Bearded Rabbits

We were on our way to gymnastics yesterday and I made a funny face at the girls in the backseat. Quinn said "Mommy, you are so funniest." I asked her what that meant. She said, "you are funnier then a blue rabbit with a beard. And pink mustache. That is eating a carrot while going poo poo. And holding her sister's hand cause she doesn't eat enough carrots and her poo poos are too hard. So she eats a bowl of cereal to keep her poo poos from hurting. While still on the potty."
Hassie Clare chimes in and said "Don't be silly Quinnie Ray. A blue rabbit would be a boy and not a girl so he would have a brother and not a sister."
The reasoning skills of a 4 (almost 5) year old never cease to amaze me!

I get a series of pics off my phone that look similar to this at least 3 times a week. Plus video. The video usually involves HC doing something ridiculously silly and talking about poop while Q is dying laughing and encouraging her. I can never bring myself to delete any of the photos of videos.

 

First day of Day School (2) / last day of Day School (4)

Hassie Clare and Quinn started a Mother's Day Out / Day School program right after they turned 2 years old. I remember the feeling I had the first day we took them. Jamie and I were walking out of the building and I thought "Are we seriously just going to just leave them here? With strangers. In a strange building. They are only 2 years old. Who does that?" My legs were wobbly, my stomach was week and my heart was heavy. I sat in the parking lot for over an hour talking myself into driving away.

We spent the next 3 years getting up every Tuesday and Thursday morning and heading to school for 6 hours. And then one day it was over. My little girls were ready to be sent to big kid school.

On their last day of school this year we said our goodbyes to all 3 of the teachers they had during their 3 year stint. Our last stop was to the girls first teacher. She was the perfect first teacher for them and for me. She held my hand and comforted me as much as she did them. And then I lost it. I was sobbing. Of course I had just come from a co-workers funeral so that did not help my emotional state.  It was the end of an era. The end of their toddlerhood.

And so we left the building and walked to the car. And once again, my legs were wobbly, my stomach was week and my heart was heavy.

First day of school 2008 - 2 year old class with our beloved Mrs. Ilona.

I think they had just figured out that we were not going to stay with them at school.

First day of school 2009 - 3 year old class

Last day of school 2011 - 4 year old class. They are saying goodbye to their in-door playground. I assured them that their new school would have an awesome outdoor playground!

This is a video I took while loading up the car to take them to their first day of Mother's Day Out. Their sweet little baby voices brought tears to my eyes.

**Sweet nothings for me to remember - HC was obsessed with fireworks at this age. She talked about them all the time. Quinn had a tiny plastic baby that fit into the palm of her hand. She had it on her at all times and called her "Baby Crying." I saved this baby in a plastic bag with all their baby stuff. It probably still has finger jam hidden in the cracks.**

Guilty again .... the life of an overbooker.

I have been in a blogging funk. Not because of lack of material but because of lack of time, creativity, desire, etc. I have so many wonderful things to blog about: our fabulous Disney trip, Easter weekend in eastern TN,  Jenny's surprise 40th birthday party, our weekend getaway to the country, the girls "graduation" from their mother's day out program, registration for junior kindergarten and testing, HC's first round of antibiotics cause of strep .... and the list goes on and on and on.
My work hours have been hectic and consume most of my waking hours - minus our weekend adventures. I just finished up our summer social schedule and we only have 2 open weekends from now until Sept 1. NUTS. I've said it before and I'll say it again ... I'm a chronic overbooker.
Let's see .... what else. I've been eating everything and anything. I'm not gaining much weight cause I'm still working out....thankfully! I've started rewarding myself with sweets. The sweeter the better. I've NEVER done this before. I need to get a grip ... real soon!

I sent the invitations out today for the girls 5th birthday party next month. I'm all over this one.  First HC wanted a bubble gum party and Q wanted a My Little Pony Party. Then HC wanted a Bat Man party but Q told her she wasn't coming to a Bat Man party.  Then one day out of the blue they jointly decided on a Rapunzel party .... from the movie Tangled. Done! That day I came up with the invitations and ordered them, ordered wishing lanterns to set off and went to the fabric store to buy yellow yarn to make a giant hair braid.  The girls, with help from their nanny, started painting paper plates to make suns, butterflies and tons of other stuff. We will use their art work for decorations ... just like Rapunzel. We rented a water slide for the day and I booked Rapunzel to come make a personal appearance. She will sing songs, play a game, read a story and a few other things. Anyway ... it is a work in progress and we are all excited about their special day. Turning 5 is a huge deal!

