The Grimes Times

For Your Entertainment

2012-01-15T16:19:00.013-05:00

In December the girls had parent observation week at dance lessons. They are all doing so well. Enjoy the show!

God Bless....

2012-01-10T00:16:00.002-05:00

I snapped this photo before Margo went to bed while she was saying her prayers. It is so precious. She says, "God Bless Mommy, Daddy, Madeline, Lydia, Annie,.... " and then on to every other family member, friend, neighbor, toy, etc. She usually ends with, "And God Bless Margo!"

I have been taking lots of pics with my new camera and hope to upload more later this week.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T11:45:00.015-05:00

It's so hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone! Here we are on Christmas morning at church. We had a nice Christmas and are enjoying our Christmas vacation. The girls have stayed up late, slept in, watched movies, stayed in their pj's all day and played with their new gifts.
Christmas Eve at the Children's service at church. Luckily, this is a battery operated candle :)

M&L at Christmas Eve service

Getting the milk and cookies ready for Santa!

Looking for Santa!

Christmas morning....checking out what Santa brought. Margo was still asleep.

Madeline just couldn't rest until she woke her up. You can see that Margo looks sleepy in this picture....but happy :)

She loves her Bitty Baby that Santa brought her.

Santa also left the girls a karaoke machine. This has been a big hit.

Matching outfits with their dolls.

Me and my girls. Oh how I love them!

Me and my hubby. I love him too!

David testing out Madeline's Green Machine.

Finally, Madeline gets a turn.

Little Mama with her baby sister.

David got me a new camera for Christmas. It's a Canon Rebel T3 (DSLR) and I love it! I was surprised and can't wait to learn all about it. I have been practicing a lot and reading up on all the functions/modes that it has. I hope to improve my photography skills and hope my favorite subjects will be compliant.

Miss Avery didn't mind Aunt Gina taking her photo....

Practicing with depth of field and creating bokeh with the Christmas tree lights.

Annie is usually a willing subject. She has been such a good girl and Santa brought her some goodies too.

And sometimes, this is what I get when trying to take pics!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year!

You Better Watch Out....

2011-12-21T16:20:00.001-05:00

....you better not cry, you better not pout I'm tellin' you why....Santa Claus is coming to town! And he's coming soon!!! Haha..Margo loves making pouty faces for the camera and I thought this would be a cute pic for the blog!

Christmas is A Comin'

2011-12-16T13:07:00.012-05:00

And it's coming fast! I have been meaning to update the blog long before now and here we are in the middle of December! How did that happen? Well, hopefully this hodgepodge of pictures will explain the lack of blogging! To say the least, we've been busy! The above picture was taken on the 1st Sunday of Advent. Madeline actually requested that I take their picture. Annie wanted to be in the picture too.

The pictures are not exactly in order. I had pictures on two different cameras, so I'll just recap everything!

Dec. 10th...Breakfast with Santa at our church. Madeline is talking Margo into sitting on his lap. Didn't happen! Cousin Caroline watches.

It must be a Christmas miracle! All the Grimes grandchildren in one picture :)

That afternoon Madeline and Lydia were in the Clayton Christmas parade with their Dance Studio. It was a long parade....but good.

Margo loved it and even had her picture taken with this Mickey impostor!

Dancing Queens!

This is what we see every time we drive up in our driveway. Annie is always at the bay window in our kitchen waiting. She's a beautiful dog, but is even more beautiful surrounded by Christmas decorations :)

Dec.14th... Margo had her preschool Christmas program. Can't believe it's been three years since I've been to one of these (when Lydia was four).

How precious! All the little hand motions, rhymes and songs!

She did great!

Dec. 15th....the girls took turns ringing the Salvation Army bell with David at Belk. This was a great community service activity for my little girl scouts! Margo loved ringing the bell!

Today Margo had her preschool Christmas party. I arrived at preschool right as they were walking back from the park. I love the magic rope.

With her buddy Evan. She told me the other day that he said he wanted to marry her.

Snack time!

Jingles has been moving all around our house, keeping a good eye on the girls. The girls love finding him first thing every morning. He was even hiding in our pantry one morning! This morning he was found hanging upside down on top of the bathroom mirror!

Dec. 3rd....Lydia played at the Festival of Trees. She had a bit of stage fright this time, but still played very well. She really has an ear for music and is always picking out tunes on the piano.

Dec. 4th....the girls and I went with our Girl Scout troop to see The Nutcracker. They loved it. Lydia came home and you-tubed songs from it and danced around the house :)

Dec. 8th....Madeline and Lydia were in the Smithfield Christmas parade TWICE. (the Sudans driving these cars let the girls have their pics made while they were lined up).

Madeline's turn...

First they walked alongside the Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary float.

Lydia, Carrie, Lauren and Madeline

I walked it with them for GS and then raced them across town to line up again to dance with their dance studio. I met up with David and Margo to finish watching the parade.

M&L dancing with their dance studio.

With Alyssa. They did a great job!

Dec. 11th....We had our Children's Choir Christmas musical at church. The children did a great job. Madeline had a speaking part and Lydia was Mary.

Margo also was in the program. Here she is as a donkey, singing "Baby Jesus, We Love You". The little Cherub Choir was really adorable.

JESUS is the REASON for the SEASON!

And finally, how cute is this peanut Baby Jesus that Margo made in preschool? This might just be my all time favorite preschool craft!.

So that's what we've been up to. School's out and Christmas Vacation has begun..........

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I had a little photo shoot with the girls while we were in Jamesville!
We went to the railroad tracks near the church that I grew up in.

I may or may not have bribed the girls with some Krispy Kreme doughnuts as their reward ;)

I think I got some good pictures. Of course, I do have good subjects!

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am so thankful for my many blessings, but especially thankful that these three girls call me 'mama'.

Happy Turkey Day!

Taylor Swift Concert

2011-11-18T15:17:00.006-05:00

Last night Madeline, Lydia and I went to our very first Taylor Swift concert!

We went with Kelly and her girls. Mary Margaret and Lauren didn't know we were going. They thought we were all just going out to dinner for a 'girls night out'. So M & L were happy to be in on the surprise!

Here they are....waiting for Taylor to come out.

There she is! We sat in the 3rd level, but actually had a really great view.

She put on a fantastic show. The set was gorgeous and she had all kinds of props, dancers, acrobats, etc.

So talented to be so young. She plays the guitar, piano, banjo and sings! And she interacted so well with the audience. She seems like a really nice girl :)

And there were lots of wardrobe changes.

The girls seemed to have a really good time. They were singing along to their favorite songs.

This was really neat when she 'flew' over the entire audience in this balcony.

It was a great show! Taylor sang for almost three hours. I now know why she recently got Entertainer of the Year. Boy, did she put on an entertaining show. The singing, dancing, acting, acrobatics, stage props.....Oh, and did I mention there were fireworks?!?! It was amazing. I hope I made some good memories for my girls. They hung in there even though it was a school night and we didn't get home until midnight.

I found out on facebook while at the concert that Scotty McCreery was backstage. And today on FB, I found out that so was Bruce Springsteen!

Halloween and Half Marathon!

2011-11-09T10:14:00.007-05:00

We had a very WET Halloween, but that didn't stop our cute little trick-or-treaters!

Madeline as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

Lydia as a Vampire Queen

Perfecting her zombie look :) (obviously, these pics of Lydia were taken on a sunny day earlier in the week). They celebrated Halloween for about an entire week. They dressed up for our Fall Festival at church, dance, piano, etc.

Margo as Minnie Mouse. On Halloween, I took her to see Grandma at work (at the nursing home) and Margo kept showing off her yellow shoes to everyone there.

David and the girls in the back of our van. This is how we did trick-or-treating. They rode with the tailgate up and I drove them around the neighborhood. We just all hopped out with umbrellas when it was time to trick-or-treat! It worked out well and we stayed pretty dry.

They were Grandma and Grandpa's first trick-or-treaters! We probably only went to about six houses, but they got plenty of candy. We STILL have Halloween candy. After trick or treating, we met up with the Lees, Coats, and Miuras for our annual Halloween dinner.

Rachel, Margo and Addison

All the big girls. We enjoyed chicken pastry, chicken pot pie, green beans, and pumpkin pie! Perfect comfort food for such a rainy night.

The Friday night before Halloween, David and I went to a Halloween party. I was a nurse and he was my patient. Everyone though this was a cute idea, but really got a kick out of David's costume once he turned around.......

Ha! Giving him a shot! With both of us being in the medical profession, it was pretty easy to come up with some good props for our costumes!

We spent this past weekend in Wilmington. We had a Girl Scout day trip on Saturday and David ran in his third half marathon on Sunday. Here are the girls all bundled up early in the morning cheering on their daddy at mile 3.

It was the Battleship NC Half Marathon. We all toured the battleship on Saturday (Girl Scouts and then again as a family).

Here are the girls posing in front of the Battleship while we wait for David to finish his race!

And there he is, about to cross the finish line! He even has a smile on his face.

With his medal! Great job, David!

One Year Ago Today.....

2011-10-30T19:13:00.004-04:00

......our little niece, Avery, was born at 26 weeks gestation, weighing only 1lb., 8oz (pictured on the left) and now she weighs over 17 pounds!

Today is her 1st birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY!!!!

I just couldn't let the day go by without doing a post about her. Grandpa just posted an album of Avery's 1st year on facebook and it was amazing to look at all those pictures and see how far she has come! She is a miracle baby and is just perfect :) And, of course, we all love her very much!

Yesterday our family celebrated her special day!

Her adorable and tasty cake! She had her own little cake too that she put a hurtin' on!
Here's the birthday girl with her mama while we sing 'Happy Birthday!'

See....I told you she put a hurtin' on her little cake. She meant business!

Opening presents with her daddy, big sister and cousins!

With Grandma & Grandpa!

What a special little girl! Here's wishing you many more happy birthdays, Miss Avery. Hope your mama gave you some more cake today on your real birthday! You deserve it!

The Return of Minnie!

2011-10-27T01:14:00.002-04:00

Margo is going to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween this year. Last night she got a trial run at our church's Fall Festival. They had face painting there and they gave her the perfect Minnie Mouse face :)

Oh yeah....I'd say Miss Margo (I mean Minnie Mouse) was quite pleased with herself!

Just for fun....Here is a pic of Margo now and Lydia on Halloween in 2006. Lydia was 2 1/2. Wasn't she cute??? I was grateful that Margo chose to be something from the gobs of costumes and dress up clothes that we already have. Plus, you just can't go wrong with Minnie Mouse.

Fall Break

2011-10-13T21:15:00.000-04:00

The girls have been on fall break from school for almost two weeks now. We took our annual fall camping trip last weekend. This time we headed up to Charlottesville, Virginia. We stayed at a KOA campground and took advantage of some of the nearby tourist attractions.
We went to Monticello. The girls seemed to enjoy it. They had some kid-friendly activities like writing with quill pens and that seemed to be a hit!

All three posing...well, sort of. Lydia had been talking about going to the house that's on the back of a nickel for several weeks. She finally got to see it in person! When we got home from our trip, Lydia's dance teacher asked her how was her camping trip and Lydia responded, "Monticello was way fun!"

The weather was perfect for our entire trip!

Family Pic in front of the house.

