Enjoying the last days of Fall!!!

Madison, Grant and I enjoyed the last couple of days of fall by playing out in the yard.  Madison wanted to play in the leaves.  To bad the new house only has one tree for leaves to play in.  I think she remembers playing the in massive piles we had to rake at the old house!

Again.......that darn Rapunzel dress!!!

Happy boy!

Madison making leave angels.

Maddie and Grant playing "house".

My cute little monster!!

She's working really hard to get a bubble!!!

Madison is always a big help around the house.  She is very observant and actually catches on quick.  The weather was finally right for Mark to dig the trenches along the sides of the house.  Madison offered her digging skills to help Daddy.  She is the only princess I've seen with a shovel!!  Madison and Daddy "cheersing" their shovels.....if that's even a word!

What a hard working Rapunzel!!

Halloween Parade

Every year Edwardsville has a Halloween parade on Halloween. This year it wasn't to cold and we had a pretty perfect spot to see everything! We met up with the Purcells to enjoy the parade with them. I am beginning to wonder what we would do without them!!!

Maddie waiting on the parade to start. As you can see, she was pretty excited!!

The "men" and their "boys"!!!
Grantie excited about the parade as well!! And Daddy!!

Maddie watching the Disney float with all the princesses and Mickey and Minnie. She was in heaven!

Hot Mamma's and their kiddos!! The kids did so well during the whole parade.

Maddie's candy bag was pretty full. I think she is starting to get the hang of this parade thing!

Great way to end the busy weekend!!

And I finally let Maddie enjoy some of that candy!!

Trick-or-Treat

Trick-or-Treat night always falls on Madison's birthday here in Glen Carbon due to the big Halloween parade being on Halloween. So it is always fun for her to dress up for her birthday! Before we went trick-or-treating we had the Purcells' over to carve pumpkins. I think Jenna and I both appreiciated not being huge and pregnant this year!! It's crazy how time flys!

Jenna helped Maddie aka "Rapunzel" with her pumpkin decorating. Grant just wasn't having it being in the pack-n-play! So Mommy and Grant read directions while Maddie and Jenna decorated. Thanks Jenna for all your help!! We couldn't have done it without you......or at least it wouldn't have looked as nice!!!
Madison and her final product. Too cute. A princess pumpkin for the princess!

I really didn't get to take many pictures after that of the carving. Grant was hungry, so I feed him. We had trick-or-treaters starting to come, so I handed out candy. Then Madison saw their costumes and wanted hers on, so I got her dressed and ready. Then, I finally got to carve my pumpkin! I think I literally carved it in 5 minutes! Oh well, I think it turned out ok!!

Jenna and Bill's masterpieces!!

Mark, Madison, and my masterpieces.

Then trick-or-treating!!!!

Nolan and Madison all dressed up. Nolan was a very cute sack of taters!!

Dopey finally decided to join the group!!

My very cute men!!

Madison wanted me to be the queen and Mark to be the prince. As you can see, I was the only one who participated!!! It was pretty easy. I just put my costume on from last year. Mark's on the other hand would have required a little bit of work. I just finished Grant's costume that morning. Sorry Daddy, I just ran out of time!!

Snow White and her Dopey!!

Madison had her "poison" apple ate by the first stop.

Dopey looks thrilled!!

Still thrilled to have the costume on!!

Now the fun begins!!

As soon as we got home and took the costumes off, Grant was ready to wrestle with Daddy, and Madison puts back on her Rapunzel costume!! Granties happy to be half naked and Madison wants to be another princess!!

Grant loves to rough house already. He is defiantly all boy!!

It was a good way to end the night!!!

We had a great time carving pumpkins with Jenna, Bill, and Nolan!! We are defiantly starting some traditions. Our new neighborhood was great to trick-or-treat in as well. Everyone decorated their homes and walked the subdivision. I told Mark it was kinda like something out of a movie. It was also nice being able to walk to Uncle Patrick and Aunt Sarah's house to trick-or-treat. I think this house, neighbors, and sub division is going to be a keeper!!!

Princess Madison's 3rd Birthday!

I really can't believe my baby girl is 3 years old already! She is becoming such a little girl with new ideas and new found independence everyday. Madison is obsessed with Disney Princesses, so of course we had to have a princess party for our little princess! One of her favorite princesses is Snow White. But Madison's "n's" are "m's", so we had a "Smow" White birthday party!!! It was a small, low key party with family and a few friends. I feel like we have been working so hard on the house lately, that Madison's party kinda crept up on us. It was worth staying up till midnight, one o'clock every night for the past week to get ready for the party. It was definitely worth it when Madison told me thank you for her birthday party the next day at breakfast. Some days she just seems to amaze me!! My eyes watered just a little! I love you Maddie!! And you are worth it!!

Madison's awesome cake I had a friend make. Thanks Kristin!!

The three stooges!!
Brooks, Nolan, and Grant enjoying the party! The three boys are all within weeks of each other. Concentrating very hard.


Snow White enjoying playing in the bubbles.

Allie and Madison I'm sure up to no good!!

She makes a pretty sweet Snow White.....or "Smow" White!!

Didn't quite know how the "pin the crown on Snow White" game would go. Madison did pretty good and seemed to enjoy it.

I think Mark just liked spinning the kids around!!

Princess Snow White giving Princess Rapunzel a kiss. We love cousins!!

Pinata time!!! Toddler style......you just have to pull the strings to get the candy. Genius!!! No Dads getting hit in the wrong places here!!!

Yummy candy.

What a cute princess!!

This is the first year Madison really understood her birthday, the cake, the candles, and presents. It made it so much more fun!! And you could tell she was really soaking it all in!!

Make a wish!

Silly girls licking the icing off the candles.

Proud Mama and Papa!! Grant was sound asleep, the poor boy missed all the fun!!

More icing!!

Time to unwrap gifts. I'm glad she had Allie to help. We would have been unwrapping all evening!! Madison wanted to open every toy and play with it right then. She didn't care to open the next gift, she just wanted to play with her new dolls and toys!

Amazed by the first present unwrapped!

Grant got his big sis "Rapunzel" hair. Madison loved it!! She always walks around the house with a blanket wrapped around her waste saying it is her "Rapunzel" hair. Now she has the real deal!

Mark and I got her a Disney Princess bike with a baby carrier on the back. So far she loves it, but hasn't actually rode it yet. She has already equipped it with a baby in the back and a puppy in the front basket!! Where does she get this stuff? We hope she will get some good use out of it next spring.

Once again our Miss Madison wants for nothing!! She got dress up clothes, many princess dolls, movies, and much, much more. Thanks to everyone who spoils our child!!! She is a very lucky girl, and Mark and I are very lucky to have her!!!

Happy Birthday Princess Madison!!!

We love you very much!!

Mom, Dad, and Grantie