Daily Madeline

The other day we were driving in the car, just Madeline and I. As usual she was talking NON-STOP. I like to say the if her eyes are open, her mouth is going.


So there we are driving along, Madeline talking and talking and talking, while I can barely get in an "uhh huh" or "Yep" or "Hmm". If I don't make appropriate noises she accuses me of not listening to her and then demands that I turn my rear view mirror down so I can SEE her while she talks to me!!


The next thing I hear is "Hey Mom, do you know what will happen if you talk too much?!"


"Well, do you?"


"Your LIPS will FALL OFF!! This means that YOU should stop talking so much!"


Me: "Oh really?" (my first real words of the conversation)


Madeline: "Yeah, so you better be careful!"


I honestly could think of nothing to say. I guess you always see the beam in your neighbor's eye instead of the mote in your own (or is that the other way around? I can never remember.)

Daily Madeline

I have been trying to eat more healthy and getting my kids on board has been a challenge - - to say the least!

Last night Madeline and I had the following conversation:

Madeline: "Mom what's for dinner tonight?"

Me: "Chicken - and YOU get to choose what vegetable we have with it!"

Madeline: "Noooo, I hate vegetables!"

Me: "Well, here are your choices: Green Beans, Corn, or Broccoli. Which of those would you like to choose?"

Madeline: "None! I HATE vegetables!"

Me: "Do you know that in some countries there are little children who don't get to eat vegetables and they don't grow strong and healthy and they can't grow up to be ballerinas. Wouldn't that be sad?"

Madeline: "Uh huh." (sounding totally unconvinced)

Me: "So which would you like to choose?"

Madeline: "Umm, I choose that country to live in."

I cannot win people!

ANOTHER Mother of the Year!

A few weeks ago my Dear Husband had to go to Guatemala and then Mexico City for work. He left on a Sunday and it was a L O N G day for me alone with two kids.

Each Sunday night Lehi City hosts an Arts in the Park with different performers. It just so happened that this particular Sunday was Charley Jenkins in the park. I really like his music and needed to get out of the house. I called a few sisters and we arranged to meet at the park.

We set up our chairs close to the playground so that we could keep an eye on the kids while we watched the show. The kids would play for a minute then run back to our seats for a rest and then it was back to the playground. Here is my niece Oakley with my sister Norma.

We are all sitting there waiting for them to work out some bugs with the sound system and the next thing I know a woman comes on the stage and says "We have a little lost girl". She is holding this crying little blonde girl in her arms. I squint up towards the stage and think to myself "Hmmm, Madeline has a pair of shoes like that."

That's when my sister nudged me and said "Jana, that is Madeline!" Oh Right - - of course it is! I then have to run up to the front and retrieve her. Now, just so you know. . . we hadn't changed spots, I hadn't moved and Madeline had been back and forth between me and the playground several times up to this point. What made her decide she was lost right then, I will never know!

She sat on my lap for about 10 minutes and didn't seem any worse for the wear.


Then when the music started she decided that she needed to bust a move. . . This was hysterical to watch. She was standing on the bleachers and dancing for all to see!


What can I say? The girl has skillzzz!

Oh, and don't worry, I have my Mother of the Year speech all ready for when they deliver that prize!

First Day of School

Jack started Kindergarten last week. He goes in the afternoon with his "best bud" Mayson. He was very excited to ride the bus.

When I told him that I would go down to the bus stop with him each day he informed me that he did NOT need me to go to the bus stop with him, AND lest I get any crazy ideas, he could walk home by himself too.

Well, the bus stop is .25 miles from our house and if you are a 5 year old boy there is a lot of "dinking around" that can happen in those .25 miles. So we came to a compromise - Jack leaves the house and picks up his friend Mayson. I wait for about 5 minutes and then drive down in the car with Madeline to make sure they get on the bus.

Madeline started pre-school the following week. She goes in the morning. I know you are thinking "Wow she didn't plan that one too well." But I figured this is the last year that I will have Jack at home and it would be good for us to spend some one on one time together while Madeline is at pre-school.

Right after I took this picture of Madeline I started to walk her to the door. She turned to me and in her most reassuring 3 year old voice said "It's OK Mom, I can do this." Huh? Are you 3 or 13?!?

Children's Museum

One Sunday afternoon, Jack decided to get some sun while reading the Sunday paper. First he started with the comics.

Then he came to something that REALLY caught his attention - an ad for the Children's Museum at the Gateway. They were having a buy one get one free offer - just our price.


When we arrived, the first thing they tried out were the musical instruments.


Here's Madeline concentrating very hard.

Next we came to a play house. It had everything you might find in a real house, including a mouse hole in the wall. There was a button to push that turned on a light inside and you could see the mouse's house complete with furniture made from thread spools, etc. However, the mouse family must have been at the people museum as they were no where to be found.

