me and my girls

Pictures of me don't happen that often because I'm usually behind the camera. In some cases I take pictures of me and the girls with my cell phone.

And sometimes I make everyone stop loading up the beach gear so I can get a picture of us and our hats.

Just me and my girls.

celebrating

After spending the morning at the beach, we spent the afternoon at the neighbors house, swimming and grilling. Caeley had a birthday this past week so we celebrated them both in style. Hamburgers, hotdogs, and 48 cupcakes. That's what I call a party.

The only time the girls sit still when they are near the pool is when they are forced to eat. With all the swimming they actually had an appetite.

Swimming is nonstop when the kids are in the pool so these pictures almost didn't happen.

Michael's parents and nephew were in town this past weekend. Isn't this a crew. Michael wasn't thrilled about the singing or the pictures.

Addison was so cute all day. She made Michael a homemade card where she wrote out "Happy Birthday Daddy" all by herself. She pointed out that she was making big A's and not little a's. Then she drew a picture of her and her daddy next to our house and a tree. She took it very seriously. Then she whispered to me that since daddy was a boy that he would like a "boy" toy. You know. Like a transformer or something. I about died it was so cute. So I went by the dollar store and picked up a truck. She was so happy to give it to him.

I almost didn't post this picture. We both have pool head and I'm just worn out from the day. But Michael doesn't care if I look all fancy on his birthday. He loves me anyway!

Happy Birthday my dear. You're definitely the glue that holds us all together.

happy birthday daddy

Thanks for always being there when we need you. Like at the beach when the waves are crashing.
You are the best. We all love you so much!

happenings

Here are some thoughts running through my head that I want to write down.

Three weeks ago Addison performed on a stage. This is a big deal. Addison has always been shy. She won't go up to the altar during church for the children's message because she is that uncomfortable. She may actually freak out if you push her too hard. Which she did the night of the performance. It was the closing ceremony for vacation bible school and she totally lost it. Hysterically crying, on the verge of a panic attack. So I didn't force her, but I did go up there on my own. She followed and within 5 minutes she sent me back to my seat. It was a proud moment for me. I have it on video, but it's on Michael's phone. I'll have to get him to stop playing Angry Birds so I can upload it to my computer.

Morgan is starting to potty train. Sometimes she tells me when she has to go. Sometimes I find her with a dry pull-up. Most of the time I put her on the potty and she will go. She's picked it up really quickly and I hope it won't take her long to be fully trained. I haven't focused a lot of my attention on it over the weekends so if I can get on board then it may happen faster.

Michael and I just picked out wood floors for the house. They should be going in sometime next week. It's been a long time coming. I decided in January that I wanted to put them in and it's taken me this long to make the phone call. The day I made the call was the day Addison decided to draw a race track on my carpet with a blue crayon. Lucky for her I just don't care. So the race track is still there and she can play with it for another week or so.

The girls are addicted to music videos, specifically Single Ladies by Beyonce. Morgan begs for it. Kids Bopz has a version on demand that I play for them. Addison has two left feet when she dances and Morgan just likes to jump. Cracks me up every time. It's entertainment for both them and me.

Neither of my children will eat. I pray that they eat their lunch at school everyday because they don't eat much at home. I offer them a variety of things and sometimes I beg them to eat the most unhealthiest thing I can find just so they will have something in their stomach. That doesn't always work either. It's a miracle they haven't wilted away. They do consume a TON of milk so I guess that is sticking to their bones. I try not push them too hard because I don't want them to boycott it even more. I admit that sometimes it worries me.

The other night I picked Morgan up out of her crib just to rock her. It was about 9:45. She nestled into my arms and continued to sleep the next 15 minutes. I rocked her and kissed her little head. She's such a loving, cuddly little thing. She only woke when I laid her down to look for the 3 paci's that she still sleeps with at night. Which reminds me. I need to throw those away and ween her off completely.

Both the girls will be starting a new school soon. It was a really hard decision for me to move Addison away from all of her friends and not one I made easily. I was a wreck for about a week. I wavered back and forth four times a day and spent most of my nights tossing and turning. After I committed to moving them I slept like a baby so I feel like it's the right move. It will be an adjustment, but I know they will do fine. On the other hand, I will be an emotional mess on their last day. I've formed relationships with the teachers and the parents at their current school and I will miss them. I've already cried and I'm sure I'll cry some more. I'm such a baby.

I don't think Morgan's hair is going to change. Her eyebrows and eyelashes are just too blonde for it to change. For some reason I have a gut feeling that it's going to be blonde for a really long time.

That's what's been going on in our house and in my head. Now you know.

taking a rest

We've been doing a lot of swimming lately. Morgan doesn't stop the entire time we're in the water. I try to get her to sit on the steps and rest, but she wants no part of it. The only way to truly get her to take a break is to get her out and wrap her up.

Then she doesn't have a choice. And I get to cuddle her.

morgan swims

Here are the videos I took of Morgan's final swimming lessons. Now she swims so much her eyes are red and she can barely catch her breath. It wears Michael and I out just as much.

another boat ride

Last weekend we were asked to go out on the boat with the Holbrook's again. The girls love their Cars and Spiderman life jackets and had no trouble wearing them. Yeah, they are boy themed, but they were the ones on sale. It still takes Morgan a little bit to warm up to the wind. Addison handled it a lot better this time, but still sat on the floor behind the chair when she needed a break.

On this trip we stopped to swim and do some tubing before heading to lunch. Addison was all about getting in the water which meant that someone had to get in with her. Guess who was volunteered? Since I was already wet I took a ride on the tube. It was a lot of fun until the next day when I couldn't move my upper body.

Right before we pulled in Addison sat up front with me. We had slowed down to a speed she could handle.

We always have a great time on the boat. It's fun to be out there with friends and the girls love the water. It wears everyone out and then we all go home and take good naps.

fireworks

Our kids go to bed around 8. They can stay up later if they need to, but why push it. So we decided to go see fireworks Sunday night. It was perfect! The weather by the water was nice. They had a huge playground. We ate all kinds of junk food. All of this made the 2 hour wait seem to fly by. Morgan played musical chairs while waiting.

Addison thought we were jungle gyms.

The fireworks weren't that great, but that's what you get in a small town. The kids never knew the difference. They loved them! Addison watched in awe and Morgan kept shouting "there's another one".

Here are some of the best pictures of the night. Addison eating cotton candy with the can you please stop taking pictures look. And my mom. Her and Jim were with us.

It's Friday and she's not working so she won't see this until Monday. She's going to kill me!

** Update: Mom just called me. She is working today because of the holiday. I'm in trouble.

the fourth

We had a fun filled weekend. Fireworks, boating, swimming, bbq's, family and friends. This was our fourth, according to my cell phone.

happy july

We all dressed in our red, white and blue this morning. And Addison in my shoes. There's something about the 4th of July that I love.

I've been practicing my braiding. Yesterday I did french braids on the sides of Addison's head. Just like my grandma used to do mine. I loved when she did my hair like that. I felt so special. I'm getting better, but need a lot of practice.

Me and my sweet girls. Michael did Morgan's hair.

Hopefully I'll take a ton of pictures this weekend. Recently I've been taking a lot of videos. I need to get some of them up here.

Enjoy your weekend!