Summer Days...

Are best spent at the park!!


They always run to the swings first.


Madison is intently driving the alligator while Hyrum enjoys the ride on the back seat!

Bookworm

Madison absolutely loves books. She reads books more than she plays with toys. By the end of the day one whole room in our house is dedicated to her books. Madi is a little on the OCD side and likes to have everything in a neat manner. After she is done reading a book, she lays it neatly by the last one she read.

To Eat or Not To Eat...

That is the question!

Some days are described perfectly by Madison's expression. This is when my children take an hour at the dinner table. Instead of eating they decide they want to play, sing, dance, and whatever else they can think of EXCEPT for eating!

Good Times

Last summer when we moved to Florida I told Cory that we had to get a little swimming pool. It took us forever to find one because it was "out of season" by September. Summer equipment should never out of season in Florida! Crazy stores. We ended up finding one at Albertsons of all places. It was the only one we could find anywhere, and we (I) was desperate at the time. Here it is April and we have already gotten the pool out and are having a good time. The kids love playing in the water!
Hyrum is very determined to get his toy all the way in his mouth!Madison trying to empty the pool with her shovel and Hyrum minding his own business.

Here Madison is sporting her adorable swimsuit from Grandma!

Hyrum escaping the pool to eat the irresistible leaves, grass, and dirt. He is such a boy!

Nature

Every morning we go for a walk around the neighborhood. Madison has gotten very independent and likes to walk all on her own. Hyrum and I think she is very amusing to watch. It takes us about 45 minutes to just walk around the block. At first I used to get very annoyed about how slow we were going. But Madison has taught me how to enjoy simple things in life. She gets so excited about flowers (which are actually weeds), sticks, rocks, and trees. I've always wanted my children to appreciate nature, but I haven't done so myself. I have taken walks with my children just to take walks. But I need to be like a child and simply enjoy the beauty of the earth. I need to enjoy the simple things of this life. I always wonder who the teachers really are in this family...
Hyrum enjoying his stroller ride!

Madi makes sure to hop to the mailbox and back every day.

Madi loves to pick the "flowers" from the sidewalk. I don't want to break it to her that they are actually weeds!

Madison loves to touch the tree branches. She feels like such a big girl!

Pauly Want a Cracker?

(My Goofy Kids...)

Lately Madison has been expanding her vocabulary. The things that come out of her mouth are quite amazing. Every day when Cory comes home work all I talk about are the funny things that Madison has said/done. I notice that a lot of the things that she says and does are exactly what Cory or myself do. I don't want to ever forget the funny things Madison does, so this is the reason for my post. The best way to lay it all out is in a list... sorry folks!
* "Get off of me Boy!" she says while Hyrum is trying to crawl on top of her. (Cory often refers to Hyrum as "Boy".
* "We were watching General Conference last weekend and she couldn't find President Packer during a session. During the session, she leans over with her face in her hands saying, "Oh no, where did my President Packer go? Oh man, I lost him!"
*While getting in the car as a family the other day Madison noticed that Cory had an "owie" on his finger. She pointed to his finger and said, "Oh shoot Daddy! Oh shoot!" We asked her what was wrong, we'd never heard her say THAT before. She said, "Oh shoot Daddy, you have an owie on your finger!" (I guess we better watch what we're saying around our home... its a good thing that's the worst thing we say when we're mad.)
*Madison was helping Cory move a family in our ward one night. As he and Madi were helping the moving truck back out she told Cory, "Daddy, Hyrum would really like this big truck!"
*Madison notices that we put baby powder on Hyrum regularly. I guess she has felt a little left out. She came to me one day (as I got a whiff of baby powder freshness) after going to the bathroom by herself, "Mommy, I went potty and then I put powder on myself!" Very proud little girl.
*Madison is HILARIOUS at night. It takes her about an hour to fall asleep after she gets into bed. She gets up, cleans her room, puts her friends to bed, read them a story, sings songs, and the list goes on and on. I have to tell you, its very entertaining for Cory and I both. We just listen to her while we are reading in the family room.... yes, she is that loud, we can hear her from down the hall. Last night I heard Madi say, "No, I said no! No, I said no!" I don't know what she was talking about but Cory just looked at me with a smile. And I had to admit that yes, that is one of the things I usually tell her during the day. Oh, how I wish I could have had her mimic something sweeter!
Throughout this past month I've realized, and been grateful for my children. Madison and Hyrum are learning and growing so fast. They are at different stages, obviously, but they are both sponges! Hyrum is just so eager to stand on his own two feet... I wouldn't doubt that he could be walking before his 1st birthday. And Madison just soaks up everything she hears and sees. It makes my role as a mother more important as I make sure to fill their ears and eyes with good things. I need to be an example of the better, not the worst. My children are precious to me, and I am continually grateful for their good health and development!

