Christmas Eve

New Album 12/28/08 2:44 PM

Mallory was with her Dad until about 6:30 on Christmas Eve but we then all went to spend the night at Grandma's house. Sebastian also arrived in the evening. Here are a few pictures of Mallory preparing cookies and milk for Santa as well as our bag of reindeer food. I finally got Mallory to wind down enough and she finally went to bed around 11:00.

Laura and Walter arrive and Christmas with the Michaelis family

New Album 12/28/08 1:43 PM

Laura and Walter arrived on Sunday the 21st and we then celebrated Christmas with Mom's family at her new house on the night of the 22nd. We grilled filets for dinner and had the usual sides along with homemade cinnamon rolls and orange rolls, it was all very yummy! The kids all had a great time and received some great gifts.

Night in Bethlehem

Our Church had a super fun Sunday morning for the kids titled Night in Bethlehem. They had all of the Sunday school classes set up as various places, one room was a bakery where they got to knead bread, one room they got to weave baskets, one room was a hardware store they even had a living nativity along with many others! The kids were allowed to dress as a biblical character and Mallory had wanted to be Mary until the night before when she decided to be an angel. The costume was thrown together at 11:00 the night before but she still looked pretty cute!

Christmas Round 1

New Album 12/28/08 1:42 PM

Well, we have been a little busy at the Madsen household. Between illness and moving Grandma Sue to her beautiful new home and all of the Christmas celebrations I feel like we have hardly been home! Here are the pictures of our first Christmas with the Madsen and Young Grandparents here in Kansas.

Christmas card photo!

Last night we attempted to get the kids together for a Christmas card photo, Mick wouldn't hold still for anything and Mallory was so tired of trying to hold him. After looking through the pictures late last night I found this one and thought it made a pretty cute statement about how they felt about having their picture taken!

5 more new posts!

Guess I need to get a little better about not posting so many at one time!

Christmas Tree

New Album 11/28/08 9:59 PM

Today we took the kids to Prarie Pines to cute down our own Christmas tree. It started out with us signing in and receiving our saw and directions on how to cut down our own tree. We then took a horse drawn hayrack ride out to the different fields to pick out our tree. Both kids had a blast on the ride, only it was a little cold. We got off at the Southwestern White Pine field and went searching. Mallory found a great tree that we all loved and Chris got busy sawing it down with a little sideline help from Mick. We then placed our tag on the tree and took the hayrack ride back to the main building. We went in and let Mallory pick out a couple of ornaments and then paid for the tree. We were going out for some hot chocolate and cookies when we spotted a neat rain ride for the kids. Mallory really wanted to take Mick so we let them go. At the last minute we decided we weren't sure how long the ride would be and knowing Mick we decided it would be good for Daddy to go along! We then headed for snacks, the kids had yummy cookies and then it was time to head home. Oh yeah, Santa arrived on a horse drawn carriage while we were there as well! Overall we all had a great time and Mallory thinks this is an event that needs to become a tradition for our family and we agree.

Thanksgiving - Round 3

New Album 11/28/08 9:52 PM

On Thursday we had my family over for Thanksgiving dinner. I was worried about all of the food turning out but with all of the wonderful help from the ladies in the family it was a wonderful feast! Our menu was turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, salad, coca-cola jello, homemade orange rolls, homemade cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, pecan pie, and apple pie. We were all stuffed.

Thanksgiving - Round 2

New Album 11/28/08 9:46 PM

On Tuesday Dad, Chris, and Evelyn came for a quick Thanksgiving visit. We had a great time filled with lots of fun. We took them to Exploration place and had fun watching the kids explore and did some exploring ourselves. We played several game of basketball, the Wii, cards, and lots of chasing Mick! Since our family all had the stomach flu the week of Chris's birthday we didn't get anything sent in time so we decided to celebrate her birthday along with an early celebration for Dad. We had a great couple of days, thanks for the visit!

Thanksgiving - Round 1

New Album 11/28/08 9:45 PM

The entire third grade at Mallory's school had a Thanksgiving feast on the Friday before Thanksgiving. I said I would help fill in with what ever was needed, can you guess what I ended up having to make? Yes, we made a 22 pound turkey and took it up to school, I stayed and helped serve as well as spend some time with Mallory. The kids all had a great time and were all loaded with sugar by the time they were done.

