A Strange New World

Art

2012-01-25T21:18:00.002-05:00

Megan proclaimed to me today - "I love art!"
Then she showed me her latest masterpieces....

This is her portrait of ME...

She is also trying to learn to draw mermaids. I'm not sure where that desire came from but I thought her first attempt ended with a great mermaid, octopus, and baby mermaid (in the octopuses arms)...

I love that little artist!

Mall of America

2012-01-18T09:34:00.001-05:00

One of our favorite outings when we are in the Twin Cities involves a trip to the Mall of America... not to shop - but to RIDE!
WHY???? you might ask?

Need I say more?
Or is that look of pure joy enough?
It is for me!!!

This trip, Megan hit a growth marker and she was able to ride some rides she's never been on before. Like a spin on the bumper cars with dear ole dad!

Nicole did a lot of watching with Uncle Tony - but she was cool with that.

And Nicole did get to experience the joy of the rides too...

Nicole was even tall enough to take a family trip on the log ride!

Uuummmmmmm.....
Perhaps that wasn't the best idea...
Let's just say that by the looks on their faces, we will not be recieving our notice for "parent of the year"

I will say it was a little too "big" for Nicole. But Megan has that look of utter fear not because she's scared of the ride - she'd already been on it and on several roller coaster - but the log ride has 2 drops. And on the first drop (the little drop), Megan got soaked... I mean I had to take her clothes off and wring them out in the sink kind of soaked. So she was terrified that she was going to get swamped with another big wave.

But once we got off, got a little dried off - all was well in the world again.

She was so good in fact, that she grabbed her dad (he had the unlimited ride armband) and they ended up riding the Orange Streak roller coaster 6-7 times. (They are in the middle - look for Tom's white shirt).

And then to end the day, she decided to take on the kiddie bumper cars on her own.

So fun!

I have a feeling we'll back this summer..... And then we'll all end up with arm bands I'm sure.

Minnesota Christmas 2011

2012-01-17T21:01:00.000-05:00

Finally - some highlights from our family trip to MN for Christmas.

This was Nicole's 1st trip as a paying customer... which means it was her first flight with her own seat - that she HAD to stay in. Let's just say I was a little worried... but she was a great traveler!

Megan has always been a wonderful traveler - and this year she had a Leappad to keep her occupied. That was the BEST Christmas present!

We had to make sure we had our traditional trip to Pamida for a ride on the snowmobile.

There was NO snow when we got there so this was as close to a snowmobile as she got.

While we were there we did get a little bit of snow.

We got some snowfall right before we headed to Tom's Uncle David and Auntie Mary's house. It was perfect - and once there the girls got to fill up the deer feeder (with a little help from Austin and Brooke).

And then we played in the snow...

And then... as the sun went down, we headed in to warm up and watch the deer come claim their yummy treats!

Nicole was so interested in watching them. First she grabbed Uncle Dan for a view. then she moved on to get a closer look with Uncle David...

And Auntie Mary...

It's not a great picture - but thanks Auntie Mary and Uncle David for a fun day!

Back at Grandma and Papa's we continued on with our tradition of making cookies...

Megan took on the role of "puzzle queen"...

Then we headed to the twin cities for some time with Tom's cousin Tony and Dawn. Oh the girls were in heaven.
Nicole made sure she and Bear had plenty of tea parties...

This is a little taste of our 10 days away..... I wish I could post more but then we'd be stuck on Christmas for another month. :^) BUT.... our trip to Mall of America will have it's own post!

What you didn't know about the Christmas story...

2012-01-17T20:31:00.004-05:00

You all might THINK you know how it all went down in Bethleham on that first Christmas... but Nicole might throw a little twist into your thinking!

Really - riding the donkey? Or perhaps did Cinderella lend them all the carriage for such an amazing night?

And evidently...

The wisemen were awesome babysitters! Once again, who knew????

But I will say... no matter how - the why is what matters!
What makes a mommy's heart explode with joy?
Seeing her sweet girls have a moment to merely think about what it would be like to be a heavenly host peering down at a baby who's sent to save the world...

I've had a hard time getting caught up on the blog with the world going on around us. But I'm hoping to finish up an abreviated Christmas and then get into real time.

First Haircuts

2012-01-07T22:12:00.002-05:00

After a look back at Christmas (and we aren't done yet with all that), here is a peek at the present! Today we headed out for haircuts. I know it may be hard to believe but with Megan's 5th birthday only 2 months away... she's never had a haircut. I just haven't been able to bring myself to cut those amazing curls. But, it was time to get a trim and keep it healthy and beautiful looking. And since we were all going, we figured we'd get Nicoles trimed up a bit as well. Here are some before shots...

What you can't really tell (due to all the curls) is that if you stretched those curls out, Megan's hair would go all the way to the top of her bottom. wow.

Once we got there, Nicole just was not happy about it...

I was amazed that not only did all of Megan's curls survive... but her hair curled up all the more. And it feels so good and looks amazing!

And I have my little keepsakes from their first haircuts!

Christmas Celebrations

2012-01-07T12:25:00.000-05:00

We always love an occasion to gather with our families! And my girls LOVE their cousins! And Grandma and Granddad love those grandkids.

A few days before Christmas we were able to celebrate with my entire side of the family (from Ga, AL, and TN)

And then there was Christmas eve! Megan made sure Santa had cookies and milk, and the reindeer had food (that they made at school)...

Christmas morning, Megan was beside herself waiting for Nicole to wake up. Finally that sleepy girl woke up and the girls ran to see if Santa had come.

The girls gave both Tom and I bicycle helmets so that we could head out for some family rides!

One of Megan's favorite presents was one that was special to my heart (since I made it)... That girl loves to learn, draw, and write - so I made her a special "writers toolbox" - filled with different writing tablets, pens, pencils, her own pencil sharpener, a few stamps and stamp pads, sticky pads, etc... She couldn't even wait till after breakfast to get it out and start writing.

Nicole was happy with her pony!

We had a great Christmas celebration and spent the day enjoying each other, visiting with my family again, and celebrating the joy that only comes from knowing that this special day is Holy... As our pastor reminded us - this day is so special and set apart because we are reminded that God loved us so much that He sent his son (John 3:16). Although it's belated now.... Merry Christmas!

Playset

2012-01-07T00:11:00.000-05:00

Santa came a little early this year.... Or I should say, he sent his helper elf on a very rainy day..... But in spite of the rain moving in early, Megan and Nicole were estatic about their new playset!!!!

You can't really tell from the photo's that the set is wet and it's drizzling outside. But once it was up, Megan was soooooo exicited that I couldn't keep her off it. We are all super excited to have so much fun ready for us in our backyard!

Pre-Christmas 2011

2012-01-06T21:37:00.003-05:00

Somehow December is gone and January is here... I'm going to try to get some late posts up of how our 2011 ended and all of our holiday celebrations documented.

The week before Christmas, we had a lot going on. Megan had several holiday parties and they were fun for all of us! Nicole enjoyed being able to go to her school pajama party.

We love Megan's teachers - Ms. Julie and Ms. Kathy

Later that day we headed to Megan's dance class party. It was also a PJ party and the girls put on a little tap routine for the parents...

It was so sweet to watch our little girls as they watched a class of bigger girls perform a little Christmas dance for them...

A few days later, Megan got to go to Nicole's end of the year gymnastics class. She loved getting to show off her budding skills to her little sister.

Nicole thought her big sister was pretty cool!

One of the best parts of the class for Megan was that she got to play with her classmate Sydney.... Sydney's little brother is also in Nicole's class. So that made the parachute even more fun for everyone!

So much fun was had by all.... hopefully I'll get some more posts on here to get caught up!

Christmas Concert

2011-12-14T16:50:00.003-05:00

Last night megan shined in all her reindeer glory as she sang her heart out at her pre-k Christmas concert.

We had a great time cheering her on... and got a little teary eyed to think that next year she'll be in Kindergarten and we won't have these fun little concerts.
Megan and Nicole LOVED getting to hang with their cousins.

And Nicole said... no worries - she'll be on stage next year!

Cookies and Santa

2011-12-12T22:30:00.004-05:00

Christmas celebrations are in full swing around here. Nicole got to meet up with some friends for her first real cookie decorating party... and she actually got to decorate a cookie this year. Last year she wasn't walking so she just played. Its strange to think back to that and realize how much our baby has grown in a year.

I dont think she actually ate the cookie... but the icing and decorations kept her busy and happy!

We also had Breakfast with Santa at Megan's preschool.

Megan had a great time seeing Santa with all her friends. Nicole... she likes saying "Ho, ho, ho!" but that's about all the santa she wants.

Bear with me as I work to figure out all the little details to get blogs up and not use too much space.

valblaisdell's photostream

2011-12-07T21:12:00.001-05:00

valblaisdell's photostream on Flickr.

Hard to believe my baby hit's 25 the 25 month mark today. We had a fun family photo shoot a few weeks back - here are mommy's after shoot shots.

Why no posts?

