Saturday, February 28, 2009

Remember Me??

Hi. My name is Tara. I'm addicted to my family. Oh, and work. It's all I do. I can admit it...it's the reason the blog has taken a backseat. Along with a lot of other things. I have good intentions. Really, I do. But here's the thing. I've been realizing a lot more lately that our girls are only young once. And if I'm way too caught up in life and the craziness that ensues to be mindful of that, I'll majorly regret it. So I'm either eating them up and enjoying every single second I have with them or at the computer tending to my business . There's really no in between...do the words 'hello sunshine' ring a bell? That's why you've seen that blog title for the last 3 weeks!

So it's hitting me hard that in less than two months Towns will be four years old. Seriously? I think I'm in denial. She's become such a little lady and is incredibly teachable right now. Then there's Cate who turned into a walking, talking 17 month old practically overnight. Wasn't she just my little 5 pound peanut who came in and totally stole my heart?? I've never in my life known anyone like her. There's not much that will hold her back in life. I have a sneaking suspicion that whatever she goes after, she'll get. And Bet, well she's an absolute sweetheart. She's an old soul in a young girl's body. It amazes me that she already gets the big picture. She understands things that usually take people years and years to figure out. The bonus is that she's so organized and helpful...she's basically my live-in personal assistant! I don't know what I'd do without her! Pretty soon she's going to start billing me. Jonathan's loving life...it's golf season again. He's been on a mission for months to get in shape so he could wear his Burberry golf pants before February was over....the Burberrys he hasn't worn in 3 or 4 years. And I'm happy to report that he succeeded! Because if you didn't know any better, you might just get the impression that that was about the most important thing going on at the McClendon household. You think I'm kidding. I'm definitely not! He's going to absolutely kill me for this, but I couldn't resist!! He bought those pants on a whim 6 years ago...

{Ok, actually he was on a mission to become an Adam Scott clone...he's been an Adam Scott fan before anyone else knew who the guy was...have you stopped reading? Stick with me, I'm done with the golf lesson.}

I've got lots more to catch you up on, but for now here are some of my favorite pictures from the past 3 weeks...


The girls got new fish...Sharkbait (left) and Sydney (right)


Last weekend it was perfect kite-flying weather...of course we took full advantage!
Towns was playing photographer...

B was cheerleading while Cate and Towns looked on with much fascination and amazement! Cate clapped the entire time!

B flying her kite..

I get all schoolgirl-ish when I see J with our girls. He's the best Daddy on the planet...I'll take that bet any time. They're completely smitten with him and I do believe the feeling is mutual. There's nothing that makes me happier than to see him in action with them. He's the biggest kid and I l-o-v-e it (and him) more than I could possibly tell you! Here he's helping Cate fly a kite for the first time...

And is this not the sweetest thing you've seen in a while?

Loving my little Bugaboo...

Speaking of Cate...I haven't blogged since I came to the conclusion that Cate's the closest I'll ever get to having a boy. This isn't the greatest picture of her, but I had to take it. It shows her 2nd bloody nose and busted mouth in a five day time span!! Goodness gracious, I love that girl! She's one of a kind...
{Go on and click the picture so you can see it larger and get the full effect}




And one for old time's sake...
Cate was just a few weeks old


Oh, did I mentioned it snowed here on the 1st day of March?! Craziness! It was fabulous, though. There's just something so peaceful about watching it snow. I took a few pictures, which is so unlike me...HA! Click here to see them...

Monday, February 9, 2009

Hello Sunshine!

Did you think I'd fled the country? If I did, you'd find me on a beach somewhere in Mexico. But I'm not...I'm still here. I've been up to my eyeballs in these...

No complaints though...I'm loving every minute of it!
And I'm also loving every minute of time spent with these chicks...




















I've been reminded a lot lately that tomorrow is not promised...it makes me determined to never, ever take a single minute spent with those three in the picture above for granted. They have the uncanny ability to make me realize what's important in life, and I want to soak it all up as much as I can. I've got a hundred different jobs to do on any given day, but when it's all said and done, as long as they know how much I love them I think I've really done the job that's been so graciously given to me...

Hope it's as warm where you are as it is here...we've had almost a full week of sunshine and couldn't be happier! We were beginning to think the sun had forgotten about Decatur! :)