Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Easter Eggs!

I've told you a million times how much we love holidays and everything that goes along with them. So the fact that Easter is this weekend and we've yet to dye Easter eggs had me feeling like I needed to get my act together! We took the party outside since it was so nice out.
And also because this crew + egg dye = potential disaster.




Cate watched for a few minutes before she dug right in...

Towns pretty much took over the whole egg-dying process (we've got to work on that) which didn't make Cate too happy...

She kept giving us this look and we'd laugh so hard that she'd keep right on doing it!
Bebby and Cate were into each other big time yesterday (you never know from one day to the next - ha!)...


But it didn't take long before Bug resumed her position in my lap which is where she is most of the time these days...

She woke up with a really high fever yesterday morning and J bought some new chewable Tylenol to give her. She's never had it before and I don't know if had some crazy effect on her or what, but she was quite the character yesterday! We laughed at her non-stop!
She slept most of the afternoon and I had so much work to do, so I let Towns go to town with paint and plastic Easter eggs. I bought them so that all the girls could paint them, but I was in a moment of desperation and let her do them all...


She hung them on this little tree and wanted them all in one spot...

It's leaning so far over that it might break at any minute, but I dare not touch it and ruin her masterpiece!

I'm so glad the girls don't mind me taking so many pictures of them...can you sense the sarcasm?
These are some of my favorites from yesterday...




Cate woke up feeling a little better and meant that she wasn't missing her Easter party and egg hunt at school this morning. With a baby on either hip, she was ready to hit the road...

And I'm about to hit the road, too...I've got a date with some 2 year olds at an Easter party that can't be missed!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Weekend Highlights

This past weekend was the most eventful one we've had in a while, and I'm thinking I need a few days off to recover! Which is a joke, but wouldn't it be nice?!

The highlight of our weekend was Saturday afternoon...

Smitten & Co. was a sponsor, so it was a must that we attend! :)
My friend Lila and I talked about going together to take Madelyn and Towns to the American Girl Fashion show, but in the end we decided that it was best if I took the girls while Lila entertained Cate and Ella. We waited for Madelyn to get through with her t-ball game and then it was time for some high fashion!
I love how Madelyn can come straight from a ballgame and look like this...

She kindly let Towns borrow an American Girl for the afternoon. My child has never heard of American Girl until Saturday - I'll give you a minute to pick yourself up off of the floor. We've always said that we'd wait until she asked for one instead of introducing it to her. I see it as great gift ideas for Christmas and birthday, and I don't want to run through them all at such an early age! Then she'll be wanting a cell phone and a laptop by age 7! :)
But after Saturday afternoon she was fully introduced to the phenomenon, and you can cue the begging because that's what she's been doing ever since!
After intermission, the girls got a chance to be VIPs and hit the stage which was a life changing experience for Towns. We've played "fashion show" ever since with my pink yoga mat doubling as the runway!



They got to participate in the after-show activities and opted to get their nails painted...


They're a little proud of the finished product...

By this point they had both agreed that it was "the goodest day ever" and, well, it just doesn't get any cuter than that!

Silly little fashionistas...


I got the biggest kick out of seeing how much fun they had...too cute!


Cate spent most of the weekend like this...

I'm not sure what it's all about, but she's been my permanent attachment lately. She's usually the biggest Daddy's girl so I'm eating it up!
She did manage to pull herself from my leg long enough to dance in the late afternoon sun...

With her sister leading the way...

Then she spotted a few ants and thought it was a good idea to stomp on them...

But then lost it when she realized they were stuck on the bottom of her shoe...

Lovely!
She's been completely cracking me up the last few days with the things she's said. She's obviously heard me say just that because today I heard her laughing at her baby doll and saying "you crack me up, sweet baby"!
And Saturday as the girls and I were coming home from Target we were talking about how great the weather had been that day. I proceeded to tell them that it was supposed to rain the next day and Towns said "that stinks" in a majorly dramatic voice - to which Cate replied "it's probby (probably) just my feet, Sissy"! I wish I wrote down all of these little funnies because one day when they're torturing me as teenagers I'll need memories like these! Ha!
And just in case you think I'm exaggerating about what a stinker Cate is, here's proof...

