Maddie's 3rd Birthday Party Pics

We had a beautiful (but warm) day to celebrate Maddie's 3rd birthday. She was a little sweetie and had a blast. Thank you for all who were there, for your company and wonderful gifts. We are truly blessed.

Happy 3rd Birthday Madilyn

Oh Maddie...we are so very proud of you. :D The past three years have completely flown by and you have grown so much. Daddy and I can't believe how smart you are and how much you learn every day. You have blessed us more than you will ever know. We hope you have a blessed third birthday. SMOOOCHES!

Fun With The Fam

We had a great time hanging out with Dan, Tracy and Gracie the other night. It's always nice to just sit, eat and chat. :) Let the girls be girls and play until they crash. :) Which they did!! Maddie did hair on both Aunt Tracy and Uncle Dan. Aunt Tracy's was a little more painful with her hair being longer...right Trace? ;) Then the girls had some quality time with Livvy. Maddie felt her kick, which was so very cool. :) We can't wait to meet her and smooch her up!! :D

You should see the other guy...

There is nothing like seeing your little "baby" cry and say "no thank you Mr. Doctor" when she is getting stitched up...

Maddie and I had quite the afternoon at Kohl's, to say the least. We were putting the cart away at the exit of the Alpine Kohl's, when (I swear in SLOW MOTION) I saw Maddie trip, while getting her foot caught on the cart and go head (really lip first) first into the corner of a manikin show case stand. At that moment, I knew there were stitches if not worse in our near future. The amount of blood is what scared her (and me) the most I think...and for all of you who know out much Maddie hates getting dirty...that was a huge issue. :) MY POOR BABY!! Seriously, I did fight the tears while I was holding her and people hustled around me. It's amazing how "mom's" come out of the wood work when things like this happen. I even had a mom offer to drive us down to the hospital so I could sit with her. :) SO.....................

I took some advise from another Mom that helped me and went directly to the ER because I didn't want Maddie to have some nut sowing her lip all funky and I know the Devos Children's Hospital ER is the best. Tom met us down there and we got right in. Maddie was SOOOO brave while getting literally strapped down. They have T.V.s in each of the rooms and she even asked to watch Star Wars...so we know she was going to live. ;) The great staff of course took care of her, putting three stitches in her little lip. The Doctor said she shouldn't have a scar...let's pray.

She looks like a little scrapper and we taught her to say "you should see the other guy." Just in time for her third birthday, three for three. ;)

Poppies for you Mom...

I stopped over to my parents for a few minutes today and took some pictures of my Mom's poppies. :) Simply stunning color and photos don't do them justice. Click on the picture to see them up close and personal. :) Thanks for sharing these beautiful flowers Mom. They always remind me of The Wizard of Oz....so these are for my Mom and Dorothy. ;)

Sunny day at the zoo

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with Tracy & Gracie, Kelly, Jonah & Laney, and Wendy at the John Ball Park Zoo. We had such a wonderful time and the kids had a BLAST. It was absolutely PACKED, but the kids did am amazing job staying with us and listening. That's always a plus. :)

Maddie and I along with Kelly and Jonah road a camel. Jonah did NOT want his ride to end. :) Maddie loved it too, which I was really surprised at.

Maddie really thought the sleeping flamingos were so funny. She just couldn't understand why they were on one leg and when she asked me why...I had no idea!! :) Those are the questions I'm really looking forward to.

Just Dance'n

Maddie was in the mood to dance...after two and a half days of absolute FLU. I'm saying a 48 hour bug, but I'm no doctor. Temp. of 102.5 and toss'n her cookie's...but only for two days. After laying around for almost three day's she was in the mood to let it loose. We put on the digital music 80's channel (per MOM) and let it go. She was dance'n and all of a sudden she stopped...turned to me and said "Mom...I just CAN'T dance with these Pj's on!!." So she took them off and put her "Princess shoes, aka white dress shoes" on and went to town. We danced to Madonna, WHAM! and the Beastie Boys. It was sooooo much fun!! Apparently she is gifted in the left leg... ;) I just HAD to share our fun time with you all.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and SAFE TRAVELS for all you leaving the area.

Rest in peace Grandpa

Tom's Grandpa Hosford passed away early this morning. These past few weeks have been ups and downs for him and he is finally at peace. He has lived one heck of an 80 year life. I have never heard or seen anyone work as hard as that wonderful man. The stories of his life are those of hard times and many great times. He worked at and owned Mutual Auto Parts for decades. In fact he worked there at least one day a week up until last year. He loved it and wouldn't have stopped working but his health just couldn't hold up. He was also one of the most generous men I have had the honor of knowing. He would give you the shirt of his back if you needed it.

He called all of us girls "dolly". :) I thought for years he didn't even know my name, because he always called me "dolly", but then I found out that he called all of his grand-girls "dolly". There are MANY grand and great-grand girls I might add. :) When he was admitted to the hospital a few years ago, Tom and I went up to visit him and the doctor asked him which one of the twins Tom was and he said "Oh, that's Tom and his sweetheart Lauren." I almost cryed. :)

Many people loved him and called him a friend...
Grandpa you will be missed greatly. Sleep well Gramps...