It brings out the grrrrrrr

the library

Does the library do this to anyone else?

The kiddos go banshee-style crazy about half of the time?

Last week.

Last Friday I took the kiddos to the library.

Books were looked at, decided on.

Movies, yep.

Fish tank, you betcha.

Every single activity type of anything was played with, looked at, explored.

But then, it hit the fan.

Major freak out, screaming temper tantrums.

Empathetic and judgmental looks doled out by passersby while we head out.

Thank goodness for dear friends who are there to lend a helpful hand.

Today.

Piece-o-cake.

Same activities checked off the list:

books

movies

fish tank

toys

computer

Today though, muy bueno.
We went with friends and the kids had a blast!

Only a slight meltdown after check out, but hey, I've got a two year old, I expect such things.

Normally.

Well, it's a mix of the two.

There is something {something in the air?} that brings out the wild in them.

Does this ever happen to you?
Maybe it's not the library, but somewhere else?

Don't you just love when things turn out nicely when you least expect it?
I certainly do :)

Firsts

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting much lately.

Life has slowed down, tremendously.

You would think that I would have more than enough time to blog but instead fill my days with summer fun and reading.

I love reading.

It is one of my favorite things to do.

Give me a good book and that it what I will spend all of my free time {as well as some not so free time} reading.

Firsts.

Pigtails.

Miss Abigail has some long hair, however, she hates me to do anything with it other than put a clip in it.

Last week she actually let me put her hair in PIGTAILS! 

I think pigtails are the cutest thing on little girls.

I couldn't show you the back of Abby's head and not show you one of her face.

My friend D'Neil took this picture of Abby at church on Saturday.

This is Abby's new face.

She smiles and covers her mouth, such a bashful little beauty.

Swimming.

Yesterday afternoon I took the kiddos to the pool for the first time this summer.

It felt like a pretty big accomplishment for me as I took all three girls to the pool by myself.

Before this had felt pretty daunting but now it felt doable.

It was a beautiful day.

We met up with my two dear friends, Jennifer and Clara.

The kids played and played and played.

It was a great afternoon.

Ballet recital.

Ainsley had her first ballet recital last night.

It was precious.

It was the first dance recitals that one of my children have participated in and I loved every single minute of it.

{it was an outdoor recital too, how perfect!}

She danced and smiled and was shy and just....well, just amazing.

I have no other words to describe it.

It was one of those moments that you always hope to have.

That moment where your heart feels such happiness and contentment that for a moment the world seems ideal.

I have no idea how else to describe it.

Pure bliss.

This is the song she danced to.

For some reason it fills me with such wistful happiness.

 

The Good, the Bad and the Funny {Finally!}

The Good: School's. out. for. summer. I am saying adios to schedules and hola to laid-back days. It's been nice, most of the time, having all of my chicks at home with me. I worked out a couple of times this week and {fingers crossed} plan to go again tomorrow. I am determined to get back in shape and be more healthy. It needs to happen. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I actually really liked it. Like, smiling while working out. Say what? Yep, I was in a nice groove where it all felt good. Too bad the same can't be said for my legs today, but that must mean that I am doing it right? The pool opens sometime this weekend and we are planning on going Tuesday at the latest. Speaking of the pool, swimming lessons are coming up soon. My little ducklings need some more lessons. I mentioned before that Abby had started potty training, well, homegirl is a rockstar. Most nap times her pull-up stays dry and she has even stayed dry a couple of nights! Woo hoo! Adison and I have a love for putting together puzzles. Yesterday we spent a good amount of time working on one together, it was so nice.

The Bad: I'm not watching baby B anymore, yesterday was the last day {her grandma normally watches her, I was helping out during tax season}. We are all going to miss her. Abby woke up from her nap today asking where B was. Good thing we are in small group together so we can see her regularly. We think poor Abby has allergies, poor girl was miserable the beginning of the week. While it is awesome having all the girls at home there have been some readjusting going on. Every summer it happens and I know to expect it, I just don't like seeing the girls struggle to find a new normal.

