I'm Cook'n

My Dad and Daneen got Madelyn a Little Tykes Kitchen for her birthday. I am little jealous that we never had such cool toys growing up. This kitchen actually talks to you and recognizes what food she puts onto the stove top--very cool! Madelyn now has a new hobby--Cook'n! Her favorite dish to make Mac and Cheese with a side of spaghetti and meatballs. She loves to share her creations with us and I think by now I have several hundred helpings of Mac and Cheese...thank goodness its plastic and virtually calorie free.

Thanks Nonno and Nonna, Madleyn loves her new kitchen!

And The Party Never Ends

Happy Birthday to Me...ICE CREAM!!!!


Trying to sample Grammie Drink

Hanging with my handsome dad!

No Mommy...push this button!

Driving with Grammie

She liked the Parmesan cheese so much she licked off her plate and left half of it on her chin.

Skee Ball Fanatic!

Madelyn playing dress up

Other half of the class eating cupcakes...Hi Joey!

Madelyn and her class mates eating cupcakes

Turning two years old is a major milestone and should be celebrated accordingly. That includes a birthday dinner at Chuck E. Cheese--where else of course! And who could imagine a birthday without cupcakes??? Madelyn was able to celebrate her birthday at school with all her friends during snack time. I am sure that her teachers just loved me for bringing in sugar to these already hyper two year olds!

The day after her birthday both Grammas came for a visit and they took us out for another birthday dinner for Madelyn at El Chicho's--yummy!

Needless to say Madleyn now thinks her birthday should last all year and reminds us daily by singing "Happy Birthday to Madelyn"--too cute!

Madelyn's 2nd Birthday!

I can't believe how much she has changed in in just two short years!

I love to listen to sing sings! Your favorite that we sing many times each day: The Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Love Me, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

I love to hear get excited when you see something and will keep repeating it until I say it too!

I love your sense of curiosity and how you so intently observe the world around you!

I love your warm nurturing spirit. You always have a baby doll in tow.

I love your ear piercing shrill when you get excited about something and cringed at the high pitch scream when you don't get your way!

I love your kisses, and smiles, and when you try to show off your muscles to daddy! GRRR!

And most recently I love the why and "what happened" questions! It's so much fun to hear your thoughts and stories.......What a vivacious personality you have developed!

Some of your favorites this year include: Dora the Explorer, chocolate and chocolate ice cream, (OK anything chocolate), baby dolls, coloring, Cooper, playgrounds, your big girl bed, chasing Bailey the Beagle, choosing your own hair bow, driving the car and listening to the same CD over and over, and over and over again. (Did you know that the Itsy, Bitsy Spider can play 18 times between our house and the church?)

We love you Madelyn and we can't wait to see what you have in store for us this year!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Madelyn's Birthday Party

Making a wish


Catching Bubbles

Dancing with K.J and Mackenzie

Jumping on the air track

dancing with Baby Caroline

Look at me... I'm jumping!

Circle time with the bells

I can't believe that my little girl is already a toddler! She is two going on 20 and is always going full speed ahead. We celebrated Madelyn's birthday the entire weekend. Thursday we went to Chuck E. Cheese with my mom and Shauna and her three boys. Joey and Madelyn are a day apart so we had a fun celebration dinner and they kids really enjoyed playing together. Friday, Michael's mom, dad, granny, sister and my niece Mackenzie and nephew Jonathan all came for Madelyn's birthday party.

Saturday afternoon we celebrated Madelyn;s birthday with all of out friends and family at the Little Gym. It was a great party! We got to visit with friends who hadn't seen in a while, the kids had a blast running around and were thoroughly exhausted when they finished! And to wrap up the evening we had a few friends and our family over for dinner and just let the kids play. Madelyn now has more toys than we have room for. She hit the mother load with all the Dora toys received and everyone of them is her favorite!

We are very grateful for all our friends and family that came out to help us celebrate Madelyn's Birthday!

Grand Saline

Licking the Rock Salt of the Chamber of Commerce


The rock salt was very sharp and not too good for sitting on!



Dennis, Judy, Michael and Madelyn

Michael's mom came for a visit and we inducted her to the Canton shopping experience. We all had a great time and had fun looking for the cute crafty buys. Madelyn had an exceptional time munching contently on her kettle corn. Since we had already drove the hour and 45 minutes it from McKinney to Canton, I really wanted to stop by Grand Saline, Texas on the way home. I first heard about Grand Saline on the show Unwrapped that airs on the food network. It sits a top of North America's largest salt deposit--5 miles deep! But why would I want to go to a salt mine? Because of the Chamber Commerce. It is made of Rock Salt! Its the 4th building they built, and must be annually resalted as it dissolves due to rain and East Texas humidity. The cool part....you can actually lick the building!!! Call me crazy, but I did! Then gave Judy a big kiss....Michael wouldn't let me kiss him. It was very salty. But now I can proudly say that I have licked the Grand Saline Chamber of Commerce, some thing new to add to my life's list of accomplishments!

Fire Station

Madelyn and Poppo

Aren't they cute together

Mikey showing off his muscles!

Those are so big boots to fill!

Testing her driving skills

I think I might start a new fashion trend

Madelyn showing off her Muscles

While in San Antonio Madelyn got to visit her Pappo at #33 Fire Station. She had a fabulous time exploring the station and all the neat equipment especially the Fire Truck. The first thing she asked for was to drive the Fire Truck and boy did she think she was hot stuff..no pun intended. He personality is really starting to shine through and is so much fun to watch as she learns to explore the world. Now every time she sees a fire truck, she very excitedly starts to yell "Fire Truck, look Poppo's truck!"

San Antonio Zoo

Madelyn really wanted to ride "Simba" and during the picture she kept saying nice lion, soft, and the proceed to kiss the statue several times. Huge Lion King fan!


Stepping over the Lilly pads



Michael got a neat close up of a prairie dog

Austin College Mascot Go Roos!

Madelyn and Daddy doing their best lion roar--scary!

Breckenridge Express

At the Train Depot

The day after Christmas we took Madelyn to the San Antonio Zoo. The weather was brisk and there were not too many people at the zoo which resulted in a great visit. We have taken Madelyn to the Zoo before, but it was much more fun this time, because she could better verbalize her excitement of seeing the animals and always did the cutest animal impressions and sounds. The highlight of her visit was a ride on the Breckenridge Express train that circumnavigates the zoo and surrounding parks. Madelyn loved the 20 minute ride, even though it was pretty cool. The hardest part was trying to keep her sitting down, each time the whistle blew at crossings she would jump up and mimic the conductor tooting the horn and giver her own choo-choo. She had such a great time that she fell a sleep before the car left the parking lot and slept through lunch with Grammie at Fudderuckers.