The other side of Madeline....

I have often talked about how Maddie is the sweetest little thing in the world. And she is! But apparently there is a side of her that she doesn't want others to see. I have often heard Maddie singing at the top of her lungs around the house and in the car, and just wanted to catch it on film. She is SO reserved around other people. I wouldn't say shy, but definitely reserved. She likes to sit back and watch everyone else make fools of themselves. (She gets it from her dad. Unfortunately, there are probably plenty of videos of me making a fool of myself in existence.) Little did I know that she also "dances" and adds a little "emotion" to her face while singing. It REALLY makes me want to put a nanny cam in her bedroom!

It is 2 1/2 minutes, but I promise it is so worth it. I kind of feel bad for posting this on the internet. I am not much different than TMZ and she probably hates her paparazzi mom, but this was just too funny not to share. Also, sorry about the terrible camera work. I was trying to drive down Charleston at the same time and not kill anyone. If I stop and pull over then she knows that I have the camera and stops performing.




Also, she went over to her Grandma Karen's house for the weekend, and VERY strangely, she peed her pants all over Karen's carpet. What does she say when she gets caught?!?! (You might ask.) She throws me under the bus by saying, "Mommy does naughty things sometimes too....." and then proceeded to tell my mother-in-law a whole list of the "naughty" things I do to divert the attention away from herself. Rrrrrrrrr. Girls really are evil!

Quick Trip

In downtown L.A. watching the Jimmy Eat World concert from the very back row. (We are too old to stand in general admission nowadays...) We went to the concert with Josh's cousins John, Audrey & Scott, and randomly ran into Josh's cousins Ryan & Leanne too. Apparently it is in the blood.


This might be one of my all time favorite pictures. I made Josh, Kelsey & Kyle each do an ugly dance at the Newport Pier. This is Kyle's self-choreographed dance entitled, "The Gay Pirate." I loved it....


We were able to make it up to Malibu for a tour of Pepperdine law school where Josh's cousin, John, is going to law school. Talk about a beautiful campus!!!

Chi-Town's Finest

My sister-in-law, Juli, recently moved to Chicago to go to make-up school and work at a law firm. We really missed her and wanted to go visit her, so much so that we would actually go to Chicago in February. And we got the real winter Chicago experience!


Here is the cutest little traveler in the world. She wanted to carry her own backpack through the airport all by herself. When did she get so old?!



Our initial shock at the first gusts of cold air that hit us getting out of the cab.



We immediately found indoor things to do. We won almost 4000 tickets at Dave & Busters (similar to Chuckee Cheese but better) and traded them in for a bunch of super cool junk.



Ate breakfast at the Original Pancake House near Juli's house.



I knew that the indoor Children's Museum at Navy Pier wouldn't disappoint. (Parents need indoor options for the winter there!) They had a really cool, slightly scary maze that terrified Maddie. It was hilarious. Is that mean?





Our hero firefighters!



Being very serious during a checkers game that Josh challenged me to. Doesn't he realize that I always beat him at these sorts of games? (Everything but trivial pursuit, which I really suck at.)


This is me gloating.



We quickly realized that we would choose looking homeless over being cold, and layered on all kinds of borrowed warm things.



Here are the Eskimo Harris'.



Eating cupcakes at Juli's favorite cupcake store. "Yummylicious," as Maddie would say.



Reinacting my family's cougar statue pictures on a bull statue downtown. Maddie and I froze our rears off while Josh attempted to get up without a boost.



Something about a large, mirrored bean statue made us act ridiculous.



And Josh made our taxi driver drive out of his way and wait in the car while he got this picture. Can anyone guess one of Josh's all time favorite movies? "You've got nothing to worry about.....I'm a professional!"



Thanks Gi for showing us your town!

Fun Times in the Harris Family

Here is my new nephew's big "Aunt Roachie's blog debut!" I would like to introduce the ever so handsome Will Stucki (son to Brian & Candace):





I didn't have enough seats in my car because I had a bunch of junk in the back. (Including Rod! Ha! I am so funny.)



Maddie started her swim class last week. She is adorable and happy in the pool. After her classes, she always proudly says, "my teacher said I did a really good job."



And within 30 seconds of being put in her carseat she is a goner:



I finally have a guest bedroom for anyone who would like to come and visit Las Vegas. It is my red room, and I sorta like it better than my Master Bedroom.





