Wednesday....it's no Thursday, but it'll do.

Paige on the move outside. She has officially gotten used to the grass. And isn't my Emily just the prettiest girl? She continues to amaze me everyday. Her last day of summer camp is tomorrow. She, the girl who wanted nothing more than the summer to sleep in, watch tv, and just relax, is upset that she only has one day left. I just can't win.....

She is big time into monsters and giants lately. She makes maps of all kids of places where the giants and monsters live. Don't know where she got this - but she is certain that some giants live in the center of Michigan. She loves to look at the local section of the newspaper every morning so that she can see the weather page which contains a map of Michigan and the United States. She lets us know where the giants are that day, what color we are for the day, and looks to see if it's sunny, cloudy or rainy. Our own little meteorologist.



Swim lessons are going quite well this time around. They have combined the two level one classes into one class. They usually have at least three teachers for twelve kids. And this time, the teachers actually make the kids do whatever it is that they are teaching. This week it was two young guys - only nine kids showed up - and they were very cute. A little young for me, but Emily seemed pretty enthralled with them.

Have a lovely day!

Fireworks, Flowers, Tigers and Trouble - OH MY!

It's already past ten p.m. I am so ready for bed. So ready. However, I have not posted in quite a few days. The pictures and stories are starting to pile up. As it is, I have twelve photos ready in raring to go in my "uploads" folder. So, lucky you, I am staying up, posting, for your viewing pleasure.

Last week our niece, Sara, came to visit us. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do many outdoor activities because of the yucky afternoon rain we have been having around here. It feels like Florida - but without the humidity. So, Sara got to see a movie with her Uncle Eric, played a lot of Wii, did some swimming in the indoor community pool, and went shopping at the biggest mall she has ever been to - Sommerset.

We did get a chance to see the superb fireworks display in Mt. Clemens on Friday night - her last night. She went out with a bang. Hahaha.....Hey it's late - you have to cut me some slack.

Emily thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks. She asked about 8,000 questions about them during the show, and on the LONG walk back to the car. I tried my best to answer most of them - and did ask her at one point to save her questions for later and just enjoy the show. Yeah, that lasted for all of ten seconds.

On Sunday, my Mom and I got a chance to go to a Tigers game with the Marcikics. It was my Aunt's 29th birthday - again. Despite the fact that Pudge didn't play, we got rained on and my nachos got VERY soggy, and a bird pooped on my Aunt's finger, we had a great time. Kelly got super fantastic seats - second row - so we were right in the middle of the action. Clete Thomas - my most favorite rookie - was just feet away from me...and of course I left my camera at home...oh well. The Tigers swept the Rockies with a 4-3 win. Eric, Kelly and I are going to a game next Wednesday. So excited for that.

Eric and Emily watching the Tigers nail biter on Saturday night - they won - despite a very CRAZY ninth inning. Aren't they so cute in their hats? Notice the coordination of hat color and shirt/nightgown color.....too much.

Today started out as yet another rainy day, but the afternoon brightened up considerably. I took the opportunity to go and take some pictures of the pretty blooms we have around here.

Paige's first birthday party has been set - July 19th. It's just unbelievable that a year has almost gone by. She is walking better and better everyday. She now stands up almost completely by herself - no longer relying on something to pull her up. She has been getting into trouble right and left. I am thinking there's no way I am going to get away with not getting some kind of gate for the upstairs. At least to use while I am up there. You turn around for one second and she's heading for those stairs.....

Tonight, I was giving Emily a bath. I had just finished giving Paige her bath, and she was all cute and smelling so clean in my favorite pear pajamas. Paige was with us in the room, playing with bath toys on the rug. I reached up to hang a bath towel on the hook, and BAM!!!! Paige dives head first into the tub. Umm....haven't you already had a bath? She was so surprised - as was I. She was fine - just a little soggy. TROUBLE - cute, adorable, squeezable TROUBLE. And, I had to change her pj's.

That's all for now - I am going to bed. Have a wonderful day/evening...........

Eleven Months

It's just amazing how time seems to go by. Nine whole months of pregnancy seem to go so very slowly. And then you have this perfect, little baby, and time seems to speed up. Obviously, that cute little baby takes up a lot more of your time outside your belly than inside....but, wow, eleven months have already gone by?

Paige is a bundle of energy. She is also a very determined little girl. She decided that she was going to walk, she took a few steps, and then she was off. There was no slow progression what-so-ever. She still has to rely on furniture, walls, people to help her to stand...I guess she doesn't want to "waste" time trying to figure that out - she has to GO. Her new game is finding something that she's not supposed to have, and then running away from you with it in her hand. She giggles the whole time. It's just about the cutest thing you have ever seen.

She has no problem finding trouble. She loves to open all the cabinets in the kitchen. I haven't had time to go and get some cabinet locks, and Eric hasn't had a moment to install the ones we already have. So, we have been improvising. We have been using the rubber bands that you get when you buy a head of broccoli. They work great - and they are free - if you don't count the fact that you have to buy broccoli to get them. So far, we only have two...I guess we'll have to start eating more broccoli!

Paige is also very chatty. She's saying a few words here and there. She said "shoe" the other day. She also says "poo-poo". Lovely. Mostly, she just makes a lot of sounds. Its' adorable.

Her favorite thing to play with is still her books. She loves to pull them off the bookshelf and just sit and look at them all. She's okay with me reading them to her - as long as it's a short book - but mostly, she wants to do it herself. She also loves anything that belongs to Emily. This does not make Emily very happy - so we play with her stuff while Emily is not home. Shhhhh! Don't tell.

She has grown and changed so much in the last eleven months - it's shocking. Not that I didn't think she would, but it's always surprising to me when it happens.

