Back to School!!

Well the school year for Madeline officially started on August 13th. Madeline was so excited to go back to school and I was ready to get back to a routine. Last year when she started school I was dreading the super early mornings. She get dropped off at school at 7:30am, so that meant getting up and ready around 6am. I have to admit after last year I am in love with the mornings now. Of course that first ring of the alarm clock I hit snooze, but once up and going I am fine. Madeline loves her teacher and is happy to see all her friends too. Two of her close friends are not in the same class and she was sad about that, but seems to have adjusted and sees them on the playground after lunch and in after school care...so all is good. We will be starting ballet back September 1st and Madeline is also VERY excited to play soccer this year. I wasn't sure if she would be, but now she can't stop talking about it. I can't wait to see her out on the field the 1st time. Lets just hope soccer and ballet practice don't fall on the same day, or we are in trouble. LOL....I have posted a few 1st day pictures below. Hope everyone is having a great start to the school year.

Inside our condo before leaving


walking to the car

Outside

not liking all the pictures mommy is taking this morning

ok, one last one mommy....

hope everyone has a great week....

Lisa & Madeline

SUMMER UPDATE--FLORIDA-Part One

WOW, can you believe it is me. I am actually posting an update. I was thinking about all the posting I used to do and all the wonderful people I have met, some in person and some that I have stayed in contact with through facebook. I miss talking about our activities. So as the school year begins I will be back to post here. Yes, I have said this many times, but I really do mean it this time. I am able to share here more than facebook and talk about our experiences and activities. I love looking back at my blog and the memories we have created. Thanks to my blogger family, if you are still here...I will be checking your blog too!
Below I have posted just some of our florida trip we made in June. This was the first drving vacation Madeline has ever had. Every year my mom, dad, Madeline, and I fly to Orlando, and this year we drove. Able to join us this year were my brother and sister-in law, Bill & Jackie, and my nephews Zach and Billy. It was so much fun. We visited DisneyWorld and Sea World. It was a very hot week (95-100) everyday, but so much fun. Enjoy the pics!



Primping Madeline one evening in our room.


Sea World

The whole family

oops, this is sideways, but we got to feed the dolphins!

Madeline next to the Cinderella statue in Downtown Disney

We ate at the T-REX cafe. It was awesome...not just for boys..it was the neatest experience inside the restaurant with the light shows and the food was amazing too.

Madeline didn't like some of the effects inside the cafe (hence holding her ears), but we had fun anyhow

Wow how fast this summer as gone. School starts on August 13th and Madeline cannot wait to go back and see her friends. I, to be honest, like the consistent schedule of the school year and all the activities that come with it, dance, Daisy scouts, school events, etc....

I hope everyone has had a fantastic summer vacation!!

Love to all you come back to my blog to visit us soon...

Lisa & Madeline~

Derby week!

So I am a few weeks late posting from Derby, and a few weeks late just posting anything at all. Every time I get on here to do a post I realize how much I miss it. Everyone I have met off blogging is now on my facebook and I see everyones pictures there too. But the blog is different. You can talk more about the picture and what you were doing. Most of my pictures I store on my home computer, but I had a few from Madeline school Derby event on here at work. I hope everyone is having a great MAY! Lots going on here....Derby week,track practice & meet, Mothers Day, and of course the close to the school year! WOW, how busy we all must be. Its been such a great year for Madeline. Kindergarten, new friends, new school, and just an overall great year. We love our church and school and look forward to more fun events over the summer.


Us mommies putting on our childrens hats they made for the Derby parade.


Madeline in her hat

Madeline with her teacher

Madeline doing one of the races on her Derby event at school...

until next time........AND I PROMISE I WILL BE BACK VERY SOON.....

Lisa:)~

Long time- No Blog!

WOW, how I have missed blogging. I have said that several times now on some of my posts. Thanks to the social networking life now of Facebook and Twitter, blogland was pushed to 3rd. I am now taking a vow to post at least once a week from here on out. I have "met" so many wonderful people from blogging. Even though they too are on my facebook pages and I get to see all their wonderful updates, it's just not the same as really telling about what you are doing or how you have been doing. I do view the blogs I follow, but seem to sign off before updating mine.

I noticed today that all my recent pictures are on my home computer so I posted one of Madeline and MAC. Can you tell we have been busy? Mac loves her so much that he is every she is. I just love him and Madeline is in love with him to. What a great pet (except for the nights he is up running and jumping at 2am!~guess it's the kitten in him. He is only 10 months old)

Madeline and I have kept busy with many activities. My active little girl keeps me running. We are in Daisies, tap, ballet, and now track for her school. So we are constantly on the go! I will be posting some pictures from home in the next day from the past few weeks.

