Hello Sunshine!

Fair warning - this will be a long one. Namely because it centers around being outside in the warm weather. We haven't had that glorious feeling in so long, and it just makes me happy (translation: in the mood to ramble on and on)! Thursday it warmed up enough for us to go to the park for the first time in I can't remember when. I suppose you can still go to the park when it's cold, but I detest being cold and absolutely can't handle it. Therefore, we find entertainment indoors during the winter. That, or J's in charge of playing outside. He gladly takes winter (actually, he doesn't have a choice - he's just sweet like that), and I gladly take summer when it comes to heading up outside playtime. But give me a few bonus days in January that are actually warm and sunny and you can't keep me inside if you tried. Thursday afternoon we spent some quality time reacquainting ourselves with the great outdoors...

Apparently those two were really in a lovey dovey mood with all the hand holding...
Every other child there was bundled up. Mine refused to even wear a coat and you can forget them leaving their shoes on. That led to all the other kids wanting to take their shoes off, too. I had to laugh when the mothers were saying, "it's January, you're not taking off your shoes outside." Live a little, goodness. If it's 60, we're barefoot or in flip flops. I don't care what month it is!
We played a little hide and seek while we were there...I lured them away with the promise of picking up B and going for ice cream. Worked like a charm!

Friday when I got the girls from school, we took our lunch straight to the park and didn't leave until it was time to get Bethany from school at 3. And even then, we could have stayed a little while longer. Emma and her mom met us there, and after the first hour or so was spent nursing battle wounds they were all smiles and soaking up the sun...
Right about that time, the older two went off on their own and didn't want Cate to follow them. She was sort of pitiful...
I told her I'd play with her, so she grabbed my hand and led me to the curly Q slide. What she meant is that she wanted to stand at the bottom while I took to the slide...
She so graciously put her hands out and promised to catch me when I got to the bottom... I had to get everyone playing together nicely again after that. All I had was an empty Sprite bottle and a stupid idea, but somehow they were excited about it... Cate and I covered our eyes while they hid the bottle anywhere in the park. Then it was our job to find it...Putting it at the top of the slide was way too easy for us to find...So Buggy and I had to show 'em how to do it. It only took the older two all of ten minutes to find it... They declared us "the best hiders in the world". We make a good team!

The girls were so worn out after all the playing. If you read between the lines, that means the rest of the afternoon and night were meltdown central. Saturday morning would come early, but we had a gorgeous (and I do mean gorgeous) day ahead of us. My mission? Not to waste a minute of it! We packed in two birthday parties and another three hour park trip. J went to ride his motorcycle with some friends, so what else were three lonely girls to do?!

We started out at Riley's rockstar birthday party. Riley is in the missions class I teach on Wednesday nights at church. Let me be clear when I say that he's the funniest boy I've ever met. It's not just what he says, but how he says it that gets me. Bethany usually makes a pit stop by our room just so she can see him. He's just that funny. And he loves B. He frequently asks his mom to show him pictures of her on Facebook. One of the first times he came in our class I asked him how he was doing. I knew we would be fast friends when he answered, "Mrs. Tara, I'm ready to rock it out." Love him!! So it was only natural that a three year old who can sing Ice, Ice Baby word for word would have a stage, drums, lights, and the whole nine yards at his party...
This gives new meaning to a garage band!
Towns was pleasantly surprised to see that Parker came with Brock to the party. And he came to her rescue like a knight in shining armor when she lost one of her drumsticks...
I've always prayed for the girls' future husbands. It doesn't hurt to be specific in my requests, right?! Just wondering...
Cate and the birthday boy...
Don't be jealous, Bebby! Ha!

After Riley's party, we headed to Huntsville to help Anna Bekah celebrate turning 6 at The Little Gym at Providence. That's the first time we've ever been, and I must say it was tons of fun! If you know my children, you know they're monkeys. This was the perfect place for them...
Towns was stuck like glue to her kindergarten teacher's daughter, Meredith...
She's in 1st grade which makes her a total celebrity!
This was the first time since starting kindergarten that all of the pre-k 4 class was all together again. It was so sweet to see them pick up right where the left off...
We left with balloons and bubble gum machines. And that makes for two very happy monkeys...

