His story

The poor guy is surrounded by nailpolish. Welcome to a house full of girls. We all have our, well, "moody" days that we write off as ok, because we are girls. Hormones, right? The attitudes are in full force around here. Going anywhere without at least 30 minutes notice? Don't even try it. A spider within the walls of our home means instant notification, whether he is home or not. He knows all of the words to High School Musical 2, and most of 3. He is always the prince, the lifter, the bug killer, dog poop cleaner-uper. Quite a resume, eh?

 

Why is it

that she has all of this wonderful hair and refuses to let me put anything in it?

 

Mystery Solved

Here has been our day lately: We are going about our business. Grizzly goes bezerk barking at nothing. I let her into the backyard, she runs, comes back in. Five minutes later, repeat. I really thought I was going to pull my hair out, or maybe just begin sporting a new pomeranian-fur coat. Then, two weeks ago we were putting FREE mulch down in our backyard (thank you ice storm 2009) and found this little guy. Turns out that he and three of his siblings have taken up residence in our backyard in our jasmine bush. Nice, huh? After I convinced Sydney (ok, and myself) that we weren't going to keep him, he has hung around. Unfortunately for the little family, a mean old cat lives next door. We shall see who wins.

For Bear....

I miss you. Yes, it is actually quiet around here and this mommy thinks she may go crazy. I like to pretend it is your fault I don't get anything done, but I think I'm really just not into the whole "housewife" thing. However, you will be happy to know that the mysterious smell in the fridge is gone, although the source is still a mystery. I haven't had to clean up one smidge of dirt since your sister left, however I have found a great collection of watercolors on my kitchen floor - thanks for the wonderful pictures and new look you've added to the tile floor. Your room is still a mess - no worries, it will still be the same big pile o' stuff when you get home. (This is one area where I really wouldn't have minded if you took a little more after your dad - piling is so not the way to go. Do as I say, not as I do)I have been thinking about you, although I'm sure you've not been thinking about me. I know grandma and grandpa's house is way too entertaining to be bothering yourself with worrying about your little ol' mom. I love you - give your sister a kiss for me. I'm sure you are taking great care of her! I can't wait to see you two in the morning. xoxo

This is me

I just saw this and laughed. Not today, but somedays this is so me.

Sneaky Little Leprachaun...

He turned our water green! Happy late St. Patrick's day!

 

Happy 30th!

David is offically 30 as of Tuesday. We celebrated with dinner at Texas Land & Cattle (great food - AMAZING service.) Our kids were even remarkably well behaved, even with a two hour dinner. Oh, and did I mention the cheddar jalepenos? Yum!

We made David a book with lots of pics, pages Sydney had drawn after I asked her a question, and stuck in the back were tickets to Framing Hanley who will be in Fayetteville next week.
Also included was a small note reminding him that I will ALWAYS be younger than him. (because I'm nice like that)

**You can see in this pic that Elle was a little disappointed that we'd pulled her away from her cake**

We all enjoyed some cake to wrap up the festivities. However, I don't think any of us enjoyed it as much as Elle.

Happy Birthday, David!

Fun In Fayetteville

Monday we got to spend the day with some of my cousins that I hadn't seen in at least a decade, and I'm pretty sure much longer than that. Sydney loved it, and felt right at home since she has now known them for over a week. You know my child and how many strangers she me. Luckily, she got to attend a family reunion that we missed. The child is obsessed with family (which is a good thing) and has been overly excited now that she has figured out she has cousins. Poor thing was feeling deprived since she and her sister are the only grandchildren on either side - hello realization of the whole second cousins and beyond thing! So, now that she is no longer cousin-less, she is loving life once again.

We went down and showed them Fayetteville, after the obligatory lunch at Red Robin - Sydney's favorite. She was so excited to see everyone that she had a bit of trouble eating, but not talking. She even got onto me. In a moment of silence (when we were all trying to decide which burger to order) I was taught some etiquette. Or at least as much etiquette as a four-year-old posses. "Mom, you need talk to your cousins. Ask them how they are doing." Of course everyone laughed and I just shook my head. What else can I do?

