Alldredge Family

James x-mas - 1

2011-03-15T13:07:00.001-07:00

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James1

2011-01-20T18:29:00.001-08:00

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2010-08-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

There were 3 baby sea lions that we watched for a very long time.
We spent LOTS of time here. I don't know who was more excited me or Maddison :)

SeaWorld Fun

2010-08-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

So after a year of saving money from my babysitting we finally went to SeaWorld. It was our first family vacation that didn't include going to see family and that was just us. We left on Wed and went first to the Witte Museum. This was James request because he wanted to go to the Dinosaur Museum. It was a great museum and was pretty cheap too. Then we went back to the hotel and swam. Both kids are really loving the water this summer. The next day we got up and headed to SeaWorld. The only thing Maddison wanted to do was feed the dolphins. Which is funny because when I was her age I was the same way. So we got a couple of baskets and got to pet and feed the dolphins. James wasn't too keen the first day but our second day we went and did it again because he was ready. We got to see the new baby Shamu, and baby sea lions. I was amazed at how captivated the kids were with everything. The shows were incredible and Maddison even went on a big roller coaster. She didn't like it afterwords but she did it! It was a great trip and worth every penny. Next year Disney World ....

Catch up. Silver belles.

2010-05-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Maddison is involved in a little girl showchoir called Silver Belles. They are absolutely adorable. She sings a solo in "Wouldn't it be Loverly". This is the first time they have performed. They have gotten even better. There final performance is Tues June 1st at 7:00 at Hart Elementary. Come for a special singing treat :)

catch up. Butterfly

2010-05-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

Every year at Collin Creek Mall they do this butterfly tent. We went last year and the kids loved it. I took two trips. One with James and one with Maddison and her friend Sam. Again a huge hit.
Maddison and Sam are inseperable and so cute!
She wanted a picture with a butterfly on her nose like her mom had. I think it is funny.

James thought it was fun to go with just mom.

Secret for those who go next year. Spray gatorade on you. That is what we did and the butterflys wouldn't stay off us.

Catch up. Fun with the Family

2010-05-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Random fun with the family.
Went to the Arboreteum with Sheri and Matt and Mom and us. Beautiful day!

Such his dad's pose.

Awe they like eachother :)

Family photo.

Maddison decided she wanted to get her haircut. I took her to the place and she told her how short she wanted it. Afterward she said she had a haircut like Aunt Sheri! They cut about 8 inches off.

Day at the zoo with Grandma! We ate lunch here and we could have called it good. The kids loved it.

Catch up. James Birthday

2010-05-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

We had a Thomas Birthday party for James. We did it a month early because that is when Thomas was in town. For Ryan and mine's present we took him to "A Day Out with Thomas" He was so excited. We got to ride on Thomas, see a model train exhibit (which James was ecstatic about) and got to play with a bunch of train toys. He had a great day and a great birthday. James cake that he was super proud of but I must say I was a little proud too:)

Catch up. Snow storm.

2010-05-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

So I am just going to post a lot and play catch up. I am on Ryan's laptop and can actually do this in a timely manner. These are a few pictures from the incredible snow storm we had in Texas in February. We got 12 inches of snow! Kids loved it and I loved it too :)

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

We drove 20 hours up to Utah this Thanksgiving. We left at 4:00pm and got there at 2:30
pm the next day. Such a long drive! When we got there everyone was still in church so we waited in the house until church was over. When it was time we went outside and the kids were just ecstatic to see G-ma and G-pa and Maddison could not wait to see Aliya her cousin. As they were all walking home Maddison and Aliya caught sight of eachother and ran head on as fast as they could and collapsed in a huge hug when they saw eachother. It was so cute.Not much was happening the first couple of days. We went up on Tues to visit Sheri and Matt and their new baby Dexter. Who come to find out has had several medical problems including, jaundice, UTI and bacterial menigitis. Wed Dustin and Amy came down and I guess that is when all the excitement happened. DeniAnn dressed up as a princess and the little girls got to play princess with her. James wanted so badly to play too but he didn't get a costume. He did, however, get to have a princess luncheon with them and dance with them. We had a lovely Thanksgiving day and then on Friday my brother Ryan came down to visit. He moved to Montana and so this was a nice central meeting place for us. We didn't get to visit long because everyone decided to go Christmas Tree hunting but it was nice he could see us for a short time. Christmas tree hunting was fun. The kids and Ryan absolutely loved it. Tyler I think one the prize for the biggest tree and Ryan even cut us a small one too. :) The rest of the time was just spent with eachother which was nice. We had a great trip! Here are some memories of our time.

DeniAnn as Belle. Maddison as Cinderella.