The Funny: The little two are super competitive with other cars when we are driving somewhere. All I hear from them is, "Pass them, Mama!" "Mama, don't let them pass us!" Abby even throws in a few "arghs" for good measure. Adison and I laugh and laugh at their antics. 

Chalkboard cabinet creations

Chalkboard cabinet art.

The children have enjoyed coloring on the cabinets.

Expressing their creativity.

Sometimes it's randoms dots of chalk that looks like falling snow.

Other times it is a rainbow, somehow captured and now decorating our home.

We have even had a princess who was being rescued by her prince.

Sometimes I hear giggling coming from the kitchen, I sit and listen.

Enjoying the sounds of camaraderie.

There is story-telling going on or calling dibs on who gets to draw on each one.

Pleas to not write/color/erase someone's creation.

Some of my favorite drawings to find are when K has been drawing with them.

{Have I ever told you what an amazing artist K is?}

K's drawings coinciding with the children's.

I have been ever so pleased with this project.

I'm trying to think of other things I can paint with it.

Hey-o

I am missing this here blog.

I know I posted a couple of times last week, but I am used to posting everyday.

Things have been busy and computer time has fallen by the wayside.

I didn't use my computer the entire weekend.

Life has been full and busy.

Adison and Ainsley are officially on summer break.

We celebrated in our typical fashion, picnic with friends.

Adison is now a 4th grader.

Hold me.

How in the world is she growing up so fast, it seems surreal.

My mom came in town on Saturday.

Abby kept calling her "Grandma-mommy" but wouldn't get near here, homegirl is even more shy than possible if that is humanly possible.

She managed to stay dry the ENTIRE time we were out and even went potty while we were out.

So, we are "officially" out of diapers but using pull-ups during sleep times.

I call that success!

My mom got me the most fantastic Mother's necklace, I need to take a picture and share it with you guys.

She knows me so well.

We had church Saturday evening and let me tell ya, I feel blessed beyond measure that we were lead to such an amazing church.

The friends that we have made, the relationships that we have formed, priceless.

Ainsley has gotten to a very interesting stage.

She not only knows, but feels guilt when she does something that she is not supposed to.

To see the remorse for bad choices, while heartbreaking to see her cry is also encouraging as I know that she is maturing and has such a soft, sweet heart.

It breaks my heart to listen to her tearful apologies and to see the tears stream down her face.

Ah, growing up, it's tough stuff even when you're four.

Abby had her 2 1/2 year check up this morning.

She is getting bigger!
26 pounds, what what!

Everything looks great and it appears that homegirl might have allergies.

Poor baby child, ah, lets just stick with baby, shall we?

Argh!

Abby this morning watching the pirate Backyardigans episode

She's a pirate.

At least she thinks she is and that's what we're going with.

It's become commonplace to hear "argh!" "ahoy matey!" and "walk the plank" all spoken with a gruff two-year old voice.

That with her arm crooked at just the right angle, her back slightly hunched over.

Sometimes she even includes a shuffling gallop is you aren't within arms reach.

It's become a family show.

K and I, obviously cannot resist her charm and spunk.

Playing right along with "walk the plank!" and "shiver me timbers" thrown in to make her giggle.

One of the sweetest things about this stage that Abby is in is seeing her sisters play along.

Lee pretends she has a hook for a hand using her finger.

Adison gets down on her knees and "arghs" at Abby, pretending to chase her and occasionally taking part in a mock sword battle. Often done using spatulas, which adds to the hilarity of the scene.

I love that everyone is playing along with the youngest member of our family.

Indulging and encouraging her make-believe wonderland without complaint but rather joy.

A band of pirates are we, argh!

Reality vs. Perception

This mothering thing is hard.

It stretches you in ways that are beyond the physical, hellllooooo stretch marks.

It's mentally tough, physically exhausting and emotionally...well, emotionally draining.

It also brings with it inexplicable joy, happiness and contentment.

Making all of the other hardships disappear because by golly, I have the joy of being a mother to three of the most amazing creatures to have ever walked this Earth.

Not that I am remotely biased or anything, I mean, look at those faces!

