Blowing up the fridge

My brother Derek has had this old fridge that he has wanted to blow up for weeks now. So the other day we went out to blow it up. The actual blowing up part wasn't that great, it just kind of hopped in the air. Nothing to exciting. But if you scroll down to the last picture you can see that Derek got a pretty good goose egg. That was the funny part.

Here's Landen and Derek getting everything ready.

Here are the Mitchell girls... they came to watch.

My sister Anna and Miss Mad.

And here it is... Derek sporting a pretty awesome goose egg. The scope on the rifle hit him in the head. We all had pretty good laugh. He was a good sport about it.

Madeline's 5th birthday celebration

We celebrated Madeline's birthday about three different times this last week. Unfortunately I only got pictures of one celebration.

This was early Sunday morning and she really wanted her birthday gift from her dad and I. So we let her open it.

Here is Kendall presenting her with her long awaited gift. I am surprised because she really has no idea what she is getting, yet she has only asked for one thing for about a year.

As you can see she is VERY excited!

Madeline has wanted an American Girl doll for a very long time.

Do you see the look of adoration?

Her birthday cake. Do not look at how level my cake is.... I tried.

She likes it though.

We are so glad the cousins showed up to celebrate with us! Madeline LOVES her cousins.

Happy Birthday Madeline!

Miss Madeline,

I cannot believe that you are 5 years old! I have wanted you from the moment I knew you were on your way! Your Dad and I were so excited. Dad couldn't sleep that whole night because he couldn't believe he was going to be a dad. When you were born we knew a special spirit had entered our lives. You were a hard girl to bring to this world! In fact when you finally arrived you weren't breathing like you should and I didn't get to hold you for what seemed like forever. When I finally got you in my arms, I couldn't believe the amount of love I had for you! You had the biggest eyes and you just stared at me. It was like we knew each other in heaven and you agreed to let me be your mom. What an honor. We feel so lucky that you were the one picked for our family.

You have the brightest outlook on life and your smile lights up a room.

You love to joke around and you have a good sense of humor, when Dad plays tricks on you. You love to pull some tricks of your own on all of us.

You love to drink strawberry milk, you have done this since you were one year old. I am afraid it has become quite the addiction. One that has saved you from a few broken bones.

You love to snuggle with anything cotton, the really soft cotton. In fact I have night gown that I no longer get to wear because it is now your "feelie".

I love that you call me "Mama". It just makes my heart melt. Please don't stop.

You love to dress up and be a princess. You love barbie dolls, which you must have inherited from your aunts because I never liked barbies. You Love it when I play with you.

You love to read. Your goal is to read the American Girl books.

You are very smart. You can learn things so quickly and easily. I am excited to watch you learn and grow with Kindergarten this year.You like to sound out the words Dad and I spell to each other when we don't want you to know what we are saying.

You LOVE playing with your cousins. You really love it when the neighborhood girls come over and play. You like to sit outside and when you see them you scream their names!

You are very aware of what is right and wrong and you are quick to point out when somebody is doing something wrong. Sometimes that makes for some embarrassing situations... but I am glad you know what is right.

I love that we are friends and we get to go and do the girl things together. We love to get pedicures together and Dad has decided that he feels like a third party when we shop together. I LOVE watching you shop. You are such a girl... "oh Mom this is SO cute".

You have the most beautiful eyes and I love your dimples! You are such a beautiful girl and we are always getting comments on how beautiful you are. We are little bit worried for the dating years to come. I hope you always remain beautiful inside and out.

Happy birthday Madeline Joyce! Your dad and I are your biggest fans! Love you!