The Smith Family

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day 2012!!

Sending our love from Virginia!!

Craft day!

2012-02-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

Its a quiet craft/movie day today at our house!

After a trip the gym this morning, I promised the girls a day of crafts and movies!

Mommy has a to-do list a mile-long! Hopefully this buys me some time to get it done.

SNOW!!!!!!

2012-02-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

Winter FINALLY decided to kick in last weekend, mid-February. Who knows how long it will last, but so far the weather has remained in the mid/high 40's since!! And it snowed Saturday night!!

The girls woke up at 7am promptly and we heard them run into the living room, and Abby started shouting "Look Maddy, snow!!!!"

Shortly after she had me out of bed and begged to put her snow gear on!

It was only a dusting, but it was enough for her to enjoy.

Similar Sisters

2012-02-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

Gave them a bath the other night and had to capture how cute they are, but also how similar they are starting to look! Maddy is starting to catch up in size!! Amazing, since she is SUCH a picky eater these days. Good thing she loves her milk!!

Little Gymnast

2012-02-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

Abby won a FREE month of gymnastics after attending a birthday party at the facility a few months ago. So we are redeeming them this month. She LOVES it!!!! Two more Saturday's to go!!

Here are a few shots from last weekend.

I think she said this is the spider move. Not sure....

Here she is in action. Its a fun toddler class with many different stations for all the activities.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

2012-02-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

Mike's 35th birthday was last week.

We celebrated at home with a delicious homemade dinner and yummy lemon cake!

Where do the years go??

Maddy the knight in armour.....or a blanket

2012-01-29T12:36:00.001-08:00

Our dress up items get used more than I ever thought. Maddy showing off her finest knight costume!

Reiss Visit- January 2012

2012-01-29T12:17:00.000-08:00

Sadly, another wonderful Reiss visit has come to a close.

Great-Grandma & Grandpa Reiss came out to spend the last 8 days with us.

We did just about everything kid friendly in the area, and were only kept indoors by rain for 2-3 days. And got lucky with a few days in the 60's even for outdoor fun!!

We visited the Zoo, Childrens Museum, Bounce House, Petting Farm, and the mall play area.

Their visit coincided with my 31st birthday, so we had a chance to go out together for dinner as a big family. The girls TRULY enjoyed having them here, and we will miss them greatly.....until we see them again this summer.

Abby & Grandpa enjoying some cookies

Hot chocolate by the fire on a cold night.....Abby's favorite!!

No surprise, the kids LOVED getting Grandpa on the floor for some fun. Burying him in pillows and blankets (fort-like) was Maddy's specialty!! Where did he go?? :)

Maddy's favorite time with Grandpa was doing her puzzles.....OVER & OVER on his lap!!!!

The night of my actual birthday I arranged in advance for us to attend a kids performance of "Clifford The Big Red Dog" stage show that was happening that night only. So we went to the show after a delicious dinner at The Yard House restaurant.

Girls during dinner

Mike showing off his half yard of beer

My birthday gift from Mike and the girls!!! A new waterproof camera for all of our water activities year round!! I can't wait! This way he will get to see the girls swim and play at the beach while he is away most of the summer, without me risking our good camera! We will test it out in March as we head back to the indoor water park for another fun 2-day trip, before Mike starts his new job!

The show! The kids were about 90% captivated....Maddy, a little less. But it was a cute outing for us all to attend together.

The first weekday of their visit, both girls were in school, so we got a chance to spend a few hours together without them. Unfortunately it was the one gloomy/cloudy day, but we made a go of it and headed to the Fort Story Lighthouse anyhow. We walked to the top to get a little exercise :) Then we had a nice lunch in downtown Norfolk without the kiddos before returning to pick them up!

(The new lighthouse that is currently in service)

(The old lighthouse that we walked up)

And their trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to Costco!! Enjoying a churro with Maddy while the van got new tires!!

Sleepy Sister

2012-01-29T11:54:00.000-08:00

We had a long day week before last, and Maddy didn't get to take her usual nap.

So as I was making dinner and the girls were playing on the iPAD (see the first photo, she was actually awake!!), I noticed Maddy had zoned out to sleepy land, using Abby's shoulder as a pillow :)

Sharing & LOVE

2012-01-29T11:46:00.000-08:00

Caught all THREE of my 'kids' watching the iPAD together, sharing quite nicely!

And sisters embracing!!

NEW Seat!

2012-01-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

Our BIG girl transitioned to a new car seat!!!!

She outgrew the limits of the convertible seat that Maddy uses, which we have a backup of in Mike's car. So we needed another seat for his car when she rides with him. She now surpasses the height/weight requirements for the harness-less, booster seat which only uses a regular seat belt!

Dad got it all setup today, and off they went for a little daddy-daughter visit to the kids museum!

(Kind of backwards, but the bigger they get, the cheaper the car seats get.....a WIN for the pocketbook)

Ahhhh.....CHOOOO

2012-01-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

I forgot about this cute clip we caught while we were at the waterpark last week. Maddy loves to pretend to sneeze.....any reason to snag a tissue....for no real reason at all!

Here is her acting out a sneeze:

Kitchen Helper

2012-01-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Maddy loves helping me in the kitchen. Last night they got a special dinner of eggs & pancakes, and she helped stir the batter. She knows how to push the kitchen chair over to the counter just right, climb up, and look for something to do! Her favorite past time these days has really been sorting and stacking the k-cups from the coffee maker! But stirring things is fun too!

iPAD GIRLS

2012-01-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

The girls were up one morning this week and played on the iPAD together with one of their favorite "talking" interactive apps. I took the chance to grab a few quick photos of them sitting down.

They are so tech savvy!! Both girls amazing slept in 30+ minutes past normal wake up times this past weekend, and both mornings Abby quietly came in my room asking where my iPAD was. She took it to the living room, and played quietly allowing us to sleep a bit more! LOVE that kid!! And she even let Maddy out of her room when she got up too! I won't get too used to this, it rarely happens, but it made our last weekend of vacation, quite enjoyable!!

Orange FACE!!!

2012-01-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

Uh oh! Abby ate an orange and this is what happened!!

Silly kid!!

Maddy's 1st Day of Preschool!!!

2012-01-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

Our little girl had her FIRST day of preschool (daycare at this age) last Friday!

Abby started at the same age, and I wanted to get Maddy acclimated to going to school in preparation for next year (when she'll go 2 mornings/week) and give me a slight break one morning a week this Spring as Mike gears up for his new job and is home less. She did GREAT! Didn't even stop to say goodbye, just ran in and started playing.

She is at the same school as Abby, same class/teacher Abby had 2 years ago, and so far she loves it. She had her 2nd day today and did even better.

