Around the House in December 2010

I took a ton of pictures throughout late November and early December... primarily because I was trying to capture the perfect picture for our Christmas cards this year.  I love her devilish grin in this one.  That little face makes me melt every time!

 Throughout this blog you will see a lot of pictures of Maddie hugging the dogs (especially Zoey).  They really are her "best friends" and she loves on them all the time.  Maddie and Zoey are like little snuggle buddies on the couch every evening watching Snow White or some other "princess!" movie.

 The visit with Santa didn't go too well.  Maddie was clearly afraid and would not sit on his lap, so these two pics were as close as she would get.

 Sharing her new wagon with Zoey.  She LOVES this wagon!  We stash a lot of toys in it but she is always climbing in and out and moving her toys in and out of it.  Now that the weather is getting nice, I look forward to pulling her around the neighborhood in her wagon.

 Sharing some Christmas treats with her puppies.

 Maddie was really fascinated with the Christmas tree this year.  She knew where all the personal ornaments were (the puppy, the bear, the snowman, the baby, etc.) and she LOVED looking at her reflection in the glass ornaments.



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Hershey's Christmas Candylane 2010

If you have kids, you have to go to Hershey for their Christmas Candylane.  All of the kiddie rides are open, the younger kids are free and adults are only $10.  We went the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the temps were perfect.  Not too cold but just cold enough to want some hot chocolate.

This was our 2nd year and it was a lot more fun for Maddie this year because she could actually ride a lot more of the rides.

 And of course you have to visit Chocolate World!  Maddie enjoyed the ride because there was lots of singing and there were cows... and Mommy liked the free chocolate at the end :-)

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Christmas 2010

A few pictures from Christmas...  I have a ton more from opening gifts at home, but these are from Christmas at Grandpop & Grandma Chopper's house.

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October 2010

Maddie & I went to Ashcombe Farms with Bailey & Mandy to play and to pick pumpkins.

 Maddie picked out two pumpkins.  One that we painted...

... and one that we covered in Mickey & Minnie Mouse stickers.





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Luray Caverns - Sept 2010

While on vacation we also drove about 45 minutes to Luray Caverns.  I think I was there as a child but don't really remember.  It was a pretty phenomenal place.  If you're going to be close to Harrisonburg, I definitely recommend it.  We took a couple dozen pictures but these are just a few to give you an idea.

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September 2010

While on vacation at Massanutten Resort in Virginia, Maddie tried out a little miniature golf.  She would basically just pick up our balls and put them in the holes for us.

 We also had to make sure to support our Ravens while on vacation.

 We spent some time in Shippensburg with our cousin Bailey. On this day we went to the pool & park. 

 Labor Day weekend was really cold and called for a sweatshirt... a SHIP sweatshirt of course!

 One of our last times to wear summer clothes was one unseasonably warm day in September.

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August 2010

In August we spent a lot of time at home... here are some random pictures of Maddie playing.

 ... and being a big cheese!

 ... and practicing to be the next beethoven...

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July 2010

In July we made the long drive to Orlando, Florida.  We stopped over in Savannah, Georgia for a night and enjoyed a relaxing evening at the hotel eating dinner and playing in the pool.  We made it to Daytona for lunch the next day.  Maddie handled the car ride really well.  This was her first time on the beach and she wasn't really sure how to react.

 We stayed at the Orange Lake Resort and spent a lot of time in the various pools throughout the resort.  Maddie LOVED the water!

 One day we took Maddie to the zoo and she saw all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds.

 There was even a "petting" area. 

 Out to dinner at the Boardwalk Disney.  It was fun to watch the variety acts and play a few games on the Boardwalk.

 One of the pools at Orange Lake has a slide.  Maddie went down a few times with Mommy & Daddy and really enjoyed it.

 Minnie Maddie... her first trip to Florida was a blast and we are anxious to make it an annual family adventure.

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So it's been forever...

Hello out there!?!?! So I haven't posted anything on the blog in forever and apparently it's been bugging people. Quite honestly, in the process of life happening, we've spent more time just enjoying it rather than trying to document every minute of it for everyone to read. And on top of that, our work lives have been so busy the last several months... actually I feel like I haven't gotten a break in much longer than that thanks to a client who I cannot name... that there has been no free time for blogging. And if I'm not working or taking care of Madison, then I'm taking care of chores around the house. I already have a list a mile long of regular maintenance-type projects that have to be done in the next couple of months! And that doesn't count getting the 3rd bedroom converted into a nursery for Baby Chopper #2! But today I decided to jump on the blog for a few minutes and peruse some old posts and it made me realize that I really enjoyed watching Maddie's appearance & personality change over the course of time in each post... although it was really strange seeing it in reverse going from most recent post to oldest post. And I also realized that it would be sad if I didn't do the same thing for Baby Chopper #2 that we'll be welcoming in September. So I'm rededicating myself to blogging. Here is my commitment to anyone out there who actually reads this thing: 1. Over the course of the next week, I'm going to post at least one blog entry for each month that I've missed. That means about 9 posts from July to March. Consider it the fly-by version of the last 9 months! 2. I will start posting about one entry per week going forward and it will include at least one photo. I can't promise that the photos will be great because 90% of the time I just grab my iPhone to take pics nowadays but hopefully it'll give you a little glimpse into our world. 3. I will try to upload some videos mixed in with photos going forward. I'm constantly taking 30-60 second video clips of Maddie but it's a major pain to send these or upload them to either a blog or Facebook. They slow down the computer and a lot of times crash it... but I'll do my best. Okay - that's my commitment. We'll see how this goes. Wish me luck! Michelle Click Here to Read More..