First of all, Madison made the Belton Middle School Swim team!
YAY!
She’s been swimming with a local club here, Swim Belton,
for just over a year now and has been
competitive swimming
for them for about three months.
She will begin swimming with the Middle School team
next year when she enters 7th grade.
Way to go Madi!
Madison was also voted “6th grade Funniest Girl”
by her fellow 6th graders at Belton Middle School.
How awesome is that? Our girl is funny!
We,of course, knew she had a great sense of humor, but now she has a year book
picture and an award to prove it!
So, it's official, I live with two comedians. Boy, did I luck out!
Then Madi attended her first ever school dance, a Valentine's dance
for Choir members.
Jack and I had a hard time with this one.
It's really hard for us to watch our little girl grow up!
It's hard to stand back while she does more independent things.
Since this was Madi’s first dance, Jack and I decided to chaperon.
Ok-ok, really, we chaperoned
because we needed peace of mind and
because we are so not ready for this!
I took a few pictures during the dance,
but not too many.
I didn't want to embarrass Madi
or her friends
by having the camera in their face all night.
Besides, nobody likes photographic evidence of themselves doin' the stanky leg!
~ Here's Madi after the dance, just before we took her to a friends to spend the night.
A week after the first dance, Madison went to a second Valentine's dance.
This one was for the whole middle school .
Jack and I were still recuperating from the dance just a week before
and did not volunteer to chaperon this one.
I was able to get Madi to sit still long enough to get a few pictures of her,
looking beautiful, just before she left the house.
~Pretty in Pink...again
For Madi, so far, the month of February has been a good one.
But, it’s not over yet and it's only going to get better
because in just five days
she will be celebrating her 12th Birthday!
Yes, our "funny girl" will be 12 years old!
Wow and Yikes!
Did i mention we're not ready for this???
Ugh!
Anyway, big things are happening for her 12th birthday!
She’s going to have tons of fun
and a few pretty cool surprises!
I’ll write all about it after her birthday
– Feb. 23.
So, I think that catches us up on Madi's exciting month of love!
Now, I want to share a few pictures from our very busy, very enjoyable Valentine's Day weekend.
Madi (her again!) got some Valentine's Goodies... 
~ Madi is a scrapbookaholic, so she's always happy to get scrapbooking pages and embellishments!
~Bella being super lazy and goofy as usual
~Cassie plotting the next kong fu move to use on Tex or Bella,
whoever gets close to her first, as usual.
We spend most of our extra time in the kitchen baking lots of yummy and fattening stuff.
Jack baked bread...
Not such a great picture of it, but Jack was yelling at me not to take pictures of it because it had "too much flour on the top!"
He thought it didn't look appealing because of the floor. But, I thought it looked
awesome and so I managed to
get a quick picture to share because I'm super proud of him
and his mad bread making skills!
He may delete the picture and this whole paragraph when he proof reads my work later,
but hopefully not.
This particular loaf of bread is called "no kneed bread" and to my surprise it was very tasty. We've had it with dinner a few nights this week even though we don't usually have bread with our meals. We've also had it for breakfast with a poached egg atop. Another surprisingly good creation!
Madi and I baked sugar cookies...
~she was in heaven with all those cookies laid out before her!!
~the first decorated cookie
~ Madi did most of the decorating and they turned out beautiful!
*I'm not a fan of Sugar Cookies usually, but I tried an Alton Brown (Jack's culinary hero) recipe and I have to say they are amazing! Soft, thick and very tasty. The reason I don't like sugar cookies is because they are (from what I have experienced) thin, hard (almost stale like) with little flavor - these are exactly NOT that! I'll share the recipe to them here in the next day or so. It's worth making them from scratch!
Not really, this is my friend Diane and her beautiful family and
They were kind enough to pose for a family photo for me!
Thanks y'all!
In he back is Diane and her husband Lawrence and in the front, from left to right:
Cejay, Jordan, Jetta & C'airah.
Cute family, huh?! It really made my day to run into them.
Lookin' good, Ryans, lookin' good!
After Dinner, we headed to my parents to have cake, ice cream, tears and music!
We subjected Madison to this face sucking after dinner nearly ruining her desire for birthday cake. Nearly!
Grandma's 78th er, 86th birthday (she kept saying she was turning 78 but really, she turned 86) but I still say she doesn't look a day over 75!
My grandmother has only been to Texas one other time in her life. She has lived and celebrated nearly all of her birthdays in Savannah, GA. So, for her to be here with us, in Texas, celebrating her 86th Birthday is pretty special.
A five generation of girls picture featuring
my Mom, Madison, Me and my grandma, Mrs. Ollie Rowe.
Another five generation picture, but, Jason isn't a girl...just thought I'd clarify!
Mom, Jason (cheesy man), Virginia, and Grandma
The fam-damily!
Thanks to about 347 tries with the auto-capture function on the camera.
Me, Madi, Jack, Jason, Mom, Dad, Grandma and Virginia.
Does this guy look like he should be eating cake? Nice shirt, Barney!
(OK, Jack inserted this - he obviously doesn't like the picture. I love it! It's so Jack ~ funny, goofy and handsome!)
Leo, never one to pass up the sweet stuff, either.
Grandma, showing off the necklace we got her, is ready for the festivities to commence.
Madi reads her card...
An emotional Mother-Daughter kiss...
And as the evening draws to a close, Grandma is serenaded by the sweet and very strong sounds of Jason's magical trumpet! What a party!