After touring the house and gardens, we walked down to see Thomas Jefferson's grave. Lydia and Margo were running! In fact, Margo was pretty much running this whole day. She was a wild woman....all over the place at Monticello. She fell three times while we were there. And on our way back to the van, Lydia darted behind a car that was backing out and almost got ran over. Seriously. We have some wiggly children.

We also went to Luray Caverns.

A glimpse inside the caverns. The girls seemed to like this.

On the way back to our campsite, we took Skyline Dive and admired the beautiful mountains and fall foliage.

The leaves were starting to turn colors and made for nice scenery during our drive.

We drove through Big Meadows campground and saw lots of deer!

The girls made friends with Allie and Sarah, our neighbors at camp.

It was a good trip. We had a certain three year-0ld who was a little grumpy on the drive home. Good times, good times .

David and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, October 11th. The girls served us breakfast in bed that morning and we went out for a steak dinner that evening. It was a good day :) We are off to the State Fair tomorrow!

Fall Pictures

2011-09-29T10:06:00.010-04:00

Last Saturday I took the girls to have their pictures taken. It rained and rained and rained on Friday and the forecast was not looking good for that Saturday. Luckily, the rain held off and the pictures turned out pretty good!

You'd never know from the looks of this picture that the ground was soaked!

The girls were troopers. Professional photograpers definitely have patience and a way with children. I know how hard it is for me to get a snapshot of the girls. Shay was so good with the girls and even laid on the wet ground to get great shots! Talk about dedication!
It took Margo a little while to warm up and not have that deer-in-the-headlights look. Once she warmed up, it was on! In this picture, I think she is spelling her name (which she loves to do for everyone).

Sweet Lydi-bug.

Lovely Madeline. What in the world happened to my baby girl? Doesn't she look so grown-up in this picture?

All these pics are just a sneak peek! I haven't even seen all the proofs yet. These are just some that Shay posted on facebook. Can't wait to see the rest.

M-A-R-G-O

2011-09-15T11:41:00.003-04:00

Someone has learned to spell her name and is mighty proud. In fact, when we went to open house at the girls' school the other night, she was showing off for the second grade teachers! Enjoy her lesson. Future teacher, maybe?!?!

Preschool

2011-09-08T12:28:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was Margo's first day of preschool! She was so excited about going. When I told her early yesterday morning that she was going to preschool, she said, "Am I going to stay there?" I guess she wanted to make sure this wasn't another orientation!

Here she is in the drop-off area before heading to her classroom. Her teacher said she had a great first day. Margo was very happy that she got to go to the Kiddie Park which is right across the street from preschool!

Here's Miss Thang posing before heading to preschool.

They must have worn her out! She rarely naps these days, but Mr. Sandman got her yesterday. Of course she fell asleep on the floor watching TV about 10 minutes before it was time to go get the girls from school. She managed to stay asleep through moving her in and out of the van for the car pool line and even slept about another 45 minutes after we got back.

I think she will love preschool and hope she has a great year. Now for a quick stroll down memory lane:

Madeline's first day of preschool, September 2005

Lydia's first day of preschool, September 2007

Hello Kitty lunchboxes were popular with M&L. I guess Margo broke the cycle with her Princess lunchbox!

Baby Girl is a Big Girl

2011-09-01T10:44:00.000-04:00

Little Miss Margo is really becoming a big girl. She is going to start preschool next week. She is very excited about it and has been telling me "there's my preschool" every time we drive by it. She has a new princess lunchbox and a few new outfits. She's ready. It's hard to believe that she's old enough to go to preschool, but I'm looking forward to this stage in her life. I took these pictures yesterday afternoon before we went to her preschool orientation. And she actually cooperated for our little photo shoot.

She is one spunky little girl :)

And sassy too.....

On Monday of this week, she had her very first dance lesson!

She loved it. Here she is with her teacher, Miss Brooke, getting some pointers.

Aren't they cute? It seems like it was not too long ago that Madeline & Lydia were starting their very first dance classes.

Getting ready to do a forward roll. After each girl finished, they raised their hands and said, "TA-DAH!!!!"

Margo had her very last day of Mother's Morning Out a couple of weeks ago. MMO has been a lifesaver for me. She has made some great friends and learned a lot! Some of her friends will be joining her at her preschool. It was sort of bittersweet having our third child complete that program. She's growing up. I gave each of her teachers some flowers with a flower pick that said, "Thank You for helping Margo BLOOM". I think that said it all, because they were great with her and have done a great job of preparing her for preschool.

One of her teachers took these pics on the last day. She said that Margo kept pulling her crown over her eyes and was saying, "Who turned off the lights?" Silly girl!

Snack time with sweet friends.

This picture was from earlier in the school year ( I think in the winter).

This was before heading to 'school' for the last time.

With Mrs. Paige and Ms. Kim, her wonderful teachers. They have been with her since she was 15 months old.

And with the summer MMO staff. Margo's expression is not at all reflective of how much she enjoyed MMO. She just wasn't into smiling at that point. You know how toddllers are.

One other milestone that Margo had was on Sunday when she went to Sunday School for the first time! In the picture above, mother Madeline is right there helping Margo as all the kids marched around the walls of Jericho at our Sunday School kickoff. It was kind of weird not taking Margo to the nursery. We are gonna miss Kelci and Amanda in the church nursery. We'll have to take Margo by to visit! After Sunday School, she went to big church, sat down front with her sisters (who fought over who got to sit beside her) for the children's sermon and then went to Children's Church. In a couple of weeks, she will start in the Cherub Choir. Lots of changes for our sweet, big, baby girl :))

My First Giveaway :: My Memories Suite 2

2011-08-26T00:01:00.013-04:00

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AS OF 9/2/11 @ 11:59pm. CONGRATS, KIMMIE!

YES! The Grimes Times is hosting it's first-ever giveaway. A few weeks ago I was contacted by My Memories to see if I would be interested in hosting a giveaway of their digital scrapbooking software! I have dabbled in digital scrapbooking some, so I thought this would be a good way to find out what other great programs are out there.

It was so easy to use. Now I love me some old-school scrapbooking, but who am I kidding? I still have photos cut, sorted, etc. from 5-10 years ago and stuffed in places just waiting to be scrapbooked. That would mean dragging out everything and having the dining room held hostage for at least three months with pictures everywhere.

With digital scrapbooking you don't have to drag out anything! It's all literally at your fingertips. Just have your photos on your computer and get to work! I played around with the software and found it very user friendly. In a matter of minutes you can create a very beautiful scrapbook page.

Here's one page that took literally just minutes to complete. One neat thing about My Memories is that their software offers lots of options. And there are lots of FREE downloads. The above page was created using some of their free kits.

Another feature that I like about this software is the embellishments. See that cute white bow on my page? I thought it fit in just perfectly with this beach scene and my three little girls!
And notice the word wrap on the corners of the picture....another neat feature!

There are so many options: from page color, page texture, fonts, word art, etc....just to name a few! As I was fixing this page, I thought how handy this could be with my Girl Scout troop this year. I can share all the troop pics with the moms with a cute digital scrapbook. And if I want a hardbound copy, that is an option too!

I really had fun playing around with the software. You can share your pages and albums with friends. There's also a song and video feature with this software!
You are not limited to just scrapbook pages. You can make cards and calendars, too. I made this calendar in about 2 minutes! It would be neat to have as a wallpaper for your computer.

This is how YOU can win::

Rules for the Giveaway!

Up to 5 chances to enter! Leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry.

1. Mandatory - visit My Memories. Comment on my blog and tell me which of their digital kits or layouts is your favorite!

2. Visit My Memories Facebook page and like them, then leave me a comment letting me know you did.

3. Follow my blog, The Grimes Times, and comment letting me know you are a follower. If you're already a follower, leave a comment letting me know you are already a follower.

4. Blog about or Tweet about this giveaway, linking to this blog post, and comment here letting me know you've done so with a link to your blog or twitter.

The winner will receive a code for a free download of My Memories Suite software ( a $40 value). Giveaway ends Friday, September 2nd, at 11:59 pm Eastern time.

If you can't wait for the giveaway, and want to purchase the software yourself, you can use this coupon code (copy and paste it): STMMMS69557 for $10 off My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software AND a $10 coupon to the My Memories store - a $20 value!
GOOD LUCK!

Oh My Darlin'

2011-08-10T21:48:00.004-04:00

**Disclaimer**

I realize that Clementine is not the happiest song for a toddler to be singing and that Apple Bottom Jeans is not the most appropriate. I'm not really sure where she picked up Clementine, but I am quite sure that she picked up Apple Bottom Jeans from hearing it while she's in the playroom at the gym. It's located right across the hall from my zumba class and that song is one of the many that is blasted through the speakers. Anyway, enjoy Margo's Medley :)

Cupcakes by Madeline

2011-08-10T13:24:00.009-04:00

Madeline has been asking me for several weeks to let her make cupcakes. She has helped me make them numerous times, but this time she was pretty much on her own. I was her backup help only. I actually did very little to help her.
She used a white cake mix which called for egg whites. She got some good practice cracking and separating eggs. Margo was right by her side, observing.

Adding in the ingredients

Measuring

Placing the cupcake liners

Filling the liners

Time to go in the oven

Frosting the cooled cupcakes

I even taught her how to pipe some frosting on the cupcakes using a ziploc bag.

The finished product! Madeline did a great job!

Margo was happy to perform a taste test.

These were quite yummy and they didn't last very long around our house. I'm so proud of my little baker :)

First Day of School 2011

2011-07-28T11:58:00.016-04:00

This morning I took our 4th grader and 2nd grader to school! It was a short summer break, but we packed a lot in. Let's just say that Mama was just a wee bit happy that school was starting back!

Madeline doing the obligatory pose before we get to school. And, NO, I didn't get a picture of her with her (temporary) teacher. They are in the process of hiring another 4th grade teacher and Madeline is in that class. At least she wanted me to walk with her to her class :)

Lydia's always up for a photo. She was fussing this morning about this dress that SHE picked out a few weeks ago and just had to have. She was scared that somebody would make fun of her because it had a tie! She quickly changed her tune when I told her to just let me know if someone made fun of her. I think she looks darling in this dress. Plus, I saw another little girl wearing a similar dress.

Lydia with her 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Burnette.

After walking Madeline to her class, I walked back by Lydia's classroom and this is what I saw. This girl hardly ever sits. Her teacher last year said she stood alot while she worked. And she also stands during piano lessons! I thought she just couldn't sit down, but I've been informed that this is often seen with kinesthetic learners.

I had planned on doing a post about Madeline's week at Camp Don Lee and time sort of got away from me, so I'll just add it on here. We picked Madeline up from camp on Saturday morning. After the tummy ache earlier in the week, she had a little homesickness on Friday (the day before we were supposed to pick her up)! Luckily, she had a wonderful counselor and her homesickness was short-lived. She had a great time and was telling us about all sorts of funny things that happened, songs she learned, and her experiences sailing.

She was so glad to see Annie. Madeline told us on the way home that she did miss us, but she had been two whole weeks without seeing Annie and that made her homesick. I told her she was dogsick!

We took a quick walk on the pier before leaving. Madeline's group even spent one night on the pier. She said it wasn't too comfortable.

