Another busy week has gone by. Where does the time go? We seem to have our days filled up with playing outside (when it isn't raining), blowing bubbles, taking trips to the store and dancing. Mike and I had a busy week last week, which meant that Maddie had some quality time with her relatives. She had a grand time playing at Janna and Jeff's on Thursday with Carson, Caden and 'the girls next door'. Mom and Tom came over on Saturday to let Mike and I have some much needed couple time. We went to dinner and then headed downtown to watch Mary Poppins. It was a great evening.

Mike is on Spring Break this coming week and we don't have any plans....which is a nice thing! I appreciate having the extra set of ahnds around the house and hopefully we will just spend some time together and maybe get this house in order! However, I am told that it may never be in order now that we have kids!

Our Easter fun that started last weekend continued this week. Maddie had a great time playing with her friend Marley this Friday and having a little 'mini' Easter Egg Hunt in the house. Saturday we had a visit from Grandpa Joe who brought over a new playhouse for outside and then we had lunch at Steak and Shake. Nanna and Papaw came over that evening and had a grand time spoiling Maddie as well.

Steak and Shake. Yeah for free kids meals on the weekend!

Sunday was a busy church day for us. I sang at the contemporary service at church and Mike and I sang at the traditional service as well. Maddie was a trouper. She got a little tired once the service started and had a few tears in the nursey, but did a great job. After church we headed home to enjoy a relaxing afternoon of family and more egg hunting. Mom and Tom as well as Mike's Dad and brother came over to spend some time with us and enjoy some great food. It was a great way to spend Easter Sunday and reminded us just how blessed we are to have the amazing people that we have in our lives.

Exploring the sacutary while Mommy and Daddy warmed up Sunday morning.

Checking out the fun things the Easter Bunny brought.

Hunting Eggs at the house

After a long weekend both Mommy and Maddie were ready for bed.

Helping Hand

Maddie is such a big help with her little cousin Caden. Here I caught a little video of Maddie keeping him occupied while I got his cereal ready this morning.

While they are only 10 months apart in age, Maddie thinks that she is so much bigger and is 'momma's little helper'. I have to admit, when caring for 3 little ones under the age of 2 it is sometimes nice to have an extra pair of hands. Even if those hands are 19 months old.

Easter Fun

We have officially started our Easter season at the Porretta household. We are so excited to get to hunt eggs this year with Maddie and for her to kind of understand what is going with the whole Easter story. This past weekend we went to Dad and Gwen's for our annual egg hunt. As always, it was chilly. But, at least this year it wasn't raining. Maddie had a grand time picking up the eggs and finding money inside of them. Carson and JD were great about letting Maddie pick some up, even though I secretly think they wanted them all to themselves.

Maddie and Carson getting ready to go.

Finding some eggs under the rocks at Grandpa Joe's.

The whole gang and the Easter Bunny.

Momma and Maddie

Finding treats inside the eggs are the most fun



Look at my egg Mom!!!



This weekend were have our church Easter egg hunt and possibly the Westerville 5K bunny hop hunt. (if I get my rear in gear and sign up for the race). Easter Sunday Mom and Tom as well as Mike's Dad and brother are headed to our house after church for dinner and hopefully some egg hunting here. We wrap things up the week after Easter at Mom and Tom's with all the grand kids hunting for eggs and hopefully us getting to use the new fire pit! Did someone say smores??? I'll do my best to post more pictures as the weeks progress.

Finding time.

I have been REALLY bad about posting pictures and updates from our family. Things seem to have been non-stop for us since the beginning of the year. I was in Gahanna Community Theater's production of Guys and Dolls, playing Miss Sarah Brown. It was great to be back on the stage again and to have a creative musical outlet! (plus I will admit is was nice to talk people who had a larger vocabulary then 'ehhh' or a regular basis).

As soon as my show got over, things kicked into gear for Mike. DeSales's musical was in March and then Mike's brass band (COBB) got into their contest/performance season. We still have a few busy weeks ahead with solo and ensemble (I am getting to accompany some of Mike's students which has given me another reason to keep up  on my musical skills), we are involved in the Easter worship at church, DeSales spring band trip in the beginning of March, Jr. High Large Group contest and then I am headed to Alabama for Robbie's graduation.

Whew.....maybe things will slow down a little later then I thought. However, through all of this there is always one constant blessing that we can turn to and that is our little Miss Maddie. What a BIG girl she is turning into. It seems like just yesterday we were coming home from the hospital with her. Now she is running, jumping, talking up a storm (even though sometimes we can't figure out what the heck she is saying) and LOVING life. When our lives get to be a bit overwhelming and we are beyond stressed it seems like Maddie is always there to put things back in perspective for us. She is such a happy little girl .......(most of the time). She sings and dances and laughs every single day. She is so special to Mike and I and we thank God for her every single day.

