Mother's Day

 
Over the past few years I have come to learn that if you want something to be amazing and a certain way then you just have to tell the one who is in charge of making it happen. Since I have started spelling everything out and maybe even "planning" my own special days, they have been exactly what I wanted them to be and more. So on to Mother's Day 2012. 

 (Well after you enjoy this incredibly cute picture of little Claire.)

Let me back up just a little and show you this picture of how lovely our garden looked the end of April.  

 Yea, I know. Lovely isn't it?

So lovely I just had to show you another.

and last, but not least, one other spot in our yard.

This lucky fella happened to have a ONE week break before I lost him to Purdue again for a grueling summer filled with lots of studying and exams.  I saw my window of opportunity and I grabbed it. My Mother's day gift consisted of turning our "lovely" garden into a "wow I really like that garden", garden. (not to be confused with the "wow I wish I had that back yard and that garden" kind of garden, of which I plan on trying to accomplish next year. Ha, if only we were no longer students!)

 

So with a little bit of help from these hard workers and...

this fabulous working station. (added this picture just for you Caroline. I knew you would love the "folding chair" I mean cutting table on the right)

and he changed this lovely garden into this...

Then jumping ahead to today, since really we just didn't take any more pictures after all the boxes were in, here is what it looks like today.

Small disclaimer: Indiana is in a drought. It is kind of crazy, but no one here waters their lawn. So as you can see when we got back from Utah we had dormant grass. Crossing our fingers that it rains a lot in July.

Thanks for all the hard work. This present just keeps on giving...umm anyone want zucchini? I am seriously amazed at how big our carrots have gotten. They are so yummy! Our cherry tomatoes have grown out of control and I can't wait for all the green fruit to turn red. Remember last year yep the bunny is back and driving us crazy. Dang bunny!

Ten

I will start with the typical saying...10 years! Seriously where has the time gone. It doesn't seem like 10 years ago, it seems like yesterday that we took the plunge. Boy has it been one crazy ride. Here is to 10 more! Love you!

May

Has brought many wonderful things so far. Warm weather, when one day we are setting up the pool and the next we are putting on jackets, but it has been perfect. The most amazing thing, it cools down at night. Last night when I actually started to freeze because the windows were open I thought in a couple months I am going to be dreaming for this weather to come back!

 The first week of May I finished a quilt for some friends that were getting married and since I had a deadline, the whole house was left unattended and this is what happened while I finished this:

Marcella got put on dinner duty. Since both parents were missing in action...(Jon upstairs working on his Finals and I on the couch quilting) She makes some killer popcorn, Yum!

Claire had something else in mind... any guesses? 

This would have to be one of the times in my life I just rolled with the punches.

I walked into the other room and saw this, and right before I FREAKED Out, I thought well, it isn't that big of a deal is it? I am worried the amazingly wet wet sand will ruin the carpet, so how about we just get a table cloth and let her go at it. At least I will know what she is doing.

When asked, "Claire, what are you doing?"

She replied, "Sand inside, YAY!! FUN!" as she is clapping and cheering.

And...I did it, I ran another half marathon. I did a trail run this time and fell once so I got a little muddy and my brand new shoes... not so pretty any more, but it felt good to finish. Thank yous to my little support team, running with me and cheering me along the way. You guys are the best!

Wow!

2 months since my last post. I bet you all were wondering if I had fallen off the planet. Well, nope I haven't. We have just been a little busy around here. So let me recap everything that has been going on to see if I can pick up where I left off. From the last picture you would expect that Claire would be potty trained. Yea, nope no cigar. She loves to go in her diaper and then go sit on the potty. My only hope is that at least she realizes she has gone... slow progress and I am counting the small miracles. So without further ado here is March in a nut shell.

Grandpa came to visit! Everyone was so excited to have him come. Marcella taught him how to play Castle Crashers and my favorite part was listening to this dialogue. 

Marcella: Grandpa you don't have to keep pushing those buttons.

Grandpa: Well I am trying to get back up. which buttons do I press?

Marcella: no, Grandpa, you are dead! 

We had loads of fun playing at the park, eating yummy food and talking family history. 

This guy was on Spring break so it was fabulous to have him home to spend time with us and Grandpa. 

I on the other hand left half way through and wen to meet my new soon to be sister in-law and hang out with this handsome fella. (oh I wish I could hug you right now!)

Funny that these are the only pictures I have. I really need to take more pictures!

 I flew home with my parents and the next day Jon and I left for the 4C's conference in St. Louis, MO. Can I just say that was the coolest city I have been to in a while. Seriously everything was free or practically free.  We stayed in this sweet Bed and Breakfast which was right next to this sweet quaint park that I could go running at. We also had some amazing ice cream, fabulous pizza (which later we found out it is because they use provolone cheese instead of mozzarella, so it is super creamy when it is melted. It was yummy.) had a fabulous dinner at a fancy restaurant, and just enjoyed not having kids for 4 days. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

Yes enjoyed it so much that we even went to the zoo without kids. So random, but super fun and Free! I think our next vacation with the kids will be back to St. Louis. 

(a few more pictures for your enjoyment.)

We ended the month hanging out with my parents for a few days after we got back from St. Louis and yes this was the ONLY picture I took. Marcella was so excited to give grandma a pedicure and manicure. She had a blast.  Thank you so much for coming and please come again soon!