Lydia really missed Madeline. I never heard Madeline reciprocate those feelings, but anyway she did allow Lydia to see some of her things that she had made and then we helped her pack up.

Madeline and Mary Margaret with some of their cabin mates. Madeline was telling us funny stories about some of the things these girls said and did! She also said that they were all really sweet to her when she wasn't feeling well :)

Madeline was so happy to have Mary Margaret there with her. They both had a great time! They had a HOT week to be at camp, so I know they were happy to get some good 'ole AC when they got home.

Madeline took this picture with her camera while she was at camp.

Little Mama finally reunited with her baby sister. I thought it was sweet that during the 'homesick' phone call, Madeline asked to speak to Margo. Margo told me at one point during the week that she wanted me to go get her sissy.

David always gets very nostalgic at Camp Don Lee. Thought this was a cute pic of him and Margo.

Life's A Beach.....

2011-07-20T16:28:00.007-04:00

....well, at least it was for us last week! We spent the week at Pine Knoll Shores and had a very nice relaxing family vacation. No schedules, no work, no school. Our biggest decisions were beach or pool and where to eat!

We had lots of ice cream treats! Here are the girls on the Beaufort waterfront enjoying some ice cream.

Lydia chillaxin' at the pool.

Madeline and Margo enjoying pool time too.

We loved going to our favorite restaurants at the beach. The girls enjoyed s'mores for dessert at Amos Mosquito's.

There was one day that was terribly hot and muggy. We tried to do lots of indoor activities that day, including visiting the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium. That's always a big hit with the girls.

On Friday of last week we met up with our friends, the Westbrooks, and spent the day on a beach near Cape Lookout. It was a gorgeous day! After the beach, we motored over to the lighthouse. We just did miss the last tour for the day, but were still able to walk around and get some pictures.

David and his little ladies! We love Beaufort and went there a few times for dinner, ice cream, fudge and just to walk along the waterfront. David even got up early Saturday morning and ran a 10K in the Beaufort Road Race!

We got in lots of beach time! Margo LOVED the beach. This year David and I each were able to read a book while at the beach! That's an accomplishment (for me, at least!). The girls were very content to just build sand castles, dig in the sand and wade in the water. They pretty much entertained themselves!

Margo's silhouette as the sun was setting one evening. I took this picture on the observation deck near our condo.

Madeline coming up out of the sand after being buried. Madeline loved boogie boarding, but got a pretty bad abrasion from some sea shells first thing on our second day there. She was tough though and was back in the water after it had time to heal a bit!

We loved walking on the beach in the evenings! Margo was a wild child.....running all over the beach!

cheeeeese :)

Of course I had to do my yearly photos with the girls. I can't get over how much Lydia has grown! She is almost as tall as Madeline. It was very challenging (to say the least) trying to get good pictures with Margo all over the place. She did not want to sit still at all! One of the best pics I got is now the header for the blog.

This one came out blurry, but I still thought it was cute! It was a great week and it went by way too fast. I am going to try to upload more of our beach pics to flickr, so keep an eye out for those to pop up over on the sidebar!

As soon as we checked out of our condo, we met up with the Coats family for lunch and then took our girls to Camp Don Lee!

Here are Madeline and Mary Margaret heading to their cabin! (And no...this picture is not posed! They were so excited and were holding hands walking together).

And here's our happy camper! This child has been SO excited about going back to Camp Don Lee this summer and having Mary Margaret go with her!

Unfortunately, Madeline has had a little tummy ache last night and today and we've received a couple of phone calls. We're hoping its not a virus and will go away! I know how much she has looked forward to camp this year and would hate for her to have to leave early. But I don't want my baby to be miserable either. Please keep her (and her mama) in your prayers! I think I have jumped every time the phone has rung today!

Margo's Snow White Party

2011-07-06T17:16:00.033-04:00

On Saturday we had Margo's birthday party.....a Snow White Party!!!! Here is the cake I made for the occasion. This was my first time making a doll cake. It was actually pretty easy. Thanks to the internet, I was able to get all sorts of cute ideas for the cake and the party.

Margo wore her Snow White dress for the entire party. I was surprised that she kept it on the whole time becasue it was HOT!!!

Here's Snow White posing with her party decorations prior to the guests arriving.

sweet girl :)

She had lots of her little friends come to the party. Here they are enjoying some pizza.

After pizza, it was time to sing Happy Birthday and cut the cake. Here she is blowing out her candles.

Next up: presents! She got lots of cute things and fun toys.

The kids then headed outside for fun and games. This was Doc's Dig, where the kids could dig for treasure in the sand. Lydia decided to dress up as her own version of Doc (using an old elf hat and pirate costume) and supervise.

The trampoline was a big hit! It was also known as Happy's Hopping House!

We had a station set up for painting birdhouses and they all seemed to really love this activity. You know toddlers LOVE PAINT!!!!

I got this idea online....Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

I had window markers for the children to write on the mirrors.

I think our three year-old princess had fun at her Snow White party. All the kids seemed to enjoy themselves. You can see her sweaty head in this pic. Again, it was HOT and that was around 7 or 8pm. It would have been unbearable had we had the party mid afternoon.

After the party we went to see the fireworks downtown. On the way home we were talking with Margo about her big day and her party. When we asked her if she had a good time, she said, "Yes. Thank You!" I'll take that :)

Fun on the Fourth

2011-07-05T16:17:00.014-04:00

We had a busy Fourth of July weekend! We started out by celebrating Margo's 3rd birthday with a Snow White party at our house on Saturday evening. That was followed up by our town's fireworks display. (I hope to do a post on Margo's birthday happenings soon.) On Sunday we went to church. Madeline was acolyte and then she, Lydia, Margo, cousin Caroline and I arranged flowers from the altar to deliver to nursing home residents. Sweet cousin Avery also made her first appearance in our church's nursery :) We had lunch at Grandma's and spent the afternoon visiting.

On Monday we participated in our neighborhood 4th of July parade. Here are the cousins lined up and ready to go: Caroline, Madeline, Margo and Lydia

There were lots of friends and neighbors who showed up for the parade. Here's Madeline with her friend Aubrey.

Lydia with her friend Anna and their first grade teacher, Mrs. C. They were so happy to see Mrs. C and her little baby, Reaves.

The firetruck led the way and the kids were right behind it. They did a great job keeping up.

Grandma and Avery were spectators from Grandma & Grandpa's front yard. Madeline rushed over to see little Miss Avery.

Margo enjoys an icee pop after the parade. The Ashley family hosts this parade each year and has nice refreshments afterwards and it is a good time for everyone to cool off and mingle.

Avery joined us after the parade. Look how much she's grown. She is the sweetest baby. All you have to do is talk to her and she will flash a huge smile :)

Aunt Catherine with her two girls. Last year at this parade was when we found out that Catherine was pregnant with baby #2 (Avery). She had Caroline dressed in a cute patriotic shirt that said Big Sister to Be. As you can tell, Caroline loves her baby sister.

David worked yesterday, so he missed the parade. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner and made homemade ice cream. After dinner I snapped some pics of the girls and then we took a family bike ride.

Here's sweet Annie getting some lovin' from Madeline during pictures.

Margo in her red white and blue.

To finish off the evening, we did sparklers. The girls loved this! Hope you all had a happy holiday.

God Bless the USA!!!!

Three Years Ago Today......

2011-06-29T08:52:00.001-04:00

...we welcomed our 3rd baby girl into the world! There she is a whopping 9 lbs. 1oz (well, 0.6 ounces rounded up to one ounce!). Trust me, I felt that ounce!

Here we are....party of five! Our first family photo with Margo. David is definitely King of the Castle with all these girls :-)

Wow, what happened to my little baby girl??

Here she is at 3 months.

Her first Halloween :-)

1 year old

Getting really good at feeding herself and making a mess!

Helping Mama cook

She's got a personality as bright as her smile :-)

She no longer has her paci. She no longer rubs her belly button when she's tired. She no longer sleeps in a crib. She no longer wears diapers. She's going to start preschool soon. She's a big girl now!

Snow White is still her favorite princess and she's gonna have a Snow White Cake and birthday party!

Here's our three year-old! She opened one present before breakfast. We're about to head out for a day of fun.

Here are just a few things I want to remember about Margo at three years old:

She says "free" for three.

She's very independent....can buckle and unbuckle herself from her carseat.

She loves her sissies and can hang with them in most any environment, especially jumping on the trampoline.She can be Miss Bossy Britches to her sisters, too!

She calls her sisters by their names mostly instead of Sissy and LaLa. In fact when she's really trying to get Lydia's attention, she says: Lydia Claire!

Her favorite shows are still Barney, Dora and Curious George.

She continues to talk non-stop and her vocabulary is growing. She likes to use words like actually!

She is obsessed with band-aids....treats them like stickers and can somehow always find a boo-boo on herself that requires a band-aid.

She loves to swing. I think she could swing all day!

She can belt out the verse to Taylor Swift's Mean.

She's still her mama's girl :-) And when I ask her if she's mama's girl or daddy's girl, she'll say, "I'm mama's girl (guhl) and daddy's boy!"

Last but not least, she's a mess!!!! And we love her :-)

Here's a quick video of her singing Happy Birthday to herself. Enjoy!

Lake Junaluska

2011-06-28T08:38:00.009-04:00

Last week I chaperoned a trip to Lake Junaluska. Seven children from our church's Children's Choir went on this trip (Madeline & Lydia included). We went for Music and Worship Arts Week. It was our first time going and we had a great time. Margo stayed at home and was cared for by her Daddy, Grandma, Aunt Leslie, and Grammie & PaPa :)

Here's our group before heading out on Father's Day, Sunday, June 19th. Sherry and Robert were chaperones too. The three of us took turns driving the church bus. It was nice to divide the driving responsibilities since it is a five hour drive to Lake Junaluska from Smithfield.

Here are our happy campers :)

We stayed at Lambuth Inn. All of the girls stayed in one very large room and we had an awesome view of the mountains and lake!

It is so beautiful at Lake Junaluska. We loved the cooler temperatures too.

This was a really good group of kids.

Each day the children had rehearsals and rotations. At the end of the week (on Thursday) they had their performance. Here are some of the older girls dancing.

Lydia and Ava with their wonderful teacher and choir director, Mrs. Terrie. They were in the younger elementary choir and they sang so beautifully.

Sunset at the cross. It was a great week and we hope to go back next year and for many years to come. Everyone was tired and ready to get home. I was ready to see Margo! When we got home, she just smiled at us and loved her prizes we had brought her. David had left to go on a guys road trip to Pittsburgh for a baseball game and he left a little gift for me on the kitchen counter.....

Tickets to see Keith Urban that Saturday night! He had already arranged babysitting and my date for the evening (our good friend Kelly)!

Not only was I surprised by the tickets, but they were on the FLOOR and the 11th row from the stage. Kelly and I were so excited. We love Keith Urban and he always puts on such a good show. We usually go to his concerts whenever he comes to the area and this year I had just figured I wouldn't go since I was coming home from a week away and David would be gone. Kelly was in on this surprise for a while. I must say....it was indeed a nice surprise :-)

Today is somebody's last day of being TWO! Yep, our baby girl will be THREE tomorrow.

Summer Piano Recital

2011-06-22T00:27:00.001-04:00

The girls had their summer piano recital on Saturday, June 18th.

