Little Storms

Grace's School Christmas Program

2011-12-19T21:47:00.001-06:00

Grace had her school Christmas Program tonight for the 2nd through 5th graders. She did a great job! All the kids did, really......gotta love those high notes! Anyway, I had to break up the upload into two different parts - Youtube has a 10 minute time limit apparently.....Enjoy!

Part 1 -

Part 2 -

Grace's Sunday School Program

2011-12-18T17:38:00.000-06:00

Grace also had her Sunday School program, and it turned out really well! Her group sang about 5 songs, and I've included video of those from the performance!

Alison's Christmas Program - 2011

2011-12-18T13:34:00.000-06:00

Alison had her Sunday School program this morning. She was the angel that spoke to Mary and told her that she was to have a baby and name him Jesus. She also participated with all the other kids to sing several songs! Here is a sample of the program -

This was Alison's last year as part of the "little kids" Sunday School program. Next year she'll be with the big kids!!

Alison's First Soccer Practice!

2011-11-08T22:04:00.000-06:00

Alison started soccer practice tonight! She'd been taking swim lessons for over a year, but decided she'd had enough of that - "I don't like them telling me what do" was a common theme of why she didn't care for swim anymore. Anyway, she decided she'd like to start playing soccer, and about a month ago Ashley signed her up at an indoor soccer facility here in town. She's part of the preschool program they have.

She waited "patiently" for soccer to start and today was the day. She asked if she could skip daycare and pre-K today so she could just go to soccer in the morning, but we had to tell her that wasn't how it worked. Here's a "short" video from tonight. It's a lot of her running around either with a ball or in a big circle. I'm not sure always knew what she was supposed to be doing, but she had a lot of fun just running in open spaces. It's one of her favorite activities. As an added bonus, our good friends had their son Dylan in the same time slot as well.

Snow-torious B.I.G.

2011-02-02T11:40:00.000-06:00

So, tons of snow drifts, tons of wind, no work, a snow blower, and a shovel......here are the pictures for posterity's sake:

Here's the hill that God, the snow blower, and my shovel created in the front yard.....

One of the houses across the street....not sure how long it will take them to get rid of those drifts up against the door....

To the west..........

To the east........

The queens of the hill......

Playing together on the snow pile......

Sooooo, that's the end of the driveway....so I still don't know how we can go anywhere until they plow....

The girls off to play in "traffic".....

Alison making snow angels in the street......

Grace taking her turn to make the snow angels......

Too cool for the cold.....Ali sporting her blue shades.....

The drift against the back patio door.....

The back yard......snow's pretty high up in the corners........

Just a few photos

2011-01-29T08:55:00.000-06:00

A few photos that I don't think we've shared yet....can't believe it's almost February!!

A couple of weeks ago, Grace "graduated" from swim lessons! It took her a little over 18 months (and some spare change) to get all 10 stickers, and we couldn't be prouder. She's grown a lot during that time, and it was fun watching her improve over those months. She seems so much more coordinated now, and shown us she can be dedicated to finish what she started!! She's got a few weeks left in the current session, and after that she wants to stop the lessons, and move on to playing guitar (guess we better look for some more spare change)

Alison after swim lessons that same night....she's been doing really well too. She's been at it a few months and already has several stickers of her own! Here, she's showing you how tired she is after a long day of school and swim lessons. Go Ali!

Grace hit her 100th day of 1st grade yesterday, and all the kids got to dress up like they were a 100 years old! She had so much fun with this - Ashley took her out shopping for a cane and a shower cap the other night. She's sporting some old frames of Ashley's with the lenses popped out. Fun!

Ready for her close up!!

We Didn't Start the (Bon)Fire!

2010-12-31T06:57:00.000-06:00

One of the really fun things we did while we at my parents' house for Christmas was a "bonfire night". We built a big fire, tried to make S'mores, and my dad hooked up one of my old sleds to the back of his new-used snowmobile. The girls had a great time going on laps around the pond!! Alison, especially, couldn't stop giggling when it was her town.

Hanging out by the fire sporting my favorite color - hunter orange!

The girls had a little hill that they could slide down to the frozen pond

The two "Charlie/Charley's"

Grace and I trying to warm up - our jingle bells were frozen!

Aunt Vicki with her two favorite ladies - they had a blast over the weekend!

Alison riding the sled.....she started leaning into the turns on her own. It was pretty cute!

Grace cheering Papa and Alison on!

Grinny McGrinnerson after one of her turns!

Alison warming up!

Ready for take-off!

The set up!

Grace gets a "turn" at towing her sister around

Papa and his passengers after it was all said and done

Grace and Nananuk of the North

"The gas is on the right, right?"

Awwwwwwwww

Thought this picture was funny because it looks like I'm shoving Alison into the fire......but I wasn't.

Nana and her little buddy

Uh oh, look out!!

Big smiles!

Christmas 2010!!

2010-12-27T10:38:00.000-06:00

A BUNCH of pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at home and then drove to Michigan during Christmas Day. The girls were super-excited to head north since we hadn't been up since late July. They loved all their presents (It's always funny to see which presents they end up being the most excited about.), and loved spending time with family. Not sure how we're fitting all this in the house yet. It may be time to clean out old toys!! Anyway, hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!

The girls opened up their new pink Snuggies on Christmas Eve from "mom and dad" - they were super excited!

Just like Baby Jesus, they were swaddled in bright pink cloth!

Ashley also got a new robe that she had wanted - my gift is that I get to turn the furnace down now $$$$$

The girls received new desks from Aunt Vicki and Uncle Ted. (I personally was impressed on how well they were assembled!)

Grace is already planning to do her homework at her new desk!

Alison hugged her desk later in the night and told it, "I love you desk. Thank you for being here." I don't think she's ever told ME that, but she said it to a desk. Not that I'm bitter. : )

The "before"

Alison got a new bike from Santa! Hope she doesn't get her snuggie tangled in the spokes!

Grace got a new bike as well....she was excited to have one with a kickstand!

Alison starts opening presents from Santa

Grace wonders what's in here

Big Sis helping out

Toy Story 3 - we saw this in the theater in 3D and Alison took her glasses off so it would be less scary that way.

She FINALLY has Pixos - I think she may have been the last one in her class to get them. That's the story she was selling, anyway.

Alison didn't take her new backpack off for the rest of the day

The "after"

Or maybe they aren't quite done yet

Alison sports a new head band that was in her stocking

Grace decked out in an American Girl outfit

Alison got a big box of birthday from Aunt Vicki and Uncle Ted

Moving on to the next present

Play Doh ice cream shop!

And the burger builder set!

Alison opening some new "Snoophy" movies from Papa and Nana

A new hooded bath/pool towel for the Ali-gator!

Time to hand out the Christmas presents!

Excited to hand out the presents!! She was the tag reader.

Papa's New Snowmobile

2010-12-26T15:49:00.000-06:00

My dad bought a used snowmobile this week, and the weather cooperated a little bit by giving us a couple inches of snow - just enought to make it worth our while. The girls went on quick rides with him this morning, and they had a lot of fun. When Grace was on it with him, they saw 3 deer come out of the fence row about 20 yards in front of them. She thought that was pretty cool! We'll post some Christmas pictures later - stay tuned!

Alison bundled up and waiting for her turn!!

An action shot of Alison and Papa rocketing through the back yard at 8 mph!

Alison is all SMILES getting ready to get on the gas!!

Grace gets a quick orientation lesson before they get started!

Charlie Moneymaker sits in at the World Series of Apple to Apples - he wore his shades so no one could read his eyes!

Birthday times two!

2010-12-22T15:07:00.008-06:00

Today is the day we celebrate Matt and Alison's birthdays. One is 4, the other is 36, I'll let you guess which one is which by their actions.....

