the Totally Awesome Fun Busy Worth-It Georgia Aquarium!

We spent Saturday at the Georgia Aquarium!
It was awesome!
The girls were awesome!
The fish were awesome!
I would do this again in a heartbeat...on a weekday! :)


I think I finally figured out how to post a slideshow, but just in case, here's the link!

Oh my.... kudzu!

I went on the most beautiful road trip yesterday! I was enchanted with how beautiful Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia were! I was surrounded by green grass and tall tall GREEN trees all day long! Anyone who doesn't think the South is beautiful, well, they're crazy!

That being said, I was surely grateful to enjoy it from the inside of my air-conditioned car! :)

And I didn't enjoy the freak thunderstorm in Alabama with zero visibility, white-knuckle driving and out of control lightning in the middle of the afternoon.

But here are a few notes.

Mississippi, especially the eastern half, wins the award for best roads! Smooth, clear and QUIET! (Alabama gets a big fat fail on this one!)

Birmingham, Alabama has no interstate going into the western side of this rather large city. Seriously! You have to get off the state highway, wind around on crappy roads through the shady side of town with all the semi's to get to the interstate! It was crazy!

But I was intrigued by the green, leafy vines in Georgia! EVERYwhere!

I called my Mom this morning and it is called Kudzu!

It was originally brought to the US from Asia as a "solution" to erosion. It got a bit out of hand! It's everywhere!!!! It grows on trees, power lines, signs, over the grass.
At least it's pretty! But I bet there are a good many gardeners down here who hate it!!!

On the road again...

Expect a slew of pictures when I get back and can post pics from all our travels.

In the mean time, greetings from

He went thatta way!

We had a girls' lunch at Chik-Fil-A before leaving town with Grandma, Teriney and her kids.

The play area was closed to clean a "spill".

We were the lucky group sitting by the door that got to explain it to several groups.

A boy and girl walked up to the doors to go play.

Me: the play area is closed today.

girl: why?

Me: they're cleaning it.

girl: why?

Me: someone had an accident and they're cleaning it.

boy: who?

Me: I don't know. (this is where a six year old boy gives us the third degree)

boy: was it a boy or a girl?

Me: I don't know.

boy: how old were they?

Me: I don't know, it's just closed to clean it during lunch. sorry.

(boy and girl walk away, looking doubtful that we weren't leading them astray to keep the play area to ourselves)

Grandma: it was a boy about your age!

Me and Teriney: (laughing so hard we are going to make more "spills"!)

ps-while the girls were disappointed to not play, I love Chik-Fil-A! I can't eat there all the time, my stomach would rebel, but I just love going to a clean place with clean facilities and a clean play area where they give you placemats, the kid straws are "bendy", you can get a fruit cup instead of fries, and there are sweet ladies who refill your drinks, give your kids free ice cream, and hand out samples of their shakes. It's worth the extra buck or two every once in a while!

My Sammy

This is Lu's boyfriend.

She thinks he's the best.

Her adoration started early.
On a road trip to Dallas, she loved just having him around!
If I'm busy, she wants her Sammy.
When I tell the girls we're going to Grandma's, Lu starts chanting, "I see my Sammy" over and over! I am sooooo thankful for my Sammy who babysits my kids, helps me when I'm trying to get out the door, breaks up fights, holds Lu when she's cranky, and I think, secretly, he kind of adores her too!

RLS

I have cyclic insomnia. It's not bad, but one week a month (you figure it out!) my restless legs drive me insane enough to bother my sleep. This is my week, so I'm tired, a cranky mom, and annoyed that I'm up at 4:24 AM. But all the nerves in my legs are activating and making me want to move, wiggle, and kick my legs.

I get restless legs from my mom. I inherited a lot of things from her. I have her hair, her eyes, people think I'm her when I answer her phone, but at 4:24AM, this is not my favorite inherited trait. For as long as I can remember, she has jiggled her legs through each and every evening. When she was forty, she started medicine for it. Hers isn't once a month, it's every day, all day. I dread mine getting that bad in ten years.

But mine is already getting worse. Just in the last year or so has it begun to disrupt my sleep at all. Before that, it was limited to when I was bored or just really tired. But luckily, when I was tired I could go to sleep and that would resolve it.

I hope when I'm forty, they have this RLS thing more figured out.

Pillowcases and Crepe Myrtles

The crepe myrtles are in bloom! They drop pretty white and pink flowers all over my car. But I love parking under them because they create great shade!

My girl loves these trees!

She loves to peel the bark off the trees. grrrr!

She loves to swing on the branches and dance around "honey, honey" from Mama Mia!

So, ignore the house in the background and imagine she's dancing on the white Greek stucco countryside.

Because believe me, that's where her imagination is!

and yes, I made pillowcase dresses, perfect for dancing on the Greek shores!

And the pink and blue one is on it's way with its twin to Colorado!

Summer Days!

It is hot here!!

The humidity makes it feel like it's 10 degrees hotter than it is. Which is blazingly, stiflingly, blisteringly HOT!

So we have coped by running to Grandma and Grandpa's house for relief, swimming, eating fresh fruit, and running around in our diapers (for those that qualify)

So Spoiled

I miss my husband every day.

Sometimes I miss him when I realize I haven't gotten the mail in a week.

I miss him when I'm hauling groceries in the heat up the stairs to the apartment while herding two space cadets inside.

I miss him when the garbage can gets full and smelly. All too often on that one!

I am thankful for the small mercy of the toilet flushing tonight.

It's the little things, people!

