Busy Beavers

I'm convinced that if I had an extra 2.5 hours in each day, or a sister wife, that my life would run so much smoother. Kidding about the sister wife ... kind of.

Here is a brief summary of the past few weeks:

- We are avoiding most retail stores because the girls are petrified of spooky Halloween stuff. After church, the girls and I went into Walgreens to get a 1st Communion card for Olivia. We walked through the electronic doors and there were about 48 skeletons dancing around and saying creepy things. Quinn bolted for the parking lot. Thank God no cars were coming. We tried to re-enter the store after I got them calmed down. I agreed to hold both of them but as soon as the door opened they both screamed so loud the store alarm went off. THE STORE ALARM WENT OFF! It was quite the scene in the Walgreens parking lot. Needless to say, we had to pack up and go to the neighboring CVS store to get our 1 item.

- Maema came down and spent a few days with us to help with the girls while our new nanny was on vacation. She also delivered all of the girls fall/winter clothes and shoes. We love having her here with us and we are all sad when she leaves.


Hassie Clare asked me the other night if she could live with Maema when she turns 68. I told here Maema would be really old (like 120ish) but she said she would take care of her:) Those girls LOVE LOVE LOVE their Maema. For the record .... she is just backing her car into the garage and they wanted to ride with her. (No we don't let our kids ride in the front seat and they are ALWAYS in their car seat.)

- The girls and I went to Cape and stayed with the Aunt and cousins again. Have I mentioned how hospitable they are? I went to a fabulous wedding (thank you Bruce and Ashley Smith for a wonderful evening) while the girls went with Maema and some of the cousins to a local pumpkin patch. (Pics courtesy of Maema.)

HC with cousin Hilton

The girls w cousin Kaylee

- The girls started a new dance class. This year they are doing ballet, tap and tumbling (or germnastics as Quinnie says) at a different dance school across town. It is a little more laid back then the ballet company they attended last year ... much more our style.

- Every year in October our Bunko group dresses up for Halloween Bunko. This year I went as Dog The Bounty Hunter's Wife. Her name is Beth. I was a trashy mess but had so much fun:)



Beth & Alice (AKA Aunt Jenny)

 - We headed to Union, MO for Jamie's best friend (AKA Quinn's Godfather) Benji Hammer's surprise 40th birthday party, thrown by his lovely and amazing wife, Paige. The best part of the night was when Benji and Paige pulled into Maema's driveway and saw us standing there waiting on them. He got teary eyed and was shocked. They are our soul mates and we would not have missed it for the world. However, I forgot my camera so I downloaded these pics off of someones facebook page.

We stopped in The Legion to have a drink with the birthday boy's sister ... or so he thought. The party was waiting on him.

 

Mendi, Me, Woody and Tammy

Silly boys. It took them days to recover:)

Me & Woody

 

The Thurman & Hammer girls playing in Maema's basement the day after the party. They only see each other 2-3 times a year but they insist they are BFF's!


- A good friend of mine lost her father to cancer. The service was beautiful and as expected, my friend held up like a rock star. But you could see that she was a mess on the inside. My heart hurts for her and her family. Hassie Clare and Quinn said extra prayers for Ella's granddaddy.

- The girls got their first homework assignment. This month they are working on writing the letters Ee, Oo, Aa and the numbers 3, 4 and 5. They looked thrilled!

- Sarah (our ever so smart, talented and pretty summer nanny) came for a visit while home from college on her fall break. She brought paints for pumpkin painting and dressed up as Dorothy. The girls were so excited to see her .... and super excited that she bought them Halloween kits to make their own candy jewelery! 

Mary Bo Peep (AKA Little Bo Peep, AKA Quinnie), Dorofee (AKA Sarah) and Cinderella (AKA Hassie Clare)

We stay so busy that sometimes I can't remember what we did yesterday, let alone a week ago. So what does any busy working mom in 2010 do ....I pulled up pictures off my iPhone to recall what all we have been up too lately. In fact, all of these pics (unless noted) are from my phone.  Thank God for modern technology.

