Madeline and Easton have been best friends most of the school year. We try to get those two together every Friday for a fun playdate and we rotate houses every week. I love how well they play together and how gentle Easton is with her. They usually like playing the same kinds of things which is awesome. Their favorite things to play with are Magna Tiles and Duplos. They also love playing chase and usually rope either Mike or myself into chasing them around the house. This month Easton's grandma took both of them to McDonalds to eat dinner as a special treat. Now they ask all of the time if they can go to McDonalds. What silly kids!

​Madeline was so excited to participate in her class valentines party at school. Madeline looked so cute in her little red dress. She and I had fun putting together her paper donut valentines with fun pencils for each of her classmates. I stopped in the classroom just in time for the exchange of valentines. Her teacher was super organized and had each table take turns passing out their valentines. I loved watching her excitement as she passed her valentines out to her friends. 
 

Madeline was so excited to wear her pajamas to school for her class holiday party. I stopped in right before lunch so that I could help and take photos of the kids doing their holiday craft. The first craft they did was coloring their wooden ornaments at the group tables. They loved the coloring part but trying to put on the little bell and thread it through the twine was difficult for even the adults. After they finished with that craft they moved back over to their individual desks and made pipe cleaner snowmen. That was a much easier craft and super fun for the kids to do. When all the crafts were done, I helped to pass out the cookies they had decorated earlier that morning. I loved watching the kids gobble down their cookies and get ready for their movie time where they were going to watch the original Grinch movie. I love watching Madeline interact with her classmates. She is so sweet with the other kids in her class.

This month was full of school happenings both with Emma at Pine Creek HS and Madeline at Mountain View ES. At the beginning of the month Emma was inducted into the National English Honors Society. Her English teacher for the second year in a row, Mrs. Gefreh, encouraged her to apply. It was so fun watching her become part of a fun group of kids. 

After a year of no indoor concerts, it was really fun to be able to watch Emma play with the orchestra for their mid-fall concert. Since both Andrew and Peter were visiting during their fall break they came and watched her perform and had so much fun seeing Mrs. Margrave after the concert.

At the end of the month Madeline's class had a Halloween party and I went in to take photos and help with the cookie decorating. It was cute seeing all of the kids dressed up in their costumes. Madeline was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood this year. Madeline's favorite part of the day was eating her decorated sugar cookie and recording the song, "Five Little Pumpkins" on her iPad.

Madeline's first kindergarten field trip was to the Colorado Kids Ranch Pumpkin Patch. Luckily, it was the same pumpkin patch that she went to last year when she was in preschool. After everyone arrived, we split the class into smaller groups. I was in charge of Madeline and two little boys, Nolan and Joshua. Our group wanted to play on the slides first like most of the other kids in the class. They had a blast going up and down the fast slides. Some of the kids used the burlap sacks to sit on but Madeline didn't want to use those this time and just went down like a regular slide. We spent a good 20 minutes at the slides. Then we ventured over to the animals so they could pet the donkeys, llamas, sheep, goats, ponies, and horses. Madeline just loved petting the animals. The boys in our group wanted to milk the pretend cows and so we did that before heading over to the orange jumping pillows. The kids loved jumping and playing over in that section of the pumpkin patch. After their fill of jumping, we hopped on over to the laser tag arena. With mounds of tires stacked everywhere and a raised fort, the kids had fun running around with their laser guns. Then it was off to the large tube swings, musical playhouses, and finally to the cow train. Madeline's cow was named Cowlick and she just loved this ride. They went around the field twice and in various parts of the course there were little hilly sections. The kids quickly ran from that ride over to the corn box. Madeline didn't stay long in that since the corn kept getting stuck in her shoes. We eventually met the rest of her class to eat lunch. Then it was back to the slides before playing the large Jenna, Tic-Tac-Toe and Connect Four games. We went and fed the ponies on our way to go and pick out pumpkins. The kids each got to pick out their own medium sized pumpkin to take home. We took a class photo and then the kids got back on the bus and headed back to school. It was a successful first elementary school field trip for Madeline!

