Baking with the kids

We had Kaiden and Ella over today and decided to make some chocolate chip cookies. Other than the mishap of Melodie running down the street while I ran inside to take the cookies out of the oven, the venture went off without a hitch! Praise the Lord that she didn't run INTO the street! It's amazing what can happen when you turn around for less than a minute.

Anyway, we had a great time with the kiddos. The three of them had a good time "helping", and mixing up the stuff in their own bowls. It's nice to have such good friends at such a young age, and the cookies didn't turn out half bad either!

They also had a good time attempting to take a nap...which really just turned into a giant giggle fest of sorts! Alas, we tried.

Melodie's first soccer practice

We started out the day having a PJ party, with plans for a low-key day. I built a fort for Melodie in the living room, and was planning on laying low. Until...

Melodie discovered her soccer cleats. Then we moved downstairs to kick the ball around, but...

that wasn't enough, plus running around in fleece PJ's is hot. So we needed to change her clothes, but...

there's only so much space available in the basement, so we had to move outside. And that's when...

serious soccer practice began! Watch out world, here Melodie comes!

I was actually really impressed with how well she dribbled the ball, and kicked it.

She also loved to run and chase after it when I'd kick it back up the hill.

and these two shots are my favorite...we practiced some set plays as well... ha!

Nice form kiddo!

Then we went out to the park to run around some more, where we wouldn't have to worry about kicking a ball into the street. Melodie loved dribbling through, er with, the cones.

I caught her sitting on the ball for a breather. We'll have to cover that next time. There's only so much one can handle at a practice.

I like to call this one the "I'm going to take you down" face. Again, watch out world, here she comes!

My little Braveheart!

Fun around the house

Our friends offered to watch Melodie for us last night, so that we could go out and celebrate my birthday. It was a lot of fun, and nice to have a great dinner with just Ryan and me. Melodie also was excited to bring her backpack, and hang out with Kaiden and Ella for the evening! Does the grin show off her excitement enough? She also thought that she was going for an "adventure", so she tried to be like Dora and climb the stairs, run and jump. It was pretty cute.

In college my mom made me a french memo board for my apartment. (Blue and Gold of course!) I put it up yesterday by the table where Melodie and friends color and play with playdough. I like having something to display her artwork on...other than my fridge.

I'm digging Melo's art skills as well. Here's her first REAL attempt to color a picture, other than just scribbling. She picked out all of the colors herself. And after the eyes were done/overdone, I told her that she should try and color Dora's shirt. She pulled out the orange and colored, and then realized I think that Dora's shirt was pink and tried that out too. She also give Dora some pigtails like hers...notice the colored blue circles on either side of Dora's head? Not too shabby for a first attempt.

I've been loving having the basement setup as a playroom, while I fold laundry, but sometimes I catch someone eating the Play-Dough instead of playing with it. Alas, it's non-toxic so I really don't freak out about it...just don't tell Melodie that!

We went out to Target the other day, and Melodie insisted on wearing her Dad's sunglasses, bringing a bear, and her "windmill". Um, thankfully the "windmill" "accidentally" got left in the car when we went into Target.

Melodie has gotten pretty good at navigating the iPod. It sort of scares me, and now I know why my Dad used to always say that NOTHING was where he left it on the computer when we'd come home and use his computer. I get it now Dad. How is it that a 2 year old knows how to move icons and I don't?

Melodie loves to help in the kitchen, which is both fun and a challenge. I find myself coming up with extra steps so that she can "help". Like special mixing the cheese sauce for mac and cheese. Oh well, the smile makes the mess worth it.

Last week Melodie scared us by waking up screaming that her neck "really really hurt". After a trip to the doctor, then to the ER to rule out Meningitis, we found out that it was just a badly sprained muscle. Praise the Lord! We were relieved, but it still took about a week for her neck to get back to normal. You can tell in this picture that she still wasn't turning her head to the left much. Thankfully it's back to normal now, even after a short tumble down the basement stairs this morning. What a relief!

The summer has come and gone

I can't believe that summer has come and gone. It seems like we waited and waited for it to come, and then the warm breezy days danced away before enough of them were enjoyed outside. Thankfully, fall is here and upon us, and I'm enjoying the much cooler weather. Give me a 60 degree day where I can where jeans and a sweatshirt, and I'll be happy to go and play outside.

We've been having a good time with the families from our small group. It's amazing how much fun it has been for the kids to get together and play. This picture is from Harper's birthday party where the kids found a fuzzy catepilar to play with on the ground. We've been so thankful to be surrounded by so many young and growing families at our church. What an encouragement that has been!

Melodie has been quite funny lately. It seems as though two weeks ago, someone flipped on her imagination, and now she has her own little pretend world. She likes to pick fake things up out of a bowl and eat them, or color with them, etc. It's been a lot of fun to see her personality come out more and more. We're so thankful for her.

Even though summer came and went quickly, it still was full of stuff. My friend Sara got married, and Ryan and I enjoyed a wonderful wedding, and time meeting some new friends. there even was a bagpiper at the ceremony, which was a first for us, but oh so cool. Ryan was a little concerned though, when I questioned whether the bagpiper went "COMPLETELY" traditional in his garb...alas, a question we'll never know the answer too...

Back in July, Melodie was potty-trained, and yes, I felt the need to post the obligatory picture of her on the pot. She did a great job, and I was thankful that it was done by Bailey's due date. A random goal, but a goal that Melodie helped meet, and it was nice to have something to celebrate on that day. We went out to Balistreri's Pizzeria, to remember our second girlie with, and were pleasantly surprised at Melodie being able to go "potty" in a public bathroom. Way to go kiddo! We're proud of you!

As has become an annual tradition, we took a trip to Noah's Ark, in the Wisconsin Dells to celebrate Ryan's birthday in August. We spent the majority of our time at "Tadpole Bay" going down the water slide there, and playing with the water tables, and buckets that dumped every 5-10 minutes. We had a great time, and I look forward to going back with Melodie again next year, and seeing how much more she's able to do.

We went with Ana, her brother Gabriel, Ari and Madeline, and had a great time. The cousins got along great, and I'm glad that they were in town to share the day with.

As always, Melodie still loves going to Brewer games, and I think she may have a future as a sports caster, as she regularly follows the games and exclaims in a low voice, "strike!' "Ball!" "Safe!" or "You'rrrrrrrrrre out!". She's pretty entertaining, especially when "Uncle Bill" (our usher) comes around. She loves "Uncle Bill", and he seems to love giving her programs or schedules. It's been pretty cute.