Oh Maggie My & Caroline Pie

Final Pics of 2011

2011-12-30T16:42:00.001-07:00

Maggie made a new discovery this Christmas season--hot chocolate. She requested it a lot!

We made a trip to a sporting goods store to buy me some goggles and a swim cap. Maggie saw some children's goggles and begged me to buy them for her. I said I would ONLY if she put her head under water the next time we went swimming. She wore them all that day and has yet to put her head even close to the water when at the pool. Will this girl ever learn to swim?

My sofa finally came. I was so excited when I bought/ordered it back in October then it took what felt like a year to arrive!

An evening out. Maggie and Caroline are both wearing my headbands. You might wonder why I let them run around town looking like that. I'd like to say I have a good excuse or that it normally doesn't look like that. I can't and I won't. I just don't care to fight that battle. Whatever they want to wear it fine by me.

Again, I'm not going to fight the outfit battle:

Since Maggie's birthday is during summer break she got to bring a treat into her kindergarten class on her "half birthday".

A quick trip to the mall for last minute gifts meant I had to reward these girls somehow. A moment in a photo booth proved to be the perfect thing. They were so excited about it and I got the cutest little strip of sister pics ever!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T08:59:00.001-07:00

This year we were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa come to Colorado to spend the holiday with us! The girls were so happy about it and they loved all the attention.
Grandma crafted with them:

Christmas Eve gift opening. It was always a tradition in my family to open one gift on Christmas Eve and it was always pajamas.

Modeling the new jammies:

Santa doesn't need ALL the cookies we made for him, right??

Christmas morning:

One of Caroline's gifts from Santa was a Belle dress-up:

Maggie got a new leotard for gymnastics:

I'm kicking myself for being so lazy with the camera this year. I had a very laid back and relaxing holiday and because of that I kind of forgot to document things! And, to make matters worse, the few picture I did take were with my cell phone so the quality is low.

Christmas really was great! We ate well, relaxed a ton, the kids entertained us, etc. I even got a hands on lesson from my mother-in-law on her bread making.

New Years was uneventful--young kids can really put a damper on your desire to celebrate anything after about 9pm. We went to bed early like any other day. As much as I enjoy the festivities and fun associated with the holiday season I also really love starting new goals, getting back to a family rhythm, and focusing on the clean year ahead. Here's to 2012!

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-24T06:07:00.001-07:00

My Birthday

2011-12-23T21:45:00.001-07:00

This year I turned....well, let's just say I got (what felt like) A LOT older! My good friend, AJ, put together a little celebration at her house for me. It was absolutely perfect in every way. The food was fabulous. Her house was already fully decorated into a winter wonderland. And the company was awesome--I lovey LOVE my friends.

Unfortunately I spent the entire night before my lovely, perfect party in the bathroom vomiting. Awesome. I was fine by morning but so very weak. I didn't document the celebration with even one photo. I'm so bummed about that. My birthday has never been my favorite day to celebrate. I usually try to ignore it completely. But the one year a friend does something amazing for me and I don't even get a pic to remember makes me very, very sad. So this is my tiny little way of documenting one fabulous birthday celebration. Thank you AJ for throwing me such an amazing shin-dig and thanks to all of my lovely friends who attended!! I appreciate it more than you know.

Black Friday 2011

2011-12-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

I love how we spend our Black Fridays. It's such a peaceful family day.

I made the girls some pj's. I really wanted them to be a Christmas eve gift but trying to sew up two sets of jammies in private would have been near impossible. So they got them early. They are darling if I do say so myself!

Big Girl Bed For Caroline

2011-12-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

We recently put Caroline in a big girl bed. She seemed more attached to her crib than Maggie was so I was a bit worried. We took a trip to our local furniture store and let her pick out the mattress then came home for set up. Here's the last pic with the crib. Maggie is being a little dramatic about the crib coming down:

Maggie was more than happy to show Caroline how to over-populate the new bed with stuffed friends. They had a great time with the new spot to play. Of course now I need to redecorate completely. I've been knocking a few ideas around in my head...

Caroline seems to be doing well in the new bed. She likes the fact that I can lay down next to her and sing our night time songs. I'm happy to do that but I feel a little sad that it means we no longer use the rocking chair for song time. I'm not ready to be done with rocking my babies!

Halloween 2011

2011-12-20T16:36:00.002-07:00

Carving the pumpkins:

I didn't get every pumpkin's end result but here's two:

Our church's trunk-or-treat:

Halloween night:

More Misc Pics

2011-12-20T15:51:00.003-07:00

Long story: I had some dental work done and we had to do a couple of trips to the lab that was making my crowns. The lab had a very strong smell--a chemical smell. Maggie was totally freaked out by this so my solution was to stick her nose in a package of gum. She kept that thing up under her nose for the whole 30 minute appointment.

Sweet little pic of Caroline in a leotard (which she refers to as her uniform).

The girls like to help with dinner prep lately:

After many cheap cuts (that always end up crooked!) I have started taking the girls to my friend for cuts. She does a great job and they love the blow-out at the end. Their hair never looked better!

Maggie's little kindergarten Thanksgiving party.

We took Katelyn to Discovery Days with us:

Misc Pics

2011-12-20T14:38:00.002-07:00

No matter where I store (hide) my label maker Maggie finds it. These little "notes" can be found all over the house.
"I love you mommy I do (with the addition of our house number)"

"Ask Maggie if you need help"--she's quite the helpful child:

First big snow of the year. She mostly just stood there and walked aimlessly around for about 5 minutes then was done.

I took the girls to the Butterfly Pavilion. Here they are checking out the bugs and spiders.

Maggie's outfit deserves an explanation. She picked both fabrics for me to make her a nightgown. I did and for her schools pajama day she chose to wear it over all of her store bought character options. I was a little touched by her choice. The nightgown didn't come off at the end of class.

Maggie's kindergarten picture. I was sorely tempted to send her back for re-take day but decided not to since this is just SO Maggie! Every time she's asked to smile for a picture this is the smile she provides. If you've read my blog for any length of time you'd know that means tons and tons of pictures taken in order to blog pics that don't have this smile. Gosh I love that silly face.

Pumpkins, Anderson Farms 2011

2011-12-07T07:32:00.005-07:00

I'm aware of how far behind I am with blogging. But I can't skip anything so pumpkins in December will have to do.

In October we did our family trip to the farm to pick out some pumpkins. It was a really sunny day so please forgive all the squints and closed eyes.

When Maggie spotted the ponies she started sceaming and running toward them. Caroline followed along with great enthusiasm until it was her time to actually get on one. Maggie picked her pony immediately and hopped on. Carolines eyes got very big and she backed away saying, "I...I....I too LITTLE for that!". No amount of coaxing helped so Caroline did not do a pony ride this year.

Misc Pictures

2011-12-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

Our first trip to the Denver IKEA. Maggie did this pose with every sign she was close to:

When we visited the Utah IKEA last year Maggie found this stuffed carrot. She begged and begged me to buy it for her and I flat refused. When she found the same carrot here in Denver I broke and let her have it. She is in love with that silly carrot!

Maggie has homework now. Crazy! Caroline likes to feel like she does too so I sit them both at the table and real and fake homework. It's so sweet.

When I pulled out the Fall/Halloween tote for decorating Maggie found the box of old clown costumes my mom had made for me (and my brother and sister). She loved them and if they hadn't been way too big she would have been a clown this year! It was just DARLING seeing her in the same outfit I had worn so many years ago!

In fact, here is the original 3 wearing their brand spanking new clown costumes all those years ago. Randy, me, Ellen. Aren't we CUTE?:

At one of our twice weekly playdates I let the girls get out the make-up. Maggie had posted a sign in our front window weeks earlier that read "Maggie's Make-Up Shop" so I felt it was time. Two of the girls were very hesitant and careful with the application. Reagan and Maggie chose a different approach:

One day, after our visit to the Rec Center, we decided to walk around the nearby bike path. It was such a beautiful, sunny day and we had no where to be (rare). Maggie found a caterpillar and seemed truly excited until right after I snapped this picture and she suddenly got incredibly creeped out by the little creature:

I quiet moment of coloring:

We Skyped with my mom and sisters. The kids went nuts over that:

A New Normal

2011-11-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

Since starting school I feel like we've made giant leap into another world. A scheduled one! I've become used to the freedom of taking my kids and going where I want to when I want to. A short half day of kindergarten every weekday has been a hard adjustment for all of us.

We still do some of the same, familiar things like Discovery Days. They are making rock buddies in this pic:

I have a few pictures of the Julie/Meredith visit. Here they are on Pearl Street in Boulder:

We made Chan Luu bracelets the whole time the girls were here (Julie came prepared with a tutorial that had us visiting bead stores multiple times). Maggie was asked to model one. She chose to do so with Merediths sunglasses on:

A sort of new thing to go along with our new school year. Dancenastics. I couldn't give up on Maggie dancing but she really wanted to do gymnastics too. Luckily we found a place that offers both in one class--Dancenastics. We say it with "flair" every time we do say it.

We now deal with homework assignments. This particular one required a family photo. This was the chosen one:

Our annual Stake Carnival at Thompson Park:
Park day:

We've also developed a bit of a routine with Wednesday Lunch with friends. The moms hand over their phone for the sake of chat time and this is what comes of it. I also have loads of video they take. Pretty funny.

Although I sometimes still resent our new busy schedule I'm really loving the new adventure we've been on.

Erin's Birthday Party

2011-11-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Shortly after we started kindergarten Maggie's best buddy from preschool had a birthday party at our local kiddie pool. Erin and Maggie were so close I was kind of sad to see them split for grade school.

Since my girls aren't much for swimming they spent a lot of the party doing this:

When the party was almost over Maggie decided to brave "the deep end" (which from the picture you can tell was oh so deep!). I documented the momentous occasion.

