Talks, Pictures & Parties

Today, Maddie gave her first talk in Primary. We don't have any pictures, but she talked about Jesus and did a great job.

It's birthday party season in Maddie's K1 class. Last weekend there was a fairy princess party in Hampstead. This weeked was a tennis party in Holland Park. A professional tennis instructor came and gave the kids a two-hour lesson. Maddie had a great time and now thinks tennis is her sport. She'd like to start taking lessons as long as we first buy her all the proper tennis attire. Here are a couple pictures of the party, including one of some of the kids in a tree:

Maddie had an almost sleep over with her friend Mckay. They put on a play and a concert.

Maddie made her very own skirt out of some school papers and decorated it with markers and crayons.

We've also got a few cute pictures of Isabelle.

Be Mine - A Belated Valentine's Day Post

A happy but belated Valentine's day to each of you.

Here are a few other cute photos, most of which involve Isabelle posing on her Boppy.

Finally - here's Maddie wishing her sister a happy Valentine's day. Isabelle is very patient....

Leeds Castle

Maddie has a week off school in February. All her friends go on holiday, but Maddie can't because it's her daddy's really busy time at work. She feels pretty bad about this - nobody likes to go on holiday more than Maddie.

To partially compensate for being unable to take time off work, we decided to take a day trip to Leeds Castle in Kent. It's a very pretty castle set in some of the most pleasant scenery on Earth.

Maddie enjoyed the castle, but she really enjoyed the castle grounds and other on-site entertainment. I think her favorite was the aviary, where she met a parrot that could say "hello" and who whistled at her, which made her feel pretty.

She also enjoyed the maze, even though daddy got her lost, and it took forever to find our way to the center and, subsequently to the exit, which was via an undeground grotto that was dark and wet.

Isabelle slept through almost everything, but she did wake up for the train ride back to where our car was parked.

Next weekend, I think we might take an overnight trip to Bath.

More Parties, Friends, Dresses and Bow Heads

Over the past couple of weeks, we've received lots of visits from friends.

Jan Vernon from Dallas, Texas crossed the "pond" for business, and she also paid us a visit. She stops by every time she's in London, which we very much enjoy. Here's a picture of Jan with the girls.

We also had visits from our friends, Pam and Erin. As part of Pam's visit, we had a birthday party for Maddie's puppy, Angela. Pam didn't want to be in the pictures, but here's one of Angela blowing out her candles (FYI, we were celebrating Angela's second birthday).

Erin let Maddie do her hair, and then Erin returned the favour. Here are the "after" pictures:

Just as previously reported, Isabelle continues to be a "belle" of a baby, for which we are very grateful. Here's some pictures of Isabelle in her Sunday dress and also of her chillin' in her Boppy.

Finally, Maddie's attempt to take a picture of herself. We, of course, think it's very artistic.

We love you all. Come visit soon!

Princess Tea Parties, Cowgirls and Isabelle's Sunday Dress

As of Thursday, it's just the four of us again. It was a huge help having Bammy with us for three weeks, but now she's back in Japan taking care of Papa Ricky (someone has to feed him, and the dinners Bammy cooked and froze before leaving Japan were beginning to run out).



Maddie's back in school and having play dates with her friends (she had two this week). One was at our house - a tea party. Maddie had very specific costume, food, drink and centerpiece requirements. As you can see, all requests were granted (it's not a great idea to tell Maddie no when she's planning a party, which is a genetic trait she got from her mom, who probably got it from her Nana).



Isabelle is still a "belle"of a baby. She did have one rough day this week - Ally took her for her 4-week appointment with the doctor, where she received a shot and a cauterized belly button. I can't remember the official name of the condition that necessitated the belly button cauterization, but it's kind of like a little belly button hernia. Anyway, her skin was all black, then red and raw post cauterization, and I'm actually surprised she wasn't more out of sorts - even on her worst day (at least so far) Isabelle is a "sweet" baby.


Here's a couple more pictures - Isabelle in her Sunday dress and Maddie the cowgirl.

New Year's Eve, Grandparents, Christmas Dresses, Dress Up and Isabelle Asleep

We had a little New Year's Party at home - just family. The most exciting part of the evening was Twister...we were all asleep before midnight, though Isabelle did wake up for the fireworks.

On New Year's day, we went to the parade, but I don't have any pictures (Bammy has some, so maybe she can post them on her blog). Maddie really enjoyed it, and Isabelle slept through it all. In fact, Isabelle does a lot of sleeping...

Papa Ricky was in town until 3 January 2008. Here's a picture of Isabelle with Papa Ricky.

Bammy will be in town until 17 January 2008. Maddie is having lots of fun with Bammy, as you can tell from the following picture.

Maddie was finally able to wear her Christmas dress to church; Isabelle didn't go to church this week, so she'll have to begin wearing her Christmas dresses next week.

And finally, more dress-up pictures (thank you Grandma Betty)...