Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2010

We were very busy in December.  Lots of fun adventures.  Mostly we were preparing for a wonderful Christmas.  Zoe had her first Christmas recital and party at school, and Eva was thrilled to participate in the visit with Santa @The Henry Ford.  We helped Mommy & Daddy bake goodies, and enjoyed decorating the house with greens and nick-nacks.

Here are some of our favorite Christmas activities...

Visiting Santa

Mailing our letters to Santa

singing

and leaving Milk & Cookies for Santa Claus

Hallowe'en and October fun

Here I am picking out my pumpkin.  It was so much fun to crawl in the stack of pumpkins.  Unfortunately, Eva didn't want to smile for the camera.  I love to have pictures taken, so Mommy was able to get a nice one of me!

Here are Eva and I ready for Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village.  Eva was a bad witch, laugh and all.  I was Raggedy Ann.  Both of our costumes were made by our Grandma (Baka) Brown.  We were so excited to go!

 

Here I am with my Uncle Joe.  We were patiently waiting to enter the Village.  

apple pickin' time

We had so much fun this September!  One of our favorite activities was going apple picking!

Here I am with a lap FULL of apples!

Here is Eva with her apples!

Zoe's 1st Day of Preschool

Today was my first day of Preschool!  I didn't cry like Mommy thought I would, AND I actually had a good time!

Here I am with my Thomas backpack

 

 Here I am in the classroom playing with the really cool doll house

and here I am enjoying broccoli cheese soup at Panera Bread!

I'm looking forward to returning on Friday.  Mommy is happy that I didn't get too sad.

August fun

This month was really a great time for Eva and I!

My favorite activity was when Mommy and Daddy took us to go horseback riding.

The Martin Cowgirls

We had so much fun riding through Huron Metro Park in Trenton.  We both rode miniature horses.

 

Here I am on Texas!

and here is Eva on Bucky!

I have also been taking music lessons this summer.  I played the piano at church in August, and Mommy and Daddy were SO proud.  I decided that I probably won't do that again though.

September will bring lots of new activities for us, as I start preschool on the 9th.  Wish me (and Mommy) lots of luck and prayers for a successful transition!

our July Journeys

Our journeys in July brought us to the Detroit Zoo, and Holland Michigan. We had a lot of fun at the zoo. We saw the dinosaurs again, and we even got to dig to find fossils. So cool.

We also had a lot of fun in Holland. We went to a real windmill, played at a cool park, ran in a downpour of rain, played and swam at a cool beach, and had an awesome time at bouncy place called, Crazy Bounce.


Eva, Mommy & I at Kollen Park


Eva & Mommy eating ice cream at Kilman's Chocolates - yummmm!


Eva playing in the water


and here I am posing for a picture - I loved the beach!

June activities

June has been another very busy month. The best thing that happened was my dance recital! It was my very first recital, and even through a few tears I had a great time. This year I did gymnastics and ballet. I'm hoping to do tap and ballet in the fall.


Gymnastics costume - Hawaii theme


Ballet costume - "A Dream is a Wish"


We spent Father's Day weekend with all the fathers in our lives. On Saturday we had a party with the Martins and we got to spend time with Grandpa Martin. On Sunday for lunch we had a picnic in our backyard with Daddy. Then we had dinner with Papa Tom!


Eva and I are standing in front of a T-Rex at the Zoo. Eva wanted to touch the robot, and I was just sad that they weren't REAL dinosaurs!


Here Eva and I are with Curious George. We went to the PBS Kids Club Live at Freedom Hill and saw lots of PBS friends. I was so excited to see George!


This week I also went to summer Bible school, or as Mommy called it: VBS. I am going to go to the school in the fall for Preschool, so I had a long week of getting used to the building, the people and the playground (which I love)!

the recent past

We have been REALLY busy. Between a visit with Thomas, Eva's Birthday, and many day trips to a variety of places...Eva and I are pretty active. Here are some of Mommy's FAVORITE pictures from May.


Here we all are on Thomas at Greenfield Village on May 3rd.


Eva's Sock Monkey Themed Birthday party on May 11th. Can you see the little berets on the cupcakes?


Eva is 2 years old!!


Here I am with my next door neighbor, Anthony. He is my boyfriend. He is 19 months old and Eva and I love playing with him.

Zoe's Birthday Brunch

My birthday celebration was on March 22nd. Mommy and Daddy had people over for a Birthday Brunch. My favorite part, by far, was the cake. I loved getting a skeleton, a solar system and a corresponding game, movies, and a puzzle that has the layers of a body, a computer, and of course my hand-me-down bike! Here are some pictures of the day:

Zoe's 4 Year Old Pictures

Here are a few of Mommy's favorite pictures from our photo session at Target.

Sunday School Children's Time

Here is the Sunday School Singers (not official name) at our church last Sunday, February 15th. We sang, and played, "There's A Little Wheel". It's a song all about having music in your heart. I played the guitar that Mommy and Daddy got me for Christmas. Cool, huh?!

There's No Business like Snow Business...

Boy has it ever snowed here this winter. Here are a couple pictures of Eva and I playing in the snow.

People we love...

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and Mommy suggested that we write about all the people we love. I suppose there are many people in our lives that give so much to us: time, love, patience. All the things that help us to become wonderful people in this world.

Outside of our family (too many to list actually), we love the Crombez sisters (and Mommy Mary), Uncle Joe, Uncle John, and Aunt Dana.

Mommy always tells us: All you need is LOVE!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

making a case for Mister Rogers

On Friday the local PBS station did not play Mister Rogers' Neighborhood at 12pm. Eva and I have become very fond of the Mister Rogers' show for a long time now. Eva's first real word was "bubble" from watching the Mister Rogers' opera: Windstorm in Bubbleland. So we were both very upset that Mister Rogers was not on the TV to watch after lunchtime. Mommy was quite upset too.

The show is on today (thankfully), but Mommy is now a part of an organization to bring the program back to other PBS stations. Check it out: Save Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Mommy has many childhood memories of the show, and Fred Rogers is her idol. He was a musician, a teacher, a humanitarian, and a pastor. He is someone to look up to, and Mommy thinks he is the best. Eva and I do too!

Mommy & Me...twins?

On Saturday, Mommy got her hair cut...


We went to Tim Hortons yesterday (before going to the museum) to get me my favorite sparkle doughnut. While we were waiting to pay the lady from the drive through window came up front and said to Mommy, "I know exactly what you looked like as a little girl!" Mommy laughed. Because she thinks it was only the haircut, considering I look so much like my Daddy!

I love my Mommy!

Happy New Year 2009!

What a busy December!
We had so much fun preparing the house for Christmas and the arrival of baby Jesus and Santa. I had a blast making a foamy gingerbread train with Mommy and a graham cracker gingerbread style house with Papa Grandma.



We also had a couple snowfalls. One was over 8 inches, so Eva and I were able to build a fort and a cool snowman with Daddy!



We were so excited for Santa as we prepared the plate of cookies, poured the milk, and made a bowl full of carrots for Santa's reindeer.


Daddy took the last two weeks of December off from work. So this past Monday (a day between visiting with friends and family), we went to the zoo. It was so cool to see all the animals running around and not just laying there. We've only visited in the summertime, so it was really cool to visit when it was chilly outside. My favorite animal is the blue frog. Eva loved the apes so much she not only licked the glass of their cage, but she cried, "mine...mine" when we were leaving!

So here's to another year - 2009 - and all the new adventures and journeys we'll endure!