8.31.2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

We were pretty busy today. We met some friends at the purple park this morning and then headed over to Chick fil A to meet some other friends for lunch. The girls had a lot of fun playing, but they were both very tired by the time we got home. Mckenzie fell asleep on the way so I let her take a nap instead of going out for our third playdate of the day. I think that would have been too much for the kids anyway.

8.30.2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Scott and Abby worked together to assemble Mckenzie's (late) birthday gift. She is now the new owner of a pink Power Wheels Mustang and she is loving her ride! She was so excited to get in her new car and take it for a test drive. She did pretty good driving it too. It was cute to listen to Abby giving Mckenzie pointers on how to drive and even more fun to watch the girls chase each other in circles. I love Mckenzie's expression in the second photo :) 071 Mckenzie car 085 Mckenzie new car 090 Abby Mckenzie new car

8.29.2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Scott came home today and the girls were very happy to see him and all the treats he brought them :) This last trip he travelled all over, from Asia to Hawaii to ND so he had quite a few little presents for them. I think the biggest hit was the Hello Kitty stuff from Japan :) We picked up ice cream for the girls tonight. Mckenzie was eating hers with two spoons. Always a big hit! 044 Mckenzie Scott Abby 043 Abby Barb 034 Mckenzie 030 Abby

8.28.2011

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Last night was a long night. The power went off around 9:30pm and unfortunately, both girls were still awake. Mckenzie was cool with the whole thing, but Abby FREAKED out. She hates the dark. She started crying and screaming about being in the dark and I had to give her my phone so she would have a little light until I grabbed the flashlights and lit some candles. Since there was the possibility of tornadoes from the hurricane, I brought both of the girls' mattresses to the family room and we all slept there. It took a really long time to get both girls settled down. Abby because of the dark, even though I had candles going and each girl was armed with a flashlight in each hand, and Mckenzie because she was overtired. We had no radio (I thought I was prepared with three different radios in the house, but none of them worked, even when I put in new batteries. How crazy is that?! ) so Scott texted me with weather updates. Luckily, the storm wasn't as strong as predicted and once the girls fell asleep, they were out for the night. We got power back this afternoon and both girls screamed with joy when the lights came back on. It was kind of fun having to find ways to entertain ourselves without the computer or the TV. Mckenzie was a bit upset she couldn't get her daily fix of the Backyardigans, but she didn't throw a fit and was content to play with toys instead. Abby spent a good part of the day playing with her cars. She had a whole system for the cars set up on the stairs. 011cars

8.27.2011

Saturday, August 27, 2011

We stayed in all day. It has been raining off and on and we are all stocked up for Hurricane Irene so there was no reason to be out driving around. I made some rice krispie treats for the girls and added some jello mix to them (borrowed the idea from Pinterest ) They are so sweet I could hardly eat them. Notice I said hardly. I do like sweet stuff! Scott was able to drive to Devils Lake to visit with the family. I have to say I am a little jealous. I am letting the girls have a slumber party in Mckenzie's room tonight. So far, it isn't working out so well. 30 minutes and they are still working out the sleeping arrangement. Maybe if they stay up later, they will sleep through more of the storm right? A girl can hope. I have to say I am a little nervous about this whole storm. I just wish it would be over. The anticipation is getting to me and it is really hard to pretend it is no big deal for the girls when I am worried about the whole thing. I just hope we aren't without power too long. Good night all:) 001 rice krispie treats

