The Check-Up

Yesterday was the dreaded doctors visit for both Madison and Cayden. Madison however, got off easy. No shots for her but 3 for Cayden. EEK! But, to my surprise He-Man didn't even cry! I'm sure that Madison's daily beatings prepared him all too well. What a kid! Here he is looking quite pathetic with Band-Aids on both arms. Notice the Tasmanian Devil on his right arm? Something tells me that may have been intentional.

Oh yeah, and today was Madison's first day of school. My pictures all came out blurry. Look for 2nd day of school pictures tomorrow.

A Beachy Weekend

Thanks Keli for doing all the work for me on this one! Click here to see today's post written by my super duper neighbor Keli. (even though she can't spell Cayden correctly ;) ).

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Gosh, I hope Madison doesn't teach Cayden to do this without the pillows.

Lions, Tigers, Bears, and.... The Emergency Room

Yeah, let me explain..... This morning Madison was running through the kitchen and somehow found a way to poke her thumb into her eye. She cried pretty hard for awhile, but being the good parents we are, we thought she might be being a bit dramatic and told her " it wasn't that bad". Then we decided that we would take a trip up to the Milwaukee Zoo.

So, while Madison continued the morning crying on and off, we took showers, packed the car and took off to the zoo. Pat and I thought that if we could just make it there, she might forget about her hurting eye and everything would be OK.

It wasn't more then a few minutes of her crying in the car, that we had a grand idea to put a patch over her eye. That way she would stop rubbing it, it wouldn't be sun sensitive, and she would stop crying. So CVS became our first stop. The patch never made it onto Madison's eye, but instead went on Elmo's.

1/2 mile down the road came our next idea....new sunglasses. MAYBE, if she would wear sunglasses, they may have the same effect as the patch. Walgreen's became our second stop. Even though Madison liked the sunglasses idea, it didn't stop her eye from hurting or the on again off again crying. But, we continued on to the zoo truly believing it would stop.

The crying must have worn Madison out because she eventually fell fast asleep in the car.


45 minutes later we arrived at the zoo. It went in spurts, everything would be fine for a while, then she would burst out crying saying her eye still hurt. Here are some pics we took during the times everything was OK:

After no more than an hour at the zoo and the crying yet to cease, we decided it was probably time to take her down the street to the urgent care center. To make a longer story short, after being in the waiting area for 30 minutes, Madison said her eye no longer hurt. Go figure.

So before seeing the doctor, we left. Her eye is still red but there hasnt been much complaining since. I guess the thought of seeing a doctor made everything all better. Maybe I should try that trick more often. What a day.

My New Blog is Up and Running!

Check out my new site! Please keep in mind that it is still a definite work in progress. Constructive criticism is always welcome ;).

Link is on the right side of the page under MY NEW SITE.

Soccer Anyone?

A pink soccer ball for Madison's birthday. This has been a favorite summertime activity (thank you Kevin and Anneliese!). HOWEVER, it often crosses my mind if she will forget about it when winter comes or if it will make its way into the house to dent walls, be thrown down stairs, and to hit little brothers in the head. I sure hope not.

A Day at the Beach

Today we spent the day at a beach along Lake Michigan. It is about 30 minutes from our house. Not sure why we don't do this more often. They had a great time!

Swingin' Along

Now that we have our swing set completely up and running (will post pics soon), Pat and I spend most of our time pushing the kids on the swings. I guess that is OK since we no longer play "chase" around the yard.

My Fashionista

Or should I say Fashionisto?

Today I received an email from a very satisfied "Bow Buyer" . She said she loved the clippies that I made her but recommended that I add some pictures in my listings of actual children wearing them. She thinks that it would help me to sell more.

So today, I begged and I mean BEGGED Madison to let me take a picture of her wearing one of the clippies that I made. Let me remind you that these are the same clippies that she wears everyday. After what seemed like hours begging and bribing, I gave up.

And went to my last resort. Cayden.

Cayden is now my hair bow model. Please don't tell him!

Oh, and by the way, I don't have the OK from Pat on this one.

The Bathtub Incident

You will all be very happy that I did not race to grab the camera for this event. However, I still feel the need to write as this is the second time in a week that Cayden has pulled this diddy. I apologize in advance for any visualizations that pop into your head while you read.

Tonight (for the second time) Cayden pooped in the tub. When I say pooped, I mean Pooped. NOW, if that is not gross enough, the only reason that I noticed it was because Cayden's curiosity got the best of him and he was trying to grab hold of this foreign object floating around. Luckily, I swooped him out of the tub before he could get his hands around it.

Ok, that's all. I will stop now.

Thank You Donald!

I just wanted to say a special thank you to Donald Duck for teaching Madison to walk around asking people, "What's the Big Idea??" Many, many thanks!

A Very Garage Sale Weekend

We are finally done with 3 long days of having our second (and last) garage sale of the season. After selling 60 bootleg DVD's, asking a non-pregnant lady when her baby was due and giving away half of the items for free during the last hour, I can honestly say that I am glad that it is over.

I have to admit that I looked forward to this weekend. Not only for the hope of bringing in a little cash but also because I knew we would be able to get rid of most of the useless crap that has been collecting for the past 4 years.

All in all, it went well. I'm tired though BUT luckily made enough money for Pat and I to eat Taco Bell for dinner and Dairy Queen for dessert.

OH MY GOD!! He did it AGAIN!!

So you all thought it was funny the first time Cayden peed over the balcony?? Well, now he peed over the other balcony and made sure to hit the wall on the way down!! Unbelievable.

Belated Anniversary Outing

Pat and I finally made time to get away and celebrate our 4 year anniversary. Our anniversary was on July 17th so this was a bit late but as always, better late than never. Since Grandma agreed to come watch the kiddos, Pat and I took the day to go to the Cubs game. This was a last minute decision so we decided to buy some tickets on Craigslist. The seats were a bit high since they were on the upper deck but according to the ad, there was no obstructed view which was all that mattered. It was a beautiful day and to top it off, the Cubs won! Here is a view of the infamous scoreboard and Lake Michigan in the background.

Oh, and here is a view of the baseball game with no obstructed view.

Oh well, it was still fun even if we couldn't see the batter.

The Adventures of Elmo and Big Bird

Over the river and through the woods to Papa and Gee's we go......

Only here, there is no white and drifting snow but instead, a long river and a deep pond. There is also a blue jogging stroller that leans up against the house. A perfect place for Madison to put Elmo and Big Bird to sit and enjoy the view. That was, until a gust of wind came and blew the stroller and its contents (Elmo and Big Bird) into the pond.

This may not seem like a big deal, in fact you may see it as rather funny. However, I assure you that it would not have been the reaction from a 3 year old if she had witnessed this. So, as quickly as they went into the pond and before Madison figured out what had happend, they came out. Papa came to the rescue in his itty bitty row boat.

Great job Papa! You did it again!