What's Been Going On.......

So much has been happening around our house lately......

First, Harrison's been sick with double ear infections/fever virus, but he's back to his ol' busy self now! He's just pitiful when he's sick -- all he wants to do is lay around.

Poor baby.

I decided this year to take advantage of the yummy Cabot strawberries that are abundant around here right now. So, I tried my hand at making some freezer jam -- it turned out GREAT and I made about 6 Liters. We'll be munching on jam all winter!
Madeleine was my little helper during the jam-making process. She loves to be in the kitchen.
We've also been packing! I've packed pretty much my entire kitchen....yep, it's paper plates for us from now on. It's amazing to see how much STUFF we've accumulated since we moved in -- & that's just in ONE room! :) We decided to just take it slow since our house still had not sold. But, that changed this week since WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!! Hurray! It all happened so fast -- we got an offer on Wednesday & the inspector is coming out tomorrow. So, unless something major is wrong, it's a done deal. Now we're definitely in packing mode but we've got time since we don't close until mid-July. We're planning a trip up to Fayetteville soon to look at houses or apartments. We want to take our time and find a good house so we might have to sit it out in an apartment for a couple of months in the meantime.

Madeleine & Harrison have been busy playing in the boxes!
Other than that we've just been hanging around at home, trying to stay cool and looking forward to the somewhat cooler weather in NWA. It's going to be a crazy few weeks......we've got Madeleine's birthday & party coming up, moving, matt finishing up summer school, finding somewhere to live and the list goes on and on and on.......

For Grandad

Happy Birthday!! Since you're SO FAR away, we thought we'd send you some love........

Water Fun

With the weather being SO MUCH warmer, we've been spending a big chunk of our time outside lately. Since this is Harrison's first year to really play in the water, I was curious to see how he'd like it.......He LOVES it!! He will grab his shoes and stand at the door and cry for me to let him out & he's never ready to come in. The only part he doesn't like is putting on the sunscreen. I have to chase him down & hold him down to lather him......many tears follow......then comes the smile as I let him go to the water. We started out with one little pool then added another for some variety. Here are some pictures I've taken over the past couple of weeks.

Checking out the pool for the first time.

Harrison's discovered popsicles -- they usually melt faster than he can eat them! He'll also put them down anywhere so they're usually covered with grass before he's finished. ;)
My cute little girl in her "rainbow" swimsuit.

The Wonder Place

I've been wanting to take the kids to The Wonder Place for awhile now -- I've heard such fun things about it and couldn't wait to get there! It didn't disappoint -- we had a blast!!! There was SO MUCH to do! We got there early and pretty much had the place to ourselves for awhile, which was a good thing since Harrison was EVERYWHERE. He dashed from one thing to the next with Madeleine and I struggling to keep up. Finally, he realized we were going to be there awhile and slowed down -- I was exhausted keeping up with him! ;) They both were just exhausted when it was time to leave & Madeleine still talking about the fun she had. I'm even reconsidering having her birthday party there since she loved it so much!

Playing with the water.

Little chef.
Making sandwiches.

Chilling out -- after this shot, I made him keep the paci in. We were quickly filling up one of their "Icky Buckets."

Shopping at the market.
Sand table fun.
By far Harrison's favorite thing. Do they sell these for home?
Madeleine at the train table.
I didn't take a lot of pictures since I was either chasing Harrison or having too much fun playing with them!

Last Day of Preschool

Last Thursday was Madeleine's last day of school for the year. We (me!) are really going to miss being at Wee Care. It's been a truely wonderful experience for Madeleine. She has changed SO MUCH this year -- it's been fun to watch her grow out of a toddler and into such a little girl! She's learned a lot from school -- she can use her scissors amazingly well and can color in the lines. Her teacher often commented to me how good Madeleine was at coloring -- the best in her class! She made it through then entire year without losing a skittle (bad, bad, bad to loose a skittle!) and loved being the line leader!

Her last day was just a fun day......party, program practice, etc. We started the day by going to get donuts -- yummy! Then Harrison and I went up to school for her party. They had pizza and cookies, when outside to draw with chalk, made a water globe, and came home with a sand bucket full of lots of fun summer activities!

All in all, I'm not too sure that Madeleine was sad school was over, but I DO think she'll miss her friends.

Last day of school.

Just for fun -- her first day picture. In my eyes, she's changed a lot!
Donuts! :)
Sitting in her chair.
Madeleine and her favorite person in her class.
Chalkin' up the sidewalk.
Her class.

Madeleine School Program

Last night we went to Madeleine's end of the year program at WeeCare. I didn't have extremely high expectations since she cried through her Christmas program, but I was also hoping that she'd grown up a little this year and would be more excited this time around. Yesterday afternoon she was bouncing off the walls with excitement!! She was running around the house singing her songs at the top of her lungs (all while Harrison was TRYING to sleep). :)

When we got to school last night, she wanted me to stay in the room with her -- okay, no problem. Then, she started looking teary right before time to go on. So, like any good mom, I bribed her with gum. I told her she could hold the gum while she was singing and eat it when it was over. Worked like a charm! hehehe. She sang her heart out and had a GREAT time! She spotted Matt and Harrison 1/2 way through and waved to them.

I'm posting some videos of her songs at the end -- you can see the piece of gum in her hand if you look! :)

Arriving at her classroom.

Lined up & looking sad.
Singing time!

See the gum?


My little family.

After the program was over we headed out to get some ice cream! Madeleine wanted a banana split, took 3 bites, then was ready to color instead.

Harrison finished off EVERYONE'S ice cream. He was a mess!


Good is So Good


Peanut Butter and Jelly


5 Little Monkeys

Harrison is 17 Months!

This little guy is getting to be such fun -- and quite a handful! He's keeping me on my toes. Yesterday, I found him putting Q-tips in the side of the toilet.....he'd gotten around 25 in there before I caught him! Busy, busy.

He's climbing on EVERYTHING!!!! He can now get on all the furniture and I'm just crossing my fingers that he won't learn to get out of the crib anytime soon. ;)

His favorite foods are: pretzels, pineapple, strawberries, mandarin oranges, nutragrains, bananas, cheese, and ice cream, to name just a few! He's finally drinking milk from a cup, although it has to be heated.

His favorite toy: my swiffer. He carries it all around the house and "stomps" it on the floor.

His new words: "daddy," "moo," "roar," "neigh" "whooo," to name a few. He still doesn't say much, but he can when he wants to.

He's definitely a mommy's boy! I have to admit -- I LOVE THIS! He would be happy if I could just grow a third arm to hold him all the time! :) He really loves to be held and to sit in my lap and read and play.

He loves anything electronic -- DVD player, remote, cell phone, home phone, etc.

He loves to go outside/on a walk. Whenever I get out his crocs (his outside shoes) he will RUN for the door and pound on it to go out.

He's really just a mess! But, ohhhhh what fun we're having!

Here are some pictures from this week.....

His favorite peek-a-boo spot!

On the loose and jammin' after bathtime.

Enjoying some donutholes this morning.