So...

We've spent the past week doing lots of stuff, but not really anything that exciting.

I've had a setback with my asthma and have had major trouble breathing since last Wednesday. I'm seriously doubting that the new medications I'm on are going to keep things under control and I want my old drugs back! I'm going to try and get over this flare up and see how I feel before I go back to the doctor. I haven't had to call 911 yet, although I was close a couple of times, so I'll make it through.

I've have spent lots of my "free" time each day watering the grass. I think we have decided that the grass will grow and prosper if we continue to throw money at it. Please play for a few of those April showers.

I've finally finished getting all of the birthday stuff for Maggie's parties. Thank goodness she's having a small family party because I couldn't handle a big one with lots of kids to entertain. I bought the last of the stuff for her preschool party today. I'll post more on the parties after they are over with.

Ellie and Maggie are healthy and happy and keeping me busy! Ellie really is into everything these days! I think the highlight of every single one of my days is watching the girls play and interact together. I love when they make each other laugh.

Maggie has requested a baby brother and a trip to Disney World. I bet you can guess which one we'll probably get for her!!! I have NO idea how she knows about Disney World, but we have been watching Disney movies lately. So far we have seen Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Big Daddy and I hadn't seen the majority of the classics, so we've enjoyed them too. Maggie is now Princess-obsessed!She bought Cinderella with her Easter money from Grandma.

Reunited and it feels so good!

Big Daddy left the laptop for me because apparently Panera is not compatible with writing a paper. I'll still be somewhat solo this week because he has to get some school stuff taken care of. I'm also going to try to stay away from the computer some and see if I can do the chores that I keep putting off.

Our normally quiet Tuesday has been anything but quiet. The Muffin remembered that it's "The Week of The Young Child" and insisted that we go to a play in a local downtown park. (Every week is The Week Of The Young Child around here!)We shared a blanket with her friend from preschool, Sara. I think Ellie probably played more attention to the play than the big girls did, but a good time was had by all!After nap (assuming that Maggie actually goes to sleep!) I'm taking the girls to Nana's so that I can mow and water the yard. Should be fun since my asthma is acting up and I'm dizzy and have double ear aches.

Anyway...here are a few pics from the past few days.

Big Daddy and Maggie on there way to the "Noah's Ark Pajama Party" at Church.

Baby Ellie reenacting the banana incident.

Ellie & Maggie have started "baking" daily. Maggie found all of my supplies for the upcoming birthday parties and they play with this stuff for the longest time. (Yes, she always bake without her pants!!)

Ellie always double checks the pantry closet for extra supplies.

Maggie watching the play.

I Think We're On A Break

Me and my computer and me and Big Daddy. He has lots of work and school stuff going on right now, so I'm in charge of the house and he's in charge of the computer. He was so sorry to be taking the laptop away from me! As if I have nothing else to do!! So, I'll be on a break from writing and reading blogs for at least a few days. Big Daddy will be working late and then going to Panera (poor baby!) to do school work after that. I've been watering the grass for two hours and I'll be mowing tomorrow while my mom has the girls. Ellie & I also bought flowers while The Muffin was in preschool today. They are anxiously awaiting a new spot of dirt!

We had an okay weekend. Maggie & Big Daddy had fun at he pajama party while Ellie & I cleaned house. I have a few cute pictures, but I refuse to upload them on this computer because it's painfully slow.

We mourned the passing of "The Coroner" Munchkin from The Wizard of Oz. I guess you could say that he was our favorite. Big Daddy had his picture taken with him in October of 2004 at "Autumn in Oz".

I also heard this morning that Dixie Carter had passed away. I LOVED the show "Designing Women" and thought she was such a smart and attractive lady.

On another note, Ellie loves bananas so much that she ate through the peeling of one at the grocery store today! I have a picture but once again refuse to upload it. I put the bananas as far away as I could get them because she got a little excited when she spotted them. I turned around to get something off of a shelf and she had ripped one from the bunch and was biting through the peeling. I took it away, but let her eat it for snack when we arrived home.

One of my favorite things that happened this weekend was watching "The Diary of Anne Frank" on PBS. (you know we don't pay for tv around here!) I didn't watch the last 20 minutes because it just made my heart hurt so bad. I thought about the movie for the longest time after I went to bed. I tried to think of alternate, happy endings. I loved the movie when I watched it in school and that's totally why I wanted to name a baby boy Peter!

I'm sure there have been more exciting things happening around here that I should report, but the house and laundry will not take care of themselves.

Until next time...

The Weekend Ahead

Maggie has a "Noah's Ark Pajama Party" at Church tonight and her Big Daddy has graciously offered (or was told!!) to take her. She's so excited! It's only for a couple of hours, but it was an excuse to buy a new Spring/Summer Tinkerbell gown! Ellie & I will have our own pajama party at home!!

Maggie's birthday party is only two weeks away and I need to buy a couple of things to round out her gifts. I'm hoping to get this taken care of tomorrow because I cannot do it alone. Big Daddy needs to work on a project for school, so I'm not sure if he'll be able to go. I can shop while wearing Ellie, but Maggie can't be in the same store or she'll sneak a peek at what I buy.

