The Children's Museum

On Saturday morning we took a little day trip to the Children's Museum. It had been awhile since we'd been here, so everything seemed new again, especially for Maddie. She was wide eyed looking at the kids and activities to explore.
Maddie loved visiting with and talking to this little turtle. She was so cute. She kept on saying, "turtle, turtle" and pointing to him. We got a kick out of this picture because the turtle is also looking at Nathan to take the picture.
I think she would have gotten in the tank, had we let her.
Jack gravitated right to the art table. There were a stack of wood "fossils" for the kids to color over and make an imprint. Jack had fun seeing what each picture would turn into. Maddie had fun with this for about a minute, then it was back to the turtle and fish.
Jack was actually inside a hole in this table building things. It was pretty neat to see all the kids building different things.

Jack got right to building at this station. This structure turned into a truck. It was pretty neat. Maddie is looking down a glass tube that goes all the way down to the main entrance of the museum.
At least one of us is looking in this picture. This is a long walk way through a dinosaur skeleton. We were high up in the air on this. It was funny because there was a bunch of kids behind us that were using the bones as monkey bars while Nathan was trying to take the picture.
Peek-a-boo. I have no idea how Jack found this secret passage way under the bridge, but he ended up crawling through a tiny hole to get on the other side. Nathan snapped the picture just in time.
Maddie couldn't quite figure out how to get through, but she got a kick out of seeing Jack through the hole.
Jack and Maddie are standing on the back of a vegetable truck being driven by a mule. All the kids wanted to sit on the mule, but mine just wanted to ride. (It wasn't a real mule, but still creepy looking)
My, what big coconuts you have...or whatever these little nooks are. Jack jumped in and Maddie went right in after him. It looked like a nice place to sit and read a book...but not with a million kids running around.

We had a great time at the Museum and will be sure to go again soon.

The Crosby Crew - 2

Too many girls...that's what Jack's face says. My best friend Kristi, her husband Kevin and their girls (minus Jules and the bun in the oven) came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. I knew Nathan took a picture of all of the kids together, but I just found it on my desktop today.

The kids had so much fun playing together. It was soooo loud in the house with all the excitement and laughter. At one point, I said to Kristi, "is it always this loud in your house"? She replied with, "well...yeah". It was a good, fun loud though. It's nice that the kids can all play together. I think Maddie was in shock for the first few hours with all the girls. She would just sit and watch them. Within a couple of hours she was right in the mix with the rest of them. They played dress up and "chase" and a really long game of "scream" :)

Nathan and I enjoyed catching up with Kristi and Kevin. Our visit was way too short, but I loved the time I got with my girl.

Love you all!!

Happy three days after Valentines Day :)!

Above is a picture that Nathan took of the cupcakes that I made for Jack's kindergarten class. Nathan loves his new camera and his new macro lens. He's always willing to take pictures for me.

We had fun preparing for Valentines Day this year. Typically I don't get into it, but something sparked my interest.

I ordered personalized iron on decals from etsy.com, with the kids names on them. I put them on t-shirts for the kids to wear to school. Jack's was a dump truck with hearts spilling out the back. It says "loads of love" and then his name is going around the circle. Maddie's decal was a cupcake with her name on it. It says "Happy Valentines Day" going around the circle.

Here's a picture of Maddie collecting a trail of chocolate kisses. After the kids went to bed on Sunday night, I made a trail of kisses leading from their bedrooms, to the hallway, down the stairs, and eventually to their t-shirts. Jack and Maddie had fun following the trail of kisses.

Jack was excited to take his picture this morning, which usually Maddie's the one that poses and says "cheese"!!!

I had to sit with Maddie for this one. She didn't want anything to do with pictures. Maybe it was too early.

I came home after work to a beautiful display of tulips. My favorite!!! Thanks Nathan!

What did you do for Valentines Day this year?

We LOVE Weekends...who doesn't?

Happy Monday! We've had a couple of fun filled weekends in the month of January.

This past Saturday our friends Cori, Jason and their two beautiful kids came for a visit. It was nice to catch up and let the kiddos play. We really need to get together more often!

Later on Saturday afternoon Jack and Maddie got into Maddie's dress up clothes that she got from Grandma Jo and Grandpa Steve for Christmas. It was so fun to see her putting the dresses, necklaces and hats on. After dinner, I came out of the dining room to see this little fellow (below) all decked out in his sisters attire. Check out the slippers! It was SOOOO funny! This picture will definitely be surfacing when he gets to be about 16.