Thanks to anyone who is still checking and following up on me here. I hope to jump back into my blog and pick up where I left off.

Have a great day!

~Lisa

Favorite Foto Friday #46 ~ Ballet/Tap class

Madeline loves ballet and last week was show week. No parents are allowed to watch their class weekly, but one day a year they let us in for a sneak peek of what they are learning. Above is Madeline smiling big. She loves to smile with all those missing teeth. I am still trying to get used to her teeth being out. I checked yesterday and there are no signs of ones coming in either..... anyhow, she just loves her time at ballet & tap. These girls are just toooo cute. They are all 6 years old and there are only 6 of them in this class. This class was set up just for them because the Tuesday class was just tooo big. So they took the older girls and the ones that were close and had us switch to Thursdays. More pics below of them!

I just love this photo above. It shows all 6 of them moving like crazy. Way in the background is Katherine with her ponytail in the air, to the left of her in the pic is Sara in the black, dancing, the purple blur from Ali, the other Sarah with her mouth open wide, Caitlyn moving past Madeline, and then my girl.....standing still......

practicing ballet moves

practicing tap moves

My mom, Madeline's meemaw came to watch.

She loves going to class and has a ball every week. Recital is coming up in June. Costumes are in and they are just adorable. Before we know it will will be June....

until next time...

American Girl~Chicago!

The picture taken in the American Girl Studio


Madeline turns 6 on March 19th and for her birthday this year, instead of a big party, we headed to American Girl in Chicago! We had a great time and Madeline had a ball picking out her new doll and some outfits. The new American Girl store in Watertower is HUGE and just amazing. The pictures speak for themselves. Our trip also included a trip to the Sears Tower, Navy Pier, and on the way home the Fair Oaks Dairy Farm! More posts to come with many more pictures. I finally have something to talk about for a while. I cannot believe my baby is turning 6 years old. Just amazing how times flies!

This picture was taken the next day. Her new doll she has named Amy matches her too with their new shirts from the Chicago AG store.

Going down the escalator. The store is so big it has 2 floors.

The "Julie" display case

Madeline showing her doll off to the one matching in the case.

Madeline her her new best friend, Amy

Taking a break for a snack

Amy, Mommy, and Madeline -has she is eating her cookie

Loving her birthday present

Taking a picture right when entering the store by Kits tree house

We had such a great time and have so many memories of our weekend. We enjoyed the weekend with my mom, my sister-in-law Jackie, and my nephew Zach. I cannot wait already to go back again. The American Girl store is so magical......

Happy Birthday Madeline

Mommy loves you.

Favorite Foto Friday #44~Daisy Girl Scout Fun!

Madeline & I have been quite busy lately with many activities. One of them being Daisy Girl Scouts. We headed to the cookie warehouse to pick up all the cookies our troop sold since I was one of the cookie moms. Katie, the other cookie mom, and I headed and picked up all the cookies and then went back to sort them all out. It was a lot of fun and the girls had a blast helping to. The day after that was the Daisy Day out where we went to the girl scout camp and earned patches for our smocks. The girls had a great time doing many fun activities as well. So as you can see it has been a busy time for us. Of course I still spend a lot of time on facebook these days, but still have not forgot about my precious blog here. I am able to post more of whats going on here! I have posted many pictures our our fun weekend. Above is Madeline & Ashley as we drove into the cookie warehouse to pick up the cookies. It was very cool. We just drove in the van and they loaded all the cookies for you. What service!


We got back to Ashley & Katie's house and unloaded all the cases! Madeline & Ashley above cheesing for the camera

Madeline hiding

Ashley hiding

Cheese mom!

Daisy Day out. Madeline & Emma doing a craft project

Balloon Race!

Troop 622. What a great group of girls...

Madeline enjoying her art project.

It has been a great year for Madeline in Kindergarten. She is doing great in school too. She missed her first days of school this past week because of a stubborn virus. She said on the second day that she missed school & her friends, so that's a good sign she does love it. I hope everyone is having a great year. We are now in countdown mode for our trip to Chicago for Madeline's birthday! Her birthday is march 19th, but we are taking off on march 13th to go to AMERICAN GIRL. She cannot wait. We have planned on doing this for sometime. She actually got online today and made a wish list.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Favorite Foto Friday #43~LOVE

I LOVE my girl~Madeline

Madeline and Mac--Always LOVE being together

Madeline loves her Kitty~Mac ~

I LOVED Jamaica. (See my previous post)

Happy Valentines Day to everyone:)

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Jamaica ~January 2009!