8.26.2011

Friday, August 26, 2011

The girls and I headed to the Walmart again today. (Seriously, I am starting to think I subconsciously like this Walmart because I have been there more times recently than Target!!) I was looking for a few extra flashlights because Abby really doesn't like the dark and for some craft stuff to occupy our time if the power does go out. We found two mini flashlights. A Lightning McQueen head flashlight for Mckenzie and a Toy Store one for Abby. I am lucky Abby was paying enough attention to see them because I walked right past them. They were the only two left in a random aisle. After checking a couple more stores, we lucked upon a few at a Car Quest store :) I managed to get all our outdoor stuff shoved into our little shed. I don't know how Scott will manage to get anything out again, but it is all in there safe and sound :) Abby brought in the newspaper today and she opened it up telling me she needed to read the paper. Mckenzie sat down next to her and Abby showed Mckenzie the weather forecast. It was hilarious to listen to her explain how today we were going to have sunshine and then tomorrow the rain and so forth. I guess they are Scott's kids after all ;-) The girls made jars with glitter in them today. They had a lot of fun watching the glitter settle. A pretty cheap project and I am hoping for hours of entertainment. Scott made it safely to Grand Forks, but he is stuck staying on base because there are no hotel rooms available in town. Hard to believe! I feel bad for him because the first room they put him in was dirty. They gave him a second room and that one was also dirty. He said the carpets weren't vacuumed, the sheets were in a messy pile atop the bed and there were dirty dishes in the kitchen area. That is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable if you ask me. I hope he has better luck with a third room or at least gets the second one cleaned! 003 008 013 The girls really enjoyed watching the crayons melt as I worked on this art project. I think it might be kind of fun to do a single colored one for the girls's room. Purple for Abby and pink for Mckenzie. Oh, putting the girls to bed tonight, Mckenzie was wearing her flashlight and she said to me " Don't worry mom. I will help Abby if she is scared of the dark." She is too sweet :)

8.25.2011

Thursday, August 25, 2011

We had our weekly library trip to get DVDs and books. I love that we can get movies at the library, but part of me feels guilty that we do because libraries are supposed to be about books. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home to make sure we are prepared if Hurricane Irene causes us any grief. Abby kept asking why we were buying so much water and I tried explaining, but she just looked at me with a blank stare on her face. Mckenzie was so tired while at the grocery store, she fell asleep in the cart while we waited to check out. Lucky for us, we got in the slow line with the checker that needed to get the manager for every little thing so Mckenzie got a nice snooze! I think the girls were bored with playing inside today because at one point, Abby was climbing all over the furniture and Mckenzie had gone into the silverware drawer and gotten a knife. It was only a kiddie knife, but still! I am guessing they are looking for new ways to entertain themselves! 022 The start of one of the projects I have been wanting to try. I can't wait to finish it tomorrow!

8.24.2011

Wednesday, August 24

Mckenzie woke up around 5 this morning demanding orange juice and I was thinking our day was going to start a bit earlier than I would care for, but luckily, she drank her orange juice and fell back to sleep until almost 9! (and don't tell our dentist I didn't brush her teeth after drinking her OJ!) The girls played out back this morning and I wondered what was going on when I saw each girl carrying out several stuffed animals. Turns out they were playing school and the animals were their friends. They even organized the chairs to make a bus so they could ride to school. We went to Chick fil A for lunch again today. Mckenzie's preschool was holding a fundraiser there so we went in hopes of running into some friends. Abby was super excited to see one of her teachers from this past year and talked to her for at least 10 minutes. The girls had their last day of gymnastics today :( I was actually pretty sad for them because I know how much they enjoy going. But both girls have said they would rather do ballet than gymnastics so we will give that a try. I tried getting the girls to be earlier tonight in hopes of getting on schedule for school, but no such luck. Abby was still awake at 9pm and Mckenzie didn't fall asleep until 10pm. And yes, I ended up lying on her floor until she fell asleep again because as she puts it "I can't sleep without you Mommy". I chatted with Scott tonight and it sounds like he is really roughing it these days. Great hotel, beautiful scenery. Wish I could trade places for just a few hours... I took some photos earlier, but I need to charge my battery before I can upload anything. Maybe I will get to it tomorrow night...