After a quick trip by Razorback Stadium, we ended up on the square. We walked around a bit and found The Little Bread Company. I'm a bit confused by the name, because I didn't see one little bread in the entire place. Note my child eating a cookie that very much dwarfs her along with a bottle of water that matches.

cookie as big as child's head= very happy child

The owners must have had their glasses on backwards the day they came up with that name.

Like any good mother, I gave up safety in the name of a good photo op.

We went to a few hippy shops (what trip to Fayetteville is complete without that) and I learned that this whole hippy streak in our family started way before me. Cheryl (my dad's cousin and the twin's mom) and I have very similar tastes and thoughts on lot of things. Good to know I'm not a loner. And to make sure I fit in around Fayetteville, I spent the day sans shoes. Not that I'm really up for that sort of thing, but being the genius I am, I wore heels. Fayetteville Hills and heels really don't go together. But, thank goodness it was Fayetteville, otherwise I might have gotten a few looks. As it was, I fit right in.

Elle slept most of the day on my back (that back carrier is seriously a gift from heaven!), but did wake up once she was back in the car and discovered that her sister had left her giant cookie unattended. Once again we are back to the equation big cookie= happy child.

We had a great day and enjoyed visiting with family. My one disappointment is that Aaron and Patrick have decided to live their adult-life with facial hair. How am I supposed to tell them apart? As a child, I always told them apart by the freckle Patrick has just above his lip. Could they not have shaved just for this one trip? Other than that, and the fact that they are about six feet taller, they haven't changed a bit. So, thanks guys, for not taking me into consideration when making such a drastic decision.

It's here....

 
Yes, it is here. The world of everything you never knew you needed. The new Target is finally open! I'm pretty sure that is going to be a bad thing for my budget, but I promise to attempt and practice some self control. Who can resist $4 shorts for kids? At $4 I don't care what they get all over them. Also, I'm pretty pumped about the grocery section. It is much bigger than the one in Fayetteville, and most importantly they carry my very favorite cookies!(which Fayetteville didn't)

Yummy!

 

Bug is now 10 months old. When that happened, I'm not sure. She is a sweetie, and loves cuddling, but I could do without the new screaming tactics. We're working on sign language more and more so that she can communicate instead of just screaming. She is crawling all over and into EVERYTHING. I think tornado would've been a much more fitting name. She is thinning out, despite the tons of food she eats. She loves having one thing in each hand while she eats (notice the pop tart in one hand and strawberry in the other) - this girl doesn't waste time. She weighs 16.5 lbs and is 28 inches long. So, she is tall and skinny according to the growth charts. I'm thinking Sydney is going to have a big little sister.

Teeth!

 

'Jamas Day

Sydney has PJ day at school and was thrilled to go. She'd been out sick the rest of the week, and was DYING to get back. No way was she going to miss "Jamas Day"

 

Now THAT is love

I bought Sydney cupcakes the other day because when she was sick. I'm thrilled to say that six cupcakes lasted two days, (yes TWO!) in our house. How is that for self control? While we were finishing up dishes after dinner, Sydney decided to share her blue cupcake with Elle. They were so delirously happy! And as with most things that make little ones delirously happy, this event ended with a bath.

 

 

Here we go, again.

I think that my pediatrician should open a frequent flyer's club. You know, the kind where after so many visits you at least get to sit in the comfy chairs? Or what about caffiene since if you are there, chances are you didn't get a good night's sleep before. Or makeovers, because with a sick kid, who actually gets a chance to put on makeup or even bathe before going? Or a personal steward who can entertain the healthy child you've toted along, because you can't call and ask a friend to watch your healthy, but probably germ-infested child. Or at least chocolate - that fixes everything.

So here I sit, with one sick 4-year-old permanately attached to me and a 10 month old who is just fussy (crossing my fingers it is that monster top row of teeth coming in that is causing said fussiness.) We are all in terrible need of bath, a new house (because I'm pretty sure moving would be easier than defeating the mountain of laudnry that seems to be procreating throughout my house), and some sort of sustanance that takes more than five seconds to create. Oh, and while we're being choosy, mom could use some sleep.