Should I be worried about this pose?

This is more like it. She and Aliya danced the day away.

Princesses and Prince lucheon.

These girls were inseperable.

Here is our little Christmas tree.

James trying to get in on the snowball fight.

They were having a giant snowball fight and Maddison would throw half and eat the other half of the snowball. James and her just rolled around in the snow as much as they could.

We had a movie night and all the cousins got special pjs from Aunt Amy and then all snuggled down on blankets to watch "Up." This is the pillow fight preceding the movie.

DeniAnn is seriously the best at making the little girls feel special. All week she did nails and hair.

James wanted so badly to be included in the princess stuff. Aliya made him feel welcome.

Sleep Walker

2009-11-08T19:08:00.001-08:00

Ok so I just had to post this so we can remember it forever! A couple of days ago Maddison walked out of her nap babbling about a laughing volcano, a funny book and the computer. I realized she was sleep walking and just giggled and tried to wake her up. Well when she did wake up she cried for 15 minutes and then fell back asleep on my lap before waking up fully a few minutes later. It was the first time she had done it and I thought it was hilarious because I used to be a big sleep walker. In fact one time I slept walked right out the front door in the middle of the night. My family put one of those little trampolines in front of the door for a few weeks to make sure I didn't escape again. Well I think Maddison my follow in my footsteps. She just came out a few minutes ago sleep walking again about clues, James did it and books. Ryan put her back in bed and she just was laughing hysterically. Then zonked out again. I hope it doesn't become a regular occurence but it is sure funny to see.

Cont' 2

2009-10-18T14:25:00.001-07:00

For eight days straight we had rain here in TX. Very unusual for this time of year. The kids are used to getting outside at least once a day so I finally just let them go at it. They had a blast!

James was freezing by the end.

They like to throw leaves and sticks in the "river" and watch them float away. If there is just a tiny bit of water on the street James still tries to do this.

We went to the Plano Balloon Festival and that was really fun. They had lots of crafts for the kids and James loved watching the balloons light up. Maddison's favorite part was of coarse getting her face painted.

Finally and most recently James got a new bed. We found a great deal on a toddler bed at a garage sale and he couldn't wait to test it. He does pretty well but we often find an entire bookshelf in his bed by the morning.

Maddison with her princess makeup :)

Cont'

2009-10-18T14:16:00.001-07:00

We played a ton in the water this summer. Almost every day we went to the pool, Celebration, or played in the sprinklers at home. James at first hated the spray water but soon found it was so much fun. Both kids became fish this summer. James has no fear and just jumps in whether you are ready or not. Maddison is still more timid but as long as she has her arm floaties on she was unstoppable. She got really use to putting her face in the water and even practiced a few times without the floaties. Hopefully next year she won't need them.

Grandma took us on a mystery trip to the Dallas Aquarium. We all got to ride the Dart train there (which James LOVED). They had a great time with all the animals. Maddison got lost once but was faithfully by our side the rest of the time.

So four months later....

2009-10-18T13:59:00.001-07:00

So I know it is four months later but life happens. This summer flew by and we really enjoyed it. Maddison has started back at preschool and James is in joy school now with a couple of our friends and really seems to enjoy it as well. Ryan is in school and I am still crazy busy with the various jobs I have. Here are some pictures of the past four months of adventures:)

We went on our first camping trip with the kids. They loved it! James was obsessed with the fire. Every time Ryan would put lighter fluid on it, James would yell "Again! more!" Maddison loved chasing butterflies in the field across from us. We stayed one night and made wonderful memories. Kids can't wait to go again!

My kids LOVE to do crafts. They ask to do them all the time. So here are some fun pictures of when James decided to "craft" himself and Maddison doing playdoh. She likes to get on line and follow the instructions to do the different playdoh things.

Preschool Grad

2009-06-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

I really should have posted this a long time ago but here it is anyway. Maddison had the opportunity to go to Apple Creek Preschool this year and it was wonderful. She learned so much and she still has a year before K-grade. I don't know what I am going to do with her. Anyway, she seems to have followed in my footsteps in performing. She loves it and like me is more comfortable on stage than any where else. Here is a clip from her graduation. The funniest thing about this is the kid next to her. His name is Cade and I guess he just got a little stage fright because he just melts down during the Peanut Butter and Jelly song. Maddison just kept looking at him like "what is your problem? This is fun!" They were both so cute and still play together at the pool often :) Thank you to the people who made it possible for her to attend this year. You all are such a blessing.

Uncle Ryan

2009-05-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that my kids just love their Uncle Ryan. Whenever he comes over they just go nuts and he is so cute with them. Here are some pictures of them playing outside.

