Now for the recital pics

In case the video was not enough cuteness for you.


(Please excuse my collage making skills and don't notice that in the before the recital pics I have her hair bow in upside down and in the wrong spot).

Madeline really enjoyed being in the recital and all of the attention (and presents) that went with it. She even seems to be more excited for dance class now. Maybe she'll grow up liking and grabbing the limelight (not like her mama, that's for sure). Thor yelled out her name when she walked on stage and later when I asked her if she heard him, she said (enter a like, duh... tone here) "no, mom, I was too far away."

Fourth of July

I have complete blogger's block lately. I have pictures I want to post of my pretty girl from her recital, but I'm just going to post about our holiday weekend first and hopefully get to her later.

Thor had planned to work Saturday morning, but couldn't, so he decided to do yard work instead. But, then he got hungry and his plan changed again and he scrapped the yard work for breakfast at a Mexican restaurant downtown. Maison ate like a champ. Madeline did not, but she did score 2 bouncy balls and a ring from the quarter machines in the back.

That afternoon we went to my parents' house for swimming and BBQ. Thor even dressed like a firework for the occasion.


Madeline is really getting into swimming. She loves the pool and is much more comfortable than she was last year. Maison got in too for a little bit. I even caught a couple pictures of him smiling with Thor. He got all of his crying out while I had him. He's still pretty freaked out by the water and hangs on FOR DEAR LIFE with all of his limbs.


I love this belly. It is so big.


We had LOTS of yummy food. Jalapeno poppers, jalapeno guacamole and jalapeno burgers were all on the menu. My stomach was in a bad, bad state the next day. I made the jalapeno thingies from PW's website and they were way too good.


When it started to get dark, my mom got out some glow wands, swords, and necklaces for the kids. Then we started the fireworks when it was dark enough. The boys' dad was there so they put on the firework show. Madeline just sat staring at them. Maison started to giggle as the first one started to whizz around, then it started popping and scared the poop out of him. I couldn't get him far enough away from them after that and we ended up inside, watching from the window and even that made him very uncomfortable.





We let the kids stay up late that night. It may be the latest they've ever stayed up, or at least close to it. I expected them to be crashed out as soon as we started driving, but they both managed to stay awake the whole way home. And luckily we live in a quiet neighborhood and no late night firework crazies woke us up in the night.

Lens giveaway!

If anyone's interested, MCP Actions blog is giving away a DSLR camera lens. Sounds like a yummy one, too. Go here for details.

I'm a little biased, but she's adorable

Madeline had her dance recital yesterday. We were all so, so proud of her. We dropped her off at the backstage door and the stage moms took her back to get settled and wait for her class's turn to preform. It was only the second time I've ever left her with someone I didn't know. The first time was just on Wednesday when she had to go to the rehearsal at the dance studio and parents weren't allowed in. It was a funny feeling to just drop her and leave. Up on stage, she did great. She didn't even look scared. You can't really see her face in this video, but she was even smiling a little. She's the last one on the left, closest to the teacher.

Recital from Jessica Stewart on Vimeo.

Today's 10

1. I found Madeline sucking on her toes. Took me a sec to realize she was trying to get the nail polish off.

2. Plumbers crack.


3. Madeline swam in the little pool on the patio. Maison stuck a toe in toward the end of the day.

4. 3 loads of dishes. I don't know why, we haven't been eating anything out of the ordinary.

5. 2 naps, barely overlapping.

6. It was Thor's night to do bath and bed with the kids. Madeline only got up once because the batteries in her flashlight went dead. Thor got her to go back to bed without changing them. I don't think I would have been able to.

7. I got lots of pages read in the book I'm reading, thanks to the swimming pool and the bath/bedtime routine. Yay for me!

8. Questions have taken over my life. Why is the cracker broken? Because it just is. For what? I don't know. Where is the princess? Right there. Why is she wearing that? Because she likes it. Where's the princess now? Right there. Why? I don't know.

9. Pulled pork and baked beans for dinner. I actually remembered to make the coleslaw this time. Tried a new bean recipe and it was yummy.