2011-12-06T09:20:00.002-05:00

I know our family in MN is wondering... why no posts?
I promise I'm working on it.....
Unfortunately I've maxed out my free space on blogspot so I'm trying to decide what to do... more to another site, pay for extra space, etc....
As soon as I get that figured out, I'll be able to post some more stuff

2 Year Stats

2011-11-30T21:36:00.004-05:00

A quick little mommy update on Nicole's 2 year old stats (since this is my baby book)....

Nicole weighed in at 34 lbs (97%) and was 35 1/2 inches tall (90%).

She is a healthy growing girl! When the nurse came to get us he asked, "now is she 2 or 3?" I get that a lot.

Just to give myself an idea of her growth... at this age, Megan was 29 lbs and 34 1/2 inches (75% in both).

Nicole was in 2T clothes for about 2 weeks... just long enough for me to wash and hang it up. And now she's consistantly wearing 3T clothes.

I'll try to get a post with pictures up soon!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T23:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with knowledge of all the blessings that our gracious God has bestowed upon us and in our lives. We spent the day with our wonderful extended family at my cousins house in Alabama. Here are a few of those sweet blessings...

It's so odd to not be at the kids table anymore... but it was definitely a full table!

My cousins and I had a little glimpse of our own childhoods as we watched our children play games (indoor and out) - just like we would do together. It was so sweet and fun to see.

Once we got back home, the kids were sacked out..... and slowly I started to take down our Thanksgiving decorations. The one thing I just can't bring myself to take down yet is our Thanksgiving Tree. We have had so many laughs, smiles and discussions about the things and people that we are thankful for.

The girls had such a good time with this tradition - I think they'll have a bit of withdrawal when they realize it's not on the table anymore. We would pull out our leaves and markers and Nicole would start yelling, "I tankful! I tankful!" She loved telling me something she was thankful for (usually cheese or pizza or someone in our family) and then she got to help tape the leaves on the tree. Megan loved being able to write the things she was thankful for.

Tomorrow we'll have to have the conversation explaining that our season of Thankfulness isn't over - we are just ushering it to completion. We are moving into a new type of thankfulness - reminding ourselves that we are thankful for the blessings that God has given us BECAUSE He first gave us His Son.

So while the girls slept, we moved all the Christmas boxes upstairs, set up the big nativity..

And put up the tree and lights (the things that would be a LOT more difficult with little helpers) and tomorrow..... we decorate!

It's hard to believe that Advent starts in 3 days..... I can't wait to show you all the things we have planned.

More Leaves

2011-11-19T23:24:00.001-05:00

Our trees are almost bare... the wind, the rain, and gravity have all taken their toll on our beautifully colored trees. But the girls did have one last romp before Daddy started to get all those leaves up.

Megan dedided that it would be fun to try to drive through a big pile of leaves - with Nicole following her big sister, or course...

Leafpile wipeout....

Nicole decided that leafpile driving was for her big sister... instead she'd start a leaf war with her Daddy....

Still Fall Here...

2011-11-16T22:58:00.001-05:00

It's still fall here - to prove it, we just went to another fall festival right down the street at a local shopping center. They really did it right - from the free hayrides....

the visit from the fire fighters (and a tour of their truck)....

the jumpy houses....

the fun games for the kids to play.....

and our FAVORITE part...
Free juice, cookies, cotton candy and popcorn. Oh Yeah!
Here's Megan's before and after shot.....

Nicole's cotton candy promptly fell off its stick but thankfully we were able to snag a bag for her.

Oh yeah - that's pure joy (or a sugar high starting)....

And what does that much sugar do to two cute little girls???????

How about turn one of them into an elephant, and another into a pirate....

Now with that picture in your mind, add the sound effects of Megan trumpeting like and elephant and Nicole going, "Ahoy matey!" (I'm still not sure where that came from). Let's just say we weren't the "quiet" family walking through the little festival.

And we couldn't leave without a little rainbow!

Birthday Stool

2011-11-14T20:37:00.001-05:00

This past week we had a super fun trip to Grandma Snazzy's storytime. It' always fun to hang out with our friends (like Emma)...

But this week was a little different. My little 2 year old got to take a turn on the "birthday stool" and have Grandma Snazzy sing Happy Birthday. I was pretty sure that there was no way Nicole was going to get on the stool - at least not without Mommy a few inches away.
Boy was I surprised....

My baby has suddenly matured into a little 2 year old who's a bit more brave and adventurous. WOW.

And then again, maybe it was having other good friends nearby (like Will)....

Fear not, he's on Daddy's pre-approved list (for either girl).
And as usual bth girl loved getting to have a little craft time together...

The Great Fall Frolic

2011-11-09T23:05:00.001-05:00

Every fall, we have a little tradition - passed on from my childhood and now I get to pass it onto my girls.... the GREAT FALL FROLIC!

Ok, perhaps it didn't have a title before now, but it's always been a fun outing for a perfect fall day - like today!!!!!

Add a few rakes to a bunch of leaves and the fun is ON!

Our trees have been dropping tons of leaves this week and it was forecasted to rain this afternoon/night (which it has) and I knew our window of opportunity was closing. So as soon as we got home from school, we girls headed out to rake and romp!

Megan's favorite game was burying herself in leaves and getting Nicole to find her. A little outdoor leaf pile hide and seek...

And a few leaf battles were had....

To say it was "fun" is such an understatement!

Nicole had a little issue when she found a little beatle crawling on her arm (see the blak spot on her sleeve). But once that was brushed off, she recovered pretty quickly.

Of the fun of fall! Hope you are all having as much fun with your leaves as we are.

Family Birthday

2011-11-08T23:16:00.001-05:00

Nicole had a full birthday weekend! The park with friends and then an evening with the GA family.

She was super excited to have lots of chances to blow out birthday candles!!!

And to eat a birthday cookie...

My little birthday cutie!

All her cousins helped her with her presents - and she was loving all her fun gifts.

Even Grandma and Papa from Minnesota got some birthday attention - Nicole (and Megan ) love the pop on pals amusement park.

Today someone asked Nicole how old she was and she kept saying, "it my burfday!" I think she may think it's her birthday for quite awhile with all the attention she's been getting.

Happy 2nd Birthday

2011-11-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

My little baby turned 2 today! She's a little ray of sunshine - full of giggles, silliness, and lots of love!

Nicole you are a girl of polar opposites - all contained in one little body. On one hand you are attached your mommy and don't ever want to let her go. On the other hand, you are a daredevil and will try about anything.... especially if you see your big sister attempting it. You are a whirl wind of energy - never stopping. But when you do, you melt into mommy's lap and lose yourself in a snuggle. At home you chatter almost non-stop, but in public you are as mute as you could be. Truly there is none like you - a unique blessing for our family!

Right now your favorite things are your pink cowgirl boots (which you beg to wear everyday), baby dolls, Elmo, Dora, Barney, zoo animals, dogs, looking for the moon, pizza, reading books (especially Dr. Seuss books).... and spending time with your big sister, your daddy, and your mommy.

You absolutely adore your big sister! No matter what she does, you jump in to be apart of it - good and bad.

The past 2 years have been full of so many firsts and so many lasts. Each one so sweet and such a treasure for my heart and mind. I think of where you came from and can only attempt to imagine what the next year will hold.

We love you Nicole!

Happy 2nd Birthday!!

A 2 Year Old's Dream Party

2011-11-05T22:51:00.000-04:00

My little birthday girl is living it up this birthday weekend! Today we started out with her dream birthday party!

I mean really.... what would the perfect party for a 2 year old include????
Friends, lots of playing and perhaps some cupcakes... Oh and Nicole's favorite food: Pizza!

So we headed to the park that is almost across the street from our neighborhood for a fun playground party. It's one of Nicole's favorite places!!!! So add in some of her favorite friends and a good time would be had by all!

Nicole helped set up for her picnic and made sure the cupcake cake that Megan picked out for her was perfect for the occasion. Then her friends started to arrive.... YIPEE!

Megan was so excited to finally get a chance to play with our new little friend Julia. Nicole and Julie get to have little playdates and visit together at story time - but Megan has been asking to meet Julia since she joined her forever family.

Nicole loved playing with the bigger siblings and friends as much as with her own little friends.

Nicole made sure to spend some time with her smallest guest.... Baby Collette.

Megan loved celebrating with her baby sister.

Of course not only did we play hard - but we ate too! Nicole has started to try to eat her pizza not cut up. It's a funny thing to watch. Especially when she tries to eat her plate along with it.

Ah, there we go....

Nicole and Julia were cute little lunch companions!

Then it was time for the cake!

Oh the excitement of TWO candles!!!!!!!

Ready, set, BLOW!!!!

It's still a couple of days until Nicole's actual birthdate (the 7th), BUT - this was the actual birthday - the 1st Saturday in November. So it was the perfect day to celebrate her and all the things she loves.

We love you sweet girl - Happy Birthday Weekend!

School Party

2011-11-02T22:23:00.001-04:00

Megan got a great start to Halloween with her school party. They had a fun parade of costumes.

Here are all the kiddos with Ms. Julie (super hero) and Ms. Kathy (ghost).

