Guard the bridge!

And the puppet fun continues. Our living room is becoming a Puppet Paradise.

Animals crossing...

Tonight Maddy wanted to play with her "puppets."

Here's some quick pics of the evening.

I am sure there will be more pictures to come because by the end of the evening, Maddy had brought down her plastic castle and the puppets were hiding out waiting for a new puppet to come visit them.

I had to go to mom's house after she went to bed to pick up the new comer. Tomorrow, Boo Cat will be joining the group.

Tuesday night quickie

Maddy doing her school work.

Her handwriting is getting better.

Baseball

Maddy has talked about baseball from time to time as something she would like to try. She liked the idea of it and it looked interesting.

Then, the other day we went out to eat and a Cubs vs. Cardinals game was on TV. Maddy thought that was very interesting and we ended up having to explain the game in detail to her and of course tell her who to cheer for. (Go red team!!)

So tonight, I was going through the basement and found Ash's old gloves and he found his baseball in the office and we took Maddy outside to just mess around.

She had a good time trying to bat.

But what she really enjoyed was pitching and, except for having to dodge a few wild balls and getting hit once, she actually pitched to Ash and me pretty well.

Well, then we thought we would go find an actual baseball diamond to play on, so Maddy could get the real feel of the game. So we all got in the car and drove to eight different baseball diamonds and every single one of them was full!! It was crazy!!

So we ended up just going to Krape Park and Maddy did her favorite thing ever...

Swing and sing the Pokémon song at the top of her lungs!!

Saturday fun

Today, Maddy did some of her favorite things. She went to the donut store and got donuts for breakfast.

Then she played outside. The weather was finally nice enough to set up her sandbox. She picked violets to make violet jam. She went to Burchard Hills and helped me get some blackberry bush clippings.

After all that she was pretty worn out, so she came inside and made some bead necklaces.

Then, off to Nan's house to walk the dogs, play at the park, and get a bath.

Gotta love Saturdays.

Throwback

I had the day off today and I have been home all day with Maddy. It has been a lovely day. We went swimming. We planted potatoes. We worked on a meal plan. We went to the Cheese Store. And, Maddy read me a book. It was great!

Now, do you think I got any pictures of all that? Nope. This was one of the few times when I did not have my phone with me for most of the day.

So, instead of new fresh pictures, I have some old pictures of Maddy who was just as lovely when she was little...

A little girl, enjoying summer. Now Maddy is a big girl looking forward to summer and all the fun this summer has in store.

Out to lunch... well, dinner

Ash and Maddy picked me up after work tonight. It had been a long day for all of us, so Ash and Maddy decided we would go out to Rafters tonight for a nice sit down dinner.

Maddy was charming in the car telling me all about Kid City, a flooded town in which only kids live and you don't have to pay when you go to a restaurant and you get everywhere by boat.

It was fun just sitting in the restaurant chatting. Maddy tried my lemon.

The waitress was great and brought out Maddy's dinner as soon as it was done. Maddy ate most of that plate and about half her fries. 

And afterwards, Maddy got a picture with the big chicken outside the restaurant.

It was fun for all!

We got home in time to read some Pokemon before bed. A lovely end to a very long day.

No you see her, now you don't.

Getting a picture of Maddy is sometimes one of the hardest things to do.

Here is a Maddy's natural habitat...

Today it is extra clean because she is trying to do "chores" and she knows that make your bed is on the list. She also folded ALL the clothes in her drawers and most of mine. Notice there is no Maddy in this picture. She was over on the other side of the room mucking about.

Then I thought I would try to get a picture of her bouncing. Not so much.

She's hard to catch, but totally worth it when you do!

A trip to the hardware store

Today was a busy day which featured, among other things, a trip to Menards. It's funny because you wouldn't think that Maddy would like Menards at all, but actually she will tolerate it for quite a long time, as long as we let her visit her favorite spots.

Her favorite spots include:
* the house - this is the bit where they have set up doors and windows to display and they are all boxed together like a house

* the kitchens - the part where they have about 6 kitchens on display for people to choose cabinets and countertops, etc

*the patio - in the summer they set up all the outdoor furniture here and in the winter it has about 20 Christmas trees.

