1.26.2012

Birthday prep day!

Can you believe my little Livi will be 5?! Where does the time go? ....

Today Liv and I baked cookies for her to bring to school with her on her birthday. We also went to Charles David Salon so Auntie Mimma could beautify her for the big 5 tomorrow!

1.25.2012

Today, Liv went to school and gave one of the necklaces she made to her BFF Grace. Grace loves it! :)
Gramma picked Liv up from school today and took her back to her house to play and eat supper. And eat and play she did! (and played ... and played ... and played...)

Double the dollhouses = double the fun!

Where else can you roller skate around the entire first floor??

1.24.2012

Hooray for Tuesday! It totally made up for Monday. :)

We had a great day all around. After dinner Liv and I made some really sweet necklaces...

The top one is Liv's and the bottom one is mine. :)

1.23.2012

Today was a crummy day.

Mike discovered that all of his tools had been stolen out of his work van and was dealing with his company, police officers, etc. While all of that was going down, James had one of his really nasty seizures and spent the remainder of the day sleeping and recovering. Lisa and Melissa were kind enough to take Liv to dance school for me and Bill took Mike over to Home Depot to replace a few of his missing tools for the following work day.

After all was said and done, and the day was coming to a close, we had this brief period of happiness. It was the perfect ending to a rather awful Monday.  :)

And yes, Olivia Grace, you won.

1.22.2012

Today is a sad excuse of a photo. Sorry!

We had a bunch of friends over to eat, drink, and watch some football. We always say we're going to get together and in 2012 it looks like we're going to give it a solid effort. It was a great time - but I was so busy I never took a picture!! I missed out on Janine & Matt making tasty potato skins. I missed out on Liv playing with Rowan and James playing with Rhea. I missed out on taking a picture of handsome Harrison on his first visit to our home. So many wonderful things that I'll keep in my heart but not on this blog.

The only photos I took were of Olivia getting ready for bed. She was so proud of her wavy hair (thanks to the braids from yesterday) that it was worth taking a  quick photo. What a kid. :)

1.21.2012

French braids and finger paints!

Today, Liv wanted to finger paint. Sadly, we were all out. So, I thought to myself, "Pinterest will have a recipe", and sure enough, they did. :) We painted until we were good and messy and then I plunked Liv in the tub. Once she was clean, and all the paint was washed from her hair, we decided to try another new thing - 2 french braids. (Growing up with 2 older brothers left little room to learn how to properly fix another person's hair.) Liv agreed and was very patient with me as I made a solid attempt. I promised her each time I'd get a little better and this would eventually take very little time. I was surprised by her patience with me. They didn't turn out too shabby ... and boy did she look cute!

1.20.2012

Our first real snow of the season!

1.19.2012

Happy National Popcorn Day!!!
We celebrated by watching The Little Mermaid while munching on some kettle corn - yum!

1.18.2012

Today, after school was done for the day, Gramma & Grampa picked Liv up and drove her back to their house. Grampa was the favorite person of the day. King Grampa you might even say ...

1.17.2012

Today Liv had choir practice. "Awesome God" is starting to be a little friendlier on the old ears. ;) After practice, we drove down 18 to Timber Lanes and put down the deposit for Liv's upcoming birthday party! On the way out of the bowling alley, I was holding Liv's hand, just walking and talking, when all of a sudden I felt her jump. She jumped, both feet, full force, into a massive, freezing puddle. I yelled out "No!" but it was too late. She froze, standing in the puddle, and looked at me with tears in her eyes. "But Mama, it's fun. I like to jump in puddles." she said. Ugh, she's only 4. I told her,"I know it's fun but can we only puddle jump when it's above freezing?" That seemed acceptable and she went right back to smiling as she climbed into my car.

Throwing some awesome snow balls outside church.

Shoe tying break.

1.16.2012

Today, Liv and I spent some quality mother-daughter time coloring, snacking on some carrots, and watching some Phineas and Ferb. A great show that we both enjoy. Later on that day she had dance class. Miss Kay had finally hung up the poster with the recital day costumes on it. Of course I had to take a picture of that! Also, the Blackington's had just returned from Disney and brought her some lollipops. She loves them! Who wouldn't? Aren't they cute?

Our pictures to each other.

Beaver teeth!!!

Recital costume

Pops fresh from Mickey-the-Mouse!

1.15.2012

Today we went over to Gramma and Grampa's for dinner and birthday cake! Yesterday was Grampa's actual birthday but we were celebrating Papa's birthday which is actually today. lol. Got that?

Side note: Earlier in the day, I took Liv and Jamie to church. During children's time, while they're all sitting on the altar in front of the entire congregation, Liv got busted for talking to Jenna, the pastor's daughter! That girl just can't stay quiet for 5 minutes. lol. But, if you're going to get busted, I guess Jenna was the best person to get busted with.

back to my story...

Gramma made delicious chicken marsala (and veggie for me!) and Liv ate beautifully. After we were finished, we had cake and ice cream and we sang to Grampa again. Liv's getting pretty good at singing happy birthday. We have A LOT of birthday's this month.

It was a fun night. Lots of smiles and laughs. Liv taking the plastic balloons off of Grampa's cake to use on hers, singing, dancing, playing hid and seek, and making Auntie Rah-Rah turn purple due to embarrassment. ;)

Another good day in the life of a 4 year old.

Yup, she brought them home.

Laundry

I wrote this poem back on April 4, 2011. I thought of it earlier today when Liv ran and jumped into this enormous puddle in front of the bowling alley. It deserves a spot on her blog.