While we were in what was left of the pumpkin patch, my little ballerina found one that she liked.

Then it was onto the class party! We had lots of crafts...

Decorated some Jack-o-lantern cookies....

About half way through the party, Nicole joined us. Tom had taken some time off in the morning to take Nicole to her little gym class. (He's loving all this one on one time with his girls). Once her class was over, he dropped her off at school. She thought she was one of the class - pulled a chair right on up to the table (a different table than where Megan was) and settled in to down her 3 (yes, THREE) pieces of pizza.

One they finished, she joined her big sister to make sure she had fun at her party.

As we were leaving, I asked Nicole, "Did you have fun at the party?" And she responded..
"Happy burday NeCole paray".... Evidently she thought we were all there for an early birthday celebration for her. Obviously she caught on to our conversation at breakfast that Nicole's birthday was 1 week away... smart little whipper snapper!

Trick-or-treating

2011-10-31T22:14:00.001-04:00

Since the weekend, we had a bit of a costume change for Nicole. She went from a Ballerina at Grandma and Grandads on Saturday to a stinkin cute Cowgirl tonight. I actually had been looking for a pink cowgirl outfit (to go with the hot pink cowboy boots she has that she LOVES to wear), but haven't been able to find one - till today!

So ta-da....

My cowgirl....

We started off our Halloween festivities with a little party with some neighbors. The girls loved playing in the backyard while waiting for it to be time to trick-or-treat.

Finally, it was dark enough and we were off!!!!!!

Nicole started out on foot, and ended up in our wagon.
Megan got a prime seat on the "trick-or-treat tractor".... (see her in her hot pink jacket in the middle)

Nicole thought the big kids were a bit scary. All these kids running around in wierd outfits, screaming and running for their lives - or after candy... it's all a matter of prespective really. But the arms of Daddy are awfully safe!

Nicole went to only a fraction of the houses that Megan went to... but somehow came away with the same amount of candy. She we usually the last one to the door and she walked up in her cute pink books and batted her eyelashes and said, "tick o teet"... oh, it was like watching butter melt. I think every house doubled her candy. Especially when she sat down, opened her pumpkin purse and said, "tank que." I mean I melted.... every time!

Megan was one of the youngest on the tractor - but she kept up with those big kids runningn from house to tractor to house to tractor, etc...

By the time she got home, she was exhausted. At the last house she took a nose dive down a hill. They had dogs and she told Tom, "I was a little distracted by the dogs".... My sweet little Ballerina. Sadly, the dog claimed a few pieces of candy (they were sweet dogs, just big).

Happy Halloween from the Blaisdell's!

Getting Ready...

2011-10-31T17:00:00.000-04:00

Mommy..... we have to get the Jack-o-lantern ready......

Mommy..... I got the candle!

Come here Nicole, I'll put it in for you - it goes just like this! Next year you can do it....

OK, now when we go trick-or-treating, you get to ride in the wagon. It'll be so much fun!!!! But you have to stay on your bottom until mommy gets you out. I'll be on the tractor but I'll wait for you, Ok!

See... it'll be fun! Come on, we have to go get dressed!!!!!

A Trick-or-Treat preview

2011-10-30T22:03:00.002-04:00

This weekend we went on a trick-or-treat trip to Grandma and Granddad's house! The girls had a lot of fun putting on their costumes and surprising their grandparents... but they actually got a surprise too!

The girls were shocked to see Grandma and Grandad getting into the Halloween groove and dressing up themselves. Megan recovered and thought it was pretty funny. Nicole - it took her awhile to get over the change.

Those crazy grandparents....

It is always fun to see all the cousins dressed up.

Happy pre-Halloween!
Stay safe and have fun!

Jack-O-Lantern

2011-10-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

Finally.... we got to carving our pumpkin tonight. The girls helped me come up with the perfect look for our sweet Jack-o-lantern.

Megan was a great helper! I barely had to get any pumpkin goop out... Megan did it all. Even though the start got off to a bit of a rocky start...

Once she got over the smell, she was all about de-gunking it! Nicole however, she didn't want anything to do with the innards of that pumpkin!

Megan tried to involve her little sister, but she said - No Way!!!!

Once he was all ready, we enjoyed the fruit of our labor!

Now we are ready for Halloween night!

Field Trip to the Dairy

2011-10-28T20:52:00.000-04:00

This week Megan's pre-k class took a field trip to the farm - A non-working dairy to be exact. It's funny because I've been on this field trip before, when I was in charge of a class of 25 1st graders and it was a working dairy then. This was much more laid back and fun for me!

Megan and her friend Sydney hung out a lot on this trip - they just crack me up.

Megan loved to see all the baby animals! She said her favorite parts were feeding the baby goats, and cows, and sheep....

Even though it's not a working Dairy, the family owned farm still has a little program to explain the process of milking and a little museum of the history of the farm. All the kids got to stick their thumbs into the milking apparatus. Megan said, "that was totally freaky!"

Here is her sweet little class with her teachers Ms. Julie (in black) and Ms. Kathy (in red).

Megan wasn't overly excited with the hay ride.

Until the cows came a'visiting....

And to wrap up the trip, the kids got LOTS of energy out on the jumping pillow!

And a sweet pumpkin to take home

Week in Review

2011-10-21T22:18:00.001-04:00

It's been a little tricky to get to the blog this week - so here's our week in review...

Megan went to her first pre-school story time at the library. While she was with the librarian, Nicole and I checked out the rest of the library.

My little reader... she loved having all those books at her fingertips. Of course, I spent a LOT of time chasing her down to keep her from taking all the books off the shelves.

We also went to IHOP for a day of free kids meals. It's a family favorite! Megan finished her omlet before I had even taken a bite of my food. so then Megan helped me out by blowing on my plate of powdered sugar....

Let's just say it backfired on her a bit. So Nicole explained, "No Megan, it's not for your nose, it's for my french toast!"

One of my favorite shots of the week:
Titled: Megan sleeping soundly!

Oh yeah... she'll NEVER be allowed to sleep on a top bunk! Ever!

And the highlight of my week.....

Finally figuring out how to braid Megan's curly locks.

8 Years

2011-10-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

8 year ago a new chapter of life began...

And not a day has gone by that I have not counted my blessings!

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!

Beautiful!

2011-10-16T22:41:00.001-04:00

Oh my sweet and beautiful girls....

Some beautiful fall days have given us some wonderful outdoor playtime.

Fall Festival

2011-10-08T21:10:00.005-04:00

This weekend, we headed over to our 3rd annual trip to the Fall Festival at Megan's school. It's always a morning of fun.

Megan always loves getting to go on a pony ride. She got that "horsey love" from her Mama, that's for sure!

Nicole was too little and fearful for a pony ride - but the poople who owned the horses, were so sweet and let her sit on one of the little ponies who wasn't giving rides at the time. She got over her fear pretty quickly and realized - hey, this guy is fun!

We met up with some friends and Megan was happy to have her friend Kenny to hang with - especially on the train.

Nicole loved her train rides with Daddy!

Of course we had lots and lots of time frolicking among the pumpkins....

And pretending to be scarecrows....

My sweet little pumpkins....

Happy Fall - from our family to yours!

23 Months

2011-10-07T23:54:00.000-04:00

How can it be... officially the last "month" birthday. In just one more month, my sweet BABY will be 2!!!!!! But she's not there yet, and I'll hold on to every sweet little baby moment I can get!

Nicole is such a curious little girl - she wants to be in on everything - just to figure out what it is. She is her big sister's shadow and it's very very hard to get her to understand that she's not 4. If Megan does it, she thinks she can too! I thought that my firstborn gave me a clear look at "fear" - as I watched her climb up ladders, go down big slides, hang from monkey bars, try to climb trees.... Oh no - That was merely an appetizer for Nicole's antics. Every trip to the park gives me a moment of complete fear and my heart skipping beats with visions of trips to the ER dancing in my head. This girl is FEARLESS!

On one hand, fearless is good.... I pray that she'll be fearless in her faith, fearless to try new things, fearless of what others think and will choose the Godly path in life. But right here and now, fearless is bringing me to a renewed prayer life... mostly for her safety. :^)

I sure do love my girls! What a rich blessing the Lord has given to us! Happy 23rd month baby!

Budding Photographer or Teacher?

2011-10-07T20:49:00.001-04:00

Earlier this week, Megan came into the kitchen and asked if she could borrow my camera to take a picture of her class. I said, "only if you can be very careful!" and then followed up with, "what class?"

I was amazed that she actually came up with a focused shot of "her class" as they were working on "sounds and words, and a little counting." What a cutie pie - she loves her stuffed animals. From left to right you have... Snowball (bear), Snowflake (cat), Puppy, Baby Dolphin (also sometimes known as Lollipop), Brownie, Flower (dolphin), and Teddy (Nicole's teddy bear).

Evidently her class adores her as well! Must be those awesome teacher genes!

Grandma Snazzy

2011-10-06T17:15:00.002-04:00

Nicole is enjoying our new storytime at Kroger with Grandma Snazzy. This was always a fun outing with Megan, and now I get to experience it with a new set of eyes.