Owen's Farm

2009-05-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

We went with some friends to the Owen's farm in Richardson. It was so fun and perfect for kids. We spent about 2 hours there, saw everything, went on a hay ride and then had lunch and the kids went home and took naps. I didn't think my kids would actually feed the goats but they did. Both had them licking and eating out of their hands. Maddison really loved petting the pony too. Thanks for coming Crystal and Rhonda!

Hay ride. James thought it was a choo-choo.

So much for a group picture...
Really nice pony.

Trip to the zoo

2009-05-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

We went to the Ft. Worth zoo on half price Wed when Ryan had work off. I love that zoo it is so much fun. The kids favorite part was the bird enclosure. We bought the little feed sticks and both kids got to hold and touch the birds. James was especially fascinated by them. Maddison was very persistent in getting one on a stick by herself. We were probably in there a good 40 minutes. However, they were worth it! James just touched one.

Maddison getting one by herself.

Here birdie!

The week before we went to the Dallas zoo with my mom. We were in a similar enclosure but they had more than parakeets there. Anyway, my mom was just standing there and had a cockatail land right on her head and stay there for a while. I guess he thought it was a nest :) I didn't have my camera on hand but the kids thought it was great.

James' Birthday #2

2009-05-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

Choo-Choo!Mmm I think he likes it.

James' birthday was all choo-choos. I have never seen a boy who was as obsessed with trains as James is. We all pitched in and got him a train set that has all the bells and whistles. He loves it. Ryan Vandiver got him a Thomas the Train pillow that he likes to sit on and pretend he is on a train. The following video's are of his first look at it. He still signs when he hears things by putting his hand up to his ear. He does this when he hears a train, plane, bus or motorcycle. James loved all the trains he got for his birthday.

In fact a day after we got them we had to go somewhere and I told him he could take a few of his trains. Well I saw him put 2 in and then we left. In the car I gave him the trains and he kept saying "more more. " I told him that was it and we kept going, despite his instistence. Well when we got home he wanted to play with his trains but we could not find the rest of them anywhere. I looked all over the house but couldn't find them. I was pretty upset because I just thought "great now we have a train table but no trains." Well a little while later I was getting something out of my purse and lo and behold there were the rest of the 12 trains. Funny you think I would have noticed the extra weight. James had put them in there when i wasn't looking. Now the trains still go every where we go but he has a "manly train purse" to take them in.

It was so nice having every one here for his birthday. We actually celebrated it on Easter. He is too young to know we did it a day early, right?

First look at the train.

Enjoying the sights and sounds.

I made the cake but relied on my dad for the decorations on it. He did this free-hand using the picture on the plates. Isn't he amazing? Thanks mom and dad for all you do for us. We love you!

The first present he opened was a little train and he ran around and then fell on the floor saying "ooooo." It was pretty funny.

Easter

2009-05-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

I finally downloaded the pictures from my camera so I am just posting each event seperately. These are some of Easter. Maddison loved her dress. We had an egg hunt in the house because the weather man said it was going to be horrible all day. However, if we had just waited til after church it was beautiful. Oh well! James loved the candy in the egg. After he would find one he would shake it, open it and then proceed to dump the entire egg in it. Pretty funny. Maddison got a kite and moon sand. The Easter egg hunt pictures are on Ryan's camera so until he downloads them....Found them!

Tatoo eggs! Maddison was very careful during this part.

Catch up!

2009-02-12T14:36:00.000-08:00

Ok so as always I am playing catch up. I just don't know how you guys keep up to date. Anyway here are some pictures of what has happened lately...

Maddison had her birthday and is sooo excited she is four years old. She had a Tinkerbell birthday party. (I am sure there are several people she invited or wanted to invite but please don't be offended if you weren't. Maddison mentioned SEVERAL people later on but as a "last minute mom" I didn't get all the invitations out on time. We love you all though!) We played freeze tag, ate cake, opened presents, played musical chairs, and several other games. She had a blast and loved it all.

Grandpa and James enjoying the cake.

The "Party People"

Another HUGE event was my sister getting married here are a couple of pictures from it. She is now Mrs. Christine Sorenson. She got married Dec 13, 2008 to Jonathan Sorenson. They are such a great couple and we are so happy for her.

ONE of the favorite aunts.

James loves her sooo much it is so sweet. He has started to just randomly go up and give her hugs.

Belated Christmas photos

2009-01-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

So here are some of our Christmas pictures. Sorry they are so late. Maddison woke us and James up at 6:00am when it was still dark and we opened presents. She was thrilled with the bike and ponyville. At 8:00 she wanted to go out and ride the bike but we told her she had to wait til the rest of the neighborhood was awake. James got a Handy Manny toolset that sings and bobs. He also got a bike but is still figuring it out. I got my Twilight series and new pots. Ryan got much needed clothes and a phone holder. I have to say I don't know what Christmas is without kids. They truly make it special.

