Springtime in the South

Yay! Spring has sprung! Blossoms are blooming, leaves are opening, and God bless the pollen that has turned my black car into a dusty yellow chalk board for Meghan. You'll know it's me driving around town because I'm the only black CR-V with smiley faces drawn all over it.

Yesterday, a friend and I took our kiddos to a beautiful park here in town. Serious photo ops, people. I took 135 photos. Only because it was all my memory card would hold. The kids were so stinking cute together! I am in no way a professional photographer, but here are some of my favorite photos:

















Aren't they adorable?!?!? My friend's turned out way better, but she had a superduper camera and tons more talent ;)









Wow, see what I mean?! If anybody needs an awesome family photographer, her website is www.aliciawilliamsphotography.com

The kids had a great time, too. We packed a picnic lunch and picked out a sunny spot in the grass. My shoulders can vouch for how sunny it was. The kids played for hours...climbing trees, splashing in the fountain, dipping their toes in the pond (I did NOT know about this until I asked why her feet and legs were wet), and of all things, inspecting pine needles and azalea blossoms. Who needs toys? God gave us pretty cool stuff and it's been right here under our [sneezy] noses the whole time!

Happy Easter, and enjoy the spring!

My best paper...

I broke out my best Crane stationary today. I had to write a very difficult and heartfelt note, therefore, I wanted to give the recipients my very best.

Why do I save my best paper, though? Shouldn't all my recipients get the same special treatment? Do those who get letters written on notebook paper rank lower than those who get Crane paper letters? Absolutely not. Does Crane paper hold up to tears better than notebook paper? Probably. Maybe that's why I used it.

Does it really matter what the words are written on? It's the words and the sentiment that counts. But somehow the stiffness of the Crane paper supported those words better than notebook paper would have. Maybe the strength of the paper will convey the strength I'm offering.

Who knows what the recipients will take from the letter. Who knows if they'll even keep it. But will I hesitate to use my best paper ever again? I hope not.

So I haven't blogged in a while...

Actually, I haven't blogged since the last snow day. And here it is, another one! Can you believe it?!?!? There really hasn't been a whole lot going on. DH works all the time, DD is growing like a weed. Actually, she had a birthday not too long ago and I totally forgot to blog her birthday pictures. Bad mommy!

You know you wanna see some pics of my fabulous four-year-old, right??? I aim to please:

I can't believe she's four years old! When you're in the midst of "a phase" or colic, or the baby blues, it sure feels like tomorrow will never come. But really, it goes by so quickly. That is one thing that everyone told me that actually DID happen. I'm still waiting for the "motherhood is the best job ever" dream to come true. No sick days, no vacation, no 401K...

I do want to share a funny story with you. The other day, my favorite brown boots finally bit the dust. When I tossed them in the trash, I faked being sad (although I really was pretty sad) and Ms. Meghan took my arm, said "Mommy, don't worry, we can buy you some new shoes, it will be ok". It was SO sweet! And when I leaned down to give her a hug, the poor child had tears in her eyes! What a sweetheart! She was either being supersympathetic to my situation or simply hated to see fashion get trashed...

We may have created a monster ;)

SNOW DAY!!!!

Today we woke up to a healthy dusting of the fluffy white stuff! It's so rare for it to snow here, and it actually stick. The roads are ok, but the bushes, cars, roofs and grass are all covered with snow!

We went out for a while this morning, and Meghan actually lasted a lot longer than I thought she would. The snow wouldn't pack, so there was no snowman-making, but we tossed handfuls of it at each other anyways. It was more like playing in autumn leaves than snow. We made boot tracks, snow angels, foot prints, and of course, chased the floating flurries with our tongues.







Once the frosties found their way up the sleeves and into the boots, it was time to go inside. I put Meghan in a bubblebath to warm up and made myself another cup of coffee. She got up at 6:57 and I doubt she'll want to go out again this afternoon, so I have a feeling it's going to be a LOOOOONG day!

Happy Winter!

All moved in!

We're almost all moved in! Except for hanging some pictures and curtain rods, and setting up the last of the VCR's, DVD's, Wii's and all the other electronic junk that I'm no good with, we are officially apartment dwellers. DH says we're "scrubs" now, whatever that means : )

Trying to fit our stuff into this widdlebiddy apartment has been interesting. But it will be fun to see how much we can survive with (or without). I may not need 2 tons of Tupperware and most of the scrapbooking stuff I never used anyway! By the end of our 8 months here, we may just have a huge "moving in" sale and sell half of what's been in storage.

The best thing about this place is DH is a mile from work. It takes him 7 minutes to get to work and 5 minutes to get home. He said something yesterday about missing the "down time" he got during his former 15-20 minute drive home. I looked at him like he was crazy. I love having him home at 6:08 instead of 6:24. Hey, sixteen minutes makes a big difference in whether or not your pasta is past its prime, y'know?

All in all, we're looking forward to a VERY happy new year, and hope you are, too!

On The Move...

Guess what? Our house sold! It's been on the market for a little over 3 months and the right people finally came along. Guess what else? They want to close on December 29th. OMG....

We looked at some houses this morning, while two showed potential, they weren't "perfect". We've been so spoiled with this house, finding anything that comes anywhere near acceptable is going to be quite difficult. We'll continue to look, and may end up renting until we can find the perfect home, or decide to build something of our very own.

Meghan's having a hard time with it. She doesn't like looking at houses. Trying to explain to her that someone is going to buy our house and we can't live there anymore is going to be hard. I'm hoping the transition will go smoothly, but that's a lot of change for an almost-4-year-old.

I'm praying for strength, patience and understanding, and peace. Strength for all the boxes I'll be packing, patience and understanding for helping Meghan get through this, and peace for my mind and heart.

I LOVE this time of year!

I love fall, Thanksgiving, getting ready for Christmas, the crisp air, the aroma of cinnamon and spices...this is MY time of year! I look forward to days spent with family and friends, indulging myself in foods of the season, and polishing my toes in festive hues for Holiday parties.

It's hard keeping my inner-Martha Stewart in check, though...Magazines team with crafty ideas that {OMG} I can do myself! So today I plan to mix up some Russian Spiced Tea and fill these altered Prima jars (left) for Meghan's teachers' gifts. I mean, what's better than a little homemade goodness? I feel like I give a little bit of myself with each homemade goodie.

I love the crafts I can do with Meghan! On Monday, we made a wreath out of construction paper handprints and a paper plate, and wrote something Meghan was thankful for on each hand. Of course, there were the obvious things, like Mommy and Daddy, and some of her toys, but then she'd say "making hot cocoa with Grammy" and it would make my heart smile : ) You can't buy memories.

So here's to Homemade Holidays...go make yours great!