Relay Time!

Fine motor skills practice, anyone?  Mollye loved it!

The game- nothing hard; in fact I would say very simple- transfer water from one bucket to another.  The object- using only the sponge take the bucket full of water and make it empty.  The bucket which was empty will now be full.  Do all this while running as fast as you can! Mollye's favorite part was the running fast!

Love this shot!!!



Oh, Mollye dear, how I wish I could play these games with you everyday! No worries though. Mommy has lots of fun Fall activities planned.

Missing these two!!!

So several weeks ago we were able to keep our two sweet nephews! Everyone had a blast! I was the lucky one who got to go pick them up, and boy oh boy were they excited to come home with me! They laughed and talked the entire way back to our house! Mollye was right there with them! It actually made me think that one day I might like to have three of them permanently in my backseat, but then again there are days that I think I just need my one and only! Ha!

Adam and I decided to do as much as possible in the short time that we had them! Adam started our weekend off by building the boys a fire and letting them make their own smores.  They loved this! They even stayed outside with Uncle Adam and told ghost stories about the scary kitten while Mollye and I headed in for bath. 

The next day the boys, Mollye, and myself all went to the train museum.  This was only after we stopped off to let Uncle Adam by everyone new sunglasses! They loved that special treat! Check out the fun that these kids had playing and looking at the trains!

After that we headed home for lunch and nap because there was a huge surprise waiting for them that night.  The boys were so excited that they could hardly sleep. I might have even had to lay down the law about nap time in order for them to get some rest, but they happily obliged and went to sleep in hopes that night time/surprise time would arrive quicker. 

After nap, we did some fun playing in the yard before off the boys went with Uncle Adam and Grandma Harvey (long story on the name!). Where do you ask? No other redneck, boy place than that of the - TRACTOR PULL!!!

I would like to call this a very fun-filled weekend! I am ready for another weekend with these sweet boys and their mama! Meg, this must be planned soon!

Fall has offically arrived!!

So it does not really feel like Fall, but based on the calendar Fall is HERE!!! I just hope the weather starts agreeing soon.  We have decorations out, pumpkin smelled candles throughout the house, and even the Fall crafts have started! Now, if I could just get my husband to finish cutting out those pumpkins he promised! Oh well hopefully he will finish tonight. 

My new goal is three days a week to have some craft for Mollye to do when we get home.  This week we did two with the letter M, and one for Fall!! Nothing big.  We read  a book about leaves changing and simply painted leaves.  I made Mollye use the book to pick the colors for her leaves.  She was quick to grab orange, brown, and yellow.  As the painting continued she convinced me that we had to have red and green! I hesitated on green, but she is correct today the leaves are still mostly green.  In her words it went like this, "Momma, NO, GREEN! GREEN. Leaf green!! Look Momma, GREEN!" Hard to argue with the fact that she was smart enough to make me look outside at the leaves.  I gave in and we added green!

Notice our big girl panties... also something we are working on!!! So far we have stayed dry two afternoons, but yesterday we got Minnie wet.  As Mollye would say: Sorry Minnie.

Finished product. Mommy proudly hung it on the frig:

Hope everyone has a happy Fall! I know this family will! More crafts and fun times to come!

Back in the day!

I was adding photos from an old camera this morning.  So... I thought it would be a perfect day to give you a picture of Mollye "back in the day." Aka- last year!!!

She has grown lots! For one check out the hair!!! She may be bigger and louder, but her love for candy still remains the same!!!

OCD

I am worried! I ask is this normal behavior of a two year old? I feel Mollye is a little too OCD.  This is what she does with play dough.  She even commented on how there were not enough purple balls.  Just tonight she made me turn around because I was not facing the normal way during our bedtime songs.  Please tell me this is normal.  If not, tell me how to break the bad habit now! Off to ponder my OCD child... I have to excuse her as I know it is me from whom she gets this trait.

Call me mom/teacher!

I just can't help it. I guess it is the teacher in me, but I am in love with playing educational games with Mollye! She is such the sponge right now soaking in every ounce of knowledge that she can.  She can now count to fifteen, has number correspondence with items up to ten, sings her ABC's, and can even match letters and numbers.

This first game was made up on the spot.  Mollye likes to color coordinate her magnetic ABC's.  She had taken them all down and put them on the floor to start her sorting.  I decided to take her crayons and write down different letters then send her in to find the correct match.  I had no idea if she could do this or not, but GUESS WHAT! She CAN!!! We made it to e on the first day.  The second time we made it to O. 

Another game that Mollye absolutely loves is finding her colors.  I simply took an egg carton and painted six different colors in the bottom.  We took the carton to the park, and Mollye was in charge of finding an item to go with each color.  She loved it! She was quick to tell me what colors I left out.  Also, I should note that it took me a lot longer to paint than it took her to find the items. 