Alison got a crown at school yesterday, so she wore it to open presents as she named herself the Birthday Queen... Technically she called herself and daddy the birthday queens, so I corrected her to say that daddy is a birthday king...

My Aunt Anne got Ali a nightgown with a kitty on it that was just like the one Grace got for her birthday.

As you can tell, she was beyond thrilled!!

They wanted to pose in their matching nightgowns and show the world that Ali is 4

The most anticipated gift this year was a pillow pet, one she's been wanting for what seems like her whole life if you ask her

Again, more excitement!!

She also got a new dollhouse

Grace never turns down a chance to be in a picture. Ali received some people for her house.

Matt's turn!!

He'll be stylin' at the pool this year in his Detroit Tigers swimsuit

What is behind box #2??

We end the show with a Red Wings shirt!

Santa Visit!

2010-12-07T07:52:00.000-06:00

We had the State Farm Santa Visit this weekend. Grace has outgrown it (sniff, sniff) due to age restrictions, but Alison got a new game (5 Little Monkeys) and the opportunity to talk to Santa. She was super-excited to see Santa. She didn't get nervous until we were "next in line", but she still spoke to him when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas (Pillow Pet!). We usually like to take some photos there for the Christmas card (which we went and had made last night!), and here are a few of the photos that didn't make the cut -

Family portrait photo by the "fire"

Growing up too fast!

Hanging out by the tree!

I didn't know Penguins sold insurance!

Maybe igloos need fire insurance!

Alison found a tree just her size!

I think they were stuck in Candyland on this one.....

Riding in the sleigh!

Ready for their close-up!

Enjoying some hot chocolate together!

Grace had a Daisy Scout field trip to see a performance of The Nutcracker. Here she is with a couple of her good friends, Samara and Ella.

Alison was VERY excited about some new Dora slippers Ashley bought her Saturday. I mean VERY. Refused to put on socks for the rest of the weekend! She loves running in the basement in them!

First Snow of the Season!!

2010-12-04T08:38:00.000-06:00

First snow of the season!! The girls were up by 7:30 and ready to go outside to play in the snow. Alison got snow in her boot pretty early on, and came inside before we could get the camera out. Here's a few pictures of the snow......

Grace has fun making a snow angel.......she spent some time just laying in the backyard this morning!

Happy as a little girl in snow could be!

Picture of the playset covered in snow......

The snow blower started on the second pull!! Best. investment. ever. I'm not sure what other piece of machinery besides a motorcycle could get me up this early to use it!

I think we got around 4" of snow! Ashley took this picture to give you an idea of what we have.

Thanksgiving Week at the Storm's

2010-12-02T20:34:00.000-06:00

Hey, it's been QUITE some time since we posted anything to Little Storm's, but we're going to see if we can remedy that and re-launch the site. It's been a busy year - I've spent a bunch of time studying for insurance education tests, ugh. But, that's all over and I "have my life back." Also, we've added Ashley as a full-time contributor to the site. The kids aren't babies anymore, so we're going to have more than just pictures, pictures, and more pictures. Hope you enjoy the new stuff as well as some of the old standards, like - PICTURES

These are a little out of order but here's Grace putting up some ornaments on the Christmas tree.....

"Daaaaaaaaaad, can you put the camera down and help me over here?"

Sisters lovin' Christmas - they were so excited about putting the tree up, they actually behaved!

This is where we go backward in time a little bit - for the re-construction of the Christmas tree....not exactly choppin' down a pine tree in the middle of the forrest, but hey, one man's artificial tree is another man's family tradition.

Crackin' open a box of Christmas tree.....Grace is already practicing for Palm Sunday!

Snapped a couple shots at the Killian Family Thanksgiving......Here's Grace and her once and future cousin, Kiera!

Alison is super happy to have Grami over for Thanksgiving!

Alison showing off her new PJ's and knee socks....simple pleasures!

Grace's class was in charge of the chapel message the day before Thanksgiving....Grace is waiting for chapel to start....she's got her note card with her lines on it. When we first asked her what the message was about, she told us, "Jesus heals the Ten Leopards"

Father Daughter Dance - 2010

2010-02-21T17:58:00.005-06:00

The annual Father Daughter Dance was today.....we hadn't gone in a couple years, so this was this first year I had TWO dates!!

Grace went for curls and Alison had an "up-do"....
She's got some more wiggly teeth in that smile of hers......

I think she's even got some lip gloss in that smile.....

Ready to go!!!!

Dad and the Little Ladies

I think that buttoned-up collar made my cheeks puffy!

Alison's first father daughter dance!

Alison at the dance.....she wouldn't put the balloon down the whole time we were there.....

Grace takes a break from dancing to pose.......

It's hard to tell, but she was doing The Robot in this picture....

The evening was mostly a blur......just like this picture!

Nothing but the Tooth

2010-02-16T12:40:00.002-06:00

Alison's first trip to the dentist was this morning....Ashley snapped a few pictures with her camera phone -

Grace ready for her check up....she's missing two baby teeth but has one permanent tooth coming in plus a 6-year-molar!
Alison prepped and ready for the dentist.....

All smiles.........she did get a nervous when the dentist came in.....

Counting her teeth!!

She received a tooth-brushing lesson and then did her own demonstration on Flossy the Hippo....Alison loved the giant tooth brush.....I'm half surprised Alison doesn't have the Hippo pinned on the floor to brush the Hippo's teeth. That's what we have to do to Alison 75% of the time........ : )

Birthday and Christmas Pictures - '09

2010-01-12T07:45:00.004-06:00

Quite a few pictures to get out here from the birthdays and from Christmas.....took a couple weeks for things to settle down long enough to work on this!

Grace took this picture of Alison and me on our birthdays.

Getting a hug from the birthday girl!

We took Alison to Panera for breakfast...she picked out a chocolate chip muffin top!

Getting ready to open birthday presents!!

This is one of the trains that goes with her new Thomas the Train set....

Eating some giant birthday cookie from Mrs. Fields....it was really good!

Opening up some Christmas presents and Papa & Nana's.....

Posing with her Dora bubble bath....she loves Dora....it's one of the few TV shows she'll watch.....

Alison LOVES to clean.....so Aunt Vicki got Alison her very own cleaning cart.....

Cleaning the coffee table....she called her sponge "my cheese"...cuz it looks like a brick of cheese to her.....

Nana made Alison (& Grace) matching jammies to go with their Cabbage Patch dolls....

Alison cleaning........AGAIN!

Hey, there's Grace! Brian, Tracy, and Kiera came for a visit when we got home from MI.....the girls are ready to go play in the snow......

Alison joins The Fray.......

Little Snowman, Big World.....tonight on TLC.

Alison opening up a present from Uncle Brian, Tracy, and Kiera....

Grace got the Junior edition of Apples to Apples, and she loves it!

Alison showing off a new dress she got for her birthday from her Great Aunt Anne - and her favorite tights!

Trip to Portrait

2010-01-02T12:34:00.003-06:00

There's a ton of Alison's birthday and Christmas photos that I need to get out here, but, in the meantime, we hit Portrait Innovations today to get Alison's 3-year pictures done. We also had Grace jump in a few to get some pictures of the two girls together. The pictures below are ones we either got individual sheets of, or shots that we had put in a collage. Again, these aren't the "finished product" so the actual sheets look better that what you see here.

Ashley likes to get the girls to pose on the number blocks.....
I like how she's got her feet crossed in this one.....it's like a senior picture.

The girl really got her laughing today.....

I call this one, "Please don't put me to bed yet"

This one is really colorful when you get it zoomed in.

The girls got matching big/little sister shirts for Christmas this year.
When they were having them pose like this, the photographer told Alison to look at "your sister's nose"....Alison ended up tilting her head up to try to look up her "sister's nose"......
All the little ladies, all the little ladies.......
Big hugs.....

