The Haggard Herald

Matt's posted a few good posts about Madeleine in the last month or two.  If you don't know what his blog is, it's  biggywiggy.blogspot.com .  Also, he has a technical blog he occasionally puts things on.  Recently he wrote a satirical post also involving Madeleine.  That one is iffycan.blogspot.com. For those that didn't know--we went to Florida for a week at the beginning of December.  Despite being sick and getting colds again while we were there we had a great time.  Madeleine could say all of her cousins' names this trip and was in heaven following them around.  They are great at playing together and get along really well so it was fun to see Maddie included in the play.  One night the kids were together and wanted to put on a circus show so they all went upstairs to practice.  James got half way up and then turned around and said, "Come on Maddie!  Come with us!"  Melt my heart. We got to play at the beach several tim...

Story 1: Maddie and I collected all of her stuffed animals the other day.  She put them on her three little chairs but they wouldn't all fit so I showed her that they could sit on the couch together.  She climbed up and sat in the middle of them and just stayed there for a long time. Story 2: This morning she wanted to touch the Christmas village that my Grandma gave Matt and me.  I got the fence down from the village and an extra tree, a figurine holding a pumpkin, and a little dog.  She played with it for quite a while and kept wanting me to make the dog pretend to drink water.  It's fun to watch her pretend play and make her little one-inch-high dog run and jump and sit with her other toys. Last story for this post: A couple of weeks ago Matt asked Madeleine about dreams.  He explained that you can think about whatever you want when you go to sleep and he was suggesting fun activities that make Madeleine happy.  One morning when he went to get h...

I can't find the cord to upload pictures from Matt's camera onto the computer... Consequently, you can't see the majority of our Halloween pictures.  :(  In case it's another month until we find that elusive cord I will at least share the picture I took on my camera before the battery died and a picture someone at Matt's work took of the three of us. Also, the leaves have fallen.  Mark was kind enough to come over after work one day acouple weeks ago to take a few pictures of our family before the leaves lost their color and/or blew away.  Unfortunately that evening was overcast and rainy.  The lighting was super low and we just couldn't hold still enough for him to get a clear image.  Despite the poor conditions he captured a few good shots.

A couple weeks ago Madeleine saw a bin underneath my bed and asked for it to come out.  It's a small bin that my mom kept during my childhood and put a few random clothes in, cards I made, school projects and writing samples--relics of my childhood.  She also included two little dresses she bought 40 years ago while she was single and a missionary in Thailand.  I'm sure my mom put me in these dresses when I was a toddler and I thought it was only fitting that Maddie gets a turn to play dress-up in Mimi's beautiful Thailand clothes. Also in my bin was an old little league shirt.  I'm almost positive this actually belonged to Joseph because I didn't make it past t-ball.  It makes me smile to see "Meyers" on the back of something Maddie is wearing.  (Mom also put in one of my baton twirling t-shirts but it isn't featured in this post.) ***************************************************************** Last week I brought my camera along ...

I like Keith Hennessey.  In the 30 minutes or so I have each day to check my email and catch up on news, I don't always get a full picture of politics or current events.  Since my time is limited I try to get the main points from sources that are informed and knowledgeable.  So much of what happens in government (and other wise) is driven by money and where money is going, hense I like to listen to someone who is informed and knowledgeable about money.  Keith Hennessey is an economist and former economic adviser to President Bush; he fits the bill. This is what I like about Keith Hennessey: Although he sides with one party (Republican) he is so good at boiling problems down to the main issues and in large measure ignoring the partisan arguments and blame games.  What a great strength it is to fairly represent both sides on an issue.  I love how objective he is and how not emotionally-charged he is, especially compared to so many other people in Washingto...

On Saturday Grandma Melory met the three of us at Vineyard nursery to walk through their pumpkin patch.  When we got there a worker told Matt that it wasn't up yet but that we could go walk around out back, so we did!  It was so fun.  The new front runner train track runs right by the nursery and we got to see several trains go by.  There is also a corn maze with pumpkins growing up a fence along the side.  There was a tunnel to play in, and a house made of hay, and a pumpkin house, and lots of animals--a baby cow, billy goats, female goats that they milk, bunnies, and turkeys or chickens (we weren't sure which they were).  Madeleine was in heaven. When we go to see the horses and donkeys right by our house I sometimes pick the grass and weeds and feed it to the animals.  That's what Madeleine did with these chickens, although their pecking is a little more frightening than nice soft donkey lips. In this hay house there were lots of random...

Several weeks ago Melory showed me how to use her serge machine.  And in the process we made this adorable shirt for Madeleine.  I've been getting the sewing itch again for kids clothes and have all sorts of ideas.  I got a pair of navy blue corduroy pants from a garage sale and turned them into pants for Madeleine.  I think I have enough fabric to also make a autumn jacket too.  Maybe with some pink polka-dot lining? Last week I took a few pictures of the shirt Melory and I made and the new pants too. Since these pictures were taken I made the elastic waist band a little smaller so that they stay up better.  I love these pants.  These pictures don't do them justice...  maybe we will do a photo shoot another day of more new clothes once I make them.  :) Future projects: turn Matt's old jeans into 2T or 3T size elastic waist jeans Melory's kid-jacket (she has a pattern that is very quick and easy that I'm so excited to...

My mom and dad came to visit us last week.  It was wonderful.  My mom and I canned tomatoes and pears.   We enjoyed the first days of fall weather (the temperature dropped the day after my mom arrived).  We hiked once with my dad, played around the house with Auntie Kimmy a lot, and just had fun being together.  Madeleine has been calling for Mimi and Grampy multiple times a day (we're down to like 3-4 times from 20 that she asked for them the first day after they flew home).  Mimi and Grampy, come back to us! My mom took Kimmy and I shopping at the new outlet mall in Lehi too.  I got a few shirts, basketball shorts, and a new necklace and earrings.  It was so fun.  Madeleine steals whatever jewelry she can find around the house (which isn't very much) and loves to put it on.  She loves bling.  Mimi's watch was also commandeered multiple times by Madeleine. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures.  I took a couple of vide...

The other morning I got out my guitar and my viola and was playing them with Madeleine.  In the picture below she's irritated that she has to be gentle with the viola (yes, we're playing cello style.  M's arms aren't long enough to hold it up).  My point, however, is how long her hair is.  It drives me nuts imagining how it must feel to always have her hair constantly in her eyes.  I usually try to put it up in a palm tree/fountain look or else pulled to the side with a clip or bow.  They often get pulled out during the day though... So I decided it was time for her first real hair cut.  Kimmy came over this morning and went with us to a salon in Lehi that specializes in little kids' cuts.  They had various seats made to look like cars or trucks or airplanes; also, there is a TV at each station to keep kids attention (Maddie was enthralled probably because we usually don't have our TV out).  At the end you get a balloon and sucker (we ...