Peterson Girls

We've Moved our blog

2007-03-30T19:27:00.000-05:00

We have moved our blog to www.petersongirls.com/blog please bookmark this change and continue to enjoy watching our girls grow up.

Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes

2007-03-04T21:25:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the big day. My brother got 4 tickets from his work to Disney on Ice at the Palace. I found out about the tickets on Wednesday and was looking forward to surprising the girls on Saturday. Well, much to my dismay, I came down sick on Friday evening and was unable to go Saturday. However, Andy being the great daddy that he is, said that he would take the girls and even an extra one, Madison's friend Brooke. I was sad that I didn't get to go, but Andy said they had a really great time. And just to prove what a great daddy he is, he wasn't the least bit bothered that he was the ONLY guy in the suite. He said he was surrounded by little girls, mommies and aunts :) How cute is that? Anyway-here a few pictures that he took.

Madison and her friend Brooke dressed up as Cinderella.
Marissa as Snow White.

Marissa enjoying the show.
The three "princesses".
Madison and Brooke
Brooke and Marissa.

Our Grandpa/Photographer

2007-03-01T17:01:00.000-05:00

My dad has really been getting into photography more and more lately. He recently began purchasing props for the girls to use in pictures. I really think that one of these days I am going to get to their house and find my brother's old bedroom turned into a studio with backdrops, lights, props, the whole nine yards. By the way-sorry Dwayne, but MY room will always be kept a bedroom :) Anyway, here are a few more of his "practice" pictures he took of the girls.

Family Fun Day at COSI

2007-02-20T22:03:00.000-05:00

Monday was a scheduled day off of school for Madison so Andy decided to take the day off and we took the girls down to Toledo to COSI. It is a children's science museum. We had never been before but I had always heard great things about it. The girls really had a great time and it was pretty cool. There was so much for them to do. Hopefully we will be able to go again sometime.

They have a "water zone" and, of course, my girls wanted to spend most of the time in there. Marissa totally soaked her boots carrying water from one station to the next.

Madison playing with some boats in the water.
Marissa coming down the slide on the playscape.

They have a room set up like a hospital so the kids can play "pretend". It is really cute with everything from crutches to an admissions office with a real computer the kids can type on. Here is Madison sitting at the admissions office desk. Notice the file folders she is holding in her hand. Those were also in there.
Marissa working hard in the Admissions office at the hospital.
More playing in the water.

"Howdy Partner!"
"Hold'em right there"
As soon as I saw that this station had sand AND water, I knew that it would be hard to get my girls out without messy hands. I was right! :)

Madison climbing on the rock wall.
Madison in the bubble room trying to blow a really big bubble.

Marissa trying to make a big bubble.

I don't know if you can see this or not, but Madison is pulling up on that string which pulls the hoola-hoop circle around you and basically puts you inside a huge bubble.

Marissa inside a bubble.
This was pretty cool. This is Marissa's body imprint in that wall behind her.
Madison's imprint of herself.

Valentines Day Party

2007-02-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Madison's Valentines Day party at school. They ended up having it on Thursday b/c Wednesday ended up being a snow day. She, of course, had fun!

Here is the bag that each of the kids made. It was to hold all their Valentine cards.

Madison and her cheesey smile opening up some Valentines cards.

The whole class with their teacher, Mrs. Hubbard.

The whole class.

Happy Valentines Day!

2007-02-14T22:04:00.000-05:00

Snow Day!

2007-02-14T21:23:00.000-05:00

Well, today it was official--Madison's first Snow Day from school. We had to save the Valentines Day School Party post for tomorrow when she goes back. Andy decided that he was not going to try to drive to work in all the snow, so we took the girls sledding-after we dug out, of course. This was Madison's second time going and Marissa's first time. They both absolutely loved it!

The girls all bundled up.

Madison getting ready to go down the hill.

Madison coming down the hill. She goes all by herself now.

She made it down the hill without falling off.

Here come mommy and Marissa. She had a ball and even wanted to go down herself, but I said she had to be four years old before she could do that.

Mommy and the girls.

No-I did not let the 2 of them down the hill by themselves--that would have been a sight to see for sure!

Mommy and Marissa.

