I Wanna Be A Cowgirl

Madelyn loves to wear cotton gauchos. She would wear them everyday if I didn't protest. The other day she had on her most favorite pair of gauchos and I noticed a hole and I told her it was time to give them up. Well before she could change Ryan ripped the hole even larger and then proceeded to turn the gauchos into chaps. Madelyn was so excited to have her very own chaps and quickly grabbed her pink cowboy (correction cowgirl) hat and found a lasso. Now we only need to convince her to wear pants underneath her chaps.

Dancing Hair

Madelyn told Ryan the other day that she wanted her hair cut. She already has short hair but she wanted it even shorter. Today Ryan took her to get her hair cut. Madelyn decided she wanted bangs. Her beautician, Julie, is also our neighbor, and when Madelyn asked to get her bangs cut and Ryan gave the okay, Julie said, "her mom is going to kill me".
Madelyn wanted me to be completely surprised when I got home from work but Ryan was wise enough to call and give me full warning in advance because he wasn't sure how I would react. The only time Madelyn had bangs was when she was a baby. That is six years, people!!! Other than that her bangs have always been the same length as the rest of her hair. I acted surprised when I first saw her and then quietly whispered to Ryan "I cannot believe she wanted bangs!!" I'm not a fan of bangs at all especially on my little girl. However, I'm slowly adjusting.
In the car this evening, Madelyn reported that she now has "dancing hair." Ryan and I asked what exactly that meant and she said it means that when she is dancing her hair will not get in her face. So for practical reasons I suppose the new do will be just fine....even though Madelyn doesn't do much dancing.

Take a look at her new do. What do you think?

Team USA

I got the closest I will ever be to the Olympics when we went and watched the USA mens' Olympic Volleyball team take on the Netherland team Saturday night. My best friend, Kelli, got free tickets through work and graciously shared them with my family. We all enjoyed watching the awesome US athletes whoop up on the Netherlands.






Madelyn and Jake posing at the game.


Madelyn was so proud that the mascot gave her a high 5.


My BF, Kelli, and her daughter Avery, intently watching the game.


Even the chic from Big Brother made an appearance.

My parents enjoyed the game, obviously they were in deep thought in this picture

Madelyn and PawPaw eating dinner after the game.

Kitchen Re-Do

We have lived in our house almost nine years, and although we have replaced the flooring and did a little painting soon after we moved in, it was in desperate need of an update. I was tired of the country plaid and sunflowers.
I started tearing off the wallpaper two weeks ago and it was all gone in a few days with Madelyn and Ryan's assistance. One day while I was at work Madelyn spent fours hours tearing wallpaper off the wall. Thank goodness she has her dad's drive and initiative and not mine. Ryan then plastered and sanded the walls and put on two fresh coats of paint. He then removed all the cupboards and drawers and refinished them. While Ryan was busting his rear getting the kitchen done, I had fun shopping for new decorations and such for the kitchen.

new canisters


new decorations



new watchamacallits



new rugs


new light


new wood blinds


NEW KITCHEN





Ryan says it looks like mustard all over our walls, but I LOVE IT!!

Rolling..Rolling...Rolling

Saturday night we thought we would try something new and headed to the Roller Derby with the Terrys'. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I enjoyed watching the skating but was hoping for some punching or something. There was an elbow jab here and there but as soon as an elbow was thrown they were sent to the penalty box. But, it was pretty impressive how the girls could move on those skates. I doubt we will ever go to watch the Roller Derby again but it was a nice change of pace. The biggest downfall of the whole thing was the lack of air conditioning at the rink. We were all pitting by the time we headed to Old Town for a couple beers before heading home.



The fish net stockings were a personal favorite!

There was a skater down so the rest of the skaters were on their knees until the injured skater was up and ready to skate.


Sorry for the picture quality, there was a bit of an operator malfunction.

4th Celebration

We started our 4th celebration on the 3rd at an adults only 80s party. Everyone was supposed to dress the part, but of course Ryan was the fun ruiner and didn't play along. However, I was game on! I made me some nice acid wash, ripped up jean shorts and had big hair just for the occasion. When Madelyn gave me a crazy look and said I looked horrible I explained to her that what I was wearing was in style when I was growing up. She asked, "were you poor?" It is quite unfortunate that I didn't get a photo of myself. However, I did get a picture of my friend, Lisa, who was not a fun ruiner. She had on some nice leggings underneath her short shorts. She was styling!




The hostesses did not disappoint. They had three margarita/daquiri machines, jello shots, alcohol injected capri suns and all the beer you could drink. There were snippits of 80s movies being projected up on a tipped over trampoline. We enjoyed the tunes of the 80s for the evening and even a little bit of karaoke. The best part we were only a 1/2 mile from our house.

On the actual 4th we worked around the house and Ryan got a lot done on our kitchen project. We headed over to our friends' house after that evening to chow down on smoked pork and beef. Then we we went over to the lease to shoot off fireworks and watch the city fireworks.

Sweet child of mine prefers to go shirtless every chance she gets. Hmmm... I wonder where she gets that from?















It was a great 4th but most importantly I'm thankful for the men and women that have fought and continue to fight for our freedom.