I desperately need to shop for new clothes. I donated lots of stuff when we moved last summer because I was 39 weeks pregnant and did not care that I may actually want or need the clothes again. It's just not very conducive to shop and attempt to try on clothes with children in tow.

Maggie and I finally put the letters from her old room up today. I wanted to paint them, but she wants to leave them pink. I have an idea for a project to put in her room and I need something for Ellie's room.

Hopefully, I'll get at least one thing marked off of my list by Monday!

Happy weekend!

I think it's called homesick

(Maggie & Ellie's new stash of animals. The little ones are from "Aunt" Fran and the big ones are from "Gammy Gladys")


As my mom likes to remind me, there was a time that I wanted to be here.
It was home.

Now, I can't help but think that there (Sanford) is home.And I long to be there.

I was excited and anxious about going to Sanford. I wanted to see all of our old friends so bad. There was another part of me that was afraid that I wouldn't want to leave. That part of me was sort of right. We were there from about 10:00 until 3:00 and I wasn't ready to leave. There were so many places that we wanted to drive by. Little glimpses into our old life.

Maggie & Ellie loved seeing Gammy Gladys! Ellie didn't even want to come to me when it was time to leave. I think they would have been perfectly happy to have stayed at her house all day.

We left there and met up with our friends at a local restaurant. Ms. A and I arrived at the same time, so we went in with our two big kids and two babies and requested three highchairs. The waitress said something about us having our hands full and then Ms. K and E walked in and she met the rest of our party. Of course, we were seated in the center of the restaurant. Ellie squealed and spit milk all over the floor, E & C made dinosaur noises and Maggie explained the entire plot of "Sleeping Beauty" to Ms. K & Ms. A. We took turns holding a sleeping Baby T and talked and talked and talked. We all miss the old times, but things would have changed no matter what. The big kids were all starting preschool, our Kindermusik teacher decided to take a full-time teacher's position and A & I were having babies.

After lunch we went to the playground at a local Church. It happens to be C's preschool and right across the street from our old neighborhood. The kids went their separate ways, but reunited as we said goodbye.

E was getting tired and didn't want his picture taken!

Ms. A and I are already talking about a future marriage.

Maggie refused hugs from the boys...

so they hugged each other.

She's Not The Only One On Spring Break

This is a happy girl!!



The Muffin is on Spring break from preschool this week and we are taking full advantage of it!

You can't tell, but Baby Ellie is super-excited too!

We finished all of the laundry...

and cleaned up all of the toys...

and then kissed our Easter candy goodbye.

Now we're free to visit our special friends in Sanford!

Baby Ellie You Are 10 Months Old

Baby Ellie, you are 10 months old!!

You are still a very happy baby and such a delight to be around.
You like staying in the nursery at church and you love when we have visitors at our house.
You love playing outside and you like to feel of the grass.
The lawnmower makes you squeal.
You love to eat anything that we give you and you really like to feed yourself finger foods.
You can climb the stairs now and we really think you'll be walking before too much longer.
You have three teeth on the bottom (with one more about to pop out) and two teeth on the top (with two more non the way very soon).
You love to go in Maggie's room and get books off of her bookshelf.
You still like for Mommy to wear you in the sling or the Baby K'tan, but you like riding in the stroller for short periods of time too.

Baby Ellie, we love you so much!

It Was Easter

I took tons of pictures of Maggie and Ellie before Church on Sunday morning and these are the only ones that are even the slightest bit good.
Maggie will pose for candy. :-)

And yes, Big Daddy totally has a black eye from a little full contact fighting from last weekend.

Ellie wore the dress that was Maggie's first Easter dress.

(She only wore the headband for pictures.)

It is nearly impossible to get a picture where both girls are smiling or looking at the camera or where Maggie's arms aren't suddenly missing.

Aunt Lisa tried to get pictures of Maggie, Ellie and Callie and she found out that it's really a hard thing to do.

Maggie can tell the Easter story using Resurrection Eggs, but I think I told the "He is risen" part at least 75 times yesterday.
She has started the countdown to April 25 and keeps asking when it will be Fall.
The questions never end!

Good Friday

We played outside a lot and went to the Farmer's Market.
Baby Ellie was so tired, so she really enjoyed riding in the stroller.

Spring, Spring, Spring

We have spent so much time outside this week and we are really looking forward to being outside a lot this weekend!

Ellie has decided that she doesn't like her new swing, but Maggie still enjoys lots of time swinging.

The Easter bunny helped out with Maggie's Easter Parade at preschool. The bunny stopped traffic for us as we walked 3+ blocks to the theater for an Easter movie and then to a local park for an Egg Hunt.

Maggie actually wore her Easter bonnet the entire time!

She carefully went through all of the eggs to get the treats out.

Today, we had the Storytime Easter Egg Hunt and of course, Maggie wanted to wear the same dress.

She loves hunting for eggs!

Baby Ellie came along for this hunt and watched all of the action from the Baby K'Tan.

A Brad Update- Brad came out of the coma yesterday and once again responded to commands appropriately! After a rough night the doctors have decided to give him a little more sedation. He seems to be having some anxiety issues which causes breathing problems. Please pray that he can stay calm and continue to pray for his complete healing. All of this truly is a medical miracle.