Words of Madison...

"Mommy, I'm a cowboy on my cycle!"

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!!

And He's Up...

Hyrum is moving too fast for me. Not only is he crawling, but he's pulling himself up! I ask him, "Isn't crawling enough for now??" This little boy doesn't think so! He has to catch up with big sister Madison as soon as he can!
Hyrum's favorite location these days is the bathroom. I think its his favorite because Madison never wants him in there, she always keeps the door shut. Funny, you think the mother would be the one wanting to keep him out. Madison makes my job easy. Its great entertainment for me.

This boy is a little proud of his accomplishment! Not only did he make it into the bathroom without big sister shutting him out, BUT he was able to stand up to the side of the tub by himself.

"Look Mom, I did it!!"
(I know, the spit-up on the side of his shorts is gross, I didn't even notice it until after I took the pictures. Poor neglected child...)

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.)

Preparing For Easter...

On Saturday night we boiled some eggs and let the decorating begin! Call me a boring mother, but I didn't want to deal with the mess of color dye, so we just used crayons and markers instead.Madison loves anything that deals with coloring and art, so she was in HEAVEN!
Don't disturb the master at work, this is serious business!

Here are the load of eggs that she colored...

As soon as she was done she went straight the the drawer with dish rags in them and cleaned herself up! What a clean little girl. She sure makes my job easy!

Fashion Model

While we were visiting Grandma and Papa in Utah Madison found some fun things to dress up in. She loved that fun hat she found in Grandma's closet and a Naartjie shopping bag from that day. She couldn't help but fashion it all off for us!

What a cute girl!

Creative Brains

We are a family full of creative brains! Ok, the only creative one in our family is Madison. Its fun to see the creations she comes up with!
This is a cute little piggy bank with Chicken Pox.... I suppose???! Madison loves to play with playdough. It sparks the creativity in her once again. One day I found this little piggy in our kitchen cupboard. I think he was resting to get better... or until the playdough eventually crusted off. Madi sure makes me laugh! :)

Here is the artist at work! If you look closely, you can see that Madison drew a "smiley face heart" right above her hand. I'm so proud, she did the whole thing by her little self! She drew an M and then she connected the bottoms with an arch... it was very interesting to watch.

Hyrum's favorite part of sidewalk chalk is eating the chalk! Go figure!Don't you just love how we use our front porch as our grafitti area??

This is a cute project I worked on with my mom during our trip to Utah! I absolutely love how the block letters turned out! I love how my mom can make me look so crafty!

New Milestones...

Hyrum has had a fantastic week! He has reached two major milestones. (In my book anyways.) Hyrum has finally learned how to feed himself. Hallelujah! I don't have to sit there and feed him cheerios all day long! AND he has mastered the art of crawling. And he is soooo much happier now that he can crawl. (I think Madison is too! She calls Hyrum her "little buddy".)
Hyrum eats like his food will be taken away from him any second. Crazy boy!

The proof is in the pudding.... so here it is folks! (Sorry I couldn't get more... my battery died on me.)

Good Times...

Here are a few more (of many) pictures from our trip to Utah. We love cousins!
Hyrum and Carter playing on the floor together. Hyrum was a little jealous that he couldn't crawl yet!

Hyrum playing peek-a-boo through the toys at Grandma and Papa's house!

Spending some time with Grandma!

Hyrum and Carter got to ride next to eachother in the car wherever we went. They both look tuckered out!

Singing With Grandma

Aunt Caitlyn bought a new microphone toy for Madison and Hyrum before we came to visit. Grandma had a lot of fun teaching Hyrum how to sing into the microphone.

Hyrum learned that he needed to open his mouth up wide, but why wasn't anything coming out?!

Hyrum being a little camera shy...

Sun Bean...

Last night we had fettuccine Alfredo and green beans for dinner. Madison had every primary song fresh in her head from nursery earlier that day. I stopped eating and watched Madison to see what she was doing. She had a green bean in each hand singing: "Jesus wants me for a sunbean to shine for Him each day.... a sunbean, a sunbean, Jesus wants me for a sunbean...." And so she went on and on. The hilarious part is that she changed the sunbeam part to sunbean. Every time she sang sunbean she made the green beans that she was holding in her hands jump off the table. Cory and I had a good laugh at dinner. I think we have a future nursery leader on our hands!

Sunday evening my mom had gotten all of my cousins together for dinner. Not to mention, my mom made chicken marsala for dinner, and it was amazing! It was so good to relax and enjoy the company. Hyrum and Madison really enjoyed spending time with Heather and Nate.
Heather saves the day! Hyrum, as you can plainly see, is not very happy in this picture. The cruel mommy that I am, was making him take a nap. You can tell by the picture that he never took one. Hyrum was very happy to be rescued by Heather!

Madison settled right next to Nate with her back pack ready to play. She loved listening to him read a story to her. Madi got nice and cozy with her blanket and her baby doll. She loves Nate! A while later they were singing on a play microphone and Nate taught her how to sing like a "superstar" with her finger pointing to the sky. She still does that every time she sings into the microphone and she explains to me that "O.G. helped her". (Nate has taught Madison that his name is O.G. (original gangster) ) Thanks O.G.!!

When You're the Best of Friends...

Hyrum had a blast playing with cousin Carter for a week while we were in Utah. I think the boys were in training while they were together. Carter tried to teach Hyrum how to crawl and take good naps during the day. And Hyrum tried to teach Carter to eat a lot of baby food and sleep 12 hours during the night. It didn't work as well as the Mommy's would have liked! It was a nice try though... and we had a great time!

Carter loved chewing on the microphone.

Don't these boys look cute in their overalls?!

We're Back!

The kids and I just returned from a fun-filled two week stay in Alpine, Utah. It was so good to see my parents and see Madison and Hyrum loving every minute with their grandparents. It was also a bonus that Hilary and Carter were able to come for a week. Oh, the fun we had! There is no way I can put all of our adventures into one post, so you'll have to bear with me with the multiple posts that will follow. First of all... I just want to say, how do you fit three people in the bathroom in the airplane? One person is barely able to fit. But Madi had to go potty and so the kids and I had a little trip to the bathroom. Hyrum sat into the sink, and Madi and I squeezed in. It was actually pretty comical. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that one!