Summer Reading

The Madster had her Mommy and Me Book Club meeting again last night. She dressed up like the character "Frankly Frannie." I think she looks very "grown up" and "professional", don't you?  :o)   She loved the book and loved the meeting. 

California Lovin'

Newport is a happy place. We got to spend a few days there with Grandpa Stucki and my sister's family. It makes it so much more fun to have buddies there.

Josh taught Maddie how to throw and catch a frisbee.

And they found lots of starfish. I know I'm doing my job right when Maddie says, "We have to throw them back into their natural habitat so they don't die." Yes Maddie! Yes!

Despite the protests of everyone in the family, Angus got to come too. He was as crazy as ever, but man does that dog love the beach! He loved chasing Maddie into the water and he dug about 20 holes every day. He was so filthy and sandy and happy.  And completely pooped by the end of the day.

This weekend was especially special because it was my birthday and Father's Day. I sure do love my little family. 

Sharks and Politicians - some would say it's the same thing!

Maddie had a field trip to the Shark Reef that she guilt tripped her daddy into chaperoning. ("It's the last field trip and you haven't been yet and you can be one of the only daddies to go on a field trip.") So Josh went and said it was the best field trip ever. I think it's because he got assigned the very nice, obedient girl group to chaperone.  :o)

 Maddie was happy that she got chosen to be the shark in front of the class.

I couldn't go because I was given an invitation to see President Obama speak on the same day. I felt really important having a thick piece of paper with the presidential seal on it.

Despite what you may feel about what he says, he is a great speaker. I felt his enthusiasm all the way from my seat. I really appreciate the respect that people give our president. It's the hardest job in the world, besides being a mother.  :o)  And the synchronized acts of the secret service agents were fun to watch too.

Family Accomplishments

This weekend was a moment of pride for my family. First off, Madster had her first guitar recital. She seems so tiny, but I realize now that she is growing up. I'm glad I have enjoyed every minute of it.

The next morning she had a choir performance and performed pretty flawlessly. How does she remember all her lines, songs, and dance moves? I don't know. The only answer I have is that she LOVES it. (I figured cousins Lucy, Emma, Elena & Cole might enjoy this little Farmer girl video.)

We hurried down to San Diego where Josh ran his first half marathon with his cousins. Shhhh. Don't tell Maddie that everyone who finishes the run gets a medal. She was so proud of her dad too.

What did I do this weekend? Finished a law school paper and continued to grow a baby. Not too shabby.

Night on the Town

Maddie had a date with a very handsome man and didn't get home until very late. Josh and I were laughing because we saw a foreshadowing of our lives as parents when this beautiful little girl turns 16. We were both yawning and doing our best to wait up for our "little girl" to come home from her date.

First they went for a proper English dinner.

And then they went to the new Smith Center to see "Mary Poppins." I'm a little jealous that she got to go to a show that I couldn't get tickets for.  :o)

Poppy snuck her a coke at intermission (since Mom wasn't there!) to help her stay awake for the whole show. Apparently she loves Coke.  :o)

Sweet Surprises

It's kind of awesome to go through Josh and Maddies' cameras and see what sweet surprises they have on there. This was our first family walk with our crazy puppy.

The Madster being sneaky with my Mother's Day breakfast in bed.

That tiny pink dot three stories up is my Maddie girl doing rock climbing on her daddy daughter night. Fearless.

Maddie snuck these pictures on one of our drives somewhere. They make me happy.  :o)

Dirty blue dog

Angus found and ate a blue chalk stick and played in the sprinklers and ate some turtle poop. All within 15 minutes. Like I said, he's lucky he is adorable.

I've got the moves like Mick Jagger....

Maddie forces poor Angus to dance with her every day. Angus hates it. I find it freaking hilarious.

Ready for Summer

Josh played drums (and vocals for one song!) at his office party this month. I have no idea how many people were there, but they planned for 500 and had to do a second run for food and drinks. So lets just say it was huge. And he totally rocked it. And I think he is a very sexy rock star.