There was a really cool water play station.

We spent quite a bit of time here since water is the ultimate kid magnet.

They had lots of dress ups. Jack and Madeline tried out the cowboy outfits first.

Apparently these boots were NOT made for walkin'


Jack gives up on the boots and decides to throw some hay for the horse.

Meanwhile, Madeline decides that she is going to ride that pony.

Next we go over to the supermarket. It is laid out just like a real supermarket, complete with shelves stocked with cereal and canned goods, a produce section, bakery, deli and meat counter.

Madeline immediately takes charge and becomes the checker. My job is to be the shopper. She goes into full character mode. Asking me how I am doing today and if I found everything OK. I tell her that I have some coupons and she informs me that her store doesn't take coupons. I tell her I don't have the money to pay for everything unless I use my coupons and she sweetly informs me that I will have to put some things back. REALLY?! Wow, this pretending is too much like real life.

Meanwhile Jack is busy delivering the mail.

Next we went up to the roof where they have a real LifeFlight helicopter. It is pretty cool. You can sit inside as a passenger, go up front and be the pilot or there is a control tower that you can use to guide the chopper. Really cool.

After that it was lunch time so we met Mark at McDonald's that was just across the way from the museum. McDonald's is probably my LAST choice for lunch, but luckily it was at the food court and we were able to get something else to eat.

After lunch we went back to the museum and Jack decided to be a fireman for a while.

Shortly after that they spotted a car at the gas station where you could pump your own gas! Get right out of town! This is the greatest thing ever!

Jack immediately assumed the position of authority and started pumping the gas while telling his sister that HE was driving and she should stay on her side of the car.

Well, that worked well didn't it?

Next Madeline thinks to herself "how hard can this be?" and decides to pump her own gas.

Shortly after this I decided that I was done, done and done with the museum. We had spent a total of 4 hours in the museum - not including lunch. All in all it was a really fun day and they have been begging to go back ever since.

Summer 2009 - Catch Up

This summer I have been completely inadequate in updating my blog. I am now trying to play catch up so you can see what has been keeping us so busy this summer. I will break this into several different posts, so as not to bore you too much!

First is the Princess Festival. Attended by none other than our princess Madeline Elise.

Here she is with the "golden ticket" to get into the festival.

The annual Princess Festival is put on each summer by a family in Lindon, Utah. It is held at their home and on their property - which is pretty amazing. The cost was nominal ($25) and the proceeds went to benefit a charity that they set up to help the people in Kenya have safe drinking water, and make their lives better. It lasted about 90 minutes, but if you're 3, ninety minutes is just about right.

First the Blue Fairy came to lead them on their journey. They visited several different sites around the property and solved a mystery and helped the Blue Fairy with different fairy tales.

The first stop was a cottage like Snow White's. I thought this sign was pretty cute on the outside of the cottage: (I think I need one for my house!)

Next they got to go to the castle:

And as EVERYONE knows - what's a castle without a drawbridge to walk across?!

While in the castle they met Cinderella scrubbing the floors.

Next her "Sisty Uglers" as Madeline calls the ugly step sisters, came and were mean! But the Fairy Godmother came and made her beautiful and then the Sisty Uglers were sorry and ran off crying! (this is Madeline's version of how it went down)

The grounds were very beautiful. It was really quite amazing considering that this guy built all of this for his grand kids - mostly granddaughters at his home so the they would love to come to visit.

After they solved several princess "mysteries" there was a grand ball with all of the princesses in attendance. (sorry there are not more pics - I am having issues with Blogger today)

When it was all over we got to take a picture in Cinderella's coach. All in all a fabulous experience for MY princess.

Last Day of School

I know that I haven't updated my blog for over a month now, but for some reason the month of May was totally KRAZY for me. I can't really remember anything specific, but it just seemed super busy.

I always try to take pictures of my kids on the first day of school and on the last day of school to see how they have changed during that time.

As usual, I couldn't take a picture of Jack without Madeline being in it too. She is convinced that she must be in every picture.

Here is Jack (and Madeline) on Jack's FIRST day of Pre-school:



And here they are on Jack's LAST day of Pre-School:

This picture is a little blurry - but it was the best of the 5 that I took. I could not get them to hold still at the same time!!


Next year Jack will be in Kindergarten. He has already informed me that he can get on the bus himself and does NOT need me to walk him to the bus stop (it's a quarter of a mile away). I think he will have to put up with me for a while since there is just soo much mischief that he and his friends can get into between here and there !!

Madeline Chronicles

As I have mentioned in the past, Madeline is a talker. . . . with a capital "T". If her eyes are open, her mouth is going.