Maddison and James fixing the bikes with the new tool set.

James first look.

Maddison's ponyville.

Best Christmas EVER!!!

Mrs. Claus cookies

2008-12-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

On Sat we went to the Village Green behind Market Street and they had a program called "Make cookies with Mrs. Claus. It was such a great program! She was a ventriloquist and had puppets, they sang songs and the kids got to participate in a bell choir. Then they decorated cookies. It was a huge hit!

James enjoyed the icing the most.

Finished products

Bell choir

Front row seats!

New addition

2008-12-07T15:27:00.000-08:00

No we are not having a baby but we do have a new addition to our family. After Thanksgiving, Sheri had brought her cat and Ryan saw how much the kids and I enjoyed playing with it. I have always been a cat person but we were going to wait. Well Ryan surprised us by getting a cat for me for Christmas. Although I think it is mostly the kids kitten right now. We names him Boston in honor of the Red Sox. He is a great cat and provides hours of entertainment for the kids.

Gymnastics farewell.

2008-11-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would post a couple of pictures of Maddison at gymnastics. She loves it but I think this month will be her last. With all my working and her schedule she has starting acting out a bit. I think she is feeling overwhelmed. So I am slowing every one's schedule down to see if that helps. So her are a few of her at practice. So cute!

They always come at the end for a final "tah dah"

Balance beam.

My little monkey.

Halloween

2008-11-13T12:37:00.000-08:00

Ok so I know I am really late in posting these but Ryan wants me to make sure everyone can
see James' awesome beard.
Maddison was Ariel.

James was Dustin Pedroa

Neither one wanted to hold hands or be near eachother. Oh well I tried.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last Sat we finally made it to a great pumpkin patch. We were able to do so many things for free and the kids had a blast. Maddison got her face painted, pictures with the cut outs, petting zoo, and James Maddison and I rode on the train. They had drinks and food there that you could buy and lots of other things to look at, including a corn maze for toddlers and one for bigger kids. I couldn't believe that it was all for free. Especially since they were right next to one that charged for all of it. The only thing they asked was for you to bring a couple of cans of food to donate.

I love this picture of Ryan and the kids.

Need I say more?

James was so proud of himself.

Maddison had to be holding both their hands.

James loved the train.

Maddison showing off her pumpkin muscles.

Just as we were heading back to the car, with both kids exhausted, we walked by this huge haystack. I didn't think anything of it because of how tired the kids were. However, it was the hit of the day.

Bubbles and more Bubbles

2008-10-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

One of James' first words after Mama and Dada was bubbles. He is obsessed with bubbles . We have the bubbles up high in the house and he just walks around saying "bubbles, bubbles," and pointing to the door. So while I was in Chicago, Ryan took the kids outside for a bubblefest. James tries so hard to blow bubbles but ends up drinking most of it. Then when his mouth is full of soap he will blow bubbles with his mouth. He thinks it is hilarious. He also loves it when the bubbles land on him and will say "pop." Maddison loves them too but not as much as James right now.

Heard Museum

2008-09-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

We are doing a little Joy school with Maddison and some of her friends again this year. Well we decided to add a fieldtrip once a month. I was in charge this month and we went to the Heard Museum because we had just learned about dinosaurs this week. Here are some pictures of the kids.

Four moms and 15 kids. YIKES!!
So apparently Maddison has her pick of Toni's boys. These three were inseparable.
Jacob and her have a little romance and they held hands the whole time except for when Sam moved in on Maddison and grabbed her for a little while.
MMMmmm should a three year old have to choose between her boys this early in life :)

They grow up so fast

2008-09-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

I think our kids are so fun (not that I'm biased). Here are some random picutres of the kids.

James as a GQ model.
Maddison in another darling outfit from Aunt Christ. She asks to wear this skirt every Sun and several times throughout the week.
We go for a walk every night and the other night it turned into a nature walk. We stop to look at the turtles, fish and ducks, then saw the fireflies and Dad caught one, then Mom stepped on a little garden snake and Dad chased it away. And of coarse we saw tons of rabbits.

Splish Splash

2008-09-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Ok so these next pictures are why the kids like Ryan to give them their baths better then me. Why is it that Dad is always so much more fun than Mom?

Quiet Time

2008-09-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

So this is what happens when I ask Ryan to put Maddison down for Quiet time. I needed to run an errand and asked Ryan to put Maddison down for quiet time. Apparently, he was too tired to read Maddison stories so she read to him. They were both exhausted and by the time I got home they had both zonked out. Cute!

