Fun with RED and....Olives?

Since I've added 6 other blogs today, I'm trying to keep it short by condensing posts!

Today was "RED" day in our house! Here's Mackenzie coloring with RED:
Markers, too? Brave mommy!
Finished product:
While I know that Mackenzie likely won't pick up on colors right away, she likes to color and this is my way of adding a little " meat" to the coloring sessions. You never know what is soaking in! She already knows all the names to the colors although she very rarely matches the correct color to whatever she's lookin' at! Yellow (" Lell-o-o-o" in Mackenzinese) is her favorite.


At lunch, I gave Mackenzie some olives and stuck them on her fingers ( just like Auntie Nikki!). She thought this was awesome and would have eaten the whole can. We stuck to just five:

A tisket a tasket

Mackenzie in a basket!
And darn proud of herself, too!

Dilly Beans!

Aunt Meg sent us home with a jar of her pickled "Dilly Beans" . They are fresh green beans that have been pickled just like a cucumber. Mackenzie cannot get enough of them! If she sees the fridge open, she sneaks in and snags two: one for each hand!

Sharing one with Cookie Monster:
She's eaten most of the jar all by herself and we're nearing the end. Time for a trip to Northville!

For you, Mom!

Nikki and I picked these out at the farmer's market last week and they are still looking great. Sunflower's are my mom's favorites. When ever I see them, I think of her:

Fun with stickers

We have a big art kit that Mackenzie plays with. She likes to scribble on big pieces of paper ( thanks Will!) and will sit for MINUTES ( which , in toddlerville, is like HOURS!) . Recently, she started wanting to put stickers on her papers. Those stickers have become pretty well traveled as I have found them in various places all over the house ( she even snuck one in her DINNER last night!) . Mackenzie realized that, not only could she stick them on things, but also PEOPLE! This spells trouble...
Cheese!
I made it look like so much fun, Mackenzie joined the club:

Lady bug migration

Check out what I found in the baby proofed door knob on the front door:

Yep! Those are the lady bug hair clips I've been looking for. My guess is that Mackenzie was using them as " keys".

Nicole

Having lived in Michigan for 4.5 years now, I have, in a way, forgotten what it's like to have my mom and sisters close by. Even with all the wonderful, truly loving people I am blessed to have in my life in Michigan, there's nothing like a sister to turn to( I count my mom as a sister, too..she's so youthful!) . Who better to understand my weird quirks than someone who has them, too! Having Nikki here for a weekend reminded me how much I miss having them close by.

Nicole's trip to Michigan was short and sweet but it was so much fun! I was sad to see her go but not TOO sad, since I'll be seeing her , and all of my other Colorado family, in a few weeks! Here's a recap of our weekend in picture form!

By the way, Nikki, Mackenzie is still looking for " Auntie Ninni"

We tried really hard to take a good picture of us. This is the best we could do:
Here's a sample of how the rest looked because we couldn't stop laughing long enough to snap the picture:
Mack took to Nikki right away. Even if Nikki went to the bathroom, Mackenzie was looking for her, shouting " NIIIII! Where are ye?" . Here's Mackenzie showing her some of her favorite things:

Beloved GiGi:
Her kitchen:
Her Crib:
We took Nicole to the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market, our favorite Saturday morning hang out:
And to Zingerman's to pick up stuff for dinner:

Here's Mike at the MudPuddles, a toy store, just moments before our bag of overly ripe cherries spilled all over the floor ( and Mackenzie offered free, fuzzy samples to anyone standing near by)
Nikki getting pay backs on me: Load the kids up on sugar then hop on a plane!
Mackenzie feel asleep on the way to drop Nikki off. She was sad when she woke up to Nikki kissing her good-bye:
We miss you , Nikki! Can't wait to see you in.....45 days!