Merry Christmas everyone! Madelyn & Ansley woke up at normal time (7:30) on Christmas morning to discover a plethora of toys awaiting them in our living room. Madelyn headed straight for her Leapfrog TAG system & Ansley just stood there for a few minutes, not sure what was going on. Madelyn really wasn't interested in checking out the other toys Santa had left b/c she was so excited...she had been wanting the TAG pen ever since she played with it at Target a couple of months ago. Ansley's favorite toy is her Radio Flyer rocking horse. She loves to rock & hopefully won't roll off the thing! I had bought donuts & a cheese danish for breakfast so that we wouldn't have to take any time away from watching the girls enjoy Christmas morning. We had a lot of fun celebrating with family as well. On Christmas Eve, we went to the Day's house for their annual Christmas party. Christmas afternoon, my dad, Brian, Lea Ann, & Travis came over for dinner. This afternoon, we ate dinner & exchanged gifts with my mom & Jeff at Brian & Lea Ann's house. I can't believe another Christmas has come & gone!
Madelyn loves cats! She pretends that she is one all the time by crawling (pretty fast I might add) & meowing. What started this cat fixation was the movie "Aristocats". Although she doesn't request to watch it very often, she has fallen in love with Marie (the white kitten in the movie). Last year, Paw Paw gave Madelyn a big fluffy white & black cat as a souveniner from one of his trips. This was the original Marie in our house. I gave Madelyn an authentic Marie from the Disney Store the night before we went to Disney World. Madelyn then changed her black & white cat's name to Big Mama, so that her new cat could have the name Marie. Well, tonight at WalMart, Madelyn's eye's bestowed a Fur Real Friends white cat. Madelyn thought this was a real cat b/c its eyes & body move & it meows. When it was time to put the cat back on the shelf, Madelyn threw a fit...I'm talking about a falling to the floor, screaming, not getting up or letting go of the box, very loud tantrum! Madelyn has had her share of tantrums in her day but this tops the cake! While Jon escorted Madelyn out of the store (not an easy task), I bought the cat so that Santa could give it to her for Christmas. Madelyn was still really upset that she didn't get the cat when Ansley & I returned to the car. As we were getting ready to leave the parking lot we saw Maw Maw & Paw Paw coming out of the store. Jon asked Paw Paw to give the cat to Madelyn as a surprise b/c he couldn't stand her being broken hearted! Madelyn is on cloud 9 tonight playing with her new Marie (now we have 2 Marie's & 1 Big Mama). I suggested that she called her new cat Duchess, after the Mama cat in "Aristocats", but she didn't like that idea. She takes her cats everywhere we go & sleeps with them every night. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed that Jon gave her the cat tonight b/c that was going to be her jaw dropping, best Christmas gift on Christmas morning, but I've since changed my mind after watching her take care of her new cat!
Today was filled with Christmas spirit! I took Madelyn to the Science Center's Christmas program this morning. We watched "The Light Before Christmas" at the IMAX theater & then went into the party room for more Christmas activities. Madelyn got to decorate cookies, paint, sample an astronaut's Christmas dinner, break ice with a mallet, & tons of other stuff. Radio Disney was there playing kids Christmas music & playing games. It was really cute! Madelyn had a great time & I enjoyed spending the morning with her, just the two of us! This afternoon we went to the Hickman's Christmas party. We had a nice time. It was good to see friends & the girls enjoyed playing with Alex (& his toys). After the party, we went to WalMart for some Christmas shopping.
