Our Little Ballerina

A few weeks ago Lauren's ballet school had a Christmas demonstration. The instructors are so sweet and patient with the young children. I was amazed at how much they had learned since they started in September. She's the one on the far right.



What was so amazing to me what this: each week I ask Lauren what see did in ballet that day. Usually, she says "we danced." I'll ask her to show me and she may put her hands above her head and twirl around, or do the little number below, but that's about all I get.


I'm not sure if she was ahead of or behind the rest of the class in the sequence of their dance in that picture.

Now, the lighting was bad for pictures since we were asked to abstain from flash photography. So most of our pictures were blurry. I mean, we wouldn't want to break anyone's concentration or worse, interfere with our little professional performance.


For the most part, they all held it pretty much together, as much as you would expect from any four year old. And, they were all precious. Each class danced to a song from The Nutcracker. Lauren's class was Marzipan, some were Gingerbread, others were the wind-up dolls. That class was especially cute. (Shout out to you, Susie!)

It was tons of fun to see all of our other little friends that are in the various classes. As you can see, Lauren and Ella Grace were really excited to see each other.

I mean really, really excited. Man, those girls LOVE each other. Aren't they sweet and cute?!!

Lauren's daddy and I were super proud of our little ballerina. And, of all of our friend's little girls. If they all performed this well for the Christmas demonstration, I can't wait to see what they'll do for the real-deal, full-out recital in May!

Couldn't Help Myself

I just had to post this picture:

As you can see, we have a couple of princesses in our household!

Little Bo Peep and her sheep

BAAAA!!! Catherine was in character the whole night and even kept the headpiece I made on her head most of the evening! Yes, you read correctly. Believe it or not, I am quite crafty at times. I made most of her costume using an old rabbit suit from a former Halloween costume. Just sewed some felt on the ends for hooves, hot glued some white pom-poms for sheep fleece, and made her headband with more pom-poms, some wire, and felt! Like Big Mama put it, I'm like a ghetto Martha Stewart. You can do anything with a glue gun.


I was really worried that Lauren would figure out how to use her staff to grab Catherine by the neck or start whacking people with it. Luckily, she just figured it was a useless accessory and carried it around with no incident.

Trick or treating gets better each year as the girls get older. It is a good thing they don't quite understand that they could go to every house in the neighborhood if they wanted. So, we just went to a few on our street with some good friends that live just a few houses down. As you can see, Catherine started in on her candy immediately. Knox is the cute little monkey you see, Stewart, our policeman (he did a great job patrolling the street and keeping the kiddos in line.) And, Caroline, our spunky diva. Trust me, her costume was fab, she just got a little chilly so needed her coat.Caroline and Catherine inspect their loot. Catherine wanted to eat each piece of candy she received right after it dropped in her bucket. "Save it for later" was completely lost and useless on her.

"Can we please stop posing for photos, and go get some more candy already?!"

Isn't dressing our children up so much fun?! I guess this is probably the last year I will dictate what they will wear for Halloween.

Now it's time to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Is anyone else freaking out a little that we're this close to Christmas?! I need to get out and get some shopping done, pronto!

Zoo Girls

The girls and I went to the Montgomery zoo with some precious friends on Monday. The city schools had a day off so that means our pre-schools were out as well. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun with Susie, Isabel and Chaney.


This was an exhibit that was part of some weird Halloween scenes the zoo had set up for their annual "ZooBoo." I'm not sure what flowers or fake worm-snake-looking things have to do with Halloween, but the girls had fun playing in the exhibit. It reminded me of the sort of strange scene one would see in Alice in Wonderland or Wicked. (Am I supposed to italacize or put those titles in quotes? Teacher friends, that question is for you.)

If you think that looks weird you should have seen the scene they had set up with Cinderella, Snow White, and a transvestite knight! Or transvesknight, as Susie coined it (pretty clever, huh?) One of the little ones pulled the wigs off of the scary princesses. I tried to fix it, and we quickly moved on.