For me, it is a WONDERFUL morning of 3.5 hours to myself of quiet. I hope it will give me the time to book personal appointments, and take trips to the gym and grocery store!!

Today was my first morning alone, and it was fantastic. In 3.5 hrs I managed to squeeze in an hour at the gym, a trip to the grocery store, Trader Joes & Target!!!

New Years Eve "Mustache Party"

2012-01-04T18:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I wanted to do something fun and a little different this New Years......

So we hosted a mini 'Stache Bash!

We all got in the spirit, had a great dinner, then donned our mustaches for a little fun. Even the kids got in on the fun time.

Abby with her mustache!!

And my friend Danielle and I with ours....sooo serious.

The boys looked great.....not too far off of a deployment mustache for them, just thicker and darker!

Tracey and I with our staches!

Of course it wouldn't be a fun night without a game, right??

So we played "Name That 'Stache"

There were 20 celebrity mustache photos, cropped from the nose down.

Everyone had to take their best guess as to who each celebrity was!! Fun!!

Family Mustache Shot!! Jessica, Kolbey & Dan

The kids had a GREAT night! Couldn't have asked for better behaved kids...5 kids were here! Maddy crashed (pretty much put herself to bed at 9pm!!) and the big kids lasted til 11:15pm, then Abby and Casey crashed cold in Abby's room til midnight, when everyone had to go home!!

Even the tree was wearing its 'stache!

Maddy working the New Years hat

The New Years Kids!!

Casey, Kolbey, Abby, Addison

Happy 2012 from our home to yours!!!!

More Lodge Photos

2012-01-04T18:01:00.000-08:00

Forgot we took a few photos of the lodge room!

Maddy lounging at her best, eating popcorn!

View from the entrance

Pull-out couch

Our cuties eating donuts for breakfast!

Great Wolf Lodge- Williamsburg!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

AMAZING.....is an understatement for how much FUN we had the last two days at the Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark/Hotel in Williamsburg! It was an amazing experience full of fun memories, two tired kids, and two exhausted parents. But we all had fun the entire time we were there!!

We arrived at 1pm on Monday for early swim check-in (rooms aren't ready til 4pm), so we got to swim til dinner time), then took the kids to dinner off-site, and back to the room to sleep! They haven't been in a hotel room for a while, and with Maddy new to the big girl bed, I was not too optimistic of our restful nights sleep. But to our amazement she did great! The kids fell asleep just after 9pm and didn't get up til 7:30am! Which was perfect because the waterpark opens at 9am daily! Our room was great! Two queen beds, and a half wall separating the couch (pull out sofa, which Maddy slept on all by herself!!)

So at 9am sharp we snagged our table/chairs for the day to setup our "camp" and got swimming!

Maddy had a BLAST from the moment we walked in the door on Monday. I wasn't sure if she'd actually enjoy the swimming, but she was the first one into the water. The photos below are of the "toddler zone". The water level goes from 1" gradually to about Maddy's chest at the deepest part where the kiddie water slides let out. So needless to say, it was perfect, and she walked the whole area by herself with no hesitation!! The kiddie zone has falling water, and 3 mini slides for them to go down on their own!

The facility has life guards EVERYWHERE!!!! Always manning each area of water with great detail. We brought the girls floaties just in case, and they came in handy a few times. Mostly for the regular swim pool and our favorite, the WAVE POOL!!! Both girls loved the wave pool. Every 5 minutes, off/on, the waves would start coming. You could swim with them, or float on a single or double tube! Lets just say by the end of both days our hands/feet were the most wrinkled I've ever seen!! If it weren't for stopping to eat or leave to go home, these kids could have swam ALL DAY! Now I know why people stay a few nights.....it just never gets old!

Another favorite was the lazy river, we rode down that many times! Abby even got to ride the tube by herself! And there was a surfing "ride" thing, that we didn't try but it was fun watching others attempt as they rode the boogie board down a steep hill of rushing water coming up at them!

The park seemed to have it all. There was a lot more in the hotel that we never even looked at because the waterpark was all we needed. There was a teen zone for the older kids, a magic wand game throughout the hotel and lobby, an arcarde, spa, miniature golf......and more!

Mike took the photo below to brag about the fact that they surprisingly sell beer at this waterpark too!!! Another cool feature....your adult wristband doubles as your room key and charge key! So it gets you access to all building access points, and you can charge food/drinks to your room and not carry cash/cards around! WOW!!! All in a tiny thin wristband!

But I wanted to showcase the view from the kiddie area, looking towards the big kid water fort and slides! To access the green and orange single-rider (tubeless) slides you have to climb up to thru the water fort (and you can barely make it out, but the big bucket at the top of the fort dumps 1,000 gallons of water every 5 minutes after a few warning bells!! Dumping it on anyone standing below!! Pretty fun to watch all day long. Abby is 41" tall, making her tall enough to ride the single rider slides by herself, and 2 of the 4 adult rides with an adult on a double tube.

I can't emphasize enough how brave she was, and how much she LOVED all the rides. First she did the single rider slides, which go slow enough that you can sit upright the whole time, or lay on your back, and empty into a trough, not a pool. She did that by herself right away with ease.....then another 50+ times the first day. Then the second day I realized she could do the bigger slides with us (blue one in this photo!!). She sat on the front of the double tube, me in the back, holding onto the front part of my legs/feet. And she LOVED it again! I had gone through it once by myself just to see how fast it was, and was skeptical that she'd enjoy it. Boy was I wrong. She screamed in excitement along with me each time, yelling "I'm not even scared!!!".

Maddy taking a break to snack! When she wasn't swimming, she loved to sit back and watch everything around her. She made the trip very enjoyable. I think 2 was the perfect age, especially knowing she loved to swim with the floaty on when we needed her to. So we got to do a lot of swimming as a family!

Cute video of Maddy being silly, slapping her pony tail around:

You probably can't make it out in the video background, but there is a constant flowing water noise throughout the park, and the park is always 84 degrees! The second day the temperature in the area dropped drastically, and the high for the day was 33! We never knew........until we had to leave and walk from the lobby to our car!!! Burrrrrrr

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any pictures/video of Abby because we only had our phones with us that first day as we waited for our room to be ready, and I was terrified of dropping it in the water or getting splashed! But rest assured, she had the time of her life!! I think she would call it that at least! Proof, when we got home that night and put her to bed, she asked about when we were going back, and I told her another time. I thought that answer was good enough, until she came out of her room crying and sobbing incessantly 10 minutes later, sad that she wanted to go to the water park again! Poor kid had too much fun.

We were barely 1/2 a mile out of the lodge parking lot and we got two passed out kids!

So it was a nice, quiet ride home!!! The END to a great 2 day mini winter vacation!!!!

Looking forward to an excuse to go again!!!