Fun Friday's with Sarah

**this post is about 2 months overdue**

Every Friday, Sarah (our summer Nanny and friend for life) would plan a fun treat for the girls to reward them for good behavior throughout the week.  She is a baker ... a darn good one, so most of the Fun Friday's involved something yummy.  Sarah is very creative and fun. She is not afraid of making a mess or tackling a project with 2 toddlers.

I think these are chocolate chip cookies of some sort or maybe edible play dough ... I can't remember.

Baking Princess cakes

The final product.

Alphabet cookies.

cupcakes with sprinkles and homemade butter cream icing

Tea party. BIG EVENT. Sarah made different cucumber sandwiches she thought the girls would like (they were delicious) and brought flavored tea.

She also brought a real tea set, matching plates and an old fashion table cloth. The girls got all dressed up in tea party attire. It was adorable!

Sarah went WAY out of her way to make these days special for the girls. She prepared most of the stuff the night before, went to the store after hours, etc. She went up an beyond the call of duty, as always.
This girl radiates positive energy and can find something positive in any situation. I'm so happy she loves my kids and plans on being a part of their life. I couldn't ask for a better role model.

Way Back When-esday: QRT

I needed to see pictures of my Quinnie Ray. I needed to look at her sweet, innocent face. I needed to see these pictures to warm my heart up.

I'm just going to say it ..... Quinn might possibly be possessed. She has been psycho-toddler lately. She becomes enraged with .... I don't know what. She screams bloody murder and becomes out of control over the smallest things. Yesterday it was because her pants didn't fit her right. Today is was because she hit her sister and refused to go to time out. I've tried everything but nothing seems to work except putting her in her room, shutting the door (holding the door shut) and waiting until she calms down. It is horrible and it lasts for a really, really, really long time.
The weird part is that 85% of the time she is a perfect child. She never gets in trouble at school. She does almost anything I ask. She is polite and sweet to others. She follows directions to perfection.  She is loving, compassionate and usually a joy to be around.
I wish I could teach her some balance. She carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. I'm so frustrated and frustration leads to bad parenting (with me it does).
I need to do some research and find a good book that can help me understand why she does this and what I can do to help her / guide her / teach her. I'm also going to talk to her pediatrician.
After every ugly tantrum I make it a point to hold her and love on her. I tell her how much I love her. I tell her that even when I'm mad and disappointed in her that I love her. I tell her that she is a good little girl and that it is okay to get mad and angry but there are better ways to express those emotions.
I tell her all this for her and for me. I'm always full of guilt after her tantrums. I'm mad at myself for getting angry at her or for not handling the situation the right way. I have no control over her when she gets "crazy." I feel helpless and I HATE feeling helpless when it comes to my kids.

So, looking through old pics of my oldest daughter has made me smile. I was looking through them as she was screaming in her room, coming off yet another tantrum that was brought on because she didn't want to change out of her night gown to go play outside (so she got to stay in her bed with her night gown on while HC and the nanny played outside). When I look at the pictures and see her amazingly beautiful blue eyes, I realize that this is just a phase in her life. Someday we will look back and laugh about these tantrums (I hope).  She won't believe me when she is 36 and I'm telling her about how awful they were and how distraught I was watching her melt down. This to shall pass.

Paisley Pineapple

We just found out a few days ago that my little sister is having a baby girl. As much as I wanted a little boy in the family, I'm ecstatic with the outcome (I have secretly wished for 17 weeks that they were having a girl). Little girls hold a very special place in my heart. I've been surrounded by them my entire life. I was raised with a house full of girls, lived with lots of girls all throughout college, had girl roommates after college and now I'm raising little girls.