Nicole really loved all her scarecrows - she thinks they are super fun!

It was only our second storytime and she remembered that the last child to "ring the storytime bell" gets to put the bell into Grandma Snazzy's apron.

I had to get a "back" shot to remember how long her hair is getting. I think it grows half an inch every night. She's a funny little listener - she'll sit for part of a story, lay down, and crouch... just getting comfy!

Nicole is also very patient to wait her turn to get her craft supplies.

Then the real fun begins....

I think we have found a new weekly activity!

Riding at the Park

2011-10-04T12:46:00.001-04:00

With some wonderful weather this time of year, we are spending lots of time at various parks. Megan will tell you her favorits is the "bike park" - so she can take her bike and ride around the loop. Megan is still loving her bike - but we have to figure out how to repair one of the wheels - she's a trooper. I took these pictures without knowing she was riding on a completely flat back tire.

Thankfully we have a portable air compressor in the car so we got it pumped back up so she could keep on trucking.

Nicole liked chasing her in her little car, or on foot.....

Once everyone was sufficiently tired - we parked the bikes and let them have a go on the playground.

Megan was so excited that she she's grown since our last trip to this park, she can now reach all the handholds on the climbing wall - all by herself.

It's always a fun day at the park!

Scarecrow Harvest 2011

2011-10-01T22:49:00.000-04:00

Once again - fall has officially begun!

We always know that it's REALLY here when we head to the Scarecrow Harvest! This year, our little city changed things up a bit and it was a really great morning. It was a bit chilly and windy (another reminder that fall has indeed arrived) but we dug out our Halloween shirts and headed to the festivities. It's fun to go and know that everything (except food) is free - the girls get to explore and have a grand time and our annual excursion. (click here to see last year's trip)

We've learned from our past visits that if you want to have your face painted you do that first. If not, you'll end up in a line that is hours long... or like us just saying, "oh dear, that's too long to wait." But this year we had a plan and beelined for the face painting the second we arrived and the as soon as the festival began. And Megan was sooooooo excited to become a Unicorn!!!!

Nicole said, "No, thankyou!" :^)

We joined in on all the crafts. We made Nicole a little pumpkin person...

Hit some jumpy houses...

Waited for our hayride around the town...

And the highlight....
Spent A LOT of time at the petting zoo!!!!!!!
Nicole and Megan both loved this. I thought Nicole might be a little scared of the animals, but oh no - she LOVED them!!!!

What a great free day of fall fun! It is hard to believe it's already October - this year has flown by. I think the next few months will seem to go even faster, but we'll have some great memories to be made and savor!

A bit out of place...

2011-09-29T10:30:00.000-04:00

My sweet little Nicole loves to be a helper around the house. Especially in the kitchen. Everyday she wants to climb into the dishwasher to help me load it up. After hauling her out, she usually gets to help put a few pieces of silverware in and then she gets to shut the door... this elicts a lot of excitement! Ending in huge claps for herself for being such a good helper (I love it when she claps for herself.)

Today when I opened it up to empty it out, I saw something a bit out of place....

Evidently, Nicole thought Megan's polly pocket pieces needed some washing. And this little guy....

Poor baby.... in the dishwasher prison! I guess it was her form of time out.
And hey - in case anyone needed to know... polly pockets seem to be dishwasher safe.

Publix!

2011-09-28T14:57:00.000-04:00

Today, Megan's class had a fun field trip to one of our local Publix stores.

Megan had fun introducing me to some of her friends...

Before the trip started - all the kids, teachers, and parents had to put on the obligatory hair net. Megan was so not a fond of the hair net!

We got to tour each part of the store. All the kids were excited to get up close to the lobsters.

Megan liked checking out the big freezer... I think she was hoping for them to open one of the big boxes of ice cream cones (no luck).

But in the deli area, all the kids got to sample some of the famos Publix Popcorn Chicken... I must admit, I didn't know they were famous for thier popcorn chicken - but Megan devoured it so I'm thinking we'll have to try it out one day.

Our favorite part... the bakery! Of course!!!!!!
Each student got to help ice a cupcake and add sprinkles.

Megan's was the tallest one by far! Megan said it was super tasty - they ate them after lunch.

Then to finish off our Publix tour - everyone got to learn to look for the barcode, scan an item, and be a bagger. Fun!

I think Megan has a new found appreciation for our shopping trips now.

Happy B-day!

2011-09-27T22:26:00.000-04:00

Oh what a day. My sweet girls started my morning off with a bang with a fabulous rendition of Happy Birthday! Even Nicole tries to sing it. It's so cute because she mostly hums because she can't say the words. Megan painted herself a bit this morning making me a sweet card!

Sadly, after dropping Megan off at school, Nicole got really really fussy. She was pretty inconsolable - and then she let me have it... literally - all of it... everything she'd eaten all day. Ugh. Poor baby. We had a visit to the Dr's office, a negative strep test (to the shock and awe of the Dr.) and a good grape lollipop (from the Dr. who felt so bad about how bad her throat looked). And when we got home - she was like a different child.... one ready to play!

It's so sweet to see the girls play together. Nicole loves all of Megan's Polly Pockets and Princesses as much as Megan does.

Megan has been desperately trying to show Nicole how to play board games. I hear "No, Nicole, that's cheating! What, you can't move your guy! Nicole????!!!!" It's quite funny. It usually ends with a, "I'm not playing with you anymore because you aren't playing right."

Those sweetpea's are the best birthday present I could ever have! Oh how I love them and all the birthday's the Lord has given me.

2011-09-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Having a sister means you have someone to always do something with....

No, Nicole is not potty training officially.... I'm not willing to do that with a 22 month old. But she does love her potty and actually uses it about once a day. Usually at the same time Megan is on the potty. I had to preserve their modesty - but it was so cute I had to capture the fun of it somehow.

2011-09-24T10:45:00.000-04:00

While Megan is at school, Nicole and I have been getting out and about and having some little friend playdates. Now that the weather is starting to chill out a bit, we love meeting up with friends at the park. Last week we met up with Julia, Emma, and Will....

Nicole has a new friend - Julia! We were so thrilled to meet her finally after lots and lots of praying for this sweet friend. Nicole wanted to be a good friend and help her out as much as possible... so what's a few cheerios among friends?

Nicole loves the sandbox as much as Megan did at this age.

Playground play food anyone???

Doughnuts with Dad

2011-09-23T22:36:00.003-04:00

Last week Megan had a special day at school.... Doughnuts with Dad. She was so excited because it was the first time Tom had seen her classroom And she'd been getting ready for it for weeks...

And not only did she get some super fun time with Dad, she also got her fill of doughnuts!

Oh yeah.... a successful date day!

Weekend at the Lake!

2011-09-17T21:43:00.001-04:00

A few weeks back, my family headed up to Lake Burton to hang out with my friend Natalie's family. It was so fun to have my family and my "extended family" together. Megan loved showing Grandma and Granddad all around the lake.

We had dinner at the marina and the girls loved feeding the fish.

The girls started off their "lake time" with some time on the beach!

The adults got to relax a bit....

These girls are super fearless with their life vests on!

And you can't truly appreciate all the lake has to offer without a lot of boat time!

Megan of course, had to spend some time behind the wheel.

Behind Megan you can see some of the damage that was done by the tornado that ripped through the area and over the lake this summer.

And we spent LOTS of time ON the water...

Aunt Kelly, Anna and Megan...

Uncle Kevin with Justin and Daniel...

My turn with the girls....

Oh yeah, I got to stay on and go with the boys....

Don't think that Tom didn't do his time on the raft either....

We turned it into a stuntshow....

All the water bugs... Daniel, Justin, Anna, Nicole and Megan.

Sadly, I had to leave a bit early but everyone else stayed for another day on the water. Aunt Kelly even got Nicole out on the tube with Anna and Megan. She LOVED it!

AAAhhhhh.... what a way to end summer!

Fun and Games

2011-09-11T22:06:00.000-04:00

Recently, we've been visiting a church down the road from our house. Today they had a "Back To School" church picnic. Everyone brought picnic lunches and the church organized some fun games for the kids. I wondered if Megan would join in - and sure enough she ran to get in line.

It helped that she had a friend who also has been visiting. Megan and Macie were trying to figure out exactly what you do in a "baton relay."

Nicole wanted to join in sooooo badly - she really does think she's 4. As the girls raced, Nicole just kept running to the tree and back.

One of the funniest things, was Megan in the sack race. I honestly didn't know if she'd be able to do it - most of the kid who were in that race were older... but she was a trooper and actually did a good job.

Megan said the sack race was "soooo fun!" but she also loved the 3-legged race with Macie.

Nicole had to just be a spectator this year - but she was a cute one!

