photo 10

It's raining, it's pouring...

Gentle, loving, sweet, and kind

(not) Gentle, loving?, (not really) sweet, and (not so) kind

(you didn't see moments before when she had him in a headlock and you can't hear his cries of protest!)

Sad

Happy

Goofy

Serious

Again, not-so-gentle...she has no idea of the monster she's creating!

Sweet!

We initially went outside to get fun pictures playing in the rain. I took some cute ones of Addi when she was around Levi's age and thought that would be fun to do today with my other 2 kids. Not so much. Libby just can't keep her hands off Levi and Levi's not really a frolick-in-the-rain kind of guy! He's more of a dig-in-the-mud-and-pull-found-worms-apart kind of guy, so maybe one day I'll gross you out with those pics. I'll end with a few of Addi's rain pictures. They were taken a few months after we moved to Raleigh and she was about 18 months old.

Blue skies and rainbows and sunbeams from heaven
Are what I can see when my Lord is living in me.

Tall mountains, green valleys, the beauty that surrounds me
All make me aware of the One who made it all.

I know that Jesus is well and alive today.
He makes His home in my heart.
Never more will I be all alone since He
Promised me that we never would part.

I felt tears start to sting my eyes in church today when we sang this song.

For so many reasons, I love it. I love the simplicity of its lyrics, the cheerfulness of its tune, and the truthfulness of its message. Its a longtime favorite of Addi's and has recently become the same for Libby. She was excited and began to sing "her words" loudly. It reminded me of another time. Actually, many other times. Times when Addi was her age and all the times we sang it at our small group in Raleigh. (One of the kids would inevitably pick it for their song choice.)

I hope one day Levi loves this song as much as his sisters do.

*note: There's another verse, but I wrote the lyrics the way the girls sing the song.

one of these i never like to do

i haven't had a chance to blog much. (i'm feeding the baby as i hunt and peck this keyboard right now!) so, you're gonna mostly get pictures today.

EASTER PICTURES (but i didn't get any of the kids in their clothes. i will though, near some pretty flowers, or something)

we've had our first "trampoline casualty" - ethan broke his leg a few days before easter while jumping, poor little guy

rise and shine, sleepyheads. it's time to hunt eggs on easter morning.

we had to wake the girls up pretty early so we could all be on our way to church by 7:30.

MY BIG BIRTHDAY SURPRISE - bryan arranged for a dear friend of mine from raleigh and her youngest daughter (who is absolutely adored by our whole family, but especially addi) to surprise us with a visit.

bryan took addi to the airport telling me he was taking her to breakfast for some "daddy-daughter" time. he didn't get a picture of her face when she saw salina. i know it was priceless!

i was a little out of it. bryan told me the present he'd ordered me was on the porch. when i walked out, addi and salina jumped out. i was so lost. i thought she'd met a new friend and the new friend looked so familiar. then diane walked out and i started to catch on.

salina "protecting" libby from zoe

LEVI'S NEW FRIEND, COURT - my friend ashley had her little boy a week ago. we were surprised how "grown-up" levi looked next to this new little guy.

i'll write a better post soon and maybe have more words than pictures in it!

I'm so glad we finally did it

Last Saturday we had our pictures made.

It was fun and the pictures are beautiful, if I do say so myself :)

They were taken by Kevin at Life's Too Short Photography at Pullen Park in Raleigh. We had a great time and wish he would move to Dallas before we need family pictures again :)

He's posted a few of the pictures on his blog if you're interested.

The sign we've been waiting on

Update: We've had the Sold sign out for about a week and have movers coming the first weekend in November. I feel like I need to purge, but it's hard to force yourself when you don't have to put it all in boxes. I keep telling myself that I'll end up throwing out a lot when I have to unpack all the boxes, but just think how much I could get rid of if I purged now and then again when I unpacked. And, think is probably all I will actually do about it :)

one-oh-five??

I'm sweating inside my house. Our poor upstairs a/c can't keep up. It runs continuously throughout the day and still can only keep the upstairs in the 80s. Fortunately our downstairs unit is bigger and is keeping the downstairs cooler. The girls wake up from their naps sweaty. I just keep thinking that this is killing me and we are moving back to Texas where 105 is not really that strange, especially in August. Maybe even July...I think it hit at least 105 the afternoon Bryan and I got married. At least we shouldn't have this humidity in Dallas though. Alright, enough complaining. It is only supposed to get into the low 90s this weekend. Maybe we will soon see the end to the Heat Wave of '07.

