sweet as sugar

Sadie-Pie at three whole weeks old :)

 

the 31st of october

Kate took this picture at Kari's before Trunk-or-Treating. 

So I might as well admit it, Halloween has never been my thing.  Whimsy sometimes escapes me as I'm mostly creativity-impaired, and no matter how hard I pretend otherwise I've never been a fan of dressing up.  It's also true that I was a terrible mom when it came to costumes for my little girls.  Even Crazy Hat Night at Awana stressed me out!  The one notable exception would be Kari as Pocahontas on book report day. 
She rocked the whimsy that day. 


Anyhoo, I might feel completely inept at most things creative, but now that I"m not in charge and
the pressure's off I'm finding plenty to smile about :)

Owen refused to cooperate, choosing instead to watch Toy Story of Terror for the 40th time. 
No judgment here, mister.

Audrey, on the other hand, was all about being a bee, scoping out the treats, and hugging on the neighbors.  She might have allegedly attended the neighborhood party, come home for a quick break, and then re-attended said party, scoring enough cookies, soda, and candy to keep us twitchy until Thanksgiving.

Norah wasn't interested in any of the silliness, so Puppy partied in her place.  

We can't be sure, but I think he had a pretty good time.

Kate made dinner, which was a taco pizza (YUMMO!), and there was all manner of loud and snuggly and messy and mad and sweet to go around.  It was a good night, is all I'm saying :)


 

sisters

Is solace anywhere more comforting than in the arms of a sister?
~Alice Walker

location, location, location

Peanut loves to draw,

especially on sidewalks or driveways!

But I'm pretty sure his very favorite canvas

is on the front porch.

Specifically?

Right at the front door, of course, where all who enter can admire his our handiwork.

....and then proceed to track the chalky goodness  all over his mama's living room floor :)

on target

A month.

It's been almost a whole month since I've said a word here on the worldwideweb.


Is it a coincidence that my bloggy consistency evaporated before our very eyes just around the time I picked up roots and relocated to a whole new location? 


I think not.

Whatever. 


There's no way I can begin to catch up on this last year, so let's just start right with the random
and see where it takes us, shall we?



Today, I share how we do Target around these parts.

It's just how we roll.

 XOXO

 

 

sadie

Welcome, sweet baby girl...

Your family might be a little weird, but no one will ever love you more :)


XOXO
 

untitled because TIRED

So I'm pleased to report that all of Kari's kitchen shelves are properly dressed with pretty green paper and I can sleep the sleep of knowing it was a job well done.

WHATever.


In spite of my stellar shelf-covering skills, my great-with-child daughter still has TOO MUCH to do before baby arrives, and you just know I have every intention of helping her further, but today my plans are simple. 

Let's just say they include a bit of wall-staring and laundry. 


It's going to be a wonderful time of rest, relaxation, and dare I say, recuperation.



ps - Just look how Norah has grown!

Happy Wednesday :)

fortunately the m&ms help

Well.

Kari & Drew are moving into their new house tomorrow & I think it's one of the sweetest little houses ever.

Unfortunately, moving into even sweet little houses requires a good bit of unpleasantness.
You know, like putting things in boxes and putting boxes in cars and taking things out of boxes.

To top off the big fun there's also washing and cleaning and scrubbing and sweeping, and if we're lucky perhaps a little whistling while we work.


Thank goodness for Swiffers and Windex and, yes, I'm just going to put it out there, Clorox.  I know bleach is now an evil, toxic agent, but when moving into a new space nothing is more comforting than that clear-your-sinuses-scent of stranger-germ eradication.  We prefer our very own dirt, thankyouverymuch.


After spending the day on the aforementioned miscellany I had one more super-important task before going to work, and it required a quick visit to Target to pick up (SIGH) some stupid contact paper.

That's right, I said it.
Stupid...as in stupid contact paper.

And because of that momentary lapse in judgment I imagine my tomorrow will consist mostly
of cutting and arranging and rearranging said paper.

It is a pretty green pattern, so there is that.


I also predict a great deal of lifting and carrying of all the things, but Kari and I will be avoiding those shenanigans altogether unless it involves the one-year-old pictured above. 

We'll pick him up and put him down...and pick him up and put him down...as often as requested
because did you see those sweet blue eyes?



XOXO
 

 

sunday six: stuff that happened this weekend

So here's the thing.  Things have been on the hectic side around these parts recently. 


(How many times have I said that in the last couple of years?)

(Eleventy-hundred, would be my guess.) 

(Saying it a lot doesn't make it less true.)


