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!

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!

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!

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!