Did you hear the one about the Aggie who went to the blind hairstylist?

Tonight I got to leave my house all by myself and get a hair cut. Now, M is the seventh stylist I've been to since we moved here 3 1/2 years ago. She's really nice and does what I ask. I feel like she listens to what I say and, besides the fact that she always tries to sell me overpriced hair products, I enjoy my time with her.

Now, I've documented my hair angst before. I know, I know, everyone frets about their hair, but my hair is really hard to manage. It is extremely thick, coarse, and not really straight, but not even wavy, anymore. While I was pregnant with Addi, my hair got some extra wave to it. Then when I got pregnant with Libby, it became stick straight. Now it's a mix of the two. Not exaclty what all the fashionistas are sporting this season.

I adore long, flowing, shiny hair. My hair, no matter how many years I spent growing it, would never be flowing and shiny. I've accepted that and it's okay. It does mean, however, that I have to be careful in selecting styles. Just because I wear my hair shorter doesn't mean I want to look like a man. Or much older than my actual age.

About 2 stylists ago, I decided a picture might be the best way to describe the look I was going for. It was only the second time I had seen J and while he did okay the first time, I thought we needed a little more than just my verbal communication to really get the results I was looking for.

I handed J the picture while saying something like, "This is exactly how I want my hair."

After much staring and squinting, J moved over to a window and explained he needed to get where the light was better because he had a bad eye.

Yep, you read that correctly. The man I was paying to cut my hair so short the strands couldn't possible reach the back of my head to be thrown into a ponytail, was, apparently, partially blind.

And it didn't take this Aggie long to figure out that a blind hairstylist wasn't my friend.

And the winner is....

Mr. Swimming Pool Man!

I do believe the swimming pool is the greatest invention ever! And a close second, is the person who first put a pool in a neighborhood for the community to use. All the perks of a pool without actually having to fool with one is fabulous!

I'm sure you've figured out we don't have a pool in our backyard, but we do have one just down the street. When we bought this house, we thought it might come in handy some. And then Addi and I made a visit to that pool almost everyday until I gave birth to Libby mid-August.

It's entertainment when company is here. It is great for inviting friends and having a pool play-date. It can even be nice for an evening swim when Daddy gets home. Basically, we won't be able to live without a neighborhood pool until our kids are at least old enough to entertain themselves. It has turned into a necessity.

We're back to our pool visit almost every morning routine. The girls are thrilled. They can't wait to eat breakfast and throw on a suit. Libby walks around the house in her suit and cover-up with a towel draped over her shoulders until I get the lunches made and we hit the door.

The best part about it? Addi, who has started giving up her naps, is now sleeping everyday after we visit the pool. Sometimes she fights it a bit. Like today, she told me she didn't want to sleep or rest. But she knows my rule is that she has to at least "rest" in her room for an hour. Swimming pool days the rest turns into sleep. And that is good.

Wordless Wednesday

Follow the Leader

Welcome Back

We have some new neighbors.

They're from New York. As in, big-city-dwellers.

Mr. New York showed up at our door to inform us that he was pretty sure Zoe killed a 'possum in our backyard. You might recall this.

Yeah, that was my reaction. Another one?!

Bryan's response was, "No. The same one."

At that point, I wrinkled up my nose and let out a big "Eew, gross!"

Bryan felt certain that informing the New Yorkers that this 'possum has actually been under dirt, decaying in our backyard, for a good 6 weeks might not be the greatest introduction to suburbia, so he just went with the "new kill" story.

a list

1. Summer is almost here and I am so excited! I am ready to have the girls home all day and not to have to get up and go to preschool. I am ready to pack a lunch, don a swimsuit, slather on sunscreen and hit the pool. I am ready for tan legs and brightly-colored toenails peeking out from flip-flops. I am ready to leave the Farmer's Market with a car full of strawberries, peaches, green tomatoes, squash, peppers, and watermelons. I love Summer and I am ready for it!
2. I made this for supper tonight. Despite burning the crust :), it was delicious and super filling. And, we had it with these yummy strawberries that our new neighbors brought us after picking them yesterday.
3. Today Libby turned 21 months! It is almost unbelievable to me that she is so close to 2...my baby is almost 2!

