Night Night

Last night as I was hugging Emery Grae good night I said "I love you" and she said "I love you mommy", followed by "I love your heart mommy"....."what color is it", I replied "red", "what does it do"? she said.....I made a swishing noise and explained how it pumped blood all through my body......and that was enough to satisfy her little mind!

Kayden found this outside yesterday

Curlers

Friday night as I was putting the girls' hair in sponge rollers I felt very nostalgic......it took me back to Michigan when we would visit my grandparents. Friday evenings after dinner.....house cleaned, lunch prepared for the next day, clothes ironed and ready for church, everyone freshly bathed, grandpa sitting in the living room reading with "Sabbath" music playing in the background, and sitting in my grandparents bedroom while my mom put my grandma's hair in these black prickly curlers attached with hair pins! Missing my grandparents horribly but loving that I have memories of them!

Memorial Day Weekend

We planned NOTHING this last weekend with intent of getting LOTS of yard work completed and we did just that! Shrubs manicured...heavily!! Front door and trim repainted (thanks to Jon's dad) with kick plate and new door bell installed!! Lots of flowers planted in beds, 3 hanging baskets off the back porch, various pots by the front door and also on the back porch! Square Foot Garden made and planted! We had a really great weekend being outside and the girls were able to play and play and play! They have MANY "ouchies" from falling and couple of them were pretty bad but nothing a big hug and some band aids couldn't fix! We were all filthy and tired at the end of each day but satisfied......each in our own ways!

The girls were playing with sidewalk chalk.....Kayden found a piece that had gotten wet.....she mashed it up and decided it would make some great blue gloves!!!

I grew up with my grandparents always having HUGE gardens.....loved to eat from them but quite honestly resented ALL the work involved to keep up with it, and mostly that equaled weeding!! I've grown up some and for the past couple years Jon and I have "talked" about POSSIBLY starting a small garden but it never went further than that!!! Recently my mom found a book that she graciously purchased for us on gardening in a much simpler fashion!! I read through it and decided we would give this idea a try, I must admit it was VERY simple which is exactly the point of this book!

We are going small this year and depending on the outcome (hoping for a great one!) we will plant more next year! Due to starting late we went with plants instead of seeds!

Then end result! Eggplant, 2 different kinds of tomatoes, zucchini and squash, cilantro, and red, yellow, green peppers!

We ventured out of the house on Monday (yeah for getting called off of work) and headed to Coolidge park for some water fountain play and a carousel ride! This is always fun for them but a little unnerving for me as I try to keep my eyes on them while my LOVE of people watching deters my attention!


Em HATED this fountain last year and rather chose to sit on the side and snack! This year a little braver stood by the water that was shooting out the smallest amounts possible!

Basking in the sun.....or clouds...it wasn't the prettiest day!

Carousel ride! Daddy always is the chosen one to accompany the girls as this makes me quite dizzy! There is real history to this ride!

OLD SCHOOL MAIL

We arrived home Tuesday afternoon to see a package sitting on our doorstep.....patiently waiting to be opened!!! I knew I hadn't ordered anything and so then the next assumption was it must be daddy!!! I was excited to see that it had my name on it and the girls were sure it was a present for them!!! We barely made it to the top of the steps, all three of us plopped down to the ground and tore into the box!!! We were soooo excited to find lots of hand-me-down clothes from the girls' cousin, Katchya, from Michigan!!! Kayden instantly tried on 3 outfits and Emery snagged a pair of PJ's! LOVE LOVE LOVE getting mail......old school style!!! This afternoon was like Christmas in May! We LOVE you Berner's and thanks for the clothes, shoes, and tights! They will be put to GREAT use!!!

My little nurturer....

Yesterday we most excitedly were able to keep our newest addition (who is not SO new anymore- 9 months old!) to the family....Lauren and her older sister Taylor....aka my nieces! The girls LOVE babies and so this poor helpless little human is malled each time her cousins are around!!! I am not a mother of 4 and so while we had a great day I felt behind ALL day! As I was busily trying to get Lauren's lunch together at 1215 (mommy says she eats at 1130) she was screaming on the playroom floor. I went in to try and console her for a second while waiting for the water to warm up and found my sweet nurturing 5 year old rocking her, whispering little shshshshsh's to her, and had covered her with a baby blanket that my grandmother had made for the girls. SO precious and loving. While I fed Lauren, she went into the kitchen and finished up the dishes.......