Now, on to the really fun part. We had a nice little surprise last week when the fire alarms went off at 7:00 in the morning. The Eaton family and Kyle were staying here and we were all running around like crazy people looking for a fire. Apparently, it wasn't a fire. It was a major leak from the master bathroom upstairs that leaked onto the ceiling in the family room and set of the fire alarm. Suffice it to say that it stinks that the builders warranty has already expired. Oh, the joys of home ownership.......

Slightly Irritated

Maddie has recently, enthusiastically, embraced the world of the iPhone. About a week ago, she started incessantly asking me to see my iPhone. She now knows how to watch music videos (she prefers Gwen Stefani), call people by herself, play games, erase all my notes of grocery lists and books to read, check the weather, look at maps and pictures, etc. Apparently, she also now knows how to take pictures. Below are a very small sample of the hundreds of weird and random pictures she must have taken at the store the other day. What an interesting thing to find on my iPhone today.









This is my bum. (The camera adds ten pounds!)

My backyard

Josh and Maddie were playing hide and seek for about an hour on Sunday, and I took the opportunity to take some pictures of our backyard, which I don't think I have ever done before.

And I would like to commend Josh on finding so many creative hiding spots in a not very big backyard. He hid on top of the wall, behind a tall tree, behind the basketball hoop pole, and under and beneath everything else that he could find. Maddie had a blast with him.

Grandma Tingey

This last week, my Grandma Judy Tingey, who has been battling breast cancer for a very long time, passed away. It is the first grandparent I have lost and it was very sad. I always think it is interesting when someone dies, that the family and friends often remember their loved one as a saint. They immediately forget all the annoying, stupid, hurtful things that they did when they were alive, and remember only the good things and good times. I think it is a lesson of what is really important. However, with my grandmother, she really was the nearest thing to a saint that I can think of. She was a wonderful example of unconditional love, patience, kindness, and cheerfulness and the stories that exemplified those qualities that were shared at her funeral were not an exaggeration of her. She is lovely.

I knew she was in the hospital when I was in Newport Beach last weekend. And when I was on the ferris wheel at Balboa Fun Zone, I remember feeling like she was there with me. I could see her smile and was overwhelmed with a feeling of her love and a deep sadness. When I got off, my eyes were full of tears and my phone had a new text message from my mom. She had just passed on.

I have an unbreakable belief that life continues after this one, and that you will see and be with your loved ones again after this life. And I can imagine my Evan meeting my Grandma for the first time, and that is a beautiful thought.

We survived, although our camera did not.....

Josh went to Hawaii for depositions, and I snuck along. Unfortunately, I lost my camera so I bought a super crappy disposable camera. Apparently, the store I dropped it off at has lost the film. Sadly, that includes the picture of Josh on a horse, which I never could have imagined would happen, and I know nobody will believe me without photographic proof. :o) However, luckily, I do have these pictures of Josh when we flew on these "death waiting to happen" planes in Oahu. The entire hour we were in the air, I kept thinking, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die." Josh, on the other hand, fearlessly took control in the air and flew the entire time.

The one with two planes in the picture is of Josh in the foreground, and me in the background. On the actual ground is our hotel, Turtle Bay. It really was beautiful, but I am likely to not do such scary, death defying activities in the future.

Happy Valentine's Day

Maddie wanted to say "Happy Valentine's Day" to everyone. She looks adorable in her outfit that she picked out all by herself for her Valentine's Day party at school.

One more special little treat

Dead men tell no tales......

With all the traveling that we do, you would think we would have used our annual passes to Disneyland more than twice. We had to get in a second trip before they expired next month.


Last year, Maddie was absolutely terrified of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. This year, she was all about being a Pirate girl.



Princess....uh, I mean Pirate Girl Maddie:



The ride that I can't understand how anyone goes on without being sick for the rest of the day:



Maddie has definitely gotten older. She said she wanted to go on all the scary rides, which included Pirates, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, then across to Space Mountain (the only one she didn't like), and then the "Maddiehorn" (renamed by me).



Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the Madster:

I wasn't really that jealous...

Instead, I went to Newport with my mom and adorable nephew, Cole.

How freaking Cute is this picture?



Picnic with Grandma:



Painting:



Maddie climbed all the rocks at the Wedge - I named her a Swiss Mountain Goat:



Cole was not quite as interested in being a mountain goat:



Maddie was only interested in being a gymnast all day long. ALL day long:







Cole was trying too:



Maddie is still trying to practice on her new "big girl" bike.



I'm the king of the world! (Princess, actually)