We will be saying goodbye to our nanny next month. It will be a sad goodbye. I'll be hiring a new one for the summer. That is always a dreadful challenging project.
Our wild, crazy, sweet, loving, intelligent, spastic fur baby is going blind. Well, she pretty much is blind. She is only 8 years old. There might be a surgery that can save one of her eyes. We can find out for $2,600. I'm leaving this one up to Jamie. I'm a tightwad but she is our first born and our baby. 

My sister in law, friend, Godmother to my child, turned 40 last week. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH.

This is the only recent picture I have of us and it is a good example of how we act when we get our silly hats on.

Hassie Clare and Quinn start 4 year old Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, big girl school .... whatever the heck you call it. My babies are going to school:( They will wear uniforms and be in school 5 days a week for 8 hours. At the school we choose, we had the option of 4k or 5k. Our alternate school (in the city) we did not have a choice. They would have had to go to 4k (birthday cutoff is June 1.) Even though we choose 4k, I like having a choice. Although I think they are ready for 5k, I think another year of maturity will pay off in the long run. Who wants to send their 17 year old off to college!

I realized the other day that the girls are officially kids and not toddlers anymore. Example #1 -I was clipping HC's toenails and got disgusted because of her nasty "grocery store" feet. Example #2 - I've always loved Quinn's sweet morning breathe. She likes to snuggle with me nose to nose. Lately I've had to hold my breathe because it smells like a horse crawled in her mouth and pooped. Ahhh .... my sweet little ballerinas are growing up!

Mother's Day - 2011

My sweet, little chicklets know me so well. If you click on the picture, you can read the writting better.

My sweet, loving and ever so thoughtful husband got me with a bottle of perfume. While we were touring the countries at Epcot, we went into a perfume shop in France. We did this for 3 reasons. #1 - the store had air-conditioning. And #2, we were a hot, sweaty mess and needed a little somethin’ somethin’ to make us smell better. #3 - I love perfumes ...especially the ones you can't buy at a department store. What better place then a French perfume shop! I feel in love with this one perfume so I lathered the girls and I up with the scent. Jamie said we smelled like we bathed in a tub of orange slices on a beautiful spring day. PERFECT! Anyway, he took a pic of the bottle on his phone, shopped around on the internet and WALA ... surprised me with it for Mother's Day. The cool thing about it is that every time I wear it I think of us on our fantabulous vacation to Disney World.


The thoughtful gift made up for the fact that Jamie had to work on Mother's Day. But it turned out okay because I got to spend the day with my sister and Momma. I felt very lucky on mother's day for several reasons. I thought of all the women out there that desperately want to be a mother and for one reason or another can't. I thought of all the people out there that are sad on mother's day because their mom is deceased. I felt really lucky to spend the day with my sister on her first Mother's Day. I felt blessed to be surrounded by love the entire day even though we didn't do anything exciting.

I hope that I can be the mom I want to be someday. No regrets.... right?

Another Winery weekend in St. Gen .... with a cherry topper

That cherry topper is Penney Lane!! She is no longer a winery virgin. She added flare, charisma and a little more craziness to my group of Missouri girls .... if that is possible.

Amazing what smart phones capture on a good day with your girlfriends.

The last night EVER at the Saloon .... the best rat hole bar in southern MO. They closed it down for good that night. On more then one occasion we have ended up at the Saloon after the winery closes at sundown. Good times.  

Please don't ask .... I'm not sure what this one is all about but it cracked me up when someone emailed it to me. All I know is that I had a damn good time. Don't get mad Penney ....Hassie Clare and Quinn will probably look at this picture in 20 years and say "Yep. Not much has changed with Penney Lane and Momma." 

Also, please notice that it is still daylight in all of the pics. I've notice that the older we get, the shorter amount of time it takes us to get the party started. I have 3 or 4 different groups of girlfriends that I thoroughly enjoy spending time with. I think time away with your girlfriends should be a requirement. Not only does it create lifelong friendships, it's good for the soul!