 

Okay, so my point of all of this is that while we, scratch that, I try to pretend like I have all my stuff together.

That my darling children are ALWAYS well-behaved, polite angels, that's not reality.

Reality is...well, take today for instance.

I had a meeting up at Adison's school this afternoon, the last one of the school year {Yippee!}.

Adison was SUPPOSED to be on the playground playing with her best friend, while normally checking in with me periodically.

Abby and Ainsley were playing in the room that I was in.

Then, we had to leave early due to Ainsley's ballet class this afternoon.

I get the little two and Abby's bag that she had brought in and headed downstairs to find Adison.

Only, Ainsley bolted ahead of me and I couldn't find her ANYWHERE.

I'm walking around the school yelling her name only to be answered by silence.

Mild freakout going on.

Finally she pops her head out, I was hiding Mama!

{You've GOT to be kidding me!!!!}

Adison.

Where is Adison?
After checking out the playground and not finding her I start to panic.

I looked out a couple of the other doors and couldn't find her anywhere.

Finally I see her friend.

Adison was playing down by a busy street collecting leaves.

Say what!?!

I was livid.

Terrified.

I read the news, I'm aware of what can happen to 9 year old children.

Needless to say, I slightly freaked out and informed Adison and Ainsley that they would be getting consequences when we got home; room cleaning and early bedtimes were to be had.

I like for things to seem like they are cool, calm and under control.

That's just not reality though.

More often than not, I feel like a chicken with her head cut off trying to wrangle a heard of cats during a tornado.

It would be great if reality looked more like perception, however, my reality looks a lot more like the picture below.

Only, add a temper tantruming, jumping up and down four year old as well as an attitude giving nine year old.

It's not perfect, I'm not perfect, life is not perfect, but it's mine and they are mine, and for me, this is perfection.

All of it, the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny.

Mother's Day

Counting birds

Singing songs

Wiping faces {and hinies}

Reading books

Silly voices

Countless kisses

Sneaky tickles

Playing pirates and princesses

Saying prayers

Holding hands

Taking walks

Bathing beauties

Nurturing souls

Squeezy hugs

Huddling in forts

Spying bunnies and squirrels

Brushing hair

Sparkly eyes

Mischievous smiles

These are the moments.

The things that make up motherhood, for me.

These are the times that if feels as if the stars have aligned, that then, even if for that very moment, that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

When life seems to pause, albeit to quickly, so I can mother.

Mother my precious miracle children.

Being a mother.

We all do it so uniquely.

We all have our own style.

So very beautifully.

Motherhood, a calling that I am blessed to have.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you amazing, beautiful, patient, loving women.

InstaFriday!

We have been insanely busy this past week, so I apologize for the lack of pictures.
I'm so ready for summer, ready for a change of pace.
For lazy days.
Until then, I'll link up a few pictures from this past week.
Head on over and link up your pics, too!

She was watching The Muppets while wearing her Muppets sweatshirt.

Happy girl!

She is doing AMAZING with her potty training, woo hoo!
She's only wearing diapers at nap & bedtime.

She's a rock star I tell ya!

K took this pic the other night while we were at the lake for Adison's last soccer practice.

I love it.

Love every single thing about it.

Adison had Bible study on Wednesday evening.

Normally my bestie, Jennifer, and I would find something to do for about 45 minutes sans kids.

This past Wednesday though, Abby was too sweet to leave.

Mama, don't yeave me!

Of course I had to bring her, how can you say no to that?

We got cupcakes and Babs got a little container of frosting.

Okay, so another shot while at the lake.

I was attempting to get a picture of Ainsley, her best friend, Kailyn, and Abby.

K had another idea though, photo bomb.

Well, hey there handsome!

Life.

Ainsley took this picture the other night.

Me, making dinner, Abby at my feet and a messy kitchen.

Yep, that's my life and oh how I love it!

Spensers Focus, an inspiring family

As I mentioned on Sunday, we made a trip to the Farmer's Market.