The love of a sister

is doing small things to help accomplish the big things.
                                                                    <3 you! 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Last year, I remember being reminded that it was Dr. Seuss' birthday and quickly planned a fun dinner menu of Green eggs and Ham. (which seriously was hard for me to even eat green eggs and I was the one who dyed them. I knew they were safe....still.) Well now that Marcella is in kindergarten I had fair warning about his birthday and went back and forth on if we were going to do any kind of celebrating. On Wed. Heather kindly informed me that Marcella told her that "We give presents on Dr. Seuss' birthday!" Say what?! seriously? I think she was just trying to pull a fast one over me. So at dinner that night I said Marcella why did you tell Heather we give presents on Dr. Seuss' birthday? Jon kindly piped in "well we did last year." Wow, I must have been out in left field picking daisy's when all of this gift giving took place, because I have NO recollection of any gift giving. Well I felt the need to step it up just a tad and actually come up with a plan, because I was not eating dyed eggs again this year. So I give you our day of Celebrating Dr Seuss.

First up Breakfast:

Seussical Pancakes (or add food coloring to your batter and magic!)

 

 Lunch: 

 Cat in the Hat Skewers (bananas and strawberries)

 Grinich Spinach: Kale Chips (which were a bit hit with Marcella. whonu!)

 Fish: Gold fish Crackers (to go with one fish two fish et.)

 Cubed Ham and Cheese

 For Dessert: Cat in the hat Oreo hats and green eggs and ham (sorry no pictures, but you can see what they looked like here.) 

Guests: Wilson's and Hartwell's. I watched the boys while Heather went on Lori's field trip that day. They had a lot of fun helping me get the treats ready for Lunch.  I wish I would have taken pictures. Dang.

Girlies on one side and

 Boys on the other.

After lunch we made Oobleck. So so fun. I am not sure if the kids had more fun playing with it or if I did. It is just one of those things that your brain can't figure out. Why is it hard one minute and then dripping off your fingers the next? Loved it.

Yes Claire even loved tasting it. Good thing it is just corn starch and water.

Next up reading by Deidra while we cleaned up our kitchen. I also spaced that we made these cookies. side note: they did not turn out anything like that, but they were delicious!

 By the time dinner rolled around I was tired! So some of the things I had planned on doing got crossed out.  All in all here is the menu I was planning:

Dinner: 

Poodles of Noodles: pasta salad

Thing 1 and Thing 2 BBQ: pulled pork sandwiches

Diffendoor Salad: Fruit Salad

Yot in a Pot: Baked Beans

Schlotts Knotts: rolls

Green Eggs: deviled eggs (these not so bad)

Pink Ink: Raspberry Lemonade

Next up: Presents! 

Documented so next year I will remember they:

Each got a Dr. Seuss book. I Highly recommend the MY Book about Me. Marcella has loved it and it asks so many questions that I never would have thought to document. for example: My house has ____ windows and there are ____ forks in my house. Marcella filled out most of it that night and I have had a few laughs reading what she has written. Did you know she can stand on her hands for 1 sec. Her longest walk was 10 miles? She has swam 5 miles and 10 feet? Her longest hair is no inches! WOW, I am learning new things everyday.   They also got a Dr. Seuss memory game.

No Birthday would be complete without some cake! 

Question: What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book?

Mine: What was I scared of?

Wow

As I was closing all my browser windows so I could make myself go do laundry or something useful and productive I laughed and thought well at least I have learned something today. First I learned how to be more efficient in house cleaning, how to save on grocery shopping, how to pack for a 10 day stay in a tiny little carry on bag, how to cook amazing meatballs, and figured out what to do for Dr. Seuss' Birthday tomorrow. Now I just need to apply what I have learned and get to work! What have you learned today?

Today I was day dreaming that

I was kissing this handsome man and we were back in Verbania

               

or even just sitting on the beach of the Cinque Terre. Either one would be heavenly.

What were you dreaming of today?

Today

Jon says that Wednesdays and Thursdays are my DAYS OFF. Yes it is true that I do not have these two cute girls for 3 hours in the morning on those days, but I was thinking about making my list of what I needed to do today and I thought I would share it with you. 

 

This is what I am going to try to get done in exactly 2 hours and 45 min. I will let you know how I did. But I have to ask... what does your day off look like?
ps: after one hour and twenty two minutes I may or may not have decided to stop working on my list... besides I need something to do on my day off tomorrow. 
ps 2: So Claire decided to just throw up last night...then today she was completely fine... so much for my day off. ;)

Oh to be little

   Have you ever had the feeling that as a mother you have been expecting nothing less than perfect from your oldest? I believe this week I have been reminded by Jon more than once that I needed to remember that Marcella is only 6 years old. I have had to step back and relax a little when it takes longer than a second to get a job done. Or continue to ask politely for her to do something even if it has been the millionth time I have asked.

   I watch this little one so eager to learn and explore the world around her and instead of taking time to really listen and help her explore I have been spending more time making sure she always hangs up her coat and backpack when she gets home, cleans up her room, does her jobs, just goes to bed! and on and on.
   The the other day I watched Marcella open her new umbrella and walk out to the bus stop. She reminded me of a miniature business women heading out to conquer the world and I realized that all too soon she would be doing just that. Sooner than I think she will no longer want to curl up in my bed and have me read to her as we snuggle. Soon she will care more about what her friends think than what I do. I am letting precious moments slip away. I need to slow down listen, relax and Laugh.
I am glad I slowly started learning this the other day as I enjoyed overhearing the joy and imaginations of two giggly girls as they were trying to get to Fairyland.

I will try a little harder this week to keep that simple joy and laughter in my home. Thanks for the fabulous reminder little Cella.