The chicken or the egg? according to Maddison

2008-09-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

The other day we were having pancakes and eggs for dinner (I didn't want to cook.) and Ryan started a conversation with Maddison about where the eggs came from. So here is how it went...
Ry: Maddison where do chickens come from?
Maddie: Eggs
Ry: Then you mean you are eating a chicken?
Maddie: No I'm not.
Ry: But you just said chickens come from eggs.
Maddie: Mom is that true?
Mom: Yes but we are eating the eggs that are just meant for eating.
Maddie: See Dad these aren't chicken eggs.
Ry: But how do you know these are the eating eggs and not the chicken eggs.
Maddie: Dad there are two kinds of eggs brown and white. The brown ones become chickens and the white ones are eating eggs.
Ry: But won't the chickens miss their eggs?
Maddie: No because they just have lots and lots of eggs. Just don't worry about it Dad. I know what I am talking about.

It was so funny to hear her rationalize this whole egg thing. This is a very brief overview of the actual conversation that went on for about 15 minutes. She just had a logical explaination for everything. I just thought it was funny that she even knew about the brown verses white eggs. I don't remember ever telling her there were brown and white eggs. Oh well I guess it all just comes from the mouths of babes.

We made it to the RED SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-14T20:57:00.001-07:00

So for those of you who don't know - my husband is a die hard Red Sox Fan. We found out a few months ago that the Red Sox were playing here and we immediately bought the cheapest tickets we could find for Fri and Sat night. Which actually were REALLY cheap. We took the kids on Fri night and then we went again on Sat. Ryan was in Heaven. I was really glad we were able to fulfill this little dream of his. Despite all the hardships we have had lately, we were able to put them aside for one weekend and just enjoy. The kids were really cute at the game. Maddison kept yelling "Go Red Sox" and "Yankees 'pugh'"(she would pretend to spit.) She didn't really realize they were playing the Rangers. James just enjoyed the food and would say "Yeah" whenever we would clap. We had a great night. James put his sippy cup in the popcorn container and went at it.
Maddison was so excited to share this time with Daddy.
Girls just chillin.
James had a full fledge Red Sox outfit on. So cute.

Hair Cut

2008-09-14T20:49:00.001-07:00

Ok so we have given James little trims before but this was his first real haircut with the buzzer. He did pretty well and now we can spike it. That was the real reason I had Ryan cut it.
First encounter with the buzzer. He thought it was cool.

He is starting to wonder what is going on now.
How handsome. Ryan let him buzz some of his hair at the end.

Sick

2008-09-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

I forgot one other thing that happened to James around the end of August. He got so sick. He never likes to cuddle and is always on the go. Well one day he was kind of mellow and I thought he felt pretty warm but I didn't take an official temperature because I thought it was just teeth causing the fever. Well the next day in the morning I went to get him out of bed and he felt hot to me so I checked his temperature and he was 102. I gave him some Tylenol the amount according to the bottle. Then sent him back to bed. When he woke up I still thought he was really hot and took his temperature again - 102.7. So I sent Ryan to the store to get some Ibuprofen. We alternated the medication giving him the doses according the the bottle but his temp was around 103 all day. Well around 7:00 we put him to bed and thought maybe the fever will break soon. I went in at around 8:00 and didn't even touch him but I could feel the heat radiating off his body. I woke him up and took his temp and it was 104. We gave some more medicine, a cool bath and tried to get him to drink. We waited for an hour to see if the meds were going to work. Then I took his temperature again and it was 105.3. We called my parents to have them watch Maddison while we took him to the ER. His temperature topped off at 106. They gave him the REAL appropriate doses of medicine (not the one the bottle says), put cold rags over him and were about to do a cool IV. Then the doctor said to hold the IV until the blood work came back (I was very relieved.) Needless to say it took the hospital 4 hours before his temperature broke and was there a reason - NO! They just said it was some virus but that it was good we brought him in because at that high a temp he could of had seizures. Moral of the story -- Find out how much medicine your kids can really have safely, and it might save you a trip to the hospital. Here is a picture of him and Dad when his fever was 105.

He was beet red because his little body was so hot.
Poor little guy.

Complete Slacker

2008-09-07T19:59:00.001-07:00

Ok so I know I am a complete slacker and I am sorry about that. Our computer just isn't super fast so I get bored waiting for things to upload. Then the computer broke and I couldn't get my pictures until we got it back. So I am going to try to do better. So a few updates... James is walking in full force now. He has a sense of humor all his own and is all boy. He is fascinated by cars and airplanes. He goes around all day saying brooooom with all of his cars and trucks. Maddison is so excited to be back with her preschool group. We also started her in gymnastics (because we got a month free) and she absolutely loves it. She now goes around the house and will raise her arms and say tah dah! Super cute. She is also starting to read and loves anything that involves a lot of detail with arts and crafts. Here are some more recent pictures.

