ElfYourself

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Borrowed from our friend, Steph :)

Birthday Party!

Well, it was officially a "dinosaur" birthday for Maddox this year. Everything was dinosaurs: gifts, cake, tablecloth, etc. Here he is posing with hid new friend Veloci, the velociraptor.
Marin's 1st birthday was Elmo themed. Every time Elmo comes on the TV at our house, she stops and won't take her eyes off of him until its over. She didn't get too messy with her cake as most do. Just a little on her fingers at a time.

Preschool Halloween Party

Uncooperative Halloween!

fotowonder Portrait Session

We finally had our family portraits done last weekend. The lovely Anne Anderson of fotoWonder took some absolutely gorgeous photographs. You can view them on her website, fotoWonder.com. Go to Clients and type in password-johnson. Enjoy! I did!

Tuttle's-Preschool Field Trip

Mama, Marin, and I got to go to Tuttle's again yesterday. This time my whole preschool was there too! I had a good time picking my own apples and pumpkins! Mama took more pictures. When will she stop??

By the way, Mama gets to be on TV on Thursday the 23rd. Fox59 has asked her to be on to talk about her photography and how she sells it on Etsy. She wants me to go on for her, but I think she'll do just fine. Her segment is supposed to air at 7:50 AM. I've set the Tivo!

Maddox's School Picture

This year's or last year's? Can't decide which is cuter!

Annual Tuttle's Trip

Mama, Daddy, Granny, Kellie, Marin, and I all went to Tuttle's Orchard over the weekend. It was a super nice day, so we had a good time. The photos Mama took last year show me with mittens and a hat. We were freezing. It was about 80 degrees this year!

Marin got her first pumpkin and had a really good time in the swing in the play area. She keeps doing this weird thing with her tongue whenever we're outside and the wind is blowing. It looks like she's tasting the air!

Marin and I are really looking forward to our birthdays! This year we're having a dual party. Mama says we may not be able to do that once Marin knows what's going on. Kellie and Mama sometimes had to share birthdays (Jan. 31st and Feb. 11, respectively) and Aunt Kellie hated it! I probably won't care either way!

-Maddox

Let Go of the Spoon!

School Starts!

Well, summer is over for us. But that's okay because I love school this year! My teachers, Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Vahle, are really nice and appreciate my very active imagination. Last week, they asked me about the bump on my head. I told them that I fell off my motorcycle during a race and then I had to sell my motorcycle. Mom said I actually hit my head on the headboard of her bed when I was jumping. I remember it differently, but Mama is usually right about these things.

Marin has been extremely busy. She has a strange fascination with electrical outlets and finds them wherever we go. She also LOVES any little thing she can find on the floor. Marin puts lots of yucky stuff in her mouth until Mama pulls it all out. Mama says she's not used to this. I never went for outlets or put anything in my mouth as a baby.


I've been enjoying having my Auntie Kellie home. She's just a big kid herself, so we have fun playing. Kellie doesn't believe in rules, so I can't wait to spend the night at her new apartment. I'll never have to go to bed!


I've been riding my bike a lot lately. Granny and Hamp bought me a new Tonka bike that's just my size. Its bright yellow!



That's all for now!

-Maddox

Long Time

Its been awhile since our last post. We've been unusually busy. We were supposed to go on vacation to Minneapolis to visit our friend Allison last weekend, but Mommy's doctor said it wasn't a good idea. Mommy has venous reflux and has to take diuretics. She has to "go" more than me and Marin!

We did spend the weekend doing lots of fun stuff! On Friday, we went to the Children's Museum. I really enjoyed playing in ScienceWorks. Daddy has fun in there too! Marin had a blast in Playscape, where she and Mama did Silly Sing-Along Songs. Marin learned to clap last week, so she enjoyed clapping to the music. Marin also learned to crawl. She went across the room on Saturday. And today, she pulled up to standing on a diaper box. I missed is but Mom said it was neat! She looks too little to be standing up or walking. Marin is also getting 6 teeth right now, 4 across the top and two more on bottom, for a total of 8 teeth. She got her first 2 in June, so she's going to be ready to bite me very soon!

