Maki fam

Happy Birthday Ziggy!

2012-01-16T09:34:00.003-07:00

We celebrated Ziggy's birthday yesterday and boy did we live it up big! We made cupcakes for us humans and Ziggy got a special treat with peanut butter on it. We had party hats, Magnolia and David made a banner to hang up and Magnolia made Ziggy several birthday cards. Magnolia even put a candle in her cupcake and blew it out for Ziggy. All in all I am pretty certain Ziggy had a pretty fantastic day thanks to her sister, Magnolia, who LOVES birthdays more than anyone I know!

National Western Stock Show

2012-01-16T09:29:00.003-07:00

We went to the National Western Stock Show again this year. It was a ton of fun. Magnolia insisted on wearing her cowgirl hat so she definitely fit in! They have the best little petting area. You get to go in this huge pin where there are goats, pigs, donkeys, sheep, llamas, ducks, and chickens walking around. You get to be right in there with them and just play. It is fantastic! I even got a picture of David petting an animal!!!! Magnolia also got to go on a little train ride, which she loved.

Happy New Year... 3 weeks late!

2012-01-16T09:22:00.002-07:00

Whew, where have I been? I cant believe I havent updated this since Christmas! Oops! I guess its easy just to get bogged down with the daily happenings of life and forget to blog!
Anyway, we went ice skating on New Years Day and learned it was going to be a challenge to get our little peanut off the ice! She LOVED it but became very independent very quickly. Once she was on the ice for a few minutes she wanted to do it by herself. She didnt want us anywhere near her and was the happiest when we were on the other side of the ice. We were able to get her to take a few very short breaks but she did not want to leave. She is such a snow bunny! I wish this mommy could stay as warm as Magnolia does in these winter months! I have never seen a child who just doesnt ever seem to get cold like this one!

Christmas Day

2011-12-28T15:21:00.005-07:00

We had such a fantastic day on Christmas. Magnolia is at such an absolutely perfect age for the real spirit of Christmas! She loved EVERYTHING about Christmas this year and was so much fun on Christmas Day. Here is what she wanted from Santa: a space station, a rocket and cookies for her and Ziggy. (no we did not make her ask for cookies for the dog, that was all on her own!) She was such a good girl this year that Santa gave her all of that plus some extra stuff, including her very own make up, and a doctors kit with pretend glasses. Ziggy also got a new toy that she even played with! (our dog is getting very old and rarely plays anymore so this was a pretty big deal!) We also got Magnolia a bathrobe that she just loves to wear. Magnolia also picked out and wrapped gifts for David and I this year. She was so cute because I think she was more excited to give us our presents than to open any of hers! She was also able to keep it a secret what she got us, which is very impressive. The cutest thing she did say was a couple nights before Christmas. I had said that I would love a water bottle for Christmas every time she asked what I wanted. So, we were all playing a game and she looked at me and said "well mom, you can go ahead and ask Santa for your water bottle because I couldnt find the right one at Target." Ahh, cracked me up! Santa must have been listening because he did bring me a water bottle.
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!

Getting ready for Santa

2011-12-28T15:17:00.003-07:00

Magnolia had a lot to do before going to bed on Christmas Eve. She had to make Santa a card, sprinkle special food out on the snow and get Santa some milk and cookies. After all of her chores were done we all snuggled on the couch and read Christmas books before going to bed.

Christmas Eve Day

2011-12-28T15:12:00.002-07:00

We took Magnolia skiing on Christmas Eve day. It was a very fun day... Santa was out skiing, there was the mascot of the ski hill out giving high fives to the kids, and of course lots of skiing. Magnolia went on the bunny hill one time and then said she was ready for the chairlift. Off her and David went on the chairlift! Such a big girl! We also had a great time eating our lunch and warming up in the chalet.

SNOW

2011-12-28T15:10:00.002-07:00

Here is what I opened the door to last week! We definitely had a white Christmas in Colorado!

Writing her name

2011-12-20T08:44:00.003-07:00

Magnolia and I have been working very hard learning to write her name. Here is what it looks like right now. I must admit, I am very proud! Yes, I guess this is kind of a bragging blog entry. Sorry! :)

Christmas dress

2011-12-20T08:39:00.003-07:00

Here is a picture of Magnolia before her school program. Doesnt she look beautiful? She picked out this dress all by herself! The day she picked it out I had no intention of buying a dress. Then I watched her look through all the dresses in the store and get excited about how pretty they all were. I couldnt resist. I let her get one. I must say, as much as I am not a dress kind of girl, she just looks adorable in the dress!
She also picked out the headband to wear with it. During her school program her headband fell off and she got very worried. She wasnt able to sing a song because she was to busy trying to figure out what to do about her headband. She finally yelled out "mom!! I cant find my headband!!" After trying to reassure her from the audience she was able to get over it and keep on singing!

Jingle Bells

2011-12-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a song from Magnolia's school Christmas program.

Magnolia the artist

2011-12-14T16:50:00.003-07:00

Here is Magnolia's latest drawing of a person. It is so fun to see how she seems to add a little bit more to her drawings each week!

Neighborhood Christmas Party

2011-12-14T16:41:00.004-07:00

This past weekend our neighborhood had their annual Kids Christmas party. It was so fun! We were one of the first people to get there and man oh man was Magnolia one lucky girl that night. We were standing in the hallway and she spotted Santa just coming in. She very politely tugged on my shirt and said "mom! Look over there! I see someone special!" I looked and saw Santa just smiling at her. He must have heard her because he came up to here and asked if she wanted to be his special helper. He took her hand and put a bell in it and told her to ring it. She then got to walk hand in hand with Santa into the room where everyone was waiting. She got to be the first one to sit on his lap and they just really chatted it up! Let me tell you, she was on cloud nine! After that we went and did some crafts and then were able to go on a horse drawn wagon ride around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. It was perfect. Nice night with a little chill in the air but not cold. We then went in, got some apple cidar and went and picked up some pizza from our local pizza place and walked home. The spirit of Christmas was going strong that night!

