Just after George's 2nd Birthday, we headed down to St. Louis for a visit.  It was such a shot in the arm to see things in bloom and feel warmer temperatures.  It was nearly 90 degrees by the time we arrived!  First piece of business was to visit the firehouse where Uncle Rob works.   George was timid at first,

 Magnolia not at all!

 I found the whole experience fascinating, loved seeing everything in the truck and ambulance and loved seeing all of the fire hats, coats, and boots lined up.

 I love this shot.  Finally George warmed up and loved sitting up in the big truck.

 And here's little Miss Madeline,  daughter of the firefighter and cousin to Magnolia and George.

 Uncle Rob shows us how he slides down the fire pole.

 It was such a beautiful day that we headed to a park afterwards.

 This was George's favorite part.  Even now when he sees this picture he yells "wet!"  He remembers how wet he got in this fountain.

 Back at Nani's Magnolia had the treat of having no quiet time during naptime but "daddy time."  They would walk to the coffee shop at the end of the street so she could pick out a root beer with a straw.  (I got to go shopping!)

 The next day we went to Papaw's Birthday Party at a park.

 George's Aunt Ann and Uncle Tim drove in from Tennessee to surprise him!  

 It was so much fun to see everyone!  Happy Birthday Papaw!

Fried chicken, birthday cake, and lots of playing in the sand...

 It was a great party!

 It also happened to be Bobby's Birthday (Magnolia and George's great grandmother).  We brought homemade pizzas and Nani's famous caramel cake to her to celebrate.  Magnolia loved the caramel cake but really loved Bobby's cat named Sugar.

 After some rain, the temperatures dropped and our final two days in St. Louis were absolutely perfect.  So far from the spring we are having here.  The kids hardly wanted to come inside.  I couldn't blame them.  George walks down Nani's street holding his "baby."

 I love this of Magnolia holding the dandelion.

 The blooming dogwood was beautiful!

 In an attempt to try new things on our visit, we went to the new City Park downtown.

 It was spectacular.  Can you find Magnolia?

 These bunnies were the favorite.

It was a great trip and we were all sad to leave such a gorgeous spring.  The night before we were to come home, we told Magnolia that we would be leaving the next day. She became very sad and finally said:  "I don't want to go home, it's SO cold there!" and burst into tears.  

Happy Easter!  Hope it's warm and sunny where you are!

We celebrated George's 2nd Birthday last week!

What a big boy you are George!  You make me laugh a hundred times a day.  You are SUCH a little boy with your love for all things trucks, fire engines, and balls.  I love how you had to wear your football jammies all winter and you'd have us digging through the dryer for them just so you could wear them.  I love how I caught you throwing a tennis ball against the wall in the tub and laughing when it splashed back in the water and you did this over and over again.  I love how you can differentiate all types of balls: soccer, football, basketball etc.  I love how you demand to watch ball on t.v. and when we finally find a game, you settle back and say "there."  

You have gotten me so excited for all things firetrucks, when we saw our local firefighters in the grocery, I thought I was seeing rock stars!  We walk almost every day to the fire house just to see if the fire trucks are out.  When they are I swear your heart stops, I never see you so excited and for the rest of the day I have to relive the sighting to you over and over again.  

You love to wrestle which you have taught Magnolia to love too.  I love hearing you two giggle and seeing you roll around the floor.  You have the best sense of humor, you see something in a book that is funny long before I do.  Magnolia quickly learned that the quickest way to get a laugh out of you is make a toy fall down or run into something.  You two will giggle endlessly over that.  Just when I think you are all boy I realize you've had a bow in your hair all day (because Magnolia wears one, we happily oblige and put one on you).  You can also walk in Magnolia's play high heels better than she can!  Such balance you are learning!  ;)  

You too have a love for books and you will sit on my lap forever reading them.  Go Dog Go was a favorite this winter and one day shopping we crossed the parking lot hand in hand and you put out your hand to an oncoming car and said "stop."  Just like the bird does in the book!  And, I never you knew how to say stop or what it meant!  

At 18 months your doctor wanted you to get speech therapy but I knew you'd come around and you did!  Your vocabulary exploded and soon after you turned two you started to put together phrases.  You are smart cookie George, I know that for sure.  Your head is proof of that as it's nearly always off the charts for size.  So big that taking off your shirts is a bit traumatic!

