Just when I think my kids are the cutest they can possibly be, they go and surprise me. When we were in Texas driving to the Children’s Museum in Dallas, we left during Logan’s nap so that he could sleep, and I thought maybe Lindsay would take a little snoozer too because she looked tired. Logan was trying his darndest to NOT fall asleep and Lindsay was coloring and then all of a sudden she handed me her book and crayons and said she was going to go to sleep. I took her things and right when I turned around to put them away in the bag we hear Logan say, “Sweetheart, close your eyes and go to sleep otay?” Seriously! No joke! Jeffy and I about cried. Next thing we knew, they were both asleep. He now calls her sweetheart on a regular basis and even tonight, as we were going upstairs to take a bath, she got to the top first (like she always does) and when he finally got to the top he said, “Hi sweetheart!!” I asked her the other day if she thought it was cute that he calls her sweetheart and she said, “No, I think it’s pretty!” Man oh man, I am so lucky!!

We had such a great time in Texas spending time with my family.  My sister and her little boy, Ben, were there as well and it was so fun to spend time with them and my parents.  It was my mom’s spring break so it was nice not having to miss her during the day.  The weather was beautiful the whole time we were there and we took advantage of that!  We spent A LOT of time outside!  The first day we were there we had to go grocery shopping for food and some other things.  I got the kids some bikes to keep there at my parents house and I’m pretty sure we used them EVERY day.

It was so fun!  The bike I got for Logan is just like our neighbors little boy’s bike so he was excited to have it and not get in trouble for riding it.  Anyway, here’s a rundown of our week.  Just to warn you, there will be a lot of pictures on this post.

Plano has a really nice nature reserve with a walking trail and playgrounds and things so we went there on Tuesday, right after Jeffy got there from Austin.  We got Lindsay a kite to fly and we took their bikes and it was a really fun time.

Lindsay had a great time flying the kite and it did really well for a long time, and then it just took a nose dive into some trees and ripped. 

Lindsay shared her kite with this little girl and let her fly it for awhile.

Cute baby Ben.  He is 17 months old.

The next day we drove out to the Dallas Zoo, which we discovered as we got closer that we were not the only ones who had that idea that day.  It was PACKED!!  The kids had a great time and their favorite animals of the day were some of the monkeys.  There was a baby monkey and he was so playful and was chasing all of the other monkeys and jumping onto the wire fence and stuff.  We watched them for a good 20-25 minutes before we moved on, but even then I had to promise Lindsay that we would come back and see them again before we left.  They really were fun to watch!

They had a fun carousel right at the entrance so of course we rode that first!

The next day we went to another really cool park in Plano that has a pond with ducks and playgrounds and trails, so we took their bikes again, and some bread to feed the ducks.  As you know from the previous post, the kids ate half of the bread and the other half went to the ducks.  It was fun to feed them though and watch them try to throw the bread super far.

We of course had to get another kite because it was so much fun and we brough it to this park and had a great time.  Lindsay shared again with another little girl and let her fly the kite for awhile.

Then Jeff let Logan fly it and we all know that that kite ended up in the pond.  But because it was so windy, it just floated over to the other side so we did get it back.

Texas is home to fire ants and oh, how I hate them!  This was just a tree with a bunch of little ant hills all around it.  They can get MUCH bigger, but this is how they start.

They had some big swings there and the kids just loved going really high!

(HEHE…I promise she was having fun.)

Some pictures of the kids with grandma and grandpa.

They loved waking them up in the morning.

Grandpa LOVES to tickle the kids!

Grandma reading a fun book to Lindsay.

Grandma teaching Lindsay a cute little song with hand motions.

March2009#5317173347272073938

On Saturday we took the kids to a Children’s Nature and Science Museum in Dallas, which is a lot like the one in Salt Lake.  They had a blast looking, and especially touching, everything!  It was a really fun time and we were exhausted when it was time to leave.

They had a little dinosaur section and they had a fun digging for bones part like they do here at the museum in Lehi.  The kids LOVED it and stayed in there for quite awhile.

Making REALLY BIG bubbles!

Cute Lindsay riding a sheep

They had a big firetruck with a slide attached and Logan basically just stayed there the whole time.  He did eventually look around at the other stuff, but he always went back to the firetruck.

Lindsay had fun wearing the outfit and pretending to ring the bell and drive to the fire.

We had a fantastic time and we were sad to leave on Tuesday.  Lindsay even mentioned more than once on the airplane home, how much she missed grandma and grandpa already.  Baby Ben and Logan are just 7 months apart and both LOVE cars and trucks, so we did have to referee the two of them at times, but overall the kids got along really well, and Lindsay had fun making baby Ben laugh.  Thanks grandma and grandpa for letting us stay there and mess up your house and be loud!  We love you and miss you so much already!

(He stayed there for a good 5 minutes…just watching.)

