The kid's kitchen

A few weekends ago we freed up space in the kids room, and I put Rachel's kitchen set in there, with the kid's table.  We go up to their room so Daniel can make me some breakfast, any time of the day, and I usually throw in some really food for them to snack on.  

I think this is cute, because Rachel does make the "mmmm" sound as she pretends to eat, she enjoys all food, real or imaginary.  
Here are both kids eating at the table.  I do have to help Rachel up, but she enjoys eating with Daniel, and we are working on the sharing of the food.  Daniel kept on filling the plates with goldfish this morning.  

Here is a little outfit Rachel got for her birthday, and for a while it was big on her, but now it fits. I think for me it is always a surprise when my kids grow out of an into clothes that I have been waiting for them to wear.  I also just bought her some kid sneakers, and she was getting used to walking with shoes that have a flat bottom.  It was cute to watch her work it out.   

Kevin has a four day weekend this weekend, so I am blessed to have him around a few more days.  We always have a long list of things to do over these extended weekends, and we have already done a few things already, so I am looking forward to more family fun.  We bought a DVD player for the car, for our long trip to VA coming up, and I got a new pan to cook on, my other ones have been in long need of replacement.  Have a good week everyone!

Two Little Monkeys

The mall in Burlington now has a little toddler play place. The kids and I love it.  I will be visiting that mall more often once winter is here!


Two little monkeys walking in the mall, I keep them on a leash, so they don't run away at all!  So now that both my kids are mobile, I have resorted to leashes, on both!  I get chuck and occasional comment, but I am happier.  And yes, I brought my camera to the mall just to be sure I had something to blog about!

On Friday night we did go around with the kids dressed up and get them some candy. Our neighbors gave the kids special candy when we visited, and here they are sampling them.  

Daniel is beginning to cheese for the camera!  It makes taking pictures of him so much easier.  

Yesterday we went up to our house in NH for maybe the last time.  We met the new tenant and got a rent check from her.  She seemed pretty happy with the house and began moving in immediately.  I was able to say good bye to the home, and we had a small Gagnier celebration last night to praise God for bringing us though this time of life.  I have some more pictures to post with that, but it will be more of a mid week post. 

Just a video

To follow up from my last blog, I completed the half marathon quicker than I thought I would.  That is why I don't have any pictures of the event, Kevin showed up with the kids all bundled up after I finished, but it was still a good run.  

This was a busy week for us, but I think my camera was low on battery power so I didn't get a chance to capture much of it, except for the pudding as shown above.  We went to the mall, went to the library story time, visited friends, went to the movies, and enjoyed a bunch of walks outside.  I will clarify going to the movies, on Thursdays the local theatre shows Nick Jr. shows, and we were able to enjoy Dora the Explorer.  My kids love Dora, Daniel breaks into song, and Rachel begins to dance as I play the same episodes over, and over, and over.  Swiper, will you stop swiping!  

In other news, we got rid of the futon in the kids room, and now there is so much more space.  Daniel seemed pretty excited to have a new layout, and it is another room to play in once winter hits.  They have really been enjoying the basement and the train table, so it is a good variety.  

So as the weather fluctuates, and October draws to a close, my goal it to enjoy the outside as much as possible.  We are also signed paperwork for  our home, and the buyer is going to be moving in on Saturday.  We are excited about this next step, and are praying for wisdom as we have a tennant/buyer and going into a new season of life.  

Baby Pictures

I have been wanting to post this comparison for a while, and needed to wait until we got Rachel's pictures taken.  We got them taken on Friday, and they turned out so great.  But here are pictures of Rachel and of me as a baby:

I thought that was fun to see.  I am going to rest the remainder of the evening, I am running the Lowell 1/2 marathon tomorrow. I think it is going to be a fine event. Kevin was so blessed to be able to go to the Virginia Tech-Boston College game tonight, go Hokies!!

Fall Funness

The Fall has been so beautiful lately, and the weather has been very pleasant.  Kevin had Monday off so we made it a fun fall day.  We played in the leaves, picked some pumpkins, and carved the pumpkins.  It was fun for all of us, and Daniel says good-bye to the pumpkins on our front steps when we leave the home.  Rachel just enjoyed putting anything in her mouth, the leaves, the pumpkins, the pumpkin seeds, anything was good enough for her.  So here are some photos from Monday, enjoy!

Rachel is One!

Yesterday was Rachel's First birthday, but like the birthday's in this family, we have been celebrating all week.  On Wednesday we had a little party with some families from my mom's group, we have been getting cards and presents all week, and yesterday we went to New Bedford to celebrate with Kevin's family and grandmother, who shares the same birthday.  

Here are two of the girls at the party, Olivia and Sophia.  Sophia loves Rachel and treats her like her little baby, because she Rachel is her favorite name.  It if fun watching them all interact.  

Here Rachel is eating her pumpkin muffin, I went with the pumpkin theme with this time of year.  I now have a pretty good recipe for pumpkin scones if anyone is interested!
I went to a children's consignment shop and found this little bike for Rachel.  Daniel has one like it but a little bigger, and they love riding them together.
Here Daniel is birthday morning eating some chocolate chip pancakes.  I don't think he quite has the concept of birthday since he was looking for it outside one afternoon, but loves to sing happy birthday and blow out the candles.  
Here are kids with Kevin's grandmother (or grand-memere).  
What an amazing year it has been with Rachel, and we are so blessed to have her in our family.  She is such a happy girl who goes with the flow pretty easy and likes anything he brother does.  I am learning to savor these moments with the kids, because the do go too quickly!

Back from Disney World

Hello everyone, we are back from sunny Florida to the beautiful fall here in NE.  It is funny how the season seems to change so quickly.  Well, we had a great time in Disney World.  Daniel can now say Mickey Mouse at the drop of a hat, and ask him if you saw Mickey and he will say yes.  I didn't realize how much energy Daniel has, and how long Rachel can stay up when there is a lot going on around her.  Daniel loved seeing the characters, but Rachel was another story.  She got scared of the critters, and we had to shield her if we went to a character meal.  

Here is my dad and Michael and Daniel looking at some water, sometimes I didn't know who was more excited.

Ok, so we did get caught up in dressing up the kids, but don't they look so cute!  Daniel was a perfect Peter Pan, and Rachel was a ballerina/princess/whatever girly thing. 

Daniel's cousin Michael was buzz lightyear, and would run around saying to Infinity and Beyond...well in his own words and as well as an almost 3 year old could.  
Here is Daniel giving some love to Piglet.  
We had some cake as a early celebration of Rachel's birthday coming up.  She loved it and dove right in.  There are more festivities for her to come.
We also received some great news while we were away, there is a potential buyer for our home in NH.  Things are still tentative, but it is encouraging.   I think God is showing me how He works things out even while I am on vacation.  Well, it is time to catch up on house stuff, we are definitely back from vacation now.