You couldn't say "Magnolia" for the longest time, you didn't even try.  One day I told you that you could call her "Maggie."  Immediately you called her Maggie and it's stuck.  I even find myself calling her Maggie now.  It's as if you were so relieved to finally have something to call her.  She has so many nicknames for you and they are all ones she has come up with on her own; Georgie, Georgia, Georgie the Fourthie, and Baybay.

You love your "babies" which are all of your blankies.  Every morning when we get you out of your crib you want to bring all of them with you.  You have a such a routine around bedtime that we bring them all downstairs every morning while you have your juice and SLOWLY wake up.  I do say that I sometimes dread the wakeup process as it's very difficult for you to transition and there's lots of crying and fussing.  Your Nani told me your daddy was the same way!

You are also the sweetest little boy.  Very shy and very much a Mama's boy.  You never leave my side, never run off from me, you will happily sit in my lap for a long time.  When I say something hurts, you offer me your "baby" and hug and kiss me.  I love you George, I'm so proud to be your Mama!

I decorated for his birthday during nap time.  When he woke up and saw everything, including 12 helium balloons, he said "wow!"

He wanted a truck on his cake with dirt, rocks and sticks.

I used pretzel sticks for the sticks, bridge mix for the rocks. and ground thin mint cookies for the dirt.  All piled on a chocolate cake with chocolate glaze.  I filled the dump truck with chocolate frosting and topped it with the dirt, rocks, and sticks.  I added the worker and this cake was a hit!

I let him eat some of the "dirt, rocks, and sticks" before dinner.

I made his favorite meal, Spanikopita.  (Greek spinach pie) 

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday dear George...

Happy Birthday to you!!!

How old are you??? 

Happy 2nd Birthday George!

We all love you SO much!

xoxo

Basement Makeover!

This is how the previous owners had the basement.  Even though it's a little drab, it's certainly tidier than we've had in the past 9 months!  When some of our furniture that we planned to put down here wouldn't fit because of the tight staircase, it really threw us for a loop.  It threw off furniture placement for the rest of the house.  So much so that we are still trying to figure out what to put where.  Since the basement seemed to be the root of our problems, we tackled it during the month of January.  The hardest part was painting all of the wood paneling white.  The doors, trim, windows, and cabinetry all needed to be white too.  Thank goodness George likes to paint although he was ready to be done with it near the end!  

George built a stage for the kids in the little alcove which is the footprint for the bay window on the first floor.  Then we hung a movie projector screen which can be pulled down anytime to watch movies.

Then I had George build these long shelves to hold toys.  These are great because the kids can reach them and anything can go anywhere.

The staircase was also painted white as was the wall below the chair rail was a dated wedge wood blue. The wallpaper above it will eventually need to be replaced but it's fine for now, it's a blue and white stripe, it reminds me of a dress shirt, it's kind of cute!  

Since this basement is 100% kid friendly there are toys displayed on this shelf at the bottom of the stairs.

We bought a slipcovered sectional from Ikea as the only big furniture item.  It was the only way we could figure out how to get a couch down there since this sectional came in pieces.  It's piled high with bright, cozy pillows and blankets.  On the wall above it I hung a small collection of vintage State plates I found at Goodwill.  The colors are bright, they are retro, and actually educational!

The space between the couch and stage is wide open.  On those rare days when the toys are put away, we have had some fabulous obstacle courses there.   I'm so happy we finally finished this project.  It's fun, cheerful and a real blessing during long winter months!

Other finished projects include Dining Room and Master Bedroom (minus light fixture).  Our family room is the current project.  A new couch will be delivered in a couple of weeks and fabric just ordered for drapes.  Hope I can get up to speed soon and share these projects as well as updates on my two favorite little people.  :)  

 Since it was a school day today for Magnolia, they celebrated St. Patrick's Day today.  It also happened to be her "Special Day."   That means she gets to bring her mom, things for show and tell, the snack for the day, and SO many other special privileges.   This was Magnolia's 4th special day but it was the first time she brought her DADDY so it was extra special!  Since it was a party, she was allowed to bring a special treat for the snack.  We decided to make shamrock cookies.  Magnolia did a great job dusting them with green sprinkles!  Apparently Leprechauns were at her school last night.  Magnolia told me they left green footprints everywhere but cleaned their feet in the toilets because the toilet water was green!!!

The sun is shining bright today and she didn't want to come in after school so we ate lunch in the front hall with the front door wide open.  We brought out the sidewalk chalk and ride on cars.  We also put on rain boots as we played among the melting snow.  

Last night I painted Magnolia's fingernails green.  George wants to do everything his big sister does so his are also painted green but with awful smudges on them as you can imagine why...

