That's My Grandpa!

This week my Grandpa was inducted into the Hammond Sports Hall of Fame. Unfortunately we were unable to attend since the ceremony fell during the week and was in NW Indiana. Several members of our family were there to celebrate with him and said that the ceremony was wonderful. My Uncle Bob had the privilege of introducing Grandpa during the ceremony. We're very proud of you, Grandpa! We love you!

Below is what was listed in The Times about him:
Robert E. Burns
During his first season running high school cross country, the 1948 Hammond Tech graduate placed fifth in the state meet. He would be a state finalist again the following year and also go on to star in track and field, earning third place in the state meet. Offered university scholarships to continue his athletic career, he declined to remain at home to help support his mother and siblings following the premature death of his father. He is a retired Hammond police sergeant.

There is also a video online. My Uncle Bob comes on to introduce Grandpa Burns around the 5 1/2 minute mark.
http://www.regionsports.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1718&Itemid=200

Spring Break Reading List

Alright girls, I'm looking for some help here. We're driving to Florida for Spring Break in a few weeks and I want to take some light, entertaining reading material. I am open to suggestions...please help.

I LOVE my kids!!

I'm feeling like a bad blogger lately. I do check in on my fellow-bloggers and read their posts on a fairly regular basis, but I've been bad about updating mine. I always tell myself, "I'll get to it this weekend when I have more time." Do you know what? The weekend comes and goes much faster than I ever wanted it to! So here we are a month and a half after my last post...

I've certainly got lots to report on after all that time, but here are the highlights:

Allison is going to be 5 in about 5 weeks. She will start Kindergarten in the fall and I'm starting to feel some internal conflict with that. How in the world could she possibly be turning 5 already?! She was telling me tonight about how she baked a cake at the babysitter's house and she got to crack an egg all by herself (something I have not yet let her try at home when we're baking). When I commented to her about how proud I am of her and how big she's getting, she said to me sweetly, "You think I should just stay little and not get big." Obviously I've said this to her a billion times! It's not that I don't want her to get bigger, it's just that I want her to stay little for a while longer. Ok, Fellow-Moms-of-little-ones-about-to-be-bigger-ones, does this seem like such an unreasonable request???

Allison has also been progressing quite well through swim lessons this past fall and winter. She spent one final session in Pike, moved up to Eel for one 7-week session, and has been moved up once more to Ray. This is very exciting when you're not quite 5 and you might get to be with the 6-8 year olds! I love you and am so proud of you, Ally!

And then there's little Miss Peyton Mary...this kid is a handful! She'll be getting into something or squaking at the top of her lungs and then flash you the sweetest, most innocent smile. One of her favorite things to do right now is put things in the kitchen cabinets. By things, I of course am referring to items which would not normally be found in kitchen cabinets such as shoes, her toys, the TV remote, sippy cups full of milk or juice, her hat and gloves, etc. She is talking A LOT and has tons of recognizable words now. She enjoys talking on the phone, usually though it's when no one is really on the other end to talk back to her. She's very good at having a pretend conversation though! Peyton also seems to have an obsession with Dora, or as she says "doh wa", and Elmo. Peyt also loves her "no man" sweater which now seems to be a bit more 3/4 length sleeve that long-sleeve, but it's been through a lot. At one point in time, the sweater belonged to her big cousin McKenna who will be turning 11 this summer.

Peyton's most recent trick is climbing out of her crib at naptime on the weekends. I am not ready to move her to a big girl bed yet, for fear that she will NEVER stay in it and naptime as we know it will be gone for good. Oh the trials of the mommy of a not-quite-2-year-old! Love you, Peyt! Thanks for keeping me on my toes.

Weather Confusion

Blizzard...no blizzard...winter weather advisory...no winter weather advisory...what is going on here? The meteorologists couldn't make up their minds as to what type of weather we were actually going to get. On Tuesday we had a blizzard advisory, around 4PM that was called off, but it was possible we would still get snow and frigid temperatures. On the evening news, they said we should expect snow to start around 4-5AM Wednesday. As I headed out the door today at 6:20AM there was very light flurries. By 6:30AM there was near white out conditions on the highway!!! It then was snowing and blowing the entire day today accumulating 3-4 inches of new snow and temperatures dropped to single digits. Brrr...

I'm completely addicted...

...to Webkinz! Ally got a Webkinz puppy for Christmas and we are addicted to playing Webkinz online. It's fun to play with her because she gets SO excited when her puppy rides its scooter or jumps on the trampoline. She likes to buy food and gifts for her puppy and feed her puppy (all fake online stuff, of course). You have to earn money(Kinzcash) to buy things for your Webkinz pet, so who spends way too much time earning money for Ally's pet...Mommy! Ally's puppy (which she named "Puppy") needs friends, so if any of your kids have Webkinz, let us know. :)

My Girls

Allison and Peyton couldn't been more different in their mannerisms, yet they are such good friends. Allison is the sweet little mommy, while Peyton is the destructive, ornery kid who can be sweet when she wants to. The following pictures capture the essence of my girls...

With Great-Grandma Burns--Peyton with finger in nose, Ally sweet and smily

Ally--dressed up as Belle for Halloween

Peyton--humm...markers, what kind of damage can I do with these?

Ally--Mommy's little helper baking Christmas cookies

Peyton--what can I stick in the bathtub while Daddy's taking a shower?

As different as they are, how can you not love these two little darlings?

Where has the time gone???

So, it has been over a month now since my last post. How did an entire month go by already? Anyhow, here are a few pictures from the past month.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Jacquay family (Darren's mom's family) had a family party/family reunion. The little cousins had lots of fun running around and playing together.

Grace, Margarita, Allison, Maddie, Peyton (and of course, Lambie)

Grace & Allison playing B-I-N-G-O

Peyton rocks out the show on the guitar!

Maddie Q coloring...what a cutie pie!