Madeline joined the Landsharks running team at her school and ran cross country for the very first time. She started a few weeks after school started and had practice twice a week. Talli, the MVE coach, was so good with the kids and just took Madeline under her wing. Every time I picked up Madeline Talli would just tell me what a great job she did at practice. The kids ran and played lots of running games and other fun games during their practices. I love this program because it teaches the kids to have fun and be active at the same time. After a few weeks of practices, they had a meet on 3 different Mondays. The kindergartners were only allowed to run in the 1/2-mile race. The separated the kids into different heats based on grade level, so she only ran with other little kindergartners. The very first meet was a little chilly, but she toughed it out and was all smiles the entire race. With each meet, I saw her get more and more comfortable with the other kids on her team and with racing. The goal was for her to have fun and to not stop during each race she ran. She did such an amazing job. She ran the 1/2 mile in under 5 minutes every meet and didn't stop at all during each one of her races. I am so proud of Madeline for doing something she has never done before. Maybe we will have another runner in the family!

MEET #1
MOUNTAIN VIEW ES
SEPTEMBER 20, 2021
1/2 mile - 4:54

MEET #2
MOUNTAIN VIEW ES
SEPTEMBER 27, 2021
​1/2 MILE - 4:39
​

Madeline was so excited for her 5th birthday this year. We were originally going to do a friend birthday party but with the way COVID was still evident in our society and little kids not being able to be vaccinated yet, we opted for a family only birthday party this year. Madeline choose fox cupcakes. I went to work figuring out how to make the cutest and simple fox fondant cupcakes. Emma and Abby helped me with some of the fondant pieces. They turned out so cute. Madeline was excited by her pink and gold balloons and her number 5 balloon and all her presents. We FaceTimed Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz so that they could be part of her birthday celebration. Madeline got some unicorn and pegasus figurines from the girls, some amazing new dress ups from Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz, a magazine subscription to National Geographic Kids from Grandpa Al, some cute books from Aunt Kim and family, and a cute wooden tree house for her wooden dolls and animals from mom and dad. Madeline and I had so much fun putting her wooden tree house together after eating a fabulous lunch and yummy cupcakes. Madeline played with that tree house all day long and tried on all her new dress up outfits. It was the perfect little birthday celebration for our perfect little 5-year-old. 

Madeline has got to be one of the most remarkable little girls I have ever met. She is so bright, curious, creative, imaginative, and always optimistic. Madeline always has a smile on her face and she is a friend to everyone. There is not a day that goes by that she doesn't put a smile on all of our faces. She is the face I want to see when I get up and the face I want to see when I go to bed. She has so much love to give. She has a kind and sensitive spirit and I just love that about her. She is eager to please but also has her opinions about things. She brings so much joy into our family. She rarely has any temper tantrums and is just an overall obedient and good little girl. She cracks us up with the things she says. There are so many cute and funny things that come out of her mouth. I wish I could remember them all. 

THE CUTE THINGS SHE SAYS:

Madeline - "Do spoons grow baby spoons?"

After mom opened up all of her birthday gifts Madeline said - "you have one more present...it's ME. I'm adorable."

After tooting in the car Madeline said - "Excuse me...that tickles...my toot tickled me."

Madeline - "Oh my gosh my eyebrows look so pretty after I get out of the shower."
(This is the second time she said it. I thought it was funny because her eyebrows look darker when they are wet so she can see them better)

I told Madeline she had to get out of the bath. The she said - "Can I stay until all the water is gone?"

When Peter was home for lunch one day he started singing the Pina Colada song. Madeline then started singing "Pee on your mother..." because that is how she heard it. Then she was in a goofy state and starting saying pee this and pee that.

After sitting on the heated toilet seat she said - "Ahh, it's like a warm pillow."

One day Mike asked Peter what he was doing and then asked him if he was going to talk to the ladies. Then Madeline said - "I'm going with Peter to go and see the ladies."

Madeline - "Am I going to make good friends in school?"
Mom - "Yes you are!"
Madeline - "I'm so nervous."