70's Day at School

Mallory's class won a party at school for good behavior and they all chose to have a 70's party. This was our third costume in three weeks! Mallory and I made the shirt she wore to school.

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT US!

For those of you that keep up with our blog I put 4 new posts on this evening. Happy reading!

80's Party

Well, talk about feeling old. Mallory was invited to a birthday party tonight and the theme was the 80's, I was in Middle School and High School in the 80's and I don't feel that old yet. We had a great time shopping and putting together a totally 80's outfit! She looked really cute and had so much fun. She kept asking over and over again if Aunt Lala and I dressed this way, and I had to admit that yes, we did crimp our hair, and yes we wore jellies, and parachute pants, and admit that yes we did to all of the other little things that made her giggle, and in return made me feel REALLY OLD. I even think she looks a little like Laura and I did WAYYYYYYYY back then.




Mick wasn't quite sure what to think... "Are you really my sister??"



Dots was even ready to pounce on the great big poofy hair!



Mallory and Maddy, the Birthday girl!

Election Day

From New Album 11/7/08 8:57 PM

On Tuesday Mallory's school held their own presidential election. I was lucky enough to be asked to help run the booth for one hour in the morning. I had such fun! The kids each had to register to vote the day before, they would come down as a class, have to give their Name to be crosses off the list and were then handed a ballot and got to go sit in a voting booth to cast their vote. Mallory's class had 20 vote for McCain out the the 24 students. Overall McCain won the school election by over 180 votes. It was a great way for her to start to learn about the voting process and what she has to look forward to some day.

Oh yes, can't leave out that Mallory wore her "Snoopy for President" shirt and Mick wore his "Charlie Brown for President" shirt. Mallory's class also made very cute election hats.

Maize Way Musical

New Album 11/7/08 8:45 PM

Monday night Mallory had her first music program of the year. The program had two classes each of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. They sang a variety of songs about a program that Maize has adopted called "The Maize Way", Commitment to Character. They have a variety of traits that they try and teach the children about such as respect, being a good friend, etc. Mallory won student of the week the first week of school for following the Maize Way. Another neat part of the program was that every child wore the same t-shirt. We had to each send a shirt and the school paid for the iron decal, they turned out very cute. Hope you enjoy the video of her singing "We're changing the world..." Hope you enjoy!

Fox Ridge Fall Festival

New Album 11/7/08 8:44 PM

On Sunday, Nov. 2nd our neighborhood had a Fall Festival/Halloween party. I signed up to be on the social committee so I was in charge of donations this time around. Well, with the way the economy is going I didn't have much luck. Our builder Leon Greaser was kind enough to donate $100.00, and I got Wendy's to donate 100 junior Frosty's. Mick slept through the costume parade but Mallory had a good time. She ended up spending the rest of her time helping Jessica make and hand out popcorn. I am always amazed at what she ends up enjoying! Chris and Mick showed up about an hour late but he still had some fun in the jump house, he had several parents laughing about how brave he was.

Happy Halloween

New Album 10/31/08 11:11 PM

Today was a busy day around our house. Mallory had a busy day at school with Halloween crafts, carmel apples, bingo, along with all of the other normal Friday activities like spelling and vocab test. I then went up to school around 2 for her Halloween party. We had a great turn out and a very packed classroom. We had cookies and cupcakes, a craft, and then a quick game all before heading home. Mick's day consisted of Tot's Day Inn and visiting the pumpkin patch he brought home his own little pumpkin. He also had a very cute pumpkin tattoo on his cheek. Chris picked him up for me and he then took a big nap. We trick-or-treated the whole neighborhood with the Shurts and then headed out east to visit Grandma, and Paws and Mary. The kids got to bed late and were both exhausted. It was a long, great fun day!

Have your volume turned up!

You can't see any of this video because it was too dark outside, but Mick kept taking his little lawn mower and running it into people at the pumpkin carving party and he was laughing so hard he could about fall over. I thought it was pretty cute!

Pumpkin carving party!

New Album 10/30/08 12:57 PM

Last night we had a few neighbors over for pizza and pumpkin carving. We all had a great time, Mick was on such a sugar high he didn't go to bed until 10! We ended up with some pretty cute and original pumpkins. James made a vomiting pumkin which was pretty cute after our week of throwing up last week!