Lydia was so excited before the recital.....she couldn't sit still. See where her legs are! Lydia carried her Build-A-Bear unicorn in with her. She and the unicorn had on matching dresses. Mr. Buddy, the girls' piano teacher, suggested that Lydia let Lily, the unicorn, accompany her while she performed. Lydia was thrilled! So Lydia sat Lily on the bench beside her. I don't have a picture of that, but I did get a group picture (not posted) which includes Lily. Mr. Buddy knows that Lydia marches to the beat of her own drum.....

Madeline looking too grown up here....what happened to my little girl?

The girls did a great job performing while their Daddy was participating in his second 3 Little Pigs Triathlon! He did great....beat his time from last year by a couple minutes. And that was with a summer cold! Uncle Greg participated this year for the first time and beat David by a couple minutes. Congrats to both!

Enjoy the video of the girls playing their recital pieces.

Happy Birthday David!

2011-06-19T00:08:00.003-04:00

Happy 37th Birthday David and Happy Father's Day!!!!

We Love You!

Lots going on this week. Hope to post more pictures soon. Stay tuned......

Last Day of School

2011-06-10T01:26:00.012-04:00

Yesterday was the last day of school for Madeline and Lydia. They seemed pretty excited. They've been having lots of fun over the past few weeks with field day, fun day, dances, parties, awards, etc. It was a good year. Lydia brought home her 1st grade writing journal and I especially loved today's entry:

Here's the corrected version, just in case you can't read it:

Thursday morning

Dear first grade journal, Today is the last day of school. I am so excited. I'm going to go to the pool tomorrow. OK I got a problem. What bathing suit can I wear? I know. I'll wear my new one.

This girl seriously cracks me up. And her writings are written just like she speaks, in a Junie B. Jones kind of way ;)

Earlier in the week Lydia's teacher, Mrs. C, came back for awards day and a slideshow. (She is currently on maternity leave). Lydia got the Bazooka Bubble Gum award for her bubbly personality. How fitting! Lydia doesn't even like bubble gum, but she was so proud of it. She went around asking all of us if we wanted some of her gum just so she could have the comics. Margo is her #1 customer. That girl loves her some bubble gum!

Check out the video below. Mrs. C had all the mamas in tears. What a sweet reading! That along with the music and the slideshow definitely pulled at this mama's heartstrings. I feel like 1st grade is the end of all the cutesy crafts and songs and letting mamas come to all the little parties. Bittersweet, to say the least.

Oh how Lydia loves Mrs. C. She was a great 1st grade teacher for Lydia. If you look closely to the left of Mrs. C's elbow, you can see her sweet little boy chilling out in his carseat. He was so good. All the kids love her and were SO HAPPY to see her and the baby!

This is Lydia's spring school picture. I just compared it to her fall picture and she has definitely changed and looks a wee more mature.

I have to share some of her journal entries. These are just a few that I picked for the blog. If you click on each picture, it should enlarge so you can read it in Lydia's own words... I'll interpret. I could definitely tell an improvement with her handwriting, spelling, etc. as the year progressed. The illustrations are pretty good too.

Sept. 10, 2010

I want to be a plecofsr (police officer) so I can cach (catch) peple (people) and tac (take) them to jele (jail).

Feb. 24, 2011

I got big big big news for you. My Ant (Aunt) had a baby. Her name is Avrey (Avery). She is out of the hospidel (hospital). She is so cute.

Mar. 23, 2011

I can't belive (believe) it. I got a trapalin (trampoline) and a bike. It was the birthday I tell you. I love it. I am now 7.

Madeline had a great year in 3rd grade. She had a really good teacher and she was always coming home telling me what Mrs. Swain said....She loved that her teacher would tell jokes and stories about when she was a student in elementary school. Mrs. Swain made the transition to 3rd grade easy. This is when the kids start getting letter grades and have to take the End of Grade tests. I learned alot of things too....special tricks for multiplication, measuring, etc. and online homework! Madeline did great on her EOGs! She's has make really good grades this year and is awaiting her cash prize for straight A's this nine weeks :-)

Here's Madeline at her awards program on Monday. I wish I had more pictures of things that happened in 3rd grade, but I honestly haven't been in her classroom that much this year. She's a big kid now and they just don't do all that touchy feely stuff like the 1st graders :( She's been busy learning lots of important stuff!

Her teacher gave her a Judy Blume book and put this quote in it by Walt Disney. Madeline started reading it today while we were waiting for Lydia at piano lessons.

So overall, I'd give the 2010-11 school year at South Smithfield Elementary an A+. We're gonna cram as much as we can into the next seven weeks. Hello, summer :-)

First up, pool time!!!! It has been HOT, HOT, HOT and that's first on our to-do list. This pic was taken of the girls with their cousin Caroline on Memorial Day weekend.

Dance Recital & Piano Guild 2011

2011-05-27T17:11:00.008-04:00

Last Saturday was a busy day for us. The girls had their piano guild and dance recital that day.

Here's Madeline striking a pose. It's hard to believe that she's been taking dance lessons for five years.

Miss Lydia

This year the girls took a Hip Hop Jazz & Cheer-Funk Tumbling Class. Try saying that fast several times ;). They loved it and did great!

I was able to snap some pics during the dress rehearsal. I have some video footage but need to get it off our camcorder. Lydia was nervous about her cartwheels, but did just fine!

Bustin' a move....

M & L on stage

With their friend, Karlee. Lydia and Karlee share the same birthday and have been in the same dance classes since they were three!

Earlier that morning, the girls participated in the 2011 Piano Guild. Piano and music teachers from the Johnston County area rate piano students on their performances. The girls did great! Madeline was a little nervous over this a few weeks ago because she thought she couldn't use her sheet music. She was able to use her music and was very relieved. Last year Madeline missed the guild because it was at the same time as her dance recital.

Lydia got a superior rating. This was great since she is a 1st year piano student. She loves piano and was thrilled to get her trophy!

Here they are posing with their certificates and trophies. I'm a little sad that Madeline has chosen not to continue with piano after this year's summer recital. She says she likes violin better, so she's gonna focus on that. Hopefully she'll still tickle the ivories from time to time. We're so proud of our girls and all their recent achievements.

Open House at Camp Don Lee

2011-05-20T08:52:00.001-04:00

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at Camp Don Lee for open house. This summer will be Madeline's second time as a camper there. Last year she did the starter camp and this year she will be staying for a week. Her friend Mary Margaret is going to join her! Madeline is very excited. Mary Margaret had been on the fence about attending camp, but after visiting on Sunday, she was sold!
The girls got to do all sorts of fun camp activities. They loved swimming in the CDL pool!

It was a beautiful day and there was great wind for sailing. Here's a picture of the pool with some new decorative flags. The girls enjoyed the rope swing and the diving boards.

We all got to go for a short sail. This was the first time for the Coats girls. I saw some wide-eyed girls a few times when we were heeling, but overall they enjoyed it. David also took the girls on a sunfish.

The Grimes girls and the Coats girls....all just a few months apart in age. I think Madeline and Mary Margaret will have a great time this summer. Maybe the other girls will follow in their footstep in the years to come.

Strings Concert

2011-05-13T12:38:00.008-04:00

Madeline has been taking violin lessons at school since September. Last night she and and few of her classmates showed off their skills along with some other 3rd-5th graders.

They did very well. It was nice to hear them all playing together. I've only been able to hear Madeline's part over the past several months. With all of them playing, it actually sounded like a song! There wasn't too much squeaking going on and I think for beginners, they did great!

Madeline's violin teacher, Mrs. Olah, Madeline & her best bud, Reagan

Taking a bow

The group from Mrs. Swain's class: Madeline, Reagan, Aubrey and Luke. Sloan was absent last night :(

With Mrs. Olah

Madeline really seems to enjoy violin. Maybe we'll have a future Alison Krauss on our hands. I think it will take a few more years of practice, though ;)

Here's a short clip of the performance last night:

Spring Break, Mother's Day and Everything In Between....

2011-05-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

The past few weeks have been fairly busy around here, and I know it's just going to get busier with end-of-the-year activities coming up. Over Spring Break we went to the Great Wolf Lodge. The girls had a great time. Here we are just before leaving GWL, posing with Violet, their mascot.

We have been enjoying the warm weather and spending lots of time outside. Annie has enjoyed the nice weather too. One of her favorite things to do is chase squirrels. There's one in that tree that she has her eye on!

David and I went to our first ever Jimmy Buffett concert on April 19th. We were actually able to do some tailgating with friends that afternoon before the concert, thanks to the three babysitters we had lined up to work in shifts!

David sporting the cheeseburger hat. With Dori & Ron....they've been our concert buddies for the past few concerts.

The girls at Great Wolf Lodge with Merin (our friend Valerie's baby).

Standing outside by the Great Big Wolf!

Easter Morning....the girls checking out their goodies from the Easter Bunny

That afternoon the girls had a little egg hunt at my parents' house that their PaPa did for them.

The girls with PaPa. Look how tall Madeline is...right up to PaPa's shoulder. And Lydia isn't far behind.

On April 30th, we participated in the March of Dimes March for Babies in Wilmington in honor of our niece Avery. Here's team averytinyblessing.

Last week our church had a talent show and Madeline participated by doing a science experiment. She blew up a balloon without using her mouth. She used baking soda and vinegar. Here she is with her assistant, Alyssa, telling the audience what is going on.

Lydia played Funny Bunny on the piano. She did great. Couldn't sit still, but did great!

Just before the talent show, Lydia lost a tooth....her second. She was so excited and even took it to church that evening for everyone to see. We have a special bunny with a pocket that is the tooth fairy bunny. Lydia proudly carried that bunny around at church and placed it under her pillow that night. Well, Thursday morning, the bunny and tooth were still under her pillow!!! BIG UH-OH!!!!! I think the tooth fairy redeemed herself because the next morning, Lydia had a letter explaining what had happened and two gold $1 coins. Click on the pic above to enlarge it and read what the tooth fairy wrote.

The girls participated in the What's that Yam Thing contest for the Ham & Yam festival. Lydia's is Mrs. Yam from Hawaii, Madeline's is Dally the dalmation and Margo's is Blue Bunny (Margo painted the yam blue and I added the other stuff). The girls didn't place in the contest but still enjoyed making them and got a ribbon for participating and a free movie pass.

David had to work last weekend so I took the girls to the Ham & Yam festival. The weather was great! Here's Margo feeding the goats.

M&L

The girls loved these cut-outs!

Margo's turn!

With my favorite girls on Mother's Day. Can you believe they cooperated for this picture with the tripod and timer and we got this on the first try?? Score!

And last, but certainly not least.....Margo is potty trained!! Woo-hoo! This picture was taken back in January when she was not so consistent about using the potty. I'm not sure what Annie was doing....moral support or perhaps Margo had a cookie in her hand?!? Anyway she's gone about a week now with no accidents, has started wearing panties to school, and has been using the potty in public at places like the gym, restaurants and even a porta-potty at the Ham & Yam festival (I know, yuck!). She has been by far the easiest of the three to train because I've pretty much done nothing! I guess I owe the thanks to Madeline because she started working with her a long time ago and Margo would go, but not consistently. I just wasn't sweating it and then within the last few weeks, she just showed more interest and started telling us when she had to go and voila'..... So I guess I'll be returning an unopened box of Pampers to Wally World!