Cold Morning at the Zoo

2011-12-29T18:39:00.000-08:00

Took a trip to the zoo with our friends this morning (bundled up.....high 40's!) But very fun.

Danielle got some cute shots of the girls.

AMAZINGLY they all stood in their otter holes long enough to take a photo! A FIRST!!!

Even Maddy participated!!

First Remote Control Cars

2011-12-28T18:06:00.001-08:00

Thank you to Grma Smith! The girls got their own (1st) remote control cars for Christmas!

They are cute, and simple to operate (forward & back/spin).

Hello.....Goodbye

2011-12-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

The girls are so silly these days. It always seems cuter when they do things together!!

Here they are walking in circles, saying "Hello" & "Goodbye"......Maddy can't say goodbye yet, so she always says "All Done" instead. And if you ask her to say "bye", she says "die"! She will get it eventually! (I goofed, the video is sideways and a bit dark, but too cute not to post)

COOKIES!!!!

2011-12-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

I spent the majority of my evenings preceeding Christmas, BAKING!

I LOVE so many recipes, and have come across many new ones and techniques each year. It makes it SOOO hard to choose just one or two....so I made WAY too much! Oh well.....more for Mike to take to work tomorrow!! I took a bunch to our party Christmas night, but there is still a TON!

Lemon raspberry thumbprints, Snickerdoodles, Butter Balls

Royal Icing Sugar Cookies

Cake batter & Peanut Butter Fudge (yummy! 1st time I made fudge ever)

Dipped red velvet cake balls!

All of what I took to the party.....only a portion of what I actually made :)

Christmas Morning 2011

2011-12-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

This was a VERY quiet Christmas for us this year (holiday season in general!!)

We had no company so we spent it with just the four of us for a change! Kind of nice!!

But I do miss the family!! :(

With Hanukkah and Christmas overlapping this year it made the gifts go farther! So each of the kids only had a few gifts to open Christmas morning, and actually focused on those items!! Imagine that! Nothing went to the wayside!! We opened presents, had a yummy breakfast, and relaxed. Then after naps we headed to a fun night with friends!

In true kid style, Abby got up at 7am (15 min early than normal...) and at 7:30 when Maddy was still asleep, she begged us to wake her up! So we opened her door...and seconds later out came a bright a cheery Madelyn! Abby opened her stocking and surveyed the loot with Roxy!

Opening their remote control kid cars from Grma Smith (SO MUCH FUN!!)

Mommy got her own iPAD!! I am in LOVE with this unit. I use it for everything, but lately, its my recipe book extraordinaire, my skype unit, email, blog, facebook.....you name it.....it does it! FAST and COMPACT little thing! No need for a laptop when you have this!!

Trying to jump rope!!

Maddy and her expressions. She stood, arms crossed, with a straight look on her face....no clue what she was protesting at the moment :)

Mini pancakes and egg-sausage bake!

Our Christmas Eve Visitor.......

2011-12-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

Santa didn't forget our house this year!! And we have the photos to prove it!!

He came, filled the stockings, laid out the presents, and gobbled the cookies & chocolate milk that Abby left for him (she left carrots for the reindeer too!).

Can't wait to show her this post and see her face!!!!

Little miss chill....

2011-12-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

Day by day I see changes in Maddy of maturity....even at two!

She is starting to love the idea of snuggling more (than usual), and is starting to chill out more, and whine less! Here are some cute moments from the last week.

BELOW: I caught her watching her show on the computer, with her hands clasped!

Today I found her on the couch by herself, watching Toy Story, with pillows over her head. When a "scary" part came on, she'd hide behind the pillows!!! So funny. Abby was never affected by things like she is!!

The girls both got knee high sock sets for Hanukkah!! Maddy is sporting hers with the diaper look!

Hannukah, Night Four

2011-12-26T12:27:00.001-08:00

I caught the girls admiring the Hanukkah lights after lighting them on night four.......and then there is a shot of Mike and Abby enjoying our new Hanukkah gift..."MarioKart" for our Wii!! (race car-like game!) It uses a wheel as the remote control, so Abby caught on quicker than I imagined to steer and accelerate!! Fun family game!!

Hair-Do!!!

2011-12-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

Abby received a cute hair brush kit for one night of Hanukkah.....and decided to beauty me up! With all the clips at once! I played along, since I'm always the one DOING the hair, the tables turned!

Barbie LOVE...uh oh.....

2011-12-26T12:16:00.000-08:00

Caught Abby playing with her two new barbie dolls the other day making "kissing/smooching" sounds....when I came up behind her and asked what they were doing, she said, "Just kissing mommy". Her first "Ken" doll.......lead to this :) Too funny

Hanukkah 2011- The 1st Night

2011-12-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

I was amazingly on my A-Game with planning this year, so Abby and I made & decorated Hanukkah cookies yesterday. It is so fun to watch her grow, even to the ripe 'ol age of 4, and have her do new things that she was too little to do the year before!! She LOVES to help in the kitchen, and I am slowly letting her have some of my space from time to time for different projects.

Final plate of cookies!!! She decorated them all by herself! And even insisted that we set 2 aside for Great Grandma & Grandpa Reiss when they come visit next month!! So they are in an airtight container for the next few weeks!! Hope they taste good late January!!!

Can you smell our masterpieces???!!!!

It wouldn't be Hanukkah dinner without some Latkes and Matzo ball soup!!

Abby was a BIG help! She handed me all the potatoes to peel, and told me the onions make her sneeze!!! I tried to correct her that they make you cry, but she insisted on the sneezing!! :)

Maddy joined in on the fun once she heard the food processor going from the other room!

She was quick to hop up on the chair next to her big sister, and one by one they each took turns putting the sliced potatoes into the shredder!

Once Mike was home from work, we had a great dinner to enjoy!

THE REWARD!!!

I wanted a special corner for our Hanukkah celebration this year, so I dedicated the kitchen window to be just that! I even craft-wrapped an old paper box, to be the gift box that the girls choose from each night!

Then it was time to light the candles and say the blessing for the 1st night!

Amazingly, Abby repeated EVERY word of the blessing word for word as I spoke and said it quite well!

GIFTS!! This 1st Hanukkah night was brought to us by.....Aunt Amy!!!

Madelyn received a new bookshelf for her room, and a new book to go in it too! She is definitely the little reader now. And will sift through endless books, for you to read of course!!

And miss Abby got a new Leapster Explorer game system!! As you can see she jumped right into it!

Thank you Aunt Amy!!!!!

Graham Cracker House

2011-12-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday was my swap day to watch my friend's girls while they went holiday shopping!

So to keep them occupied I had them make gingerbread (graham cracker) houses, and pizzas for lunch! The girls had a blast, and did such a good job.

