2009 Primrose Holiday Party

Instead of running around hyped up on sugar, waiting for Santa's visit, this year, the kids put on a little show... Then ran around, got hyped up on sugar and waited for Santa.

Check out the other videos using the Maison In Action link to the right.

Christmas Cookies

What better way to celebrate the holidays than decorating cookies with friends...



If the sugar cookie base wasn't sweet enough, these girls managed to take the sugar per square inch measurement to new levels.

A Day of Giving

Maison has been in the giving spirit this holiday season...

Primrose Food Drive

At school, the children did extra chores at home throughout the month and brought the money in to buy groceries for the Harvest Bank. It was so touching to see her entire class, walking through the grocery store filling two carts with the money they earned. Maison gave her entire allowance to the cause without hesitation because "she can make more and those little kids are really hungry". Love her!!

Salvation Army Angel Tree

We adopted three children off the angel tree this year. Maison had a great time shopping from their wish lists to help "the mommys, daddys and grandparents" of these special kids.

Kids First Christmas Party



Since she's been in such a giving mood, we signed up to help prepare for the annual Kid's First Christmas party. We spent a day at the church wrapping presents and setting up. Maison's favorite part was pulling a child off the list and going through the donations to pull together the perfect christmas package for them.

We hope all the children enjoy the fabulous gifts Maison selected for them.

Deloitte Christmas Party

All season, I've been asking Maison what she wanted Santa to bring her for Christmas. The standard response has been "Santa's always done a good job, I'll just let him pick". Either I have the sweetest child who appreciates everything given to her or she's so incredibly spoiled there is nothing out there left for her to want. (I vote for the first one!)

After seeing flyers and catalogs strategically laying around the house opened up to dollhouses, she finally decided that is what she wants from Santa.

Santa said he had plenty of those so she's feeling pretty confident.

Zebra Wear

Anyone who knows Maison knows about her fascination with Zebras. She almost peed her pants when she saw this outfit in the store - even though it was the only thing in the store not on sale, it was a must have! It was pure torture for her waiting till Friday when she didn't have to wear a uniform to school.

It's a good thing it washes well since she wants to wear it everyday...

Four Generations of Brown Girls

Poor Sophie

Maison terrorized this little dog all week... Proof that love can hurt!

Thanksgiving at Grandpa's

Tree Lighting

We know, it's a little early but we will be in Massena all week for Thanksgiving and it will be December 1st before we know it.

After a hard day at preschool...

Maison had a rough day at school today... She ran into a friend on the playground, scratched her knee, lost a privilege for not listening during naptime, and then, on the way out the door, a friend bumped into her and she hurt her leg again.

When she walked in the door, she immediately took her skirt off, turned on the cartoons, pulled out a snack, plopped herself down in her lawn chair and vegged out in front of the TV. Man, life is tough when you are four.

Everast Gymnastics - Maison and Lindsey's Medal Night

My Little Stinker

Maison started out the Halloween season wanting to be a princess just like every other 4 year old girl. To minimize the number of princess outfits in the house, I recommended she be something "really scary" this year. She pondered it for awhile, tapping her chin as she thought. The light bulb came on and she announced she was going to be a skunk.

Though most folks wouldn't consider this skunk outfit very scary, for Maison it was a huge act of courage. You see, Maison is terrified of skunks. Recently, we had to remove all the books from the house that had a picture of a skunk and we have a sign on her door that says "No Skunks Allowed". To her, there is nothing scarier than a skunk.


One thing I learned this year, is don't promise your child they can be a skunk until you have a skunk costume in hand. After several trips around town, several sold out signs online and 18 lost bids on Ebay, I finally found one. It was worth it, she looked absolutely adorable.


We spent Halloween in TN with Saylor's family. Maison had a great time stinking up the neighborhood and all her friends. Though she was a little disappointed that everyone kept saying she was cute instead of scary.

Click here to see her Costume parade at Primrose and the rest of the pictures from Halloween night. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcuGbNy4bs--&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar

Pick a Pumpkin

We love our annual trip to Carrigan Farms to pick out pumpkins.

Maison was very picky and it took alot of searching to find the perfect pumpkin. In the end, she found it back at the farmhouse in a box under the tree...

