Always a Party...

Last week we headed to Dothan to visit my dad. And for those of you who don't know how he operates, there's no telling what's in store for us when we get there. This is what his back yard looked like when we arrived...

Ridiculous? Yep. Beyond insane? Yep. Five full days of nothing but pure fun? You bet! The inflatables were a permanent fixture from Saturday until Wednesday, and I'm afraid that Towns left there thinking that it was all part of the landscape and is something that she'll expect from here on out! We picked Bethany up on the way down so that she could join in the fun, but sadly she had to go home the next day. She mastered her back tuck and back hand spring on the jumpy thing though, and now looks like an old pro! I was a tad bit jealous that she could do it so perfectly! She talked me into trying it despite the fact that I haven't done it in years...thought I'd broken both ankles after the first try. And the second, third and fourth. After that I decided that it was in my best interest to leave all the flipping and back hand springing to her. After she left Towns had it all to herself...way too much excitement for a 2 year old to handle! Darby, Morgan and Paige were scheduled to come play while we were there, but poor little Morgan got sick in the car on the way over. They stayed long enough for Darby to get Morgan cleaned up and get her in some new clothes (which is what she was most worried about...not the fact that she was sick!). Towns was heart broken that her friends didn't get to stay, but Paw Paw jumped and slid with her like a champ! Lenzie and Knox were out of town or else they'd have come too! The girls could have shown Knox his way around those inflatables!

Thanks Dad for a fabulous trip and for a few days of relaxation! Can't wait to do it again soon!!

Towns had to show Cindy Loo Who IX how to jump.

Cate did a little jumping herself...she cracks herself up jumping in this thing and laughs so hard she gets the hiccups. It's the most hysterical thing ever!

She napped on the back porch after all that...she completely wore herself out!

Sorry, Bet-ny, for this picture!! It's the only one I had of you mid-back tuck! Great technique, perfect landing, I give you a 10! :) Wish I'd gotten you on video, it would have been much better than this rear shot! HA!

My Dad and his girls...

Towns had him painting her fingernails...he's such a trooper!

6 Months & Counting

Can't believe that the last 6 months have flown by so quickly. I say this every month, I know. But it's just hard to grasp that Cate's been with us this long...it feels like weeks, not months. We're so in love with her and it can only get better! She's the sweetest little thing, yet somehow I think she might be my free spirit. I had Towns on a schedule down to the very minute when she was a baby, but Cate's the one who's got us flying by the seat of our pants. And I love it! Schedule shmedule...who needs one?! Happy 6 month birthday, Bug! Life's a whole lot sweeter with you in it!!

We've Got a Sitter!

Yay for Cate Bug who's officially sitting up! She's been working on this new trick for at least two months now, but today she finally mastered it. And it's the cutest thing EVER! I've come to realize that Cate and Towns are pretty different and there's no comparing them. I used to beat myself up about not being able to spend as much one on one time with Cate as I did with Towns. I'm sorry to say that I'd convinced myself that since Towns was sitting up by 4 months, crawling at 5, walking at 9, etc. naturally Cate should too. But after a while it started to sink in that they're totally different children. I mean, when you think about it Cate's almost 6 months old and has just hit 13 pounds. So she's probably ahead of the game when you take into consideration her size. Or at least that's my rationalization! She's a sharp little thing and is constantly taking in everything around her and I know she's perfect in her own way. She'll do everything in her own time and I love her little 13 pound self to pieces!

Blizzard of '08

Ok, so maybe not a blizzard per se, but it was more snow than we've ever seen in our 4 years in Decatur! We were up and at 'em before 7:00 so as not to miss out on a minute of it. It was one of those things where you blink and you miss it...it was all melted in a matter of hours. But it was fun while it lasted!

This is what I saw when I opened the shutters in our bedroom window that looks out into the backyard....

It's a little ironic to have new life coming up which means the coming of Spring and it's covered in snow!

We have no grass in our front yard, only ivy and it was so pretty with the snow on it...

Towns didn't really know what to think about it all. She didn't want to get snow on her boots or on her gloves, which makes playing in the snow rather difficult. She's such a priss...

Checking to see if the fountain is frozen....it was, but what would really have been a neat thing is if we'd had the fountain turned on. We've left it on before when it's gotten below freezing and it will have icicles over a foot long hanging down where the water froze while running over the top.

Jonathan would absolutely kill me for posting this picture, but I think it's pretty sweet (minus the out of control hair and the deer in the headlights look). It was at about 6:45 a.m. and we'd all literally rolled out of bed and out the door...what can you expect?!

Towns showing me the snow that stuck to her glove...this is about 2 seconds before the meltdown that occurred because her gloves were dirty!

After the excitement died down and we were in need of a little defrosting, we headed inside to play with Cindy Loo Who. This is the glorious name Towns has chosen for every baby doll she owns. And trust me, with the all the dolls in our house it's kind of nice that they all have the same name. Makes it much less confusing. The funny thing is that out of all the babies she has, she always goes back to my old Madame Alexander Baby Huggums doll...which I'm afraid to say is over 25 years old! This makes me really happy though. I didn't grow up with every new toy that came out and while she is blessed with an abundance of new things to play with, I love that she's just as happy playing with my ratty old doll in a house we built where the four sides consisted of the foot of the bed, her bedroom wall and the door that leads outside her room, and the bed rail that keeps her from falling off the bed at night (see photos below). It's all about imagination, you know. Cindy Loo Who's doll bed was a plastic drawer from the Rubbermaid stackable drawers in her room that hold her doll clothes, and it also doubled as a playpen for Cate. I think we sat in the "house" for more than two solid hours playing and pretending. That, my friends, is what it's all about.