Grace and friends sing for Chapel

2009-12-18T18:34:00.002-06:00

Grace and the rest of the Kindergarteners sang in Chapel today.....they sang Happy Birthday to the Lord. They sounded great!!

Pre-Christmas Randoms

2009-12-12T07:49:00.003-06:00

Last week, Santa Claus came to work on a Saturday to hand out toys to little kids and pose for pictures.....sniff, sniff, this is Grace's last year for the Santa Visit....next year, she's old enough to go to a Holiday party instead. Here are a few pictures (we saved the "good ones" for the Christmas card).

Grace patiently waiting in line for Santa....
We told Alison that what Santa brings her is based on naughty or nice, and she said, "What, me worry?"

The girls sitting on Santa and Mrs. Claus' laps - Alison called her "Mommy Santa".....

Grace and Mom at the hot cocoa table.....

The girls showing off some new comfy winter PJ's they have gotten recently....

During the month of November, Grace's teacher asked us to save toilet paper rolls for a craft project in December....we didn't know exactly what for....Grace brought home the finished product yesterday - A Nativity Set! You've got your 3 Wise Men, Jesus-Mary-and-Joseph, a shepherd, an angel, and a coupld of sheep....too cute!

Baby Jesus is a peanut!!!

Turkey Holiday Weekend

2009-12-01T16:50:00.004-06:00

The Family Truckster headed up to MI for a few days over the T'giving weekend....a few photos:

Aunt Vicki with her two nieces....
The Happy Family...........

Nana and her Little Alison......

This photo is an optical illusion....Alison is holding Nana upside down....j/k!

Nana and Grace (with a giant bow in her hair)

Group photo.............

A short discussion on how old Alison is going to be in December.... Nana, Aunt Vicki, and the girls......

Grace loves to hang out at the built-in desk to work on bills and create small story books.....

I think she must be signaling Touchdown for Green Bay....couldn't be for the Lions....

Alison's holiday tradition......cards, poker chips, and stogies....

Papa's asking Grace, "what the heck is a 'frush'?"

When we got home it was time to put up the Christmas tree.....

Grace is getting a lot better about spreading out the ornaments.....and getting them farther up the tree....

Alison is helping with the lower parts......

We got our Christmas present from my parents early this year....a new TV cabinet that my dad made!!

(S)milestones

2009-11-14T06:05:00.004-06:00

Grace ran into our room EARLY this morning to let us know about a big event......she lost her first tooth! She told us she was laying in bed this morning and her tooth was really, really loose. So, she "used these two fingers" to take it out. She was shaking like a leaf from nervousness/excitement. She can't wait to use her tooth-pillow tonight!

Maybe she'll use any money she gets to go shopping at "The Gap"

She's already sticking her tongue in the space a lot......

Major close-up............

The tooth in question.......

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T16:27:00.004-06:00

Can't believe it's that time of year already, but Halloween hit the Storm house last night. (I, unfortunately, spent the afternoon watching Michigan play one of its worst halves of football ever down in Champaign. So, I missed out on all the fun here. Not making that mistake again.) Anyway, Ashley got a few photos of the girls trick or treating.

Alison was a princess and Grace was a Barbie cheerleader.....
2 - 4- 6 - 8, Don't I look really great?

Alison was saying Chuck E. Cheese instead of trick-or-treat for a while....

Almost ready to go......but we're missing one thing.....

.......oh yeah, buckets to take home all their candy in.......

The first house of the night.......

What's behind door #2?..........

Alison dumping out her "haul".....

Look at all the candy.......I think I deemed Heath bars too rough on their teeth, so I ate those for them.....

One last hug for the night......

The Great Wolf Lodge Trip

2009-10-27T17:55:00.004-05:00

Our company had a recent thing where employees got a discount to the Great Wolf Lodge up The Dells in Wisconsin. We decided to go with our friends the Williams' for a Thursday to Saturday long weekend while the kids were out of school for Parent Teacher Conferences. Here are a few photos.

This on the way TO the water park.....Alison and Gretchen fell asleep in the van after lunch. All the kids had woken up early because they were too excited about the water park.
They had "story time" in the main lobby every night.....I can't remember this character's name, but I think he's supposed to be a "wolf in Boy Scout's clothing".

The girls in their bed the first night......Alison is a big time snorer!

I think this is from our second day at the water park.......Alison was able to ride in a double tube with Ashley down a relatively calm water slide.....

A close up - Alison looks like she's going to fall through the hole, but she was stuck in there pretty well.

Grace posing in a calm-at-the-moment wave pool.....

Grace and her good friend Emma waiting for the waves.....

Alison posing in the big sweet shop at the resort.......

Emma, Gretchen, Alison, and Grace show off some big smiles!

Our last lunch up before we headed home....Alison ordered the do it yourself pizza.....

Spreading the sauce out......

Grace with the bear we got her with tickets I won playing Deal or No Deal in the arcade......

Grace and Emma ready to head home!

Gretchen did a great job of helping us keep an eye on Alison all weekend!

Two Cool for School

2009-10-11T16:13:00.003-05:00

Alison started a new 2-year old program at school last week called, "Parents and Two's." It meets once a week on Tuesday mornings, and they get a chance to interact with other kids, work on motor skills, have a snack, and listen to a bible story. Alison had a lot of fun, but she did have a couple minor tantrums. (She didn't want to wait until "school started" to go in, she didn't want to wear a smock while painting). She's looking forward to going back next week.

On the way to school, in her new "big girl" car seat....with a "big girl bee-belt" as she calls it.

Waiting in the lobby for school to start.....

......and throwing the tantrum when finding out school won't start for another few minutes.

Painting a leaf several different colors....

Alison with her "parent" to qualify for the "Parents and Two" portion of the program... Alison and the rest of her class.....there's only 4 of them and one kid was sick.

A couple of random photos....here's Grace and Alison have a sleepover Friday night.

Grace and her friend Samara before passing out flyers to Trunk or Treat at our church.

Our friends the Williams' had an Oktoberfest party yesterday.....I thought this photo was going to be more zoomed in, that's why I'm hunching over like I have severe back pain. Just focus on the three pretty girls to my right.

Fall Pictures

2009-10-04T16:46:00.003-05:00

Summer, if it was really ever here, left quickly.....the girls have turned the calendar and started getting ready for Halloween and fall activities.....here's a few photos from this past week.

Alison broke out a Candy Corn shirt....
She's turning into quite the ham for the camera....

Ashley and Alison have matching pumpkin shirts and they wore them Saturday to go garage sale-ing.....Ali's shirt used to be Grace's.

Our work had a "Western Round Up" and we went with our friends, the Williams'....Here, Grace and Emma ride the ponies.....

Alison was not so much a fan of the ponies.....I guess I can never bribe her with buying her a pony......she did sit on it real quick for a photo op.

Usually she plays this bean bag toss game with a beer in her hand, so her balance was a little off.

Left to right, Gretchen, Alison, Emma, and Grace pose near the pumpkins....

Face painting......Grace picked a pink kitten.....

Alison wanted flowers on her face.....

The finished product........

All the girls with their faces painted....

Alison trying to keep her cowgirl hat on......it was cold and windy!

Cuz They Like New Clothes

2009-09-29T17:20:00.003-05:00

The girls have gotten new outfits and PJ's recently, and it seems every time they put something new on they want a picture taken!

Alison in her "Daddy's Little Girl" jammies.
Not really new clothes but she asked to have her picture taken.....

Alison in a new dress we bought on a recent trip to Chicago!

Grace posing in a new shirt that she got for her B-Day.....

We were bored the other day so we started a Cirque de So Lame club.....

.....I'm trying to mask the pain in this one.....

Grace in her new Little Miss Sunshine shirt from Aunt Lucy, Uncle Bud, and the boys!

