The time that I don't want to forget

I can count on more than one hand the amount of times this year that I've said I love this time in our lives.  Our girls are a little "older", the baby stuff - naps, feeding, diapers, tantrums are long gone (mostly), and we have been able to enjoy so much quality family time. Case in point, we drove for hours on our first big family vacation (see previous post) without any complaining from the kids.  They kept themselves entertained for endless hours in the car.  During our trip to D.C., we walked for almost 6 hours straight.  Hubby later google mapped it and our little girls walked close to 10 miles that night.  No strollers....  I won't say they didn't complain about this one.  They did get tired, but they still did it. 

One of my favorite things about "this time" is their personalities.  It's a time when their little personalities are mostly developed into who they are deep inside and have not yet been changed by friends, media, etc.  They are in their purest form and I love it.  The other night at dinner, I stopped and just watched my girls in all of their glory.  So happy, so proud to have this unbelievable family.  I just stared at them while they ate their dinner, acted silly, and just looked plain cute!  Then I looked over at Tom.....and he was doing the same thing.  We just watched them and didn't say a word.  "This is perfect"....is what I'm pretty sure we were both thinking.

Rino is and has always been our happy, smiling girl. She is caring and empathetic even when developmentally, most kids are not able to show concern for others, she does (and has for a while). I love her positivity.  It is contagious.  I hope she always has this attitude.  Yesterday, after a long night of tossing and turning and hardly any sleep, I was getting ready to take her to school.  She busts into a song. "I'm walking on sunshine."  How could that not make you smile.  Seriously, sometimes I think she truly walks on sunshine.  What a life!

See how much they love eachother??

Up until 3 1/2, Tealie has always been feisty.  She knows what she wants and will go get it.  She is outgoing, and imaginative.  She can play for hours with all of her stuffed animals having hilarious conversations with each other.  Did I mention she is HILARIOUS???  She always wants to know if she if funny.  It's obviously part of her untouched personality.  But in the last month or so, she also has developed an empathy that cannot be taught.  She came downstairs after watching a Tigger movie.  She was crying and could not be consoled.  I thought she was hurt until she finally told me that Piglet was being mean to Tigger.  She doesn't want anyone to hurt.  Even cartoon characters.  She has been known to tell me when she is sad by saying, "You hurt my FEELING".  Just the one feeling.  :)  And one more thing, she LOVES school.  She goes three days a week (which this momma thinks is a lot) and she is still upset when she can't go.

My FAVORITE thing about this time is the closeness of these sisters.  I used to wish I had them just a little closer together so that they could be closer but so far, it doesn't seem to matter.  They LOVE each other and have a constant playmate.  My hope is that they will continue to stay this close and always have a best friend in each other.  Sisters are such a blessing. :)

Post Much???

Okay, so it's kinda been a long time since I blogged.  Summers are kinda busy around here.  My Dad's birthday, Mikey's birthday,our anniversary, then Melly's birthday, Tom's p's anniversary, Grandpa D's birthday, Mom and Dad's anniversary, my birthday, Tom's birthday, Gabby's birthday.  Throw in Father's day, Mother's day and a typical summer vacation and lots of other fun summer activities, we are BOOKED!!! 

Anywho....thought I'd post a photo collage of what we've been up to.  First up, Deep Creek Lake, MD.  We went for the Rimbey/Wheeler family reunion, and most importantly, to attend GG's Memorial. What an awesome lady!

View from our cabin in the mountains

A great pic of my handsome hubby at Uncle Lew's house

My girl Rino.  She is determined!

Tealiegirl.  Having a blast just bouncing around.

New "Maddie's Garden" statue just for GG!

Uncle Lew's yard.  Where the bear and the buffalo roam...

We're on a boat!

First time tubing with her Wheeler cousins!

View of the house from the lake

Seriously??  Like father, like sons. :)

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Tealie-isms

Thing 2 says the funniest things.  She is a comic in training.  Some things she says are developmental or accidental, but I know as of recently she is understanding that she is very funny!

Here's an ongoing list of the funny things she says:

"Mom, do you have a song stuck in your hair?"

"Look at me play my -flupe-" (it was a harmonica)

"Hey Momma, I have something to tell you something."