Here they all are at the maned wolf exhibit or maybe one of those fox things. All I remember is it was really musky and stinky and the large, fox looking thing was asleep. As you can (sort of) see, the girls were more interested in the turtles swimming in the moat.

Isabel pointing out the giraffe to everyone.

If you look real close, it looks like the giraffe is licking Isabel's head in this one.

The train ride is always one of the highlights. We ran into some more Auburn friends and got to share our train ride with them. Again, more weird and some freaky, scary scenes were set up along the train route. Luckily, the kiddos are probably still a little young to even know to be scared. Even more strange, the zoo had put trash bags over the heads of some of the mummies, monsters, etc. I'm more traumatized by those images than what we would have seen otherwise.

This was the best photo I could get on the train. Aren't they cute?!

The train ride was at the end of our trip, so nobody was especially cooperative with my photo attempts. We had a great time, but missed you and your boys, Nonet!!

New Trick

Look what the sitter taught Lauren to do today. John is so proud. I just hope she doesn't do that at pre-school the next time they serve oranges for snack. (Please ignore the mess in my kitchen, I promise I cleaned it before I blogged!)

The Noise

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon and I was so enjoying my computer time with no guilt. You know what I mean. It's Sunday so I am not supposed to be doing anything but worshiping God and enjoying a day of rest.

Unfortunately, I HAD to wash my sheets today. I never do laundry on a Sunday. Never, ever. In fact, I try to do as little as possible in the way of housework on this day. Because that is what God calls us to do. Enjoy Him and take a break!

Okay, so I'm doing laundry because a certain little three year old is scared of storms. And, a certain daddy loves for his eldest (and less squirmy) daughter to cuddle and sleep with us in our bed every once in a while. Okay, so I kind of like it too. It takes me back her infancy.

Anyway......she was so exhausted and had stayed up so late the night before that she tinkled in her sleep!! In my bed! I was horrified. Mainly, because it meant I had to wash our sheets today, on my day of rest! Note to self: go buy that extra set of sheets tomorrow.

So, back to my main point. Lauren and John had left to take a field trip to Lowe's or something. Catherine, a.k.a The Squirmy One, was napping. And, I was supposed to be enjoying my guilt free computer time. But, something kept thumping in the dryer. I ignored it for a while. But, it was really loud. Even the new songs I downloaded earlier couldn't drown it out.

I kept thinking, what in the world could that be? It sounds like a shoe. But, why on earth would there be a SHOE in my dryer. I'm not washing shoes. I'm washing sheets and a few things that were already in the washing machine. So, what is that noise?!!

I debated for a long time on whether or not it was worth it to get out of my big, comfy chair. My curiousity got the best of me and I dragged my lazy self into the laundry room. It took me several minutes of searching, but I was determined. I mean, I did get out of my big, comfy chair to find the source of the quite disturbing noise.

No shoe. Of course it wasn't a shoe. I wasn't washing shoes. But, I had thought, in the back of my mind, maybe The Squirmy One had thrown one in there when I wasn't looking. Entirely possible scenario in any household with toddlers, right?

This was the source of the continual, loud, disruptive pounding in my dryer.

Can you believe it? That is one serious pocket knife, people. Big, sharp, and in some cases extremely loud. Oh, and now it is very clean. Bonus for John.

Why isn't Lisa Posting?

If you are wondering the answer to the above question keep reading.

So, I have not been blogging. I have been reading blogs but not posting. But, it is not because I don't want to or don't have anything to say. It is because I am so frustrated with the look of my blog and the fact that I accidently deleted all my friends links. I used those links, a lot!

About two or three weeks ago I decided that I wanted a cuter look and feel to my blog. Especially after seeing my friend, Tiffany's blog. It is adorable. And, it gave me blog envy.

Sooooo.....I started searching for free blog templates. Not an easy task. I think I spent, I mean, wasted at least an hour (and that's a conservative estimate) searching for something cute and appropriate.

Have you guys seen some of the templates out there?! Oh, my. If you are into roses, race cars, or Nicole Kidman, you are in luck. I am dead serious. There is a blog template with a cartoon version of Nicole Kidman!!

