So I recently gave you a few pictures to capture our life, but they were just stills. Now you can have a real sneak peek into our life, complete with giggles galore!
First off, Eliza sometimes starts playing peek-a-boo at random, often at meal times. The other night, she started playing with Jason. He was a very good participant, because when she opened her hands, he do this crazy yell-laugh that made her jump and then giggle outrageously. This video is from at least 10 peek-a-boos in. Notice that she gets distracted, completely randomly, at the beginning, I think by the bird clock, which didn't actually chirp or anything. And notice that her version of peek-a-boo is more like smack-your-face-a-boo cuz she just throws her hands at her face and then whips them away. You've got to love her laugh - so infectious! Towards the end you hear Hayden cackle too as she tries to fill in when Jason stops his response. Do you see how Eliza looks at him, waiting to let out a giggle, but he doesn't do his silly laugh?
The second video for your viewing pleasure is actually a shout out to cousin Jay. A while back he taught us this fun song, and we have adopted it as our own. We sing it often, especially since Eliza has taken to practicing her 'jumping' at random times of the day. She only very rarely gets her feet to lift a millimeter off the ground, but she puts in a lot of effort. I think that she practicing jumping when I started to sing the song for her, and she loves it. And Hayden likes to participate too. Notice that Eliza likes the turning around part so much she does it early. Should you want to sing it with your own kids, it goes, Hayden, Hayden, Hayden's in the middle. I want to see you jump. I want to see you wiggle. Turn around, turn around, now please sit down. I still think that Jay does the best wiggle. I think JT must model good wiggles. :) Thanks Jay (and family!) for sharing your song with us!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Into the Blue
I think North Carolina will always be at least partially associated with the color blue for me. There's Carolina Blue after all. And the ugly Duke blue. :) And of course the color of a bright blue sky - like today - that is awfully similar to Carolina Blue. (If God isn't a Tarheel fan, why's the sky Carolina blue!?! ha!) Then there's also the blue of the ocean on the Carolina coast, one of my favorite places in the world.
So it seems appropriate that in order to cover up the horrendous pink that the previous owner had selected for the master bedroom and bath, we chose the color blue. The pink bedroom we painted the very first weekend we moved in, with wonderful help from our parents both in physical labor and child watching. I don't have pictures of that. I should, but I don't. Maybe soon, if I can get the room cleaned up enough to photograph!
The bathroom however had to wait. There was the whole finding-time-to-paint issue, and the what-color-do-we-want issue. But this past weekend we finally had selected a color and found the time to do the work. We had to fit the prep and painting around kid bedtimes and naps, but it all worked out. So bye, bye ugly pink!!!
BEFORE... (notice that even the CEILING is pink! Seriously! Who paints the ceiling pink?!! Also notice the vanity lights, we changed those out too! Hello up-to-date lighting!)
that big blotch on the wall is our test run of the new color. It was hard to judge the various swatches we had since the background was the ugly pink!
The NEW color - Blue Cloud. Such a nice name. We had to use tinted primer (that they couldn't get dark enough) and it worked well.
Stirring the brew (that's the lighter color primer on the walls).
Ahhhh, so much better. Doesn't it look great with blue walls and white ceilings? We had to do three coats on the ceiling because it was hard to cover up the pink. Jason did a great job fitting in those applications! (and no, I don't have better photographs, it's hard to photograph a bathroom! I should take one of the new light fixture too, if I want to really document the change. I'll work on that.)
Eliza stopped in to say AHHHHHH!
And then, in honor of the color blue (as in the sky this time around), here's a couple pictures of lunch outside. That's right, we had lunch outside in February. In SHORTSLEEVES. It was glorious. That's why we wanted to move back to NC. (Just remind me of that during the heat and humidity in August!)