Julie and Meredith Come to Visit

2011-10-29T08:20:00.000-06:00

Right after Maggie started kindergarten we were lucky enough to get a visit from my sister Julie and her oh-so-lovely daughter Meredith (or Mer-dif if you're two). I usually take very few pictures when I'm around Julie because I know she'll be snapping away. Then I make her give me all the good for my blog. Thanks Julie for helping me out!

This picture is for my mom. Can you see how much they loved getting the book. They can now quote it from memory. It's funny to hear them chant, "Oh, I love to cook, I love to bake, I guess I'll make an acorn cake!".

Maggie wearing her fabulous "princess hair" courtesy of cousin Mer:

Maggie showing off the (tiny) caterpillar on her right hand:

Caroline thinks she's showing the camera a caterpillar. There was actually nothing in her hands:

The girls with Julie:

Meredith doing chalk art with the girls:

Meredith came with the adorable princess dresses for the girls. She is a seamstress extraordinaire and we feel lucky to have some Mer originals. These are now the go-to dress ups.

While we had family in town Patrick and I took a couple of hours to have dinner sans children. It was lovely! Thanks girls for watching MY girls.

I have a few pictures from my own camera which will have to come in another post or this one would be even longer than it is.

Maggie's First Day of Kindergarten!

2011-10-18T16:00:00.001-06:00

There was much sadness and a few tears from mommy. Maggie was absolutely apathetic the whole time. No excitement leading up to the big day and pretty even and mellow the day of. But...that's Maggie.
Her teacher is Mrs Sundt and she is one of only 5 girls in her class.

Caroline was none too happy about leaving Maggie at school.
Afterward we celebrated with a date to Red Robin.

She's now an old pro. She loves school, she loves her teacher and seems to be generally happy with the whole school situation.
We still get little to no response when we ask about what she did, who she played with, etc. But, again, that's Maggie. And we love her!

Wrapping Up Summer...sob

2011-10-07T03:46:00.000-06:00

Daddy-O had a birthday:

We had playdates:

Always time to dress up. I like this picture specifically because it shows off those tiny legs:

I had a short but sweet trip to NYC with my friend Vicki. She was attending a tradeshow for her clothing line and I got to tag along as her assistant. We were very busy and had very little time to explore the city but I was able to eat some super tasty meals and catch a few minutes on Times Square.

When Maggie is away Caroline is sad and lonely:

Tee & Cakes. Cupcake happiness as usual.

Florida Part 2

2011-09-20T19:35:00.002-06:00

Airplane shot.

The view from our condo balcony:

Walking along the boardwalk:

Waiting to be shot into the air in the Sling Shot with Eamon:

Family shot. Happiness.

Florida Beach Week July 2011 Part 1

2011-09-05T12:56:00.005-06:00

We did our big family trip to Florida this year--Daytona. We had a fabulous time! Maggie and Caroline love the ocean. This was Caroline's first beach experience although she does a lot of pretend beach play at home. I wonder if her little mind has a different image when she plays "beach" at home knowing what it really is. I have more pictures on my phone so I'll download those (sometime in the foreseeable future I hope) and do a Beach Week Part 2.

The Last of the Birthday Posts

2011-08-19T15:42:00.005-06:00

Maggie had a "friends" birthday party. Gymnastics themed at Airborne Gym. She of course had a lovely time!

Maggie in the foam pit with Erin:

Luckily my friend Suzanne came armed with her camera. She took some fantastic shots!

Maggie with Lily:

Most of the group all lined up (Maggie, Lily, Erin, Addy):

Caroline in the foam pit:

The cupcake tower:

Yum!

Immediately upon returning home she ripped right into the Legos her friend Owen gave her. She and her dad put the thing together and were so pleased with themselves:

Fathers Day 2011

2011-08-19T15:29:00.002-06:00

Back in June...

I finally got a Father's Day present he really liked! I'm not the best gift giver (in my defense he is a guy who either has everything he wants or buys what he wants himself!)

but I hit the nail on the head with the Whirly Pop stove top popper. We have had popcorn virtually every night since. He loves it. Honestly we ALL love it!

Randoms

2011-08-07T17:06:00.004-06:00

Maggie playing with a very (very) large roly-poly bug. She made me take a picture and text that picture to her friend's mom.

Caroline and Maggie at the park:

Caroline has a thing about finding markers (the one second she's alone) and sucking them dry. And it's never a light color like pink or yellow. It's always black, brown, etc. I'm banking on the Crayola promise that these markers really ARE non-toxic!

We cut Caroline's hair for the first time. So sad for me! Here's a before shot:

During:

And after (she's saying bye-bye to her hair):

Sedona Arizona 2011

2011-07-20T16:00:00.003-06:00

The day after Maggie's birthday we jumped in the car and pulled off a grueling 13 hour drive to Sedona, Arizona. The trip was a bit rough with Caroline deciding the condo we were staying at was just not acceptable and also deciding steady night-time sleep was for the birds. We did what we could with a cranky two year old and ended up having a very good time! Maggie, of course, loved all of it and basically had the time of her life as always.
We spent a lot of time in the pool. Or should I say my family spent a lot of time in the pool. I did my best to stay out of my swimsuit.

Caroline decided that water is the greatest and really wore Patrick out with her constant need to be in the water, wriggling around (making it very hard to hold onto), and squealing like crazy.

We did some very short family hikes:

We had a birthday celebration for both Maggie and Caroline. My in-laws really were kind, fun, and generous and the kids were in heaven!

Maggie and Caroline wearing dresses their cousins bought for them in Hawaii:

I wasn't there for the snake holding (I would have freaked) but apparently Maggie is braver than I ever imagined:

Maggie Turns Five!

2011-07-16T15:44:00.004-06:00

Maggie had a birthday "season" this year. We did a little family day on her actual birthday. We celebrated the next week in Sedona, Arizona with Patrick's family. She also had a little friend party the week after that. I'm so glad the birthday season is over! This post is just for the family day.
Caroline waking Maggie up:

We took the girls to Build-a-Bear for Maggie's gift. It was really very sweet. Here she is putting the heart in her bear (she actually opted for the bunny) and stuffing her:

Caroline waiting patiently to stuff her bear:

After Maggie was done stuffing I was helping Caroline stuff her bear and Patrick snapped this insanely sweet shot of Maggie loving her new bestest friend:

The girls giving their animals a bath (little air jets to clean up any random stuffing bits):

Later we Skyped with Aunt Julie and the girls showed off their new pals:
We baked a cake. Maggie was a great help:

Here's to the sweetest little five year old ever!

Summer--So Far, So Good

2011-07-02T21:11:00.006-06:00

Summer. We've been busy!
We finally replaced the tree that died in our front yard. Patrick dug it up and put it in the backyard while he planted the new one. Maggie felt so bad for the little dead tree she covered it in her old baby blankets.

Caroline enjoying an ice cream from Dairy Queen.

The girls playing together (rather than fighting). Maggie put her dress on Caroline and put a blanket cape on herself. They ran around screaming. That's my girl's idea of a good time.

Caroline got sick. A few days in she seemed to be worse so I took her to Urgent Care. Miss Limp-and-Listless came home and was FINE! I would have been mad were it not for how relieved I was.

Maggie's last day of preschool--bug hunting and picnic at Roger's Grove. Here she is posing with her friend Erin (Erin's sister behind them--for some reason I cannot remember her name).

Day at the park.

We've been playing in the sprinklers a lot:

I bought the girls Happy Meals. They both ate ONE bite of a chicken nugget and a few fries. That's it. Why did I bother? Maggie quickly abandoned her food for an art project.

I got sick of Maggie forgetting her scriptures every week for church so I used an Anthropologie napkin and sewed it up into a little bag that can hang on the hook by the door (oh, don't worry--she still forgets the bag regularly). Caroline loved it though:

Maggies Dance Recital May 2011

2011-06-18T20:52:00.000-06:00

I could KICK myself for not getting any video of this performance! Camera difficulties. That's all I have to say. I'm still trying to track down a recording of it somewhere.
Maggie was an adorable little cowgirl and she rocked it.

Our tradition of Baskin Robbins post dance performance:

More Randoms

2011-06-16T08:24:00.000-06:00

Mother's Day. Love my girls!

Now that we have some heat here in Colorado we have commenced with the sprinkler time.

The girls just having a good time.

Caroline cannot keep herself away from the dress-ups. I love it. So darling.

The realization that a sucker can change the color of your tongue:

Randoms

2011-06-13T20:51:00.003-06:00

A few fun shots.

Caroline spends a good portion of every day in the bathroom filling the sink with water. Then dumping the hand towel in the sink and leaves the mess for me to clean up. It's cute. And it's killing me.

Maggie's dance rehearsal:

Watching a little tv. Love how sweet they are sitting there together:

Caroline playing with Maggie's hair. My sister, Ellen, and I used to do this all the time!

Maggie's little friend Alex celebrated his 5th birthday at Chuck-E Cheese:

Playing in our backyard. I love this picture because I think Maggie looks so much like me during my "braids" stage:

Caroline loves to wear our dress-up heels:

Maggie slammed her tender little fingers in our front door. She was SO upset and I felt so terribly sorry for her. She surely knows how to look and act pathetic. She had me giving her chocolate and unwrapping each piece for her!

Easter Egg Decorating

2011-05-25T21:21:00.000-06:00

This post is out of place but I still wanted to get it out there.

Every year I have the family decorate Easter Eggs. We always make great memories which are carefully packed away to be displayed every Easter. Forever.

Daddy's egg:

Maggie's:

Caroline's (with Daddy's help):

And mine:

Field Trip to a Dairy

2011-05-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

Maggie's preschool had a field trip to a local dairy. It happened to fall on a VERY cold and windy day. We froze to death!
Maggie with her besty Erin:

Maggie and Erin eating the dairy's ice cream (the perfect treat for freezing kids and parents, no?):

We spent maybe 30 seconds outside with the cows before deciding they were not nearly worth how cold we were!

Caroline's Second Birthday

2011-05-19T20:04:00.003-06:00

On May 1st my tiny babe, Caroline, turned two years old.