I have to admit, even posting this is hard because it means that I'm admitting that we are heading out of our life at our current church home, and beginning to step into a new church. We've known our days at DBC were numbered and we wanted to get involved in a church closer to home before Megan started school. We'll, that's next year! So we are making baby steps and learning more about this new church and love it. I have a feeling it'll be a hard transition for me - today we went back to DBC for Awana (which we will continue to do there), and my heart hurt. It's hard going from a place where you feel like you are part of the fabric of the church, to a new church where you don't yet know where you'll fit in. Unfortunately, most of the ministries that have made up so much of my "church ministry life" at DBC they don't have at this new church - no awana's, no women's ministry, no children's choir.... This is a church that is really a baby - it's an older church that was basically reborn 18 months ago. In that time it's gone from a church of about 60 people to over 200 adults and 100 kids. It's still in "church plant" mode so I know that God is doing something cool and leading us there so that we can use our talents and gifts to be a blessing to this baby. But that in between stage may be a bit of a challenge for me.

Half Birthday

2011-09-08T22:52:00.002-04:00

Today was Megan's Happy Half Birthday! My baby is officially 4 1/2 today. I have refused to let her be 4 1/2... that means she would be closer to 5 than 4. And that just sounds too grown up for me! But today she officially hit the half way mark.

My little Megan loves to learn. She delights at any chance to show off a skill - she especially loves cutting challenges (like cutting out this bus).

If I need a minute to get something done (or take a shower), all I have to do is hand her some scissors and some cutting practice and she'll keep herself occupied for quite awhile.

Or hand her a practice book of any sort and she'll show you that she can figure it out. She's working hard on writing letters. She'll be the first to tell you that those little lowercase letters "sure are tricky." Today she came home from school telling me that she tried writing a little "k" and "it didn't go to well, but I got a skittle for trying."

But I'm constantly reminded that although she's growing up and becoming a little girl - she's also still my baby. These are her "babies." She always makes sure they can see the TV when we have a special show on. From left to right you have.... Hearts (grey kitten), Seashell, Flower (the dolphin), and her beloved Snowball. She has a few other favorites, but they were in another chair.

Each night we got in to check on the girls and last night we went into Megan's room and by the light of my cell phone I saw this....

I was quite confused!
All her animals were in bed but she was nowhere to be found. The bathroom was empty, the floor was empty.
I actually started to panic for a minute...
And then I saw a foot...

Let's just say that Megan is a very "active" sleeper - and a very deep sleeper. She evidently fell out of bed (which happens about every night but she just climbs back in). But last night she fell on the other side of the bed and was either sleeping so deeply, or was confused as to where she was that she just stayed there. She actually fell on the side that has an attached desk so it was like a little tent. She never stirred as we put her back into bed. Let's just say that is all the confirmation we need to know that it's doubtful we would EVER let her sleep on the top bunk of her bed.

My little 4 1/2 year old is full of spunk, energy, love, passion and emotion...

When you get one of those hugs, it'll melt your heart!

And although Megan and Nicole have a lot to learn about how to safely play together, Megan loves teaching Nicole new things. Tonight she was trying to teach Nicole how to play Follow The Leader with their bikes.

She realized, that when your 22 month old sister can't peddle the trike, perhaps you should just pass her by...

But not without the ultimate sacrifice of sisterly love....

She left her Snowball to keep her company!
Happy Half Birthday to the best big sister!

22 Months

2011-09-07T21:12:00.000-04:00

22 months....

seriously, 22 months ago this little angel graced our lives.

And we haven't stopped running since! Oh little Nicole - you are such a spitfire. You wake up happy and smiling and giggling, and immediately run to see what sort of messes you can get into. You seem to never stop moving and are absolutely fearless. You LOVE your big sister and desperately want to be just like her. Whatever she does, you think you can do too. You are the biggest cuddle bug and will stop what you are doing just to run over for a big hug and kiss. Then you are off again, recharged with some physical touch. You make us laugh and smile and we love you so much. What a blessing you are to our family - and what an absolute joy it is to watch you grow and learn. We love you!

Nicole is growing by leaps and bounds. I don't have official stats but I can say that she's over 30 lbs and over 32 inches long. She's pretty much wearing 2T clothes, and some of those are a bit short on her long legs. She loves to read!!!! She'd sit and read all day if you had the time. She loves puzzles and anything art. She's started to talk up a storm. She's still a mommy's girl and will cling to mommy a lot - but she's warming up to others and gives her daddy lots and lots of love. Nicole has an infectious giggle and when she's in the mood, she'll charm your socks off. She loves to eat at Moe's and Chick-fil-a. She loves TV (her sister's influence) and especially loves any leap frog video (loves the Letter Factory) and can almost sing a couple of songs from The Fresh Beat Band (a Nick Jr show), and thinks Elmo is the best! When she's unhappy, she can throw a temper tantrum like no other. She has a very strong personality and is a girl who knows what she wants. But, she also has a tender spirit and is one of the most snuggly and huggy babies. She loves to hug her friends and tries to find ways to help out anyone that is smaller than she is. It's super sweet to see.
We love you Nicole - you are a JOY!

Wheels

2011-09-05T22:09:00.000-04:00

Any non-scorching day, we head outside for some fresh air, exercise, and some bike time!

Nicole realized, hey, I'm getting bigger... where's my helmet? where's my bike?

So - she was introduced the the tricycle! And she loves it!

Nicole can't quite figure out how to peddle - but hey - when your feet touch the ground, is pedding a necessity? And when you've got a big sister like Megan- no problem - she's a great teacher!

Firsts for Fall

2011-09-05T03:26:00.000-04:00

Although it's a week late.... Megan had her first day of Pre-K! Make no mistake about it, this is "pre-K"....if you ask her if she likes preschool, she'll explain that she's not in preschool anymore - she's in Pre-K. Funny girl!

As we dropped the big girl off for Pre-K... the little girl and I headed to our local rec. center for her first day of baby gym class!!!!! She walked in like she owned the place and knew exactly what to do!

We took this class in the spring and Nicole was only about 14 months old so she was the baby of the class (some of the kids were over a year older than she was)... this time around, most of the kids are about the same age give or take 4-5 months. So it's nice that they are all about the same skill level. And our sweet Ms. Michelle is her teacher again and Nicole just eased right back in there. Her favorite part of class is the end however. Not because it's time to leave, but because you get fun stamps on your hand and feet and some awesome bubble time!

Then on the 2nd day of school - Megan not only had school but then we headed over for her first gym class! She hasn't taken a "big girl" gym class (where they are in the big gym the whole time) so she was a little nervous, but excited!

Ms. Joy was her teacher - and Ms. Joy was the last teacher she had when she took her toddler gym class when she was 2 1/2. Megan was excited to have 2 classmates from school who were unexpectedly in her class too.

So we've had lots of firsts that first week of school! It started out a bit rocky with Megan not really appreciating that she went to school while Nicole got to be with mommy all day. And to be honest it takes about 10 minutes to get Nicole to calm down after we drop Megan off... she doesn't like that her sister gets to go to school without her. But by the end of the week it eased up a bit and we were able to enjoy it all a bit more. Hopefully this week will be a bit better!

Happy Labor Day!

Beating the Heat Birthday

2011-09-04T21:52:00.001-04:00

It has been a hot summer - so we are always looking for ways to beat the heat. Before Megan started school, we had one last (maybe) fling at one of our local splashpads.

The girls were in hog heaven.

Megan gave Nicole lots of pointers about fun things to do in the fountains....

And Nicole discovered some of her own favorite spots...

But it wasn't all about beating the heat!
It was also a special celebration for Lynley's 3rd birthday.
Happy Birthday Lynley!!!!

Megan proclaimed it one of her favorite cakes...

And Nicole...

I think the picture speaks for itself!

Minnesota Zoo

2011-09-03T06:39:00.000-04:00

While in Minneapolis, we also ventured over to the Minnesota Zoo. so fun!

I love our zoo in Atlanta and we make use of our season passes a lot... but I must say, I was extremely impressed with the size and makeup of the MN zoo. Megan's favorite part (and ours too), was the dolphin show.

Their zoo is a zoo and really an aquarium all rolled into one. Megan loved frolicing alongside the penguins.

Nicole loved the fish and turtles - well, she pretty much loved it all.

Nicole had taken a little nap on the way to the zoo and it kept her going the whole day. Megan however was exhausted. My little girls were very early risers the whole trip - getting up before 6 most days. So by the afternoon, they were exhausted. Nicole was so sweet to let Megan use her stroller - and keep checking on her to make sure she was nice and comfy.

And then she made sure to have fun for both of them...

She loved stopping to "feed the animals" - I'm sure the statues were appreciative.

One of my favorite moments was with the tigers. One tiger woke up and came right up to the glass. Nicole would run right along side him and then he'd get to the end and turn around and Nicole would run away as fast as she could because it looked like he was coming right at her. Then as he started the pace along the glass she would jump right back over to him (until he turned again).

One of the really neat parts of the zoo is that they have a "children's area" - with a neat playground and a big splashpad. We did not partake of the splash pad, but we did have some fun on the playground.

The girls loved this lighthouse slide. It's actually a replica of the very lighthouse that is up near Grandma and Papa's house - Split Rock Lighthouse.

Nicole even got to ride her first fish.....

