Madeline=beautician

Madeline finally did it....she gave herself a haircut. Luckily it was only the bangs so I was able to salvage most of them.....

Holy Ikea......

Chris celebrated his birthday this month with a birthday dinner at his favorite restaurant, Ted's Montana Grill. Although Madeline was terrified of the mac & cheese, we had a great time.



Chris decided that for his birthday, he wanted to drive to Charlotte to check out Ikea. We knew they had cool furniture, and he found a chair online that he wanted to look at. So we loaded up the 'Calibré' and set out to experience the icon that is......
All I can say is WOW. We had no idea the treat we were in for. We walked in to discover that they offer 1 hour of free child care. Madeline was up for it and spent the time climbing the rock wall and drawing. This left us in a sprint to experience all we could in an hour. If you have never been to Ikea, think about checking it out. They have EVERYTHING and the best thing (besides how cool the stuff is), is that it is cheap (as in inexpensive.....).

Out friend, who introduced us to Ikea told us to have some meatballs for him. We thought he was just making a joke since Ikea is a Swedish company. But no, he was referring to the meatballs you can get in the cafe. Again...WOW is all I can say. Meatballs in cream sauce, mashed potatoes and Lingonberry sauce- yum-o!!!


And this for dessert...an almond cake!!!

So after 2 1/2 hours (and that is a sprint through the store) and full bellies, Chris decided on the ever popular POÄNG chair and footstool.

Compliments my new red couch, don's ya think????

Roller Skating

We took Madeline roller skating at Jellybeans for the first time. She was a natural and was skating on her own within about 10 minutes. Chris and I had a great time, too. Brought back lots of memories on hanging out at the roller rink when I was a teenager. Maybe Chris and I can go on a date and skate during 'couples skate.'

Here is Madeline and Mommy making silly faces.




Starting to skate on her own....
She's going now. Once she figured out the balance part of it, she did a great job!
She loved skating and we are going to make Saturday morning skating a regular Joyce family activity.

Adventures of Madeline

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so just wanted to post a few pictures of our summer adventures.

We went to see fireworks for the 4th of July in Rolesville. We had a great time with the Myers' clan and Miss Cé Cé.

Here is Madeline making spooky faces in the flashlight


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Madeline recently began taking a dance class at one of the local gymnasiums. She is learning tap, ballet and basic gymnastics. Here are some pictures of her classes (sorry for the blur...taking from behind the glass windows...no parents allowed!!!).





We have put the final touches on Madeline's princess room. While visiting Grammy this past weekend, we we able to put up the castle mural. She was so surprised when she came home.

We tell her that her room is her castle. She informed us that her room is at the top of the tallest tower and Mommy and Daddy's room is the tower on the far right. Ginger, being the Royal Cat gets the full run of the place.

Big Girl Bed

Madeline has upgraded to a big girl bed. We found this awesome picket fence bed frame on Craigslist (LOVE me some CL...) and after many frustrating hours of mattress shopping, her bed is finally complete. Tonight is her first night sleeping in it, so we'll see if it ends the couch and guest bedroom sleeping! We'll be painting soon, so we'll have more pictures of her room soon.

Swimming Lessons

Here is Madeline sporting her swim suit getting ready for her first day of swim lessons. She did such a great job and we look forward to taking her to the pool this summer.


Here she is perfecting her kick with Daddy's help.
Next was jumping off the side of the pool. She was a little unsure at first, but after the first plunge, she wanted to keep jumping in.

Swimming with the kick board.
The last day they practiced pushing off of their parents and reaching for the side, and then going back to their parents.

Her reward was a new princess bathing suit and floaties. Watch for her in a pool near you this summer!

Fun Times

We have had some great times these past couple of weekends. Had a great day with the Myer's at Pullen Park, picked strawberries, went to a wedding, the beach and visited family in New Bern.

Here are some pictures of our adventures. Tonight we start swimming lessons. Stay tuned to hear about that!!

May 30th was Kate and Robin's wedding. I work with Kate at the Farm Bureau. The wedding was in Wilmington, so that gave us an excuse to go away for the weekend. Here is a picture of us at the reception.
Lucky for us Kate understands the need to have entertainment for the little one's. They had coloring book and crayons and other activities for the kids. Here is Chris and Madeline decorating a drink koozie....or Daddy....

After the wedding we headed to New Bern, and stopped at Surf City on the way. Madeline has never been a real fan of the beach, and she really does not like the ocean (the sounds of it freaks her out). She finally ventured to the sand. Our beach trip was short lived, however. I finally got her to the water and when the water came about mid-calf on her she fell down. That was the end of the beach for her!

My cousin Sherri and her husband David who live in New Bern have this beautiful pond in their back yard. Madeline loves to feed the fish.
Saturday of Memorial weekend we headed to Pullen Park with the Myers Family. This was the first time we had been there. What a great park, complete with playgrounds, a train and a carousel.
Here is Madeline blowing bubbles.

Madeline on the carousel.
Daddy on his horse. This ride is actually moves pretty fast....hold on!Madeline and Chloe blasting off.
Madeline on the train. What great rides they have a Pullen Park and for $1, you can't beat it!

Chris had to work on Memorial Day (Yes, Wake County school were open...how un-American can you be???). Madeline and I had a girls day out. We went to the mall, shopped and drive the ice cream truck!We have a strawberry patch about a mile from our house, so we have made it a tradition to go and pick some.

And the best part is that they don't mind if you test eat the merchandise!