Ahhh! the beauty of.... Spring??

Woke up this morning to a major snowstorm. It is still snowing as I write this at 10:15 A.M. It's rather pretty all stuck to the trees and bushes but enough is enough. March came in like a Lion and is going out like a Lion. Unfortunately, it's the wet kind of snow that makes it tough to snowblow. So do we clean up the driveway or wait until Tuesday when the temperature is suppose to reach 60 degrees? Go figure. Here are some pictures I took at 7:30 this morning and some taken just before I wrote this. It's a black and white world out there.

If it's Wednesday, it must mean hangin' with Thijs

I was called on Tuesday late afternoon to go and watch Thijs for awhile. His mom wasn't feeling well and had a high temperature so Matt took Alicia to the emergency room at the hospital. Alicia was suffering with another bout of the flu. So four hours later they came home and Alicia was very tired and sick so she went to bed. She just needed some rest and fluids. I stayed overnight as usual and took care of Thijs while Alicia recuperated. She felt a lot better once I left on Wed. afternoon. I took a couple of pictures of Thijs just hanging out on his couch.


Relaxing on the couch with one of his favorite toys.


Engrossed in one of his favorite books.


Eating the book...not a good idea.


Let's see how big I can make my cheeks.

Good Friday with Thijs

On Good Friday Thijs got to spend the day with us while his
Mom went to Waterville Valley to ski with a friend from school.
As you can see in the picture below Grandpa got to spend some
quality time with Thijs as Tia kept guard for any varmints who
may cross her path.



Grandpa got to hold Thijs while he fed himself ;-)


Alexa, a friend of ours, came by and got
to meet Thijs.


Here he is enjoying some playtime in the bouncer.


Looking very much like his mommy here.

Yes, I got to hold him too when Grandpa wasn't
holding him.


Thijs was happy to see his mom after her trip up
north. Unfortunately, Alicia didn't get much skiing
done because the wind was so strong it made visibility
non existent.

Easter 2008

Hope you all had a Happy Easter. We definitely enjoyed ours.
Our kids came with their kids who looked adorable all dressed up
in their Easter finery. Here are a few pictures I was able to take.

Madeleine sits up all by herself now.


She got new shoes for Easter and thought she'd
try them out. Not too tasty.


Thijs and his Auntie Melissa enjoy a few moments
together.


Thijs in his pj's gives one last hug to his Auntie
before going home.


Uncle Matt doesn't want to be left out of the
picture. So Thijs obliges.


Matt T. gets into the picture holding both babies.

Update on Tia

Tia will be 3 years old on March 28th. It's hard
to believe that she's been with us for 3 years.
She has been a real comfort and delight to us
both. She's very smart and learns quickly as long
as we put in the time to teach her. She'll be traveling
with us to Florida this coming April. That'll be
an exciting experience for her. She'll fly with us
on the plane in her own little Sherpa crate. I recently
groomed her and thought of putting a couple of
pictures of her on my blog.

Overnight with Madeleine

Madeleine and I spent Friday night and Saturday morning together. Her parents went out to Matt's CEO's home for a grand party. Matt and his team at Cabot Corporation got an award for the project that they are working on. Matt is the head one on that team so it's a pretty big honor for him. Congratulations Matt! So Madeleine and I had fun together. Here are a few pictures.

Madeleine at play on her activity mat.

She's pretty good at playing her drum.

She also enjoys her exersaucer.

Madeleine keeps busy on her activity mat.

Wednesday Off

I didn't get to babysit Thijs this past Wednesday because his mom was sick with the flu. However, I did go for a visit and brought some chicken soup for Alicia. Thijs was being a good boy for his mom. I stayed for a few hours and played with Thijs and helped Alicia out for awhile. Thijs now rolls over and back again. He's really cute when he does this. I didn't catch him in the act but I did take a few photos.


Here he is trying to roll over.

Almost there! He does finally roll over and continued
doing it for awhile.

Thijs likes to try to sit up. Here he is sitting
against his mommies Boppy and pushes his
head forward. It won't be long before he's
sitting all by himself.

Melissa's "Body Shop" party

On Saturday my daughter Melissa hosted a Body Shop products party. This is the same Body Shop you find at all the Malls. Products include body lotions, soaps, make-up, scrubs etc. So we were about 12 women participating and enjoying some girl time together. The men were in another room babysitting the kids. All went smoothly and everyone enjoyed themselves and feasted on lots of food. I got to see both grandchildren that day. Unfortunately I was busy with the party so I didn't get the chance to take many pictures of Madeleine and Thijs. I only took a couple of Madeleine before everybody came. Here they are.


Doesn't she just look gorgeous in pink.


She was playing on her activity mat before everyone came.

Madeleine loves her little musical stage toy. Here she
is looking in a mirror and I took that picture. She
enjoys looking at herself.

Second Wednesday with Thijs

Once again I babysat Thijs while his parents went to work. The weather wasn't much better this week. It rained very hard on Tuesday night on my way over to Newburyport. It did clear up on Wednesday afternoon. This winter has been a real bummer. However, my time with Thijs is always pleasant. He is getting to know me better. Here are a few pictures from this past Wednesday.

We played a little bit before he got dressed for the day.

I attempted to take a picture of the two of us.
At least Thijs looks good.

Thijs had napped a little in the morning but woke
up while I was having my lunch. So I had him sit
in his bouncer while I drank my tea. We chatted.

Here he is singing to me.

"You want me to sing for you?"