This is the picture I got Sunday after church when I asked the two of them to get together and smile. Towns is doing just as she's told and Cate's a foot off the ground! Most every picture I've ever taken of her is a blur. But she's my sweet, funny, attached-to-my-hip blur and I love her!

J had a run-in with this death trap Saturday...

He says it was nothing, but I call having the paramedics at the motocross track mention a broken femur and a severed femoral artery all in the same sentence a little more than "nothing". When I told Towns that Daddy was coming home earlier than planned she naturally asked why. I told her that he'd had a little accident on his motorcycle, but that he was ok (as I was praying I didn't have to eventually tell her otherwise). And that's when she shrugged her shoulders and said "well, that's why you don't buy yourself a motorcycle" - that's my girl! Of course, when he got home and we saw how pitiful he was our hearts softened up. He's been waited on hand and foot ever since. And he would tell you that this is the one time that it pays to be the only male in a house full of women!
Don't get me wrong, I love seeing him do something he enjoys so much...I just wish it was a little safer and that he didn't have to up his long term disability insurance to have his fun!
(Darby, you might want to keep your J away from my J as they wouldn't be a good influence on each other - since we seem to have the two craziest husbands in history!)
This is what Towns had waiting for him when he got home...

And Bebs, we owe you two sheets of cheerleader paper for letting us borrow (or take without asking) yours. But since you got to lay out all weekend and we didn't, we'll just call it even! :)

Monday, March 22, 2010

Build-A-Bear

I've been working my rear off. And whoever said that working from home and being a Mom at the same time was easy has obviously never done it! :) I absolutely love being able to stay at home with the girls, so all the chaos and craziness is worth it. But sometimes (ok, most of the time) I struggle with how to balance it all. And when I get on a roll with work, it seems that the girls have to do a lot of entertaining themselves so that I can finish what I've started. I've been feeling really guilty about that, so last Thursday I was determined to spend the day with them and have fun while we were at it. We've never had the Build-A-Bear experience, and it seemed as good a time as any to give it a whirl!
Oh the excitement once we got to the mall in Huntsville...

If I'm being honest, the smiles are because they saw this when we walked in...

They love those things!
We had a little lesson in breaking and entering because that's just what they were about to do...

Once the clock struck 10 we were in!
They couldn't wait to dig right in...

Cate picked out the camo bear at first, but after a little persuasion she ended up with a bright yellow duck. Towns knew she wanted the bunny rabbit from the minute she laid eyes on it (hence, the Easter obsession). Once that part of the process was done, they moved onto the next part...

Shopping for outfits!
At Build-A-Bear, they are definitely no dummies. They put everything right in reach of the little ones making for lots of fits to be thrown when they find out we can't get $463 in clothes and accessories for a stuffed animal.
They each got to pick one outfit and in the end they were fine with that!

They had a blast with the rest of it...
They picked out a heart to put in their animals and did all the cute stuff that goes along with it...


Now close your eyes and make a wish...

Time to put the hearts in and get their animals stuffed...


Once that was done, they got to get them dolled up!
Fake lipstick and blush galore...

Next up...birth certificates to be filled out on the kid-friendly computers (probably their favorite part)...

Cate kept giving me that look because she thought she was going to get scolded for being on the computer...she's learned about ours at home!
All done and ready to hit the road...

Meet Katie (Cate's duck) and Emma Caroline (Towns' bunny)!
They had a ball and have already picked out what they want next time!

Last Friday afternoon while we were so desperately trying to keep busy until time to get B from tryouts, we got out the sidewalk chalk. It was beautiful and warm...perfect day to play outside!



Can you tell we're a little excited that Easter is just around the corner?!
J came home from riding his new pride and joy while we were outside...

Towns was ecstatic about that because she got to help him wash all the mud off...

She's a pro with a water hose if you want everything in creation to get hosed down! Ha!

I left them to washing the motorcycle because it was finally 4:30 and time for tryouts! Parents weren't allowed in the school, so we had to wait outside which was complete torture.
I stared at this for 2 solid hours...

There's a little door that you can't see in this picture. The door that she'd be running out of once she found out if she made it. Ahhh...the suspense!! I think I officially reached the internet as I was sitting there waiting. And waiting. And waiting. But it was all good when she ran out screaming and crying because she was so excited!
I know I keep talking about this cheerleader business, but I just can't help it! :)