Happy Easter!

Bellingrath Easter Egg Hunt

For the second year we went to the Egg Hunt at Bellingrath and again we had a great time! Since Maggie is older, we got to participate in a "egg hunt" which is really more like an egg race.
They line the kiddies (ages 3-5) up at a starting line, and then send them running down the length of a field covered with eggs. It's wonderful chaos. Maggie did great and enjoyed it - which shows how much she is growing up. Crowds and chaos used to make her very nervous and shy. Now she just jumps right in there.

After the egg race, we traded in our empty eggs for some prize then went to explore the plaza area a bit - a local college had set up games and crafts. Maggie made a name tag and painted a butterfly. (Yes, paint and Easter dresses !!!)

Then we went back to the field for a special flyover from a small plane that dropped easter surprises from the sky! It was pretty cool to watch the cessna fly over at low altitude...he made several passes and after it was over the kids ran over the field again picking up what they could.
Afterwards we all went to lunch. We had a great time hanging out with each other and watching the kids play (and I got to play with my new camera which is always fun!)

Another Maggie first....

Today was a friend's birthday so Maggie was invited to Chuck-E-Cheese...and for the first time I actually let her go. I had been waiting till she was a little older. I felt the noise and commotion would be too much for her since she tends to get quiet and shy in such situations.

Well, those days are OVER! She had a BALL! In fact, so did I. Can't wait to go back! Thanks Fifi and 'Bastian!

A Day Out with Thomas

Maggie's fascination with trains in general and Thomas in particular continues so we decided to take advantage of an opportunity to ride with Thomas himself!

We weren't sure how the whole experience would go over.... although she is fascinated, she's also been scared by trains. She is slowly getting over that but we weren't sure if she was ready to ride a full size train, but we decided to take the gamble.
The day of our ride was very rainy so Mommy had to make a quick run to the dollar store to pick up an umbrella and poncho (I had not packed appropriately). While waiting for me in the car, Maggie heard Thomas' whistle. Maggie cried out "Thomas! I"m Here! Wait for me Thomas!!"

She did great on the train - even complained to us that she wanted to sit closer (we had tickets for the enclosed car...at the back of the train.)


She enjoyed the balloons (until Mommy popper her puppy anyway) and music and temporary tattoos....Maggie got Thomas on her face. Daddy got Percy on his hand and Mommy got James on her face. Maggie likes to assign family and friend names to characters so long ago she said that she was James. So that night as she was going to bed she said "Mommy, you've got me on your cheek." It was very hard to wash that tattoo off my face that night- I wanted to keep it forever!


Maggie peppered us with questions.... "Where Thomas' shed?" "Where's Gordon?" "Where's Toppamhat's car?"

Despite the rain we all had a good time and the best part was seeing Maggie's face light up everytime she saw Thomas.

New Hiding Space

As part of my de-cluttering, I decided to turn this linen closet into a coat closet. But I decided that instead of removing the shelving, I would simply swing the shelves up flat against the back wall and anchor them. That way, if we ever want some or all of the shelves back, we just remove one screw and snap them back in place.

Maggie was "helping" me with this project tonight and discovered she fits quite nicely on the bottom shelf.

Tractor time!

Click here for video.

Maggie's best friend, Will, recently received a Power Wheels jeep. It's really cool. It was a hand-me-down from his girl cousins and for Christmas Will's uncle took the thing apart and repainted it in FSU colors for Will, complete with decals....it's so cool!

Tuesday night we were at Will's house getting ready for dinner and the kids went out back to ride Will's jeep. Maggie wasn't dressed quite warmly enough so we borrowed one of Will's sweatshirt. It was SO CUTE to watch them riding around together, in matching sweatshirts, telling each other where to go and squealing with glee! I think my favorite part was when Will stopped the Jeep and said "Maggie, you drive!" So sweet!

For some reason, Maggie calls it a Tractor and we can't convince her that it's a jeep.

Learning to peddle

Saturday Maggie and I had a great time working on peddling her tricycle. Dad has been helping her learn this and in the past she wouldn't do it around me so it was a special treat for me. We started by practicing in the house with her lying on her back and moving her feet. Then she decided to try it for real. Click here for the video.

An inauspicious beginning...

Maggie's second day as a 3 year old was spent hooked up a nebulizer at home and going to doctors offices when her asthma - or whatever it is - kicked in at 3 am Sunday morning. We were afraid we were going to have to go to an ER because the albuterol I was giving her at home was not controlling her wheezing and I knew she would need a steroid. But thankfully we were able to get in to see the doctor on call and get her the help she needed. We gave her treatments every 2 hours Sunday evening and every 3 hours through the night and she is now much better. Hopefully, the rest of her year will go more smoothly. ;-)

Maggie's 3!

Hi Everyone! It's been a great birthday here at our house. Maggie started getting excited about her birthday before Christmas and once we got into January we heard "my birday now?" almost every day. So at some point I made a paper chain with Maggie to count down the days till her birthday and help her visualize how long she had to wait. She called it "my birday chain" and every day she tore one link off the chain. She enjoyed that a lot.

Maggie's birthday fell on a Friday this year, and the Thursday before, my sister Kathy and her two kids came down for a visit. Maggie was VERY excited to see them - so excited that she did not nap that day. That's been happening more lately.....like today. Anyway, I digress....

Friday, Maggie's Birthday began with breakfast - a sugery cereal I wouldn't normally buy for her and a new Thomas the Train bowl. Then Maggie went on a special outing with just Daddy. He bought her some flowers that she got to help pick out and a special balloon too. That was a neat idea and I hope that will become an annual tradition. When they got back we all went to Pump It Up to play on all the inflatable toys - we had a blast! (Click here for Video) We were glad cousin Mina was there to share the fun - I think Maggie enjoyed it much more because of that.

After nap time, Grandmother, Granddaddy and Aunt Peggy arrived, followed by Grammy and Grumpa. We had a big dinner comprised of all Maggie's favorites....Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Fried Okra, Green Beans (ok, that's not a favorite but the rest of us needed something healthy) and rolls, topped off with Grandmother's DELICIOUS coconut cake! I can't tell you how happy I am that Maggie's favorite cake is the same as mine. :-)

On Saturday, we had the official party with her friends. The party had a train theme and everyone had a good time. All the kids got conductor hats and bandanas to wear and train whistles. We played a "Coal Toss"game and enjoyed pizza and veggies and cake, ice cream and even train shaped sugar cookies. It was a lot of fun.

Ben and I have spent a lot of time in anticipation of this birthday reflecting over the past 3 years. We are truly blessed to not only have such a wonderful little girl, but to have so many friends and family who love her so! We're looking forward to watching her grow up even more!

Haircut video

Here's a cute video of of Maggie and Will giving each other haircuts during a football party at our house. My favorite part is at about 2:15 when Will directs Maggie to "cut a little on the side".

Will Work for Play-doh

Maggie's ready to start her lawncare business...click here for video.