Double Stuffs

2009-09-17T18:59:00.001-05:00

Ashley picked up some Halloween-themed Double Stuffs last weekend, and Alison got a big kick out of the orange filling in the middle.....she kept laughing and so we grabbed the camera.

Grace turns 6?!

2009-09-16T08:54:00.006-05:00

Grace turned Super Six about a week and a half ago! I'm not sure where the time goes, but she is growing up to be quite the little lady.....She's loving Kindergarten so far, and seems to be making a lot of new friends. Swim lessons started back up a few weeks ago, and she seems to be doing really well with that too. Ashley put together a little combo family/friend party on Grace's actual birthday, and here are a few pictures....

Grace standing by the gift table with her balloons....
Opening some Build-a-Bear accessories from Grami and Pop Pop......

We bought Grace some Speedo swimsuits for her swim lessons....official race gear!

Aunt Vicki and Uncle Ted sent Grace "Operation" as part of her gifts, and she loves it...future othro surgeon???

Alison received some presents, too, so that she wouldn't feel left out.....

Grami found this outfit.....the pants are "pleather" looking......cute and funny!

The kids got to do a "decorate your own cookie activity"

Grace very proud of her decorations.....

Alison was a little under-supervised during her turn and she dumped a LOT of purple sprinkles on her cookie!

Grace and her Barbie pinata.......

Showin' Barbie who is in charge!

Opening gifts from her friends......

Grace's princess cake.........

Grace listening to everyone sing Happy Birthday!

Makin' a Wish........

It was a busy day and the party wore out the grandpas!

Grace's First Day of K

2009-08-24T17:21:00.006-05:00

Well, after years and months and weeks and days of waiting and counting down, Grace started Kindergarten today.....she woke up at 6 and was super-excited that the first day of school had arrived. Here's a few pictures of her morning -

Grace had a new t-shirt, skirt, socks, sneakers, and backpack.......
The side view of her backpack and a stance that would give me a torn ACL......

It was 6:30 and she was ready to go.....school didn't start until 8:15!

Alison wanted to get in some pictures too....she was a little sad that Grace wasn't staying at daycare, but the sitter said she did just fine all day!

Grace and Mommy posing for the first day.......

The long view of the Grace and Mommy......

The Three Amigas........

Me and the girls.......

A close-up of Grace and one proud Dad......

Grace took this picture of Alison and Kiki.......

Grace out in front of the school.....

Grace and one of her classmates, Juliana.....

Group hug with Grace, Juliana, and Emma.....I'm not sure Juliana can breathe.....

Grace after she put her iCarly backpack in her cubby....

Grace in her "spot".......

Grace gets to sit next Nathan who was in her class last year.....

Grace and her teacher, Mrs. Dietsch......

This how we "left her".....working on an art project.....

Grace called me at the end of the day and said she had a great day.....she got TWO recesses, made a new "best friend forever" named Nola, spilled some syrup on her skirt (she cried and the principal helped her clean up mess), fell asleep at "rest time" (can't call it nap time), and can't wait to go back tomorrow

Random Photos

2009-08-16T21:38:00.003-05:00

A few photos from the last few weeks -

Papa made Alison a new toy box for her room....the girls like to climb in.
Alison was pretty happy about it......

Ashley and the girls had a slumber party the other night while I was at a baseball game. They got to play dress up in one of Ashley's prom dresses and her wedding dress....they had a great time with it......not sure about Grace's plunging neckline....

A little off the shoulder action.......

This picture of Grace makes me chuckle because her shoulders look just like Ashley's on our wedding day (it was freezing!)
Alison has the cutest smile on this one......
We were working on laundry the other day and the girls climbed in the basket and wanted me to push them into the playroom......the stairs were on the way to the playroom, and one thing led to another and here I am trying to guide them down the stairs on my stomach......I ended up with a rugburn on my elbow and one on the top of my foot.....
I didn't follow them to the scene of the crash but Alison had the biggest belly laughs going......

Grace sings a VBS song

2009-08-09T13:44:00.002-05:00

Last week was a very busy week - Vacation Bible School. Alison isn't quite old enough for the three year old class, but she had fun with the other kids in the nursery. Grace had a blast in her kindergarten class, and learned a lot of new songs. Here's video of one of the songs that they sang.....they performed a few of them in church this morning.

Alison's silly and The Storm's get a new fish

2009-07-19T12:19:00.002-05:00

Alison was really in the mood to get her picture taken a lot yesterday.....so we tried to oblige her as best we could......

She's posing with the new toy box that Papa made for her......I think she could hide Grace in here without us knowing it.
Making a fashion statement with a nightgown, PJ pants, and an elf hat (complete with a jingle bell at the top)

Alison thought she was playing Wii tennis with Grace and me.......

Some sad news to report.....Saturday morning, we woke up and Dorothy the fish didn't.....I had been under the weather last week, and I'm usually the one that's feeding him. I think we forgot to feed Dorothy last week......big oops! Grace took the news ok at first, but after speaking at the memorial service, she cried. Poor thing! Anyway, we went to get a new fish at the pet store....another Beta, named Zoe Fishy Storm.....

The fish jumped from the container when I was trying to get it in the bowl....hopefully it survives the trauma of me getting it back in the bowl by it's back fin....

2009-07-16T20:56:00.002-05:00

We have not had the camera out enough this summer, or else I keep forgetting to post to Little Storm's. Today is Ashley's birthday - Happy Birthday, Ashley! A few pictures of her and the girls from tonight....

Who can get the biggest smile going?
Grace told Ashley to go upstairs while we hid to jump up and yell surprise when she came back down....

One of Ashley's presents.....a new jacket......it has to go back....... :(

Grace "Ansel Adams" Storm took this photo of Ashley and Ali......

Alison taking a rest from playing Leapster......

Ashley picked Boston Cream Pie for her birthday cake......I put a 32 in the frosting before it hardened.....

Fun with Friends and Family

2009-06-03T18:39:00.004-05:00

This past weekend Brian, Tracy, and Kiera came for an overnight visit, and the girls had a lot of fun together....(so did the guys, btw). A few photo ops -

Alison and Tracy hanging out together after Alison's bath.....Ali started to call Tracy, "Trace-wee" after a while....they spent a lot of time playing I-Spy on the Leapster.
Alison hanging out with The Godfather on his birthday......

The ladies took the kids to a nearby park for some face-painting and balloons.....here's the pink butterfly.....

Pink Butterfly meets Kiera the Blue Tiger......

The girls wait for the Balloon Man....

Kiera shows off her magic wand........

I think I got these out of order because we're back to waiting in this one....

Lots of balloons........

Kiera back from the park and ready for a snack......

Grace with her balloon.....

Switching gears, last night we took the girls to see Dora the Explorer Live! (if you haven't seen it, you are totally missing out.....if you are 5 and 1/2 and younger, I mean). It was Alison's first concert/show.....she had a blast....here she is waiting for the show to start......

A picture of the stage......we were right in the middle like 10 rows up.....

One of Grace's classmates went as well.....so we all had dinner together before the show and their seats were right in front of ours......Grace is holding up her 'estrella'.....that's star in spanish, I think.

Memorial Day Weekend '09

2009-05-29T19:14:00.003-05:00

We ran up to Michigan for a couple days over the holiday weekend......a few pictures.....

Grace and Alison tangled up in Papa's hammock....
After they became untangled.....

Grace, Papa, and Alison hang out in the back yard.......

The girls (especially Alison) liked playing in Papa's motorcycle trailer....Alison would pop out of the back door from time to time to see what was going on.....

Alison helping make some Amish Friendship Bread.....looks like she's had too much batter.....

"I didn't eat it all.......I swear......would I lie to you?"

Nana had a little bit left to put in the bread pans......

Getting a few last swipes in.......

Ready to go outside and play......

Grace, scared of the first fish she'd ever caught......