All the fun completely wore Cate out...

Had to throw this one in....she thinks she's really wearing my earrings (it hasn't registered with her that she has no holes in her ears) and I never tell her otherwise...

Should I Be Worried?

My friend Darby's post prompted me to share a couple of things that have gone on in our house in just the last week alone. Let it be said that I'm not the one who comes up with this stuff, nor do I entertain my children in this manner when I'm the only one at home with them.

Here's what I saw the other night when J said "hey, see if you can find Towns".

(Please excuse my cluttered fridge. That falls under my list of things I'd like to tackle as soon as I get a chance....which means it will look like that this time next year.)

No explanation needed here...this is what Towns and her Daddy do for laughs on a daily basis. (Not sure how your computer is, but I have to click the play button twice for the video to work.)

My dilemma: Not knowing whether to be more concerned over Jonathan's ability to come up with stuff or Towns' sheer delight in all things dangerous!!

Sweet!

Thought I'd share some of my favorite pictures of Towns and Cate from the last few weeks. When I look at these, the image of Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye singing the "Sisters" song in the movie White Christmas immediately pops into my head. Know which one I'm talking about?!

GNO

If you're an avid Miley Cyrus fan, as am I, you'll know GNO. If you've been under a rock for the last year or so, it stands for Girls Night Out. Which is what I had last night, thanks to my sweet hubby who is always great about keeping the girls to let me get out for a bit. This is for you, Amy J, who was on me last night about my lack of blogging the last couple of weeks! Do I need to come give you a tutorial as to how to start your own?! It's about time your cuties made their debut on the blogging circuit! After our whirlwind of a day yesterday it was nice to have a fun, relaxing dinner with two good friends. It all started yesterday when school let out early and I headed to Chick Fil A with my friend Amy and her son Hart and my other friend Amy and her daughter Gray. Our run at Chick Fil A was short lived when we'd had all we could take (which totalled 30 minutes) of that madhouse. It was a zoo in there, which is what happens when every kid in Morgan County and their mom try to squeeze in such a tiny place. Insanity is what it was, actually. So we went straight to the mall and let the kids play at Chuck E Cheese for a while - aka the Kiddie Casino. It's crazy how much you can sink into tokens. And then when it's time to cash in your tickets all you can get from the $20 you've spent in tokens is 10 Tootsie Rolls. I was smart enough yesterday not to even go the token route. Towns is still at the age where she doesn't really get the concept that you have to have tokens to really play the games. She, Gray and Hart had a blast, so our mission was accomplished. Since Chuck E Cheese is in the mall, naturally we left there and went straight for the cookie store. The kids could hardly contain themselves....as if they needed any help in the hyper department, we filled them full of cookies and Coke. By the time it was all said and done they'd covered every square foot of that mall at mock speed, thrown all of our money into the fountain, completely crashed the toy store, ridden the carousel, and torn Dillard's to pieces from top to bottom. We were those moms, if you know what I mean. Towns really has never known her feet could touch the ground at the mall because I rarely give her the freedom of walking around. That gives her reason to believe she has the reserved right to pick all the fanciest things off the shelves and take clothes off the racks. Wild kids in places like that is one of my pet peeves. And low and behold, I caved under the pressure and let my child run as fast as she wanted and do whatever she pleased. I think I was ok with it since I had two other moms with me so I all eyes weren't solely on me. It was one of those "well if she'll let her kid do it, then so will I" moments. Amy, Amy and I had just as much fun watching them as they had being complete wild indians. The best part was Gray and Towns hiding under the granny panty rack in Dillard's hoarding all the lingerie they'd found. Heaven forbid we try to get it all and put them back where it belonged. By this time they were all in dire need of a nap so you can only imagine how it went down hill from there. We finally got all the risque undergarments away from the girls and thought we were clear to head for the car. Not so. Cut to us being almost out of the store thinking Gray and Towns are right behind us. When we stop to look for them all we hear is giggling. Amy and I made our way to try to find them, and let me tell you, they're fast little things. Between the two of them they had two large handbags, an umbrella, a pair of earrings, three wallets, and I can't even remember what else. All we could do is laugh at this point. Us finally gathering our brood and getting out of the store was probably followed by loud applause by all of the sales women who'd been eyeing us the entire time. Oh, and let me not leave out how all three of the kids tried on every last shoe Dillard's carries. The ladies in the shoe department kept commenting on how cute they were, but I could see right through it. It's one of those times where you know what they're thinking. "Get those shoes off your kid's feet and out of their hands and GET OUT." That's probably the nice version. I think we said "if we only had a camera" about fifty times. The cutest part was the three amigos walking hand in hand out of Dillard's and to the car acting like the perfect angels that they are. HA! Anyway, we all made our way home just to meet up a few hours later and ride over to Huntsville for dinner at Rosie's. We got there before 7:00 and by the time we'd had dinner and talked about everything and everyone under the sun it was almost 10:00 - which is usually way past my bedtime! It was well worth it, and time flies when you're having fun! Thanks for a fun night, ladies! Can't wait to do it again SOON!!!