Madeline - "When do I have to get married?"
Mom- "Not until you are grown up."
Madeline - "But how will I find a boyfriend to marry?"
Mom - "You will meet someone when you are older."
Madeline - "That makes me so nervous!"

Madeline - "Mom, you need to do my laundry because I only have one pajama left!"

Madeline - "Are you married to your daddy?"
Mom - "No, but I am married to your daddy!"
Madeline - "He is your soulmate?"
Mom - "Yes he is my soulmate!"
Madeline - "Do soulmates kiss, hug, go on bike rides together, run together, squabble, watch TV together, sleep in the same bed....?"
Mom - "Yes, soulmates do all of those things."


​THE FUNNY AND SWEET THINGS SHE DOES:

I pulled the bin of blankets down for Madeline because she wanted to play with them while I prepped for dinner. I called her to help me grind the wheat and she didn't answer. I went into her room and found her asleep with all of the blankets on top of her. It was so cute.

Madeline is in the question phase. She will have question sessions with me where she just asks whatever question pops into her head. Some of the questions I know she already knows the answers to, so I just respond with, "What do you think?" I am always amazed at how smart she is. 

Over the last few months Madeline has developed the cutest laugh. It is kind of like an exaggerated laugh and it cracks me up every time. I often find things that make her laugh just so that I can hear it. 

Madeline has a sensitive little spirit. It is a blessing and a curse for her to live with older siblings. They love her and play with her but she also is exposed to moments when her older siblings get into trouble. Most times if I raise my voice at one of the other kids, Madeline will come up to me after and say, "Are you mad at me momma?" It melts my heart and reminds me that I need to be a little calmer around her.


THE THINGS SHE LOVES:

Madeline loves to play with all of her toys. She doesn't have just one thing she likes but plays with most everything in her room. She spends the most time playing with her Sylvania Family animals, her princess people and their castles, her stuffed animals, baby dolls, legos, and her dollhouse people. One thing is for sure, Madeline loves her dress ups and is usually dressed up in something while she is playing. Her favorite dress up is probably her Elsa dress followed by her Anna dress. 

Madeline loves to go for walks and just loves to be outside. She is the instigator of going on walks after dinner on most days. She will usually ride one of her bikes while we walk but sometimes she just wants to walk next to us. She loves to run and hike and she is an excellent skipper. Madeline is still taking swim lessons and she is progressing at her own pace. She can put her face in the water, blow bubbles in the water, go under the water, and swim a few feet to her instructor. However, she is still a little timid when it comes to going under the water. 

Madeline loves to wear boots outside. All winter long she wears her favorite Bear Paw boots and even when we are in the middle of summer, sometimes she pulls them out to wear on walks. She also loves her other cute boots and will choose those over other fun shoes. I recently bought her some new ankle boots for the fall months and told her that she could wear them when her other boots got too small. She found a way to wear them anyways. Madeline has great style. She picks out her outfits the night before and its cute to see the things she puts together. 

Madeline loves to eat. She is always asking me for something to eat. Just when I think I've fed her enough, she is back in the kitchen asking me for another snack. It's a good thing she is willing to eat her fruits and vegetables. Her favorite healthy snacks are bell peppers, apples, cheese and cinnamon toast. Other snacks she enjoys are fruit snacks, fruit leathers, mints, and gum. But of all the things that Madeline loves, she loves chocolate the most. She is always asking me for some sort of chocolate to eat. At one point she was getting into the chocolate chips so much that I had to put the chocolate chips away so she wouldn't eat too many of them. Madeline's favorite breakfast is oatmeal with brown sugar. For lunch she prefers a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and for dinner she is just happy to eat what the rest of us are eating. 