I built the houses first thing that morning with a great frosting recipe that was like super glue!

Then the girls went to work decorating.....Maddy, as I assumed, did more eating than decorating!

End result......4 cute houses!! The glue held up great, not a single crack or broken shingle!!

(I actually tried to break a piece off for Abby to eat the next day, and I couldn't even do it with my bare hands!)

Abby's house

Maddy's house (note the sliding "licked" snow on the roof!!) I had to stop her before she did more eating.

Then the girls went on to make their own pizzas for lunch!

Again, they had fun and ate too! Imagine that!!

HOT Chocolate.....mmmmm

2011-12-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

Abby's newest fascination is HOT CHOCOLATE!! We had it at an event a few weeks ago, and she is fascinated by it....for whatever reason. Hot drinks in general, now she is begging for Apple Cider (she saw my new Keurig k-cups on the counter and her eyes got big!!)

Tis the season to stay warm I guess....but when she requests it twice a day, I might need to consider buying the sugar-free version.

Fun colored marshmallows!

Proud hot chocolate drinker

Getting dressed....differently

2011-12-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

I was quite impressed, Abby got herself dressed this morning (which she normally does) but today she accessorized all by herself with her hat, hello kitty necklace and puffer vest! Getting trendy!!

Maddy on the other hand, not so skilled in picking out the right outfits!! Mickey mouse hat, diaper and rain boots, okay they all have pink in them, but weren't meant to be together! At least she tried.

Holiday Program

2011-12-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

Abby's school had there Holiday Program yesterday! This was Abby's first year being able to take part, since the 3 year olds are the youngest involved. It was so cute, Mike and I went and Maddy stayed at a friends house so we could actually enjoy it!! And we did!! And she did a great job singing all the songs they've practiced for the past two months.

Abby is right in the middle (above)

This group photo is the younger 3's and older 3's classes combined into one big group! Abby is at the far right, middle row. (she is in the older 3's, you can tell the ones on the left look a bit younger!)

Well, it wouldn't be a holiday performance without the obligatory picking of the nose shot

Caught her mid antler-ears.....and the girl in front of her picking her nose too!!!!

Phew....its not just my kid that does it :).

Teacher Gifts......CRAFTS!

2011-12-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well, its holiday time, and Abby has two teachers who are wonderful!

Plus I just like doing something extra for them each year. So this year I've been particularly crafty, trying new projects, and this is one of my favorite ones!! Cheap, and minimally labor intensive with a fun, unique, and colorful result that you can hang year-round!
So her teachers are getting these yarn wreaths that I made! Materials were about $6 each, plus a hot glue gun! Very fun. Here's the link to the site I follow for lots of fun ideas : www.sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com

Blue wreath with gold swag & rosettes

Purple wreath with rosettes & pearls!

Sisters

2011-12-15T10:14:00.001-08:00

Maddy is all about copying her big sister. So she lays on the floor just like her now.

Silly LOUD Girls

2011-12-07T09:32:00.001-08:00

Warning.....lower your computer volume before watching this!!

But its a cute sampling of what the girls love to do together! And you get a glimpse of Maddy's new toddler bed! We converted her crib Sunday night (took the front off) and even though I had my hesitations of her fighting bed/nap time, she surprised us 100%!! She took to it like a champ and slept great these last 3 nights! And napped like an angel too! It tugs at my heart to see her taking on new challenges/changes with ease!! Guess she was ready for it way before we were!!

Creative 4 Year Old

2011-12-07T09:25:00.001-08:00

Abby called to me that she made a window to peek out of on the shower door.....too cute

Almost.......potty time

2011-12-07T09:24:00.001-08:00

Well its almost that TIME.....Maddy needs to get acquainted with the little potty

I am trying to give her some "down" time try it out......here she is with her phone in hand, multi-tasking!

I'm sure we won't be potty trained for a few months, but its a start

Flight Suit Stocking

2011-12-07T09:19:00.003-08:00

I had this flight suit stocking custom made online! LOVE it! It is made from an actual flight suit, and I got to choose the colors/materials for the accents! Great keepsake!! They make them out of ANY service branch uniform.....they also make awesome purses/totes from the uniforms too!!! flybagzstore.net

Sister Jammies

2011-12-07T09:19:00.001-08:00

I meant to post this the other day with the other jammie pic! Too cute to pass up

Squadron Parties 2011

2011-12-04T10:45:00.001-08:00

This past weekend Mike's squadron had their adult and kid holiday parties!

Friday night the adult party was hosted at a hotel in Norfolk for dinner, and Saturday afternoon at a hangar on base for the kids! Needless to say, I don't know where the weekend went, but we had a great time.

Our table of 10 for the night.....ALL of us are prior California squadron friends. So our husbands were all together in the same squadron at Mugu, and now have all moved East finally!

What a face! She snarled at me as I snapped her photo!! Gotta love a 4 year old!

Maddy Mommy

2011-12-04T10:42:00.001-08:00

Maddy and I were home one day this week while Abby was at school, and she LOVES to play at home by herself. I found her in Abby's room, tucking a tiger, a baby doll, and a teddy bear into Abby's bed.

It wasn't til the very end that she saw/heard me taking photos from the hallway!!

Sunset....

2011-12-04T10:20:00.001-08:00

Caught a great sunset after Thanksgiving!!

SISTERS

2011-11-22T11:10:00.001-08:00

Okay these girls love to be silly, especially together! Oh, and are rarely clothed apparently...... :)

Ballet Party

2011-11-22T11:02:00.001-08:00

Abby's good friend Emily had a Ballet themed 5th birthday party this past weekend and all the girls had a great time. Her are some shots, they were all encouraged to wear tutus!!

They spent 1.5 hours with the ballerinas doing story-time, and dancing!

The party favor was an actual ballet flat that they got to individually decorate and take home!

All Fall Down!

2011-11-14T09:29:00.001-08:00

Falling......DOWN!!!!!

The girls got cute matching holiday PJ's, and as they did ring around the rosie, I caught a shot of them on the way down! Maddy's face shows her anticipation!!!

EAT CAKE!!!!

2011-11-12T09:55:00.001-08:00

We went to dinner at a friend's house last night.....we will call it a Veterans day celebration, any reason to eat cake!! So I brought dessert!! I got this idea from a recipe blog I follow (recipegirl.com). All her posts are full-fat and never diet, but they are always delicious and this one was the BEST!

Introducing, the KIT KAT CAKE!!! The base is a box chocolate cake mix, but you add a few ingredients and it is delish!! Plus the frosting is homemade! Mmmmm

Here it is as I created it yesterday, with two chocolate hungry monsters watching at my side!

One of the two layers of chocolate cake, cooled and waiting to be frosted and stacked!

The almost finished product, awaiting the candy finishings!