Pre-Valentines Day Pictures

2007-02-13T13:27:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures I took this afternoon. The girls ended up with a couple of different "heart" shirts this year for Valentines Day so I put them in one today and then saved some things for tomorrow :)

Sisters in the Snow

2007-02-12T21:43:00.000-05:00

Today we got a couple inches of snow to add to what was already on the ground. The girls, of course, wanted to go outside so Andy took them out. They had a great time and neither wanted to come in for dinner.

The making of a snow pile.

Madison's snow angel.....

...Marissa's snow angel. When we told her "You are supposed to be on your back", she said, "I don't like it when the snow lands on my face and in my eyes." So there you have it...Marissa's snow angel. :)

Getting a sled ride from daddy.

Marissa felt safer laying down as opposed to sitting up for the ride.

What a great sister!

This one and the next just make me laugh. :) I don't think Madison got very far on that sled.

At least they had fun!

Pre-Valentines Day with Grandpa and Grandma

2007-02-11T23:11:00.000-05:00

Today after morning church, the girls got to open their Valentine's Day gifts from my parents. As you can see, Marissa was very excited when my mom brought out their bags.

Very carefully reading the card.

"Show us what you got, girls."

Marissa loved the socks she pulled out of the bag....

and also the pencil/paper set...pretty much anything she pulled out she loved. :)

Both girls got a pair of these cute heart shaped sunglasses. Marissa wasn't so sure of them at first. When she put them on, she did not like the fact that everything she looked at with them on had a pink tint to it. She didn't leave them on for long.

Another picture for Madison's portfolio... :)

"Love the glasses, girls." :)

Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh!

2007-02-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

This one brought a smile to my face first thing this morning. I was in the bathroom finishing up getting ready for the day. The bathroom door was open and it looks directly down our hall. I thought that I heard Marissa stirring in her bed so I knew that she was just waking up and would come out of her room any minute. The next thing I knew, I looked down the hall and here was Marissa walking towards me with a backpack on her back and a purse hanging on her arm. I just started to laugh b/c this girl literally just woke up but for whatever reason thought she needed to back herself up for something. I thought to myself, "Where in the world does she think that she is going today?" It was really funny. What a great way to start my day!

This picture was from yesterday that I forgot to blog. My mother-in-law sent the girls a box and these window stickers were in the box. Well, Marissa wanted to put them on our front window and I said that was fine. I started to peel them off for her and give them to her one at a time to put on. Then Marissa says, "Just a minute mommy. It is too sunny and I can't see. I need to get my glasses." So she ran to her room, got her sunglasses, and finished putting up the rest of the stickers. What a character.

"Treasure Box" from Chicago

2007-02-07T14:03:00.000-05:00

Well, today it arrived in the mail! Grandma Peterson, the wonderful grandma that she is, usually sends the girls a "treasure box" in the mail around holidays or sometimes "just because she loves them" and this time was no exception. This box was for Valentines Day. She had called the girls on Monday night and told them she sent it and that it would arrive on Thursday. Well, it arrived today at lunch time. The girls were sooooo excited. I, of course, used this as a ploy to get them to eat ALL their lunch :) I told them they could not open the box until all their lunch was gone :) Boy, did they chow down! :) I think that it was record time for a meal. Anyway, here are a few pictures of them opening the box and some of the things that were inside.

Aawwww, aren't they cute? :)

"Enough posing already, let me in that box!"

Marissa, although sick with a cold, still showed off what she found in the box.

"Cute shirt, Marissa." Thanks for showing us.

Here are the girls with their matching shirts for Valentines Day.

The girls with all their goodies. What a nice grandma you both have!

Madison must think that this is a photo shoot or something. This child is constantly "posing" for pictures! :) Here she is with a couple of cute purses that she found in the box.

Lil' Models

2007-02-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

Here are some more pictures that my dad took of the girls. He is always posing them and trying to get them to do different things for pictures. Madison, as you can see, has been around much longer with Grandpa and knows exactly what to do. Marissa on the other hand just does her own thing :)

Grandpa and his girls

2007-01-30T00:07:00.000-05:00

My dad, quite the photographer that he is, set up his camera one night on a timer and shot these pictures himself without anyone else there. Great job -dad!

I love how Marissa posed perfectly for this picture even though she had no idea when the timer would go off to take the picture.

The girls love to play games with their grandpa.

I think my dad has just about read them every childrens book that my parents have in their house--and they have A LOT of books :)

Where's Marissa?