Madeline and I took the day and headed to Denver for a little field trip to the aquarium. The last time we were at an aquarium was in Atlanta a few years ago. Madeline loved looking at all the different kinds of fish. She loved the huge tanks where she could see lots of different kinds of fish, sharks, and stingrays. She spent quite a bit of time admiring the big sting rays that would swim right in front of her. In some of the smaller tanks she loved the colorful fish but wasn't too fond of the lobsters. She did, however, love watching the little sea horses in their little environment. She was the most excited when we came upon the tank with the Nemo and Dory fish. She just followed that Dory fish around and around that circular tank. It was cute to watch her be so enamored by the kind of fish she had seen in the movies. As we neared the big shark tank, we saw a school of big colorful fish and some sea turtles. Then we came upon all the sharks. The most interesting shark was the sawtooth shark. Its nose was really long and looked exactly like a real saw. It was crazy looking and Madeline was so curious about this shark. Our last stop at the aquarium was the sting ray petting area. Madeline was careful to only use two fingers to pet the sting ray. She was so gentle, unlike the boy next to us. He was so rough that one of the stingrays flapped its wing and completely soaked the boy. It was really hard not to laugh. We made it through the entire aquarium in an hour which just goes to show how small this aquarium really is. We had a good time, even though it was a little sad to not see any really big fish like whales and such. After leaving the aquarium we headed to Crumbl cookie and enjoyed a treat before heading home. 

​During one of Madeline’s days off school, Myisha and I took her to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We scheduled our time right when the zoo opened. First, we went and fed the giraffes. This was the first time that Madeline agreed to feed the giraffes. It was so cute to hear her giggles when the giraffe licked her hand trying to get the lettuce. Then we headed over and saw the lions and elephants. For some reason we never watch the elephants for very long. We spent a good deal of time feeding the budgie birds. Madeline just loved that and so did me and Myisha. It seemed like all the animals were out today. The tiger was the most exciting animal of the day. It was pacing back and forth so quickly and then it got in the water and started playing with the ball. We made sure to stop after the tiger to eat a quick treat. We shared some dipping dots and then headed to ride the carousel. Madeline loved this fast carousel ride and chose the rainbow horse. Then we headed to the penguin exhibit. They were all swimming in the indoor exhibit. The only animal we didn’t see today was the bear, but we did see many other animals. Today we saw the giraffes, lions, elephants, wallabies, budgie birds, alligators, red tree kangaroo, turtles, snakes, lizards, geckos, sloths, tiger, bald eagle, mountain lions, elk, porcupines, peacocks, penguins, orangutangs, and monkeys.

​Madeline and I took a little 5-day vacation and headed to see grandma and grandpa in St. George over my birthday weekend. Our last trip back in November was so much fun that we decided we needed to do it again. Instead of flying into Las Vegas and driving 2 hrs. to St. George, we flew directly into St. George from Denver. It was amazing. When we got to my parents' house, my mom had tulips and chocolate waiting for me in my room as a birthday treat. My mom is always so thoughtful. Madeline was so happy to be able to spend time with her grandparents. She and my mom spent lots of time playing, going on walks around the neighborhood, working on her learning book, watching movies and dancing in her dress ups, swimming at the rec center, playing at the playground, and going on a bike ride. I was able to spend some time biking with both of my parents and pulling Madeline in the burley. It was a lot of fun biking with my dad to Sullivan’s Park and then meeting my mom and Madeline there. We attached the burley and headed all the way to Thunder Junction Park. We stopped at Jersey Mikes and picked up lunch and ate in on the way to the park. Madeline had the most fun on the twisty tube slides and riding the train around the park.
​ 
The next day I rode 60 miles with my dad up Snow Canyon, around Tuachan, through Kayenta and to Gunlock Reservoir. Then we headed back and met my mom and Madeline for lunch at this amazing burger place called the Ice Box. Then my dad and I climbed Snow Canyon one more time. It was the most epic bike ride I had ever been on. The views from Snow Canyon were incredible, and although I had climbed Snow Canyon before, it was just as amazing as the first time. We finished the ride at 60 miles and 4000ft of climbing. We picked up John from the airport that night and went to the Ironman Expo downtown. It was fun to be able to spend some time with him before I left to go back home the next day. I rode early on Friday morning with John and my dad back up to Snow Canyon for John’s shakeout ride before his race. My legs were a bit tired, but it was still a good time. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone that afternoon. I could have stayed in St. George for another week, and I would have been so happy!