10. Chocolate pudding for desert. With bananas in the kids' bowls. Maison looked like he swam in it.

Madeline in June

June 06




June 07




June 08




June 09

Current events

We've had record injuries lately.

Madeline had her finger bit by a tortoise, was busted in the lip with a dog bone, fell off the couch and hit her head on the table, was poked in the eyeball by Maison, and loads of other miscellaneous bruises and scratches.

Maison tipped a lawn chair and busted his lip really bad and smashed his finger, was hit in the head with a flying Skeeball ball, hit his head on the slide, had his finger pinched in a cabinet, head banged with mom, and lots of other misc. head bangs. That thing just gets in the way.

The other night, we had a water gun fight. Madeline and Thor ganged up on me & Maison. Maison was my partner-slash-shield. The kids loved it, except Maison when he was my shield. And Madeline when I accidentally got her in her eye. They got me pretty good considering the guns were just tiny little things from the Target dollar bins.

The kids had another trip to the zoo. With dad this time. While I went to a convention thingy and got lots of good skin stuff.

Madeline had a thing about her pudding. Thor was teasing that he was going to eat hers. It took us a while to notice that she was actually standing in front of, GUARDING, the refrigerator. We assured her that her pudding would be just fine, but she nearly broke down. Last week she whacked Thor for eating the last few bites of the ice cream. She's definitely her mother's daughter.

I think Madeline's going to need a bigger bed soon. Her feet almost touch the bottom. And with all of the toys she keeps in there I get claustrophobic just looking at her.


We had another fun trip to Chuck E Cheese. This time we met Jen and her kids. I can't believe the tokens we went through. Maison ran around like a mad man following the big kids and wandering off by himself too. Shorty was hard to find when he did that.


We have a new addition. Thor's such a proud papa. (It's a jalapeno)


Thor and I got to have a movie/lunch date. We saw Hangover, which was pretty funny. I think the last movie I saw in a theater was the third Lord of the Rings. Sad. This was definitely a nice break. Lunch without having to tip extra to make up for the mess on the floor and a non-cartoon movie. And I got my Milkduds. Perfect.

So I busted her in the lip

Today we were supposed to take Madeline to tumbling, but Maison has had a runny nose since yesterday and I chose to not spread his possible germs around and kept them both at home. But he's fine. He was crabby yesterday, but felt fine today. And his nose is even less leaky. Yesterday, he'd sneeze and snot would shoot all the way down to his shirt. I've never seen so much snot come out of a nose.

I didn't let him play outside yesterday, thinking he may be getting sick, but we were outside lots today. The weather was so nice with the clouds and all. I cleaned off the patio while the kids played. Then we came in and Madeline played with her playdoh, Maison ate some playdoh, and I hung some pictures. I think I finally have an idea of how I want to hang some of my pictures. I've been going over different layouts in my head for almost three weeks. Seriously, this stuff does not come easy. And when it does come...well...I'm not going to show what I hung.

After dinner, we went back outside to hang out. Madeline begged Thor to get the helium tank out and blow some balloons up. They like to let them go and watch them fly away. Not good for the environment, I know, and I try to tell them, but they don't care. Although I think they only let 2 go this time and one was an accident. So maybe I've made Thor feel a little, teeny, tiny bit guilty? Probably not.

Madeline handed me her balloon to hold while she got another one from Thor. I was throwing Sophie's bone for her, since she was demanding loudly that I do so (even the dog bosses me around). The balloon was in my right hand, so I had to throw with my left hand, and I somehow chucked Sophie's half-chewed rawhide bone right into Madeline's face, just feet in front of me. She was horrified. It was weird. I thought I knocked out a tooth because it was bleeding more than I expected, but it just cut the outside of her lip and underneath too. She just asked me, "Mom, what happened? Why did you do that?" I felt horrible. But she got over it quickly. And we went out front to play on the driveway, where I convinced her to let me take a picture of her fatty boombatty lip. She even put on the pitiful puppy dog face for me.