Mallory mowing!

Here is a little video of Mallory having fun!

Basketball goal

From New Album 10/27/08 3:51 PM

For Chris's birthday we got him a basketball goal, little did I know how much prep work it would take to get the silly thing up and usable! Here are a couple pictures of Mallory helping him out. The hole had to be 42 inches deep. Chris was exhausted when he was done. Mallory also got to learn how to work the riding lawn mower, she did a great job and thought it was a lot of fun!

CITYARTS FIELD TRIP

New Album 10/27/08 3:49 PM

Last Tuesday, October 24th, I spent the entire day with Mallory's class at CityArts. We took 4 different classes while we were there, and of course lunch. During our first session we learned how to make clay out of bread crumbs and glue and a little paint to add some color. Each child got to make a little creature, flower, or what ever they wanted to be glued onto a piece of wood that looked like a pond with grass and trees. Mallory of course made a beautiful flower. The project turned out great at the end of the day. Our next session was making a piece of stained glass. Mallory again chose to make a flower. We had such a great time doing this I signed the two of us up for another class in November! Next we had lunch. For our third class the kids got a lesson is drawing portraits. One of the girls, Lilly, was chosen to be a model, they then had to do a quick 5 minute drawing. the teacher then went step by step through how to draw a head shot. Check out Mal's before and after, they really look great. Our last session was making a stamp. The kids were pretty tired by this point but she taught us about how to make motion and movement using stamps, this was Mallory's least favorite station but she still had fun. Overall it was a great day for both of us. Oh yeah, Chris took the day off and took care of Mick, from what I hear they had a great day together!

Keep away from the Madsen's !

I have several new posts to get caught up on once everyone gets to feeling better. Mick started throwing up last Monday and then threw up every other day until Saturday. Mallory started not feeling well on Friday and threw up Saturday. Lucky me I woke up Sunday morning feeling horrible, achy all over and after fighting it all day I finally got sick this evening. I pray Chris doesn't get it and we are all healthy soon!

Trip to KC

New Album 10/19/08 10:40 PM

This weekend Mallory didn't have school on Friday so we headed to Kansas City for a quick trip. Dad and Chris flew in to celebrate Grandma Billies 80th birthday. We stayed at the Westin along with Obama and the Tennessee Titan football team, and a marathon race starting outside of our room at 6:30am! Mick was the only one that was able to sleep in. Dad and Chris got Grandma a new flat screen TV and piece of furniture to set the TV on, Mick had fun playing with the boxes. Busy weekend again but had a great time.

Maize Fall Festival

New Album 10/19/08 10:35 PM

Last weekend Maize held their annual Fall Festival. Friday night we went to the carnival and had a great time. Saturday we attended the parade and came home with bags full of candy, and many election brochures. After that we went to the PTO sponsored games, a pony ride for Mick and all had a great time!

Tanganyika Wildlife Park

New Album 10/19/08 10:33 PM

On a Saturday a couple of weekends ago we decided to take the kids to a new wildlife park in the area. The park was very hands on, Mallory got to hold a brand for the Giraffes to come eat, we got to feed birds nectar, and get really up close with the Lemurs. Mick got a little hot and fell asleep with his new pet snake on the way home. Overall a fun outing with the family!

Video test

I hope this works, let me know if you can view it!!

Apple picking

New Album 9/25/08 10:56 PM

Mallory did not have school today due to parent teacher conferences so we went apple picking and ate lunch in Conway Springs. Our neighbors the Shurts invited us to go and boy did we have fun. Mallory picked almost 30 lbs. of apples and tonight we baked an apple pie. We haven't tasted it yet, we are waiting until dinner tomorrow night. Oh yeah, I actually got Mallory to take a bite of an apple and she liked it. I think that was the best part of my entire day, those of you that know her well know how often she tries new foods! Her conference went well, she is getting all O's which is 95% or above. It sounds like this is going to be a very busy year for us as far as school goes, luckily we love her teacher! Overall we had a wonderful day, spent a ton of time together outside and lots of playing with little Mick, I added a picture of him so you can see his nice boo boo on his face, although he still is just as handsome as ever.