And no I don't know what sort of face Hayden is making. She may have been protesting me taking her picture. She's ornery like that sometimes. :)
So it seems appropriate that in order to cover up the horrendous pink that the previous owner had selected for the master bedroom and bath, we chose the color blue. The pink bedroom we painted the very first weekend we moved in, with wonderful help from our parents both in physical labor and child watching. I don't have pictures of that. I should, but I don't. Maybe soon, if I can get the room cleaned up enough to photograph!
The bathroom however had to wait. There was the whole finding-time-to-paint issue, and the what-color-do-we-want issue. But this past weekend we finally had selected a color and found the time to do the work. We had to fit the prep and painting around kid bedtimes and naps, but it all worked out. So bye, bye ugly pink!!!
BEFORE... (notice that even the CEILING is pink! Seriously! Who paints the ceiling pink?!! Also notice the vanity lights, we changed those out too! Hello up-to-date lighting!)
that big blotch on the wall is our test run of the new color. It was hard to judge the various swatches we had since the background was the ugly pink!
The NEW color - Blue Cloud. Such a nice name. We had to use tinted primer (that they couldn't get dark enough) and it worked well.
Stirring the brew (that's the lighter color primer on the walls).
Ahhhh, so much better. Doesn't it look great with blue walls and white ceilings? We had to do three coats on the ceiling because it was hard to cover up the pink. Jason did a great job fitting in those applications! (and no, I don't have better photographs, it's hard to photograph a bathroom! I should take one of the new light fixture too, if I want to really document the change. I'll work on that.)
Eliza stopped in to say AHHHHHH!
And then, in honor of the color blue (as in the sky this time around), here's a couple pictures of lunch outside. That's right, we had lunch outside in February. In SHORTSLEEVES. It was glorious. That's why we wanted to move back to NC. (Just remind me of that during the heat and humidity in August!)
And no I don't know what sort of face Hayden is making. She may have been protesting me taking her picture. She's ornery like that sometimes. :) Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Off to Ohio
Last weekend, we took a road trip up to Ohio to visit Grammy and Granddad. I'm not exactly sure why we chose to head north in February but the weather cooperated just fine and we had a great trip. We arrived late Thursday night - driving into the night just works well for us. Hayden did her usual chitchatting well past her usual bedtime, but even she fell asleep before we got there. And once we arrived, actually asked to go right to bed rather than run around for a few minutes.
On Friday, we had beautiful weather. Even though we were missing 70s in NC, we did get 50s in Ohio, and that was just about as nice. Hayden and Grammy were supposed to have a girls morning of shopping and haircut, but Hayden managed to keep it all about the shopping, so we're still working on her second haircut. There was lots of playing outside with riding toys, a long walk (and a nap) for Eliza, and we even went out for Indian for dinner.
On Saturday, we took another (shorter) roadtrip up to Findley, Ohio to meet up for lunch with Ammi and Poppa (Jason's grandparents). We also got to see Uncle Rich, Norma and cousin Kim. Quite the gathering at Max and Erma's but it was so good to see them. The girls behaved well, despite no naps on the way up due to an ill-timed bathroom stop. There was a great round bench to play on in the bar area; Eliza walked around and around and around it almost the whole time. We even managed one surprisingly good group shot before we left. AND both girls took a nap on the way back - quite the momentous trip!
On Sunday, Hayden and Jason went with Grammy and Granddad to a very special kids concert show called Cinderella and Friends. There was an instrument petting zoo before where Hayden got to meet a harp and a violin, and try her hand at conducting. I heard rave reviews about the show from all attendees. As they were leaving, Hayden asked if they could do it again!
Other fun things from the weekend - Eliza enjoyed the baked ziti Grammy made on Saturday night. Hayden got to watch Disney's Cinderella for the first time and really enjoyed it. Eliza showed off her penchant for trying on shoes, especially over her footed PJs. Hayden discovered that she really likes naan. Both girls found out that Grammy and Granddad's house has it's own "track" (like our own house) where you can go around and around in circles over and over. So fun!
And the girls got cute play ballet outfits from Grammy that they loved wandering around in, especially on the "track!"