Grace watching her bobber waiting for fish #2.....

Still waiting...........

Alison and I sitting on the dock........

Waitin' for the Big One.......

Alison and the first fish she ever caught.....she helped reel her in.......

Grace's LAST day of Pre-K

2009-05-29T19:06:00.002-05:00

This school year flew by quick....Grace had another year of pre-K this year.....different than last year's in that she was A) One of the oldest and not one of the youngest, B) She went every afternoon not just 3 days a week, and C) She had Mrs. Griffin last year (last year was Mrs. Mikesell....both of them were A+, top notch teachers). Here's a few pictures of her last day.

Grace the morning of her last day of Pre-K.....
.......and Alison the morning of Grace's last day of Pre-K....

The mom's had a little Happy Meal picnic before the day started....here's Grace with a couple of her good friends......

Mrs. Griffin had a Pirate theme for the last day, and here she's helping Grace on with her bandana....

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhh.......

Handing out some pre-class hugs........

This was snack time towards the end of the day.....Grace is the teeth in the middle.....

Here are the Swashbucklers with their teacher......

Group Hug with Mrs. Griffin.....except one, apparently....

Mrs. Griffin said Grace was sooooooooooo ready for Kindergarten in the last report card.

Wrapping up Alison's surgery

2009-05-17T18:11:00.002-05:00

There were a few photos that I didn't get a chance to post while Alison had her bandages on, and I wanted to get these up here.

Here is Alison eating her breakfast and wondering why someone would take a picture of it.
She did better than we thought she would at feeding herself....she just went a little slower.

If you can't count on your big sister to do your hair when your hands are all wrapped up, who can you depend on?

I don't think it was too long after I took these photos that I heard Ashley ask Grace, "where did all this lotion in Alison's hair come from?" Grace's response, "From the bottle!" Technically true.

Alison getting ready to drop The Hammer.

This was the day that she got her bandages off....

One last cheesy grin before we head out....

She's definitely learning to ham it up for the camera......

Grace's Ballet Recital

2009-05-16T16:03:00.002-05:00

A few months ago, Ashley signed up Grace for "real ballet" at a local ballet academy.....she's had a lot of fun, but she told us a few weeks ago that she wanted to try something else's. So, this coming Thursday, she has a swim test to start swim lessons. But, we did ask her if she could stick with ballet thru the recital, and she said yes. The last couple weeks have been filled with extra practices (with a bout of strep throat in the middle there), backpacks filled with snacks and water bottles, and a lot of hard work. Here recital was today and we thought she did a great job and were really proud of her. The teacher told us she did great and the parents volunteering in the back during the show (the recital was for ALL the kids at the academy) said she was really well-behaved. (Cuz she saves the rowdy behavior for home : )

Here's Grace before the show in her make up and hair....
On stage, and in position.....

Running across the stage so fast, she's a blur...

I'm not sure of the technical term for the move, but I call this some fancy footwork!

The routine was winding up here......

Coming in for a landing......

Grace is the third one from the left in the front row.....this was a larger group of dancers that all danced at different parts of one segment of the show....the little girls in blue were the Tiny Tots (3 and 4 year olds) and were so cute doing their moves.

A proud Ashley and her little ballerina, Grace.....

Grace in costume after the show......

Alison's Thumb Surgery Day

2009-05-07T15:10:00.002-05:00

Alison had thumb surgery this morning! A few months ago, her thumbs started locking every once in a while in a slightly bent position......you could pop them back in place pretty easily, but we wanted to get it checked out by a specialist. We went to a pediatric orthopedist thru the Children's Hopsital of Illinois, and he diagnosed her with "trigger thumb" (and the name of something else that basically means she's double jointed).....he suggested a simple surgical procedure that widens the sheath that her thumb tendon slides through....the tendon is not supposed to "catch" anymore and her thumbs shouldn't lock up on her. We took a few pictures of the day....

This morning she couldn't have any food or milk (which is like denying her "morning coffee"), but she did pretty well without it.....
One more big cheezy before we hit the road.......

This is the play area while we waited for the doctors.....

Getting her vitals checked by one of the nurses.....

Fun yellow PJ's and a big box of blocks.....

She loved this car......it's what they took her back to the doctors in....

"Where do you guys wanna go?"

The surgeon said she did really well during the whole procedure....she had to be put under, had a tube to help her airway, an IV in her leg, etc......the nurses kept telling Ashley how beautiful Alison was and that she looked like a little angel while she was sleeping.....here she is about an hour after the procedure.....still pretty groggy....

She perked up quite a bit while I was out getting a Rx for her.....

She's got to keep the bandages on for 5 days.....so far so good.

Mostly Alison

2009-04-19T17:09:00.002-05:00

A few new photos......the first four are of Alison today.....

Alison in her "Tragedy" pose.....
Alison in her "Comedy" pose......

Trying to talk and smile at the same time with sunglasses on her head.....

Wondering if we can get the tot pool out in the rain......

Grace in her best "dude" pose with a new butterfly shirt on......Thanks A. Vicki and U. Ted!

A few more Easter pics

2009-04-19T17:05:00.002-05:00

The girls' Uncle Brian and his friend Tracy came to visit on Easter Sunday......Tracy's daughter, Kiera, is the same age as Grace and they had a lot of fun together...

Kiera hunts for eggs in the back yard.......
Alison taking a break during the hunt.....

Grace peaking out from behind the playset for a second.....

Grace and Kiera in their PJ's after a long day of playing.....

Just chillin' out......

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T11:14:00.003-05:00

The girls were up before 6 AM this morning to check out their Easter baskets.....I need coffee, and I don't even drink coffee......

Grace and her new Sea Otter Webkinz that she named Princess....
Alison got a new Sesame Street kickball..

Grace is holding up a Thumbelina grow-it-yourself plant kit....

Alison, still holding her Street ball, and her candy bucket....

Grace shows off her chocolate Easter Bunny...

Alison's just waiting to have her hair done for church.....

Standing in line waiting for the hair salon......

All dolled-up and ready to go.....

Grace sat really still in church today to keep her dress nice......a small miracle.....

Our failed attempt to get a picture outside......Alison wouldn't look at the camera, and Grace looks like she just ate a lemon.....

This is from Saturday night......Alison wanted us to wear our Buff's......to look tuff.

Easter Egg Hunt '09

2009-04-11T17:31:00.004-05:00

The annual Easter Egg Hunt at the girls' school was today which coincided with a visit from Vicki and Ted...the girls had a great time visiting with them and Savannah (their Airedale). Here are a few pictures...

Cheesy Grin Contest - Top 3 Finishers

Waiting for the Hunt to start with Gretchen and Emma from church/school. Emma and Grace are in the same class this year, and will be in K together next year.

Family Photo while we waited...

Alison had a lot of fun......this was the first year she understood what was going on.

Trying to get it ALL the way to the bottom.....

Alison wanted to take a small candy break in the middle of everything......

Grace was off with the 4's, 5's, and Kindergarteners....she's the pink jacket to the right of the big dude in the middle (PS - I'm NOT the big dude in the middle)

Alison was all set to go open her eggs......

Grace excited to open up her eggs.......

Alison found a gold coin for the 2nd year in a row......she won a big prize.....

.........and here is the big prize......a bucket with assorted Easter candy and toys....

Grace and her "Uncle Teddy"......

The girls with Vicki and Ted.....

Breakfast with the Bunny

2009-04-04T19:19:00.002-05:00

Our Activities Association at the annual Breakfast with the Easter Bunny today......they used to have an Easter Egg hunt at the park, but it was canceled too many times because of weather so they started doing the breakfast instead. It was at a banquet room at ISU and everything was top notch.....

