Thursday, April 30, 2009

Hollon's Shoes 4/30/09

Oh! As I was typing the date, I realized today is Hollon's 21 month birthday! My, time flies when you're having fun!

I've been letting Hollon pick out her shoes the past few days! I love these shoes, too cute when worn with the right outfit, but Hollon insisted on wearing these.today After looking at the picture, they sort of match - but you have to see them up close - they are "bling bling," (as some have said) because they are shiny and sparkly. She loves them (she loves shoes in genereal - uh oh!) Her eyes lit up like fireflies when she put them on, all by herself I might add, and she was so proud - how could I not smile and snap a picture!


Have a great day!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

New Kitchen and Sunday Best 4.19.09

Everyone's been asking for me to put up pictures or our new kitchen. But first, a little taste of the old:


You can't see the kitchen real well, but you get the idea. Just a little outdated, original to the house, 1988 I think, and the cabinets and countertops were getting quite worn out.




This is picture from Father's day 2008 (couldn't you just eat Hollon up? - just a little side note). My point....see that pantry behind Stuart in the kitchen. I had to make up a new word just for that door. It had a way of coming off the hinges, getting stuck or some other mishap that would just grate on my nerves...for years...multiple times a day. You couldn't find anything in it due to its set-up, all the cans would fall over and it was impossible to keep clean. There was a daily struggle between the pantry and I. When Stuart told me we were getting a new pantry (which wasn't originally planned)...I wept.




And now for the big reveal!






Stuart's cousin Becky gave us this beautiful wood heart plank for our wedding, straight from France. She and her family lived there for several years. We love it and think it fits perfectly right above our pantry. I matches perfectly.




We love our new kitchen and couldn't be happier with it.




Of course, you know I can't go one blog without showing a picture of my little princess. Well, how about a video instead? Even better!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Bows

I am so very happy with the way my homemade bows turned out. Here are a few pictures.

I love this picture, can't really see Hollon's face too well, but you can see her eyes and how they sparkle. She was handing me a ball to throw it for her to chase.




I just love this next picture, not only do daddy and Hollon match, but they are just so happy. We had fun taking these pictures (you should have seen me - that is what they are laughing at, good thing there's no pictures of me!)


Have a great weekend!!!

Friday, April 17, 2009

This week....April 13th

I know everyone is dying to see some pictures. I don't have a whole lot of Easter pictures yet. One is on my other camera and we forgot our camera going over to the Hartley's for dinner, so those are with Rachel (except for the two here), so I need to get those from her. Enjoy!

First is Hollon's new bow collection. I made all these adorable, and easy-to-make bows for her - we've graduated to BIG bows and they are so cute! I tried to get a picture, but Hollon wouldn't sit still, will try again tonight. I can't wait to make some more, they're so fun!



Oh my, the kiddos LOVED the Easter egg hunt at Tom and Jana's house. Tom had hidden dozens of eggs filled with M & M's (yep, Hollon was introduced to the M & M and at one point had M & M juice running down both sides of her mouth). Here are Aidan and Hollon eating them off the ground after they opened an egg.



Hollon would scream and yell everytime she saw an egg and she filled up her basket quite quickly. Oh, she was so excited! Pastor Tom got a video - I wonder if I can download it on here sometime?


This picture is mostly for my friend LeeAnn. She had bought this outfit for Hollon's first birthday - last July - she's just now, at 21 months, fitting into it. It is so cute and Hollon LOVED wearing Pooh as he is one of her favorite characters. Every night, she comes home from school, points at the TV and says "Pooh Tigga." Too cute! Thanks for the outfit LeeAnn! (Oh, and yes, that is a waffle - Hollon decided to take her breakfast to-go that morning. She was chewing and wouldn't smile at me!)


You scream, I scream, Hollon screams (well gets excited) about ice cream! Usually, after dinner every evening, Hollon goes to the freezer and says "I want ice cream." Here, she's assisting daddy in the dipping. Yum!

And last but not least, here's a video of daddy and Hollon playing. Laughter, especially your child's laughter, is truly the best medicine!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Okay Okay

...I'm trying! I know everyone is desperately waiting for some Easter pics but you're just going to have to wait a little while longer! We've been busy working on our house (bathroom remodel right now), working, vacationing (if you call Disney vacation), having family in last week....so much. I will get to it, I promise, so keep checking.

In the meantime, HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Love to all!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Good Friday 2009

Just dropping in to say, happy Good Friday. The reason we can say "happy" is because we know that Easter, the day of Resurrection is just around the corner. Imagine, however, how those that actually experienced Good Friday felt. It was a day of mourning for them. We should reflect on what the day means, that Jesus died for our sins so that we could live free.

