Weekend in Pictures

Our weekend in pictures...

Ok, ok.  I give.  I can't get through a post with no words.  I just don't have it in me!

We made our annual purchase of the big, plastic tacky pool with a slide...

Turns out the water is still cold mid-March...who knew?!

The freezing cold water must have really gotten to blondie...

Speaking of, she didn't waste a single second when it came to the chocolate bunny I promised her...

 

 See these (mascara-covered) eyes?

 

That's sheer excitement and delight!

Tomorrow is the big day.  Please, please pray for her as she goes through her surgery.  I'm sure she'll breeze through it and will be back to her old self in no time.  Your truly is absolutely about to come apart at the seams in true motherly fashion while desperately trying to seem as cool as a cucumber...

One of Those Weeks

Ever have one of those weeks?  The kind where you find out your child has to have a very unexpected surgery and a stranger in Wyoming books a $1,700 Expedia vacation on your American Express?  Yep.  That's the kind we've had.  Not only was it our AmEx number that was stolen, but our check card number too.  Whoever it was has purchased some very unsweet things from some very unsweet websites.  My auto correct is telling me unsweet isn't a word, but today it is because I said so.

I definitely should not be sitting at the computer right now given my long list of things to accomplish today, but you win out over everything else.  Lucky you, right?  I'm so kidding...

Will you pray for Towns?  She's got to have surgery Tuesday morning to remove a urachal remnant.  Without going into loads of detail, the connection from the bladder to the umbilicus should close on its own during fetal development.  In some cases it doesn't, and Cate had surgery when she was a baby because of it.  We never imagined that at Towns' age the pain and infection she was having would be caused by the same thing because usually it usually happens with babies and young children.  We took her to the doctor back in September, but we were given antibiotics and told it was just an infection.  Fast forward six months and we were back in the surgeon's office for the same thing yesterday.  After an ultrasound and lots of debate, Dr. Gilbert convinced me that this is the only logical reason she's been having these symptoms.  When we left his office yesterday I felt like I should explain to Towns what was going to take place.  I didn't tell her they were going to have to cut her belly open.  I just didn't think there was a need for that at the time.  I did think it was important for her to know she would have to have an IV (antibiotics during surgery as well as anesthesia, obviously) because she doesn't love needles.  I definitely don't want her to think I was trying to trick her when we show up at 6 a.m. Tuesday and she's in shock as they tell her what's going to take place.  When she heard "needle" she immediately burst into tears.  Crazy, irrational mom came out and I said, "I'll get you anything you want, please just don't cry".  The thought of my baby being that upset over what she's about to go through was more than I could handle.  I was thinking I was going to have to buy an iPod or something when she finally says, "will you buy me a chocolate bunny and let me eat the whole thing?"....um, YES!  Sweet little love.  I had to laugh at the way the girls were entertaining themselves while waiting on Dr. Gilbert to see us.  It's hard to hear Towns singing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" because I asked her to whisper.  Nevertheless, it's funny...

That's just a small glimpse at what I live with every day.  They're a hoot!
When the doctor finally came in, he had to take a phone call in the room from an oncologist who was treating his patient, a little girl with cancer.  Talk about perspective.  This belly button thing is minor in the grand scheme of things.  My heart physically hurt as I could hear the doctor on the other end of the line talking about that sweet child and her pathology reports, chemo treatments, etc.  I know I shouldn't have been listening, but it was a small room and she was a loud woman.  Maybe you could pray for that little girl even though I have no idea who she is?

I have no desire to be a Debbie Downer, so I must tell you this week hasn't been all bad.  Towns had a field trip to a working farm.  This is the first school function/field trip I've ever missed and I almost gave in and said forget everything waiting on me at home...I'll go.  But, I didn't.
Mrs. Propst's class was as cute as pie waiting for the buses to pull up...
I can't even begin to tell you how sweet those children are!
Cate and I skipped the farm, but made it to the picnic in the park they had on the way back into town...
Those are the faces of some hot and sweaty girls!  Towns said the field trip would have been much more fun if it hadn't been such a hot day.  She's her mother's child!
Virginia was there to keep Cate company...