Expecting -and hoping- for finds such as: asparagus, zucchini and maybe a breakfast burrito -or two- and, what has become an expectation, the balloon animals.

What I wasn't expecting, not even a little, was to meet an amazing young man named Spenser and his lovely parents, Raye and Stephen.

Thinking back, I'm not even sure what caught my eye.

What made us pause, because folks, it was hot and humid and the kids were showing signs of mutiny.

But something made us stop.

Maybe it was the colors, the beauty, the energy of this nice couple or maybe it was Spenser himself.

But, stop we did.

Drawn in by the colors, the swirls, the textures.

via 

Then, we found out part of the story behind the artist, Spenser.

Spenser has autism.

via 

He expresses himself so beautifully through art.

Namely chalk and bubbles.

His mom and dad shared with us that he will cover their entire driveway with his masterpieces.

They then photograph them and turn them into beautiful pieces that we can take home with us.

I love what it said on their business card Art through the eyes of Autism.

via

From their website: 

Spenser is an exceptional young man with autism. He has limited communication skills but manages to navigate our world every day. Spenser has been filling our driveway with his sidewalk chalk art for a number of years. He makes patchworks of layered color and shapes, many of which are inspired by his passion for the weather. We wanted to share his work, and hope you enjoy his vision as we do.

 via

I so enjoyed my time with them at the Farmer's Market.

We're hoping to go next week, it would be a delight to stop by their booth and peruse some more art.

Check out their website and blog, I'm sure that you will be as impressed with this amazing family as I am.

Here are a few of the items that we purchased {sorry for the poor photo quality on my part, sigh}:

Prayer request:
K's cousin, Tiffany, is having surgery tomorrow, would you please lift her up in prayer. For a successful surgery, for rapid healing, for peace.

Guess who started potty training!?!

Abby!

This little jelly bean is.

How, oh how did my little teeny tiny baby get old enough to potty train!?!

Help!

Her cousin, Cameron, came over today and she wears big girl underwear.

That was all it took.

Abby's only had two accidents, or as she likes to call them, "leaks".

Hysterical.

Help, Mama, I leaky!

She even stayed dry during nap time {she had a diaper on} AND when we picked up Adison from school {diaper free!}!

She is so very excited and super motivated to use the potty.

Just think you guys, I am at the verge of having 0 kids in diapers anymore!

It will be very interesting to see if this continues, but, as I see it, if nothing else it's good practice.

No title feels suffient enough

I had planned that today I would share our 

experience at the Farmer's Market yesterday.

Specifically about an amazing young man named Spenser and his wonderful parents.

But then, well, then, I heard some devastating news.

Growing up, we had a dear friend of our family, we called him Uncle Bunny.

Uncle Bunny was always there, even if we didn't live nearby he was there in spirit.

I remember being a kid and him seeming larger than life, just a fantastic man.

This morning, I heard that his 16 year old daughter died yesterday afternoon.

Nothing, nothing in the experience of being a parent prepares you for something like this.

That isn't the way that life is supposed to be.

It seems to go against the very laws of nature that children should pass before their parents.

Yet, we see it and hear about it all the time.

It just seems so very wrong.

It hits home when you think of it being one of your own precious children.

How can life go on without them?
How does the earth continue to turn, the sun shine and the birds sing?

Sixteen seems and is way too young for a life to be cut short.

I cannot fathom what Uncle Bunny and his wife, Elizabeth, are going through.

Cannot imagine the pain.

Uncle Bunny and Elizabeth,

My words seem so shallow, so...not enough.

My heart is broken for you, for the loss of your daughter.

Your precious child, your joy and heart.

Please know, that even though we are separated by hundreds of miles, that my heart is with you.

It's crying with yours.

I am so very very very sorry.

Elmo Live Giveaway take 2!

I never heard back from Amy :(

So, I chose another winner for the Elmo Live Giveaway!

The winner is Rori's momma!!!!!