I am thankful, in awe, humbled and inspired. I hope you are too.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Disney's Animal Kingdom - April 5, 2009

Well, here we are, on day two of our trip to Disney World! Sunday, we went and visited Disney's Animal Kingdom. Hollon loves animals, watching them outside in our backyard, on TV, at the zoo, playing with the cats next door and of course, our dog UK with whom Hollon has a very special relationship. So, there was no question - we went to Animal Kingdom.

Our first stop was to visit Brer Bear! Hollon gave him a big hug and received a kiss in return. We were thrilled that she wasn't scared of him.


Next stop - petting zoo! Hollon thoroughly enjoyed petting the goats and sheep ("Baa!") and brushing their hair! She was also keenly interested in the bugs, spiders, reptiles and snakes inside the (air-conditioned!) zoo auditorium. I guess she's over her fear of spiders as she really wanted to play with the tarantula (ugggg....I tried very hard to hold in my peronsal fear of snakes, reptiles and spidrs as I don't want Hollon to be afraid of them, but come on....a tarantula????) She also enjoyed watching an otter getting a check up.



One of Hollon's favorite animals was the tiger. Hollon nearly trampled everyone in her way to get to the windows to see the tigers and then extremely loud screams of enjoyment began. The tigers were all sleeping and not doing much, but that didn't cause a lack of excitement on Hollon's part! Of course, everyone thought it was cute, so no one really minded (thank goodness!)



On to the jungle safair ride where we saw elephants, lions, gazelles, giraffes, lots and lots of birds among many other animals. This was the ride which Hollon appeared to enjoy the most. Isn't this a great picture?






And of course, after another long day at Disney World, Hollon put up her feet for a little relaxation at the end of the day.



We had a fabulous trip to Disney World - but daddy says we won't be going back until she's quite a bit older. Though there were many, many fun times....there were also quite a few fussy times as well. So, I guess we'll wait until she's a little older! However, I think we'll leave her at home for a good old weekend for just Stuart and I and maybe we'll go visit Epcot and ride some roller coasters - I had forgotten how much fun Disney World really is!

Disney's Magic Kingdom April 4, 2009

This past weekend, we took our first trip to Disney World as a family with Granny and Grandaddy Trent in tow! Besides the fact we chose Florida Spring Break (the ONLY time of the year when Florida in-state pricing isn't valid) and it was extremely crowded, we had an absolutely fabulous time. Hollon loved it! Here we are headed into the park:



Hollon loves to watch the Disney Channel and Disney movies and the start of most Disney programs has Cinderella's castle, which she clearly recognized when we entered the park. Hollon's reaction was priceless! She gasped with excitement, covered her mouth with both hands as she screamed "oooh" and "ahhhh" and then full on sprinting as fast as she could towards the castle --- granny finally caught up with her!



Here's daddy and Hollon watching Minnie, Mickey, Donald Duck, Goofy and all the Disney princes and princesses put on a show at the castle. Hollon LOVED it and didn't want to leave!





One of Hollon's favorite things was the carousel ride. All four of us took turns riding with Hollon and as we'd get off the ride, she'd yell "adin, adin" (again, again).

Hollon's first indoor ride ever was the Winnie the Pooh ride. Pooh is one of Hollon's favorite characters, she has four different Pooh dolls at home!



Here we are waiting to get on It's a Small World. This was by far one of Hollon's favorites and the ride in which we got the most reaction from her.




Hollon LOVED playing at Minnie's house. She played with Minnie's sewing machine, explored her kitchen and refrigerator, watched the microwave pop popcorn and the oven back a cake. So exciting!



And after a long day at Magic Kingdom, Hollon put her feet up for some well deserved rest as we exited the park for our car.





Thursday, April 2, 2009

Speaking of woodpeckers....

I know MIL will appreciate these stories - Husband usually tells these "Jennifer Stories" as he calls them, but it's my turn to put them into my own words and these are some of the best! I'm sure Husband will want to make some additions. I learned a long time ago that being able to laugh at yourself can be a redeeming quality, not a detriment...so, for public viewing, here it goes (and every once in a while, I'll throw in another story- yes, there's more, a whole lot more!)

Woodpecker story #1:
MIL, FIL, myself and Husband were sitting out on the front porch of the Family Farm in Kentucky. It was a beautiful spring day and the birds were out and about and MIL had a beautiful hummingbird feeder in the tree closest to the porch. MIL showed me that a woodpecker was approaching the hummingbird feeder and told me to look at it. The dialogue goes along like this:

"Jennifer, do you see that woodpecker?"