Maddie had so much fun putting all the necklaces on. She kept on saying "bye, bye" and waving when she put her purse on.

After breakfast on Saturday morning Maddie went into the laundry room and took off her jammies. Nathan went to see what she was doing and this what he found. She loves being naked!

This is right before we were leaving to go to the Kalahari two weeks ago. Maddie was so funny running around in her suit. It's funny to see her in a swim suit with snow behind her.

We had a blast that day. Jack was so excited to be back at the Kalahari. The first thing that he wanted to do was go on the "Lazy Susan", which is the Lazy River. That was a funny one. We had a nice time going on the water slides and playing in the wave pool. It took a bit for Maddie to get used to the water and noise, but once she did, she loved it. Thanks Jeff and Liz for giving us your passes!

Wanna know what I see...

Here birdie, birdie look at me...

Last weekend was "Eagle Watching Days" in our town. Not wanting to miss out on any of the fun, we drove down the road to take some pictures of the Eagles. We're not really sure why we don't take pictures of the eagles more frequently, being that we live here, but last Sunday Nathan was able to get some really great shots.

These photos were taken along the Wisconsin River. I pulled over to the side of the road and Nathan was able to get a few photos of this beautiful bird. I was amazed that the eagle didn't fly away. There were about 15 at this particular spot looking at him. There was also a man in a car that decided to beep his horn at all the people and the eagle didn't even flinch.

AND...this is how Maddie feels about "Eagle Watching Days". Actually this was taken while I was in an Antique store. I had to run in "real quick" and see if they had something...they didn't.

BABY it's cold outside!!

I guess it comes as no surprise that in January it's below zero. One would think that after 28 years of living in Wisconsin that the cold wouldn't surprise us anymore. Well, it does!

Jack had the day off of school yesterday, so I took him and his buddy Kaden to an indoor amusement park. They had a blast! I was also lucky to spend the day with my good friend Liz! We had a relaxing morning while the boys played and then had fun watching the boys play lots of games and get excited over how many tickets they were winning. I don't have any pictures of the day, but we sure had fun.

Last weekend we were able to get outside and play for a bit. It was a heat wave compared to the frigid temperatures this weekend. We pulled Jack and Maddie around the yard in a sled and chased each other around the yard. Jack loves getting pulled in the sled and Maddie, not so much. She screams...a lot. It was the first time we'd been able to play in our new yard.

Maddie hanging on for dear life.
A quick picture before we had to head back inside.

Maddie and Daddy...two cuties :)

Welcome to 2011...a little late!

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!


Yes, it's been since October since I've last blogged. Wow! Where does the time go? Let me tell you where our time has gone:

As many of you know, we put our house up for sale in July. After a long and stressful process our house sold and we moved into our dream house. Yippee!! We love it here. The kids moved in with no issues. Not even an, "I miss our old house" out of Jack. We were very impressed. Both of the kids did great in their new bedrooms and surroundings. They are loving all of the extra space. We are enjoying cooking in our new big kitchen and love our gas stove. We have lots of room for visitors, so come on over.

We had a fun and busy holiday season. We traveled to Milwaukee and Stevens Point. It was great seeing all of our family and spending extra time with them. The kids had a blast opening their presents and playing with their new treasures.

Jack and Maddie spent a few extra days in Stevens Point with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Anne. They even got outside to build a snow fort.

Nathan and I were able to spend some time exploring some new restaurants and an old favorite as well. We even enjoyed a night out with our dear friends Tom, Val, Jeff and Liz!

We hope to get outside and play in the fluffy white stuff that's decorating our yard. How pretty!!

Making Christmas cookies for the first time in our new house.

Jack and Maddie in front of our Christmas tree.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Maddie. Such a beautiful girl. Thanks, Grandpa Dave for capturing this moment for us.

Jack playing with snow blocks that he received for Christmas.

Auntie Anne and Maddie playing in the snow.

In front of Grandpa Dave and Grandma Debbie's Christmas Tree. I think this was right before we were leaving to go home. If I remember correctly Debbie had to stand on the sofa with a blanket to block the light so Dave could take a picture...funny!

Sofia (our niece), Maddie and Jack in front of Grandpa and Nana's Christmas tree.

Jack being a goof ball and trying to put a stocking on his head. This was at Grandpa Kyle and Nana's and was our 4th Christmas celebration.