Madsen Kiddos: friends

Horseback riding is the best...

Danielle and Mark got to ride horses.

Friday

Today I wish I had gone to buy lemonade for the yard sale. But I'm also grateful for a lot of things. I'm grateful for Toni and her irreverent attitude. I'm grateful for all my friends helping get ready for the yard sale.
I'm grateful that I have such a beautiful baby boy. I'm grateful that Mark and I got to play on the swings together. I'm grateful Danielle is such a cuddle.

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Sunday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts for this Sunday.

1. I love laminating. I think we should laminate more. When I was doing my student teaching I discovered I could get the library to laminate things for me. Then my teacher told me we had to pay for that out of the curriculum budget, unlike all the other copies. Good thing she had a huge savings- sorry lead teacher! But I still love me some melted plastic.

2. Also love- gift bags. Turns out I own quite a few of them. I wanted to buy some on Friday because they were on sale at Target and I stopped myself. Because I don't need any more bags. I don't think I actually need any. but they are so pretty.

3. I went and saw the vow. It was fun. Not a great movie but I did almost cry several times. The more children I have the more feelings I seem to develop. I decided I need to go back to book club or something so I have something to talk about, other than etsy and my new baby. or maybe I just need to find a scranton etsy mom- I bet I could. Etsy rules.

4. I don't like it here. Maybe it is the weather which is totally gray or the fact that John is in school and I having a hard time seeing the long term picture. Maybe it is the fact that I wish I had more energy to do yard work, even though it is the middle of winter. Maybe it is something else or I just have a bad attitude right now. I haven't been able to watch the office since I moved here because it just isn't funny that this place is strange. Whatever. Peace out Scranton.

5. My kids are cute when they play nice. They put their stuffed animals to bed. Also Elmo spends a lot of time in the corner in time out. I don't think I put them in time out to warrant the amount of negative attention poor little Elmo is getting.

6. I think writing a blog is boring. not boring- pinterest. Hello awesome! I didn't even realize how cool pinterest could be. It's like filling up a shopping cart and pretending you are going to buy it, but from lots of different stores. http://pinterest.com/claireandjanae/ oh my I like some people's taste a lot.

7. I really need a new zig zag foot for my pfaff. It is making me crazy. I don't want to drive the hour it takes to get to a pfaff store. Especially not with the three kiddos. Even though they are good, they aren't that good. I wish the pfaff website had a store, or your could buy the feet at joann's. Love my sewing machine- once again don't love Scranton, since one of the many things they don't have is a pfaff store.

8. Andrew is probably our easiest kid. He has to go to the doctor a lot and he doesn't like that but he pretty reliably sleeps at least six hours. Holy lucky me. I could see how people would have lots of kid if they were all like this. That being said, I still feel a bit like a zombie. A lot. He's still a baby after all, and babies are high maintenance. Good thing they are also so adorable. I need to clean my house, it is oppressing me. Maybe I should just throw away all those messy kid toys...

9. I don't know how some people manage to be so sympathetic. Your heart just goes out to them. I don't think I'm one of these people. Sometimes I wish I was, because I have this theory that if I was people would show up at my house with pie and hang out with me sympathetically and hold my baby while I worked on stuff. But then i get annoyed with people whining about their lives and I wouldn't want people to think that of me. I am also not someone people usually push around either so that's good. Too bad it seems hard to be both.

10. I was watching the view in the waiting room at the doctors office for Andrew and they were talking about how Obama made a comment about taxes and referred to the scriptures where much is given, much is required. One of the girls didn't like it. At first I really related to that comment, because I feel like you should want to help other people. Then I sort of understood where she was coming from, because I don't know if I feel like government should control your religious practice. In Germany the church can automatically take taxes from your paycheck like the government. It seems so tidy and easy, but very foreign for me since America really pounds the separation of church and state. It's odd when you go somewhere else and realize how much this huge issue is a non-point other places. Still not sure how I feel about the whole thing, except that I might still be a little too sleep deprived to consider moral implications in politics. I think I need more friends who like to talk about this kind of stuff.
and like board games. Seriously miss the board game club where I lived before. I didn't necessarily like those people or have much in common except the love of board games. on the down side I came pretty close to learning to play magic, and paint some of my board game figurines. Confirming that it is time to embrace my inner geek a little more.

