the one with too many blurry cell phone pictures because I can't decide and also a tree

So Audrey's been telling me for quite a while that she's very good at climbing trees.

As it turns out, she wasn't kidding even at all.

YIKES!!!!

Owen proved to be quite the climber himself for his advanced years of three.

When all was said and done, Noodle conquered three separate trees, Owen two, and my heart only stopped five or six times.


(Also, I only thought of little Lauren stuck at the very top of a similar tree, and my accompanying heart palpitations, all those years ago, half a dozen times.)

Great job, Audrey Faith!  Your Naynay is super-proud of you :)

sunday six, weekend recap edition

(Editor's Note:  Should I acknowledge my lackadaisical approach to this blog in recent months? Do I apologize for my apparent slothfulness? Do I pretend we visited just yesterday? Do I go on and on, ad nauseum, trying to excuse myself while simultaneously convincing us both that I'll do better hereafter?  Sigh.  
I vote no - let's just jump back in & call it a win!)

Pure swoonylicious, is what he is

1.  It hit 80 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday.  Also, the sun was shining, it was breezy, and no humidity.  I do love me some spring.

However, all the warm did remind me of a couple of things:  First, a warm sunny day heats up the inside of an un-air-conditioned car considerably.  Second, little rids the neck of kinks and the stomach of knots like a ride down the highway with the windows down & the radio up.

...aaaand thirdly, riding down the highway with the windows down and the radio up renders one's hair a "little crazy," which was the assessment of the five-year-old.


2.  You just know it's going to be a good spring when you kick it off by attending a Food Truck Festival(!) downtown with the littles in tow.  That's right... food trucks stretched out over a city block (or more, who really knows) (it's not like I got past the designated littles area to actually measure) (it seemed like more).  Frankly, it was too crowded for me to delight in the actual dining possibilities because I'm immediately rendered non-hungry when lines wrap around for a sweet forever.  No lie, I ate nothing at said Festival, save the Pepsi we picked up on the way downtown.  However, it was still Big Fun for perhaps no reason other than it was clearly supposed to be.  As I told Kate, any time music is blasted through very loud speakers on a 79-degree evening it's an instant party.

I might have awkwardly pretend-danced a little with Norah while not one person paid me any mind at all.  Owo happily demonstrated his award-winning (not even kidding, he's a bonafide winner)  (I'll tell you sometime) booty-shaking skills for me, and I giggled more than once from the sheer happy of warm spring & crazy surroundings.


3.  Ironically, after eating absolutely nothing shifty and/or shady at the Food Truck Festival(!) I awoke with a stomach bug.  Seriously.  You can't make this stuff up.  


4.  Speaking of Owen, it's possible that I allegedly taught, encouraged him to engage in some problem-solving behavior that turned out to be new to him.

It took him approximately 30 minutes to get me into all kinds of trouble.

Which led me to shamelessly beg the little mister to please forget all he'd learned from me that day, before it was no longer funny & I landed in BIG TROUBLE with his mama.  He found the whole situation delightful and that's all I'm going to say about that.


5.  Audrey and Owen belting out "Let it Go" with no theatrics whatsoever (ha!) with Norah occasionally adding her two-cents.

Amen.


6.  Kari sent me the above sweet picture of Peyton at the Easter egg hunt after church today...You know, the Big Fun I missed because of stupid aforementioned stomach issue.  A big shout-out to my girl...receiving the pictures helped just the littlest tiny :)

keep on the sunny side

So here's the thing.  Falling asleep at 4ish in the morning  apparently leaves me a bit...emotional.  Today I find myself doing things like you-tubing sweet little videos about daddies & Facebook postings by the siblings, which naturally(?) leads me to old Twila Paris videos and an ill-advised stroll down memory lane...leaving me somewhat verklempt.  I should get more sleep.  And eschew chips & salsa at 2:30 in the morn.

As if that weren't enough, it seemed only right to keep All the Feelings going by catching up on a little bloggy reading, rendering me a weepy mess.


(Work should be a blast tonight!)


Anyhoo, in light of all the very many feelings, I thought I'd lighten things up a bit
and share some of the happy.

Well.  There's this, of course

1.  Yesterday I ran some errands and met up for an impromptu lunch with Katie & Audrey.  I was particularly delighted out of my mind while driving with the windows wide open and the sky all blue and the radio loud.   Life, just the way I like it.

