2017 Winter Carnival

We are fortunate to live in a quiet little town that hosts two special weekends every year packed with lots of fun things to do right at home.  This weekend, as usual, many folks planned things for our community to enjoy:

Bounce House Fun - Claire went to a birthday party instead, but Stella had a nice time!

  Spa party at Gabby's house!

Breakfast with Marshall from the Paw Patrol!

Our coloring contest winners!  Stella won the 'Judges Pick' category, a $25 Walmart Gift Card, and Claire won the 'Creativity' category, a toy bag.  The game of Skip-Bo was included so we taught the girls how to play and have enjoyed several card games over the last two days!

They claimed their prizes at the Riverview after having a snack together and watching the fashion show while daddy was at practice.  It was a fun girls outing for us!

 We walked over to watch the parade with Miss Julie, although Caitlin and Anna weren't able to make it due to illness.  The kids gathered plenty of candy and lots of cheese from a local farm - the theme this year was 'Back to the Farm'.

After the parade Stella stopped by Miss Heather's house to build a snowman in the yard.  We are pretty sure Bauer, her playful golden retriever, knocked it down right away!
















Other recent happenings:

On Saturday, we visited SUNY Potsdam to see a show hosted by CPS.  Randy and I read these stories as children and have enjoyed reading them to our girls now.  Stella has read most of the series at school as well:

                                                                                        

 Stella and I arrived early and saved seats for the Britton family and daddy and sissy, who were running a little behind from the Birthday party.  We brought along a book so she could keep herself occupied while she waited.

I told Claire she would have to leave the party early for the show and would probably miss out on birthday cake, but she managed to stick it out with daddy and have a cupcake before leaving.  She was quick to let daddy know on the way to the show that Mommy was wrong, and she did get to have cake!  That's our sugar bug for you!

Afterward we had dinner at the Britton's and the girls all played until bedtime when we headed home.  Here they are having a group hug at the end of the evening.  We love that they are such great friends!

2017 Senior Night

Basketball season is winding down.  Last night we watched daddy's first play-off game against Tupper Lake.  The win takes them to the Class-C finals this coming Saturday @ Maxcy Hall against SLC - a South Street battle on the court!

From 2016, but captures some intensity to help
promote playoffs for this year.

Monday was President's Day so we were all home together.  I woke up around 8am to find this in the living room - Stella quietly went downstairs, put some Kidzbop radio on the tablet, layed out the new blanket she won from the 100's day spaghetti dinner chance auction, and did some coloring until the rest of us woke up.  She's a thoughtful girl!

Snow, Snow, & More Snow!

 It's snowed a bunch in the northeast today and the girls loved playing outdoors while Mommy shoveled the driveway.  The snow wasn't suitable for packing so they made their own fun by setting up opposing castles and pretending to snow board and surf.

 Claire loves shopkins.  She gave me a little lesson this afternoon about "Radio Sue", "Peta Plant", and "Jane Frame".

We have contractors working on an interior renovation right now.  Stella was sick on Friday but ready for Gymnastics Saturday morning so here's a pic of our pretty girl among our building project!

Home sick, watching Zootopia!

Staying home on Friday was tough because we knew both our girls were receiving 'Star Student of the Quarter' awards.  The girls are doing great at school and we didn't want Stella to miss out on being honored in front of her peers.  We sent her off but it wasn't long before the nurse called.  We had a quiet day at home, and thanks to our tech savvy principal, we were able to watch the ceremony live by streaming it on youtube.  Stella was all smiles when she heard Mr. Hirschey call her name.  While Dad was there in person, Mom was glad to get to see Claire earn her award too, even it was from home.  Stella was recognized for being so helpful and compassionate in the classroom, and Claire was recognized for working hard and being a good listener in P.E. class!

 In the fall Stella and Mommy went on a field trip to Bonesteels Garden Center and they gave us a bulb to 'wake up' in the middle of winter.  Not only was it neat to have the bulb actually blossom into a flower (we don't have the best of luck with plants at our house....) it was a welcome sight amidst all of the snow outside!

Claire-Bear is learning how to read and is so proud of herself.  We are proud of her too!  Here's a pic of her showing off her new found talent.

Next up...The Tri-Town Winter Carnival!  There's lots of fun planned and we are looking forward to a busy winter weekend in our own community!

January Happenings

Our January updates have been few and far between but it was a good month!  Here's some of the fun...

These pics of animals lined up were for a show the girls put on.  They made sure all of their animals and dolls had a ticket.  This was quite a process!  They ran out of time before bedtime so the show had a long intermission into the next day!

Stella's Christmas Gift Creation!

A trip to the Pediatrician for
a well-child visit.

Making a list of all our
Weekend Plans!

Sisterly Love 💜

Make Your Own Pizza Night!

Snuggles with Daddy!

Having a play dough hair salon
with magic clip dolls and PEZ dispencers

A Birthday gift from
Mike and Linda

AWANA started up again! (Yeah!)

Getting a cavity filled.

This month we also went to the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament daddy's school does with St. Lawrence Central.  We didn't win the game but told the girls they could celebrate either way since they are Larries!








 We also went to our cousin Tori's wedding.  The girls joined us for a little while and then had a sleepover at the Britton's.  It was a fun occassion!

A few of many Gilson cousins!

Caught having fun without the kiddos!

Birthday Girl!

French Toast
Birthday dinner!

Claire picked out a 'Puppy Surprise' for her sister,
which Stella loves!

Stella is 7!  Her birthday was mid-week, but we celebrated over the weekend, so it felt like the birthday that kept on giving!











These are some twinsies shirts daddy bought the girls for Christmas.

QT's!

Every morning, before they leave for school, he tells them to "be awesome today".  These shirts are super hero themed and say just that.  He couldn't resist.   

For Stella's birthday celebration we took a trip out of town to the Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Water Park.  It was such a wonderful weekend.  We opted for a Klub Moose room, which had a playhouse with bunk bed built right into the room.  The kids had a separate area to play and sleep.  It was awesome, for all of us!

In addition to the indoor water park fun, we took advantage of some of the other activities happening at the resort: candy bingo, sand art, painting with Frankie the Fox, a dance party in the lobby with Oakley the Bear, story-time with Scooby before bedtime, and a visit to the arcade.  This was a great winter getaway for us and an awesome way to celebrate Stella's good health, growth, and happiness!

Deciding what our plans would be

Welcoming 2017

 We wrapped up our holiday break with a visit to Uncle Ryan's, some Christmas gift crafts, a trip to the movies to watch Sing, a morning at Grammie and Pa's, and a New Year's celebration!

Shoes from Grammie Stella could color!

Aunt MJ gave Stella a DIY felt quilt for Christmas that you tie.  It's a lot of ties!  We've worked on this blanket several times and will post another pic when it's complete.

Helping Mommy shop @ IGA in Potsdam

Silly Lily!

 On New Year's Eve we played a kids countdown video we found on YouTube around 10pm.  The girls wanted to stay up late but we figured we'd count down early just in case they couldn't make it, which they didn't.  Neither did Mommy!  Claire tried, hanging out on the couch with some Pirates Booty but eventually gave in and curled up with her daddy to fall asleep.


Stella turns 7 this week!  We can hardly believe it and are looking forward to celebrating.