We got home just in time to squeeze in a wardrobe change and another trip to the park. We grabbed our bikes enjoyed the last of the sunshine and warm temps at the park by the river...
Once again, shoes were shed. This time it was to be able to feel the sand between their toes, and I can't say that I blame them! The only bad thing about getting sandy is trying to get un-sandy...
Oh well, that's the price you pay! :)
Do you see a trend here? We. Love. Warm. Weather.
I'm pretty sure I would have even slept outside if I could have. My lovies had the same idea...
Either that, or I'd completely worn them out! Mission accomplished. We set out to enjoy the little gem of a warm weekend we were given, and that's just what we did!

Lately

This week has kicked my rear. It seems like no matter how hard I try or what I do, I'm spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. Nowhere in the way of working or crossing things off of my to-do list, that is. However, we've logged lots of hours reading, writing, playing, having makeovers, and everything else that falls under the "girly" category. Lately it seems like nothing else is more important to me than that. I absolutely love the age the girls are at. Of course, we definitely have our not-so-pretty moments, but I know as soon as I blink they'll be grown. And I simply can't stand the thought of missing out on something with them. Therefore I have a mountain of emails and Etsy conversations that I've yet to get to. My sincerest apologies if yours is one of them. I'll be back to reality soon enough!

Last Saturday J and I went to dinner with some friends, and before we left B ever so kindly gave Towns and Cate teenager makeovers. I say "teenager" because that's what they looked like when she was done with them! B's thing is hair and make up. She's so incredibly good at it. I didn't tell her this, but if it weren't for the lack of time I wanted to ask her to make me over before we left. The girls were beyond excited about being dolled up and somewhat looking like their big sister. I love that they both put their cell phones in their back pocket just like B does...
That totally completed their look. And the next morning when we went to church the make up was rather hard to remove, so I just let it go...They've got major eye liner going on!
Bebs has always been so sweet about going along with her sisters' wild ideas. Last week B was trying on some dresses for formal which sparked Towns to want to put on a fashion show. She and Cate picked out their own outfits and they hit the runway...
That's how you shake your little tush on the catwalk...

Blondie is loving her new found ability to pick up a book and read it, so the other night before bed I told her to grab a few of her top picks to try out. Towns isn't the only one enjoying it, though. Cate loves that her sister can read to her now...
We found this one at the book fair last year, and it's remained on our list of favorites...
It's the cutest book. Very clever.
Buggy doesn't want to be left out in the learning department and is really fascinated with being able to write. Since we spend at least four hours at gymnastics and cheer every week, I decided that that could be time well spent teaching her to write her letters. This morning she was busy with a Sharpie (against my better judgment) and a Post-It. And this is what she showed me when she was done...
Maybe it's not going in one ear and out the other after all!

Yesterday we took B to an orthodontist appointment where the girls paid close attention to everything that was going on around them. This is what my kitchen looked like afterwards...
Towns has proclaimed she wants to be a dentist when she grows up. It's official.
Dr. Cate had to have a turn, too. This is right before she said, "soooo, what's going on with Miss Catherine today?"...
I told her that as Catherine's very observant mother, I was worried about her teeth falling out from eating too much candy. She got to work on Catherine's cavities while I watched and waited...

One more because it's funny...
Yesterday she put P90 Sculpt in her portable DVD player all on her own, got some 2 lb. weights, and was going to town. If she starts saying "watcha got" like Tony does when I want to punch him in the face, I'll be worried.

That's all I've got for now. This morning on our way out I told the girls it's actually supposed to be sunny and almost 60 tomorrow. What? Could it really be?!
That brought out the smiles, for sure! I'm not sure who's more excited...them or me.
I'm ready to give winter a swift kick!!