Tiny Dancer

Elsie had her first dance recital tonight. Her class of fourteen 4 and 5-year-olds did two dances in front of hundreds of people! I was SOOO impressed by my little lady getting out there and showing her moves. It was one of those happy-tears types of night. Oh, this little one of mine is growing up and it is so much fun to watch it happen. As you will see from Margot in this picture, little sister was not about to be out-shown by her big sister. Margot wore this incredibly random princess dress and necklace to Elsie's concert. She also spent about an hour dancing on the sidelines and doing her best to imitate each and every dance performed. We may have a show-stealer on our hands.

Snowman Weather

So far, this winter you have to act quick if you want to play in the snow. A fact I'm not complaining about but my 4-year-old doesn't share my opinion.

Any who, snowman making is SUPER easy when you have big cousin, Michael, to help out. Now if he could cook, clean, and change diapers things would be looking real easy.

A Margot Moment

Here's a day in the life of Margot. First, see how many random outfits she can wear in one day. This hand-me-down dance costume is one of her current favorites. Next, always have one slipper on, which is not pictured so you'll just have to trust me on this. She walks around wearing one of Elsie's slippers for the better part of her day. Just to make things more exciting she at times will insist on wearing gloves inside the house. Gloves that I need to help her maneuver each little finger into the correct hole. It is a tedious chore. Her hair is always crazy. She walks around the house looking like this and telling people to call her Cinderella.
Margot: "I Cinderella"
Me: "Hi Cinderella! How are you?"
Margot: "Gut. Bye."

We have this conversation at least 16 times a day.

One last story for you. Today I went into Margot's room after nap to get her out of her crib. She had taken off all her clothes. Luckily the diaper with still on. I asked, "Margot Belle, why would you take off all your clothes? It's too cold to be naked." Her answer: "I go swimming Mom."

First Snow!

Snow in mid-November is super exciting when you live with a 4-year-old. Her enthusiasm was contagious. When Elsie looked out the window and said "It looks amazing" I had to agree with her. On Saturday, we played in the snow, made a snowman, sled down our tiny hill and had hot chocolate. As noted above Elsie is a big fan of the snow. Margot is going to need some time to adjust.

After the girls are done shoveling they are going to put together the snow blower.

Carving Time

We (I) carved 5 pumpkins today, which Soren's comment to this was "that's a little aggressive" I guess I just really have the Halloween spirit this year, plus my jack-o-lanterns look like they were carved by my toddler, meaning I didn't take much time/effort. Because when you have a 4 and 2-year old, the main experience is getting messy, right? It's fun to dig in the seeds and pumpkin gunk. Our daughters are exact opposites when it comes to getting dirty. As you will see in the pictures below:

Here Elsie carefully uses the official pumpkin scooper. Note how her other hand is NO WHERE near the mess.
And then there's Margot, having the time of her life! It's my thinking that the entire time she kept waiting to get in trouble for getting so messy. She eventually did get in trouble for throwing seeds/gunk across the room (after being asked several times not to do that). A person can only be so patient.

Here's the pumpkin line-up.

Ain't No Party Like a Preschool Party

Whew, those preschool teachers know how to throw a party. Last week, I volunteered in Elsie's classroom for their Harvest Party. (side note: I loved being a parent volunteer. It was so much fun to see Elsie in the classroom) The party included a trick or treat parade, face painting, bingo, two snacks, two crafts, and a game. I helped the kids make a pumpkin craft and had to assist 4 and 5 year olds cut 10 pieces of paper. I think I will brag about this accomplishment for the next few weeks.

Elsie with her ghost face paint playing a mean game of Bingo.
One happy customer.

Gulczinski Trick or Treats

Grandma and Grandpa Gulczinski had us over for their 3rd annual Halloween party. They had tons of games for the kids to play, some spooky food and lots of goodies. It's hard to say who had more fun, my parents or the kids. Here are the crazy cousins: Margot, Stella, Elsie and Gabe. We'll have to get a bigger haystack next year, because another Blake cousin will be joining us! My sister and brother-in-law are expecting their 3rd baby in February! We are SOOOO excited for a new little one!
Grandma and Grandpa with their crazies! This isn't one of my best pictures...everyone is looking in a different direction. Uncle Matt most have been doing something weird.

Elsie and her Halloween date.

The girls loved my mom's witch hat. Every time we see a witch costume Elsie and Margot say "Hey she's a witch, just like grandma!" This always makes me laugh.

Halloween a Week Early

The Halloween festivities began a week early for the Erickson girls. We make good use of our costumes (as you'll notice in later blog posts)! Last Saturday we went to the "Halloween Park," a park in Lakeville that has a Halloween party each year. We just call it the Halloween Park all year. The girls trick or treated through the park, went on a tractor ride and got to see a puppet show. Butterfly Margot enjoying her treats.
Elsie is a cupcake and Margot a butterfly for Halloween this year.

It was a perfect night to spend outside!

Getting Crafty

I think the combination of being 4 and starting pre-school has really put the craft bug in Elsie. Her mother, not being the craftiest person in the world, is working hard to encourage this side of Elsie. If we hadn't ran out of orange paper, I think Elsie would have filled the wall with her pumpkin creations. Isn't she sooo cute?!

Apple and Pumpkin Picking

Since Elsie's field trip to an apple orchard she has become a pro at the "reach, twist, pull" technique of apple picking. She had to share this knowledge with Margot which meant another trip to the orchard. The orchard was almost bare. Luckily I was able to lift the girls up so they could each get 1 apple.

Margot enjoying her apple.

