Muddy Buddies

October 26, 2009

When the weather is nice, I like to sit outside and let the girls run around and play. We are often joined by our neighbor, Dylan while I talk with his mom, Sarah. (Actually I should say that we often join them). These kids love playing in the mud, but when mud isn't present, they make it by getting cups of water from inside Dylan's house. This is the end result of an evening of making mud.

Adelynne gave herself a mud mustache. You don't have to tell me who it resembles.

Dylan liked the mustache look so he gave himself one too-now he really looks like his dad!

And Amy too, of course. Mustache's always seem to be a group thing.

BATH TIME!

Eww gross! Pumpkin guts.

October 25, 2009

We only got around to carving one pumpkin despite the fact that we bought 3 of them. Oh well, I can still do post-Halloween carving, right? Here are the girls participating in the event of cleaning out the pumpkin. Their faces are hilarious and priceless. Adelynne still didn't want to touch the insides, or have them come any where near her. And though Amy's face may have a look of disgust portrayed, she was more than happy to stick her hand in the pumpkin and help out. Funny girls.

I never took a picture of the finished product, I carved a cat, from a stencil. It was cool, but nothing unique. We had to leave the pumpkin inside because here in Indiana the squirrels and rabbits eat pumpkins that get left outside at our apartments. So unfortunately being inside the warm apartment meant that the pumpkin wilted quickly and didn't even last until Halloween.

A new friend

October 2, 2009

We have a new friend around our little apartment these days. Her name is Sylvia, and my girls adore her. Sylvia is around 14 months old, and just as sweet and good as a baby ought to be. This was on her first day with us at our apartment: Amy is watching a movie, and Sylvia is angelically exploring Amy's face. Amy really didn't mind one bit that Sylvia was climbing on top of her or poking her face.

Amy has picked up on one of my bad habits, eating peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon. I didn't catch it on film, but Sylvia really wanted some peanut butter too and eventually shoved her hand in the jar to accommodate her needs.

And you may have noticed, that with the coming in of Amy's hair, it is coming with curls. They are very loose curls, and I haven't found the right product that will allow them to stay in all day, but they sure are adorable when they are wet!

Two Bums

September 27, 2009

On this Sunday morning, Adelynne asked me to do her hair in a special way. She asked if I could put it up in "two bums."

My beautiful girl

It sure is fun to hear children say words. The "n" sound is one of those letters that is hard to say, unless the word "no" is involved.

Purple Day

September 25, 2009

Our neighbor Dylan got to hang out with us one Friday and it happened to be purple day at preschool that day. Dylan and Adelynne go to the same preschool, but they are in different classes. But sometimes they get to play together and they love it! Here are the kids on their way to school.

Later in the day the kids were playing dress-up. Dylan was a superhero, and Adelynne a fairy princess.

I just love Dylan's face in these pictures. If you notice, Adelynne does this head tilt pose. When I told her to stop, she explained to me that it was her "cute face" or something like that. No idea where she learned that.

A Halloween Memory

Today is a special day, not just because it is Halloween, but because it is the anniversary of my first date with Dustin. Eight years ago, I had gone to flirt and visit with Dustin in his dorm room. We were chatting about who knows what, when Dustin asked me if I wanted to go to a movie with him. He took me to see "The Others." I am not a fan of scary movies, but I was more than willing to go with Dustin, and the bonus was the opportunity to snuggle up during the more terrifying parts of the movie. Afterwards, we went to Wendy's for a bite to eat. We sat talking and eating enjoying each other's company. At one point, Dustin reached across the table and using a napkin, wiped a glop of mayonnaise off my cheek. I was completely embarrassed, but my heart was also racing from the gentle gesture. It was only the first of many more dates with my wonderful man, but it is one of the most memorable. Its funny to express gratitude for blessings on Halloween, but I am so grateful that Dustin is a part of my life, the man that I can spend the rest of my mortal life with through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful. And more importantly I am grateful that he is the companion I will be with through eternity.

Happy Halloween!

A night with Daddy

I was gone one evening and this is what Dustin did with the girls while I was out: you can't tell, but Dustin dressed up as a prince because Adelynne insists that someone be the prince.

And Adelynne danced

And Amy was cute

1st Day of Preschool

Obviously the first day of preschool was quite some time ago, but here are the pictures! Adelynne LOVES going to preschool, and I love that she loves it too. Adelynne is making friends and enjoys playing with them at school. One day we were driving home and Adelynne saw one a child from her class and exclaimed, "Mommy, that's one of my preschool cousins!" Every time she comes home from school she gives us a description of what she did, she is quite verbal about it, which is great. She draws and makes all sorts of pictures. I am so glad she is in preschool. This was the outfit she chose for her first day of school.

Our friend Dylan goes to the same school, but he's in a different class. However during outside play they get to hang out together. I am told that Dylan is always asking for Addy. So here's Dylan on the first day of school too.

During the first week of taking Adelynne to preschool, Amy had a very difficult time. She wanted to stay so badly, and she still does. But she is used to the routine now of dropping Adelynne off and then going home to watch a movie that she picks out. (Usually big sister dominates the movie choosing).

cut hair/pink hair

This happened a month ago! Oops.