Check out the rest of the pictures...

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcuGbNy4bs-c&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar

Lazy5Ranch

Maison loves everything about Lazy5, except the fact that you can't pet/feed the Zebras. Every other animal, including very large buffalo type creatures, are fair game. It took everything she had not to reach out and give them hugs, especially considering how close they came to her (Maybe do, in part, to the fact she was sneaking them food under the seat!) The new baby zebra, four months old, was just about enough excitement to put the poor child over the edge.

Moving on up... To a big girl bike

It's pink with purple highlights, streamers, wheel decor, purse up front AND a bike on the handlebars so her dolls can ride along...

It's more of an event than a means of transportation.

First Golf Lesson

Saylor took Maison to the driving range. She has celebrity qualities, just not sure if its Tiger Woods or Happy Gilmore.

Bigger Bed

Maison has been complaining that she needs a king size bed. She has been in a full size bed since she left her crib. Why does a little person need such a big bed? Because she has about 10 sleeping buddies that she shares her bed with.

Seen here are Shamu, Blue Dolphin, three Baby Pinkies, Pink Pinky, Abby, Pink Blanket, Pinky, and little Bolt. At the foot of the bed, we also have big Bolt who watches the door to make sure no skunks get in during the night.

First Day of School

Her New Thing!

Even a 4 year old can't live without her iPod...

Now that we've found headphones that fit her (she's got the tiniest head and ears!), Maison can't put the thing down. She doesn't quite understand it though... since she can't hear herself sing, she assumes she needs to sing louder. Unfortunately, she's got her mother's singing ability. The upside is, she feels the need to dance while she listens and that will bring a smile to your face.

Jetton Park

We picked up a pizza and headed to Lake Norman to enjoy dinner on the beach. The girls had a great time playing in the water (even though technically, you aren't suppose to swim there!).

Here are the rest of the pictures...

Highland Creek Cooking Class

The girls got to make their own pizza. They opted to only top it with cheese and pepperoni but they did eat all the tomatoes and peppers while they were assembling. The mushrooms on the other hand, were never touched. Though it took awhile for all the pizzas to be cooked (only one oven at the clubhouse) the girls hung around and finished it off. Thank goodness there was a playground and ice cream cones to help pass the time... They were all very proud of their masterpiece!!

Surfside Beach - Sims' Family Vacation

We spent the last week at Surfside Beach (south of Myrtle Beach) with the entire Sims Family.

Maison was still a little shy when it came to the ocean. The first few days she wouldn't even stick a toe in, by the end of the week, she was in and giggling but only if you held her hand and the water stayed below her waist.

Check out all the great pictures at share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcuGbNy4bs7q.

Thanks Mimi and Pop, the house was absolutely amazing.

Super Stars!!

Summer Buddies

Maison is so excited that Katie and Ellie, Saylor's daughters, are here for the summer.

One of the first things we did was make muffin pizzas. The girls each made their own pizza using english muffins instead of pizza crust. The tiny pepperoni was a huge hit and I'm shocked that any of it made it to the pizzas.

Maison & Lanie

Lanie is finally big enough for Maison to "safely" hold her.

Swinging on Grammy's Back Porch

Spring "Big Show"

I know you will all find this hard to believe, but Maison was "too shy" to do her routine this time. Recently, she's become embarrassed by people clapping for her. Even in the car when she sings, she makes everyone agree not to clap before she'll sing us a song. Since that rule never applied to gymnastics before, we didn't expect it to be an issue. After the first routine, everyone clapped and that was it for Maison, she didn't want a turn!

We did get a few pictures but not many...

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcuGbNy4bs6u&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar

In and Out, In and Out...

Maison was so excited to go to the beach over Memorial Day weekend. She couldn't wait to see the ocean... until she got there...


At first, she was so excited she couldn't stand still much less keep her feet on the ground...





At first, she was so brave...

Then she quickly realized that the ocean isn't all that warm in May...















With a little encouragement, she gave it another try...


But nope, still not buying...

















A little more encouragement...


This time we even got a little wet...


















When all was said and done, we spent the better part of the day playing in the puddles and collecting seashells.