Anyhoo, here's some stuff that happened...


1.  I spent a chunk of Friday with Audrey, Owen, & Peyton, and by chunk I mean a lot of hours.  There might have been some bickering and snuggling and Mickey Mouse, sprinkled with some snacks and sugary beverages.  Peyton was completely cooperative with his nap routine because, well, he's Peyton...and several hours later Owen announced he was "ti-werd," tossed a pillow on the floor, grabbed his GWEEN bwankie, and fell fast asleep right in the middle of Doc McStuffins.  He was so yummy all sprawled out in the middle of the crazy I could barely leave him alone except for I'm not completely insane.

2.  Also on Friday, Jeremy was in a car accident on his way to work.  We're so thankful he has only seemingly minor-ish injuries and no other drivers were involved.  The car was totaled and he's really sore & banged up, but it could have been so much worse!


3.  It rained so hard and was so foggy on Saturday that it looked snowy from my window.  It was creepy and crazy and cozy.  I might have taken a tiny little nap right after my turkey sandwich & tomato soup.   Also, in stark contrast to the crazy that was Friday, it was virtually silent :)


4.  I rediscovered Toaster Strudel.  I fully understand this might be in the category of stupid stuff, or perhaps even nonstuff, to most, but I say it's BIG FUN.  Frankly, I found them so delightful I'm contemplating buying the littles some black cherry Kool-Aid just because I can.


5.  Today was in no way silent.  Not a little quiet.  Not even a tad peaceful.  There was no wall-staring, no strudel-eating, and no House Hunters-watching.

(None.)

(AT ALL!!)


6.  Audrey got stung by a bee this afternoon.  (SEE NUMBER FIVE.)  

She cried.  She cried a lot. 

Norah also cried because of course.  Norah also cried a lot.

Owen did not want to miss out on all the tragic fun so he also cried, and a lot, because he's a team player. 


It was very loud. 
The end.



Sooo...any stuff happen in your 'hoods this weekend??



XOXO

five-minute friday: she

Okay.  So it's been a loong time, but I'm diving back into the five-minute fun this week :) 
You might remember this means no editing, or tinkering, or obsessing.  

Three of my favorite things...
 

Happy Friday!

She's been my daughter's "half" and one of my girls since forever, and she's getting married today.

(I'm embarrassingly giddy.)

She'll be five years old in just a few weeks and has filled my life up in ways I could have never anticipated.

I loved her before she knew how to read and now she lives across the world with her husband, loving others and inspiring me to do the same.

She is wading through the boxes and toys and general mayhem, her belly filled up with her first daughter, my granddaughter...my heart could burst thinking of them.

She's recovering from major surgery, no doubt utterly miserable and perhaps a wee bit discouraged, and I fear she can't fathom how precious she is to me.

She's a mere three months old and all chubby and long and warm and dimply and precious

...and infinitely full of promise.

She loves where she lives even while homesick for her soldier-son and missionary-daughter.  

She's scurrying around tending to the husband-with-the-broken-foot, possibly driving him nuts with all the attention and concern and healthy snacks, but most assuredly filling his life with love.

She's the mother of three of my grandchildren.  She's my firstborn & precious friend.  I'm so proud of her.
I couldn't love her more with chocolaty bribes.

She makes casseroles for the sick or the sad or the happy, and cleans houses for the overwhelmed, and offers frazzled mamas a break, and tends to the dying, and copes with unthinkable decisions, and mothers alone, and makes me laugh, and deals with her loss, and gets back up when she's blown it all to pieces.

...and I am in awe.

xoxo

six word saturday

Three places at one time?  Impossible.

So I'm staying close to home this week...taking care of all the things.



Happy Weekending!

allegedly...

Someone, and I'm not naming any names....

 
...drank an entire 2-liter of Mountain Dew in the last 24 hours. 


...went around thinking she was a year older than she actually was for the better part of the last year, and although this was cause for much rejoicing when celebrating her birthday last week, it was also a bit embarrassing since this wasn't the first time she had made such a grievous error. 


...is currently hooked on the ID channel on cable.  (You know who you are, Southern-Fried Homicide.)


...has had several nights filled with unpleasant dreams involving life-threatening mayhem. See above.


...is prepping for a working vacation/wedding celebration with a certain, trouble-finding friend this week. 
Alerts have been sent out regarding the storm and ensuing bedlam that's sure to follow. 
Let's just say there's a track record.  and it ain't good.


