Aunt Kate Comes to Visit

This past week one of my sisters, Kate, was in town.  An International Tax Conference brought her down here, but I would say that no one in her office had to ask her twice if she'd like to attend- "A week in Atlanta with my nieces...I'm in!". 

We made sure to fill our week with as many fun activities as we could possibly squeeze in...

We played at the soft play area at the mall (the first of many rainy day activities while Kate was here)...

We had our nails painted (probably Mia's favorite part of "my aunt's" visit!)...

We played in the sand at Imaginations at Play...

We painted and created pretty pictures with markers (a favorite with Macie D)...

We made beautiful music...

And we, of course, we shopped till we dropped (something my sisters and I do very well together!)!

We had an absolutely fabulous time with Aunt Kate and are so grateful to have had an entire week to spend with her!  Thank you, Kate Marie, for spending a wonderful week with us- the girls night, the dinners, the "late night" talks, and the great laughs have definitely reenergized this mom who has been yearning for a "sister fix".  We love you and miss you already!!!

Celebration

This week began a new adventure in the Robertson household.  On Monday I began taking care of two little kiddos, Cari and Chad, three days a week.  Their parents are friends of ours and were seeking out new childcare due to the fact that their old sitter had moved out of the Atlanta area.  I was delighted at the prospect of watching these little sweeties!  M and M have enjoyed many playdates with them, especially this summer, and I knew the girls would love sharing their home with our friends. 

We spent this week getting into the "swing of things" and celebrating this new beginning!  On Tuesday Cari brought over party hats, so we threw a birthday party for Macie's Monks!  What better way to celebrate than with party hats, "birthday cake", and a little singing! 

Welcome to the Robertson Craziness, Cari and Chad!!  We're so excited to have you here. :) 

Smoothie Time

There was a great sale on strawberries this week so we stocked up!  The girls love this yummy fruit so I decided we should freeze a container of them.  We took a portion of this container, along with bananas, peaches, and plain yogurt, to create smoothie packets.  So now when the girls are in the mood for a tasty treat to cool them off, all we have to do is grab a packet from the freezer, put it all in the blender, and in no time the sweet smoothie will be ready to taste!!  We sampled one this afternoon after a morning at the pool (H-O-T!)... and I think they were a big hit! 

  Here's the ingredients we put into each freezer bag.

Yummy!! 

March, March, March

March, March, March.  March to the beat of the drum!  Mia and Macie spent the morning at the Old Soliders Day Parade (B and I joined them too :) )...it was their first parade ever!  Now to most moms, this would be fairly anticlimactic, but for this mom, well, it was pretty darn exciting.  As a little history, I spent my early childhood in a very small town in Southeast Michigan.  And if you know anything about small towns, you know that there is ALWAYS a reason to have a parade....4th of July, Santa Coming to Town, Johnny Smith got an A on his spelling test, maybe Uncle Claude having the best crop to date....there is always a reason. :)  So needless to say, my sisters and I were parade pros by the time we could walk.  My sisters even got right into the mix of the marching celebrations by joining the local baton twirling association (oh yeah, Keds with nylons and all!).  If you ask our cousins who would often come for a visit from the "big city", they would tell you if they came to Saline, there would be a parade involved, no questions asked.


So when I discovered we were going to be home to attend this particular parade, I jumped all over it!  Surely, my girls would love parades as much as their mom and aunts did growing up!!  As I had hoped, they LOVED it!!

Enjoying a little breakfast as they await the start of the big event! 

Here they come!!!!

She loved the Marching Bands.

She was in awe of all the loud noises.

They both enjoyed the thrill of running after candy that fell from the sky. 

Mia, taking in the spectacle of it all.  Macie, hoarding her sweet finds. :)

Motorcycles everywhere and she loved pointing and waving to them. 

It was a special morning shared with both my girls.  They will probably never know how much it meant to have them next to me as I watched my childhood pass in front of me, as I savored this moment with them, observing my girls doing what I had done with my sisters all those years ago. 

