Thursday, March 24, 2016

Wishing We Were There Again!

Maddy's cheer coaches and their competition teams
are at Disney now for a competition!
We keep seeing photos from
the happiest place on earth, 
and . . . 
are just a teensy bit jealous that
we're not there too --
especially after a bit of snow last night
and below freezing temps!

Mother Nature -- please bring spring back!


We were there a few years ago
with my sister and her most adorable daughter!
What a fun time!


Happy Easter!

Thursday, March 17, 2016

13 Years -- Lucky 13!

Thirteen years ago this month we were so blessed to meet and
bring home our most adorable daughter!
It was an amazing, fun and exhausting 
trip to China to meet our sweet Maddy Mei.


Part of her Chinese name is Mei so we kept that
for her middle name!

She was much smaller than I anticipated at 14 months old.  Since we had received
photos of her standing, I assumed she would be walking, but
that was not the case.  
She was a speedy little crawler though and
moved on to walking and running fast once we were home!

Traveling to China is a trip of a lifetime --
meeting and bringing home a daughter is beyond amazing and wonderful and life-changing!
Our family has been truly blessed with our sweet Maddy.

Red Couch Photo -- some of her travel-mates were upset, but
Maddy blocked out the chaos with her hands up around her face  -
something she did quite often for a few weeks.
Her Smile makes me smile. 
Her laugh is infectious. 
Her heart is pure and true. 
Above all I love that 
she is my daughter!

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Opening Day!

We always try to attend opening day festivities
at our local children's zoo!
This year it opened earlier than ever!
The weather was perfect as if there had been
some cosmic agreement made
ahead of time
for warmish and sunny temps on the first day the
zoo was open for the new year!


We really love our zoo!
It's not the biggest in the state, doesn't have the
most popular animals, and no fancy-pants aquarium,
but it's pretty much perfect anyway.


The horses weren't out yet because they went away
for the winter. Not really a fan anyway, since
they bit and pushed Maddy around last summer!

I usually subscribe to Jim Stafford's song lyrics -
"I don't like spiders and snakes"
but this spider was so sweet and fluffy --
 hello
Mr. Tarantula!



The camels were having a field day with yummy
treats from zoo visitors.  One lady almost gave
them a real delicacy -- her finger!
Read the signs - lady -- do not feed the camels by hand!!!!


The Gibbon a/k/a Howler Monkey about scared me to death
when he came out and smacked the window right in
front of me!  
And then he laughed!  


Opening day requires a ride on the train 
and screaming through the tunnel -- a tradition here!
Such a fun time -- we'll be back again for
Breakfast with the Easter Bunny later this month!




Thursday, March 3, 2016

Welcome March -- Time to Get Those Tootsies in Shape!

Hello Friends!
Are you ready for the weekend??
Yes, we are too!
Maddy has cheer practice and we will be headed
to the Husker Women's Gymnastics Senior Day on Sunday!
Gooooo Huskers!

We enjoyed warm temps at the end of February, but March came in a bit 
cold and chilly -- Hello March!

I have a little PSA for you all.
Miss Maddy has some problem toes and feet.
We attribute her toe issues to a bad pedicure a couple years ago.
But, a girl has to take care of her feet and
as you all know, flip flop weather is almost here!

We saw a commercial for a product to work on those
dry and scaly heels, so we decided to give it a try.
It's called the Amope Pedi-Perfect Foot File and 
it is a miracle worker!

Maddy and I both tried it out and noticed an
immediate improvement!  It is battery operated and the little revolving
head whirrs around destroying dry and crackly skin in a gentle way.
You move it around every 3-4 seconds and use it daily or
every other day for a while depending on the condition of your feet!
Seriously, it worked better and faster on my heels than any pedicure 
I've ever had.

Another PSA (aren't I being helpful today?) - if you have
dry skin . . . and who doesn't these days . . . you might
want to try Cerave SA lotion.  It was recommended by 
our dermatologist and is fabulous too!

Now that I've saved you tons of money you might have spent on
pedicures, go buy yourself some new flip flops!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!