We have a busy week ahead...end-of-year preshool program, last day of preschool, packing, and leaving for a trip to Texas on Thursday. So, why am I sitting here blogging?!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Easter 2007

Easter egg hunt at church

Easter egg hunt at home - *Warning: This video would really only be of any interest to someone devoted to these children, ie. parents and grandparents. It does contain plenty of shaky camera work and dull narration (both skills performed (but not excelled at) by me...that is, I performed and did not excel at the camera work and narration...hence the shakiness and dullness).

Visit to the pediatrician + visit to Target = 3 hours??

I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't experienced it this morning. I'm remembering why I'm exhausted all the time. And, why I Never get Anything accomplished. Here's how it all went down...Believe me, I know y'all are at the edge of your seats for this one. Don't worry, Bryan (and Mom), there's a picture...maybe not one you're were dying to see, but it's there all right.

My day started out so nicely...up well before the girls. There is a little nip in the air today, so I brewed some coffee. Which is a rarity for me. We usually have coffee on the weekends since Bryan is home. He makes it and whew, is it strong! I have to add lots of sugar and milk to even get down half a cup.

But, that really has little, if anything to do with this tale. Back on point...

I had a little prayer and devotional time sitting with my warm cup in my comfy chair. Then, right before I walked upstairs to wake the girls, I checked my calendar to make sure I knew what time Libby's appointment was today. Of course, I had it all wrong. Somehow, I got 11:45 etched in my brain when really the appointment was at 10:00. We needed to be on fast forward and that, if you have children, is next to impossible.

So, I woke the girls, threw clothes at Addi (amazingly she didn't whine about the clothes I grabbed), dressed Libby, brushed teeth (Libby's and mine while Addi did her own), did hair (all 3...mine was still wet from the shower an hour and half earlier), fed Logan a bottle, fed the girls breakfast, doled out medicine, strapped all 3 kids into their carseats and backed out of my garage at 9:30...plenty of time if I hit all green lights and sped.

Yes, it takes us entirely too long to get to our pediatricians' office, however, our old house was much closer. Coming from a background of socialized medicine (ie, military medicine), our civilian doctors and their parent-patient friendly practices suit us fine. There are two pediatric practices within 5 minutes from our house, but we are loyal to the first doctors and nurses who treated us so well. Not that there is anything wrong with the doctors and nurses in military hospitals. Rather there is something wrong, quite a lot wrong, with "the way things are done" in those military hospitals.

Again, nothing to do with the tale at hand. Back on point...

Fortunately, I set my watch just a few minutes fast and the clock on my dash about 8 minutes fast and, apparently, our pediatricians set their office clock about 3 minutes slow. In short, we pranced in that office (huffing and puffing from the uphill hike through the parking lot pushing 45 pounds in a double stroller) right on time. Just how I like it :)

We settled into our chairs in the waiting room about the time we heard, "Reagan". Back into the stroller went Libby, back onto the shelf went Addi's book, and back to the exam room went the 4 of us, plus the nurse.

I must say the nurse was an angel...Again not really pertinent to the story. Addi told me she had to go to the bathroom as we followed Nurse Angel down the hall. I told the nurse we would be in the bathroom for the next few minutes if the doctor came looking for us. She said she would watch Libby and Logan while I took Addi. What! Oh, no! I wasn't trying to rope you into my duties...wait, would you mind?! Thanks so much! We'll hurry. And we were back well before the doctor even knew he had a patient waiting on him.

Waaaayy before. We sat in that itty bitty room for 30 minutes. I sat in that itty bitty room with a 4-year old who searched for every book we read every time we're at the doctor's while her little sister insisted on having a different book read to her while sitting by herself in the one of the two chairs not occupied by the 4-year old and the baby, who was perfectly content for about 5 minutes, decided to start screaming, just for fun, mind you, and throwing toys. For. 30. Minutes.