Now before you laugh at me or get too grossed out, a few facts.

One, we had to leave our plunger in Minnesota for our renters.

Two, I have no idea how to work a plunger without making an even bigger wet, disgusting mess.

Three, my husband has perfected the art of plunging.

Four, he thanks his frustrating job in Utah for it! :)

Five, I have a knack of remembering to borrow my parents' plunger after the kids are in bed and I'm housebound for the night.

Six, the toilet wasn't really clogged for a week. It was Mama Mia clogged for a week.

You know,

"if it doesn't flush right away, just go away and try again later."

It took a few flushes to get everything down. TMI yet?

Tonight it flushed all the way!

Thank Heaven!

I still miss my husband!

Water!

The pool was closed for maintenance.

So, Grandma got out fun sprinklers for the girls to run in!

I love my mother's summer garden!

It was forced merriment for Lu. She wasn't sure about being sprayed in the face. But M was all about dancing in the water!

It was perfect!

Mom's Lantana! It's all different shades of orange, yellow and pink!

This was much more Lu's speed. Running around the closed pool!

Something for baby!

I think I've made my best bag yet! But I don't get to keep it. It's on its way to Colorado!

My lovely assistant will model it for you!

Inside the bag, I tucked a diaper caddy that fits diapers and wipes so you can grab it and go!

Coordinating burp rags, because I like things to match.

Have I mentioned how much I loooooooove my serger? I love the raw edge look and how quick and easy it made these projects.

There's also a nursing cover. It's my first and it's very NOT perfect. Hence no picture. But hopefully it will be put to good use. And it's made with this darling fabric so she will still be stylish!

I made the handles extra long for convenience.

I experimented with free-hand quilting on mom's machine and it was so fun! I love that it's super quilted and once again, not perfect but hey, it's original, right?

I also discovered "super muslin" that was perfect, neutral and sturdy for the lining. And thanks to my friend Ali's advice, I lined the pockets so they were sturdier too!

And now, I have to go make one for myself because I'm in love. With the fabric, with the bag, heck, I might have to have a baby so I can make it all over again for me! :)

sooooooo just kidding!

old duds made new!

I made this dress (right) and skirt (left) for miss M last spring and the winter before.

The skirt still fits M and the dress now fits Lulu! New flowers and cute girls and they have new outfits!

And I must admit, Lulu is workin' this dress! It fits her frame so perfectly that if possible, it's even cuter than it was on miss M!

Happy Independence Day!

We're having a mellow family weekend, enjoying our time with our Daddy! My cousin and her cute cute family came down for Saturday and we had a lot of fun with them!

But I couldn't resist "whipping up" skirts and matching flag shirts, inspired by someone else's cute blog, but I can't remember who! sorry!

I pleated ribbons in rows as I sewed and appliqued a denim star. I had plenty of this cute denim with little white flowers on it for the skirts and stars, courtesy of my MIL!
and this is how M celebrated her freedom! In time out for writing on the furniture! Luckily, as you can see it's surrounding area is covered with stains, I'd already planned on recovering this chair, but still.....grrrrr!
But aren't her letters so nice? :)

Out my bedroom window

This is the view from my bedroom window!

They are putting in a playground, literally steps away from my front step.

The girls watch the progress every day.

They are so excited!

Welcome Home!!!

W was supposed to get home at 9pm.

He got to the airport super early though, so he changed his flights and came home five hours early!!!!!!!! The girls were thrilled!

When we got inside, lulu started looking around wildly saying "daddy? daddy? daddy?"

When they saw him, they ran to him on the stairs.

And wouldn't let him out of their sights since then!
So happy that she found her daddy!!
And so happy that she doesn't have to miss her daddy for a few days! :)
The best part is that with the holiday, he doesn't have to leave until Tuesday night!!!

Most Definitely TGIF!!!

What am I doing today, you ask?????

We're getting ready for Daddy to come home!

The girls are bouncing off the walls!

I'm excited and so proud because he passed the course and gets to leave again on Tuesday!

Wait, I'm excited?

Well, at least we get to keep him for four days this time! We're beyond excited about that part!!!!!

Happy Fourth!!

What did Lulu say?

no, she hasn't stopped saying new words. it's that i have given up keeping track and worrying. i can't keep up!
the girl is combining two words all the time right now, a major milestone for her two year birthday, two months before her two year birthday! she comes up with new words ALL THE TIME! she's a major parrot right now, and is constantly either repeating a word from your sentence or commenting and labeling the things around her.

she says thank you almost every time you give her anything!
she has perfected speaking through her num nummy. grrr. yes, we're working on this. some days she does really well without it and others i can't wait to give her one!
she has started combining two words without prompts. last night at dinner, she had four cups of milk, because she kept repeating "more milk."
she has a name for everyone in the family, and "sissy" is even turning into "mekkie".

Hazel
Sol
princess
love you
cup
20 months
outside
mommy
daddy (as opposed to mama and dada)
pizza
potty
cupcake
bed
phone
ribbit
glasses
Elmo
eyes
hair
diaper
pretty
color
paper
19 months
Jesus
juice
bird
duck
quack
Cinderella
sissy
sit
chair
pants
woof-woof
car
door
open
roar
bubble
peek-a-boo
whoa!
balloon
help
18 months
bath
ball
book
baby
go go go go go
up
down
water
milk
eat
uh-oh
sis-sis
shoes
socks
poo poo
no
yeah
bye bye
walk
nap
nigh-night
light
dog
Ruby
papa
mama
dada
Sam
more
please
bear
banana
cheese