She was really well behaved the rest of the night. :)

Jealous

Oh my, I missed my Wednesday Wanderings. I started to write them, but can't finish it. My brain is just stuck. What can I say? It happens. I still can't think of anything interesting to write about, so I guess I'll just tell you how my husband left and went to San Diego without me. Waaaaahhh. They took a guy's trip, which I have no problem with, but I'm still JEALOUS. I mean, come on. And he keeps sending me pictures of the sunsets and the view from the room. Ha!

At least the weather is so incredibly nice here this weekend that I can close my eyes and pretend I'm there too. For a second.

We've stayed busy. We went to the zoo on Friday, which Maison LOVED. Madeline loved it too. Her absolute favorite part wasn't the orangutan or the fossas or the lion or the alligators. It was the goldfish pond. Silly girl. She cried when I wouldn't make a second trip back to see the fish, so I had to promise her that we'd go to Petsmart soon to look at the fish there. A sad thing though, was that their male lion ate a football that was thrown over the fence and had died the night before.

Madeline was EXTRA rambunctious today. She stared me down when we were out eating pizza with my parents. I was telling her to stop spitting or keep her fingers out of her ranch or something, I can't remember exactly. I almost started to laugh, but held it in. But I didn't know what to do with her. At home it'd be time out. In public like that? Clueless. I ended up grabbing her and taking her into the bathroom, which was right there. Some how telling her to knock it off in the bathroom worked much better than telling her the same thing at the table.

Speaking of rambuctuality, I would think that Maison would thank me for changing his stinky pants. I AM doing him a favor. I sure don't get anything out of it (besides not being turned into child protective services, of course). Instead he acts like I'm torchuring him and how dare I interupt him for such a thing.

How about some random pics to round out my random post?

Wednesday Wanderings

Quick rundown:

Thursday: Dance class, Madeline participated very well and got two stickers, still need to get her new tap shoes since hers got lost/accidentally stolen.

Friday: Chuck E Cheese with Ang and Marlee- good cheap fun, Comedy show with friends, LMAO, too much to drink, hamburgers at 11:30 at night, Mom watched the kids.

Saturday: Hair appointment, lunch by myself- soup, bread, chips and water, Chapalas, no margaritas. One of my biggest parenting questions so far: when a hummingbird falls out of a bush onto the ground and is alive, but not flying, do I show Madeline because it's neat and she'd love it, or do I not because I know something's wrong with it and it's going to die or be eaten by our cat and there's going to be a fit when Thor has to sneak and take it "home" (in this case put it on top of our wall in the shade- so maybe it'd fly away). I showed her and we even let her touch it- yuck.

Sunday: donuts, went to eat pizza and felt like we were running a race just to get us all fed before one of the kids blew up or Maison managed to chuck something breakable or full of liquid onto the floor, mall to shop for shirts for Thor, we didn't realize it closed at 6, I didn't think anything on Vegas closed at 6, ice cream for Madeline, Starbucks for me.

Monday: Thor off, kids to gmas, breakfast, DSW & grocery shopping, Madeline and her $2 clearance halloween dress up shoes that she wore for 3 days straight.

Tuesday: First tumbling class at the rec center, saw cat hospital desk girl there, Madeline wore Maison's diaper on the ride home because we forgot to stop at the bathroom on our way out. Maison up EARLY, Madeline's absolutely terrified, horror movie scream when Maison went to touch a dead bug, Thor's scream when he was wacked in the ankle bone with the play broom.

Today: Saw butt crack on the back of a motorcycle on the freeway. So not cute. Kinda a rough day due to lack of sleep. Nice evening in the backyard, bubble mower and Madeline the bubble blower.

Dinner tonight: New crockpot recipe. Beef and black bean chili, but the beans didn't cook all the way and were still a little crunchy. It was kinda gross. Thor ate, I didn't. Kids ate chicken and broccoli quesadillas. Madeline said it was her favorite, but really PBJ is.

She thought it was soooooo funny

On the way to dance class today, Madeline invented the number "butt-teen" and laughed about it all the way there. It, apparently, comes right after sixteen and a bit after two-teen.

Wednesday Wanderings

Within a week, Maison pooped in the tub, pulled his poopy diaper off and sat in the hallway, and took his diaper off in his crib and peed a big ol' stream all over the carpet. I've learned to keep his pants on.