This has become a must every time we go to the park now.  She always goes looking before she will play.  She has had some really interesting finds the last couple of times. Examples include- sundrop top that was yellow, bubble gum wrapper that was pink, leaves that fit more than one color (this is just too much for her to handle as she tears it into pieces to make sure it fits all the correct colors!), and lots more goodies!

Learning has always been a passion of mine, but watching her little brain work is amazing.  I know I was meant to teach, but I now know that my true calling was to inspire my child to learn and be creative! I love it!

Happy Bithday Mom!

A little late I know...

but I wanted to let the world know just how special my mom is to Mollye and I. Her birthday was this past week- 9/9 to be exact. I hope that it was as wonderful as she is!!!

We helped her celebrate by heading over to her house with Dora wrapped presents in tow. Mollye of course did the unwrapping. Then we did nothing more than just enjoy quality time with Mom. Oh how much I love that time!!!

Sweet quotes

Two nights ok I picked Mollye up from Nanny T and Papa's and as we are leaving she comments on how dark it is. I say yes, Mollye it is night time. Well she looks around and then looks at us with those big blue eyes and reports:

"Mommy, the moon not work. The moon not work tonight."

Yes, sweet dear you are correct the moon is not visible tonight. I love their innocence!!!

For a reminder of just how far we have come in a year. Here is a picture of almost a year ago to the day:

July 25th

What a special day it is! The day my sweet angel was brought into this world. The day that we are able to celebrate her life, and yet this year on July 25th something was missing.

You see Mollye and my grandmother share that day in common. They were birthday buddies.

I remember going into the doctor's office and trying to decide if I would be induced or not. I had talked myself out of it with one exception-if he offered to do it on my grandmother's birthday. Sure enough that was the first date he offered up, and now while I would never be induced again I am glad that we went ahead with that date! I love that although my grandmother is no longer here to share in that day; Mollye and her will always be part of each other especially on July 25th each year. Nana, we miss you and love you very much!



This is a picture of my grandmother and Mollye when she was very young. Mollye, very few people love you the way this lady did. You were all she talked about for the last year of her life!

The quote reads: "God gave me the nicest gift of all when he gave me you. My first great granddaughter to share a birthday with: what a beautiful gift!"

This was taken straight from a book that she wrote Mollye on July 25, 2009.

2nd birthday!

So I know it is long overdue, but as I promised pictures from Mollye's second birthday. It was a day of true family fun! First, I must say a huge thank you to several people:

1. Aunt Meg, thank you for yet again coming through with fabulous attire for our over the top birthday parties! Think we can talk Adam into a third year????

2. Aunt Jill, thank you from the bottom of my heart! You are that true friend who is always here when I need you the most! Keep your calendar clear for the next sixteen years-remember July 25th is always booked!

3. Silvana, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be with us on this special day, and thank you for allowing me to enjoy the party while you took over with the camera! You too are booked for the next sixteen years! Also, expect a phone call soon! We have to stay in touch more!

4. Adam, thank you for helping in the best blessing I could have ever had two years ago! She is our world! You become a better father and husband everyday.

5. Mom and Dad, thank you for all the help you give us not only on Mollye's birthday but every other day of the year. Thank you mostly for loving the pistol of granddaughter with every ounce of your soul! She loves her Nanny T and Papa more than just about anyone!

6. To everyone else, thank you for making Mollye's birthday extra special. She is still talking about it almost two months later!

The day was completely focused around Mollye. The theme was Minnie Mouse with a little Mickey- not Disney style though; all homemade by Mommy style! The accents were all of Mollye's favorite things such as jewelry and cupcakes! Allow me to walk you through our day:



The guest of honor desperately trying to get away from the hair session:



Mollye and I all dressed for the party:



Daddy is all ready, too:



The main table. It held the Mickey and Minnie ears as well as the jewels for the girls to dress up. There was also a scrapbook paper for guest to sign ( you know I love to document everything.):




A DREAM COME TRUE (Inspiration from the character parade that Mollye and I watched in Disney World):



The round table centerpieces:





The long table centerpiece ( I do not advise spending as much time as I did with tissue paper!):



Kid's area:



Gift table:


Dessert table/candy buffet. The idea behind this was that Mollye loves to make cupcakes and put sprinkles on the top. So instead of doing a cake we opted for cupcakes with a topping buffet that way everyone could enjoy some of Mollye's favorite. Also, what kid does not love candy!







Pictures of the party:















Oh how I love this lady:


Even Uncle Brad put on some Mickey ears:








Mollye is in love with this present:



6:18 p.m. you are offically 2!!!



Wow!! Mollye you are one very loved little girl!



The end to a perfect day- our routine book time!




What an amazing day and party! I can't believe that you are already two, but I love every minute of it! The day was wonderful! I love you, sweet girl! You are amazing, precious, and more than I could have ever dreamed of!!!