The relationship I have with my mother is priceless. She is my best friend. She is my sister's best friend.  And I'm almost positive that my mom and her mother (our grandmother) were best friends. So you see, the mother / daughter relationships in our family are special and unique. And I have no doubt that me and my sister will have that with our daughters one day. And that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside knowing we will be able to experience that together.

This is one of my all time favorite pics of my Mom and Grandma that I came across about a year ago.

Ohh ...  her name is Paisley Breann. And my favorite boutique is the Paisley Pineapple and one of my favorite singer/song writers last name is Paisley. She is already perfect to me and probably always will be.  My little Paisley Pineapple will be loved and spoiled by her Aunt Kissie....no doubt about that! 



1st Day of Pre-school

After little preparation, buying tons of school supplies (I had no idea how much money parents spend on school supplies) and lots of discussion with the girls about their new teacher and new classroom ... their first day of pre-school went smoothly. They only go 2 days a week for 6 hours to the same mother's day out program they have been going to for the past 2 years but this year they go up stairs to pre-school. We felt this program will help us decide if the girls will start full time 4 year old kindergarten next year or go straight to kindergarten. Their teacher, Ms. Martha, is lovely. She is a certified kindergarten teacher and a mother of a 4 year old little girl .... perfect credentials to help us make the decision about next year.

The story of the lunch boxes -

The girls and I spent **way too long** one evening shopping for lunch boxes online. HC was adamant about wanting a Wizard of Oz lunch box. We found several cute ones but at the last minute she fell in love with a Little Mermaid one with a tail hanging off the box. Quinn decided on an adorable "old fashion" W of O lunch box. Fast forward to the first morning of school - I had their lunches made, in their new lunch boxes and sitting on the counter when they woke up. Hassie Clare immediately started negotiations with Quinn about switching lunch boxes for the day.... of course Quinn said no. Long story short, HC worked on Quinn for over an hour and somehow got her to switch. I'm telling you, the girl has some serious negotiating skills! 



Daddy took the morning off work to take the girls to their first day of pre-school.



"I'm a little nervous about all this pre-school stuff."





Hassie Clare's crayon box was at one table and Quinn's was at another. Hassie Clare noticed this as soon as we got into the classroom and went over to get her box and put it next to her sister. It was so sweet! Ms. Martha said that it would be fine for a few weeks and then she might slowly start separating them.

 Nana and Amy joined us that morning. Nana is in complete and utter denial that the girls are old enough to go to pre-school. I think she had a harder time with it then I did! The girls did great. They required about 27 hugs and kisses from me, daddy, Nana and Amy but there were no tears. I was a little bit emotional on the inside ... mainly just that uneasy feeling in my tummy that I get every time I leave them. For me it wasn't much different then it has been the past 2 years. But holy cow, next year when they start school full time it will be a whole new ball game and just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.

PS - Is pre-school a hyphenated word or is it preschool?

Oh how I love Missouri wineries

Another trip to Crown Valley Winery in St. Genevieve, MO. Same trip we take every fall, however this time we celebrated one of our single ladies getting hitched!

Beautiful bride-to-be

I had "sweaty face" cause I had just stepped off the dance floor. I love dancing outdoors at 2 in the afternoon!   

As you can tell, I had ZERO fun!

**pics taken by Mendi  .... man I love that beautiful chica with a Mick Jagger / Steven Tyler smile and I head FULL of curly hair!**

Labor Day Weekend 2010

I greatly appreciate weekends with no plans. Especially 3 day weekends. The anticipation is my favorite part. 3 whole days with no work, no phone ringing, no work responsibility. This Labor Day weekend was the perfect "no plans" weekend - according to my standards.

Friday night I cleaned the house, did laundry, etc. while the girls played in their playroom and watched a movie. Sounds weird but my comfort level is at an all time high when my house is clean, laundry done and everything in order - known in our house as "party ready" (what your house looks like right before a party or gathering.) Love, love, love that feeling. Jamie got a "much deserved" night off from family duty to work in his garage. I sat out back after I put the girls to bed, sipping on some bubbly and admired my clean house through the windows. I hate that I enjoy that feeling so much (the clean, organized house ... not the bubbly).