Jamaica~ What can I say. Just beautiful!
Since Madeline was born I have done a lot for my wonderful daughter. She is my world. But I knew that it was time to treat myself to something special. My best friend Michele called my one day and said, what about a girls trip. I am thinking, ok~ how about Gatlinburg, Nashville, something to just have a fun weekend with the girls! She next said, "what about Jamaica?" I was like, What? She said we deserve a fun trip in the middle of winter to somewhere warm and that there were some great deals to Jamaica~better than a cruise! SO we looked into it. At one time 4-6 of us were going and has the booking time got closer it dwindled down to 3. No problem, it was going to be fun no matter what. Right after booking the 3rd person had something come up and was very sad to drop out, so it was down to Michele and I. We were heading to Jamaica no matter what. All we could think about was laying on the beach, in the warm sun, the sound of the waves, no one saying "mommy" or interrupting. We wanted to have drinks, relax, and just soak up the atmosphere! We did just that. January 20th we headed to Cincinnati to stay all night so we could catch a 6:40am flight to Jamaica. This was my first time out of the country. I had to order my 1st passport. How exciting. (rest of the story continued at the bottom)


The view from one of the 5 pools.

The kids pool was amazing. Huge slides, a boat, a lazy river. Someday I will bring Madeline back with me.

This is a picture of the last day. We were waiting for our ride to the airport. Can you see my horrible sun-poisoning on my face? A day later it would be much worse!

The lawn-at the end was the gazebo where weddings took place. Our room was just to the right of that right by the beach.

Our fun bartender. The Pina Coladas and Strawberry Daiquiris were awesome.

Michele & I at the bar and after a long day in the sun. Can you tell?

Another sunset! I took this after dinner one night. The dining room was right on the beach with this view.

Jimmy Buffet's Margartiaville. Yummy:)

A picture from our balcony, AWESOME!

Another picture from our balcony.

The open lobby!

We arrived in Jamaica to a great welcome by the locals. After heading through customs we were on our way to the resort. It was all-inclusive so as we were in line to check in the were already bringing us drinks. What service. I knew I would love this place. We went to our room and were amazed by the room we got. It was right on the beach. We needed no sound machine-- we could just lay down on the bed and hear the waves. We relaxed a bit then went shopping. It was a little overcast and since it was late afternoon when we got there we paid a driver to take us into town to buy some t-shirts and gifts for our girls & family. When we got back we headed to dinner. Dinner was self-serve, but you felt like you were in a 5-start restaurant. The workers were in black and white and the men stood there with towels over there arms waiting to serve us. They brought us wine and refilled our drinks. All the tables had crisp white linens and candles lit. The openness of the dinning room had the sound of the waves right in the distance. Ahhhh, this was it. All that I deserved for me!

We spent our long weekend heading to the beach, reading, talking, listening to our ipods. Doing whatever us mommies wanted to do. We just enjoyed ourselves as well as each others company. The entire weekend was just peaceful and beautiful. The last day we spent talking to some women up at the pool-one from Canada and one from Fargo, ND! At lot of people from the north...goodness, their winters were worse than any of ours. I would probably escape every winter if I lived that far north.

We headed home on Sunday, the 25th with a renewed peace. Looking forward to seeing our kids (Michele has 2 girls-6&9 years old) and of course I had one, Madeline. We landed in the Cinncy airport at 12:10am with it snowing. We tiptoed in our flip-flops and capri pants to our van to take us back to our car parked at the Holiday Inn. There was 2 inches of snow on the ground in Cinncy! Just a few hours earlier we were on a beach. We got in the car and headed to Louisville, not knowing what was ahead. We could barely see at time the snow was coming down so hard. We just laughed and giggled to the fact we were still in flip flops and complaining of sunburn (me) and it was now snowing. We finally got home at 2:30am. Luckily we would get home when we did. The prediction of snow was in the forecast for the next day, Tuesday. Little did we know it would be the "winter-storm 2009", the worst ice storm in Kentucky;s history-knocking out power to over 500,000 in the state and making nation news. To be honest, I was happy to be home with my girl and spending time with her. I could not have imagined being stuck in Cincinnati the week without her. (to see pics of the storm, see previous post)

Overall, Jamaica was a life experience. We are hoping for a girls trip every year to let us mom's refocus and spend some time for ourselves! I cannot wait to stamp the passport again!