A Quick Summary of our Happenings

We have been pretty busy trying to get our house put together.  We had a week before Dan started working and we were able to buy our first couch and love-seat, hit Ikea for some help with organization, buy a lawn mower, buy a garden hose, weed part of the backyard, unpack all our stuff, organize our storage, and except putting up the frames we are doing pretty well.

We encourage child labor in our house.  Madison had a fantastic time helping to put together some of the new shelves we bought at Ikea.  She really loved using all of Daddy's tools.
This is not a forest-well yes it is a forest, but it is also our backyard.  It is so beautiful and green here.  We live in a very rural area and we are surrounded by forests, streams, lakes, and beautiful trees.  It is going to be a challenge to keep the forest from taking over the house.
When we started the process of moving we promised Maddie that if she would help out and let us get things done we would reward her with a pool.  Ta-Da (As Maddie would say)!
We got a pretty good deal on this pool.  It hooks into the hose and sprays water under the arch that you can climb through.  It also has a little slide that she can play on.  Best of all she can play right outside the kitchen while I am making dinner.
No, really she isn't spoiled-I swear!
Here is the aforementioned lawn mower.  Thanks Daddy for all the advice on buying a new mower.  Also, thanks to my sweet husband who worked hard all day and endured the commute to come home and mow our lawns.  I swear it was his idea entirely-I told him to relax! 
Maddie is in super imagination mode.  She is always imagining herself and her animals and me into some super cool place.  The last couple of days we have spent all out time at the "beach".  The table cloth is the water and you will notice the goldfish crackers swimming in the water where she can easily fish for a snack.  Kitty really likes fish.  The real challenge has been getting her to take the bathing suit off so she can sleep.