Yes, Macie did eventually wake up and she did humor me with a little ballerina skirt to go with her ballerina shirt. She really perked up after our neighbor Joe gave her a Kool-Aid drink and she got to see Jasper, Shannah and Randy. What a booger..but awful cute. :) Can you see from that last picture what I am dealing with here????

Happy Halloween! I am manning my usual post in the entryway with my silver bowl of candy awaiting trick or treaters. But, alas, I have only had two, and they were friends who were coming to trick or treat with the girls so, they don't count. Bad news for me, but good news for you that I have time to post some halloween pics.




You may be wondering where Macie is in all these pictures. I, too, was eagerly anticipating how cute she was going to be in her costume this year. However, much to my chagrin and definitely not due to my lack of persuading, her official position on Halloween this year is she is NOT participating and she is NOT dressing up. She is upstairs sleeping right now. She did tell Isabelle, however, that she will let Isabelle share her candy with her and sad thing--sweet Isabelle agreed. Nice.


Happy Halloween.

(This is a long overdue post since Jamie said I would post it as a follow up to his blog and I never did...oopsie) :)

Family Friday night started as a ploy to divert the girls attention from something they were not going to get to do (I don't remember what, but I do remember we went for some ice cream special at Culvers for the first one) and it has become one of our favorite family occurrences. Admittedly, Jamie has come up with the most creative Family Friday nights and Chopped has to be one of his best. The girls and I love watching The Food Network together and we have managed to suck Jamie in for one of the shows. He explained Chopped on his blog, but basically chefs compete in an appetizer, entree and dessert round to create dishes from a mystery basket of ingredients. We decided to have our own version of the competition. Tori and Isabelle competed in a dessert round. Jamie and Macie were the designated judges and I was the kitchen helper (they are only 8 and 6). We all headed to the grocery store (always a fun excursion) and Jamie and I strategically picked some ingredients for the girls to use. At home we filled their "mystery baskets" (aka lunch bags) with the special ingredients for their desserts. Their ingredients were E.L. Fudge cookies, a roll of biscuits and marshmallows. I use biscuits to make monkey bread and homemade doughnuts, both of which they help me with, so I was hoping that would trigger some ideas in their minds. They had 20 minutes to complete their desserts. At the end of the time the girls threw up their hands, just like they do on t.v. :) Tori was laughing so hard as she did her presentation to Jamie she could not even get any words out.



Tori made a biscuit stuffed with melted marshmallow, chopped E.L. Fudge Cookie. She served it with a ball of peanut butter mixed with more E.L. Fudge cookies.






Isabelle made a deep fried doughnut stuffed with marshmallow, peanut butter, chopped E.L. Fudge cookies and jelly and topped with syrup.





Jamie got the pleasure of eating both desserts. He wimped out on a decision and made them co-winners-lame ;). He gave Isabelle the award for creativity and Tori the award for taste. We decided for future Chopped Championships we should not give them so many sweet ingredients, as eating their desserts completely would have made us very sick.

Macie turned 3 last weekend. Unfortunately for her she had to ride in her car seat for 12 hours on our way home from South Carolina, but she didn't seem to mind. She watched The Berenstein Bears over and over and over again while chomping down pretty much an entire box of Cocoa Puffs. :)

I am a little late, but it is never too late for some birthday love. Macie entered our family 3 years ago and I cannot even imagine life without her. She was very much a bundle of joy and has continued to be that every single day since then. Jamie told me yesterday that I am one of the luckiest people in the world because I get to hang out with her all day and experience her little world. I can't argue with him. I am pretty blessed. I love this age and all the personality that comes with it. One of my favorite things to do is to watch or listen to her play or interact with her best friend, Puppy. Puppy has been with Macie since day one, thanks to the Petersons, and it did not take long for them to become the best of friends.



In the early days, puppy did have some competition for Macie's affection. Jamie tried very hard to manipulate who would claim the role of Macie's most prized possession (he would put her arm around her Buckeye bear every night while she was sleeping), but over time Puppy came out as her closest pal. Puppy has been there every night and every nap as Macie has laid down to go to sleep. It is not an option for her to go to sleep without him. I remember trying to pass off a similar color bear to Macie one night, after I had been searching for puppy way too long with no luck, but she would have nothing to do with it. I eventually found him and she contentedly went to bed. Puppy has offered his ear for her to rub and even his own nose for her to suck on so that she could drift into sleep. I eventually had to remove his nose as it was a choking hazard for Mace, but they have remained the best of friends.

