Maddie's Hair Days

One of the great things about having a little girl is you get to play with her hair. And now that Madelyn finally has a head full she can where clips and bows and all those girlie things. But that also means washing it. That part is a little harder, and her hair keeps getting longer. So to be sure that her hair is clean brendan likes to help me 'play' with it some times. And this is what we get.
And of course the after bath curls.

Rock Wall Climber

Last night we took Brendan to the local REI store where we have a membership that allows us to use the rock wall. Everytime we visit a store that has one brendan wants to try it. Last night was his night. Now how high do you think a four year old can climb, note that this wall doesn't have the pegs sticking out that you climb with - it has the cracks and grooves that you use to go up. Brendan got to go two times. The first time he went about 8 feet, just over our heads. The second time he almost got to the top! He is now really a spiderman. And of course what type of mom would I be if I didn't have the camera in the diaper bag? So here are his pictures.

First is him in his harness looking at how high the wall goes and telling us that he wants to ring the bell at the top.
Second Brendan starting to climb and learning where he needs to hold on to.
This is how high he got on his first climb.
This is Maddie watching. I don't know if she liked him doing this, wanted to do it herself, or just bored.
Finally, this is how high Brendan got on his second climb. So close to the top.

Snow Days

We finally have snow! It took awhile for it to come and now we have the white stuff everywhere. Brendan & daddy love to play outside while Madelyn & mommy like to sit at the back window and watch.
But of course Maddie has to get in on the outdoor adventure so I got her a baby sled. She loves it, and it is a good work out for me to pull her around the yard.
Brendan loves to play in the snow, snowmen, snowballs, snowangels, the boy loves winter. Here is one of his snow angels that he made for me.
With the Michigan winters the lakes and ponds freeze, what better play to ice skate than on a small pond. This past Saturday Brian took Brendan out for his first ice skating lesson. Brendan did pretty good at his first time out, had to be held with both hands the whole time, but I think that is pretty good give that this same boy has problems with walking sometimes. :)
And of course what goes with ice skating better than hockey! We got Brendan a small kid sized stick and he knew just how to hold it and hit the puck and everything! My boy's got game. Of course since he can't skate yet we just used his soccer goal for him to hit the pucks to in the drive way. He had a great time.

Ice Festival

This Saturday we went to the Plymouth Ice Festival. It was very cold and very crowded. I think the high was in the upper 20's. Brrrr. Brendan and Madelyn both took naps in the car on the way there, which ended up being a really good thing as I had no clue where I was going and the way I took the road ended up being closed for construction (Bridge closed in Winter type of thing!). But hey getting there is half the adventure and it Brian tons of new material for picking on me.

Okay back to the Kiddie's. We had both of them all bundled up so well that weather didn't bother either of them, plus a break at Starbucks for a hot chocolate break worked too. And of course here are our pictures.
First is Brian and Brendan all bundled up.
Maddie kickin' back in all her clothes.
The BIG ship. It is over 8 feet tall I am guessing.
And a small pirate ship. About 2 feet tall.

Finally

Okay, okay I am finally up-dating our blog. I know that it has been quite a while but it is hard to find time to do all of the 5 minute work that this takes. My goal this year is to up-date at least once a week and last week didn't count. We are all well and have had our flu shot so we will see how this winter/cold season treats us. Maddie has her first tooth and I am trying to get a picture of it, it is still little but is sticking out of her gums.

As for the kiddies here are some pictures from Christmas.
Maddie swimming in the pool on the way home from Georgia.
And of course Brendan being a ham and pretending that he is a scuba diver. Quite the imagination that he has.

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving we went up to Flint for dinner. Ashley was with us for a couple of days and kids (well Brendan anyway) just loved having her here. (Maddie is have separation problems).
We has all the traditional items: Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries (which Brendan did try, the face he made was priceless), fruit & nut bread....
And of course after dinner someone had to take a nap.Poor Maddie couldn't take all the excitement. And then there is dessert. Brendan loves to eat the coolwhip out of the can, well this year he also gave some to Grandpa and Grandma Andrews; their faces, shirts.And then there is play time with the kids. Maddie just thought that the dog was so funny and after the first time she grabbed the dog, the dog did not come back.We hope that you had a great Thanksgiving too.

SUPERMAN!

Trick-Or-Treat

Here are Brendan, Daddy and Maddie just before we started our Trick-or-Treating. Brendan did our block with Maddie and our neighbor's nephew in about 45 minutes. Came home and mommy and Brendan went back out and did another block in less than half an hour. And boy did he get some candy.

Jack-O-Lantern

Brendan and Madelyn both helped to carve our pumpkins this year. Brendan helped scoop the yucks out of the inside and Madelyn helped by tearing up the newpaper and spilling the bowl of pumpkin yucks onto herself. It was a really funny evening. And of course they both got a bath while daddy carved the face on Brendan's and I did Madelyn's after their bath.
Brendan had Capt'in Jack Sparrow on his and Madelyn had a pirate skull and cross swords on her's. We didn't get a great photo of them but I might tonight. But her are the kiddies helping.

Cider Mill

Every year we go to a Cider Mill for fresh apple cider and donuts. This year was Maddies first trip and we even gave her a little bit of a donut. The weather was beautiful for a October Saturday and the Mill was hoppen'. I guess we weren't the only ones with the brilliant idea.

