So here is the third and final part of my series. 
The following pictures were taken on Saturday. First we enjoyed carving pumpkins with the Penns. Then they had to get back to Redlands, so Mark, the girls, and I went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. It was such a fun day!
inspecting my hard work of cleaning out the inside of the pumpkin
The three M&M’s…and Maddie!
Mina is not amused in either of these pictures…she’s a fireman/woman, by the way.
Here are some pictures from the last few days. Nothing majorly exciting going on…just the usual kid stuff.
Maddie had fun hanging out with Dad on Saturday.
He was busy studying, and Maddie was busy reading right next to him.
Maddie got a couple of hats from Marilyn…a friend from church who watches her and Mackenzie sometimes. She just loves playing with her new hat…and she loves putting it on “Kenzie,” too.
Our jazz combo is back together again! We first played together for my graduate recital and have had a couple of gigs here and there. We have our first official paid gig coming up in early November, so we’ve started rehearsing. Last night we rehearsed in the garage…so much fun!
And here is Maddie drinking her very first hot chocolate…she loved it of course!
Here is a video of Maddie reading to Mark as he was studying on Saturday…
Tonight I discovered that I was given the disc for iLife 09 when I bought my Macbook! iLife 08 was pre-installed on the machine and the imovie application from 08 was not very good. Now that I have the 09 version, I’m pumped to play with some old video clips.
Here’s a little movie of Maddie in her first Easter egg hunt.
I feel like I have so many things to post…so here come a lot of pictures! We went to a birthday party this past weekend of one of Maddie’s friends who just turned 2. Maddie had a blast and even got to go on THREE pony rides! Notice the series of pictures…first she’s seriously anxious and uneasy, but by the end, she’s a real pro.
Holding on pretty tightly to Dad…
Dad’s still close by…
All by herself!
And here’s the birthday girl with her cool cupcake cake!
I had to post both of these pix…don’t you love how one girl is closing her eyes in each picture?! Mom Leonard, notice the cute “couch” they’re sitting on? I got it at a garage sale this weekend, and Maddie LOVES it! It reminds her of being at Gma and Gpa Leonard’s house.
We went to Oak Glen with a group of moms and their kids from church this afternoon. Maddie had a blast! Here are some pictures from our afternoon.
Our beautiful cousins
Maddie running with Cousin S.
Maddie and Mackenzie were spoiled by the cool older girls at Oak Glen.
Isn’t this such a sweet picture?!
And later today after getting home from Oak Glen, Sarah and Aliyah came to hang out with Mackenzie. Aliyah and Mackenzie had lots of fun while Maddie took a nap.
Aliyah tried so hard to get close to Mackenzie, but this is the closest that the Exersaucer would allow! She’s so sweet…always wanting to give kisses. We love you, Aliyah!
My mom and niece got a great deal on airfare and planned a one-week trip to California! We’ve been trying to pack in as much as possible for my niece, who hasn’t been out here since she was maybe 5 years old. Below are some pictures of our time with them as well as the latest interactions between Madelyn and Mackenzie.
Maddie is so proud of herself, holding little cousin K.
One of Maddie’s favorite things to do these days is feed Mackenzie.
so happy!
Maddie loves to watch herself on videos on the computer…she could sit and look at our blog all day if I would let her!
We picked up Gma B. and Cousin C. from L.A. and Maddie crawled into bed with them in the middle of the night.
No, Mark is not a giant…we just forgot to bring the bottom pole of our beach umbrella.
Maddie loved walking along the shoreline with Gma B. and C.
Maddie was exhausted after a day at the beach! She cried so hard when Mark picked up her “bed” when it was time to leave.
Gma B. reading a story
More of Maddie feeding Mackenzie
Here’s a short clip of Maddie giving her baby some medicine…
And here’s a video clip of Maddie’s goofy side…
We have nothing majorly exciting going on, but I have some fun pictures to share. The first one needs a little explaining. It’s my birthday gift from Mark. He told me that he would take as long as it took to make an arrangement of picture sizes on our wall so we could finally get some family pictures up! We spent an hour or two working on our arrangement, and here’s our result. I can’t wait to post the final arrangement with the frames and the pictures!!
