Build and Grow

Here is Madison with Sylvana.  I think that's her name, anyway.  This young lady has been the one Madison meets each time we go to Lowe's to do a project.  She knows Madison by name, and Madison always runs up to her to say "hi," or occasionally give her a hug.  Over the past year, we haven't missed a building project at Lowe's, and each time she's been there, making a comment about Madison never missing one of these appointments.  Today was Sylvana's last time with the Build and Grow program, as she's leaving her job here to go do something else.  Madison said she would miss her, and was her typical sweet self.  As you can see above, today's project was a fire truck, which was actually one of the more complicated projects - it had about ten steps or so, before all the stickers.  But Madison does better and better with these things each time she tries them.  She found the right-sized nails, plugged them in the right holes, lined up the right parts, and hammered it all together mostly by herself.  Daddy was there more as an advisor, but Madison was doing pretty well on her own.  And having finished once more, she got her patch from Sylvana for the last time, another addition to the apron she wears.  That thing is nearly full!

So today was all about work and setting up for tomorrow.  We're filming things and editing and putting together the audio and sound.  And doing a lot of cleaning up as well.  Madison came to work with Daddy, along with Mommy as well. We spent a lot of energy getting things straightened up at KidPak today, largely a clean-up sort of day.  And there's so much more to do.  Next week is going to be tremendous, as we set up for a new series and get ready to dispose of the old one.

Madison played with some friends in the recreation room today, running around and screaming a bit.  Plus, there was a bit of using the iPad, and a bit of using the Kindle, and a bit of watching movies.  October is just around the corner, and just in time, Madison is watching a series that has been out a while, "Monster High."


How do we describe this?  It's sort of like Lisa Frank meets Bratz meets "The Munsters."  At high school.  Daddy commented on how long one of the movies was, and Madison's response was, "Still, I liked it."  Okay then, so this is here to stay for a bit.  "Monster High" has been around a few years, but of course it is something we haven't gotten into yet, but as it is nearly October, we'll probably cycle through a few episodes.  I think this was all spawned by some recent happy meal toys with the "Monster High" theme.  Madison actually got two in one box recently, two bracelets with the logo on it.  She also has something from last week, so she's starting a small collection.  Anyway, that's the theme going on there - she doesn't have a favorite character yet, but we'll keep you updated!

Okay, back to work.  Tomorrow's going to be a big day!