Rori's mommaMay 1, 2012 08:24 PM

I follow your blog!! :)

 

Yay! You are the winner of the family 4-pack for Elmo Live!
The show is on May 15th & 16th so please get back to me ASAP so that I can get your information in so they can send your tickets to you!

danna3pinkcupcakes@yahoo.com

Renting textbooks and making smiles

I graduated from college...forever and a day ago.

I have so many fond memories of that time of my life.

One that I look back on now, in humor, is how poor we were.

K and I married while in college and I remember the days of endless Ramen.

Of pasta with a touch of cheese on it, of opening the fridge and finding it pretty bare.

I remember paying, what felt like, an arm and a leg for books.

Only then to resell them after the semester was over for what felt like a fraction of what they cost.

The hope of getting back a decent amount and the reality of getting back pennies on the dollar.

Sigh.

So, when CampusBookRentals contacted me about their company I was floored.

What a great idea!

You can rent your textbooks, saving 40 - 90% of what you would spend at a bookstore.

You can even highlight in the books, which was something I did a lot of.

What I also like is that you can purchase your books.

They even have free shipping BOTH WAYS!

I have considered going back to school before and I can tell you that if I ever do make that choice that I will be renting them from CampusBookRentals.

It just makes sense.

What made their company stand out to me was that a portion of textbook rental fee goes towards Operation Smile.
Seeing the smiles on these kiddos faces is amazing.
Click on this link, look at the faces, read the stories.
Amazing.
CampusBookRentals has committed to donating enough money to cover the cost of at least 1,000 surgeries.
That is at least 1,000 children that can have a brighter future.

Helping children AND saving money on textbooks, easy choice. 

I was compensated for this post, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

InstaFriday!

Happy Friday my dears!
How was your week?
Ours was capital B busy.

Head on over to Life. rearranged and share your cell phones pics from the week!

{Shh, don't tell, but some of mine were from last week too.}

I saw this fabric at the fabric store and have never, not ever, wished that I could sew.

I want to learn so bad!
Time to start saving up $$$ for a sewing machine I think.

Isn't that fabric great!?!

They have so many cupcake options to choose from.

Sewing, I need to learn.

My baby.
She's growing up way too fast.

This morning she was belting out the man or a muppet song from the new Muppets movie like a gospel singer.

It was AWESOME!

I tried to get it on video, but the sound didn't work.
Fail.

Double rainbows.

Beautiful.

I love that we don't see rainbows very often, it makes seeing them such a treat.

This same morning I went to Sonic for a Coke and the lady in front of me paid for mine.

It was an awesome morning!

I know I shared this picture already, but it is seriously one of my favorite Adison pictures of all times.

I love love love the big grin on her face.

The look of accomplishment of finishing her race.

Wednesday morning, while I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off to get the older girls ready for school, Miss Abby got quiet.

That always means something interesting is going on.

Turns out she had been sneaky the night before and put some cookies in her Winnie the Pooh house.

I found her sitting in the chair quietly nibbling away at them.

When I said something to her she flashed me this goofy "ya caught me" grin.

This is so Ainsley.

Everything about this picture screams her name.

The ballet clothes, the pink sunglasses, the big bow in her hair, Abby playing in the background, the smile.

Ainsley.

Everything about her in this one picture.

Head on over and share your weekly pics, I can't wait to see them!

Elmo Live Giveaway winner~ Amy

Amy, you are the winner of the Elmo Live Giveaway!

AmyMay 1, 2012 07:55 PM

My three oldest never really cared for anything about Sesame Street. My youngest, a 22 month old, LOOOOOOOVES Elmo... and Cookie! Anything Elmo is GREAT and he even sings the Elmo's World song! LOL! He would adore this!

Can you please send me an email ASAP, I need to get you info so we can get you the tickets.

If I haven't heard from you by noon central time tomorrow {May 5th} I'm going to draw another winner.

Please please please email me, I would love for you to get the tickets!

The show is on May 15th and 16th, so the tickets need time to get mailed to you.

Run Adison Run!

Adison had her Spring Fun Run for school on Monday.

She was really looking forward to it and I was really looking forward to cheering her on!

Oh the excitement I felt when she came into view.

Running running running

She finished fourth among the girls and was pleased as punch.

