Kickin' It Outside

Gorgeous weather today, so I literally spent the entire day outside. Only came in to eat lunch and shower! The Pear and I planted a new bush while Taylor was at school and picked up some bubble shooters (because I can't call them guns, right?) for later. They couldn't wait to try them out after lunch!





Happy little bush. It'll get some new mulch this weekend.






Now parents, what's the worst thing that could happen after buying two cheap, $3 Made in China plastic bubble guns, er, shooters? The worst thing is that ONE works. Lots of crying and screaming involved. The poor Pear, who actually helped me pick them out and chose specific colors for himself and the Worm, got the shoddy one. Now, my kids are okay at sharing, but when they are given their own pretty new toy in their own special colors, they are not willing to part with said toy easily. I had no other choice but to take the cheap, $3 Made in China "shooter" apart and fix the wiring myself. It misfired a little, but worked, and the Worm and Pear were happy again.






Tiny bubbles.

Yay!

I also bought each kid their own small flower pot, with hopes of planting some seeds today. I got everything set up, gardening gloves, potting soil, spades and water. We were ready to go, except somewhere along the way, we lost the pack of seeds. I was convinced they fell through the cracks of the deck and tried to peek under. When I moved a brick out of the way, something - and I have to tell you I have NO IDEA what it was - hissed at me. It definitely wasn't a cat hiss, so I was creeped out. Needless to say, I stopped looking for the seeds.

The Pear was having fun digging in the dirt so I went ahead and let him fill his pot. Taylor and I found some seeds from 2007 and planted them. Do seeds go bad? I'm not hopeful.

Look at his little gloves. :)

While the Pear napped, I mowed the lawn and weed whacked. I have an obsession with weed whacking and use my Worx battery-powered edger/trimmer several times a week. I love it. Despite my best efforts, we had some nasty dandelions this year. I think I've finally gotten rid of them all and like the direction the lawn seems to be headed in. I'm such a nerd.






A few brown spots, but it's getting there! Flowers and mulch are on the slate for this weekend.

Once Mike came home and I showered, we did one of my favorite family activites - eating on the back deck! Mike grilled a steak (I don't eat steak, therefore I don't cook it!) and I made grilled shrimp and sides. Yummy!

I'm sure Champ is just there to enjoy our company.

Off to bed! Have a great night!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Prima Ballerina

I realized the other day that after almost eight months of ballet classes, I only had ONE picture of the Worm in her ballet garb. She had pictures tonight, so she got to wear her pretty recital costume (they are Cinderella), put her hair in a bun and even wear a little makeup.



(For those of you who know my tomboy ways, I had to watch a YouTube video on how to create a bun. It actually turned out really cute. Wish I had gotten a picture of the back of her head. But don't worry, I'm not going all "Toddlers and Tiaras" on ya'.)

All of the little girls were just in heaven with their pretty outfits on.

First position.

So pretty, but growing up way too fast.

Token picture of the Pear. I think Tay Tay taught him how to cheese.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Free Food + Free Game + Family = Great Day!

My work decided to have "School Outfitters Day" at the Reds game Saturday so the Worm, Pear, Mike and I loaded up for the trip to the 'Nati. We had a party tent with free food, beer, snacks and more, not to mention great seats on the first base line. The Reds lost, 5-0, but we still had a great time. Side note: I'm bad luck for the Reds. They lost 11 straight games that I attended in the early 2000s, finally won one and have now lost about five straight since.

Family picture taken by the nice little usher guy.

Taylor and Daddy checking out things at field level.

Michael's turn.

My loves. Check out Taylor's pink lefty's glove.

They were so good.

The Pear was chanting "Go Red Team". Soooo cute!

The Worm was beaming the whole game.

The playground was right behind our seats.

Have a great night!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Grade "A" Day

No school for Taylor today because of parent/teacher conferences, so the kids and I had a lot of fun hanging out. Mrs. Washburn just raved about the Worm at our meeting. I'm so proud of her. She's such a sweet soul and so much fun to be around. They don't give grades in Pre-K, but Taylor had mastered and excelled at all 43 skills on her report card. As most you know, her birthday is near the cutoff and she could have gone to kindergarten last year. She would have done just fine, but I love the confidence she's gotten in this year of Pre-K. I know we made the right decision.

