Saturday, March 31, 2012

Tulip Time

We spent the morning at Botanica.  It was wonderful.  The tulips can't help but inspire the photographer in you.  Here are my morning pics.  I'm sure you've all been waiting for them.

Not only is it stylish, its functional too.  It provides shade in just the right spot and keeps the hat free of sweat rings.
I promise.  We didn't pick these flowers.



They always have a good time.
Love these girls.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Botanical Gardens

 Last spring we bought a family membership to Botanic.  I wasn't sure how often we'd go, but I couldn't pass up the $25.00 Groupon. 

We have really loved it and I think I'll buy it again next year.  These are some pictures from the year.  We may have more after we visit on Saturday.  The tulips are beautiful this time of year.  The children you may not recognize are our friends Rylie and Jordan.










These pictures were taken in the Children's Garden.  It was new last summer and the kids absolutely love it.










These were taken in January during their Illumination light display.


     






They took their little princesses to play in the fairy houses.

Updates

I wanted to write a few updates since this is mostly a journal to help me remember things.

The girls really like their bedroom now.  And, for some reason, they keep the room cleaner.  Maybe its the still the newness.  Maybe I've created better organization.  Maybe they're just older.  Whatever the reason, I like it.  I never got the mystery stain out of the quilt so I gave in and bought a new one.  That is something I would normally NEVER do, but I got a great deal on the first one and had a little money left over.

They have transitioned to taking a nap every other day.  They were still sleeping well every afternoon, but bedtime was getting more and more difficult.  Some nights they were still awake when Will and I went to bed.  I miss the time alone each afternoon, but I enjoy my evenings even more.  There are nights they are asleep by 7:30.  Heavenly. 

I have an important announcement to make.  Emma is almost five and is finally sleeping through the night!  No more blanket problems.  No more sleep walking.  No more night terrors.  No more waking me at 2:00 in the morning just to talk because she's bored.  Hallelujah.  We are all happier in the mornings.

Spring has come early this year and we are thoroughly enjoying it.  I have been spending a lot of time on these super cute, comfortable, gliding rockers that I bought last fall. My parents gave me some money for my birthday and told me to "do something for yourself".  These chairs provide me serenity, comfort, and the perfect reading place.  I can also watch the girls play in the front yard, which is loads of fun.
On a somewhat side note, while they were playing two days ago, Taylor was stung by a wasp.  They are too terrified to go out front now.  Don't worry, I have set up a home-made wasp trap.  I have not caught anything yet.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Worms

This week is Spring Break.  It has rained everyday so far.  Now, yes, my kids only go to school three mornings a week, but I will still hoping for a little more "outside" time.  I finally let them play outside in the rain yesterday.

We took a walk with umbrellas up and down our street.  We did some guessing and experimenting with things that sink and float and watched things "float down the river".  The best part, though, was the number of worms that had made their way into the street gutter.  There were TONS of them!

I don't really mind bugs (except when a large spider surprises me in an unexpected place).  The girls LOVE bugs.  They would search and catch bugs all day long.  Yesterday there was one particularly huge worm.  Really long, fat, and squishy.  Almost reptilian.  My stomach turned a little bit just looking at it.  Taylor picked it up.  Emma then tried to pick up a smaller.

Emma:  I can't pick it up.  He's too slimy.  Can you do it for me?
Taylor:  You can do it.  Just use your finger nails.

My stomach turned a little bit again.  About a month ago, our pastor talked about a book in his sermon,
That's Disgusting Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion by Rachel Herz.  It explains that many of the things we believe to be disgusting are learned.  We are taught that certain things are disgusting, even if it is based solely on opinion.  I have thought about this a lot since then.  I don't want to pass on my irrational fears to my kids.  

So.....I didn't say anything about the worm.  About how incredibly disgusting it was that she was digging her fingernails into that juicy grossness.  I just made them wash their hands really well when we got in the house.

Emma was cold by the time I brought out the camera and just wanted to go in.  I did get a few shots of Taylor, though.


Friday, March 16, 2012

Irish Heritage

 
Last year, Taylor was the grumpy one.  This year is was Emma.  She absolutely did not want her picture taken.
She was then super sad that her picture was not taken.  The camera man was very patient with us.
 Since St. Patrick's Day is on a Saturday this year, the Rainbows United Annual Blarney Breakfast was held today, Friday.  You can read more about our person connection to it here.  Our plan was to wake them up at 6:10 and leave by 6:15.  Taylor was awake at 5:00 and finally got up at 5:50.  I think she was just as excited as she was on Christmas morning.  She's taking a nap now.  We all had a good time, but they still cover their ears when the bagpipers start playing.

I always enjoyed St. Patrick's Day.  I wore green and looked for people to pinch.  I now have a love for it.  Will's dad is full Irish.  In fact, he looks a bit like a tall leprechaun.Will is half Irish.  The girls, therefore, are at least a quarter Irish.  I'm not really sure about my heritage, but I'd bet there's some Irish in there somewhere.  Anyway, its fun to celebrate our pasts. I think I'll do a bit more digging into mine.


These pictures were taken with Grandpa H on his birthday.  Do you see the leprechaun resemblance?

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Big Girl Room

Emma has been in a toddler bed since she turned two.  A few months ago she finally started asking when she would get a big bed.  I've been excitedly planning their new big girl room ever since.  I have to admit, I was sad to take down the "nursery" decorations.



We took the girls to my parents' house for the weekend so we could just get it all done and bring the girls home to a nice new room.

We got them both new mattresses, Emma, a new bed ($7.50 at an estate sale!) , painted the room, and redecorated.  We worked hard all weekend.  I'm really not sure I've worked that hard in a long time.  I was so excited, though, about the way it turned out.  I just knew the girls were going to love it.



Emma and Taylor love princesses and fairies, so I was super excited when I found these vintage placemats at an estate sale for $2.50 and the vintage Cinderella coloring book for a quarter!  The curtain rod is for them to showcase some of their favorite pieces of art.

Do you remember that I said we took the girls to my parents' house for the weekend?  That means they had not taken a nap in three days.  That is important to the rest of this story. 

We pulled into our driveway and Taylor saw her old mattress sitting by the curb.  This was a very old blue floral mattress that was beginning to get holes in the side.  Taylor asked what it was.  We told her it was her old mattress because we got her a new one.  She began to cry.  A lot.  She said she loved that mattress and didn't want any other mattress.  The crying continued as she walked in to see her new room.  I'm not sure she even noticed anything else.

Emma had the reaction we were looking for.  She was so excited saying, "It's beautiful!"  "I love my new bed!"  She then hopped onto her bed, with her shoes on.  She moved and saw this.


She immediately started sobbing, saying "I'm so sorry.  I didn't mean to." 
I don't know what it is, but it seems to be oil based and so far, isn't coming out.  She finally stopped crying.

They are both finally asleep and they both expressed gratitude as we tucked them into bed.  I guess Taylor decided her new mattress wasn't too bad after all. 

Will said, "I had grand visions of their reactions and thought we should get out the video camera."

I did too, but boy am I glad we didn't.