Happy 3rd Birthday Violet!!

What a lucky little girl to have her birthday on such a fun day, she just doesn't know it yet :) This morning we let her open 1 of her presents sent to us from family in Ohio. It was a finger painting set - woo hoo - Color Wonder even so no messes :) I tried to get her to wear her favorite little tutu given to her when she turned 2 so that I could get some cute 3 year old birthday pictures but she wasn't into it at all!

Funny though that she is probably the sickest out of the family but still insisted on coming with me to run some errands. Crazy girl! We picked up some steaks for supper and a little something for Piper so she wouldn't feel left out. Next came naps,

making cakes,

do NOT get stainless appliances if you have kids under 4. They are clean for about 3 minutes and then the hand prints magically appear :)



decorating,

OPENING PRESENTS,



I think she will LOVE this!


supper,

and CAKE!!


Happy Birthday Violet!!

Read more...

Her Cross

Piper started preschool this year at a baptist church near our home. Since going there she has an infatuation with crosses. The other day while going through some boxes Matt came across this cross that was his when he was younger. She doesn't want to take it off :) I imagine seeing many pictures of Piper in the future with this particular piece of jewelry.

Read more...

Wordless Wednesday - Thank You Santa

I received this beautiful poppy necklace mysteriously in the mail right before Christmas. The card said it was from Santa. I love it, thank you so much Santa!

More WW @ 5 Minutes for Mom

Looking at this shot of me I wish that I would not have greased myself down with baby oil in my teens and twenties. If this isn't an ad for sunscreen I don't know what would be :)

Read more...

She's getting excited...

for her birthday! Violet is the last birthday of all her friends so she has had to go through probably 8 parties waiting (im)patiently for hers to come and FINALLY it is almost here! We were invited to a playdate today but I had to decline b/c the girls are all still sick. I sure hope that they are over it before Violet's party on Sunday. Today I decided to tackle a few things around the house. I am washing my kitchen floors and stuffing gift bags. You know you can't do too much before hand when you have 3 little mess makers around. I can clean their playroom but it will be trashed before bedtime again. We already took down all Christmas stuff inside the house but will leave the outdoor lights up until next week. I love those! I love having my tree up longer but there are going to be a bunch of people here and our little house can use all the room we have.

Anyway, I have to take advantage of baby Ruby sleeping and start stuffing. Maybe I will get these 2 sweeties to help me. Without bribes though it is unlikely :)

Here is a picture that the girls took of their dolls on Christmas night (ish). They were using the remote control to do them and thought they were pretty darned cool. Most of Violet's babes were resting on her bed. This is Taylor Swift and a loaner babe, Sally. Grandma lent it to her on our last visit to Ohio. Also shown are Kit (Piper's gift from Santa) and Lilo. The animals pictured are Coconut the dog and Licorice the cat given to them from Matt and I. We figured that their dolls needed pets too right?

Read more...

The Zoo (2009)

We debated if we should actually go this year b/c of illnesses with Ruby & Violet but in the end we decided to venture the 2 hours and see what happened. The girls weren't running a fever anymore and pretty much just had snot noses and coughs. They handled the zoo great and all in all it was a wonderful day!

We got to see so many cool things while we were there. The handlers were feeding both the gorillas and the elephants so we got a front row view of that. They have the elephants do "tricks" while feeding them their snacks to make sure they are ok. It was neat b/c we have never seen elephant tricks before :)

The gorillas are a stubborn bunch. They are too aloof to even look our way. In fact the big one of the bunch sits with his back towards us most of the times we've been there so we see a giant butt crack (excuse my french lol). No pictures of that even though I have probably made it seem so attractive :) Here is the only one that would give us the time of day lol :)

The girls rode the merry go round and we saw our favorite koala bears. Next to the koalas are the Lorikeets. Previously the girls have been quite afraid of the colorful birds but not this year. I am just so proud of the both of them! After a few minutes they sort of freaked Violet out so she quit holding the cup of nectar but not Piper.



Way to go Piper!



I think that Matt had the most birds on him out of anyone there! It is b/c he is so sweet :)



I love our now annual "Day After Christmas Zoo Trip"!

Read more...