She would not so much as touch her birthday cake. We kept it around for two days, all the while snacking on it ourselves, until she decided to try it. Low and behold--she loved it.

I let the girls have the "good" mac n cheese for the special day:

She loved her gifts. Mom and dad gave her a jewelry box--the exact same one Maggie has to avoid the fights we already have brewing. Patrick took Maggie out for a special trip to buy Caroline her Ballerina Dora. She loves it! LOVES it:

The girls also got to Skype with their Aunt Julie and cousins Ruby and Meredith. This shot was taken behind my laptop as they stare at Julie and compete for attention.

And, finally, Caroline yells "Happy Birthday to ME!"

We love her and don't know what we'd do without her.

Easter 2011

2011-05-12T08:07:00.001-06:00

Holiday's go by so fast these days it's hard to get any great pictures of the event! I could use a live-in photographer just so I can engage with the family, enjoy the moment, and STILL have photographic evidence that it all happened. Before I knew it the girls had ripped into the baskets and were headed down the stairs to hunt for eggs. I caught this one pic of Caroline playing with a pin wheel from her basket at least.

We had to slow Maggie down and have her help Caroline find some eggs. Here she is pointing one out for Caroline to pick up. It was all she could do to let her baby sister have ANY.

Caroline finding an egg all by herself.

Caroline discovers there is actually something inside the eggs.

Maggie celebrates by throwing the grass from their baskets all over the kitchen.

Preschool Easter Hunt

2011-05-09T04:07:00.000-06:00

This is Maggie's second year at Cornerstone Preschool and therefore her second time with the Easter candy "hunt". Man what a difference a year can make! She was much more aware and focused on getting candy.

Here she is with her best preschool buddy Erin and her preschool boyfriend Lincoln.

Becoming such a pro she had no problem almost knocking her sister flat in order to reach a chocolate egg.

Siblings are welcome to join in so Caroline did just that. She put about 2 pieces of candy in her bag before finding a sucker and that was all she needed. She then just walked around holding the sucker saying, "My special sucker!" to anyone who would listen. I finally prodded her into grabbing 2-3 more pieces of candy before calling it quits.

Since Maggie will be starting kindergarten in the fall and Caroline is only two we will not be at Cornerstone in the fall and I have to say I'll really miss it. We have loved the program, the teachers, etc. Maggie will sorely miss it as well I'm sure.

March Trip To Utah

2011-05-06T04:25:00.001-06:00

Patrick did his yearly pilgrimage to Ohio for basketball and friends in March. I braved my very first solo trip to Utah with the girls.

We were in Utah for my brother Randy's birthday. I was of course using my cell phone for pictures and this is literally the best picture I have of the birthday celebration. Somehow it totally suits Randy though--this is exactly how he looks when happy and laughing.

My sister Julie and I were able to get a little shopping in which was quite a treat. The girls quickly found something to play on.

We were also in Utah for St Patrick's Day. This year I took the girls to a fabric store and made the huge mistake of letting Maggie pick the fabric for a simple green skirt. It was so difficult to sew with and the it was stiff and didn't hang right. But they loved them and that's what counts I guess. Next year I'll just roll with what I want and not even let them have a choice in the matter! I did like the hair clips I made for them at least.

Julie, Brett, and Ruby were fantastic hosts and made sure the girls were happy, comfortable, entertained, and generally spoiled rotten. You can see more super fun photos of our trip on Julie's blog here and here.

The Mall

2011-05-01T07:35:00.004-06:00

Our second home is the mall. My husband is rolling his eyes at that statement. But he knows it's true. Sometimes I go just to give the girls something to do. We hit the Disney Store--that's where we get the crowns and usually some sort of craft or video presentation. We hit Nordstrom shoe department--that's where we get the balloons. We hit the play area--that's where we get germs. And tears. But they BEG to go. What's a mom to do??

That is a big bruise on Caroline's cheek. She rammed right into her play table. Hard.

Swimming

2011-04-30T16:32:00.004-06:00

We took the girls to the rec center for some swimming.

Maggie is still very nervous about getting too wet or getting splashed or any water at all touching her face. So this picture of her actually going down the slide and risking it all is pretty exciting for me.

She mostly prefers to sit and play quietly with a water spout at the top. See how that little stream of water is so very non-threatening?

Caroline seems to be slightly more daring in the water. I better take advantage and get her signed up for swim lessons before the fear is learned.

This is Caroline mid happy-swimming dance:

I actually put on a suit and was prepared to get wet (I mean beyond my knees) if necessary. Luckily is wasn't necessary. Maggie commented on the way home that I had said I was going to get wet and I didn't. She's starting to notice I'm not the swimming type. I wanted the girls to be strong swimmers before they noticed their mom does NOT like to swim. It's not that I'm afraid or that I'm a terrible swimmer (I am actually a terrible swimmer). It's that I can't stand being....soggy. I'm a read-a-book-while-catching-some-sun-on-a-lounge-chair kinda gal.

Randoms

2011-04-26T20:40:00.005-06:00

Dressing up. Nothing new here.

But Caroline plays "dress up" a bit different. She just wants to wear Maggie's Dora underwear. That's it. Almost every day.

And I just had to include a shot of those legs!

What the girls do while I clean. Was it worth it? I'm still debating.

Caroline has been refusing her naps for a good long time now. This makes for a very cranky girl most evenings. Or we walk out of the room for 2 seconds and come back to this:

Patrick and the girls watching Tangled:

And the one picture of Maggie and me at Disney Princesses on Ice. I think she had a good time. She's easily overwhelmed and she mostly just sat on my lap with giant eyes. When it first started and the lights went out and the music began she looked at me and said, "Caroline really should be here!". Melt my heart that she even noticed or cared!

Rare Day With Dad

2011-04-26T20:12:00.004-06:00

We had a rare day with Dad at the park. The girls get a lot of time with their dad at home when he gets up with them in the morning and all day as he takes breaks from work and wanders down the stairs but he usually doesn't have time for a trip to the park. This was fun! He even made a picnic lunch.

Canvas and Cocktails

2011-04-17T07:52:00.004-06:00

My friend Melissa found this great place called Canvas and Cocktails and invited a group of us to try it out. You pay a small fee to paint a picture and they have a bar there as well for those who want to drink--hence the name Canvas and Cocktails. The instructor walks you through the chosen painting of the night and in between brief explanations the music goes way up and everyone paints, sings, chats, until the next set of instructions. Now, I'm no artist. Not even sorta. I had SO MUCH FUN! This is totally worth doing.

Thank you to Melissa over at All Together Now for inviting me. What a fabulous girls night out!

Most of March

2011-04-16T14:21:00.002-06:00

March might have gotten away from me. Our church started a little bootcamp class twice a week which I have been attending. This means I have been reminded of how out of shape I am every moment of every day--oh the soreness! But it's given me motivation to start running again and maybe someday (a girl can dream) I'll feel healthy and in shape. I've also been busy with various church activities involving plenty of baking, book clubs (I now belong to THREE), and I've been helping my friend with small tasks as she launches her clothing company. Bus-y! Oh, and I made my first road trip alone with the girls to Utah and I'm still alive to tell the tale. I'll post about that trip later. So lets discuss the month with a few photos.

A friend hosted a little Charming Charlie party with snacks, drinks, and lots of girl talk. Charming Charlie is an accessories store (for lack of a better description). Everyone from the party got 20% off their entire purchase. I picked up a couple of crowns for my girls:

Caroline is like a vulture waiting until Maggie moves away from her project then slides right in and, according to Maggie, "ruins everything". Maggie does not appreciate cooperative art projects!

My favorite walking route happens to go through two parks. Most of the time I'm a mean mom and tell the kids we can't stop (otherwise my workout would be shot). One day I actually did stop for them. It was a fairly cold day but the girls were determined to get on those swings:

The new basement has been the spot we spend almost all of our time these days. Maggie is just completely obsessed with my very old PS2. We bought her a couple of games and she spends hours playing Scooby Doo or Frogger.

Caroline sticks to coloring with her dad:

Valentines 2011

2011-04-11T08:58:00.006-06:00

This post has taken much too long to complete! Turns out I couldn't find pictures of the finished product and I had to dig (and dig some more!) to find this cell phone shot of Maggie's 2011 Valentine. I love it. I still haven't found a completed card of Caroline and I could just kick myself over it! I took the photos and sent them off to my sister Julie to do the background and make it look fabulous! She even made the fists a slightly bigger so it would have the perfect effect. Here's the post she did on the cards at Mom's Purse.

I thought I'd share a little of the photo shoot we did in order to get the girls holding their hands out in a fist. We never did get a very good one of Caroline.

Isn't Maggie darling in the background?? **tender**

**EDIT** found one of Caroline!

Las Vegas Trade Show

2011-03-31T18:40:00.004-06:00

My good friend, the talented Vicki Sigg, just launched the most adorable girl's clothing line--Pixie Girl. Vicki has been kind enough to let me see the entire design and manufacturing process as well as let my littles wear her clothes and even model in them. She had her official launch in Las Vegas at the KIDShow. I got to go and help out with her booth. Fun, FUN! We went to Cirque du Soleil "O" which was a-mazing! Here we are before the show:

Vicki in front of her finished booth:

We met up with our friend, Katie who now lives in Vegas, for an evening out. We wandered around the Bellagio:

We went to the best patisserie EVER! Here I am in front of the chocolate fountain:

And of course I have to snap pics of the yummy pastries:

This is the one I chose. Loved it!:

I was actually kind of worried Caroline would not remember me. So worried in fact that I bought some chocolate at the airport to bribe her into liking me again. Not needed. She was thrilled to see me and I almost cried with joy. I kissed the heck out of both of my girls (waking the sleeping Maggie up in her car seat). Here's Caroline the next morning wearing a little organic outfit I bought off another vendor at the trade show.

I was ready. Very, very ready to have some time away from Mommy Diana. It felt good to get out and relax and play. But I was just as ready to get back to my life in Colorado and the people I love most in the world.

