all the new things he's going to be learning.

Welcome to our "scoop"

Hello and welcome to our blog! I've been wanting to start a blog ever since I was on maternity leave with our youngest child, Madelyn. Well, I never got around to it, and now after being totally inspired by the many blogs that I subscribe to, I finally created one.

This blog will be about sharing funny stories about Jack and Maddie...and Nathan, sharing ideas and keeping friends and family updated on our lives.