Polar Express

2011-12-07T08:59:00.004-07:00

On Sunday we went into the mountains to Georgetown for a Polar Express adventure. We were able to chat with Santa before getting on the train... where I must admit... we got the cutest picture of Magnolia with Santa! While on the train Mrs. Claus gave us cookies, Santa gave Magnolia a bell, we got candy canes and the conductor even came around and punched our tickets. Magnolia loved every moment and talks about that adventure constantly! Grammy and Pappa bought her a pink conductor hat which she wore for most of the morning. Cute!

Grammy and Pappa

2011-12-07T08:44:00.002-07:00

Grammy and Pappa came this past week for an early Christmas. Despite the very cold and snowy weather we were able to cram a lot of great activities into the week. We went to Chuck E Cheese, where Magnolia had a dream come true... she got cotton candy!! Woohoo! Check that off the bucket list! :) David and I were able to go on a date while Magnolia, grammy and pappa make a gingerbread house. We got to go out for eat and we also got to go on a Polar Express train to see Santa. (More pictures of that coming soon) Another highlight of the week for Magnolia was that she grew money in her ears! After she ate green food pappa would check her ears, and sure enough, there would be some money in there! I sure wish money would grow in my ears after I eat green! What a fun week!

The look-a-likes

2011-12-06T10:55:00.002-07:00

Magnolia got her baby all ready to go outside and insisted that she wear the same outfit. Here is a picture of what she came up with for her and baby!

Magnolia's Christmas Tree

2011-12-06T10:49:00.002-07:00

We bought Magnolia her very own Christmas tree this year. David and I are very particular about our Christmas tree and what goes on it. We decided this year that it isnt very fair to Magnolia to have such an adult looking Christmas tree so we got her one of her own. She had so much fun picking out the tree that she wanted and decorating it with "fun" ornaments. She even picked out a bright pink glittery star to put on the top. We put her tree in her play room so she can look at it all the time. We have also found that Ziggy also loves the tree and usually goes up there to take her naps.

Happy Birthday David

2011-12-05T15:21:00.002-07:00

Here I am a week and a half later finally posting about David's birthday. Better late than never I guess! We had a great time celebrating David's big day. I love the fact that Magnolia LOVES LOVES LOVES birthdays. She doesnt just love hers, but loves everyones! She was so excited we had to buy plates, napkins, party hats, and blow horns for the special day. Thank goodness for the dollar store! She spent a very long time picking everything out so it was just right for daddy. Happy birthday to the best husband and dad! We sure do love you!!!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-02T12:26:00.003-07:00

We had a very wonderful Thanksgiving! It was just the three of us and was perfect. We put up Christmas decorations, listened to Christmas music and just had fun being together. Magnolia has been reading Fancy Nancy Thanksgiving so she had many ideas what she wanted for Thanksgiving dinner... which included stuffing, mashed potatoes, a table cloth, a fancy cup to drink out of, and apple pie ala mode. So, we borrowed a table cloth from our neighbor, made the yummy food and let her use a fancy cup and even put chocolate milk in it. Her favorite part was definitely apple pie ala mode! I am so thankful to have been able to spend the day with the most amazing 3 year old around and with a wonderful husband.

Sioux Falls

2011-11-12T09:52:00.010-07:00

Magnolia and I were in Sioux Falls last week for another fun-filled very busy adventure! We had a great time seeing everyone and going to some new places. One day we got to go the Children's Museum with my mom and Dylan which was new for us. Such a fun place and I think it will be on our list to do every time we go back to South Dakota. Another new place we went was my grandparents new home... beautiful! Ah so fun! We were also lucky enough to have Matt, Sus and the kids come down for a few short hours on Thursday. Magnolia got to play with all of her cousins on my side, what a very lucky girl! Thanks to everyone that made time for us while we were in SF!

Our little Tinkerbells

2011-10-31T20:01:00.004-06:00

Here are the cutest Tinkerbells around! I must admit, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Magnolia's costume. The wig definitely makes the costume complete! Ziggy is seriously the best dog in the world. She let us dress her up and didnt even try to get the costume off! They are just beyond adorable! Happy Halloween!

Orange Dinner

2011-10-31T19:58:00.002-06:00

We had our biggest Orange Dinner yet on Saturday night. 28 people showed up to help us make our annual Orange Dinner. This year each family brought some orange food to share. It was so much fun to see what everyone brought and we had a HUGE orange spread!

Carving a Pumpkin

2011-10-31T08:43:00.002-06:00

We carved a pumpkin last night. Magnolia takes after her father when it comes to scooping out the "guts" of the pumpkin... they both find it disgusting. Good thing this mom is not afraid of a little slim or I dont think we would have been able to finish the project. :)

First Snow

2011-10-27T16:30:00.003-06:00

We had our first big snow fall yesterday. Let me first say that on Monday it was 80 and yesterday we got about a foot of snow. Thank goodness it is warming back up quickly so it will all be gone by Halloween. Magnolia was beyond excited to get out there and play in it. We ended up having a ton of fun because our neighbors Elle and Bella came out and played with us.

The Pledge

2011-10-13T16:11:00.003-06:00

Magnolia has learned so many things at school and its only October! She continues to LOVE school and wishes she could go every day. One thing she has learned is The Pledge of Allegiance. Here is an adorable video of her saying the pledge and then singing a song about the "beautiful flag."