Patrick was a super star while I was gone and took care of all the girl's needs. I could not be more grateful to that man!

The Latest Cell Phone Pics

2011-03-26T15:47:00.008-06:00

I haven't really been using my camera lately. I've also been busy, busy, busy! I just downloaded my cell phone pictures and although the quality is poor I at least have a little something for this here blog. Caroline wearing some clip on earrings:

The girls playing around on a very cold day. Not sure why this day they had the idea to play in their swimsuits (which Caroline calls "swim soups"):

Caroline playing in a bowl of snow in her beloved "meow meow" hat:

At the library:

Caroline is all about picking her own outfit. Yes, I let her. Here she is at Maggie's dance studio looking quite lovely in her jammies, Ariel swim suit, Christmas socks, and awesome shoes:

Maggie and Caroline create mountains of toys while I shower. I'm not sure getting a shower in is worth the clean up:

Cowboy/Cowgirl day at school. Lucky for us our friend Vicki had purchase some (very) nice boots, spurs, and cowboy hat for her girl and graciously let us borrow them!

Kitchen Update

2011-03-22T09:55:00.000-06:00

It all started with a sign. A sign advertising really cheap granite counter tops. I've never really loved my awesome Formica counters. And then I became obsessed...

Of course the granite I liked was NOT the cheap ones advertised and I didn't exactly plan for my small back splash needing to be replaced. Oops.

The back splash--oh the back splash! Many hours were spent collecting samples, returning them, ordering, cancelling orders, asking (bugging to DEATH) anyone who would listen and offer advice. I ended up with one of my first choices in tile and went for a full back splash instead of partial.

But then the cabinets were all wrong. Since it's impossible to change out cabinets after granite has been laid I had to settle for painting the ones I had. Cream. And new hardware. The process was pretty cool but rendered my kitchen useless for 3 full days which is tough with small kids. They tented the whole thing and sprayed it all.

My painters hanging the freshly painted doors.

My poor husband put on his game face and did his best not to lose patience with the ongoing needs (er...um...wants). The kitchen is done now. Mostly. The problem is the more I tweak or improve the more I notice other projects that need to be done to finish the kitchen off. But for now we'll say it's done. Or it will never be.

Sisters

2011-03-02T20:32:00.005-07:00

Maggie was pretending to drive a car (she always does that on the bottom of our stairs) and Caroline wandered by. Maggie, with her arm casually "steering" back and forth, looked up at her sister and said, "Oh, hey Caroline...wanna drive to Utah with me?".

Maggie can be overly affectionate at times.

Watching a DVD in their new basement playroom. I have no idea why the huge TV behind them wasn't good enough.

Caroline still loves her Dora backpack:

We Play in the Snow

2011-02-21T20:36:00.004-07:00

I don't like the snow. I don't like to be cold. My girls generally don't either. So this is how we play in the snow. I simply lean out the back door and scoop up a little bowl. Caroline just eats it. Maggie actually does play a bit. They bore quickly.

Maggie makes mini snowmen.

After oh...say...10 minutes of snow play the kids are off to smear make up all over the house and in the process get a little bit of said make up on their little faces.

By the way, those lashes actually don't have any makeup on them. Those thick long puppies are all theirs. Lucky girls.

Vicki Sigg Christmas Photo Shoot

2011-02-05T08:48:00.002-07:00

Just a few of the pics from our Christmas photo shoot with Vicki. Love them!

Finally...A Christmas Post!

2011-01-31T18:44:00.004-07:00

How nice to be able to spend Christmas at home! I'm equal parts sad to be missing out on extended family fun and thrilled to be in our own house lounging around.
Maggie and me baking cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Maggie is appropriately attired in her dance recital costume because what else would one wear for baking??

Fresh out of the bath and setting out the cookies for Santa. Maggie did a fantastic job of getting Caroline to scream "Santa's Coming!". And every night for weeks Caroline would say night-night to the Christmas tree.

The kids were really fun this year on Christmas morning. Both Maggie and Caroline were engaged, excited, and having a fantastic time. I was so happy to see them enjoying all the fun--way better than being a kid myself!

Santa is KICKING herself for buying the Barbie Glitterizer which was nothing more than a glitter disseminator and that darn glitter was everywhere for weeks!

Mom and Dad gave Maggie a jewelry box. The traditional little girl gift. It had the little ballerina that spins and plays music and everything. I don't know if she liked it nearly as much as I liked giving it to her! Here she is checking out her lovely clip-on Little Mermaid earrings.

Caroline received several different forms of Dora (dolls, backpacks, bath paints, jammies, etc). She loved the backpack and wore it around most of the day.

Maggie gave Caroline a pillow pet and Caroline loved it. Here she is "loving" it.

Utah Trip December 2010

2011-01-26T19:20:00.001-07:00

We decided to hit Utah between Thanksgiving and Christmas (mostly so we could attend my brother Brian's b-day celebration). Caroline had the stomach flu most of the time and the Provo Tabernacle burned to the ground....but otherwise we had a LOVELY time!
We met the Matesen clan in Salt Lake City for a little dinner before heading down to Provo.

After some pretty nasty traffic we arrive at our hotel only to find they had given away our room. After a huge hassle we ended up taking two rooms and splitting up for the night. The following nights we managed to get our regular set-up.

We hit La Dolce Vita with the family the next day. My dad and his wife Rosa taking the leftovers home to their rabbits. Seriously.

Caroline playing with Meredith. Little did we know she was probably infecting her with the flu bug that would eventually take her down for too many days. I still feel terrible about it!

We had the cousins over to the hotel for swimming:

We visited Brian's grave site and left a wreath. His birthday party was worth the trip. We had a really nice family visit. We shared favorite Brian memories. We watched the picture slide show we had made for his funeral. I was so glad we came for that rather than the holiday's before or after.

Maggie left a snow angel:

As we were leaving the Matesens one day Maggie reminded us of the promise to play in the snow. They quickly set about "playing" in the front yard and even managed a snowman. Mags was more than pleased.

Not my favorite picture of either Patrick or myself but we have so few pics of just us:

My kids love Utah. Maggie regularly asks to move there. It goes by so quickly each and every time we're there. One of these visits I'm gonna make it an extended stay just so I can see everyone I want to see and do everything I want to do....one of these visits.

Pre Christmas Fun

2011-01-14T07:11:00.003-07:00

Pretty much the month of December:

Caroline finds the drawer in our coffee table the perfect lounging location.

Patrick finished framing, electrical, and HVAC in the basement--hooray! Time for drywall. We hired this part out. One morning a big...thing (crane?) came to drop off the supplies. We (and all the neighbors) got a big kick out of that.

Maggie has taken to decorating Caroline:

She's big into art of all kinds I guess:

We took a trip to Utah for my brother's birthday (I'll do a separate post on this). One day in and Caroline was throwing up. Super. After two days of puking we make the journey home. This is how she looked the whole way. At least she managed NOT to vomit the entire drive--phew!

I felt just awful for her! A day or so later we find out that cousin Meredith came down with it too (oh the massive guilt!). Sorry Mer!!

We thought Maggie had escaped. Wrong. Although she didn't vomit nearly as much as Caroline she basically slept for 3 days straight and had me pretty worried.

Both kids miraculously felt great for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Then came something else...

Things I Want Recorded

2011-01-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

This post has been in the works for months. Literally. Months. Ugh. So when you're reading what my kids are up to, remember the first half of this post is what they were up to in, like, early fall...yup.

Some artwork by miss Maggie My:

Maggie got all dressed up. New dress from cousins, fancy shoes with flowers on the toe, princess crown, and of course her stuffed unicorn. "Mommy, I'm pretty and you and Caroline are handsome. I'm the only one in pretty things".

Caroline over the past couple of weeks has mastered the stairs. Going up them at least. She's managed to make it all the way up our stairs and into her Daddy's office before I know what has happened. I've become waaaay too complacent with her immobility and have not adjusted quickly enough to it's sudden demise. **She now rocks at both going up and coming down the stairs. She's still very good about going down backwards never even attempts to "walk" down.**

Maggie is so full of funny sayings I can't even keep up. It makes me sad because she is hilarious:

Maggie says, "Mommy, what is this wrinkle?" Bacon honey. It's bacon.

Maggie says, "Mommy, you need to shave your spikes."

Maggie says, "But...I'm not done with time out!"

Maggie asks for a spray of my perfume. Later that day she approaches me for more and says, "Mommy, I don't smell like heaven anymore."

Sept 9th. First true walk from Caroline. Soooooo proud. That girl is all about lazy and learning to walk is a whole lot of effort!

We've decided Caroline is much more interested in increasing her intellectual abilities than learning to do that silly walking stuff. She has learned most of the alphabet and can even recognize some basic words. Yes, I know she's just memorizing certain words and not actually, truly reading them but its super cool! We went to Borders the other day and from the car she emphatically pointed at the big Borders sign and named each letter in order: "B! O! R!...etc. I was pretty stunned. She can also recognize the following words. She can barely SAY them but she does know them: smiling, point, keys, eyes, mouth, diaper, wave, tongue, and rattle. Those are the words from the level one Your Baby Can Read program DVDs. I was using them as pure entertainment (my chance to shower, etc). Who the heck knew she was actually picking up on the stuff?? Once we pulled the flashcards out and she started saying the words we were just laughing it seemed so unbelievable! **She is still amazing us with what she's remembering, retaining, learning. Like...whoah...**

Caroline is pretty good at asking for "hup" (help). If she wants a book or toy she can't reach or gets stuck in a precarious spot she can't climb down from she yells, "hup...hup...HUP!!" Occasionally she also yells, "STUCK!"

**ACTUAL CURRENT STUFF:**

Caroline in the doctor's office (diagnosis: croup). Weight 20 lbs. Just 20 small pounds at 20 months!