He also insists wearing the same sunglasses as Magnolia and under his "wee ew" hat is also a hair tie.  These two are the best of friends, two peas in a pod.

Hope you are having sunshine wherever you are and a very Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Circus Came to Town!

And Nana & Papa treated!

The kids were speechless as they tried to soak in everything.

Magnolia brought her purse that Nana filled with snacks for the show.

They tigers were amazing and a little scary!

Aunt Emily was even in town and joined us!

The elephants were my personal favorite.

Thanks Nana & Papa, we all had a wonderful time!

One Step Forward, One Step Back

Second unfinished project finished!  Wow, this seems so simple in retrospect, makes me wonder why it took so long but I won't go there.  My house is filled with stuff like this.

I finally did Magnolia's four year old handprint and hung all four of them.  They had been sitting on her bookshelf for over 6 months! 

 

Last Friday I was invited to a Florence Eiseman sample sale.  Little did I know that Florence Eiseman is right here in Milwaukee!  I grew up wearing Florence Eiseman and now love to dress Magnolia in it.  So you can imagine my excitement when I was in one of the designer's house shopping for the current spring line at 60% off!  I ended up with a swimsuit for both kiddos and this darling dress for Magnolia.  It's a size four and too big for her.  On the one hand she'll get two years out of wearing it but taking it in is another thing added to the laundry list...

Oh, life is rough!  

I'll be back soon with pictures our January project completed, the basement!

Love!

There is nothing sweeter

than seeing these two together.

Giggling, conspiring, and

just loving.

Happy Valentine's Day Magnolia & George!

(Magnolia got her 1st charm bracelet and George a  frog!)

And Happy Valentine's Day to my one and only.  He got me one of my most favorite gifts to date...a Mason Pearson hairbrush.  What a treat!  Thank you George, I love you!

A side note:  To keep up my new year's resolution of finishing unfinished projects, here's my first!  These were aprons I was making at Christmastime.  Since they were red, I finished them for Valentine's Day instead.   George's is so cute piped in red but he wanted nothing to do with it.  Magnolia wore hers proudly as she and I made pink meringues!  One unfinished project down, a million more to go...

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

We had a fun Chinese New Year celebration with cousins and Nana & Papa this year!

Welcome February!

While January left me completely uninspired I have high hopes for February.  And what a way to kick it off!  That was some blizzard!  Today is also the Chinese New Year.  We will be celebrating this Saturday.  And, for the first time we will have a lot of family joining in the celebrations.  Aside from a whole lot of sicknesses and some pretty cold days, January was okay.   Okay that we worked on giving our basement a facelift.  Okay that I love my New Year's resolution of finishing every single project I have ever started.  Okay in that I started working out for the first time in a long time.  

I have a jar in the kitchen that is filled with ideas for snowy days.  Here are just two that I photographed.  While the idea was to do hopscotch I could only think of sidewalk chalk and since our kitchen is on it's last leg, I said what the heck.  Thank goodness the walls will be repainted too since I later found beautiful chalk handprints on the walls.  

The day before the big storm we made playdough.  Some neighbor girls came over just as it was finished and we all sat around the table and had some great fun!

This is one of my favorite projects Magnolia made at school.  It was was devoured in a day.  I have high hopes to make more...  On these same branches hung ice light catchers made from colored ice (food coloring) frozen in bundt pans...very pretty.

We cut a break with the blizzard on our front yard.  It was our back yard that was hit the hardest.  

This is pretty much what we did all morning...lounged in pjs.  I especially love this photograph because it reflects these two perfectly.  George wears that fire hat about 85% of the day.  It has a blinking red light that sounds like a real fire engine (it stumps me every time)  The "ball jammies" are the current favorite.  He can tell you which one is the soccer ball, which one is the basketball, and which one is the football.  He's holding "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" which is read at least 10 times a day.   I take a deep breath and tell myself that yes, I can read it one more time.  His monkey blankie, also in the photograph, is never out of sight which means it goes everywhere we go.  Magnolia, in the meantime, is my sweet little girl with hardly any demands.  She can sit and read books beautifully by herself and some to George now!

Magnolia cheerfully heads out to check the fresh 12 plus inches.

I finally get out of the house for the first time in two days and push the kids in the stroller to the grocery.   I treat them to chocolate and here they are seeing if the snow is taller than they are.

All in all it was a fun day filled with friends, homemade hot pretzels, and fresh air.

Welcome February!