Ansley Kate the great is growing up...

It starts with little things...always growing feet, loosing one tooth, then loosing two teeth in one week, she learned to ride her bike with no training wheels, she has so many friends and spends the night away from home, she can do a cartwheel and jump a rope (which I wondered if it would ever happen), she is an amazing reader, she wants to save the world by recycling and feeding hungry people, she wants to grow a garden and teach kids at school about it and (most of the time) takes care of her little sister (but always goes to her side if Sarah needs her), she is generous and loving, she can ride a horse and wrangle a goat...she has an amazing ability to do anything that she sets her mind to and I adore her for that.  She has huge dreams and so many things she wants to accomplish and I am sure that she will as long as she tries! 
Yesterday she accomplished one more thing that she has been working on for so long, she crossed the monkey bars all by HERSELF, no help!  She was so happy and is even proud of the callouses that she is getting on her hands.  I love my Ansley Kate and can not even think about how far she will make it in this great big world.

(And no, she was not wearing the helmet and pads for the monkey bars, she was also riding her bike, and I love the curtsy at the end.)

Art with Sarah...

The finished project



alligator



Lucy



Ansley and Sarah




Jack



Today Sarah and I decided to get creative.  I found some fun scrap booking paper on clearance this morning and really liked it so I bought it.  Now, I have no idea how to scrapbook or even what I would do with the paper.... Sarah had some pictures of flowers hanging in her bedroom and the other day she told me she did not like 2 of the flowers....so an idea was born.  I took the frames down and added in the scrapbook paper and had Sarah design her own pictures for her room.  So we ended up with an alligator, a picture of Jack the cat, a picture of Lucy the dog and (my favorite) a picture of Sarah and Ansley.  We had a lot of fun doing it together, hope you enjoy the results of our creativity!

Valentine's Day...

Today I was greated with a wonderful morning suprise.. valentine goodies from my family.  What a lucky girl am I?

Happy Valentine's Day!

riding in the car with sarah...

on the way to grandma's house, sarah and i talk or we just sit in silence, sometimes we even sing at the top of our lungs.  (till she tells me i am hurting her ears) 
today we talked.  we talked about all the animals and the sounds that they make.  we talked about how big tigers make (LOUD) roar noises and how baby tigers make (tiny) roar sounds. 

bubble bath clouds

we talked about the clouds and how they look different every single day.  today sarah decided that the clouds looked like tons and tons of bubbles in a bathtub!  she even spotted an elephant in the bathtub!  that crazy kid.  i wish i could remember EVERY single thing that came out of her mouth but since i can't, i hope to remember the best.
we (sarah and i) went to the dentist yesterday and for her second visit, she was awesome!  i am so glad because if she hated it, it would be such an ordeal.  she looked great and did great and got an new orange toothbrush.
can't wait to see what sarah-isms come out tomorrow.

Overwhelmed...

i admit it, i am overwhelmed.  by so many things.  (definition of overwhelmed right?) i feel torn in 400 different ways and see no end of this tunnel.  i am thankful for people and things (hot tea and ikea cookies) that keep me going.  tell me it will be ok, allow me to be scattered, allow me to complain, and love me despite my grouchy bleak outlook now.  i am thankful for all of the good people and things that i have in my life and so much more.  i have been blessed in so many ways.  i am thankful for my friend who listens to me in the mornings complain about this or that.  i am thankful for my 'work' friend, who is so much more and who just 'gets it'.   i am thankful for my hubby, who always asks if he can get me anything.  i am thankful for my babies, because they love me no matter what.  i know this funk will pass, i have faith that God loves me and that has a plan.  sometimes it is just frustrating 'trying to figure it out'.  i need to stop that, trust that things will be taken care of and relax.  for if not, i am sure to explode.  but the first step is to admit the problem, so there.  i am overwhelmed.  i must also admit, while i am at it, that i am a control freak.  i must realize that i can not do it all, i do not have to and that sometimes i need a 'sick' day.  possibly a snow day come thursday.
any thoughts, ideas, prayers or cookies are welcome.

exciting day

so tomorrow is an exciting day for two of my best friends....

 

jill, my friend since diapers, is celebrating her wedding anniversary.  she and chris have been married for a long time (12 years, i think) and i am so happy for them.  so, happy anniversary jill and chris!  enjoy your day!

The happy couple

lisa, my friend since 4th grade, is celebrating her first son's 7th birthday!  happy happy birthday connor!  we love you!

Happy Birthday Connor!

so congrats to two of my most favoritest people in the world and all of the people that i now know and love because of you guys!

Love, M



Day Five...and Six...

Friday January 28, 2011

missing bottom tooth

the 'found' tooth



So today was the last full day of vacation and a full day at sea.  We opted for the sit down breakfast, which was nice and a change.  Ansley lost her 5^th tooth, literally lost it!  We were crawling around on the floor looking everywhere.  Fortunately, a nice lady found it and so the tooth fairy visited Ansley once again on the ship.  (unfortunately, we were closer to the States and the American tooth fairy is much cheaper than the Mexican one)  The girls spent some time in the kids club and Jake and I spent some time laying on the deck.   It was so windy but we found a little corner that wasn’t too bad.  Ansley took a towel folding class and cannot wait to show off her mad towel skills.We picked the girls up and took them to the pool and hot tub.  Ansley finally got to slide down the big slide! 

the big slide on the boat

The girls went to the kids club and went to a farewell party.  They both had a great time!  We headed outside, braved the wind, and we watched the sun set over the Gulf.  It was so beautiful.  God painted an amazing picture for us to enjoy! 

I actually got them to pose for a few pictures for me. (not an easy feat)

posed photos

 After that we went down and saw a comedian..then on to dinner (again).  Man on a cruise, all you do is eat!  Jake had braised ribs, tomato and mozzarella with basil and a crab cake, I had all appetizers including two crab cakes, tomato and mozzarella with basil and awesome french onion soup, Ansley ordered fruit salad and veal parmesan.  She and I were also surprised with more strawberry bisque and more fried shrimp for Ansley.  The amount of food is amazing and almost wrong on these cruises!  Sarah, of course, slept through dinner yet again.

Saturday January 29, 2011

So this morning we woke up in Mobile, AL.....back to cold cold reality.  We got up and finished packing, ate some breakfast and got off the boat.  We drove home, it took about 6 hours, a few more stops than going.  We arrived home safely and unpacked (amazing that we did not leave everything in the car for days) and are now enjoying some time on our couch!  We cannot wait to get in our beds!