Maddison and one of her best friends Megan.
Daddy trying to take a nap :)
Aunt Chris sent us some new clothes.
James just being James.

2008-05-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

She thought it was fun to have him on her face.
James did not!

We finally put him on a rose and left him there. Hopefully he flew away the poor little guy.

Easter Butterflies

2008-05-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

Maddison wanted these caterpillars that you get in the mail for Easter. They come in a jar of food and you leave them in there and then they turn to butterflies. Well she was fascinated with this whole process. There were 5 total and when they had all hatched we took them outside to let them go. Well one wouldn't fly away. I looked at him and he only had 4 legs so maybe that is why. Anyway Maddison got to hold him and play with him for a while.

He flew away once but not very far.

She decided to name him Caillou.

Dallas Arboretum

2008-04-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

Ryan and the kids and I went to the Dallas Arboretum last weekend and it was absolutely beautiful. We were able to just sit and relax the entire day and Ryan and I actually both felt relaxed (which is a big deal). It was such a beautiful day.It is totally worth it to go once a year at least just to get a cute family picture. I think next year I will dress the family up and take a real one. In May they are changing all the beds out and putting in new annuals. So it should be just as gorgeous.

I didn't know if Maddison would like just looking around at all the flowers but she loved it. She asked the names of them and smelled them all. She even had a yellow nose by the end of the day because of the pollen. She also chased butterflies and as you can see ladybugs around.
Even James had a great day.

They have a Texas theme going right now so they had a little horse rodeo where Maddison tried to rope James. She was so determined to make the haystack cow move it was cute. Then she got to do barrel racing on a horse on a stick. They had a Wild Bill Coyote cowboy walking around.

So if you don't think your child would like it I would say give it a try.

Kim Ash (Dollar)

2008-04-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

Helloooo,I was so thrilled to hear from you. Sorry it has taken so long but I didn't look at those new comments on that post for a while. So I would love to email and talk with you but I need contact info or if you have a blog let me know where it is. I lost the invite to Tori's blog so I need to contact her to get reinvited. Have you and Tori been in contact this long. That is incredible! I would love to her about your darling child so let me know how to get a hold of you ASAP. Are you still in Allen? Hope to hear from you soon

Jessica you found me!!!

2008-03-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

This post is for Jessica Potter.
Ok so my phone broke and I lost all of my numbers in Utah to all of my friends. Please let me know what your email is so we can exchange numbers. I am sooooo excited that you found our blog and posted on it. Love you

Blogger Playdate.

2008-03-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Also, a lot of people have been asking me if we are going to start a playdate so here I go starting one. We will start tomorrow and meet at a park and each week we will rotate parks. So if you have any input or want to join email and I will have details. See ya there.

A place to call home

2008-03-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

Well after 7 months of living with my parents we are finally moving into a rental property in Lost Creek. My parents have been so wonderful in letting us stay so long. Ryan and I both feel like we need to take this leap of faith in order to sell our condo. We are the type who normally take care of things by ourselves but we have done all we can and feel this is the right thing to do. It is in the Lord's hands now and we have to have faith that things will work out. Maddison is especially excited about her new room. It has pink and white stripes on it. She has been such a great sport as we have looked at tons of properties. When I told her we got it she was so excited and said "Grandma and Grandpa can have a house with No KIDS!" I laughed because in preparing her for a possible move (she didn't want to move out) I told her that it was time for G-ma and G-pa to have the house to themselves with no kids. This was how she interpreted it. Anyhow, we move in on Tues and can't wait! Come and visit our new home soon :)

Delinquent

2008-03-05T14:24:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am a delinquent. But things have been crazy busy. Here are some cute pictures of the kids lately. Maddison is always asking to go to park so here is one at Celebration Park. She puts on those sunglasses and asks "Do I look like a rockin movie star?" She is so funny. James is still working on getting rid of a cough for the past 3 months. He has been on 2 antibiotics and is now finishing 2 weeks of breathing treatments. We go in for a follow up on Fri. He is also officially crawling now. He has been doing this weird inch worm crawl that everyone thinks is so funny but now he it is a normal crawl. He is also fascinated with lights. Every time we get him out of bed he goes "Ohhhhh" and wants to touch the ceiling light. We are starting to look for rental properties so we can move out of our parents house. We appreciate so much their love and patience in letting us stay there but it is time for each of us to have our own space. Other than that things are still going well.

