Easter Sunday

I realize these are a little late in my que of posts....

...but I wanted to share some photos of the kids on Easter Sunday.



They were squeaky clean and looking pretty sharp for all of....5 minutes.



Church happened to be outside on the lawn and it was HOT. Smart momma here had chocolate easter bunnies in her bag for distractions.

That chocolate quickly made its way onto faces, hands, clothes, mommas and daddys....



I had to include this one.

This is a typical Allie pose. She grabs flowers, bugs, animals and gets her dazed/deer in the headlights look going on...

Oh Boy!

We have reached the age where A and G no longer bathe together. G and A both realize they are very different from each other and are a little too curious about their differences for me to plop them in the bathtub together.

G is potty trained. No problem there. He doesn't go in his pants, the issue is, he doesn't always go in the potty.

I have caught him going in the garage with his pants down, outside in our back yard going in watering cans (and then proceeds to water our plants), and (while in the bathtub) will go in cups that are used to rinse shampoo out of their hair during baths.

Oh boy! We've got a boy and it's trial and error for me learning how to deal with his new found freedom.

Sally, Molly, and Bouncy

Allie about flipped out the other day when she saw a caterpillar inch by.

Okay, so maybe that was me...but Allie was excited too.



I've seen those "butterfly habitats" around and have been wanting to get one for the kids, but cheap me, does things the frugal way by finding our own caterpillars and guessing on the host plant so that the caterpillar will have a plentiful food supply.



Sally and Molly (caterpillerish names if you ask me) now live in our "port a bug" mesh net.

I think we found leaves they eat (hydrangea leaves). I've also cleaned out caterpiller scat from the port a bug.

But I do admit I am no caterpillar expert and if anybody has any advice on keeping these guys alive until they spin their crysalis (sp)...I'm all ears.

If this doesn't work, I guess I'll fork over the $15 for the real butterfly habitat complete with larva and food.

UPDATE: Sally and Molly were released after noticing they were losing weight. BUUUUUUT, Allie had found a third caterpillar on Easter, named Bouncy.

Check out Bouncy now!!!!!!




We've got a cocoon! I read to allow 7-14 days and are moth friend will emerge.

The Bet

S and I had a bet.

There is a little pond (somewhat) behind our house. S thinks there are fish in said pond and that he can catch them on a fly rod.

A. I've been with him fly fishing before watching him cast his fly rod hour after hour with very few bites (not that you don't have skill babe....I know you have skill....those rivers are just lacking fish!).

B. This pond is teeny tiny miniscule. I don't believe fish exist in it.

C. I am always right, so I have no other option but winning.

The bet. If S wins, he gets one glorious weekend of sleeping in until whatever time his body allows. Me...if I win, I get a 20 minute foot massage (this is completely torture for Stephen...he hates feet. I don't think my size 5s are all that hateworthy).

Sooooo......



....It took all of 5 minutes before he starts reeling the fish in.

The kids and I are both loving S catching these little guys...but I just hate being wrong.

fisheye and artwork

Momma got a new lens. Fisheye. This one is gonna be a fun one to have in my bag.

And Gabe got a new fly swatter. I am constantly amazed by the toys we buy that they don't play with....and the toys that they choose play with.



Not a quality photo, but wanted to share Allie's artwork. I have noticed her "abstracts" are coming to life into real subjects.

Proud momma moment, but look at that giraffe! Impressive.



And check out this lion. Equally impressive.

(Poor little G wanted to help A color in the lion, but she wouldn't let him. Can you see his puckered out lip?)

Someone hand me a brick please.

I was in the kitchen all afternoon yesterday cooking, and in my efforts, left the kitchen a horrible mess.

There were dishes thrown about my entire kitchen oozing with yuck. I sat there staring at my mess for awhile wondering where on earth to begin.

Next thing I know Allie enters the room wanting me to play princess dolls with her. I told her we would play just as soon as the kitchen was cleaned and all the dishes washed.

