Grandpa Bruce

Dear Dad,
It's been ten years ago today that you've been gone. I think about you every day and I MISS you every day.

I make sure to talk to Violet and Willa all about their Grandpa Bruce as much as I can. They know that you loved Tootsie Pops, being silly, and that you're up in heaven now.

I'm trying to teach them in a way that would make you proud: They both eat pancakes, waffles and french toast the proper way: with butter and sugar. I told Violet to "shape up" the other day. And I have been known to do the "this-floor-is-sticky" Foot-Tap on the kitchen floor while glaring at them in the exact same way you used to. We sing loudly and often. Violet made up her own song tonight which was so sweet it made my heart hurt. And every single time these things happen I would give a mizillion dollars to call you up and tell you about what your granddaughters are up to. You would have loved them.

I love you and I miss you SOOOOOOO much (as Violet says!)
jesi

Here are a few pics of my dad. Here he is in at his favorite place - working at our cottage in Northern Michigan.

My mom and dad and I not too long before he got sick.Being silly together :)
My favorite picture of my super hip parents back in the 70's. Sorry mom, I had to post it!
Thanks for reading this!

Hurray for Christmas!

Last week we drove up to the mountains, walked around in the woods for a while and finally found our tree! Here are the girls in front of it. It's a little Charley Brownish but we love it!
Violet and Willa being silly mid-hike
Jon and Willa with the saw to cut down the tree
Willa in the woods
Violet and her best pals Jordyn and Piper after getting our trees
We stopped for lunch on the way home and Violet insisted she have her picture taken with this Christmas Dog out front!
Later we got out all our decorations - the girls were SO excited! Here they are with our tiny pink tree that is now out in the front yard.
Violet and daddy putting up Christmas lights
Oma came over Thanksgiving and we had a mini-Christmas celebration. They were SO excited to open presents!
Willa opening up her favorite thing - a Bee Pillow Pet (why do kids love those so much? She SCREAMS when the commercial comes on!)

Giving it a hug :)Violet and her new gingerbread man apron
Silly ladies
Willa dressed up like this all by herself (well, she picked everything out , I had to help put on a few things)
Willa's new favorite place to play. This is in the shelves under our TV.

Fall!

First, here are some pictures from Halloween! Violet's preschool class all dressed up in their costumes and did a "parade" to the other classrooms. It was so cute! You can see Violet who is about 3rd in line. She was one of about 10 other witches in her class :)

With her friend Isak listening to stories.
We also carved pumpkins - Violet got really into drawing out the face and getting all ooey-gooey!

Halloween! Our little witch and purple bug. Willa looks very annoyed here, which was pretty much true for the whole idea of trick-or-treating. She didn't want to walk so she spent most of the night being held by me going house to house.
This is how we roll! (notice the 6-pack in the back of the wagon!)
Trick-or-treating with our most awesome neighbors and friends. This is their daughter dressed as Fufa from Yo Gabba Gabba.
The loot!

Silly girls!Violet and Willa spend many minutes (I wish I could say hours!) playing a game I call "Naps." It involves Violet putting Willa down for a nap in various places with various forms of a pillow and blanket. Willa actually really loves to play along. This is how I found them the other day. Violet even had on her apron. A regular June Cleaver, that girl!
Here is Willa "napping" on the doll bed.
The first snowfall! Willa loved it!
So did Violet!
Willa has been learning new things all the time lately. In one day she did a somersault, learned to stack blocks (see picture below) and picked up about 10 more words.
Today Jon raked the leaves and the girls had a blast throwing them and jumping in them.

Speaking of words, we are so amazed by how many words Willa knows and learns! Her favorite one is "stuck". In the morning when she gets up at 0-dark-thirty (usually 6am), I stumble out to the living room with her, snuggle her up on my lap, cover us both with a blanket, and turn on some cartoons for her to watch. That usually keeps her happy for about 1/2 hour and then she is kicking off the blanket saying "Stuck! Stuck!" She then walks into the kitchen and gets a sippy cup from the drawer and brings it to me, which means she wants her morning milk. So silly!

She still doesn't really say Violet yet, although if you ask her to say it she says SOMETHING, but it's funny that she hasn't figured out a word to call her yet. She has picked up the lovely habit of yelling "NO!" to Porter (poor guy!), but on the other hand if she wants something she says "Pease? Pease?" for please.

Pumpkin Patch!

Violet found her perfect pumpkin!

Too bad Willa slept through the actual pumpkin picking part!But woke up for the fun stuff like the straw bale maze!
Apparently not everyone loves their picture taken all the time...

End of Summer

I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by! Here is Willa trying out some watermelon:

I don't know if it's because they have both had a camera in their faces from day 1, but they are so good about having their picture taken! Okay, I admit I sometimes have to bribe Violet with a pick from her "Special Treat Box", but if that's what it takes to get these sweet pictures then I'm all for it!(this next one was not done with bribery. They did this all on their own. Aw.)

Violet has been really interested in skateboarding lately (uh-oh!). Jon got her her own board and she was very VERY excited to paint and decorate it.
Luckily she is also still into dressing up as a princess.


Oh, and Willa's hair finally fits in PIGTAILS!!!!
Good night :)