2.  I had a few minutes to kill so I wandered through Bath & Body Works.  I haven't been there since a quick trip the week before Christmas (!) and let's just say this was better.  I sniffed at least 42 candles and looked at a fair amount of random.  And! Not one overtly perky, subtly intrusive, sweet little thing asked me what I needed, and by the time I inhaled the honeysuckle candle for the fourth time I was longing, LONGING I tell you, for spring.  I would not be exaggerating one bit to say that store was spring in a jar.
 
3.  Noodle was beside herself with happy during our little excursion.  She was all girly, skipping along and giggly, and just thrilled to be with us.  She kept clasping my hand on her right & her mama's on the left, and swinging them together.  She was so happy! just to be with us.  If that's not swoony I don't know what is.

4.  I scored a bag of M&Ms on the 50% off-aisle at Target.   I went with the peanut butter variety this time. 
I know it's a stretch, but it seemed right.

5.  Today I read this.  Oh y'all...

Right now someone is (very loudly) working on a neighbor's car outside my window and people are shouting over the racing motor and I might have heard a bad word, and the feelings I'm current feeling are of a whole different variety.  See how that works?  Life.  What a blast :)


Y'all have a great Wednesday!

sweeter than the sweetest tea

Norah likes her mama!

Wednesday Katie & Kari brought all the littles by for the afternoon.  I like to think they just love to spend time with me, but truth be told they were in it for the poppy seed chicken.

Whatever. 
I'm not proud...I'll take what I can get :)

Noodle likes her Doc McStuffins!

It was a really nice day.  The kids were all overtired and overdone what with their holiday hangovers, miscellaneous maladies, and the previous night's sleepover with Kate.  Kari kept apologizing for the mayhem but honestly I just laughed my way through it. 

What else is one to do when you have toddlers marching around announcing to anyone who will listen that there will be NO HUGS - or manners (ha!), naptime accidents in Naynay's bed, multiple episodes of spitting up coupled with at least one wretchedly foul-smelling diaper situation, in the course of one innocent afternoon?

They ALL really like making messes!

Well.  I say you too would laugh your way through the madness, you know you would.

Peyton likes...everything!

Sadie likes her paci!

  

And if you ever doubted the day was a success,
when your daughter tells your grandchild that it's time to go home, you might just overhear her say, ever so wistfully, "I just wish we could stay here forever and ever and ever."

Audrey likes making eggs!  After rejecting lunch!

 ....and then, just for sheer fun & comic relief, a few hours later it's possible you'll receive an urgent Facetime invite from the nearly-two-year old, who is tragically and hilariously calling Naynay to tattle mightily on his mama, who has made an unacceptable pronouncement of no sweet tea before bed. (The horror!)

Apparently Norah now likes falling asleep in the middle of bedlam!

...and as you fall asleep that night, you'll thank God for every minute of this life that is oh. so. sweet.

xoxo

sweeping over

Audrey spent the night with me on the 26th.  She told us she just needed to snuggle with Naynay for a while. 

(Just go ahead and Insert swoon here)


Here she is early in the morning (after trying her hardest to push me out of my very own bed all night long.)  The precious little angel...

The next morning we hit the road to Virginia to celebrate Christmas with my family.


She pooped out in less than an hour and spent the rest of the drive looking a little bit exactly like this:

I don't have photographic evidence, but I might have felt pretty much exactly the same way :)

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

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

 

 

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

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 :)

excuses, excuses

I know it's been a sweet forever but I have a good excuse.


Christmas was last week, and this week I have been at Kari's loving on Peyton while simultaneously eating m&ms & working for a living.  So there's that.


Yesterday Kate & Company drove up to visit and eat pizza and help restore my sanity :)
(Just kidding, Peanut, you know I love ya!)

She also brought this.  


Needless to say, it was a good day.


Sadly, I now have to go because see above, but I leave you with the following picture in an effort to make things right...

Happy Friday :)

deck the halls

Can you even believe it?

It's Christmas around here, again, and we have all manner of details to attend to.  


Fortunately, Audrey is more than willing to help a Naynay out :)

don't say it if ya don't mean it

So this is pretty much what walking to our little playground looks like.

I say something like, "hey guys, wanna go to the - -"

And they're out the door!

Leaving me

in their

dust. 

Until, of course, we reach the street, at which time we wait patiently 
(and obediently, I might add) for Naynay to catch up... 

...and then it's back to business :)