Bee-utiful!

Miss Madigan got a halloween package from Grandma & Grandpa Hille this week. It had a stuffed ghost and a sippy cup in it. She loved the cup, she was a bit reserved about the ghost. Finally, after 2 days of me hugging and kissing the ghost, she decided he was alright after all. Here's a picture of her actually HUGGING him, and patting him on the back. Her mouth is wide open because she's saying "huuuuuuug".

She is going to be a bumblebee for Halloween. She's not so sure about the hood being up, but she's fairly content if the hood is down. Here I had to bribe her with my phone to get her to leave the hood up.

This is the back of the Bee. I love the antennae and the wings! She's our little honey bee!

We're not big Halloween people, but we're going to visit a friend's house then head to a local church that has kids activities inside.

Oh, yeah, we're planning on eating all her candy once she goes to bed too. He he he...

Soup Sister

Has anyone ever told you how to eat soup? Because Madigan would be happy to show you how...

Four steps, people. Dip, stuff, slurp and smile.

In case you didn't get that here it is in photos:

Dip:

Stuff:

Slurp:

Smile:

Got it? Good. Give it a try!

*Editors Note: Yes, I know my kid has a mullet. Blame her father, he won't let me cut her bangs or her mullet. Seriously... *

More I ♥ faces!

Another week gone and no post?

Sheesh, give me a break, I've been busy!

Here's my entry for the "I ♥ Faces" contest this week, you can check out others this week on their site by clicking on the link.

This was a picture I actually already HAD of Miss Madigan that I took last week. Then when I learned that this week's "I ♥ faces" theme was "Pink Week", I knew that I had to enter it. She just loves to play with my black scarf with the pink ribbons on it. Every single thing she touches goes onto her head, and this was no exception.

We sure think that she's a cutie! And she always loves to support a good cause!

I heart Faces entry

I heart faces is a fantastic photography blog that is chalk full of tutorials, ideas, and mostly, photos from people just like me! That's right- your average, every day folks who have a passion for photography. Ok, so some of them aren't average, they're above average.

Anywho, every week they have a theme to enter an original photograph into their fantastic contest. This is my entry for this week, themed "Excited!" It's actually my first entry ever.

I've seen these contests before, and have hesitated entering for a few reasons. Mostly because I have seen the entries, and they're FABULOUS. I know my photos don't hold a candle to them. But I decided to step out of my safe, happy place and jump right in this week. Because with a theme like "Excited!", I feel like I have a shot that conveys that emotion very well. The two things that get me the most excited in the whole wide world are my beautiful daughter Madigan, and photography, so I couldn't pass this opportunity up. Also, the possibility of getting feedback on my photography from people who know their stuff is a bonus incentive.

So, enjoy my first entry into "I Heart Faces" photography challenge. I hope it's the first entry of many.....

This one's for you, dad!

Madigan loves her Papa Randy. LOOOVES him.

The feeling is mutual, naturally.

If you listen closely during this video, you can actually hear him get wrapped a little tighter around her tiny finger. That's where she keeps her Papa Randy....

I'm anxious to see if she actually will say it for him or not when she sees him next week. I'll keep you posted on that...

Shoebox Head

Let me set the scene for you:

It was the late 80's, October... Halloween, actually. According to my parents we were not rich folks back then, although we (my 2 brothers and I) had no idea that we couldn't afford any old costume that we wanted. More years than not we had homemade outfits, ones that my creative mother usually orchestrated herself.

So take a moment to soak up this little visual nugget:

Zac, my oldest brother, was a tube of toothpaste. It's obvious that lots of time and creative energy were put forth into his bedsheet-turned-toothpaste tube. Besides the color scheme, it even had the "with fluoride (c)" printed on the front. Creative indeed. Ben, my next oldest brother, apparently wanted to be a ghost... Easy! another bed sheet, a little magic marker and voila!

I'm not sure how things took such a terrible turn south for my costume. Several questions have entered my mind: Did I want to be a toothbrush? No, not likely. Did they forget they had a 3rd child to outfit? Highly doubtful. Did my mothers creativity run out? Again, unlikely. Did my parents think that a shoebox on my head, fringed with construction paper "bristles", was just too funny to pass up? We might be on to something here....

If body language means anything, it's obvious that I knew I had failed on the toothbrush front even at that tender age. I won't even face the camera, my brother has to hold my hand to keep me in the picture. I've also learned from studying this picture that apparently we had siding on the inside of our kitchen, and we must have eaten hamburgers for dinner. But I digress...

Now, as a parent, I have come to realize that there are only precious few years where you can talk your children into dressing as you'd like them to dress. All too soon they develop their own opinions and desires for costumes. Last year, at only 3 months old, Madigan had no choice in being a banana:

Will she someday wonder why I picked such a fruit for her first halloween? Probably. The answer is simple: it was cheap, it was warm-looking, and it was easy to get on and off. Oh, and I think there is a law somewhere that states that your firstborn must dress as a fruit or vegetable for their first halloween. Seriously.

So when looking at costumes for this halloween, we realized that the years that WE get to pick are limited. Especially considering that she screamed bloody murder when we tried on a "Candy Corn" outfit this year. Does she KNOW that being a candy corn would be dorky? Hmm... Don't think for a second that we didn't try a few of the outfits that would surely cause her to groan and roll her eyes when she sees the pictures as an adult: a garden gnome probably topping that list. I reserve the right to put my kid in a sweat suit and put a shoebox on her head if I want to. Because it's funny, because I'm her mom and it's my job to dork-her-out on a few occasions in my life. And also because I guarantee that little Sarah Shoebox Head was the only toothbrush on the block that year. So, truth be told I may have been embarrassed at the time to be a shoebox headed-toothbrush that year, but as an adult I really appreciate my mom's effort and creativity, not to mention her ability to recycle a shoebox into headwear.

So soak it up, people:

Because you might just see me sporting a shoebox head this year, for old time's sake!