In recent days, Puppy has taken on more of a real life role in Macie's life. He is no longer just her sleeping companion, but he has become her baby that we hold or rock or her support as she tries to go potty and as you can see from the pics below he is her #1 playmate almost anywhere we go. I am a huge fan of the book the Velveteen Rabbit and Puppy has nearly joined the ranks of a real animal. :)

So Happy Belated Birthday Macie and Puppy. Macie I wish for you that you continue to bring joy, laughter and life to all the people that you meet and that you continue to grow into the amazing little girl God has created you to be. And Puppy I wish you another year of love from Macie, which hopefully does not include anymore lost body parts. :(




"In good times....



and bad times...



I'll be on your side forevermore...



That's what friends are for"

It must be some sort of rite of passage for 2 year olds. And since Macie will only be two for about another month she had to make sure and get it in. While Jamie and I were cleaning up last night from our church gathering, Macie scribbled on the wall. She has been coloring for some time now, even using markers, and has never once scribbled on anything but the paper. And she knew right when I found her that she had done something wrong (amazing how they just know, huh?). Macie is not a terrible two year old, she is actually very good and has a very tender heart, so she was devastated when I sent her to her room. Hopefully, she will not plan on doing it again or any other strange two year old rites of passage (like throwing things in the toilet). Good thing two year olds are so darn cute!

FYI- Most of it came off with some scrubbing, but does anyone have any wisdom on getting black sharpie off the wall? :)

There is just one more story I have to share from Adventureland. My sister Leah (an amazing up and coming photographer) took some pictures and posted them on facebook. Looking at them, she so perfectly captured my dear Tori in a classic life moment that I have to fill you in.

Tori is well aware that I am not quite the most daring of riders at amusement parks. She loves to give me grief about it when we have visited Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America and she is quick to point out that she has ridden certain rides and I am too big of a chicken. She was up to her usual taunting as we entered Adventureland--challenging me to ride some of the more adventurous rides there. I, of course, am not affected by these remarks. I am a 33 year old woman who feels no peer pressure to love rides. The second ride we came upon after The Galleon was the Splash Down. I have never seen a ride like it before, but you basically get whipped around and around while water sprays up at you (sounds fun, huh?). Well, Tori was the only one who wanted to go. She was acting very tough and macho convincing her cousin Mackenzie to ride with her. Mack conceded and off they went. I took a quick jaunt on the teacups with Macie and then came back to watch Tori. I will let the pictures show her experience....







For a split second I felt a little bad for laughing as hard as I was (I was in tears). The look of horror on her face when she thought the ride was over and then would realize it was just getting ready to gear up and whip them around again was priceless. It was a good humbling moment for her and now I have the pictures to prove it. That was her only moment of fear the rest of the day. I wasn't there to see it, but she did end up riding the Space Shot later that night, which I don't think I could have even watched her do. She is much braver than me, but even the mighty have moments of fear. ;)

We are in the last week before school starts and our summer has been full of adventures. Soon the girls will be in first and third grades, which at times seems unbelievable, and then at other times they seem to age right before my eyes. Take for instance, Isabelle, who Jamie affectionately calls "Little Gretchen" sometimes. He calls her that because if you didn't know she looks and often acts much like me (I know, lucky girl) :) But last weekend she surprised me by acting quite opposite of me and growing up in a 60 second galleon ride.

Last weekend we were down in Iowa for a "best of Iowa" weekend, with Iowa pork chops, Iowa sweet corn, The Iowa State Fair, the Des Moines Farmers Market and Adventureland (good times, good times). Adventureland is a small amusement park I grew up going to in the summer. Now Isabelle's typical m.o. with rides is cautious. Tori hits all the big thrills and Ponsi normally stays with me and Macie on the more tame attractions. So we entered the park and after hitting the token train and carousel rides we headed for the main portion of the park. The first ride you come upon is The Galleon. I hate The Galleon. It is one of those pirate ships that swings back and forth going higher and higher each time--your stomach butterflies and the worst part for me is as you go up you look down at the ride motor that would grind you into pieces should that lame little lap bar unexpectedly release (it could happen). Well, Isabelle took off following Tori and her cousins Mack and Gage toward the Galleon. I elected to stay with Macie and just watch. ;) An acquaintance from high school was standing watching her kids on the Galleon, too, so we started chatting. I told her I couldn't believe Isabelle was going to ride it, how she must not have seen it before she decided to go, and that she usually is a big chicken like me. As the words are coming out of my mouth, I turn and look at Isabelle and there she is huge smile (minus one front tooth) and arms raised high- not one ounce of fear on her face. Where in the world this sudden bravery came is a surprise to me. But she continued to hit every thrill ride the park had to offer, even riding in the front row of the roller coasters. I rode with her once on the Tornado. My hands were double clenched around the lame lap bar and she was smiling, laughing and being thrown from one side to the other with each turn. Oh well.



So my "little Gretchen" grew past me that day and became "little Gretchen and then some" I guess. I imagine she will continue to do things I would never dream of and discover a life all her own. Watch out first grade--here she comes.