Ghouls at Grassmere

This was the first of our many Halloween activities this year. The Zoo always has a trick or treating event and this year we took the girls. We went to all the stations and got candy and got our BINGO cards stamped so we could get the special prize at the end which was a Halloween flashlight-fun! There girls also went through the monster lab which is where they reached into buckets and touched creepy icky things like a alien intestines for example. Mackenzie was pretty excited when we got to the Krispy Kreme booth she enjoyed her doughnut hole a lot. Our friends the Douglas were there too and Madalyn and Gavin had a lot of fun running around together and getting their candy.

Cookout at the Dye's

We had a church cookout in Hendersonville at Ken and Jane Dye's house. We had a lot of fun! There were several families there with kids around the girls ages and we just Hung outand then had some dinner. Ken also took us out in groups on his boat. Madalyn has had boat rides with her Uncle Dale in Scottsboro and with Aunt Susan at the lake they go to. This however was Mackenzie first time and she absolutely loved it. She did not want me holding on to her and she loved the wind in her face she was like a little puppy on a car ride for the first time just constantly sticking there head out the open window.

Chocolate Cake

mmmmm.... We went to Nana and Mac's house for dinner for Mommy's birthday and Mackenzie absolutely loved the chocolate cake. She seems to have quite a sweet tooth. Her main word for any type of food is cookie.

Where Dreams come true

This is just one of the many pictures we have from our September trip to Disney World. We had so much fun and can not wait to go back we were there for 8 nights and 9 days and did so many fun things. Mackenzie was so cute when we would go and see the characters ( it did take her about a day to go up and see them) We had a Winnie the pooh dinner the first night and she would get excited to see them across the room, but once they were about 5 ft away her head would go down on the table until they were gone. The next morning we had breakfast with Mickey Mouse ( Mimi mou has Kenzie says) and that did it she was hooked she could not get enough of the characters. We did lots of Character meet and greets and character meals. Madalyn also had a lot of fun she was tall enough for some new rides this year- she rode Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain railroad, Stitch's Great Escape, Kali River Rapids, Tower of Terror, Test Track and Soarin'. There was only one ride that she was tall enough for and chose not to ride. Soarin' was one of her favorites-it is a ride where you feel like you are hang gliding over the state of California. I could go on and on about all the fun adventures we had while on our vacation, but I think I will wrap up for now.

Madalyn's First Day

This is Madalyn ready to head off to her first day in the 4 year old class. It is hard to believe she is getting so big now. Just a year from now and she will be off to Kindergarten. She is in Miss Beth's class and is really having fun. There are some new rules she is learning and she is trying very hard not to get any punches in her ticket. Punches are given for not following the rules. She gets a new ticket every week and at the end of the week if there are no holes punched she gets to go to the treasure chest for a prize. That is one of her favorite things so far about being in the 4 year old class.

Camp WEBE 2007

We got back this past Saturday from Camp Webe (our church camp) and we had a great time. Garrison was the camp Director this year so he had a lot to do and he did a great job doing it. The girls had so much fun. This was Madalyn's 5th year and Mackenzie's 2nd. They just jump right in and love all the attention they get from the other staff members and campers too. I am so glad that we are able to take this week every year and go to Webe. I love the influence it has already begun having on the girls.

Happy 4th of July

Sadly we did not make it to Scottsboro for the 4th this year. We still had plenty to do. First we went for a 3 mile walk with Granna and Grandpart in their old neighborhood. Then we headed back to Granna's house for lunch. There was alot of family there. Mandy, Marcus, MJ, Audrey, Denver, Sheppard, Lisbeth, Ferris, Will, Mary. Granna, Grandpart and us. The cousins all really enjoyed playing Barbies together. Ferris and MJ had not arrived yet when we took this picture. After lunch at Granna's we headed for another cookout at grandaddy and Jojo's house. After dinner with them once it was dark we went in the backyard and lit some sparklers which was a lot of fun. We had a great 4th of July this year.

Mary's Graduation Day

Mary graduated from Harpeth Hall on Memorial day and we all got together for lunch to celebrate. It was a long busy day but we all had a lot of fun hanging out together.

Carosel at the Zoo

This was our third attempt at Mackenzie riding the Carousel when we go to the zoo. The first two times she liked it if she was being held, but this time she rode on a red panda and was even OK when we let go of her. She is getting big so fast. Well maybe growing up so fast she is still a little peanut.

Tea party anyone?

Madalyn has been having tea parties at Granna's house for awhile although it was not until just a little while ago that she could invite her little sister to join her at the tea party. I just thought they looked so cute that I had to grab the camera.

Stair climber

Mackenzie has started climbing the stairs. We were very surprised she had not even shown any interest in them until one day I was coming downstairs after checking on Madalyn in her room and there was Mackenzie on the landing about to start up the second half of the stairs. We took this picture the next day at the park. Ever since I found her half way up the stairs she wants to climb any stairs she comes across.

Madalyn the Gardner

Here is Madalyn planting some flowers at her Grandaddy and Jojo's house. Jojo has lots of flowers in a garden off the back patio and Jojo got some flowers special for Madalyn and her Aunt Sarah to plant one night while we were over there for dinner. Madalyn always has a lot of fun planting with Jojo and Aunt Sarah. Each time we go since she planted her flowers she has to go and check on them and make sure they are getting enough water and sunshine.

