Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thankful amidst the Chaos

We had a very nice Thanksgiving holiday. Lydia made a pilgrim hat and collar at school and modeled it for me. She gave me several poses. She went from being prayerful......

to "silly-faced" pilgrim Lydia.

Margo has taken a liking to helping me cook. Here she is testing out the cream cheese frosting for the carrot cake I made for Thanksgiving. I should have made the frosting before the cake, because the entire time I was making the cake she was clinging to both of my legs. Once the frosting was made, she finally let go!


Here she is helping make friendship bread. Aunt Catherine gave us a starter mix. There are several variations to this and we made the cinnamon bread.



And here is Madeline sampling the finished product.


From the looks of this picture, one would think this sweet little pup is perfectly content chewing his bone. NOT!!! While I was at work on Thanksgiving night, David texted me a picture of our carpeted step (that goes from our kitchen to our den) that Kramer decided to chew. Guess he thought he'd have his OWN Thanksgiving dinner. David had even seen him nipping at the step and sprayed it with bitter spray and he went straight to it!!!!! There is now a nice corner of plywood showing. He has also chewed the side of the house, our french doors and the deck benches. Oh, and our backyard is full of holes. He is just chewing on everything and I'm afraid our dining room furniture is going to be next.
So....the puppy has been keeping us very busy and making us a little cRaAAAzY! David has repaired the breaks in our underground fence and will start the training tomorrow. And we have a remote control zap collar on the way......
Wish us luck, we're gonna need it!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Chopsticks

Lydia recently learned how to play chopsticks and has been practicing over and over..... I accompanied her for a little duet.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Canes Game

On Sunday we took the girls to the Carolina Hurricanes Hockey game. It was a last minute decision, so we sat in the nosebleed section. Ha!



David, Madeline and Lydia


This was Margo's first hockey game and she did really well. Madeline fed her some dippin' dots ice cream.



She's clapping for the Hurricanes, cheering them on.



Look at all of those empty seats behind us. Sadly, there were lots of empty seats in the lower level, too. With the Hurricanes record this season, it's hard to believe they were Stanley Cup champions just a few years ago.


Cheesin' for the camera. Maybe Margo's happy because they WON!!!! Yep, the first time in fifteen games. It was an OT shootout, but hey, a win's a win!


After the game we lined up on the ice to get our picture taken on the players' bench.




And here we are......on the bench!



David, Madeline and Lydia on center ice.


With Stormy again.....some nice fella took our pic, but cut our heads off in the first pic of this post, so here is one zoomed out.


What a fun day! This little cheerleader caught some zzzzz's on the way home. David said it was a great weekend to be a CAROLINA fan. Not only did the Hurricanes win, but so did the Carolina Panthers, Carolina Men's basketball and football teams, and the Carolina Women's soccer and field hockey teams!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Weekend in the Mountains

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Bear Den campground for a weekend camping trip with our friends, the Flynns. The first night there it rained cats and dogs!!! The rest of the weekend was gorgeous and so was the scenery.
On the way home, David and I took the girls to the Linville Gorge and Wiseman's View.

This is the very spot where David proposed to me thirteen years ago!!!


Here are all the kids gathered around the table in the camper on the first night of camping. Originally, the dads were going to sleep in the tent and the moms and kids were going to sleep in the camper. Well with all the rain and a soaked tent, we quickly found out that our pop-up camper could accommodate 4 adults and 5 children!!!

Our campsite.


On the Blue Ridge Parkway.......beautiful!!!


On Saturday, we ventured out to Mystery Hill. The kids enjoyed it. Here's Madeline in a bubble!


The girls on an old tractor. Check out Lydia's headpiece. She found this Indian headpiece and spear and was running around the gift shop, chanting her Indian "Ah-wah-wah-wah".
Of course, we bought it for her!

Sitting in an outhouse with some country fella.


Back at camp. This is one excited bunch....waiting for the campfire to get started.


Margo LOVED the campfire!


Branson and Margo deep in thought.....


All packed up and ready to head home. All the kiddos.

The Flynns and The Grimes
Our 2nd annual camping trip.


America's next top model on top of a mountain.
Strike that pose, Lydia!!!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

hApPy hALLoWeEN

It's been a crazy busy week here at the Grimes household. We started the week with preparations for the fall bazaar at church. We had awards day on Tuesday, Lydia's field trip on Wednesday, and the fall bazaar that evening. On Thursday we caught our breath....just a little. Friday night David and I went to a Halloween costume party and today the girls and I painted and carved pumpkins and baked some cupcakes before heading out trick-or-treating. Now, I'm about to head into work!!! But I just had to post a couple of pics. Madeline was Hannah Montana, Lydia was Bat Girl and Margo was a clown. David and I decided to dress up with the girls tonight, since we already had our costumes. I borrowed this Dorothy costume from someone at David's work. And he wore his "Viagra" tie. The girls called him a silly man. We have some explaining to do several years down the road. Anyway, we had a fun time even though it was a bit chaotic. I have lots of pictures to post from our camping trip last weekend and all of our other busy happenings!!!!




BOO, Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Piano Party



Pause the playlist on the right sidebar and listen to Madeline play Rain on the Roof. We are so proud of her. She has been taking piano lessons for two months now, and she is doing great.

Her teacher hosted a little Halloween party and let each of the students play for the parents.




Here's the Thursday group of students. There were a few children missing due to ballgames. They all performed so well!


They were rewarded with yummy treats!

Here they are in the piano room talking and eating. Margo helped herself to the food on Madeline's plate.


Madeline with her piano teacher, Mr. Buddy! He's AWESOME!!!!



And, of course, Lydia had to have her picture taken with him too! She loves him and can't wait to take piano lessons too. In fact, she has already learned a beginner song by watching Madeline. I'll have to post a video of that soon.

It's so nice to hear the girls tickling the ivories!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Transformation

Move over, Olivia Newton-John.....There's a new kid on the block.

Here is Lydia prior to dance lessons on Tuesday. She was so excited about her new leg warmers.


And here is Lydia after dance and after Kids' night at Chick-Fil-A.


She chose to get her face painted as The Incredible Hulk. She had planned on getting a butterfly face, until she saw that the little boy in front of her was getting the Hulk.


She was so happy with the outcome. I love that she is OK with being a girly-girl and a superhero at the same time. That's what makes her "Lydia".

Madeline chose a fairy face painting. She's sticking to the girly stuff.....which suits her personality.