005 the bus driver  004 Abby Mckenzie bus 016 Abby 011 Mckenzie 026 Abby Mckenzie last day of gymnastics 027 abby last day of gymnastics 029 Mckenzie last day of gymnastics

8.23.2011

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Well, things were pretty productive around here today. A clean house, a clean car, and a clean dog. Can I take credit for any of it? Not really but I'm too short to reach the top of the car and the dog hair will clog the drain :) I found a toy this morning that I meant to give Mckenzie for her birthday but never did. So, I opened it up and the girls were entertained for a very long time :) I let the girls check out the animals for sale at Petsmart when we dropped Dakota at her grooming appointment. Abby kept begging me for a hamster and for fish. Oh and a cat too. Abby: why can't we have a cat? Me: Because I am really allergic to them. Abby: Please? They're so cute! Please???  When we got home, I let the girls make a mini stromboli for themselves. They both had fun making the stromboli but neither of them liked it. I asked Abby what was wrong with hers and she told me she didn't like the sauce, the crust on the bottom, or the crust on the top. I guess I could have fed her cheese and Canadian bacon and she would have been much happier. Mckenzie took one bite of hers and spit it back out. She was a bit crabby and very tired. I let her take a nap after we picked Dakota up from her bath. That was a big mistake. I ended up sleeping on her floor and she didn't fall asleep until 10pm. I was hoping to start on a craft project I saw on Pinterest, but I guess it will have to wait for another night. When we were visiting with a friend earlier, we felt the earthquake that hit Virginia today. It was very strange and neither one of us was sure it was really happening until we saw the light fixtures gently swaying. Crazy to think of experiencing my first earthquake in NJ.

8.22.2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

The plumber came to fix the drain today. Turns out the sink is partially rusted (near the overflow) and that is what is causing the leak. The plumber also pulled out a huge nasty clog that must be the reason the sink has been slow to drain since we moved in. I am wishing he didn't show it to me and I am so glad I don't have his job!

The girls and I went to the craft store to get some supplies for a couple of craft projects I want to try and then we stopped at the mall to pick up some back to school clothes for Abby. I always remember going to Grand Forks with my parents before school started and getting new clothes. It is such a fond memory for me. We would all go and poor Dad would be bored out of his mind! He could make a chair out of anything and close his eyes to catch a quick snooze! I think Mom enjoyed the shopping as much as us girls did though :) Dad's highlight was probably the dinner out before heading back home. (on a side note, I also remember how Sheri and I would have fashion shows with our new clothes. We would set up a fan so our hair would blow in the wind and take photos of each other. We were such dorks, but I'm glad to have had such a great friend to be a dork with:) )So we picked up a few items for Abby and Mckenzie was very patient while Abby tried on her clothes. I am so glad I made her try things on before buying them because the "big girls" clothes fit so different than the "little girls" stuff. It is hard to believe I can't buy her the toddler/little girl things anymore :( 

8.21.2011

Sunday, August 21

002 The crayons we made the other day. The kids love them and play with them as blocks more than using them to color. Mckenzie likes to line them up as well as everything else in the house too.

8.20.2011

Saturday, August 20, 2011

We got Abby's Kindergarten teacher and bus information today. We found out she will be in class with her friend Sophia, but not Ally. I thought maybe Abby and Ally would ride the same bus since we live so close together, but they are on different buses too. Abby was disappointed to find out she wouldn't be in class with Ally. I am curious to find out how the busing situation will turn out. We are less than 10 minutes away from our school and Abby will be on the bus for at least 45 minutes in the morning and over an hour after school. I don't understand how it can take that long to get her home. I worry that she is going to be tired by the time she gets to school. I guess we will see how it works out. I can always drive her instead of using the bus service. But, we want to give her the chance to ride the bus because she has been begging to ride it ever since she went to visit her school. We had a pretty boring day. Bubbles and a Target run were the highlights :) Abby did tell me on the way home from the store that she wished I had a car that would drive for me so I didn't have to. She also suggested that this car would have the ability to go to the grocery store for me too. I asked her how a car would be able to get into the grocery store and she replied that the car's hands would go into the store to get what I needed. Sounds like a great idea to me!



 011 Abby bubbles

8.19.2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

We met friends at Chick fil A for lunch. It was nice to catch up with my friend and the kids had fun running around. Mckenzie fell asleep on the way home and I let her take a nap. She got up over an hour earlier than normal and she was super cranky and super tired. Abby played quietly by herself with the crayons we made yesterday. She made towers out of them and was excited to draw rainbow people :) Mckenzie used them as blocks too and built lots of castles. I have to say today was a very good day for all of us. Everyone listened (for the most part) and was respectful which made for a much easier day than we have had lately.