Spring Program

The theme for Madalyn's spring program at school was A day at the Beach. She however did not do very much singing in her program this year. She spent most of the time trying to climb up a pole she was standing next to. They do also have an art show as part of the program and Madalyn had some very beautiful pictures. She had two different butterflies she had made and also a huge painting that she told us was a rainbow. She love to do art projects (she also likes to sing, but apparently only when she is in the mood).

Mommy's Makeup

Madalyn is up to mischief again. She came walking into my room the other day with her hands over her face when I asked her to move her hands this is what I saw. She us quite the make up artist as you can see in this picture.

Meet Golfy

This is the newest member of our family- Golfy the Beta fish. We got Madalyn a pet fish for her birthday. She was so excited to have her very own pet- he is in a purple aquarium with hot pink gravel in her room right by her bed. She has been doing a very good job remembering to feed and take care of him. She even drew him a picture that she keeps propped up against the side of his tank for him to look at.

Swinging in the park

It has taken several trips to the park for Mackenzie to enjoy the swing the first couple of times she just cried at even the slightest push, but now she loves it. She just laughs and smiles and says "yea" and sometimes "whoa" it is pretty cute. We just found a great new little park less then 5 minutes from our house that is never very busy so we have had lots of fun going there and swinging now that Mackenzie enjoys it.

Nashville Zoo

We took the girls to the zoo the other morning and had a a lot of fun. We had been members before and really enjoyed just going and walking around and seeing the animals. We rejoined and have already been a couple of times. There were some new animals this time that we had not seen yet- the Red River Hogs and the Alligators. The girls especially liked the Lorikeet landing which is where you go into the cage with the birds and they sometimes land on you. We had some nectar and fed them so several came and got on Garrison. The monkeys were also very wound up and making a lot of noise the girls were both fascinated by it.

Baby Steps...

No Mackenzie is not walking yet, but she is getting closer she will walk some holding onto someones hands. Although sometime she still just would rather plop down on her bottom and crawl. She has graduated from her army crawl to a full hands and knees crawl. Sometimes she still goes back to her tried and true method. She also does enjoy cruising all over our living room she can almost cruise the entire perimeter of the room if Madalyn has placed the ottoman in the right spot for her. I think the two of them are going to get each other into trouble pretty soon.

Madalyn is 4!

Madalyn has turned 4- she was a beautiful princess at her princess birthday party. We invited lots of friends and family to the park to celebrate this royal occasion with us. We had so much fun all the children made crowns to wear. Then the children all played games like find the poison apple before Snow White and pin the kiss on the frog prince. Since Madalyn also loves pink we had pink princess punch, cupcakes with fluffy pink icing and pink M&M's for refreshments. It truly was a party fit for a princess.

Sweet Sisters

We took this after church on Easter Sunday in Scottsboro. Madalyn and Mackenzie love each other very much they are always wanting to give each other hugs and kisses. One of Mackenzie's favorite things to do right now is to give kisses- whether it is on the mouth or blowing them with her hand).

I love this picture!

The First of Many.....

Madalyn had lots of egg hunts this year- she had a total of 4. This was the first one of the season and she was ready to go. It was at school on the playground. She made the bucket she is carrying with her class at school.

Dyeing Easter Eggs- Madalyn

Madalyn felt like she was a pro at the egg dyeing this year especially since she had done it the day before at school with her Granna. Madalyn kept trying to tell Mackenzie how to do it and mackenzie would love and do something silly with the egg adn then Madalyn would laugh. She made lots of different colors and even one egg that had all of the colors it was very beautiful! Madalyn has now been eating the eggs that we dyed and only picks out ones that Mackenzie decorated to eat-which I think is pretty funny. I suppose the artist doesn't want to eat her own work.

Dyeing Easter Eggs- Mackenzie

This was Mackenzie's first time to dye Easter eggs and she had a great time. She did not like to leave the eggs in the dye. She kept taking them out and handing them to me while saying "thereyago!". She thought that it was very funny, especially since her big sister kept laughing whenever she did it. It also took her awhile to out an egg into the cup of dye all by herself it was much more fun to play with them. Only one egg out of the dozen got cracked- Mackenzie threw it on the floor.

A trip to the park

Before the weather got so cold again the girls and I went to the park for an afternoon. We had lots of fun just hanging out, playing, swinging (well Mackenzie did not enjoy this part), watching the big puffy white clouds and even riding our tricycle some. our trip started out as girls only, but Daddy got done at work early and came by to join us for a little bit.

A family picture

Madalyn decided to draw a picture of our family the other morning. It was I think one of her best drawings- the one draw back was that it is on the wall. In fact she drew a whole scene which went from the bottom of our staircase all the way to the top. This was the most detailed section. The person on the far left is Madalyn and then their are three babies (one of those is Mackenzie) I am not sure who the others are she told me they were just some babies. Then there is Me and Garrison is the one on the far right. One interesting thing about this whole incident is that earlier in the week Garrison and I had been watching a show that told us it is easier for kids Madalyn's age to draw on things vertical like the wall and that is part of why it is such a tempting canvas -so needless to say we will be putting an easel in her room to hopefully prevent this from happening again.