A week of pictures

It's been a crazy week this week, so I thought I'd just put a bunch of pictures from the last few days at once instead of "theme" posts....

The first few pictures are the girls at a Baptism in Chicago for Ashley's cousin's daughter.....
Alison is a big climber these days.....Grace slowed down long enough to give her sis a hug......
"I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR ME FROM WHERE YOU ARE READING THIS FROM, BUT I HAD A REALLY GOOD TIME AT THE LUNCH AFTER THE BAPTISM!"
Grace shows off her new cherry PJ's and a fraction of her stuffed animals......

Big smiles all around......
Happy about her new Tommy shirt.......
it was a little early this morning for flash bulbs......
"to the right.....to the right......"
All dressed up with some place to go......I don't know if Grace looks tall or if Alison looks short......

"Can I give you a lift?"
"It's just too much love....."
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Big.........
"Who could ever get mad at wittle ol' me?"

It's like a picture of Big Foot.....

Sometimes you have to keep the camera handy, because you never know what surprises you might find in your own house. Ashley's parents spent the night on their way to Chicago last night. Usually, Alison sticks like glue to us (especially Ashley) when other people are around, but by this morning she was starting to warm to having her grandparents here. Here a couple of photos....

Reading Good Night Moon......a classic....
Pointing at the pictures together.....
Alison's "New Trick of the Month" - She learned to slide down the stairs on her stomach....she's free to roam from floor to floor now; yikes!
And here's a video clip of it....

Just Some Silly Photos

Here are a few photos from the camera......


You may have to click on this one to tell, but Alison was helping Ashley eat a cinnamon muffin and she ended up with cinnamon from ear to ear. (I liked her eyes in this photo too)
Grace passive-aggressively (or is it passively-aggressive?) protests the fact that I turned down the heat after our last utility bill. (Not really. She fell asleep in the car on the way home from school and when she woke up 45 minutes later she wouldn't take her coat off....not even "We all had a big lunch so we're having cereal for dinner" night)
Grace has been practicing her drawing and coloring skills a lot better lately. She's staying in the lines a lot better when she colors, and the little people she creates makes me laugh. Last night, when I checked on her before I went to bed, she had this drawing next to her. She fell asleep with the magnetic pen in her hand. Before I turned out the night light, I snuck it out of our room because I assumed it was a picture of "Mommy when she wakes up in the morning" and I thought Ashley would want to see it. (I thought Uncle Brian would find that humorous!) But, I was wrong (on so many levels) because Grace told me it was a picture of herself with a dress on. The blob next to her is Alison's sippy cup that she's sharing with Grace.

Alison's turn

Here's a few pictures from a bright and sunny Saturday.....

It was time for a mid-morning snack of cheerios and milk.....
....but Alison couldn't keep her eyes open....she's not blinking, she's falling asleep!

She woke up from her nap with a leaky outfit, and mom wasn't home.....so guess who got to pick this outfit???
Alison with a big ol' smile.....
She likes to stick that tongue out when she's down in her 4-point stance....she's ready to sack the QB....Powder Puff!
A close up smile.......(if you look to the right (your right) of Alison's bottom teeth, you can see tooth number 5....#6 is to the left of the bottom teeth but I don't think you can see it)

Brunch n' Learn

Today was a special day at school for Grace (and Ashley)! The school had early dismissal today so Grace's teacher had a combined class this morning. She planned a brunch for all the moms!! Ashley said she had a wonderful time. They had tables set up with 4 moms and 4 kids at each table, and there was a little breakfast buffet with donuts, bagels, and egg casserole. The kids helped make the place settings, performed a small concert, and each one got up to say why they loved their mom. Too cute! Here are a few pictures from this morning -


A picture of the table set-up.....
Ashley's place setting....it might be hard to tell but that's a picture of Grace in that heart "frame" in the middle.....
Here are the kids singing one of their songs about Jesus....(Grace is middle row, third from the left)...

The future American Idol Season 21 winner, Grace Storm!
"I love my mommy because she takes me to see Nana and Papa and Grammy and Pop Pop" (actual quote)
"We're getting the band back together".....it's been a while since we've gotten a good picture of just Mommy and Grace.....
The Fab Four....from the left - Rachel, Grace, Amber, and Shae....

Red Letter Day

It was red day at daycare yesterday, so the girls got dressed up for their Valentine's Day party....

Alison knows there has to be something in this drawer for hard to manage hair
Not a real morning person......
Grace in her new shirt from Aunt Vicki and Uncle Ted......

Grace trying to show off her new barrette and look at the camera at the same time.....
"Do I really look like I need a party?"
Grace with one last smile before she was off for the day.....
Funny story - Grace recently had a flu bug where she spent most of Sunday afternoon carrying around the "bowl"......last night during dinner, she hopped down from the table and came back a minute later and said, "my dog is throwing up in the kitchen" (great dinner conversation!)....so I asked her, "oh, did you get her a bowl?" She said, "no, I just gave her a tea pot"......this is how she set the doggy up in front of the kitchen sink......

'Tis the (Tax) Season

It's bitterly cold here today (7 deg....but I shouldn't complain, I heard Minnesota has like -30 windchills) so I spent the afternoon working on our taxes (For any State Farm customers, you can download Turbo Tax (and McAfee Anti-Virus software, by the way) for free - just visit statefarm.com) and uploading some pictures from the weekend....Hope you all are under a blanket somewhere, or smart enough to live somewhere warm....On with the photo show:


Grace had her first official sleepover guest when her friend Bella came over Friday night.
"Ta da!"
The girls had funning sleeping in the same "big girl" bed.....
Might need to click on this one, but Alison went with double pigtails to church today.....

If you look close, you can see the Dave Letterman-style teeth on top...
A mugshot, turn-to-the-right profile shot of the piggies....
ANOTHER, side view of the hair.....
Grace brushing her teeth (GUM makes toothbrushes that look like Crayola markers....Grace is a big fan)
One last shot of the hair.....fascinating.....ow! Ashley just jabbed me in the ribs.....

In honor of the Red Wings-Ducks game this afternoon......Game on!
Trying to hide where the high stick knocked out an eye tooth.....
Dropped the gloves, and ready to rumble......
Trying to get a leg up on the competition.....