"Yes, I do, I see it."

"Watch it Jennifer, it's going to get into that feeder and eat from it, do you see it?"

"Uh huh, yeah I see it."

"Look there Jennifer, it's going around the tree, it's coming back, do you see that woodpecker?"

"I do, I do"

"There it is, that woodpecker is getting ready to jump down on the feeder, see it, don't miss it?"

"I see it, I see it."

Then, the woodpecker jumps down onto the hummingbird feeder and this is my exclamation:

"My goodness, do you see the size of that hummingbird?"

I guess you can imagine the look on MIL's face and then the roar of laughter coming from FIL and Husband.

Woodpecker Story #2:
This particular bird was not a woodpecker, but I'm going to say it was....you'll understand why in a moment.

MIL, FIL, Patrick (Husband's brother), Husband and I were all dining at a restaurant near the beach.

I'm not quite sure how the story really went, but we were sitting facing a window and a bird flew by. I think MIL asked what kind of bird it was and someone else responded that it was a hummingbird or a small bird of some other sort, to which I replied - in a very loud voice...

"No it's not, did you see the size of it's pecker?"

Of course, I meant it's beak however, the whole room stopped to stare as Tilden nearly fell out of chair in laughter as I had just blurted out a not-so-appropriate word to the entire restaurant!

So, there you have it, a couple of stories, I hope they brighten your day! They've brightened mine as a smile always comes to my face, and to those hearing the story!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Fear Sequence and Factors

You know that look that children get on their faces when they get scared? The Fear Sequence, I call it. It doesn't happen all at once, it takes a few moments. First, they stop dead in their tracks. Second, their bottom lip curls down and then the nose starts to flare. Third, the forehead wrinkles and the eyes well up with tears. Last, they immediately turn around and run for the nearest parent with full on tears, begging to be picked up and saved from the horrible monster they've just encountered.

I wish I had step by step pictures of Hollon, though it's sad she's scared, it's the cutest thing I've seen yet!

So, Fear Factor #1:

The Woodpecker











There is a woodpecker that graces our yard every year. Either this is the same woodpecker or all woodpeckers are just this stupid. This bird, right outside Hollon's window every morning at around 7:15 am, decides to peck the gutter...not a tree, the gutter. It is very loud and the fear sequence occurs every single time. Now, Hollon is the most scared of this sound over anything else and it really puts a delay in our morning schedule as Hollon cannot be put down, rather, pried from my arms, for at least 10 minutes!




Fear Factor #2:

Dr. Cockroach















Dr. Cockroach is a character from the movie Monsters. Hollon received a Dr. Cockroach toy figure in her McDonald's Happy Meal (disclaimer - this is a rare occasion as I do not fancy feeding her junk!) After a careful review of the toy, Stuart and I decided it was safe for our toddler. Dr. Cockroach was seated in a little wind up car, so we put it on the floor and told Hollon to watch. Well, one would have thought an elephant was trying to chase her down. The fear sequence initiated and ran through each step at warp speed and Hollon ran the other direction looking for the highest point in the house. Later, I put Dr. Cockroach in front of the pantry holding her snacks as it was near dinnertime, and Hollon didn't ask for a snack once that evening!



Fear Factor #3:

Jelly












Hollon is extremely fearful of jelly, I don't know if it's because of it's wiggly texture, or if she thinks it's some sort of horrible goo, but fear it is! I had dropped a glob of jelly on the floor once an Hollon looked at it, yelled for her life and went and hide under her "naynay" - (blanket). Ever since, if I attempt to put jelly on her sandwich, it turns into a major fit, usually with jelly slammed onto the wall or floor or chair, whatever is nearest at the time. Jelly is a no go in our house - probably a good thing though...too much sugar!


Fear Factor #4:
Spiders




Spring has sprung here in Florida, rainy season has started, and along with that, all the little creepy crawleys try to find their way into the house for shelter. Thank goodness for pest control. Recently, we had gotten Hollon a fish, to teach her care and respect for life. We feed him and talk to him and watch him play. Hollon really loves her "shish". You'll see what this has to do with spiders in a moment.

Yesterday, a spider entered the house, not anything big, but it definately attracted Hollon's attention. We watched it for a moment (making sure it wasn't a poisonous spider) and then decided to take a closer look. Hollon was a little put off by the many legs however, was genuinely interested in the spider.....until....

mommy squished it with her foot! Hollon became extremely scared by the squished up bug and is no longer willing to look at spiders. I tried to show her one outside, which resulted in a screaming fit. Probably not the best lesson in respecting life....whoops...oh well, at least she's afraid of spiders and will stay away in case they are poisonous!