Tag for Kids

I got this off my friend Marci's blog and I thought I would try it with Madi...I've written her answers exactly as she gave them to me....

1. What is something that mom always says to you?

I love you and I miss you

2. What makes mom happy?

I'm sorry because some little kids say I'm sorry - that makes me happy

3. What makes mom sad?

I don't know

4. How does mom make you laugh?

You say laugh

5. What was your mom like as a child?

My age....um will you write daddy?

6. How old is your mom?

I want to take a guess...three-six

7. How tall is your mom?

medium...are you gonna write the word medium?

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

color and play puzzles

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?

clean up....Hey Mommy when I'm at school you say Madi but I'm still having a lot of fun.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

staying in the lines

11. What is your mom really good at?

coloring and drawing

12. What is your mom not so good at?

Do you know what?....I want to take a guess....I don't know.

13. What does your mom do for her job?

stay with the kids

14. What is your mom's favorite food?

Rice Krispies

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

because I'm proud of you because you'll never go away and you will always stay with me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Cinderella because you're Mama Cinderella

17. What do you and your mom do together?

play, read books on the couch, we kick a ball

18. How are you and your mom the same?

a girl

19. How are you and your mom different?

because we are girls and because we don't have the same shirts

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

because you are happy

Happy "Baba" Free Day to You!

Brad and I have been wracking our brains to try to come up with some sneaky scam to rid the kids of their "babas" (pacifiers.) I think I heard on Dr. Phil, or some equally goofy program, that you should have a family member pose as your kid's favorite superhero and then call them in efforts to convince them that babas are so not cool. After your child agrees, you put the baba in a box and mail it to a child in need and then throw your kid a party (I may be a little off on the details of this method.)

Anyway, we tweaked it a bit and just skipped to the party part. We told them that if they could be "BIG KIDS" and not sleep with their babas, then we would throw them a party. Madi was on board and she became this immediate party-planner. Brad and I were thinking like cupcakes and a big hug but she had another idea. It turned into decorations, party hats, a cake with candles, and a gift for each of them. She really wanted to help make the cake so I went all out and let her pick out her favorite flavor of box cake mix. No problem except that the directions were only in german, french, italian, dutch and every other language but english. The directions looked abnormally long and convoluted so I got on freetranslation.com and hoped for the best. Well it completely bombed! While she was taking a nap, I went and bought a couple of refrigerated pieces at the store and tried to pass it off as the cake that we made. Although it was way fancier and looked nothing like ours, she ate it with pride. (Lucky for me, this is the same child who was convinced that my dad, with a Santa hat and cotton balls glued to his face, was the real thing!).

In the end, we are proud to say that they are both BABA FREE with little to no drama! Thanks Dr. Phil :D

Notice the bag of babas on the table: They were thrown in the garbage BEFORE the festivities. (only to be pulled out by me later - just in case.)

Still not quite sure what the candles represented but they made my girl happy.

The downer of the party was when Drew put on his party hat and it snapped off and left a huge welt on his face! What a cool kid though, he barely even cried....

and look at his face!!!

Madi got a My Little Pony...

and Drew got a motorcycle. Neither of which have ever been played with since this glorious day, but you will hear no complaining from me - mission accomplished!

Summer Travels and a Shout Out

Brad and I have been so lucky to be able to visit so many cool places while we have been on this crazy ride that we like to call "our little detour." I've been intending to post some pictures of our trips but I'm only posting a few from each place, considering they have gotten their fair share of exposure on kodakgallery and facebook!

So many of our friends over here are brave enough to let their kids tag along on their trips through Europe and although our kids are pretty easy, Brad and I are still too chicken to bring them along. Actually SPOILED may be a better term to define us. On multiple occasions our parents have made the 12 hr trip (at least) to babysit while we checked out Europe - They are AMAZING -there are no words!

Last year Brad's mom flew over 4 times (two of which were with Brad's dad). During those visits Brad and I explored Geneve, Lausanne and surrounding Swiss towns, we went to Paris and then to Zurich. We even got to go to NYC this summer while are kids were having a blast at Mimi and Pawpaw's house.

This year my dad came over twice (once with my mom), which allowed us to go to Barcelona, Florence and Athens. I have to include that Brad stayed home with the kids while my parents and I visited Paris again. So it is abundantly clear that we have THE BEST parents ever! Thank you guys so much!

Barcelona, Spain

New York City

Florence, Italy

Athens, Greece