Yeah - ok, riding a fish.... well MN is the land of 10,000 lakes. There were some funny things about the MN zoo too..... we got to see buffalo and dolphins, but they don't have elephants and giraffes. So we'll keep our zoo too... nice to have some variety!

Mall of America

2011-09-02T21:59:00.000-04:00

Now when I say "Mall of America"... don't be fooled - we did NO shopping at this mall! We rode rides!!!!! A LOT of fun rides at the Nickelodeon Universe in the middle of the mall. Megan was sooooo excited at all the choices of rides she had....

Nicole was a bit overwhelmed by it all, at first... but she warmed up to the excitement pretty quickly...

Megan was fearless and jumped on the first ride alone.

Nicole found one that was just her size.

If Megan was tall enough to ride it... she did! Some with Mommy or Daddy, and some alone. And she smiled nonstop the entire day.

And little Nicole even got to ride a few too....

And when Nicole wasn't on a ride, she was conspiring with Uncle Tony and Auntie Dawn about where to go next....

And then... the Backyardigans showed up!!!!

Megan even went on a BIG roller coaster - the orange crush.

If you ask Megan what her favorite ride was, she'd tell you..... The Log Ride! She rode it twice (that and the swings).

Oh, and then we found the Wonder Pets!!!!

What a fun way to end the day!
Uncle Tony and Auntie Dawn sure did show us a good time. So much so that I think we will be heading back after Christmas!

The Twin Cities

2011-09-01T23:06:00.002-04:00

After our time in Two Harbors, we headed to the twin cities for time with Tom's cousins - Uncle Tony and Auntie Dawn. They are always the best hosts and treat us so well. The next few posts will be about out time with them and all the super fun things we got to do (not necessarily in the order we did them - thanks to some posting issues with blogger).

We had a great little family reunion (sadly with few pictures to show of it) - but Uncle Dan came up for the fun event and got a little extra lovin from his girls.

We also headed to a local water park. It's a really cool community area with a man-made sandy bottom pool/lake. They have some water slides, sandy play areas, and a beach area. The girls loved it. Megan even made a new best friend... Jessica. We LOVE Jessica! Jess is Auntie Dawn's niece - she came with us and the girls just ate her up!

Back at Uncle Tony and Auntie Dawns house - the girls loved all their toys and the great yard to play in....

Our little family reunion with several of Tom's Aunts and Uncles and cousins was so much fun - the girls had lots of playmates and an audience.

We had a great time - more to come of our trip to the Mall of America and the MN Zoo.

MN 2011 - Part 4

2011-08-31T10:15:00.000-04:00

There is no way you can visit the North Shore without actually visiting THE Shore!

The girls had to get a little rock skipping in....

Papa showed Megan the new boat dock they just built...

Megan thought the water looked very inviting....

Nicole thought she'd do whatever her big sister did....

Make no mistake - that water was freezing cold!!!! But when you are having fun, you tend to overlook these things.

Nicole was the first one to say - no way, this is too cold!

We had a great time and have memories to last us a lifetime.

But rest assured..... this was just the first part of our trip - now we head to the twin cities!

MN 2011 - part 3

2011-08-30T22:10:00.001-04:00

One of our favorite things to do in MN is visit the train station. It's a working station and a museum all tied into one.

From there, we walked to the docks on Lake Superior. There were 2 boats loading up with Ore from the iron ranges.

We headed down to the Edna G. - one of the tugboats that used to service the boats on Lake Superior.

The walk was lined with wildflowers... which was a treat for my girls.

And then.... a stop to see THE Moose!

It took awhile for Nicole to warm up to ole Moosey... but once she did - she didn't want to leave him!

Minnesota 2011 - part 2

2011-08-30T19:55:00.004-04:00

We had a great time in Two Harbors hanging out with Grandma and Papa and Uncle Dan. The girls loved all their time outside.
They got to help Papa with his watering....

Pick some flowers that Papa left growing for them...

Megan made sure Papa knew that his bird feeder needed to be refilled....

And of course, Papa let his little granddaughters help fill it back up....

Then he got a little dirty with some sidewalk chalk...

Lots more trips to the park.....

We stopped in to visit with Auntie Hazel. This is the girls great great aunt.

And family is the reason our trips up are so special! We love you Uncle Dan!

The "original" family... the boys and their parents.

Our Ga Blaisdell family with our MN grandparents...

Don't think we are done with MN....ooooh no!

Minnesota 2011 - part 1

2011-08-28T21:14:00.008-04:00

We are home and starting to settle in from our 2 week trip to Minnesota. We had a great time road tripping up to the North Shore and hanging out with Grandma, Papa and Uncle Dan in Two Harbors.

The girls did great with the 20 hour drive up - we had 2 nights in hotels and they both thought that was awesome! Once we got there - they spent no time being shy. Oh no, not these girls - they immediately took the spotlight! Literally....

Megan and her tinker toy mic had a captive audience with Grandma and Papa!

Nicole felt that it should be open mic night and wanted in on the action...

We had a great time visiting the local playground - we were there a lot!

My littlest viking just adored her Uncle Dan (like her big sister does)...

Nicole even jumped into Uncle Dan's arms for bedtime books.

Megan settled for dear ole Dad as the evening storyteller...

I love that picture! You can tell they are brothers, and you can tell they are sisters.

Grandma's organ got lots of workouts...

Auntie Mary and Uncle David came to visit and the girls had a hayday with the sidewalk chalk they brought - as well as several other fun gifts.

Oh yes, the wood swing at the Two Harbors Dairy Queen!!!!!

Grandma was quite the book reader for the girls as well....

There will be lots more to come - but at least it's a start!

Speaking of starts.... Megan starts her first day of pre-k tomorrow! Oh my goodness - how is that possible???????

Interactive Neighborhood for Kids

2011-08-08T22:14:00.007-04:00

Today we had a super fun outing at INK (a sort of children's museum). It's a bit of a drive, but totally worth it. Both my girls loved it! It's an indoor city for kids - perfect for a hot day and perfect for creative little girls.

Here's a little synopsis of our fun:
The loved to go shopping at the super market...

Once the shopping was done, Megan helped to check Nicole out...

Nicole also loved the picnic area and set up a sweet little tea party...

Megan, Nicole and their friend Andrew, also had a great time making some music in the music store...

One of the girls favorite shops was the beauty shop. Megan had to log on to check out the schedule of her customers...

Megan was teaching her apprentice, Nicole, the ins and outs of good hair care and makeup applications...

She was a fast learner and soon got her own customer...

Nicole had a fine ole time with all the train tables they had....

Megan bypassed the train tables because she was paged to duty..... Dr. Megan was busy with all the babies in the hospital nursery...

Once she headed home, to the farm, she had to get some chores done --- like milking the cow...

Nicole wasn't so fond of the big cow, so she decided to work at the bank and do some on-line work...

We also had a great time in the "outdoor area".... we did a little gardening....

Shopped a bit at the farmers market....

Oh wait.... Nicole had to keep running in to chase the trains in the big train display....

The girls flew their first plane...

We ended our day at INK with a little show...

This was Megan's favorite part. We didn't discover it until the end of our trip but she loved putting on costumes and then putting on a little show for all of us. On the way home she told me she couldn't wait to go back and next time she wants to do the stage first because it was so much fun!

21 Months

2011-08-07T08:57:00.005-04:00

Happy Birthday to my baby.... my baby who is only 3 months away from turning 2.... how did that happen?

Nicole has been growing and changing each day. It's amazing sometimes to watch her do something and realize that she's growing up so fast. Tom and I are trying to savor each moment.

This past week, Megan has been at camp so Nicole and I have had some fun one on one time. We broke out the playdoh and had a great time. Nicole LOVES playdoh. She's finally learned that if she puts it in her mouth, then she has to leave the table. So she's been pretty good about not trying to eat it.

She's been watching Megan cut the playdoh with a knife and that is her favorite thing to do.

She also loves for you to make little balls for her to smoosh.

Once it's time to put the playdoh up, she knows it's time to make sure there is none left on the floor. This week she realized that she could play peek-a-boo under the table.

Nicole is talking up a storm. A lot of her words you have to really work at knowing what she's saying, but it's very clear she's trying to communicate. She's finally learned to ask for help instead of just sitting on the floor screaming (thank goodness). She loves imagination play (in the kitchen, with dolls, playhouses, etc) and anything "art". Nicole LOVES her big sister and is willing to try about anything if Megan does it. This week she figured out how to climb up the playscape at Chick-fil-a. (and yes, I did have to go up and get her).

Our little toddler is growing fast - she's wearing 2T clothes, weighs over 30 lbs and is only 10 inches shorter than Megan (who's 4). Her size 6 shoes are starting to look too small. But even with all that growth and changes - she's still "momma's baby"..... when mommy leaves, it's still quite a production, but for the most part she recovers within a few minutes (usually).

I will say this little girl is extremely strong-willed. I know, all toddlers are strong-willed... but lets just say that Megan's strong-willed personality was nothing compared to Nicole's. We spend a LOT of our day in screaming messes (her, not me) :^) simply because mommy said "no." And we are having to work hard at teaching her to not run away... she's a runner - it's a game to her.

