Spring days

We have really been enjoying all this nice weather.  We've done some planting at home, spread some mulch, moved a tree growing in a flower bed to a sunny new location.  If and when we ever move, I'll sure miss my flowers here, I've put in so much time and care - if I knew we were staying, I'd do a whole lot more...just because I love it!  Here's a picture of lilacs I cut to bring inside, the house smelled so pretty for a few days.  This was taken in our dining room, which is in the front of the house and faces the east.  The morning light is amazing in there, I love how warm and crisp the pictures are in that room...

ps...I think this is my new favorite picture!!

We've really had our hands in the dirt lately!  The girls really love being outside, and I love getting pictures of them outside.  We spent a day out at Mimi and Grandpa's house in Amelia - what a fun afternoon.  Madelyn helped "chop" the dirt with the hoe, spread some seeds with Mimi, and she and Grandpa did some mowing on the tractor and planted some more.  It was a beautfiul day to spend together.  It was just the girls and I - Ben has been at work nonstop with the turnaround going on.

We've had several showings on our house - seems like at least once a week Shelly calls to schedule a showing.  But no offers yet...which isn't too big of deal seeing as we don't HAVE to move, we're just in need of  more space.

The girls and I are staying busy with Ben working...playdates and outtings.  Dinners have been quick...and bedtimes couldn't come early enough!  I am so blessed to have these two wonderfully behaved girls - but some days I look forward to nothing more than 8:00 when I can sit on my butt listening to...QUIET!!!  I'm looking forward to a girls day at a wine festival this weekend here in Chester.  We didn't make it last year, Emily was just 2 weeks old and I certainly wasn't thinking of indulging in all the yummy wines Virginia has to offer...well, OK, yes - I WAS thinking of it!!  But it's suppose to be nice weather and I'm in much need of some girly ADULT time :)

Here are a few pictures from our day of gardening at Mimi and Grandpa's house:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!

It just doesn't seem like Emily is one year old already!  I remember her arrival like it was yesterday...labor was easy - I laughed and texted and talked with Ben.  It was going so fast until I had my epidural at 8 cm. and then it halted...if I would've known that, I probably would've skipped the epidural all together!  But she made her way out into the world, screaming LOUD and quivering her little bottom lip.  She was small and so itty bitty and I felt TRUE love all over again.  AND again when Ben brought Madelyn in to meet her later...and we all cried together - it was such an awesome moment the four of us shared. 

Happy Birthday Em - you are loved more than you know!

Easter 2010

We really enjoyed our Easter this year, it's so fun to do little things for the girls that they think is such a big deal.  Finding their Easter basket and hunting for eggs - seeing the excitement and hearing the squeals and giggles makes me the happiest person on Earth!  I can't wait until Emily is up and walking AND running right beside her sister - they'll probably be fighting for eggs and pushing each other over!

We colored eggs, and had some goodie filled plastic ones too...and sure enough that Easter Bunny hid those eggs all around the back yard.  We enjoyed bunny pancakes before heading outside for the hunt...Madelyn found eggs around her swingset and in the flowers.  And she couldn't wait to pop that first piece of chocolate candy into her mouth!  We spent most of our day outside planting new seeds from our Easter baskets and enjoying the weather.

Grandpa came in the afternoon and Madelyn sure enjoyed having him here for the night.  I think HE knows she's got him wrapped around her finger!  We had a great day!

Spring has sprung!

I love this time of year!  All the beautiful spring colors and new growth on our trees and shrubs.  My bulbs have popped open; violets, violas and pansies are everywhere; beautiful pink blossoms on our weeping cherry tree -- oh, oh, aaaa-chooo - and itchy, sore eyes and noses!!  I love to have the windows open and fill the house with fresh air, but this past weekend we decided it'd be best to shut up the windows since there was a layer of that nasty, yellow pollen on everything.  Not to mention temperatures already creeping into the 90's!!

Also with spring comes birthday celebations - Madelyn turned 3 last month and Emily turns ONE today!?  I just can't believe it's been a year since the day she made her way into our world.  She has changed so much, she loves dogs, loves being outside, loves being RIGHT under my feet, loves anything her sister has that she doesn't, loves waving hi and saying in her sweetest southern belle voice "haaaa".

Last weekend we had our families here to celebrate their birthdays together.  It was a great day - even though Em was a little under the weather with a fever...she managed to laugh and enjoy some birthday cake too!  Emily had a giant cupcake for her birthday cake, and Madelyn requested a "princess" cake -- the classic doll cake.  I remember having one of those as a little girl and I LOVED it.