My batter licker! She was pretty effective!!

Surrounded by kit kats!

Wrapped up!

And ready to go!!!! Topped with M&M's, which you can change for the seasons when different colors are released!

Playtime!

2011-11-12T09:52:00.001-08:00

Oh my girls!!! They love playing make-believe......or rocking out!!!

Abby got a try at Mike's rockband set the other day and loved it.

Mike found Maddy walking from the toy room dressed up like this....scarf on, purse in hand, and one slipper on.....all by herself.....he thought Amy would be proud of her fashionista niece!

TWO????

2011-11-05T05:37:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday to our beautiful little girl!

How these past two years have flown by, I'll never know! I can't even remember the baby days anymore!!

She brings laughter and giggles that fill our home, and joy to our hearts with her hugs and kisses!!

New tradition in our house.....crappy "whether you are awake or not" morning birthday photo!

Loving on her morning birthday gift from friends Addison & Casey....her first cabbage patch baby doll.

And of course loving on her daddy as he left for work! Maddy gives LONG kisses as she squeezes your face, pulls you in, and presses her lips to yours!

Her first baby doll of her own and her own shopping cart (baby gets strapped in on top, or down below)

Thank you Great-Grandpa & Grandma Reiss!

Play cupcake set, where wipe-off markers decorate the top of the cupcake!

We had cake and ice cream......all in one! Ice Cream Cake!!!

I couldn't get a photo fast enough, both girls had their hands on the cake removing candy pieces!

Fall is here!

2011-11-05T05:19:00.000-07:00

Fall has definitely arrived......can't you tell?

The girls were all decked out in their cold weather clothes. Abby for school, and Maddy to be cute as a button as she tagged along with me for the day!

Abby has finally started to love dresses, (so I am tasked with finding more winter long-sleeve styles) and these cute light-up boots from Grandma Donna! She got rave reviews at school :)

And Maddy is sporting her skinny jeans, panda sweater, and her birthday gift from Grandma Smith, new black boots!

And of course, its fire-making season again!

Both girls love watching the fire roar and hearing it crackle. I love the warmth and smell it gives the house!

They know the rules of being around the fire, and Maddy says "hot" whenever she sees it!

Bored??

2011-11-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is EXACTLY why I didn't get her too many toys for her birthday! Apparently we already have too many because she is stacking my spices! Good thing these are the ones I rarely use!

Crazy Girls of Mine

2011-11-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Maddy's new hiding spot......the shelving unit by the front door!

She realized if she knocked down the shelves, she fits right inside and can even close the doors as she sits sideways! Mike finally had to tie the doors shut so they wouldn't play in it!

But I got one last shot of them kissing thru the glass!!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

Holy cow!!! I am pooped! What a night of running around our neighborhood trick-or-treating!

This year was a blast though, the kids both really got into it, and it was Maddy's 1st year walking to trick-or-treat! So she LOVED walking up to each door just like her big sister! Her bucket got pretty heavy at one point so we had to empty it into a bag, as she was practically dragging it on the ground to keep going!!

Fun night, and both kids are in bed while I sort their HUGE loot of candy!!

Carving the BIG pumpkin we saved for tonight!

Just before dusk.....putting the pumpkin out, ready to get their costumes on!!

LOOK!! It's Scooby Doo & Rapunzel!!!

Maddy got "Scooby-Doo" comments ALL night as we walked along. I didn't see another now that I think about it, so I guess it was somewhat unique!!

We surprisingly got a few trick-or-treaters this year (past years we've had 0 or 1....So Abby LOVED the opportunity to hand out some candy before we left to get our own!

Two tired girls wanted to snuggle with dad before heading to bed!

The LOOT!!!! Holy cow! One was even a full size candy bar!

Good thing I can send the majority of it in with Mike to work so they can devour it and not us!

Pre-School Halloween Parade

2011-10-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

Abby's Pre-School class had their Halloween parade today!

It was great because it is the first of many things this year that she gets to participate in, and display for the parents! Mike had to work, but Maddy and I were there to watch and take photos! Although it was kind of hard to take decent photos while chasing after Maddy, so this is the best I got!

All the kids arrived to school in their costumes, and the parade started 15 minutes later in the front of the school. Abby was dressed as Rapunzel!

Abby walking in with one of her classmates

The teachers getting the kids lined up! This was a combination of two classes! So Abby's class is the right-half of kids, and her teachers are the ones in the orange shirts!

Rapunzel (Abby), top row, 2nd from the right!

A bit blurry due to my chasing Maddy, but that's the whole gang

More photos from tonight's trick-or-treating to follow!

Loungers....

2011-10-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

These girls are always leaning, sitting or rolling on each other these days!!

Lazy Saturday morning.....

Just watching a show together.....sitting alone just doesn't cut it anymore!

Pumpkin!

2011-10-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Time! Abby did a kid-safe pumpkin and it was witch-like!!

Pre-Halloween Fun

2011-10-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Halloween is just around the corner......4 more days!

We had a fun costume playgroup at our house today with a bunch of friends.

Amazingly we got the whole group of kids to sit still for 2 seconds to take a photo!!

Abby is in the middle of the couch holding a little boy, and Maddy is second from the far right on the couch, not in costume, but holding a wand!!

Smith Girls

2011-10-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Danielle snapped these AWESOME shots of the girls today!

It was a beautiful day so we took the kids to the park to burn some energy!

They are good sports getting their pictures taken!! Even when its playtime!

Simon Says....with Mickey Mouse

2011-10-25T11:05:00.001-07:00

Following directions from Mickey Mouse

My Little Wrestlers

2011-10-25T11:04:00.001-07:00

The girls have taken to wrestling, or rolling around on the floor.

Luckily no one has been hurt so far.....its all in good sisterly fun! Here's a cute video

Abby's 4-Year Checkup

2011-10-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

Abby had her 4-Year checkup at the doctor yesterday.

I have to say, I was dreading it because I knew it would come with a few shots (which she hasn't had since she was 2!! So I know she doesn't remember getting any!!)

She did GREAT! She was excited to get the shots over with, but cried a bit during the process once she realized the pain they entailed. She was a champ, considering she got 5 shots (one was her flu shot!).

Most fun of the visit was making her paper gown into a ghostly Halloween costume during the moments of boredom waiting for the doctor to come in. Now she doesn't need shots again until she's 10! That seems like DECADES away.....but I know it will be here before we know it!

Abby's 4 Year Stats:

40 Inches Tall (56th percentile)

35 pounds, 4 oz (52nd percentile)

Perfect vision and hearing!! (And both tubes from the second set, installed in 2010 are out...nice!)

Hunt Club Farm

2011-10-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

We took a fun trip to a local farm with our mom's playgroup today!