Pumpkin patch

2011-10-04T09:40:00.002-06:00

We had our annual trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend. The weather was a bit warm, but all in all a perfect day! Magnolia had a ton of fun running around and looking for the perfect pumpkin. We learned that her idea and our idea of the perfect pumpkin were completely different. She picked out an itty bitty green "runt" that never grew into a big pumpkin. Once she found that one there was no convincing her of any other pumpkin.

Babies Day Out

2011-09-27T09:06:00.003-06:00

We took Magnolia to the park the other night and she insisted that her babies get to come. Boy did those babies have fun! Magnolia pushed them on the swings, they had a race down the slides and Magnolia gave them each turns going down the slide with her. She sure is going to be a good mommy some day!

Soccer

2011-09-27T09:02:00.002-06:00

Magnolia started soccer a few weeks ago and loves it! She is the only girl on a team of 12. I must say it is the cutest thing to watch! All of these itty bittys running around a soccer field. Adorable! Magnolia does pretty well but it is very clear the difference between boys and girls gross motor skills at this age! It is hard to take pictures because it is an indoor arena so these pics will have to do.

Sunflower Farm

2011-09-13T11:00:00.003-06:00

Magnolia and I had a fantastic morning yesterday. We went to Sunflower Farm with her neighborhood friends, Brayden and Tahlia. The weather was perfect and all 3 kids had a blast! They got to feed llamas, climb in tree houses, play in corn and sand, swing on huge swings, lay in a hammock, play on tractors, pet many animals and have a picnic lunch.

The past week or two

2011-09-12T08:09:00.002-06:00

I realized that I have not blogged for a bit but have some adorable pics to share! The first picture is Magnolia wearing puppets on her feet as slippers. She was so very proud of herself that she thought to do that! She looks so tall in this picture!

The second picture is what I walked into one afternoon. I went to the grocery store and when I came home I found Magnolia and David making muffins. (In matching aprons of course!) Mmm they were delicious! They can make muffins anytime!

The third picture is a pic that we had to take for Magnolia's school. She had to bring in a picture of her family so this is it!

The last picture is the look Magnolia insisted on when getting ready to eat breakfast. Who knew breakfast could be such a fancy affair!

First 14er

2011-08-29T07:48:00.004-06:00

Magnolia and I did our first 14er this weekend...which means we went to the top of a mountain that was above 14,000 feet! We went on the highest paved road in North America and then climbed a bit to reach the top. The climb and scenery once we reached the top was spectacular. If you are wondering just how high we were check out the clouds! We were truly almost in them! Amazing! The part that I did not enjoy was the drive, it was very scary! At one point I had tears in my eyes! Magnolia on the other hand thought it was really fun and was not phased by the fact that we were on very steep/winding/bumpy roads that were inches from falling off the side of the mountain! :)
We also have a new photographer in our family. Magnolia has been really into taking pictures and we have posted 2 of them in this post. The one of just me and the one of David and I were taken by our little munchkin!

First Day Of School

2011-08-25T11:41:00.003-06:00

Magnolia had her first day of preschool today and it was VERY successful! David woke her up and she was happy and ready to go! She asked for a special breakfast so she got to have waffles on a fancy plate. Then off to school we went! David went to work late so that he could drop her off with me. She was all smiles and had no problems when we left. When I picked her up she was very happy and said she had a great time. Then she said "ask me if I enjoyed myself." So, I asked if she enjoyed herself and she said "Oh yes mom, I really did!" So cute! She then said "what was your favorite part of doing your mommy work when I was at school?" Ha she is so darn funny! I am SO very happy that she had a great first day of school!

Grandpa's trip to the dentist

2011-08-22T11:30:00.003-06:00

My dad flew out for a day last week to sit in David's dental chair for a few hours. Magnolia and I only got to see him for a few weeks but we made the most of it! Next time I think he might need to stay a bit longer!

Fancy Nancy Magnonlia

2011-08-22T11:25:00.002-06:00

Magnolia LOVES the Fancy Nancy books and here is pretending she is Fancy Nancy. I think she has on 4 tutus, 2 hats, 2 crowns, bunny ears, a fairy dress and of course a purple boa. I am pretty sure she is even more adorable than Fancy Nancy!

Our little sushi lover

2011-08-15T09:05:00.003-06:00

You know, David and I have often talked about what our "normal" foods were as kids and how different they are than Magnolia's "normal" foods. Sushi is definitely at the top of the list. I dont think that I ever had sushi until I was in my mid 20's and here is Magnolia loving it at age 3! Dont worry, she only eats veggie sushi, no raw fish for this munchkin!

Girl with style

2011-08-05T14:42:00.001-06:00

Here is an outfit that Magnolia picked out on her own. (Yes, those are snow boots on her feet, and yes it was about 95 degrees when she wore this!)

Abella, Pappa and Grammy

2011-08-04T12:07:00.002-06:00

We had a very exciting week this past week. We had our niece Isabella (Magnolia shortened her name a bit and called her "Abella") and David's parents here. We did a ton of fun stuff and were pretty darn busy the whole time. We went to Boulder, went to an old mine and panned for gold, went to Breckenridge, and the aquarium. Magnolia also got to ride a train with Abella and one with pappa. She also got to fly her kite with them. Magnolia had a ton of fun getting to know her cousin and asks everyday when she is coming back. (I must admit, I hope she comes back again soon!) Isabella, thank you so much for coming out and being such an awesome cousin and niece! We love you!