1st Airplane ride - MEM to MCO

When planning our Disney trip, our gravest concerns were 1) Quinn on an airplane 2) Quinn's fear of characters at Disney 3) Quinn riding rides. We decided that we can't plan our lives around Quinn's fears. If we did, we would stay in our house 24/7, wearing nightgown's only, watching movies, doing arts and crafts that didn't make our hands messy and playing pretend. So we decided to take on this challenge, pad ourselves with loving patients and book it.

Jamie was 100% convinced that he would have to carry Quinn on the plane, kicking,screaming bloody murder, spitting and yelling for help. I had a little more faith in her. I didn't think she would have her melt down until the engines started, at which time she would bolt out of her seat screaming and attempting to jump through the small plane window. When Quinn has a melt down, it causes a MAJOR scene. And we all know how Jamie feels about attention from strangers:) I opted not to medicate her before the plane ride ... thought I would give her a chance to prove us wrong.

We used a crazy amount of frequent flyer miles for 4 direct flights from Memphis to Orlando, NON-STOP. 240,000 to be exact. Totally worth it!

We talked about it daily for months. We walked her through exactly what would happen, when it would happen and how everything would play out.

We had a "bribe" bag of candy full of every gum and candy they have wanted for the past 5 months. It was the bag of every 4 year olds dream! If we were at the grocery and they wanted some kind of candy then we would buy it and put it in the bag. But the deal was, they could not have any until we were on the plane. They were more excited about their candy bag then anything else about the trip.

We kept it extremely light before boarding the plane.

Riding the walking escalator over and over and over.

And prove us wrong she did .... thank you God! She treated it as another means of transportation. No issues from her... except who got to sit next to the window. Who would've thought!

HC and her bow looking for our house.

Watching Tangled with Baby Susie and Baby Angel Cake

Hassie Clare had some painful ear issues on our descent ... in fact, one ear is still bothering her. Note to self - might want to take her to the doc. She has been complaining about it daily for 2 weeks straight.

Now ...if only our gravest concerns #2 and #3 had went as smoothly :) But little did they know that the best week of their lives was about to take place!

Hippity Hoppity Easter is on the way .....

HAPPY EASTER



Time-outs @ Disney

Time outs at Disney were NON-EXISTENT! In fact, there was only one time-out in 7 days between 2 four year olds (we usually average a few a day) ..... and I happen to capture it on camera. As you can tell ... it was brutal.

And for the record, she got put in time out for repeatedly drinking pool water out of the pee-pee kiddy pool and licking the pool's germrail handrail.  It gives me the hibby gibbies just thinking about it!

Vacation Blues

It's almost been a month since my last blog entry and that is totally unacceptable. We have been busy little beavers. Not to mention we just got back from a weeks stay at the wonderful and magical Disney World.  I've never been sad about vacation being over. Time away from work and reality usually regenerates me and inspires me to tackle the world when I return. Not this time. I'm blue.... and a little red from the Florida sun.

But I'm perking up. Maema has been in town for the past week to help us out while our sweet, sweet nanny is in Paris. She is wonderful and such a huge help for me. We love having her in town and we are always sad to see her leave. The girls count the days until they can see their beloved Maema again.

So she left earlier today and now I'm blue again. But I'm super stoked about a last minute trip we just planned for this weekend to trip across Tennessee to spend Easter with my beautiful new niece, my sister, brother in law,  Nana and Pawpaw. So things are looking up. Obviously I have it rough.... a week at Disney, a MIL that rents a car and travels 5 hours to help us at a moments notice, a weekend get-a-way in the country with family. GEEZZZZ ... cry me a river!

So when the vacation blues start setting in I look at this picture and it tickles my funny bone.



Hassie Clare's first roller coaster. Jamie had to sneak her on the second time they rode it cause she wasn't quite big enough. Quinn cried the entire time they were riding this ride because she was afraid Hass would get scared or hurt.



Eleven Eleven

Right after we had the girls, I started noticing that I would look at the clock at exactly 11:11 every day. Sometimes twice a day. At first it freaked me out. Was it a sign of something bad to come? Was it a sign of luck? This went on for a couple months before I mentioned it to Jamie. Every time I would see 11:11, I would say out loud "It is Eleven Eleven." I tried to rationalize it by thinking that I had tons of down time on the couch feeding babies or pumping or rocking them in silence with only the clock to look at. And since I was consumed by keeping them on a schedule, maybe I looked at the clock all the time. But I quickly learned that it didn't matter where I was or what I was doing ... I would still look at the clock at 11:11.