It was a true Fall blustery day, but the kids still had fun, while us mom's froze!

Miss Lounger

2011-10-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Miss Madelyn knows how to lounge! Juice and cereal, and she's set!

Naked too! Legs crossed.....the joys of being the baby of the family and being catered to.

Hiding....

2011-10-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Abby does quiet time (instead of naps now...) in her room everyday for 2 hours (while Maddy naps!!)

The other day, Maddy woke up, and it was a good 30 minutes past Abby's quiet time. So we went in her room to check on her, and found her under her bed playing with her animals!!

She said it was fun to play under there!! So cute.

Monkey Girl

2011-10-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Maddy has been a ball of fun lately.

Her personality shines through more everyday.

Just this week she attached herself to an old monkey stuffed animal of Abby's

It has always been around, but now she LOVES it. Its cute to see her love on something else, since she's usually the one being loved on by us!!

Our local zoo had a military appreciation day today (free admission), so we took full advantage and had a great free trip to the zoo (our membership expired and I'm waiting to find out if we will continue to live here before I renew!!). The girls had a lot of fun and Maddy got to ride on daddy's shoulders for a while.

Abby's 4th Birthday.....Week of celebrations!

2011-10-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Our BIG 4 year old got to celebrate her birthday ALL week long!

It started with us waking her up (7:30am) on Tuesday because she chose that day to decide to sleep in......not happy to be awake....until she saw her NEW Scooter!!!

Of course Maddy was equally happy to see the new toy!

Tuesday I made Abby a homemade cake with vanilla meringue buttercream icing!!!

And we made homemade pizzas that Abby got to help with!

Then after dinner it was present time!!

This was a fun year to watch her open gifts. She was so appreciative for everything and LOVED all the special gifts she received. (Can you tell Rapunzel is her favorite character right now???!!!)

Cake time!!

Well, her birthday week continued with celebrating her birthday at her school on Wednesday (I sent in Dunkin Donut, donut holes for all the kids and she handed out goodie bags!

Lastly on Saturday we had a handful of her friends over for a low key party at the house!

All decked out in one of the gifts she received from a friend! Cute bakers outfit with apron, hat and oven mitt!!

Now the birthday banner for Abby is down and the house is getting back to normal......until Maddy's birthday in two weeks of course!! Luckily she's too little to appreciate big celebrations, so we'll keep it small :)

Playdough!

2011-10-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

An easy go-to entertainment for the girls! They love playdough time!

And even better, I love when the weather is nice so they can do it outside and save me the cleanup!!

Mowers Little Helper

2011-10-16T11:12:00.001-07:00

Someone was fascinated with helping daddy mow the grass!

2011-10-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

Maddy's 2 year update....a little early

Maddy had her two year check-up today (2 weeks early, but that's when they got us in)

Here are her stats:

Height 35 inches (85th percentile)

Weight 26 pounds, 4 ounces (66th percentile)

Her doctor was very pleased with her growth!

We can't believe our little girl is 2 soon (November 4th) . Where did the crying baby days go??

Maddy still naps 2-3 hours a day, sleeps 12 hours solid every night. (No pacifier!!! YEAH!!!)

Big girl time is on the horizon! She is such a fun girl and makes us laugh everyday!

This is a cute photo of her from last night when we celebrated Abby's birthday.....we were all done eating our cake, so we thought. While we were in the living room, Maddy was sneaking back in the kitchen, climbed up in Abby's seat and proceeded to eat the rest of Abby's piece of birthday cake. She is getting so big, sometimes we forget she's not so little anymore.

Shiny EARS!!!!

2011-10-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

DONE! For her 4th birthday we took Abby to get her ears pierced today!!

She was SOOO brave and barely flinched for each piercing.

Great Grandma & Grandpa Reiss got her beautiful light pink studs (her birthstone) for her birthday!

They are beautiful!!! And she loves them....most important!! No more stick-on earrings for this girl!

Prepping the ears

Marking the spots

And BLING!!!!

Fall is here!

2011-10-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to a local harvest festival this weekend so that the girls could pick out pumpkins!

There were a lot of other fun things going on, so it was a great outing.

My cute pumpkin-heads!

Going for a pony ride!!! She LOVED it!

Maddy on a mini tractor tricycle

"Hmmm...which one is mine??"

Abby got to make her own peanut butter bird seed feeder!

Butterfly Update

2011-10-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

Abby has had a great time watching her butterflies grow!

But before the weather got too cold, we decided to set them free this weekend.

Last looks at her butterflies!

Carrying them outside to release

And away they go!!! You can barely make the top one out, but he is a speck in the bottom right corner.

The one below is more obvious, top right corner.

Thank you Grandma Donna for this fun learning experience!!

My sweetie!!

2011-09-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, its official!!

Maddy is finally pacifier-free!! We took it away from her on Wednesday morning this week cold turkey, and she has blown me away with how well she adjusted to this big change.

She was MUCH more attached to it than Abby was at this age, so I was worried, but she proved me wrong and napped and slept through the night with no fussing! YEAH MADDY!!!!

Here she is today spending our Friday together while Abby is at school. Guess she has taken to chewing on her fingers now that the plastic stopper is gone :)

My Wrestlers!!

2011-09-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Now that Maddy is getting bigger (ALMOST 2...yikes!!!), she is finding her place in the family.

Specifically throwing her weight around when she plays with her big sister.

All of a sudden Maddy has taken to tackling Abby and they wrestle like this on the floor!!

Both get a kick out of it. Maddy loves pinning her down, and Abby loves rolling Maddy back and forth!

Transformation Central!

2011-09-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

In case you missed out on the news, we are growing Butterflies in the Smith house!

The caterpillars arrived about 11 days ago, and spent 7 days growing and eating in their feed cup.

Then on Monday they crawled to the lid of the cup, hanging from it, and created their chrysalis. Now they have been moved to their permanent home in the butterfly enclosure. They should emerge as butterflies in the next 4-6 days. An update will follow once they are here!!

Abby LOVES this and really enjoyed watching the caterpillars grow and change.

Abby's NEW Bed!

2011-09-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

For Abby's upcoming 4th Birthday, we upgraded her to a twin size bed, from her toddler bed!!

I ended up getting a great deal on matching twin beds (headboards/footboards) and they look great.

This way when Maddy gets older, maybe they can share a room!! Abby was excited at the thought of having Maddy sleep in her room one day. We shall see....

But for now Abby LOVES her new bed and had no trouble adjusting!

BIG Thank you to Grandma Smith and Grandma Donna for buying her all her new bedding for her birthday!!

Navy Centennial Ball 2011

2011-09-25T18:39:00.000-07:00

Last night was our annual Navy Ball, but this year marked the 100th year of Naval Aviation, so the different aviation communities celebrated together at one HUGE ball at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, instead of hosting our usual annual individual balls.