When she goes to bed at night she usually has to "talk herself down" as I like to call it. Also when she wakes up in the morning she "talks herself up".

Last week she was having a hard time going to sleep and I could hear her singing. I stopped by her door to see what she was singing and it was The Hokey Pokey! I quickly went to my room and laughed out loud.

The Hokey Pokey?! REALLY?!? She is such a character!

This is April?!

Yesterday, April the 16th, we woke up to 3 inches of SNOW on the ground. What? you are asking yourself, surely she must have the dates wrong and be talking about January 16th or February 16th. But no, it truly was the 16th of April and there was SNOW!!!

Jack and Madeline resigned themselves to staying inside for most of the morning (if not the entire day) and found a great way to entertain themselves.

They decided to get Madeline's bike and scooter out and ride it down the hall from her room, through the family room, into the kitchen, make a loop around the island and back down the hall to do it all over again.

To be completely honest, my first instinct was to shout over the commotion of the bike and scooter and Madeline's "hooping and hollering" (honestly, that girl is NEVER quiet except when she's sleeping - but that is a post for another day) and sternly inform them that bikes and scooters were OUTSIDE toys and we do not live in a jungle gym. (Similar to living in a barn, but a slightly different location)

But then I thought better of it and made them stop for a picture.

Really, what's a Mom to do? When life give you lemons. . . . .

Daily Madeline

On Saturday Mark was "helping" Jack and Madeline clean up their rooms. Madeline was having a hard time staying on task - she's 3 AND she has the total Red Neck disease. . . . "Oh, somethin' SHiNy! I must check it out!"

Anyway, Mark was getting after her and she said "Dad you are being MEAN! I'm going to cry"

She then proceeds to try to fake cry, stops mid boo-hoo and says "Hey, it's not working!"

Now I'm not quite sure if she meant that she couldn't cry on demand or that it was no impact on her Dad whatsoever - probably some of both.

I've said it before, but I will say it again . . . 4 little words . . . "RUN FOR MY MONEY!!"

Just like Jade

The other morning Jade came home from work at Costco and put her hat and hairnet on the kitchen table. She works in the Deli and is required to wear the hairnet, which doesn't make for a very good hair day.

Along came Madeline. She picked up the hat and hairnet, put it on and exclaimed "look, I'm just like Jadie!" Hey mama, I'm Jadie now!"

I guess it just goes to show you never know who is watching you. . . .

Hope It Gives You Hell = Mother of the Year (again)

So, even though I'm the big 4-0, I still like rockin' music. One of my favorites is "Gives You Hell" by The All American Rejects. Every time it comes on in the car I crank it up and sing away.

This is all well and good, except that this morning after getting home from taking Jack to pre-school I hear Madeline (age 3) singing at the top of her lungs in her room. . . . ."Find a man that's worth a damn. . . . . . hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

Oh yes, that Mother of the Year Award will look stunning on my mantle!

Click Here to see the video and hear the song:
YouTube - The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell Official Music Video w/ Lyrics

Daily Madeline

Madeline turned 3 last week and one of her presents was a "Sleeping Beauty" movie. When she opened it she said . . . .

"Ohhh, Sleeping Beauty! I LOVE this movie - it has evil in it."

Should I be concerned?!?

Four words here: Run - - For - - My - - Money!!

Daily Madeline

Daily Madeline

Madeline woke up Sunday morning complaining that she was sick. I was immediately suspicious since she has been having a hard time going to her class. About 3 weeks ago she suddenly decided that she didn't want to go anymore and it has been a fight ever since then.

I asked her where she felt sick (meaning stomache, head, etc.). She thought about it for a minute and then said "I feel sick at church."

I had a good chuckle at that and then said, "well if you are sick, some part of your body doesn't feel good - is there some part of your body that doesn't feel good?"

Again thinking for a minute she said "My leg is sick - it has germs in it."

Mark leaned over to me and said "Does the term 'A Run for your Money' mean anything to you?"

Daily Madeline

My friend (who also has a Jack) does a post called the "Daily Jack" where she writes some of the funny things that her little boy says. I thought it was a cute idea and since imitation is the most sincere form of flattery . . . . here is the first ever post of the Daily Madeline. I'm sure there will be a Daily Jack soon to follow.

Daily Madeline

Madeline thinks that she is a cat. When you ask her a question she will answer you in "cat".

Example:

Mom: "Madeline what would you like for lunch?"

Madeline: "Meow, meow, meow, meow."

Mom: "Does that mean you want toast?" (her word for a sandwich)

Madeline: "Meow, meow, meow, meow." (nodding her head vigorously)


On Sunday we were sitting in church, singing the opening hymn for Sacrament Meeting and instead of singing or humming, Madeline meowed it!