Decorating Inspirtation

A picture of my furture sofa. I have looked and looked for the perfect sofa (Paul is probably sick of hearing about all the different sofas), after much thought and research this is the sofa I have decided on. We are going to order it in a different color fabric, the color we are going to order it in is a brown or tan shade. The fabric its self is velvet, it is very sofy and will be nice to cuddle up by the fire on. This is actually my favorite color buy I'm not bold enough to order it in this color, plus I like to change the colors of accessories too much and there are not enough colors to go with it. We are planning on ordering the couch in a few weeks and I think that it said it takes eight weeks after placing the order, that's a long time. I am looking forward to having a couch that is not falling apart,though. The cushion on the couch we have now are sewed onto the frame but they are starting to rip off. The cushions started riping off on there own but now I will catch Madison every once in awhile pulling them more. I think this couch will hold up to a kid and a few moves, at least I hope it will!

Baby Adkins' Baby Shower

My friend Wendy had a baby shower today thrown by the church. I believe the scheduled date of arrvial for baby Adkins- Elizabeth is February 23. The baby will look adorable in all the cute outfit they got today at the shower. (I'm disappointed that the picture is so fuzzy of the mommy and big sister.)

Trimming the Tree

This is what the palm tree looked like when we moved in back in October. The property manager mentioned about having it cut back but it offered privacy from the neighbors so we said it was fine the way it was, so we didn't have it cut back. After some thought I decided we should see if we could have him get someone to come out and cut it back, it looks bad and in very loud when the wind is blowing. Paul said he could do it himself. He got the saw, ladder and went to work. Now we have a very nice looking palm tree in the backyard.

How long is the palm branch you might ask? Well as you can see Madison is laying next to one of the branches in the picture below. The last time she was measured she was 42 inches which is about 3ft 6 inches. You might wonder why Madison is laying so funny next to the branch, oh that's because she is afraid that she is going to be cut by the teeth on the branch. Yes they have large teeth. Take a look at the next pictute.

Here is a picture of my finger next to the palm branch teeth. They are long and sharp, if fact one branch fell and cut a pretty good size hole is Paul's pants, blue jeans.

Since we ran out of fire wood and the house was chilly, Paul made a fire with the branch part of the palms. We were all laying on the floor watching Daddy Daycare and Madison said "mom go get your camera and take a picture of us all laying on the floor by the fire," so I went and got the camera and took a picture.

Double Trouble

We had Melanie over today for a playdate & the "twins" are enjoying living close to each other once again. Madison likes to share that information with perfect stangers, she tells people "my cousins only live 5 minutes away so I can play with them all the time." This is the first time having Melanie over but I think that we will have a lot more playdates to come. It is nice having someone for Madison to play with and they seem to play really great with each other. They should enjoy the next few months playing with each other since they will be starting school this summer and they will be making new friends. I think they will still be life long friends & of course, cousins.

Four Months in California

The Olmsted's 2007

Family Time at San Diego Zoo

We finally made it to the zoo. It was well worth the wait, the zoo it amazing. It took us all day to look around. My favorite animals were the baby panda, the flamingos, and the polar bears. I also liked the birds and there were a lot of the them there. I also enjoyed the landscaping, there were lot of plants and trees that I have never seen. There were ferns that were as tall as trees, twenty to thirty feet tall. All kinds of exotic plants and a few flowers. When we walked into the gate there was a peacock walking around on the side walk, it was neat to see it walking around. I don't think it was suppose to be walking around. We had to wait in line to see the baby panda and then it was up in the tree, making it hard to get pictures. I am posting the pictures on flickr.com

Grant Nicolis- Madison's new cousin

Grant Nicolis Olmsted

January 16th @ 9:21 pm
6lbs 13oz

20 1/2 inches

Grant holding Madison's finger. We were at the hopsital at the same time as the Andy and Jane and there three girls. Aunt Janey asked Meghan and Melanie if they wanted to hold Grant and they said not now, she asked Madison if she would like to hold him she said yes as she climbed up on the bed to get ready to hold him. I was suprised that she want to hold him, she held him and than she was done. Later she did hold him again but only for a few minutes.

Cutie Pie

I took this picture on Christmas Day. Doesn't she look cute? She looks so grown up, I can't believe that she will be starting school this summer.

Christmas Day

Madison got the growing dog for Christmas which was on the top of her list. She named her dog Aurora. Madison was so excited when the dog grew, it grows from a puppy to dog size in four days.

Madison made Daddy a Build-A-Bear for Christmas. She picked out the bear and the clothes and put a voice box in it with her saying "I love you, daddy." That way daddy can listen to her when he misses her. Funny how daddy and the bear both like to wear their Santa hats.

I got a photography/laptop backpack for Christmas now I can have all of my photography stuff in one bag!

Cookie From Santa

Madison signed her Christmas list and put out cookies and milk for Santa.

Christmas Packages

The first package to arrive was from Grandma Harriet and Chuck. Madison was so excited, mommy too. I opened the box, then I thought that we should take pictures of us opening the gifts. I had Paul run up stairs to get the card and Madison was waiting patiently. I now had the camera, hold on a second Maddie I need to get a picture first. Then we opened the presents.



It's Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. His nose lights up, cool!

.

I love Rudolph!!

Madison's gifts from Papa and Lorita. As she seen the pony she said

"How did Papa know I always wanted this pony!"

Christmas Party for Madison

Madison and I had a Christmas party for church tonight.

Madison made some crafts and watched a movie. On the way home we drove by the big Christmas tree at the country club.

Painting Ceramics

Madison and I went to the DayDreams Ceramic Cafe today to do some painting. I painted a Santa plate and Madison painted a small dog. I wanted to paint a plate for holiday cookies, they had a display plate in the front window and it was exactly what I had imaged. Madison has been wanted to paint something so we went to get a drink from Starbucks and had back to start painting. We finished our pieces today and they will be ready next week. I can't wait to see the finish product. I will post the pictures of them next week when they are done.

Santa Cow At Chick-fil-A

Madison and I went to Chick-fil-A and had our picture taken with Santa Cow. They turned out good thanks to Mr. Patrick. MOOOOy Christmas Everyone.

Bare Escentuals

I tried Bare Escentuals at Sephora today. I love the way it looks, it covered up all of the redness I have in my cheeks. Which is my main concern, I hate my cheeks looking red and blotchy all of the time. The powder made my skin look every even and I love that. They used a turquoise eyeliner which I think look OK but I am not sure I would do it on my own. I liked it so much I bought the started kit, I have been looking at it for months.