 They couldn't stand to part ways so soon, so we sprung for a joint trip to Zen Beri.  Just what they needed to help them all cool off!

 I've been spoiled beyond belief by the warm temperatures this week.  Maybe I missed my calling and should have been a meteorologist with the way I'm obsessed with weather. We've logged lots of hours outside enjoying it with our baby dolls...


There are those jeggings again! :)

That's all I've got for now.  The fact that it's Friday (which means this week is officially o-v-e-r) makes me want to do a double back flip.  Right about now that credit card fraud vacation sounds like a winner if I could only transfer into our names...wonder if it was to somewhere tropical?!

Our Little Secret

With Towns' 7th birthday quickly approaching (as well as many meltdowns by yours truly because of it), I decided to start a little tradition.  Something for the two of us.  Kind of like our little secret, except it's not really a secret.  It's mainly for me to have to look back on years down the road, and for her when she has children of her own.  When she was little, I kept a journal where I'd write down the things we did each day and the funny little things she said. Mind you, this is before Cate was born and it sort of went out the window after that.  She loves to read through it.  She'll ask questions or say that she remembers doing the very things she's reading about.  She was around two years old, so I'm not sure she really does remember.  Sometimes she's pretty adamant about it, so I'll go with it.  The other day I bought a little notebook and on the first page I wrote her a note.  I told her to write me a note back and put the notebook in a special spot where I could find it.  Let me tell you...she has totally gone to town with it!  It's the sweetest thing.  This morning I found it in my jewelry drawer and couldn't help but smile at the little stinker.  Usually I know where she's hidden it, but she got me this time.  I absolutely adore her!

This was her note to me yesterday...
The "ool" part is read "aww".  She informed me of that when I was having trouble figuring it out.  Love how she says she will always love me even when I'm silly.  Which is a lot, by the way.

Friday afternoon, J and Cate were working in the yard while I took Towns to her tennis lesson.  When I got home Buggy was oh so excited to show me what they found...

It also happens to be right outside our kitchen window, so we can watch the mama bird and her eggs without scaring her away.  It's a dove I do believe.  The eggs are pretty big compared to other nests we've seen around our house.  I don't know why I got really excited about this find, other than the fact that it's fun to find something like this when you have children who can watch the process from start to finish.  Cate the Bird Watcher is much more interested in the eggs than anyone else in the family.  She honestly thinks these baby birds will be her new pets and will live here forever.  She's already decided what she'll fed them and what she'll name them.  Eventually I'll have to break it to her that they'll leave the next when they're ready.  I'll cross that bridge when we get there.  Just another sign that my favorite time of the year is finally here!

Best Day Ever

Or so declared the children yesterday after we toured the city doing all of their favorite things.  Towns only had to be at school for a few hours thanks to parent/teacher conference day, so I vowed to devote the afternoon solely to them.  Of course, the first thing on our agenda was a run for the border for lunch at the Mex.  We could have called it a day after that and they'd have been completely satisfied!  They love it just that much. But we didn't stop there.  We spent a couple of hours at the library...

The library is Towns' new heaven on earth since she's a big reader and all now.  She loaded up on chapter books while Cate laid claim on every book she could find in which there was a baby in the story. Technically they can each check out fifty books with their cards, and I'm pretty sure we came close.  I needed a wheelbarrow to get our books out of that place.  Now here's hoping we can find them all come time to return them.  That's never been our strong suit!  This time around I put them all the books in a shopping bag and have dared them not to return each book back to its place once they're finished with it.  We'll see how long that lasts!
After we'd checked out as many books as humanly possible (and read as many while we were there), we needed to refuel with yogurt.  That's when the sillies came out big time...