How was your Sunday?

Dear Friend,

Dear Carrie,
It has come to my attention that you were wearing highly low cut and not very flattering jeans last night.
Your waist looked non-existent in your tight black pants. Maybe you should rethink that look a little bit. Not that you looked bad, it's just that it made your torso look odd. My stomach totally doesn't look like that when I am wearing low cut pants. I think it looks a little bit pregnant. I don't know if you know this but I had stretch marks on my stomach and they were all faded but I feel like they are coming back. Lucky for me I get the light colored ones, which match my perfectly tube sock white skin. How about you? It wasn't looking like you had any on Dancing with the Stars last night. Also how do you fly all the way there? I'm starting to be convinced that Dancing with the Stars isn't actually live.
Also, get some better facebook pictures, your lack of face shots is really ruining my blog desires this morning.
xoxo
Janae

Sunday Thougts...

Baby Mark turned two on Sunday. He still seems like my little baby to me. We celebrated Saturday since John had to work Sunday and it was so nice to see our little family together. It was a little hard for me not to plan a huge party with friends but Mark isn't as social as Danielle so I think he had a good day. He likes other kids but if we have too many over Mark goes and plays alone. mark got a Hokey Pokey Elmo. and some pets that he has been carrying with him ever since. He got clothes. He was a happy boy. Since he loves Elmo lately we had an Elmo themed family party.
There was much joyful yelling.
After cake and presents Mark was a tired boy. the elmos we also put down for a nap in the play tunnel. In our family we have a tradition that when it is your birthday you get everyone presents and Danielle was thrilled with the idea. Also happy about: Mark doesn't like to rip open the presents to she got to do it. Parties are a big deal to Danielle. She even changed her clothes to prepare for the party- I guess she wanted a "party dress."
On Mark's actual birthday I was having a rough day (read: barfy pregnant lady) and three people came over- Adrienne did my dishes and I almost cried. Then Carrie came and the kiddos got to play. Then Stephanie came and we all had fun. It was so nice to have people over when John was gone all day. For some reason I'm unbelievably tired. My doctor said it was normal when you had a parasite of this size lol. I don't know how some moms do it-I wish I lived closer to family a lot of the time. but I'm glad I have friends.

tired from partying so hard

My mom asked for lots of photos, so here they are. Also you might notice that Halloween has started in our family. I love Halloween. More decorations will be added. I like to check out Halloween decorations after the season is over- but this year the decorations are sadly lacking. I guess that's what happens when the economy is struggling.

Dog Sitting

Tess is visiting us right now. She is a yellow lab and my aunt owns her. The first day, Tess seemed to miss her family. Judging by her barking about 70 percent of the day. I texted Sara since I'm a grouchy pregnant lady. So when John got home he was like- what is wrong with Tess Mark asked if he should come get her...
John told them we were fine, which was true even though Tess didn't like being in a kennel during bed time or nap time and barked the whole time and any time we weren't playing with her or looking at her. I suspect it was partly because the Kennel wasn't with the humans- it was in the garage.
Where I wish I had left my dog. Yesterday we moved Tess inside and the children were thrilled- Tess was out until Mark put her back in the kennel-
Then he would let her out.
Then he would put her back in.
Then he would climb on top of the kennel and yell at Tess.
Then he would let her out and give her a hug.

The cycle continued for a few hours. I guess Tess is a lot more interesting and desirable than our dog.
The kids played outside with her in the sprinkler for a few hours.
Austin (my dog) sat by the door crying until I let him back in.