August 23rd:

Well, I heard Adelynne wake up one morning and I just lay in bed trying to sleep. When I finally rolled out of bed I went straight to the bathroom. Adelynne came in shortly with a sly smile on her face, and anxious to tell me her big news. But she stopped short when she saw the look of horror on my face. I looked horrified because I saw that Adelynne was missing some hair, a fairly good section of hair. "Did you cut your hair?!" And suddenly Adelynne had no exciting news to share with me. She went and hid under her blankets and would not talk about the incident the rest of the day. I guess all it took was one awful look from mommy to put some sense into her mind. (I don't know if that is good or bad).

Keep in mind that these pictures were taken about 2 days after the deed was actually done, so by this point mommy's angry face was kind, loving, and forgiving.

You really can't tell from this picture that she cut her hair

She now has bangs

You can see how this side has some new layers

All in all, she didn't do the worst job she could have done. My friend Kim fixed her hair up after these pictures were taken, but Adelynne was concerned about getting all her hair cut. I had to reassure her that only some of her hair would be cut.

Amy's Pink Hair August 30th

The girls' Great Grandma Spann gave them this stuffed animal pony that they can color all over, and then I can wash it clean and they can color it all over again. Cute idea, I know. However, it is the kind of toy that should not be used as a pillow for bedtime. And this is why:

This picture was taken a day after and it is not as bright as it was the first day. She had bright, bright pink hair, and she refused to wash her hair. Dustin and I felt like we were turning our baby into a punk rocker. She went to the store and to church with this hairdo. Her hair stayed pink for about 2 weeks, fading slowly.

Go ahead, Dad, you can say it.

I must preface my post today with my Dad's favorite blonde joke. I'm sure its much better said in person, but you'll get it, I'm sure.

There was a brunette driving down a country road in her fancy convertible. She was enjoying her drive when suddenly she had to stop for a flock of sheep. She was so excited to see the sheep since they are her favorite animal. She wished she could take one home with her. Then she saw the shepherd and went to him and asked him if she could have one of his sheep. He said, "No way, these sheep are my way of life! I wouldn't give you one even if you paid me." The girl begged and begged to have one of the sheep. Finally the shepherd said, "Okay, if you can guess the number of sheep in my flock, then I will give you any one of my sheep." He said this thinking there is no way she could guess the number of sheep in my flock. The brunette looked over the flock, and said 153 sheep. The shepherd was stunned, for she had guessed exactly how many sheep were in his flock. So he said sadly, "Go ahead and pick out your sheep." The brunette went over and picked out the cutest sheep she saw and took it back to her car. She put the sheep in the passenger seat of her car and was getting ready to drive off when the shepherd came over to her car and said, "Wait! If I can guess the true color of your hair, can I have my dog back?"

So yesterday morning I took the girls to the library for story time. Adelynne enjoyed her story and was working on coloring the hat they were making to go with the story that was read. She was the last child in the room coloring, and I was thinking, we need to get back home so we can eat lunch and get Adelynne to preschool. Well, we made it home around 12 noon, and Adelynne starts preschool at 12:30. So I made the girls their lunch and encouraged them to eat quickly so that Adelynne wouldn't be late. And they did. We got Adelynne to preschool by 12:30. Amy and I came home and I put her down for her nap. I was playing on the computer for an hour and then I decided to take a nap as well. During my nap I heard Dustin come home. He didn't bother me and went about his own business. A while later he came in the room and asked where Adelynne was. I replied matter-of-factly, "She's at school." Dustin checked his clock and said, "Well its a good thing I asked because its 3:20." (Adelynne is done at 3:30). Then Dustin said, "Wait!" and he checked his clock again and said, "Its Tuesday!" Then I realized my mistake. Adelynne doesn't go to preschool on Tuesdays. She only goes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I foolishly went and picked up Adelynne and explained my absent-minded mistake to her teacher.

So Dad, go ahead and say it.

What one does on a Sunday afternoon with Grandpa and a bowl of cheerios

Water Park and a Water Fight

One evening, while in California, we went as a family over to a neighborhood water playground. The little girls had a blast running through the water spouts and cooling off. Sorry for the overload of pictures, but little girls in swimsuits are so stinking cute!

Heather and Adelynne

My darling niece, Katie

Uncle Joe trying to persuade Amy to get wet

I finally just ran Amy through all the sprinklers and got wet myself.

Amy wasn't too happy with me

after getting her all wet. I'm such a mean, mean mommy!

Amy pondering again. I love that little baby tush!

So this is mid-water fight. Since I got all wet with Amy, I decided that everyone needed to join in. I grabbed an In-N-Out cup and filled it up and started the water fight with my Dad. Soon most everyone had joined in, minus Grandma and Aunt Amy (party poopers). So this is Adelynne hunting down Uncle Joe. You can see my Dad right through the trees, wet, and filling up his cup for his next victim.

almost got him! Adelynne would get so frustrated because her cup would spill as she was chasing people down. You can see me soaked in the background.

Me, dodging Heather and Adelynne, and very wet.

It was lots of fun to go after everyone and get them all involved. It was much better than just watching and spectating the children. My sister and mom ran off to the big playground hoping to stay dry and the rest of us tried to get them. My sister thought she escaped until Adelynne got her from behind, unexpectedly. My mom ended up hiding in the bathroom. Sheesh. So the rest of us got wet and had fun!