Easter Family Pics

2011-04-27T23:08:00.006-04:00

We had a very nice Easter and Spring Break. We stayed busy, and have now gotten back into our normal routine. After church on Sunday, we took some pictures outside before heading over to Grandma's house for Easter lunch.
Margo was not cooperating too well....check out the smirk on her face in this picture.

Annie was hanging around like she wanted to be in the pictures, so we got a few with her.

I think Annie likes this photo shoot :-) We finally got a partial smile from Margo when we added Annie to the pictures.

Right when we were about to set up the tripod, our neighbors arrived home and did us a huge favor by snapping some family pics. You can't really tell from this picture, but I did have us all in coordinating colors. Even David's shirt and tie matched our springy yellow and green theme.

I snapped some pics of the girls in their favorite front yard spot....the dogwood tree.

Lydi-bug :-)

Margo running from the camera

Cheesin' in the tree

Photo courtesy of Lydia

Photo courtesy of Margo.

I will try to post some pics that I took over Spring Break soon :-)

Catching Up

2011-04-11T22:38:00.007-04:00

This post was inadvertently deleted last night while I was blogging from our laptop. I'm still not exactly sure what happened. I wasn't happy about it......especially since I had uploaded 20 pictures. Anyway, I just closed the laptop and re-did the whole thing today. I hope you like this post, because it has a lot of pictures that I've been meaning to post.

I think I posted this on my 365 project :: Lydia channeling her inner Mary Poppins! Speaking of the 365 project, I was so glad that I was keeping up with it and then, boom! April 1st...I forgot to take a picture. This was not a April Fool's joke. And then, April 9th....same thing. So I hate that I missed those days, but I'm going to trudge through.

In late February we took the girls on a family outing to the Roller Rink. It was actually my first time roller skating. We did not have skating rinks in Jamesville (where I grew up). Let's just say that David had his work cut out for him that night making sure all of us girls were not wiping out. Madeline and Lydia were pretty wobbly, but I think with some practice they might get the hang of it. I think I could benefit from some type of lessons. David was happy to show off his 7th grade rollerskating skills.

Even Margo got her own pair of toddler skates. Notice I'm helping her in my sock feet!

The first Saturday in March the girls and I took a nice bike ride on the Greenway while David was working.

They rode the entire six miles with no whining. I even managed to fix Madeline's chain that popped off.

I think Margo had the best seat for this bike ride....taking it easy. We did treat ourselves to a snow cone after our bike ride. Since this ride, we've been back with David and with Lydia's newer and bigger bike that she got for her birthday. We hope to get in a few more rides before the summer heat hits.

The first Sunday in March was Girl Scout Sunday at our church. Madeline had to read a fairly long passage of scripture and did very well.

Margo graduated to a Big Girl Bed!! She started climbing out of her crib, so we took that down and gave her a big girl bed and she loves it! It was bittersweet taking down the crib for the last time. I made the headboard with some plywood, foam, and fabric after researching some DIY blogs.

We had a PEACE party play date on the Friday night between Lydia and Madeline's birthdays. We invited some of the girls' close friends for pizza, cupcakes and outside play. The weather was perfect that evening and they had fun. They loved playing on their new trampoline.

Some of the girls giving the peace sign.

One thing that Madeline had asked for for her birthday was to visit the Ava Gardner museum. So that's where we went on a recent teacher workday. Margo went to MMO and Madeline and Lydia and I spent a little over an hour there. I think they liked it, especially when they realized that we have family ties to Ava Gardner!

The girls have been loving their new trampoline....especially Margo. She loves to get her alone time jumping while the girls are in school. She has totally mastered getting in and out of it, zipping the netting, etc... Miss Independent!

With the warmer weather, we have been spending lots of time outdoors and the girls are really into hula hooping now.

Madeline's Brownie Troop participated in the Girl Scout Jamboree at Camp Mary Atkinson a few weeks ago. Here are some of the girls getting orders from their troop leader.

I spent an 8 hour shift with these girls. They had a great time!

Madeline with Carrie and Reagan, her tent mates for the night!

Last week was spirit week at the girls' school. And what did Lydia dress up as for career day? A MOVIE STAR! That's right. She told me she was going to be a famous Hollywood movie star and walk the red carpet! This child loves to dress up. Just tonight at dinner she was dressed up in an old dance costume with a flapper headpiece....

Madeline dressed up as a nurse. I think mostly because I agreed to let her take a syringe to school. She loved pretending she was giving her classmates shots!

Well that's it for my catch up post for what's been going on over the past month and a half. Spring Break's coming and I've got my paintbrush out. Stay tuned....

Videos

2011-03-31T13:40:00.008-04:00

Just in case you've been hiding under a rock and haven't turned on the TV or been online......this youtube video of these cute twin boys has gone viral! Love it!!!

I have a few Grimes girls videos to post. First up...the Hula Girls! Madeline is really good with the Hula Hoop! Lydia shows off by double hula-hooping! This is followed by Margo singing Alive, Alive and Here Comes Peter Cottontail!

Another one of Margo singing.....Pants on the Ground from last year's American Idol. I posted this on facebook several weeks ago.

Hope you enjoyed the videos! Happy Friday!!!

Memorable Day

2011-03-23T22:57:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, March 20th, David ran his 1st half marathon in Wrightsville Beach on Madeline's 9th birthday!!! This was indeed a day to celebrate.

Here's the runner himself.....ready to go at 4:30 a.m. from the hotel room. Neither of us slept very well. So what did I do after he left?

Decorate the hotel room for the birthday girl!

David sent me a text around 6:15 that said "feeling pretty pumped right now". About an hour later, he sent me this picture somewhere between mile 4&5! I got the girls up and we headed to our spectator spot with our Mickey D's breakfast in tow. Thank goodness David was able to text me during this, so we would know when he would be running by us. To put it mildly, I had a rough morning wrangling our cold, sleepy, hungry, whiny girls.

Eating breakfast and waiting for Daddy to run by.

From here, I'm gonna welcome David as a guest blogger to tell about his 1/2 marathon experience:

Let me first thank Gina for allowing me to be the first ever guest blogger on The Grimes Times. Here I am approaching my cheering squad between miles 11 & 12. The signs were a great surprise and gave me a nice little boost.

Running past Gina and the girls. Let me explain the compression pants and undershirt. Somehow the organizers managed to pick the one cool morning in the middle of a two week stretch of great weather. I wasn't sure what to wear, but it was pretty chilly at the start with a breeze blowing and I felt comfortable in this. In hindsight I could have done without the pants under my shorts; it would have made for better pictures.

Holy crap, what a happy moment! I'm on the far right about to cross the finish line. Unbelievable feeling. My goal was to finish under 2hr, 10min (that's about a 10 minute per mile pace), but deep down I really wanted to finish in under 2hr. My best training run had been 2hr, 6min and some change. On this day I finished in 1hr, 59min, 32sec!

Stopping the timer on my watch and checking my time.

I trained using the Jeff Galloway run/walk method which is probably the only way I got through training. I would run for 4.5 minutes and then walk for 30 seconds. I had already decided I would run the first 3 miles straight through on race day, but in the end the Galloway method completely went out the window. I kept feeling good, so I kept running. I figured I would take a short walk break when I started to give out, but it never happened. I ran the whole 13.1 miles!

The girls posing with their signs.

The finishers medal I received. I pretty much wore it the rest of the day and had to force myself not to sleep with it around my neck (figured that might be a choking hazard).

Fortunately Madeline didn't mind spending her birthday in Wilmington, mainly because she loved waking up in a hotel. This will be a day we'll both remember for a long time to come.

The back side of the medal. I know 26.2 would be more impressive, but I've got to think about that for a while ........ a long while.

Gina calls this my Superman picture. After the shock and initial excitement of finishing wore off I quickly realized it was 50 degrees, breezy, and I was covered in cold sweat. The mylar blanket does help a lot.

After a visit to the beer tent.

And this was what it was really all about. I've been envious of the 13.1 stickers I've seen around Raleigh. Gina read on a runner's web forum that "real" runners don't put these stickers on their cars. I don't care. I want the world to know the pasty white guy driving this car ran a half marathon!

For the first 35 years of my life I thought running was an incredibly stupid thing to do and a waste of time. I never hesitated to express my opinion to distance runners I knew that the human body was not meant to run that far. For a while I had forced myself to run 2 miles on the treadmill to try and stay in some kind of shape, but always hated every minute of it.

Well, a little less than a year ago a friend talked me into a 5K race and I got the fever. After a few more 5K's and a couple of sprint triathlons last summer, a half marathon seemed like an incredible challenge, but maybe a possibility. I can't even describe how rewarding it feels to have accomplished that goal (and especially my time goal) after a long winter of training. A few weeks before the race my former minister and friend mentioned Philippians 4:13 on his running blog. It reads, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (KJV)." I kept thinking about this and even wrote it down on a scrap piece of paper I carried with me. At mile 6 I saw a little girl sitting with some spectators holding a poster of this same verse. At that point I knew I had this one in the bag.

Guest blogger David Grimes signing off.

Thanks, David!

After the race, we told our 9 year-old the rest of the day was all about her! She was very excited about waking up in a hotel on her birthday. I don't think she was too excited about being dragged out early to support her daddy, but she was a trooper in the end and we made it through. We spent the rest of the day with family at Uncle Travis & Aunt Catherine's. She was excited to play with her cousins and......

meet her baby cousin Avery for the first time. She even got to hold her!!!

The birthday girl requested a cookie cake and she got it. Good choice, Madeline :-) It was yummy!

It was a great day. The drive back home got a little crazy with Margo....but such is life with a 2 year-old! Poor David didn't get to rest on the way home as he had planned but made up for it by sleeping 12 hours that night!

We are proud of Madeline and David! Now how long before David will sign up for a marathon?

The Day that Changed Everything

2011-03-20T00:40:00.005-04:00

Nine years ago today David and I became parents. We welcomed little Madeline Paige into the world. We were thrilled and so in love with our little girl. It was a surreal experience.

She was the first grandchild on both sides, so they were just a wee bit infatuated with her :-)

Our whole world changed.....for the better!

She made me a mother :-)

We couldn't believe how fast the first year went by.

And before we knew it, she was a big sister! Here she is on her 2nd birthday with her 5 day old baby sister, Lydia. At the time, it seemed like Madeline was such a big girl when Lydia was born. Looking back, I realize that I really had two babies to take care of.

And a few years later, she was a big sister once again, when we welcomed Margo. This time she was more of a little mama. And she still is. She is so helpful with her sisters.

Thank you Madeline for nine wonderful years. We love you so much and are so proud of you. We look forward to many happy years to come and watching you grow and learn new things. You are helpful, sincere, honest, kind, talented, thoughtful, creative, thrifty, and have a memory like an elephant! These are just a few of your wonderful qualities. But most of all, you are our first baby. And that will never change!

Happy Birthday, my 7 lb, 15 oz baby girl!!!!

(That's a term of endearment that I use with Madeline all the time, especially when she lets me know that in X amount of years she will be driving, going to college, etc......so I just answer with, "I know, my 7lb, 15 oz. baby girl!")

hApPy BirTHdaY LYDI-BUG!!!!!