Josh, Maddie and Angus had a daddy daughter puppy sleepover on the trampoline. Of course, right around 10:00 Josh carried Maddie inside and slept on his nice bed with feather pillows. When Maddie protested in the morning, Josh came up with a heroic story of how he and Angus saved her from the early morning sprinklers. It was adorable to hear her talk about all the stars and planets that they learned about while they were "camping." And it was adorable to hear him talk about how little by little she kept scooting closer to him until she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. 

Maddie found lots and lots of starfish at the beach.

Josh and Maddie had to get their mandatory summer pedicure. They were gone for so long, I walked down to the salon to check in on them. Apparently, a pedicure turned into every single service that the salon provided. Josh said he couldn't completely understand them so he just kept saying yes. It was hilarious to walk in and see them both getting spoiled rotten.

Maddie and I finally got around to building her Barbie Malibu house that she got from Santa. Santa must have been feeling particularly lazy that night because he delivered it in a box.  :o)  But we had fun doing it, and Maddie took her sticker-putting-on duty VERY serious. You can tell when she is serious because the tongue comes out.

Angus....Angus....Angus.... He has had a rough month. Let's just say that he is lucky that he is adorable. Because he is very, very naughty. Everyone kept telling me he would calm down after he got neutered, but, alas, it is not meant to be. He is going to be our "bad kid," I'm sure of it. Not only did he get neutered, but he also jumped out of the window of a moving vehicle. He bounced a few times. Didn't move or breath for a few seconds. And then jumped up and started acting crazy again. Like I said, he will be the one that tries my patience!  :o)

I love this picture because it is exactly what a kid's life should be.

I also love this picture because you can see the bossiness just oozing out of her. It's not entirely her fault. It's in her genes. 

Girl cousins are the best. 

Apparently all of a sudden Maddie wants to skateboard. Where she came up with that idea, I have no idea. But I told her she will have to save up for it herself, hoping that she would lose interest and move on to a safer hobby. Nope. She has been going around the house doing chores to "help" and to make money. I woke up on Saturday morning and found her in the backyard with a bucket, dish soap, and my mop. She said she was washing dad's car for money. Poor Josh could barely see out of his grimy windows while he snuck away to get a REAL car wash. But I did end up paying her for that chore because she worked her butt off with that mop (which is now too gross to use on my kitchen floors).

Fluffy the turtle came out of hibernation a while ago. They are the best pets in the world because they sleep through the cold half of the year and survive completely off the grass in our backyard. The ONLY problem is trying to keep Angus (the dirty rebel) from eating the turtle poop.

Josh has been running a lot lately trying to prepare for half marathons and other crap that athletic people do for "fun." Maddie always asks if he "won the race" and Josh always tells her yes. Josh insists that it is a worthy lie because every kid thinks their dad is a superhero, and is the fastest and strongest and smartest guy in the whole world. Maddie drew this picture of him "winning" the race in San Francisco.

We got new goggles to be completely prepared for swimming season.

Maddie and I are in a "Mommy and Me Book Club." She already loves to read and is already ahead of her grade level, but I love the idea of sharing books with her. I always wanted to be the mom who reads the books that she is reading in class so that we can talk about them and our minds can grow together. Reading is the one talent/hobby/skill I have to give to my kids.  :o)   Of course, the first book was about picky eaters so we didn't exactly get into depth about life lessons, but we did get to try eating seaweed and tabasco sauce and other gross things.

Last, but certainly not least, Josh and I snuck off like a young and adventurous couple to check out one of our favorite bands. There's nothing much better than a Cranberries concert in Chicago in the middle of the week.

Heaven Help Us

There is a strong possibility that Josh and I will not survive the naming of this baby boy. He loves it, I hate it. I love it, he hates it. Somehow we both came out alive when we named Charlie.....but just barely.

Also, I started feeling the baby flopping around. It is a huge relief because as much as I don't want to think this way - I am always a little bit certain that he isn't going to be healthy and live. I know. I know. There are absolutely no signs of this. Everything is going great. It's just my post traumatic stress disorder.

Please feel free to leave baby boy names. I don't like weird spellings. Josh doesn't like anything. Those are the parameters.  :o)