My crazy little man!

Well for those of you that don't know Mick took a little spill last night that ended up with a visit to the ER. He was carrying around a tractor and tripped on another one he couldn't see on the floor... he ended up falling and hitting his head on the corner of our coffee table. I have never seen so much blood before, we looked like quite the trio arriving at the hospital, all three of us had blood on our shirts and arms. Luckily he was fine and did great while we were there. Also, huge thanks to the Shurts family for helping watch Mallory and bringing us milk and toys at the ER!!!

Check out this new post plus the 4 other new ones!

Mallory had her party with her friends tonight. They all met at our house and got to ride in a super cool limo to Kay Wiggins (a fun store in Wichita) for a Webkinz party. They each got to pick their own Webkinz and make a bracelet for themselves and a collar for their Webkinz. We then had the limo pick us back up and go for a one hour drive around town while enjoying pizza for dinner. Once we got back to our house we had cake and the girls all played for awhile and then they are attempting to go to sleep, we will see how that goes! Big thanks to Grandma, Jessica and Abbie for helping me chaperone.

Little Cheer

Friday night Mallory got to cheer with the big cheerleaders at the football game. Maize ended up losing but Mallory had a great time. Mick attended the game but didn't have near as much fun as Mal... he had to spend the whole time in his stroller.

Mallory's actual birthday, September 18th

Mallory started out the morning with opening presents and having a couple chocolate donuts before school. She was even lucky enough to have Superman attend breakfast with her. I took treats to school in the afternoon and the class got to sing to her. In the evening she had a cheer leading practice to attend so she could cheer with the big girls at the high school game on Friday. Needless to say she went to bed exhausted!

Mal's Birthday at Grandma Sue's house!

Mallory got to celebrate her birthday a couple of days early before Paws & Mary headed for Mayo clinic, she had a great evening and got a lot of nice gifts!

Crazy Mick

Mick had fun at dinner this night making his hair as dirty as possible.

Mick's photo session

New Album 8/19/08 12:46 PM

I took Mick to get his pictures taken this morning. I thought they turned out really cute! Let me know if you want any.

First day of school!

New Album 8/13/08 9:21 PM

Mallory is a big third grader this year, and after one day still very excited about her new teacher and friends. Here are a couple of pictures from school. Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT LALA!!!

Lucky Us!!!

New Album 8/7/08 11:03 PM

We ended up getting a nice surprise this week with another visit from Lala and Waltie! As usual we had great fun. Waltie loves Mallory so much, it's so cute he is always wanting her right next to him. The boys did pretty well together, we had a little rocky start the first day and then really they got along well the rest of the week. Walter is full of cute words right now and so fun to listen to and watch. Again, we will all miss his little voice saying bye bye, cheese... and all of his cute other words. We got to celebrate Laura's birthday a couple of days early as well. As for my family, this was Chris's first full week back at work. Mallory starts school on Wednesday, she is going to be a big third grader, my does time fly! Only five more days of summer, not sure where it all went.

Trip to Kansas City

New Album 7/23/08 11:31 PM

We just returned this afternoon from a 5 day visit to Kansas City. We spent our first night at Crown Center and had a great room and just enjoyed shopping and swimming. We went to spend the rest of our trip at Great Wolf Lodge which ended up not being such a great deal. On our first night there the smoke alarm went off in the bedroom Mick was sleeping in. We opened his door and there was a cloud of something in his room. I of course was worried to death he had been breathing something horrible all night. We ended up having to leave our room and move to another two floors below around 4:30am. Chris and I didn't get too much sleep making sure Mick was still breathing OK. No one could initially tell us what was wrong with the A/C or what he was breathing. This really made us realize how fast things can happen... me being the over protective Mom made Mallory go through how she would get out of her room and window tonight if needed! We spent the rest of our vacation at the water park swimming, Mallory playing Magic Quest and having fun at the arcade. Dad and Grandma Billie came to visit us and Dad swam with the kids. On Tuesday we went to Greg & Carol's for the evening and Paul & Maria joined us all for dinner. As usual Mallory had a blast picking sweet corn, black berries and anything else she could find. Chris is still fighting the same junk that has been going around and felt pretty bad yesterday and today. We now plan to spend our last three weekends before school starts relaxing!