Then there is her most favorite part...

The bathtub display aisle! I still can't figure out what she likes about this part, but I am happy to take pictures of her in it.

Okay, yeah, that actually does look fun. I can see her point.

Maddy thinks of everything.

This is what I saw this morning when I came down to the living room.

Then a little voice said, "Hey mommy, can you see me?"

Well, no, but I have a pretty good idea where I might find you.

So Maddy had brought her tent downstairs this morning when she got up. Now the impressive thing is not just that she brought the tent down, but the set up inside the tent.

In the bottom left-hand corner is a bag of toys from the Dollar Store, then you see Maddy playing with her Nintendo DS. She has all the games in there with her too. And, over to the right, you can see a blue water jug with a glass of water under the spout for when she gets thirsty. The jug is resting on top of her stack of Pokemon books that she got from the library with a towel on top of them to protect the library books in case the jug leaks. Maddy is the ultimate camper.

The big news of tonight though, is that Maddy finally overcame her bike fears. She loves her new bike. She loves it a lot, and she would ride it anywhere, as long as that anywhere was flat or uphill. Maddy wasn't so sure about going downhill. It was just too scary. But of she loves to ride.

So tonight after about 3-4 weeks of riding around the neighborhood, we took Maddy out to Burchard Hills with her bike again. She is much better on her bike now. She knows how to stop and start without help and she can use her brakes like a pro. Now it was time for hills.

Maddy did great!

She flew all over the hills, only stopping when she wanted to wait for Ash and I to catch up. She had a rubix cube and fan packed in the bag on the front of her bike though to help occupy her while she waited.

Maddy thinks of everything.

Getting ready for shopping

Maddy was begging to go to the Dollar Store today with her last $5, so I told her to run upstairs and get dressed.

She got dressed pretty fast...

I love that she is wearing her jewelry from her last trip to the Dollar Store. Maddy does love to shop.

Also, I just had to get a picture of this. Maddy and I are taking care of Chompski this week while Scott and Carolyn are out of town. When we went over there tonight, I found this on the table.

The puzzle lives on!!

Just another night

Ash had rehearsals tonight, so Maddy and I had a quiet night at home.

We made waffles for dinner. Maddy ate four of them. Apparently she was hungry.

And she finished up her homework...

Then we did our favorite thing. We raced each other on Mario Kart 8. One of these days I'm going to get a picture of that. What I really need to get is a video of that because the smack talk gets a bit crazy. It was fun just to have a nice restful night though.

Maddy goes shopping

I came home from work today and Maddy proceeded to tell me how she did math by counting quarters today and, oh by the way, she had enough quarters to go to the Dollar Store and get a crystal bear necklace that she saw in a vending machine. Also, do I know that she has money and she would like to spend it at the Dollar Store.

So that is how Maddy and I ended up at the Dollar Store today. Maddy loves shopping there. All she needs to know is how many dollars she has and how much stuff she is getting. And really, it is good practice in counting and money management (sort of), so how can I say no.

So Maddy went shopping with some of her birthday cash she has been saving. (On a side note, her hair is totally unmanageable, especially after she has been swimming.)

Here is a much cuter picture as she sorts through her purchases.

She actually came home with some money still left and a lot of fun games to play with this summer. She gets an A in shopping.

Bowling for breadsticks

Here's just a couple pics from bowling with Maddy tonight.

This last picture just shows how impossibly fast this girl is. She was actually in the frame, bowling when I took the picture.

 

So, Maddy found out today that when you are at the bowling alley, you sometimes get breadsticks/pizza. This concept has now breathed new life into the game for her. She is so ready to go bowling again.

That's my little kung fu panda.

Maddy and the marshmallows

Maddy spent a good part of today with Poppy, since Ash and I both had some things going on this afternoon. In the past, an afternoon with Poppy has usually entailed Maddy conning Poppy into taking her to as many parks as she can fit into an afternoon. The record so far has been 4 different parks in about as many hours. I bet you didn't even know we had that many parks in Freeport. Well, Maddy does and she also knows that Poppy is the only one who won't say no to her.

