Picture This!

I have lots of random pictures that I've taken over the last few weeks that haven't made it onto the blog. So, I now present you with few words and lots of randomness. :)

I was doing laundry tonight ('cause that's how I roll on Friday night these days) and couldn't resist hanging the kids' clothes like this.

Flowers from my backyard. They smell so good!

Some of Taylor's chalk creations. She's good!

Taylor's Champy.

And her rainbow dog, Martha.

We spend almost all of our time outside when it's nice out. Our backyard isn't very big, but I love it!



Our deck full o' toys.

Sometimes I can't quit looking at those eyes!

Hi Michael!

Wheee!

Uh Mommy, put the camera down and push.

Until next time,


Mommy Kel

Happiness in Deep-Fried Dough

The non-stop rain the past couple of days really affected the moods here this morning. Taylor was whiny, Michael was screaming about his stool being out of place, having to walk from the living to the kitchen, etc. and I was ticked about the smelly wet dog and just not ready to deal with any of it. I don't like to yell, but man was I Grouch Mom this morning! Deep down, I'm not a morning person anyway. I became one out of necessity. In my single days, I worked nights on the copy desk (9 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift) or covered late-night games. My ideal sleep schedule was 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. Of course, that had to change. I enjoy working out before the kids get up, but I don't deal with conflict very well in the early hours.

What's the best cure for three sour moods? Donuts! We hit up the new donut shop in town before Taylor went to school. I think we all feel a little better. :)

Heaven in a sprinkle-covered, lard-fried hunk o' dough.

Why have you been holding out on us Mommy???

Thumbs up!

Donut holes - the perfect size for the Pear. (Notice he's sitting in a big-boy booster chair?)

I'm not going to lie. They made me happy, too.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Mother

We had such a fun day! After Michael's morning nap, we drove down to see my mom. About 20 minutes into the trip (it's about a 40-minute drive), I realized that I had forgotten her presents. Ugh. I decided that she'd probably rather spend the extra hour with the kids, so I'll have to deliver them later.

We headed to Sharon Woods, a cool state park that my family went to pretty much every weekend when I was growing up. The kids had a blast on the huge playground. Then, we walked about two miles around the lake. I'm so proud of my mom. She had hip surgery seven weeks ago and never complained. Go Mom! After our walk, we had a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant, LaRosa's. My mom rocks.

Here are some pictures from our day!

Mother.

Pushing Pear.

She thought she was pretty cool. She kinda' is.

Me posing with a random piece of playground equipment. The Pear was supposed to be posing with me, but the little booger darted.

Part of the nature trail.

Mama duck and her little ducklings. (Sorry it's blurry. They were moving fast!)

Mama Kel and her little Kelings.

Off to bed now. Have a great Monday!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Happy Mother's Day!

Is there any job more rewarding or more challenging than Motherhood? I could never really grasp the concept until I had kids of my own. Now I get it! Big smooches to the loves of my life (the big one, too) today!

The gang took me out to Damon's for dinner last night after church and then gave me my presents. Taylor picked out two beautiful bracelets for me (she let Michael give one to me). The little cutie knows green is my favorite color so that's what she picked. :)

We're headed down to my Mom's place this afternoon. Going to go and enjoy the kiddos now!

Michael delivering his present to Mommy.

Taylor with her card and present. Champy, once again, looks on.

My beautiful new bracelets.

Taylor trying to wrestle said bracelets from Michael after he decided to reclaim them.

Happy kiddos and their happy Mama.

Have a great day!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Weekend Wind-up

The forecasters called for a wash-out of a weekend, so I was thrilled when we ended up with semi-sunny, dry days on both Saturday and Sunday! With the help of Taylor, I got all of my flowers planted. Yay! I love looking out onto the deck or out the front door and seeing all of my pretty flowers. It's one of those little things that makes me happy.

Taylor was a big help this year! I bought her gardening gloves and her own pink tools, so she was thrilled to lend a hand. The Pear "helped" too, throwing handfuls of potting soul into the air, covering himself and Taylor (somehow I missed the assault). Their bath water was disgusting Friday night! We wisened up and did the rest of the planting on Saturday when Michael was sleeping.

I didn't get any pictures of the planting process because my new camera is too pretty to get dirty. :)

On Sunday, we got a visit from Mike's Aunt Nancy and her boyfriend Frank. (For the record, Aunt Nancy isn't much older than Mike and could pass for his sister.) They had spent the previous day at the Kentucky Derby and yes, Nancy did pick the 50-1 winner! Woo-hoo! My cuddle bug Taylor stuck to her great aunt like glue and Michael was offering up big kisses before she left. Too bad she doesn't live closer (how many times have I said that about friends and family?)!


Michael (he's actually smiling in a picture!), Mike, Taylor, Nancy, Frank.


A rare family picture.

My sweetie and I. "And I shall call her Mini-Me."

I'm constantly trying to get pictures of the Worm and the Pear together. I can usually get Taylor to cooperate, but Michael, not so much. Here are some examples.

Look at the snarl on the Pear's face! He smiles all of the time, but almost never for the camera.

Michael once again looking unamused. Taylor just keeps cheesing away. She does get annoyed with me after awhile, too!

The next few pictures are from earlier in the week. Enjoy!

