The New Guy in Charge

Mom said that since I like to talk so much, I should take over the blog. But really, it is rightfully mine anyway. Do all my faithful followers remember maddoxtherrell.blogspot.com? I used to run the place. 

So...welcome back to me!

I am going to run the show from now on.

Check out my red robe. A couple years ago I took a similar picture in it. Now I am way taller and even cuter. I get cuter every day.

Speaking of today, it rained! I played cars with Jude, ate a banana and fagioli soup for lunch (but only the beans! Tomatoes in my soup freak me out! And I only ate the beans so I could get a cookie...don't tell Mom), and then got lucky and scored a new piece to my Thomas the Train set. Mom is a sucker. I begged, "Please, Mom, this one is sooo cool!" and she caved.

And then it stopped raining and I got to ride my bike and play hide and seek outside.

I also taught Jude how to say THANKS really loud.

I'm an awesome big brother.

I guess I should be fair tomorrow and post more pictures of Jude. 

Maybe.

-Maddox

The Quarantine

Since Jude is recovering from strep and still on antibiotics, we have been mostly hanging around the house. Favorite activities include furniture jumping, riding around on the Plasma cars, and crafts. A couple days ago we built block castles and made crowns.

They are the kings of the house, after all! Or so it seems sometimes.

Here, There, Everywhere

The last week was incredibly fun and busy, but it ended with a quarantine. Maddox came down with Fifth Disease (a lot more harmless than it sounds) and Jude got strep throat. Now Maddox is all better and if we can finish off this antibiotic with Jude (he always has rough side effects when it comes to medicine) things will be back to normal!

In the meantime, here are some older pictures and some newer ones. 

 Above on the left - Jude is in his "church clothes" and holding a vacuum attachment. Typical. On the right, Maddox just got his early bday present from Nana and Papa and is taking it for a spin under the carport.

Here, we are playing Candyland with Maddox for the first time. That boy is a cheater! Still, I came out the champion. 

Saturday night we celebrated our 6 year anniversary. Yani and Alex kept the boys and we headed to McGuire's in Destin for some yummy drinks and dinner. We finished the night at the bookstore and then lucked up at Starbucks and got a free mocha. 

We hit the splash pad earlier in the week. Maybe this is where the strep came from...or maybe it was open gym...or the fact that Jude puts EVERYTHING in sight in his mouth.

Who knows.

The boys had a blast getting soaked though.

Check out their faces!

On Tuesday, Yani and I had a "girls night in," complete with pink lemonade moscato (possibly the first mixed drink I've ever made?), homemade spinach and artichoke dip, and Yani's best-cupcakes-ever. 

Oh, and Design Star. Except that after Design Star was over, we still hung out and spent hours talking...and eating. I love this girl! People often mistake us for sisters and too bad it isn't true! 

 The boys enjoyed their first tire swing ride this week, too. Maddox loved it and Jude was actually a little nervous. That was a surprise!

And then, the sickness (es) hit. Maddox helped me make some oatmeal raisin cookies and of course cookies make everything better! 

My friend Mary brought us some sliced watermelon yesterday and that was yummy too. Maddox tore it up, but only with Parmesan cheese on top. He would sprinkle that stuff on everything if he could! 

Since the boys were feeling better yesterday and Andrew got called into work ALL day, we ventured to Target for some necessities and along the way they spotted some play phones. Jude threw one of his famous tantrums and I was so sleep-deprived at the time, and looking for anything to make him happy, so into the cart they went! 

I'm glad they didn't get thrown down as soon as we got home.

Jude plays with his 24/7 and even makes up little conversations.

Yesterday he told me his butt was "cleeeeeean!" and then when I asked him a question about where something was, he shrugged and said, "I don't  know!"

My baby is growing up!

 Actually, both of my babies are. Maddox is getting so big and in this picture you can totally tell that my little 3-year-old is turning FOUR soon. It's bittersweet, for sure!

Fun in the Rain

We have a new donut shop in town! It's about 8 minutes from our house, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But yesterday it was a good thing. After an indulgent breakfast with Yani (I'm talking spinach quiche, blueberry scone and raspberry mocha baby!), we filled up multiple brown bags with donuts, donut holes, danishes, New Orleans style beignets.... If you're going to go big, you better go BIG! It came in handy when it rained all afternoon and there was nothing better to do than drink coffee and eat sweets.

Dinner (enchiladas) was a fiasco. It involved moldy cheese and a few breakdowns, and just when I wanted to cry and cancel my plans for the ladies night in with our church, I sucked it up, threw on some real clothes and loaded my corn casserole in the car. The night was fun and I'm glad I went. Us girls had a Southern potluck, complete with fried chicken and yummy root beer, and we watched The Help. Such a good movie!! I want to see it again. If you haven't seen it, do it!

And then you will understand that phrase everyone quotes from the movie:

"You is kind,
You is smart.
You is important."


Today we caught a little beach time before a big storm blew in. It was windy, cloudy, and VERY sandy (nothing as gross as a clump of sad in your bathing suit bottoms....), but the snowcones were worth it. And the best part is that when we got home, Jude grabbed his blankie and settled down for a long nap. Quiet rainy afternoons are treasures!

 Blue teeth!!

Keeping Cool

How do you survive the summer heat?

For us, a kiddie pool and a garden hose do the trick. 

Open Gym...and a birthday shout out

I've been a lazy blogger. Since the last post, we had a fun-filled 3-week vacation in South Carolina and another Fourth of July passed by, along with four days of rain. Today we got another freak thunderstorm and I was glad I picked our morning activity to be open gym instead of the beach.

The boys loved running around and trying out all the equipment. Jude was a natural. I kept losing sight of him and then I'd catch him jumping across the trampoline, trying out the balance beam or playing on the rings (his favorite).

Back home, we got soaked running from the car to the carport (a whole three feet...I'm telling you, that rain was ridiculous). 

We had to strip down in the dining room and wrap up in towels. My hair was so wet I could ring out the water! Maddox cried, then we all started laughing and couldn't stop. I hope we didn't wake Andrew up. He started mid-shift when we came back to Florida and I don't know how he sleeps during the day with such noise, but he does.

And before I go and enjoy some quiet time with my coffee, I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom. She is my best friend and everything else. I sure do love her and miss her!