Lake Cabin

2011-07-21T15:42:00.003-06:00

After Duluth Magnolia and I drove David back to Minneapolis so he could catch a flight back home. We were so sad to see him leave and wished that he could stay to play with us. Man that workin stuff just gets in the way of fun! :) After dropping David off we headed to my parents lake cabin for a week of fun. Magnolia LOVED fishing and caught many sunnies and even a few bass. She also loved holding and playing with the worms! I took Magnolia to my favorite ice cream place as a kid where she got the biggest scoop of ice cream I have ever seen! It took her 3 days to eat that scoop! Magnolia was also very into going tubing behind the boat (except at first she wasnt so sure of the water splashing her). I took her once and then Lindsay and Hannah took her on a couple more rides. She also loved riding in the boats and thought she was pretty cool stuff when she got to help pull the rope in from the tube. Another highlight of the trip was getting to go to uncle Matt's farm to meet Cow Thomas and ride on a tractor. You may recall that Magnolia got to name one of Matt's cows this spring and she named it Cow Thomas. We finally got to meet Cow Thomas in person and help give him some corn to eat. Magnolia proudly wore her Cow Thomas shirt that Matt and Sus gave her for her birthday for the big event. What a fun week we had in Minnesota (except for the humidity!!!) I sure hope we can make this trip to Minnesota an annual event!

Duluth

2011-07-20T12:58:00.002-06:00

Magnolia, David and I went to Duluth for a fantastic weekend. We stayed with my aunt, uncle and cousins. We managed to stay very busy the whole trip. It was so much fun that I wish we could have stayed a few more days! We went kayaking in the pond behind their house. Magnolia was very anxious to get in but was not overly happy when she realized that she didnt get to go all by herself! Thankfully she got over that and had a blast paddling around looking for turtles. Magnolia also got to go down to the chicken coop every morning to see if there were eggs. She thought she was pretty darn cool and LOVED the taste of fresh eggs for breakfast! Our little rock climbing girl got to test out her skills and climb a new wall. We also got to go down to the lake and have a malt and throw rocks into "that HUGE HUGE lake." The grand finale of the trip was going to ride Teresa's horse! Magnolia took in the whole experience and was all business while on the horse. A huge thank you to the Delp family for making our trip to Duluth so wonderful! We love you and cant wait to come back!

*As a side note... we were also very lucky enough to see David's brother and his family but unfortunately I forgot my camera when we were with them. I will hopefully get a copy of some pictures soon that I can put on the blog.*

Berries with Bella

2011-07-06T09:03:00.004-06:00

We had a fun filled day picking strawberries with Kate and Bella. Magnolia was very determined to fill up her container and I am pretty sure she could have done it all day! These girls are just so darn cute together!

4th of July

2011-07-06T08:55:00.003-06:00

Our neighborhood had their annual 4th of July bike parade. It was a real hit in Magnolia's book! This was the first year that she was excited to do it. She helped David decorate her bike and then headed down to meet up with her friend Sofi for the parade. All the kids got a popsicle at the end of the route, which was a perfect treat for such a warm morning!

Skiing and swimming

2011-07-06T08:45:00.003-06:00

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This past weekend was a very exciting weekend. Not only was it 4th of July but we got to do something very unique to Colorado. In the morning we went into the mountains to play in the snow and watch David ski. In the afternoon we came home and went swimming in the outdoor pool. Crazy huh?! While in the mountains we stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate and got Magnolia a very special treat. I must admit, that the swimming pictures were taken the next day when Tate came to swim.

Mariah, Ryan and Gus

2011-07-03T20:31:00.002-06:00

We were so very lucky last week and had Mariah, Ryan and Gus come and visit us on their way to California. We learned that Magnolia is on the scared side when it comes to big dogs so we had to work really hard to get her in the same room. Thank goodness Gus is a sweet and loving dog that was very patient with Magnolia. Thanks to Mariah and Ryan for making our house as one of your stops as you traveled west!

Momo and Grandpa

2011-07-03T20:26:00.003-06:00

Momo and grandpa were here last weekend and were able to come for Magnolia's birthday party. They were on a layover going home from Vegas so they werent here very long... but we did make the most out of every moment! Our neighborhood had a concert so we were able to walk down to that and dance the night away. The funniest part was Magnolia got tattoos for her birthday and insisted on putting one on her ankle so she could be like her momo. What a fun 24 hours!

Ladybug Party

2011-06-29T08:15:00.003-06:00

The rest of the day

2011-06-23T14:49:00.002-06:00

Here are pictures of the second half of Magnolia's birthday. David and I gave her a new baby center where she can feed, change and give her babies a bath. We also gave her a swimming mask and a puppet that she just absolutely adored! In the evening Scott, Heidi and Will came over for dinner and birthday cake. Will LOVES the Cars movie and picked out a Cars themed gift for Magnolia... what a great idea! All in all the whole day was the perfect way to celebrate a 3rd birthday! Stay tuned for pictures of her ladybug themed party that is on Saturday!

Girl time for the morning

2011-06-22T13:13:00.002-06:00

Magnolia got to get a pedicure and go out for bagels with her friends yesterday morning for her birthday. Sofi, Bella and Magnolia had such a great time being girlie girls! Magnolia picked red polish and then the lady drew little ladybugs on her big toes in preparation for her ladybug themed part on Saturday. These girls are just too cute together! Love the picture of Sofi trying to kiss Magnolia!

Happy Birthday!

2011-06-21T15:18:00.002-06:00

Today is Magnolia's 3rd birthday! Where did the time go? How can my little peanut be growing up so fast?! This child of ours is growing into such a funny, caring, loving, smart, and independent person. She is the most amazing little creature I have ever known. She brings more joy and love into our lives than I ever thought possible. Happy Birthday to my munchkin, Magnolia Claire Maki! I love you oodles and oodles!

There is a picture of Magnolia on each of her birthdays. The one from today is when I went in to get her up this morning. Seriously, how can that face not melt your heart!! Many more pictures of the rest of her day to follow soon!

