Myrtle Beach Days...

Jean Marie and Kathryn visited from Idaho a couple of weeks ago, and we spent a long weekend at the beach with the girls! It was Kathryn's first time seeing the Atlantic Ocean, and she's such a seasoned traveler with all of her visits to national parks that she immediately declared the ocean to be a "big waterfall". :) It was almost 60 degrees one afternoon, so they enjoyed playing in the sand and both of them ended up wet from the waves! We also took a trip to the aquarium, but mostly enjoyed our gorgeous oceanfront hotel. The girls had a great time playing in the indoor pool and lazy river with their mommies!

Marianne and Kat are ready for the lazy river!
Drawing in the sand...

Best buds...

Too cute...

Marianne loves the ocean!

Who Dunnit?

A certain someone was sneaking M&Ms from a bowl on the kitchen counter this afternoon...from across the counter, I could only see Marianne's little hands reach up and rustle around in the bowl trying to grasp a delicious M&M. She's a tall girl!

Jingle Bells

Marianne is still singing "Jingle Bells", so I can post a few Christmas pictures, right?

Here's a picture of Marianne enjoying her aunts and uncles at the Yoder Family Christmas. Her very own cozy coupe!

Future Lady Blue Devil? (At this point, the basketball goal hasn't gotten any action except from Daddy...but you never know)

Yay! We got to see Brandy and Colin (one of three boys on the "pre-approved" list) at the Christmas Eve service. What a cutie!

Marianne cheezin' for the camera with Daddy.

We had such a fun time this holiday season, with gifts and yummy food galore. The best part, of course, was spending time with our families and watching Marianne enjoy the festivities, the food, the folks, and of course all the Christmas music.

Christmas 2008 wouldn't be complete without a mention of "The Christmas Toy", aka "Tiger". This made-for-TV Jim Hensen production was first aired in the mid-80s, and I grew up watching it every year. This is the first year it came out on DVD (retire the old VHS copy filled with 1980s Christmas commercials!) and PaPa got us a copy. In true toddler fashion, it immediately became Marianne's favorite show and she begged us to watch it all day long. Begged, pleaded, cried, and stomped her feet. Trying to keep our TV time to a minimum, I decided that we'd watch it once a day, in the evening after supper. She quickly learned that she could watch "Tiger" anytime at PaPa and GaGa's house, and even started calling PaPa "Tiger".

We went cold turkey on "The Christmas Toy" on January 6, and Marianne still asks to watch it but seems to understand when I tell her that Tiger is with Santa. I can't wait to break it out the day after Thanksgiving and see if she remembers it!

Now go ahead and google "The Christmas Toy"...you know you want to!

Let it Snow!

On Tuesday, the meteorologists were accurate in their predictions and we enjoyed quite a large snowfall here in Pinehurst. The snow began at about 1:00 a.m. and lasted for about 12 hours, giving us five inches of fluffy snow to play in! This is the most snow I've ever seen here in Pinehurst (we did get about a foot in 2000 but I was away at college and missed out on the fun), and certainly the most snow Marianne has seen.

With five whole inches, everything in town is shut down, giving us lots of time to stay home and play in the show (and watch the inauguration during Marianne's nap time!). Marianne loves to make snow angels (actually, she'll make them outside or inside, no actual snow required) and watch the dogs act like fools. Minnie loves the snow, and I love to have an excuse for her to wear her hot pink fleece jacket, and Whoopsie has been running through the yard at break-neck speed for the last two days in utter bliss, not wanting to come indoors.

Here are some pics:

Daddy came home early to play with us!
A girl and her dogs: Marianne, Minnie, and Whoopsie

Even snow won't stop Marianne from requesting a wagon ride!

Minnie

Marianne curiously wiping off the table -- "Where did all this stuff come from?"

Now this is a bit embarassing...

November 19. Ouch. So it's been two months since I've posted on what's happenin' in Marianne's world. There's no excuse, except that we've been busy! We took a trip to Disney World the week before Thanksgiving, and after that I just never caught up (I know, hard to feel sorry for me, right?) Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, starting a new job teaching preschool, President Obama's inauguration, five inches of snow in Pinehurst, and now it's almost February. So I'll just say "I'm sorry!" one last time and jump in!

I'm sorry!

This little piggy forgot to post Halloween pictures!

Oops! I just realized that I never posted pictures of our (short-lived) Halloween! Marianne was a little pig and Whoopsie was all set to play the part of the Big Bad Wolf until Marianne started wheezing and we headed to Sandhills Pediatrics!

She was a cutie, though.

These two buddies love to look out the window! And check out Marianne's curly tail -- my favorite part of the costume!

For the love of shoes...

It pleases me to no end that Marianne enjoys Mommy's shoes. Ballet flats, clogs, boots, heels, she loves them all. She ventures into my closet, carefully puts her feet into both shoes, and then tromps around the house showing off. Her absolute favorite pair are my red and white polka-dot ballet flats. Nothing says you're ready to have some fun like shoes with polka-dots!