Oh, and the little gash on her right eye? She fell in Emily's room next to the nightstand. Ouch.

In case any of you are wondering - that dress belonged to Emily. She wore it for her first birthday.

First Week of Summer

And I cannot believe it's already over.

We have been doing our regular routine due to Emily being in Summer Camp in the mornings from 8am until 11:30am. She is having a great time. Last week was all about camping. They pitched a tent, made s'mores, learned about campfire safety, and even made their own telescope....not really sure what that has to do with camping, but it was cute.

On Friday, we ventured out west to Northville and Plymouth. I grew up there, and most of my Mom's old friends still live there. We met them at the most adorable park in Plymouth. It had an awesome squirt zone, sand pit and playground - which we never made it to....We picnicked, played, and had a great time. Emily made some wonderful new friends, and I got to catch up with some old ones - my old pal, Erika, who I have known since I was probably a baby. I feel like such a ditz, because I was having such a good time, and a little pre-occupied by a VERY mobile Paige, that I didn't really get any pictures. Just one of Emily on the top of a statue in the sand pit. Oh well. Here's one of Erika and I on our first day on Kindergarten. And one of Emily up on that statue.

Paige is going to be eleven months old on Tuesday. She is really doing well with the walking thing. She barely looks like a drunken sailor. She walks, falls, and gets up again - crawling is SO two weeks ago. She even got another new pair of shoes. Her other ones were so big on her that they kept falling off. So, I took them back to Stride Rite and got a pair that was only a wide, not an extra wide. Much better. She had a very fun visit with her cousin Emerson today. I would have pictures of that, but I was too busy holding her - so Ryan and Julie....if any turned out, could you email me some please??

So begins another busy week - our niece Sara is here - see previous post, another week of Summer Camp, and swim lessons resume. And, I am getting ready for Paige's first birthday party next month. If I don't watch out, summer will be over before I know it.

Have a Super Duper week.

BLAST OFF!!!

This weekend we have my niece Sara visiting us from Montgomery, Alabama. Today after lunch we all went to the park to launch Emily's new rocket for the first time. I decided that model rocketry would be a fun thing for us to try this summer, so I bought a big 2-foot tall rocket and surprised Emily with it. She said she wanted it pink, so I built the kit and painted it hot fluorescent pink. I designed a custom graphics package with her name on it and a picture of her face in the capsule window. I think it came out great and Emily was wery pleased with the result. I set the rocket up in the middle of a soccer field and gave Emily the controls. She did the countdown and pressed the launch button. She was a bit surprised with how suddenly the rocket left the launch pad. It quickly soared up into the sky, and a few seconds after it ran out of thrust the parachute popped out and the rocket started to return to Earth. The wind caught the parachute and it started to drift Eastward. I wanted to see if I could catch it as it came down, so I ran like an outfielder chasing a fly ball and got there just in time to grab it. Yer out! Since I had three rocket engines we decided to launch it twice more. Sara did the second launch and both girls did the third one together. All three launches were picture perfect, and the little Emily in the capsule made it back alive. It has been about 20 years since I launched a model rocket. I think it's more fun now and I would recommend the hobby. All photos are by Allison (with help from Paige).

Emily's rocket on the launch pad.

Clear the area! Emily begins the countdown.

BLAST OFF!!!

Emily recovers her rocket after launch.

Taking Off.....

I know it's a little blurry, but this is Miss Paige this morning. She has really taken off over the weekend. She now walks clear across the family room all by herself. We could not be more proud. So, you know what this means:


NEW SHOES!! We paid a visit to Stride Rite today for Paige's first pair of walking shoes. They has the cutest little sandals in bright colors, on sale, no less- just perfect for summer....but alas, Paige has an extra wide foot, and the only shoes that worked were the full price ones you see here. At least they are kind of sandals. She wasn't too crazy about them at first, but warmed up quickly, and decided that keeping them on her feet wasn't so bad. Walking in them is a whole different story. It will take some practice, and I am sure she'll get the hang of it in no time.




So, I haven't killed it yet - this is what my hydrangea looked like this morning. I almost want to cut it and bring it inside, but it looks so pretty out there.


Eric had a wonderful Father's Day. He got a new baseball game for the Wii from the girls, and a lovely card, handmade, from Emily. We had my Grandfather and Grandmother over - as well as my Aunt and Uncle. My Mom made a super yummy dinner - marinated chicken on the grill, warm German potato salad, fresh green beans, cucumber salad and fresh strawberry pie. There wasn't much left over, so I guess everyone else liked it too!

Happy Friday

TGIF everyone!

Thought I would share the teacher gifts that I made for Emily's teachers. The first one is a bag full of gummy bears with a topper that I made. We are completely addicted to these bears, that so far, I have only seen at our fruit market - Nino Salvaggios. They are even better than those bears we used to get from Costco and devour at Adventure Travels - way better. And they are so colorful - 17 different colors in all. Eric counted them one night. Seriously, we do have a life......

The second thing is a small composition book that I bought at Archivers. I decorated the front with the new, way cool paper from October Afternoon. Although the apples are a little cliche, I thought they were appropriate and VERY cute. Emily signed the back of the book, and dated it. I hope they liked it. When I picked her up from school, her teacher was very sad. Red eyes, Kleenex and everything. Made me cry too.

These are a couple of Paige from the last few days. She is really working on the whole walking thing. I may have to go out this weekend and get her some shoes. I know that you are supposed to wait, but she wants to walk around outside, and she needs something to protect her little feet.

Emily in our next door neighbors pool - complete with new goggles. She completed her swim class yesterday, and we signed her up for another nine classes starting in two weeks.

Have a great Friday everyone!