Funny Stories

2007-12-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here are a few cute things that Maddison has done recently. We took her to go see the Christmas Nativities at the church and explained that all the nativities had stars because that is what the shepherds followed to get to the baby Jesus. Well when we got home she was playing with the kids nativity and had it all set up and asked me "Mom will you be the shepherd and I will be the star?" She then stood there with her hands together and a big smile on her face.

Another cute thing she did was in church they did a test run as Sunbeams. They asked the kids what they knew about Christmas. She raised her hand and said that Santa comes down the chimney. That was funny but the real humor lies in the fact that on our way to church we were listening to Christmas music and the song "Santa Baby" came on. She asked me "Mom, is Santa going to hurry down our chimney tonight?" So I had to explain how Santa comes down the chimney to visit all the boys and girls. I left out the part about the true meaning of that song.

She is always saying the cutest things and I am ging `to try to be better and recording them.

Family Photo

2007-12-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the family pictures that my friend Ku'ulei took. Ryan was such a goofball the entire time but it was a good day and we had fun.

More Pictures

2007-11-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

2007-11-30T15:51:00.000-08:00

My friend Ku'ulei has started learning about photography and is incredible. So I asked her to take some pictures of the kids. Well the day we decided to do it was freezing and windy. The kids were good sports about it and did well considering the conditions. However, when I saw the tears in James eyes as he was smiling I thought "maybe we better take them inside." Ku'ulei did an amazing job. Here are some of the shots.

Thanksgiving Holiday

2007-11-26T15:26:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I know it has been forever since I have posted but with the holidays things are getting crazy. I am sure it is like that for everyone. James has finally had his two front teeth come through so hopefully night time will go better. We had to take him to the ER a week ago because he had croup. I don't know why my kids are so prone to getting it. Maddison has had it several times but we never had to go to the ER. Anyway, he is recovering well but still has a pretty nasty cough. He is also sitting up well (finally). It is hard not to compare the kids because Maddison was already crawling by this time but we know each has a individual personality.

Our Turkey day went well. I cooked it and everything turned out pretty well. Minus the fact that my apple pie didn't have enough flour in the sauce and so it was runny. Oh well. Ryan and my brother went to go play in the Turkey bowl and the kids and I went with them. We bundled up the kids but not against the Texas wind and I had to bring James home early. Maddison was freezing but wanted to stay so I left a big blanket with her. When I came back 20 minutes later Ryan was holding her with the blanket and she was frozen and shivering and her face and hands were solid red. Yet she still didn't want to go. Ryan told her we could come back when it got warmer. So I gave her some hot chocolate on the way home that I had brought and she started to warm up in the car. When we got home she got out of the car and said "look it got warmer, can we go back?" I told that it hadn't gotten warmer but she warmed herself up. She was sad but when the boys got back she was fine. Also she now lets me do two french braids on her hair and just looks darling.

The day after Thanksgiving we were bored so Ryan decided to take the kids and I to Chucky Cheeses. Ryan and I were trying so hard to get lots of tickets for Maddison so she could get a cool prize but when we went to cash in our tickets the only thing she wanted was a 20 ticket butterfly ring. Just goes to show ya that it is the small and simple things. :) Here are a couple picture from those two days.

2007-11-04T07:21:00.000-08:00

Ok so I've been tagged and I normally don't continue these things but i like reading the six facts about people. Here are the rules:
The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. These past 3 months I have read all the Harry Potter books. Nerdy I know but I needed an escape so I read books.
2. I absolutely love peanut butter on almost everything. I am surprised I don't weigh 500 lbs.
3. I have started doing musical theater again. Most recently was Ruth in Seven Brides and Marian the Librarian in Music Man.
4. I am a financial nazi. I have to have things balance down to the penny.
5. I bite my lip when I am nervous, upset or sad. Sometimes I make myself bleed without knowing it.
6. I love working out. It has become my new escape.

My six people are Amanda F, Heather G, Laura H, Liz E, Melissa, Liz S

Bubbles

2007-10-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of the family out playing with bubbles. The one of James with the funny face is actually him doing a kissing face. It is his new trick.

2007-10-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

We went to a pumpkin patch yesterday to pick out a few small pumpkins for Maddison and James. Really though I just wanted to take pictures of Maddison and James. There was a guy there who was very nice and posed with us even though he was just there looking for things. Maddison afterwards said she wanted to go and get her costume so we could "go do Halloween." She doesn't quite get that Halloween is a few weeks away. We did go and get her costume and she picked out a darling Dorothy outfit from Wizard of Oz. She wore it all day yesterday and wanted to wear it again today. I will post more pictures after Ryan gets a chance to touch them up.