Good news, though. Libby is fine. So glad I broke my rule about never doing follow-up appointments for ear infections since "I would know if their ear is still hurting them!" Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to experience the insanity of 3 children and 1 parent at a doctor's appointment. Again.

About the time I was going to steer my car toward an exit leading to Super Target, I realized in the hustle and bustle of the morning, I left my list at home. Normally I can't remember a thing off my list. This morning I might have ended up screaming in the produce section from the sharp pain that would have been my brain trying to remember something, anything from my list. Instead we headed home. And, good thing since Addi needed to use the bathroom. Again.

My game plan was to pull into the garage, turn off the car, but leave the key in so the music could play, shut the garage door and run inside for my list while Addi ran in to potty. I told her to hurry and come back to the car when she finished. We waited and waited and waited. I impatiently honked my horn (something I am so ashamed to admit since I have been the object of a horn-honking many a Sunday morning by my less-than-patient husband). Then I walked inside and yelled her name. She yelled back that she was going poo-poo and "do not come in here, Mommy! It is stiiiinnnkyyy!"

Thank you for the warning. I'll just be waiting in the car with the two little ones who are more than sick of being strapped to their seats.

We finally made it to Super Target. Wouldn't you know from my short list of 13 items, they'd be out of something?! I'm making chicken burgers from this tonight (thanks, Becky!), so I had to run to another store for the chicken. That amounts to me getting 3 kids out of their carseats and putting 3 kids back into their carseats one more time.

We pulled back into our garge and I felt my tummy rumble. Lunch time. We left the house at 9:30 and got back at 12:30. All I could think about was the laundry I needed to catch up on and how much time was wasted from my day. Well, until I looked out the window to see what Zoe was barking at and saw something dead. More correctly, I should say, something Zoe killed. Yuck...perfect end to an imperfect morning.

So, without further ado, and because I have already wasted enough "laundry time", I present to you the photo of Zoe's kill.

And he, like the mouse, will be waiting for the Mister to return from work so he can be properly disposed of.

Callin' all pollen: Please, Go Away!

Addi has seasonal allergies. I do too, and so does Bryan. I'll be surprised if Libby doesn't start sniffing and scratching soon also. When we lived in Texas and Oklahoma, I had to take medicine pretty much year round, but since we've lived here, I mainly have issues in the Spring. Bryan, on the other hand has had a harder time here. We blame the pollen.

Well, the pollen is out in full force and has been for about a week. Everything outside is coated in a thick yellow powder. You can see it being kicked up as you walk through the grass. My front porch looks like the girls got after it with yellow sidewalk chalk because I decided to rinse it off while I was watering yesterday. It just pooled around the doormat and now we have a marbled-effect on the concrete...and a new layer of yellow powder all over the porch.

But, it is Spring Break here and the weather is glorious. How can we be expected to sit indoors all week?! Yesterday evening we met Bryan at a neat park and played for about an hour.

And, then at 2:26 this morning, I was awakened by Addi asking me to sing her a song. What?! Are you crazy?! I was dead asleep and you want me to sing you a song?! You're 4, sing yourself a song?! was what I wanted to say to her. But, instead I told her it was the middle of the night and mommy was sleepy. I took her back to her bed and layed down with her for a few minutes. In my sleepy haze I noticed she was clawing her eyeballs out and tried to scan my brain for some medicine we had that I could give her. It was really just too much for me. She takes Zyrtec and I couldn't remember what, if anything, I could give her with Zyrtec. I did think of some over-the-counter eyedrops we have, but vividly (and, believe me, this was the only vivid thing about last night) remembered her reaction when she was given eyedrops to dialate her eyes...not something I wanted to encounter ever again, much less at 2:30 in the morning. She was almost asleep, so I got up to leave and she asked me to sing her a song again.

Now, this seems so ridiculous to me thinking back on it, but I felt that I needed to stand my ground on this song thing. You know that whole "pick your battles" saying? Well, apparently last night I thought this was a battle worth waging. And, you can ask Bryan (and my parents) about how stubborn I am when I really want to win a battle :)

Of course, I told her no and she started to make herself cry, a trait at which she has excelled. At this point I felt ignoring her would be my best option, so back to bed I dragged...and layed there listening to her cry...and wondered if I should shut Libby's door before I had two crying kids and a grumpy husband. Why, on earth, I didn't just walk back into Addi's room and sing her a song, I will never know! But, I didn't and after a couple minutes, my grumpy sleepy husband woke and wanted to know what the crying was about. Now is when I really should have backed down and walked into that crying baby's room, but, you guessed it, I didn't. The longer this went on, the more important I felt it was to win.

