Audrey talking to Kate on the drive to Nashville. Audrey had just thrown a major fit, screaming "I'm ANGRY!". She's now telling Kate about her boo-boo.

slide fun

A Glorious Weekend

Happy Easter everyone! We were blessed with a glorious weekend to celebrate.   We went to our usual service and hit Dunkin Donuts for some "spink-els" afterward.  I guess everyone else steps up their Easter dining plans because we were the only ones in there.  It was a good thing because we were a little amped for such a small restaurant!  Audrey was extra spunky, insisting on wearing her pink rainboots under her frilly Easter dress. Oh, and her jammie pants were under there too, she wasn't stopping to take them off.

On Saturday we celebrated with my college girlfriends and their kids, including an egg hunt in our front yard.  Miles discovered his new love, Starburst. 

Audrey tasted a Twix and said "yummy yummy!"  I quote.    She held her own with the big boys:

 

And here are my ladies.  A lot has changed in 16 years, but we still have a great time!  We missed those who couldn't be there with us, but they had some good reasons (congrats Maggie & Mike!).

 And no, we didn't plan our color scheme. 


Last week my Aunt Harriet was passing through town, so we met for some hotcakes and laughs at McDonalds.  The kids were all giggles and fun with their Great Aunt, whom they hadn't seen in 2 years.

And a goodbye kiss from Audrey.  {Note the boots.}

I am long overdue for an informative and insightful blog post, but don't expect this to be the one.

 

We've been having a fun month!  Miles just finished a swim lesson session with great success.  He started the month reluctant to get in the water, but by the second lesson he was jumping in with no problem.  He increased his confidence in swimming longer distances solo, and is working on strokes.  He loves jumping in the water like this, but he needs to work on belly flop prevention.  Ouch!

The weather has been ups & downs lately (or as the Dude prefers: strikes and gutters).   We have been loving the ups!  Last weekend we spent almost all day out in the yard.  Wayne had fun with a chainsaw and a stump grinder while the kids played in the sandbox and drew with chalk.  We're trying to tame our jungle before it gets too out of control again this summer.   But it is one of my favorite chores: using the saw, axe and shovels to dig out the nasty spreading honeysuckle bushes.   My forsythia have finally bloomed and I have some hydrangea to plant soon.  I'm even considering a raised garden bed, guess I need to decide on that pretty soon!   We'd start small with just tomatoes, peppers, herbs, maybe some spinach & lettuce.  That's the stuff that would get eaten! (Miles just told me broccoli & celery is all he wants).  We're also sprucing up our patio & I can't wait to sit out there all summer long.

Audrey has been a handful lately.  She's really asserting her independence and does NOT like having to sleep in a crib anymore.  She's hit or miss with taking a nap in the big girl bed, and the one night she attempted to sleep there was madness.  So now when she wants us to take her out of her crib she strips from the waist down.  Oh yes.  Some of you on Facebook may have read about the night I went to the movies and Wayne had to deal with her stripping off a poopy diaper.  She's removed a poppy diaper another time and has also taken off her diaper and peed in the bed.  What a stinker.  But it gets her out of the bed and some attention from us, so she keeps doing it.  It's a good thing she's adorable.

free cone day is the best!

strawberry kiwi, yum!

mango mango

after a shot...

VIP: Very Important Phrases:

It's important to track the big milestones with your kids. First roll over, first foods, first words, first steps. And perhaps biggest of all, the first "Go Big Orange." Yay Audrey!!



They are hitting their milestones at the same time... here's Miles just before his 2nd birthday:

Guess whooo is two?

We celebrated Audrey's birthday this weekend with family and friends. Actually, we've been celebrating for days, starting with her real birthday when we had a Munchkin Cake. This was Miles's creation for his birthday... you get munchkins and stack them in squares (4x4, 3x3, 2x2, 1) to make a pyramid. We had one for her birthday dessert and had enough left over to make one for school the next day. She liked it, she was able to grab her donuts before she blew out the candles. And Miles had popped 6 in his mouth before we blinked. Donut fiends, they are.
For the party Saturday I made Smitten Kitchen's Best Birthday Cake and decorated it like an owl. I'd thought about doing Hello, Cupcake!'s owl cupcakes, but I figured one decorating job would be much less stressful than 24. I also made the Southern Living owl Moon Pies and owl hair clippies for treats. It's a good thing there is so much cute owl stuff out there right now!



















The cousins had a blast playing together. Evan & Miles built a GeoTrax megaworld and Kate & Audrey ran around with babydolls. Kate even got to dress Audrey for the party.

She was excited about presents! We got her the PB Anywhere Chair to go with Miles's. She loves it. She had been sad because Chelsea took over the chair she had and now it's too gross to touch. Every time she saw it she would plead "new chair, new chair!" Poor thing. So now she's happy! And she got some cute outfits and a new babydoll.

Speaking of Chelsea, or "Bad Dog Chelsea" as she is known around here. The other day I'd set out all the eggs & butter to make A's birthday cake. After a few errands I came home to find 1 egg & 3 sticks of butter missing. Chelsea had even eaten the evidence. Crazy dog.

