Abby's 3rd Birthday Party

We celebrated Abby's 3rd birthday this past weekend at the base bowling alley with 9 of her close friends!

All of the kids had a lot of fun, and for most it was their first bowling experience, and they LOVED it.

Abby loved it too, but I think I was more exhausted at the end of the day.....somehow she still had energy left over! We didn't do a party last year for #2, so I guess I compensated! It was a lot of fun! 

 The setup! The theme was "Curious George"! Abby and Maddy both love watching the show!

 The BIG 3 year old arriving to see the party!

 I wised up and brought the pack-n-play with me to the bowling alley....not your average bowling accessory, but it worked to keep the 3 little ones that were there happy and contained, including Maddy! We gave them toys, drinks & snacks and they did great!

 Pizza time!

 About half way through the party the kids were kids, and started running in circles! They loved falling down!

 Abby's first "roll" of the day! Surprisingly the kids did GREAT taking turns and no one argued!

 And there it goes.....

 THE CAKE!! Curious George of course! The kids got individual Curious George topped cupcakes! The adults ate the big cake!

 Big girl! She blew out all 3 candles!

 Grandma Smith & Madelyn! She helped keep her happy while we were busy entertaining!

 Abby showing off the monkey ring that topped each cupcake!

Maddy figured out she LOVES birthday cake! I think she gained a few pounds!!

Happy Girls!

 I caught them watching tv just like this! They are soooo related, even from behind!

 Practicing smiling.......more practice needed as you can see.

And then there is Maddy......our little mountain climber, she will be our more challenging child. She tries EVERYTHING dangerous. She got stuck on the picnic table in the toy room and was yelling for me because she knew she was stuck. How is it she can climb so well but not walk....

The NEW dining room!

Here is the final version of our new dining room! Mike did A LOT of work on it. He had to add texture to the wall above the chair rail, then paint the trim/crown molding and chair rail, paint the top walls, and then the merlot bottom walls! And voila! Another room complete!!

Here is what it looked like before, when we moved in with the green wallpaper. YUCK!

Our cute Halloween Cat!!!!

And you can see her two bottom teeth poking out! That is still all the teeth she has....but she eats more than her sister most days!

Madelyn Nicole!!!!!!!!

 Maddy is our climber these days. There is NO keeping her off of the fireplace, and today she has discovered the side table........and of course she got stuck.....so I got the camera! Then she got out all by herself.....I bet she will do it again too! Go figure! Luckily the fireplace is low....she's toppled off a few times with no major blows, she is a goof ball!

Amy's Visit

Aunt Amy came to visit this past weekend. We haven't seen her in 6 months, so it was well overdue!

The girls had a great time with her, and it was very fun to have her around to help!

 At the mall play place....Abby was goofy and camera shy and Maddy was hungry and not wanting to cooperate; can't you tell!

 Sitting solo......"there you are mom"

 At the Jumping Monkey!! Maddy has so much fun there now.....and she is still free for another month! Yikes, then I have to pay for 2 kids....I might need to start selling more toys :)

 Saturday we took the kids to Norfolk for the annual Kids Festival! There was so much to do it was a bit overwhelming. Not to mention kids everywhere! Its fun to watch her enjoy it! We found plenty to do!

 Aunt Amy showed her the bees in the box (real....buzzing around!)

 She got to decorate her own mini cupcake! (not great at smiling with her eyes open for some reason these days.....)

 The "Princess Dress Up" area.....of course her favorite by far!!! You got to dress up, choose a crown, makeup, etc, even paint your nails! Aunt Amy did it all for her. And surprisingly, she didn't fuss once when we told her she had to take it off and put it all back! She got to keep the painted nails of course! (Amy painted her toes that night too!) Next time she comes, maybe she will take Abby for her first mani-pedi!

  All dressed up!

 Maddy relaxing in the stroller the entire festival! Good girl!

 Abby's "jean hat" from the festival. They took black jean pants, and turned the legs into hats! They were stretch jeans so they are nice and snug! Not surprisingly at all, it fit Maddy equally as snug.....that kid is getting so big so fast!

Mini Computer Geek in the making....

Maddy is fascinated with the computer! I caught her in the toy room the other day and this is what she was doing.....hand on the mouse and ALL! Maybe we can get her to pay the bills now!

Computer Time!

Mike hooked up our old desktoop computer downstairs for Abby to practice on this week(with parental controls of course, and restricted hours of use) It has been up for 2 days, and already she is LOVING it! She is mastering the mouse with the clicking, and she is doing great following directions on all of her preschool games online.

Today she actually told me to "go away mom" when I turned it on.....she didn't want me watching her play, until she needed help of course! She is trying more and more to be independent.

Her biggest battle.......MADDY!!!! The computer is very enticing to an almost 1 year old....so occasionally it creates a fight, but Abby is learning to call me over to help with her little "pesty" sister who just wants to pull the mouse off the table and clang on the keyboard!

Caterpillar Girl

Pulled this out of the closet today! I almost forgot we had it, and at Maddy's growth rate, she would have been past it in just a few months. And as expected, Abby loves it too! She has no clue it used to be hers!!

Mmmmm....Sausage & Garlic bread!

 Maddy has a pretty good palette for eating! The other night she devoured sausage with spaghetti sauce and garlic bread like it was going out of style! Then she had leftovers the next day too! Good thing it was bath night when this was over.....she was a bit stained!

Big Ooops!

Hmmmm.....I wonder.....who stole the cracker box off the counter when daddy wasn't looking and proceeded to pour it ALL out???? Abigail!!!!!! I'm sure she wanted just a bowl full......not the case in the end!

Little Ooops!

 Maddy figured out that the snack-trap doesn't work right.....but if you shake it a lot, they all eventually come out (especially when mommy isn't looking!!!!) **Good thing we have a dog!!!

Tasty water!!!

Maddy is starting to find new things during bath time. Tonight she discovered drinking from the spout, and she did pretty good, and thought she was pretty funny too! Of course Abby had to chime in and give it a try! 

Maddy Plays Music

Maddy does a LOT of imitating these days! And now she figured out big sisters musical instruments!!

My Open House

 I had my first FALL OPEN HOUSE at my home, this past week and it was a huge success!

We have a great special going on in Sept, that when you spend $50 towards a group order, you receive a $10 FREE product voucher to use in October! Almost all of my guests took advantage of it! Here are a few photos of my setup!

If there are any gift giving needs in your future, just call! Great gifts for newborns thru age 9/10! And the majority are under $25 for educational products that kids love. And there is always a customer special each month.

OCTOBER CUSTOMER SPECIAL: Spend $55 towards a group order in October and choose a FREE book from the age group of your choice (Infant, Toddler, Preschool, School Age)

 Above: Preschool Display

Below: Infant/Toddler Display

Playtime-Discovery Toys

The girls love my "Castle Marbleworks" Discovery Toys product. This is a cute video I caught of Maddy playing with it, which she does daily now! She just sits in front of it and drops the balls in at her level as they fall out the drawbridge at the bottom. GREAT gift for a 1 year old birthday present or any child between the age of 1-4. The girls play very nicely together with it. So it works well for siblings!!

Maddy Explores

 Little miss climber! She scaled the fireplace for the first time, and I found her like this. I have yet to see her crawl up there, but twice she's been caught.

 Loves to push her dolly stroller (this was Abby's at this age! Her cousin Sheila got it for her back then)

Oh and the kitchen. One of Maddy's new favorite discoveries. Now I have double trouble to clean up after. At least Abby actually plays with the kitchen with a purpose, Maddy just loves to throw it all on the floor.