Bryan huffed out of bed, stomped through the hall, mumbled something to Addison and shut her door. The crying stopped and we all went back to sleep.

That is why God created 2 parents...one balances out the other.

Nevertheless, Addison woke up this morning with bright red, swollen eyes. Not so much from the crying - it was a fairly weak, forced cry, after all. Her eyes are itchy and watery. In fact, this morning she asked me to give her eye medicine and was totally fine when I put drops in her eyes. (Thanks to Grandpa for that. She later told me that Grandpa put drops in her eyes the last time we were in Texas...baffles my mind how that all went down. It sure made my life easier today though)

Normally, red, itchy eyes would be a bit of a nuisance to her. Today, I panicked slightly because the girls had an appointment to have their picture made with real bunnies. Why does Easter have to fall during pollen-floating-around season?! The pictures went well and I'm sure there'll be some cute ones. The girls had a tea party with two bunnies, so they didn't actually look at the camera. The photograher did take a few of the girls smiling at the camera. Maybe the red won't show up or maybe I can get those in black and white.

I guess this is the price you pay for living in an area with lots of trees. Well, this and lots of leaves, sweet gum balls, needles and pine cones in your gutters and yard. I think a few weeks of scratching, coughing, blowing, sneezing, wheezing and redness are well worth the shade though!

Easter Egg Mania

We went to an Easter party this morning. Of course, all the kids loved hunting the eggs and eating the bunny cake. Now, we have more Easter candy at our house. The girls had already had two Easter parties a piece which included egg hunts. Don't get me wrong...I am all for a little fun and sweets around different holidays, but I really would like my children to be focused on more than candy and bunnies for this holiday.

As a Christian, this is it. I mean, there is Christmas in which we celebrate Christ's birth, but Christ's death, burial and resurrection is what being a Christian is all about. We should "...fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:12) He is life and he gives life to those who accept.

So, lest you think me an Easter scrooge, I'll gladly take my girls to have their picture made with a real, live bunny tomorrow and we will participate in at least two more egg hunts and I'll allow the Easter bunny to shower my children with gifts, but I will be making sure they hear more about the real reason for the Easter celebration from me. After all, that is my job.

I know y'all only care about the pictures, so here are a few from the party. I also took a few of some eggs one the girls brought home from one of the parties. Now, keep in mind, I sent my daughters to preschool with their designated six eggs each filled with...what else, jelly beans...about 4 in each egg. Not over the top, but not stingy...I thought.


Oh, and please don't get me wrong. I am so thankful for our dear friends and the wonderful preschool my girls attend. Without them, we certainly would have less candy around here, but we also would missing out on such meaningful relationships.

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What a cute egg stuffer!












Wow, ambitious...candy and stickers!













A little lazy, but I'm not above buying these...

Are you kidding me?! I know they're just kids, but leftover candy corn and the mint you still had in your pocket from the last time you ate at Johnny Carinos? Oh, and yes, also the mints left from the last afternoon wedding you attended. I would say that is lazy!

Rainbows and Ruvver Bands

I opened my refrigerator to start supper and somebody had placed a colorful rainbow ruvver band on the bottom shelf. Apparently, a refrigerator is the equivalent of a safe to a 4-year old. And a colorful rainbow ruvver band is, well, a colorful rainbow of precious jewels. Which, in this case, would be jewels that belong to someone else.

Last week Addi had a friend over to play and when it was time for Salina to leave, the girls couldn't find her hair band. It really didn't seem like that big of a deal at the time...Salina didn't seem to mind and her mom just said if we came across it we could bring to them. Not a big deal. I should say that it was not a big deal to Salina, or her mom, or me. Addi, on the other hand, fretted and searched and, then fretted some more. Where is Salina's ruvver band? It's a beautiful, colorful, rainbow ruvver band! How will we ever find it?! I didn't risk breaking her sweet little heart by telling her we weren't really worried about it.