We went to the mall last night and let Grace pick out some new earrings.....she still was using her originals and one of the little stones had fallen out of the butterfly wings.....she's also got some really nice ones from Papa and Nana she's saving too....here are the cupcakes!
You can't have one without the other......

The girls are ready to go eat!!

We thought Alison would be scared of the Easter Bunny but she did well...

She even waved "bye" to him when it was time to go.....

We met our friends the Fader's at the breakfast....

......the girls love hanging out with Bella and Marley....

Easter Package

2009-03-31T17:04:00.003-05:00

Papa and Nana sent the girls an Easter care package in the mail today....the girls had fun opening it......one of the things in there were these Bunny mask/sunglasses....they were pretty cute....

Grace started asking me what I wanted for Easter....
Alison couldn't quite figure hers out on her own......

Random Pictures...

2009-03-22T17:09:00.003-05:00

Just a few photos from the last couple days....

Alison loves to get her picture taken in this outfit.....
Grace was off playing in some other part of the house, so Alison had Ponyville to herself....

The girls were up past their bedtimes last night......

......and they snuck in our room to watch tv.......

.......and Grace turned into a floating head.....

Grace had a temp and sore throat (no strep) this past week....no daycare or school....she took naps Sat and Sun which is unheard of in her word...her she is Sunday....she fell asleep reading a book.....

Mid-March?????

2009-03-15T07:47:00.003-05:00

Just a few photos since I haven't posted in a while......

Alison after her bath in her reindeer jammies....
The girls turned their toy box into a bed.....we couldn't get the lid shut with them in it though!

Alison this morning before church......

Alison a little closer-up........

We had to break Grace away from an episode of iCarly for this one...

Big hugs from big sis........

"One more picture, and I can go watch my show?"

Alison with some giggles......

New Addition to the Family

2009-02-28T10:55:00.002-06:00

Grace went to the pet store for a field trip this week......when she got home she said, "Daddy, I'm thinking we need a pet".....I asked her what she wanted, and she said, "how about a cat?"......and I said, "how about a fish?".......she was excited about that so we went to PetSmart this morning to pick out a Beta fish.....he's a male, but Grace is saying he's a girl and her name is Dorothy. So I think we now have a transgendered fish......this may not look good at church on Sunday.

Alison, the Littlest Mermaid, waits for mommy to clean the fish bowl.
Grace, Alison, and Dorothy (who is hididng near the surface)

Dorothy is the blue blur on the left.......

Some Random Photos and a Trip to O-Town

2009-02-27T18:55:00.003-06:00

We had gotten Alison a new shirt for spring but it was too cold to wear it w/o long sleeves...
She wasn't really thrilled with getting her picture taken......

Ashley and the girls went to O'Fallon to see Grami and Pop Pop while I studied for a CPCU exam, and Alison enjoyed driving a car at Monkey Joe's!

Grace has a big grin after what appears to be evidence of some red fruit punch.

Alison bouncing around Monkey Joe's....

Ready to slide down the bouncy slide.....

"You get the high notes, and I'll try to reach the low notes over here"

Alison tries to suffocate a large brown bear.....I don't think the PETA people would be happy with this at all........

Alison poses with the big brown bear while sporting some sort of Dr. Seuss hair-do....

The girls posing with the bear that came from the wilds of TJ Maxx National Forest.

Grami, Pop Pop, and the girls on Sunday morning.....

Alison sporting some crazy shampoo hair....

Papa and Nana visit for Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T17:56:00.002-06:00

Mom and Dad came down to visit for a few days, and we got some pictures at dinner Saturday night....

Finished with dinner and waiting for dessert...

"what would you like en zee cupcake?"

"do you like my moustache?"

"I think this is sign language for '2 more cupcakes, please'"

Grace took this picture...
Grace with the big ol' grin......

Family Portrait Photo

2009-02-07T17:44:00.002-06:00

We decided it was time to update the family photo on the fireplace.....we got our last one when Alison was 9 months, and since she's a little over 2 now, we wanted to get another one. We went to Portrait Innovations thinking we'd only get the one set of family pictures for $10, but you know how that story ends....

Here are the girls in a good sister pose....they do a better job of zooming for the prints.
The Storm Women......my girls.....

Two beautiful little ladies.......and dad.

Again, they zoomed this one for the print...it turned out well we thought...we liked the background.

We got one 10X13 of the girls together with these next two pictures.....

.....it's going to look good in the new frame we got from Hobby Lobby.....
Overall, we liked what we got.....it's always a little work to get Alison to smile because she's so shy with strangers.....we got her to throw a ball in some of the pictures in order to get big smiles. Grace was her usual picture-taking self....the girl snapped 7 or 8 really good pictures of her in 15 seconds, and she said, "wow, she's a natural!"

Ballerina Girl

2009-01-28T20:19:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since we've posted, but seems like it's been a while since we've had the camera out.....I think are hands were too cold to fumble around with a camera....Anyway, Grace started a "real" ballet class tonight and she had a lot of fun...she looked sooooo much older to us....she seemed to pick up on the movements pretty well and she told us she was excited to go back next week.

Here is Grace in her new leotard and tights.....
......she goes straight from school and changes at the studio

Here she is waiting patiently for her class to start....

That's Grace's back in the middle of the photo....you can kind of see her teacher on the far right, Mrs. Bello

And speaking of ballerinas, here is Alison in a new favorite outfit.....

Another one of her famous, My Name is Earl photos!

Short Stop

2009-01-09T13:34:00.002-06:00

After Ashley had gotten Alison dressed this morning, Ali came up to me in the computer room and said, " 'mile? cheese?" and started looking around for our camera which is hooked up to our computer a lot as I upload photos for the blog. She wanted her picture taken.....so, we snapped a couple of photos.

Alison's 2 year photos

2009-01-02T13:01:00.004-06:00

We took Alison to Portrait Innovations this morning for some 2-year photos.....here are the top 6, but we only bought 4 of them (the first, third, fourth, and sixth ones).....these are the "raw" photos, so they zoomed in and did stuff to the borders of the pictures to make them look better.

Ashley liked this one because of the good smile and the #2.....
They called this a princess pose, but I think this is a HS senior picture.....her hair got a little flat so we changed hairstyle mid-shoot.....

we got this one zoomed in and in black and white...

I call this one her "Yes We Can" pose.....golly gee!

The flowers matched her sweater but after a few minutes, she didn't want them on her lap.

We had gotten an over-head shot of Grace at this same age, so we got one of Ali too.

Christmas in MI

2009-01-02T12:14:00.004-06:00

We were able to spend a couple days in Michigan to celebrate Christmas with Papa and Nana, and here are a few photos....

Alison shows Nana her new Cabbage Patch baby.....
Alison opens some more birthday presents.....

An Elmo purse!

Trying to blind Baby Elmo......

Grace got some new Lego's for Christmas!

A bathtub tic tac toe game for the girls to play......

"I don't have to cook my own food for these do I?"

Grace shows off her new set of books from Aunt Vicki....

Alison opens MORE presents.....

Ali even loaned out her unwrapping skills to Papa....

Grace, Ali, and Papa get all phonetical....

Alison shows off a new birthday outfit from Aunt Lucy and Uncle Bud.....

Alison makes a tower taller than her!

Alison asks if 2009 is "that-a-way".....Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

2008-12-25T09:38:00.005-06:00

The flash was a little bright on this one, but here's Alison ready for church.
The cutest!!

Really leaning into the smiles now....

The Dynamic Duo.....

Grace took this photo of her sister....

The tree and the presents....

Grace starts opening......

Alison needed a little help......

"What's in this one?"

New jammies for Ali....

She likes to say, " 'mile.....cheeeeeeeeeze"

When it was all said and done...... .......it was all said and done.....

Christmas in St. Louis....the Mega-Post

2008-12-24T13:42:00.007-06:00

A ton of pictures from our weekend in St. Louis to have Christmas with Grami and Pop Pop, and with Uncle Brian!

