maddux melodies

ali thinks that our kitchen table is her stage.
she is up there all.the.time. so we decided to record a few performances for your viewing pleasure. they are super short. just a little glimpse into the silliness that occurs around here.

this is to prove to all those who have seen her look at us like we are crazy when we ask her to do this in front of you, or have seen her sing one line in an attempt to tease her adoring audience, that she does in fact do this all the time. yeah, she has us all right where she wants us. so here it is, ali's solo.
(yeah, I know it's sideways...but her cuteness is so worth straining your neck for!)

this last one is to document his righteousness for all to see. and the face he gives on the last line kills me because it is so him.

handy daddy

so, Justin was speaking spanish the other day and cole started giggling and said:

"you sound like handy manny!"

we thought it was pretty funny.

if my kid were a dog

I have thought about this a lot lately and have even shared this insight with a few people. the best way I can describe cole right now is...

that if he were a dog he would be this:
a great dane puppy.

let me explain my thought process. Cole is HUGE but non-the-less a 3 yr old. and much like a puppy he is playful, energetic, likes to jump-up and hang on us, and I swear if he had a tail it would be wagging all the time. he is go-go-go and always has something in his head to move onto after he is done with his current project. BUT like a great dane puppy he does all this bouncing around and flopping onto peoples laps completely unaware of how LARGE he is. don't misunderstand me we enjoy every minute of him, he makes us smile and laugh constantly. but the next time you are around him and you see him bounding towards you to greet you, just remember he is so oblivious to just how great-dane-like he is.

I know the day will come when he no longer wants to hop into my lap and be cuddled and that I will long for the days of elbows to my ribs as he nuzzles up. so I am grateful that he doesn't think he is too big for such things. and I secretly hope that he never feels too big for those things. and even though it might look funny to see a ginormously large teenager curled up to his mommy I hope (for my sake) he will be just as oblivious of how big he is then too.

the girly guide to oral hygiene

before little ladies go to church they brush their teeth.

they always use toothpaste.

and make sure to get every last tooth.

after rinsing they are good to go

but not with out re-inserting the precious pacifier.

tea party of love

yesterday cole and ali attended the cutest tea party ever.
complete with mini cheese balls rolled in pistachios, chocolate covered strawberries, mini cupcakes, pink punch, and other yummy appetizers.

how cute is this?
the girls were all decked out princess style, as instructed by the the most darling invitations ever (you are so cute Katie).

after eating their fill, the kiddo's retired upstairs for some old fashioned, entertain themselves, fun

which was ali's cue to dig in and scavenge left overs.

she was so happy to have the run of the table...

so happy in fact that she ended up on top of it...

and boy did she love that!

and then all that sugar and the rush that it had caused came crashing down...
(and yes, that is a candy bracelet she has protruding from her mouth)

it was such a fun way to celebrate the holiday of love. kids were happy. mommy's were happy.
a big thank you to katie for this perfect afternoon.

see cole climb

this is the tree in my parents front yard.

this is my way-more-adventurous-than-I-will-ever-be son in the tree.

and this is the man who is the the reason my son is more adventurous than I will ever be.

and not pictured: the half proud, have panic stricken mother trying to be brave as her boys.

tide pool tenderness

while at my parents place for the holidays justin and I took full advantage of the babysitting offered and went on several dates.

we saw movies, ate out, and one day my mom kicked us out for the whole day! Justin investigated and found some fun places we had yet to visit in our adventures there. he took me to the tide pools. that last time I was there was on a 4th grade field trip...this was way better than 4th grade! I mean c'mon I was there with this!
(insert arrow to incredibly cute fella in picture below)

we had such a good time just being together

to quote my journal which is ridiculously littered with years of detail about this..."I sure love this kid"

a Maddux family Christmas

Although Christmas is always a very busy season we did find time to fit a lot in around here...

like make a gingerbread house

and sugar cookies

experience the weakest snow fall ever... (and eat it)

and play in it

get and set up our tree, ummm I can still smell it when I see this

and decorate it...which Justin miraculously let me decorate my way this year
(have I mentioned how much I love Tai Pan?)

fill Santa in on the list

drive to grandma and grandpa's house and wake up Christmas morning to the spoils of a very kind Santa

Cole got right to work

assembling the thing his little heart most desired...a mickey mouse club house

while ali was content to chill

give Santa some action

show off the tu tu my cousin made for her

and take it all in

while posing for pictures that are so ali it's not even funny

and where was Justin? oh he was enjoying the gift that keeps on giving...
(thank you to all family members who made this possible)

and giving...this is how he could be found for a large portion of our trip

but he was not the only one at least

but I have to give him credit he made plenty of time to spoil and love us

both will gifts like the amazing chi that has changed my hair's life forever, and with tender unforgettable memories.

it was a great Christmas and we loved every minute. Especially those moments that make you think and remember what this season is all about.

bob the tesimony builder

while I am please to admit that I finally abandoned all hope of finding our camera cord to upload pictures, and ordered a new one, it will not be here for a few days. so, to assure all of you that we are indeed alive and well, I stole this picture off of my friend Lenae's blog.

could we be any cuter?

this was our primary teacher training. I love serving with these ladies. it has definitely helped with the move to have such wonderful people who are forced to be my friends! our presidency came up with the theme "tools, treats, and training". it was a complete event filled with food, creative decor, and a skit (girls after my own heart). we had fun and we are pretty sure our teachers found our insanity entertaining enough to get them to show up for the next meeting!

so, prepare for a bit of blog barfing when the camera cord arrives. between christmas, our anniversary, and our every day happenings, there is a ton to chat about!