When my spiritually void, non-deep thinking hubby suggested that is was a sign, he captured my attention immediately. He felt that the first two ones (11) represented Hassie Clare and Quinn and the last two ones (:11) represented their guardian angels... our "almost babies." From the second he said that to me I started to feel it instantly. I knew right then and there the reasoning of why I was blessed with the 11:11 gift.

It is now four and half years later and I might only check the clock 5 times a day, but at least one of those times it will be 11:11. Sometimes I wake up out of a dead sleep, glance at the clock and it is 11:11.

And every single time this happens, my heart fills with this indescribable feeling. It is almost like an adrenaline rush. I close my eyes and I think of my children's guardian angels/our almost babies/:11, and I tell them how thankful I am to them and how much I truly love them. Those 11:11 moments bring a sense of peace and love over me that completely and totally knock my socks off!

Snow Daze 2011

Hassie Clare and I LOVE LOVE LOVE snow. Jamie and Quinn tolerate it ... barely.
Ruby thinks it is the best thing that has ever happened to her.

Since Spring officially starts this weekend, I figured I better load some snow pictures from the past few months. No one wants to look at snow pictures with the air conditioning on!

Ruby's favorite thing in the whole world is ice cold water.

Please don't make me go inside. I promise I'm not cacacaca...cold.



Quinnie mostly stayed inside by the heater while looking out the window watching me and HC play in the snow.  Occasionally she would open the back door and holler "Hit mommy with a snow ball."



Paisley Breann

Born 3/2/11 @ 2:30 (her mother predicted the time EXACTLY that morning when we were taking friendly, family bets). It was the perfect day, the perfect birth and the perfect little girl was brought into this world by 2 loving parents. Perfect! All of it. I got to watch my baby sister be a rock star and pop out a 7.5 pound baby. I got to watch my mom fall in love with another grandchild. I got to see 2 new parents look into their first-born child’s eyes for the first time. It was perfect! And I'm extremely grateful to my brother-in-law and sister for letting me be a part of their perfect day.


Meet my beautiful, perfect and enormously loved niece Paisley:



She is only a few minutes old in this pic and already alert and looking around.






Going home from the hospital.

1st year of life - video montage

Here is a video montage of Hassie Clare and Quinn's first year of life (0-12 months). I made this a few years ago but I forgot about it until recently. Ahhh ... the memories!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

5 1/2 Strawberries



This is the sign of a fun day outside! All drama aside (cause oh my lord, there was a bucket load of drama with each strawberry) the picture does not do their boo boo's justice.

 Don't ya just love care free days when you don't have a worry in the world? I'm starting to appreciate them more and welcoming them at anytime.  Last Saturday was one of those days. The weather was spectacular and it was the perfect day to spend outside, preferably being active and definitely being with family. We kicked our to-do list to the curb, packed a bag full of fruit, snacks and water, packed an emergency kit, grabbed a frisbee and loaded up our bikes and trailer to go out on an adventure.

Strawberry #1 - Hassie Clare fell running down our drive-way while doing warm up laps for our ride.

Strawberry #2 - We headed over to the tennis center. We ran around the tennis courts and collected abandoned tennis balls for Ruby. Quinn fell running after a tennis ball on the courts.

After our adventurous trip to the tennis center, we decided to ride over to the park. Jamie was feeling good, the girls were loving the ride and I was enjoying the awesome workout of hauling an extra 85-100 pounds on my bike!

Jamie teaching HC how to throw a frisbee. And of course our travel gear ...... thanks Maema!
  

We ran and played and snacked and climbed and giggled until our hearts were content.

After a few hours, we decided the snacks I packed were not enough to tide us over. So we packed everything up and rode down the street to The Big League. They have an outdoor patio and a few "heart healthy" items on the menu for Jamie.

Waiting on our grub.

Strawberry #3 - There is a giant hill near the sports bar that the girls love to climb. I can't remember how it happened but Quinn scored her second strawberry for the day.

Strawberry #4 & #5 & the 1/2 - When we got home the girls wanted to ride their bikes. After 45 minutes, HC bit the dust ... hard. She quite possibly could have just fallen out from pure exhaustion.

The girls bath water looked like swamp water ... and smelled a bit like it also. We were all tucked into bed by 7pm. Hauling those little turkeys around wore me out. But I went to bed with a clear mind and a happy heart!