Enjoying Outside

Kyle has been gone all week for work so Maddie and I headed back to Woodward for a few days.  We've been out enjoying nature!  Here's some of our pics from yesterday...

Happy Thursday!  

First Berries of the Season!

Maddie and I picked our first strawberries of the season yesterday.  I was trying to for an artistic photo, but every time I clicked, there was a little hand in the way! : )  She couldn't wait to try them and this probably makes a better picture any way. 

Our Easter Weekend - Lots of Pictures!!

We had such a great weekend.  We went to my parent's house.  The night before Easter we colored eggs.  I found these "NO SPILL" kits at Wal-Mart.  They didn't quite live up to their claims, but for a 2-yr-old it was a good option.

the instructions said to shake the egg to coat it with dye...we did and the egg cracked!

We also put rollers in Maddie's hair for the first time!  She wasn't so sure about sitting still for the process, so Mom entertained while I quickly put them in as fast as I could, often tagging along behind her on my knees with a section of hair in one hand, comb in mouth and roller in the other hand.  It was a bit crazy but the end result was well worth the effort!  She looked so sweet with her little curls!

On Easter morning Maddie discovered the Easter Bunny came!

Ummm, to say she was excited is the understatement of the year!

I started on making the bread for lunch since the total time takes about 4 hours...

just like the rollers, this too was well worth the effort!

Yummy!  The eggs actually baked right along with the bread, a special touch for Easter, and were like a soft boiled egg when finished. 

Once the bread was set out to rise, it was time to get all pretty for church...

and take pictures!

After church we got pictures of everyone else...

My sister Mistie and her family.

My sister Christie and her family.  Yep, they're twins!

All of the cousins!

Too sweet to leave this one out!

and Maddie danced for us!

Maddie understood this year what hunting the Easter eggs was all about.  She LOVED putting them in her little basket.

 She worked really hard to get this one...the silly thing kept rolling!  : )  

So, that's all the pictures...'Till next year!

Hope you had a very Happy Easter!

Overwhelming Joy

I look at this picture and my heart just swells with gratitude.  I can't believe she's mine.  I can't believe I get to stay home all day with her and spend time with her.  I can't believe I get to teach her things and watch her grow and learn from her as she teaches me.  I love her zest for life.  I love that she wakes up in the mornings and automatically smiles and says, "Hi-ya!"  I love that she kisses Gracie the dog at least 15 times a day.  I love that she's hilarious and she knows it!  I love the way she dances and sticks her little hip out at the end of a "performance" with with her arms raised high waiting for applause.  I love that her favorite time of the day is after bath when she takes off and runs into the living room naked and free.  I love how easily she makes new friends at the park.  I love how generous she is with her kisses and her hugs.
Sometimes I don't know if my heart can handle so much joy, it feels like it could burst wide open like a pinata at a party. I suppose that's exactly why this blog exists.  To share this overwhelming joy we call Maddie. Thanks for taking part in the pinata-popping and reading my blog!  Hope you have a Happy Good Friday!

The Easter Dress and the Basil Plant

 Remember this?

I did it!  I finished Maddie's Easter dress and I still have 3 days to spare.  You have no idea what an accomplishment this is for me.  I'm usually working on a project right up until the very last few seconds.  I'm getting better though.  I even bought a book on procrastinating but haven't got around to reading it yet!
So here it is!

Front view:

Back view:

Maddie and I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday morning and a very nice man gave Maddie a basil plant! It seems like every time we go out somewhere we get lots of love sent our way. Maddie doesn't know a stranger, and her favorite thing to do is meet new people.  I'm so grateful for how the people we meet embrace her!  To give a little love back I made this card to give to them next week when we go back.  

Playsilk tissues

I just ran across this fun contest and thought I would share a creation I did for Maddie.  It's SUPER simple!  I ordered silk scarves from this web site.  I ordered 5 of the 21.5" x 21.5" and they were $2.19 each.  I had originally planned to dye them different colors, but then one day Maddie found a tissue box and thought it was SOO much fun to pull all of the tissues out of the box.  I thought it looked like a cool activity, but I also really needed the tissues.  So, into a ziploc the tissues went and, thankfully, I hadn't gotten around to dyeing the scarves yet. I stuffed the scarves into the now-empty tissue box and it's been keeping her busy ever since! This little tissue box was great on our road trips over the holidays!  Maddie could take all of the "tissues" out and put them back in again, so the game was endless!

And the great thing about the playsilks is they are so versatile. We use them for lots of different things like capes...

 and peek-a-boo...

and dancing!

So don't throw out those tissue boxes!  Get some scarves and let the games begin!!

A Day at Home

We didn't go anywhere yesterday.  But we stayed really busy!

We blew bubbles...the really big ones!

We played with sidewalk chalk

We saw the first strawberry of the season

and knew there would be more to come!

And we goofed off quite a bit

Maddie is really developing a funny sense of humor.  She was playing in the water, cleaning up after being outside and I looked over at her and she was giving me funny faces like this...

More Vacation Pics

It was a very relaxing vacation.  We left on Thursday and came back yesterday.  We went with my sister and her family...

and my parents.  Unfortunately, Mom ended up with a sinus infection and had to go to Urgent Care  : (  Once she began taking the antibiotics she felt a lot better but it was a big bummer.
We went to Silver Dollar City and had a lot of fun.

She really enjoyed the carousel.  She would wave to everyone we passed and one lucky observer got a kiss sent their way!

She was way too small to ride most of the rides...

But we did find a few she could ride, as long as one of us rode with her.  It was a big sacrifice (wink wink), but I'll do anything for my little girl : )  We just had to change our definition of "thrill ride"

 

So will her Daddy...

She loved it...almost as much as we did!

We got a family photo...

and of course I'm the only one with a corny open-mouthed grin.  This was the best of the bunch.  You know how there is always at least one person in a group photo that makes an otherwise perfect photo useless? Yep, that was me! Ha...I think I'm better suited behind the camera : )
Speaking of which, I did have a lot of fun getting some good shots...

  So that's about it!  We did a lot of shopping, a lot of relaxing, and a few "thrill rides"!