My little climbing monkeys.

Madeline idolizes her big brother, and part of that brings a few more bumps, bruises, and stunts than we had with Andrew.

She climbs behind the couch on the window ledge like he did, but you will also get the leg kicked up onto the bookshelf to bring up her little tuche over the back of the sofa and flipping onto her back, giggling all the way. (He was just over two before we really let him back there behind the couch, and a little older before he learned that move.

Now, both of them like to flip chairs up and sit on them like they are on top of 'mountains' as they are in this one just before bed in their pj's.

Watching the puppet show at the zoo!

Coffee break

Some mornings come sooner than others, and this one came a little sooner than expected!

We were all a little tired, and Andrew made it clear that he really wanted to have coffee this morning and his OWN coffee to boot! So I made up a milk cup and mixed in the coffee syrup that we have and boy did it make a little boy happy that he was able to have a BIG coffee that was ALL his own!

Big potty

Last night Andrew got out of bed well after he originally went in and said that he had to go potty. Momma and I have decided that it is as good a time as any to transition from the cassette little potty on over to the big potty so that it will make things easier moving forward.

We still give him the option of using the seat from the little potty, but want to make sure he is accustomed to normal sized toilets. He wanted NOTHING to do with that idea last night!

After much groaning, moaning, and a few little cajoling we finally decided that we had to go badly enough that the big potty would work.

Hopefully other nights are a little easier, it sure is easier to clean up that is for sure!

Sussex County fair August 1, 2009

We went to the fair on Saturday and had a lot of fun. Racing pigs, pony rides, feeding animals and lots of giggles and fun!

Andrew wanted to feed every animal in the whole petting zoo, but we decided that we could spend our hard earned quarters on some food for the horses and the goats. The rest of the animals can have some food when we come back! :)



Look Momma, he's hungry!

Momma and Madeline hangin out while we watched the puppet show.

Andrew just captivated by his first marrionette and puppet show (well, first professional one at least!)

Daddy had to make sure that his daughter could get a good view for the puppy show! Andrew was right in the front row watching as closely as he could.

Little helpers

We worked on building some cabinets and our desk for the office this weekend (before the water started coming into the basement through the wall, floor and garage!) and snapped a few pictures of our little helpers.

Andrew worked really hard through the day making sure that we had all of the parts and knew right where they should go. If you have never worked with a 3 year old handing or helping with a project that has roughly 7,000 parts, it is a real treat. :)

But I LOVED having him help, and I always enjoy teaching a thing or two along the way. Hopefully he will be more handy than I am, but I know that I can never match my engineer Father in the handy (or at least authoritative in his answers and ability to come up with a solution) area!


Andrew chose a new Viking set when we went to the toy store the other day and really has enjoyed playing with the shield and sword. The helmet is a little too small, and is hard plastic without any padding, so he has not been wearing that around. But he wanted to watch a show with his Viking sword and shield while in the new 'cave.' It was tough to convince him that I needed to relocate the cave once the base was built, but he did help me carry it in once he agreed to moving it. What a big helper!


Momma took this one and asked Andrew to show her what a mean Viking looks like! I can hear Erik the Red quaking in his boots while Andrew gave a grimace!

Come on Daddy, I have it all ready. Lets just use this tool to put it all together!

Madeline got in on the action as well, and while wasn't as big of a help as her older brother, she sure added a touch of cuteness while she would run around on all of the parts and pieces with her little curls flying! :)