2011-03-15T12:00:00.004-04:00

Lydia is SEVEN today!!!! And she is one happy girl. She has been so excited about her birthday for weeks now. She asked for a bigger bike and she got one!

She even got to take it for a quick spin down the driveway before schoool this morning. David took the girls to school this morning and when he returned he said he had a feeling that the entire school would know that it's her birthday today!!

This girl always keeps us on our toes and she cracks us up with the stuff she says and does. She loves life to the fullest and I love that about her!

Now, if I could just figure out where the last seven years have gone......

Wasn't she a cutie patootie?

On her first birthday.

Dressing up...this started at an early age and she still loves to dress up!

Ooohhh, I think she's up to something!

Happy Birthday Lydia. We love you!!!!

Flashback One More Time

2011-03-14T00:07:00.004-04:00

Well....birthday week is here for Madeline & Lydia. Here are some more pictures of them when they were younger. I'm sure I'll be taking lots of pics this week with all the upcoming birthday festivities. Silly girls in the bathtub with beards.

Lydia dressed up as Snow White playing soccer. One of my all time favorite pics.

Ready for church in their matching dresses from Grandma.

More matching dresses.....it was good while it lasted.

princesses

Lydia at the beach

Madeline at the beach

Madeline adoring her new baby sister Margo.

Lydia helping brush Margo's hair.

Hope you have enjoyed the stroll down memory lane for the last few posts.

Flashback Friday :: More M&L

2011-03-11T10:54:00.002-05:00

I thought maybe this old pic of the girls in front of the Old Well would bring the Heels some good luck this weekend in the ACC Tournament and in the NCAA Tourney. This was taken shortly after the Heels won the National Championship in 2005. Madeline was three and Lydia was one.

Playing outside. That Little Tikes coupe has stood the test of time! It was a hand-me-down when we got it and Margo still plays with it now.

Just a few weeks before Madeline's 3rd birthday.....she knocked out her top front tooth on the playground at MMO. When her teacher called me to tell me she had an accident, I thought she meant pee-pee in the pants, not a lost tooth! Talk about my heart racing....I couldn't get to my baby fast enough! As you can tell from the picture, she was fine!

Lydia in the kitchen cabinets. This was probably our sign that she would continue to drag out stuff for years to come and not put it back!

The graduate. Madeline finishes MMO and is ready for preschool!

Lydia at the pumpkin patch.

Tired babies after a HOT day on the boat. July 4, 2005.

Flashback: Madeline & Lydia

2011-03-10T00:31:00.006-05:00

As promised, here are some oldies but goodies. All of these pics were taken in 2004.

Lydia was 3 months in this picutre. One of our Lundies photo shoots. I just want to squeeze them!

Lydi-bug post bath on her changing table.

Madeline 'nursing' her doll.

Where's Lydia? About 6 months old.

The Paci Princess. Headed to a princess birthday party and giving one of her infamous serious faces. And rubbing her hair....

Big sissy Madeline with newborn Lydia.

Feeling Nostalgic

2011-03-08T20:14:00.004-05:00

Three years ago today we said goodbye to our beloved beagle, Abby. I was pregnant with Margo. This picture was taken right before Abby took her last car ride to the vet. I blogged about Abby here. So as I was browsing pictures, I started thinking about how fast our girls are growing up.

Seems just like yesterday they were sitting in that wagon :-)

And lying on my bed...

Lydia's birthday is in one week and Madeline's is in 12 days. So in honor of the birthday girls, I'm gonna be posting some of my favorite pics of them as babies and little girls, since they're now big girls.... Stay tuned.

Her side of the story......

2011-03-03T00:56:00.005-05:00

Here's a typical evening with Lydia prior to bedtime. "I don't feel so good. My tummy hurts."
Here's a typical morning with Lydia, trying to wake her from a deep, deep sleep. "I don't feel so good. My tummy hurts." We've heard this line so many times that it usually just falls on deaf ears. She's usually just stalling bedtime or being a sleepy head.

On Monday I got a call from her teacher who said that Lydia said her tummy was hurting. Go figure. They had checked her temperature and that was normal. The teacher did say that Lydia's cheeks were flushed. When I asked the teacher if Lydia seemed 'sick' or not, she replied that Lydia was one of her complainers, so it was sort of hard to tell. I talked on the phone with Lydia and asked her the routine list of questions....had she tried using the bathroom, etc, etc, etc. I told Lydia that if I came to pick her up, she was not going to play outside or watch TV. She would have to lie down and rest her hurting tummy. She wanted me to come get her. So I did.

There may have been a little rumble in her tummy, but I didn't need to pick her up from school. She was fine! That was evident after being home less than 20 minutes. So I taught her about the three Bs'. I think she got it. Listen to her explain what went down at school that day and what she learned from this ordeal.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Feelin' the Love

2011-02-18T13:23:00.011-05:00

Last weekend the girls and I did some Valentine's crafts. Here's one of our projects....a heart tree.

Madeline delivered Girl Scout cookies. She also worked at her troop's cookie booth at Carolina Pottery last Saturday. When I went to pick her up, the leaders said that she had been very diligent about keeping up with the cookie sales. She had made neat little tally marks on a sheet of paper. So everything was going well last weekend until this:

This is a note that Madeline put on the kitchen island Sunday night! Many of you may have seen this on facebook. Let's just say that mama was practicing some tough love. There were lots of tears and drama. Grandma came to the rescue and now all is well :-)

I found this cute idea online for homemade valentines and couldn't pass up the opportunity. Lydia and Margo gladly participated. Madeline was happy with her Wizards of Waverly Place valentines.

That night we had dinner in the dining room. I even pulled out the fine china. I used the dozen roses that David gave me for Valentine's Day as a centerpiece. Lydia was so excited about a candlelight dinner, soft music and fancy dishes that she put on an old ballet costume and "dressed up". She was practicing her best manners during dinner. She was so cute.

On Tuesday night David and I went to the Carolina -Wake Forest basketball game. We had a post Valentine's/pre birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory at Southpoint. The food was good and the Heels won! Today is my 38th birthday and all my girls had cute things made for me this morning.

This is from Madeline. It's a coupon for breakfast in bed and babysitting Margo & Lydia and getting them ready! She wanted me to use it this morning, but we were rushing around trying to get ready for school and I had to get to the gym by 8:30 for a class. At the top of the coupon it says : Your a 38 year old. You zumba girl. I love this little coupon. Much better than the note about moving out!!!

Here is my beautiful butterfly card from Lydia. She worked so diligently on it last night and made sure I didn't see it....she was hiding it behind her back when she asked me if she could have an envelope. Today is also her teacher's birthday. She also made her the perfect birthday card!

And last but not least, a card from Margo. She had so many stickers on it that she had actually stickered shut the card! I had to take those off to open to card, only to find more stickers on the inside!

I have had a good day. The weather is gorgeous and Margo and I spent lots of time outside this morning. I have received so many birthday wishes on facebook. By noon I had received close to 100 birthday greetings. Every time I check my phone, I have another message or post from someone!

I think we will have a family birthday outing tonight. I am thankful for my many blessings, especially my family!

O Happy Day!

2011-02-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

Our entire family is rejoicing today because we have the most wonderful news! AVERY IS HOME!!!! Avery is our niece who was born at 26 weeks gestation and weighed 1 lb., 8 oz. She has been in the NICU for 100 days! Overall, she had a really good NICU course, especially for her size and gestation. On Saturday, we got in one last visit at the hospital with her. She is such a big girl now! I loved holding her. She gave me lots of smiles. I'm sure it was probably gas, but it made me feel good anyway to see her smiling!

David got to visit too. He said she was wide awake for most of his visit. I'd say he looks like he's had a little experience holding little girls!

Avery has come a long way! In this picture she was just a few days old and her little hand barely covered the tip of my pinkie. She is now just three tenths of an ounce away from 5 lbs. Isnt' that amazing? Avery's story is not my story to tell. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to leave your little baby at the hospital for over 3 months and ride the NICU roller coaster. Of course, the neonatal nurse in me is VERY familiar with what Avery has been through. But what her parents have been through....NO WAY! Catherine has been so incredibly strong throughout this whole ordeal and I know it must feel surreal to her to actually be bringing Avery home.

You may remember when I blogged here and here about her. If you lifted her up in prayer even just one time, or checked in on her carepage to see her progress, I want to say THANK YOU! Avery had outstanding medical care but she also had lots and lots of prayers going up every day. Their journey certainly doesn't end now. And I would ask that you continue to keep Avery and her family in your prayers as they adjust to having her at home with her big sister, Caroline. Avery is so very blessed! In my nursing career I have seen many babies like her who were not as fortunate. I am so proud of Avery and have a very special place in my heart for her and only wish the very best for her and her family.

Madeline's Photography

2011-02-03T11:43:00.007-05:00

Madeline got a digital camera for Christmas and she has become quite the little shutterbug! I was looking at her pictures because I was going to post some from a recent Girl Scout event. When I started looking at all of the pictures, I thought it would be neat to share them with my blog followers. The above picture of Margo was taken at the mall in one of the pretend spaceships. I think this is pretty good photography for a third grader!

Cousin Brayden on Christmas day.

Not sure of the set up here....I'm guessing they're playing hospital.

One of the MANY pics of Annie that I found on her camera!

Madeline loves turning the camera on herself and doing a self-portrait. There were tons of these on her camera too. This one was at Marbles Museum with the Girl Scouts.

Madeline was right there like the paparazzi snapping away the night that Lydia lost her first tooth!

Brownie Troop 3614 at Marbles Museum Sleepover a few weeks ago.

Their troop slept in the hockey rink. Madeline said the floor was hard, but they still had fun.

puppies at the museum

Madeline with her good friend, Reagan.

$$$$.....This doesn't surprise me that she took a picture of a dollar. Madeline is a saver and very financially conscious!

Her Lincoln Logs creation :-)

Cousin Caroline on New Year's Eve. It's a little hard to see, but she's holding a lizard in this pic!

Margo at Build-A-Bear...notice the guy in line smiling for the pic too!

Lanie, Madeline's American Girl doll

Annie, Lydia, Mommy, & Margo

Loving Family dollhouse

snow the day after Christmas 2010

The End!

Hope you enjoyed her pictures.

Lydia's Tooth

2011-01-26T21:52:00.002-05:00

Lydia lost her first tooth on Monday night. It had been loose for a few weeks. Right before bedtime, she showed me how loose it was. It was pretty much horizontal when she wiggled it. I could see the root sticking out . It must have been hanging on by a teeny tiny piece of gum tissue. In the picture above she is inspecting it in the mirror.

She played around with it for about 30 minutes. She wanted to pull it by herself, but couldn't quite get the job done. Here she is with a tiny piece of paper towel to help her get a grip on the tooth. After all the dilly-dallying I decided to "help" her. I knew we would be up all night if we kept waiting on her to pull it. So I suggested that she let me help her put the paper towel on her tooth in just the right spot (all the while knowing if I ever got that close to the tooth, it was coming out)!

Enjoy the video below!!!!!

Nothing like some good Lydia DRAMA, huh?!?!?

