Thursday, March 31, 2016

The Rest of Spring Break

Valerie decided to stay the week with Chloe and have Michael join them rather than going back to Tallahassee for 4 days.  I can't say that I blame her.  Not to mention, having the week off myself, it was truly a pleasant surprise.  I was able to enjoy their company all day as if it were summer time!  Stephen was good about making sure Levi had time with his cousin.

Valerie did sneak in some shopping adventures with her mom.  She knows shopping is one of my least favorite things to do.  But, she did get some good selfies to share.

Chloe sporting her new ears!



Or maybe she'd rather the hat.



Sneaking into the hallway.  What are you two into???
"Who us?  We're just sitting hear having a chat!"



"I'm ready to go out and watch Grandma rake leaves," thinks Levi. (It was an unusually cool, brisk Monday).

 

Yep, I'm a cool dude.



Once the pile of leaves were ready, Stephen put the kids in the middle.



And wallah!  Instant fun!



Okay, maybe over stimulation.



Levi is proud that he is now able to pull himself up.



A selfie with Auntie Valley.



Levi and Chloe rough housing with Stephen.  Oh the ruckus! What fun!







Grandma went up to the church to do a visual stand and piano check. The Triduum is the busiest time for us choir members.  I had gotten new glasses, and my hunch was correct that I wasn't able to see my music!  Wrong prescription!!! Yikes!   Chloe took it all in.



Then she decided she could sing too.  What a natural!



Finally got a shot of Chloe and Levi together for a half way decent pose.



Easter Sunday brought baskets of treats.



Valerie didn't disappoint us with her crazy eggs.  She laughed all day each time one of us opened one. She is quite the prankster.  She put all the green mint M & M's in one egg, so you think, but sneaked in a green sour sweet tart jelly bean that was exactly the same color as well as a green crunch M & M, and a green peanut M & M.  Boy, my mouth was confused!!

How about the exploding egg?  It was so full that when you opened it, candy flung everywhere!

Oh, and the speckled eggs??  You eat a few of the speckled eggs only to realize, they have turned into malted eggs....no wait...chewing gum!  How's that to confuse you!!!! She is too funny.  We laughed all day long as each of us got our own "surprise".  It coincides with her Facebook post.

And lastly, Levi enjoying his time with Charlotte. (Actually this picture is from a couple weeks ago, but forgot to post.  He did enjoy time with the dog though!)



We had a great Spring Break.  It was good to be able to spend time with the kids and enjoy family. :)
Hope you all had a Happy and Blessed Easter.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Spring Break

Valerie and Chloe came in for a visit.  Valerie's brother was down from Milwaukee to perform at Saratoga Springs, Disney for choir.  She went to watch the competition, and I watched Chloe for the day.

We started off with a visit to the dentist office as I had bonding that needed repair.  Chloe was such a good girl sitting in the chair reading books.  But then, to our surprise, peahens were on property!  She spent the rest of the time gazing out the window saying, "peacocks!"

Well would you believe I just happen to have my camera along, and this picture was taken from the window!!!  Dr. Ferguson told us 2 weeks ago, 30 of them were lined up on the concrete wall, and yesterday a peacock displayed his full array of feathers.  The hygienist showed me her video.  Wow!


When I was done, we went outside around the building for a closer look.


We were disappointed that the peacock wasn't there, but just as we got on the main road, glancing down the side street I spied him!  A quick u-turn and we were able to see him up close.  He didn't display his feathers for us though.  For those familiar with the Orlando area, these peacocks are hanging behind the Target on Goldenrod Road just south of Aloma Ave, and along Restful St.


After this, we went to a park.  Played for a bit, then came home and finger painted.  She was exploring what new colors to make from combining colors.  Such fun to make a mess!


We also did sidewalk chalk, read stories, had some lunch, went grocery shopping.  Then Grandma got a great idea.  Why not dye Easter eggs?


She didn't want to wear the paint shirt.  I told her to be careful not to get the dye on her clothes.  She followed directions very well.



The only dilemma I had was she had gotten some dye on her fingers.  She doesn't like that!  It took me 15 minutes to get it off.  Clinique cleanser came to the rescue.  Whew!  Catastrophe diverted!

I had put pizza in the oven for dinner.  Chloe climbed up in my lap and poor thing...she just couldn't keep her eyes open another minute.  She fell asleep 5 minutes before dinner was ready and there was no waking her up.


Once up Saturday morning, she had her tiara on that they gave her for being such a good girl at the dentist office and tells me, "take a picture".  Sure.  What grandma can resist a face like that!



Levi 8 month photo shoot

Levi is well into his 8th month.  It's just taken me a while to get around to uploading the pictures Amber sent a couple weeks ago.  They must have had an adventurous day because I noticed not only did they have different settings, he had several changes of clothes too!











What a great idea to have him in St. Patrick clothes.














Look into a little child's eyes and there you will see God's love. :)

Watcha doin' ?

This was emailed to us when Stephen and Amber were out and about.  Too cute not to share. :)

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Sailor Chloe

Valerie's mom has a family tradition in that she has photos of her kids in sailor outfits.  It is her goal to get her grandchildren with the same.  Valerie had altered a dress for Chloe, but unfortunately, the timing didn't work out for her family to get together for their pictures.

Chloe was so blasted cute, I thought...with Amber's talents, we could have our own!  Little did we know we'd have our own battles trying to get Chloe to cooperate.  Levi fell asleep (and yes, he was supposed to be in them too as he had his own little outfit). This is a sampling of what we got.  It took tremendous effort just for these.  I can't image what it would have been like in a studio!!!!











I had to get out our snowballs to get Chloe to smile.  She wasn't being very cooperative.  She doesn't like to look at the camera, and can't seem to sit still.  It probably would have been better if we had taken rapid shots and then just took the best of those.  But all challenges put aside, I thought Amber did a fabulous job!  Thanks Amber!







And last...Are we done now?  I've had enough!

The Many Poses of Levi!

Amber forwarded me several adorable pictures of Levi.  They were so cute, just had to share. :)







My personal favorite below. :)





He is just growing leaps and bounds.  Such a happy little tyke. :)