Dreaming of warmer days

We woke this morning to find another four inches of snow falling outside. We were lucky enough to have my brother Jeff, his wife, Susie, and kids: Courtney, Nick and Abby visiting so the kids had eachother to keep busy during the long winter days. Attached is a picture of Kate playing in New Town with Grandma. Dreaming of more play dates coming soon sustains us during this long cold spell.

Royalty among us

Princess Mary otherwise known as Belle loves to wear her crown and princess dress just about anywhere and anytime. She has even started responding to my requests with "yes, your majesty." There must be blue blood somewhere down the family line. Tim claims it is just wishful thinking on mommy's part.

Mary & Daddy mingle with reindeers

Computer Kate

Kate loves to play with computers especially when mommy needs to check her email. Mainly she loves to turn it off when I am working on it - hmmm . . . maybe she is trying to tell me something.

The cold and ice continue

Old man winter still has a strong grip on St. Joe. The trees are the view from our deck. The girls have been troopers but we are all getting cabin fever and are ready for Spring.

All tied up!

Kate loves to put on all of Daddies ties each morning as he gets ready for work. It makes it hard for Daddy to leave for work because 1. she has all of his ties and 2. because she looks so darn cute.

The Kissing Hand

We found a wonderful book called "The Kissing Hand". It is a must have for every parent.






Here is a poem I found that goes with the book.





Kissing Hand Poem (Tune :Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)





There's a special trick I know


When I'm sad and scared to go.


Take my hand and kiss it here.


This kiss from you, I will hold dear.


Down my a hand and up my arm,


Into my heart the kiss goes on.

The Kissing Hand~A perfect first day story. This is a story about a little raccoon ready to start school. He talks about his fears to his mother, fears that most children have before beginning school. His mother comes up with a wonderful solution to help her little raccoon remember that she loves him and is thinking about him, even when she isn't with him. A wonderful and heart-warming story to share with little ones.

For adults only

St. Joe has almost completely recovered from our recent ice storm. If you have never experienced it firsthand, you can't imagine what it is like. Almost every tree was bent to the ground and 90% of homes were without power for as long as ten days. As devastating as it was it was also like a winter wonderland. On one night following the storm we arrived home to find our reindeer in let's just say "romantic positions". I guess it is nice to know that someone did not lose their sense of humor during such a difficult time.

Christmas fun

The girls got so many wonderful presents for Christmas. These were just a few moments of them enjoying their gifts. Santa brought Mary a big dollhouse. She loved spending time with cousin Abby setting up her house. Katiebug the Ladybug is riding her Ladybug from her Grandbug. Mary loved listening to her teddy bear tell her stories.

Kate checks out New Town

Always independent - Kate decided to take a walk around the new construction at New Town. Even at eighteen months she is quite determined to get wherever she wants to go whether we go with her or not.

Super Babies to the rescue!

What a beautiful moment!

Baby Grace meets mommy and big brother, Gannon!

Oh Happy Day!

Andrew, Estelle, and brother Gannon welcomed baby Grace into the world! What a gorgeous baby girl. Is it just me or do I see a lot of her Daddy in that beautiful face? As great Uncle Frank would say "it doesn't get any better than this!" We wish everyone love, health and lots of sleep (if that is possible with a newborn)!

School Days

Mary and Kate can be so serious when they are working hard at school. They tend to stay pretty close to eachother which warms our hearts. Notice Mary's concern - she doesn't like when the crayons get broke. Thanks to Aunt Chrissy for the matching sweaters - everyone said they looked so adorable and we agreed!

The Great Pie

Tim made a delicious apple pie today - I think he is preparing to give mom and dad (Meyer) a little competition in the cooking contests.

Ice Station Zebra (a bit of trivia for the movie buffs)

St. Joe has made national news by being the recipient of a major ice storm. Luckily, we had some notice so we were prepared. My husband who is always preparing for the revolution goes into hypermode during these opportunities. Filling gas tanks, water cans, checking flash lights, and stock piling milk. He loves it. Mary and I spent the the day putting the finishing touches on the Christmas tree while Katiebug took the finishing touches off the Christmas tree. All-in-all it was a great day. Tim baked "the great pie" (a bit of trivia for you cartoon fans) and we had a day of bonding with one another at home watching the ice blanket the world outside. According to the local electric company, they have 45,000+ customers and 35,000+ were without power. We have been lucky so far but we are keeping our fingers crossed hoping we don't get hit again this week - we will keep you posted.

Julia

Julia Machados lives down the street from us with her husband, Marco, and their four sons. She is a wonderful friend and an inspiration as a mom. As I said she has FOUR boys under the age of ten (Miguel is pictured here with Katiebug) and still manages to make time for her husband, her friends, and (most importantly) herself. Julia inspires me and all of her friends to keep working out even when it is the last thing that we want to do. She has also been a life saver in emergencies - like when we had to run Katiebug to the emergency room and Julia took Mary so we wouldn't have to put her through what could have been an ugly night.

Music Class

We have been taking music class with the girls once a week since before Katiebug was born. Their teacher, Jill Robinson, has a masters degree in music therapy and she does a great job stimulating their brains with exercises we can do at home. The girls' favorite part of the class is when they get to play with all of the different instruments - there is always a mad dash for the drums.

Tumbling class

Mary has been going to "dance" class for several months now. She normally has a ball unless the teacher makes her put her stuffed dog on the side of mat. Mary is a lot like her mother - she doesn't hide her emotions well as you can tell from the pose she is striking in the last picture.

Bathing beauties