I thought I finally found one I liked. I downloaded it, copied the code, pasted, etc., etc. I hated it. And, the worst part was that all my links were gone!! Ahhh!!! I was so fed up that I gave up and haven't been back to my blog until now.

I guess I'm going to do what smart Tiffany did and get professional help. Not mental help although I do need that some days, but, help with my blog. I know I can do it myself, I like to think I'm fairly computer savvy. Thing is, I don't have the patience or time to mess with it.

If any of you dear friends have any advice, please share it. Oh, and if you have a second, please resend me (in an email or comment) the name of your blog so I can fix all my friend linkies.

Happy Friday and WAR EAGLE!

Same Persons, Different Day

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Meet the Chickens...

...and the ducks, and the turkey. Yes, we have several chickens, three ducks, and a turkey. And, Marley, of course. But, most of you have met our dog, Marley. You may or may not know we have farm animals.

In short, the Easter Bunny delivered ten baby chicks and three baby ducks to Lauren and Catherine this past Easter.

The girls were delighted, John was thrilled, I was apprehensive to say the least.

Over the course of the spring and summer months our chickens and the turkey encountered several unfortunate and sometimes terminal accidents.

For example, once we moved the chickens and ducks to the farm, the chickens started disappearing from the pen. Oh, did I mention they lived in my garage for several weeks? There are not many wives that would allow their husbands to commandeer their garage for the sake of farm animals. But, that's how I roll.

So, once they moved the chickens started diminishing in number. Daily, and one by one they would vanish. We were down to one chicken. For some reason, the ducks remained unscathed. The pen did not have a cover so John and I speculated that a hawk or owl was enjoying a free chicken buffet.

Luckily, Lauren really did not notice before John had time to get replacement chicks. And, each time he would come home with new chicks she had a new baby (or five) to play with. Lauren had a ball carrying them around the house, wrapping them in blankets, and having tea parties with her birds. And she named a few. The turkey she called Big Foot and two of the chickens became Super Man and Cinderella.

Super Man and Cinderella are the ones strutting on the far left of this photo.

Lauren loved on Big Foot, the turkey, so much she inadvertently broke his leg. Luckily, one of the kind elders at our church is a veterinarian professor and just happens to be my former youth minister. So, I called Dan and asked him what to do. The thought of putting the turkey of his misery was too much to bear.

I put John on the phone with Dan and they had a 15 minute conversation on how to splint a baby turkey's leg. Seriously. And, then John made me help him splint Big Foot's little leg. John used so much medical tape to secure Broke Foot's leg to his body, he looked like he was in a partial body cast. Poor Broke Foot, I mean Big Foot.

Unfortunately, Broke Foot did not survive once he moved from the garage to the farm. His broken leg proved to be a far disadvantage when trying to escape the creature that grabbed him in the night. We are not sure how he met his ultimate demise. There was evidence of a struggle and many turkey feathers were strewn in and below his pen.

Once again, John was able to replace Broke Foot without Lauren's notice. See how happy she and the "new" Big Foot are together?
Even Catherine likes to get in on the turkey action!

It's the Little Things in Life #1

I don't know if my husband would agree with me on this statement, but I truly gain pleasure from the smallest things. Things that some may call trivial can bring me great joy.

For example, it struck me this evening as I was loading the dishwasher that I LOVE it when I completely maximize every single inch of space available in my dishwasher. I mean, you couldn't shove even one more knife in that thing and it get cleaned effectively. It really makes me happy.

Isn't it fun when we can derive pleasure from the most everyday, boring tasks?

My Daughter, the Nail Biter

Help!!

Lauren has started biting her nails. Many of you know, I have struggled with the same habit all my life. I really do not want her to battle the same habit the rest of her life.

As we all know, ladies' hands look best clean, neat and manicured.

Do as I say, not as I do. Right?!

P.S. Any advice on how to nip-this-in-the-bud is more than welcome.

Lauren's Little Friend

So, John was out cutting trees or doing something else manly and outdoorsy yesterday afternoon. And, he comes home with a new pet for Lauren. Which wouldn't be a problem if it were something small, cute and furry. But, it wasn't. This little guy is her new best friend. He's small, but a far cry from cute and furry.

