My Heart Melted!

(Pictures are totally unrelated to the post...but I thought these two from Florida were too sweet not to share!)

Today during the car ride home, here was the conversation that ensued.

Marie says, in her way, "I went to daycare today." (She actually says, "Lolo today!" referencing a friend at daycare).

"Yes, you did," I replied.

"Momma go to work."

"Yes, Momma went to work."

"But Momma back."

"Momma always comes back, doesn't she?"

"Marie h-a-p-p-y!"

And then I had to slow the car down as I had tears in my eyes.

Easter Gift from Uncle Jeff

Jumping up and down in excitement for the fun gift!!!

Trying out a snack in the new chair at the end of a long day...

Thumbs l-o-v-e-s the chair...as soon as Marie goes to bed she climbs in it!

Thank you, Uncle Jeff, for the wonderful Easter gift. Marie loves it a lot! She caught me sitting in it once and yelled at me, "No, Mama NO! Wee's (Marie's) Chair!" We will work on sharing later!

Wonderful Week - Part 2

As you can see, we spent a small amount of time in and around the pool during our week in Florida. For a full month beforehand, all Marie could talk about was her bathing suit or her "t-suit" as she calls it. While we were in Florida, every day all she wanted to wear was her bathing suit (although she didn't necessarily want to actually be in the swimming pool). This week here at home, she has attempted to put it on over her clothes, in fact. Not sure what the attraction is; Momma cringes when she has top put a t-suit on. But Marie loves to wear hers!

More than her love of her bathing suit, she loves being with her family. Her are some great photos of her time with them in Florida.

Marie having a story read to her by her cousin Sydney.


Marie and Daddy checking out the pool Tuesday morning.

Daddy, AKA the Best Uncle Ever, in the pool with his nieces.

Marie and cousin Luke enjoying some peanut butter crackers (an awful lot)!

The bigger cousins have left so Marie can start getting some one-on-one with Grampa.

We had a wonderful week in Florida (and Georgia too)! Momma got some cherished minutes in the pool on the tube, with a book...during nap time. Jim and I both thought it was fantastic to not worry about lesson plans or interfaces or any work blah-blah for a few days. We also thought it was interesting to experience the difference of vacationing with a child as opposed to how things were pre-child. Both are for sure great but a little different.

Today we woke up to a dusting of snow. Yes, it is April 12th. That just ain't right.

Part 1 - Wonderful Weekend

The girls and their pretend ice cream...and those legs are of the daddies behind them. I love how they are both right there!

Marie having a good laugh with her new friend. She enjoyed the boys a lot!

How many pre-teens will take time to play with the toddlers before he goes to school? Who knew that older brothers could be so sweet???

Friends eating together

We had a fantastic time in Atlanta with our friends. They were incredibly gracious hosts and spoiled us rotten. It was interesting...we have spent just mere days together before but we feel like we know them so well. We so enjoyed meeting "the boys" and seeing how Annalee has changed in the past year and a half. The last time I saw her was when we parted ways getting in a cab in Hong Kong! It was a privilege to see her now - you can see her mind working every minute as she learns something new. Had an awesome time playing air hockey, pinball, and football/bowling on the Wii. Never wanted to leave the basement! We hope to return the favor soon!

How Time Flies...

At the end of one week home...both she and the bear have changed a lot.

*sigh*

Happy Easter!

Marie practiced Easter Egg hunting the week before Easter. I know, I know, but what do you expect when Mom is a teacher? I placed eggs around the house and she did fine...then turned it into a bear party...see below.

Dance Party

Some mornings are a little crazy at our house...dance parties in the kitchen are not unusual.

Easter Gift and Eggs

Practicing the Easter Egg Hunt

Loving the box that Nana Whall sent!!!

Perhaps I got some egg dye on my face...and hands...and shirt...and counter top

Trying on the Easter Hat Nana Whall sent

Painting Eggs with Daddy (who just got back from skiing all day in the sun!)

Nana Whall sent Marie a wonderful Easter outfit and some U of M gear for Easter. I am sorry to report, Marie appreciated the huge box full of styrofoam peanuts ALOT more than the gorgeous outfits. She played in the box most of the morning and afternoon. Then, Jim and Marie made Easter Eggs. Marie's hands are now dyed pink. Yep. Pink. We will take her to church tomorrow in her adorable outfit with pink hands. She also had flecks of pink all over her face but we got most of those. It was a very very fun day but it isn't good when your only child goes to bed with parts of her body dyed pink.

On a side note: Jim and I went out tonight. YEP!!!! We had a sitter and went out!!! We went out with our friends-that-we-had-before-we-were-parents. We went to a brew pub and had pizza and Momma wore snazzy clothes. It was awesome! We actually felt like a couple again!!! AND...next week we get to see our friends in Georgia!!! We were just talking about how weird it is that we are seeing our friends' family for the first time, even though we feel we know them so well...And there might be sunshine! We can't wait!

Kuhl Doors

These doors were made right here in Traverse City by Marie's Uncle Guido. We think his art is just awesome and wanted to let folks now that these doors and windows can be shipped anywhere in the US! See the added link for more info.

All Dressed Up

Momma needs some Spring. So Marie wore this today to make things spring-like. She even had a cute bow that didn't make it to the photo. Then I took her to daycare and they gave her purple grape juice with no bib. Tonight Momma will scrub the grape juice stains out of the cute little pink dress.

Super Marie???