I can't believe it's pumpkin time again! Gotta love wearing shorts and a tank top in October to pick pumpkins!

Margot finds the perfect pumpkin and don't you dare try to help her carry it.

Elsie admires her pumpkin and makes sure it is just a little bit bigger than Margot's.

RUN!

The Erickson crew ran a 10K, 5K, and 1K race. The brain teaser for the day will be for you to match the Erickson with the race. It was a gorgeous day for a run and some family fun. Elsie loved that she was able to go through the snack tent after the kid race and Margot loved doing everything she wasn't supposed to do...such as, climbing on top of the haystack obstacle course while innocent children were crawling underneath it. Elsie and Margot looking very serious during their run. The shadow camera man is Soren, so I guess we can count this as a family picture.
The Lundberg family joined us in the fun. My good friend, Alyssa, and I go all the way back to 1st grade! Oh how the times have changed :)

So long September

September is cruising by and I just realized I've only given Erickson Blog Fans (also known as my brother and sister) one September blog post. Here are a few photos to get you up to date on our September happenings...

Elsie is now taking a dance class. It's her first "organized" activity. She wears this too cute dance leotard to class and Margot and I try to stay busy for 45 minutes while Elsie learns about jazz hands. Elsie loves her class.


We went on a picnic last week with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Doug. Margot had so much fun rolling around in sand filled with goose poop.

Books, jammies, and smiles...what could be better?

I was able to chaperone on Elsie's preschool field trip to an apple orchard. It was fun to see how the other half lives on a field trip. Much easier to keep track of 2 kids versus 22 students!

Preschool

Today was Elsie's first day of preschool! She bravely walked into her classroom after giving me a hug and kiss and said she only missed us a little bit of the time. I had no time to shed tears during this big occasion because I was wrestling with a wild 2-year-old, but that's a different story. So, here's what I know about Elsie's first day...all things she told me:
She was the napkin helper, they had circle crackers for snack, she didn't really want to play at the playground, and she used stamps for an art project. This is way for than I was expecting to hear about and I loved learning about every minute!

Happy Birthday Elsie!

Today marks Elsie's 4th birthday! When she woke up today she looked at me with a big grin and said "Mom, don't I look so much bigger now that I'm 4?!" And yes, she did look bigger! Elsie is thrilled to be 4, which in her world means getting a big girl bike (with training wheels) starting preschool in a few weeks, and taking a dance class! Our 4-year-old (I have to keep saying it to believe it) loves to tell jokes. Meaning she has the tone/delivery down but not the content. Example: Mom, why does a bat eat a cone? ha, ha, ha. The punchline is still being developed. She still loves books and has a fantastic imagination. Today she was teaching a balloon how to walk. I've enjoyed every year we've had with Elsie and am looking forward to seeing what this one brings!

Take a walk down the past 4 years with me...

Here she is making sure we are all aware that she is 4 years old.

3-year-old E.
2-year-old Elsie a.k.a. the cutest girl at an all-you-can-eat waffle breakfast.

1-year-old Elsie

Day 1 Elsie

2 + 4 = A Birthday Party

Elsie and Margot invited their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins over for a birthday party to celebrate their 4th and 2nd birthdays. I have to admit that it's nice to have one day of chaos to celebrate two birthdays, I'm not sure the girls will always agree, but it's worked great so far!

Highlights from the party included the kids going down the slip and slide (sorry no pics of this, it was toward the end of the party and I gave up on taking pictures and was instead having an adult beverage), water balloons that my dad patiently filled up, pin the tail on the donkey, and a fishing game. Also, not to brag but my potato salad was a big hit and I made some pretty cool cupcakes. Elsie loved opening her gifts. Princess pajamas, princess dress up clothes and princess toys were a few of her favorite gifts, are you sensing a theme here? These crazy princess ladies are unavoidable!
Cake face.

Margot enjoying every bite!

Can you sense their fear of fire?! Relax girls, this is supposed to be fun.

Um, don't worry Elsie you don't have to eat all the food on the table. Classic Margot face when the camera is out.

So close Margot! Folks, she didn't even have the blindfold on and went straight for the eyes with the donkey's tail. This girl may need some extra attention at school.

Had to include my dr. seuss inspired cupcakes. The top cupcakes are supposed to remind you of thing 1 and thing 2, the marshmallow things are the cat's hat and you can figure out the fish cupcakes in the middle, right?

2 in August

Happy Birthday to Margot Belle. She has spent the past few weeks telling whomever will listen she will be 2 in August. Finally, the special day has arrived! Margot's day started with a doughnut with two birthday candles and ended with a Diego video...life doesn't get much better. In between, she had lots of other treats, played at a water/splash park, played at another park and opened a few presents. Here are a few things to note about this special lady:

• She is super funny and has great dance moves, but when you think about who her mother is this isn't a big surprise.


• She adores her older sister and spends most of her day saying/doing everything Elsie does.


• She LOVES the water and is fearless when it comes to jumping, splashing and playing in the water.

And for your viewing pleasure, a reverse-order Margot photo timeline...

2 year old Margot
1 year old Margot

Day 1 Margot

Happy Summer!

I think I could sum up the summer so far in one word: water. The girls love playing in the water and we have enjoyed as much of it as we can. Swimming at the pool at the gym, going to lakes, playing in the sprinkler and pool at home and even splashing in a few puddles has kept the girls entertained this summer. Elsie very carefully plays with the sand.

We love potholes after a good rain!

Look at this cute litter stinker...she is fearless in all types of water.

Margot thinking about who she should dump this scoop of mud on.

A quick "CHEESE" for mom and then let me get back to the water.