My mom flew in the night before for a visit, and stayed with the girls.

Because of the ball location all the way across town, us and three other couples got a limo for the night to take us to the event, bar hopping for two hours afterwards, and then to our respective homes.......around 2am! We had a GREAT time!!

Limo ride out to the Ball

The girls!!

The Guys

A bit of a breeze in the air as we arrived. Thank you for Grandma Donna for staying with the girls, we had a BLAST and love our chances to get out and enjoy our Navy community and friends.

Abby's First Day of Older 3's Preschool

2011-09-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

Abby started her last year of preschool this week!

Next year brinigs Pre-K.....then Kindergarten.....oh my!!

(Not the greatest photos, she told me it was too sunny out to see! Oops, we were in a hurry)

Thank you Great Grandma and Grandpa Reiss for her new bumble bee backpack and barbie lunchbox this year!

Her first day back (although it was the 2nd week of school.....big oops on my part for scheduling our vacation after school started) was a great experience. New classroom and new teachers, with some of the same students from last year. She acted like nothing had changed, and had a great time.

Outer Banks- Misc Final Shots

2011-09-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Our house was on the ocean side, so we got the sunrise in the front every morning, and the sunset off the back over the sound side every evening.

Little miss personality. She can be a bear sometimes, but then equally cute like this!

Maddy & Kolbey were silly a lot! The kids got along great, and made it pretty easy on us adults.

There were LOTS of story times!

We brought a lot of board games! So we played a few each night after the kids went down, before we hopped in the hot tub! If you like domino's, try "Spinner Domino's". Our friends brought it, and I'm buying it soon. Fun and brainless, but domino's!

Maddy "chillaxing" with her chips!

Kolbey loves to read!

Our last 2 days (Fri/Sat) were cold and rainy! But we couldn't keep the kids inside ALL day.

So we ventured out in hopes that we could walk the beach still.......uh....NO! Once we got here to the top of the walkway, the tide was all the way up to the base of the sand dunes, leaving no room to walk, unless you wanted to get wet!

So we went for a walk in our community instead! Kind of felt nice to get a taste of Fall, after a beach filled summer and vacation!

Outer Banks- Currituck Lighthouse

2011-09-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Our other small outing, just outside the neighborhood of our rental house was to the Currituck Lighthouse. Mike, Abby, Dan & Kolbey trekked up to the top! I knew Maddy would never make it....sure enough, Dan carried Kolbey the whole way up and down!

Mike's neat amateur photography skills

Great shot of the lighthouse's shadow looking down.....and Maddy and I are standing at the very bottom looking up in this next shot!

View of the sound from the top!

Outer Banks- Kitty Hawk Wright Brothers Memorial

2011-09-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Our BIG outing for the week was our drive down to Kitty Hawk, about 45 minutes South of where we were staying. It is the site of the National Park where the Wright Brothers Memorial sits.

The kids ran around, and we took in a piece of flight history!

Outer Banks- Pool time!

2011-09-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

The house we rented had everything needed to entertain toddlers!

The pool was cool, felt a bit colder than the ocean, but it got used for sure!

Abby loves to swim with Will......guess daddy thought the water was too cold!

The house even had a swing off the lower deck! Perfect!!!

Will & Tracey brought their corn-hole (bean bag toss game), so it provided dry outdoor adult fun!

And of course, the boys got their time to drink....and drink some more!

Friends for 8+ years in the Navy, from OCS in Pensacola, great memories to keep adding to!

Outer Banks- Beach Days!

2011-09-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

The first 4 days of our trip were sunny and gorgeous, low to mid 80's!

So we made it to the beach each day for a few hours! Really, as long as the kids would let us!

Maddy doing her best sand diving....she loves to get messy!

Enjoying the sun....with my feet in the water, and being 'mom' all at the same time! Can't beat it!

The kids shady play area! Dan was a good sand castle builder!

Maddy relaxing! She did great all week at the beach and never broke down. All my summer trips to our local beach must have prepared her well.

Kolbey LOVED the sand and water!

Mike and Will, talking in the water

The kids, doing their best digging!

The best part about our location was it was quiet and there weren't any mobs of people. So the kids had the whole area to themselves, and you never had to spot them in a crowd. It was almost a private beach feeling. So nice!

The kites! How many Navy guys does it take to fly a kite?? 3!!!!

And they did it well.

Our beach setup!

LOVE!!!

Outer Banks Vacation 2011

2011-09-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our first official family vacation, and it was a week with great friends in the Outer Banks, NC! This was a great week with all three kids, relaxing 100%!

Our house that we rented was in Whalehead Beach, which is in Corolla, NC, just a few miles before the 2-lane highway disappears and becomes beach driving only to access homes/beach further north.

I will break out the rest of our trip photos in a few postings, but here is our group:

The Smiths, Dan & Jessica with Kolbey (same age as Maddy), and Tracey and Will

(Our group picture would have been on the front steps of the house, but we waited til the end of the trip and it rained the last 2 days.....oh well)

And here is the house we rented! Would do it again in a heartbeat! Best place to go, and relax with young kids!! It had 4 bedrooms and 4-1/2 baths, a private pool & hot tub, and was less than a 5 minute walk to the beach! Which we did a lot!!!

Abigail Smith!

2011-09-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

Abby starts preschool in two weeks!, this is the pose she gave me!!

I took this photo to print for her emergency card folder! This is her last year of preschool. Next year is Pre-K! So excited for her to start a new year with new teachers!!

My silly girl

2011-09-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Chicken Eggs

2011-09-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the Virginia Childrens Museum again yesterday. They had a great time, and Maddy found something to keep her busy. She took the eggs from under the chickens and kept returning them to the barrel......which repeats the process. She stayed there for 10+ minutes just doing that!

Cute video:

So LOUD!!!

2011-09-01T05:18:00.001-07:00

I warn you.....turn down your speaker volume a bit.

The girls were being goofy while eating their dessert last night, and started an all too common yelling competition at the table. Maddy LOVES to chime in with Abby these days, and copy everything she does. Maddy is definitely the louder kid!

Here is the video of them screaming.....

Post Irene Clean Up

2011-08-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of the aftermath.....not much to report!

Thankfully!!

Hardly any down branches

The trees survived

Only minor debris in the pool (which occurred the last few hours of the storm when the winds changed direction....before that it was almost clear!) Our trusty pool cleaner machine sucked up all the leaves in about 5 bag fulls!

The unannounced visitor from Irene.......a pesky black widow that apparently took refuge in our mailbox......he is now on a permanent vacation!!! :)

Fun with Friends

2011-08-31T14:47:00.000-07:00

We had our friends Addison & Casey over yesterday (it was my week to watch the girls; my girlfriend and I have been trading off a day each week all summer, where we drop the girls off and get time to ourselves for the morning......soon to end :(

Caught some cute photos yesterday of them playing outside. So I played with the color editing software and had some fun with the new camera!