Sat. morning I got up early and went to the gym. I have found so much comfort and joy in a good, hard workout.  It was the killer kind of work out that left me wondering if I could walk out to my car. Let alone go to the feed store and grocery shopping. Somehow I managed to get it all done and made it home by 11:30. The girls were just finishing up a big pancake breakfast with Daddy. We headed straight outside to enjoy to gorgeous day by piddling out in the yard, in the flower beds, cleaning porches and decks, draining the hot tub (oooooo I can't wait for hot tub weather). We got a lot of little things done that have been neglected lately .... well really for 4 years:) The great part about it was the girls were with us and able to play in the yard without us watching over their every move. Times are a changing!

The girls love riding with Jamie in Cliffy (AKA Clifford .... the big red farm truck). He drives them around the yard and neighborhood. Quinnie waves to everyone in the neighborhood like she is in a parade. Ruby got majorly jealous .... that is her truck and she usually rides with Daddy!

My deal with the girls is that they can dress themselves when we are at home or playing in the yard but I get to dress them when we leave the house. So far that arrangement is working well.

Draining the hot tub ... evidently it is very entertaining to a 4 year old to watch water drain. I try and take pics as often as possible with the phone to send to Maema. I can't imagine how much she misses them and hopefully seeing random pics of our daily activities helps her miss them a little less:)  

Sat. night Jamie's friend from IL was in town and staying down at the Peabody. It was one of those nights that we both just wanted to stay at home, throw some beef on the grill and chill out. But we only get to see his friend from college and his wife every few years so we headed downtown to meet them at the Rendezvous (again ...second time in 7 days. Truth be told, I could eat there every night). I was going to stay home with the girls but my mom graciously encouraged me to bring the girls over to her house for the evening. Reluctantly, I gave in and joined Jamie.  It was one of those nights that you could not possibly have planned. We had an awesome meal and headed to Alfred's on Beale St. Got a great table up on the patio and then near the dance floor once the band started. I think I danced for 4 hours straight. Does not happen often but when I get the dance bug ... look out. Jamie joined me off and on and we had such a good time. We laughed and danced and laughed and danced and laughed and danced. I think I fell in love with him just a little bit more.

Again ... parents of the year here rolled in around 2:30am. No late night is complete without stopping at Krystals for a sack full of Krystal burgers! Decided it was best to wait until the morning to get the girls even though we told them we would come pick them up before they went to sleep:( 

Sunday morning I rolled out of bed in pretty rough shape. I cooked brunch for a girlfriend (Rebecca Copeland) that was in town from St. Louis. As much as I battled through the preparation that morning, it was all worth it. We had an enjoyable time catching up, eating and letting the kids play. We walked around the yard and let the kids explore, jumped on the moon bounce, rode little Jeeps and played on the play ground.  She has a sweet, little 15 month old named Conner. I wanted to keep him but she would not let me:(

After our guests left I prepared some more grub and we headed over to the Hagel's for dinner and to say our goodbyes to Jasmine. It was a sad night but she was surrounded by love. I cried and cried but only when no one was looking (except Jamie ... he always sniffs me out). My mom made some fantastic ribs and we ate way too much as always.

Monday was rest day. Jamie got the entire day off from family duty to work in his garage. The girls and I read books, played pretend for about 10 hours (seemed like it anyway), slept, had a fashion show, watched movies and slept some more. I never take the time or make the time to spend that much quality time with them. It usually comes in short spurts of time, like after dinner or first thing in the morning. It was wonderful and I felt so "caught up" and "in tune" with them .... if that makes any sense.

I heart Labor Day Weekend 2010.

1st Concert - SUGARLAND

We live about 1 full city block away from a great park with an awesome outdoor amphitheater. At times we can hear concerts from our backyard. First of all, we are huge Sugarland fans. The girls know the words to almost every one of their songs. When Jamie heard they were coming to our little park, he HAD to get 4 tickets so that we could take the girls to their first concert. This was in April. The concert was in August.

