A friend recently asked me at what age should they start scripture memory with their children. I'm not sure if there is a "right" age. But since my opinion was asked, here is my answer: if your child can memorize anything : twinkle, twinkle, the abc's, or several princess songs (ahem. we know about this), than your child can start to memorize scripture. For us we could have even started earlier...but we're still learning the ropes on the timing of things. We're in month 3 of our scripture memory and part of the success of the memory has been the activities that go with each month's theme. Cupcake loves the activities! Since we're moving towards Easter this month is all about how our Holy Father has offers purity and a cleansing of our sin. How better to see that in a 3 year old way than a paint fight? Right? We got some washable paint and let loose during Cutie Pie's morning nape last weekend. Since it was messy affair, I only have a before and after picture.
Have you ever seen a sweeter Daddy's girl?
And after... Before we washed clean again we talked about how we all have some mess in us. Then we talked about how the mess gets clean when God is in the picture. In case this is news to you...if you are reading this blog, you've got some mess in you. Don't worry, I'm not judging you. We all do. You also have the right to make that mess right in the eyes of God. I hope you have/will.
After giving Cupcake the hose and letting her clean the mess outside we jumped in the shower to get the rest of the paint off. Cutie Pie woke up shortly after....with absolutely no idea of all that had transpired during her nap.
I wonder what the neighbors think of two highly competitive folks slinging paint on their 3 year old. It was a sweet, messy, memorable,epic, Crack Team Saturday morning.
Today my first love, hero, advice giver, and advocate turns 60! He's a son, brother, husband, father, uncle, grandpa, team mate, dog owner, boss, salesman, and friend to many. Lots of people have worn similar hats in their life but a fewer number have done it with the integrity and loyalty that my Dad has. Driven in his early years by a strict father, later becoming a strict father, and ultimately pushing himself even still to do the right thing even when it's hard, he's a man surrounded by success. He is kind and gentle yet firm and fierce. He is friendly to everyone but has no problem standing up for something when you are out of line. He loves his family and his dog. He has run marathons, traveled around the world, played instruments, given more blood to the blood bank than any person I know, recycles religiously, gives generously, loves music, cars, and swimming in the ocean. He will talk to a stranger, friend the friendless, and be family to those who have none. He takes care of the elderly and has impressed the importance of doing so on others too. His cholesterol is ridiculously low yet he is an ice cream king. He never missed a dance recital or competition...even when the other Dads were playing golf. He loves my Mom and modeled romance well. He was tough on my boyfriends, until I met the right one. When he holds my daughters....I remember what it was like to be his little girl. The first 60 years have been more than admirable and I can't wait to see what the next decades look like for my beloved Daddy!
Happy Birthday....we love you Dad, Father-in-law, and Papa.
Since our winter is like spring we figure we might as well be outside as much as possible in early anticipation (dread) for what the summer will look like if we're in the 70's in January/February.
This weekend we headed out for a hike. Cupcake was THRILLED! She could barely wait to hit the trail as we unloaded our lunch from the car and got Cutie Pie strapped into her carrier. Once we hit the trails she was a little chatter box pointing out all the nature finds. She also melted my heart in one key moment when I was walking a little cautiously over some wet stones. I was mildly concerned that if I took a slip Cutie Pie would not be so trusting in her carrier. Cupcake turned around extended her hand to me and in full confidence said "Come on Mommy. You can do it!"
Melt.
Total Melt.
Reality check....I probably shouldn't take her out too so while I took her sweet extended hand I realized I better plant my feet firmly.
Anyway, we had a fun hike, a nice lunch, and then played at the park too. Sure it was warm for winter but at least I didn't have a pedicure to ruin!
their Gigi will probably text you in the morning and remind you to get a picture.
When you try to get a picture you may get something like this:
So you'll gather the adults and start singing and carrying on to "get their attention". Then you may get something like this:
With all that singing, it's only a matter of time before the eldest will join and and do what you are doing. Yep...that's what the adults behind the lens look like:
When you tell the eldest (and others) what you really want is a smile, you may get this:
You probably won't get them all looking at the camera, smiling, and taking that frame worthy picture for the fireplace mantel.
