Trick or Treating in Style!

Maddie had a blast trick or treating with the million neighborhood kids:) All I know is that we handed out 2 huge 4 pound bags of candy, so that shows you how many kids we have in our neighborhood. A LOT more than you can count!:)

Nacional 27

Last weekend my Dad had a convention downtown, so my mom and I spend Saturday shopping on Michigan Ave. Always fun to shop and be downtown with my mom. After my dad was done with his convention we met Bob and Maddie for dinner at Nacional 27. One of our favorite dinner places in the city. Such great food and a fun atmosphere!! Maddie enjoyed the music and even ate some latin food! Such a fun night!
<


Maddie enjoying her no-jito. a Mojito without the alcohol of course. BTW they have the best mojitos here!

Random Pics

She just did the splits right in the middle of the sidewalk at church. Future gymnast?
This year she loved playing in the leaves!Posing

Licking the cream cheese frosting off of the spatula:)
Swinging

Pumpkin Farm!

A few weekends ago we headed to a great pumpkin farm about 25 minutes from our house. Maddie has a blast! She found a bunch of little pumpkins which we brought home and put on our front porch:) Soon we will carve them for Halloween. Here are a few pictures.

Marathon Weekend

A few weekends ago we headed into the city to cheer on some friends running the chicago Marathon. It was the most picture perfect weekend. The weather was beautiful! After we watched the runners we walked down to the beach. There was no one on the beach since all the streets were closed off for the marathon, so it was pretty much perfect. After the beach we met some friends for lunch:) Such a fun day!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Daddy and Daughter walking the beach:) This one is framed in our house:)

Kids say it like it is!

I wanted to share a few funny and cute things that Maddie has said recently:)

The other day we were driving home from school and Maddie said she wanted to see Adam. I asked her who Adam was? And she told me he's in the Bible with Eve and they ate the fruit. Their little minds soak up everything!

Then the other day she told me that Jesus lived in her heart and her house and that she wanted to give Jesus a kiss.

This morning I woke her up and she told me Jesus was nudey tudey (her word for naked) We have been reading her The New Bible In Pictures For Little Eyes that tells bible stories in a simple way. I was at a mtg last night, but my best guess is that Bob read her the story of the Crucifixion and she saw Jesus "nudey tudey" on the cross.

She also loves telling people they look gorgeous. Last week she went up to her teacher and said, "You look gorgeous Miss Pat you look gorgeous"

She is quite dramatic and has a lot of personality. I painted her nails a few days ago and after a few days she said, "Oh no Mama my nail polish is chipping. can you please help me fix it?" She is ALL girl this one!!!

Some things she says are a little more embarrassing. She likes all words that have to do with pooping or tooting. she loves to announce when they toot or even when they don't toot or poop just because she likes to say the words. So yesterday I have a return at PB and as I was standing at the register paying, Maddie decided to tell everyone Mama tooted. This was not one time she said this, but kept repeating "mama tooted" and after she would say "Mama tooted" she would then laugh hysterically. I didn't toot, let's just be clear, but boy I sure do have a jokester on my hands. So embarrassing...I wonder where she gets that?

She loves shoes and jewelry more than I do. I sometimes have to do a detour around the shoe department at the store because she will quickly run to the women's shoe department, take hers off, and try them ALL on. And say, " these are pretty Mama, I like these shoes." And it doesn't help that all the sales people at Nordstrom egg her on by bringing her the most sparkly shoes they can find. Bob and I have already talked about her burning a hold in our pocket book when she is older. She raids my grandmas jewelry box and my moms too every time she visits them. I am talking wearing 20 necklaces, and 10 bracelets, and don't forget about the clip on earrings. This kid loves accessories, shoes, and clothes. The other day I said do you like this dress Maddie? She said, "That's insane" I started laughing because whenever I hear a crazy story, or want to describe something I say "that's insane" How she used the word "Insane" was just so funny to me!

So with all this said, I know all kids say the cutest things ESP at this age. So don't forget to write down all the cute things they say so you NEVER forget! The book My Quotable Kid is a great book to document these things!

ROUTINE!