I don't know if Tess knows how to fetch but with the assistance of two squeaky toys we played it last night. She likes to play keep away the best but I wonder if she fetches like a champ at home.
Tess was terrible on her walk last night. I'm still trying to convince John to take her running because I don't want to. She kept going in circles around me and if I would yell at her she would hit the deck like I was going to hit her. She panicked when I brought the leash in close for a heel walk.
I guess she fears me a little- so I'll have to get my bike out and get her good and tired before we do that again. I used to go on bike rides with Austin all the time- but not the other dog because she was unreliable so she would pull me over.

Since we let Tess be inside I thought we should let Austin be out inside the house. He usually sleeps in the garage because I don't like waking up to a house full of dog fart and shedding dog hair. Austin loses SO MUCH HAIR! I think the food in to dog hair out ratio is mathematically impossible.
anyway I forgot about the ant poison traps we just put out.
Until this morning when I found a pile of poo on the black and white rug in the dining room. As I was cleaning it up I realized a few things.

I need to train my dog to have accidents in the kitchen so they are easier to clean up.
Tide Stain Release also helps clean up unsightly carpet stains.
The fudgesicle spots from Mark two days ago look a lot like dog accident, but they aren't. Austin helped clean those up actually. Except the ones I found all over the drapes today while I was opening the windows after dog Armageddon.
I am lucky that my dog is so big because if he wasn't he would totally kill himself from eating these stupid ant traps. If that is even why he is sick. I know that happened last time because we found the chewed up trap. we are missing one trap from between the doors to the outside but I don't find any remnants so maybe he is just sick. It's a lot easier to mad at a dog that didn't eat poison.
Anyone who lets their almost two year old eat Popsicles while they go to the bathroom deserves what they get. You might think they always eat them at the table, but given the opportunity they will walk all over the house with it and look out the windows and leave the remnants in a pile at the top of the stairs.

So my dog had his second ant trap poo accident in his life- also known as his second accident in the house. Tess was happily sleeping in the kennel- she isn't stupid enough to eat poison. Too bad John didn't find it before he left for school. Austin is back in the garage, and I don't feel guilty about it anymore...

Mark is currently feeding his favorite dog a popsicle outside.

No matter how much they like being outside with her I am still not going outside to weed the yard- end of story.
Maybe Tess will dig up all my weeds.

Miraculous.

a ring from my friend on etsy HERE

Today I went to a wedding.
I LOVE weddings.
then I came home.
Mark was asleep.
In his bed.

Not on the floor by his door.
And the babysitter cleaned up the playroom area by the fireplace.

weddings are the best.
and the fruit tart I ate on the way home from this one rocked my world.
almost as much as the sleeping toddler.

Sunday Thoughts

Danielle and I are in New Hampshire at the moment. Aunt Suzann captured our pearly yellows. I'm always really impressed with how white the teeth are on most reality television shows. They Must prep them beforehand- don't you think? I'm super excited to watch the Bachelorette tomorrow night. We can probably get Danielle's great grandma hooked- right?

remind me to call my friend who is a photographer in Boston to come up sometime next week while we are still in New Hampshire. My mom offered to watch the kiddos so I could go visit. Heck yes. We are so cute I don't know why we don't have thousands of photographers asking to take our photos for free. Also, never been recruited for a reality television show. Not even biggest loser. But of course I also maybe want another picture and Grandma doesn't seem as thrilled about the 30 minute trip as I am :-)

Hello New Bed

Mark climbed out of his crib the other day. That was a total bummer. So I got to live my ultimate dream and re-printed THESE great plans from the Knock Off Wood site. I heard about the site from one of my other favorite sites, Rambling Renovators. (and I heard about that site from Sara of course). You see I have a dream about power tools and my table saw. John and I realized that dream by building our little Mark a bed. Then I put the quilt I made Mark before he was born on the bed. Now we need to build Danielle a matching pink bed for her little quilt. She is anxiously awaiting her pink bed.

Did I mention I have planned several other building projects in the near future? well I do.
I have to admit that our little bed cost more than the plans projected. I got the stuff for about 90 dollars, including my new POWER SANDER. I can add that to the cost, right?
Next time I might blow the projections with a jigsaw...

I just had to add the picture with our great prints for Mark's nursery aka the only completely decorated room in the house. Speaking of which mark needs a dresser. Maybe I will be able to build one soon.