You could see how excited she was to get close to the finish line, to hear the whooping, the hollering, her name being yelled.

It's kinda fuzzy, but can you see that big grin on her face?

I saw it and felt it spread to my face as well.

That girl is pure sunshine.

After they had the race there was a carnival.

Abby wanted to be held the entire time and I would have loved to have been able to do it, but my arms were getting sore.

I eventually asked K is he thought she could fit between me and the backpack {diaper bag}.

She did and couldn't have been happier.

I could feel her little body relax into mine, I love having her close to me.

Ainsley was thrilled at all the bouncy houses they had.

This one had a mini-obstacle course and a big slide.

Her little best friend Kaylin went on it with her several times.

There is something about watching to little girls run hand-in-hand, with excited giggles that makes everything feel okay in the world.

She then went over to an actual bouncy house where she bounced around like a loon.

Then, without any indication, she ran headfirst into a big blow up column and went flying backwards.

It was a riot.

This is Adison and her bff, Emmy.

They were gladiators.

Teeny tiny little gladiators.

It was epic.

We had such a fun night.
Catching up with friends.

Children playing and having fun.

Can't wait for next year!

Elmo Live Giveaway Winner!!!

The winner of the Elmo Live Giveaway is Amy! Congrats Amy!

Send me an email so I can pass along your information to get you those tickets! 
danna3pinkcupcakes@yahoo.com

AmyMay 1, 2012 07:55 PM

My three oldest never really cared for anything about Sesame Street. My youngest, a 22 month old, LOOOOOOOVES Elmo... and Cookie! Anything Elmo is GREAT and he even sings the Elmo's World song! LOL! He would adore this!

Thank you so much to everyone that entered! Don't forget that you can still get $3 off of your tickets by using the code ERNIE online at ticketmaster.com to receive the special offer.

(Excludes Gold Circle & Sunny Seats. Not valid on previously purchased tickets. Cannot be combined with any other offer.)

Thank you also to Sesame Street Live! for providing the tickets!

Virtual Coffee

Virtual coffee, how I've missed thee.

Amy at Lucky Number 13 is taking a bit of a break {I hear ya!} and sweet Claire over at Decide What You Want offered to host this week and I couldn't be more excited.
I've had all of these little snippets of things running through my head and I can't wait to talk about things.

 I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed and rundown lately.

I'm just going to put it out there and be honest.

Between Adison being in school, having two littles, all the evening activities and the 10 million balls I feel like I am juggling, oh and a house to maintain as well as a relationship with my husband to nurture, I am feeling stretched.

To the max.

I'm trying to prioritize and put things in perspective.

The school year is almost over as are most of our evening activities.

I've been trying to work extra hard on spending time with the kids individually as I feel like they need it and so do I.

I'm really looking forward to the 5K that is quickly approaching.

I haven't been working out nearly as often as I need to/would like to.

I'm trying though, hopefully soon.

Talking about running, Adison had her school carnival/run last night.

It was a blast!

She came in 3rd or 4th out of all the girls that ran!

I have pictures to share {probably tomorrow} that K took, I don't think I took a single one.

That's probably because poor Abby was slightly overwhelmed.

All the people, noise, people, activity and people got to her.

The plus for me though was that I got some extra cuddle time in.

I'll take it!

Abby has been running around the house acting like a pirate lately.

Complete with a well placed "Aargh!" and hook like arm.

This evening she even pulled down her right eye, hunched over and growled "aargh!" at me.

It was priceless!

Ainsley has been giving me a run for my money lately.

Sigh.

I don't know what's going on but homegirl is a handful, as usual.

She still has her same sweetness that can conquer anything.

This morning we got hit by a strong thunderstorm.

Right before it hit it was barely raining and the sun was still shining.

Adison said I bet there will be a rainbow somewhere today.

Whatdaya know, right after I dropped her off I saw a double rainbow.

It made me think of my girl, God's promise and I couldn't help but smile.

Goodness gracious, I feel like I probably talked your ear off!
What's new in your world?
What's going on that we could chat about?