Birthdays- Lights Out

Happy Birthday my sweet little girl! Just for your birthday we decided to shut off all the power in the town- until Friday. :) Good thing we do not need electricity to sing Happy Birthday! I love you to the moon and back and back again.

Field Trip

While I was busy exploring Wall Street Maddy went on her first field trip!
She had a great time at the pumpkin patch!
Notice her name is spelled wrong on her pumpkin? She definitely has one of those names that no one will probably spell right!

New York Week

What an amazing week it has been. I constantly ask myself, how did I get so lucky?!
Maddy smiles

I came home from work late last week (after a rather horrendous day at work) to find a surprise at the front door...

Hmmmm.... this looks delicious. A really thoughtful gift from Aunt Susie, chocolate covered pears!
Uncle Matt and I went to NYC for a few days this weekend too. I had the time of my life. We literally saw everything New York City had to offer and had a pretty spectacular time.
Rockefeller Center

Time Square

Wax Museum

Ground Zero

The Met

The Bodies

Food Monsters

Dear Maddy-Love,
Why have you stopped eating anything that is not cheese? Family and friends always marveled at how -even as a teeny-tiny baby- you ate ANYTHING. So what's with this new business of even being scared at the sight of food?
Let me know so I don't accidently starve you.
I love you.
Momma
I almost died laughing last night when this little person came around the corner, handed me her snack and said "I don't wike (like) this." As much as I wanted her to try it, talking in cute full sentences made it hilarious.

Potty Training

There is a new routine at our house... potty time. Every night -for about 1/2 hour- mommy sits on the bathroom floor while Maddy sits on the potty. We talk, laugh, sing... everything but potty. Up until last night she has never pottied in the potty. (I need to find other words to use, I'm probably confusing her by asking... "Did you potty? In the potty? Where's the potty? Do you have to potty?" OK- back to the story... We were on our usual potty adventure, talking about Jell-ello (her word for her favorite snack) and who in school had to sit down today and...wham! She went potty! I'm still fully convinced that this will probably take months if not a year, but this was a step. A wonderfully proud for Maddy, monumental step!

Pooh Says

Cupcakes & Hayrides

I told Ray last night that I don't want Maddy to grow up. Where she is -right now- is absolutely perfect. What will I do on beautiful Fall days when her schedule is already booked with friends, malls and.... boys!
We had a fantastic weekend. Papa and Robert came over Saturday to help get the house ready for Fall. (I have no idea how we would do any of this without Papa!) Then Sunday we went apple picking with the Walsh/Ferreira's and baked cupcakes over Uncle Matt and Lauren's... All in 80-degree weather!

Pellets and Dreams

Owning a home is a skill. The constant ebb and flow of maintenance, repairs and upkeep can be exhausting. One critical fact we learned our first winter here was that heating a home will make you bankrupt heating a home like an apartment will make you bankrupt. We were prepared the next year... we purchased pellets, stocked tons (literally) of them in our garage, started up the pellet stoves and have never looked back. The pellet stoves create a warm, cozy climate at a much lower cost. Awesome. Sold.

Thing is... pellet stoves need maintenance... and cleaning.
SO... keeping with the ebb of home ownership we had a company come out and do an annual cleaning last night. I had anxiety all day knowing I'd have to manage 2 dogs and a toddler while someone emptied 2-years worth of ash and soot into my living room. BUT, home ownership is the goal, right? American dream, correct? As the Pellet Sweeper swept he talked about various things that would need to be fixed, why the auger was defective, and something about the ignitor switch. To me it sounded like a Charlie Brown cartoon. "Waaa waa waa waaaa waaaaaaa. Pellets. Waaa waa waa waa waa. Lots of money." Luckily for me Maddy was listening, she stood and took mental notes of what she would tell dada. Why the auger was filed down and who we could contact about the warranty. She was also on top of every one's safety. She would yell to the Sweeper -HOT! HOT! HOT! I found this hysterical.
What a good little homeowner.

Apples