Snowy Sunday

Loved having a snowy Sunday! No commute to worry about and lots of time to play in the snow. Having a 3 and 5 year old really helps to bring out the magic in the white fluffy stuff. We spent hours (can't believe I'm writing that) outside today! The best part is the girls can walk up our small hill AND drag their own sled behind them. We can just push, listen to them squeal all the way down the hill and watch them stumble back up.

Happy Halloween!

Here's some photos of the Erickson girls all dressed up. The girls were witches these year. On Halloween morning the looked and acted the part. BUT here's a much more charming picture of them:





My ADORABLE nephew, Elijah, as the cutest owl ever. (yes, I heart him sooo much!)





Our attempt to get a group cousin photo. Gabe is a surgeon and Stella a ladybug. My parents hosted a fab cousin halloween party.

One pizza, two sisters

I took the girls out for pizza a few weeks ago and couldn't help but compare the difference in their eating styles.


This picture does not do justice to how messy Margot was. I was sitting next to her in the booth and was cringing the entire time and begging her to not touch me.


Not a drop of pizza sauce on Ms. E. She even politely asked our server for more napkins, which you need when you wipe your hand after EVERY bite.

Weird and Weirder

Elsie and Margot are goofy and it you don't believe me check out these three odd pictures of the girls posing by a lovely fall scene. Please note that at no time did I say "hey girls, let's see a silly face." These is what I get when I say "smile for a picture"









Really have no idea what is with the hands in this picture

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO...

A few weeks ago Soren ran his first 10K race. He was looking good out there. The girls and I had lots of fun cheering him on.



Soren's biggest fans.


I'm really proud of my handsome hubby :) I know, yuck, don't get so mushy on the blog.

3 Generations of Witches

My parents hosted a wicked Halloween party for the kiddos. I'll try to post more pictures of the cousins going Halloween crazy, but don't hold your breath...my last post was a month ago.

Pumpkin Pickin'

We spent our 5th pumpkin season roaming the rows of pumpkins at a little spot in Farmington. This was the place where baby Elsie puckered up to a pumpkin. Now the girls spend time making silly faces at the camera and need no help carrying their pumpkins to the car. Well, they may need help but they really don't want to ask for it.


Margot was really attached to this bumpy pumpkin until it was time to leave and then she ditched it for a smooth one.





Elsie ponders the important things in life while searching for a pumpkin.

The return of footie jammies?

Yes, we are experiencing a beautiful, warm Autumn weekend, but the Erickson girls were determined to sleep in their winter pjs last night. Who am I to argue when they look so darn cute. Plus, I'm really into picking my battles, especially at bedtime, and I wasn't up for the footie jammie fight.

So here they are all cozied up for a long winters nap:

On the 12th day of being back to work...

All right, we are still here enjoying life and an ice cream treat 12 days into me being back at work and the girls living the dream we call Stepping Stones (an all day preschool/daycare).

Elsie and Margot are really, really, enjoying school. I mean, really, I keep waiting for you know what to hit the fan, but things have just been truck'n right along.

Life being a kindergarten teaching is going really well too. It helps that I have a magical staff I teach with who look out for me and make sure I'm I'm keeping up with the times.

Oh, and I should mention that Mr. E. has also been a real gem in the splitting up the parent/house/laundry/ work again. It's feeling like Team Erickson around here.

OK, an adorable pic of the girls enjoying ice cream is below. I'm off to pack lunches, plan my lesson for tomorrow, unload the dishwasher and make sure we all have clean clothes. Not much time for any BRAVO TV watching.

First Day of School!!

Today was a BIG day in the Erickson household. I (Anne) went back to teaching kindergarten after a 3 year summer vacation, which meant the two little Erickson girls started their first day of preschool. We all had a great day!




Here's Elsie and Margot heading out the door for school. They start in the same classroom in the morning and in the afternoon go to a different classroom with their age group. They did wonderful!!


Here's my back to school picture. Margot had JUST woke up and wasn't too keen on getting a picture taken. Early bird Elsie was ready to roll and thought it was supper silly to wear one of my shoes!

We will see if the blog can survive with a working mom...

FIVE!!

Today is Elsie's 5th birthday! Wow, five years with this little lady...it's hard to believe. When she woke up this morning she said, "Do my legs look like 5-year-old legs?" Of course they do!

Somewhere during Elsie's five years she changed from the little girl who wouldn't make eye contact with strangers to the kid who tells the cashier at Target EVERYTHING that is going on in her life! It's CrAzY how much she enjoys talking to people, especially adults. Elsie continues to use super fun words (I think her dad and all the books we read are responsible for this) wonky, chief, and, you gotta be kidding me, are just a few of my favorite word combinations she uses.

Per Elsie's request, this is how we spent her special day: picnic lunch in the front yard, rides at the Mall of America, and a cheeseburger dinner at Johnny Rockets. It was a great day and it was so fun to celebrate our special FIVE YEAR OLD!!! We love you Elsie!

OK, you know the drill...here's Elsie's photo timeline ages 5-birth.


