Uncle Dale

Uncle Dale was in town from Spain...somehow his visits tend to coincide with birthday parties...this time it was Little D's 'Frincess Party'.

All four grandkids with Great Uncle Dale...Eli is clearly thrilled.
3 out of 5 looking at the camera was as good as it was going to get!

March In Like a Lion...

If it is dumping snow in Georgia...does that constitute the month of March coming in like a lion?? I don't really get that saying. Does that make me stupid?? :)

Either way...it IS dumping snow in Georgia!!

Kevin and Chloe efficiently made a snow-person in the front yard before he headed into work.

I did not make my Piggly-Wiggly run yesterday for milk, bread or hot chocolate...even with all the 'it might snow tomorrow hype'...feeling like a slacker Southerner...cause guess what...

we are out of milk.
(only because BOTH children decided they needed TWO bowls of cereal this morning...oh, and Kevin and I dived into the cereal after a disgusting night of The Bachelor...which I don't watch by the way...I watched the finale to be relevant...) But really...I don't watch the show on a regular basis! No judgement on those of you who do. :)

In other news...Kevin has our Disney pictures on his new Mac Book. Just a second...let me wipe the drool from my chin...HIS COMPUTER ROCKS!! I do all my important work (i.e. Facebook and this here blog) on my Toshiba...has served me well ever since my Brother-in-law gave it to me. (Thanks, Rob!) But I may have a slight case of the covets...

It took 5 minutes to upload 73 pictures to my Facebook page...ok...maybe a little more than that...but only because I couldn't figure out his computer...all that one click...swipe...2 finger swipe Mac lingo that I am completely illiterate in... But SERIOUSLY!!! That was awesome!

So, I am hoping to use his fancy-pants computer to upload our photos for your enjoyment and possibly to make you as covetous as me...not really, but we did have a FABULOUS time.

Yep. I think I have accomplished my 'most random post' yet!!

Pictures to come!!

TMI

I just changed Eli's second dirty diaper in 20 minutes...

He told me it was a 'Big One' and that it was a 'Surprise.'

And it was...both.

I realize that was probably Too Much Information for most of you...

...but it felt necessary to document the glamour that is my every day life.

and....We're Back...

and we are missing Disney.

I found Chloe on the couch last night snuggling her Little Mermaid doll with the saddest face ever. She was missing Disney and the Princesses. She was wishing we could live there. I have to say I am feeling her pain. I am missing Disney too. And I honestly got tears in my eyes when I saw how excited my little girl was to meet the Princesses. It was magical.

We had an AMAZING week with the fam down in Florida! How does one summarize 4 days in the 'Happiest Place on Earth'?

With pictures probably...and oh, will there be pictures!!!

But first, I will offer a teaser...

Prince Charming asked Chloe to dance with him and she said 'no'.
You read that right. She. Said. No.
Who needs him when she has her Daddy? (cue the tears)

Packing Monster

I have to put it out there...

We are going to Disney World.

In two days.

2.

I am excited.

So. Excited.

Small problem of the not-so-small variety.

The Packing Monster.

I. Hate. Packing.

I have conquered mountains of laundry.

Unearthed bathing suits. (trying to be optimistic)

Bought snacks.

Thought and thought and thought about what to pack.

Yet...here I sit.

Should be packing.

But the Monster...it paralyzes me.

Always has.

"Monsters aren't real!! Monsters aren't real!"

"I can do this!"

"It's just clothes. If you forget something...you will live."

"Just. Pack."

Crafty Person Imposter

I feel a little ridiculous for posting this for a couple reasons:

1. It may make me appear to be crafty.
(which at one stage of my life, I hoped to be. However in my REAL life I have rarely attained success in this area.)

2. This 'craft' is so easy it really does not need a step-by-step, picture tutorial on how to do it.
None-the-less, I have put together a step-by-step, picture tutorial.

I should mention that this step-by-stepping is a wee bit stressful. Especially when, said non-crafty person, does a couple of the steps without photologically (like that?) documenting those steps.

Heavy sigh.

Alas...

Here we go:

The supplies minus the pen, double-sided tape and blue sparkly paper.

Note: when your child picks out sparkly paper that does not coordinate to your personal liking,

remind yourself that these are HER Valentines.

Stick your thumb gently on the ink pad.

Note: When your daughter presses-with-all-of-her-might into the ink pad...

remind yourself to be patient. These are HER Valentines.

First thumbprint, slightly angled.
Insert photo of second thumb print here.


Flip flop this picture with the next picture.
Then:
Measure your accent paper to be just bigger than the first card,
but smaller than the largest card.
Note: When you make the accent paper smaller than you meant to...
don't get frustrated with yourself. These are HER Valentines.

Write something witty on the Valentine.
We went with
"I give you 2 THUMBS UP!"
Note: After writing 'THUMBS' a gazillion times, rest assured that you did, in fact, spell 'THUMBS' correctly.
(I spell checked it.)
It only looks weirder the more times you write it.

With double sided tape, layer your cardstock.
Note: When your daughter tapes things a little off center and a little bit crooked...leave it alone.
say it with me...
They are HER Valentines.

We (Chloe) had the fantabulous idea of using PINK for girls and BLUE for boys.
We don't mind stereotypes in our house.

Pretty cute, huh??
If I could do this, so can you...

Just remember...

They are HER Valentines!!!

I May Not Have a Future In Roller Derby

Sooo...
How much attention do you pay to your tailbone?? Me either...until last night.
A few friends and I decided to go roller skating last night...without our kids.
(Pretty sure we were the only people there that were not accompanied by someone below the age of 10.)

Let me give you the stats:
M. is a closet Olympic Roller Skater. She can do fancy turns. Cross her feet on the curves. She can even skate backwards.
L. admitted to having not skated since she was in middle school. But resurrected her two skate jump. (with a 1 inch vertical. Impressive.)
Me...well...let's just say I can do the 'windmill'. Which is more of a balancing act than an actual skill.

After about 10 minutes of 'finding our skates' we started to get brave. M. (the show off) can move freely from skating forward or backward at will...L. and me asked for a tutorial... Miss Confidence says, "You just go like this..." SPLAT! She was the forerunner for wipe outs.

L.'s came next...she says she was "break dancing"...but the bruised wrist tells us differently.

My crash came only after 15 minutes of skating in the 'safe zone' in the middle of the rink...practicing our skills. I had almost mastered skating backwards (very slowly...and without sticking out my tongue or making a severe concentration face...so much to think about!!!) So, I call attention to myself with "Hey, look! I'm doing it!!! I look totally relaxed....I can do this!!" Then BIFF!!! right back onto my bum...smack dab on the ol' tailbone!!

So. much. pain. Shake it off! Shake it off!!

Somehow we all manage another 30 laps and Christian skate night comes to a close.
Lots of,
"Oh my aching back."
"Ouch, my wrist really hurts"
"Oh, my tailbone!"


We waddle to the skate return. Retrieve our shoes. And head home to watch Whip It. (Movie about a girl who joins a roller derby team)

A. meets us at my place fully adorned in her Roller Derby gear...absolutely HILARIOUS!!

Laughed. So. Hard.

Today, I have been shuffling around like an old lady...groaning each time I have to bend over or pick someone up. But, SO WORTH IT!

Fun, fun memories. We still got it girls!

Kickin' it old school.

She confessed to googling roller derby.

She could have passed for the real deal, don't you think?!

We are so tough. Tapioca tough.

Pain killers all around!