Ahh, Christmas (2009)

Christmas is always such a fun and magical time of the year. If you are unlucky enough to be out and about the day or two prior however you might disagree with me. Some people are so focused on the items that they "need" to get that they forget common courtesy. By no means am I saying I am perfect and haven't been one of them but this year I promised myself to concentrate on the holiday and not the gifts as much. I ventured out to Walmart at approximately 4 pm December 23rd to food shop and met a lot of those crazy people but also many, many extraordinarily nice ones. Lesson learned though - don't go to Walmart the week prior to Christmas lol :)

A quick look back on the holiday shows Ruby still struggling with a bug. Her nose runs the worst in the mornings but a cough is making it very difficult for her to sleep at night. Violet getting a bug. Last night she swapped beds with her Daddy and slept with Ruby and I b/c she needed to be near me. Matt thinks he is feeling the beginning of an illness coming on - ugh! It won't stop until it makes it's way through our family I am sure but hopefully won't prevent us from heading to the zoo in the morning for our annual "Day after Christmas Zoo Trip" :)

Here is our baby with her runny nose yesterday - bless her heart :(


Last night we opened our pj's, drove and found a new place that had fabulous Christmas lights (thanks Dana), spread out our magic reindeer food (thanks Steph), and decorated Santa's cookies. He asked for chocolate chip but I already had made the sugar dough so we gave him a few on the side.

Violet & Piper's cookies


There was happiness all around this morning. The girls got the present that they asked for, I got a pedometer, Matt a new jacket & hat - life is good. Check out Piper pointing to her new doll Kit in both pictures - do you think she LOVES her much?





And our little photographers...


Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night :)

Read more...

Just our beauties

Just for fun.
Just b/c I haven't posted many pictures lately.
Just b/c today they melted my heart with their sweetness.

Read more...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I moved AWAY from the snow b/c of how much I dislike it. Since having kids I do enjoy it in VERY small quantities and I do like that it normally only lasts on the ground a few days and then *poof* it's gone again. We were supposed to get hit yesterday with 12-14 inches of snow. You know who got hit? 15 miles north of us and we got a measly 2". That is ok b/c 2" to a 4 & (almost *sniff sniff*) 3 year old it is like 10 feet. They went out last night and rode down our driveway on sleds, threw snowballs at their Daddy, and made beautiful snow angels. What fun! This morning they were back at it again. They were out so long that they needed a mitten change b/c it is melting already so it is very wet. Got to love a southern snow storm :)

Frosty was covered in ice.



Southern icicles

Read more...

Jack

Once upon a time there was an elf named Jack. He worked diligently every year for Santa visiting homes and reporting back all the good things (and some bad) that the children he was in charge of were doing. After many, many Christmas's Jack found himself living at The Zoo. Lucky him :) He moves around nightly to get different views of the behavior from the children in the house. Each morning the girls search for him first thing, I am certain that it is amusing to Jack how much they love to find his new lookout spot.

How excited were they this morning when he covered our Christmas tree with candy canes? We enjoy him and hope he decides to return for many more Christmas's.

Read more...

LA Originals Knitted Baby Hat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I love, love, love the carrot hat :)

LA Originals Knitted Baby Hat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Read more...

Santa 2009

Ruby would not sleep for me yesterday during the day at all. She is sure ornery since she started cutting those 2 top teeth. So much for that Christmas song right? We made an errand just to get her in the car and get a few precious moments of shut eye from her. After we were done we decided to run through a little shopping area that had a Santa Claus. No line! The girls have had no interest in talking to him yet this year. He had some extra time to chat with them which opened them right up. Both of them told him the present that they wanted and we even got a picture. This visit with Santa was on a whim and it was raining out so I had no camera. Some people may think I keep one tucked in my bra but I don't. So we shelled out the $15 (Really????) and got a picture where ALL 3 girls were looking and 2 were even so proud of themselves for talking to the big guy that they smiled!

Santa said that since they were such good little girls he was pretty sure they would get what they asked for :)

Read more...

Some Violet Time

Even though it isn't under the best of circumstances I am trying to find the positive of hubs being home for awhile. I have written before about Piper LOVING her Daddy. How cool is it for that little girl to have him bring her to preschool these past 2x? This gives me a little extra Violet time which I love myself. Yesterday after a game of swimming ducks (don't really know the real name) she pretended to go to the store. Where else would Taylor Swift be but on her back? Just like where Ruby rides :) I love raising babywearers :)

Read more...

Thanksgiving 2009

We spent Thanksgiving with family and had a fabulous time. Matt's Grandma fell and broke her hip so it was great seeing her and seeing how upbeat she was (even though we crashed her pad at like 7:30 pm). Piper and Violet LOVED hanging with the cousins - as usual. We got to spend part of an afternoon with Matt's other Grandparent's and they got to enjoy our kiddos.

We found out before we left that Matt was losing his job. Sort of sucks you know? Happy Holidays kick in the nuts from his employer. We dealt with this 4 years ago right around the holidays then too. Different economy then. Makes you nervous. Real nervous. Must stay positive and know that He has a plan. Being a natural worrier I would like to know that plan if at all possible - lol :)

Read more...