Thank you, Mariele....

I totally appreciate that because of you I effectively almost doubled my miles today since I backtracked in a vain attempt to find the $3.50 sandal that you stealthily tossed out of the stroller when I was not looking. We owned that cute little sandal for less than one week. I suppose I should assign it the entire $7.00 value that I paid at Target, because what good is one sandal now? You have two perfect little feet complete with 10 toes. Thank you, dear daughter, for pushing me in my miles challenge. But in the future, do you think you could keep your sandal in the stroller when you decide that you no longer want to wear it? Sandals do NOT grow on trees, dear little one.

Wordless Wednesday

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I know it's only Wednesday, but...

Mariele saw the Rebecca Black video. We are so toast!

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Sissy Love

Analese had a play date today. The weather was a bit dreary (you know, freezing cold - like 65 degrees), so they decided they wanted to watch a few minutes of a movie while I prepared lunch.



I'm very proud of Analese for not ditching her little sissy when she has friends over. (That is brownie on Analese's mouth). My heart was soaring with pride when they all went to the back yard to play and Analese had her little arm around Mariele helping her down off the deck. I can't get enough of watching those two. Sure, they have their fair share of rivalries like any other siblings, but the underlying current seems to be loyalty and love.

Out on a cold day

Some of you in Twitterville made fun of me today because I was chilled to the bone when it was 61 degrees out. Well, we did get out and about. Mariele seemed to feel much better today. We enjoyed dinner out at Red Robin. That warmed me up a little. I somehow avoided frostbite.


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Sickies

Poor Mariele is feeling pretty miserable today.



She laid down on the school room couch and pulled the blanket over herself and just went to sleep.



So far no fever today, although she had 102 degrees yesterday afternoon. She just has a runny nose and red, watery eyes. It is hard to tell if she has a cold, allergies, teething, or a combination. We are still waiting on the upper left two year molar. Hopefully whatever she has will not bother her for long.

Bouncy Fun

Analese had her heart absolutely set on playing in the bounce house late this afternoon. She has been very persistent about begging all afternoon long. Lee and I really did not feel like getting it out and setting it up, but we finally did just to get her off our backs about it. Mariele had 102 degree fever this afternoon. This photo was taken about an hour and 20 minutes after her Tylenol dose.

Happy Friday and Shoot Me if Analese ever ends up on Hoarders!

So Analese is a hoarder. And I am trying very hard to keep her from being a hoarder. I think I will need to stage an intervention. I don't know how many times this week that she pulled trash out of the trashcan. Usually boxes or small pieces of packing material. Sometimes food packaging. She got really upset with me for trying to throw away an old-fashioned oats carton. She hoards little twist ties that she collects in the produce department at the grocery store. She hoards envelopes and small scraps of paper. She hoards shoe boxes and tags that I cut off of her clothing. I try to throw things away when she is not looking, and she ends up digging them out of the trash can later. Maybe I should find a good child psychiatrist. Or maybe it is just a phase. PLEEEEASE just be a phase!!! The child has plenty of toys and games. Yet she still has an insatiable urge to HOARD trash! She reminds me of a raccoon. Her room is full of boxes and containers that hold little paper and plastic scraps that she just cannot seem to part with. And she seems to have a complete mental inventory of all of her hoardings. If I try to take something, she will definitely realize that it is gone. And I will have to deal with the wrath of Analese. I was just wondering if anyone else's kid went through a similar phase, or if Analese is a lost cause.

Reason #8040 why letting a 2 year old color with markers is not such a good idea....and other random musings...

Gotta say that they are ROCKING bedtime lately. Lee got particularly fed up with bedtime taking an hour (that is one of us having to stay in there with the girls for an hour). Sunday night was a nightmare. Lee decided we should try the Supernanny technique and just walk out and keep putting them back in bed if they get up. Well, if Supernanny visited our home on Sunday night, she would have declared us a lost cause. Both girls SCREAMING their heads off. Monday I had an important meeting with the girls before quiet time where I laid out our expectations concerning bedtime. I also instituted a magnet reward system and made sure they were completely aware of the conditions for earning a magnet. Believe it or not, even Mariele understood. Since then, bedtime has been a little easier each night. Last night, Lee put them to bed. They both rolled over and pulled the covers up. He left the room (while they were fully awake) and that was the last we heard from them all night! They are both so excited in the mornings when I wake them with the news that they each get a magnet. I never thought this would actually work. AND I THINK Mariele is weaned! It has been three nights since her last "nanny." This is what we have been waiting for. The sweet spot of parenting where all of the hard work and efforts pay off!

Today Lee texted me a photo of him at work doing his job. He wanted me to show it to the girls so they would understand what Daddy does at work. I showed them the photo and totally explained that Daddy was doing Anesthesia on a baby who was getting ear tubes. I went into technical explanations about all aspects of the photo. Analese asked, "Is there another picture?" I said, "No, that is the only one." Analese said, "I wanted to see Daddy getting money." I guess I emphasize a lot to the girls that Daddy goes to work to make money for our family.

