Our newest family members...

at least for the next few weeks. A Wren (state bird of SC) and her 3 new babies. She built a nest on our upper front porch and by the time we noticed it she had already laid her eggs so we could not get rid of it, then Friday they hatched and we got our first glimse of the three babies this past Saturday morning. Madison has so enjoyed seeing the babies and watching them from the window. We are a little afraid the momma bird might come after us so we are just watching them from the window and taking pictures from the window. Although we are enjoying seeing the babies grow, we do hope it does not take to long for them to fly away since they are getting a bit messy and we are trying to sell our house.

Jam Packed June

After preschool graduation, Madison has had an activity every day of the month and has loved every minute of it.

We started out the first to weeks of the month with swimming lessons. We went to the swim lesson company at the gym where Madison takes gymnastics and cheerleading and these were the greatest lessons I have seen. Madison had so much fun in the pool and hardly knew she was learning to swim. They swim coach starts out by throwing pretend food to the other side of the pool and the two girls had to swim out to do the grocery shopping and bring it back and put it in the basket. They had a dolphin puppet "danny" and he got both girls to put their face in the water. They pretended they were super girls and all this to get them to practice their kicks, floats, water safety and putting their face in the water. By the end of the two weeks Madison, who was at first horrified of being in the water by herself, would get upset with coach Miranda if she tried to help her. She wanted to swim all by herself (and I have video proof). I could not believe what I was seeing.

Then Madison went to cheerleading and tumbling camp. She had so much fun that she was a little upset that I was there to pick her up after only a half day. So the second day, she started with the full day cheerleading camp. She had so much fun and on the last day they had a recitial. Madison was all dolled up in glitter and makeup and did two cheers and a dance routine. She did really well. But she wanted to take the makeup off so fast I could not get a picture of her.

We finished up the month with a week at VBS Outrigger Island. Madison had such a great time. She loved all the music they had for this years theme. She wants to find another church to go to so she can go all over again. But I think one will be enough. This was her first year to be with all the big kids and get to rotate to different activities. Even though she was with her age group the whole time she liked seeing all the big kids and feeling like she was one of them.

Speech Therapy

Well I just finished the book, I mean paperwork, that the Speech and Language Center sent me to fill out to get Jack an appointment. He is not talking much, so his Dr at his two yr check up decided it would be best to send us to speech therpy for an evaluation. The center wanted to know everything about me from the time I got pregnant until the time I gave birth then then they wanted to know everything about Jack from the time he was born until now. I can't even remember what happened yesterday, let alone what happened when I was in a drug induced state ... aka...labor and delivery. Thank goodness for this blog and the little bit of scrapbooking I did, I had to do a little research on my child to find out exactly when some of his milestones occured. The paperwork goes out tommorrow and hopefull my sweet little boy will start talking a lot more soon.

The Reed Family Reunion

This past Saturday, we went to the Reed Family Reunion at the Reed Gold Mine. Madison had so much fun playing with her cousin. They are more like twins than cousins. They are so excited to see each other, they hug and then just play and have the best time together. I also had a good time seeing family that I know as well as those I did not know or have not seen for years and years.

We had a beautiful day to spend at the gold mine, where we learned some family history , took a tour of the mine, pan for gold and end with a family picnic. The Reed Gold Mine is the first documented gold fine in the whole US. It is a NC historic site and a fun place to visit....(see Reed Gold Mine under links).

Jack and Madison in front of an iron ore cart.

cousins : Wyatt, Jack, Madison and Madison

Uncle Terry showing Jack somekind of machine that helped get gold.

Madison and Madison 50 ft underground in a gold mine shaft.

Madison getting to ring the bell that miners would ring if they needed help.

This past Saturday, we went to the Reed Family Reunion at the Reed Gold Mine. Madison had so much fun playing with her cousin. They are more like twins than cousins. They are so excited to see each other, they hug and then just play and have the best time together. I also had a good time seeing family that I know as well as those I did not know or have not seen for years and years.

We had a beautiful day to spend at the gold mine, where we learned some family history , took a tour of the mine, pan for gold and end with a family picnic. The Reed Gold Mine is the first documented gold fine in the whole US. It is a NC historic site and a fun place to visit....(see Reed Gold Mine under links).

Story Book Parade

Yesterday, Madison's school had a story book parade. All the 3 and 4 yr old classes dressed up as their favorite story book character and paraded up and down Main St. All the families and friends lined up on the sidewalk and cheered for all the kids. It was alot of fun and they all had a great time.



You should have seen all the flashes from the cameras. It was
like the paparazzi had spotted a movie star.

The Big Party

group shot with bears


silly face group shot with bears


time for cake


Madison and Sophie


Sophie, Madison and Mary Grace ready to ride



Madison and Kaitlyn getting ready to stuff their bears.




Dominic, Claire, Madison, Kaitlyn and Mary Grace waiting to pick out bear clothes




Jack patiently waiting and watching all the action.







Saturday, Madison and 11 of her friends went to Build-A-Bear Workshop for her 5th birthday party. They all had so much fun building their bears together. They played games and sang songs while building their bears with their bear leader, Britney, who did a great job. Then we headed up to the food court for chick fil la, cake and a ride on the carousal. Madison had a great time at her big party.

Happy 5th Birthday Madison

Madison with her brand new barbie doll.



Today is Madison's 5th birthday. She is growing up so fast and has become just a beautiful sweet little girl. We started the day with her favorite breakfast of pancakes and she opened one of her presents this morning. She is going to have a party at school tommorrow and her big birthday party will be this Saturday.

