dancing in the rain = therapy

So, Anne has a touch of stormaphobe. It is acutually quite annoying.
Since in MO it tends to rain-err. storm nearly every day in the summer.
She paces around hunched down peering out the windows, then claims she is SOOOO TIRED and runs to our bed to hibernate under the covers.
I would love to call her wierd, but since I am about 98.9% sure she gets it from me....well, you get the drift! :)
It rained recently when the sun was just as bright as a normal afternoon day. Adam made the girls come out and dance.
They had so much fun.
It really didn't help the phobia, but it made for a great blog post! :)
~chat soon!

numbered days...

This is Katherine's sweet little foot.
I found her like this early this morning.
Baby feet are my favorite. Even 2 year old feet! :) So cute and little and chubby.
Got to thinking that the days of her little chubby foot hanging out of her crib are numbered. She's starting to venture out into big kid waters...it feels, to us, like she has been a 'baby' for so much longer then Anne was.
Maybe because she is the youngest, maybe because she appears smaller, who knows.
Truth be told-she is growing up faster then anything and I can't stand it! ;0)
Bittersweet days, aren't they?
~chat soon!

wedding prep.

annie, my cousin, is getting married.
in just a few weeks!
it's so exciting. we have a very tiny family, she is my only female cousin-so it is a big deal.
i can't wait. plus anne clara is the flower girl!
i love weddings. susan is coming in town, ohhhhhhh-i can't wait!
the drama, the beauty, the love, the memories...it's so great!
today, we got together and made the favors. it was very productive and a great time. we laughed, and worked, and ate, and worked, and laughed, and worked, got teary over music/memories, and worked....it was great! :)
really looking forward to the big day!
i love you aunt linda and annie!

p.s. mom is reminding me of how big of bridezilla's both susan and i were-suz, how about we remind mommma how big of a momzilla-she was!? WE LOVE YOU MOM! (mom and dad married BOTH their girls off 7 months apart-almost to the DAY!-she had the right!)

wednesday.

not a lot going on...

hope your day is good!
~chat soon!

just lookin'

 

we spotted the triplets in the backyard yesterday.
they stayed for a long time. just munching on the grass, checking out the slide, and stomping their feet at anne.
so cute. adam even said they are cute. (and if you know adam...he doesn't think deer are all that cute come november-if you know what i mean! wink wink!)
love this picture.

it was fun.

so as of monday, july 26th, i am facebook free.
weird. maybe.
but for my family and i, it was necessary.
i loved reconnecting with a lot of people that i have missed through the years.
college roommates, highschool besties (i don't like that word-besties, it's gross!), coworkers, youth group leaders. ;) it was fun.
it was also, dare i say, cult.
it sucked me in. i admit. it did.
i looked at it often. i looked at pictures of families, i chatted with friends, and just killed time. lots and lots of time.
so i have deactivated my account.
the time, the drama, it was fun. but not productive, and at times, not positive.
not a place, i need to be.
the amount of time i'm spending on facebook, needs to be spent fulfilling hobbies, crafting, volunteering, relxing, being with my family.
i didn't say i wouldn't peek back once my life becomes calm and boring...but for now, i'm passing.
~chat soon!

*disclaimer-don't take my antifacebook rant as an insult to current facebook users, its good for some, just not for me, right now!*

weekend activites

yesterday, kate woke up with a dry diaper.
i immediately pulled it off and said, 'today you will go peep on the potty!'
she looked at me like i was NUTS.
rightfully so, she has spent the last 2 1/2 years wizzing in a diaper, knowing no different really, for her to wake up on a random Saturday and me deem it NO DIAPER DAY!
she has done really, really well.
i am not a lover of potty training, could be because I am TERRIBLE AT IT! in fact i am a firm believer that someone should start a center that the children can go to for a few days and you pick them up when they are done. kind of like doggie boot camp or something. (call me sick, that's fine, just being honest!)hopefully this will continue. only two accidents yesterday and none today!
whoop whoop!
~Chat soon

fillin' buckets...

I'm always looking for new ideas in my classroom. The past few years, I've not done well with finding new things. Just felt blah.

A co-workers daughter turned me onto this book.

It's teaching kids, er people, the idea that being nice goes a LONG way.

I have had my fair share, as most, of people that just aren't nice.

My personality lends itself to the sensitive side. So I spend a decent amount of time trying to 'fix' the idea that they aren't nice.

Are they not nice because they don't like ME?

Because I did something wrong?

Because someone did something to them?

BLECK! It's a time suck.

I read this book and thought...VIOLA! This is what my students need to hear. At age 8. They must know that a smile is an amazing thing. A genuine look in the eye. Even a vague compliment. WOWSERS!

I admit, I think I can overdo on the bucket filling, but it hasn't killed me yet!

The book is so simple yet so true.

It's unreal. Very poignant.