We went to our friend Sophie's birthday party on Saturday. That was a lot of fun too. I even wore a party hat! On Sunday, Granny and Kellie went with us on our first trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Its okay as long as you get there when it opens. Nobody else was there. I played a bunch of games with Daddy and Mama had fun playing Skee-ball!

On Monday, we met Grandma Beth and Daddy's brother and sister, Hank and Katie, at the zoo. Aunt Lindsey was there with Zach too. We went to the dolphin show. I saw my favorite thing at the zoo: the snakes!! Mama and Daddy petted an elephant, but I didn't want to. Mama also fell in love with a donkey. She wanted to bring it home with us!

I start preschool on Sept. 3rd, so our summer fun is coming to an end. I'll have lots of stories to share about year 2 of preschool though. Check back soon!

Love,
Maddox and Marin

4th of July

As I mentioned in my previous post, Mama, Daddy, Marin, and I has a busy weekend. On Thursday, we went to the concert on the plaza in Greenfield and ate at my favorite restaurant, besides Old McDonald's, Jim Dandy. Then I spent the night at Granny's. I learned a new trick, jumping on Granny's exercise ball. Very fun! I also discovered a new flavor of ice cream, Neopolitan!! Delicious!!

On Friday, we watched fireworks from the Weston school playground. I didn't like them very much. Mom got a bunch of pictures though.

Saturday, we drove up to Hartford City to see Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. I had a blast! I really liked playing with my cousin, Mark. I went fishing for the first time and caught a fish!! Lost interest after that. Aunt Lori, Uncle Tony, Krista, and Mark were nice enough to let us use their pond. I saw albino catfish!!

This Weekend!

Sorry Marin and I haven't posted recently. We've been sort of busy. Mama did her first two art fairs last weekend, so Daddy was in charge. Actually, I was in charge, just don't tell my dad. Marin and I were so happy because Daddy doesn't make us take those silly naps or follow any rules. So we were CRAZY when Mom got home. We had a lot of fun with Daddy and Mama says that's all that really matters.

This weekend I'm doing some fun stuff! I'm spending the night at my Granny's on Thursday night. I haven't stayed overnight anywhere since Marin was born! I've already packed my bag! I get to watch fireworks in Friday. And Saturday we're going to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's in Hartford City. I'm sure Mama will make us go on some photography field trip again. Here's some pics of Marin and I. More later!

-Maddox

Marin's First Swim

Well...Marin finally decided to join the fun! She saw me swimming for the last few weeks and chose to bite the bullet. Mama took pictures of her in her swimsuit, but then forgot the camera at Granny's house when we went to Grandma and Grandpa Breese's to swim. I'm sure she won't forget it next time.

Meanwhile, I'm getting pretty good at swimming myself. I wear arm bands, but I'm not afraid to go under water or jump off of the side. This year I'm not drinking half of the pool. I finally listened when everybody told me to keep my mouth closed. Hard for me to do. I'm a talker! Time for my nap, gotta go!

Maddox

Our First Blog!

This is our first blog post. Last weekend Mama, Daddy, Granny, and Grandma Breese all went to the Indianapolis Zoo with us. We saw the dolphin show. I (Maddox) sat very still and stoic throughout, even though I said that was my "number 1" thing I wanted to do. Marin liked everything we saw. She enjoyed the dolphin show and was actually boucing to the music. Mama took about 250 pictures, like always.

We got to see the newest members of the zoo, The Koalas. Mama got a picture of one sleeping.

We also saw and heard the lions. I don't know if anyone else has heard a lion roar when you're standing 30 feet away, but its pretty cool. The Daddy Lion kept talking and roaring to the Mommy. Crazy! We saw the meerkats, some cool lizards, and some turtles.

It was a lot of fun!! See pics below of us having fun!