The girls played in the snow before we left that day...it's been snowy/icy here for a few weeks now.....

Alison's ready to open some birthday presents.....

Grace looks on as Alison flips thru her new book.....

Ali gets a new ornament for the tree......

"Check out my new cup!"

"I'm ready for my close-up!"

"Check me out!"

She's really starting to love the camera!

"Grami and Pop Pop got me a Dora balloon!"

Making beautiful (?) music together.....

The Dora cake!

Alison and her Uncle Brian....

I think she ate too much in this one.......

Blowing out the candles.....

"Could someone get me a fork please?"

Grami cleans the hands........

Wielding the fork with no problem......

Got frosting?

I may be biased, but I think this is the cutest picture!

Grace helps me with my birthday cupcakes!

"Hello, 911? I've overdosed on chocolate icing."

Playing Santa for Grami......

Helping Pop Pop open a present...

Grace got a new HSM blanket!

And a Trouble game for Miss Trouble......

New Dora jammies!!!!!

Opening a new puzzle.......

New Hat and Gloves......

Modeling the new gear.......

Grace plays her new Twister game......

Alison puts her whole head on red.......

If only she knew right from left.......

Grace got a whole basket of Ashley's old Cabbage Patch clothes....

Alison's Birthday Part 2

2008-12-24T09:02:00.004-06:00

Alison got to open her presents before breakfast Monday morning......she was still a little shy with the first present like, "I really get to do this?" But, after a few she was really looking to tear some paper....

Here, Alison opens her very own Dora backpack....
"Now, if I could just get this little corner started"

Checking out her Dora doll with the animated Pegasus (The horse actually walks...it's a little possessed though, and sometimes still talks or moves after you turn it off. Luckily, there's a reset button)....

I'm not sure but I think she likes it........

Modeling her new backpack.....it's the "in" thing for the season

Bundled up and ready to hit the Children's Discovery Museum.

Ready to go down a super-fast slide.....

Walking a toy bridge......

The girl loves her some "choo choo"....she spent a lot of time trying to build a bridge for her train

Trying super hard to get up the rock wall without help!

Alison's Birthday Part 1

2008-12-23T08:49:00.004-06:00

I've got a ton of pictures to put out here, so I'll be blogging in chunks over the next couple days...we've got Christmas in STL pictures, Alison's birthday pictures, and then here is the 2nd half of the 22nd which was "my birthday" part of the day.

The girls wanted to help me open my presents....2 michigan shirts, Scrabble, and some new shoes for the gym!

Grace shows me the way to open a present...

Alison enjoying her birthday cookie at a local pizza place (Tobin's!)
She was getting sleepy but we still had to go to Chuck E Cheese after dinner....

The birthday couple.....

The non-birthday people need love too!

Alison gets a present!

2008-12-18T07:39:00.002-06:00

Alison's second birthday is fast approaching, and she got a package in the mail from her Great-Aunt Anne and Great-Uncle Bud! She seemed pretty shy at first about opening it....she usually defers to Grace when they get a shared package. But I took a few pictures of her chance to shine -

Here, she gingerly opens the card.....
Grace helps Ali hold up the kitty card.....Alison calls cats, "kiki's"

Time to dive into the present!

"Just a couple more tears and I think I'll have it."

Ashley was jealous of the "comfy pants" that came with the outfit....

Alison smiles big with her new sweater!

"Grace, won't I look pretty in this?!"

Unrelated picture, but sometimes you go to bed and you find two little racoons on your pillows!

The new 'do

2008-12-10T07:25:00.002-06:00

Grace's hair was getting a little long and tangled so she had her haircut last night.....the girl cut off six inches, and we were surprised at how long it still was....

From the backside......

Grace took this picture of Ashley and I on our anniversary (which explains Wow Wow Wubzy in the background)....

Festivus - Santa Makes a Visit to the Farm

2008-12-06T12:49:00.003-06:00

The girls had their Santa visit at our work today.....they had a good time.....Alison was pretty freaked out by the Claus, so Ashley ended up in the picture, but each of the girls got a gift, and then we took some photos and had hot chocolate.......Pictures, please.....

Alison shows off her enthusiasm for Santa...
There's a little bit of attitude in those eyes...

The girls, and Santa and Mrs. Claus....

Alison's not so sure about the dude on her right....

These got out of sequence, but here they are, ready to go.....

Really, happy to be out of Santa's general vicinity....

Grace ran into a good friend from school and Sunday School, Jeremiah!

Grace, Alison, and the little Ho Ho Ho's....

Grace said, "Hey, Papa! These penguins drove a penguin car to work!"

Trying to knock a display down.....

Alison trying to pick the snowman's carrot....

I gave up the camera for a minute to get in the picture....

A morning that was fun for the whole family.......

Mommy and her girls......

Grace took this photo of Alison, the Killer Keebler.....

A Couple of Turkeys

2008-11-30T17:44:00.004-06:00

A quick weekend trip to Michigan for Thanksgiving.....the girls had a lot of fun playing with Papa, Nana, Aunt Vicki, and Uncle Ted......and the Airedales!! Grace got to go to the movies and do crafts with Aunt Vicki.....and Alison loooooooved Bronner's (the "world's largest Christmas store"), and her face lit up whenever she found something new to look at. They were great in the car on the way up and on the way back....here are some pictures..

Grace was excited to get to sleep on the top bunk!
Aunt Vicki and the girls play Barbies on the bed...

"You mean I can't keep this bed????"

Alison can't believe it!!

The sisters share a big hug.........

Now here's a pizza with some extra cheese!

Grace checks out the Day Spa at Papa and Nana's......Grace Storm Celebrity Hot Tub!

Alison takes the plunge......

"The donut hole???? Oh, it's in here"

The girls check out the animated Santa....

Alison gives Santa a nighty-night kiss....

Aunt Vicki with the girls.....

Grace gives Santa a big hug before bed....

Christmas Tree '08

2008-11-22T17:37:00.002-06:00

The girls were excited to help put up the tree today.....they've been bugging us about since they got home yesterday afternoon. I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but here's some "under construction" photos......

Alison's got that crazed look like, "Let me at those glass ornaments!"
Alison's a great cheerleader for the lights!

Um, we don't exactly go out and chop down our own tree, and Grace is ready to put a "blue" branch on....as in color-coded blue....

Alison tries to figure out which color she likes best.....

Static electricity can be a hair-raising experience.....

Hanging ornaments and getting under foot can be exhausting work, so union-mandated 5 minute break......

Back to work......"which ornament is next, Ali????"

A Baltimore Wedding

2008-11-16T17:45:00.006-06:00

Ashley's cousin Jenny was married this past weekend (yesterday, in fact) in Baltimore, and Ashley and Grace headed out for a 3 day weekend adventure. Here's some photos they took at the wedding and the reception.

Here's a picture of the inside of the church in D'town Baltimore....
Jenny and her new husband, Michael...

I think this is the part where she tells him what he can and can't do anymore....

....and he still says, "I do!".....

Headin' off to the reception....

Here is Grace dancing with Taylor (I think Grace and she would be 2nd cousins), who is a month younger than Alison.....so it was like Big Sis on the road.....

The cake...Grace said it was very good!

You can't see it very well, but I think this is Grace doing The Alligator...

Grace all tuckered out and taking five with Pop Pop......

Grace holding one of the flowers from a bouquet......

Grace and Reese (Ashley's cousin's daughter) having a good time!

Grace and Ed (Reese's dad and Ashley's cousin-in-law) hitting the dance floor.......

Jenny and Michael at the reception.....

They just told Uncle Bud that he's got 3 more of these on the way......(Just Kidding! This is Bud and Katelyn (sp?) who is Ashley's cousin Mark's youngest daughter)

Grace and Taylor hanging out again.....