2007-01-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

I took these pictures on the day she played outside in the snow. I went in to check on her during her nap and found her in bed with almost every baby and stuffed animal she owns. I love how she lined each one up just right:) She was sleeping on the edge of the bed looking like at any moment she was ready to fall out. Not sure what she was thinking, but she definitely did not leave herself very much room to sleep :)

Let It Snow!

2007-01-26T17:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry for such a long delay between posts. We really haven't been that busy, just ran out of pictures I guess :) Well, here is Marissa's first snow of the season. She has been DYING to play in the snow. Everytime the smallest amount of snow would begin to fall, she would ask if she could go outside and make a snowman. I had to end up telling her, "As long as you can still see green grass outside there will be no snowman building. I think she may have finally got the idea until this morning when she looked outside to find maybe 1/2 of snow covering the ground. So you guessed it-outside we went.

Here she is all bundled up and ready to go outside.

She did such a great job shoveling snow, but this didn't last too long.

She wanted to shovel snow in the yard.

This is the scooter that Andy and I bought Marissa for Christmas. After we put it together, Andy let her ride it in the house for a few days and then took it out to the garage until summer. She was devistated to find that he did that and has been asking to ride it nearly everyday. Well, as you can see, she had only been outside for 3 minutes before she asked to ride it. I couldn't possibly tell her "no", so off she went.

She loves her scooter.

Looks like it is time to go in and get warmed up.

Last of the Christmas Pictures

2006-12-30T17:35:00.000-05:00

I realized that I forgot to post the pictures of the girls opening gifts that WE bought them. So here they are....

Sisters before opening gifts.

Marissa was very excited about everything, especially if it was Dora. As you can see, Madison was more interested in reading the book she had just opened.

Still reading, while sister opens her gifts.

We asked Madison to hold up what she just opened and this is what she did. Guess the book was a big hit with her.

Both the girls got a basketball so as to avoid fighting over 'one" this summer. :)

Marissa got a Dora scooter and was very excited about it. Andy put it together for her later that day and she was riding it around the house. She said she needed to "practice".

Madison with her new Leap Pad.

More Christmas Pictures

2006-12-29T11:29:00.000-05:00

Here are a few more pictures from Christmas at my parents house. These were taken Christmas evening after all the hoopla of the day. Marissa told my mom that she was tired and that she wanted to take a nap in the ottoman that opens up. So in she went. As you can see it was a game at first for her and Madison.

She did lay down finally but never went to sleep :)

Mommy reading to the girls.

She finally did crash on my dad.

Grandpa and his girls on Christmas.

Kindergarten Christmas Party

2006-12-27T19:37:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Madison's last day of school before the Christmas break. They had a special chapel first thing in the morning and then did some fun stuff after that.

Here she is sitting at her table.

The Kindergarten class played a Christmas song using the bells. It was really cute.

Here they are singing "Away in a Manger" with motions :)

Still singing :)

Not sure what they are doing in this picture, but man, look at the seriousness of that face. :)

The whole class with their teacher, Mrs. Hubbard. Everyone looked so cute that day in green and red.

The class did a gift exchange and here is Madison with her gift.

Opening the gift.

Here is a picture of some of the kids watching Mrs. Hubbard open her gifts.

Madison and her friend Olivia. They were matching that day... all the way down to their bleach blonde hair! :)

Christmas Morning at Grandpa and Grandma's House

2006-12-25T14:05:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from my parents house on Christmas morning.

Here is the whole family.

Here is what Madison would look like with long hair.

Here is what Marissa would look like with long YELLOW hair :)

Uncle Dwayne showing Madison how it works.

Madison and Marissa got a computer to share from Grandpa and Grandma.

Some of the clothes that Marissa got for Christmas from Grandpa and Grandma

Grandpa and Grandma got them both a dress-up wedding dress.

"WAY to young, Madison", says daddy :)

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T22:28:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve Morning. These were the girls in their Sunday dresses after church.

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve before going to my Grandma's house.

Christmas Tree Time

2006-12-22T14:48:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from when we put up the tree. Marissa was our 'star' this year and got to put it on the tree. We try to take turns but I am sure one of these years I will forget whose turn it is. The last two are from a few days ago of Madison before she went to school. She had a cute Christmas jumper on that day.
Great job putting the star on Marissa.

What a pro at this!