Father's Day

2011-06-20T07:29:00.002-06:00

Happy Father's Day to the best dad and husband that Magnolia and I could ever ask for! I am truly blessed to have a partner in this parenting thing as amazing as David is. He has a way to make me laugh when I am maxed out. He has a way to make Magnolia laugh when she is maxed out. He is the most compassionate and caring guy I know. All in all he is one amazing man and Magnolia and I love him more than he will ever know.

New Zoo

2011-05-31T09:18:00.003-06:00

We went to a new zoo on our way to our camping adventure. The zoo was in Colorado Springs and was very cool! We were able to feed giraffes some lettuce, pet a baby kangaroo and even ride a carousel that was built in 1926!

A camping we will go

2011-05-30T17:31:00.001-06:00

Here is Magnolia singing in the car. Let me translate for you... "A camping we will go, a camping we will go, high ho the dairy oh, a camping we will go!"

Camping camping camping!

2011-05-30T17:16:00.004-06:00

We went camping this weekend with Scott, Heidi and Will at Garden Of The Gods. It was pretty much perfect! Magnolia, Ziggy, David and I all packed into the jeep and off we went for a fun adventure! Last weekend we bought a new tent (David was not sure if it would be big enough... it had 3 rooms...) a sleeping bag for Magnolia, camping chairs and a lantern. Magnolia could barely sleep all week in anticipation of the big camping trip. She LOVED LOVED LOVED camping! She slept like a rockstar and had tons of fun playing with Will and using her new flashlight. The highlight of her trip was eating a smore. She was so excited to have a campfire and roast marshmallows. When we got to our site however, we learned that we could not have campfires because of the high risk of forest fires. Thanks to Scott we found some other more experiences campers who had brought with a little gas "fire pit" of their own. They were so nice to let Magnolia and Will roast their marshmallows and make their smores. Mmm were they ever yummy! This was such a great time and I am sure we will be posting more camping pictures in the future!

Singin In The Rain

2011-05-13T15:25:00.002-06:00

As many of you know, we have been very busy potty training in our house the past few weeks. Whew! What a process! I must admit that this has been the most trying and frustrating time as a parent to date. The good news is that we have been very successful and Magnolia has been a potty rockstar! We have had a few issues of using public bathrooms and going poop. Gee, this might just be a to much info for a blog. If Magnolia ever reads this when she is older I am pretty sure her face will be bright red as she reads this post. Anyway, Magnolia LOVES the rain. She had a rain coat and rain boots, but no umbrella. The other day I was willing to do just about anything to get her to poop on the potty. So, I told her if she went we would get her an umbrella. Sure enough... that night she went! Who knew that all it would take was an umbrella. I had David buy an umbrella on his way home from work just in case she went so we had it ready! So, we bundled up, got Magnolia all decked out in rain gear and headed outside! Only parents of a potty training child would go out in 40 degree raining weather to sing, dance and be truly joyful about poop in a potty!

Scooter

2011-05-03T13:13:00.003-06:00

Magnolia has a new passion... her scooter! She tries to get out any chance she can to practice riding it. She is getting so good at it!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T09:47:00.003-06:00

Happy Easter everyone! Magnolia had a fantastic Easter weekend. On Saturday she had a couple egg hunts that she loved. Yesterday the Easter bunny brought Magnolia a very special Easter basket, which included a new scooter! We are now just waiting for it to warm up and stop raining so we can go outside and ride it! Thank goodness we have wood floors so she can ride it a bit inside!
For our Easter dinner we went over to our friends Scott, Heidi and Will's house. Magnolia was in heaven because they had ham! This child of ours ate 4 pieces!! She has been waiting for weeks to go over and eat some ham so she was one happy camper! We also got to see David's god parents(John and Jo) over there, which is always a fun time. Magnolia got some planting toys from John and Jo so as soon as it warms up we will be getting some flowers to plant. Thank you Scott and Heidi for having us over and making our child so happy by having ham!!!

Fairy Magnolia

2011-04-21T17:23:00.003-06:00

Magnolia woke up this morning and wanted to be a fairy. She must have dreams of fairies all night because that was the only thing on her mind all morning. Hands down, she is the cutest fairy I have ever seen! She put her whole outfit together... even the pink high heel shoes! (Makes me glad that I am not a fairy so I dont have to wear high heels!!!!) She was even a fairy when we went to Whole Foods, Target and out for lunch with her daddy. Ahh, I LOVE her imagination!

ABC's

2011-04-18T16:48:00.002-06:00

Magnolia LOVES LOVES LOVES to sing! She usually does not like me recording her, but I finally got a good one of her singing her ABC's. Oh my goodness she is growing up fast!

Saturday- Kites and the beach

2011-04-10T20:00:00.004-06:00

We had some very drastic weather changes this weekend. Yesterday we spent the morning at a kite festival and the afternoon at the beach. The weather was SO perfect and truly felt like spring. Magnolia had fun throwing rocks in the water and building sand castles at the beach. Sure makes us excited for summer!

(*You may be asking yourself... "was it really that nice there?" The answer is YES and I have the sunburn to prove it! :) *)

Sunday- SNOW

2011-04-10T17:18:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was so beautiful and springy, so we were very surprised when we woke up to snow this morning! Magnolia got new snow shoes from her grammy and pappa and has been waiting and waiting to use them. Needless to say, she was so excited when she saw the snow and realized she could finally get out there and try them out. Even though it was just a bit of snow, she had a blast and reinforced the fact that this child is a snow bunny! She got the hang of them very quickly and within minutes was running around the yard!