I think they've done this pose before.....Here's Ashley with Bud and Brian.....

Grace tries to coax Ashley's cousin John on to the dance floor.....

Ashley and her cousin Mary.......

Grace and Pop Pop trip the light fantastic....

All the kids on the dance floor...

Grace and Mary with big smiles.......

Grace and Mommy towards the end of the night.......

Grace took this photo of Taylor....she's getting good with a camera......

Another photo that Grace took of the party!

Elmo's (and Alison's) World

2008-11-02T18:02:00.000-06:00

Alison wanted to show off her new Elmo shirt she got last week.....Here she is posing with Sis and "Gretchen"
She kept her pony tails in pretty good shape today....

Showing off her mini-skirt......it was warm here today....

I'm out of order

2008-10-31T19:12:00.000-05:00

Something's happening when I load the pictures so these are all over the board so work with me a little.......

Grace had a H'ween party at school today, and they went to the nearby retirement village for a visit and to do some songs....Grace is in the middle in the off-white dress...
I think this is when they first arrived.....

Grace was very excited about riding the "short bus"....she's 4 from the left...

Grace before daycare and school this morning....

She loves the camera.....

Grace and the rest of her class.....

Grace trying a chocolate cupcake in her OFF-WHITE costume....she kept it clean, though.....

The cupcake.....5 legs on one side, so he's always tipping to the right....

Grace buckled into the short bus.....

The pumpkin gang......

Grace and Alison on the way to their first house tonight....

The girls ready to head out for some treating......no tricks......

Little Red Riding Hood is ready to go.....

All dressed up and ready to go.....

Grace and her class making silly faces.....

Alison at the end of the night of walking around the neighborhood.... Heading to the 2nd house.....

Showing off all their candy.....Alison picking out some candy.....

Waiting for the door....

Just a couple of photos

2008-10-28T18:38:00.000-05:00

This is what Grace wore for picture day today......
And proving that not every day is a Happy Day at our house, Miss Teething 2008!

Only Child for the day

2008-10-25T16:26:00.000-05:00

Grace had two birthday parties to go to today so Alison had quite a bit of being with just mom and dad this afternoon. We took a few photos...

Alison helps me make the middle layer of a Boston Cream Pie for Uncle Brian's visit.....(He had a layover in Bloomington)

Here, she samples what was left in the bowl (pudding mixed with cool whip)...and she's got a little ponytail action going.
Looks like she's trying to catch the score of the game....
She got to sample the chocolate layer that went on top of the cake....

"Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!"

Fun Weekends.....

2008-10-19T18:19:00.000-05:00

It's been some busy times socially in the Storm household and we remembered to take our camera a long for a few of them......this first set is a trip to do some shopping in Champaign...their mall has a real fun kids' play area.....

Alison is queen of the slide.....

Livin' on the edge.....of the slide......
One of the few times Grace sat still in the play area......
Playing Hop-Scotch........
Grace went to a friend's birthday part yesterday afternoon...they had it at Cookie Cutters which is a kid haircut place.....they got hair-do's and manicures..... (Dad stayed home from this one for obvious reasons)......Here, Grace waits for her turn....
Getting the hair-do started......
They curled her bangs and did two little braids that connected in the back....
Look Madge, I soaked in it......
The birthday girl, Shae, showing off her new hairstyle.....
Getting the final touches put on....

Grace went with a purple-pink alternating style......
Sunday morning, and wearing a new outfit for church......
Grace and a little girl I like to call Al-i-tude......
It was really nice outside today, and Alison decided to try out Grace's rollerskating helmet and knee pads.....

The Wow Factor

2008-10-12T07:32:00.000-05:00

I don't know if this captured that great, but here's a video of Alison attacking me and me trying to fend her off by lifting her up in the air.....

Fall Follies

2008-10-05T17:12:00.000-05:00

After Jammy Time the other night, we started goofing around......here's our version of "there were three in the bed, and the little one said, 'Rollover!'".....Either that, or Alison wants to know what that noise just was.
This is BY FAR the cheesiest grin she's ever had.....maybe it's a grimace??
"Girls just wanna have fun!"
"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeVille"
The Dynamic Duo.....

Nana and Papa came for a visit this weekend.....here, Alison waits for a trip to go buy pumpkins.
Grace can't figure out which one to pick.....
Alison was on a mission to find the right one.....
Posing in the mini Pumpkin Patch.....

"If I lift with my legs, and not my back, I should be ok"....

The Pumpkin Gates.......
Grace wanted to draw a scary face on her pumpkin......
The pumpkins look huge in this picture thanks to the angle....
BOO!

21 Month Salute......

2008-09-30T07:49:00.000-05:00

I can't get this to put the photos side by side, but I put together a picture of girls at roughly the same age......Grace is a couple of days away from being 22 months in her photo but close enough, right?

This is Alison this morning......
Grace up in Michigan just be for the Fourth of July, 2005......
Me, circa September 1976......

PS - It's Michigan-Illinois week this week (they play each other in football Saturday) and Alison got a jump start on "representing" the Maize and Blue this week......Go Blue!

Random Shots

2008-09-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

While dinner was in the oven, Alison felt a little cuddly......

Grace Elizabeth woke up today with an upset stomach and a slight fever.....here she shows she's holding up well.......

Grace and Alison ready for the day

2008-09-25T07:28:00.000-05:00

As a dad, I don't quite understand what to call it, but this is a new hair-do for Grace.....pig tails on the back of her head.....
Alison has a speech evaluation this morning.....looks like she's ready to go....

The Girls Messing Around

2008-09-20T15:06:00.000-05:00

No big events going on this weekend for the girls...but here's a few photos...

The other night, the girls wanted to watch TV in our room, and we caught Alison copying Grace's TV-watching style.......
We went shopping for costumes last night, and Alison picked out a candy bucket to match Grace's.....they've been playing pretend trick or treat this afternoon.....
They are pretty happy and they are still a few weeks away from candy......

Final Birthday picks

2008-09-14T18:15:00.001-05:00

It's been a hectic week since we got back from St. Louis on Monday.......and it's been raining for like 4 straight days.....I should've had time to get to this earlier but here is the last of Grace's 5th birthday pictures......

Grace and her haul down in Grami and PopPop's basement.... Grace has wanted an American Girl doll, but because of what we've seen happen from time to time to a Barbie or to her Cabbage Patch kid, we went with a knock-off version as a practice doll....a Made-in-China Girl doll, if you will.
Grace checks out her new Hannah Montana PJ's........
.......and her new Hannah Montana wallet.....
.......and a High School Musical shirt......
....and a Hannah Montana puzzle.... One of Grace's favorite gifts was a box of envelopes......the kid LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEESSSSS to mail things........pretend, or otherwise, and she's asks for a envelopes from me all the time......she was so excited for this and the memo pad that came with it.....gotta love a kid you can shop for at Office Max......
Just in case you forgot about her, Alison (and her 14 teeth) makes a cameo......
Grami made Grace a cupcake cake.......
She's blowing out her 5 here.......
Alison liked HER cupcake....... Ivory and Ivory......
On Saturday, we went to this place called the City Museum.....it's an old 10 story building that they are turning into a sort of children's museum.....it's all recycled or re-used materials that they are using at this place.....it's pretty wild and interesting.......her Grace and Alison ball-pit it.
Alison posing on a shelf.....
The girls go down a roller slide......
Grace is in the middle of the picture there climbing up thru a maze to get to a slide....she's like 5 stories high at this point.....

Inside they had this little train (like the one in Silver Spoons) that the girls got a kick out of.....
Here's a picture of part of the outdoor part......
Then we went to the mall and the girls had to ride the little train......
Grace opens up an art frame from her cousins (and I bet her aunt and uncle had something to do with it too!).....I think she had a great birthday weekend!