Thanks so much to all our family who came to celebrate with us!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

She's TWOOOOOOOOO!

and here she was, two years ago. Happy birthday, sweet pea!

She's crafty

So not a whole lot has been going on, hence the quiet posts of late. Also having a bunch of snow days and a week of sick kids at home doesn't leave many spare minutes for playing on the computer!

I've given up housekeeping and we have constant art time at the kitchen table. Mostly with crayons, but even some paint. Miles gets markers during Audrey's nap, I'm not ready to trust her with those yet. Miles LOVES to color. The dollar store coloring book is my new best friend; they have a surprising selection of popular character books. He's got this great psychedelic style of coloring where he takes a color and colors a block of the picture, somewhat staying within a shape or figure, then picks another random color and repeats until he fills the page. I'll have to post a photo of some soon. Audrey likes to flip the pages of the coloring book and scribble a little on each page. Then she'll say, "Mama, draw hand!" and we'll trace her hand then my hand all over a page. But what she usually does during coloring time is peel the crayons. We have a box full of naked crayons.

They aren't the only crafty ones around here. I've tried a couple of sewing projects too. I made Miles jammie pants because, well, there's not much you can make for a 4 and a half year old to wear. Maybe some funky jams this summer! Ha ha.
And I made Audrey this pillowcase style Caroline dress. She was excited about the concept of the dress, but then..... ? She does have some molars coming in, so maybe another day this will work.
Now for the litany of random thoughts about what the kids are into lately. First Audrey:
.: she can almost dress herself. If I try to help I get a "No, mama, NO!" She insists on pulling her pants on, she can sort of get a shirt over her head and I have seen her put on socks by herself. Miss Independent, I tell ya.
.: she's a sweet hug & kisser. She goes around to everyone in the morning giving out a hug and a kiss and asking "have a good nap?" which means "did you sleep well?"
.: and a big one... she's napping on a big girl bed! We pulled the trundle from Miles's bed into her room and left it lowered on the floor. The novelty is wearing off so she is getting better at staying in and falling to sleep. We won't try an overnight in it for a while though. But BeeBe & I are planning her big girl room! I can't believe the days of cribs are so soon behind us.

and now Miles
.: when he's not coloring, he's playing Batman & pirates (yes, together) and building cool pirate ships, forts and loft beds out of jumbo legos.
.: he is set on having a loft bed, preferably now, but we discussed maybe when he's 6. He loves this one because he wants to have his chair, books and bookcase under the bed like a cave.
.: he still loves his books. I introduced him to McKay Used Books and now he wants to go everyday. I'm trying to convince him to weed out some books from his shelves so he can trade. He looks for Berenstain Bears, Clifford and now we have "discovered" The Littles(one of my childhood faves.) He's dying to start Harry Potter, but I think we need to build up the attention span before getting into that one.

and one for me
.: I was accepted to the Librarian program at UT! I plan on starting in the fall. Now I'm knee deep in applications for various scholarships and fellowships, so fingers crossed there!

now out to enjoy some sunshine!

a sunny day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

From Miles & Audrey! They each signed their cards, can't you tell? Those are hearts made from fist prints, seen on eensies. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

8 years

Happy anniversary, sweetie!

This is on our honeymoon in Paris. This was the night we wandered Blvd de Grenelle looking for a recommended restaurant, when we should have been on Rue de Grenelle. C'est la vie. We found the restaurant the next night and ate there 2 nights in a row, it was so good!

audrey helped too

helping mom pick out new frames

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4 years/2 years

My time flies when you're having fun. Last week was my 4th Blogiversary - I've been keeping up with this blog for 4 years now! It passed without fanfare because I had two kiddos to keep up with. They're a bit more demanding. Actually, they were a little under the weather. After the snow & Audrey's puking session, Miles puked the next night. Poor kiddo. They both ran a low grade fever for a couple of days, and both seem to be on the mend now. Audrey had 2 new molars on the bottom, so that could have been contributing to her demeanor as well.

We also passed her 23rd month this week, which means we have less than a month until her 2nd birthday. Time to start planning! I've had it in my head to do an owl theme, so I better start figuring that one out.

Also need to take more pictures of the boy.... he's mysteriously absent from all photos last week!

Snow Day!

It wasn't the full foot blizzard they predicted, but we got several inches and it snowed lightly for a full day. Saturday afternoon we went sledding with our neighbors. Miles always has a blast chasing Morgan around!Audrey even got to take a couple runs. She wasn't having a great time, too bundled up to move much.
Audrey was feeling a little puny after not much sleep the day before. She woke up late Thursday night/Friday morning and threw up a bit. I got my full initiation into motherhood by catching a mouthful down the front of my pjs. Awesome! She was fine the next day, but had some yucky diaper action Sat. Hopefully whatever it was has worked its way out of her system by now.
They wouldn't have school on Monday anyway, but I sure hope the library is open tomorrow. We'll definitely need an outing after being cooped up all weekend.