Getting Ready

We are getting ready for all the Halloween activites that the kiddies have this year. On Friday my girls club is hosting a Halloween Spooktacular for the city, Saturday is Brian's friends get together, Sunday is free, Monday Brendan has a class Halloween party, Tuesday his school has a Halloween parade around the block, and of course Trick-or-Treating.
I am sure that I am missing a couple of things but I think that gives you an idea of how busy we are. I took the kiddies photo with my new 'Fall' background that I created this past week. Brendan is a Pirate and Maddie is a Butterfly. Here are their halloween pictures.

Octoberfest

Berkley's New City Beautifiacation committee Hosted a Octoberfest tonight. After dinner we went to let Brendan and Maddie check it out. There was face painting, pumpkin painting, cider & doughnuts, candy, music, and games. One of the games was eating a doughnut off a string. Of course big mouth Brendan had to give that one a try. He did pretty good.And Papa Tatz was wondering why there weren't as many picture of Miss Maddie as there are of Mister Brendan, here is why. Everywhere we go, she takes a nap. I can only have so many napping pictures.But here is another one from our picnic at the Nature Center before Brendan's Storytime today. A little chilly for a picnic but Brendan wanted to eat outside.

Shhhhh! Were' Hunting Rabbit!

Brian and Brendan went rabbit hunting at a spot close to their fishing hole. Brendan was quiet and tried to sneak up and find some rabbits. Didn't happen. But both Brian and Brendan had a good time and Maddie & I waited and hung out in the car. (Brendan can only hunt for so long ya know!) anyway I got to knit for a whole hour! That soooo doesn't happen at home.
We were on the way up to Flint for Great-Grandpa Johnson's Birthday get-together and Brian has been itching to go and be the Great White Hunter Man. So we thought we would stop on the way up. Again Brendan did great and had a blast, Maddie napped and played with toys, mommy got to knit and daddy got to carry a gun in the woods. A good time all around. And of course here is a picture. :)

Spotting Deer

Brendan, Maddie and I went out to a Nature Center close to home last Thursday. We went on a little but long walk and we spotted two deer. Brendan was very quiet as we snuck up to get a close picture of them. There was a mom with her baby. They let us watch them for a couple of minutes before taking off again. A very cool experience for Brendan. Here is a picture that we got of them.
And one of the outdoor adventurer and baby.

Park

Brian always likes to do things with Brendan and mommy & Maddie don't want to be left out. So when he wanted to take Brendan to the park last night we just had to go too. Of course I thought that Maddie would take her after dinner nap on the way there and back. But I think that she knew where we were going. She really likes to swing right now. The whole time she has this big ol' smile on her whole face and her tongue sticking out half of the time as well.
Brendan likes to count to three and have us do an under dog (push him and then go under the swing) and he gets all giggle-ie when he gets to three. And of course I just have to tease him and either do it too early or too late. He never knows when I am going to do it. But of course he then has to tell me that I am doing it wrong. Oh well.

Learning About Nature

Today I took Brendan and Madelyn to a local Nature Center because they were having a Pre-School Nature Program. While waiting for it to start Brendan got to pet a Snapping Turtle, he is really into Turtles right now. (Okay he is into anything that moves) Anyway, there were a couple stories about nature and then the kids got split up to go on a nature walk. We went with Mister Farmer who works at the center. He caught a grass hopper so the kids/and moms could feel the feet, he also caught a couple of butterfly's and showed us the long tongue and also the eyes. Brendan had a great time learning about nature and Maddie liked the bumpy stroller ride and trying to grab branches that came close enough.

It's A Pirate Party!

We had Brendan's Pirate Birthday Party on Sunday and what a good time. 8 Kids, 15 Adults all in our tiny little backyard. But what a blast. Pirate Boat cake, Treasure Chest Pinyata (spelling?) and Presents. What more could a 4 year old ask for.
Here are some pictures:
First we have Miss Maddie all dressed up for her brother's big day.Next is that pinyta, don't by the cheap ones they have taped sides that you can't bust open.That Pirate Ship Cake.And his presents, he got his big pirate boat that he has been wanting for about a year now.

Happy 4th Birthday Brendan!

Can you beleive that Brendan is now 4 years old. Time has just flown by.
To celebrate his birthday we took him out for pizza last night. But also he has been getting cards and packages the past couple of days and I think that is one of his favorite parts about his birthday.Of course Grandma and Papa Tatz all ways makes sure that his package gets here in time and Brendan was so excited about getting a big box. And he now has a new favorite shirt, and of course there was something in there for Maddie and he just as excited about that as well. Here is Brendan showing off his new duds.

First Day of School

Here is Brendan's First Day of School at his new Pre-School, also the school that he will probably go to for Elementary as well.
I woke him up as Brian was making his first day of school breakfast, cinnamon Rolls. And he had his snack in his Batman Lunch box inside his Pirate Backpack and he was set to go. This school is a lot closer than the one last year just over a block and a half. So on nice days Maddie and I can walk to go pick him up. (I don't think that Brendan will be up for that much walking at 8 o'clock in the morning). School starts at 8:15 and we get buzzed in at 8:13 to put his bag and coat in his very own locker (they don't have locks) and I sign him in to class and they start out on the circle rug. And then class gets out at 11:15, again parents being buzzed in at 11:13. He likes his teacher and her aid, and there are lots of kids in his class so he should enjoy this school year. Here are some photos.