Thanks for a wonderful visit Grammy and Granddad. We'll try to come back again soon!
On Friday, we had beautiful weather. Even though we were missing 70s in NC, we did get 50s in Ohio, and that was just about as nice. Hayden and Grammy were supposed to have a girls morning of shopping and haircut, but Hayden managed to keep it all about the shopping, so we're still working on her second haircut. There was lots of playing outside with riding toys, a long walk (and a nap) for Eliza, and we even went out for Indian for dinner.
On Saturday, we took another (shorter) roadtrip up to Findley, Ohio to meet up for lunch with Ammi and Poppa (Jason's grandparents). We also got to see Uncle Rich, Norma and cousin Kim. Quite the gathering at Max and Erma's but it was so good to see them. The girls behaved well, despite no naps on the way up due to an ill-timed bathroom stop. There was a great round bench to play on in the bar area; Eliza walked around and around and around it almost the whole time. We even managed one surprisingly good group shot before we left. AND both girls took a nap on the way back - quite the momentous trip!
On Sunday, Hayden and Jason went with Grammy and Granddad to a very special kids concert show called Cinderella and Friends. There was an instrument petting zoo before where Hayden got to meet a harp and a violin, and try her hand at conducting. I heard rave reviews about the show from all attendees. As they were leaving, Hayden asked if they could do it again!
Other fun things from the weekend - Eliza enjoyed the baked ziti Grammy made on Saturday night. Hayden got to watch Disney's Cinderella for the first time and really enjoyed it. Eliza showed off her penchant for trying on shoes, especially over her footed PJs. Hayden discovered that she really likes naan. Both girls found out that Grammy and Granddad's house has it's own "track" (like our own house) where you can go around and around in circles over and over. So fun!
And the girls got cute play ballet outfits from Grammy that they loved wandering around in, especially on the "track!"
Thanks for a wonderful visit Grammy and Granddad. We'll try to come back again soon!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Snippets
Except for the Super Bowl party, we haven't had any "big events" in our life recently, so I've just compiled a few random snapshots that reflect snippets of our daily life. Things are mostly good - I can't complain when it's been sunny and warm here off and on over the past couple weeks. That's why we moved south again! And the girls are so fun, even if they do have their moments. There is lots of play time, laughing and learning that goes on, and I try to enjoy every minute. (For the record, I do NOT enjoy giant tantrums when leaving Target such as happened this morning, but those moments are few and far between. and I don't take pictures of them!) So here are ten random snippets - in no particular (and not chronological) order.
1)Eliza coming down the slide at the park. She LOVES the slides and does them without holding our hands. She just goes for it. She gets so excited about them, you have to monitor at the top to make her sit down or she'd just start walking on the slide and tumble down.
2) Hayden atop a climber at the park. And she had a whole narrative going about going into space since the climber looks like a space ship.
3. Eliza in her overalls. She's just too cute some days!
4. Trying on my shoes in the bathroom. They love to try on my shoes - BOTH of them. My shoes end up all over the upstairs because they are constantly dragged out of the closet. Eliza loves trying on any shoes: mine, Hayden's or Jason's! Even her own, often over her footed pjs.
5. In the bathtub. Generally a favorite place to hang out. Hayden likes to help wash Eliza and sometimes Eliza returns the favor!
6. Playing doctor in the "tent" in the living room. This was just this morning! Hayden takes good care of her babies, and Eliza tries to copy her. Just last night Hayden was soothing her babies and Eliza got her own baby and swayed with it while saying shhhhh.
7. Trying Jello jigglers for the first time for Valentine's Day. She wasn't quite as thrown off by the texture as I thought she'd be, though she did just kind of lick it at first.
8. Eliza happily screaming. Can't you just hear her?! This happens often. She likes to make noise.
9. Eliza looking out the window in our bedroom. We keep this bin in that location for this purpose. And I often pull up the blinds just for her (usually I just rotate them open). I'm not sure what she's looking for, but she checks things out quite regularly.