But....she's also the most loving and happy girl (when she's not screaming from not getting her way). Her most favorite thing to do right now and walk up to someone and say "Eig huuuug." And wrap her arms around you for a big hug! Just melts my heart everytime!

Happy 21 months Nicole!

Goooooo Vikings!

2011-08-05T22:27:00.002-04:00

Megan has had a fun week of camp at our local park/rec center. Today was the last day of camp for the week and their last day of the summer - so they had a end of summer party and it was "sport day." So everyone was supposed to dress like their favorite athelete or team. So of course we had to fish out our Viking cheerleader outfit.

Drawing Tables

2011-08-03T22:03:00.004-04:00

My little artists were in need some some "art space". They tend to do art pretty much anywhere and for Nicole she has a hard time at a table because her "stuff" keeps rolling away. So, off to the store I go and voila....

My girls are LOVING their little lap desks. I love to see them just working away. I think that Nicole may even love doing art more than Megan... and that is hard to imagine.

Megan was working so hard one morning and she ran up and asked me to frame her special picture.... "a porrtet" of snowball.

I thought her portrait was really good.

This week Megan has been at a camp all week and Nicole has not let a day go by that she's not using her new found skills.

Uh yeah, I happened to have my camera handy to snap these pictures before we had the "no crayons on the couch" talk.

It was just so funny to watch her problem solve how to get to a good place for a picture.

Finally she found a good standing spot.

Vote for my friend Carisa!

2011-08-02T17:07:00.002-04:00

So.... a sweet friend of mine is trying to win a contest to be the opening act of Celebrate Freedom - which is a free music festival in town. One of our local Christian radio stations is looking for a newbie to open up for the event. It features a bunch of popular artists. Carisa is about to start working on her first CD - what a great way to get her name and face out there. If you go to DBC, you probably know who she is. If you don't - you'll have to trust me that she's a gem... and her music is fabulous.

So.... go watch her on youtube!
Every view is a vote. Right now she's in 5th place..... the top 5 (which would include her right now) will get to perform on stage for a panel of judges.

Thanks!
Val

What to do?

2011-07-30T11:56:00.000-04:00

Each time we go to the pool, Nicole always gets there and stops. It's like she's thinking - "huuummmm.... what to do first? Big pool? Baby pool?"

BABY POOL!!!!!

pouring...

splashing....

watching....

Nicole's not the only one having some fun. Last week we had a few lessons with Ms. Katherine (Aislinn has been out of town). Megan made some amazing leaps in her swimming.

She's even been working on some strokes....

It's been a great summer for Megan to learn to swim. She's a little fish and I have a feeling next summer, Nicole is going to be working on some swimming of her own. She already loves to put her face in the water. Aahhhhh... the sweet memories of summer!

Artists at work

2011-07-29T23:28:00.002-04:00

This summer our house has been FULL of artwork. Megan creates several (like 10) masterpieces a day. It doesn't matter if it's with crayons, markers, stamps, stickers, paint, pencils, etc... She hasn't met a medium she doesn't like. And her little sister is following in her footsteps!

And what would you expect when you have such personalized instuction from your big sister?

What concentration....

A Girl Fort

2011-07-27T08:13:00.001-04:00

Megan recently learned how to build a fort all by herself. This is one of those vital skills that I've obviously overlooked teaching her. Thankfully her big cousin, Anna, was on the ball and realized she's come of age.... it was time to build a girl fort! So, at the beach, Megan learned this vital skill... and now that we are home, she practices every chance she gets!

And what does a girl fort have on the inside?

And the cherry on top.... princess Megan!

Now all this fort/tent building has Megan in a tizzy to go camping. I see our tent being broken out in the near future.

Megan loves her fort - the only problem.... Nicolzilla!

Po Po

2011-07-26T14:56:00.002-04:00

Everytime we go outside, Nicole asks for a po-po..... popsicle for those not versed in "nicolese". And it's been so hot, that if we are outside, I'm all about a popsicle. I do laugh that these are "slow melt" popsicles.... In the Ga heat, they melt within seconds.

Nicole loves her popsicle holder (thanks Auntie Dawn).

Unfortunately, sometimes she fogets that it's not anchored in there and starts to wave frantically at the dogs next door. And catastrope happens.....

But that's ok - we take care of issues like that.

Each girl tends to have their own eating style...

Now doesn't that just make you want to go grab a po po!

Crowned

2011-07-24T08:18:00.000-04:00

Daddy was crowned the newest "Pretty Pretty Princess!"

Splash Pad

2011-07-23T10:56:00.001-04:00

This week we headed over for some fun at one of our city's water play areas - the splash pad! We got there and Nicole wanted nothing to do with it!!!!! But let's just say once she realized it was "fun" then she was all over it (literally)...

It was a struggle to get a picture with both girls together - they moved faster than I could snap the pictures...

I actually even got to have conversations with other moms (wow) while the girls ran and played.

Megan got to have some fun playtime with her friend Lynley...

While Nicole occupied herself, Megan also got to play with Macie...

But then...

OH NO....

It was time to go.

Bye Bye Splash Pad!

POOH!

2011-07-22T15:41:00.003-04:00

We took a journey with some friends off to the Hundred Acre Wood to meet up with Winnie the Pooh and his friends!

We headed back to our new favorite theater for this fun showing...

I was a little worried that Nicole wouldn't be able to sit through it - but at an hour, it was perfect. And Nicole LOVED Pooh! Megan had a great time. She's so sensitive to movies that I was a little worried that it would be scary for her (she's never made it through "the blustery day") - but she hung on despite her near tears at Eeyore losing his tail, and her getting frightened by the scary "backson" monster - she loved it! So 3 thumbs us from us Blaisdell girls!

After the movie, we headed to our friend Kristy's house for the ultimate Pooh Party!

We had a great time at the movie and at the party. It's always a great summer day when you get to hang out with friends!

The Slide

2011-07-18T21:55:00.004-04:00

So what were they sooooo excited about?

THE slide!

Our Neighbors broke out their inflatable water slide and my girls got to partake of the fun! (Have I mentioned that I love my neighbors?!)

Here's how it starts....

Here's how it ends....

And somewhere in the middle it looks like this....

It's obvious that Megan was loving it....

But what about Nicole?

She was a bit too little to go down the slide so she was sidelined to the pool area where we taught hr to cheer for everyone...

I'm thinking she was liking it!

Who needs the pool on a day when you can just live in the water in your own backyard!

Water Day

2011-07-18T12:55:00.008-04:00

Today was a warm day, so we broke out the water "toys" and had a fun water day outside...

Megan loved the sprinkler, but Nicole wasn't quite so sure about it...

Megan made it her mission to show Nicole how much fun the sprinkler could be....

And Nicole warmed up to giving it a try...

Then Megan taught her to pretend it was a water fountain.

We had a blast! And all that was before lunch!

We inspired our neighbors to join in on the water fun!!!

So after lunch.....

Local Hero Night

2011-07-14T23:03:00.007-04:00

It's not a secret that I love our local chick-fil-a. I mean how can you not love chick-fil-a anyway... but our local CFA is so family focused. Throughout the summer they have great family nights planned and we tend to take advantage of them whenever we can.

Tonight was "Local Hero" night... all bedecked out with a firetruck and police car. The girls loved checking them out and chatting with the firemen and police officer.

Even the cow wanted a turn in the firetruck! Who can say no to the CFA cow?

Nicole wasn't quite as fond of the cow as Megan was. Megan would run for hug... Nicole would run for mommy. But when she couldn't find the cow, she missed him and wanted to know where he was. Here she is saying, "moo moo?"

Officer Megan reporting for duty!

I just love this... Nicole waving to the cow....

No wait, I didn't really mean for you to come NEAR me....

Needless to say, Mommy will always be Nicole's hero! :^)

My Beach Bunnies

2011-07-13T19:32:00.000-04:00

So glad we got to have some wonderful time with my parents. Thanks Grandma and Granddad for putting up with all those little blessings underfoot.

We took the girls down for one last jaunt in the sand....

They had to do a little beach dance!

So long for now... see ya next year!

The Last Day

2011-07-13T10:06:00.000-04:00

The last day.... usually starts early,

I just love this picture! Those wade boys sandwiched by my Blaisdell girls...

Megan's cousins had to head home right after those pictures were taken. It was overcast and actually thundering at times... but the beach was awesome!

We had a great time building in the sand and playing in the waves. It was the most wave action we had all week. Nicole LOVED the active water!!!!

This was the photo of the day....

She got taken down by several waves - it scared the daylights out of us, but she thought it was hysterical.

And what better way to end the day on the beach than a special treat from the ice cream truck - which just so happens to stop in front out our beach house every day.

Nicole even got to try her first push up.

Alligators and Ice Cream

2011-07-12T21:43:00.006-04:00

When we go to the beach each year - we always hit one of our favorite restaurants. This year they added live alligators. That was a huge hit with the kids. They even had a baby alligator out so the kids (and adults) could touch it and see one up close.