What is that on her head? I asked the same question. It is some sort of lizard. I think it looks like a miniature Komodo dragon. She named it Rusty. And, then she did this:

And, then this:

No, she didn't bite Rusty's head off. But, she did kiss him. Several times. And, take him for a ride in the baby doll stroller.
Rusty had the time of his life. Actually, I think he was in a state of shock. Notice Catherine's diaper on the floor. I have no explanation for that.

Nor, do I have any explanation for why my daughter loves lizards, caterpillars, and crickets as much as she loves dressing up as a princess and wearing tiaras. She is well rounded.

I try to be supportive of her interests, I really do. John does not want any "sissy" girls, and I agree with him. But, that lizard really creeps me out. I can handle the cute green ones. Oh, those are fine. But, the ones that resemble miniature Komodo dragons? John, please. There is only so much I can take.

This morning Lauren figured out just how much they creep me out. I was helping her get dressed and she was holding the dragon, I mean lizard. As we were putting on her shorts she put her hand on my shoulder. The same hand that held the lizard. I screamed (like the girl that I am) and jumped away. Lauren laughed. She was delighted to see the look of horror that had flashed across my face.

So, as I was bending down to finish helping her put on her shorts, she throws Rusty as close to my face as possible. "He wants to give you a kiss, Mommy." I told her I was allergic to lizard kisses.


Oh, and if you were wondering what a Komodo dragon is, here you go:
That is Rusty's cousin. Frightening, huh? Imagine a miniature version living in a mason jar inside your house!

Welcome to our Family Blog!

Hi Friends!

My goal is to have new pictures of the girls each week, we’ll see how long I can keep up. Okay, so I thought about that...there is NO way THAT will happen so we’ll go with every once in while. I can handle that! (Karen, don't hold me to this, please.) This picture is my attempt at getting a “good” photo of my girls on Easter Sunday.

A good photo of both is hard to come by.

Unless of course, they are in the bath tub and covered with bubbles. Who can resist the tub pictures? Good thing they are both under the age of 4. Let's keep everything here G-rated, people.

I guess I just need to let go of my desire for a decent family picture. I’ve accepted that it will never happen. Catherine was very grumpy and cold in this one.

So what really frustrates me is Catherine’s non-existent attention span, Lauren’s “funny” faces, John’s short patience level, and my desperate attempts to get all bows in place and smiles on faces. My unattainable dream.

Notice the forced smile on poor John's face. See how Catherine is desperately trying to free herself from my embrace. Maybe I should hire a professional....photographer, not hit man.

See how long I've been seeking the perfect family picture? And, when I say perfect, I use that term loosely, very loosely. This was taken a year ago while visiting family in Rhode Island. Many of you have heard the story of my most recent trip to RI. What a debacle. I DO NOT, repeat DO NOT ever recommend flying alone with two small children. In fact, traveling anywhere alone with two small children is never a good idea. Just ask my sweet sister in-law, Karen. I'm just saying.

So back to the photo issue. I mean, is it too much to ask to have four people simultaneously smile at the camera (and look happy?!) Check these out. My most recent attempt. We all have tried this or know someone that has.....

Wow. Poor John, isn't he a great sport? You know what he's thinking. How much longer do I have to endure this torture. The rest of your life, my friend. Don't even comment on my hair, it was windy. And apparently, Lauren had business to attend to....in her nose.

Notice the expression on my face. This is the point at which I gave up.....for the evening. Next time I'll hire a professional. Or, do like my friend, Susie, and time my beach vacation for the same weekend as our photographer friend. That was pure genius, Susie. And, your beach pictures are beautiful....and make me very envious. I'm just saying.

I did get this one photo I sort of like.
Notice how I tweaked the colors to make it look antiqued, sepia, or something? Isn't that cool? Man, I love my Mac. And, my girls. Oh, and John. And, okay....I love you too, Marley. When I'm not chasing you all around the neighborhood. But, that's another story for another time.