Sunday, February 28, 2010

Maddie's Crazy Laugh

This past week, Maddie has developed a crazy laugh. Whenever she hears us laugh or whenever she's having a fun time, she forces laughter and she shakes because she's trying to laugh so hard. This makes me and Brandon laugh which creates a never ending circle of laughing. What a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

We have to secretly record her doing the funny things she does all day, because as soon as she sees the camera, she turns into Serious Maddie. Watch her immediately shut off the laughing as soon as she sees the camera. What a stinker.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Picture of the Day!

Fun picture of the day - Maddie wearing her dad's headset.

I kept telling Maddie to look at the camera and say "cookie" so she would smile, but she ignored me. I realized later she couldn't hear a word I was saying while she had the headset on. Silly Mommy! :)

Monday, February 15, 2010

2010 Valentine's Day Recap

Our Valentine's Day was filled with yummy treats and a fun family hike. Grandma Sandi sent "New Moon" conversation hearts and Grandma Milloy sent kids music CDs that Brandon loved when he was young. Thanks for all the fun Valentine's Day surprises in our mailbox!
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In keeping with family traditions, Maddie and I made heart shaped sugar cookies. She got really good at punching out little hearts, until she realized how tasty the dough was. Notice the hand prints where she grabbed handfuls of dough while I was turned around. And she looks so innocent. We also made a heart shaped cake. It turned out a little larger than expected and settled a bit before I took the picture, but we shared it with our good friends the May family up the street. It's always good to share the love, especially when it comes in the form of a cake.For our Valentine's Day breakfast, we celebrated with heart shaped pancakes, strawberries, and whipped cream. Yum!After we ate our lovely breakfast, we decided it was so beautiful outside, it would be a crime to not enjoy it. We went on a family hike near our home. Maddie was a good little hiker. She stayed on the path for the most part, unless there was a cactus or some other dangerous thing she was drawn to. She wore her little legs out and had a good nap before church started later that afternoon. If there is an airplane within 100 miles, Maddie will point it out. Guaranteed.We hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day - we love you all!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Valentines Package from Grandma Eatough!

We found a wonderful surprise in our mailbox today ... a Valentine's Day package from Grandma Eatough! My mom sent a sign with Maddie's name on it for her door. It is so adorable. Maddie is in love with it, she wanted to wear it like a necklace. We all enjoyed the Valentine's Day cookies. So yummy! Thanks Mom! Happy Valentine's Day!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Parker Desert Races & Snowboarding

Our little family had a very busy weekend! We were at the very west edge of Arizona for the Parker races on Saturday morning. Then, Monday morning, we were at the very eastern edge of Arizona for snowboarding at Sunrise in the White Mountains.
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It has become a Milloy family tradition to drive to the Parker "Best in the Desert" races. They start at 7am in Parker, so we wake up between 2-3am so we can be there when the race starts. The drivers race trophy trucks, sand cars, jeeps, and all kinds of other vehicles. Maddie was a little trooper. She was so excited about the race cars. Everytime they raced by, she would stare open mouthed and say, "Whoa!" I don't know why I didn't get video of it. It was hysterical. It started raining on us mid morning, so we went to eat breakfast. Brandon took us to Crossroads where he used to eat all the time while he was laying over in Parker. The food and service were excellent- we may include this restaurant in our Parker tradition. Maddie had a fun time stacking creamers, butter, and syrup containers. We were all impressed by her engineering skills. Maybe she'll be an architect.
Maddie and Daddy exploring the desert.Maddie being her tomboy, adventurous self. She loves dirt and rocks, so the wide open desert was full of fun for her.On Sunday, we had a house full of people over for the Super Bowl. Brandon and I are self-admitted fair weather fans. We don't watch sports unless our friends are over. Then, we root for the popular team and act like we know what's going on.
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Monday was snowboarding day. Laura came over and watched Maddie all day for us so we could have a little get away. Although we missed our love bug, we had a blast! We left the house at 6:30am and headed east. The drive is beautiful and reminds me that most of Arizona is forest and mountains. I always forget because we live in the typical Arizona valley of the sun. We are very lucky that we only have to drive an hour to get to snow.As the sun came up, we found the snow. Snow makes everything so beautiful and clean.Doesn't this look like a postcard? This was in the middle of nowhere. We found wild horses grazing in a winter wonderland.Sunrise Ski Resort
This is the rental shop where we rented my boots and board. They've carved out walkways to the doors so people can get through. I am so glad I don't live in the snow.Going snowboarding on a Monday was the best idea ever. There were 5 other cars in the parking lot and we had one side of the mountain to ourselves. It was so peaceful and quiet! It also took a lot of stress off me since I am awful at snowboarding and spend more time falling off the lift and on my butt in the snow instead of snowboarding. Brandon and I borrowed snowboarding clothes from friends and ended up being camo buddies. Yay! We never lost each other! :) Brandon was so patient with his uncoordinated wife. He would snowboard aways down the hill and then sit in the snow and watch me fall my way down. I was tired, frustrated, and irritated and he kept brushing the snow off me and helping me back up. Over and over again, I told him to just go and I would make it down. He wouldn't leave. It was kind of embarrasing, but comforting to know if I got stuck in a snow drift, Brandon would come save me. I love my Brandon. And I love our matching camo jackets. Derrick and Rachel came with us and had lots of fun too. Don't they look like they're straight out of a snowboarding magazine? So cute.
More beautiful scenic pictures from the ski lift.
Yes, that says 24 degrees outside.
We survived! A little sunburned and a lot sore, but we survived!
Maddie in her dad's snowboarding boots.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Maddie Picasso

Maddie got some fun paints from the Pope family in Las Vegas for Christmas and Aunt Laura was brave enough to break them out. Maddie LOVED it and had so much fun. She is very into drawing right now, so painting was tons of fun with her.
Somehow, more paint ended up on Maddie's hands than the paper. Hmmm.... it's a mystery.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Maddie's Chairs

Here is how Maddie spends a lot of her day... dancing. If you look in the background, you can see her little pink armchair with white polka dots. Lovey Bear is sitting in her chair in a basket. Sidenote - Maddie LOVES baskets. This basket is her Easter basket from last year and carries lots of things during the day... Cheez-Its, her sippy cup, toys, Lovey Bear, raisins, etc. Whenever she leaves to go to another room, she makes sure to gather all of her belongings, put them in her basket, and take the basket with her.

Just hanging out in her PJ's in her other chair...

This is Maddie's newest and most favorite chair. Her dad found it on Craigslist and refurbished it with super cute feet. It even has a little matching footrest. Somehow, she knew this little chair was for her and she sat right down in it and made herself at home. Thanks for being so handy Dad!