Apple Tree

We have a lovely apple tree on our toddler playground. Maddy came to visit her classroom today and meet Mr. Joe and when she was done, she played on our playground. She climbed the apple tree after she ate an apple, of course!

Look carefully and you will see my little monkey sitting in a tree...

"Mississippi Queen"

**Read the previous post "Burning Up" before you read this...

So we heard Maddy singing "Mississippi queen/you taught me everything/" this afternoon. Kevin pulled it up on http://www.youtube.com/. As soon as Maddy heard the beginning guitar chords, she started headbanging and dropped to the ground playing air guitar! I have never seen anything so funny in my whole life... Honestly, I almost peed my pants. I cannot even begin to describe it so here are a few photos for you to enjoy!

As you can see, Elly enjoyed it, too!

I will be praying for this child all night long... :)

"Burning Up"

One night at dinner last week, Maddy started singing a song. And not just any song. The words were... Cuz I'm burning up/ Burning up/ For you baby/ Walk in the room/ All I can see is you/ She was sitting next to me & I almost choked! This from my sweet little girl who likes to sing songs like this... Get up, Get up! / Get up and tell the world! / Get up, Get up! / Some people haven't heard! / That Jesus paid the price! / So we could have eternal life!/ I asked her to repeat the song she was singing for daddy. We talked about where she had heard that song. (At summer camp, the older girls were practicing for a "show" to put on the last day. She was chosen to be a background dancer. Heaven help us!) We talked about how we are not going to sing those types of songs in our home because they are inappropriate. Later on, I googled "Burning Up." Turns out it is a Jonas Brothers song (oh, great!) and thank goodness, all she remembered was that little bit. Google it for yourself and see the rest of the lyrics. We are really in trouble... ***Update~It turns out that Maddy also likes Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape" and she also picked up "Mississippi Queen" from the Rock Band video game during Techno at summer camp. Google "Mississippi Queen"...W.A.S.P. (?) sings it. Oh my!

Haircuts

The Wade girls got haircuts yesterday...

Maddy really wants a "pixie" cut...I keep telling her it would take a LONG time to grow out. This cut is the shortest she has ever had...

The photo above tells a lot about our girls...Maddy trying to set a good example by smiling (even though she was tired of photos & Elly being Elly. :) They exasperate me but I do love them. :)

Mud Pit

Today was Maddy's last day at summer camp. She was so excited because on your last day you get to jump in the pool and swim with your clothes on. She also spent a good amount of time in the mud pit. Sounds like a great way to spend the day, don't you think?The big pile of dirt on the left had a "slide" going from the top down into the muddy water. Allen (the camp director) had a hose and was hosing them down as they slid down the "slide."

Maddy swam first (which is why her clothes were wet) and then just walked in the mud. They used the outdoor showers when they were done and Maddy took extra clothes to come home in. Other children got really muddy...check out the little girl sitting in the mud to the left of Maddy...

Maddy will miss her friends at summer camp... ...but she is excited for first grade!

Bumblebee

Kevin and I have a little visitor who arrives every night sometime between 11:30pm and 6am. She got spooked the 3rd week of May and thought there were ladybugs in her bed. Elly does NOT like ladybugs. That was the week she discovered she could get out of her crib. The following week it stormed every night. I am not joking...every single night there was thunder and lightning. Elly does NOT like thunder and lightning. So she discovered she could climb out of her bed and come into ours. I was returning to work during that time and she was starting at a new sitter's, so we decided to not fight with her. We are now more than ready for her to be sleeping through the night and made her a bedtime reward chart. Starting small...we made her chart with 4 squares representing 4 nights and if she stayed in her bed until the sun came up (which is around 6am) then she got a sticker. Once she had 4 stickers, she would get a small reward. She chose this crazy bumblebee from Micheal's. So, if you look carefully, you will see a little bumblebee sticker on her chart.It only took her 7 nights to get all 4 squares filled on her chart. Look how proud she is of herself...

She was so excited to get her bumblebee...(I am not kidding...she really wanted a bumblebee).

Her next chart will have 7 squares...