Photos

2007-09-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

Ryan has found a new hobby that we are both thrilled to have him start. He went out and bought a new camera that is a really nice one and he is teaching himself photography. He is just doing it himself but is doing really well. The best part of the camera is that it takes really nice action photos so we can catch our darling kids doing all kinds of cute things. Here are a few of the photos he took on morning walks and evenings at the park and playing with the kids at the house.

We are Here

2007-09-25T09:00:00.001-07:00

Well we made it through the 3 most hectic weeks of our lives. I finished up with the play and everything went so well. I must admit that I am kind of going through withdrawl. I made some great friends during the play who were such a great support to me. For any of you reading this, thanks and I love ya! The day after we finished the play the kids flew with Grandma and Grandpa to Texas and Ryan and I started our drive with the cat. Yeah it was long but it gave us time to relax a bit. During the play and getting ready to pack and leave I had some wonderful friends from the ward come and redo our kitchen cabinets. I will post pictures when I get them but to say the least, Gus, Jen and Kathy, you are amazing and thank you so much. Hopefully we will be able to sell our condo easier without the bright red cabinets.

Things are starting to settle down at my parents house. I am working on unpacking and organizing the upstairs so we are not too much of a burden to my parents while we are here. Maddison loves being at "Grandma and Grandpa's in Texas" and still says lets drive to Texas and go to Grandma's. I don't think she realizes that we are here and staying. Hopefully our lives will calm down now and everything will start to go a little better for us. Ryan started his job yesterday and we both feel it is a good company to work for and we know this is where we are supposed to be right now.

2007-09-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well we went to one last big visit at Grandma and Grandpa Alldredge's before we move to Texas. Grandma and Kristi were playing at a barn dance so we all got dressed up for it. Ryan and I are wearing Grandma and Grandpa Scholes authentic square dancing outfits. It was pretty funny. We are embarrassing our kids early :) It was really fun and the entire family had a really fun time. Ryan even got out and danced with me. It was his first time wearing boots but it got him in the dancing mood.
Maddison and Aliya had fun dancing with Ryan. Aliya wouldn't let Ryan go all night long so he got a great workout.

Texas Here we come

2007-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well I know it has been a while since I posted but things have been crazy. The play starts this weekend and besides being completely not ready, things are fine :) Ryan is incredible and has landed a great job with Parkway construction and we are moving to Texas the day after the play ends. My mom has come up and is helping us pack because I am so busy with the play and because I hurt my back. Thank goodness for moms. She is such a blessing. So I guess I will be seing some of you soon. We are very excited and will be better at keeping everyone updated when things slow down a little.

New cat

2007-08-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well as part of a deal we finally got Maddison a cat. Ryan and her made a deal that if she went two weeks without a potty accident she could get a cat. Well she made it and this is Pixie. She is a 1 1/2 year old cat we adopted from the humane society. She just had kittens in April but that is taken care of now. She is really laid back and likes to lick faces. Maddison is thrilled and I just think Ryan is the best for it.

Firsts

2007-08-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is James' first popscicle. He loved it to say the least. Ryan decided it was time for this first and of coarse James loves him for it :)

At it again

2007-07-23T15:57:00.000-07:00

Well folks I am at it again. These are pictures of me 3 months pregnant (not knowing it) and participating in crazy dancing and lift in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the Sandy Amphitheatre. Well I am at it again. Ryan convinced me 6 weeks after having James to try out for the Draper theater's production of Music Man. Well I not only got in but am playing the role of Marian the Librarian. So if you are in Utah come see it the first week in September at Juan Diego Highschool. I won't be doing crazy stuff like this but it will be fun. See ya.

2007-07-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

This was on the 4th of July. We had originally planned to go to Fillmore but instead decided to stay and spend time with the Aunts from Texas. We had a blast. Chris was visiting from Washington D.C. and Sheri came up from Provo. We all went swimming and then had a BBQ. Afterward everyone crashed for a few hours of sleep (except me), to get ready for fireworks.

2007-07-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

We actually got a good picture of Ryan's family. That is a hard thing to do with three trouble making grown boys :)

2007-07-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of James' blessing. Ryan's family came from Fillmore and St. George and my family was still visiting from Texas. It was lots of fun to have everyone there.

2007-06-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

2007-06-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

James was born Friday April 13th, 2007 at 3:40 PM in Salt Lake City, Utah. He weighed 7lbs 7oz and measured 19.5 inches.

New Family Blog

2007-06-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Family and Friends,
We have finally decided to join the blog craze. Please allow us some time to get pictures and things set up and hopefully we will bring all of you up to date. Let us know if you all have blogs so we can all stay connected. Thanks!