8.18.2011

Thursday, August 18, 2011

We Skyped with Scott this morning. The girls were excited to see him and talk to him. It rained off and on again today making outdoor play difficult (thunder and lightening today, not just gentle showers like the other day). Mckenzie's favorite phrase of the day today was "I'm busy." Every time I asked her to come downstairs, whether it was for lunch or to do something else, her response was that she was busy. I just love the sweet little things the kids say :)We did go to the library and run an errand. When we were in the store, we came across some Hello Kitty stuff and Abby was begging me to buy everything for her. She saw a hat first, but the pleading really started when she saw a purse that had purple on it (purple is her favorite color!) I told her we were not at the store to buy ourselves things and that she would just have to wait for Christmas. Abby asked me if Santa could hear her and I told her yes. The next thing I heard was "Santa, I want the Hello Kitty purse and hat and shirt and skirt for Christmas." It was too cute.  We did bought crayons to cut up and melt into a different shape just for something to do. The girls wanted to help peel the paper off the crayons, but each quit before even finishing one crayon. They loved watching me chop the crayons into small pieces and I let them fill the muffin tin with the pieces. Abby was blown away that the crayons turned to a liquid in the oven and was even more shocked when I told her once they were cool, they would be hard again. I can't wait until tomorrow when the girls can actually use their new crayons :)

007 crayons 013 crayons 028 mckenzie making crayons 033 Abby making crayons

8.17.2011

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

I registered the girls for ballet/tap today. They have both been asking to try it out for the longest time but since they were already taking gymnastics, we decided to wait until this fall. Both girls sat so still for the instructor while he fitted them for their ballet and tap shoes. No fighting over who got to try on a shoe first, no whining about how tight or uncomfortable the shoes were. Nothing but sweet little angels :) I wish I had brought my camera to capture the moment, but I didn't. I don't like my big, clunky camera bag (hint hint babe- Christmas present- Kelly Moore bag :) ) so I never take it with. Both girls were so excited and Mckenzie got upset when it was time to leave because she thought she was going to get to dance today.

I took the girls to the purple park after lunch and for the first time ever that I can remember, both of them were so grumpy that they wanted to leave. Abby was upset because none of her friends were available to meet us at the park. She heard me leave messages with a few friends and mistakenly thought they were definetely meeting us there. I was broken hearted because she thought her friends didn't want to play with her. I can't imagine how sad she must have felt :'( Mckenzie was grumpy because she couldn't swing. The baby swing was too hot and she didn't want to use a big girl swing. Somehow I managed to cheer up Mckenzie and she, in turn, put a big smile on Abby's face.

We had gymastics and Abby got to ring the bell! The bell is a way that kids get to show everyone in the gym they did awesome at something and this is the first time she got to ring it. I heard her teacher tell her to do it and Abby ran so fast and then she stopped, smiled at me with the biggest smile ever and she rang that bell. It melted my heart to see her so proud of herself! She did a back roll over the bar all by herself. I am sure there is some technical name for it, but I don't know what it is.

It has been a week since Mckenzie gave up her pacifier and it is going so much better than I thought it would go. After a couple of mildly rough nights, she has done AMAZING! She asked me for it tonight, but it was a non-issue once I reminded her that she didn't use a paci anymore.

8.16.2011

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

It never ceases to amaze me that when Scott is gone, something goes wrong with this *wonderful* house we are living in. Today the bathroom sink decided to spring a leak. I'm guessing this isn't a new problem based on the condition of the water warped cabinet floor, probably one that was just over looked. I hope the plumbing company can come out soon and get it fixed.

I let the girls play outside in the rain today (no thunderstorms today, just a nice gentle rain). I was tired of being in the house so I am sure they were too. You should have heard the squeals of delight when I handed them their raincoats and told them we were going out to play. Amazing :) Only matched by the look on their faces when they were running around outside. It gave me a chance to clean up the garage while they were playing and put together a basketball hoop that we bought the girls awhile back. 