Thor has started putting the kids to bed a few nights a week. He's meeting a little bit of resistance from Madeline, but she'll get used to it. I've done it all these years. It's definitely for the better, though. For him, the kids, and for me too.

A couple nights this week, Madeline has gotten up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. She still wears diapers to bed and hasn't shown any interest in nighttime potty training, until now. She's even still insisting on wearing the diaper. When we heard her up, we were so confused and startled (since she doesn't get out of bed on her own even in the daytime all that much) that I called out her name in the dark and scared her to tears. I hope I didn't scare her out of potty mode.

Maison has decided that he wants to swing on the big kid swings like his sister. He can even swing himself by leaning back a little bit. But as he goes into his swing coma, he tries to lean his head on the chain and gets thrown off balance.


Saturday I took the afternoon off for some lunch and shopping with my mom, gma and aunt. It was great to be away from the kids for a little while. When I got home we decided to go out to dinner because I had a coupon. We spent the money we saved with the coupon on margaritas, so we actually would have been better off without the coupon. But they were good!

Sunday we ran some errands in the morning (Target, then Best Buy) then had lunch out at The District.

Last night, Madeline and I watched a show on Animal Planet called Jessica the Hippo.

Today we had a pool party. Just me and the kids and our very small pool. I filled it with half hose water and half hot water from the kitchen faucet, so it was warm enough for me and Maison. Maison had a blast driving his cars around in the water making his little vroooommm sound and Madeline swum around, jumping out to chase butterflies whenever they flew by. When I was in, I took up most of the pool (kinda like Jessica the Hippo would, ha!), so I mostly sat with just my feet in.

Dinner tonight: We got home late, so leftover BBQ'd hamburgers for Thor and I, frozen veggie corndogs and bananas for the kids.

Wednesday Wanderings

For Mother's Day I asked for... ready for this? It's a big one... donuts. And I got them. And I ate them. Yummy, yummy. Then we had a nice family BBQ. The kids played with the hose and a few inches of water in our little pool. It doesn't take much to keep them entertained. My dad nearly caused Madeline a breakdown when he pretended to eat her ladybug. But then it magically appeared from behind her ear, so she calmed down.

Maison did not have the pig flu, thank goodness. It was an ear infection and Roseola. He's all better now, but I think the antibiotics are making him feel more tired than usual. Luckily he'll be done with them tomorrow.

On Saturday we took the kids to a park in Henderson for an informal reunion of people from Thor's senior class. Almost 20 years for them, I think. I followed the kids around while Thor visited and drank beer. When we were leaving, Maison fell from his usual standing position in the tricycle basket, while I was pushing and Madeline was steering, and got road rash on his forehead. I was more shaken up about it than he was.

Neither of the kids have been interested in playing in the water when we've gone to the parks with the water sprayers, so I decided not to put Madeline in swim class this summer. But then I took her my mom's where she decided to have a blast in the way-too-cold-for-my-liking swimming pool. And she spent most of today outside swimming around our little kiddie pool. I may reconsider the lessons. They're mommy and me, so I have to decide if I really want to do it again.

She was so cute yesterday swimming in her undies with her bum showing through, and one of the boy's tee shirts pony-tailed at her waist.

Dinner tonight was meatloaf, yummy garlic mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Maison whipped his asparagus around, then threw all of his food on the floor and ate a piece of wheat bread instead. While I was cooked:

Madeline

• Is 3 years, 2 months and 17 days old


• Weighs 35 pounds


• Wears sizes 3T and 4T


• Sometimes calls me bootylicious


• Planted seeds in our backyard which will grow into a unihorse that will grow big, big! and run around the yard and then jump on a rainbow


• Calls banana peel the banana's crust


• Loves to dance... just not in dance class


• Doesn't like to listen to music in the car


• Loves Target


• Uses the word actually a lot. Usually something like, "Actually, I DO need more popsicles." or "Um, actually, Sophie IS hungry right now."


• Was very happy today with the package of googly eye stick-ons that she picked out at the store
• Is my very pretty girl
  
  

Already too stinkin' hot