​In typical Colorado fashion we finally got our October snowstorm. Madeline was so excited to go out in the snow even though there wasn’t a whole lot that accumulated on the grass and it was freezing outside. I went out with her, but my hands got so cold I could only stay out for 10 min. Mike and Emma took Madeline back out for some more backyard fun. They pulled her on the sled and just had a good time playing with her in the snow. She is one lucky little girl to have family that loves her enough to play outside when the temperature is in the single digits!

Madeline’s first field trip in Pre-School was to the Colorado Pumpkin Patch only 15 minutes from our house. We met her class at 10am, stood in line to get our tickets and then headed first to the bounce pillows for some bouncing fun. The bounce pillows were basically like jumping in a bounce house without walls or a ceiling. Madeline had so much fun bouncing and flipping. Oh boy did she master the flip. She spent several minutes flipping all the way across the length of the bounce pillow and then kept telling the kids, “Watch me. Look what I can do.” After Madeline was done bouncing, we headed over to feed the farm animals. We spent a few dollars feeding the llamas, sheep, and ponies. Madeline loved it. Then we spent some time at the big slides. We grabbed our sack mats and headed up to the top. We went down a few times together, went back to the bounce pillows for a little bit and then went back to the slides. Madeline was so excited to see her friend Jack that she immediately picked up her sack and headed up to the slide alone with Jack. I was so excited to see her be so brave and go by herself down the slide. The first time I could tell she was shocked by how fast she went. But then it was back up to the slide she went. She literally ran back to the line after every slide. We spent a good deal of time there and she probably went down at least 10-15 times all by herself. By this point, it was time to eat lunch, so we headed over to the stacked hay tower and ate lunch with her classmates and then took a group photo. On our way out of the pumpkin patch, Madeline got to pick out her little pumpkin and then we headed home. It was a great first field trip for Madeline.

With all the new restrictions with COVID I decided it was best to not take Madeline back to ballet. I knew that she still needed a fun activity to participate in so I signed her up for private swim lessons at PPA. Her instructor, Carolyn, is simply the best. She is so good with Madeline. Madeline has improved so quickly. She can lay on her back and float without any problems, kick with straight legs, blow bubbles in the water, put her face sideways in the water, go under the water, and can scale across the wall on the side of the pool. She loves her new purple goggles and she can put them on all by herself. When we get to her lessons, she is like a maniac trying to get her clothes off so fast so that she can go swim. She looks forward to her lessons every week. I'm so excited that we found something that Madeline absolutely loves. I hope she will continue to love swim like her older siblings do. 

​Just when I thought 2020 couldn’t get any more bizarre, it totally snowed in Colorado the beginning of September. The kids were actually excited by it. Madeline was the only one that actually got on her snow clothes. She was so excited to play outside in the snow. She ran up and down the grass several times just trying to catch snow in her mouth. There is nothing better than the excitement from a 4-year-old when it snows outside. 

​All Madeline wanted for her birthday this year was a stuffed animal unicorn and some Frozen Legos. She was so excited by her unicorn cake that I had custom made for her. She got dressed up in her favorite shiny pink twirl dress and let me take a ton of pictures of her outside. We started out the morning with an amazing pancake breakfast with fruit and bacon. Then we let her open up all of her presents. She got her coveted unicorn stuffed animal in addition to the Frozen Lego castle, some Moana Legos, and some Sylvania Family toys. Peter was eager to help her put together her Lego castle. It was so cute watching them work together. Afterwards Abby and Madeline played with her Legos for most of the day. After lunch we sang “Happy Birthday,” and then enjoyed eating the unicorn cake. This was the first birthday where Madeline wasn’t scared to blow out her own candles. After cake and ice-cream, we all headed outside to watch Madeline hit and break open the unicorn piñata. She loved hitting the piñata but it was a little hard for her to break it open, so Peter took some swings at it and completely destroyed it. After all, picking up the candy is the best part of the piñata anyways. 

​Madeline had so much fun during the summer. Throughout the summer she spent lots of afternoons at the playground with Peter. Her favorite park was definitely the new playground in Cordera. Madeline also loved to go to Flying Horse and swim. It seemed like every day she asked if we were going to go swimming. She played mostly in the kiddie pool section and she went on the big waterslide with the older kids a few times.