I read it to the fam today.

Now Anne is running around double checking that everyone's buckets are full. :)

If you get a chance, and have 7 bucks to blow. BUY IT!

For no other reason but...NICE MATTERS!

~Chat soon!

sissy...

 

i am fully aware that she will kill me that i put this picture of her on here...but, i LOVE this picture.
it's totally her.
today is her birthday.
she is 23 and that makes me 25 1/2.
perfectly perfect.
truth be told...
i miss her terribly, and can't wait to see her.
happy birthday, suz!
wishing you a wonderful day!
~Chat soon!

Power of Playdough

my favorite picture...she is working so hard her tounge is out AND she has sprinkles from dounts on her cheeks. :)

So I found a new fun recipe for playdough in a file folder of clippings

(I'm not a fan of that file!) In incorportated Kool-Aid and we had some that is never going to be used, (water & milk momma here!) so what the heck! :)

It was a rainy/stormy day and Anne was nearing psycosis so we got the bag of flour out and went to town on distraction...it worked-for awhile. :)

~Chat soon!

Save the Date!

If you clicked the links earlier-try again!

The JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes is October 3!
My goal is to have 20 people on our team.
I am excited-will you save the date and think about joining us?
We had such a great time last year.
Click here for more information on the walk, what the money goes to, and why you should join the team.
I'm not pushy, if you are led to join us then awesome, if not, I encourage you to say a prayer, send a donation, or just think about us on the day of the walk.
If you are interested leave a message in the comments or email me. We would love to have you walk with us!

~chat soon!

beans...beans...

they make you...
SMILE! :)
ha. just cracked myself up!

looked for a new green bean recipe yesterday and found THIS on Pioneer Woman.

We love green beans, but don't always love the mundane recipes that I have to make. This blew the top off of anytime I said 'oh, i don't think i can eat another bean the way we make them...'

try it.
i mean it.
yum. yum. yum.
it was very easy, very pleasing to the senses and just plain YUMMY!
Happy Monday!
~chat soon!

*disclaimer-i used green pepper, because i had it. I also cooked the TAR out of them on accident. Besides not being as perky as the picture they were FFFFIIIIINNNNNNEEEEE.* you won't be disappointed! :)

hot potato

holy moly this week has been H-O-T!
last saturday anne had a class at the zoo. it was a beautiful day, but we couldn't stay and look around so i promised her that the next class we would make a day of it. just her and i.

fast forward. tuesday came. it was decent weather, we had been kind of restless with our normal routine of pool etc. so we headed to grants farm. it was fine. not terribly hot. not terribly croweded. girls were perfect. it was fun.i was looking forward to wednesday. before bed, check the weather. heat advisory. 115 degree heat indicies.

nice. i am going to die.

and my daughter will watch.
we got up. packed frozen wash cloths and water bottles in the cooler, packed the camera and off we went for our day at the zoo.
it was hot. but do-able. we rode the train, checked out the animals in the houses and had another great day 'zoo school.'.

glad we went.
~Chat soon!

all i got.

 

sometimes after a very hot week when patience and energy is low...this is a good thing to look at.
~chat soon!

life is like a tire swing.

pardon my jimmy buffet lyrics coming out in the title...
while on vacation we arranged for a swing set to be built in our backyard.
we thought it would work best that way.
the girls had not a clue.
after driving 14 hours straight, they were surprised.
very, very surprised.
its been about 10 days now. i think i have pushed 1,456,345 times.
but. i love each push.
~chat soon

it had to come...

all good things must come to an end.
we knew it would. just didn't like it.
i begged adam to move us there. a school was close by and i'm SURE everyone needs promotional products, so we could find work. he said, in his very normal, responsible way. 'not this year, saree'.
most of the time i am very, very sad to leave vacation...
this ending was different though.
the beach was absolutley amazing that night.
made for some of the best memories and pictures of the whole trip...
until next year...

Hunter and Aaron enjoying some good ol' fashion daddy and son time.

could, quite possibly be, my.favorite.picture.i.have.ever.taken. PERIOD!

Anne spotting dolphins by herself...can't you hear her squeal?
Anne & Daddy time...

sunrise leaving south carolina.


~chat soon!

p.s. i didn't leave katherine out on purpose. the wind and crashing waves that night made her a typical psycho 2 year old...so she wasn't too photogenic! :)

Who doesn't LOVE family pictures???

HA.

Here we go.

We actually were able to capture several keepers.

I didn't have a fancy-shmancy remote like some I know have, so pardon my hair on the group shots. I had nano seconds to run back, sit right, reposition, and DEMAND everyone to SMILE! :)

HA HA!

~chat soon!

queen kate.

she isn't as easy as anne.

maybe because she is 2.

maybe because she is just Kate.

but it's more of a mission.

you have to click quick. or it's gone.

~chat soon!