10. The look-out-the-window bin is also good for story time. Hayden has started "reading" stories that she remembers, and often tries to read them to Eliza.
That's our life! Doesn't it look fun? :)
1)Eliza coming down the slide at the park. She LOVES the slides and does them without holding our hands. She just goes for it. She gets so excited about them, you have to monitor at the top to make her sit down or she'd just start walking on the slide and tumble down.
2) Hayden atop a climber at the park. And she had a whole narrative going about going into space since the climber looks like a space ship.
3. Eliza in her overalls. She's just too cute some days!
4. Trying on my shoes in the bathroom. They love to try on my shoes - BOTH of them. My shoes end up all over the upstairs because they are constantly dragged out of the closet. Eliza loves trying on any shoes: mine, Hayden's or Jason's! Even her own, often over her footed pjs.
5. In the bathtub. Generally a favorite place to hang out. Hayden likes to help wash Eliza and sometimes Eliza returns the favor!
6. Playing doctor in the "tent" in the living room. This was just this morning! Hayden takes good care of her babies, and Eliza tries to copy her. Just last night Hayden was soothing her babies and Eliza got her own baby and swayed with it while saying shhhhh.
7. Trying Jello jigglers for the first time for Valentine's Day. She wasn't quite as thrown off by the texture as I thought she'd be, though she did just kind of lick it at first.
8. Eliza happily screaming. Can't you just hear her?! This happens often. She likes to make noise.
9. Eliza looking out the window in our bedroom. We keep this bin in that location for this purpose. And I often pull up the blinds just for her (usually I just rotate them open). I'm not sure what she's looking for, but she checks things out quite regularly.
10. The look-out-the-window bin is also good for story time. Hayden has started "reading" stories that she remembers, and often tries to read them to Eliza.
That's our life! Doesn't it look fun? :)
Super Bowl
We didn't quite manage to have a full blown Super Bowl party this year. We don't know all that many people in the area, and of the few people we invited, only my parents could make it. So we just partied with Grandma and Poppop. I think they were excited to finally experience a Sanford-DeRousie Super Bowl Extravaganza. And we tried not to let them down, even if the guest list was shorter than usual.
The Spread: Grandma brought chicken wings and oreo balls. We made two kinds of queso ('traditional' velveeta and rotel, and then a more 'authentic' version complete with roasted poblano pepper), made our favorite salsa, had chips/veggies/french onion dip, and made a pizza roll. The pizza roll was in support of Pittsburgh (I don't know, apparently miners took it for lunch, or so said the paper), and the queso was in honor of Green Bay. In terms of food, the pizza roll completely won out. It was DELICIOUS. The queso(s) were only okay. We'll need to try a different version another time, if we could find better, more authentic Mexican cheeses. Oh and Hayden selected Cheetoes as her favorite snack food. I think all the adults at the party agreed with her, cuz there weren't really any left at the end of the night.
And then for dessert, there were the oreo balls. (so good). Cake balls- new this year and also good. Imagine yellow cake and funfetti frosting mixed together into balls and then dipped in chocolate. And team colors chocolate chip cookies. Yum!
We ate lots and had fun hanging out, watching the game. Eliza participated by eating pizza roll and a cookie and doing "touchdown" whenever we yelled it. Hayden put on her 'party dress', gave Dooley hugs and danced around with a bowl on her head. It was a real party!
She also got a hold of the camera and took some pictures. Just in case you think we weren't watching football. :)
It may not have been our craziest Super Bowl party ever, but we had fun, ate way too much and we'll be all set for more shenanigans next year!
PS - FYI Team spirit chocolate chip cookies are also a learning experience! Hayden sorted candies by color. And then counted out how many to put on each cookie.
