Buffer Week

Next week is buffer week at AHS. Which happens to be the break between fall and winter sports where no practice is to be held. This week is kind of like the calm before the storm in our house.
I am very blessed to have a husband that does more than his fair share around our house and is also a hands on dad. He is the one that gets Madelyn up and around every morning and takes her to school and the one that bring her home after school. He stays home with Madelyn during the summers and all other school breaks. The two of them have such a special bond because of all the time he spends with her. Unfortunately come wrestling season the entire schedule changes and we don't get to see a whole lot of Ryan. He usually will get home after 6:30pm every evening during the week, has wrestling duals every Thursday and when January hits he is gone all day every Saturday at a tournament and on Sundays he usually does a little bird hunting. For those that know me know that it is a huge adjustment for me when Ryan is gone a lot. I am a bit high maintenance when it comes to attention. I also have become quite spoiled by having such a great husband and get kind of cranky when he isn't around to help out as much as he usually does. By the end of wrestling season, which is the last weekend in February, we are all ready for it to be over. But there is also an adjustment period for all of us when Ryan is home more. Madelyn and I get pretty used to doing our own thing during wrestling season and when it is over we have to adjust our schedule to include Ryan.
Although there are adjustments at the beginning and end of wrestling season I wouldn't trade my life or my husband for anything. He is an amazing husband and father.

Leaving it up to a Higher Power

I have been pro Obama since he announced he was running for president. I saw him in person as he gave a great speech in Eldorado. I even caucused for him at one point. I was so sure I was going to vote for Obama. However, several weeks ago I had this nagging feeling that voting for Obama was not what I was supposed to do. I have spent plenty of time educating myself about Obama and McCain the last several months. Unfortunatley it is sometimes hard to determine what is fact and what is fiction. I weeded out what I could of all the political mess. I definitlely lean more towards a liberal than a conservative. But recently I have felt that God was telling me it is time to stand up for Christians and do my part and vote for someone that I know for sure believes in God. At 6:10am this morning I marched into the voting polls and voted for McCain/Palin. I felt such peace about it and know that God had a hand in my decision. I will also say though that the majority of my ballot I voted for Democrats so don't get any crazy ideas.
I will continue to pray for this election and pray that whomever becomes our next president will be a follower of Christ.

Tanganyika Wildlife Park

Since Saturday was such a beautiful day I decided to take Madelyn to the Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, Ks. It has been around for many years but only recently became open to the public. It serves as a home for some exotic and endangered animals. It is a rather small park but also less traveled which beat out the busy Sedgwick County zoo any day. It also is more hands on and we had the opportunity to feed some of the animals.

Here are just a few of the animals that live at the park:


Oscar, was a very friendly and curious Lemur who ate cranberries right out of our hands.




These pretty birds are Lories and they would drink right out of the cup and then try to steal it.



This is Vickie, a red kangaroo, she loved the attention from anyone that passed by. However, Madelyn wasn't interested in petting Vickie.


A family of giraffes also reside at Tnaganyika. One of them came up and took a branch out of Madelyn's hand




The Colobus monkeys, aka skunk monkeys, were pretty entertaining to watch.


We had a great time at the wildlife park and hope to go back again in the spring.

A "Super" Halloween

I took the day off yesterday to help out with the Halloween party in Madelyn's classroom. They started the school day with a parade around the block. Then we headed to the classroom for snacks, pumpkin painting and a story. They finished off the morning by getting a large bag full of goodies and changing out of their costumes so they could have a somewhat productive day at the Fall fest.





After school, Madelyn and Ryan carved pumpkins (better late than never). Madelyn loved cleaning out the pumpkins and had pumpkin guts from head to toe.







Around 6:00pm we headed to Towanda so Madelyn could trick-or-treat at the apartment complex Ryan used to manage. We got back into Augusta after 7:00pm then drove to friends' houses and the fire station for more trick or treating. We finished trick or treating by walking up and down our street. Madelyn had enough of going to door to door by 8:00pm and she wanted to go home and hand out candy. We only had a few trick or treaters and called it a night at 9:30pm.



The sugar buzz wore off pretty quickly.

Pepperoni Eye Care

This evening Madelyn came bounding downstairs so proud of the supper she made herself, which consisted of bologna, pepperoni, a cheese stick, yogurt and a capri sun. With those skills I think she is well on her way to living on her own. As I was on the computer Madelyn said "look, mama." And this is what I saw.



Maybe she has something here. Maybe pepperonis will get rid of bags under the eyes. Just think of the endless possibilities.

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday evening Madelyn and I had a GNO and went to see High School Musical 3. We both really enjoyed the movie. I'm not a huge fan of musicals, actually in most instances I can't stand them. I thought HSM 1 and 2 were tolerable but I genuinely enjoyed HSM3. It was such a nostalgic feeling and took me back to my Senior year. I even teared up in the movie...seriously. I can't wait to buy it when it comes out on DVD.
Saturday morning Madelyn had her final soccer game of the fall season. All participants received a trophy and boy howdy that sure made Madelyn's day.



Then off to the house for a quick change and then downtown we went for Trick or Treat Street. Isn't she the cutest super girl? I'm thinking this may be her senior picture pose.

We then went home for lunch and a short nap before it was time for Madelyn to head to Nana and PawPaw's house until Tuesday. I miss her so much already but I know she is having a great time.
Last night Ryan and I and some other couples went out for dinner and drinks and then headed to the annual Halloween bash. Ryan went as the local camera man. You have to live in Augusta to really appreciate it. And I went as a sumo wrestler. We had a great time, maybe too much fun. :) Ryan was quite the entertainer at the bash and tried to "wrestle" everyone.



After Ryan stripped down from camera man to Sumo wrestler


Our friends, Chuck and Rachel went as Little Bo Beep and the guy that stole her sheep.


Today I went to Church and then went Christmas shopping while Ryan stayed home and licked his wounds. I'm happy to report that I'm more than half way done with Christmas shopping.

P/T conference

We had Madelyn's very first parent/teacher conference this evening. We were very pleased with how well Madelyn is doing in school. Mrs. Olson told us that Madelyn is a joy to have in class and she enjoys listening to her stories. She told us that Madelyn is doing very well with her letters and learning sounds. She believes that Madelyn will be one of the kids that will be able to read by the end of the year. Madelyn scored higher than a majority of her class on the test that determines reading ability. Ryan and I are very pleased with that because neither of us were good readers growing up. Mrs. Olson stated that she could tell that we read to Madelyn often and that we are very involved with her. We asked her if she is kind to other kids and if she listens well. She said she is/does. She did say that sometimes Madelyn has to be reminded to settle down and be quiet, but that when she tells her one time to quiet down she listens. Hmmm....sure wish she did that at home. Of course being the blubbering mom that I am, I teared up when Mrs. Olson was saying praises about Madelyn. We walked away from the conference very proud parents. We took Madelyn out to eat at McDonalds to celebrate.