The Lily Pad

Yesterday started off well enough, a happy mommy and happy daughter woke up, snuggled, had some breakfast and read a book or two before I decided that we were going to go out and have a fun "date day" of lunch, shopping and hanging out. We showered and Madelyn started dressing herself. With a little difficulty...and not very weather appropriate clothes. You can't tell in these pictures but her shorts are actually on upside down. As in the waistband was at her knees until she tugged so hard she basically turned them inside out. After suggesting 5 different outfits, we finally agreed on her sweet little madras dress and purple chucks. It's such a cute outfit we had a little photo shoot. I did not pose her. Please remember this sweetness in a minute. We loaded up in the car and drove up north to shopping and food. We talked about our shopping plans on the way and Madelyn watched Robin Hood. Since we had gotten a later start my plan was to eat lunch, then walk ...

Before: Before: Before: (see that little had creeping up?) Cute Diapered baby in Mommy's shoes w/ a monkey having nothing to do with the Before's or Afters, just too cute to not include. After: After: Take the above pictures, duplicate them about 20 times and add in a sweet little voice saying "cheese" and you have what happens Every. Single. Time. the camera comes out. Please excuse me if there are no pictures of the pumpkin head until I win this battle. Cause as long as I'm fighting it, most of the pictures on my camera are like the second one. Hopefully she gives in soon cause I'm not. :)

No, really they are. I promise. OK, maybe not. They are kinda scary with the swirly water and the body waste and loud noises. Oh, but they are kind of like an amusement park ride for you poo! Yay! Rides are fun. See, potties are totally fun! Yeah, we're potty training in our house. It's going OK, but when you have a very busy toddler you end up saying "Do you have to pee pee?" and "Let's sit on the potty" a million times a day and the peeing in the potty happens maybe twice because it's much more fun to pee in your pull up (or training pants) 30 seconds after you sit on the potty. Yesterday we had a great morning potty wise and needed to go to the commissary so I got Madelyn on the potty right before we left, drove the 20 minutes to the store, took her into the potty as soon as we got there and both times nothing. I knew it was coming because she had orange juice on the drive over. We get through produce and 3 aisles over and I hear the tinies...

I have a really hard time blogging daily huh? Day 9 - I am thankful for powdered soup mixes like onion beef or vegetable, they add so much pep and flavor to simple dishes and the vegetable soup mix is AWESOME for spinach dip. Day 10 - I am thankful for all of the Marines that have served, are serving, and will serve this great nation of ours. I am thankful for the Marines that have fallen fighting for what they believe in, fighting so that my family, friends, and strangers may continue to enjoy the freedom and security that we have today. It is because of Marines and the job that they do that we don't live in a war torn nation and that I am able to share my opinions with the world. Happy Birthday Marines! Go check out Amanda and see what everyone else is thankful for.

On Thursday I developed a sweet little scratchy throat cough, on Friday it wasn't much better, but no worse, a sip of water was enough to calm it down most times. Apparently wine is not so good for sweet little scratchy throat coughs and turns them into big nasty mean barky hacking coughs that result in loss of voice and the need for a glass of water in the middle of your supposed to be relaxing massage. Luckily I did make it through the ball and most of Saturday morning before losing my voice completely. It's a good thing cause I had dancing and chatting to do at the ball. Now, for a little catch up on 27 days of Thankful. Day 6. I am thankful for people who own boats. I love boats, I share this love with my Daddy, and seeing as how I am unable to afford the kind of a boat I would love to have (think yacht not row) I am thankful that there are people out there who can afford the kinds of boats that I enjoy looking at so that I have something to look at and dream about. The vi...

Today I am thankful for cool, fall-like weather. I love the crisp little bite in the air that fall brings in the morning and evening with the toasty sun warming it just enough mid-afternoon. This is one of my favorite seasons, I love breaking out the cooler weather clothes and snuggling under blankets to watch tv. This morning I loved that we were able to comfortably wear long sleeve shirts all day without roasting.

In my blog hopping I have stumbled upon lots of blogs that I thoroughly enjoy and today I found Amanda at Serenity Now and she is doing a project where you blog about something you are thankful each day leading up to Thanksgiving. I LOVE this idea! Check out the reason behind the posts here and join in if you're feeling froggy. I am 3 days late in starting so I will list 4 things I am thankful for today and get all caught up. Sometimes it's the little things that we forget to be thankful for so I'll be focusing on the small, the silly, and the thing that just brighten my day and my life. 1. I am thankful for my husband. He really compliments me and puts up with my shenanigans. Actually I think he enjoys my shenanigans which makes me all that more thankful! His schedule is hard right now and we don't always take the time we should for one another but when you strip away all the outside pressures, he always supports me and is there for me when I need him. 2. I a...

Crazy Hair! Getting ready to get lots of candy. Mother-daughter witches Even in my big burst of creative energy I just didn't seem to have it in me for a creative Halloween costume so storebought we went. What does it say about me that of the toddler costumes, I found a witch to be the lesser of the evils when compared with overpriced Disney princesses, leopard print kitties, and devils? We had a great time and Madelyn loved her hat! She was so cute. We went to Pumpkins at the Park and made a treat bag and a spider web with a spider. She waved and talked to everybody as we walked around in the heat. Then we met up with friends to go trick or treating and Madely was a champ! It took her a few houses to get the hang of it, but she ended up doing great and was so excited everytime somebody put candy in her bag. Now Im just afraid that she'll expect candy everytime we go to visit somebody.