Caroline is a singing FOOL! She remembers and sings along to an astounding number of songs. She even makes up variations to songs. One of her favorites is Once There Was A Snowman. She regularly substitutes Snowman for any other thing and thinks it makes the song hilarious. She makes other pretty funny substitutions in other songs and we always get a big kick out of what she comes up with.

She also loves to count. She counts everything. First she counts in English then immediately starts over and counts the items again in Spanish. Thanks Dora! I regularly get people commenting on how verbal she is.

Caroline has started nursery at church and loves it--as long as I stay in the room. Bummer. She completely freaks out if I try to leave. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. She's scared of everyone and refuses to let anyone get too close to her.

Hungry Hippos is the girl's favorite game.

For the past few months I've been in charge of the Activity Days at church. It's been an adventure and Maggie has loved being with the 8 and 9 year old girls every other week for an activity. I swear she thinks I'm setting these up as little play dates just for her. I was released of the Activity Days calling recently and now I'm the Primary secretary. I told Maggie and she was so bummed!

Maggie is a little-big person these days and is starting to sound like one too. It's not uncommon to hear her say, "...and I was like....and she was like...".

She is still obsessed with all things girl. Barbie, princesses, etc. but her favorite thing in the world is playing any sort of game at all with her Dad.

Over the winter break Maggie got to have two special dates with her Dad. First, the happy couple skipped off to Red Robin for lunch and then it a movie. Apparently Tangled is the greatest movie of all time because we've been playing Rapunzel games ever since. Here's a pic of the two of them in the theater:

Their second date was to the Rec Center for some swimming! Patrick told me that after 3(maybe 3.5) minutes she decided she was too cold and had him bundle her up in towels. They spent the next 45 minutes on the plastic deck chairs while Maggie babbled...and babbled...and babbled away to her favorite guy.

Maggie's Christmas Dance Recital

2011-01-06T10:57:00.005-07:00

Maggie had her Christmas dance recital and oh was it cute!

The tap routine was a little soldier song. It was her favorite.

She had a great time! Again, Patrick and I were more freaked out about the performance than she was. Caroline attended since she won't go to a babysitter yet.

I need to remember Maggie is a teensy tiny girl and doesn't need a bouquet of flowers bigger than she is.

Sugar Plum Tea

2010-12-27T03:58:00.000-07:00

Maggie's dance studio puts on the Nutcracker ballet each holiday season. They have a Sugar Plum Tea to fund raise for it. Oh.My.Cute...
It was a full high tea followed by a mini Nut (abbreviated version of the Nutcracker) and then a little photo shoot with a sugar plum fairy. I'm pretty sure I was more excited for this than Maggie was. I could hardly contain myself!
The local tea house, Thompson House Inn, put on the tea and provided a big table full of hats, jewelry, etc for the kids to dress up in. Like the hat she picked?

She gabbed away while stirring umpteen sugar cubes and cream into her orange blossom tea. She kept asking me if I wanted more sugar and cream in my tea and by the end I'm pretty sure I was drinking pure sugared cream...but it made her so happy.

She was enchanted by the ballet. The small children got to sit right up front, a few short feet from the performers and it was magical for her. Her eyes were huge!

Our picture with a sugar plum fairy.

We will definitely make this a holiday tradition.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving. It's so nice to not travel during the holidays! As nice as it is to stay home I still miss family a great deal and I miss the formal dinner that goes along with it. We had a quiet (but very tasty) meal at home and basically hung out in our jammies.
I let the girls dress themselves and we went to a local park to collect "items" for our table centerpiece. Hilarious....hilarious.

This was the first year we very seriously considered going out on Black Friday to take advantage of the sales but in the end we opted to just stay home and set up/decorate our tree. I believe we absolutely made the right choice.

Very Late Dance Pictures

2010-12-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

These were the professional pics from Maggie's dance recital...in MAY! I had forgotten we even had them done. Well, they're cute all the same so I scanned a couple of my favs. How sweet is my girl?!?

A Little Tea Party

2010-12-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

Maggie asked me (hounded me for weeks!) to have a little tea party. I finally said ok.
She was ready HOURS before it was to begin.

In full swing:

Maggie and school friend Erin working on a small craft.

Reagan was the most focused and careful colorer.

Somehow they ended up watching a few minutes of a silly Barbie movie before running up to Maggie's room to play with the dolls and such. They all got along famously!

Now she's obsessed with having a "pajama party" (sleep over). I have not a clue where the idea came from. I've tried to explain that we have a family rule of no sleep overs. Ever. It's gonna be a rough one...

Randoms

2010-12-09T22:10:00.005-07:00

I love my blog. I love having such a fantastic record of our life. I'm going to try harder to blog more regularly. So there you go Mom.

Maggie and her make up. Always the girliest girl.

It looked like Maggie was not all that upset at Caroline's artwork on her sleeve...

Then she melted down...

We haven't had too much snow this season (yet). Maggie immediately begged to go out in the snow when she woke up to a small dusting. Doesn't she look like the happiest little kid making a snow angel?

I've been knitting a little bit these days. Seems like knitting has taken a back seat to sewing lately. But this little shrug on Caroline makes me so happy!

Maggie and Caroline eating some powdered donuts:

Caroline watching the Wiggles on the computer. I wish this was a video because she was singing along to the songs. She is definitely a singer.

Cell Phone Pics

2010-11-22T13:21:00.006-07:00

It's always fun to flip through all the random things I've shot from my phone.
Maggie insisted on a picture of this rainbow:

Crafting project:

Caroline loves the magna-doodle. She demands (and I do mean demands!) that you make "smiley" for her.

Apparently I did take a few photos right after my surgery...wonder why I don't remember...
Ellen reading to Caroline:

Maggie admiring her huge crayon collection that Julie bought for her:

Caroline with my sunglasses on:

At Lowes with my mom:

In the backyard. Love the look Caroline is giving Maggie.

Randoms

2010-11-18T07:51:00.008-07:00

Patrick loves his evening popcorn. He used to have the big bowl all to himself until he made the mistake of eating it before the kids went to bed. Now they both want some. Caroline eats her weight in popcorn. Recently Patrick did wait until the girls were in their rooms to pop it. Shortly after it came out of the microwave Maggie calls from the top of the stairs, "Daddy! I smell popcorn!". Busted.

Maggie filled our little sandbox with water and before I really knew what was going on she and Caroline were splashing happily around. It was quite the mess and the kids were not please to be stripped and hosed off before being allowed back in the house.

The girls discovered a "game" they now play regularly. I'm please because when I suggest it I know I have a good 20 minutes of peace. I keep a basket of diapers in bathroom off the kitchen. Maggie passes them one by one under the glass door to Caroline who squeals with joy at receiving them. Once all diapers are through, Caroline passes them back under. Seriously--at least 20 minutes!

Maggie held one or both feet in the air (for long periods of time) at random when she was this age too. Caroline kept her one foot up the entire time she gnawed on that apple.

Yes, I did notice that my younger girl is just in her diaper in most of these pics. She just loves being out of constricting clothes. She pulls at them and says, "on" because she doesn't know how to say "off" for whatever reason. She's pretty insistent and unless it's very cold in the house we usually give in.

Fall/Halloween Part 2

2010-11-14T07:43:00.001-07:00

I made some sugar cookies. Maggie and Daddy decorated them:

Trunk-or-Treat. Preparing at home--we did curlers and make up together. It was so sweet!! This was definitely my favorite part.

Maybe it's because we're in the church parking lot that Maggie decided she would pose like that.

Maggie and her little friend Reagan:

This is a little blurry but it's the best close-up photo of our little witch. Both Maggie and Caroline's bolero jackets were sewn by me but the pattern was made by my friend Vicki Sigg.

Maggie's ballet/tap class the week of Halloween (or...most of them).

Preschool costume parade:

Preschool friend Meserette:

Preschool friend (BFF's according to them) Erin:

Preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch:

Fall/Halloween Part 1

2010-11-03T15:17:00.015-06:00

Our annual trip to Anderson Farms:

Caroline loved the "cock-a-doo's". She spent a lot of time yelling at them.

The tractor-pulled barrels. Maggie's expression in this picture kills me! She is very seriously focused on steering that silly barrel.

We picked a lot of great pumpkins and as we were happily headed back to the tractor with our loot we hear Maggie start crying. Both Patrick and I look at each other wondering what could possibly be wrong. As Patrick got closer he realized Maggie was standing IN a huge pumpkin. She had tried to stand on it not realising it was rotting. She sunk in a good 4 inches--I really wish I'd snapped a picture of the deep foot prints she left behind when her daddy came to pull her out. After a few minutes of us laughing at her she was able to see the humor in the situation and that helped to dry the tears.

What a great day.

Video of Caroline

2010-10-22T17:19:00.003-06:00

Grammy Visits

2010-10-17T08:06:00.007-06:00

Grammy came to Colorado...and boy did we celebrate. My mother loves to eat out. We ate out almost every night and had plenty of candy and sweets at home! Maggie and Grammy shared more than one Jelly Belly eating session--they have that in common.

One of the days we spent at the park. The kids really thought it was great to have Grammy there too.

The big highlight for my mom was a trip up to Estes Park to see the fall leaves, check out the elk wandering around, and hit the Stanley Hotel. We ate at our favorite little pizza joint then spent a good part of the afternoon at the hotel. My mom loves that place. Could it be that she is a horror story fanatic and this hotel was the very place Stephen King wrote The Shining??

Maggie throwing a coin in the fountain out back:

Caroline and Maggie truly enjoyed the big banquet rooms open to the public.

Grammy enjoying one of the many roaring fires.

Chilling out on the front porch:

Grammy by the fountain in back:

Me and my mom on the front steps:

Pristine Sleep

2010-10-13T06:35:00.007-06:00

So I had minor (and by that I mean really minor) surgery a couple of weeks back. My sisters Julie and Ellen came to help out. It's a sad day when you actually look forward to surgery so you can sleep--the pristine sleep of general anesthetic. I cringe to admit that it's the best sleep I've had in FIVE YEARS. Hands down. Upon returning home I was presented a lovely plate of snacks in bed. Then I took a three hour nap. Three hours!! People, there are no words for that kind of desperately needed break.
Sadly, by the time I came out of the fog (two short, short days later) my sisters were on their way back to Utah and I felt cheated of their company...but my girls had the time of their lives.
I was not really up for picture taking myself so here are some (terrible quality scans) of pictures Julie took while here.

