things that make me happy...

seems with the nicer weather bringing a general uplifting of spirits everyone is doing a "my favorites" or a top ten post. i can classify something or start a list of random things, but all these other statements of joy led me to one of my favorite things this time of year. the dogwood tree in the front of my house. we've lived here almost 2 years. when we were just looking at the house the dogwood was in full bloom and SOLD the place! looking through my dogwood glasses i overlooked what it meant to live sandwiched between colleges students and right in the middle of the main drag the college kids walk to and from the bars (hello! what's wrong with the sidewalks you ungrateful, disrespectful, undisiplined..... rrrrgggg! i digress let's keep it PG) but every year, the tree begins to blossom and create a pinky purpley mask over our home. our home is super cute in the first place, the tree just makes it picture postcard perfect! along with this bloom is the increasing number of college kids who venture out in the warmer weather, to which i muster up a smile because it can only mean that the semester is coming to an end and they will all be scattering back to where they came from soon!!! i always questioned those who found joy in the departure of the students when i first moved here. but it wasn't long before i learned the blissful peace of our little town without roucus parties and the great ease felt when you can go out to your favorite restaurants WITHOUT a reservation!


our little flowering abode!

happy birthday to .... ME!!!!

yeah! happy birthday to me. i know i know, as you get older you're not supposed to look forward to your birthday so much. but i still like them. i get to chose the restaurant, i get to order what i've been secretly desiring (i.e. chocolate chip pancakes at the waffle shop this morning), i get to splurge on desert. what's wrong with that! every one's birthdays should make them feel even just a little special, FOREVER..... i mean as long as we're still having them we should celebrate them. why not! i have a wonderful family, great friends, and i look forward to this day (sometimes spilling over into the week) because i know what's coming, the guarantee that i will be calling, talking, emailing to most of them. happy day for me! this year's birthday wishes even started coming in early. it made me feel very special. my parents had come in on friday and made sure to stay until this morning. we had a lovely weekend. we got treated to dinners out without children. we had fun all around. it's always hard to have poppy and grandma drop the kids off at school because no matter how much you try to tell them they won't be here when i pick them up from school they don't always understand that and it's so sad when they come bounding in the house calling their name and then i'm left to tell them the bad news. any, that was a tangent.
birthdays are fun. i love getting birthday wishes from to top of gracie's lungs. she's very good at shouting, well, just about anything these days. and she as excited for me for my birthday as if it were her own. i think that helps my birthday enjoyment. today, i don't need any big bashes, no lavishes gifts. just a card from the children (one of which can actually sign his name now and one of which is absolutely convinced that a few scribbles spells her name) a little sweetness from a husband, and the noticeable lack of directions and instructions for the day, and some happy thoughts from my few but most amazing girlfriends!
oh happy day, happy birthday to me! i invite you over to the virtual coffee shop for a little snack and a little chat, that's the only thing that could top this day!

flashback!

first off, it's not enough that i have a mini me, but i have found myself unconsciously dressing her in outfits of my past! the weather is just starting to get nice here in the tundra and we've been layering. not quite ready for shorts, but too nice for long pants and long shirts. so short on clothes the other day i'm dressing grace for school and i reach for a skirt. cute, ok. with what? ok, found a shirt with one of the many colors in the skirt. good, but it's not THAT nice out today. ok, hmmmm, pink leggings, perfect. didn't think much of it until the 3 or so comments later that day on how cute she's looked, how she looked like a shout out to the 80s. take a double take, yeah, she does look like a sort of G rated madonna, it's the leggings and the skirt combo. one friend commented that she looked like her circa 1988! funny how i didn't even see it until everyone else noticed. i was just proud of myself to be able to find 3 pieces in her drawers that all coordinated!!! to boot it was hair-do Wednesday, so she was sporting a rather involved do. (her brother has a standing appointment Wednesday mornings so we always try do to a fancy hair do that will keep her occupied while i arrange it and out of the way of her brother's hard work!)

the sunglasses add that extra style!


a close up of my handiwork!