Wordless Wednesday - Lunchtime Peace

Deep in the throes of sand art...

My gorgeous azaleas!

I have pink, purple & white azaleas, all in full bloom in my yard right now. I even got a pic of a butterfly visiting the pink one! And, of course, I could not post a pic of one without posting pics of all three varieties. Ahhhh, Springtime!

Blue Bonnets Year 3

We visited the blue bonnets today for the 3rd year in a row.

Year 1 - 2009 Part 1

2009 - Part 2

2009 - Part 3

Year 2 - 2010

Unfortunately, we were met with this sign and a roped off area this year.



Being the rule follower that I am, I snapped a few pics of the girls in front of the roped off area. After I was finished, several people came along and simply ignored the sign and trampled along through the blue bonnets to photograph their kids. I just couldn't bring myself to be quite that way.....



I did take some cute pics of the kids in the playground area.







And I would be remiss to NOT post a pic of the supermoon from last night!

Birthday party, kites & canoes...

Today was a PERFECT weather day! We enjoyed a nice birthday party in the park. The birthday girl is the one with her arm around Analese.



The birthday girl's Daddy even brought his canoe so we could all take it out onto the lake. When it was my family's turn, I was thinking....this is pretty cool. As we were leaving the dock, I was thinking.....I just know this canoe is going to tip when I end up in a wrestling match with Mariele who was on the verge of a meltdown all afternoon because her nap was cut short. It was beautiful out on the lake, but I did suggest that we head back to shore sooner than Lee would have wanted to. I could just picture the disastrous scenario in my mind all too realistically. Yes, the kids had life jackets, but still....That water was MURKY! And probably a touch chilly.

The party favor was a kite. Each of my girls got to choose a kite, and the wind was prime for kite flying! Analese, especially, had such a great time flying her kite. She simply could not get enough. When we left, she lamented that she did not get to play enough. However, she really got to play for three entire hours. It was a nice day.

Then & Now

Then: Analese was 5 months old - Oct. 2, 2006. I've always like this photo of her "up in the sky."



Now. Today. We arrived at her gymnastics class a few minutes early, so Analese decided to open the sunroof and check out the view from above.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hope you all are having a fantastic day. We are!

Wordless Wednesday

Crazy Baby

Mariele insists that she is a baby. We keep trying to tell her that she is a toddler, and she adamantly argues with us, "NO! BABY!" I registered the kids for summer sessions at The Little Gym today. It is just WONDERFUL that I was able to use a bunch of my "points" to significantly reduce that bill. I was even able to get Mariele this leotard.



She has NO FEAR! We were waiting for Analese's class to finish and she was trying to climb on top of the back of the chair Not pictured is my foot holding the chair in place so I could snap this picture. She may wreck our family's zero ER visit statistic someday.



A couple of weeks ago in class she discovered that she can do a basket hang on the bars all by herself. Since that discovery, she is just not interested in doing anything else.

Spring Forward Flash-back...

We were so busy today getting back into the non-staycation, less relaxed pace of life since Lee went back to work today. I guess I did not take any photos today. And looking back through my iPhoto yielded nothing for March 14th of any year. I guess I typically do not take photos that particular day. However, I did find one from March 13, 2007. 4 years ago. Analese was a Daddy's girl then, and she is a Daddy's girl now. She missed her Daddy very badly today, after having him at her disposal all week last week. She wanted to fall asleep snuggling him tonight, and he consented because she really did seem to need that. I really do appreciate watching the relationships between my daughters and their Daddy. He truly is an amazing Dad, and I really am blessed to be married to this man. And our genes mix well!

Mariele sings!

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Oh, DST.....

Expending energy before bedtime.



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The Kid Banquet Table

Fun on the Kemah Boardwalk

We spent the afternoon on the Kemah boardwalk today as the grand finale of the staycation week that we have enjoyed this week. I think this picture captures it all. Analese was in complete bliss and she and Mariele both had a blast.



Oh, to be a kid again. And I have to say I kind of felt like one today as I rode kiddie rides and ate funnel cake.





It was a gorgeous day for a fantastic time on the boardwalk.

Pretty things...

Today's photo of the day was a toss-up between the beautiful picture that Analese spent 2 hours coloring during quiet time today (she was absolutely engrossed in this...)



and the beautiful pink hydrangea that I planted today.



So which one wins the prize?

Pool time

The girls enjoyed some lovely pool time this afternoon. Hopefully they will sleep well tonight.





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Bedtime energy...

We did not leave the house at all today....and it was a little rainy.

So after bath, the kids seemed to have some extra energy to burn. They ran it off playing "tag, you're it." Analese loves to have me feel how fast her heart beats when she runs.