High Five Elsie



Hello, my name is Elsie and I am 4 years old.


3-year-old Ms. E.


Elsie Grace age 2.


1-year-old Elsie.


Birth day E!

Birthday Girl

Yes, 3-year-old Margot has entered the building. We had a wonderful day celebrating Margot. On Margot's birthday to-do list: go bowling, go out for pizza, enjoy a birthday donut, and play, play, play!

Here's a little recap on Margot Belle entering her 3rd year. She loves to play with any smallish figurine type toy...fisher price little people, princess gals, weird toys from McDonalds, if she can play pretend with something she will. She has great dance moves (thanks to her parents, I'm sure). She can be hilarious and maddening within a matter of minutes. If Margot wants a drink of water you will know about it until her thirst is quenched. Patience is something she's not familiar with :)

She is a gem and we couldn't imagine our days without her. Here's a photo timeline that really ranks up high on the cuteness factor.


3-year-old Margot


2-year-old Ms. M


1-year-old Margs


Birth day Margot Belle

Say Cheese

Well, you just never know what your going to get when taking pics of the Erickson girls. Here are a few of the more interesting ones...


Classic Margot cheese face while trying to hug Elsie with the wrong arm. Elsie experimenting with her no-teeth-showing smile.


Godzilla Elsie takes a princess hostage.


Sad face Margot at a waffle breakfast. She was upset because there wasn't enough whipped cream on her plate.


Cutest 4 year old ever.


Pouty Margot


Crafts are fun smile.

The Grrrrrrlz

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Picture Perfect

Soren snatched this picture of Margot a few weeks ago and we both can't get enough of it, which is pretty much how we feel about Margot in general! We can't get enough of her silly attitude, funny voice she uses when doing "pretend" talk, and her insightful observations. Yesterday, she told me I'm naughty when I say no to her. I told her it'd be more naughty of me to let her do dangerous things and she looked at me like I was nuts. Oh, this almost-three-year-old has us tied around her little finger!

Happy 4th of July

The girls enjoyed some 4th of July fun with sparklers during the middle of the day. It might be years before these two enjoy the beauty of a sparkler in the nighttime. We may have to save some so they can do a sparkler when the sun sets at 4 p.m. this winter.

Our 4th was jam packed...we cheered Soren on as he completed a 5-mile race in Apple Valley, then the girls took on the 1/2 Pint 1/2 mile race. Well, actually Elsie ran and Margot ate a bagel. Then we hit the pool to cool off. Hope everyone had safe and happy holiday!

4 weeks of soccer = a trophy?

I (Anne) was not prepared for Ms. Elsie to receive her first trophy for participating in 4 weeks (4 hours) of soccer practice. I mean a trophy seems like a little much, right?! As you can see she adores her trophy and has already spent hours talking to it and carrying it around with her.

Just to get it out of my system...when I was growing up we didn't get a trophy for showing up or snacks after each practice, and we played summer sports in the snow and had to walk uphill both ways. Yup, I'm turning into one of those parents.



Elsie did LOVE playing soccer and is already asking to play again in the Fall. I guess Mr. E better start working on a trophy room.

Still Catching Up...

On April 30, I (Anne) promised you I'd catch you up on all the random happenings in the world of Margot and Elsie. Here's a few more milestones...



Ms. Margot had her first dentist appointment! She was a wonderful patient. The dental hygienist was able to polish AND floss her teeth. No cavities for this little cutie. I'm a tad jealous since I just had 3 cavities filled yesterday. I looked nowhere near as happy and cute in my dentist chair as Margot does.


Elsie said good-bye to her coat hook at preschool. Yes, she hugged and kissed her special space, which was more affection than she gave to her classmates. She did a fantastic job this year in her 4-year-old preschool class. We are so proud of her!


Margot said good-bye to the coat hook too. Why? Because she pretty much does everything Elsie does, duh. We are very proud of her too.

Duluth Trip (took place 6 weeks ago)

In keeping with my (Anne's) timely manner in making blog posts, I'd like to tell you about a family trip we took to Duluth in the beginning of May. We hit the road to be in awe of Lake Superior and its white caps.



Oh look, Margot stays busy by coloring all over herself. She really lived up to her reputation of being a handful on road trips. I'm sure your reading between the lines here and know that by handful I mean a pain in the rear.


Yup, it felt like February while we spent a Spring weekend in Duluth, but that didn't stop us from climbing rocks and taking tourists pictures all over town.





Margot pulls the old "I'm going to stick my tongue out in lots of pictures" trick. See above and below.


We took a 2 hour cruise of Lake Superior. It was just us and 148 4th graders. It was great people watching and we saw a little bit of the lake.


I (Anne) get the BIGGEST kick out of this picture. Apparently the sun is painful and blinding to my family. Margot just gives up and covers her eyes.

We had lots of great dinners, threw rocks in the lake and Elsie read her first sign, which said "No Diving". It's always nice to get away from home for a few days and enjoy time together with my sun-fearing family.