walking the elephants

walking the elephants? yes, walking the elephants. just what is says. small town living has it perks. i don't know how they get the elephants into madison square garden in manhattan but here in the middle of nowhere they WALK the elephants from the train, down the main street, up to the venue holding the circus. quite a site! it's one of those things we always enjoy doing but never hear about it until the day before or even the day of. we happen upon the news and scamper around to make time to go sit by the side of the road and wait for the elephants. free entertainment, can't beat it! this year we had our patience tried. we arrive at 2:45 to anxiously wait for the elephants to arrive between 3-3:30. by 3:45 nothing. well, they are elephants how fast do they really go?!?! we got word that there's been a delay. 2 hours. ok, we made a trip to the supermarket and made it back to restake our claim to the bank lawn at 5:00. waiting. waiting. by 6:15 i couldn't take it anymore. never mind the kids, i was ready for dinner. with a defeated air we reluctantly packed up and head out for a fast bite. at 7:15 we were done with dinner and go to head home and low and behold we ended up in a slow line of traffic no doubt trailing the elephants. we hurriedly turn around and make a different approach. it occurs to me that we might be able to beat the elephants and see them from the other direction. sure enough, we park and get out and soon after, FINALLY, we see ELEPHANTS! "look, ma, elephants!" followed by our best elephants imitations. quite exciting even if we logged 5 hours attempting to see these beasts! the marched on down, turned the corner and headed up to their home for the weekend. we have since bought our tickets to the go to the circus on saturday with poppy and grandma, and boy do they have a hard time with purchasing tickets and not being able to go immediately. i'll follow up with out trip to the circus soon!

getting ready for the elephants!

nothing like log rolling down hills to pass the time

here they come!

luckily we ran into miss sharon who helped me watch my kids and prevent them from running in the street and getting trampled, while i, of course, was taking pictures...

look! horses too! somewhere in there was gracie's imaginary pink unicorn that she most definately saw!

you know your gynecologist likes you when...

....she gives you a hug when she comes in the room! took me by surprise! has this happen to anyone else?! don't get me wrong, i actually really enjoy my doctor. we've been through a lot. we've had both our children at the same times and she really is a lovely woman. definitely someone i would see outside of the office if, hmmm, how do i put it delicately, she didn't know me so intimately! dentist, maybe, gyn, nope, don't think i can go out to dinner with you and your husband. too bad, too. i'll have to resort to more tradition venues to obtain friends.

UGH! i guess you can eat your vegetables!

what?!?! i know i know, did i get that right? i think i stumbled across something. while making dinner this evening my curious, hungry 2 year old was constantly back and forth between the living room and kitchen inquirying what i was doing. after requesting multiple snacks and consistantly being told that dinner will be served shortly she resorted to tippy toes to see what was on the counter. "what's tat?" looking at the bag of frozen vegetables. i reply, "it's frozen vegetables". she answers "i want 'rozen 'egebales". so i gave it a second and thought, why not! she'll either decide that she prefers them cooked or she'll eat a few carrots! well, turns out she likes her vegetables frozen better then cooked! after asking for more more more i was telling her no, dinner will be ready shortly, then paused and said "ugh, fine just eat the vegetables". as it came across my tongue, i thought how ridiculous that i would be bothered by the fact that she was haunting me for more vegetables!?!?! veggies are veggies and if she's like to eat her lot frozen, then so be it!

oh how i long to keep my child in a crib forever....

it has just occurred to me that nap time is officially gone out the window when my 2 1/2 year old is done in her crib. oh, how tired i will be! i was previously proud of this accomplishment, trying to devise a way to get the most out of it. we now dangle the "big girl" bed in front of her to encourage potty training. "if you stay dry you can sleep in the big girl bed, if you don't it's back in the crib". this does not affect her as much as i had hoped. her response is usually, "oh, yeah! my cribbie!" but we do have both options crammed in her small room at the moment. and just the other day during "quiet time" at our house (the time from when i pick them up from school at 12:30 until when i'm ready to take them on) she was allowed in her big girl bed for some sitting quietly and book reading or even, gasp, actually closing her eyes and resting a little. i hear her making up stories and moving around and whatever other mischief she can come up with. i am, myself, enjoying a book not 5 feet away from her in my own room but i have no visual. i vaguely make out the scratch and creak of the reeds of a basket that holds all of her stuffed animals. "i a baby, i a baby" begs for me to get up and peek around the corner. this is what i found:

as a photographer, she has seen me place many a baby in a basket for a photo and apparently during this quiet time session she found it within herself to reenact such a stage! smart girl, too! she recognize the possible uncomfortableness of it all and was sure to place her pillow in first. oh, to have caught her in the act of lugging the basket up on to the bed!! this is when the true realization washed over me, she will no longer be confined to one walled device where i have complete control what she can and cannot play with...... like i said, there go my own beautiful mid day naps out the window.....