"Mommy! Where is my twirly Nemo swimsuit?!?"

"Sammie, I think it's in my bedroom."

"Okay, mom. Thanks. Keep and eye on Ellie - I'll be right back."

*snicker*

"Okay, Sammie. I'll do that!"

Mommy, I want...

the yummiest, strawberriest, the blueberriest oatmeal you've ever seen!

Okay, Sammie! Coming up!

Poor Sammie!

She fell off the step and bashed her lip on the rocks. :( It looks pretty fat right now and her gums on the top got hit, too... Poor thing! I bet it will hurt a bit tomorrow. 

I gave her some ibuprofen and some homeopathic meds (cal) in hopes to stave of any bad pain. 

But if this is the worst we have to look forward to with owies, we're good to go.

Crazy few weeks!

Long story short, the last few weeks have been a bit nutty (illnesses, Chris' flight being late for Ellie's party, Ellie's party, more illnesses (nothing serious, just pukey stuff for Sammie and me) and things like that....

And the next few weeks are going to be crazy, but in a MUCH better way. LOL!

Tomorrow is the 4th of July! I love the 4th - so much fun....

We have Judy and Tom (Chris' mom and step-dad) coming to visit for 2 days along with KT, his sister. They are a blast. I am so excited for them to visit! It's been a few months because of hectic schedules, but they are finally able to make it!

I have a shoot on Monday.

Then my friend Evelyn and her boys, Kai and Colin, are coming for a 2 day visit. She's just such an amazing person and I'm really looking forward to getting to know her better. 

On Friday the new iPhone comes out and I think Chris is headed to Denver to get us each one! YAY!

After that it's Chris' company gathering here in CB. And then Aunt Ginger comes for a few days... And then it's getting close to mushroom season. Rock on! I LOVE mushrooming - and this year looks to be a great year....

I have a confession

I love many of the Backyardigans songs. They just CRACK me up. The lyrics are catchy and smart - and above kids heads, but not in a rude way. And I've been known to listen to them even after dropping the girls off....

*drops head in shame*

I'm such a loser.

But here are some of the lyrics that kill me:

RACING DAY
[...]

Racing day, it's racing day,
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not sausage casing day,
Today's the day we race.
[...]
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not picture-tracing day,
Today's the day we race!
[...]
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not doily lacing day,
Today's the day we race!
[...]
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not self-effacing day,
Today's the day we race.

_____________________________

Another of my favorites:

I LOVE BEING A PRINCESS
[...]
If you want to dress like this, and wear a shiny crown,
If you like how people look when they are bowing down,
If princess life is what you want, your choice is crystal clear,
Go find some other country, pal,
'Cause I'm the princess here!

There are so many more, I'm embarrassed to say, that I like.....

My stinky girl

How is it that someone so ADORABLE and sweet can smell SO bad? LOL! She just has the stinkiest poops and toots. But the kicker is how proud she is! She will just GRIN at me when I ask who tooted. "I did, momma!"

So proud.

P U!!!

Ellie's party went well...

It was a bit hectic - Chris got stuck in NY and couldn't get there until it was just getting done! - but several of the moms and Jayme (she works at the Last Steep and is a doll ) helped me get the whole thing together at the last minute. The kids had fun and overall it was an easy party.... Thank goodness!

(I'll try to get some birthday pics up later... I actually forgot my camera - that's how crazy it was!)

Happy 5th Birthday, Ellie!

My sweet girl is FIVE! I can't believe it.... I asked her how it felt - she said a lot different! LOL!

I wanted to post a few shots that really are HER. These are my favorite recent ones....

She loves "Butterfly Music" (aka Beethoven's 5th) and will sit and "whistle" it and conduct....




She just has that look that makes you realize that somehow she knows much more than you can even imagine....


And her pure joy of life shines through in so many ways....


Happy Birthday, my special girl! I love you dearly....

The funny things my girls say...

Sammie is a thoughtful child. She comes up with some really funny, yet insightful things that make me smile.... Here are a few (with dates at the end)

"You are such a goofy kid, Sammie!"
"I not a kid, I'n [sic] a girl!" 2/10

"Sammie, why did you hit Ellie?"

 "Because I wanted my way!" 3/1

"Sammie, stop crying!"
"I'm not crying, I'm whining!" 3/1

"Sammie, what are you singing?" (She is constantly singing something different. It's so adorable!)
"My berry song"

... a little later...
"My windy song" 3/27

I have a pair of feet! 5/5 (This was just a revelation for her! It was so sweet how her face just lit up!)

Ellie's funny little things are different. Some, I think, are different because of age. But I think many are different because of who she is....

"Walmart is like a big fat guy" 1/24

"bone arrow" = bow & arrow  2/8 (We argued about this - apparently I'm wrong!)

Girl stuff: mermaids, volcanoes, rockets
Boy stuff: dinosaurs, rocks. 3/11 (I love how her mind works - I just don't know what to do with girly stuff, but rockets and volcanoes I can deal with!)

These are real live stinky buses! 3/27 (She was SO excited to "smell" them!)

Why is the sky blue?

Where do frogs sleep? (The snow was still up to the edge of the water and she was quite concerned that they would get cold.)

How does the world spin?

Where did the earth come from? 5/'08 (These are just a few of the fun questions she asks - and she'll listen to the answer and then come back to it later! Amazing....)

Long Summer Nights

Thinking back to my childhood, I remember those long summer nights. Those days that felt like they went on forever. Being outside, the long twilight, playing and eating late. Staying up past my bedtime and falling into bed exhausted.

It's funny how my girls getting to that age - that age of being able to remember it as an adult - has spurred my memories to the foreground. I remember being 6 or 7 (Ellie's going to be 5 on Friday) and running around in a flowy nightgown pretending I was... flying... a princess... beautiful... a bird... who knows.

Jumping off the picnic bench while mom and dad worked in the garden, dad listening to the baseball games. Playing with my little brothers, doing my own thing, sneaking the juicy, ripe tomatoes out of the garden to eat whole - and getting "yelled" at for not washing them first. Going to bed while it's still just barely light with the breeze blowing the curtains - snuggled in my parents bed for some unknown reason.  Hearing them in the above ground pool in our back yard giggling. (Turns out they were skinny dipping! LMAO!) 

Checking out the stars. Seeing the moon rise so big over the yard that I thought it was a planet.

Riding bikes on the back track. Building a tree fort. Playing in the "woods". (A small strip of trees between our back yard and the dirt bike track behind our house.)

Wow. The amazing memories!

I love how my girls growing up doesn't make me feel older, doesn't make me feel every bit my 42 years. Rather, it makes me feel younger, brings me back to those carefree, innocent times of singing my heart out with no care of what anyone thinks....

Maybe I need to sing even louder and without a care in the world.

I love my girls! Thank you for this precious gift....