Look at those calf muscles! I think the girl has got some natural athleticism! (Never mind the dirty feet. It had been raining outside and she just came in from playing in puddle.)

This is what happens when I sit in the floor with them. Attack! If you can't tell, they are both on top of me in this picture. I have funky double-jointed arms, so I was able to take the picture.

The boy would live outside if I let him. Here he's trying to put on his shoes so he can go back out. (Side note: I love this little Adidas outfit that my mom picked out but shudder a little at the colors. The first time Taylor saw it, she screamed "Ew - Michigan!")

Look at those dimples.

I love his little smile. He's a doll and he knows it. He likes to wedge himself between the two Pottery Barn chairs.

Is it just me or does he always have that "I'm up to no good" look?

I'm swamped at work so I've gotta go. Have a great week!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

P.S. I've gotta give props to two friends who did a lot more than just plant flowers this weekend. My best buddy from high school, Carla, completed the Capital City Half-Marathon in Columbus on Saturday and my work pal, Iris, finished the Flying Pig Marathon on Sunday. That's nearly a combined 40 miles!

RIP Old Canon Powershot

Since December 2004, my dear Canon Powershot has almost always been at my side. She was my first digital camera, not too flashy, but certainly a great camera. That poor thing took her share of bumps and bruises. On more than one occasion, she was forgotten on the top of the car, then bounced along the pavement as we pulled out of the driveway.

She was there for births, birthdays, weddings, outings, vacations and on and on. Time and abuse had started to take their toll on my little point and shoot. She ate through batteries like they were candy and the time it took for the automatic flash to adjust was ridiculous. Still, she took good pictures. I strayed away from her back in February and bought a Kodak. Boo. Hiss. It was crappy and I took it back two days later.

Well, the old CPS bit the dust last Saturday when Michael chucked her into the kiddie pool. Taylor screamed, I screamed, but it was too late. Ker-plunk! In the Pear, she finally met her match.

I did buy a new camera on Tuesday, the updated version of the very camera that I so loved. The new Canon Powershot SD790 takes great pictures, but I'm still working on getting them onto the computer. Hopefully I'll have them up this weekend...

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Spring Has Sprung

There is a definite correlation between nice weather and my lack of blogging. Now that it's finally pretty outside, the kids and I spend almost all of our free time at the park, on walks/bike rides or playing in the backyard. I am 100% an outdoors person and could totally do without TV and computers (well, within reason). I don't even have a cell phone. I may be the last person under 70 to be able to say that. My darling 68-year-old father even has a cell phone. Oh well. I've never been "hip" and I really don't care.

The past week was a lot of fun! We rented a pontoon boat on Cowan Lake on Saturday. This is one of our favorite warm-weather activites because the whole family can enjoy it, including Champy. Yes, even our beloved pooch gets to come along. Saturday was beautiful - 70s and sunny. We brought the fishing stuff, but only drop a line a few times. I was all about relaxing. We ate lunch out there, cruised around the lake a little, then headed back. The kids had a blast.

Straight-up Stinkers.

The Pear made me nervous about 5,000 times. He kept trying to get out of the gate onto the bow, climbed the benches, leaned over the sides, etc., etc.

She LOVES being on the boat. This is her fourth year!

Champ is just happy to be included.

We let the Worm drive the boat quite a bit this time. Not cutesy pose-behind-the-wheel-for-a-picture driving, but actual driving.

We had rain on Sunday and I accidently let Champ loose (didn't know the gate was open). I guess he found the nearby creek, because he came back gross. Taylor and I were forced to give him a bath, then hot showers for us!

Champ, pre-shake. Dare I say that he actually looks kind of thin??

All poofy post-shake.

Mike's basketball banquet was Sunday night. The AD organized a dinner and slide presentation to go along with the usual awards ceremony. It was awesome. I'll have to find a way to link to the basketball Power Point. It actually made me kind of teary-eyed.

On Tuesday, Mother (I always call my mom this, kind of as a joke because we are so NOT formal) came up and treated us to a trip to the Outlet Malls. Michael was a little gassy (I call my kids "Olde English Tudors" when they get like that. Get it, "Tooter"?) and not really too happy, but we did get some good shopping time in. Good ol' Mother even treated her baby to a few little things. She rocks.

We got an awesome treat on Thursday. My dear old friend Lea came to visit! Lea is probably my oldest friend (as in time, not age). I think we started hanging out when we were 5 and our older brothers played Little League together. She is so awesome and I could just talk to her for hours. We hadn't seen each other in years, so I was glad she got to see the kids (and meet Michael). I'll be planning a trip to her neck of the woods soon!

Lea swinging Taylor.

Taylor and the Pear. Michael usually takes awhile to warm up to people, but he liked Lea right away. Animals and kids always love her. I think that says a lot!

My old buddy and I.

Cutie!

Michael loves balls. It's one of his favorite words, too. Check out the video below. Watch it twice - once to see Michael's cuteness and a second time to see Champy's fat butt rolling around in the grass. I didn't even realize he was doing it at the time.

I'll end with a few more pictures from the week. Enjoy your weekend!

Michael is a dare-devil. He shimmies right up the steps on our playset. Hard to believe he just started walking three months ago!

Taylor is getting braver, too. She's mastered most of the challenges at the park.

The Pear loves to run around with Taylor's purses. It's hysterical.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel