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.

Friday was a fun-filled day. We went to The Village (Redlands Christian Home) for the costume parade. The senior citizens loved seeing the kids all dressed up, and the kids loved getting candy. It was a win-win situation. Here are some pictures I got from that event…

Maddie was a princess, and Mackenzie was a goldfish. Some referred to her as the “beached whale” since the costume didn’t allow for her to move around much.

She started out happy…

It was nearly impossible to catch Maddie sitting still. This might be the only shot I have of her where she isn’t “on the go.”

Aliyah, the bee, had to check out Mackenzie, the goldfish.

I’m not sure what Maddie is saying in this picture, but it is definitely something very important!

Can you tell this is near the end of the morning…when everyone is ready to be out of their costumes?!! No more posing for pictures!!!

This is probably my favorite one of Mackenzie. I can’t help but laugh when I see those big fish eyes staring at me.

Later that night we went to a church in town that hosts a Halloween night…”Halloween Happening.” Marilyn, a friend from church, came along and helped me with the girls. (Mark was busy all day shooting a wedding in Redlands.)

Sorry it’s taken me so long to post again! Life has just been crazy, and we’ve been enjoying every minute of it (at least most minutes of it). I am posting a bunch of pictures in a series since we have so many fun Halloween shots. This first post is of a week or more ago…just the normal day-to-day stuff.

Someone left these sunglasses at our house, and Maddie loves them! (Cheryl, are they yours?!)

Maddie is loving playing with Mackenzie more and more each day…so fun.

Dad posing with his girls

We were hanging out with the Penns and thought it would be fun to attempt a group “kid” shot. The Penns look great, but the Leonards aren’t quite as cooperative.

Maddie’s favorite place to play with Mackenzie is inside our toy storage ottoman. She could stay in there forever; Mackenzie, on the other hand, gets a little sick of it after a short time.

This one is classic…it shows Maddie’s goofy side. She just laid down on the kitchen floor, and then Mina laid down beside her. Then she insisted that Mark lay down beside them…pretty cute (Mark wasn’t as excited about it).

picking out pumpkins at Oak Glen last weekend

Maddie got two hats from a friend and loves playing with them…and forcing others to put them on as well.

I just love this one of Mackenzie. She’s been so happy and content ever since she started sitting up on her own.

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.

Here are a couple of videos that I got of the girls…kinda fun.

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?!

Maddie’s hair is finally long enough for tiny pigtails. Thanks to all of the Wagner girls (Maddie and Mackenzie’s sitters while I work), the first thing out of Maddie’s mouth every morning now is “ponies, Mom.” It’s so fun to have hair to do things with now! Hope you get a kick out of the pictures and the video…they crack me up!

I just realized that all of the above pictures show a partially naked Maddie…really, I do put clothes on her.