Alright. I took some photos, but I am having trouble uploading them. I will try later... 011 Mckenzie 015 Abby rain 024 Abby Mckenzie rain 027 Abby Mckenzie rain 036 Abby Mckenzie frisbee in rain

8.15.2011

Monday, August 15, 2011

We had more rain today so we didn't get to play outside again. The yard is such a wet mess and I wish the girls could play out there. Maybe tomorrow will be nice and the grass can dry out a bit. Abby spent hours playing Barbies today and Mckenzie bounced back and forth between bowling and her iPod. She also snuck in a nap. I thought she was playing in her room. Turns out, she was napping up there instead. We did manage to blow a few bubbles outside before bedtime as the rain had finally stopped. The girls are supposed to be sleeping right now, but they both keep finding excuses to come out of their rooms. Hopefully they will settle down soon. 029 mckenzie 014 Mckenzie Doing a little dance after getting a strike!

8.14.2011

Sunday, August 14, 2011

We had a very lazy, very rainy Sunday. We did manage to get a couple of errands taken care of, but we spent most of the day inside. I did let Mckenzie play out in the rain (she looked so cute in her raincoat and boots holding her umbrella) while I carried the groceries in, but other than that, we stayed inside all day. And in case you all are wondering, the iPad is a great bath toy. Yep. Scott let the girls watch him play Battleship while they took a bath. Gotta love new toys :) 009 Abby mckenzie ipad in bathtub

8.13.2011

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Scott took Abby to get a school physical done today. She ended up needed a shot that she should have gotten when she had her other 4 year old shots, but it was somehow overlooked. Scott said she did great (cried a little bit). Mckenzie and I spent the morning cleaning house and folding laundry. I should say I did that while Mckenzie watched a movie and played on my iPhone :) How fun would it be to be young again and have not a care in the world? Scott and I had a date this afternoon/evening. It was so nice to have that one on one time. We test drove a car and then headed to a matinee and dinner. We were home before the girls were in bed and it sounds like they had a fun time playing outside and playing hide and seek. Abby was so excited to tell me all the places she hid. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful babysitter that actually plays with the girls. We didn't want our babysitter to have to put Mckenzie to bed since she has just recently given up the pacifier.

009 Abby
008 Mckenzie



 007

The girls love orange pop and were excited to get some today (can you tell Daddy was the one to go to the grocery store last? ;-) )

8.12.2011

Friday, August 12, 2011

The girls and I went to our friend's house to swim this afternoon and Scott stopped by after work. They had so much fun playing even though it was a little cool today. The girls were all sitting on the top step of the pool, eating an ice pop when Mckenzie slipped into the water somehow (she normally wears her puddle jumper, but since she was only going to eat her snack and not swim, I thought she would be OK). She did a great job of treading water until we got into the pool to get her and didn't seem all that scared. I was shaking on the inside but had to keep that "it's all good face" on for the girls. When Scott asked her about her day swimming, the only thing she mentioned was that her friend Ava hit her with a noodle :) We are so lucky that she is OK. It was late by the time we left our friend's house so we headed out for dinner. Mckenzie was so tired that she was asleep in my lap halfway through the meal.

8.11.2011

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Last night went better than I expected. I only had to go into Mckenzie's room once because she wanted her paci. I ended up sleeping with her for a little while. I am really starting to wonder why we only bought twin beds for the girls. Mckenzie was pretty excited over the present the Pacifier Fairy left in place of her paci. She scored a new backpack, a Strawberry Shortcake doll, a new movie, PJ's, and some new cars. (Can you tell the Pacifer Fairy is feeling a little guilty?) Mckenzie did have one meltdown begging for her pacifier this morning, but it was less than 15 minutes so that is good I guess! ( I still remember her 50 minute tantrum over her pacifier when she was giving it up during the day time so 15 minutes is nothing!) We took the girls to the library today. Mckenzie was disappointed they didn't have the movie she wanted, but she finally settled on Strawberry Shortcake. The girls and I played outside this afternoon. Abby just loves playing kickball. I think she could play for hours! She got the ball stuck in the tree and I was lucky enough to have two little ones telling me how to get it out of the tree. (one suggestion was to use the fishing pole to get it down. Not sure that was going to work!) We are still working on bedtime. I put them to bed over an hour ago and it seems as though one or both has been up to use the bathroom ever since! At least there hasn't been any crying for the pacifier yet. Let's hope it stays that way!!!! Abby only wore one sock outside. Guess there wasn't time to find two! 096 Abby one sock 102 Abby b&w 109 Mckenzie playing ball