So .... for 4 months we talked about the concert, watched the DVD of their concert (over and over and over), walked over to the amphitheater several times and played around on the stage and picked out our seats. Hassie Clare memorized Jennifer Nettles dance moves off the DVD and would imitate her at the right spot in the song even when we heard it on the radio.

So the big day finally rolls around and it was 103 degrees outside. The heat index was 114. Not sure what the humidity was but I'm sure it was at an all time high. Plus add 5,000 people in a small area and I'm sure that makes the temp raise a few degrees. No wind or air circulation.

Taking our kids to this concert, in these conditions, might have taken us out of the running for parents of the year.  It was dangerous for anyone to be outside in the heat, let alone two 4 year olds. BUT ... we had a blast. I packed a survival backpack with lots of water, juice, baggies of washcloths soaked in ice cubes, snacks, misting spray, etc. We opted to stay at the house until we thought it was time for the headliners to get on stage. Which worked out great cause we had a blast watching Sugarland DVD and dancing around the house in the air-conditioning! One of the bands we missed out on would have been great to see (Little Big Town). We arrived just in time to see their last few songs ... which happened to be my favorite two Little Big Town songs.

We bought snow cones before finding out seats - huge hit with the girls! After being outside for about 10 minutes we were all soaked from head to toe. I had planned on taking pictures with my phone but I was too wet and I was afraid I would ruin my phone. I took these photos when we first got to our seats - along with some cute video.

Hassie Clare was in heaven. She LOVED every bit of the night. Do you see that tiny dry spot underneath Jamie's arm on his maroon shirt? It was not there long.

Quinn dropped some of her snow cone so HC did what every good sister would do and scooped out some of hers with her nasty, sweaty hand and put it in her sister's cup.

Hassie Clare cutting a rug.

With about 3 songs left, the girls needed a potty break. We found a great open spot by the bathrooms where the girls could dance and run around. We could hear the music perfectly and even see a little bit of the stage. They rocked the end of the show with "Walking In Memphis" which was awesome!

Glad we did it. Don't regret it. Made great memories. But we vowed to not go to anymore outdoor concerts in August with the girls ... EVER:)  Unless, of course, we are somewhere north of the Mason Dixon line and we won't melt!

Randoms

** See previous post .... I just inserted pictures that I downloaded off my iphone.**

Speaking of my new iphone ... I love her. I say "her" because she multi-tasks like only a woman can. I haven't taken a real picture with a real camera since I brought her home. She takes pretty good videos and decent pics. She is always with me and rarely lets me down. But I need to get back in the habit of taking  pictures with a real camera ... if not, I will regret it someday.

This morning we lost a family member. Sure .... she had 4 legs and was furry all over. But she was just a part of our family as anyone. My brother and sister-in-law picked Jasmine out of a litter of puppies that our family dog "Sasha" had 16 years ago. I will miss her dearly.  I feel so sad for my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew and I pray they find comfort soon.  This is Hassie Clare and Quinn's first brush of death. Experiencing death through their eyes is such a beautiful thing. They are so innocent and believe everything we tell them, which is everything we hope happens but doubt. But when I see the belief in their eyes and through their expressions, I know it is real. 

  

How is it possible that they have the same fake smile?

BUTTERFLY'S

Sarah bought the girls .... well, I'm not sure what it is called. A butterfly farm maybe???? Reminded me of the old ant farms back in the day. She bought the net and they mailed the caterpillars in a cup of food. A week later they turned into cocoons and we hung them in the net. A week after that they turned into butterfly's. It was pretty dang cool to watch and the girls were totally into the whole process. I love to hear them tell the story of the cycle of life of a butterfly. Instead of cocoon they say "caaa coon" in the sweetest, most southern voice you can imagine. It was sweet, educational and thoughtful for Sarah to leave us with 3 more mouths to feed:)  I have great video but still can't figure out an easy way to upload videos to my blog. AND I still have no space on my picture/video/music hard drive... thus all the iphone pics.