Then again, a Gigi somewhere is probably printing these off nonetheless.
I love summers for lots of reasons. But new to the list of why I love summers over the past few years is that my Mom generously gives up a week of her summer vacation each year to come help. They are shoes only my Mom can fill and I'm certain that because we don't have family living in town, it's a week I'll never take for granted.
In 2008 it looked like a week of Mom cooking food, freezing food, cleaning our house, and cutting watermelon after watermelon while I puked the days away. I was pregnant and so so sick. All I could keep down was watermelon, hence the never-ending watermelon cutting job. The hubs wasn't getting to eat much because not only was I too sick to eat I would throw up with the scent of so many foods. So the cooking and freezing was to make sure he didn't starve either. It was a GLORIOUS week of help.
In 2009 it was a mostly fun week of playing together with Cupcake and having an extra set of hands around to wash diapers, make or clean up dinners, and watch girly movies. My Mom's college roommate came to town the same week so we got a visit in with her and the Hubs' mom came for a visit that weekend so we got to have two Grandma's together too. I was thrilled to have my Mom's companionship that week as I was still in the super tired, didn't leave the house much stage.
In 2010 I spent the week unboxing. After being in the house for just a few short months we still had endless piles of boxes and with a very curious new walker around, unpacking wasn't happening. Somehow it's 2011 and I still have a few boxes. Eep. BUT, the week of Mom 2010 was the biggest unboxing dent of them all.
Now....Week of Mom 2011? Well, it was strangely a combination of all previous Week of Moms. I'm still "recovering" in some ways from the hurricane that came through. My sweet Mom literally worked around the clock! She painted the new baby room, took uncountable layers off some chairs I got at a garage sale for the girls, took off all the layers and sanded down beautifully Cupcake's dresser (that was the Hubs' at one point). And in all the in between time managed Cupcake with multiple pool trips, playing kitchen, reading books, painting, snacking, and rarely resting! I could have gotten tired just watching her. But there was no time for watching her or taking my normal naptime pregnant naps. I cleaned out the Hub's and I closet, completely emptied, cleaned, and organized our pantry, cleaned out all the baby clothes from Cupcake's closet and moved them to the new baby's closet, and I cooked dinner each night without having to worry about entertaining a 2 yr old or keeping her from getting cut or burned in the process. I forgot how much I LOVE to cook! If that wasn't enough....we finally got a portion of our attic finished out so that we can actually store stuff properly up there so Dad and the Hubs loaded an un-named amount of boxes up to the new attic. They also hung a shade on our back porch. (Of course they worked a full week too). Sooooo, in one week, while pregnant, Week of Mom was like an extreme home clean out. Whew. Like I said I am still recovering. But it was WONDERFUL!!!
We're still finishing the furniture so I'll have to post some more pictures of them once they are done but here's a peak at a few of the projects. (Sorry for the gross blue tint coming off the tarps. We were in project mode...not perfect picture taking mode).
The dresser:
The drawers:
The chairs: I know I'm not the only one who sooooo appreciates my Mom. In fact, it's humbling to be along side some other old friends, who like me appreciate their Mom to no end. I can clearly remember the days when we all wanted to desperately to get to college, away from our Moms, and be independent. I know we're all thankful that while our emotional pendulum has swung over the years, our Moms have stayed there, by our side, taking our love, our frustration, and our needs in stride and returning love and grace each step of the way. It is what makes a Mother-Daughter relationship so dear. Now while I get to be a Mom to a daughter (almost 2) I'm so thankful to still have MY mom standing there taking each step in stride and giving me love, grace, AND a week of her summers. She's irreplaceable and I'm so happy to have a daughter of my own that I can offer the same support to for many years, decades, and really....my whole life to come.
I'm back tracking but I didn't want to forget to post about Aunt Charlotte's visit! Charlotte and Justin spent their spring break on a road trip from Kentucky to be here with us. It was SO fun to see them. They cooked us an amazing dinner one night, we hit the outlet malls, we ventured downtown so they could try some of our favorite airstream trailer dinner spots, got pedicures, shopped boutiques, played wii, talked basketball (March madness was kicking off), and had a GREAT week. It was so nice to have family here to visit us.