Laundry

Physical hurt, aches and pains,

emotional hurt,heart breaks and sprains,

mental hurt, tiring and strains,

allows me to see beauty,

in socks with grass stains.

The owner of these tiny socks,

part angel and part devil

She's part crazy too, 

but she's equally as level.

As her happiness waxes,

my hurting starts to wane,

and I smile at these lace lined socks,

covered in grass stains.

These socks are just so perfect,

part tom-boy and part girl,

Crisp white lace on top,

the bottom all green swirl.

Outsiders think our life is hard,

it seems to make them wary,

but hard makes it easy,

to see great in ordinary.

Liv sees puddle jumping,

while others just see rain,

I see a happy child,

where most others see grass stain.

1.14.2012

This might seem a little confusing but just bear with me ...

Today was Grampa's birthday so we made sure to call him and sing Happy Birthday. Perfectly in tune of course! ;)

Tomorrow is Papa's birthday, but we met him, and Nana, at Persey's Place for breakfast today. He loved, and laughed at, his birthday card! If you're not sure what I'm talking about, please go back a few posts. It's definitely worth it! Papa also received the gift of song over the telephone. It must sound like angels singing. lol.

 After we got home from breakfast, and Nana and Papa had head on their way, Liv and I sat down and wrote out her birthday party invitations.

Later on that night, Liv, Jamie, and I settled in on the couch to watch the Patriots play (or run right over) the Broncos.

I was last man standing, er, woman sitting. James faded first followed by Livi not to far behind. They were so cute and content I just let them stay that way until I finally had to say enough and carry them to their beds. Moments like that just bring a smile to my face. I'm so blessed to share my life with these amazingly, wonderful children.

1.13.2012

School again today. It was a tough morning for the little man so Gramma came and brought Miss Liv to school. While I was getting her ready today, I noticed just how thick and long her hair has become. It's a little mug shot-y but she's beautiful from any angle. <3

1.12.2012

Today, while I was with James at group, Liv wrote out her birthday guest list with the help of G.G. (Great Gramma)

It's a work in progress.

A birthday "scroll". lol. This kid is just too much!

1.11.2012

School today.

Can you guess who bought her this shirt for Christmas???

Auntie Mimma. Correct!

After school, Liv wrote out the card she picked out for Papa's birthday. She was adamant that this was the perfect card for him. :)

"One whole year has passed since you first came into this world and what happiness and love you've brought you sweet and precious girl." 

HAHAHAHA!

1.10.2012

Choir practice today.
The girls, and one boy, started to learn a new song "Awesome God" complete with sign language.
One of the girls was looking for the lyrics and asked if there were "anymore Awesome Gods?" to which Reverend Kristy replied, "Nope. Just the one." All of the parents chuckled but it flew right over the kiddos heads. :)

Doug leading the kids through their new song.

1.9.2012

Today was Liv's first dance class in Miss Kay's new building! She was very excited. The new dance school is beautiful inside. All of the kids seemed very happy.

1.8.2012

OK, finally.

Today, Mike put a memory card into Liv's camera that she got for Christmas and off she went! This girl has a love of photography like I've never seen!

Here's a snippet of her work...

sweater close up

her lunch

OK, so this one she didn't take herself, but how cute is it?!

Like father like daughter

pic of the Mama

slaaaacking...

I haven't given up - don't plan on it. I just need to upload pics from a different camera for the next post. I'm working on it. Be ready for 4 or 5 posts back to back ... to back ... to back ...

1.7.2012

Today was a fun day out. We took Liv and James for their very first trip to Chunky's to see The Muppets and then we met up with the Caples family for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.
I'd love to tell you that the whole day went beautifully, but, it did not. Liv had been fighting a cold for several days and was pretty whiny. After she complained through a good portion of the movie that she wanted to leave so she could play the games in the lobby, we had a long chat in the car.
We told her that being James' big sister is kind of a double edged sword. Sometimes, James has to receive more attention. Sometimes his health concerns have to take priority. We understand how this can seem to a 4 year old. Since people think that Liv is taking a back seat to James in some way, they bought her things, took her places, and let her call the shots (within reason). At first it started off as a nice little way of saying "I thought of you" but now Liv expects it. We used to say she was extra loved but somewhere along the way we crossed over into spoiled. That stops now.
We told her you need to be thankful for the nice things that people do for you and stop waiting to see what's coming next. Be thankful for what you have and take nothing for granted. Some people have much less than we do.
After our little "be grateful" speech she took a nap on the ride from Nashua to Burlington. When she woke, she piped up from the backseat that she had decided what she wanted to do for her birthday. She wanted to have people give her money for her birthday so she can give it to the people who don't have enough. She already got enough things for Christmas.
Well, I'll call that a success.
My girl is just amazing.

1.6.2012

SNOW! GLORIOUS SNOW!

Well, sort of ...

I woke Liv up for school this morning by telling her to guess what was outside her window. Her first guess was "Elfie's letter?" No, not quite. She sleepily untangled herself from the warm covers and came to look out the window. As soon as she was close enough to see the dusting of snow on our neighbors rooftop she started jumping up and down and giggling.  Now wide awake, she shouted, "Snow! It snowed! Can we build a snowman before school?" I informed her that it would have to be a teeny, tiny one. She shrugged and asked, "There isn't enough?" To which I responded "No sweetie, not really." She frowned for a split second and then smiled again saying, "That's ok Mama, there's enough to have a snowball fight when Dada gets home from work."

Forever the optimist.

Here are a few pictures of Liv playing in our abundance of snow before school.