Sorry about passing the whole month of May without a single update. We have settled in so nicely here that we are all just crazy busy. Madeleine and I attend the library functions a couple mornings each week and have also discovered the children's theater. We are also ZooFriends and visit the animals there often. We are having so much fun here. It seems like there is always some fun event or festival for us to attend.
Our favorite thing on a rainy day, MAKE CUPCAKES!
Matthew and I were blessed to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary earlier this month. Madeleine had her very first babysitter (besides the wonderful grandparents). Allie sat with Maddie while we went out to dinner. The two of them must have had a blast, because Madeleine didn't cry when we left, was asleep when we got home, and asked where her best friend Allie was when she woke up the next morning.
The house is finally feeling like home and we are slowly getting things the way we like. Madeleine, being so spoiled, got a new house herself from Granny. She was so excited that she played in it as Matthew was still putting it all together.
We have an amusement park here that we visited on the Military Monday. It was so much fun and Matthew was off early that day and was able to join us! I even rode the ferris wheel ( some of you know I am deathly afraid of a ferris wheel).
We went to the Cowboy Museum and Chuckwagon Festival. Madeleine rode her first horse and even sat on a longhorn. We tried our hardest to not saw those horns off (Gig 'Em Aggies). The festival was really close to historic Route 66. We took the five minute drive and enjoyed burgers and sodas at Pops. Pops is a restraunt and soda shop that offers about 500 different types of soda. Some soda bottles even line glass shelves on the walls.
Madeleine and I have joined a mom's group and enjoy playdates with new friends. With all the activities and new friends we have hardly any time left over to miss that beautiful beach in Pensacola.
The picture of Madeleine with bird seed has a story to go with it. Matthew and I park our cars in the garage every night. For a few days we were smelling something so terrible in the garage. The smell was just really, really awful. I started to notice I would not smell the odor when Matthew was at work. One evening I thought I should go near Matthew's car and see if the odor was strongest near his car. Sure enough, it was unbearable. I told Matthew that it really did smell as if something had died in his car. He then remembers there was a bird on the way home about a week earlier that he was sure didn't make it passed the car. By this time in the conversation, Madeleine had joined us in the driveway. Matthew looked into the front of the car and saw the bird, dead. He went inside, retrieved a bag, and removed the bird. Madeleine, watching the whole event, was so concerned for the bird. We had a lengthy explanation about birds and how this just happens at times. Since that day she has been obsessed with getting bird feed and putting up a bird house. I think its her way of trying to make it up to the birds after daddy took out one of their kind.
I have started a blog for my crafts and hope to be able to make a business on the side here with my goodies. You can check some of the projects out at : www.brandisbowtique.blogspot.com.
We finally have a storm shelter installed. It was tons of fun to watch all the equipment in our backyard. Maddie and I have a love/love relationship with heavy equipment. I am not sure why we haven't taken pics since its in now, but here is the dirt and large hole. We have yet to get into the shelter. When the tornado sirens sound, we usually open the door and just watch. The whole weather thing with tornadoes isn't nearly as scary now that we have a safe place to go should we need it.
I will end this post with a couple little pearls of Madeleine's wisdom:
Maddie is usually so cheerful when she wakes up and just really starts the day on a great note. She is sour only on the mornings when we have something planned early. I was trying to get her ready to go and see Alice in Wonderland and she was in my closet trying on clothes, making a disaster in the floor. I told her to immediately get out of there or we would be late for Alice in Wonderland. She turned very quickly and informed me, "this isn't no wonderland". Yes, I thought, you are absolutely correct!
Each night Matthew and I get into bed with Madeleine to say prayers after storytime. Madeleine was trying to put off the going to sleep and asked why we said prayers. We explained about God and Jesus and heaven. Matthew asked if she knew where heaven was and she quickly came back with "yes, in Florida". I thought, yes, again you are absolutely correct. She proceeded to tell us that heaven was in Florida and had a little sister named Leah. It was all clear then that she was referring to her good friend, Ava. We were on completely different page than she was. Its so cute the things she comes up with.
Hope everyone is having a great summer!
HUGS!