Happy Easter/Happy Birthday Granddad Weekend

Jack and Madison Easter morning with the basket of goodies the Easter bunny left them.


Nothing like an Easter egg hunt in 30 degree weather.


Madison and Jack with Aunt Ginger, trying to keep warm while the eggs are hidden again.

On Easter morning we headed up to the mountains to spend a few days with Nana and Granddad. We were celebrated Easter and Granddads birthday. We had a great time with birthday parties, easter egg hunts and spending time with all our family.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

This is a recipe I recently found and it is very good. Also, can prepare and freeze for another day.

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 carton of creamed cheese with onion and chives
1 tablespoon butter, cupped
salt to taste
6 bacon strips

Flatten chicken to 1/2 thickness (or like me, buy a pack that is already flatten) Spread 3 tsp cream cheese over each.

Dot with butter and sprinkle with salt. roll up and wrap each piece with a bacon strip. place seam side down in a baking pan. Bake uncovered at 400 for about 35 - 40 minutes or until juices run clear. Broil 6 " from heat for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

Bunny Time

I took Madison and Jack to see the Easter Bunny this past Saturday morning. Madison was so excited and had been talking about getting her picture taken with him for days, but when we got there she was scared to get near him and all she could do was wave. So we shopped, talked and thought about the picture with the Easter bunny for an hour or so and she decided she did want to get her picture taken with him. So we went back to see him and she was still a little scared to get near him, but finally did and this is the picture we got. Jack on the other hand would not have anything to do with him, would not even look at him, let alone have his picture taken with him. We'll try again next year.

Better Late Than Never

I don't know how Madison did it, but she managed to get Jack to put on his Monkey costume I bought him at Halloween. He laid perfectly still while she zipped it up and then smiled. When I tried to put it on him at Halloween (to go with Madison's Dora costume) he would not have it. He screamed the whole time, so he went as himself to the Fall Festival at Church.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jack

I know, what a sorry looking cake, but you should of seen
it before this "fix"



this is the tee to Jack's new tee ball set. He almost broke the
glass on the fireplace with a very hard swing, but Madison's face saved the glass.
Luckily she had no bruise the next day.


Jack got lots of gifts and his sister helped him open them all.

Hard to believe it has already been two years, but Jack had his birthday yesterday. Our family came down and we had a great lunch (Jack slept thru that part), but wote just in time for cake, ice cream and presents. He got lots of presents and lots of attention.

Weekend with Nana and Granddad

This past weekend we headed up to the mountains to visit my parents and drop Madison off to spend a couple of nights by herself with Nana and Granddad. She had so much fun and is still talking about her weekend. It had snowed during the week before we got there but there was still lots of snow around for Madison to play in. She has been wanting to see snow for several months now, so she finally got her chance.

The Big Show at The Little Gym

This week was Madison's last class at the Little Gym for this semester. The had their big show and each girl in the class got to invite family and friends come watch them do a tumble routine, uneven bar routine and balance beam routine ( I use the word routine lightly as these are 4 yr old girls). The all did great and were very entertaining. I took a few pictures but mostly used the video recorder for this event. She also got a medal at the end of the show.

Christmas Portraits

Christmas Pictures

Madison loves her new Kitchen




Jack loves the new hiding place the kitchen provides. Also, notice all the plastic food on top of the kitchen. Jack loves to stand at the top of the stairs and throw each piece down into the foyer.








We had a great Christmas. Everyone came to my house and we had a great time together. Madison and Jack had so much fun with all the attention. Jack found his stocking first thing and there was a small box of gold fish so once he got them opened and had a snack he was able to sit back and watch his presents being opened. After all the excitement was over he went around to check out all he got.





I took lots of pictures, but I don't know if it is me or my new camera that is making the pictures look so fuzzy (probably me).

My Heavenly Cherub

Madison and the rest of the 4 yr olds at her school had their Christmas program last night. They all did a great job and looked so cute. She was a cherub in the Heavenly Choir. Be warned, I was by myself with Jack, who had not had a nap, so I was only able to tape the song with my little digital camera from the balcony.

Before you watch, please note, I have had a talk with Madison about how to scoot back into a chair when you have a skirt on.

Well I thought I had finished my Christmas Shopping

then I had to take Madison and Jack to see Santa. Madison asked for things that I had not heard of before so now I feel like I have to at least buy one thing that she asked Santa for. So looks like she will be getting some kind of Dora Mermaid doll after all.

As for Jack, he was to scared to get on Santa's lap and just cried when I tried to get him near Santa ( that's why only Madison is in the pic w/ Santa). At least he is the age where I can still take him with me to get his Christmas presents. I let him play with the toys in the buggy and if he likes it I buy it then wrap it up for Christmas.

Great alternative to Pumpkin Pie

I had this Pumpkin Crunch cake at a party I went to when I first moved to Texas. A local restaurant was serving it and a friend got it straight from the chef. It is so good. Even those that don't like pumpkin pie (like me) will be asking for the recipe.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

4 eggs

2 cups of sugar

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning

1 yellow cake mix

1 cup of pecan pieces

1 1/2 sticks butter

Combine first 6 ingredients. Pour into 9 x 13 greased baking dish. Sprinkle with dry yellow cake mix. Top with pecans. Drop pats of butter over top of nuts. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Center should still jiggle when removed from oven. Top with whipped topping and can sprinkle with a little cinnamon if you like.

Back at the Gym

Madison on the mat with Ms Katherine getting ready to do a back flip.


Madison has been back in Gymnastics for a few weeks now and could not be happier. She loves her teacher, Ms Katherine and has a great time with all the other girls.