Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Little girl in the little woods



Saturday was Addie's 6th Birthday party. She was so excited to have her friends to the Woodlake Nature Center. Its a great nature nature preserve just 10 blocks from us. We spend
Addie hosted a variety of friends, old and new: Charlotte and Erin from pre-school, Olivia, Margaret, Emerson, Lizzie and Nicolas from K, Sierra from the hood and Ella from summer camps,etc. Mary and Mac somehow secured an invite as well.

Out naturalist took us out on a hike- directed by Addie- in search of treasure. When the kids answered a question (what kind of scat, what to deer eat in winter, why does the Maple tree have a belly button, etc), they each received a puzzle piece. At the end of the trek, the puzzle was put together to reveal the hiding place of the treasure! It was great fun!

Addie's choice of treats was brownie sundaes with lots of fixins. She was showered with man generous gifts too. What a lucky girl to have such thoughtful friends.

We all had a great time and Addie was a very gracious hostess.

Click HERE for all the pictures from the party!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Happy Birthday Mary!

I'll wrote more later about Mary's special day, but in her honor, please watch the Justin Roberts Pop Fly video and look for her right around 3:00 in her birthday hat!



Friday, February 06, 2009

My Golden Girl

How can it be that I have a daughter who is 6 years old? This year it was a bit warmer (40) than they day Adeline Grace graced this world (-23) but oh did we party like nobody's seen. She is the first and the oldest and has taught us a ton!

Her morning started with HUGE fresh cinnamon rolls, strawberries and blackberries- all her favorites (maybe not so much the eggs that came with it all but we are working on balance :-)


The school day started with Addie as Pledge leader. Clint took a turn reading Amelia Bedelia, her favorite. Note~ Clint did offer a selection this morning of The WalMart Edge, or Michigan Football- The Great Years but AB won the Kindergarten vote. And, Mrs Sable's baby decided to wait until after Addie's day!



After school, Addie along with her friends Emerson and Erin, Mary and I all went to the nail salon for a mani/pedi as a very special treat. It was a great time- check out Mary eating the chocolate in the pedi chair!


Presents at home and an evening Addie's choice for dinner (beans and rice), followed by chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and red sprinkles was about all I could take, but we finished it off with a viewing of Ariel's beginning and a relatively easy sleepover with Erin.




I think my favorite pics of the day are Clint and Addie opening a little golden locket to celebrate her golden birthday.



Oh- you think that was it....? It was not! I let Addie know that there was a special surprise Saturday morning- a 6-yr-old initiation of sorts and then one more gift from Nini and Papa. Off to the MOA we went and Addie and I rode the big roller coaster! She was scared but thrilled all at the same time. She leaned in tight and help my hand the whole time but for me- it was her initiation into the being a big girl. Plus I had some fun too.

Our last stop want the American Girl Doll Store that just opened up at the MOA. The look on her face was priceless (Mary not so much but who settled for a picture with the doll)! She was so excited to hear about her very special gift- Chrissa is the newest member of our family! She is a lovely doll and her story is of a little girl who moves to Minnesota of all places. Addie is so in love with her and thanks to Aunt Kelly, Chrissa already has a chance of clothes and a puppy!



What else can I say about Addie? She has truly graced us.
She is beautiful; her little nose adorned with angel kisses you all call freckles. There are so many of them now I can't keep count!

She is thoughtful; she takes care of Mary and Michael and showers them with hugs and kisses and always looks out for them.

She is fun; she loves to sing LOUD in the car, teach us the songs and dances she learns at school, breaks out in a dance in the kitchen at a moments notice (her favorite is Beyonce All The Single Ladies), chase Mac around the house and "pass on the left", make silly little remarks just like her dad.

She is kind; her teacher always comments on her kindness to all the kids in her class- she plays with everyone and I can't even begin to keep track of who she sits with at lunch, its is always different, she loves to take care of me and brush my hair while we read books, she loves to run errands for her teacher and for me, she shares her love through her enthusiasm for everything she does.

She is spiritual; she really enjoys Mass, singing hymns and saying her prayers, "Show me five, show me ten, say Amen", she lets me know when I skip a prayer at bedtime and she always blesses me on my way out.

She is smart; she loves to practice her workbooks and would have me read all day and night if I could, she loves to read to Mary and Mac and continues to tell us stories about 3 things when we have a moment.

She is growing up; her 4th and 5th teeth are loose, including a top front!, she is finally fitting into her 5T pants, she remembers and she reminds me, she is a good friend to me and to Mary, she's more adventurous, she has an opinion.

Her favorites as of today at 5:14pm:
food: beans and rice
TV show: Olivia and Horseland
color: pink
friend: Erin and Lizzie
song: Snuggle Puppy
book: Rainbow Fairies series
snack: bean and cheese burrito
sports: swimming, sailing, skiing and soccer (she loved that they all start with s)

39 down!

The kids could not have been more excited to celebrate Clint's birthday. They started with homemade cards, hats and blowers. They bathed and chose their favorite outfit (yes- Mac chose his PJs), set the table in the dining room and then got the party started.
We had chicken and fish on the grill, Parmesan risotto with peas, salad and red peppers. Addie carried in Clint's icebox cake (see video below). Clint said it was his best birthday yet :-)












Super sunset

Happy February!

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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

A little comic relief.

What do you mean you can't fit me in!


I want to talk to your supervisor!

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Sunday, February 01, 2009

Her Father's Daughter Part II

Chili has been a Super Bowl tradition in our house ever since I can remember. I make it every year and Polly and I sit in front of the TV with a bottle of wine and eat chili. Luckily our kids love chili too, so it is also a staple in our diet during the winter. This year we're going over to a friends house to watch the Super Bowl with some co-workers and all of our kids, so I won't get a chance to make it as I usually do (our contribution to the party this year is meatballs cooked in a crock pot with ketchup and grape jelly).

So, as I sat with the kids this morning at breakfast, I asked them what they thought about having chili for lunch, to which Addie responded, "if we're gonna have chili, you're going to need a sweatshirt!"