Boston

2011-04-09T20:08:00.002-06:00

Magnolia is allowing me to have a post even though there will not be a single picture of her! Here are just a few of my highlights of Boston. I had such a wonderful time visiting my friend Mariah, getting to know her husband, and meeting her adorable dog Gus. We spent a great deal of time exploring and just enjoying the fact that I could be out and about all day and not have to get home to get a little munchkin down for nap! We went to the town of Magnolia, which is an adorable little coast town. We also saw a really cool castle by the town of Magnolia. We saw the Cheers bar and had fresh lobster for dinner. Thank you to Mariah, Ryan and Gus for the amazing hospitality!

Grammy and Pappa

2011-04-07T08:19:00.004-06:00

Grammy and Pappa came last week for a fun-filled visit. I am a bit left out when writing this blog because I was not here for most of their visit. My amazing husband surprised me with a trip to Boston to visit a friend. So... I am only reporting the information that I was told. I wonder if there are any stories that everyone seemed to have "forgotten" to tell me... :) Anyway, it sounds like David, Magnolia, Grammy and Pappa were VERY busy. They went to a few parks, the mall, botanical gardens, skiing, and swimming! Thank you so much to David, Bob and Francyne for taking such great care of Magnolia and allowing me to go enjoy Boston!

Cow Thomas

2011-03-24T12:54:00.003-06:00

My brother Matt and his family had a new baby calf born this week. Magnolia is one lucky girl because she got to name the calf. Matt left a message on my phone for Magnolia to think up a name and she could name it. So, Magnolia hopped up on my bed and started thinking. I must tell you how seriously she took the whole thing. I should have taken a picture of her sitting there thinking. After a little bit I asked her if she knew what she wanted to name it. She looked up and said "COW THOMAS!" So we made it official by calling Matt back and telling him that he was a proud owner of Cow Thomas. We are hoping to go meet Cow Thomas this summer but for now we just sing some songs about him and look at his pictures.

Lets Go Fly A Kite

2011-03-13T20:09:00.004-06:00

Magnolia LOVES LOVES LOVES the movie Mary Poppins. We watched it as a family the other night and we were singing along with the song "Lets Go Fly A Kite." Magnolia decided at that moment that she needed a kite. So, yesterday we went to a kite store in Boulder and let Magnolia pick out the kite that she wanted. She picked out a very beautiful rainbow one. Unfortunately when we got home there was no wind. So, today was the day. We were able to go fly the new kite! Magnolia was all smiles the entire time! I must admit, she had a longer attention span for kite flying than I did!

Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!

Ring Around The Rosie with pug

2011-03-13T17:04:00.002-06:00

Magnolia and Ziggy can now do ring around the rosie without us! Pug even lays down at the end! What good friends they are!

Chuck E Cheese

2011-03-07T15:46:00.003-07:00

Well... we did it... we took Magnolia to Chuck E Cheese. If you are reading this and have not been to Chuck E Cheese you should definitely put it on your bucket list. It is a place that I can not put into words, and you must experience for yourself! ;)
Magnolia had SO much fun and truly loved every minute that she was there. And really, whats not to love? Games, music, lights, food, people, lots of people... Ah so fun! When we got home from our fun adventure I was laying on the floor just taking a little breather. Magnolia comes and sits next to me and asks me to sing and do ring around the rosie. I told her that I needed to take a little break and didnt want any stimulus for one minute. She then looks at me and says "You old mommy?" Umm... yes. I guess I am officially old! :)

Chef Magnolia

2011-03-04T13:54:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Will!

2011-02-25T20:33:00.003-07:00

Magnolia has been busy partying it up this month. It was Will's birthday a few weeks back so we had another reason to celebrate and another person to sing Happy Birthday to. I cannot begin to tell you how much this girl LOVES birthdays. We have pretend parties several times a day for me, Magnolia, Ziggy, Tinkerbell, or anything else that is laying on the floor when the party begins!

Happy Birthday Will, we love you! Thank you to Scott and Heidi for taking these pictures as I forgot my camera at home!

Happy Birthday Bella!

2011-02-19T18:58:00.003-07:00

Magnolia had a birthday party today and whew, was it fun! It was a cowgirl themed party for her friend Bella... with real ponies and everything! It was so cute... the horses were in our side yard because Bella lives right by us. When David got Magnolia up from nap he told her that there was a surprise in her yard. When she went to look out the window she couldnt believe that there were horses and could not get out the door fast enough to see them! Magnolia LOVED the horses and was able to ride them 4 times. I am pretty sure she would have rode it all night if she was allowed! The kids also able to put bows and ribbons in the pony's mane to make it look extra pretty. Magnolia was so sweet and even let the horse wear her cowgirl hat! I am pretty sure that after today Magnolia might need a little pony... now we just need to convince her daddy...

Grandpa's Visit

2011-02-19T18:50:00.003-07:00

My dad had work in the area and was able to spend a night with us. It was great to see him... although it was a bit to short! Lets hope next time he can stay for a bit longer!!

Momo's visit

2011-02-16T14:54:00.002-07:00

My mom came for a visit this past week. Magnolia was on cloud 9 when she got to make lemon muffins with her momo. Magnolia LOVES lemon and even got to wear an apron with pictures of lemons on it. David and I also got to take our first overnight trip by ourselves while Magonlia stayed with my mom. It was a great night for all! David and I went to Steamboat Springs and Magnolia got to have chocolate milk, meatballs, and homemade mac and cheese. Thank you so much to my mom for watching her!

Static Hair Girls

2011-02-08T07:38:00.001-07:00

We filled up Magnolia's little pool from the summer with balls so she could play in it during the winter too. Bella came over and was the girls had so much fun playing... and their hair proves it!

