so fun

 

we got there just about ten minutes before show time...you would have thought it was TWO HOURS....passed the time with photos

 

not sure about the toothy smile...but she was excited.  and looks twelve.

 

not only did she get to go to Disney on ice she FINALLY fit in her 6x butterfly sweatsuit from Meemaw last year. :)

 

 

 

swoon. mickey in a hot air balloon.  LOVE

 

so excited and proud.

 

she cracks me up.

 

wore that crown the whole time. 

 

curtain call.  kate said it was her favorite because they were all out together. :) love her logic

 

watching the last seconds.

 

mickey came out.  she loves him.

 

Yesterday, I took the girls to Disney on Ice.  We usually surprise them the day of, but for some reason, this year I told them ahead of time.  They were so excited.
We have gone numerous times.  It's always fun, but this time was SO FUN.
The girls literally sat on the.edge.of.their.seats. the whole time. 
Kate belted out the tunes. Anne clapped. 
At one point I had a lump in my throat.  So stupid.  I do that everytime. 
It's so cute to see them so excited they could pop.
I set limits this time on purchases.  We were only getting snacks. 
One got cotton candy (hardly a snack) but it did come with a crown that had Mickey Ears and the other picked Popcorn that came in a tote bag. Today we took the tote to church. :)
Someday these two girls are going to be too old to watch Mickey and Cinderella skate around magically on the ice...but I'm just not even going to worry about that right now. 
It was a great time. 
Love those chicks.
~chat soon!

 

creating...

For the 1.5 people that read the blog...i probably sounded cranky and opinionated about trying to be a non busy/frantic household.
I meant NO disrespect for those that are...in fact, sometimes I feel like I have a problem, like a disability of sorts, that my brain can't handle that sort of schedule, and maybe that is true...but I'm okay with it.  It's just how we work. 
This picture is Anne last weekend, in the garage at Adam's work bench. 
She dug through the recycling bin to find anything she could to create something.
She worked the entire day on it.  Apron and all. :)
The more I watched her, the more I fell in love with her hyper-imaginative mind.
The things she can create out of a granola bar box, an old nametag and a foil box are amazing!
If you know us...you know, that's just us!

just a rant....

so.  if you know me.  you know i'm rather old fashioned.
I wear aprons. (not while teaching)
we don't have cable, satellite tv...or whatever it is called.
we don't have video games.
I just started texting last year...
cities sort of overwhelm me.  except for Chicago. I like Chicago.
adam is the same way.  he is NOT a good texter.
he HATES cities.
it's just, well, it's just us....
and it works.
we are kind of at a fork in the road with the girls...
many of our family friends are very into sports and extra curricular activities
(disclaimer, i'm not looking down on anyone...this is just my opinion)
hours are spent at practices, games, tournaments....
anne has not proven to be a stellar athlete.  she gets it honest.  adam and I aren't either.
and that's okay with us.
last year, soccer was not fun.  for any of the W's in our house....
she cried, or moped, or faked injury through most of it.
when Saturday came and she asked if we had a game, she got misty eyed.
I decided this wasn't going to happen again.
registration happened.  anne did not sign up.
she was a taken aback slightly by that, but I explained what last year was like and she remembered. 
she likes it for the social aspect.  but HATES to run.
so we bowed out.
because kate is just in kindergarten, we haven't started down that road.  she is just trying to figure out if she makes a left or a right down the hall.  i'm not sure if she needs anything more....
anne is involved in:
girlscouts
choir
pottery
science club
destination imagination...
(all add up to recipe for dork...i know)
i was asked this summer, 'what exactly does SHE like?'
momma bear claws came to the surface.
i explained that anne prefers non competitive things and while sometimes it seems different, or weird, and has proven to be hard to find venues or activities to promote her interests...this is just how it.
and we.are.fine.with.that.

the fork of the road that i am at is....
is it okay that she isn't in sports?
when i was in school, we didn't have sports in kindergarten.  our school didn't start it until 5th grade.  i tried it, and the years that they had try-outs, i didn't make it, and i bowed out gracefully.  but i tried.
anne tried. at a much younger age.  if she wants to do it again will we encourage her? of course.  but right now it didn't fit. 
is that bad?
should i *make* her do it only to create tears and reasons to lie about ailments (from her).  i don't like that.
should we encourage avenues that she is interested in...even if its just a spot that she is comfortable with right now?  maybe it won't continue, or maybe it will.  but if SHE likes it.  that's what we want.

