Mary hanging out at the MSI today~

Christmas Cookie

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. ~Charles Dickens

Spirit of the Season

We finally got our Christmas Tree up today. Mary had a blast! She is such a goofy hamball sometimes~
And of course, after all that hard work, Sam and Mary needed an apple to make it to bed~

Fine Art

While trying to get some school work done today, I set Mary up in front of the easel for the first time. It's twice her size!
But she really liked it~

And she was pretty darn pleased with her work~

You can barely see it, but she pretty much stuck with only green and yellow~

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso

"A little Snow was here and there..."

Mary thinks she's a big kid now, right in the midle of her brothers' and their friends' snowball fight~
She loves being in the snow~

Snow Bunny

We had our first snow here today - and Mary is finally old enough to really appreciate it. She loved it!

O Give Thanks

Mary and I spent a quiet Thanksgiving with Grandma and Aunt Jessi and Jaiden and Julian. Everything was delicious, but we missed our boys.

Young Pup

Mary loved the Wolves game tonight - we are working on her mullet...

Dance Partners

We caught a performance of Jim Gill's at the library tonight - he was fantastic! Elliot and Mary really got into it; they've really improved their moves~

Birthday Girl

We celebrated Mary's birthday with the family today - it was wonderful! Mary really loves penguins, which she calls "ducks", and so a (very loose) theme was born. Emily gave me this idea - olives stuffed with cream cheese~
They were a hit - but a lot of work (Scott and I spent an hour making these early this morning). We had chili, and cornbread for dinner, and finally, cake!

It's a quadruple layer butter pound cake with fresh strawberry puree and whipped cream frosting. 100% homemade! The igloo is molded from Rice Krispie Treats and the penguins are assembled from gumdrops and Reeses Pieces~

I love Mary's tongue sticking out~

The dress was in a bag of hand-me-downs and fit perfectly~

Two is a great birthday - they finally "get it" at this age and really enjoy their parties~

I am very proud of this cake~

And this little girl~

Pleasure is spread through the earth

In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.

~William Wordsworth

I got a Nikon camera...

Second attempt with my new (to me) camera~

Sweet childish days, that were as long, As twenty days are now.

-William Wordsworth

It goes so fast! Mary is 2! She delights us every day. She is talking up a storm! And mimicking just about everything we say and do. Mary smiles easily, and has an entertaining independent streak~
Tonight, right after the boys returned from Father-Son camp, we had pizza and cake with Grandma and Grandpa~

Sam wanted a turn as the princess, too~

Mary and I made her cake this afternoon - chocolate with mocha icing~

She loved the candles~

She wasn't quite sure how to blow them out~

Mary dug right in~

She really is so happy and healthy! We are incredibly blessed~

Some pictures with my new (to me) camera~

Sometimes my heart squeezes with the overwhelming gratitude, and humility, I have for God's gift of my children~

1 Dalmatian

Mary was the cutest little puppy at today's Spooktacular~

Mary ♥ 's these slippers!

Emily made some wool slippers for Mary, and she won't take them off~

According to Mary, they're so comfy, I'd like a pair in my size!

Say Anything

Mary surprised us with a new word tonight:

Mimi is talking a ton lately, most of it unprompted. Although, she will repeat most anything, too! Some favorites include "Mow" (meow = cat), "cookie" (pronounced "kooky"), "spoon", "Chuck", "Chuckie", "mook" (milk), and "mookie" (for milky). "Pookie" is potty and "buck" is butt. Just recently she broke out "cool" while showing me a pair of boys pajama pants at Kohl's.

In-between

Mary is at that age of "too big to be held happily for long, and too little to sit quietly for long". Which means that at Sam's concert today, there was a lot of in and out, and up and down. We were in the foyer for a few minutes here~
I love her little outfit! A friend of ours from the library gave it to her, and it's fitting perfectly right now :)

Raspberries!

We were apple picking today, and the orchard we visited had raspberries, too! I'm pretty sure Mary ate close to her weight while picking (there is nothing so delicious as fresh picked berries!) ~
She loved the farm animals on site~

At the Arboretum, Again!

We were at the Arboretum for the second time, in less than a week! Today we visited the "Children's Garden" ~

Spider Girl

After Sam's cello lesson, we spent the morning at the arboretum. Mary loved the animal habitats~
In a heron's nest~

Checking out the skunk's den~

What a stinker!

Daddy's Little Helper

Scott is part of a ministry in our church that sets up and breaks down our sanctuary every week (we rent space at a local high school). Mary loves climbing on the truck when it's Daddy's Sunday to work.

Put It On the Board

Mary finally made it to her first White Sox game! She loved it, of course. She fell asleep on the way down there, so I waited in the car with her until she woke up, during the 4th inning. She jumped right into the party - clapping and cheering~
The weather was great, too~

She's her daddy's girl~