I can't forget to mention that Cupcake's highlight was that Aunt Charlotte got up much earlier than any student should have to function to come visit our gym class. For weeks following it wasn't the same with just Mommy there. Thanks again for coming to gym Aunt Charlotte!
We enjoyed meeting Justin and look forward to seeing them again in a little over a month!
Thanks again for spending your spring break with us!!!
We were so excited that my Brudder and Sissy-in-law were brave enough, strong enough, or just plain sleep deprived enough to agree to bring their then 2 week old baby and Pac-man to Cupcake's birthday party. Of course they stayed for the weekend too. When they arrived we were within 1/2 hour of party start time. Cupcake took one look at her precious cousin baby K and wanted to hold her. Knowing that the doorbell could ring any moment which could result in baby K then being pushed off I decided that we could NOT hold her before the party. I explained this to cupcake and thankfully the doorbell did ring soon enough to distract all desires of holding baby K.
Flash forward to post party, post nap, and my little elephant who never forgets was right back on the pursuit of holding baby K in her arms. Aunt Amazing was again brave enough, strong enough , or just plain sleep deprived enough to let her. Little did I know that it would be the HIGHLIGHT of her day. I expected she may last 2 minutes. She lasted more like 20.
Look at the look of love in cupcakes eyes:
We kissed the baby: When the cameras came out we smiled EAR TO EAR:
I think she's in love. This wasn't the only time she held baby K and she hasn't stopped talking about it....even three weeks later. How sweet for these girls to have each other! Luckily Cupcake also gave myself and baby K's Uncle Awesome (the hubs) some snuggle time too. Ohhh we love her! She is just a doll!
On Sunday we drove out to the Darling's hotel room. By hotel room I mean hotel small home that was bigger than my old apartment and much more decorated. It had a doorbell if that paints a clearer picture. Cupcake rang that doorbell in her pumpkin shirt. Aunt Cheri gave her a full size snickers bar. Apparently Cheri and Gary are already more like Grandparents than parents. :)
We ate lunch and enjoyed catching up with them off the field! Really I just need them to live closer. I'm still hopeful to get Courtney to be a longhorn....
Anyway, it's clear: Cupcake loves her Courtney!!
She also got to meet Cameron for the first time. She's warming up to the idea of him. At least he's Courtney's brother.
I'm just glad we keep getting to see them so that Courtney can watch cupcake grow up...like I watched her grow up. I remember the first time I held her she was only 6 months old or was it 9 months? Hmmmm. Either way, it's been longer than we need to talk about. She's still as sweet as she was then! AND its so much fun to see my cupcake love her so much!
We have moments that look like this: And others that look like this:
Luckily so far those are typically just "moments" where she is trying out a glare, scorn, or temper tantrum but ultimately decides against it. But I'm not too naive to think those "moments" are test runs for her big push towards independence. So I'm studying up and we're making some plans to be ready for the battle. I'm realizing those annoying phrases our parents used had a purpose and counting to 3 slowly really does work. (Grandparents, no need to say "we told you so....")
The good news is most moments of our days still look like this:
And that's really good news. We think she's cuter than ever even with the new found facials.
Notice the slightly too big sunglasses. Gigi and Papa (my parents) took Cupcake to the store to buy a new ball since Papa's dog popped the old one. She also picked these out and Gigi and Papa wouldn't dare say no. Even though Gigi and Papa had NO problem saying NO to me when I would try to sneak accessories, gum, or whatever into the cart. Sigh. I guess that means my parents will have to realize that they are now the Grandparents that are getting lectured for bending rules, eating too many sweets, and generally spoiling. I can still hear my Mom yelling "George!!!" when she learned my Grandpa bought me cake AND coke at the mall. Life is funny isn't it?
Now back to enjoying the moments that aren't tears or scorns....
