Friday, April 29, 2011

Our Royal Invitation

In the wake of all of the terrible storms that blew through the country this week, Friday has started with a positive note:

The Royal Wedding!

Brylee woke me up at 5:45, perfect timing because I did not set the alarm, but just as her first squeak came through, I jumped up, got dressed, and pulled the little one out of bed to come upstairs and enjoy the break of day!


No Royal Wedding is complete without a fancy hat, and though we didn't have anything quite as fancy (or weird...) as the guests had, Brylee wore her beautiful Easter hat!



I was impressed with how long her attention was held by the ceremony. But once the vows were said and the priests started their speech about marriage, she was back to playing with her box again.


Now for my wedding commentary:

The second I turned on the tv to the coverage, I got goosebumps. I may have never been a overly girly person, but I love a beautiful wedding, and of course, like so many other girls, grow up hoping that they would be a princess. And this lady is living that dream!


Kate was absolutely stunning! Her dress was gorgeous and not too over-the-top, but perfect for her. I hope that she brings the same beauty to the royal family that Diana did so many years ago.

May God bless their marriage, and may the public (and paparazzi) give them the privacy they deserve.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

In Mom's Words...

"Enjoy today I want to hear all about it."

I was wondering what she meant by that. It was going to be another typical Thursday. Fridays are our big days with Storytime at the library...so I wondered slightly what she meant by that.

Until FedEx drove up.

I thought he was turning around after delivering a package to another home. Until he stopped and got out of the truck.

And pulled this out!

(Brylee helping to get it up the stairs!)

(And of course, she had to enjoy every little toddlers favorite toy--the box!)




The biggest THANK YOU to T-Ma and Poppy for the wonderful surprise! And the biggest hugs, too! Brylee loves it, and we can't wait for the rain to go away and let her play on it!!!!

A Tragedy In Small Town

We've been here 2 months now, and I've started feeling comfortable, as well as finding things about Small Town and surrounding towns.

I have grown to love North Conway, NH, which is just 30 minutes away from us, but after this past weekend, it now also has a mark.

Over the weekend, the best friend of Cary and Brenda's business partner realized her daughter went missing. Her car was found, running, door open, and hazard lights on, and her 14 month old daughter inside, safe, but with a soiled diaper.

Last night on the news, we see now that the young lady's body was found in a pond. We still don't know what happened, but obviously this news has shaken the little towns.

While I never personally met this 20 year old woman, I feel pretty hard hit by this because of the fact that she is a mom of a young child. And now this little girl will grow up not being able to remember her mother.

Where did this world go wrong that people think it's ok to play God and take another person's life? Another question is, did the victim know her attacker? And if so, where can we learn to trust someone? Why can't the evil walk around with markings on them so we know to avoid them?

I know that none of these questions can be answered at this time. But I am still human and still ask God 'why' quite a bit. But ultimately, I know He has a plan. And He is sad when something tragic happens to one of His children. But He is still an amazing God, and I will follow Him.

I now just pray that the little daughter is surrounded by enough love to help her understand that there is still goodness in this world.

www.cnn.com

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The Best And Hardest Easter

Easter morning brought silliness and laughter as mom and dad assisted Brylee with her developing fashion sense.













When I was finally able to convince Brylee that her Easter dress was far cuter than her sock/jammie combination, we all got dressed, took pictures and then went to eat breakfast at mine and Cary's new favorite Sunday morning breakfast joint. Delicious buffet!



























































After breakfast, we had a little extra time, so we drove around and let dad and Cary get a few caches. I stayed in the car with mom and Brylee so that I could have a little extra time with mom, since our 3 days together just didn't seem like enough....and I got that super cool night with dad the night before!

The drive to Boston was sunny and clear, a perfect Easter Sunday....except for the fact that we were driving to drop off my parents at the airport.

Brylee was loving the attention she got from them from the moment they stepped through the gate at the airport 3 nights earlier, and the hardest part about the separation was me thinking about her watching them leave, not understanding why they were not in the backseat with her on the drive home.










She did watch them with a (what I would say) sad look on her face, not sure why there were tears shed, and them walking away from her. But I hope that she knows that we will be seeing them again soon. And actually sooner than she knows.

Countdown to May, here I come!



On a different note, I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter, and celebrated the true reason for the day: Jesus Has Risen!!!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Big Night Part Deux

Remember this night?

Well, this McFadden got to relive it again, this time just with her 2 favorite guys!

Saturday night after eating pizza, we figured out that it had been raining all day, but the temperatures were a bit chilly still. But I had wanted to show this to my dad for some time now, so Cary and he convinced me to just go check it out.

And I'm glad we did!

This was the first little guy we found at the point where we were about to turn around and walk back.


After the salamander, on the walk back we spotted 4 Spring Peepers...I was so excited that we decided to go out and 'just walk'...


What an awesome time! Thank you Dad and Cary for making this night so wonderful and letting me show you my new favorite thing here in Small Town!!!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Orange Juice Was Freshly Grown, Freshly Squeezed...Or Freshly Forgotten

Saturday was originally a day we were going to go to North Conway, NH to attend an Easter Egg hunt held by the community for little ones. Since we had already had a super awesome egg hunt for Brylee the day before, and it was going to be rainy on Saturday, we decided to drive to Freeport to take my parents to L.L. Bean. 2nd time in 2 weekends for us, but there is never ending fun there!