In June we took a trip to Steamboat Springs. While we were there, she went on her very first bike ride in the Burley trailer and she loved it. In the middle of our family bike ride we stopped and went on the Alpine slides. She went on them twice and had a blast. She loved riding up in the chair lift just as much as she loved riding down the slides. When we went to Steamboat Lake Madeline rode on the paddleboard and went for a ride in the double tube for the first time. She loved sitting in between my legs on the paddleboard and taking photos with the Go-Pro. 

In July we took a trip to Utah and Madeline got to go on two more bike rides in the trailer. She played at the biggest park we have ever been to in Grand Junction. She had the most fun going on the zip-line. While in Utah, Madeline loved playing in the splash pool that Grandma Anne bought for her. She played in it every day while we were there. Back at home in Colorado Madeline began to become interested in the little puzzles and figured out how to put them together all by herself. 

In August we took a trip to California and Madeline had a great time flying on an airplane, staying in a hotel (which is what she called the little house we stayed at), going to the zoo, and playing at the beach. At the zoo she loved the giraffes and pink flamingos, but she was the most fascinated by the jaguar that kept pacing back and forth in the indoor exhibit area and the lazy baboons. At the zoo she got to put several coins down the donation coin funnel. Then Andrew gave her a quarter so that she could smash it in the machine to get a souvenir coin. Back at home in Colorado Madeline had fun riding her bike around the neighborhood, doing some "mountain biking" down the steps in the front of the house. She also had her dentist appointment and did such a good job sitting still getting her teeth cleaned. Madeline did lots of playing in and around the house playing on her rocking horse, her doll house, and jumping on the trampoline. Madeline tried a pickle for the first time this month and she loved it. 

​We had a blast spending time with Grandpa Al for the few days that he visited with us. I loved watching Madeline get to know Grandpa again after he had been gone for the past 1 ½ years serving a temple mission in Taiwan. The two of them did puzzles, sang songs, and just had a blast together. 

​With the amazing weather we had during the month of May we tried to get Madeline outside as much as possible. She absolutely loved riding her bike more than anything else. She became quite good at balancing on her little push bike and by the end of the month she was so fast that we really had to either run or ride the scooter just to keep up with her. 
 
One of Madeline’s favorite indoor activities this month was playing with all of the stuffed animals from the girl’s closet. Although she has her own basket of stuffed animals in her room, there were just so many that we had to store the rest in the Abby and Emma’s room. Madeline loved to dump them out and sit in the big pile of animals. She would usually find her favorites right away. It was not uncommon for us to find Madeline just in her underwear playing with all of her toys. When we asked her why she was naked she would tell us, “I was just hot, so I took my clothes off.”
 
On one particularly warm day we headed over to the drive through at Baskin Robbins and all got ice-cream cones. We headed over to a park nearby and walked around. Madeline was really excited to try the pink bubble gum ice-cream. She was really happy with her choice. Every few minutes we would have to lick her ice-cream, so it didn’t melt on her. She is not the fastest ice-cream eater. While at the park we found some dandelions and Madeline was all about blowing as many out as she could. Then she proceeded to find some nearby sticks and just play pretend. We love watching her and her imagination run wild. We will often hear her make up stories about the things she did. It’s cute to see who she incorporates in each story. More often than not her stories usually involve the older kid’s friends. She always calls them her friends too.
 
Almost every day in May Madeline would ask us a few questions. She would either say, “Is the zoo open yet?” or “Are the parks open yet?” or “Can I do some errands with you?” It became apparent that Madeline just needed to get out of the house, so I quickly whipped up a small mask for her and let her come to Lowe’s with us to get supplies for one of our home projects. She was really good about keeping her mask on at Lowe’s, so I let her come with me to the grocery store. She had the best time doing errands again with me. It was fun to see her excitement about going to the store. After we got home from errands we celebrated with popsicles in the backyard while Mike and the boys started to put together the gazebo.