I include the following shot for reasons unknown to me. As I type I'm second guessing it. But this is exactly what I look like the day after surgery...at the grocery store.

There are so few pics of me with my girls. Fewer of me with just Caroline. Julie took this while we did some singing. Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pat-a-Cake, and Popcorn Popping.

Slide Down

2010-10-05T06:03:00.008-06:00

I almost tossed our slide this year. Maggie played with it briefly when we first brought it home and it's been a huge thorn in my backyard side ever since. I'm so glad I didn't because Caroline has loved it this year! And if Caroline is enjoying something so is Maggie.

Of course it's not fun to help Caroline slide down over and over and over (and over) again.

One of Each

2010-10-04T19:12:00.004-06:00

The Girls--More Randoms Pics (Again!)

2010-09-21T07:17:00.000-06:00

Caroline lovey loves balls. Ball was one of her first words. She rolls them under the couch and does the cutest little attempt at getting them out. I mean, just look at that toe in the air!! How can I say no to digging a ball out from under our couch for the 642nd time?

Maggie proving how very brave she is to stand outside in the rain.

Shoe. Another one of Caroline's first words. Oh, how she loves shoes. But shoes on the feet? Not so much. It's hysterical to hear her clacking around the kitchen at full crawling speed with Maggie's dress up shoes.

I totally love my new Droid phone. It has everything imaginable on there. Problem is Caroline has figured that out too. If she sees my phone (in the car, on the counter, sitting next to me on the couch) she points frantically and says, "Dora, Dora, Dora" until I get to YouTube and find some Dora clips. It works out great until I'm in public trying to talk to someone on the phone and she's flat melting down over not seeing Dora.

My worn out hippie chick. That's a flower from our yard that she asked to have tied onto some yarn for a "beautiful crown". Um...ok.

Maggie Starting Preschool

2010-09-19T07:31:00.001-06:00

Even though she was still recovering from a nasty stomach bug Maggie was not about to miss her first day of preschool. I kept telling her how she was recovering and still very weak so she had to take it easy, go slow, etc.

Miss Andrea was so kind and sweet with her--welcoming her back after missing her all summer long. I knew she was going to have a great time and that this was a great school!

Patrick picked her up and she happily showed him all the artwork she'd done but made sure to add, "But don't worry, I went slow...cause I'm sick". I wonder how many people she told that to at school.

The Eye Thing

2010-09-16T09:03:00.000-06:00

So Caroline has had (for a good portion of her life) a little nodule under her eyelid. It was virtually invisible unless you rubbed her eyelid and felt for it. Well, a few weeks ago it got...angry. It started to get bigger and bigger. And more and more red as well.
I took this picture thinking it couldn't possibly get worse.

It did. Get worse.

She looked SO bad! Every time I took her out people stared or couldn't help but ask what had happened. I took her to the pediatrician who referred us to a pediatric opthamologist in Boulder. He took a brief look at Caroline and decided it was most likely a stye. He gave us instructions to use warm compresses and give it a week to drain on it's own.
We are a little over two weeks out from that appointment and I'd say the thing is 80% gone. I'm not convinced it is a stye but will wait a few more days before I start harassing the doctor for more answers. Through it all Caroline has remained totally and completely UNbothered.

Plugging Along...

2010-09-12T20:03:00.002-06:00

First pigtails. Love 'em!

"Hat!" She screams until you put it on her. Then she gets really mad if it comes off.

Daddy reads LOTS of books.

My church carnival. Maggie got a tattoo. I kept pointing to my freshly lasered tattoo and explaining what a real tattoo is all about and how awful they are to remove. Not like it sunk in.

Caroline found the "fishing pond" and could not be persuaded away.

Randoms

2010-09-09T20:11:00.006-06:00

Caroline has moved into a booster chair at the table. I cannot express how happy I am to ditch the high chair for good! I'm of course heart broken over my kids growing up but that silly thing was HUGE. Love my babies...hate some of the baby gear they inevitably come with.

Dress I "sewed" for Maggie. It started as a womens XL t-shirt from WalMart so it was more like altered than totally sewn. Love it though!

Caroline is obsessed with shoes. Normally they are worn on her hands as she crawls around the house (doesn't matter who the shoes belong to--even Daddy's shoes have been worn on the hands). This time I put a cute pair on her feet and stood her up. Result? Confusion...

Just chillin' as I stroll them through Lowes:

Ok, kids, just sit here and be good while the mama's chat it up and sew. Please!

Wipes and toilet paper = Caroline's current loves. She cannot get enough of either and likes to make huge piles of it to play in. I stopped her pretty early on with the package of wipes--this time. Do you SEE that devilish look on her face?

Patrick's Birthday

2010-08-29T15:56:00.004-06:00

Patrick celebrated his birthday at home with just us family about. He picked out a lovely steak and let Maggie help in the preparations:

And cake. There is always his cake.

His request for a gift was golf lessons for ME. After discussing our youngest's stanger anxiety (no baby sitter for this girl) we thought it best to put that gift off til next year. He bought himself books instead...golf books. He's been busily engaged in reading them then heading to the range to "practice" what he's learned. Just another excuse to hit the course.

2010-08-21T20:47:00.000-06:00

After a walk with my friend, Marisa, we stopped to let the kids play at the park. I had no idea Caroline would decide to drench herself. I had no extra clothes, no blankets, not even a diaper. She had a very uncomfortable walk home.

Cupcakes. Always cupcakes.

Maggie loves to pose for the camera. There are no such things as candid shots these days. Behind her are two colors I was pondering for the kitchen island. Both were immediately vetoed by myself as well as Maggie. She suggested pink.

Caroline had her blood drawn to check for thyroid dysfunction. All clear but I had to deal with the trauma (mine, not hers) of the needle. She has a lovely green bandage:

Preparing for the school year has been a lot more work than I anticipated.. Preschool schedule, ballet classes, making sure there is actually free play time, and the endless list of supplies to buy! Stressed does not even begin to describe it.

I love the way she sits in her little chair to have a snack.

Dairy Queen. Maggie in an old ice cream cone pro. Caroline had to share mine so as not to get too darn messy.

Summer has been fun. Summer has been busy. Way busy. I'm terribly sad to see the warm days slip away. We've already discussed Halloween costumes. Like many, many times. Please excuse the sobs...

More Summer

2010-08-18T19:51:00.000-06:00

Almost 16 months old and NOT walking. You so much as say the words "stand" or "walk" and her legs immediately retract! But she has learned to stand. I was elated to see it.

I bought Maggie a sheet of tattoos. Daddy helped her apply practically all of them:

Little top I made for Maggie:

My vegetable garden has been interesting this year. Hits and misses. That carrot is the ONLY carrot I got from the garden this year. How is that even possible?? They are supposed to be the easiest things to grow! Those were also some of the very few heirloom tomatoes that I got--very tasty though.

My attempt at a mommy/daughter shot:

Playdate at the Siggs. They truly have a kids paradise for a backyard. It even comes with frogs. Frogs everywhere! Maggie was super duper brave and held one--a tiny one. Vicki helped her with holding it gently and explained how to set it down when she was done (Maggie started to throw it instead of gently letting it down). I was actually amazed she touched the thing!

Vicki also offered up popsicles:

Summer

2010-08-15T20:24:00.004-06:00

In the interest of time (and the fact that the new Flickr page has me totally pulling my hair out!) I'll be posting a bunch of random pictures with no editing--just right out of my phone and/or camera.

I bought a little stick vac to help with small crumb-type jobs around the house. With little ones eating lots of snacks all day we have quite the crumb problem at our house. Maggie took a liking to the vacuum and seemed ecstatic that I let her use it. It's now a chore of hers...oh, yeah!

New pink chair I found at a local antique store. Now I have to completely redo Maggie's room to match it.

A little skirt I made for Maggie:

Aside from golfing a lot Patrick has taken on a little job around the house:

I bought a little craft for Maggie. I quickly regretted it! She wanted to work on it a lot but was much too young for that kind of project. I tried to keep my cool, explaining over and over again what to do.

Just a super sweet pic of the girls:

Randoms

2010-08-11T20:24:00.000-06:00

Chocolate cookies are gooood:

It's all about the accessories:

A little top I made for Caroline:

A little skirt I made for Maggie:

Another little skirt I made for Maggie:

Utah for The Fourth

2010-08-04T20:30:00.000-06:00

To sum up:
Drive to Utah:

Sandy City parade:

Brave Maggie on the jumpy thingy. She loved it! I was shocked:

Grampy and Caroline were good pals:

We went to Provo's Farmer Market...although it's not much of a farmers market as it is a craft fair. I don't even think I saw a vege, fruit, or anything from a garden really. Maggie got her face painted. A specific request for a small butterfly:

Sparklers at the Barrus house:

The cousins at the family picnic. Maggie LOVED the play time:

Grampy's Garden

2010-08-03T06:39:00.000-06:00

Grampy's garden is not something to miss. This "garden" is actually a plot of land in the middle of Provo with what looked like an abandoned house on it (or, at least I think it's an abandoned house). The garden consists of vegetable plants scattered willy-nilly, a smattering of fruit trees, one or two actual rows of plants, and some random cages full of....rabbits. Hmmm.

Grampy holding a handful of freshly picked red onions. We had them in our salad and they were so devine!

Cousin Olivia helping Maggie feed a rabbit a twig or some sort of food (I hope).