is it okay that we don't spend our weekends running from event to event?
sometimes we do....
but usually not.
last weekend we went to the farmers market.
that was perfect.
and we went out to eat.
as a family for lunch.
the girls couldn't believe we went to a 'dinner place at lunch.'
it was just great.
easy.
care free...
old fashioned.

but we are often looked weirdly at.
i feel awkward telling others we don't play sports or spend hours at dance studios etc...
we just hang out.
we try to sew.  we build summer homes in the driveway for our babies (out of large boxes..)
i shouldn't feel guilty. but i sort of do.
it's just us...and that's how we work best.
calm, not running like crazy, i just can't do that.
and i'm okay with that.
i just had to say it all.out.loud.
~chat soon!

this boot is made for WALKING.....

my right leg looks incrediably large and distorted...it doesn't in real life...i promise. :)

today. today was a very, very, glorious day....
i have been dealing with a bum foot for almost 3 months (2 days shy of 3 months as a matter of fact...)
and today i received answers and relief. 
i found out yesterday, that i have multiple fractures in my metatarsals (little bones in foot)  they were injured in my little acrobatic stunt in south carolina on vacation.  the initial diagnosis was a sprain....which indeed it was.  i was told at the urgent care that it would be quite awhile before it healed.  upwards of 3 months. 
time went on.  the swelling and bruising went away.  i didn't need to limp AS much...it was looking up.
then i went back to work.  and i realized it hurt. like a BIG DOG.  like the biggest dog i have ever dealt with.  oi. 
i got up some courage and called an orthopedic practice near us.  i went.  i was given orders for an mri on the grounds of tendon rupture.  oh man...oh man...the googling i did...there was really only one fix-surgery.  i fretted and worried and googled and cried a little bit. 
we went to dinner with some close friends of ours-the mrs. is a nurse, who happens to know the docs in the practice.  her exact words were DO NOT RETURN TO HIM.
so i cancelled the mri.  cancelled the follow up and found another, very reputable doc. 
he concluded that my foot needed help.  it was messed up.  i was scheduled and MRI for that evening and i was on my way.
i got the call at work yesterday, it was the sweet nurse on the other end, she was kind of upset.  i needed to come in.  right away...as soon as possible.  i had multiple fractures. 
lovely.  i calmly explained that it had been this way for almost three months, not sure if one more evening would just be the end...we agreed that i would come in the next day.
i was to come in first thing this morning to get set up.
they put me in a room...i sat down and started sweating.  it had multiple buckets of....plaster.
*&^%
i wonder how THIS is going to turn out I thought.
doc came in.  explained the mri results.  explained the next steps.
a boot for 4-6 weeks.
a bone stimulator (that won't hurt he says) for up to 3 months.
and we will reevaluate in a month to see how everything is moving along.
they plunked me in my boot and off i went to work.
i asked.  because of course i would...what happens if things aren't moving along.
he said simply, we will deal with that then.
i asked if there is an issue with how 'old' the injury is....
he smiled and said absolutely!
that the success rate is GREATLY decreased...but that this is the best place to start.
the last two weeks have been extremely stressful...mainly because of the beast called google.
i was ready for the worst case scenario...and think i got at the present...the best.
i can tell you that the boot makes me feel GLORIOUS.  i can't walk super fast, because i'm afraid if i start, i won't stop...and it does make the bones hurt just a little, because i assume they are kind of finding their original home and they aren't quite use to that yet...but when i do step...it doesn't make me say bad words, or grimace.  in fact, it doesn't hurt, a bit!
HOW COOL IS THAT?!
i pray, that my boot, i have named bernice....works well, and that my stimulator, that i will name stanley when i receive it stimulates whatever it is exactly that it needs to do to make my foot back to the way it was at 9:15am on june 20. ;)
~chat soon.

how we roll...

on a random friday night.
reading the borrowed school library copy of the 2009 guniess book of world records
kate zonked out for the night
adam's hair lookin' super crazy
just how we roll
and we like it! :)

a little bit of nature...

this summer we have been so blessed with beautiful weather.  we couldn't do nearly as much because of my dumb foot-but we did what we could.  the end of july i took the girls to shaws nature reserve. 
it was a beautiful escape.  the girls loved the children's area.  it was filled with awesome activities and discovery.  i can't wait to go back when the leaves start changing!!

happy labor day.

~chat soon!