The Future

Both of the girls have discovered the joy of blowing as hard as they can at little dandelion puffballs and spreading the magic seeds all around the yard. They call them "wishing flowers" and it is quite funny to hear what they wish for right before they pucker up. Actually you only hear Chloe's dramatic wish speech, Finn knows that you must not tell so it will come true. To be completely honest, I am glad Chloe ruins it because I am not sure that "wanting to marry a princee boy and have a hundred girl babies" really needs to happen.


I wish I wish with all my hopes and dreams.....











Then after they finished making their wishes, they played another fun game with the weeds flowers in the yard. It went something like this--he loves me, he loves me, he loves me, he loves me not. They did this repeatedly on flowers with only 4 petals and never once found true love.

A Little Bit of Me

I have seen these posts on a few other blogs so I thought I would do one of my own. If you make it all the way to the end, kudos to you!


1. I used to eat McDonalds french fries dipped in honey. Then they quit offering honey and it made me sad.
2. I like coming up with the idea and figuring out a way to make someone else implement it.
3. I love my house.
4. I also preferred dipping my McNuggets in honey over ketchup.
5. If most anything is peppermint chocolate flavored I will love it.
6. I love planning parties and, starting tomorrow, will be in full force planning mode for Finn's fifth.
7. I love Christmas most of all but am finding a new love of Easter.
8. I take a lot of pictures of my kids. It is one of those things that I think you can never have enough of.
9. I have been overseas three times- London, Germany for 5 weeks, and Germany for a week in December.
10. I like staying busy.
11. Reading is one of my favorite things to do.
12. I have lived in 4 places in my life-- Athens, Tuscaloosa, Alpharetta, and Opp.
13. I am not good at knitting or crocheting or any other kind of handicraft. No patience=sloppy work
14. When I am sick hot tea and chicken noodle soup are my favorite things.
15. Blue has, for as long as I can remember, been my favorite color.
16. I have gotten into a bad habit of starting posts to this blog and never finishing them, which is why I am doing about 5 tonight.
17. I love to cook and grocery shop but hate to clean up the kitchen.
18. I am a diehard pessimist married to an annoyingly optimistic person. I am not sure how but we are almost at 9 years of wedded bliss.
19. The D.C. snipers were captured the day before I flew up there for the weekend.
20. I deleted a really tasteless joke from #19 because I want both of my readers to still like me!
21. I can't sing. But that doesn't stop me from doing it in my car and loudly.
22. I spent one week in July 2004 working as a camp counselor and would love to do that again.
23. I am sad tball is over.
24. I have had too many bad hairdon'ts to count.
25. I still keep in touch with a professor I had in college.

I'll Miss

Sometimes I feel like my feet are stuck in concrete. Every day I load the dishwasher and every day I wash clothes. Every day I wipe a behind or a nose or a tear or a table and it brings me down. I get so stuck in the monotony of the everyday that I begin to forget I will, one day, not have cheese stick wrappers stuffed in my couch and crayon on my wall. That my little hotshot will not want me cheering for her at the ball field because she is too cool for sports. That one little baby's eyes are always looking for me and when he finds me, everything is ok. That dried dandelions on my desk are more precious than roses. That one sassy little girl thinks twirling her hair is the best thing in the world and cleaning up her toys takes too long. That the noise I keep trying to silence for a moment's peace soon won't echo through my house.

What will I do then?

Who will I be then?

Who will they be?


What are the things you think you will miss most?

For Finn

My dear sweet girl,
You are soon going to be five years old. I can hardly believe it has been that long since you were placed in my arms. It really seems like time has sped by, not even caring how I felt about it. I don't like it at all. I wish you were still 2. Not because 2 is my favorite age, just because at 2 you don't know as much as you do now. At 2 you didn't know what dying meant or lying, or a hundred other things that are slowly shaping your life. I just hope that with the negatives come a thousand more positives. Don't be like me and stay so focused on how bad things seem or how huge a problem it looks to be, because it really isn't. There is nothing so big you have to lose sleep or cry or bite your fingernails (I'm still working on this one). I always say that my favorite character from the Winnie the Pooh stories is Eeyore because I love his gloominess. I even bought you that Eeyore costume a few years ago, remember? You couldn't say the quotes I taught you without smiling just a little. "Thanks for noticing me" just doesn't have the same implications when there is happiness behind it. Always hold firm to the happiness in your life, look for the joy in the most boring of activities. One of my favorite things to do is fold socks with you. You never fail to turn it into a game of some sort and then we end up laughing. When your laugh gets going it is so very contagious. I am going to miss you so much when you head out into the big world of kindergarten. You and i have been constant companions for these 5 years and I am not sure how I will manage without you. I think Chloe and Hutch will keep me busy but it won't be the same as having all my babies by my side. This summer will be filled with great stories and great adventure. When you do enter the doors of the elementary school, I hope your heart and innocence are protected just as long as they can be. I know great things are coming for you and I am so privileged to be along for the ride. Love Always and Forever, Mommy

Giddy Up

Ok, it took me a long time to get back (and I have already shared some of these pics on Facebook) but here goes. Why riding lessons when I, the mom, cannot stand horses? I mean running in a field far away from me, just beautiful. Up close where one kick of their hoof could cause a concussion, nothankyouverymuch. Finn's obsession with all things pony and her request for a horsey party for her birthday gave us a bright idea. Jeremy and I decided that a few lessons to gauge her real interest would be a better gift than something plastic. Fate intervened and I discovered a local stable not 30 minutes away from our house. My best guess is she will do a few weeks of lessons and then we will decide if it is something she wants to keep doing. If she does we will move to a couple of times a month arrangement because I do not want her overscheduled once school starts. I am not sure she will continue with dance but once we get closer to August we will let her make that choice. So now, a few more pictures.