I am calling this blog road trip, not vacation b/c it was not the least bit relaxing!! Jon had interviews in Birmingham on Monday, Gainesville on Thursday, & Charleston on Friday. We decided to keep Jon company on his travels & do some fun things for the kids. On Monday, I took the kids to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham. The kids had fun in the play area & liked the piano you play with your feet (like in the movie "Big"). After a few hours there, we drove to Mount Brook where we ate lunch & killed time at the mall. I wasn't too impressed. The stores were great it’s just that they didn't have a play area for the kids & I didn't like the layout. I love Oxmoor Mall b/c of the boat, I wish every mall had something like that for the kids! We picked up Jon from his interview & drove to Tallahassee where we stayed for the night. We woke up early to drive to Orlando. We checked into our hotel & then went to Downtown Disney to play & eat dinner. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe, well kind of. Madelyn got so scared of the realistic sounding & looking elephants next to our table that I had to take her & her dinner outside while Jon & Ansley finished eating at the table! The highlight of our trip was Wednesday: Disney World! We had 1 day to cover Magic Kingdom. We watched a show at Cinderella's castle, which Madelyn loved & rode all the rides we wanted to. The longest wait was 30 minutes. We only waited 5 minutes for Pirates of the Caribbean! I strongly recommend going during the off season. Waiting in 30 minute lines was hard enough for a 3 & a 1 year old, let alone 2 hours. The weather was beautiful. It was 80 degrees & sunny with a cool breeze. Disney World was so much fun. I can't wait to go back when we have more time & money!!! We left Disney World around 7:00 to drive 2 hours to Gainesville. While Jon was interviewing on Thursday, the girls & I hung out in the hotel room. We were tired from our long day at Disney. It was nice to watch tv & lay around on a rainy day. After Jon finished interviewing, we drove to Charleston, SC. I took the girls to the SC Aquarium on Friday. They had a 2 story salt water fish tank with a huge sea turtle, sharks, eels, & other humongous fish. Madelyn was scared of the shark & didn't want to look at it very long. We ate lunch at a local pizza place called Andolini's. Then we picked up Jon at MUSC to take him to a transitional year interview across town. I found what I thought was a park on our GPS which ended up being a trailer park!!! Needless to say, we didn't play there & ended up going to CSU campus to play on their soccer field & walk around campus since it was across from the hospital where Jon was interviewing. It was a beautiful, bright sunshiny day. It was refreshing to be outside knowing that we were coming home to winter weather. Then we picked up Jon to drive 9 hours home. We are all so happy to be home & to sleep in our own beds. The road trip was a fun experience but I wouldn't volunteer to go on another one for quite some time!
Today we went to WalMart to purchase gifts for our Angel, Thoa. Madelyn picked her out amongst all the Angels. We bought her some clothes, a few toys, & candy...I wish we could have bought more! I can't tell you how great it felt to help this little girl. I thought this would be a good life lesson for Madelyn... I want to teach my children to give back to their community & to help others. Madelyn was a great helper at WalMart. She got side tracked a few times looking at other toys & told me to stop looking at clothes! I kept reminding her that we had to get Christmas presents for Thoa & she would give me a few more minutes to look around. We dropped our gifts off at Oxmoor Mall after we left WalMart. Madelyn got to put the big bag of gifts into the box.
Jon calls Madelyn "Rootles", & Ansley "Mum Mum". If you're interested to know how those nicknames came about read on... Rootles comes from Tootles, which comes from Tootles on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Jon used to always say, "Oh Tootles!", as Mickey says on the cartoon. Mum Mum comes from a baby snack that Ansley used to munch on called Baby Mum Mum's. If your wondering what Jon calls me, I'll tell you...Mama-toulie. Yep, that's right. Originally I was Mama T 2 (mom of 2 kids), then that blasted movie Ratatoulie was released, so he incorporated the rat's name with mine. Sometimes you'll hear Jon call Madelyn "T Rootles" & call Ansley "Little You." So, I may have to update our blog in a few months after all 3 of our nicknames have evolved yet again. I've come to realize that no nickname is sacred & can be changed without notice. We have all come to love Jon's terms of endearmont...no matter where they originated!
I took the girls to see Santa this morning at St. Mathew's mall. We got there at 10:00, so there was no line to wait in. Madelyn told Santa that she wanted a Sabre Tooth Tiger, a baby Sabre Tooth Tiger, & Alien mushy thing (Martian Matter Alien Maker Playset). She also told him that Ansley wants a baby doll. Santa said Sabre Tooth Tigers are scary & asked her if she'd like a baby doll! I was beginning to wonder if this was the same Santa from A Christmas Story, when he told Ralphie, "you'll shoot your eye out!" When I sat Ansley on Santa's lap she cried after a few seconds as you can see in the picture. All Santa could say about Ansley was that she's wiggly! Madelyn told Jon on the phone that Santa didn't give Ansley her baby doll. I think Madelyn thought Santa was supposed to hand out toys right then & there (makes sense to me). I had to explain to her that he will come to our house on Christmas Eve & we'll leave him cookies. When we walked past Santa for the 2nd time, Madelyn said she didn't want to sit on Santa's lap again.
Welcome to the life & times of the Day family! Most of these stories are about the kids: Madelyn, Ansley, Nolan, Ellory, & Edie. This blog is to keep family & friends informed with what is going on in our lives. Thanks for visiting!