Mackenzie was so cuddly and actually fell asleep while we were working on our “tagboard pix arrangement.”
Maddie all cozy with Cheryl after swimming at Eva’s birthday party
This is probably one of my all-time favorites…so sweet seeing the two girls at the piano. It reminds me of my friend Kendra and me (even though we didn’t know each other at quite that young of an age).
showing so much concentration…even the tongue is sticking out
We got the sling that I had borrowed from a friend, and it came with a little hat. Even though it was about 78 degrees in the house, we had to put it on Mackenzie for a picture.
Maddie had a blast at a “playdate” organized from a friend from church. Thanks for opening your home and yard, Patty! We had a great time.
This isn’t the greatest quality picture, but I just love the shot of the two girls.
I LOVE this one! Aliyah is fascinated with babies and just loves hugging, kissing, and putting her fingers in Mackenzie’s mouth. We love you, Aliyah!!!
Maddie kept saying “dress dress” this morning, so I gave in…nice choice for playing in the dirt, huh?!
It was a big day in the Leonard house…Maddie made the transition from baby to “big girl.” Thanks to some friends from church, we just got a twin bed. We hadn’t really figured out when we’d make the switch, so it just worked out well that one just fell into our laps…we’re so thankful!
It was kinda funny putting Maddie to bed tonight. We thought it would have been different putting her in a real bed for the first time, but she just crawled in and kept saying “night night” over and over again. We were trying to savor the moment by making a huge deal of Maddie being a big kid and all she wanted was to just go to bed! I got a few pictures before she nearly kicked us out of her room.
I took these last two pictures earlier this afternoon. Maddie LOVES to “hold it,” as she refers to holding Mackenzie, and Mackenzie is sort of like Mina…she just puts up with it.
I was talking with my cousin Siri who is now living in California (yay!!), and she had mentioned how her son, J, was wondering why it had been so long since I had posted something on our blog. So, J, this HUMONGOUS (spelling??) post is for YOU! Many of you are my facebook friends, so I apologize for the redundancy. It was just way easier to use the same photos from the ones I posted on facebook. My time for blogging is limited.
So while both girls are napping, I’ll give a shot at explaining the next large batch of pictures that are from the last month or so. We’ve enjoyed a wonderful trip to MN as you can see by the many pictures. If any of you are interested, I have many more on our smugmug site.
Here are some of the highlights of our trip:
Maddie and Grandpa Leonard had lots of fun being goofy together.
We made a quick stop at the lake for a yummy lunch/dinner (Thanks, Vicki!!) and had to get a picture at the end of the dock.
I think this sweet photo was taken at the Leonard Family Reunion in the Minneapolis area (can’t remember which suburb)
We got this family picture at the Fargo airport. I think it was Mark’s greatest moment of his trip…maybe is one of the best moments in his life…seriously! When we turned around a corner at the airport, Mark was in sight, and Maddie SCREAMED and ran toward him. It was the greatest! We hadn’t seen him in over two weeks, so it was a fun moment for all of us. I’m just so bummed that I didn’t get it on our video camera.
It was great to see my grandparents. My mom’s sister Donna and parents drove to Watertown, and we all stayed in a hotel and hung out for a day.
Here’s Brad and his dog Marley and Mackenzie
Maddie loved riding the jet ski!
Here’s a fun shot with my dad and all of the grandkids.
And here’s a similar shot with my mom with all of the grandkids.
This is my oldest niece on the Dekkers side and Maddie.
Maddie was pretty much in love with the 4-wheeler, as you can see by this picture.
It was so fun to be all together…with all of us 5 kids. That doesn’t happen very often!
Camille and Carter caught two turtles while at the lake, and the little kids loved looking at them.
a close family friend, Beaver, Mackenzie, and me
Maddie loved riding the little Gator while at the lake…it’s the cutest thing to see the little kids riding their own toddler-sized vehicle.
One of the few chances I had to cuddle with Maddie.
Thanks for your patience in waiting a long time for me to post! Hope you enjoyed the pictures, J!
