Thursday, March 27, 2014

a return to blogging. :-)

Hello all! It's been a long time since we've posted... lately we've been feeling like this every night:

Most days Katherine and Marie are getting along pretty well. On a rare occasion Katherine even says, "I want to play with my very best friend Marie!" She usually corrects herself, telling us "Well, Marie isn't my best friend too much... just a tiny bit." 

They get into plenty of mischief together. With our house on the market right now, we don't have too many toys out. The girls have gotten creative, finding "toys" everywhere! Their favorites are Mommy's shoes and jewelry. 

No one will argue that this has by far been the longest winter we've had in a loooong time. Most of the time we were wimps and stayed warm inside, but a couple of times we bundled up to play in the snow.


Even in dreadfully cold temperatures, Marie will beg to be pushed on the swing for almost half an hour. Every time you try to move the tray and take her out she screams "no no no!!" and squirms until you push her more. Can you imagine how much fun she'll have when it's actually pleasant outside? :-)


Most days it seems like Katherine has outgrown her terrible twos, but Mommy's favorite nickname for her is "Sassy Cassie" because she packs a lot of attitude into a tiny girl. :-) Katherine insists on wearing princess dresses ALMOST every day. She tells Mommy "I get more hugs and kisses in princess dresses," and how can we argue with that? Even though we give her about a million kisses every day regardless of what she's wearing, she loves hearing friends and strangers tell her how beautiful her pretty dress is. 

In case you haven't heard-- we're moving! To make a long story short, through a lot of prayer, discussion, and being patient, we decided to spend a couple years in New Jersey for Julie's job. We'll be staying with 4moms, but moving out there will help Julie to focus on building relationships with business partners that are headquartered in New Jersey. Below we're in a hotel room where we stayed while we were looking at houses. At least we know there's good food out there! ;-)



Here's Daddy at the Original Pancake House close to the neighborhood we're looking at in New Jersey. We won't move out there until our house sells. So far it's been on the market for six weeks and is receiving positive showings, but no offers. We're being as patient as we can-- please join in our prayers that a family finds our house soon, so that they can build a happy, holy family!


We've been enjoying every minute with our Pittsburgh family while we can. :-) We'll of course be moving back in a couple years (and visiting every 6 weeks or so), but we'll miss the kids playing together and evenings at Grambie and Grandpop's house for the couple years we're away.


It seems like the weather is finally warming up, and we're eager to get outside more. Hopefully as we get more active we'll be a bit more inspired to blog more often as well! 




With Love,

The Block Family. 



Sunday, December 1, 2013

Happy Birthday Uncle Casey

Happy 30th Birthday to Uncle Casey!!

We continued our birthday palooza this week by celebrating Uncle Casey's 30th birthday today. Aunt Mary Beth gave Uncle Casey a gift on the 30th minute of each hour to celebrate, and Katherine was more than happy to help him open all of his gifts. 

All of these birthdays have tuckered us out! We're finishing our celebration this evening by relaxing in front of the tv. :-)

We hope Casey's year is filled with plenty of time to both relax and celebrate his wonderful life!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Happy First Birthday Joshua!

Happy Birthday Joshua!! We missed celebrating with you, but we know you must have had an awesome time at your party.


It's fun to already see Marie play with her "little" cousin (who is much bigger than she is). We can't wait to see what kind of trouble you two get into, and we look forward to celebrating your birthday with you again when we get home!


Thursday, November 28, 2013

So much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Turkey Day in Houston. Mommy enjoyed a day filled with cooking, and we all enjoyed good food and good company. Here's Aunt Mary Beth working on some super-cute Turkeys that we enjoyed for dessert:



After Thanksgiving dinner we braved the crowds for some traditional Block Family Black Friday shopping. Black Friday is a bit of a sport for our family, and we got some great deals and had a lot of fun hunting together. 


Our family is thankful for so many things... for the faith, love, and joy that fill each day. Thank you to YOU-- our family and friends who love and support us. We love you, and we appreciate all that you do.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Happy First Birthday Marie!



Happy first birthday to our sweet, tiny Marie! We had a wonderful birthday palooza celebration, complete with 64 balloons (for Opa, but he was happy to share) and a giant smash cake!

Here's a picture of our sweet pea one year ago:


And here are some pictures of her celebration:






When we look back at Marie as a one year old, we'll remember that she's usually easy going, but she knows how to scream when Sissy steals her toys. She loves to snuggle and she's a good sleeper. Marie loves animals... she giggles at doggies and says "woof" and calls all stuffed animals "kitty." 

We love you, Marie, and we're so thankful for the joy you bring to our lives. Happy Birthday!!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Happy Birthday Opa!!


We hope you had a very special birthday, Opa! Katherine is blowing you some sweet kisses. :-) 


Marie tried to walk all the way to Texas (all by herself!!) but got tired after about 2 steps. She'll have to wait until next weekend to give you a hug when we fly down to Texas!

We love you and we can't wait to celebrate with you soon!!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Happy Halloween and All Saints Day!


We had a great time trick or treating with our Greenfield family last night. It was rainy, but the experience lived up to Katherine's best dreams. 

She literally got a truck load of candy:

And she was so proud of her collection that she just wanted to stare at it for almost an hour. Mommy told her "if you don't put your candy away you'll have to share it with Marie." And Katherine replied that she would rather share than have to stop playing with it!

We'll continue the celebration with All Saints Day today, and more than enough chocolate to last us until next Halloween!


Above is a picture of Katherine in her costume at the Zoo Boo a few days ago. She was excited about being Minnie Mouse, but refused to keep her ears on last night!