Lauren NOT understanding why her picture is being taken instead of putting food into her hungry belly!!

Preschool Graduate!!

So the oldest "graduated" from preschool!!! I have been saying for quite some time that although I would LOVE for my girls to stay baby's I have thoroughly enjoyed each new phase they enter......I'd be lying though if I said I love the fits/crying that accompany them!!! I have known all along that Jon will most likely cry when we take her to her 1st day of Kindergarten and I have been most sure that I will be OK!! Well NOT so sure about that now.......I balled my eyes out thru most of the program, reminded that Kayden is growing far to quickly. Some of these kids have grown up together and so for that reason too it is going to be sad to say good-bye at the end of the summer. They sang songs, recited the Pledge of Allegiance, received their "diploma's", and watched a slideshow of all the fun they have had together over the past few years.....this is when I had to steal Emery's blanket to soak up my tears.  I LOVE her teacher Ms Karen....I've said this a million times and I will say it again in 2 years when Emery joins her.....she loves/adores these kids like they are her own. She was crying as much as the parents were. She has done an awesome job of teaching these kids in fun ways and Kayden is MOST excited about starting Kindergarten in August!!! 

The "GRADUATE"!!

Singing one of their favorite songs "Tootie  Ta".....by the end the song (pictured below) their elbows out, knees together, eyes closed, turning in circles, bottoms out, and tongues sticking out while singing the whole song!!! Hilarious!!

Receiving her diploma

Ms Karen and Ms Jordan

We then headed back to E-kids where they had "Prom" for the kids.....they had a blast dancing, laughing, eating, and more laughing....the "night away"!!

All the frogs presented these frames to their teachers as a small thank you (it's hard to see with the picture but they spell out Ms Karen and Jordan). These are great gifts......I found the pictures here and then had them framed at Hobby Lobby (where they have lots of 50% off sales) and the teachers LOVED them! 

Terrarium FUN!!!

With the idea from a fellow blogging friend and a visit to a great used book store on Sunday where we purchased a VERY cool 70's book we put together a Terrarium this morning!!!! On Sunday Jon, the girls, and I went to a used book store called Grumpy's....fun name I think! The girls and I headed straight back to the kids section where we found and purchased 4 fun books straight from the 60's and then the book below from the 70's.....this one was on teaching about indoor gardens and terrarium's was one of the featured chapters!! So we found a very inexpensive glass container with lid along with a couple plants to place inside from a local nursery (I found out after the purchase we really could have found everything we needed in the woods rather than spending money but such is the learning experience)......everything else we found in the VERY SMALL woods behind our house! We had fun on the "scavenger" hunt to find things for our container along with putting it all together...not to mention it's a gorgeous day here in TN!! This is also a great time to talk to your kids about the ecosystem! 

My mom informed me, after showing her this book, that terrariums where a BIG thing when we were little (which was about the date of copyright).....even more enjoyable then to be sharing this idea with MY girls! 

Finished product....now sitting on the kitchen table! The girls were very proud!! 

I am now on the search for a little gnome to "man" these living quarters....

I then headed out front to let the girls play while I started working on getting the front flower bed ready for some pretty flowers! I know I'm a bit late but we've just been tied up and we're hoping this coming weekend is as pretty as today to get in lots of yard work! NOT to mention the torrential rains we've been dealing with and of all things it's been in the low 40's at night for about a week now!!! Crazy weather! So maybe the weather has given me the excuse for not planting anything yet! 

My child who loves ALL insects and worms and YUCKY stuff!!! 

Excuse the nakedness but please beware that there will be plenty more "exposure" over the summer blogging months!!! My kids HATE clothes and that's one battle I choose to loose! 

Then we surprised dadddy with a trip to the recycling place to rid of our month collections! The girls have lots of fun helping! 

It's been a good day.....only 4:00 but they are both sound asleep! I'm gonna shower and snuggle up on the couch for a little nap myself! Hope you've had a GREAT day too!!!!