The Spread: Grandma brought chicken wings and oreo balls. We made two kinds of queso ('traditional' velveeta and rotel, and then a more 'authentic' version complete with roasted poblano pepper), made our favorite salsa, had chips/veggies/french onion dip, and made a pizza roll. The pizza roll was in support of Pittsburgh (I don't know, apparently miners took it for lunch, or so said the paper), and the queso was in honor of Green Bay. In terms of food, the pizza roll completely won out. It was DELICIOUS. The queso(s) were only okay. We'll need to try a different version another time, if we could find better, more authentic Mexican cheeses. Oh and Hayden selected Cheetoes as her favorite snack food. I think all the adults at the party agreed with her, cuz there weren't really any left at the end of the night.
And then for dessert, there were the oreo balls. (so good). Cake balls- new this year and also good. Imagine yellow cake and funfetti frosting mixed together into balls and then dipped in chocolate. And team colors chocolate chip cookies. Yum!
We ate lots and had fun hanging out, watching the game. Eliza participated by eating pizza roll and a cookie and doing "touchdown" whenever we yelled it. Hayden put on her 'party dress', gave Dooley hugs and danced around with a bowl on her head. It was a real party!
She also got a hold of the camera and took some pictures. Just in case you think we weren't watching football. :)
It may not have been our craziest Super Bowl party ever, but we had fun, ate way too much and we'll be all set for more shenanigans next year!
PS - FYI Team spirit chocolate chip cookies are also a learning experience! Hayden sorted candies by color. And then counted out how many to put on each cookie.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Finding the Fun in Funeral
The title isn't meant to be irreverent. It's what I think we really managed to accomplish over what could have been a very difficult weekend of saying goodbye to Granma Jane. And to my dorky self that loved history class, it's the perfect example of how life events (births, weddings, and funerals) are things that bring families together. We all gathered together for the weekend to celebrate Granma Jane's life and to say goodbye to her in our own ways. Though it could have been a sad weekend - and believe me, there were plenty of tears shed - it was absolutely wonderful to have all of us together, just focused on being a family. What a great parting gift from Granma!
There were, of course, pictures taken. Not tons, because we were just busy being together, but enough to capture the weekend. Here you go...
Everyone arrived on Friday. We looked through Granma's jewelry on Friday night and had a "who can put on the most" contest since Granma had favored heavy beaded necklaces. If mom will send me a picture, I'll post it!
Then Saturday was the service down in Southern Pines. We all dressed up for it. All the girls (me, Lacey, Katie) wore jewelry of Granma's. I thought I put a Granma necklace on Eliza (doesn't she look cute?!) but turns out it was just something Lacey had brought from home. Oh well, the thought was still there. And she wore it ALL day!
The kids were amazing. Jay actually took a nap back at the apartment during the service and Hayden had quiet time watching a movie (her first time watching a movie in one sitting!). Eliza kept Jason busy running around the big room. The rest of us attended the service. Dad got to speak, there were tears. I'll leave it at that. Then there was a reception afterwards.
Charlotte slept thru most of it (after sleeping on Lacey during the service!)
Eliza snacked on lemons.
Hayden did some laughing.
And we got a wonderful family photo, thanks to the photography of Uncle Jay and Aunt Jane, who came all the way down from Pennsylvania.
Back at the house, there was more fun and games. Hayden sucked Aunt Jane into her "read me a story now" vortex (Aunt Jane even put her to bed!). The older cousins chilled out on the couch. The younger cousins both enjoyed the exersaucer and Eliza drank lots of milk.
We spent a lot of time over at my parents' house, so we could all be together. We solved the problem of 7:30 bedtimes by putting our kids to bed at Grandma and Poppop's and then whisking them home in the middle of the night. This worked much better than expected. I still don't think Hayden remembers being transferred. This allowed for group bedtime activities like bubble baths and naked dance parties on the bed! (there are more dance party pics but they aren't quite appropriate for public consumption!)