Fall is here which means routine, routine, routine, and it has been wonderful! Maddie started preschool a few weeks ago and she is LOVING IT! (First day of school picture) She is coming home with new songs that she learns and I get to hear hilarious things that Maddie does at school from her teachers. She is so funny! (Miss Personality! Can you tell?)
Tonight Bob and I are going preschool open house, so we can see all the things she is learning, meet the teachers, and hear how she is doing:) She has school on Monday and Wednesday mornings and does Parents day out with some of her friends held at our church on fridays. I have to say it has been quite nice to have some time to run a couple errands and get a few things done while she is at school in the morning. We are so thankful for our church, the wonderful programs they offer, and the great staff and teachers who work their. While Maddie is at school on wednesdays at our church, I attend MOPS in the same building. MOPS is such a great program and it has been fun being apart of the MOPS staff this year helping out with the creative aspect.

Besides school and MOPS, we stay busy with lots of playdates, trips downtown, and busy weekends:) Maddie and I are also taking a trip in early November to Utah to visit my cousin and her two kids. We are so excited to spend time with them and excited to head to Utah again! When we were there in June and July,they came back to visit family in Illinois so our time overlapped. This Fall has a lot of good things to look forward to!

As you might know Maddie got a new prosthetic this summer. She has been asking to wear it and uses it to ride her bike. (Pictured wearing her "helper arm")
We are so happy to have found a doctor who made something that actually works and makes sense! The other day while we were outside Maddie started climbing our climbing wall on the swing set. She said she wanted to try it. We coached her a little bit the first couple times, and then she did something amazing and climbed the wall all on her own. She was so proud of herself and when she reached the top she said, "Maddie did it. YAY!!!!!" There is absolutely nothing she can't do and it is amazing to watch! You better watch out for her right hook!

Jesus Calling

I recently Just purchased this 365 Day Devotional by Sarah Young, Called, Jesus calling. it is written as if Jesus is speaking directly to you and I love that. I actually skipped ahead and read the one for tomorrow, but this is what it says..

"LEARN TO ENJOY LIFE MORE. Relax, remembering that I am GOD with you. I crafted you with enormous capacity to know Me and enjoy My Presence. When my people wear soul faces and walk through their lives with resigned rigidity, I am displeased. When you walk through a day with childlike delight, savoring every blessing, you proclaim your trust in Me, and your ever-present Shepherd. The more you focus on My presence with you, the more fully you can enjoy life. Glorify Me through your pleasure in Me. Thus you proclaim My Presence to the watching world." Matthew 1:23 John 10:10-11

Have a good weekend everyone, and ENJOY LIFE IN HIS PRESENCE:)!

Lately.....

I can't believe that Summer is soon coming to an end and Maddie will be starting preschool next month! Time has just flown by and it's hard to believe she is going to be a preschooler! Lately we have been soaking up these beautiful days by going to the zoo, the pool, hanging in our backyard with friends, Spending time up in Lake Geneva, going for walks, and lots of bike rides to get ice cream! Maddie's FAV thing to do! Yesterday, Bob had a dentist appointment at 6:00, so I told Maddie we could go get ice cream after she ate dinner. Of course she was so excited and ate all of her dinner so she could get her special treat. On our walk to town, she kept saying, "Mama, my tummy hurts." So I said, "Maybe we shouldn't get ice cream if your tummy hurts," Then she said, "Mama, my tummy is all better." HAHA. Like mother like daughter! I guess there is always room for ice cream in anyones tummy! BTW: if you haven't tried ice-cream at Fannie May IT. IS. A. MUST!!! So delish! Hanging out with Maddie is so much fun and she has so much personality!! It has been so much fun seeing her language develop and the things that she says sometimes has me laughing so hard my stomach ends up hurting! This kid is HILARIOUS! Here are some pictures of what has been going on lately....:)











Hope you are all enjoying this absolutely beautiful weather we have been having!!!!!

Trip to Utah!

Here are a few pictures of our trip to Park City, Utah. We had so much fun hiking, biking, riding the slide and roller coaster down the mountain, enjoying the zipline and the Olympic park. So fun seeing the olympic ski jumpers. One of Maddie's favorite parts of the trip! We took chair lift upon chair lift to see the beautiful scenery and hike around. Such a beautiful place! Thank you, Dad, for a WONDERFUL vacation with the family!!!