First Day of Preschool!

Allie started preschool today! She was very excited to go and play with other kids, have art and music time and have snack. No tears for this girl, just excitement.

This picture was taken exactly 3 years ago today. She was so little! What a difference 3 years makes!

Garbie and Pa Visit for a Cinderella Birthday

Garbie and Pa got here on Friday night and we started the weekend off with a Cinderella princess party to celebrate Allie's 3rd birthday! There was no way she was going to be patient enough to have it later in the weekend. She loved the Hello Kitty purse and play make up from Aunt B, Uncle Ronnie, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma.

Uncle Jeff had the best present - the Cinderella dress! It's on 3 or 4 times a day and will probably go on vacations with us, if it's not worn on the plane. Her blond hair adds to the costume!

Garbie and Pa gave Allie a K-State tricycle for her birthday!

Allie watched in amazement earlier in the day as we turned cake, frosting and a Cinderella barbie into a Cinderella cake. She was very excited to blow out the candles.

No Cinderella princess birthday would be complete without a group photo and crowns for everyone!

She's getting the hang of it more and more each time we go for a ride. Allie is very good about wearing her helmet and so far, hasn't had any accidents. She did trip running up the driveway to her bike and that resulted in two skinned knees. All part of being a kid.

The tricycle was missing a piece but luckily Sam is extremely handy and was able to fix it in no time. Cinderella got to go to Menards with him. She was the only princess there!

Hard to believe she's already 3!

Making sure Pa had his ball teed up correctly. Dad and Sam played at Sam's course on Saturday morning while Allie, Mom and I went shopping. Everyone was happy!

Taking Pa's order at the "restaurant" at the big park

Getting ready for Mass

Being new homeowners, things of course start to fail on you. The first thing to go here was the garage door opener. Sam and Dad had the lovely task of installing the new one. They didn't plan to match, but got a good chuckle when they saw how the other was dressed. Maybe this is why the project went so well...maybe it was due to the blue cans....

Moose was exhausted after the weekend was over.

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Janet Visit

Sam's parents came for a visit this past weekend. They had been in Africa the past two months so this was their first chance to visit us in Grand Forks. We had nice weather while they were here and were able to spend a lot of time outside.

Notice how Squirrel is helping to push Grandpa Tom on the swing

This is a game Tom used to play with Sam when he was Allie's age. It's called "pawny" (no one knows why) and is a great test of arm strength and stability.

Making bead necklaces with Grandma Janet and Grandpa Tom

We've had trouble getting Allie to go to bed like a big girl recently, so we decided a sticker chart was the way to go. It worked with potty training! When she fills up a line on the chart with stickers earned from going down for nap and bedtime like a big girl and waking up like a big girl, we get to go for special ice cream. Her choice this first time was cotton candy ice cream with sprinkles.

Fish art with Grandma Janet

Tinkerbell, I mean Allie, got to open a few early birthday presents. A new Dr. Seuss book...

and two new dresses that Grandpa Tom and Grandma Janet brought back from Africa.

We have the prettiest front walk on the block, complete with five princesses, seven dwarfs and even some outlines of Allie!

Somersaults in the shade

Creating masterpieces in the sandbox