Old School Toys

Chris found some of his toys from when he was little. Madelyn really liked this one!

Yogurtini with Valerie

We have been scheduling, and rescheduling this special date for about a month, and we finally got it worked out! My boss, Valerie, has been telling me about a fun place for a yogurt treat: Yogurtini. This is a self-serve yogurt shop where you can sample as many flavors as you like, and you can add lots and lots of toppings.

Madelyn has been super excited to try this out, and she was even more excited when she stepped into this special place! She LOVED tasting lots of the flavors, and at first had a hard time choosing one. She decided on the Birthday Cake yogurt, and then Valerie suggested she should add another flavor to her bowl. Madelyn couldn’t believe it! TWO FLAVORS IN ONE BOWL! Her second choice was Pomegranate Raspberry Sorbet. And then came the toppings. Oh boy! Did she have fun with this! She added Fruity Pebbles, Nerds, sprinkles, chocolate chips (regular and mini), to name a few. It was making me a little nauseous to even look at it, actually, but I didn’t say anything. And she sure did like it. Although I am happy to report she didn’t finish it all. That's one belly-ache we avoided.

Thanks, Valerie, for bringing us to Yogurtini! We will certainly be back!

 

Life Lessons

Madelyn: “Mommy, why does that police man want to talk to us?”

Me: “I’m not sure.”

Officer comes over. I ask why I was pulled over because I was pretty confident that I was not speeding. Apparently I didn’t see a school bus with its stop sign out. Grrr…

Madelyn: “Did he tell you why he wanted to talk to you?”

Me: “Because Mommy wasn’t following the rules.”

Madelyn: “What rule did you break?”

Me: “I didn’t notice the stop sign out on the bus, and didn’t stop.”

Madelyn: “I’m gunna just tell him you didn’t see it.” (seriously)

Me: “No, honey. That’s very thoughtful, but you have to know the rules and always follow them, or you’ll get a ticket. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a ticket.”

Madelyn: “But you didn’t see it. I saw it. But you didn’t, right?”

Me: “Right.”

I talk to the officer for a bit; Madelyn listens intently… officer walks back to his motorcycle….

Madelyn: “Mommy, how come you’re using your sad voice?”
Me: “Because I’m sad that I didn’t follow the rules. Think about when you get in trouble and you cry because you wish you weren’t in trouble. That’s how I’m feeling right now.”

Madelyn hands me a tissue and proceeds to make funny faces in the backseat, asking if it’s making me smile. Indeed it is. J

The officer leaves, and I turn around (legally) and head to Centennial. We’re about 300 feet from a stop sign and Madelyn screams, “STOP!”

Me: “Madelyn! I see the stop sign.”

Madelyn: “I didn’t know if you saw it. I don’t want you to get another ticket.”

We make our way to Centennial so I can drop Madelyn off at COOP. We walk into the classroom, and Madelyn lifts her eyebrows real high, with eyes wide open, and tilts her head to the side as if to say, “Don’t you have something to tell Mrs. Lee?”

Me: “What?”

Madelyn: “You need to tell her.”

Me: “We don’t have to tell her.”
Mrs. Lee: “Everything okay?”

Me: “Madelyn would like me to tell you that I got pulled over this morning. Okay. Goodbye, everyone. Have a good day.” 

Sigh

Makes the whole experience worthwhile:

Officer (before he let me go): "Be sure you keep her buckled up.”

Me: “Oh, yes, of course.”

I loved that Madelyn heard him because when she’s having another fit in the back seat and takes her seatbelt off, and I have to pull over to put it back on, I can remind her that a police officer will indeed give us a ticket. We have been telling her this for a long time, and now I am pretty sure she’ll actually believe it. J

New Zumba Partner

I have been trying to make workouts a more permanent part of my week, and although I hate exercise, I have been doing a pretty good job. My new favorite is Wii Zumba. It’s a crazy workout that makes me ache every morning after. One of my best friends, Abbi, has been joining me in this adventure, so it’s nice to have a partner in crime. Although we’re really just doing it for the money. We’re in a weight loss competition right now (Be Great in Eight), and we’re really both competitive, so we're a little more motivated than usual. A little. J

One evening Abbi couldn’t make it over, so Madelyn decided SHE would be my partner. Great idea!

How come the belt doesn't fit me like that? ;)

It’s a 45-minute workout, of which she lasted about 3.5 minutes.

Madelyn: “Momma. Can I take a break for a little bit? I have a cramp.”

HAHA! I thought it was so cute she asked if she could stop as if I was forcing her to do it. She obviously takes after me when it comes to working out. And I don’t blame her. It’s no fun.

Road Trip

Recently, Grammy asked us if we’d like to take a road trip up north to check out a location for our family reunion next summer. We decided it would be a great opportunity to make it a whole day’s worth of events just for girls. J  Madelyn LOVED the idea that no boys were allowed... not even Papa.

We invited Grandma Louise to come with us, too. We haven’t seen her in forever, and were glad she said yes!

We drove to Mormon Lake Lodge where we got a tour and some ideas on the kinds of things we could do during the reunion. We especially enjoyed the nice cool weather!

After our tour of the facilities, we headed into downtown Flagstaff where we had lunch at Chili’s. We laughed a lot and had a fantastic time!

 Zona calls this picture Thelma & Louise. J

This is the sign of a successful road trip…