Marie attended a Super Hero birthday party on Sunday. We opted not to spend $$ on a costume but rather asked Henry and George if we could borrow one. So...Super Marie was born! (We actually had thought of dressing her in her dark green pants and top and stuffing it to make the Incredible Hulk Marie but we thought that might be pushing it). Super Marie had just been awakened from her nap so we could get to the party so she isn't in her full Super Glory here. She did indeed keep the cape on the entire time and did just fine. It was neat to see how she interacted with people. Folks that she used to not go to at all she would now allow them to hold her and she gave them hugs too. Once she sees you enough, she seems to reach a comfort level that allows her to reach out more. Marie also has had another spurt of new words. "Peed-do" is purple, "peekt" is pink, "gluck" is truck and there are a lot more now. She is definately 2. Tonight she had a nice little meltdown on the kitchen floor because Momma wouldn't allow her to snack on a frozen waffle. Sooooo mean!!!!

Ready for Spring Break???

Perhaps, PERHAPS, Marie is ready for our trip south for Spring Break! Here we come, Finks!

Indoctrination

We admit it; we are shameless. For those of you not raised in the Great State of Michigan (MEEEeee - Shi - Gan), there is THE University of Michigan and there is the rest. : ) Actually, we are fortunate to have many great public institutions of higher learning so put your heckles down, foks. However, Jim and I went to U of M as did some other members of Marie's family. So, this house bleeds Maize and Blue and, conveniently, we do not care for basketball!

For indoctrination or motivation to work, we think it must be applied consistently and early. Here are our first attempts to sway Marie to the Maize and Blue.

Big Bird Has Competition

I always wondered what the excitement was over Thomas the Train. It's a TRAIN. How not exciting is that? But I get it now. It's not the toy; it's the Daddy. Daddy loves Thomas and is into trains. He is great at playing choo-choo. Daddy makes Thomas exciting. Today Daddy brought home some Valentines for his little girl. Guess what it was? Not Princess Disney/Dora/Barbie...rather it was coloforms of Thomas and My First Story Reader Thomas books.



She thought she was in H-e-a-v-e-n.



If you have 2 minutes, enjoy it with her.

Fab in Feb

Chinese New Year

Marie celebrates Happy New Year with her friends!

Our Ancestor Table. The Blank Frame is for the ancestors we do not know.

Spicy Shrimp Noodles and General Tso's Chicken. Traditional gifts for the children in the blue bowl.

Marie enjoying herself at China Fair restaurant. She was the hit of the place in her outfit!

Wow...I can tell you why almost every Chinese person is thin... they expend more energy cooking the meal than eating it. After our Chinese New Year celebration tonight, our friend Scott was generously doing the dishes and he commented, "HOW did you use so many dishes in making this?" Referencing the PILES of bowls and pans that were in the sink. We tried to explain that there were the dishes for the peanut sauce, for the shrimp marinade, for cooking the shrimp, for the shrimp noodle salad and then for the General Tso's chicken....we won't go into all that. AND I made the rice beforehand and the egg rolls were from a box! It takes a lot to make a chinese dish from scratch. Fortunately, our friend Pete is a chef and helped quite a bit in getting everything cooked. I can't imagine how things would have turned out with out him!
Anyways, we had a great time. We had some nice decorations and our ancestor table. We talked about how we honor our ancestors during this time and the blank frame represents Marie's ancestors who we do not know. We gave our friends gifts of chocolate money to bring them good luck this year and had sparklers to end the night. Marie had an absolute blast! She had a difficult time falling asleep because she was so worked up. Marie would like to wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

Snow Day

The view out Marie's bedroom window

The view inside

Doing nails - everyone's toenails (and toes) got polished today!

Woke up to find that every school in Northern Lower Michigan is closed and the State Police warned everyone to stay home. Even the hospital where Jim works at has called a snowday too; which means if you are nonessential, you do not need to report to work. Course if you stay home you have to take a sick day. He waited until 11 and then ventured out with the Jeep and strict orders to turn around if he thought the roads were bad.

So...we had a nice family morning! Nails were painted, Marie danced naked for a good 15 minutes, stories were read...I say, "Let it snow!"

For Uncle Jeff

Today Marie was the snazziest (and one of the loudest) kids at church. She wore her little mini-dress that Uncle Jeff gaver her for Christmas. Since this is not Southern California, leggings were a must. She loved the flowy sleeves and just thought she was the bomb. She chattered loudly throughout the service, asking repeatedly what the choir was doing and, as we went up to Communion, she wondered aloud, "Where did Momma go?" Half the church turned around as I reminded her that I was still there, just in front of them in line. Then she came home and proceeded to not nap for an hour in her crib. Currently, she is being driven around in a very warm car with soothing music. May be a long afternoon. Anyways, before she got in the car, she sang a little song here for Uncle Jeff. Then she wanted to say "Goodbye" so that is why there are two videos.

Party Girl

Marie attended a birthday party this Saturday at the Great Lakes Children's Museum. It is a small but nice museum with a mix of activities for kids. There is a big water table that caught her fancy, big stuff to climb on and in...don't think she learned much about the Great Lakes watershed but that will come later. She had a b-l-a-s-t though and liked hanging out with a bunch of critters the same age as her. And yes, sadly, that is me on the big climby thing with her. You can see my hand holding her and my eyes in the last photo. I did it 3 times and then decided she would just have to bump her head cause I couldn't squeeze through that tunnel anymore...

Colors?

This little image is on the back of a few books we own. It indicates the reading level the book is intended for, I guess. We always point to the colors and say them, "Red, blue, green, yellow and purple!" Today, Marie decided that she knew her colors and didn't need my recitation. She proudly pointed them out, left to right and said, "Boo, yellow, boo and boo-yellow!"