Southward Bound

We were thrilled to hear John's parents were going to take a vacation to one of those sunny states for a couple of weeks this winter.  We were even more excited their first stop was to spend a night with us!

Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed seeing a few of the grand kids...feelings were mutual!

Jackie spent some time with Grandma putting together puzzles.

Gwen discovered a new fondness of Grandpa.  She doesn't look exactly thrilled in the picture, but she really had a fun time interacting with him. She even sat on his lap a couple of times.  This is pretty huge for Gwen...if any of you know her!

Safe travels to Grandpa and Grandma Kennedy!  May the sunny, warm weather follow you wherever you go!

Bed Head

I love that Jackie is starting to draw pictures.  I also love how she is so literal.  Today she asked me, "Mom, do you know what bed head is?"  I said, "Yes, it's when your hair is all messy from getting out of bed."  Jackie replies, "No mom...here I'll draw it for you."  This is what she drew...a head sticking out of a bed.  I was then instructed to write it down in words beside her picture.  Love that girl. 

Kicking You When You are Down

This is what happens when you do a nose-dive on the cement.  Poor thing!  Shots yesterday, getting molars..now a big ol' scraped up face to go along with it.  Luckily she has no image complex yet and we have no pictures scheduled in the next couple of days!

18 Month Checkup

It's safe to say my baby is slowly becoming, "not a baby" anymore.  She proves it every day as she acts, talks and moves like any other little girl.  In the last couple of weeks, it's hit me more and more. 

Her vocabulary is growing by the minute.  The words of the week are "no" and "mine," used in context.  I wish she wasn't so darn cute when she says them.  Other words include: baby, ball, bubbles, mommy, daddy, Jackie, puppy, go, car, help me, all done, cookie, cracker, and she tries to say crocodile.  She knows her animal sounds and most of her major body parts. 

She still loves to climb, especially on top of furniture....but has yet to attempt her crib (keeping fingers crossed on this one!)  She does the stairs like a champ, up and down.  She loves to imitate everything her big sister does.  She also has a pretty good imitation of John pretending to swing a golf club.  Another new thing is finding her and Jackie playing together in one of their rooms.  They are always really busy at something when I go to check in on them. 

She's pretty much your average 18 month old.  I took her in for her check up today and she received her last two shots until she's ready for Kindergarten!  Considering she's getting her bottom molars and she has never done great with shots...it could be a fun couple of days. 

Her stats:
Height: 32 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 22lbs 7oz (25th percentile)

Happy 1.5

Happy 18 months to Gwen today!  We celebrated by going to "Mother Goose Rhyme Time" at the library.  We're crazy like that!  

Chewy Granola Bars

I don't typically post recipes on my blog, but I found a winner here!  Every since Gwen had an allergic reaction to peanut butter, I've been reading labels carefully.  My girls love granola bars, unfortunately like every granola bar out there either a) has peanuts or peanut butter in them, or b) was processed right along side peanuts/peanut butter.  Since we don't know the severity of her allergy yet...I've been determined to find my own granola bar recipe that I don't have to worry about swelling lips, cheeks and full body hives!  I found one and it's a winner.  The recipe was originally from allrecipes.com, but I tweaked it a bit...so I guess I can call it my own.  (I know some people are weird about that...please don't turn me into the patent police or anything.)

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 to 2 cups raisins

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease 9x13 inch pan. 
2) In large mixing bowl combine all ingredients until all dry ingredients are moist.
3) Lightly press mixture into prepared pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes, or until they start to turn golden at the edges.  Lightly press down in pan and let cool for 10 min, then cut into bars.  Let bars cool completely before removing or serving.  (But really, they taste pretty yummy when they are still a little warm ;)

Confused

The trees in our backyard are slightly confused by the mild winter we've been having.  They have buds already!

And so we take advantage of Mother Nature's confusion... to do things like play in the sandbox and draw with sidewalk chalk in January.

Arts and Crafts

The girls love arts and crafts!  This is occurs on a daily basis at our house.   

Party Animals!

I have to admit...I'm suffering a bit from the "after the Holidays" lull.  I don't know that I've picked up my camera since the new year!  I just don't have a lot to blog about, so I'll spare you any boring posts for now.  My friend, Kati, over at http://itsallaboutty.blogspot.com, took these pictures from New Year's Eve.  I thought they were cute and had to share!  What a bunch of party animals!!

A Very Mehmen Christmas

We rounded out our Christmas celebrating with a very Mehmen Christmas!  We spent a couple days on the farm with the whole family.  The girls had a blast playing with their cousins, aunts and uncles.  As always, Grandma (my mom) spoiled us with yummy food!  For the first time in many years we had a stress-free drive there and back.  Which means, no white knuckle driving and no counting cars in the ditch to pass the time, while driving at a snail's pace.  We had a great couple of days and it was so good to see everyone. 

Gwen loved the rocking horse...she was a bit of a crazy woman on it though!

Cousin buddies.

The three amigos and Jackie!

All the grandchildren.

Jackie and Austin in hunting hats.

Olivia and Jackie having a little craft time.  These girls could have done this all day long.

My family.

Mom and Dad...thanks for everything!