Here are just a few random pictures of the past 4 months. I PROMISE I will try to get more up here on a regular basis. The goal is at least once a week.....maybe more.

 Playing the in snow....in our wagon.

 First big girl hair cut.

 Mommy's little piano player. Maddie loves playing the piano....with all her friends.

 Maddie has her Mommy's obsession with soft serve frozen yogurt. Won't eat chocolate like Daddy....only vanilla. (thats my girl)

We have lots of fun making and decorating cookies at Valentine's day with our BFF Marley.

Playing with cousin Caden is lots of fun too...........wearing no pants is also fun!

Penny horse rides at Meijer are the best. We can't wait until the weather gets nicer out so we can go see and ride the real ponies at Grandpa Joe's.

 Even though the weather has been chilly in Feb and March, we take advantage of the sunny days. We bundle up and love to take wagon rides.

 Sometimes its too cold out or rainy and we have our own wagon rides inside,

 Maddie with her purse, 'posing' for the camera.

Eating cookies like a BIG girl after Daddy's musical, Cinderella. Maddie came dressed for the part.

Visiting the zoo is really fun with our cousin Caden. We really liked seeing the new elephant and the sleeping tigers. We even sang them a lullaby to help them go to sleep.

 Maddie has enjoyed some special time with all her Grandparents. We are so blessed to have them in our lives and to help us raise our wonderful little girl.

 Again, we love to cook and bake with our friends. Maddie has developed quite a taste for my cake icing. She calls it yogurt and always asks for 'mooor'. If only it was yogurt Maddie........

Now that the weather is FINALLY getting warmer we are enjoying spending time out in the back yard and on our new patio. We can't wait to see what adventures and fun the next few months bring.

More fall fun

Here are a few pictures from Otterbein's homecoming and our trip to the apple orchard with Janna, Jeff, Carson and Caden.

Daddy and Maddie headed to the parade.

Hanging out with Carson an playing with the beads the sorority girls were throwing out.

Ah.....how cute do  I look?

At Lynd's apple orchard and pumpkin patch. Maddie would walk to the end of the earth, as long as Carson was there holding her hand.

All the little pumpkins. We'll see how big they get next year at this time. The only way we could get Carson to get his picture taken was to let him take a picture of me taking a picture of him! 

Playing corn hole while we wait for Baby Caden to finish his lunch.

Uncle Jeff......you are too silly.

Maddie found her first pumpkin. However someone forgot to tell her that you can't pick up something that is literally 1/2 of your weight........but she tried.

Trying to find the perfect pumpkin is easier when you have friends along to help.

Headed back to the car with Mommy.

Two tired little ones waiting for moms and dads to load up the car.

The first of many family photos at the pumpkin patch.

A tired little girl crashed on the way home.

Halloween 2010

What fun we had this year! Maddie had her first official trick or treat night. We just went to 2 houses in the subdivision and spent the rest of our evening passing out candy at the house. Maddie did a great job. She loved putting the treats into the kid's bags. However, she did not like any army costume or zombie. But who can blame her?

Here is our little skunk getting ready to pass out the treats.....or just swiping some for herself.

Practicing with Uncle Dom.

Family picture before the fun begins.

Maddie helping pass out candy to her possible boyfriend in 15 years.

Going back to get more supplies for the troops.



Maddie in her 'other' costume at the Cleveland Zoo.....more pics to come.



It's been a while

Well it's been a while since we have posted. Time just doesn't seem to be on our side. We have had a busy and wonderful fall. I'm going to try to get as many of the pictures that we have up here so that you can see what we have been up to, but I'm going to warn you it may take a while. I have found that while I LOVE staying home with Maddie, at the end of the night once she goes to bed I just want to sit and relax for a few minutes. That means catching up with Mike, watching a TV show or two and just unwinding from the day. Sometimes I get over to the computer and other times it's the last thing on my mind. So....I'll do my best to get everyone caught up on our adventures, it jsut might take me a few days.

We were able to head back to the Coshocton County Fair this year. We actually went two days. Once with Mike and then Maddie and I went back during the week. We had a great time. It was nice to catch up with family and friends when we went on the weekend and to eat some delicous fair food. But we had an equally great time on Thursday getting to take Maddie through the barns with out the crowds and the drizzle we had on the weekend....the bees we could have done with out.

Here are a few of the pictures from the fair, both days. I'll try to get a few more of our family ones on later.

Maddie riding the tractor.

Maddie on a tractor more her size.

Going for a ride on the Merry Go Round. (Minus her shoe) Madison LOVED the horse and would smile and giggle as it went up and down. No fear of rides for this little one.

Maddie getting to ride on a REAL pony. Thanks to Papa Joe and cousin JD for letting us play with Tucker.

A trip to the fari wouldn't be complete without a visit to the gourd barn. A highlight it always the giant pumpkins. This one was the perfect size for a toddler chair.