An invitation to Spring

Dear Spring,

Welcome, please do come in! We have been awaiting your arrival for what seems like an eternity. We've been seeking the faint signs of green and listening for the sweet sounds of your presence. And to our grandest delight, you are here!

The early morning chirpings of our feathered friends are a delightful sound to be awakened to and the small peeks of flower buds keep our eyes searching for more signs of your homecoming.

Gone are the foggy breaths that hang in the air when we walk to the mailbox. And no longer will we have the need to wrap our bodies in layers of sweaters and coats. Our floral dresses and white sandals are standing at attention just waiting to be worn! And soon, our tanned arms and painted toe nails will be adorned with their beauty.

And if Winter tries to sneak in a last bit of cold, please be strong and stand your ground. We are all here to support you. We know that we will be walking with you towards the balmy days and cicada nights of Summer; but for now we will relish in your fresh smells, your bright colors and your happy sounds that surround us.

Salutations ~
Laurie


Signs of Spring's appearance in our yard:

Yo, Yo, Yo!

Those rappers ain't got nothin' on Lily Clare!

Sporting her "grill"!

Bling~
Laurie

Sugar and spice and ...

a little temperamental! (Did you see the trend in these postings?!?!?) Last week brought the end to Lily Clare's "Princess Ballet" class. She really liked this class; not only did she get to learn the basics of ballet, but the girls had several trunks of "princess" clothes to be able to dress-up with!



Usually the parents have to stand outside and stare in through a very small 2' x 3' window, (seriously, it's kinda like visiting a prison and staring at the inmates through the very small security window), but for the final day, we got to go into the room and see all of the girls dance. John and I went together and were so excited to watch Lily perform.


So, they started in a group doing some plie's and swaying side to side, then they took turns skipping in a circle. Let me say that watching Lily skip has made me smile every week! She takes after her dad in the coordination area. (Shout out to John...love ya honey!) So, she skipped and sat back down.


Next, they were to all get up and do a group dance...uh-huh...this is where it all went awry. She stayed seated on the floor and wouldn't budge. Seriously!
So, as we gritted our teeth, we watched all of the other girls do the dance and end the class. Am I a bad mom that this bothered me sooooo much?!?!? She just got up and came over smiling. Arrgghhh. Well, that night she woke up with a 103 degree fever, so I'm blaming her shyness on that.

No matter what, she is the cutest princess I know! And, she's all mine! (Well, I guess I have to share her with her daddy!)

If she's a princess, am I a queen?~
Laurie

Snails and shells and puppy dog tails...

and let's add hair gel! What?!?!? Boys are made of hair gel? Well, Sam definitely had his share of hair gel yesterday!

After school, Sam went to play with one of his buddies in the neighborhood, Ian. They play well together and usually get involved in a good wrestling match or a good game of cops and robbers, you know, real boy stuff.

Ian, Sam and Max at Field Day last year.

So Michelle, Ian's mom, called me to say that she was about to drop Sam off. But, she needed to give me fair warning about his hair. My first thought was, "Oh no, were scissors involved?!?" Luckily that answer was "no"! She said that Sam had told Ian that he liked the way he gels his hair, so Ian decided to fix Sam's hair for him. Voila...the final result:




Actually, Ian did a pretty good job! I sure hope he has some hair gel left for Monday!

Headin' out to buy some Dep~
Laurie

P.S. Needless to say, John was somewhat perplexed by this! ;-)

Who's on first?

Surely, y'all know what famous skit I'm talking about...right?!?!? Who's on first, what's on second - yada, yada -- the Abbott and Costello baseball skit!!


Actually, how do I even know about this skit? What year did they do it? I'll blame my dad, I'm sure he has something to do with it; all those years of being forced to watch shows like Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw! (I admit...I loved Hee Haw! BR549, Junior Samples and Minnie Pearl!)

Anywho, the reason I bring it up is that Lily has her own version of this skit and it plays out practically every day. Her famous question, usually asked when she wakes up, is "Mommy, is today tomorrow?" Huh, how do you actually answer this? Can it ever be tomorrow? Don't we just live for tomorrow in hopes of a better day!?!?

I try to ignore the question and see if it goes away. It doesn't. So, in my own personal ode to Abbott and Costello, I've come up with an answer that pretty much ends the discussion. Drum roll please.........."Yes, honey, today was tomorrow yesterday!"

She just looks at me, somewhat confused and wanders away. I usually find her in the pantry with a much easier question to answer. "Mom, what's for breakfast?"

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow~
Laurie

A full heart on this Valentine's Day!

One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life,
That word is Love
~ Socrates

I hope this Valentine's Day finds you with love! Is there really anything better than love? There are so many different kinds, yet all of them bring happiness.

The unbridled love of your soul-mate, the sweet, innocent love from your children, the unconditional love from your parents and family, the comfortable love of a true friend -- to run through this list and to see these sweet examples existing in my life, I know that I am truly blessed!

I remember the racing of my heart and the butterflies in my stomach when John and I were first dating. Then, to think about how our love has "morphed" through the years from newlyweds, to new parents, to a content, settled couple, I know that I am truly blessed!



I remember the knot in my throat and the fullness in my heart when I gave birth to my two precious children. To have been able to experience the miracle of life and to see these "miracles" learn and grow on a daily basis, I know that I am truly blessed!



Add in the love of my family (in-laws included) and the love from my friends, I know that I am truly blessed!

***Have you told someone special that you love them?***

With a full heart~
Laurie

Vacationing with Mr. Murphy and his law...

So, this is my follow-up post to our week in Jamaica. I'm sure you are wanting to hear about the beautiful beaches, the exotic experiences and the fun times we had. Yep, we had a little bit of those things, and it was great while we did; but we spent most of our vacation experiencing Murphy's Law.

I know you are thinking "Whatever, you were on a free vacation in Jamaica, how selfish and rude of you to complain!!!!" Well, normally I would agree with that, but not in this situation and let me explain why....

Day One - We brought my EXPIRED passport to the airport causing John to have to drive back to get the correct one, causing us to miss our original 9:30 a.m. flight and sit in the airport for 6 hours until the 2:30 flight.

Day Two - Beautiful weather, yummy Jerk dishes and lots of sun and fun! However, 1) the room above us was leaking into our room, so we had to pack up and move to a new room and 2) later that night we had our cell phone stolen from our new hotel room. (Yes people, we were at the Ritz Carlton.)

Day Three - Another beautiful day and fun in the sun! However, we had John's laptop, backpack with car keys and ipods stolen from our room. (Yep, we are still at the Ritz.)

Days Four and Five - John comes down with the stomach flu and remains in the hotel room for the next two days. Icky-poo!

Day Six - We head home and fortunately were able to have my brother meet us at the airport with our spare keys to be able to drive our car home! We also found out at check-out that the thieves had raided our Honor Bar and gave us a $100 bill for the liquor they stole ... fortunately we didn't have to foot that bill!

So, not to be complaining, but Mr. Murphy definitely wrenched himself into our itinerary and didn't budge until we made it home. Yes, I did get a view of this:



And I got a couple of these:



But the most important part of the puzzle was that these cuties were safe at home waiting for us and for the surprises we brought back!


There's no place like home~
Laurie