happy thanksgiving!

we were planning on eating dinner at dinner time (around 5pm) so that left the morning open for testing out madelyn's new sled in the little bit of snow remaining in our yard. madelyn was all too ready to get outside and play in the snow. she was very cooperative as i went through the process of layering her up. she really wanted to sit in the sled and i pulled her around the yard for a little bit. after we got down to the sidewalk i had her get out so that i could carry the sled back up to a snowier part of the yard. and then she pushed the sled around by herself. listen closely to here her laugh.


it only took about 30 minutes for matt to get restless being inside this morning and he set out to put up the christmas lights. he an derek were out at work when i came out with maddie. matt hates putting the lights up because of how steep the roof line is, but he loves me so much that he does it anyway. it was nice that uncle derek was around to help him. madelyn was pretty interested in what was going on, but hid behind me like she was scared seeing daddy up so high. madelyn has never seen our house all decorated for christmas and i am so excited to see what she thinks of it all!

once daddy was done with the lights he showed madelyn what 'real' sledding is like. here was the first attempt...

and the roughest part of sledding is climbing back up the hill. (when seeing the video remember that matt has to mow this steep hill! when the grass is wet it is very easy to slip all the way down - matt and i both have done this.) madelyn is getting really good at walking up and down the hill without help and without falling. in warmer weather she likes to walk down so that she can swing on our porch swing hanging under the deck. she asked to "swing" today, but with the melting snow it was just too wet.

back to sledding. here is her third trip down in the sled. she almost ends up tipping over, but it is a much better push from daddy.


after eating our huge dinner we took madelyn out to see the christmas lights on our house for the first time. after a little delay there were several excited, and loud, "wow!" exclamations. i missed getting video, but here is a picture of her and daddy checking things out. i can't wait to take her out to look at lights closer to christmas. it is so much fun to see her experience things for the first time. love.