"Zippity doo doP zippity ay - OH MY GOSH ITS A WONDERFUL DAY!" (this is her dance recital for the 2010-2011 year)

"Look I'm dancing on a skage!"

Me- "Graygirl, Why did you _______?"    Tealie - "Because I  did"

"Boomynaaahhhhn" - Her favorite 3 year old made up word.

"Last one in is a Rock and Egg!"

Teal and Friends during what was supposed to be naptime.

Hawaiian Party and 1st birthday Memories

As you will see, this blog contains a lot of ADD.  Rino's class filled their marble jar again and voted on a Hawaiian theme party.  She was so excited!  We pulled out her most "Hawaiiany" looking outfit that we could find on short notice and then I remembered that we had a lei made out of foam flowers.  We even listened to Hawaiian music at breakfast on Pandora Radio.

Here's my Hawaiian girl decked out in her Hawaiian best.

OK, Back to the ADD part.  P.S.  Blogger, why are you not letting me align left when I clicked on "align left twice??? Squirrel!  Anywhoo....yeah, see that foam necklace she is wearing?  It's from her 1st Luau themed birthday party.  (Yes, I almost always have a theme.  I can't help it)  Soooo...this morning, I was explaining to her that she first wore that when she turned 1.  We went down Memory Lane and looked at some pictures from her first birthday.







Some of the decorations including the foam lei (attached to the pink bucket)



My smiling girl eating her breakfast with her birthday hat on

I'm not sure about this everyone watching me while I eat cake thing.

So, of course, with all of this talk about Rino's first birthday , Tealie Bear wanted to see pictures of her first birthday too!

3 1/2 years ago...

Mmmmm.....cake!!!






enough singing already!!!

As we were scrolling through pictures, Rino, says, "Oh wait wait wait, I think I remember this party.  I had Smarties and I handed one out to everybody at the party."  Then we came to this picture. She was only 3 1/2.  They say you have no memories before the age of 5?  I think not.



Rino and Aunt Melly

In conclusion, I'm glad I have a little ADD.  Helps me remember to post older pictures too.  My girls amaze me every day!

Day at the Park - 'nuff said

I think I can, I think I can

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee....



Hubby's very famous "40 Year Old Virgin" pose



Spent a beautiful Sunday morning at the park with our girls.  These are the moments that life is all about. 

Kindergarten Girl!

Yesterday when Rino came in the door after school, I was reminded about how fast time flies.  It seems like yesterday that I sent her off on the bus for that first day of school (see My first blog for that picture). Now the school year is almost over. The first day was really hard.  I cried all day.  I thought I had made a mistake and wondered if I could go back and hold her back a year.  She's right on the cut off with a July 28th birthday and I wasn't completely sure I had made the right decision.  That whole first week of school I spent time in her room; organizing books, rearranging drawers, vacuuming behind dressers and bookshelves that hadn't been moved since we moved in.  I layed in her bed and just wished to start over.  For her to be a baby again so I could REALLY take it all in.  Not sweat the small stuff.  Be a better Mommy. Kindergarten is a hard adjustment for Mommies.  It's a strange pull from letting them still be "babies" who watch Dora and PBS cartoons and need their Mommy for everything to a sort of independence, more mature behavior and a sudden interest in Silly Bands and iCarly???  I try to nurture both sides, because I know that's right where she is.

Okay, being a Kindergarten girl is not all sad. :) It comes with making new friends, learning new things, and experiencing life with me not there all the time, for the first time.  Yesterday I was reminded that while I miss her terribly during the day, she is off having a blast.  Every day she runs in the house so excited to tell me about her day.  The door flies open, the backpack goes flying, and she spills her guts on the daily happenings.  Usually it starts with "Guess what kind of day I had Mommy"?  This little girl had my heart from the very beginning.  She is the happiest child I have ever seen.  Yesterday I grabbed my camera to capture that happiness and remember what it looked liked when she came home from KINDERGARTEN.



The backpack that she could hardly carry on the first day she now carries with ease.



My smiling girl

My jumping happy Kindergarten girl
(this photo really needs to be edited but Picasa says its updating...)