Proudly showing off her tooth and her new smile :-)

I can always count on Lydia to give me a crazy pose! I must say the most drama was immediately after the tooth was pulled. I really thought she would be crying and hysterical during the whole process, but she did great! Now that we've been through the first loose tooth, maybe the next one will not be too bad.

I tried.....

2011-01-18T21:46:00.007-05:00

We had a family gathering on Sunday and I tried to get a good picture of all the little Grimes cousins sitting on Grandma's stairs. Thanks to Great Aunt Jackie for providing entertainment at the bottom of the stairs as I clicked away. Oh well.... I really wasn't expecting to get a great picture. I'm just happy we got them all to sit for a few minutes. We can't have them all sit AND look at the camera, now can we?!? We will still enjoy looking back on these pictures though. And we will be glad when little Avery can join in the photos, fun and chaos :-)

Flashback Friday :: The Beach

2011-01-14T13:08:00.002-05:00

With all the winter weather we've had lately, I've been thinking about warmer weather. Even though the sun is shining today, it's still cold! David just told me last night that he booked our week at the beach in July! That's six months away, but it will be here before we know it. Time is flying and my babies are growing up right before my eyes! This picture was taken the summer of 2008 and Margo was 7 weeks old.

Our Disney Vacation

2011-01-10T23:34:00.018-05:00

We spent last week at Disney World. We had a fun-filled week and packed a lot into each day. We walked and walked and walked..... Our last trip to Disney was in January of 2008. This time around we knew what to expect and knew the layouts of the parks and were familiar with such things as the transportation systems and other Disney tidbits. That really made this trip flow very smoothly! One added extra about this trip was that all the Christmas decorations were still up and they were still playing Christmas music. Everything was so pretty, especially at night. The crowds were not bad at all. There was an influx of runners and their families towards the end of the week for the annual Disney 5k, half marathon, and marathon. I think David now has his sights set on a Disney Marathon/Vacation for our next trip. LOL!

This was Margo's first trip to Disney and her first time flying (she was in utero the last trip). Here she is pulling her Minnie Mouse suitcase in the airport.

She did great flying. She was a chatty Cathy both to and from Disney. We kept her entertained with snacks, toys, and DVDs.

Our three girls heading to Breakfast at Cinderella Castle. We had a 9am reservation and had to arrive early....before the park opened. It was really neat walking down Main Street USA with no crowds. It felt like we were the only people in the park. That was a really neat experience and a great time to take pictures.

Here's Margo meeting her favorite princess, Snow White, or as she says, "No White". Margo loved all the characters, but was very shy when it came time to meet them. I think that's half a smile on her face in the above picture. She never took her eyes off of Snow White during the breakfast. As for all the other characters like Mickey and Minnie, she loved pointing them out and always wanted to see them, but wasn't too fond of having her picture taken with them. This actually worked to our advantage because we didn't have to stand in super-long lines. We could just do a walk-by and she was happy! Margo insisted on wearing her Snow White dress almost every day. It would usually come off after a couple of hours and then a few hours later she would ask to put it back on. She even started saying, " I not Margo. I No White."

Lydia sporting her Minnie Mouse ears. Lydia had a great time! She remembered everything from the last trip. And we were worried that she was too young for Disney three years ago. Her favorite ride is still the Haunted Mansion. She also loved the Tower of Terror and I even got to ride Space Mountain with her. Last time I rode that ride I was thirteen. Yeah....25 years ago!

I just love this picture of Madeline and Lydia. They look genuinely happy and despite all the bickering and sibling rivalry, they do love each other!

We rode lots of rides :-)

We spent a day at Epcot, touring lots of different countries. Madeline especially liked this because she had a passport book that she got stamped in each country. She also had a special greeting and her name written in her book in each country's language. Madeline lived up to her role as "Mother Madeline". She was a big help with Margo, especially during diaper changes in the Disney bathrooms. She also helped us keep a tight reign on Lydia, often shouting, "Come on Lydia, you're gonna get lost!"

We dined with the characters. Here are the girls with Minnie Mouse at Chef Mickey's.

Margo's favorite roller coaster: Goofy's Barnstormer. I think we lost count of how many times we rode this ride. As soon as the ride was over, Margo would say, "I wanna do it again!" One night we were riding and I looked over and saw both of her little arms stretched high in the air. I guess she was doing what she saw her sisters doing in the car in front of her. I quickly yelled for David to snap a picture.

All that fun can wear out a princess!
Margo took lots of stroller naps. On our last day in the parks, Margo slept for 2 hours straight through two of the noisiest attractions: an outdoor stunt show with cars with LOUD revving motors and The Great Movie Ride with LOUD movie clips. I think irregular naps throughout the week finally caught up with her.

This is the giant three-story Big Wheel that was outside our hotel building. Notice Margo sitting in the rear tire! We stayed at the Pop Century Resort. The property is full of over sized icons representing all decades from the 1950s through the 1990s.

Here are Madeline and Lydia next to the Play-Doh can after a little swimming. The girls really loved all the icons. There was also a Mickey Mouse phone, Rubik's cube and permanent Twister game located outside.

Epcot photo

With Mickey at Hollywood Studios

With Buzz & Woody from Toy Story

We had a great time at Disney. Being there is kind of like being in a time warp. The time just flies by and at the end of each day, a hotel bed has never felt so good. We were exhausted by the end of the week and were actually looking forward to coming home. We managed to make it through the week with no major meltdowns or drama. The only bump in the road was the dead battery in our van awaiting us at the airport. Oh, well... it could always be worse! We are grateful for a vacation spent making memories and thank the Lord for watching over us and arriving home safe and sound.

There's no place like home!

The End of 2010

2010-12-31T22:14:00.005-05:00

I asked my family for a quick pic for the blog and this is what I got! This pretty much sums up our life.....wild 'n crazy, chaotic, loud, funny, and full of LOVE. I love my family and am thankful for another year filled with many blessings. This picture was taken about an hour ago. Margo's now asleep and I'm gonna let the big girls stay up to ring in the new year with me. David's going to bed because he's working tomorrow. This is the first New Year's Eve night that I haven't worked in several years. Here's wishing everyone a Happy 2011.

Here are some highlights of our 2010:
January: Easing into 2010 after the holidays. Gina had a much needed girls weekend with Kelly and Robin. We got snow at the end of the month.
February: Our puppy Kramer was killed on the day before my 37th birthday. Later in the month we adopted our sweet, sweet Annie :-)
March: Birthday girls: Lydia turned six and Madeline turned 8 and they had a spa party and sleepover.
April: Easter and David ran his 1st 5K.
May: Hot day at the Ham N Yam. David ran his second 5K. Mother's Day. Dance Recital.
June: Weekend at Camp Don Lee with the Grimes. End of school. VBS. Cousin Caroline turns THREE! David participated in his first triathlon on his 36th birthday. Margo turns TWO!
July: 4th of July neighborhood parade. Find out the girls are gonna have a new cousin! Madeline goes to starter camp at Camp Don Lee. Beach week at Pine Knoll Shores. The girls start 1st and 3rd grades.
August: David participates in his second triathlon. The girls attend their first concert (Brad Paisley) with us at Walnut Creek.
September: Lydia starts piano lessons. Children's choir resumes at church. Camping at Lake Gaston...Annie's 1st camping trip.
October: Madeline starts violin lessons at school. Family camping trip to the mountains and Biltmore. David and I celebrate 13 years of marriage :-) Cousin Brayden turns TWO. Our niece and cousin, Avery, is born at 26 weeks.
November: School and activities are in full swing. I met Avery for the first time. Spent Thanksgiving with the Grimes/Gammons families in Wake Forest.
December: Girls play piano at Festival of Trees. Breakfast with Santa. Madeline misses being in Christmas parade with Brownies because she's sick :-( Children's choir musical. Lydia is Mrs. Claus in school musical. Holiday baking. Lots of excitement in our household. Santa came. Margo gave him her pacis. SNOW the day after Christmas. Cabin fever! PJ days. Visiting with Avery and her family.

White {day after} Christmas

2010-12-28T22:00:00.006-05:00

We had a very merry Christmas and hope you did too. We had a snowy WHITE day after Christmas! The weatherman got this one right!!!

We got close to a foot of snow. That's ALOT for us here in NC! The girls had fun playing in the snow. Margo wasn't too fond of the snow since she kept falling down in it.....so, we pulled her around in the wagon. It was more like a sled once the snow got built up on the wheels.

She was happiest in Mama's arms.

Madeline was lovin' this snow. Look at that ginormous snowball.

Later in the day, the girls got in some sledding.

On Monday the girls and I built a Carolina girl snowwoman! Then we spent the rest of the day inside. I took down decorations and the girls played with all their new toys.

I'm happy to report that Margo gave her pacis to Santa and has done GREAT! Here's a picture of her putting them in her stocking for Santa on Christmas Eve. I think she was pretty happy with what he gave her in return for those pacis. She was so distracted on Christmas day with toys and chocolate and excitement that it really wasn't even an issue.

After loading up the pacis, we gave Margo a candy cane and the girls listened to David read The Night Before Christmas.

Christmas morning....checking out their gifts from Santa! The girls also opened some presents from mommy & daddy and then we had one last present for them. They had to do a scavenger hunt to get the present. We had the girls going all over the house looking for clues. They loved it.

And here they are opening the final gift! It was a cake that said:

Yes, it's true! They were pretty excited about this gift. We are beyond blessed and are thankful that we could spend our Christmas holiday with friends and family. I do wish we could've seen our tiniest niece in the NICU, but the weather prevented us from going to see her. But I am super happy to report that as of today, she is officially over 3lbs! We hope to get a visit in soon with her and her family.

Next up: venturing out tomorrow. We're starting to get a little cabin fever :-)

T-2 :: The Paci

2010-12-23T10:14:00.002-05:00

Margo has been in love with her paci since day one! She followed in her sister's footsteps and has loved her Nuk pacifiers. I'm ashamed to say how many pacis we have owned over the last eight years. It has been a source of comfort for her and on many occasions a lifesaver for us and our ears :-)

Well, the time has come to hand over the pacis to Santa. So tomorrow night (if all goes well), Margo will place all of her pacis in her stocking for Santa and he will replace them with toys and goodies. This worked for Madeline and Lydia. So let's just hope the same will work for Margo. We have been talking about it for weeks now and she has even watched the videos of M& L putting their pacis in their stockings on Christmas Eve. Wish us luck, because we would like to get some sleep tomorrow night :-)

Video Clips

2010-12-16T22:01:00.002-05:00

Pause the playlist on the right sidebar to hear some clips from Sunday night's Children's Choir musical. Lydia did her solo and at the end there was a slight delay in one of her words. She said, "Mama, I had spit in my mouth and it was gonna come out if I didn't swallow, so that's why I couldn't sing that part." You'll also see Madeline in action spelling one of her words.

Santa and Musicals

2010-12-15T14:48:00.009-05:00

Our church had Breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning. Madeline and Lydia did not hesitate to hop in his lap and tell them their wish lists.

Margo, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with him!

On Sunday night our Children's Choir performed The Christmas County Spelling Bee. They have been practicing for this since September and they did an outstanding job! The storyline was a spelling bee where children spelled all the different names of Jesus, such as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, etc. Madeline was one of the main characters, Amanda Allen. She did a great job. Madeline is not as outspoken as Lydia in public, so I'm really proud of her for doing so well with this part. She spoke clearly and knew every one of her lines. She didn't seem nervous at all.