Pins & Needles, part II

I forgot the other reason I named that post pins & needles... I made a pair of pants for Audrey! I took my machine to Nashville and Elizabeth showed me the ropes. She had the pattern & this adorable material. Audrey loves her "poka-doTS" and the "ruffas" at the hem. Now to attempt the next piece on my own. yikes!

Pins and Needles

I know you're all anxiously awaiting the announcement of the book winner.... it is Janna! I very scientifically wrote your names on slips of paper and let Miles pick from a bowl. He didn't peek, I swear! Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

So January has just flown by! This is the first time I've taken photos off my camera since New Years, so we must have been a little busy. Having all those snow days at home with everyone puts a damper on productivity, that's for sure.

Audrey is starting to dress herself. Her favorite thing to do is take off her shoes & socks, then put just her shoes back on. She'll come running out of her room with pants on her arms. And she loves clomping around in all of our shoes, though she prefers Miles's . I guess those are big without being cumbersome. She's very chatty! She can count to 10 and sings Twinkle Twinkle & Edelwiess along with me. She also sings Single Ladies and A Slight Figure of Speech, which are pretty funny to watch. She loves working puzzles and she gets really mad when Chelsea sits in her chair.
We went to Nashville for Kate's 5th (!) birthday party. It was a lot of fun! Audrey & Kate had a couple of nights at YaYa & B's alone while the rest of us were at Shay & Elizabeth's house. She did great, so the groundwork is there for another trip away from mom & dad.
Speaking of birthdays, we did celebrate by 35th on the 8th. We were snowed in for my birthday, so Wayne picked up some cupcakes to celebrate. Miles wanted a little of each! Our favorite was "The Graceland", a PB & Banana combo. Yum!

miss piggy-tails

The Male Factor

So I was chosen by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group to join their "Blogging for Books" program. Basically they'll send me some advance copies of books that I can read and review here. I thought it would be a fun way to get some books and read some things that I might not usually pick up.

The first book I read was called "The Male Factor" written by Shaunti Feldhahn. I had heard of Shaunti Feldhahn through Simple Mom's 2009 book club - the book "For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men" has been on my reading list all year.

This new book investigates the inner thoughts of men and their attitudes toward women in the workplace. Now, I am 4 years removed from having any sort of "workplace," and the only male I deal with all day can be sent to time out if he starts to act out! So why would I care about this book? I do plan on returning to school then work at some point, so I may as well get some advantage in dealing with them. And I thought there would be some aspects that could apply to personal interactions as well.

One of my friends from my former workplace and I used to talk about how "perception IS reality." In other words, it doesn't matter what you say and do, it matters how others comprehend what you say & do. That concept is the essence of what this book tries to explain. Three points in the book really drove that home for me. First, she explains that when a woman asks for help or clarification on a task, men see it as "she couldn't figure it out." A second point is that when women ask "why" questions, it directly challenges a man's judgment, belittling them in a way. (a better approach is "help me understand how....").

And the last idea that really struck me hit closest to home, working women with families. While the men didn't begrudge a woman asking for flextime or reduced hours, they expected her to understand that they could not be considered "equal." In fact, Ms. Feldhahn attributed some of the discrepancy in male/female wages for the same job to this inequality. We may have the same title, but he works late hours and on weekends so his compensation is higher. She acknowledges the inherent unfairness and shares the hope that "over time, 'equality' will mean the demonstration of equal capability, not equal contributions..or equal time." (p194)

I enjoyed reading this book and learned some new things about that mysterious male brain. While I initially had some skepticism about what she would say (I thought there would be suggestions to alter yourself to fit into the male design) but at every turn she recommended practices that could be applicable to men as well as women, such as respecting co-workers or managing the perceptions of others.

You can purchase "The Male Factor: The Unwritten Rules, Misperceptions, and Secret Beliefs of Men in the Workplace" at amazon.com or through the Random House website.

However, I have an extra copy to give away! If you are interested, please leave a comment on the blog or the Facebook note before 12:01am Jan 16 and I will draw a winner later that day.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Happy Twenty Ten!

Hope everyone had a festive New Year's Eve! We cheered for the Vols to mixed results. Here's to next football season and a year with no athlete felonies!

So last year I set a few goals. I did pretty well with them, at least I'm happy with it. First was to read 25 books and I read 31 (not including some skimmed and a couple short stories). 2nd was to run a 5K and I ran 2 last year! and Last was to do better with meal planning. That was a little vague, but I did set up some ways to archive & schedule my recipes. I didn't follow my schedule very closely, but we did eat a good variety this year.

This year I'll try for 35 books. I want to keep running and will be running the Knoxville Marathon RELAY (1/4 of the marathon) in March. I'll aim for that and 2 more races in the year. And last, I will try to sew an article of clothing! My mom & Don gave us a sewing machine for Christmas and I tried it out today. I thought I had it going pretty well, but when I'd finished my first line, it was a big ole mess of thread on the back. I'll have to enlist some of my talented sewing friends to show me what to do!