First Chair Lift

2011-01-30T21:11:00.003-07:00

Magnolia went on her first chairlift of the ski season this weekend! She did absolutely fantastic! Her and David went several times and she was all smiles! Let me tell you where Magnolia and David are in the last picture... if you look in the middle of the pic and then look straight up from there you will see little Magnolia and David right behind her.
The video is Magnolia saying "I LOVE SKIING" and then she wants to get back on the chairlift. What a big girl!

National Western Stock Show

2011-01-22T15:34:00.004-07:00

Last weekend we went to the National Western Stock Show. We went in smelling like city folk and came out smelling like real farmers! :) Magnolia had an absolute blast roaming around with goats, llamas, donkeys, sheep and pigs. She loved petting all of them but said that the pigs were "to prickly" to pet. Magnolia did get a bit tired from all of the walking so she found a sheep that was laying down and plopped down next to it and laid her head on it for a bit. She also got to ride on a little train and get a very fancy lollipop. We even tried on a few cowboy hats. I think we have a little farm girl on our hands!

New Years

2011-01-19T12:55:00.003-07:00

Yes, yes, we are still around! It is such a process to upload pictures to the blog because our computer is out of memory so it is VERY VERY slow and takes forever to upload pictures. Hopefully very soon we will have a new computer and I can go back to my blogging more often!
Here are our New Years Eve pics. We went to Scott, Heidi, and Will's house to make sushi. It was very fun and relaxing. Seeing as small children were involved we started the process at 4:30 in the afternoon and were home by 8:30. Needless to say, we did not stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year. Yep, we are officially old! :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-27T07:14:00.003-07:00

We had a very wonderful Christmas this year. It was a very low key day in our pajamas and then over to our neighbors house in the evening for dessert. The only thing that Magnolia wanted Santa to bring her was cookies. The very first time someone asked her what she wanted she said cookies, and she never changed that idea the entire holiday season. As soon as she saw the cookies he brought her Christmas was complete and she didnt need anything else! I am pretty sure Santa would love it if the only thing she ever asks for is cookies! :)
It is also official to say that Magnolia LOVES to savor things. She did not want her Christmas to end so did everything in her power to make it last. I do believe she holds the record for the slowest child to open presents! She averaged one an hour! She would open it and then play hard with it until we encouraged her to open up another gift. She was so slow that we didnt finish gift opening until yesterday! It was so cute to truly enjoy every gift that she got and savor Christmas Day!

Up On The Housetop

2010-12-26T19:41:00.002-07:00

Here is Magnolia singing Up On The Housetop on Christmas morning

More skiing

2010-12-26T19:18:00.004-07:00

We took Magnolia skiing in Breckenridge on Christmas Eve. She got to ride her first gondola so she thought she was pretty hot stuff. It has been VERY warm here in Denver this winter so it was fun to go up in the mountains and have a semi white Christmas!

Here is the latest video of Magnolia skiing. The last 3 seconds is so adorable! This girl was born to ski!

Grammy and Pappa

2010-12-26T19:11:00.003-07:00

David's parents came out last weekend for an early Christmas. Magnolia had the most wonderful time getting spoiled! She got to open some Christmas presents, which included a new crib for her baby! We also went to a Christmas parade with them, went out to eat, went to the Children's Museum, and of course, played at home! Magnolia and I had a rough day on Monday when she went back to the harsh reality of hearing the word "no." :) So fun to see Magnolia truly enjoying and loving her grandparents!

Neighborhood Christmas Party

2010-12-20T08:39:00.002-07:00

I have had troubles being able to upload my pictures so I apologize for the slow blogging!
Last weekend Magnolia and I went to our neighborhood Christmas party. We went with Magnolia's friends Sofi and Bella. We saw Santa, made crafts, ate cookies and drank hot cider, and even went on a horse and carriage ride around the neighborhood. The carriage ride was by far Magnolia's highlight. It was so adorable, we sang Christmas carols while looking at all of the beautiful lights of the neighborhood. So fun!

Sittin' with Santa

2010-12-07T07:56:00.003-07:00

Magnolia got to sit with Santa this past weekend. She took the whole thing very seriously and loved him! She even wished him a Merry Christmas when she was done sitting with him. Santa gave her her very first candy cane which she thought was the coolest thing ever!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T08:10:00.007-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a fantastic day just hanging out and spending time as a family. I would like to take a moment and say what I am thankful for. I am extremely thankful for all of our friends and family. I know that we live far away from our families but you are in our thought and hearts daily. I am also very thankful for Magnolia who makes me smile and laugh on an hourly basis. I am so thankful that I get to be a stay at home mom and spend everyday with my little peanut. I love that I get to look at life through a 2 year olds life and enjoy the things most adults miss... like pretty leaves on the ground, an ant carrying a crumb, seeing and understanding who Santa is for the first time, the condensation on the windows when cooking noodles, the moon, coloring with crayons... I could go on all day! I am thankful for David, who supports and loves me unconditionally... even when he comes home and wants quiet and all I want is to talk and have adult conversation!

Happy Birthday!

2010-11-26T08:00:00.003-07:00

David's birthday was yesterday. Magnolia had been talking about it for weeks and was so excited to help him open presents and blow out the candles. I have learned that she is officially in the age of not keeping a secret. She told David many times that we got him slippers (for some reason that was the one present she was excited about). Lucky for me David did not understand what she was saying to him (or he did a fantastic job of pretending not to understand!). Happy Birthday to the man we love!

Ice skating

2010-11-26T07:41:00.002-07:00

We took Magnolia ice skating for the first time last weekend. She had been talking about ice skating and wanting to do it for several weeks so it was the perfect time to go. She had a great time trying and also got to get pulled around in a sled for a bit. I am pretty darn sure we have a girl that loves anything winter!