Paint Bags

Once in a while Mia will wake up a bit before her little sis, which allows us to have a a few special minutes to spend together.  This was the case this afternoon; we were able to use our Paint Bags for the first time. 

To make them (super easy):  
In whatever sized Ziploc you prefer, squeeze in equal parts of finger paint and washable paint.  Mix it together and seal it up.  For added "protection" from leakage, tape the top together. 

Once they are made, it's time to have some fun!  I got out some letter cards and we practiced writing letters (our favorite ones :) ): 

 We also played a letter naming game (I pick a letter and say it then Mia does the same thing), as well as spelling other special people's names.  It was tons of fun spending some time working on our handwriting and letter recall!  Can't wait to do it again soon! 

When Little Sis woke up, Big Sis requested a photo with her partner in crime.  Here it is: 

...And boy, am I happy she had this idea- I LOVE this shot of them (it's a rarity to get them both looking and smiling at the camera!). 

Let's Make Pancakes

Breakfast has become a bit of a challenge with a certain 17 month old; Macie is not a fan of most breakfast foods.  Now this is something new because previously she would eat just about anything as her first meal- and lots of it, at that.  So for the past month or so I have been experimenting with new foods, "reinvented" foods, most of the time relying on my fall-back, Nutrigrain Bars (healthy right?!). 

You may remember that last year I used to spend a weekend morning about once a month making large supplies of various flavored pancakes.  I haven't done this in a long while so thought, "What do I have to lose?  Let's see if Macie will eat homemade pancakes since she won't eat the store bought ones to save her life".  (Mia is a fan of pancakes and cooking anything, so I knew this would be a hit in her book).  

I gathered all we needed and this morning we went to work making two batches of pancakes- blueberry and banana.  

I called in my two chefs and we got right to work...

 

Viola! 

The result of our efforts.... 

  

...rave reviews by both hungry girls! 

With the remaining flapjacks, we wrapped them up in single serving sizes, put them in a Ziploc, and stuck them in the freezer for future morning meals (And in the hopes that Little M will eat them and not pass them along to the dog awaiting any morsel of food that drops from her tray! :)  ). 

Cloudy Day Solution

This Monday Mr. Weatherman had predicted a cloudy, overcast kind of day, so I thought it would be a fantastic day to head to Catch Air.  This place is the coolest!  It is an inflatable activity center but it has alot more for kids of all ages to do other than inflatables...

There is an oversized Lego area,

a light-up dance floor,

a place to trap in your children...or multiple climbing structures, whichever term you prefer :),

it even has it's own workout facility!

(The girls bench pressed some "heavy" weights, ran on the treadmill, and worked up a sweat on the eliptical). 

As a mom, there we many highights too.  It was clean (smelled clean, looked clean, and I even saw employees cleaning up some of the equipment while we were there), it was a place where the girls could run around wherever they wanted, all the while knowing the whole place was pretty much safe and padded (but never fear Macie D still managed to get a bruise on her cheek- where there is a will there is a way- is what Macie would say!), and best of all both M and M asked to leave- not because they weren't having fun, but because they were TIRED!  Needless to say, the car ride home was very peaceful- yet another highlight of this mom's morning. 

I do have to mention though, as I was busy being Mom, I had this "feeling" brewing around inside of me.  Today was not only a cloudy, Catch Air-kind of day, but also the day I would have been headed back to work.  As I thought about what I would have been doing had I gone back to work this year, I glanced around at all the other moms there.  I thought, "This is it.  I am here, where I have wanted to be for years.  I am with my kids, providing them with fun, enrichment, and an opportunity for socialization, instead of being at work."  Today, as I see it, is officially the first day of my new career.  I can now call myself a Stay-At-Home Mom.  It is with this statement, coupled with the fun morning I shared with my girls, that this day, no matter how it may appear outside, is nothing but bright and sunny in my heart and mind!