Grampy takes a few rabbits out of the cages for better viewing:

What's in the bucket? Two rabbits:

We brought the two bunnies from the bucket back to Charlotte's house for dinner. She was so happy. Not. Apparently rabbits don't like hardwood floors. They sat exactly where we set them for several hours. It was great for my girls to play with them:

It's worth going to Utah just to see Grampy's garden. It's at odd times like this I'm really grateful my girls have him. He's one interesting character--and definitely worth experiencing!

**side note: This is my second season of gardening here in Colorado. I now fully and completely understand just what kind of green thumb my father has! His soil was barely acceptable for gardening. My soil is an expensive(!) store bought mix. His garden was chock full of weeds. My garden has zero. His garden, clearly, has no rhyme or reason. No plan--just a smattering of seeds that soon sprout into the tastiest food I've ever had (year after year!). My garden is carefully planned out and tended to with the utmost care. So, the question is.....why does my dad's garden flourish and mine is hit or miss at best?? Where are MY gardening genes?

Swim Lessons

2010-07-28T08:49:00.002-06:00

Maggie needs to learn how to swim. Like me, she's a little afraid of the water and doesn't really enjoy it too much. I hated swim lessons as a kid. She hated them this year. But she was, at least, much more tolerant and willing than I was at her age!

We signed her up for the Turtles class--kids that afraid to put their face in the water. She loved her teacher and all but that cold water and the constant requests to "blow bubbles" in the water drove her a little nuts.

Her first day:

This is how she handled most of the class:

She was a brave girl. Every weekday for two weeks. Some days the water was so cold I could see her entire body shaking uncontrollably and when she'd get out her skin was completely white. Caroline and I would spend each morning sweating to death in the sun waiting for her.

Even after what I could tell was a traumatic 30 min in the water she'd be happy as a clam! She made little to no improvement through the first class so we signed her right back up for a second round. She kept her game face on and bravely got in the pool each day without complaint. Toward the end I started to wonder if I was damaging her emotionally for making her do something she clearly was not enjoying.

After each class I would hold her in a towel in the scalding sun until she stopped shaking then she was allowed to spend a little time playing in the sand (the highlight):

A very thick layer of sunscreen and another layer of dirt on top of that meant we had to do a little washing up. Caroline eating a fresh peach (oh happy summer fruit!) in the sink:

Rather than sign the poor Maggie up for a THIRD time through the Turtles class we've opted for a break in lessons (mostly because I don't want to totally traumatize the poor girl). The rest of the summer will be "practicing" at the pool with friends which is something she does actually enjoy!

Fathers Day 2010

2010-07-25T08:09:00.004-06:00

Yes, I'm this far behind in blogging.
We had a peaceful and relaxing Father's Day at home. We bought our Daddy the fanciest steak around (according to Consumer Reports it happened to be Lobels out of New York). Patrick seemed pretty excited about it.

And of course we had his favorite cake.

The shirt was also part of his Father's Day gift:

A couple of things to say about Maggie My and Caroline Pie's Daddy:

1. He has made so many personal and professional sacrifices to make sure he's at home and involved with his girls. It's not even a "decision"--it's a given.

2. He spoils, spoils, spoils.

3. Patience. He can sit and do art projects or just play barbies all day long. He's great at "pretend" games of all kinds. He's also a big-picture guy who see's our life in the long term and doesn't freak about all the small stuff.

4. One PROUD papa!

5. He's the ultimate comforter when there are tears. (Both the kids and mine!)

Ohio/Tennessee

2010-07-19T06:51:00.006-06:00

Patrick finally got us out to Ohio! We flew into Columbus and spent a few days with old friends. It was so nice to put faces (actual people!) with names and stories! Sadly, the only picture I took was of Maggie swimming at the hotel pool:
We then headed to Tennessee to spend a few days with Patrick's family. His sister just bought a beautiful home on Lake Norris and, MAN, did the girls have fun! Getting prepped for a boat ride:

Caroline fell in love with the air on her face. She went into a complete trance every time we were moving. Poor girl though--that life jacket had to have been uncomfortable!

Taking a snooze on the boat while everyone else rode the tube or went swimming:
As silly as it sounds, I was totally nervous for Maggie out there! She was in great hands though and they got "almost up to Grandma speed" according to Uncle TJ.
Pose girls...and they did!
Ruby the dog was loved (a little too much) by Caroline.
And just to prove I was there (taken at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on our way back to Columbus by Maggie the photographer):

This was my first time in this part of the country and I thought it was beautiful. Very green and lush. Tennessee was amazing! The Appalachians are SO pretty. One new thing for me was fire flies! I'd never seen one and they were everywhere at night. I just sat on the deck and STARED!

Maggie could not have been happier the whole trip (even when we had to yank a half burrowed tick our of her neck!). She was allowed to sleep in the same room with her cousins which we thought would last half a night at best. She slept great with the girls every night. That is...when she finally fell asleep. She would talk those poor girls ears off each night! We had a video monitor in the room and we could see her bouncing up and down, talking incessantly, while the cousins were barely responding at all. They were beyond patient and kind to our girls!

Thank you to all the Ohio folks for showing us such a great time.

Randoms

2010-07-18T08:08:00.000-06:00

Maggie's cousins (the Barrus clan) gave her this sleeping bag and pony pillow. She adores it.

Opening a belated b-day present:

Another b-day present was this huge stuffed unicorn. She.Loves.It.

I started sewing! This was my first project--a little skirt for Maggie. The fact that I was able to produce anything at all from a sewing machine made me extremely happy.

Caroline enjoying some fresh peas from the farmers market:

Maggie sits and pushes herself around in this little stroller. I asked her once why she did it and she responded with, "this is my wheelchair, like Bri-Bri's". I almost burst into tears.

A Birthday Party

2010-07-14T19:10:00.001-06:00

I reluctantly did a small birthday party for Maggie. They are so much work!

The guest list: Addy and Reagan. Here are the girls having a grand time:

Little Mermaid Cake.

The kids played like crazy, ran around in the sprayground, etc. Good times.

Caroline playing in the water:

and eating a bazillion grapes:

and after it all:

Maggie is FOUR!!! Ok, so I still can't get over it.

Maggie's 4th Birthday

2010-07-13T08:02:00.001-06:00

Maggie is a four year old. Insane!

We had a quiet birthday at home. Grammy was still in town and we picked up Daddy from a business trip that morning.

We opened some small presents first. She was very pleased with her new Barbie DVDs. (The big sign around her neck was from a church Primary activity that morning and CTR means "choose the right").

The big gift was a big girl bike. Barbie of course. Notice the awesome little bike for her Barbie dolls that hooks to her handle bars.

Taking it for a test run. Barbie helmet as well. Grammy got a kick out of the whole thing.

Later that weekend in the backyard, the family playing:

Grammy watching the craziness.

A few things about Maggie:

She now uses the "I'm a big kid and that's what big kids do" excuse for every naughty thing she does.

Barbie and Barbie DVDs are her favorite thing ever. She sings along with every song while watching the DVDs and acts out the scenes with her dolls.

She says so many hilarious things in a day I can't keep up with recording them all.

She still loves dancing/dance class but asks me often why she doesn't go to school anymore (the concept of summer break seems to be lost on her).

Favorite game is to get her little sister to chase her. This takes a lot of effort on her part and she squeals loudly when she succeeds.

She scolds me each and every time I slip up and say "stupid".

Favorite food is mac and cheese. It's practically all she eats.

Her daddy is still far and away the greatest thing ever! Adore him she does.

My baby girl is, sadly, no longer a baby. Sometimes I look at her and think my heads gonna explode because I love her so much.

Grammy Visits

2010-07-11T12:11:00.000-06:00

We had a lovely time with Grammy in Colorado.

Boulder Pearl Street Fun--although I'm not sure watching the kids play in the gravel and toys is exactly Grammy's cup of tea. She's a good sport though.

We had to get Grammy a cupcake....and the rest of us ate more than our share.

Maggie was fortunate enough to have Grammy stay over her b-day weekend. She let Maggie pick a toy of her choice at Target and, not surprisingly, she picked a Little Mermaid barbie.

Summer Days in Cheap Kiddie Pools

2010-07-09T14:10:00.000-06:00

This is apparently how Maggie enjoys the kiddie pool. I got it all set up, filled it early so it could warm in the sun, and she....reads in a chair instead.
At least Caroline enjoys it. This pic is just after she had stuck her entire face in the water, trying to drink it.

The next day I convinced Maggie to get IN the water by putting the chair in the pool so she wouldn't get too wet.

The heat really sucked her energy. She hasn't really napped since she was VERY little.

And this is just a cute picture of her painting.

Last Day of Preschool

2010-07-07T09:39:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I'm very behind in blogging! Here are some pics from Maggie's last day of preschool (a picnic at the park). I let her pick the dessert she wanted by looking through a cookbook. She picked the first cupcakes she came across--because they're pink. I made her look through the whole book but she still wanted the pink ones. The girl knows what she wants.

Randoms

2010-07-01T21:46:00.003-06:00

Ordinary summer days.

Maggie fell at the park and scraped both knees. You would have thought the world had ended the way she screamed. I thought someone was going to call the police or something. She calmed slightly but freaked out all over again when Daddy saw her. After quite a while on the couch whimpering I cleaned her "wounds" and bandaged them which she was not pleased about. She had a pronounced limp for a good 24 hours. She fell the very next day right on her knees and we started the whole process over again!!
I just love this picture of Caroline. It's just so her and her little personality. The expression is perfect and she's handing me a toy which is what she does all the time and what she could do constantly if I'd play along.

First pickings from the garden. She enjoyed the planting/watering/growing stage but had no desire to taste it.

Pagosa Springs

2010-06-25T21:31:00.002-06:00

It seems we've lived an entire summer in just a few short weeks. After our Utah trip we turned right around and packed up for a week in Pagosa Springs with Grandma and Grandpa. We had lovely accommodations overlooking a lake and the girls had a fantastic time!
Maggie couldn't quite stay away from her grandparents. Here she is inserting herself in Grandma's game of Solitaire:

Craft time (Maggie had quite a bit of this). We made a "tie-dye" t-shirt:

Caroline enjoying a little mountain air:

Mini golf:

Daddy really did try to school her on the finer points of the game:

Story/play time:

More craft time:

Caroline watching the story/play time and really wishing she was old enough to join in.

