Special Treat.

We have Payton in a program called Kindermusik, yes it's with a "K". I strongly believe in the influence that music has on a child. Payton LOVES it, and she loves showing off what she learns in class at home. So as usual we had to burn some of Bryan's vacation days at the end of the year so he didn't lose them. Well, he took off on a Friday so he could go to Kindermusik with us. He doesn't ever get to go because it's during the day, so I was excited for him to see what she does. It was a relatively short class that day because we had some Christmas festivities afterwards. He did get to play the drums with her, sing polly put the kettle on, shake the eggs, and more. She loves her music teacher, Mrs. Ally, Payton calls her SeeSaw Mrs. Ally. She got that name because her favorite song is the SeeSaw song. It's funny because if I drive past music class she throws a fit because I am passing it, she screams "No Mommy it's right there, SeeSaw Mrs. Ally". Check out their website it's an awesome program, and they offer demo classes if you wanna see what it's all about before you invest! Kindermusik.com or thekornerkottage.com.

Itchy...Itchy...

Well, Madie got the chicken pox!!! Come to find out a little boy in her class came to school with them, and never told the teacher. She got them the last week before school got out for Christmas break. On their last day of the week her class was going to the Bass Hall, and having their Christmas party, well she missed it. She was well enough to go that day but her teacher called me to check on her and told me that there was head lice in the class, a total now of 18 cases of the pox, and 28 cases of hand and mouth disease. So I decided to leave her home. For her missing all the festivities I told her I would have a special day planned for her. So I got my mom to watch Payton and we went to see the Tale of Desperaux (cute movie), and had lunch at the Purple Cow, her favorite spot. She said it was much better than Bass Hall, because there they don't actually talk. LOL, leave it to Madie! All in all she did very well with them, and we didn't have to miss out on any Christmas activities with family. She only got a total of like 30 sores, that scabbed over nicely. She was itchy a lot, but we used Aveeno cream, and LOTS of oatmeals baths. We let her take her oatmeal baths in our bathtub as a special treat! She loves the big garden tub, we wouldn't let her use the jets though because of the pox. So I am glad that's over, and in a way we wished Payton would've gotten them so we didn't have to worry about them anymore! I am just so grateful she was so good about it, and didn't scratch or pick at not one scab. So one down one more to go!!

Family Pics 2008

Here are our family pictures that we had done. We used an AWESOME photographer, Holly Stover with Mom and Me Photography. We chose to do our shoot at the canal in Las Colinas, and they turned out wonderful. We had something like 235 pictures to choose from, so I just chose a few to post here. The morning we actually had them scheduled it was like 32 degrees outside, and Payton wasn't thrilled, but I think Holly was still able to get some amazing pics. I can't wait to do them again in the spring. I am going to do one sitting with the whole family, one for Payton for her birthday in all her tutu's, of course all girly. With Madie for her birthday I told her she could pick out what she wanted to wear, within reason, and do what she wanted to do for hers. So we should have lots of pics posted in the near future since the girls birthdays are only a week apart. I hope you enjoy!

A Night At The Races....

I can't believe I forgot to post about the world finals. Well, in October we took Madie to the world finals in Ennis. Madie hadn't been to Ennis since Bryan and her went to top fuel a while back, so she was SUPER excited. We were able to go down through the pit and take a look at all the cars. Of course once we got to the junior dragster she begged for an hour for me to let her start racing now. For some reason I don't think she is going to accept no forever, ugh! Bryan's friend Scott was there so he made Madie a "tar ball". Basically he got under a car and wiped the tread off from them doing burn outs, and he made it into a ball for her. She thought it was super cool, and that thing sat on our bar for weeks. It was a very long night, I think it wrapped up around 2am, but we all had a blast.

This was Madie and Bryan's favorite car. The "ball"

My attempt at getting a pic of the jet car, I knew there was no chance.

Ahhh...The Country Air....

When Bryan and I went to pick up the girls we decided to stay a night to visit with his family. His mom and stepdad live on ranch, and have lots of land, which includes a pond right behind their home. Madie, being the country girl she is, loves it out there. You can find her out there even rubbing sticks together to try and start a fire. Well, Payton seems to really like all the room to just run. So one of Madie's favorite things to do when she visits is to fish, and this was Payton's first time to join in. I think Madie caught a total of two fish that day. Enjoy!! Looks just like big sister

Madie and PaPaw showing off her catch.

Helping Payton get it out of the moss.

I guess fishing is hard work for a 2 year old.

My Birthday...

Well, I am one year closer to the big 3-0, YIKES!! The celebration started by my amazing family serving me breakfast in bed, and then dinner at my parents house that night. Madie and Bryan made me a sign for my birthday, and it was so sweet and cute. I knew nothing about it, and when I walked out of the house to take Madie to school that morning I found it stuck in the yard. I proudly displayed the sign in the yard all day. It made me feel so special when the neighbors and some mom's at the school told me they had seen it, and how sweet it was. I have to say I am extremely blessed. The weekend after my birthday we took the girls to Mamaw and Papaw's while we had a weekend alone! We went to the timeshare at Holly Lake, and pretty much stayed in bed for two days. We came home one night from dinner, and found five deer sitting right outside the cabin, it was awesome. When we left that Sunday we saw more on the side of the road that I was able to get some pictures of. I love spending time there every year for my birthday, it brings back so many memories of my childhood. My grandfather had a house nearby, and before he passed away we spent every Thanksgiving there, I remember it being beautiful even then. It's so pretty with all the tall trees, and the colors are amazing. As a kid my brother and I would go in his front yard and collect pine cones. So this year I was able to get Bryan to go down the trails and gather some pine cones for the girls to decorate. It was a lot of fun, and I miss doing it so much with him, well I am sure we will get some more next year.

With my family, and my yummy ice cream cake my mom got.

With my Dad on my birthday.

Madie's Night....

As usual I am behind, I will do my best to get caught up over the next few days. A little over a month ago Madie had her investiture ceremony for Girls Scouts. This is where she offically became a Brownie, got her pin, and made her promise. This so fits Madie's personality perfectly. Madie isn't much of an athletic child. It's not that she isn't good or capable of it, it's just not where her interest is. Madie is more into art and science. She is also one of those kids that wants to change the world, and make an impact on other's lives. We were driving down the rode one day, and out of nowhere she asks me, "Mom one day do you think we could walk along the rode with bags and pick up trash?" How on earth do you say no to that. So we discussed what Girls Scouts platform is, and she was so excited to be a part of it. I can't wait to see the amazing things she is going to achieve!!