Quick Storm Update

2011-08-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

We are 100%!!!! We survived our first hurricane, which ended up being much weaker than they anticipated, or we just got lucky, who knows. We woke up to bright blue and sunny skies this morning.
The worst of the wind came last night, late. Before that there weren't even any leaves in the pool. But now there are MANY!! So some cleanup will ensue.
Anyhow, so we never lost power, and so far no down trees and no visible roof damage. Just some yard debris, which is much more minimal than we had expected. Post storm photos to come later!

All is well! Thank you to all who inquired as to our well being while the storm passed!
Now we are just hopeful that our rental house in the Outer Banks will still be available in two weeks for our vacation......we shall see!

Indoor Fun....

2011-08-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

With the storm keeping us indoors, the kids are in crafty heaven today!

Lots of fun stuff to do.....starting with Play-Dough!!!!

Painting and cutting are up next after naps! And as long as the power holds up, movies galore!!

Pre-Hurricane Preparations

2011-08-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

IRENE is coming!!! So Mike prepared the yard by moving everything into the garage to be safe from the high winds and rain. This empty yard looks like we are moving out....but no.....just housebound due to the oncoming hurricane. The pool fence is down, and the kids toys are in the garage and hiding on the side of the house! Abby had a funny look on her face yesterday after naps when she saw her yard empty.

Mike successfully squeeze both cars in the garage (to avoid having them hit by flying objects), along with......the pool fence, BBQ, 2 patio sets,, kids toys, bikes, 2 trash cans, 2 umbrellas.....and more!

I will update photos tomorrow morning after the worst of the storm has passed. Hoping for NO down trees.......and the pool not filling over the side....Mike's already gone out once and drained it quite a bit, but the level is up again 3hrs later. Might be an endless battle.....

So far it started raining overnight, and a big wind/rain storm ensued at 5am but only lasted 15 minutes. Its been minimal wind/rain since we've been up this morning.

My girls!

2011-08-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

After two weeks of fun company, we had a nice lazy weekend.

Abby got a special treat and got to accompany me to my hair salon for our hair cuts on Saturday.

It was the first time having her hair professionally washed, cut and blown out! She loved it.

But was very serious in this photo....

Maddy is just my cutie patootie....and I had her all bathed and blow dried her hair for the first time ever Saturday night, because we went and had professional family photos taken on Sunday. So her hair actually looked tame! Mike suggested I blow it dry more often......amidst the crying.....no thank you! Special days only!! But she is cute nonetheless!!

And FYI.....yes we incurred our first East coast earthquake today....but we are all 100%

It was very minor, but startling nonetheless. People out here just aren't used to them, so they took it as a big deal. No damage in our area at all. Just preparing now for the real threat....Hurricane Irene, which is supposed to hit on Sunday as of now. We shall see how that pans out!

Grandpa Ron's Visit

2011-08-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

My dad came to visit this week!!

The girls had a lot of fun playing with Grandpa, and taking him to their favorite places.

Of course no summer visit is complete without swimming!

We swam every day!! Here Abby climbed on his shoulders.

Last night before he left, he, Mike and Abby played 'Candyland'...and Grandpa won!

Of course on day 3.....Maddy gets comfy and wants to snuggle with Grandpa

Maddy showed Grandpa the goats at the zoo

Getting a nice push around the zoo

I caught a great shot of the lion perched on his rock

This zoo girl wanted to wear Grandpa's hat

The tiger was taking a nap right on the other side of the glass

What a ride!!! Maddy loved the attention, as usual

Both girls got to paint one day, for Maddy this was a first

THE BEACH!!!!! (Grandpa rescued Abby's doll she brought to the beach)

Maddy, all ready to dig (with new buckets and shovels I got for them)

Abby let Grandpa take her in the waves

Woohoo!!! Mommy made it into a beach photo....thats a first. All these beach trips with company, I've been acquiring quite the tan!!

Grandpa and his grandaughters!

We had a WONDERFUL visit, and it could have been longer. The girls just got used to having him around, and Abby woke up this morning and asked if Grandpa was still sleeping upstairs:) But then I told her he had to ride on an airplane home, and she remembered I told her the night before that he had to go home to feed his dog! Thanks for a great week dad!!

Fujimoto Visit- Part 2 @ The Beach

2011-08-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Family Fun Beach Day

They had to experience the East coast beaches, and we all had a great time.

The weather was perfect, about 85, partly cloudy which saved us from the direct sun.

I love this profile picture of Abby, just wish I hadn't cut her head off (one of my learning curves)

A little washed out, but cute. She and Brenda did a lot of digging

All three girls playing in the sand

Brenda & Craig

Our little beach setup. Just perfect!

Caught Sheila doing some sand cartwheels! Multi-talented!!

Abby being hoisted above the crashing waves! She loved all the attention!!

Maddy on the move! This was her first trip to the beach where she did more playing than crying!

Its a start......because our beach vacation is in 4 weeks, she'd better get used to it!

Two versions of this photo:

Top- Brenda & Maddy are in focus

Bottom- Waves are in focus

Last but not least, what would a day at the beach be without burying someone's feet??!!!

Abby had them packed nice and tight!

Fujimoto Visit- August 2011 Part 1

2011-08-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Brenda, Uncle Craig & Cousin Sheila came to visit for the first time last week!

The girls had a blast playing and swimming with Sheila, and would have liked them to stay longer.

The weather was perfect for their visit, and we spent a lot of time outdoors and in the pool.

Here are some of our photo memories......

Sheila & Abby playing ball indoors

Sheila is quite the fish......Abby could lean a lot from her, and likely did!!

They played everyday in the toy room together

On our last night together we went out to try a new frozen custard store.

And the result was.......it is AMAZING!!!!!! Why the heck hadn't I tried this sooner??!!!

We all got "Gelati's", which have a small amount of custard at the bottom of the cup, then topped to the top of the cup with frozen italian ice (your choice of flavors), then finished on with a mountain of custard on top too! The custard was so thick and creamy (served out of soft-serve machines).

Even Maddy got her bites!

Sheila and the girls.......We miss you already! We had a wonderful visit

Glow Stick Fun

2011-08-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Mike bought Abby a glow stick the other day. Here is the fun they had in a dark room.

Capturing the movement using shutter speed adjustments.

Maddy in a BOX!

2011-08-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

Of course, as the saying goes, kids don't need toys, just the boxes they come in!!!

Maddy fit just right into her build-a-bear box. I helped her in, but she enjoyed it!! And could get out on her own!