I'm in serious need of a general blog post update of what we've been doing SINCE we got back from Disney. I do realize that it took over a month to post a recap with pictures but, you've got to admit...the pictures were worth the wait! huh? huh? huh? *grin*
So, here are some pictures from some things we've been up to for the last month...
Maddie is taking Computer classes at school. Now, with her Daddy being who he is, who would have thought we would have her take some classes at school. But she's learning good computing etiquette, such as not touching the screen, how to use the mouse, put CD's in and start them, etc. For home, Daddy got her a Dora game she can play at home that teaches her how to do something...actually I don't really know what it does, Daddy plays it with her and taught her how to do it...
Now, the observant reader will notice something about this picture. Maddie is writing with her left hand. That's right, she's a lefty. This makes teaching her somethings a tad more difficult as both Ron and I are right handed. She's doing well though. She can read (& spell -I found out today in the car) the names of all of her classmates, do simple math, write her name, she's excellent with pattern recognition and has a fierce sense of independence all while wanting to sit, lean against and/or climb on top of me anytime we're together. I have her 4 yr checkup next week and a parent- teacher conference in mid-April. We'll see how she's making out on several fronts soon.
One post I was able to get up quick was wishing everyone a happy chinese new year - my intent this year was to have a big bash/open house and let people come and go, kids getting to do crafts, etc...but it fell around our trip to Florida so that didn't work out. Next year though...look out! To celebrate we went to a party. Maddie chose her dress - she loves dresses, and loves chinese dresses.
It was a fun party - about 80 people from our local Families with Children from China group. We all ate some traditional food, made some crafts, had a skit put on by the older kids which Maddie helped with, and LOTS of dancing both on and off the stage. You'll note that Maddie is ON the stage, which is where she was the entire time she wasn't sitting *chuckle* She does like being the center of attention.
In the last month we've experienced the biggest snowfall of the winter. I think we got 6-7 inches total which resulted in a snow day! Our day consisted of snow shovels, mittens, hot chocolate and a Tinkerbell movie. Maddie enjoyed the snow until she was cold - which was pretty quick because she kept taking off her mittens! Did get some snow angels though =)
She was very happy once inside when we made hot chocolate together. Maddie got a special polar bear mug - unfortunately, Mommy was ill prepared, there were no marshmallows to be had! The shame! I hope she isn't scarred for life - for a while she made it seem that way *ha!*
I went to Washington DC for a good part of a week for work, and Ron was 100% Maddie caregiver the entire time. When I got back, I planned on taking Maddie out for some Mommy/Daughter time with some people from the FCC adoption group (and to give Daddy a break - read, get some housework done) but as a pleasant surprise, MomMom and PopPop called and wanted to join in the festivities. We ended up going to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.
It's a great place for kids 5 & under, lots of things for them to see and do (and splash in - as you can see from the picture above). There are car & truck areas, kiddie sized trains they can climb in and out of, flying room where you design your own flying machines and give them a try...
They had area themed rooms, like City Park, where the kids can pretend to be a food vendor, listen to story time, do "art" with magnetic shapes on the wall (as seen above). They have a construction site, grocery shop, shoe shop (with shoes for kids to try on), a baby hospital, McD's (hrm), and one of my favorite areas...
The marsh and jungle sections... In the marsh/woodland area, they had stuffed animals and you can find where they lived, build a "nest" for nest builders, hop on lily pads, or enjoy the slide on a "felled log". The jungle was all about music and sounds. It was also kinda dark in there so it was hard to get any pictures...
But you could shake vines, drum on various drums, be engulfed by a stuffed anaconda...just lots of stuff for kids to do, look at, etc... There was also an area that had Alice in Wonderland world activities including flamingo croquet and a theater/live music stage to introduce kids to jazz (that was what was playing the day we went). All in all a very fun day.
This past weekend we went to the DE homeshow, apparently we're in desparate need of every type of home improvement in the place, well except those that were working on basements, as we don't have one. *chuckle* The ad mentioned to bring the kids as there is stuff for them as well...that included free candy at all of the booths (like trick or treating) and Elmo. Bob the Builder made an appearance as well as some Bear, all in all, there really wasn't stuff for kids (duh..guess I fell for that advertising!)
So there is a quick show of miscellaneous things we've been doing the past month. Coming soon we have lots of things planned for this month alone including heading to OC & visit Miss Betsy, do our part, teach stewardship & plant beach grass along the coast, and celebrate 3 years together as a family. April is even more busy...but don't fear, I'll still find time to put up some posts with photos...I know ALWAYS with photos *grin*
Maddie came prepared with her fuzzy blanket, camera and wolfie packed away in her backpack. Letting her pick things to pack in her backpack for our trips really does help with the travel.
The weekend was set to be beautiful (no rain!)... Ron had to do some work, so Maddie and I spent Saturday morning planting beach grass, then we retired to the room for a nap (yes, both of us), and finally got in a little swim at the pool before Ron returned back to the hotel. 
Unfortunately, even though it was bright blue sky and sunny...the wind was whipping around quite a bit while we were doing the beach grass planting. This is Maddie in 4 layers of clothes and poor thing as still cold! We spent alot of time sheltered from the wind. 
