Almost...

I'm getting closer to caught up! Posted 4 events tonight so be sure to scroll down until you start seeing something familiar. Soon we'll be to Christmas...soon.

Neal McCoy November 2009

Chris' mom and sisters have been Neal McCoy fans for Years and Years. And they've brought us along for many of the concerts. In fact we have a picture of Neal holding Madeline when she was about 6 months old. We got to see him in Branson in November and we had such a blast!! Let me just put a quick plug in for him...he is a GREAT entertainer. He's hillarious and does a lot of his music and jokes off the cuff. His personality shines through on stage. If you ever have the opportunity to see him live, you ought to go.

Manda and Becca made Hannah a fan shirt and bought Madeline one that said Rednecktified on it. We had front row seats and the girls were entralled with the whole production. Prior to the concert, we went to dinner and several guys from Neal's band came over to talk with us. So I think that added to the girl's excitement b/c they were able to watch these guys they'd just met playing and singing on stage. Here are some pics from the fun filled night!

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Grandparents Day

In November, Madeline's school had a Grandparent's Day.

We were so excited that her Nana (Chris' mom) and Papa (my dad) were able to come. We definitely wish that her Grampy (Chris' dad) and Mimi (my mom) could have attended. But we know that they were there with us in spirit and they are SO PROUD of their little grand daughter.

Madeline and her class honored their grandparents by singing a few songs for them and then hosting a lemonade and cookie party. Afterwards, Chris, Madeline, Hannah and I took Nana and Papa to Cheddars for a special Grandparents Day lunch.

I love how Madeline is on tip toes trying to put her arms around their shoulders in this one!

Joy and Gratefulness...Erlichia and Alopecia

Have you ever heard of Alopecia?
Madeline was diagnosed with Alopecia in October. In early October, Madeline started losing hair by multiple handfuls. She would wake up with a "blanket" of hair on her pajamas in the morning, it would constantly fall out throughout the day and we were pulling handfulls of hair out of the bathtub after bathtime every single day. I don't know if you'll remember that over the summer, while we were in the midst of moving and my dad was in the hospital with his cardiac emergency, Madeline was very sick. She had been diagnosed with Erlichia which is a tick borne illness. Her liver was compromised and she had fevers and rashes for a couple of weeks. Apparently, the physical stress to her body during that time caused the alopecia which in her case was diffuse (occurring all over the head). The Dr told us that we would have to wait and see whether the hair loss would be partial or total. Many children who develop alopecia end up completely bald. When her hair started getting really thin, we cut it short to give it more body and we had her start wearing some hats to get her used to them.

We were heartbroken and concerned for her...especially for her self esteem. We poured our hearts out in prayer for her and had several friends and family members pray for her as well. We were set at peace that even if she did lose all of her hair, it would grow back with in one year. And we were so grateful that she wasn't facing a more horrible illness. But we were still concerned and sad. Well, God is gracious. We were encourged by Bible verses sent to us that reminded us that God knows every hair on our heads :) I believe that God prepared Madeline's hair to handle this loss. My little girl had a VERY thick head of hair. So even though she lost a great portion of it and it's much thinner now than it was, she did not lose it all. Her hair stopped falling out around mid November. She now has tiny baby hairs growing in all over her head to replace the ones she lost. Those tiny baby hairs throw a kink into my hairdressing skills but I am overjoyed every time I see them all coming in! I'm going to post here some pics of her and Hannah when they both got cute little bobs :) Even if God hadn't answered our prayers, even if His plan for Madeline was to go several months to a year completely bald, I KNOW that He would have continued to give us what we needed to make it through and it would have been a great character building time for Madeline. But I'm very thankful to Madeline's Creator for answering our prayers the way we hoped they would be answered!!!!!