I got these fantastic prints from FALLDOWNTREE on etsy. I LOVE them. if you go to falldowntree.com they have printable coloring sheets.

I love the internet, don't you?

Weekend Trip

here I am with my crazy eye. did you notice that Claire squints in some photos? I had to search for one but here she is- doing the same squint I do. Now THAT is what family is all about- searching through photos to find one where you look related.

I went to Portland last weekend. I saw the beautiful Sarah Pond get married to Joe Cotton. They are adorable. I could just put them in my pocket.
Except I couldn't actually do that because these people are part of the tall club that I wasn't invited to. It was awesome to see people from the area and also eat loads of unhealthy local food I probably should have abstained from. It was so fun to see Claire and Jen and I've decided girl trips RULE. any time John wants to watch the kiddos for a weekend in the right time- but girl trips to weddings- my brain explodes with the possibilities.

I am in love with weddings. Claire is a super good gym partner because she wakes up at the crack of dawn to work out. that is some seriously awesome dedication. Jen is an awesome partner in late night going out because she is there until the end of it all. and she is a good mixer.

not in love with: not having a flash that works- but check out these tall beautiful people. I think they are probably talking about it- oh isn't it nice to be super tall? yes of course and think of the giant basketball player children we will have... I'm glad that even though I'm taller than average I can wear heels and dance with you, and also tower over all of our less beautiful, common, short friends. I could have been a model if I had wanted to, how about you? There is always the next generation I guess...

I think that's how tall people talk.

10 hours on a plane each way with no kids = just a good time to read a book or two.

Hello Good Night.

here's my adorable model Bronson

today was one of those days. And when I say that- I don't mean one of those good days.
It makes me want to eat lots of candy. And sleep. And call my mom.
OK I am just sick of fighting with a three year old about bedtime.

So here are some things that are fantastic about today:
1. I went to the gym. (OK we got kicked out after not very long because Mark wouldn't stop screaming in the childcare- but I was happy we went).
2. I am not on muscle relaxants as of today - I'm on arthritis medicine (because I've been having headaches so I'm taking anti-inflammatory drugs for my jaw which I like to clench.)
3. I got to take an awesome nap.
4. I still got over 11,000 steps even with my nap and short workout.
5. My sink has no dishes in it.
6. I bought myself a sweater. A nice one.
7. My kids give each other hugs. I could die it is so adorable.
8. I found out from my friend Nichole that I can take my broken dyson to a store and they will fix it- I guess they are guaranteed for life! Now I won't die from dog hair inhalation.
9. I made biscuits and put Nutella on them = happiness.
10. I have great friends. Nichole came to visit me yesterday and Claire let me use her baby as a model for my etsy shop. I also got to see Suzy's adorable new baby. I love babies.

I've found that whenever I am feeling really bad about life working hard on something makes me feel better. and if that doesn't work, I try to do something for someone else. I remember hearing as a child that if you are ever feeling sorry for yourself you aren't serving other people enough. So if you feel down, do something for someone else. I think it works. There is nothing more magical than work.

The Bunny Ninjas have arrived. what could be better?

So what was awesome about your day?

Positive Post #10

A Story from Danielle and the Dog:
in one non creative part.

The lady prepares her subjects for the journey ahead. She vanquishes every foe with her sword of truth and justice. The rocks as well as the bulbs she buries deep in the holes her help digs her. And what will the rocks grow, indeed, now that they have roofs over their heads?

I am the noblest of all the hounds. You call me a hound! I am the humblest of all men. Violence awaits my every move. I listen to your feelings. I shall prevail against the squirrel and other dangerous imaginations.

No foul beast shall conquer the mighty girl and her weapon. The noble hound feels himself young again. Does she not truly want to share her game with him? Flitting through the air with the foolish confidence of age, he does not know his smallest master.
She sees him just in time.

Her victory lies not in strength, but in power.

The princess/wizard/mommy/teacher/robot/puppy/kitty/pillow pet/GIRL!/baby/fireman wishes a picture to celebrate her power.