...has spent the better part of the summer spoiling the 1-year-old, the 2-year-old, and the 4-year-old, - and hear this - smooching all over the chubby cheeks of the 2-month-old :)



...and it's possible that someone has missed these little chats of ours far more than is probably healthy :)



XOXO
 

this goofball...

 

...has shared his stinkin' germs & rendered me under the weather.

(Again)



A little word to the wise: 

Beware of kissing runny-nosed two-year-olds, especially cuties wearing their sunglasses upside down.



Have a great day :)

like music to his ears

A couple of weeks ago Kari & Drew went out of town for six whole days while Peyton & I
stayed home and ate an absurd amount of ketchup.

(I might have mentioned this previously.)


(It's possible I even mentioned it a lot on the Facebook.)

He did great, but after around day three he was pretty antsy and especially anxious to see his mama.

We tried to Facetime with her (is that correct terminology? can Facetime be a verb? can someone younger & more knowledgeable please let me know if I'm embarrassing myself?) but the connection was lousy and ended up being more frustrating than comforting....

...so Kari filmed a quick video complete with a little song!

...and little man viewed it eleventy-hundred times.

He just couldn't get enough of gazing into her face and reminding me that she was,
in fact, his "mama mama mama."

After the 30th viewing, we both knew every word she said to him, complete with the snappy lyrics :)

...and frankly they both turned my heart inside out.



Happy Wednesday :)

sweet abstraction

Owen has been full-on smitten with Norah since the moment they first met.  He can torment his big sister without breaking a sweat, but when it comes to his baby sister he's all oohs & aahs & head rubs.


Seriously.  It's the sweetest thing ever.


I just hope he remains enraptured when she starts destroying his towers & stealing his green blanket.

It's all fun & games until the baby swipes your stuff.


Anyway, right around the time Norah was born our neighbor gave the littles some dry erase markers.  A questionable choice to be sure, but fortunately I had small dry erase board, so Owo went to work.


...and he worked all. evening. long.


Behold,

"My Whole Fam-i-wy"

 

(swoon...)



Y'all have a great day!

just another day weekend in paradise

We all know it's a total cliche to say, but WHERE ON EARTH is the time going??

I can't believe it's Monday morning again...and even more ridiculous than Monday?  IT'S AUGUST.

How is this possible?

The sad truth is WHO KNOWS? 

Speaking of...I don't have any proof, but I suspect there have been scientific studies conducted in secret offices somewhere that confirm that time is, indeed, moving faster than it used to.

But enough about that because really, who wants to slide into the depths of time-related despair so early on a Monday morning in August?  Not me, that's for sure.



About my weekend...It was full of the miscellany, which is to say THE USUAL.

(I can't stop with the CAPS LOCK today.  I blame August.)

(I'll try to do better & get to the point as best I can.)


Katie came over on Friday & visited for a while, and then Audrey spent the night with me because we had some BIG FUN (sorry) planned for Saturday morning.  This means that Friday was filled up with naughty shenanigans and a fair amount of hollering (mostly the infant) (some by the toddler), (a wee bit from the four-year-old angry at said toddler).

(It appears I've now moved on to parenthetical affection.)

(Let's just press on, shall we?)

(Thanks!)


Saturday morning Audrey & I were up bright & early for a birthday party(!) for her friend, Addison-who-is-really-Madison(!) and her lots of friends(!).  Also there was a wonderful present that was a Polly Pocket and did you know Audrey has always wanted a Polly Pocket?

We had a great time, and after getting back into the car Audrey proclaimed it awesome.  Truer words were never spoken.  Three hours at a pool with your friends and birthday cake is just about as good as it gets in the preschool world.  Or my world, for that matter.


After finishing up at the pool Kate & I visited some more and enjoyed some Norah snuggles with a fair amount of jiggling and bouncing and walking.  (And back-patting)  (Of course.)
She kinda only likes her mama right now.

Whatever.  She'll change her tune once I start sneaking her the so-da.

I don't really remember Sunday because see above regarding Friday and Saturday.  I think there might have been some church and a fountain Pepsi but even that's a blur & I might have made it up.

Oh!  And Kate surprised me with Krispy Kreme glazed at 10:00 last night because why not???


So how about you?  How was your weekend?

Did you hang out at the pool not in your swimsuit for three hours with a bunch of four and five-year-olds, secretly loving every minute?   Did ya maybe burp an infant or two in your spare time?  Maybe you filled the kitchen sink with water and let a two-year-old wreak soggy havoc all over tarnation?? 


I wanna hear all about it...especially if it involved a mess or three...or in any way warranted an ENTHUSIASTIC USE OF THE ALL CAPS.


Happy Monday :)