{paige is officially a TWO wheeler}

I cannot believe how quickly she did it...but she did it. She still needs to work on her steering, and starting off by herself, but I have no doubt she'll be doing that in short order. Even Eric said how her stubborn-ness really worked to her advantage. She was bound and determined to do it, and she did. Go Paigey! Go!!

Paige learns to ride a bike! from Allison Gottlieb on Vimeo.

{last day of school 2013}

Today was the last day of school. Last of of Kindergarten for Miss Paige.
Last day of Fourth grade for Miss Emily. I thought I would take you back in time to the first day of school for both girls - we'll start with Paige first. If you recall, she missed the actual first day of school because she had an allergic reaction from antibiotics. She was covered in spots. So, her first day was everyone else's second day.

And here she is today. I can hardly believe how much of her baby-ness is all gone. And behold, the pose. I am so proud of all that she has accomplished. She can tie her shoes all by herself, write full sentences with some awesomely great handwriting, READ well above her grade level, act (kindof) in a school play, make lots and lots of friends, and just grow up enough that it's slightly painful, but also enough that it's exciting too see the person that she's becoming. Introducing my new first grader!

Emily started off her school year with no rash or drama. And that's pretty much the way she ended it as well. Here's Emily in September:

And here's Emily this morning:

She's definitely gotten taller. And she's gotten much more outgoing than I ever thought she would be. She was a class representative in her student council this year. She had a singing duet in the school play - the mere fact that she even stood up on stage and sang a song for the audition was AMAZING to me. She decided that math and science were NOT her favorite subjects in school - although she still did well. She reads more books than I can believe. She is learning that growing up is HARD. But, I think she is doing a beautiful job of it. I am so proud to say that Emily is my daughter.

 

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! WOOO HOOOO!!

Paige had a Kindergarten Completion ceremony at school this morning. They sang a few songs.
(Paige is kinda behind the plant)

And they were all introduced by their respective teachers - telling us what they wanted to be when they grow up. Paige said she wants to be a veterinarian. Most of the girls said teacher, but a few said things like: donut maker and princess. It seemed like all the boys said police officer. My favorite boy occupation was a K-Mart worker. AWESOME!

Paige with Mr. Rose (the Principal) and Ms. Batko (asst. Principal). Mr. Rose was telling Eric how awesome he was that he could take a picture with a drink and donut in one hand, and a camera in the other. Apparently, not so awesome that he can look at the picture he just took and say. "Let's take another one with all our mouths closed..."

Paige enjoying her donut.

 

And of course, Paige with her AWESOME teacher, Mrs. Hollinsky. Mrs. Hollinsky was Emily's Kindy teacher as well. And, boy are we going to miss her next year. Of course, she'll be at school still, but it's not the same.....sniff, sniff.

 

Good-bye Kindergarten, Good-bye Fourth Grade. And oh my goodness....next year is Emily's last year in Elementary school......let's not even go there.

Yea SUMMER!

{wednesday cutie}

Yay! Spring is FINALLY here!!!

{2012}

Since we're going back in time, I thought I would show my 2012 video. It's a little on the long side, but a lot of these pics didn't make it into the blog last year, so enjoy!
2012 - a year in pictures from Allison Gottlieb on Vimeo.

{february 2013}

And now moving on to February 2013. Above is Decades Day at school. Emily was obviously 50's, and Paige was....I guess 80's. Feathers, a scrunchie, neon colors, leggings.....i guess that's 80's. It was nice to get some more use out of Emily's Halloween costume!

 Max. In need of a haircut. But truly, I love him like this. He looks like a mini English sheep dog!

Emily has been on a movie making kick lately. This one is all about her stuffed dogs.

Paige working the camera.

Paige was verrrry proud of this tower she built with her blocks. It took a lot of tries to get it that high. A lot of tears too.

Still trying to figure out where those brown eyes came from........but they sure are pretty.

 Daddy still wore a tie in February.

Science night at Emily's school. She made a flying paper thingy - top right hand side of the picture.

Making valentines. This year was blow-pops with home-made valentine tags. Easy to make, and very cute.

Saturday morning breakfast.

The 100th day of school.

Valentines day.

Crazy Paige.

{january}

 It's been awhile since I have done any regular posting here. I am going to try and post a little more regularly. Starting with today. I thought I would go all the way back to January of this year and just post a few of my favorites that haven't been posted yet. First up is Eric's 42 birthday. We celebrated with a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. YUM.

 There was a lot of this during January. Foggy. Cold. Slushy. Snowy.

We took the girls to the Detroit Auto Show. Us and the rest of the state of Michigan. It was CRAZY crowded. Too crowded to really enjoy it.

 It was career day at school Both my girls decided to be professional softball players. Paige is wearing Emily's softball uniform from 2 years ago. It's not even all that big on her.....

and that's the end of January. More catching up tomorrow.

{40}

Forty things about ME on my fortieth birthday!

1. I still remember way back when I was a freshman in high school, telling my then boyfriend, George, that the person I was right then at that moment, is the same person I will be when I am 40.

2. I was kinda wrong. But kinda right too.

3. I am still a rule follower.

4. I still hate geometry.

5. I am still a very liberal-minded person.

6. I am still creative - but not in the way that I was back then.

7. I am not nearly as naive as I was then. But I think most of us can say that.

8. In fact, it's been so long since I was that person, I don't even remember if we are all that similar.

9. So, I'm thinking....the memory is not nearly as good as it was WAY back then.

10. But at that point, I only had 14 years under my belt......

11. So, maybe the memory isn't all that bad. At least I still remember that I said that....

12. Moving on.....

13. And yes, I just used a transition as one of my numbers.

14. My favorite color right now is turquoise.

15. There is not a lot better in life than a really good book.

16. Or listening to your kids laugh.

17. Or a really perfectly prepared piece of steak.

18. If my hair looks good, it puts me in a good mood.

19. If my hair looks bad, i try not to look at my reflection too much.

20. I'm probably the least vain person you know.

21. Hearing the word CARBS is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

22. The best part about Winter is getting to wear crazy socks.

23. The best part about summer....is EVERYTHING.

24. My favorite cake is.....cake.

25. In fact, I once heard a story about a family who didn't speak to each other because someone didn't tell someone else that they were picking up the cake for a family member's birthday....and therefore there were TWO cakes. And I'm just not really seeing the problem with that...are you?

26. I miss my Grandma Clara everyday.

27. I take WAY too many pictures.

28. If I won a million dollars, I would not sell my house.

30. But I would buy myself a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland.

31. Is it crazy that if I could go on vacation right now, I would go to DisneyWorld, even though i've been there 1,000,000 times?

32. At one point in my life, I had Michael Bolton and Kenny G in my CD rotation.

33. I can only admit that because I'm pretty sure I had Metallica and Van Halen in the same rotation.

34. I would rather buy clothes for my kids than myself.

35. I can't draw, but I have awesome handwriting.

36. I throw away a lot of my kids artwork. If i didn't, we'd have to get a bigger house or a storage unit. Don't tell them, okay?

37.  I'm totally addicted to baseball. I can't WAIT for the season to start.

38. I haven't scrapbooked in a really long time. I miss it it, but for some reason i just can't get back into it. But I will....

39. It took me about 30 tries to get the above picture of myself.

40. I have looked forward to turning 40  - because it seems like being 40 is FUN. I'll keep u posted!

Happy Birthday to me!