They might be super silly, but they're equally as sweet...



We hit Old Navy and Target, then declared our "best day ever" officially over!
By that point, I was spent...in more ways than one!
They're so worth it, though...

Science Fair & Bird Watching

I've been really bad about letting my beloved camera collect dust lately.  I didn't know I was capable of that, but apparently you learn something new every day.  I did, however, think to take a quick picture of Towns and her science fair poster this morning.  With my phone.  Horrible quality, but that's perfectly alright because she was so stinking proud of her poster...

 

In a perfect world, I'd have all my ducks in a row all the time.  In reality, that's completely laughable!  We've had good intentions when it came to the science fair.  Towns is all about that sort of thing, and when she found out it was an "Under the Sea" theme she knew just what she wanted to do for her poster.  Last month she did a big book report on sea horses.  They're pretty interesting little creatures, believe it or not.  She was so excited to already have some knowledge under her belt.  A week went by with us planning and scheming, but not putting our plan into action mainly because of two things: pneumonia and bronchitis.  Yesterday as I was cleaning off the kitchen counter that was full of papers and school work, I ran across the information sheet that quickly reminded me that it was due this morning.  I sort of hit panic mode as I debated on whether or not to even mention it.  My conscience got the best of me, and at 9:30 last night we were just finishing her poster. 

You know little sister had to have the same picture.  She might not have had a science fair poster, but she did have a Build-A-Bear that served the purpose...

 

I think we might have to change her name.  Forget Harper...a more proper name would be Catherine Jeggings McClendon.  That's all she talks about, all she thinks about, all she wants to wear no matter the weather and no matter what she wears with them.  It makes no difference to her as long as that's what's covering her lower body.  An intervention might be in order.  A closet full of nice clothes and $4 jeggings from Target are what floats her boat.  Not even denim, mind you.  These are the cotton ones that just look like jeans.  High class, for sure. Jegs has become quite the little bird watcher lately.  We make good use of the front porch swing now that it's starting to warm up.  If there's a birds for dummies book, I probably should invest in it.  She asks me what every type of bird is and I have no answers for her.  I can identify a blue jay, a red bird, and a pigeon.  That pretty much sums up my knowledge of our feathered friends...she's hardly amused by it, I might add.  This has produced some pretty funny conversations.  Today we were watching two birds aggravating each other when one flew to the top of our oak tree.  I asked her what she thought it was doing.  She said, "I know exactly what he's doing - he's going to find a rock."  I asked her why she thought that, and she told me that it was because he was about to "nail" the other bird.  What?  "That's what I'd do if it was bothering me like that," she said. Obviously I need to brush up on my trivia, and she needs to brush up on how to play nicely with others...

Bubba the Cowboy Prince

So far the sickness that's taken over our home hasn't seemed to slow us down too very much.  Towns made it to her play yesterday and stayed at school for an hour or two.  She didn't quite understand why she had to leave after the play, but I assured her that by today she'd be able to be back at it full time.  She was ever so excited to be reunited with her long lost friends - when you're out for a few days it feels more like years...

We had a major case of deja vu as we pulled out the boots and bandana from the talent show.  We're sort of fond of western wear, so it was all good.

The play couldn't have possibly been any cuter.  It was about Bubba the Cowboy Prince - a play on the Cinderella story.  Bubba (Towns' dear friend Conner) was a farmhand whose step brothers treated him poorly.  A fairy godcow turned him into a rhinestone cowboy just in time for him to go to a dance and fall in love with Miz Lurleen, the prettiest cowgirl in all the land.  Of course, he lost his cowboy boot when the clock struck midnight leaving Miz Lurleen to go from ranch to ranch looking for its rightful owner.  SO cute!  Towns and her friends danced to Rhinestone Cowboy and the dancers parted in the middle just in time for a blinged out Bubba to burst forward on the chorus...

He had his gold hat, gold boots and a jacket covered in rhinestones.  It just doesn't get better than that!