Madeline, pre hair cut

Back of Madeline ... you can see an area that was balding




Madeline's short new cut and the cute headband and t shirt my friend Rachel made for her


Hannah's long locks


Hannah's cutie short cut

Soaking in the Bubbles

In our new house we have a big jacuzzi tub in our master bathroom. The girls love it and have never bathed in their own bathroom! At first they just enjoyed our tub with water in it. But a couple of months ago they got brave enough to turn on the jets. The bubbles rise to unbelievable heights with the jets on. We actually have to watch Hannah closely to be sure she doesn't get burried below them. Madeline and Hannah LOVE this time of playing in the tub. They pile suds on each other and swim around each other in circles. Fun Fun!

Halloween Day and Night...

On Halloween day, Chris and I took the girls to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day and hardly anyone was there. That night, we went to our friend's house for hot dogs, trick or treating and smores.

Kathy (aka Wonder Red) and Rylee (aka Flower Girl)

Hannah, Vadin and Madeline

Jen and Hannah

Chris and Hannah

Hannah and Rylee

Hannah and Vadin (aka bumblebee)

Claire (Tolbyn and Vadin's cousin)

Ed (aka Alpha Pig) Gunner (aka Super Why) and Tolbyn (the cute cowboy!)

Kathy's attempt at a group shot...maybe it'll turn out better next year :)

Gunner (aka Super Why)

October 2009

Madeline and Hannah play nearly every day with our neighbor, Aly. Here are some pics of them being silly in our wagon on the patio.

Bright eyes



Kissy Faces



Surprised faces - I was impressed that Hannah was able to get in on the face theme!

Silly faces

Cheese!!! Show me them pearly whites


My sweet friend Kala and her hubby Wes welcomed their first little angel, Emleyn, and I had the honor of going to meet her in October. My friend Chris and I flew to Philadelphia for a few days. We had lots of great snuggle time with Emleyn and we were able to do a bunch of shopping. The trip was such a blessing.





I LOVE spending time with my oldest and dearest friends, Kala and Chris. We've been friends for over 16 years now. They are such a dear blessing in my life!!!

In October, we visited the pumpkin patches a few times. These pictures were taken during a beautiful, fun few hours at Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch in Bixby. We loved the company of our dear friends, Kathy, Gunner and Rylee!

Madeline smiling with the pumpkins

Hannah shaking some gourds

Miss Rylee and Jen

Gunner and Madeline on a camel ride

Silly Hannah posing for the camera. Poor girl's pants were too big around the waist but too short. Chrissy aptly narrated this picture with these words... "In a VAN down by the RIVER"

We had TONS of Halloween fun in October. Hannah was a Kangaroo and she had a little Joey in her pouch. Madeline had to dress up as a character from a book for her school celebration. So her costume needs some explanation. When she was 3 and 4, we used to read her a book called Tikki Tikki Tembo. It was a favorite of mine from childhood and she loved it too. If you've never read it, you should! Anyway, we looked and looked for a book character costume. And since she didn't want to be a fairy tale princess, we had a difficult task ahead of us. We were shopping at marshalls and found this gorgeous Kimono and immediately we remembered the book. So...Madeline was Tikki Tikki Tembo's mom for Halloween. She had such a great time with her costume...too bad most people didn't know who she was. We had one friend look at her and say "awww what a cute Geisha" :) Aw well, it was fun anyway! Here are some of my favorite pics. Then I'll post some collages.

Hannah and Rylee
Madeline and Chloe (Hannah Montana)

Hannah and Vadin (bumblebee)

In October, we also went on our first annual camping trip. We went with 7-8 other families to a camping resort called MarVal in Oklahoma. Chris and Preston, Madeline Vadin and Tolbyn shared a tent. Ed and Gunner camped in a tent off of their Element. Megan, Kathy, Rylee, Hannah and I shared a cabin and the rest of the families slept in various cabins around the campgrounds. We got to take the kids on a magical pumpkin ride where they received pumpkin seeds, rode on a hayride to a field and planted the seeds. Then (several hours) later we went back out to the field and their pumpkins had magically grown! We took the kids trick or treating that night through the camp ground. I was astounded at the number of campers who completely decorated their trailers and cabins for the weekend! We had a big bon fire dinner and smores. The kids had a blast and I loved watching them run free and play. There are so many great pictures from the weekend that I can't post them all here individually. I hope the collages tell a good story!