And you could look over the fence and see the big guys. The baby is actually 2 years old, and this guy is actually 4.

Inside we were entertained with Mr. Shark...

Mr. HUGE Alligator...

(Nicole really wanted nothing to do with this one)...

The boys were amazed with the glass artist. And I have to admit, I have no idea how he made some of the things he made. It was quite cool.

After dinner, it was over to Rosemary Beach for ice cream at the Sugar Shack. YUM!

We are so blessed with this beach getaway with my family - so many memories and so much fun!

The Pirate Ship

2011-07-11T21:46:00.015-04:00

While we were at the beach we met up with a few pirates....

They seemed nice enough, so our family and my brother and his kids hung out with them a bit. And they took us out on their pirate ship....

They taught the kids to defend themselves (pirate style)...

(Megan is in the blue striped shirt and cousin Anna is in the pink)

Then the boys were taught to swab the deck (that's cousin daniel in the grey)

We were joined by some locals (aka - dolphins)...

Megan was such a good pirate that she got a dolphin "tatoo" on her cheek.

Both my little pirates loved watching the dolphins swim along side.

Before long, the swords came out - cousins Daniel and Justin seemed to like this part a lot.

Even Megan worked on her lunges a bit...

Then we went below to see the meanest captian on board and see his treasure chest.

Once we got up on the deck, they were teaching the kids how to shoot cannon balls.

Here's Daniel...

Justin....

Anna, with a little help from a shipmate....

And Megan - with some guidance as well...

After that workout, the crew was on the lookout for the sunken treasure. The mean ole pirate down below said that "X" marked the spot...

And indeed it did.... then everyone had to help hoist it on board.

There was much pirate singing and celebration...

right along with some games and dances...

Nicole prefered to be a spectator...

At the end of our excursion, the pirates so sweetly dropped us off at the pier instead of making anyone walk the plank. All the cousins seemed to have a good time - even though Nicole wanted nothing to do with the captain.

More Sunshine

2011-07-06T00:01:00.000-04:00

You'd think that after a couple of days, the beach fun would just run out... NO WAY! Today Nicole got to partake in a boat ride with her cousins. Daddy was close at hand of course, and they were out where there were no waves. She loved it. I'm not sure if it's the boat she loved, or being a big girl with the other kids.

Then Uncle Kevin broke out Granddad's metal detector and took his kids out to look for gold doubloons. They did find an aluminum can... doing their part to save the environment. :^)

Tonight we headed out to Stinky Fish Camp in Grayton Beach - yum! Then our yearly stop in Seaside for ice cream!

Let's just say, two little girls were excited! And hot! At one point Megan said to me, "it's time for a refreshing bite of ice cream, I think." That's right!

Grandma got lots of love!

I know it's fun for my parents to be able to spend some fun time with their grandkids. And the grandkids love it too!

At Seaside they have a huge grassy area where they show movies on the lawn and have band concerts and such. But when nothing is planned (like tonight) it becomes a huge grassy play area. The kids always love to go there and just run...

The girls didn't so much run as they did roll and flip....

Oh so fun! Officially it's only our half way point. It's been so full so far, I can't wait to keep on having fun.

Lazy Days of fun

2011-07-05T15:31:00.005-04:00

We may be on vacation - but we definitely are not sleeping in. Monday morning 4 of the 5 kids were up by 5:30. Which means since 2 of them are mine - Tom and I were up too.

Although sleep deprived, we did get to witness a beautiful sunrise!

Nicole has found her new favorite "play spot"...

After a lazy morning, it was back to the beach!

Nicole overcame her fear of the ocean. I knew it was the sound and waves that were scaring her so we took the plunge and just took her out. Her cousins even let her hitch a ride on their boogie boards.

Oh yeah - see how much fun she was having!

Then Uncle Kevin brought the raft down and the big kids took a boat ride.

Nicole played in the sand.

And with her fear of the ocean gone - she would run for the waves without a second thought. She was watching Megan and Anna get water in their buckets for thier sand castles and just wanted to do what they were doing.

Once we finished up with the beach, the kids had a little art time inside.

Last night we decided to stay home and grill out and watch fireworks from our deck. Not only could you see the fireworks from Seaside and Rosemary Beach, but some of our fellow beach goers had some good fireworks of their own.

The hard part was that no one could sleep through that - Nicole was terrified and the other kids wanted to see them all...so it was a late night. But a great way to celebrate Independence Day!

Hope everyone had a Happy Fourth of July!

AAAAhhhhhhhhh

2011-07-04T07:08:00.000-04:00

This is pretty much what our early mornings look like...

As we adults try to recover from all the kids waking up at the crack of dawn.

Uncle Kevin always treats us to great a breakfast.

His omlets are legendary - and Megan even asked for seconds... yeah, she ate 2 omlets.... that would be 4 eggs. geez.

After our breakfast settled a bit, we headed to the beach.

Megan and Anna finally caught on that they should build a sancastle on the other side of our beach chairs so that they could actually finish a castle before Nicole came to smoosh it.

We had lots of fun time in the water... at least Tom and Megan did. I pretty much stayed sand bound with Nicole.

Tom had a great time playing with Megan, Daniel and Justin. And Megan loved being out there with the boys.

This was my view as I sat, relaxed and read as Nicole took her nap.

Oh the Beach...

2011-07-02T23:49:00.000-04:00

Woohooo.... VACATION! It's so great to drive up to our beach house. We come here every year so it's a bit like coming home.

We have a system down now.... I try not to pack too much stuff - but it's also vital to make sure we have a few toys for those early morning risers and rainy afternoons. This year I let Megan choose one toy she wanted and one to share with Nicole. Then I also chose one for Nicole. I took Nicole's portable doll house because I knew that would keep her occupied for hours. Megan chose her princess/polly pockets tub for her toy and her wedgits for them to share. Of course they were broken out while we were unloading cars and unpacking. It was cute to see all 5 cousins putting together carriages and dressing dolls...

But that didn't last long... as soon as we got everything put away we had to hit the beach. No suits this time, just a foot dip in the water and squishing sand in our toes.

The cousins: Justin (10), Daniel (12) then Nicole (1), Anna (7), and Megan (4).

Nicole wasn't too sure of the water. She clung to Daddy pretty tightly at the waters edge.

We were bummed they were having a "seaweed" day. ick. At any rate our "walk on the beach" quickly turned into a little sand play time.

Nicole might have been a little scared of the water, but she was all about the sand!

Here's Kelly and Tom watching over the kids... the greenish house behind them is our house.

It started sprinking so it was time to head inside...

But Nicole knows.....

That's ok.... there's always tomorrow!

Vacations are for hotels

2011-07-02T22:26:00.002-04:00

At least that's what the kids think. What's a vacation without a night in the hotel - and the hotel swimming pool!!!!????!!!!

I'm not sure what the draw of a hotel pool is over our neighborhood pool.... I really think it's just the fun hangtime with family.

Grandma and Granddad chilled out and watched all the kids and grandkids have some fun.

I have to say Megan LOVED the pool... she could touch the bottom! Our pool at home is pretty deep and she can't touch and have her head out of the water. So she loved being able to play and jump around.

Nicole... she's a little waterbug. At least she is when she wants to be. If she wasn't in the water, we were chasing her around the outside.

We had a great time starting our vacation early and having a fun stop with everyone. And now.... the BEACH!

Summer

2011-07-01T13:20:00.000-04:00

It's always an adventure to haul ourselves to the pool...

Nicole is always wanting to help and generally gets lots of smiles from the other people watching her antics.

Megan is continuing to love her swimming lessons with Aislinn.

Nicole and I had a great time watching her work so hard.

If that picture had sound, you would hear Nicole cheering her big sister on.

The highlight of the day for Nicole is getting to play in the baby pool with Megan. It's very sweet. Megan is a great sport and is very sweet with Nicole - even though she'd rather be jumping in and working on her swimming.

Oh summer fun.... How it's already the beginning of July is a mystery to me. I'd like to slow the clock down a bit!

Pirates, Princesses, and Cows...

2011-06-30T23:07:00.002-04:00

This week our favorite Chick-fil-a had a fun family night... Pirates and Princesses! I mean seriously, do you think we'd pass that up?

Nicole wasn't quite so sure about that big cow... (she pretty much held my hand the entire time in case the cow got too close)

We had to have little playtime in "the palace."

Nicole liked the princess part - just not the cow.

Megan, however, jumped right in on all the fun!

But even Nicole was willing to brave the cow for some yummy ice cream!

I have to say that I am SOOOOOO SAD that we are going to miss Cow Appreciation Day this year. It is next week and we'll be building sand castles - so sorry Mr. Cow..... but, we sure do appreciate you!

Popsicles

2011-06-26T10:46:00.000-04:00

How do you end a hot day? Popsicles!!!!!!

And an evening watching the boys next door (and all their neighborhood friends) play a rousing game of baseball.

Megan thought the popsicles were the best part of the evening....

But Nicole was VERY into the game...

Well, she was into her popsicle too...

Ahhhhhhh... the taste of summer!