We even did s'mores:

And of course you can't go to Pagosa Springs without actually spending time in the hot springs.

We have to say thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for such a great week!

Maggie's First Dance Recital

2010-06-21T20:27:00.002-06:00

The dress rehearsal. All parents were given their tickets to the big show. I did not check my tickets for accuracy--just assumed the tickets were correct.

We arrive 15 min prior to the 3pm show. I take a few snapshots of Maggie outside the backstage entrance. She was beyond excited!

Immediately after taking that picture we tried to check our dear Maggie McCarty in only to be told, "oh...she's the little girl that was missing in our 1:30pm show...". I was furious/embarrassed/scared/etc. All I could think was DON'T CRY IN FRONT OF YOUR DAUGHTER! (cause that's exactly what I was about to do). After a considerable amount of confusion and waiting, Maggie's teacher appeared to take a look at the 3pm tickets she accidentally gave us. It was either no dancing for Maggie or...she dances...alone. Both Patrick and I looked down at our teeeny tiiiiny little 3 year old and asked what she'd like to do. She just looked at us and without hesitations said, "Dance!". And dance she did.

In front of roughly 200 people in a large high school auditorium our little girl danced SOLO. After dancing both her ballet and tap routines she was returned to us, all smiles. We gave her the pink roses we bought for her. She exclaimed, "OH! I LOOOOVE them! Are they for my wedding?"

This is an image taken from my video of the performance so you sort of get how small she was on that big stage.

Driving home Patrick asked her if she wanted to continue with dance. She stuck her thumb in the air pointing behind her and said, "I wanna go back THERE and dance".

She totally earned her pink ice cream at Baskin Robbins afterward!

The video we took of the actual show is very poor quality and shaky but if you wanna see the two dances you can do that HERE and HERE.

Otherwise, here's one dance from the dress rehearsal that's much better quality.

Ok, proud mama that I am, I couldn't resist posting both dance routines from the rehersal. I can't help it--she is just the cutest dancer ever!

Utah Trip May 2010

2010-06-20T08:42:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I took a short trip out to Utah. This was not supposed to be a short trip but I was not feeling well at all and felt a little stressed out on top of it so...I did what I thought I could and then came home.

First thing were gifts from the Matesens for Caroline's birthday. Maggie was also given a bottle of bubbles that both girls enjoyed. A lot.

My cousin hosted a Mothers Luncheon to celebrate family and our mothers. It was lots of fun (and a few tears) as we reminisced.

Cousin Meredith saved the day by doing the long drive from Utah back to Colorado. She was a super entertainer as we drove through cold, rain, fog, and even some snow. We were lucky to have the busy girl to ourselves for a couple of days.

Since both girls decided they LOVED my sister Charlotte's kids, I was able to spend some one-on-one time with my brother Randy. He has been wanting to record his music on video and post it online for a while now. We did just that. You can see his YouTube music here:
Chicken Wear Socks

Growing More Distant

Sneak Thief

Forever

Cell Phone Pics

2010-06-08T08:37:00.002-06:00

Every now and again I dig through my cell phone and look at the (mostly) silly pictures I find. Some I've forgotten are there and some are surprising to find since I was not the photographer. Fun fun.

Here's a very old one. I don't remember if I posted this pic from my phone (and, frankly, I'm too lazy to dig around and find out). Way pregnant with Caroline.

Taking Maggie to DSW Shoes is always a good time. These are the types of shoes she pulls off the shelves and "suggests" I try on. I tell her to try them on. Don't you think she should have purchased these beauties?

Random cute pic of Caroline riding around in the car.

Walking through Restoration Hardware we rounded a corner to find this chaise. Maggie stopped dead in her tracks, lunged forward on one leg, threw her hands in the air and exclaimed, "Mommy! This is the BEST CHAIR EVER!!".

Vicki Sigg Spring Photoshoot

2010-05-29T06:16:00.001-06:00

Here are some of the highlights from our spring photoshoot with Vicki. (VickiSiggPhotography.com)

There aren't any pictures of Patrick because this was supposed to be a shoot just for the girls. I happen to get into a few shots and liked the mother/daughter aspect.

Caroline Elanore Turns One!!

2010-05-27T07:05:00.000-06:00

May 1, 2010. Caroline turns one. Here she is telling ya:

We celebrated with a little Olive Garden:

Doesn't she look like a startled bird here?:

Only the best for Caroline. Tee & Cakes cupcake.

Maggie made a special "cake" for Caroline out of toys. Hmmm:

We are so in love with our little babe Caroline. She has been a true joy.

We are just lucky to have her.

Some random facts about our babe:

She has been an amazing sleeper at night but wakes up very early and rarely takes naps.

She didn't so much as hint at crawling until just a few short weeks before she turned one. Now she crawls laps around our house (literally....round and around she goes with no real destination in mind). She also crawls with her toes curled and feet pulled up--like she doesn't want them touching the ground while moving around.

She's aggressive. She's been knows to claw and scratch her way over and through her sister and parents to reach a toy she simply must have.

Maggie's sippy cup is always more desirable than her own. Even if they contain the same thing and look almost identical.

Her favorite song is Pat-a-Cake. She can do the clapping, the rolling, and the tossing in the oven. She LOVES the tossing in the oven and does it randomly to get a family member to say/sing that part. Her other favorite is the alphabet. When she's extra cranky in the car seat the only solution (I've found) i s to get Maggie to sing a string of songs to her. It's so, SO sweet.

We found out last week the girl loves swimming pools. Its hard to keep ahold of her when she kicks and flails like she did!

Handing people her toys and then wanting them back. We do that over, and over, and over...

Her other favorite toys are any kind of ball, baby dolls, or blocks.

What a love...what a love.

Boulder Children's Day

2010-05-25T17:56:00.000-06:00

Despite the cold (and a little snow!) Maggie and her friend Addy had a good time in Boulder at their Children's Day.

Doggie Party

2010-05-22T06:08:00.000-06:00

Maggie was invited to her good friend's (Addy) birthday party. It was the cutest little puppy theme! I forgot my camera so the pics are from my terrible cell phone camera.

Maggie was given her puppy ears, a nose and "freckles", and a dog collar with her name on it. Can you tell how thrilled she is with it?

They were served the birthday cake out of tiny little dog dishes. Maggie mostly just licked the frosing off the top.

And a picture with my regular camera upon returning home:

Can I Go Online Dot Com?

2010-05-19T18:05:00.003-06:00

It took her longer than most but she is now a computer junkie. She first started asking if she could go to "dot com". Then she started asking for "online dot com". Now we are at the more appropriate "SproutOnline.com". And, thank goodness, she's finally mastered the mouse!

Sandbox

2010-05-18T07:18:00.000-06:00

Having a grand time in our teeny, tiny sandbox.

The first time in for Caroline was....lame. This time she totally got it and loved the sand! When she sees Maggie walk out the back door she actually screams and cries to go out with her. I hate that because she also loves to pick out every pebble and put them in her mouth. I have to watch her like a hawk. Maggie has turned into the bad guy--slapping her hand away from her mouth when she's managed to find another unauthorized object to eat.

Ballet Cuteness

2010-05-15T07:09:00.000-06:00

Maggie is preparing for her May dance recital. The parents got a sneak peak at what to expect. I'm pretty sure they do this so you can actually see what the dance will look like since most of the kids will freeze at the actual performance.

Up until now Caroline has done a fantastic job of waiting patiently through Maggie's dance class. But every week is proving more and more difficult for her. Here she is waiting....and waiting...to go home.

Cement Work

2010-05-03T17:17:00.000-06:00

We got ourselves a new driveway and porch!

Randoms

2010-05-01T09:12:00.000-06:00

Home from a photo shoot with Vicki Sigg (photo post to come soon):

Playdate with friend Addy:

One of the nice days sandwiched between bad ones. Gotta love spring in Colorado!

Oh Maggie My & Caroline Pie

Final Pics of 2011

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas 2011

My Birthday

Black Friday 2011

Big Girl Bed For Caroline

Halloween 2011

More Misc Pics

Misc Pics

Pumpkins, Anderson Farms 2011

Misc Pictures

A New Normal

Erin's Birthday Party

Julie and Meredith Come to Visit

Maggie's First Day of Kindergarten!

Wrapping Up Summer...*sob*

Florida Part 2

Florida Beach Week July 2011 Part 1

The Last of the Birthday Posts

Fathers Day 2011

Randoms

Sedona Arizona 2011

Maggie Turns Five!

Summer--So Far, So Good

Maggies Dance Recital May 2011

More Randoms

Randoms

Easter Egg Decorating

Field Trip to a Dairy

Caroline's Second Birthday

Easter 2011

Preschool Easter Hunt

March Trip To Utah

The Mall

Swimming

Randoms

Rare Day With Dad

Canvas and Cocktails

Most of March

Valentines 2011

Las Vegas Trade Show

The Latest Cell Phone Pics

Kitchen Update

Sisters

We Play in the Snow

Vicki Sigg Christmas Photo Shoot

Finally...A Christmas Post!

Utah Trip December 2010

Pre Christmas Fun

Things I Want Recorded

Maggie's Christmas Dance Recital

Sugar Plum Tea

Thanksgiving

Very Late Dance Pictures

A Little Tea Party

Randoms

Cell Phone Pics

Randoms

Fall/Halloween Part 2

Fall/Halloween Part 1

Video of Caroline

Grammy Visits

Pristine Sleep

Slide Down

One of Each

The Girls--More Randoms Pics (Again!)

Maggie Starting Preschool

The Eye Thing

Plugging Along...

Randoms

Patrick's Birthday

More

More Summer

Summer

Randoms

Utah for The Fourth

Grampy's Garden

Swim Lessons

Fathers Day 2010

Wrapping Up Summer...sob