For the 4th of July Uncle Brudder, Aunt Amazing, and Little Man came to town. We had SO MUCH FUN with them. We ate, took pictures of the babies, ate, took videos of the babies, ate, and took pictures of the babies. I think we did some other stuff too but so much fun was had around good food and cute babies that the rest is just details.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend. We loved putting cupcake and little man on the splash pad. Little man has sooooo many facial expressions. He is just kissable! Check out this priceless one: Here's Cupcake. Notice their matching swimwear....or lack of:
It was all fun and singing and clapping:
Until the fight over the ball. She's older, he's bigger. It's a draw:
Then Uncle Brudder talks about turning the water up. Cupcake's out:
Little Man is the victim of his Daddy's prank:
Check out this scream as water is shooting over his head:
NOT HAPPY. But still fun enough to go back. This time Cupcake is the victim. Read this carefully before you watch:
Cupcake will slip. Mommy will scream-laugh. Cupcake will cry. In order to distract her we will all start to clap. She will be distracted. Little Man was already sympathy crying. He can not be distracted by clapping. Watch and laugh. Watch again and notice the feet flying into the air. It was really even funnier in person.
We went to Houston for an Easter weekend with Gigi, Papa, Uncle Brudder, Aunt Amazing, Pax, Grand Uncle Bruce, and Grand Aunt Trisha. Whew! It was non-stop activity and fun for all. I love that Chloe got to meet Grand Uncle Bruce and Grand Aunt Trisha. I have fond memories of them growing up and knew that Chloe would love them too. If she was just a little bigger, I knew Uncle Bruce would have been teaching her how to go down the stairs...just like he taught me.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend:
Our little Easter bunny in an outfit from her Grandma Sally and Great Grandmother Farr
We were so excited that Chloe loved the "game" of finding eggs. Looks like she'll carry on our competitive edge.
She liked to examine each one carefully and open them up. It'll be big trouble when Gigi starts putting candy in there!
Pax 5th Ave. goes for his own egg. He liked the blue and green ones.
It was so fun that Gigi set up Chloe's first Easter egg hunt. Last year she was a tiny baby and this year she was all over the yard and into everything!
Chloe with Grand Uncle Bruce and Grand Aunt Trisha
I've pictured it. I designed it. I created it. I cooked it.
Finally, last Saturday the Cupcake Party came to life...
The details: Cupcakes for our friends and family, in cupcake wrappers.
Cupcake wall of all of our Cupcake's "Firsts."
Cupcake sugar cookie party favors with cupcake tags.
Of course, the cupcake cake! (Thanks Kristin and Chuck for letting us borrow your pan)
I can't forget the cupcake surprise...Gigi made a cupcake party dress for the birthday girl.
I think we had the cupcake theme covered. Chloe was surrounded by sweet friends. The weather was PERFECT. We ate lunch, sang songs with shakers we made for Chloe's friends, we ate cake, and opened presents. Chloe did great. She never cried and never resisted what we wanted her to do: eat lunch, sing songs, open presents, eat cake, take pictures, etc. She was a birthday princess!
We had such a fun afternoon and it all went soooo fast. Before we could even digest it all the yard was picked up, extra food packed in the fridge, and Chloe as well as a few other un-named though not un-pictured persons took a nap. Let the record state that Uncle Brudder was also sawing some logs but he was in a dark room so the only way to snap his picture would have been to shock him with a bright flash in a dark room. The record should also state that his wife thought I should do it anyway. I decided to be a nice sister. Let this be one step towards making up for all the times in our childhood when I didn't choose the nice option. (Cool, brudder?)
We couldn't have done it without the help of the Grandparents, Uncle Brudder, and Aunt Amazing. This included late night trips to the grocery, watering flowers, icing cakes, hanging pictures on the mantle, icing down the drinks, buying bubbles, filling balloons with helium, and more! We also really appreciate our friends who share! Kristi and James, Liza and Brian, Kristin and Chuck, and Eric saved us from buying several things we didn't need beyond the party. Thank you! Finally thank you for all the thoughtful gifts from Chloe's friends! Official thank yous will hopefully go out before she turns two! However, I couldn't end this blog without mentioning Uncle Brudder and Aunt Amazing's gift....it was so thoughtful and perfect. They hired a photographer for the party so that we could just enjoy! The above pictures (with the exception of 2) are from her. She did a great job and it was soooooo nice to just enjoy our party. Thank you guys so much for the thoughtful gift!
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