Lydia was Bella McDoubt and a shepherd lady. Here she is singing a solo to Wonderful Counselor. She did a great job, too!

Madeline as Amanda and Nathan as Ferris in a tie-breaker for the spelling bee....writing down their words.

Amanda and Ferris were both winners because you can spell Emmanuel with an "E' or an "I". They became Mary and Joseph in the nativity scene.

I'm sure little mother Madeline was right at home holding Baby Jesus!

Last night Lydia was Mrs. Claus in her school musical, The Littlest Christmas Tree.

Grandma's reading glasses perfected the look!

Now with the apron on, she is ready to perform!

Mrs. Claus with Santa.

Saying her lines! She loves the stage and a microphone! (big surprise)

Decorating the littlest Christmas tree. The little girl who played this part could SING!

This was a really cute program and Lydia was pretty excited about being Mrs. Claus.

With Lydia's performance in church on Sunday night, last night as Mrs. Claus and the little girl drama that occurred when I was fixing her hair prior to the musical last night (which I must say was Oscar worthy), Lydia just might have a future on the stage.

'Tis the Season.....

2010-12-06T15:51:00.005-05:00

This past weekend the girls had a piano performance at The Festival of Trees at the Medical Mall.

Here they are waiting for their turn.

Next up: Lydia

This was her first performance in public! She did great. She played Good King Wenceslas. She loves piano lessons. Her teacher, Mr. Buddy, introduced her as a very lively child who usually stands during her piano lessons!

Madeline played Jingle Bells.

A family picture in our festive church clothes before heading out the door on Sunday morning. All three girls are looking at the camera! Or I should say the Santa ornament that I hung right under the camera on the tripod!

Somehow we were chosen again this year to light the Advent Candle for the second Sunday of Advent. Last year during the reading, Margo grabbed the microphone and yelled "MINE". This year she just sat on my hip and waved at Grandma in the choir loft :-) In the above picture, Lydia helps David light the candles.

Madeline read some scripture and did an excellent job!

One weekend down and a few more busy ones to go......Fa-la-la-la-la.......

Below is a clip of the girls playing their Christmas songs. The first bit is pretty shaky because I was holding Margo while videotaping.

Pause the playlist and enjoy!

Something to Think About

2010-12-03T09:05:00.003-05:00

I saw this on facebook and thought it was great. Happy Friday everyone. Will post pictures soon :-)

pause the playlist on the right sidebar before watching this

Photo Shoot with Margo

2010-11-21T14:33:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I took Miss Margo outside for some pictures. A few weeks ago when Leslie was sharing Brayden's 2 year pics with me, I realized I never got Margo's 2yr. pictures done. Well, now she's close to two and a half. Oh, well....better late than never.

In this pic, she's telling me to "shhhhhh, be chiet".

Cris-cross, applesauce.

In the dogwood tree....should've known that would bring a smile.

Fun, fun!

Piggy tails out.

Sweet girl....she's a mess!

I did a Christmas card photo shoot with all the girls yesterday afternoon and I think I got some pretty good shots. It's really tough trying to get all three to cooperate at the same time. And no, we have not put up our Christmas decorations. Nor have I bought the first Christmas gift. BUT.....I did decorate my blog for Christmas.

National Prematurity Awareness Day

2010-11-17T00:30:00.006-05:00

This is a picture of my tiny little niece, Avery, holding my pinkie finger. Avery was born two and a half weeks ago at 26 weeks gestation and weighed 1 lb. 8 oz. I met her last week for the first time :-)

I pray for her every day, usually several times a day. Her parents are riding the NICU roller coaster right now.

If you want to get an idea of what the NICU is all about, tune in to Discovery Health today. They are re-airing the docu-drama called NICU that originally aired this summer. This show follows real-life families of premature infants and the roller coaster of emotions that they encounter at some of the country's top NICUs. It shows the day-to-day care required to sustain the smallest of lives and how doctors and nurses work around the clock to ensure the survival of their tiny patients. ( This info. was taken directly from their website).

November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness for prematurity. I am participating in Bloggers Unite to promote awareness for prematurity by:

1. posting their badge on my blog ---see upper right hand corner. Below the bloggers unite badge is one I just created for Avery. You can post it to your blog too...the code is underneath.

2. asking you to visit this website AND

3. blogging about someone I love

I have been a neonatal nurse for over 15 years and now I am an aunt to a premature infant, so this is something that is near and dear to my heart. I have seen so many incredible advances in neonatal medicine and technology during my nursing career. I can only imagine what the future holds. Help promote awareness today. If you blog, add the badge to your blog. If you are on Facebook, join this group or this one. There are ways to support your local NICU such as knitting or crocheting premie/newborn caps or participating in Project Linus. Take some snacks or goodies to the parent/family lounge or waiting room of your local NICU. Volunteer to cook a meal at your local Ronald McDonald House. Make a donation to the March of Dimes. It is through funded research that the March of Dimes has saved the lives of thousands of babies from such things as the PKU test to Nitric Oxide to surfactant therapy (which my little niece received).

And last but not least, offer your prayers and support for the families of these precious little babies.

Margo Reads to Branson

2010-11-10T15:06:00.005-05:00

Here is a video of Margo reading her favorite book to her friend Branson. See if you can hear her reading the part about Grover's mommy being a "mechanical genius". I also love when she and Branson are picking out Cookie Monster, Elmo, and Grover on the pages. She's such a bossy little thing, telling Branson, "no that's a balloon" after he says it's a ball. Pause the playlist on the right sidebar to hear the story. You can also double click directly on the video (center) or either in the lower right hand corner to enlarge the video. Enjoy!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-05T12:05:00.007-04:00

The girls had a very busy week last week with all of the Halloween festivities. We had our Fall Festival at church, classroom parties, dress up for piano and dance lessons, trick-or-treating, and a Girl Scout function! Whew!!!!

Margo was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, or as she likes to say, "Darfy". She was so proud of those ruby red slippers!

Lydia was Princess Leia from Star Wars. Her costume was fun to put together and cheap! We got the robe and belt from the Salvation Army. I loved fixing her hair for this. Those side buns were just too cute on her!

Madeline was the Wicked Witch of Johnston County! HaHa! She was originally going to be the Wicked Witch of the West to go along with Margo's costume, but at the last minute decided on a new name!

The girls put a Halloween bandanna on Annie. She was not too happy about that!

We went over to see Brayden and barely got to his house for all the cars and trick-or-treaters! OMG, their neighborhood must have been the hot spot in JoCo!

We ended the night by meeting up with the Coats and Miuras for some more trick-or-treating and a delicious meal cooked by Kelly's mom! We've been doing this for three or four years now. It's the adults' favorite part of Halloween! That chicken and pastry was soooo yummy!

Faith, Lauren and Lydia....all born just a few months apart. They are growing up!

On Sunday Madeline's Brownie Troop went to the Carolina House to play Halloween Bingo with the residents and serve refreshments. The girls really enjoyed this and interacted so well with the residents. We even got to witness a fight between a couple of the residents.......a lady started throwing her bingo chips at a man sitting across from her. Of course, this happened at the table where Madeline was helping. Madeline talked about this for days and even journaled about it at school!

Oh, how I wish we still had some of this cookie cake. It was sooooo good. Madeline won this at the cakewalk at the Fall Festival at church. She was so excited because she was the very first winner on the cakewalk and she had her pick of all the cakes. I think she made a great choice!

Avery update: My sister-in-law, Catherine, is now home and doing much better. Avery, my tiny little niece, is stable in the NICU. I talked with Catherine yesterday and she got to hold Avery for the first time! Keep the prayers coming!

Praying

2010-10-31T08:18:00.004-04:00

Yesterday morning my new little niece was born at 26 weeks. Both mama and baby are stable now, but it's been a rocky week for my sister-in-law. I cannot stop thinking about and praying for them and I would ask that you please lift this entire family up in prayer.

Phone Pics

2010-10-29T22:40:00.004-04:00

I was scrolling through the pictures on my phone the other day and realized there are so many. I decided I would post some of my favorites. These are Halloween luminaries the girls and I made recently.

Margo and cousin Caroline. I love this picture of them.

Margo "driving" while we wait for the girls at piano lessons.

Our 13th anniversary dinner at the Angus Barn.

Lydia trying on masks at Wal-Mart.

Madeline is now taking violin lessons at school. She just got her violin last week and is so excited!

Sweet Annie keeping Margo company during nap time.

Sneak peek of Lydia's Halloween hairdo. Guess who?

Paper mache' pumpkin crafts.

Stylin' sisters!

Margo loves to dress up!

Driving Miss Annie

Riding the horsie at Kmart.

Lydia at a birthday party for a classmate last spring.

Fall Mountain Trip

2010-10-22T14:30:00.003-04:00

Two weeks ago we headed to the mountains in western NC for a fun weekend of camping. What was supposed to be a six hour drive turned into about an eight hour trip due to an almost blown-out tire on our camper. Thankfully a driver on I-40 saw that it was about to blow and got our attention so we could pull over and handle it! That delayed us a couple of hours, but we still got to the campground just before nightfall.
We stayed at Black Forest Campground near Cedar Mountain. The weather was absolutely gorgeous that weekend! We were very close to Dupont Forest so we did some hiking and were able to see some beautiful waterfalls.

We even took the girls to a corn maze.

We were at the campground for three nights and we had smores each night for dessert. The Flynns were able to join us for a couple of nights so the girls had some playmates. We also took Annie with us and she did great! She loves camping.

We packed up the camper on that Monday and headed to Asheville. We dropped Annie off at doggie daycare and spent the day (and our 13th wedding anniversary) at Biltmore. The girls loved it and Margo even did well throughout most of the tour. We didn't get kicked out so we consider it a successful trip. We started to head home around 6pm and not even 10 minutes into our departure we were stuck on I-40 for two hours due to an overturned tractor trailer! We ended up getting home around 1am. We'll definitely remember this trip as the one with the delays to and from. But even with the delays it was an awesome trip. I've uploaded all of our pictures to flickr and you can view them here. Enjoy!

How to Delay Bedtime

2010-10-20T13:53:00.005-04:00

Pause the playlist on the right and watch these girls having FUN!!!!! I will be posting pics from our recent camping trip soon.

Bowling

2010-10-06T21:44:00.006-04:00

Monday night was Family Night. We decided to go bowling!

We were surprised they had toddler bowling shoes. Miss Priss was pretty pleased with her shoes. And that big orange ball!

Lydia hamming it up, as usual.

The girls had fun.

We played with the bumper rails up. It's a good thing.

Otherwise, there would have been quite a few gutter balls!

Margo needed some assistance.

She loved it! She got so excited when the pins were knocked down.

She was a wild woman that night....running all over the place.

It was a fun family outing.

Here's a video clip of Margo bowling:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

THE B-I-B-L-E

2010-09-30T12:24:00.003-04:00

Margo loves to sing. Lately she has been singing the B-I-B-L-E. When she sings, she actually says, the B-I-B-I-B!!!! I've been trying to get it on video for a few weeks now. Finally, I captured it on my phone, so the quality is not that great, but it's still cute. Pause the playlist on the right sidebar and enjoy!