Lala, Sebo, and Walties visit to Kansas

New Album 7/17/08 4:57 PM

We just had a great two weeks with Laura and Waltie here in Kansas. Sebo came for the 4th weekend and after sharing a little virus with us all went back home to work. The boys were so cute with one another, it is going to be so much fun to watch them grow up together. Once again, Waltie loved spending time with Mallory. We are a little short on pictures since Walter got sick and we tried to keep the boys apart and then Mick ended up getting sick anyway, poor boys! I already miss hearing any animal called a "doggie" and that sweet little "hi" and "bye bye", even Mal is still saying bye bye like Waltie.

Trip to Iowa

New Album 7/1/08 11:00 PM

We just returned today from spending 6 days in Iowa with Chris's family. Despite crazy cool weather we had a great time. Mick got to celebrate his 1st birthday again as well as go for his first tractor ride (not sure who enjoyed that more, Chris or Mick!) Mallory was wonderful, she was great with all of the little ones and kept them entertained. She enjoyed the water park but it was a little chilly. She also had a great time bottle feeding a calf at Chris's Uncle Brian's house. We got there Wed. night and the hotel staff woke us all up at 7am Thursday morning and sent us to the basement due to a tornado warning, I took a few pictures of the flooding around the Madsen farm. On our way home we stopped in Omaha to visit some of Chris's college friends the Chesnut's. They had two little girls and another baby on the way. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Mick's First B-Day!

Mick's first b-day!

Mick has had a great last couple of days. On his actual birthday we all had lunch at Doc Greens and then a great party at Grandma Sue's house. Friday we had a cookout and swimming party at our house for some of our close friends. Mick loved his little cakes and enjoyed everyone loving on him. He was exhausted tonight and very easy to put to sleep. It's very hard to believe he is 1!

Visit to Pittsburgh!

Pittsburgh trip

We went to visit Dad and Chris for a long weekend June 5-9. Laura, Sebo and Walter drove up as well. The kids were sure fun to watch together, Walter and Mallory sure enjoyed each other. We had crazy flights on the way home but other than that we have a great weekend!

Last day of school!

New Album 5/26/08 10:46 PM

This past week was Mallory's last week of school, her last day was on Wed. so we are officially into summer vacation. The weather here has been horrible, storms and bad weather the last five nights. Luckily the kids have slept through it every night, Mick even surprised us by sleeping in until 9:30 today! Here are a few pictures of Mal's last day of school and my birthday dinner with the family.

Mom's Birthday & Track & Field Day!

New Album 5/13/08 8:05 PM

Monday was Mom's Birthday and Mal's track and field day. It was at school from 9-11 and boy was it windy, she did great and everyone seemed to have a fun time. We then went to Mom's to celebrate her birthday. We had Redrock for dinner and the traditional cookie cake.

Mother's Day!

New Album 5/11/08 9:58 PM

I realized that I haven't posted anything on here for the last couple of weeks so here are some pictures and a brief description of a few of the things that have been keeping us busy! We opened our pool the last week in April and everyone has been enjoying it so far, although the wind this weekend did some damage. Seems like time is just flying by. Mallory has only 8 days of school left. We have had a field trip to the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Spring Party, Track and Field Day and Teacher Appreciation Week all in the last two weeks, plus we finally sold the house on Ridge Port!   I am head room Mom again so end up being in charge of all activities. We also let Mallory get a Ragdoll kitten, I will have to post a picture later, don't have any of Dot's on this computer. Paws and Mary flew home and meeting them at the airport ended up being really fun, they got upgraded to a huge plane with a bedroom and all, Mallory sure thought that was neat. We have made several attempts to take a picture of both kids together and have found it's about imposible! Today was such a fun day for me, I have celebrated 9 Mother's Day's with Mallory and this was my first with Mick. I am so lucky to have two wonderful children and amazed at how fast they grow up.  Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Busy week

Garage sale weekend

Last week seemed to fly by.  With Chris traveling, garage sale and Mallory not having school on Friday it seemed like we were busy every moment.  The garage sale went great, we ended up having it at our house with 3 other families, between everyone we brought in $2500, not to bad for a garage sale.  The kids are finally both healthy, lets hope it stays that way!  We had a beautiful day here yesterday, in the 70's with no wind.  We had a pizza party for the kids out back and then set up the water slide.  They all played from 10am and Mallory's last friend went home at 10pm.  We were all exhausted but had a great day.  Today we did some cleaning up outside, picked up our flowers for out front and back and anticipating our pool opening on May 9th, the kids can't wait.  Mallory only has 22 more days of school, I can't wait to have her back home everyday. Don't forget to click on the picture it will link you to an album with more.