3 out of 4 cocoons produced a butterfly. They named them Flower, Princess and Ariel.

We set Ariel, Flower and Princess free after Mom forgot to feed them a couple days in a row. We all agreed that it was time for them to go meet other butterflies to play with. Hassie Clare dressed up as Dorofee (shocker) and Quinn dressed up as poor Cinderella (shocker) for the occasion. The girls were so excited about setting them free ... which shocked the heck out of me. We look in the yard for them all the time. We always see a yellow butterfly and Quinn swears up and down that it is Flower's best friend.

Excuses, excuses, excuses

 Dear Blog,
Once again I've let you down. My posts have been few and far in between. I have several good excuses that I would like to share with you ... if you don't mind. We have been super busy around here. This is a list of my lame "top 10" excuses and a brief run down of the past few weeks in the Thurman household:

1. My picture and music hard drive is full and I haven't had time to make space for more pics. Which means I have no where to download pics. Which means I don't have new pics to post on my blog. And we all know everyone likes new pics when I post something. Hardly anyone reads what I write ... they are only interested in the pics! **pics added to post the following day**
2. New Nannies - 2 of them to be exact. Both part-time and both exceptionally lovely. Meredith and Ashley are nice additions to our family. We still miss Sarah. As Hassie Clare reminded me the other day, "I love Sayraa and Tay Tay the bestest forever." Compliments don't get much better then that!
3. Sugarland - details will require it's own post.
4. Tay Tay's visit. Short and sweet. We went swimming, ate Mexican and the girls went shopping to their favorite store ... Target. Taylor treated them to ice cream and a slumber party in her bed. I could not believe the girls slept with her in the guest bed all night long! She is a brave girl.

5.  Baby Madysen's baby shower (Angela and Starsky's baby). Dana's house warming party.

6.  Hosted Bunko at my house and all my rowdy friends came over:) Loads of fun but took me a few days to recover.

7.  Grandpa Hagel and Glenda came to town. Always nice spending time with them. We ate lots of BBQ all weekend and went to a Redbirds game. I can still taste the Rendezvous ribs we ate before heading over to the stadium.

8. Picked out shingles for a new roof - hard decision for us for some reason.  Usually we are both so decisive when it comes to things like that.  We stepped outside the box a little on this one (it doesn't match the roof of Jamie's detached garage.) Went with the 30 year architectural shingles made by Tamco in Black Walnut color (something tells me I'll need this info some day).

9.  Had dinner (kid-free) with a Missouri girlfriend that was in town working. Always nice to visit with a friend, over dinner and drinks without kids. It was 2 hours of peace and quiet and a whole plate of food to myself.

10.  Found out the under-belly of part of our house (under master bath) has been getting wet for 8 years and insurance isn't going to cover the cost of replacing the shower, 100 square feet of rotten wood and floors and a potentially dangerous mold problem. I'm not positive about the insurance but I'm waiting to hear back from the adjuster.  They already told me that rotten wood is not covered under homeowners insurance. Thank God we have not scheduled a Disney trip or beach trip for this fall, like we had hoped for.

I think that about wraps it up. So you see Blog, I've been slightly preoccupied. To complicate matters slightly, Jamie has been working a ton of overtime which makes me a single parent (not complaining cause we need it for excuse #9). As always, I'm ubber thankful to my Mom and Fred for saving my sanity. They watch the girls for me anytime I need help or when I need a break to go to the gym. Without them you would find me at our local mental health facility.

I promise to get better Blog. No more excuses. Because I truly want my daughters to have documentation of what their childhood was like through my eyes. Ohh how I love saying "my daughters." Ohh how I love being a Mommy.

Sincerely,
Hassie Clare and Quinnie Ray's Mom