We first had breakfast at a popular diner in Small Town, Ricky's, where the table was so small for our order, we had plates sitting on top of our glasses, and in our laps! It was very amusing to say the least!

Afterwards, we drove in the rain to Freeport, where it was hectic, due to it being Saturday. No better time for shopping!

More Chalk art:
Brylee knew exactly what to do as soon as she saw this board and didn't hesitate to show her grandparents her talent drawing colorful lines!






























Even all of the adults got in on the fun:










A 'tree house' that Brylee ran around on with the big kids. I think this may be her favorite store!












Lunch was at Jameson Tavern, where we filled our tummies and then were off again for more shopping! The big goal for going to LL Bean was for dad (and possibly mom) to find jackets and other winter-type gear to get set for winters here in Maine. Fortunately, they were successful and now 3 very colorful jackets sit in our extra closet...and we're just waiting for them to find the perfect shoes, gloves, head wear, etc!

On our way home, Cary had the great idea of stopping by the Portland Head Light so mom could see her first lighthouse. Despite the cold and wind, they got out of the car (I waited with a sleeping Brylee) and took some pictures! Hopefully mom enjoyed seeing it, and will be excited for another trip back to see more (in nicer weather) and to hunt down more lighthouses!







































On the way home, we stopped for Ice cream, and then relaxed a little until dinner time, where we went to eat some delicious pizza! (I know that eating dessert first was in the wrong order, but hey...this is my mom and dad's trip!)

































My pizza had broccoli--YUM!










As a side note, as we were walking through the parking lot to get to the store, dad and I saw a dead, black banana peel that was smushed against the ground like a starfish...so that became our inside joke for the day. So while he and mom were at one store, Cary and I visited a chocolate store next door, where I found chocolates shaped like a starfish, and I couldn't resist getting it for him, as well as some amazing Pecan Turtles. I got a great laugh out of him!











Friday, April 22, 2011

Project 52: 16/52 Perspective


Happy Easter Everyone! Please take a moment to remember what today really represents!

The Easter Post With Too Many Pictures...

Easter came this year with a wonderful gift:

My parents came to Small Town for the weekend!

So, our weekend was full of Easter and family fun from Wednesday to Sunday!

Wednesday night started with Cary and I decorating Easter eggs as soon as Brylee fell asleep...and I'm glad this is a time I didn't let her participate, because my fingers were covered in dye, so I don't even want to imagine what Brylee would have looked like!






































Even our little bare trees in front of our house got decorated (thanks to our neighbors' niece for the awesome idea!)

























Brylee's Easter Spoils: (no worries...we'll help her with them!)










My idea from Martha Stewart that I Brylee-fied:










My parents arrived at 10:45 p.m. on Thursday evening, and we got home from the airport at 1:30 Friday morning and all was in bed by 2:00.

When we woke up, I baked a cake for our dinner 'party' later, and then the family headed over to the Library for storytime. Brylee, again, loved it, and her T-Ma and Poppy enjoyed watching her, and she was even recorded for memories! The theme this week was Earth Day, and, of course, Easter!










The library had an egg hunt for all of the storytime attendees, which consisted of stepping outside, finding 1 egg, and then trading it in for a packet of coloring papers.



















Afterwards, it was a gorgeous day in Small Town, so we walked to a couple of shops in the town and then had lunch at a little cafe. Then, taking advantage of the beautiful weather, mom and I walked around the park while dad and Cary searched for a geocache or two.










Around 3:00, the family, and a very exhausted Brylee drove to Cary's parents' house, where we let her nap for a little bit, and then peeked outside to see that the Easter Bunny had visited her!

And now, Toddler vs. The Easter Eggs!

Toddler is off to a great start, finding the devious eggs hiding on the porch just as she steps out the door










(don't have much to say about this picture, except her face is ADORABLE!)










Oh! The Eggs tripped her!










Don't let that stop you, Toddler! Let the grandparents around you help you back up and get going again!







































Go, Toddler, go!



















And thanks to the help of her Opa, who gave her a lift to find the last remaining egg, who sneakily hid in the tree above!










Looks like the toddler won again, despite being outnumbered 38-1. Give that winning look on the porch Toddler!























A HUGE thank you to T-Ma for bringing the cool eggs, Poppy for filming the entire thing, and Oma and Opa for supplying their beautiful house and yard for the hunt...and also teaching Brylee how to hunt Easter Eggs! It was a big success!

After the egg hunt, Brenda, Gary, my parents, Cary, Brylee, and I regrouped at our house for a fabulous dinner of hot dogs, candy, and cake!



















Even though it was Good Friday and not officially Easter, it was a wonderful day to do some fun celebrating with family!

Ninjago With A Special Guest

So we took B to go see Ninjago, The LEGO movie a couple of weeks ago, and by we, I mean Cary, myself, my dad, and...my grandfather. Odd co...