Muffin Tin Monday Wednesday Plus More

This week's theme was Rainbow and even though I am late (which isn't all that surprising) I thought I would post anyway. It's pretty self-explanatory but I will be happy to provide a cliff notes version to what you see if you email me in triplicate with a notary seal included on your list of questions. Or you could just go here to check out the rest of the muffin tin fun!





Things not to forget--
Chloe offering her sweater to another little girl who was cold at the ballpark.

That showing kindness to others goes a lot farther than telling my kids to be kind. I need to put this into practice much more often.

The pitiful face and cry that Hutch can concoct when he wants his Mommy. Poor little baby.

The way I feel when Finn really reads and not just recites an oft read to her book.


Question of the Day: How many pairs of sunglasses can you put on a baby?

Answer: A LOT!!!

#30 Before and After

One small expensive step closer to the girls' new room

Look Alike?

Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder

I THINK NOT!!!!!!!!

Lambchop

I hate to admit that in the past I watched this show. If I saw it on while flipping channels, I will admit that I got sucked into it more than once. It had cute stories and catchy songs like this one:




After you have listened to the song all the way through and it is stuck in your head, I want you to do the following. Replace the word "song" with "post" and "singing" with "reading". Now, continue singing it while you read the post that never ends....

Funny Chloe quote--
Mommy, I am feeling better. Can I call Baby Jesus and tell him? Do you have his phone number? Then she starts laughing and says, "Babies don't got phones." Yeah, that's why that wouldn't work.


Early one morning, Jeremy heard the girls' door open which usually means we are about to get a visitor. No one came in so when I woke up later I was surprised to find this on my couch. Chloe asleep in her up and down shoes.

Hutch Modeling Sheawear

A few days ago we had a most terrible event in our house. One so bad that the girls were compelled to make signs warning passers-by of the danger. If you cannot understand what you are seeing, it says that there are crocodiles in our house. How they got here I do not know, and I also do not know how to get rid of them. They are quite peaceful so maybe we will let them stay.

Hutch turned 4 months old on March 29. I do not even know how that can be possible.



He is such a sweet little boy and we are beginning to see his personality emerge. He laughs a lot and has been talking to his toys the past few days. It is so funny to hear him get started.

***Ok I have tried about fifty bazillion times or twenty to add a video here but it will not work. So scroll down for the super cute video, it's worth it*********

Easter weekend was full of crazy good fun! We started off Saturday with an egg hunt at a local church. They always put on a good event and this was no different except for one thing--they had no water available. They served sandwiches and chips and had coke, diet coke, and sprite to drink. My girls don't like any of those and have only had sprite once. We normally stick to milk, water, or juice. So when her dry ham sandwich made her ask for water, Chloe was out of luck until a kind soul walked over to the church and found her a bottle of water. After that we went home and I attempted an Easter themed photo session for Hutch's 4 month pictures.

Chloe kept winking at me and, well, the smiles are either not there or way too much. There was a lot of fussing and grumbling from all of us. I managed to get a couple of good shots but not as many as I had hoped.

Then it was off to the gray house for cookie decorating and dyeing eggs. As soon as they were dry, the egg hunt to end all egg hunts was underway and slightly vicious.

Early on Easter morning, the girls woke up. I had not mentioned the bunny visit too often because he wasn't bringing a whole lot of stuff. I didn't want them thinking it would be a Christmas repeat. So when they came to find us, Jeremy told them that "he had a heard a noise in the house last night that woke him up" and I added "it sure did sound like hopping". With that the girls were off to find their baskets. They both got a new nightgown, coloring books, Polly Pockets, and a few other goodies. The Grow capsules have been a big hit. Hutch received a set of spoons and some new bowls. If the Easter Bunny hadn't forgotten, he would have received a box of cereal too because we are about to start the exciting journey of food. (I let him taste a green bean at dinner Easter Sunday and I think he liked it.)


After breakfast and a little bit of playing, it was time to head to church. We got all fancied up and headed out for pictures. I am not ashamed to admit that I prayed hard that the girls would smile sweetly and the pictures would be cute. I think it worked.


After church we headed to our favorite holiday destination, the gray house. We had a tasty lunch followed by some more egg hunting. There was even more competition at this one as some were filled with "COINS!!!!" The girls had fun but Finn gets a little too competitive sometimes. We had lots of good sportsmanship talks throughout the weekend. It's hard to be almost five.


And we are almost at the end...almost. The last exciting thing that happened this past weekend was this:


Hutch wore a very special outfit that is more precious to me than anything he has worn before. Why? Just because.

Easter Egg Hunt

Sunday afternoone we had our church's traditional Palm Sunday picnic and egg hunt. For the first time since we have been attending, there was no rain. So we actually got to hunt outside. This year, the powers that be, also chose the state park for the picnic. So we set up shop and got to hunting.


my attempt at the cupcakes I posted about last week---not too bad but you definitely must find sour punch straws, airhead sour strips will not work as handles


all smiles from the short one


I found a what?


Chloe working hard to find the most eggs



Chloe and her loot


the egg in spoon race begins--(note the tortured look on Finn's face) up until this point she had not won a prize and she was devastated


super concentrated


champeen of the world egg race


Our family picture--not quite perfect but neither are we