Oh wait, dancing to Achy Breaky Heart might be right up there on the list...

It was thoroughly entertaining...Mrs. Propst and Miss Ducker's classes did such a phenomenal job!

It ended with a stage full of cowboys and cowgirls singing Happy Trails...

Then it was time for a cast party, of course!  

Mother of the year here didn't think to rehearse Towns' lines since we've sort of been out of our routine. She was quite upset that she stumbled through it, but I assured her no one noticed.  Sweet little love...

From then on, it was all a blur.  The kids were loving having parents there, along with a room full of sweets and such!  But by that point Towns had almost reached her limit.  You can look at her and tell she was feeling it so shortly after that we hit the road...

 

Naturally, Cate had to dress the part so she wouldn't be left out.  That skirt has been passed down through plenty of generations, and she's the last one to wear it.  She wanted to wear jeans under it, but we settled on Valentine tights with red and pink hearts.  You win some, you lose some.  The only thing that matters is that we were there to cheer our blondie on!

Today is my dream come true.  Hot.  Sunny.  Flip flops.  Heaven on earth, actually!

I'll give you one guess what was on our agenda today.  You can probably tell from Buggy's colored lips and messy dress it has involved popsicles and the great outdoors...

Bring on Spring!!

Proud Sister Moment

That's exactly what I had when we headed south Saturday to watch Anna Grace in her school's beauty pageant.  I'll be honest.  I wasn't quite prepared for what a nervous wreck I'd be.  I've been on that same stage (granted it was fifteen years ago) and I'm sure of one thing...it's much harder sitting in the audience!
I love the whole process of getting ready for something like this.  It's safe to say my children do, too.  They were in awe watching her get her make up and hair done which quickly prompted Towns to tell me she wanted to be in a beauty pageant.  All that I could think about was the many episodes we've watched of Toddlers and Tiaras!

When Sister took the stage to my favorite Rihanna song, it took all I could do not to scream and yell and make a fool of myself...

I was so proud of her!  Towns and Cate could hardly contain themselves.  It was pretty funny..

When it came time for the results, we were absolutely elated that she was in the top seven.  But then when they called her name out as a belle, we nearly lost it...

She got a crown and all!

The four belles from her grade...

 

Then came the flood of family pictures.

You know, because we all were dying for our turn at a picture with her.  Max got to her first...

 

 

She definitely does not get her good looks from her sister...

This is where it gets good.  I went backstage with her to help her gather her things when we ran into cute little Christian whose mother asked me to take a picture of the two of them...

 

He stood in the middle of the stage right by himself to entertain the audience, only armed with his guitar, and sang three songs that sounded better than the musicians who really sing them.  The kid can sing.  My children thought they were in the presence of none other than Justin Bieber. He was pretty impressive.  And when he put his arm around AG, it was clear that she's beyond smitten!

Somehow in all the madness the girls didn't get a picture with Anna Grace.  So we took care of that when we got home...

 

And for the rest of the night Cate wore a headband as a crown...

 

 That was her attempt to be just like her Aunt Anna Grace.

Congrats, Sister...we were so happy to be there for your big night!

After such a full weekend, blondie landed herself a mini staycation at home thanks to bronchitis and pneumonia (Cate calls it "the ammonia").  That's bad enough on its own, but couple that with the fact that the class play she's been looking forward to for a solid month was this morning and she was fit to be tied.  She's been fretting over the possibility of missing it which has all but sent her over the edge.  Her doctor said that she could go to school long enough to do her part in the play as long as she had been fever free for 24 hours.  You can look at this picture and tell that she was hardly acting like she was sick yesterday morning when she and her sister (in fake glasses) were in the kitchen making up dances...

 

She'd play for a little while and then be wiped out on the couch.  She's definitely had her moments, bless her heart.  But this morning she was raring to go and fever free.  Praise the Lord!

Post on Bubba the Cowboy Prince up next...