Showing posts with label pictures of Colin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pictures of Colin. Show all posts

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Snow. Finally!

Lola has never been out in a real snow.

That may seem hard to believe, but for some reason, our little corner of the world has had two very mild winters in a row. So, she hasn't made it out this year OR last year (and of course, the year before that wasn't even walking yet!)

When we got just a few precious inches yesterday, and a snow day from school to boot, you can bet we jumped on the opportunity to take advantage of it!

Lolee girl was so excited to get all suited up and play in the white stuff. 
She had so many layers on, she could hardly move!

We took a jaunt out to a local Forest Preserve, and found out 
hey--families of deer like the snow too! We counted 12!

We enjoyed sitting and watching them for awhile. They came so close!

But then...the hills were calling our name. Out came the sleds!

As much as the boys went down the hill, this was the first year there was 
NO complaining about coming back up! They truly are growing up....*sniff*....


Even Grandma Jane came along....

....and went down a few times herself!

Lola took turns with a few of us, but DADDY was definitely her favorite "passenger". 
She was pretty unsure her first time down (her very first time ever!)....

....but was very brave--even put her hands up! *grin*

She LOVED it!

Both gave Mommy a great smile when they got back up.
A picture I will treasure for a long time, I'm sure.

Since I'm behind the camera so much, I don't usually get to be in photos...but Shane took his 
turn snapping, and I got a gem of Lolee and I whooshing down the hill. I love this one!

 We had a few of these.....

....and these....

....and these....

....but mostly, there were just these.
Smiles.


Such a wonderful adventure....


....and once again, I feel blessed to have a day like this in the books!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A special 3rd birthday

 I promised to write more.

Life just moves so fast, doesn't it? *sigh*

I will get back on the wagon. Have lots of things in my head that I want to "talk" about here, and several things I want to catch up on.  But, for today.....it is a special day. A third birthday!

Little Lola and I had a good but low key day to ourselves. I (and several of the fam) have been sick. I was lucky that this sweet little girl wanted to do easy things that a sick Mommy could manage without too much trouble today.

She was good to pose for me :)

Silly girl....

I asked what she wanted to do. The answers? Take a showerbath (her term for letting the water fill up in the tub while taking a shower *heehee*), paint her fingernails....

....paint her toenails...pink, of course....

....play beauty shop, play "hold me like a baby, Mommy" (that one is a personal favorite of mine) and play beauty shop, put on real lipstick, snuggle, and watch a Veggie Tale. We had so much fun, despite my not feeling well. (I particularly enjoyed the snuggling part.)

When her brothers came home, much to their delight, she wanted to play trains. 

Of course, a birthday girl must wear her princess crown while playing trains!


Then it was time for presents!

The crown didn't last through those. *heehee*

It may be TMI, but undies are a big deal in the Merritt household. 
Lola got some new Hello Kitty underwear  and was thrilled!

Colin, being the loving big brother, painstakingly took every single pair 
out of the package, unfolded them, and showed them to her.

Lolee girl is in a phase right now. She loves all things "twirly". This means skirts, 
fluffy dresses, and especially night gowns. She gets so upset at night if her nightgowns 
are not clean and she has to wear two piece pj's! It is almost funny. :) I have done a bit 
of extra laundry just so she could always have her twirly pj's, but thought her birthday 
would be a good excuse to add a couple of new nightgowns to her rotation. 
If you hadn't guessed already, Lola happens to be on a Hello Kitty kick these days.

While I was taking pictures, the boys got an idea--they all ran down to their room to grab their DS's, so that they too could take pictures of Sis opening her gifts!

  It was hysterical! She posed for them and everything.


Then, Daddy got to show her another something new....the look on her face is priceless.
"You mean to tell me....my baby gets one too! WHAT?!"

Then, the big gift.

I have to tell you about this. It is the most amazing thing. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed me and asked me if Lola would like a dollhouse that her daughter no longer played with. Without knowing anything about it--size, cost, etc.--I said, "Sure!" Lola loves playing with her friend's dollhouse, and I assumed she would love one of her own. I also assumed that is was probably older and smaller. I didn't care about those things at all, I just knew Lo would love playing with whatever she had!

Well, I came to find out that this dollhouse--and all the accessories we were gifted at zero cost to us--is one of the most popular toys on the market right now, and is probably well worth over $150 or $200. I had no idea, and couldn't believe someone would be kind enough just to give this to Lola! It was an incredible blessing to our family, and could not have come at a more perfect time!!

And, by the way....she wasn't the only one who loved it. *giggle*

Checking out the family

Super duper excited!

She and Ethan played the longest. It is now all set up and ready to go for her tomorrow. 
I envision hours and hours of use out of this wonderful toy and am so grateful to have it!

Time for pj's and bed. The twirlies made her so happy.

{Lolee and her most favorite baby doll}

 Kisses before bedtime

Just about the cutest thing I've ever seen....

As you can see, we ALL just adore little Lola and are so thankful God gifted us with her. It's been a wonderful three years, with her in our lives...Happy Birthday, sweet baby girl!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Colin's birthday

I feel like I have said this before, but I truly think Colin's birthday falls on one of the hardest days of the year!

Colin was born to us nine years ago, Halloween afternoon. As most families with children would agree, Halloween is a jam-packed day as it is--let alone adding birthday festivities into the mix!

But of course, as usual....we managed!  Lola got costume #1 of the day on, 
and we headed to the boys' school for some lunch and Halloween parties!

Then, that evening, was some trick-or-treating fun with our friends: The Mario Kart Gang!

After that was dinner out. Because this year Halloween fell on a Wednesday night, and Shane, I, and our friends run our Wednesday night children't program at our church, we had to hurry--so we picked Steak N Shake to eat. Then it was off to church, and home for showers and pj's!

The poor kids were exhausted--but Colin was so excited over opening his presents that, even though it was almost 10 p.m., we had to let him do it! His first one was a doozie, for sure!!

Something he'd been asking for for a long time....

....from Grandma 'Nette and Grandpa.....
....a BULLS jersey!!

He beamed as bright as the sun. It was so precious.

He opened several more things: some clothes, some soccer pj pants.....

....and something else he has been wanting....

....his very own real Bible. He has several Bible story books, but has been asking for one he can read himself, on his own and in church. We were happy to oblige!!

We chose the Adventure Bible for him, and he has loved it so far.

(I loved that he wanted to read it right away, and for a moment even forgot about the other presents!)

Some Star Wars legos!

{Being silly and showing me how old they are...Lo didn't quite grasp it LOL}

One last try....got one!

Colin is just such a special boy and a wonderful gift to our family....so grateful for the NINE years we have been blessed with this young man's presence!