Reach the sky

{Plop! Thud! Boom} Aeralind falls off a chair for the third or fourth time today.

M: "Whew!  Ya'll are clumsy today. Are you growing?"
A: Yesth
M: Are you going to be four feet taller by Monday?
A: Yesth, then I can touch the sky.  And do ballerinas.

Mama Loves: Mr. Eric

You probably have no idea who this guy is.  I didn't either until April when my sister brought the first of his 3 books on the New York Bestselling Books list. Pete the Cat.

(this is Bronwyn reading/singing Pete the cat about 2 months ago at naptime)

Since then Mr. Eric has been an obsession. We've taken out all the subsequent Pete the Cat books from the library.  We've borrowed The Big Silly and sung loudly "I WANT CHOCOLATE PIE!"  My mom even got them some great Learning Groove CDs that come with printable material and lessons.

But nothing compares to seeing Mr. Eric at the local library.  It was like a fast forward to their teenage years.

Aeralind sat quietly soaking in the music and struggling with a little bit of over stimulation.  But she loved it so much she still talks about it.

But let me tell you, Bronwyn is the type of girl to go body surfing in a mosh pit.  No lie.  My tall but tiny sprite literally stole the show.  Bronwyn stood up doing all of Mr. Eric's hand motions, jumping up and down, dancing, and scream-singing every song she knew.  Every grown up in the crowded room watched Bronwyn with mirth and she scarcely knew that anyone existed but Mr. Eric.  (Lord, help us when she has her first crush/heartbreak!)

I promise you, your little ones will adore Mr. Eric too!

Linking up with Julia today.

I'm still alive... sorta

I've got a lot going on right now.

Lots of ideas brewing.

Half-written heart-full posts.

My third Moleskine filled to the margins with gratitude.

Little girls and boys giggling.

Birthday twins so soon!

Niece here to visit.

Summer days starting to feel the twinge of fall.

Accidents and God-coincidences.

So much transition.

Stealing some time to write here just hasn't been happening.

Oh, but there's so much I need to process.  So much I need to share.  I need to carve out writing time, because in writing I chart growth.  I'll be back soon.  Just let me get through the next week.

A Week of Fun

We've had quite the fun week here on our birthday week stay-cation.  I'll probably write a bit more later, but right now I just wanted to say that we're missing these sweet girls.  I'm so glad they came to visit!

Cow Appreciation Day

Today at Chick-fil-a's nationwide you can get a free entree or meal for dressing like a cow (depending on your degree of cow dressing. Is that like salad dressing?).

We corralled the sick babies and plopped them in a grow with me dress creation (I hope it'll last for 12 years of free chicken.  It's on year 2 already!) and took them out for breakfast.  They barely ate, but there were some smiles and friendly chatter so it was totally worth it :)  Plus I think the apple juice made their day :)

Return of the Nebulizer

She's baaaaaack!  Along with no sleep, a cranky baby, and this time a fever that just can't be kicked.  We're hanging in here by grace alone.

Grinning Girls

Sisters

Sometimes snacking and chatting with your sister on a chair together is the best thing on earth (waaaa! I miss my Kaykers!)

Cozy

Crazy little girls unzipped the futon cover and climbed right in their little nest... along with a stuffed giraffe and a couple of pillows.

It's just a jug of milk!

I realize this is nothing special to you.  I mean seriously.  It's just a gallon of milk.

But it's a gallon of milk that my husband picked out.  I pulled it out and looked at it oddly.  Why on earth did he buy a name brand gallon of milk?  And then I saw it.

As 'green' as I seem, there are certain things that I just can't afford.  Adding a 3rd child to our litter puts us in the low income bracket (not that there's anything wrong with that!  We live richly because we have very little debt!).  I just can't afford organic foods.  I can't.  Unless it's on super sale.  Don't judge me please.

I buy local when stuff is in season and most of that would be 'organic' if they could pay the thousands of dollars it takes to be USDA Organic certified. I even have a CSA share that I'll start receiving in August.  I want to support my local farmers and that's important to me.   But buying organic... it just isn't somewhere that I'm willing to invest our tiny bit of extra monthly money.

So back to the milk.  Derek bought it.  And you see that little bit right there?

No growth hormones.  We just finally switched the girls over to full dairy (including milk) and I had been repeating that I really didn't want to pump their little bodies full of growth hormones. 

Apparently, Derek listens to my strange rants.  What a guy!

First Movie

We've had a snotty little week.  And I'm unfortunately not talking about the attitudes of certain toddler girls (or their mother).

Green mucous.

Sleep-less nights.

Grumpy toddlers.

Grumpier tired mother.

Let's just say it's not been fun and leave it at that.

The girls were introduced to their first round of 'television'.  A Veggietales move got plopped into the computer in a desperate attempt to enjoy 30 minutes of no whiny people (again... including mommy).  It worked for 15 minutes.  I'll take that any snotty day.

Just some snippets of the everyday

Daily Activity

Sometimes the activites these girls get themselves into crack me up!

Aeralind dyes her hair for the first time... with soot.

Favorite building blocks. They have a whole shelf of cans in my pantry. This is what they do while I fix dinner.

Pool Joy

Pondering the Mundane

I don't always do the best job of capturing the mundane.

I'm sort of a global person by nature.  I love big ideas, theology, writing papers that are 30 pages (or more) long, and trying to see how every little piece fits in the large picture.

But part of the downfall of being a global thinker is that sometimes I just miss the little stuff.  I don't express gratitude for it and sometimes I hardly know it's happening.

Here's a feeble attempt to help me truly see and celebrate those mundane moments that are happening.  Today we ate cream cheese coated crackers, colored a picture, and got TWO boxes filled with goodies!

Chanwey

My sweet friend Chanwey and her girls, Shiloh and Kayla (with a little Aeralind too!). 

Perspectives

This is what lunch time looks like around here.  Aeralind in Purple.  Bronwyn in Pink.

A Box and some Trash

I promise I didn't pose this. They spent over 30 minutes in the box together throwing around plastic bags. They crack me up!

Birthday Cake

My Birthday Cake: Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling and Stabilized Whip Cream Frosting.

The cover image cake from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, except that I used whipped cream instead of Lemon Buttercream to frost it.  If you like to bake and you like whole grains, I can't recommend this book highly enough.  No one would guess this cake is 2/3 whole grains ;)

Snow?!

Why, yes, I do live in South Carolina.... and this is my yard today.