To celebrate Taylor's good report, I bought her a "manager's special" bouquet of flowers and let her select a treat of her choice. She chose fruity mini marshmallows. I never let her have them, so she was thrilled and even shared with Michael (who was equally thrilled). Afterwards, we headed to the park and just enjoyed the sunny spring day.


She put the flowers in her room, on her special "no Michael access" shelf. The flowers in the rainbow vase are from our backyard.


The Pear loves to get into Taylor's bed.


Love them!

To add to her big day, Taylor also found a bright blue robin's egg in the backyard. It was pretty cold, so I'm sure there's no chance of it hatching, but we bundled it up and brought it inside just in case.

The egg matches her eyes!

Michael and Champy enjoying the nice day.

We hit up a different park last night after Mike's game. We just love the warm weather.

If a picture could describe my little girl's personality, this would be it!

He looks bored, but he was just exhausted. I give him props for joining us after 40 minutes of basketball.

Yep, this picture pretty much sums up his personality, too!

Hellooooo down there!

Duck, duck, goose, goose, Worm.

Michael, content to watch Daddy's game.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Spring Break '10

We're back! Florida was a blast - great weather, fun times together and everyone on their best behavior. I have a ton of pictures to share, so I'll let them tell the story.

We went to early mass Easter morning to beat the crowds later and so we could hit the roads as early as possible. The Worm and the Pear clean up nicely.

Cheesing in their stereotypical gender colors. I tend to do that a lot!

Quick change of clothes after church and we hit the road. I'm not going to lie. I didn't drive one mile during the entire trip (other than a quick run to the grocery store down there). Mike was a driving beast, I tell ya.

We stopped in Cordele, Georgia Sunday night, had some Mickey D's and watched the Amazing Race before calling it a night. I know nothing about Cordele other than the fact that it's the home of the Jimmy Carter museum and is about 20 miles from where he grew up. Thank you, Google.

Well, at least they're drinking milk...

Five hours of Mike driving Monday and we were at our condo in Florida. I was impressed! It was very clean, very spacious (three bedrooms) and the resort was great. Gated entrance, huge pool with waterslide and "beach" type entrance (perfect for the kids), giant playground and more. We loved it.

On our first of many trips to the pool.

They loved the pool. This is the first year I didn't have both kids hanging on me the entire time.

The Pear was pretty fearless in the water. We had to watch him closely!

Like Father...

...like son!

Pool break back at the condo.

The kids loved the dancing water feature at the pool. Michael probably spent half of his time there!

Poor Pear wiped about a few dozen times on the splash pad. His little feet took the worst of it.

Mike at the top...

..and bottom of the waterslide. It was so fast and so fun!

My view one afternoon. Ahhhhhhh....

Such a cutie!

At the cool playground.

Michael had a blast on this spring pony.

We went out to eat our first night. The food wasn't so great, but Oh My Gosh, these buy-one-get-one-free margaritas were delicious! Real strawberries.

Pretty girl.

Mom and Pops.

Handsome boy.

On our third day, we headed to Sea World (compliments of my Mom and Dad). So much fun! I recommend it for younger kids because it's manageable and the shows appeal to everyone. We saw the dolphin show, whale show, pet trick show and even an Elmo show!

I saw this picture and was shocked at how big the kids look!

The dolphin show. It was amazing. Dolphins and divers flipping around the water, macaws and condors zipping overhead. So cool and I even got choked up a little.

"Sha-mu!"

Taylor got to pet this big guy after the pet trick show. She was thrilled!

Elmo and friends at the beach.

Taylor and the bird ladies.

We didn't have one bad minute of weather. We're talking 86 and blue skies the entire week. That's a real change from 0ur most recent Florida trips! We spent most of our remaining time at the pool, and then hit a local pizza restaurant our last night there.

Michael was being such a stinker that night (in a funny way). We waited so long for our food that I can't blame him.

My sweetie and I.

The trip home was pretty uneventful. Because of some traffic in Atlanta and a dinner stop, it ended up being an 19-hour drive home. Gah! The kids handled it beautifully and we were happy to get home (where it happened to be 35 degrees!).

Yep. Pulling onto our street at 3 a.m. and 35 degrees...

Happy to be home to toys...

and friends.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel