Maddy is 59 months old - Nov. 2013

We started November by going to a Disney Live show at the Fargodome on Sunday, Nov. 4th.  Before we partook in the show, we introduced Maddy to Red Lobster.  She was fascinated by the lobster tank and ate a good portion of Grandma Escherich's shrimp.  This show had 3 musicals/plays in it.  Cinderella, Beauty & the Beast and Snow White's stories were included in the show.  Great show & well attended too.

Parent/teacher conferences were on Thursday, Nov. 7th.  We were told good things about Maddy's progress.  We are very proud of her efforts in school.  She is on track to do well in Kindergarten in the fall of 2014.  On Nov. 14th we enjoyed a turkey supper at Maddy's school sponsored by preschool & ECFE programs.  After the supper, the 3 and 4 year olds performed a few fall themed songs.  It was a cute program and the kids really gave it their all.

Believe it or not, we forgot to take a picture of Maddy on Thanksgiving.  We started the day by watching the Macy's parade.  Then we went to the Huseby gathering which was at the Country Inn and Suites.  Maddy not only enjoyed the food, but was able to swim with her cousins in the hotel pool.  We stayed home on Black Friday to take down Thanksgiving decor and whip up the Christmas decorations.  Ollie, our scout elf, returned to our home.  He is keeping Maddy guessing each day with many funny locations and activities.  He even added to our shopping list so we wouldn't forget to buy candy canes.

Maddy is currently working hard to learn sight words to prepare for reading.  She has memorized 13 words and can use them in a sentence.  Maddy is also working to improve her cutting skills.  Being left-handed seems to have delayed her scissor aptitude, but she is really gaining ground now.

We will be adding another entry to our blog soon with highlights from Maddy's 5th birthday.  Until then we sign off with this thought; only 3 more Saturdays until Christmas!

2013 fire safety in preschool - Picture from the local newspaper.  Maddy has a fire hat on.  She is to the right of the fireman (dark shirt).

Preschool activity table for fire safety week.

Lunch at Red Lobster before the Disney Live show.

Waiting for the Disney Live show to begin.

Grandma & Maddy after the Disney Live show.

Dressed up for picture day at preschool.

Thanksgiving program at preschool.

Ollie, our scout elf, took a selfie with Maddy during the night.

First manicure & pedicure with Mommy.

Maddy is 58 months old - October 2013

We hope everyone enjoyed Halloween as much as we did.  Maddy was able to dress up as Ariel from The Little Mermaid movie twice.  We attended a fall carnival at her school where she went in costume and then again for Halloween.  She received tons of candy and goodies, but the best Halloween treat was an extremely large carrot from Grandma Huseby that came from Uncle Tony & Aunt Robin's garden.

Speaking of gardens, we pulled quite a haul of pumpkins from our pumpkin patch.  There were 4 large pumpkins that came out which were so fun.  We chose a pumpkin to carve that seemed the right size and Maddy asked for an Ariel (mermaid) jack o' lantern.  Daddy couldn't resist those big brown eyes so he spent at least an hour trying to accommodate her request.  He did a great job and Maddy was thrilled.  We intend to dry some seeds and plant more in the spring.

Maddy had a dental appt. this month and received a clean bill of dental health.  No cavities!  We continue to give her fluoride tablets because we are blessed with well water.  We also weighed and measured Maddy.  She weighs 50 pounds and is 43 3/8" tall.  She's wearing a size 6x or 7 depending on the brand.  We have been working on sight words at home a little.  She now knows the words a, and, at, be, for, and had.  She can pick them out in a book, use them in a sentence and say them instantly when we review with flashcards.

Maddy can't wait for November to pass because she is looking forward to her 5th birthday party.  We'll have a special update on the blog after the party.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

I can move it for you.  Yeah right!

Another large pumpkin from our pumpkin patch

Maddy was Ariel from The Little Mermaid for Halloween

Princess Ariel is ready for Trick or Treating

Someone convinced her dad to carve a mermaid into her pumpkin.

Jack O Lantern at night

Modeling her Halloween outfit with her jack o lantern.

This carrot came from Uncle Tony's garden.  It was given to Maddy for Halloween by Grandma Huseby.  What's up with the gigantic carrot, Doc?

She's so happy to have gone trick or treating!

August & September 2013

August and September went by so quickly that we neglected to post an update until now (Oct.).

August was a warm month for us so beating the heat was a top priority.  Matt & Maddy built a water slide of sorts which entertained us all. There is a video at the bottom of this post showcasing Maddy's water slide talents.

A big event for us came on Aug. 10th when our nephew, Thomas wed his bride Emily in a beautiful ceremony where Maddy was the flower girl.  She loved dressing the part and was honored to be included in their special day.

Maddy is 43 1/16" tall and weighs 48 lbs.  We will need new clothes and shoes for school.  The shopping and laundry are never ending!

We were surprised to find out that we have become pumpkin farmers.  A pumpkin patch grew from seeds within some discarded pumpkins from last fall.  It has been so much fun watching them grow.  There are 2 different types that grew.  One vine has a more rounded leaf and that vine grew extremely large pumpkins.  The other more pointed leaved vine grew smaller pumpkins.  To date, we pulled 4 big pumpkins off the vine that we had to move in the bucket of the tractor because it was much easier than trying to lift them.  We will have a couple photos in our Oct. blog update highlighting our pumpkins.

Cookie smiles courtesy of Jimmy John's

 

Darcy working miracles with Maddy's hair.

Hair completed for the wedding

Maddy excited to be a flower girl!

Wedding party

Family picture at the church

"Water slide"

1st big pumpkin to come out of our pumpkin patch

Maddy started preschool on Sept. 9, 2013.  She is attending preschool at the Lake Park/Audubon Elementary school which is our local district.  She is thrilled to be going back to school!  Schools days are Mondays, Wednesdays, & every other Friday from noon - 3:00 pm.  She has Denelle again for her teacher.  The teacher's assistant in her class is none other than her Auntie Edie.  How great to have your Aunt in your class!  Just recently, her class finished an apple unit so we extended her knowledge on apples by visiting a local apple orchard.  We were able to taste many different types of apples and picked Sweet Sixteen & Honeycrisp apples.  Maddy has an apple for snack every evening so having fresh picked apples is a nightly treat which we are savoring.

1st day of preschool Sept. 9th

New school sign

Preschool classroom

Debbie's 43rd birthday

 We closed the campground on Sunday, Sept. 22nd.  We have been busy with fall projects since we shut the gate.  The weather has been good so we continue to try our best to accomplish "to-do's".

Closing day of 2013 campground season

2 more big pumpkins from our pumpkin patch

Video of Maddy using the "water slide":

Thanks for tuning in!  We hope you're having a great October!

55 months old - July 2013

We were very busy over the 4th of July weekend.  Over 430 people came through the campground.  We watched fireworks being set off around the lake.  Over at Grandma Escherich's house, we lit some sparklers and snakes.  We even threw some snaps/pop its.  After staying up late to enjoy the fireworks, Maddy woke up the next morning with welts that grew into giant hive like reactions from mosquito bites.  To our amazement, the doctor told us Maddy is sensitive/allergic to mosquito bites.  Due to living in Minnesota, land of the mosquito, we found this diagnosis challenging to say the least.  We have a special salve that we put on her bites now that limits the reaction, but are also careful to apply bug repellent liberally when she's outside.  

We did have a couple "firsts" this month.  Maddy tried cheese curds for the first time and, of course, loved them.  She also attended her first baseball game.  The Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks are a local minor league baseball team.  The stadium is small enough where any seat in it is a great seat.  Inside the stadium houses a playground and bouncy castle for the younger crowd.  Maddy loved the food, game and meeting the mascot, Hawkeye.  Matt almost caught a ball for her, but it bounced away on us.

At the end of July, the boat was finally working again so we went on a boat ride.  It's been a busy month at the campground and getting ready for Maddy to participate in a family wedding as flower girl in August.  More to post on that next month, but for now the summer is quickly going by.  

Maddy is in a size 6x or 7 now depending on the brand.  All the fresh air this summer has been helping her growth!  Assuredly, we'll post additional pictures for August so y'all come back now, ya hear!?

  

4th of July cutie

All American Girl

Maddy loves to sing!

Maddy meets Hawkeye

Maddy attends her 1st baseball game on 7-24-2012
Too bad the Redhawks lost.

Science experiment with colors

3 cups, 2 cups filled with water and food coloring, place dry paper towels arched into same cup, make new color!

Wanting a ride in Uncle John's corvette

53-54 months May & June 2013

Maddy had her last day of Learning Ladder on May 13, 2013.  She loved her first year in a school environment.  She is already asking when school starts again.  We'll see how long that lasts!  At the end of school, Maddy brought home 2 cucumber plants.  We planted and watered them faithfully.  Our good care has paid off because we've harvested 2 cucumbers so far.  It looks like there's a lot more on the way too.
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We opened the campground a week late in May due to cold weather which means we'll be closing a week late in Sept.  In the past, Maddy has attended 2 different daycares.  One of Maddy's long-time daycare providers closed her doors in May so she is now going to the same daycare consistently 3 days per week during the summer.
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Maddy will be a flower girl in her cousin's wedding in Aug.  The bridal shower for that wedding was held in the late part of June.  She dressed up for the garden party bridal shower to show her support for the bride and groom as seen in the pictures below.
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All of us have been busy working at the campground, but we've tried to steal some time for fun too.  Maddy likes to swim, play on the beach with sand toys, ride her pedal bike, hang out with friends & she's learned to pump herself on the swing so she always asks for a starting push.  Maddy had her first Slip N Slide experience in June.  Let's just say she didn't get hurt and can't get enough of that watery fun!

We will try to update the blog again soon, but summer keeps us very busy so our good intentions sometimes don't yield a blog entry.  Happy belated 4th of July!  The heat is definitely on here so hopefully you're enjoying fun in the sun like we are.  Only 7 more weeks until school begins here.
  

Local newspaper article about Maddy's class going to an alpaca farm. She is the front/first child in the photo.

Ready to go to Thomas & Emily's bridal shower.

Dressed up for the bridal shower.

Funny face courtesy of Uncle Dewey & Auntie Carmen.

Weekends spent in the camper/campground store.

Lake girl

Little fish

Fashion pose

First slip n slide

This is awesome!