Preparing for Dance Lessons

Today we went shopping for Madelyn's dance leotard and shoes for her upcoming dance lessons. She was happy to show off her new things!

She feels REALLY cute in her new dance outfit!

She wasted no time trying a few dance moves in the new leotard!

Craft Time

We've been enjoying a little craft time each day lately. Here's Madelyn doing some great work in an activity book after making her bumble bee craft. She was so focused that she didn't notice (or care) that she had forgotten to put her pants on!

The little artist!

Library Time

Our favorite new place to visit is the public library. Madelyn loves seeing so many choices of books! She made herself at home by climbing on the bench to get a better look at the books on the top shelf.

She carefully selects a few that look interesting . . .

"Ooh, I found a good one!"

"This is a wonderful place!"

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Madelyn was lucky enough to have two birthday parties to celebrate turning 3 years old! The first one was at Grammy and Papaw's house. She requested a puppy and kitty cake for the special occasion.

She had so much fun blowing out the "smokes" (candles) that we had to do it twice!

Her second party was a Dora party with all of her friends. She was SO excited to have so many special guests coming to her house!

About an hour before the party started she said she was going to get ready . . . and two minutes later she looked like this! She thought some lipstick would complete her party look!

Here's the group of friends posing with Dora.

As you can see, the birthday girl loved having Dora here and getting lots of attention from her.

They played "Ring Around the Rosie" MANY times!

Madelyn sang, danced, and jumped.

The girls enjoyed storytime with Dora.

Then it was time to "break" the pinata by pulling strings on the bottom. Loads of candy fell out everywhere!

They used shakers and maracas during many of the songs.

Finally it was time for cake! A special strawberry cake had been prepared for the big day. Dora helped serve the cake and ate at the table with Madelyn.

Madelyn was very happy to be able to blow out the "smokes" again! That's definitely her favorite part of birthdays.

After eating it was time for more jumping!

Finally it was time to say goodbye to Dora at the end of the party.

Nana's special gift for Madelyn was a beautiful dance leotard, slippers, and a handmade tutu. She danced and twirled all afternoon! She will enjoy wearing her new dance outfit for dance lessons this fall!

Happy 4th of July!

We proudly wore our red, white, and blue and celebrated July 4th with our neighborhood parade! Madelyn was very excited to be a part of the parade instead of just watching it.

Golf carts, bicycles, tricycles and scooters made up the parade.


Madelyn and Sydnie discussed their parade strategy.


What patriotic cuties!

She decided to ride her tricycle with Daddy following behind with her pom-pons. Sydnie chose to run part of the parade and ride in her wagon for the rest of it.

Madelyn rode her tricycle the entire 1.5 miles of the parade route. She didn't even seem tired or hot!

After the parade, she posed with the fire truck that escorted us through the streets. What a fun morning!

3 Year Pictures

Here are a few of our favorite pictures from Madelyn's recent portraits. The photographer took over 120 pictures, so it was hard to narrow them down!

Happy Fathers Day!

We took Daddy out to lunch to celebrate Father's Day. He is such a wonderful daddy! He is patient and kind, and he is always a doting father to sweet Madelyn. We love you, Terry!

A sweet kiss for Daddy!

Helping Daddy read his cards.

Madelyn was SO proud of her special gift for Daddy. It was a recordable picture frame that had her voice telling him how much she loves him. She pushed the button over and over for him to hear!

"Listen one more time, Daddy!"