Round two!

Well once again both children in our house are sick. I am so lucky to have two beautiful children but when they both get sick it's the pits! Mick started with a horrible cough last week that just wouldn't go away. He also developed a really bad case of diaper rash, took him to the Dr. and we were sent home with breathing treatments and they think the rash might be a form of strep that infants can get. All I hope is that Mick needing the breathing treatments doesn't turn into what all I went through with Mallory. Today, Mallory kept complaining of her ear hurting and I had noticed a slight rash on her cheeks. She asked to go to the Dr. which is very, very rare so I took her, we were sent home with more meds! She has an ear infection and they think she also has Fifth's Disease which is going around our school right now. We are also trying to have a garage sale this coming weekend and the garage if so full of stuff for me to price. Chris is traveling early this week to be home to help with the garage sale. We both escaped the kids first round of illness lets hope we can do it again this time!


Mr. Bubbles is our friend once again!


We have to be careful to grab the right bottle!


Our garage!

Invention Convention

Invention Convention

Mallory had to come up with an invention that would make her daily life easier.  Her idea was called "Pocket Holder"  it was made to put overflow items from her desk such as pencils and rulers.  All of the parents were allowed to go to school today to view that classes inventions.  Hope you enjoy the pictures of our afternoon at school. Make sure and click on the photo displayed and it will take you to the album, most photos are that way so don't miss out!

GO KU!

Everyone is finally healthy at our house!! We had about 25 neighbors over for a cookout and the game on Saturday night. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Still sick II...

Well... we made another trip to the Dr. office today just to make sure the kids didn't have strep (guess it's going around.) On a positive note neither of them have strep they both have a virus that has given them both as many as 100 canker sores in their throat as well as stomach flu symptoms and fever, yuck. I am very, very ready for them to both be feeling better. Mick hasn't slept through the night in over a week, boy have I quickly forgotten how enjoyable sleeping through the night is. Neither of us have gotten sick yet, still a few bets out there that Chris will get sick! Yesterday he was asking if he felt hot and wanting chicken noodle soup for dinner, he had me a little worried. Chris was able to stay home today and help me out with the Dr. apt and around the house before hitting the road again tomorrow. Hope everyone has a good Friday and weekend!

Strike two...

Well...I picked Mallory up from school and she was in a horrible mood this evening, turns out she had a fever at school (as well as having the worst day of her life...her exact words) and started throwing up this evening as well. I bought her the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie which starts out with the song "Had A Bad Day" Mallory commented that was the perfect song for her today. Anyone want to place bets on if Chris gets this lovely virus? Actually lets hope neither one of us comes down with what the kids have, right now it is taking both of us to keep up with diaper changes and grumpy kiddos. I am still armed with my awesome anti-nausea medicine from when I was pregnant with Mick, hope I don't have to use it. Well, off to bed, might be a short night and no school in the morning.

Still sick...

I was going to try and get some video of the kids to try and post but Mick is still under the weather and has been since Thursday. Poor kiddo doesn't want to eat and about all he seems to do is cry and sleep. So far no one else seems to have what Mick does, lets hope it stays that way. Mallory is in the process of coming up with an invention of her own. They have an Invention Convention next Friday at school where anyone can come and view the entire classes inventions, should be fun. Not too much else is going on, Chris is staying close to home until Mick gets to feeling better which I sure appreciate.

Easter

We had a great Easter egg hunt for Mallory at Grandma's this year, Mick isn't quite old enough yet, but watch out next year!

Easter

Spring Break

We took a family vacation to Palm Springs for spring break this year.  This was Mick's first time flying and both kids were great despite a 1:45am landing.  Thank goodness we had Grandma with us, she had the magic touch and put Mick to sleep.  We had a fabulous week and can't wait to go back!

Palm Springs