On Sunday, we just all hung out together. We went for a walk as a group. Hayden showed her stubborness by wanting to go for a walk with everyone, but refusing to actually walk. We had left out stroller at home, so all we had was a random extra stroller my parents had acquired. Turns out that stroller is not made for a 3 1/2 year old, but that didn't stop Hayden from riding in it. Sing with me... "fat guy in a little stroller...." She looked so funny, especially with a huge frowny face!
Jay was not interested in riding in a stroller, he prefered to run at all times. Until he got tired, heading up a fairly steep hill, he had wanted to explore. So he did what we all do when we get tired - sit down. In the middle of the street. Got to love three year olds!!!
That night there was more family time at my parents' house. Eliza tried on Jay's shoes again, and posed for a cute photo with Poppop (I think he bribed her with chex mix). The adults even played another round of Michigan Rummy after the kids went to bed.
Though the circumstances that inspired it were sad, I think we all had a great weekend. I constantly thought how much fun it would be to have been able to tell Granma all about our shenanigans. Hopefully she and Granpa were able to enjoy it from above, laughing and smiling at all our antics. We will miss you!
There were, of course, pictures taken. Not tons, because we were just busy being together, but enough to capture the weekend. Here you go...
Everyone arrived on Friday. We looked through Granma's jewelry on Friday night and had a "who can put on the most" contest since Granma had favored heavy beaded necklaces. If mom will send me a picture, I'll post it!
Then Saturday was the service down in Southern Pines. We all dressed up for it. All the girls (me, Lacey, Katie) wore jewelry of Granma's. I thought I put a Granma necklace on Eliza (doesn't she look cute?!) but turns out it was just something Lacey had brought from home. Oh well, the thought was still there. And she wore it ALL day!
The kids were amazing. Jay actually took a nap back at the apartment during the service and Hayden had quiet time watching a movie (her first time watching a movie in one sitting!). Eliza kept Jason busy running around the big room. The rest of us attended the service. Dad got to speak, there were tears. I'll leave it at that. Then there was a reception afterwards.Charlotte slept thru most of it (after sleeping on Lacey during the service!)
Eliza snacked on lemons.
Hayden did some laughing.
And we got a wonderful family photo, thanks to the photography of Uncle Jay and Aunt Jane, who came all the way down from Pennsylvania.
Back at the house, there was more fun and games. Hayden sucked Aunt Jane into her "read me a story now" vortex (Aunt Jane even put her to bed!). The older cousins chilled out on the couch. The younger cousins both enjoyed the exersaucer and Eliza drank lots of milk.
We spent a lot of time over at my parents' house, so we could all be together. We solved the problem of 7:30 bedtimes by putting our kids to bed at Grandma and Poppop's and then whisking them home in the middle of the night. This worked much better than expected. I still don't think Hayden remembers being transferred. This allowed for group bedtime activities like bubble baths and naked dance parties on the bed! (there are more dance party pics but they aren't quite appropriate for public consumption!)
On Sunday, we just all hung out together. We went for a walk as a group. Hayden showed her stubborness by wanting to go for a walk with everyone, but refusing to actually walk. We had left out stroller at home, so all we had was a random extra stroller my parents had acquired. Turns out that stroller is not made for a 3 1/2 year old, but that didn't stop Hayden from riding in it. Sing with me... "fat guy in a little stroller...." She looked so funny, especially with a huge frowny face!
Jay was not interested in riding in a stroller, he prefered to run at all times. Until he got tired, heading up a fairly steep hill, he had wanted to explore. So he did what we all do when we get tired - sit down. In the middle of the street. Got to love three year olds!!!
That night there was more family time at my parents' house. Eliza tried on Jay's shoes again, and posed for a cute photo with Poppop (I think he bribed her with chex mix). The adults even played another round of Michigan Rummy after the kids went to bed.
Though the circumstances that inspired it were sad, I think we all had a great weekend. I constantly thought how much fun it would be to have been able to tell Granma all about our shenanigans. Hopefully she and Granpa were able to enjoy it from above, laughing and smiling at all our antics. We will miss you!
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