We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home...

Everybody wants to be with Daddy when he gets home from work. Madison wants to ride the Bull and Hyrum wants to chase Daddy around the house. Cory is so good- he's figured out how to do it all at once. The kids just LOVE to play with Daddy!

Love/Hate Relationship...

Madison and Hyrum have an interesting relationship. They have a love/hate relationship. Some days Hyrum will be pulling Madi's hair out while she dog piles on him. Or some days they will just laugh and play together. Lately they've been doing a little more of the playing than fighting. Which is always a good thing!


Madison loves to be the first one to get Hyrum when he wakes up. She is really good at it too! He loves to see his fun sister! I love watching my kids be friends!! (Its an amazing concept.)

During Conference weekend Madi and Hyrum would go into Hyrum's room to play. They shut the door, and all I heard were giggles. I didn't question what they were up to... I just let them be, and enjoyed listening to the fun they were having together!!

Big Fun Weekend!

This weekend was the ultimate! Saturday was such a fun day! We went to work with Cory in Stuart and while he worked for an hour the kids and I had some fun around the town.
This lovely water fountain is right next to Cory's work that the kids love SO much. They would jump in if I would let them!

Hyrum being a cutie in his stroller while Madi plays with the water!

I just love this picture of Madison playing in the water fountain and enjoying the beautiful flowers!

After I pulled Madi away from the water fountain, we found a park right behind Cory's work. Madison had a blast on this tire swing!

Hyrum enjoying sand that he found on the playground.

After an hour of playing at the playground we met Cory at work and he took us to the beach! (Stuart is a beach town.) Hyrum and Daddy worked on building a sand castle together. Hyrum really liked the feeling of the sand between his toes, and mouth!!

Madison enjoys going to the beach to collect seashells. She couldn't wait until we were there... she started in the parking lot. Silly girl! She slowly warmed up to the water while we were there too... too bad we didn't bring our swimsuits. We all got soaked, but it felt so good!

The weather was great, the water felt wonderful, but the best part of the day was being together as a family! Cory and I agreed that this is how every Saturday should be. We had a blast!

In The Leafy Treetops

Madison has been showing a great interest in climbing trees. We have a great tree in our front yard for climbing. One day she was up in the tree and told me to take her picture. Madison is becoming a monkey. And I have to say, she is making her Daddy very proud too! We love her!

Easter Sunday Part II

I tried to download the video of the Easter egg hunt, but blogger wouldn't let me. So, here are the pictures. We had lots of fun!
Hyrum checking' out his new discovery. (I know, my child doesn't like wearing clothes!)


Little Miss Madison venturing off to find more Easter eggs... little does she know that there's at least 2 behind her!

Cory pointing out an egg hidden in the tree.

Madison says, "Its so heavy"! Madison had to switch all her eggs into a bigger basket. Her cute little one was overflowing!

Cory and Madi battling in the egg fight. They had so much fun! Each person grabs a hard boiled egg and knocks it against the opponent. The winner is the one who can go the longest, and knock the most people's eggs without their egg being cracked! Cory won, he's vicious! Madison wanted to keep on going even though all the eggs were cracked. She got really into it.

Easter Sunday Part I

We had a wonderful Easter. We started the day out by reading the account of the Resurrection of Christ from the scriptures as a family. We had a fantastic "church day", as Madison calls it, and came home to take a Sunday nap. After our naps we started the hunt for our Easter baskets. It was so much fun to watch the kids expressions as they found their baskets! Then we went out for the egg hunt! We had a great dinner and ended the day with the infamous egg fight. More explanation and pictures on a future post!
Hyrum found his basket! (Well, we really didn't hide it for him, we just put it in the middle of the family room.)

Madison was so happy to have found her basket!

Hyrum scored on some treats!

Madi scoping out her Easter basket...

Madison had to go outside to try out her new bubbles that were in her basket!

Cory enjoying watching Madison blow her bubbles. (I tried to get him to look at the camera, but he doesn't like getting his picture taken.)

Cory told Madison to look for the Easter Bunny! (Daddy slipped outside and hid the Easter eggs in the front yard for our hunt.)