Poppy got smart today today though and planned some activities for him and her. He took her to one park and then took her back to their house to light a fire. There is only one thing Maddy likes better than the park and that is playing in the fireplace. They had a great time.

So this evening, Maddy and I went back to mom and dad's after Ash went to the theater. The fire was still smoldering and Maddy felt we should stoke it back up and roast some marshmallows. While Poppy went out to get the marshmallows, Maddy made about 5 trips in and out of the house collecting sticks. It's amazing what she will do for marshmallows.

Maddy was so happy to have marshmallows to roast tonight.

Come to find out, Maddy doesn't actually like cooked marshmallows. She just likes to cook them. By the end of the night, Mom, dad, and I were pretty full of marshmallows. In fact, I don't think I will need another marshmallow for quite a long time. Maddy had a good time though and, really, that's all that matters.

Snow in April

Tonight, Maddy and I stayed home. It was wonderful. It's been a busy week. Ash has spent every night at the theater with the latest play. Meanwhile, Maddy and I have been visiting mom and dad. It's been fun. It was nice to stay home though.

Maddy got her puppets out tonight. She got a bunch of Littlest Pet Shop animals from a girl a few years ago. For some reason, we started calling them puppets and her and mom gave them all names.

The puppets have done many things over the years. They have helped Maddy work through doctor's appointments, they have talked in astonishment with each other over Maddy's accomplishments and wounds, and they have done a good bit of arguing and fighting with each other much to Maddy's amusement.

Tonight, the puppets found themselves in a freak, Maddy-inspired snowstorm. The snow storm froze the puppets so they couldn't move and then Maddy used her dragon breath to melt the snow. Then she would have to breath on the puppets again to warm them up. Once the puppets were warm, they would try to walk away and make their way to Florida where it was warm, but they never made it because the crazy snow storm would come back.

So here's a couple pics from their adventure.

Maddy makes breakfast

When Maddy goes downstairs earlier than I do, it's always a surprise as to what comes next. Sometimes, she goes down and bounces. Sometimes, she makes herself some breakfast and turns on cartoons. And then there's times like today when she comes down and makes me breakfast. This breakfast by far surpasses anything she has done before though.

From left to right: Cottage cheese, carrot, granola bar, egg salad, blackberries and grapes, apple, celery, and lettuce

She was very excited to show it off and kept double checking to make sure that she had enough protein in it and that it had healthy stuff. She is so funny.

Luckily, she was hungry this morning too and shared it all with me and what we didn't eat we packed up for my lunch at work. Some days Maddy is awesome.

Monkey see, monkey do

Maddy can be so unexpected sometimes.

Tonight, mom needed a picture of herself doing a yoga pose. After taking a few shots, we decided that it would look better if she and I traded shirts. So she took her shirt off and I took my shirt off and Maddy, who was watching the exchange, suddenly got this big grin on her face. She whipped off her shirt and then her pants and took off running and laughing in her underwear. Crazy little thing.

So that is what we did tonight. Needless to say, we did not get any pictures of Maddy. Don't be sad though. Here are some old pictures of Maddy fully clothed and so cute!

First, we have a little Maddy enjoying a boat ride at Holiday World.

Maddy as the sassiest witch on the planet. ( That hat got stripped of feather not long after this picture was taken. She wanted to use the feathers for her art projects. What actually happened was that I spent the next few months picking feathers up from all over the house!)

Finally we have Maddy on a car trip. She knows how to travel in style!

The kids... and Oakley

So even though it was Aunt Kim's birthday today and we had a party over at mom's house with everybody there and we all played outside and then ate too much cake, I managed to not get a single picture from the party. Yeah, I'm lame.

Instead, here are some pictures from Friday night when Maddy and I stayed with the boys while Scott and Carolyn went to see a play. Leif and Sven had already gone to bed and the rest of us just kind of messed around.

Soren played on his computer...

While Carl read to us... (see yesterday's bonus post)

While Maddy bounced around on couch cushions...

And Oakley missed her daddy since he was in Michigan.

I have never seen a dog so happy as Oakley was today when everyone was over at her house. Gotta love family.