Sweet little girl offers to wash the dishes. She is a mighty fine scrubber if I do say so myself. She cleaned every. last. one. of those pesky dirty dishes I had made. (Trust me when I say there were A LOT!)

I love her! She is my little girl who is growing up waaaaay too quickly.

Someone hand me a brick, please!!!!!!!

It's official...

It's official, we've got a boy.

candy diet

G can still wear his size 18-24 months swimtrunks from last summer. He will be 3 in a few short months.

This pair of trunks are a whopping 2T and look how they fall off of him.

I'm not surprised. He is going through a picker eater phase and would prefer to eat candy and drink strawberry milk for bfast, lunch and dinner. Obviously he doesn't get his way...or his pants would stay up.

???

Here's another "pk" example for you.

This one is going to be blown up 20x20 and hung over our fireplace.

Miss K and Mr. M

What a blessing to have some more of our wonderful P'ville friends make the two hour journey to come visit us in Hickory.

We left a lot of wonderful friends behind - these guys are part of the bunch.

Allie and Miss K were sleepover buddies in P'ville. Needless to say, when I mentioned Miss K and her family were coming our way for a sleepover in Hickory, Allie was beside herself.













Miss you guys!!!!!!!

Open invitation to come back anytime.

Day 3

"Pk" is a term often used in relating to preacher's kids. I've also heard "pk" used relating to photographer's kids. I've got PKs in the sense that they rebel regarding anything photography.

They challenge me, these two of mine.



We headed to the beach one evening while in Marco to get some pics of the kids.

I'm dissapointed in how they turned out. I realize though, that I am extra critical and may see things in these photos that some of you may not.

Partly because I am not where I want to be with my photography and I get SO frustrated when photos don't turn out like I see them in my head.

And partly because I'm dealing with two kiddos who give me 1.2 seconds to get my perfect shot before they move on to playing in the sand and throwing sand balls at one another.



I know the grands will love these pics. That really is all that matters. (Welcome back to the country guys!!!)



By the way, Days 1 and 2 posts won't happen - so this post concludes our trip photos. I'm entitled to change plans for this blog right?

Skinny dippin' - Day 4

As I mentioned before G was shedding his floaties by the end of our trip to FL.

He would inch himself around the perimeter of the pool, hop out, and do it all over again.

It turns out, the floaties weren't the only thing he was shedding.



I made the mistake of letting G shed his swim trunks one afternoon, and from that day forward he wanted to wear nothing but his birthday suit to swim.

Day 5

This is my in-laws dog, Henna.

Besides the fact that she would win the award for "most shedding dog", she is just about perfect. So gentle with the kids and Henna loved when they would love on her.

Henna - thank you for sharing your territory with two lively kids. You're a good girl and deserve more than one cookie a day.



A and G are definitely water babies.

They were asking to get in the pool every free moment they could find. Not that G can swim, but by Day 5, he preferred being in the pool without floaties (thanks for leaving the boogie boards Jodi).

Day 6

Since I started with a photo from Day 7 of our trip. Let's continue counting backwards and I will share a few photos from each day - in reverse order.

Day 6.

We headed out on the boat for our last day. We beached it on a little island called Coconut. Lots of sand and shells, dolphins, sunshine, swimming, and fishing.





G sat on the back of the boat for the longest; fishing all by his 2 1/2 year old self - casting and all. He's a natural. I went back to check on him and a little "whiting" was chasing his bait. I helped him out a little and we reeled one in.



Allie is not bad herself. She also reeled in a fish with a little assistance.

They will be proud to show off their fishing skills to their daddy later this summer.

Jet Plane

We've been on a jet plane. Destination - Marco Island.

I was very fortunate on our flight home, for two reasons:

1. I met a sweet angel named Ruth. I was flying solo with the kids and Ruth stepped right to help me juggle the kids and our luggage. She even passed on her assigned seat to sit across the aisle from us.

2. G decided to sleep on our return flight. He fell asleep during liftoff and woke as we were descending.

I know the good Lord had his hands on this.

Stay tuned for vacation photos....I blew threw a couple of memory cards.