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...

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! :)

I Heart Weekends!

And I heart the guy in the picture above because today he let me sleep until 9:00 a.m. (not sure when I've slept that late in the last 5 years), he took the girls outside to play while he worked in the yard so I could be somewhat productive, and the icing on the cake is that while I put Cate down for a nap he took Towns out to lunch. I can tell it's going to be a good day...or at least it's gotten off to a great start! It's sunny here for a change, which puts me in an even better mood! Happy weekend!!
Oh, and let me show you how crafty Bet & Towns are...

They made that out of felt to hang on the mantle...have I mentioned that we love any excuse to decorate?!

It's a Go!

Looks like it's officially time to show your support for sweet baby Harper! If you've read Kelly's blog, you know she's wild about several things...Harper (naturally!), pink, brown, lime green, monograms, and Ephesians 3:20! After lots of deliberation among the very loving women who made this idea a reality, we decided to combine all of the above for the 'pray for Harper' tees! You can go to my etsy site to purchase a t-shirt, and the Stamps have requested that the proceeds of every sale be split between the Ronald McDonald House in Tulsa (where Harper's parents have been staying) and the St. Francis NICU where Harper has received such amazing care. So many lives have been changed by this precious baby's story, and this is a great way to continue to spread the word! To place your order, click here! There are two colors to choose from...

Harper

I'm in tears as I type this...I just answered a message I received through my etsy site that I feel compelled to share with you. Melissa emailed me to ask if I'd create a prayer t-shirt to sell through my etsy site for anyone who wants to help a sweet baby girl named Harper (proceeds go to Harper's family). Harper was born January 16th, developed pneumonia, and is in critical condition at St. Francis hospital in Tulsa. Melissa gave me the link to Harper's mom's blog and after reading just one post, I knew this was something I needed to do. Harper's mom, Kelly, and her husband have prayed for a baby for two years and finally their prayers were answered with Harper! You can only imagine what they're going through right now...longing for a baby all this time...praying, waiting, anticipating. And now that she's here they can only admire her from a distance, touch her occasionally and whisper sweet somethings in her little ear. But as Kelly said in one of her posts....God's ways are not our ways.

To read Kelly's blog and see their little love bug, click here. I guarantee you won't be disappointed...she's the cutest! I'm sure they would appreciate all the prayers you could lift up on their behalf!

The More the Merrier!

Yesterday was a pretty fun day for us...we had a house full of little people! And when I say little people, I mean six kids 4 and under! I'd offered to pick two of Towns' friends up from Mother's Day Out because their moms had things they needed to do...and as we were at the church picking them up we added two more to the group just for fun! After yesterday I know full well that Towns is the hostess with the mostest. We fed everyone a picnic lunch in the living room floor and she didn't sit down to eat a bite until her friends and Cate had everything they needed. And after lunch, she cleaned up after every one of them while they were in her room playing! I love having her friends over, and it does me good to see how much she enjoys it too. We made Valentine's cookies and had a mock dancing class (I never escape the dancing teacher role) and had LOTS of play time! Loading all of them up in the car and taking them all home gave Towns the same feeling I so vividly remember from when I was young...there's nothing pretty about an afternoon of all out wild and craziness with your friends coming to an end! She shed a few tears and couldn't understand why they couldn't just stay forever. But never fear, she had something to look forward to last night...she rode with our friends Jeff, Amy and Hart to Winfield to watch Hart's sister cheer at a basketball game. Sometimes I think she might just trade me in for Amy, so I had no doubts that she'd have a great time! She came rolling in at 10:00 on a Friday night...we're going to have to have the curfew discussion a lot sooner than I thought! (Amy, I'm so kidding!) Last night Bethany joked that Towns had a better social life than she did! HA! I couldn't let this opportunity pass without a few pictures (surprise, surprise)...

Picnic lunch inside...

After lunch, Towns brought every plate to the kitchen like so...

Play time!

Time for Mrs. Tara's dance class (I had all of them but Hart in Princess Ballerina Camp over the summer, so they know what my class is all about)!
Here they're on my white line (just like the one at the dance studio) and ready to begin...

All that dancing had the munchkins hungry again, and after lots and lots of Valentine's cookies it was time to wrap up the play date...sad! We'll have to do it again soon!

****************************************************************************

Thursday afternoon before Jonathan got home from work the girls and I were in the mood to be outside since it was sunny and a tad bit warmer than it has been around here.

Cate got her baby in the stroller...

Towns grabbed her bike...

Bethany grabbed some potato chips...

And off we went!

We walked a few blocks over to Delano Park where there are the biggest and best trees ever to play hide-and-seek in! Cate was a little slow with the stroller and her sisters aren't the most patient people ever, so she ended up in the big stroller to make things a little quicker...something she wasn't overly thrilled about! Here she's ever so kindly voicing her disapproval...gotta love her though!

When we got there Bethany hid while we counted...Cate and Towns quickly picked up on how the game was supposed to go and LOVED it!
Towns counting...

Time to find Bet! Here they go...

Cate really got a kick out of being the seeker...

We found B way up in a tree! Wish this wasn't so blurry...it was such a cute picture!

After the younger two saw how much fun it was to hide, they had to follow suit of course! This is Towns once I found where she was hiding...she thought it was hilarious!

And here's Cate in her hiding spot...she thought we couldn't see her!

Now everyone had to hide together...

Good times! Have I mentioned that I LOVE these girls?! I do, I do, I do!!
The ride home was a little rough, though. Here's what I pushed for as long as I possibly could...

B decided she was too tired to walk home...she's as big of a mess as the baby girls! :)
I drive Bet crazy because with everything we do I'm always trying to teach her something. I see it as using every opportunity that presents itself to learn something. She sees it as me talking way too much and filling her ears full of uselessness! If trying to help the girls better themselves is a bad thing, then I'm guilty! Anyway, on the way home I taught Towns a thing or two...

She learned to spell s-t-o-p from the letters painted on the road!
Now that I think about it, I can't take full credit for this next one and I probably shouldn't be quite so proud seeing as how this could land her with a broken arm or something...

She's riding her bike with no hands...I live with a house full of dare devils with NO fear! I don't think I really fit in in that respect, but it sure makes life a little more interesting!