Madoc's Baseball Day

Neil and I were talking about 2011 and one of the things that we thought our family did well on was daddy/daughter/son dates. Every weekend Neil takes one of the kids on "date" of their choosing. Sadie almost always goes out to lunch but we try to suggest new things to keep the variety going. This October weekend was Madoc's turn. He and his dad headed into the backyard to play tee ball. After awhile Madoc had us all come out to watch. They had a good time and got very sweaty.

Random October Pictures

October 2011

enjoying new books

Madoc entertaining Charlotte

morning Charlotte

asleep again

the new suit that was his birthday/Christmas present

Music Time

These are really old. It takes me awhile to post anymore. Oh, you noticed?

We have greatly expanded our kid music collection this year. Madoc in particular loves to listen to his favorite songs. This particular day he spent all morning sitting next to my stereo on the counter, switching out cds and searching for the best songs.

One morning he asked for the gorilla song. I had no idea what he was talking about and I was looking through all the cds for any song that resembled a gorilla song. We even listened to the first 10 seconds of every Beatles song on one cd. Finally I put on a Raffi cd and just started skipping around. Finally Madoc said I had found it. Apparently "et les loups-garous" (and the werewolves) sounds like a gorilla song to a little boy.

And here we have some dancing. These were taken at the same time as Charlotte sitting on the table eating apples.

Baking with Madoc

Last month Madoc helped me make graham crackers for a surprise for Sadie. We tried a new recipe from my cousin. I liked it better than my recipe because it didn't call for shortening. Madoc had a good time with the cookie cutters. He and I thought they were pretty tasty but Sadie didn't care for them. Apparently she no longer likes graham crackers.

Pictures from today

 My family room looks like this nowadays.And despite all this someone still managed to get out of her corral

and decided to help me with the dishes.

 Madoc found all the pillows in the house (minus just two) and built himself a cheetah nest.

Madoc's Party

Madoc had his birthday in Indiana but we had a friends party once we got back. He wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake, just like last year, so that set our theme. Only 2 of the 4 little boys (and siblings) we invited could come but they were our best family friends so we were alright with that.

For Sadie's art party I planned a few activities but left a lot of time for playing. That did NOT work and I had kids bugging me the whole time. So for Madoc's party we made it much shorter and I planned every minute. But when the kids got here all they wanted to do was play. So much for games and activities!

Neil grilled hot dogs and chicken and we also had chips, popcorn, and apples and strawberries. And let's not forget cake! But I did forget the ice cream. Oops. Sadie was very upset about that after the party.

And he's four!!!!

We just got back from visiting my family in Indiana. While we were there my boy had a birthday and he turned four! I think he had a pretty good day. We spent the morning swimming in Grandma's pool then Grandpa took us flying. Madoc thought that was very cool. We got back just in time for cake and presents. Madoc really liked his presents. He's been wearing his Cars tool belt all around the house; the bike already has a flat tire; and I have a bloody ankle from the Razor scooter. He also got a ton of clothes and books. And we got him a Richard Scarry Eye Spy game that is so fun. We've played it everyday since we've opened it.

He's just being nice

Madoc has this yucky little habit of sucking on his blanket and Charlotte sucks on everything these days so they were sharing.

I gave Madoc some rice and kitchen utensils to play with last week. He had a good time and made a great mess. And don't mind that pile of recyclables. They were soon taken to the curb.

My Boys Have Been Here

Neil cut out some dead bushes from our front yard on Saturday. But he can't just throw them away like a normal person. No, he has to stack them in the middle of my patio so he can burn them in the grill. Then Madoc commandeered them, added some grass clippings, and made a pretend fire.

Star Wars

My kids have been asking a lot of questions about Star Wars lately. I'm not sure why. It must be the Lego Star Wars pajamas that Madoc got for Christmas. They want to know who all the characters are. So we decided we would watch the movies so they could see what it was all about. I think these are the most grown-up movies my kids have ever watched. Madoc thought they were awesome and would cry out in glee whenever something exploded. Sadie kept asking "who is that guy?" The answer was always Luke Skywalker. She just couldn't seem to keep track of him through all the costume changes.

Magical Tools

In an effort to keep some control over the messes in the house, we've instituted a rule that upstairs toys are not allowed to be brought downstairs. Oddly enough, we have no problem with downstairs toys making their way upstairs. Probably for the same reason that upstairs toys have such a hard time getting back upstairs. That tricksy gravity has turned our stairs into a toy diode. (And that nerdy observation should make it obvious that Neil is writing this entry.)

There are a few important things to note about the following picture. (Madoc's hair is not one of them, though it is entertaining.) Those tools are very much an upstairs toy. That boy is downstairs.

Here is what he had to say on the subject:

"The tools came downstairs all by themselves.

"They turneded into a person and came downstairs and I didn't knowded because I was hiding. I was in here."

Well, that's a relief. And here I thought somebody was breaking the rules.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Crapo kids on March 17, 2011

Acting Out

Monday after running errands Madoc was just mad. At what, I'm not sure. Mad at the world I guess. I was tending to Charlotte or putting away groceries or something when I heard Sadie yelling, "Mom! Madoc's putting ketchup on my back!"Sure enough, she was right. He grabbed a fistful of ketchup from his lunch plate and smeared it all over her. She hadn't done a thing to him. He was just mad.

Have you had your cute blond little boy fix today? Let me oblige you.

He won't eat the grapefruit but he will drink the juice. He says it "freezes" him.

Hangin' Around

My little sloths make me laugh. They have such fun together.

And Again

Seriously. This is beginning to be ridiculous.

And I've no idea what the socks on the hands is all about.

Take Two

Again in the same bed.

Believe it or not, they are actually asleep.

New Haircuts

For the big ones at least.

And evidence that three children cannot be photographed at once.

It seems to mimic its creator...

This is Madoc's animal person. It needed to go potty but it wet its pants. Its mommy got mad. While I took its photo, it was yelling "Mama, I need to go potty!"