8.10.2011

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

My sweet, sweet baby girl turned three years old today! Happy birthday Mckenzie Grace! We love you so much! You have changed so much in the past year. You talk a lot more and it is very clear (at least to Mom and Dad anyway). You are becoming more social and look forward to playing with your friends. You started pre-school and I think that helped you grow quite a bit. You are so sweet. You always tell us how much you love us and give us kisses and hugs all the time and you love to cuddle. Your favorite color right now is pink. It has been since you could tell us what color you liked. For the longest time when we would ask you what color something was, you would answer "pink" whether it was pink or not. But now you know your colors and you can count to 10, sometimes 15 and you can sing your alphabet too, although you skip the letter "N" every time :) Pasta is still your favorite food and you only eat the icing off of birthday cake. You love your bear and snuggle with her every night :) You love blowing bubbles and riding your bike and playing with cars. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. You are a true blessing!!!

We went to the purple park today. It has been awhile since we have been there and I know how much the girls love going there. They were both so excited when I told them where we were going, but a little disappointed we weren't meeting any friends there. Mckenzie still loves to swing, but she took a greater interest in the slides and playing with Abby today. Abby just wanted me to be the monster and chase them around :) When Scott got home from work, we let Mckenzie open presents and then headed to Chik fil A for dinner. We did birthday cake when we got home. Mckenzie was so excited to get to have cake again. I was excited to get another chance at better photos. They didn't turn out like I wanted either, but they were better than the ones on Sunday. We played outside for a bit before bath time. Dakota was pretending to be a lab tonight. She chased after a couple of birds and caught a baby bird. The poor little guy didn't stand a chance:( Of course, we told the girls the bird was just fine and I distracted the girls while Scott took care of it. Bedtime was a little challenging tonight for Mckenzie. She had to leave her pacifier for the Paci Fairy and she was pretty upset. I ended up laying with her for a couple of hours until she fell asleep. It breaks my heart to see her so sad, but she is too old to have a pacifier anymore. I hope it doesn't take too long for her to adjust. 068 mckenzie 3 yrs 069 Mckenzie Scott b&w 070 Mckenzie 3 yrs old b&w 087 Mckenzie third birthday 074 Abby Mckenzie 072 mckenzie 3 yrs old

8.09.2011

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Mckenzie's last day as a two year old. Where does the time go? I think tonight was the first night in a long time that the girls sat through the entire meal and ate their dinners without having to prod them to eat the entire time. We normally have to play games to get one or both to eat so it was a nice change :) I ran to the store tonight to pick up a gift for Mckenzie. Tonight is her last night with her pacifier and tomorrow at bedtime, she will leave it to the pacifier fairy. She only uses it at bedtime so I am a little worried that we will have a few long nights ahead of us, but I managed to break her habit of using it during the day all by myself so I think together we can break this habit too!!!! Send prayers and positive thoughts our way tomorrow please :) I tried to get some photos of her today. I think a few turned out OK (cc welcome :)) 
013 Mckenzie b&w 014 copy Mckenzie db 025 Mckenzie 028 Mckezie b&w 034 Mckenzie

This was her way of telling me she was all done with the photos for the day! 036 Mckenzie


It rained tonight (as well as much of the day) and there was a gorgeous, absolutely amazing double rainbow when I was leaving the store. I rushed home to get my camera thinking I would be able to capture the moment and it didn't turn out anything like it looked in the sky :(
039 rainbow

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