Like me, Salina's mom is a mom of 2 girls. I would bet all my worldly possessions they have more ruvver bands, bows, ribbons, clippers, headbands, and barrettes than they could ever need. In fact, I know they have more than they need. We've been the recipients of a bag of unused hair accessories from them.

Even so, yesterday when Addi found the ruvver band...Mommy, look! I found it! I found Salina's colorful rainbow ruvver band!...I instructed her to put it someplace safe until we could take it to them. Obviously, the safest place in the house is the refrigerator.

Addi was thrilled to talk to Salina yesterday and let her know that her colorful rainbow ruvver band had been found. She was even more thrilled to find out that she would be able to place said ruvver band in Salina's little hands when she plays with her tomorrow.

And I am positive Salina will treat her ruvver band like the colorful rainbow of precious jewels that it apparently is and never lose it again. Or please just never lose it at our house again :)

Little House in North Carolina

Uhm, you have something on your head.

Yeah, well, so do you!

Get this thing...

OFF!!

Justin Guarini and Rednecks

Do you remember Justin Guarini from the first season of American Idol? Yeah, the guy with the curly hair. We had a waiter tonight who sported a similar "do". He was a great waiter and seemed really nice. However, right as he left our table after refilling my DP, Addi decided to blurt out, "Ewww, yucky curly hair man!" Nice.

We went over (AGAIN) how you shouldn't say things you don't like about people unless we are at home and those people are not visiting our house. Fortunately she is fairly sensitive, so when I mentioned that it might hurt his feelings to hear her say she didn't like his hair, she instantly realized that was something she didn't want to do.

Driving to eat tonight led me to thinking of a story some of our neighbors' told us about the former owners of our house. Not seeing the connection? Well, I'll fill you in...there is a house at the other end of our neighborhood that must be filled with a family who feels it is their duty to remind the rest us we are living in "Nascar Country". Not only that, but that they also enjoy "all things redneck", if you will. (I'm sure some of you are thinking the two naturally go hand in hand. I've learned while living in the "country" that this is not necessarily true.) I'm sure you can imagine what the outside of their house looks like...too many cars crammed into the driveway, various flags and yard decor, and, my personal favorite, candle lights in their windows. Yes, the ones usually reserved for Christmas. What's a good redneck house without a year round celebration of Christmas?! Oh, but these are progressive rednecks...they change the light bulbs out for various holidays...red for Christmas, pink for Valentines Day, and now green for St. Patrick's Day. I guess they don't want to appear lazy. I mean, who would think they were too lazy to put up their Christmas decorations, if they took the time to change out the bulbs to match the current holiday? As I mentioned, the house is located at the other end of the neighborhood so tonight was my first glimpse of their homage for St. Patrick. Bryan and I chuckled and then I thought of a redneck story of our own house. (Yes, I'm finally getting to the point!)

We knew when we moved in that our house had been neglected by the previous owners for quite some time. There was scotch tape holding our breakfast room light fixture together, the flower beds had some sort of poison ivy looking stuff overtaking them, and you couldn't even see the chains holding the dining room's or entry way's chandeliers because of all the black dust. Seriously, there was at least a half-inch of dust build up all the way around those chains. Granted, the ceilings in those rooms are 18 feet high, but maybe when you put your house on the market you should find a ladder and shake that dust off!

In any event, the story goes that the lady of the house had an affair with a neighbor, the husband left her, she hurt her back and had to stop working so she filled her days sitting on the porch drinking wine. Their boys were grown at that point and I'm not clear on where they lived, but in the least, they spent plenty of time here having hot tub parties in the middle of the afternoon and poker games in the garage all hours of the night. It seems the rest of their time was filled working on their Harley's and then test driving around the neighborhood. Not your ideal neighbors!

At some point a tree fell over and a huge limb went through the garage. As you can see in this picture, there are second story windows that lead out to the roof over the garage. Instead of removing the limb, the family decided to make use of it. For Easter they hung eggs on the branches, for July 4th flags, for Christmas wreaths and lights, and so on. I'm not sure when the limb was removed. That, at least had been done before we ever saw the house.

Now the garage holds my car, we've replaced the breakfast room light, and I try to dust semi-regularly. As for the hot tub, well that's a story for another post.