tales from a far-land

Happy Birthday, Mom and Grandma!  We wanted to make sure you knew we are all thinking about you even though we could not celebrate with you on your special day.  Sending you *big* hugs and kisses!  We love you! Madi wanted to sing  the "birthday song" to you.  Forgive the video quality.  I recorded this on the road via my mobile phone.  It looks like she has officially named you "Grandma" now.

Here are the portraits from our family photo shoot back in May when Aiden turned nine months old.  A *huge* thank you to Anna Christy of [a]photographie .  We really enjoy our photo time with you, even if our children were not being very cooperative that day.  You would never even know how challenging this morning was for our family by looking at the pictures.  At different moments during the photo shoot, Madi was in tears, Aiden was in tears, and Josh and I were near tears due to the frustration of it all.  I am so impressed with the images she was able to capture despite all of the craziness.  

Whether your holiday was spent with family and friends, grilling on the barbeque or watching fireworks in the sky, I hope you took time to remember why we celebrate this holiday.  There are so many things that I am grateful for, but the right to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is one that I must constantly remind myself not to take for granted.  Freedom is not easy, nor is it simple.  It has had it trials and tribulations in the last 236 years.  However, our Founders believed in this great nation and so many more men and women have died defending it.  Because of all of this, I am proud to be an American.  Happy 4th of July from my family to yours!     

Summer has officially arrived in the Valley of the Sun.  I cannot believe the temperature reached 111* this past week.  Ridiculous, so the only way to survive is to submerge yourself in the pool all summer long.  Sadly, we do not have a pool.  It is on the house wish list.  However, we are lucky that we have several friends, neighbors, and friends who allow us to visit and swim all summer long.  We also have set up a cute little play pool (Thank you, Aunt Kathleen!) on our back patio for the kids to splash around in. On Father's Day, while we waited for the "dads" to get home from golf, the kids and I headed over to my parent's house a little early so the kids could go swimming.  Madi is becoming quite the little swimmer, becoming more comfortable with each swim she takes.  This is a huge improvement over the first swim of the season when she just cried and cried not wanting to be in the water at...

Now that Aiden is crawling, we are remembering what a fun and exciting stage this can be. And yet, I am more anxious this time around. Boys are *so* different than girls. Aiden has only been mobile for about a month now and has already tried to harm himself several times. He has no fear and tons of curiosity. That is a dangerous combination. He has tumbled down the stairs into the sunken living room a couple of times now. Thank goodness there are only two stairs to navigate. He loves to open cabinets, play with doors, and eat bugs that he finds on the ground. Even though we surround him with plenty of toys to play with, he typically will crawl away from them as they are not as fascinating as the "off limit" items which he usually will beeline for as soon as they are within his eye sight; often taking out everything and anyone in his way. Poor Pooh Bear, she is usually mowed over if Aiden sees something he wants. She just cannot move that fast anymore. The "off limit...

In May, Josh and I attended "The Big Event", one of our annual charity events which benefits the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Phoenix.  This is always a fun evening spent sampling delicious food by local restaurants and a tasting a variety of specialty beverages all while enjoying live entertainment and music.  As a new addition this year to the event, there was a photo booth from Shutterbooth for all of the attendees to visit during the event so they could create memorable keepsakes of the evening.  Here are our photo strips from that night ... we finally got the hang of it.

A special Father's Day wish to all of the "Dads" in Madi's life ... we love you!

Madilyn Rae is at such a fun age.  She is learning so many new things daily.  We cannot keep up with all of the fun new sayings and developmental stages that she is mastering.  To date, she can count from one to five.  Sometimes she makes it to six and then skips all the way up to nine and ten.  She knows her colors pretty well.  Her favorite colors tend to be yellow and purple and pink.  Coloring is still one of her favorite activities.  She has begun to make actual shapes now on paper like circles and squares. Madi also loves to go "shopping".  Anytime we get into the car she asks if we are going shopping.  She thinks go to anywhere but preschool or the park is shopping.  We have already created a monster.  She loves playing soccer.  She "kicks da ball" to make a "goal, soccer goal".  Here is a video of Madi playing soccer at preschool.  Maybe we have our next Mia Hamm. ...

Back in March, when Aunt Kathleen visited from California, we decided to take the kids to the zoo.  It was Aiden's first trip to the zoo.  Since Madi and Keaton are obsessed with each other, we thought it would be fun for them to hanging out together.  As we discovered, it was Keaton's inaugural visit to the zoo as well.  What an adventure! Keaton absolutely enjoyed himself.  I have never seen a child more excited about an elephant or monkey.  Madi cared less about the animals, unless, of course, Keaton did.  But she did enjoy having a friend to follow around and play with for the day.  Aiden was pretty low key and just enjoyed the change of scenery.  The three adults, on the other hand, were exhausted by the end of the visit.  It was hard to keep our little toddlers corraled while also keeping them happy and motivated to see more animals.  Overall, it was a very successful zoo trip. The tod...

As we all know, one of the most exciting things about Easter is the egg hunt.  This was no exception for Madi.  She loved looking for eggs this year.  Plus, she was pretty good as it.  We couldn't believe how quickly she learned how to search for the hidden objects.  She moved with purpose and searched with intent.  It was pretty hilarious.  Luckily, she had several opportunities this year to search for eggs.  Her first opportunity for an egg hunt was at preschool the Friday before Easter.  Here are some photos from that event. Finding an egg in a baseball glove Showing me what was inside her egg Aiden just hanging out with his egg The next egg hunt was on Easter morning at our house.  The Easter bunny was very generous this year with baskets and toys for each kid.  After checking out their goodies, we headed out onto the back patio where the Easter Bunny had hidden some eggs for Madilyn to find.  ...