Our Easter Day was great - acutally the entire weekend was a great one.  We spent Friday at Busch Gardens, Saturday at Maymont and Sunday at home hunting for Easter Eggs and planting seeds.  I made a ham, spinach salad, grilled veggies and rolls for dinner - doing our best to eat on the "lighter" side - but the lemon pie I made ruined that...with egg yolks, cream, sugar...but it was good.  Grandpa made his way down in the afternoon to stay the night - he had an appointment at the veterans hospital the next morning and we figured it would be easier to get there from our house than his.  We sure enjoyed his company!

Busy month coming up -- Ben is handling a scheduled outtage at his plant for maintenance so we won't see much of him in April.  The girls and I will spend some time at Mimi and Grandpa's house while he's working - and head up to Nana's house since we haven't been up there since LAST fall!!

* pictures coming up SOON!!!

PICTURES!!

These are from the past several weeks....finally got them all on the computer 

March comes in like a Lion...

...and hopefully out like a lamb!  The weather has been beautiful!  Our lives have been CRAZY!  I'm hoping that the month going out like a lamb refers more to our state of mind and everything going on around us!  So much has been happening lately - birthday parties, family visits, putting a "for sale" sign in our front yard, birthday parties, the "thundering three's" in full swing, did I mention birthday parties??

Madelyn's third birthday was last Tuesday, it was a great day for her.  I took cupcakes to her school and her friends sang Happy Birthday to her.  I fought the tears hard seeing her sweet little face and innocent little smile as they all sang.  We enjoyed her favorite chicken nuggets for dinner and she had her very own birthday cake.  And then this past weekend we had all of our little friends together to celebrate Madelyn AND Emily's birthdays together at Romp N Roll.  We have a friends birthday this weekend, then a family celebration for the girls in a few weeks, and Emily's birthday in a month!  I've had my share of birthday cake for sure!

We've also decided to put our house on the market - something we've been going back and forth on for a few years now and we finally decided to step out of our little comfort zone and just DO IT!  We've outgrown this house, it's been great for us, but we're ready for a bit more space.  We built this house and added many of our own touches to make it OUR home...we had our girls here, raised our girls here their first few years...it's sad, but we're ready.  Now, we're not expecting anything to happen right away - it may not even sell.  So, we'll just wait and see - we have a few years before Madelyn will start kindergarten so we could stay put a little longer if we have to.  PS - here's a link to our listing: 
http://mmcgee.joynerfineproperties.com/viewhome.asp?MLSArea=CVR&HOMEID=1006382

Emily is 11 months old now, so hard to believe.  She's finally pulling herself up to standing if holding on to something, but hasn't really made any attempt to walk yet.  We'll be starting a Romp N Roll class next week, just the two of us.  I'm so excited about it!  She's so fun right now, loves music and clapping, she's starting to love on her babies and she loves to put things in and out of containers. 

I've taken lots of pictures the past several weeks, I think I'll put them in a different post so this one isn't too long....bye for now.

"Fethuary" is a busy month!

The first part of the year is always a little hectic, recovering from Christmas and planning for the rest of the year...and it has become more crazy for us with back to back family celebrations!  "Fethuary" as Madelyn calls it, is Ben's Birthday, then Valentines Day, then a week later is my Birthday - then a week later in March is Madelyn's Birthday...and now a month later is Emily's Birthday!  Whew!  There's not really any planning involved for my Birthday, but getting things straight for the girls' Birthday in plenty of time so I'm not stressing at the last minute is crucial to my sanity!!!  So we scrambled a few weeks ago to have Valentines ready for friends at school and have the yummy cupcakes ready for the party AND get Daddy's Birthday wishes together and make his Birthday cake (cupcakes are so much easier these days!)  Here are a few pictures of the cupcakes Madelyn and I made for her party at preschool, yes...I went a little nutso with my camera!!

And Madelyn having fun at her party:

And as you've heard - Virginia has had an unusual amount of that white, fluffy stuff...what is it...oh yeah, SNOW!  It came one storm after another, so it piled up quickly!  It's been fun playing and it is all finally melting away after a month or so.  It was a pain for a lot of people who had to get out and drive in it and did get a little old after a while, but it was great while it was here - so pretty to look at and so fun for the kids, AND adults!