Madison being....Madison-cheesey smile and all :)

Basketball Star...in the Making

2006-12-19T08:20:00.000-05:00

Madsion has officially begun her "sports career". We signed her up at the beginning of the month for a 6 week basketball camp at her school. It is headed by Mark Kraatz and some others from Inter-City. Andy has been taking her on Saturday mornings, but I have not been able to go yet. He says it is pretty funny to watch. By the look of some of the pictures he took, I can only imagine.

"Great form, Madison!" I hope that one went in :)

Don't know if she is getting the ball stole from her or if she is the one doing the stealing.

Making of a Gingerbread House-Peterson Style

2006-12-11T20:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it finally happend today! The girls spent the afternoon over Grandma's house partaking in the 2nd annual gingerbread house event. There is not much to say since the pictures say it all, but it was thouroughly enjoyed to say the least :)

Let the fun begin

I love the careful concentration of Marissa here in this picture. It must be placed JUST RIGHT

Madison also looks like the expert craftsman here. You can tell she has done this before.

Grandma helping out when she can, or at least directing the chaos.

"Watch Marissa." "I will show you were to put it."

"Some for the house....some for me."

Marissa is really loving this.

Both hard at work getting it just right.

The concentration here again cracks me up. She really means business.

These just crack me up.

"Should I lick my fingers right now?"

The proud builders!

Great job girls!

Beginner Piano Lessons

2006-12-08T22:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally gave in. Madison has been bugging me for over a year now to play the piano. I have been putting it off for a number of reasons, the main one being I told her she had to be 5 years old. Well about 2 days after she turned 5, she began begging again. So about a month ago I decided I would give it a shot. After talking with a few people from church who teach piano lessons, they told me that it would be so easy for me to teach her. So off to the bookstore I went and bought the beginner books. We have been doing lessons now for about a month and she is really enjoying it and learning very quickly. It is very exciting for me to see such enthusiasm from her and for now....I am enjoying being her teacher :)

Don't ask me why she is wearing that hat. She wore it all day :)

Suny Day...Inside?

2006-12-08T12:49:00.000-05:00

I was working in the kitchen and came in the living room to find Marissa sitting there with sunglasses on looking at her books. Our living room has a rather large picture window in it and in the afternoon the sun comes in the room and is VERY bright. Well, I asked Marissa why she was wearing the glasses (even though I already knew why) and she told me, "because it is too bright in here." The funny thing is she could have just moved over a few inches and been out of the sun, but instead there she sat. I just laughed and grabbed the camera. Didn't know I would need to wear sunglasses in my own home.

Grandma's are the Best

2006-12-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

The day that my parents returned from their deer hunting trip they stopped over to see the girls. They had been having withdrawals since they were gone for a whole week without seeing them :) Thanks to cell phones though, they were able to talk to them several times throughout the week. Anway, Marissa was so tired that day since she didn't take a nap and mom and dad got in around 7ish that night. Well, Marissa just couldn't hold out anymore. This is how she fell asleep and she was out for the rest of the night.

Harvest Party at School

2006-11-27T20:15:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, the Kindergarten class had a Harvest Party. All of the children were to memorize a nursery rhyme, of their own choosing, and dress up based on the character in the rhyme. Madison (actually mommy) decided that she would be Little Bo Beep. It was easy to memorize and short :) We borrowed the dress, Grandma made the bonnet, and Grandpa made the staff.. so a team effort all around :) She was so excited to finally be able to dress up and say her rhyme that she memorized in one morning. All the kids did a good job and looked so cute. The party was a lot of fun too. I was able to stay and help so I got to see everything.

This picture is of her actually saying the rhyme in front of the class.

Madison and her friend Noel enjoying a cookie. They sit at the yellow table together everyday.

Here is a picture of the whole class dressed up.

Mrs. Hubbard reading to the kids. Must have been a good story..they are all listening so intently.

Visit from Grandma Peterson

2006-11-21T22:11:00.000-05:00

Grandma Peterson arrived on Thursday night and stayed with us until Sunday afternoon. She brought the train here from Chicago for the first time. The girls really enjoyed seeing her and spending time with her. We did lots of shopping, eating out and went to see the Wayne County Lightfest. Grandma brought a special craft to do with the girls. So on Sunday afternoon the girls worked on their snowflakes with a little help from Grandma.

SHHHHH...

