Madi's 10

Its hard to believe that a decade ago, I became a mom to the best bundle of joy.

Madison Elizabeth is 10!

We enjoyed a quiet family celebration at home.
We shared a meal of spaghetti, green beans, salad, and garlic bread and home made ice cream cake for dessert.

Madison loved opening gifts with Nana, Pa, Ya ya, Uncle Kevin, Cynthia and our family.

Lillian was a great helper!

 Matching shirts from Miss Emma and Mr Jim (mommy and daddy brought them back from the UK)

 A new skirt from Omi

 Another fairy book- always a great gift

 A Stitch and Sew bear- one for Madi and one for her American girl doll, Kit

 Yup, another generation of Cubs fans

 Super soft too

 A pouch full of prizes from Nana and Pa

 A Madi face :)

 Awe.... gifts from her BFF Roni

 And and elephant bean bag from Mommy and Daddy

Looking forward the next 10 years of adventures with my Madi Moo

Faces of Sparkles

These pictures deserved a post of their own.

The many faces of Cooper and Lillian.
No captions required...

They are 2 of the Sparkles of my eye.

Cooper's Beach

Just like his older sisters, Cooper was 9 months old the first time we took him to the beach. He loved it (at least the sand, not so much the water).

Heading down to the water with Mama

 Watching the waves

 A walk in the sand

 Check out his perfect point, he was stretching as hard as he could to get away from the water

 Look at his tears, he was one unhappy boy

 Happier now that he is with Mama

 Snuggles and cuddles with Mama.

Florida Lizards

Each trip to Florida, we northerners learn something new.

This trip, it was all about Lizards.
First you have to catch a lizard (and then you name it, per Madison)

 Then you carefully pinch its mouth to get it to open

 Sometimes you need a little help from Grammie

 And then you hang it from your ear like an earring

(Madi named the lizard Howard and was very excited about this adventure)

Playing on the Beach

While Bob and Rob were enjoying an afternoon in the kayak, the girls, Grammie, Cooper and I enjoyed playing on the beach.

The girls had a great time playing in the water

 Lillian loved racing the waves

 Cooper loved playing on his towel in the sand

 He loved the shovel and digging

 Wow two shovels

 Even Grammie enjoyed a dip in the Gulf

 Back to the beach for castle building

 Getting water

 Filling her bucket

 Cooper enjoyed tasting sand too

 Ready to make the first tower

 Flipping over the bucket with Grammie's help

 Tower complete

 Time to smash it :)

 Happy Sand Boy

 Back for more water

 Happy to be in Florida and on the beach

 One Happy Beach Baby