Onesies

I'm not sure if Madi is too old for a "onesie" yet but we found this one in her drawer yesterday and it seemed like the perfect layer to go under her clothes for the cold weather - kind of like longjohns!

Santa Express

Sounds like a pretty cool family event from the title but to be honest it was pretty lame. Madison had fun riding the train, boats and carousel but it was not quite worth the money - cost us about $21 and on a normal night at that park without Christmas lights all that we did costs about $3. It's no big deal though - we got to have a fun time with Aunt Molly and our friends Abby and Andrew and their 2 little girls Olivia and Sophia (the one in the boat with Madi).

13 Already?

I walked in yesterday to find Madison "posing" on the back of her chair. I couldn't resist the photo op. She looks so old to me in these pictures. Maybe it was the clip she let me put in her hair? Thanks for the dress Aunt Jac and Uncle Mike!

Madison's Friends

Madi recently brought all her "friends" in to watch a movie with her!

Birthday Bonus

One of the bonuses of traveling to the reunion was that we got to stop in Greensboro and celebrate my brother Michael's 27th birthday. We had a great dinner cooked my Dad and Vickie. As usual, my Dad had a few tricks up his sleeves - he took it upon himself to decorate Michael's cake. My brother just got a job as a Federal Probation Officer hints the word "proby" (if that is even a word??)and I guess he put the fake gun on there because he thought it represented the law of some sort. You never know exactly what is going on in my Dad's head - but it will always be thoughtful!!

Let me take a minute to tell you about my brother. Michael and I are 18 months apart and played together well as little kids - I mostly bossed him around and he did what I said. As we got older, especially in high school and college, we kind of went our seperate ways and pursued our own interests as we both tried to discover who we were and what we wanted in life. Since then, Micahel and I have become great friends. I am so proud of all that he has accomplished. About junior year of college, he decided he would set some goals and he far exceeded them. This hard work recently earned him a really great job with some really great people. I am so thankful he is my brother and that he loves and accepts me and Daniel just like we are - always messing up and a little quirky (well, that's mostly Daniel - haha). I am also thankful he loves our girls so much. It has been fun to see him relax since we have had Ash and really start playing with Madison. I love his wife Jaclyn too. We are polar opposites (except in looks as you can see from the picture) - she was in a sorority, is trendy and could talk to a wall for hours - I played sports, have never been trendy and like some quiet - but it works for us and we have so much fun together!So glad we are close by one another!

At one point during Michael's party, it got really quiet. That's when we found Madi proudly throwing small, styrofoam pieces all over my Dad and Vickie's bed. What a mess she is!

Bass Family Reunion

Once a year we travel down to Charlotte for Daniel's family reunion. The last thing we wanted to do was pack the girls up and travel one more time but it's just one of those "adult" things you have to do. It also communicates lots of love to Daniel's grandparents which is important to us because we do not know how much longer they will be around.Madi had fun trying on hats and playing with some very "removed cousins" (I could not even begin to tell you how they are related!).

An Attempt at Christmas Pictures

Most parents should know that attempting to get your kids Christmas picture at 11pm at night after a Christmas party is probably not the smartest move but it made sense to me at the time because everyone was all dressed up and Madi had even let me put her hair in a ponytail with a ribbon in it! As usual with anyhthing that has to do with pictures, Madi was totally uncooperative and Ash was a gem! I had to get a pic of the ponytail and please laugh with me as you see the white tennis shoes Madi immediately put on upon walking in the door from the party!

Crusade Christmas Party

Picture #1: Madison and 2 of her friends, Riley and Isaac, who have parents on our staff team. Notice santa sitting way to the right becuase even though Madi knew it was Mike she wanted him to take his beard off or stay away!

Pic #2: The Esteps' - a new family on our staff team who have 5 month old twin baby girls and a 3 year old Riley who madison is very excited about getting to know!

Pic #3: The Richeson's - Madi loves their son Isaac who is 3 and their other son Caleb!

Pic #5: Our attempt at a family Christmas pic - we'll have to keep trying!

Meet Jose

This is my daughter Jose. I have been calling her Jose for a few weeks now because she has these 2 shirts at the house that she loves to change into and they both have buttons down the front. Although she knows how to button them up, (and does so frequently) she also loves to unbutton them the majority of the time. So I have been calling her Jose becuase she looks like a Mexican man who wears shirts with nothing under them and he just has his chest hanging out. I keep calling the shirts her "housecoats" and telling her she can only wear them at home because they are kind of embarrassing. I'm sure as she gets older she will realize these would look much nicer with a tank top underneath them! Also, she looks so proud because she had just finished decorating her own Christmas tree where she was allowed to put as many ornaments on it as she wanted. It eventually fell over because of the weight and broke off the base and I had to throw it away a few days later.

These Moments Keep Me Smiling

I would give anything to for a good memory so I could share with you some of the hilarious things Madi has said and done recently....Here's the few I can recall...

Scenario - Madi is playing on Aunt Jac's computer and it is time to go so Jac asks her to close the computer and come on. Madison responds by saying: "Hang on, I need to send one email" (wonder who she has heard that from???)

Scenario - Madison fell asleep in the car after running errands so I left her in the van for a few minutes while I brought Ash in the house. I set Ash down in the hallway to play but she crawled into the bathroom while I went back out to get Madi. As we get into the house Madi spots Ash in the bathroom and says: "Mommy, why did we leave Ashi at the house?"

Scenario - We are in the car and Ash is crying as is usually the case in her carseat. Madison begins singing the following song set to the tune of Jesus Loves Me: "Ash is crying, she is crying, every single day she is crying"

Scenario - We are leaving church tonight and Ash is not crying for the first time in a while in her seat so Madi says: "Mom, is Ashi not in her seat? Is she not in here?"

Scenario - I am taking Madi back to bed and she tells me in the hall how she is "freezing and shivering." As I help her get in bed she tells me that she will go to sleep but first she needs to get her scarf. So, she gets down, finds this random scarf that I cannot even believe she remembers that she has in her closet and puts it on for bed.

It just blows my mind how creative and perceptive they are!

Cool Dude

Madison stole these glasses from Grandma Bass' house and she loves them...I'm not sure that they even work but she insisted on wearing them down to the park!

Thanksgving #3

We always go to Daniel's Grandparents house Thanksgiving night to celebrate the day and also to do Christmas since they leave for Florida for the winter shortly after. One of the highlights of the evening was Madi letting me put a ribbon in her hair - kind of in a random place but in there none the less. The little boy with Ashlyn belongs to Daniel's cousin Jason - Nathan and Ashlyn are just a few days apart. You can meet his sister Kate in the next post. Kate is Madi's sweet friend who passes all her clothes down to Madison. They are really starting to enjoy each other!

I so wish Daniel and Madi were in these pics because they would be so fun!

More Thanksgiving Fun

Can you believe how much ham Ash ate? On a serious note I am super thankful this time of year for family that is close by and who loves us!

Thanksgiving #2 at my Dad's House

We went to my dad and Vickie's house for lunch on Thanksgiving day. My dad of course got out his marshmallow gun for a Thanksgiving family tradition we started a while back with my cousins where we steal marshmallows from the sewwt potatoes and throw them at each other. It's become a little more tame now since we have a marshmallow gun!