Things we’ve learned so far on this trip to Texas:

1. The lamp on Grandma and Grandpa’s family room table is sturdy.  Lindsay and Logan were playing, and they knocked the (flimsy) table over, sending the lamp crashing to the ground.  The table was fine, and the only problem with the lamp was that the bulb burned out in the crash.  We put in a new bulb, and it’s as good as new.
2. Logan’s fingers are pretty darn sturdy, too.  We were going to the park yesterday, and as I was putting the kids’ bikes in the trunk of the car, I heard Lindsay’s door close, and then I heard Logan scream.  I ran around the car, and I saw Logan tugging, trying to get his hand out.  That’s right — his fingers were in the door, and the door was all the way closed!  I thought for sure his fingers would be broken at best, or severed at worst.  But nope, they are just bruised.  No structural damage, permanent or otherwise.  Within a couple minutes he was acting normal, and while we can tell that it hurts sometimes, he seems just fine.
3. Logan’s head can hold its own in a fight with a bookshelf.  We don’t really know how it happened, but within a couple hours of Beth and the kids getting here on Monday, he had a cut/bump/bruise on his forehead from headbutting a bookshelf.  Just marking his territory, I guess.
4. If you are flying a kite next to a pond and you let Logan hold it, the kite WILL end up in the pond.  The wind down here is perfect for flying kites — it takes almost no effort to get it up in the air, and it stays up so well that even kids can do it.  But kids get distracted pretty easily, so after a few minutes of flying the kite, Logan decided to just let go.  I saw it coming, but I wasn’t quite quick enough to react, so I missed it by inches as it flew right into the pond.  Luckily, the wind was strong enough that after ten or fifteen minutes, it had blown over to the other side of the pond, and I was able to walk around and retrieve it.
5. If you give the kids ten slices of bread with instructions to tear off little pieces and throw them to the ducks, you will end up with:
   • Five slices of bread eaten by the kids.
   • Four-and-a-half slices of bread thrown into the pond in pieces no smaller than half a slice.
   • Half a slice used the way we instructed them.
6. If you let Logan ride his little bike down a hill at his chosen speed, he WILL crash and skin his knee.  He will NOT, however, learn his lesson.
7. If an over-sensitive girl gets too close to a grumpy cat, her feelings will get hurt.

Our kids are so fun, and we are having a blast learning these awesome lessons.  We’ll post some pictures soon.

I was just looking through our pictures tonight and wanted to post some of my beautiful girl. When did she grow up? The girl can make some FUNNY faces, but always beautiful!


We call this her drunk pictures. She was 5 weeks old.

BIG smiles for Grandpa Madsen!





Such a happy girl

“I have the craziest parents!”

6 months



This is one of my favorites…




With grandma and grandpa Madsen and cousin Kayli



2 year pictures




The funny one…

…the beautiful one.




One of the scariest things…



Reading to grandpa Madsen

Still can’t believe she actually got to do this



With great grandpa and grandma Bocker and cousin Caiden.

Wow, she’s pretty!



I LOVE THIS GIRL!

When my parents came up to visit last summer they brought with them all of my STUFF that was still there at their house, including a music box that plays “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.” I’m not sure where this music box came from, but I actually think it was my mom’s when she was little, so maybe I do know…

Anyway, I gave it to Lindsay because she loved playing it over and over and over again and dancing to it and doing what girls do. She has quiet time almost everyday and lots of days I can hear the music box playing in her room. I love that she loves it because I remember listening to it over and over and over again and dancing to it myself when I was a little girl. Well, yesterday after quiet time was over, we were leaving her room and she noticed that Logan was still sleeping and she looked up at me and said, “Mommy, if Logan starts to cry, I could put the music box by his door and it will help him be happy.” I told her she was sweet for thinking of him and that I’m sure he would like that. Well, he never did cry so she never did get her chance. Well, tonight, just a couple of minutes after we put the kids to bed, we hear the music box playing it’s song and I walk over to their doors and this is what I found:

Logan wasn’t crying or anything, but Lindsay, the SWEET girl that she is, wanted him to hear the music so that he would be happy. Isn’t that cute?? I love seeing the way they express their love towards one another.

…to be here:

Me and the kids head out to good ‘ol P-Town in 5 days. Beautiful weather, here we come!

I found a new toy for my kids that they MUST have.

I don’t care how much it costs, or even if I have to move to a bigger house with a bigger backyard, look at how much FUN they would have!!!

We’ll see…

So, today I got to watch two of the cutest girls, Hannah and Lia! Niki went to the gym so I got to watch them for about an hour and a half, and it was so much fun! When Hannah got here, she asked where Lindsay was and I told her she was at preschool and I could tell she was kind of bummed, but her and Logan had a blast together! We played with cars and trucks, played princesses, went down the roller coaster over and over again, and did some swinging. I got to hold cute Lia and feed her a bottle and then she went to sleep, so I laid her down in Logan’s crib so that I could have two hands to play with the other two.

This is what they did when I said, Do crazy eyes! Soo funny!!

Cute kiddos swinging.

Logan’s big boy bed came today, right before his nap. So, we got it all ready with his Lightning Mcqueen sheets and laid him down and he did just fine! He didn’t crawl out of it or anything! I was shocked. It took him a little while to go to sleep, probably because he had eaten some candy right before, and at one point I heard him say, “BIG TRUCK! WHOA MAN!!!” Too cute! So, I just had to go in there and remind him it was nap time and he was out in a few minutes. I’m so proud of him! He’s having a harder time right now, but probably just because it’s darker. Anyway, here he is in his big boy bed!