***UPDATE~It stormed last night! Elly came into our room about 4:20am & got all snuggled in. Things were going well until lightning hit so close to our house it set off our smoke alarms! It was so loud and so close, I even jumped. Poor Elly hid her face in my pillow for almost 20 minutes. Maddy, on the other hand, did not even wake up. Elly was telling her about the smoke alarms this morning and Maddy replied, "What storms?" We always joke that Maddy could sleep through a hurricane. How different our 2 little girls are...

A Night at the Fair...

We took the girls to the fair last week. It had rained all day but the evening was dry and cool. We bought the girls bracelets to ride all the rides they wanted and they had a blast!

Thanks, daddy, for making sure the girls were buckled in safely!

Look at those happy faces! Riding the motorcycles...Uncle Randy would be so proud! (We love you, uncle Randy! We are praying that you come home soon so we can come see you! We told Grandma Vicki that we want to have dinner with you!) What fun!

Maddy was excited to see her friend Donna from church at the fair. They went down the GIGANTIC slide and rode the scrambler 4 times! Don't you love those little faces? Mommy took Elly on the GIGANTIC slide (it can't be that bad, right?) Do you see me holding onto Elly for dear life? Oh, my! You won't find me doing that EVER again! Elly loved it, though, and even talked daddy into taking her! Kevin and Maddy went on the ferris wheel. Maddy called it her "daddy-daughter date" all week. It was the highlight of her night! Don't tell Maddy but Kevin hates the ferris wheel. It really does make him nervous but he always takes her on it. What a good daddy!

The costume story

We leave for school at 8:45am. Last Thursday at 8:15am, Maddy says, "Mom, when is Thursday?" I answer that today is Thursday. She says, "Today we are supposed to wear costumes to summer camp. I can wear whatever I want." I tell her it is hard to throw together a costume at the last minute (especially when I was not even ready for the day yet!) Panic mode sets in and we run upstairs to figure out what to wear. She reminds me of the ladybug costumes...

That costume did not thrill Maddy though... She reminds me of the Dorothy costume... I remind her it rained and will rain all day. The Dorothy costume will get ruined. So... ...I did what any mom who will be late for work if we don't get a move on and hand her gym shorts, a t-shirt, and we put her hair in a pony. She grabs her soccer ball and off we go!

When we get to summer camp we find out the children were supposed to wear a MEDIEVAL costume! Well, she was the only soccer player among a camp full of knights, ladies, and jesters! Oh, well!

Swimming

This is Maddy's last week at summer camp. Next week she is on vacation. She starts first grade the day after Labor Day. I wanted to post some pictures of the girls swimming...

Maddy and her friends were taking turns going under the water. Check out Maddy's big smiles!

That is Maddy underwater... Did you notice that big green bucket behind Maddy in that picture below... There it is! Here are some of Elly...I had to be sneaky about photographing her. I was shooting behind 2 fences with my camera zoomed in as far as it would go. Elly told me that she likes to throw the pool toys in the water and practice going under to get them off the bottom of the pool! What a big girl! And this from the girl who cries when we pour water on her head in the bath to rinse her hair...

Enjoy the last days of summer...

Birthday Celebrations

Elly got to make her very own birthday cake at school today... She chose two friends to help her...Marley... And Ryan... (the sweetest thing about these pictures is that the summer I was pregnant with Elly, I worked with Marley and Ryan in the toddler room. They would rub my belly and ask about her. I find it so sweet that they will be kindergarteners this year and are "looking" out for her. It makes me smile!) Spreading out the cake batter...Washing the dishes... Later in the day, Maddy and I attended her birthday party... Here is a photo of Elly laying out the seasons work...

Here is Elly with Ms. Ann lighting the sun candle... Elly held the colored globe and walked around the sun candle 3 times representing the number of times she has traveled the sun. Walking around the globe...skipping really! :) Offering cake to Sydney (who will be in Maddy's lower elementary class in the fall) Watching Ms. Ann light 3 candles on her cake... ...and blowing out those 3 candles! Eating her cake! Elly had a lesson extinguishing the sun candle when the party was over. Thanks for having us at your birthday party, Elly. We were so proud of you and mommy enjoyed your smile!