2006-11-21T09:24:00.000-05:00

Last week was a busy week for us. One of the many things that went on was a visit from Grandma Peterson. The day before she arrived, I wanted to get the house cleaned up. It was late in the day and Marissa did not have a nap that afternoon. I thought that I would pop in a Dora movie for her to watch while I finished up some cleaning. About 10 minutes later I checked in on her and found her sleeping on the couch. Guess she needed a nap after all.

More Pictures of Leaves

2006-11-20T21:12:00.000-05:00

Well, first of all, I would like to say sorry for the delay in between posts. I guess this is harder than I thought it would be :) Anway, a couple of weeks ago my parents came over and we raked a big pile of leaves in our backyard. Well, grandpa thought it would be a great idea to pick the girls up by their hands and feet (with the help of grandma) and throw them into the pile. Well, the looks on their faces tell the rest of the story....well at least Marissa's face does.

Happy Halloween

2006-11-01T20:21:00.000-05:00

I took a few pictures in the morning before Madison went to school. My mother-in-law sent a cute pumpkin dress for each of the girls so I put Madison's on and sent her off to school. Since Marissa gets up with the rest of us, she wanted to be part of the morning action as well.

After Madison came home, we changed her into her matching shirt. Marissa thought it was pretty neat that Madison had a shirt that matched her. The necklaces the girls have on also came from their Grandma Peterson in a "treasure box" just the day before.

Well, here they are my cute little ladybug and of course my princess, Snow White. The girls could not wait to get their costumes on. In fact, I had to bribe Marissa into taking a nap by telling her when she got up, she could put her ladybug on. She went right to sleep :) We had a great time. We went up town in Belleville to the local businesses for trick-or-treating and then met up with my parents and brother and sister-in-law for pizza at Pizza Hut. It was a little cold that night, but the girls did great.

Fun in the Leaves

2006-10-27T07:07:00.000-05:00

Madison and Marissa decided to help daddy rake the leaves...or at least pose for pictures in them.

Running around and scattering them all so daddy has to rake again.

Just having fun with my sister.

Pumpkin Patch and Piñata Smash

2006-10-26T20:17:00.000-05:00

Today some moms from church and I took the kiddo's to a pumpkin patch. Marissa was able to have some fun hanging out with her friends, while her big sister was at school. It was a little cold out so we didn't stay for too long. We headed off to Mickey D's for lunch and then off to break open the piñata.

Here is everyone listening intently to the instructions on how to brake open the piñata.

Notice how Marissa is all ready to go with her bag in hand. Show me the candy!!

Marissa's first attempt at hitting the pinata. It is apparent that she has no clue which is the right end of the bat. Hey-whatever works! I will have to make sure her daddy works with her on her hitting skills.

And their off....grab the loot!

OUCH!!!

2006-10-26T19:09:00.000-05:00

Well, it finally happend. Madison came home from school yesterday (Wed) and this is what she looked like. Apparently, she had a "meeting with the wood chips" on the playground at school. This is actually our first "major" catasrophe and I am sure more will come. I wanted to get a picture of just her face, but Marissa insisted on being in the picture with her baby.

Fun Outdoors

2006-10-21T09:34:00.000-05:00

We had another nice day the other day and I sent the girls outside to play. Not sure how many more that we are going to have. They both enjoyed it and spent some time riding their bikes.

Marissa attempted to rake the few leaves that were in our yard and this is how we ended up.

Here are some pictures to bring you up to speed....

2006-10-15T21:33:00.000-05:00

Mom and I took the girls to the park to enjoy probably one of the last nice days of the year. (October 10)

Grandpa and Grandma took the girls to pick apples (September 29)

Celebrating Grandpa's Birthday. Notice how everyone matches wearing purple. (September 24)

Madison's 5th Birthday (August 31). She had a "Princess" Party with some friends from school.

Madison's First day of Kindergarten (August 29) And yes, mom did shed a few tears that day.

2006-10-15T21:03:00.000-05:00

Well, much to the dismay of my husband, I have fallen into "peer pressure" and have talked Andrew into setting up a blog page for me to share all my ramblings and maybe a picture or two of our on-goings here in Michigan with all of you out there. So please bear with me as I get the hang of doing this. I will try to keep it updated on a daily basis but it may turn into a weekly thing, we shall see. I hope that this will give me an opportunity to keep in touch with some of you a little better than I have done in the past. Please feel free to post comments or just pop in every now and then to see what is going on with us.

2006-10-11T21:07:00.000-05:00

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