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!

Summer Vacation

Went to Metro Beach today. It's not officially summer - not until next Saturday - but it sure feels like it when you spend all day at the beach digging in the sand.



What is it about kids and sand? They could just dig and dig and dig. We adults sat on a blanket and tried our best to keep any and all sand AWAY from us.

In case any of you were wondering - that's Lake St. Clair in the background. Not a Great Lake - but a pretty good one in my opinion.

Kindergarten Bound

First Day of School 2007 (4yrs. old) Last Day of School 2008 (5yrs. old)

Big changes - although she's wearing the same shoes - she's filling them out more. It makes me cry just looking at this. It's almost too much to bear. What a great year. Can't wait to see what's in store for next year! Well - I can wait a little bit.

Apple of My Eyes

My girls. So cute. So still for just a moment.

Lookie here......

Okay, so I know she is crying. She is tired. It's almost bedtime, and we are clearly making her do something she is SO not in the mood to do - but like a good girl, she does it anyway. What a trooper. And she makes the cutest little crybaby face. Go Paigey Go!!

Sorry about the crazy angle - it corrected itself in the camera., but not here...hmmm... I love Emily sliding into the shot. Then Max. I did take some still pic's, but I think a video is clearly in order here.

It's all about choices

Friday night, while feeding Paige her last bottle of the day, the stress of the next day began to bubble over. The next morning I was getting up at 6:30am to have enough time to get ready for my crazy, busy day. My Aunt T was coming over at 8 to pick up Paige for the morning. Emily had her dress rehearsal at 8:45am - which I was taking her to. I had to be ready to go at 8. I had to make Rice Krispy treats for the Emily's picnic Saturday afternoon. I had to time our leaving the picnic perfectly so that I could make it back to my Aunt's house so that we could go to brunch no later than 1:15pm. Then it hit me.....what about Max? I was leaving the house at 8am, and not planning on returning until the evening. He's pretty good about holding it - but I think it's asking a little much.

Did I mention that I was doing this all by myself? Eric was up north with the men in my family at my Grandpa's cabin. He was due to return around 5pm on Saturday.

Something had to give. So, the picnic got the axe. Emily was initially upset. She got over it. I really think she had never really bonded with any of the kids in her class, so it wasn't a big loss for her. I hope they didn't miss my Rice Krispy treats.

Emily did a great job at her performance. She sang, did all the movements. I was so proud. I was disgusted with all the parents. They kept jumping in front of me during the performance - blocking my view so that they could get yet another picture of their child. Seriously, do you really need more than two or three pictures of your kid singing up on stage? I, myself, took exactly four pictures. This was Emily's last performance at Schoolhouse Montessori, and I wanted to savor it. I did manage to get about forty seconds of video for your audio and visual pleasure....

Once the performance was over, we went home, took out Max, got some stuff for Paige and headed out for my Aunt and Uncle's house. Then the garage door decided to take a crap. I basically had a moment in the garage trying to get the door to go down. I threw chairs and a water can in frustration. I did get it down after my hissy fit - and we were on our way.

We had a lovely brunch at this small little place in Royal Oak - Cafe Muse. We walked around for a bit, then took the scenic route back to my Aunts house. We hung out for awhile - Ryan, Julie and Emerson came up from Kalamazoo, and my Aunt Lindsay was there from Tennessee. It was good getting to spend some casual, non-holiday time with them. They guys returned dirty and tired in the early evening, and after a good scrubbing, we had a lovely BBQ dinner. I love doing stuff like that. Good times.

Today we had a lovely warm and sunny day. Emily played in her pool this afternoon. Paige spent some quality time with her walker. Around 5pm the tornado sirens went off. We headed into the basement. No major damage here. We did have some pretty awesome wind gusts. Our neighbors fence was damaged from the playhouse that slammed into it. They also lost some roof shingles. It was over very quickly. A drop in the bucket compared to a hurricane. Emily was a wreck.

Last three days of school this week. Last two swim lessons. Summer is here.

Hot, Hot, Hot

This is by no means a complaint - but, oh my goodness, it's going to be over ninety degrees here today. I guess Michigan is into extremes this year. Extremely cold winter, which went way too far into Spring. And now, not just a little warm, but REALLY warm. But, I will take it. No problem. I am sure those thousands of people who are headed to downtown Detroit - Red Wings Stanley Cup Parade - are not complaining one bit. Go Red Wings!!

I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning, looking out the window and I noticed this:

The peonies across the way have begun to bloom. They are just so beautiful. I think they are my new favorite flower. I must get some for myself. I must restrain myself from going across our yard and cutting off a few stems....that would be very wrong.

Busy weekend for us. Emily has her End of the Year concert tomorrow morning. Then a picnic. Eric will be missing it since he is up north with my Uncles and Grandpa. He will be home tomorrow afternoon. Paige will also be missing it as well - she is going to be hanging out with my Aunt T so that I don't have to worry about her during the concert. Concerts and ten month olds - well, my ten month old - do not mix.

We also have some "girl" things planned for the later afternoon tomorrow. Don't know how my girls are going to hold up for that - we'll see.

Have a great weekend - and check back here later Saturday for pictures of the performance.

Five for Tuesday

I am telling you - this cute, sweet, adorable, little child of mine is so hard to photograph. I was able to take a few this morning. Even got one of her standing all by herself. Of course, I was fiddling around with the camera at the time, and it was on the wrong setting, so the picture is a little blurry. Oh well, you get the idea. That first picture is of her doing her motorboat. A Paige favorite.






These were Emily's pajamas. Loved them five years ago - love them today.


Happy Tuesday!