It is Complete.

what in the world do people write blogs for? I'm bored out of my mind.

I guess so are you. I would like to stay up all night tonight and read a book.
It's sad when your husband is in medical school and all the people you know see their husbands just as little, if not less than you do.
On the other hand I know some stunningly capable women.
It's quite intimidating, and inspirational.

End Positive Post #10

Positive post # 4

Well today I realized I could post blog posts from my android phone which is pretty awesome. This post was made from my phone and photos taken on my phone. We visited Mark and Sara this weekend do which made me happy. We get to take breaks which for me means doing some kind of craft and for John means sitting on the couch and playing games on his phone.

I was heartbroken when I realized that all the recreational home improvement projects I wanted to do made my husband sad. This was a while ago and I think I already blogged about it. Why can't he get as excited about organizational products as I do? Luckily I have friends who understand that the container store turns me on a little bit but not in a sick way. How is it not exciting to have a perfectly organized closet with matching hangers and stacking sweater boxes? I don't know many people who own matching sweater boxes, but I love all the people who do. I am still surprised John doesn't think more about the perfect shoe rack design.

He also doesn't understand why I want a laminating machine. But he didn't understand the tile cutter desire at first either. I want to tile everything in my house. Also some things outside the house. I love tools. a lot.
I'm grateful for my friends. And my label machine.and of course my friends who love labelmakers. Or look at ideas for decorating their house. Sara always has good ideas with sources she's found online. If I had lots of money I am confident that Sara could help me spend it more intelligently.
And of course I am grateful my husband who will hold our grouchy and particular old man baby while sara and I work on the cricut. Seriously I am not complaining because I would never complain but sometimes I pray that baby Mark will be a little less "particular." Like not constantly crying in the car for several hours straight even though he should be falling asleep. When he gets tired sometimes he lays on his back- or sometimes that means he wants to nurse. Either way it's fun to have our newest family member also be our oldest man. Maybe I will make him a shirt labeling him as such.
Because nothing is more relaxing than making cool stuff.
What do you like to do when you get free time?

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guess I still have to learn how to get the photos to orient themselves correctly.

End Positive Post #4 of 31

Positive Post #2

Danielle took a picture of Bronson, our two month old darling baby friend. He makes me want to cuddle him. a lot.

Well I would really like to have a new background on my blog. I like the one I have, but I would like the columns more if they were a little wider. and I would like it if there was some pink in the title.
Oh my friends had a baby and they named her Sophie. I really love that name. When we had our first baby we made lists of all the names we liked in the baby book. Then we crossed names off that we didn't both like. Then we made a top twenty then ten then three then one. Danielle was in our top ten and was eliminated because of the nickname Dani. Then Sophie Made the top three. We finally decided on Eva. Then when she was born it didn't seem right. I never thought I would think it made a difference- but in my mind Eva had brown hair.
But Sophie really is a beautiful name.
I love a lot of photography blogs that have simple white backgrounds. Maybe they could also make me a button. Do you like blog buttons? Do you think people actually come to blogs from random blog buttons? I like a lot of blogs with buttons and they seem so fancy. My friend Ashli is really good at making them.
My aunt showed me a simple site that I use for my shop blog and kids' blogs (that are over a month behind.- I got overwhelmed and that was the thing that feel apart.) I like the idea of making the blogs about my kids into a book. But I do want some damask pattern in the background.
Have any of you had your blog done? How was it working with someone?
One thing I really like is free trials. My free trail of Adobe Lightroom just ended. I didn't want to get it because we are thinking about getting a new computer for me. Mainly because this computer occasionally claims that it is having system disk failure, and one of the drives has decided be invisible. I don't want to buy a new one though. So I won't buy lightroom for a computer that I might replace. My favorite thing to do when your computer fails? Press the power button until it turns off, then restart it. If that doesn't work? Turn it off again and wait ten to twenty minutes. This is the amount of time it takes to do the dishes, or to vacuum.

I think doing chores helps me relieve stress.

End Positive Post Two
Smiles

The Road Trip Tryout.