Skiing at Copper Mountain

2010-11-07T19:20:00.002-07:00

Magnolia went skiing for the first time this weekend. She LOVE LOVE LOVED it! We were only going to go one day but she had so much fun that we ended up going back for a second day. This video shows Magnolia riding up the hill on the "magic carpet" and then skiing down like a big girl.

Magnolia the Purple Fairy

2010-11-03T14:00:00.003-06:00

Magnolia and Ziggy dressed up as fairies for Halloween this year. Magnolia was a purple one and Pug was a pink one. I honestly dont think it can get much more adorable than this!

Orange Dinner

2010-11-03T13:53:00.002-06:00

We had all of Magnolia's friends (and their parents) over on Halloween for our annual Orange Dinner. In case you have not heard of our event it is where you can only eat orange food. Our menu included: Buffalo chicken dip, cheese/crackers, carrots, BBQ sandwiches, cheesey potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruit salad, pumpkin dessert, pumpkin cookies and orange punch. All of the kids were great and it was so much fun to see all of their costumes! Thank you to my mom for helping cook all of the food and to my dad who entertained Magnolia at the park all morning so we could get ready!

Trick-or-treating

2010-11-03T10:50:00.004-06:00

Magnolia went trick-or-treating with Tate after our Orange Dinner. They made such a great team! They even learned that it is better to trick or treat if you have a sucker to eat in between houses!

Pumpkin carving

2010-11-03T10:41:00.003-06:00

Magnolia got to carve her first pumpkin on Saturday. I thought she might be a little bit shy when it came to reaching in and pulling out the slimy insides... wrong! She loved it! I then realized that it was her daddy that didnt want to reach in it! :)
Side note: I am realizing that we are wearing a lot of Oklahoma shirts in our blog pictures lately... I guess we take most of our pics on Saturdays and since Saturdays in the fall are OU football days in our house, that would explain our outfits!

Baby Liam

2010-11-03T09:24:00.002-06:00

Last week our friend Jeanette and her 5 month old, Liam, came to visit us from MN. Magnolia was SO excited for them to come. She helped wash toys and get everything set for baby Liam. She adores babies and talked about him coming for weeks beforehand. She had so much fun feeding him, holding him and getting him LOTS and LOTS of toys. We were very busy the whole time they were here so I will try to post a slide show of all of the fun soon. I will just post the cutest pictures for now but dont worry, there will be more to come! Thank you to Jeanette and Liam for coming to visit! You guys are the best!

Fall Photo Shoot

2010-10-25T08:42:00.002-06:00

Magnolia had a professional photo shoot in September. We just got the pictures, and of course, they are beyond adorable!

Bath Time

2010-10-19T12:42:00.001-06:00

I just realized that I have been totally slacking off on my job as a mom to take pictures and post them on here! Magnolia got her haircut 2 weeks ago and I dont have any pictures on here to show just how adorable it looks. I guess we have a project this afternoon! I guess you can kind of see how cute it is in this picture, but I will try to post some better ones soon. For now, I hope you enjoy this bubble bath picture!

Halloween Girl

2010-10-11T13:33:00.002-06:00

As many of you know, I LOVE Halloween! I am so happy to report that I have a daughter that loves it just as much as I do! Here she is last weekend all decked out in Halloween... from head to toe! Ahh, I must say, I couldn't be happier!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-07T15:03:00.004-06:00

We went to the pumpkin patch this past weekend and came home with 4 perfect pumpkins. Magnolia took finding a pumpkin very seriously and spent a great deal of time walking around, checking out pumpkins in search of the perfect one. She also got to pet some cows, pigs and eat a very special pumpkin cookie.

Down on the farm

2010-10-07T14:47:00.003-06:00

Last week Magnolia and I went with Bella and Kate to a really fun farm. To say Magnolia had a blast is an understatement. I have never seen the girl so diry and smell so stinky! :) I am pretty sure her bath water was brown that night. She had so much fun climbing up trees, swinging on HUGE swings and playing in silos of corn and sand. I know her uncle Matt will be very happy to know that her favorite tractor on the whole farm was a John Deere. What a fantastic day! We cant wait to go back again soon!

Football games

2010-09-28T12:34:00.002-06:00

The past two weekends we have taken Magnolia to some high school football games. She LOVES watching football so David had the great idea to take her to a real game. She brought her pom-poms so she could cheer just like the cheerleaders. She also LOVED watching the bands... which of course made me so very happy! :)

More time with Will

2010-09-22T16:02:00.003-06:00

We are lucky enough to watch Will again one day a week. Last week was our first week and both kids had a great time. It was a beautiful day so we were able to go out and sidewalk paint.

Tea Party With Baby

2010-09-22T16:00:00.003-06:00

I came into the kitchen the other day to find Magnolia having a tea party with her baby. Words cannot begin to describe how cute it was! She had set everything up and was just sitting there chatting away to baby!

Sioux Falls

2010-09-15T16:08:00.000-06:00

Weekend at the Maki cabin

2010-09-15T09:02:00.001-06:00

Getting dressed all by ourselves!

2010-08-30T17:13:00.002-06:00

Magnolia has been very into picking out her outfits and getting dresses by herself. This is one of the outfits that she picked! David and I were sitting downstairs and asked her to go up and pick out some clothes and bring them to us. She was up there a very long time and we could hear her working very hard. When she came down the steps this is how she looked!

Air Show

2010-08-30T17:06:00.004-06:00

We took Magnolia to an air show this weekend and she loved it! She is so into airplanes so when we found out there was an air show just a few miles from our house we headed out the door. Magnolia was so excited and the faster/louder the better. There were some VERY loud fighter jets the first night that we went. Every time they would go by Magnolia would get a chill throughout her whole body and then laugh and laugh and laugh. We ended the night by stopping at Sonic and splitting a malt. What a fun family outing!