I know you might want to go on a road trip with me and my children. Just the other day I volunteered to drive to Colorado with a friend.

oddly enough, she is no longer interested in road tripping with me.

I don't know why- all we did was drive to the outlets in Lancaster together. Baby Mark cried the whole time. Literally almost the entire 2.5 hour drive in the car he was crying. I tried to time it so he could sleep over his nap time but he had other ideas.

also Danielle fussed about her neck hurting.

and about someone pretending her new bedding was a towel.

and about her headphones getting wrapped up in her hair.

and about being hungry.

and about being thirsty.

she didn't really cry about sharing her game, which I was happy about. Or maybe I just forgot that part.

the girls did try to unbuckle and climb around the car.

and we moved the seats around

and we filled the car too full really.

and Danielle peed her pants in the middle of a store.

Mark finally fell asleep after 12 hours of sleeping- he learned to self soothe from all that great sleep training people recommended to us. I guess Danielle's new big girl seat is too big for her since the seat belt gave her a cut on her neck. I felt terrible when I realized what had happened, just like the whole time the children were crying or complaining I wanted to stop driving and help them. I guess I just don't press on very well, which is probably why it took us 7 hours to drive to New Jersey the other day even though it should have taken 3.5.

I guess if you really want to get somewhere you have to keep driving.

Nichole said I could have warned her.

You can imagine that I was non-plussed, is this not one of the greatest joys of parenting? Don't all children have a constant stream of screaming or complaints in the car?

Danielle, with the help of one dear salesman, learned what Jibbets were, and is now the proud owner of a some which were placed on her new crocs that I bought to replace the urine soaked shoes she had with her. I knew I should have brought along an extra outfit- confirming my faith that my mother's intuition is indeed growing. Also for all you parents if you are buying one light up fairy you should really buy one for each foot or your child will drive you nuts with stomping.

Nichole claims that children like Mark should be able to stay asleep when they fall asleep in the car.

I suppose next she will think it is inappropriate to climb all over furniture at restaurants and try to crawl all over the floor with the baby. I don't know how people ever leave their homes with children. Maybe they have Alien children like Darla that are really good.

Nichole has two girls aged three and two (the three year old is almost four) and they didn't seem to contribute at all to the complaining.

But I think it's important to contribute. I guess I'll be searching for a new friend for road trips with children.

Do you have any road trips planned?

Baby Bronson

First we had a lovely baby shower. Since Claire decorated her nursery with John Deere items we had to make all the food green and yellow. and of course some brownies which are brown. I can't tell you how upset the food ladies were to see the brown food. You can't blame me though- I wanted it to be all green and yellow! Some people claim that color doesn't matter but they are clearly not in touch with what a baby shower should be. Claire's was pretty informal and I liked it- especially the happy Poms that she was going to go home with but are still living on the ceiling in my living room- because her baby, like a delightful child, came before his due date.
what a good baby.

My friend Claire had a baby and he is darling.
Bronson Bruce Mills Born August 12, 2010 9:39 pm 8 lbs 5 oz 19 1/2 in.
i got to go see him when he was a little over a week old. He was that fantastic age when they just curl up in a little ball. For a second I wanted a baby. He was just so warm and loving.
Then I realized I was crazy and tried to get some photos of that baby. I want to get better at photographing children. I even borrowed a book about it from Sara.

I thought it would be fun to get one of those knitted things you put the baby in a ball and take a photo of. The baby didn't really like it. Maybe those things are better for sleeping babies. It just kept covering his eyes and I gave up after two photos.

Bronson is super cute. He told us he was hungry shortly after I arrived.

Remember when baby mark was this small? I do. Claire looked fantastic for just having a baby. And she had a c-section! I hope she was still on pain killers which could explain her looking so chipper. She had makeup on.

Claire's mom was nice enough to hold a blanket up in the background. What a cute little family.

Bronson with mommy and daddy separately and together.

well I am loving my trial of lightroom but soon it will end and I might cry.
thanks for letting me visit your cute baby, Claire.