happy mother's day

today i thought a lot...

about my mom

and my grandmas

and all the admirable, broken, clumsy, beautiful, thoughtful, hard-working, tired, amazing moms i know

and how we've all failed a thousand times over

but how we're each doing the best job we know how

we started the day with church...had to leave about 25 minutes into the service because nap time just could not wait

and i kicked myself...because look at all these moms that can make their kids last.  they look so peaceful.  and here i am, slinging a diaper bag over my shoulder, almost hitting three people on my way out and rushing to the car with a screaming, snotting baby on my hip.

but, upon arriving home, i had some quality help from pint-sized mini-me as i planted my flowers for the deck.

and when beautiful blue eyes woke up, she watched us from her high chair, giggling and smiling and totally redeeming herself.

then, Peach had a blast running through the crazy sprinkler that her sister got for a birthday gift.

listening to her "watch me, momma" and "did you see me, mom?"

made me almost forget about all the ways i feel inadequate as a mom.

snuggled up against her as she fell asleep for her afternoon nap, i decided to give myself a little slack this mother's day.

i look back on the past 3 1/2 years of motherhood and oh, how i wish i could change some things.

heavens - i look back on an hour ago and wish i could change some things

but, these girls don't need perfection - just the presence of a mom who really wants to learn, grow, and love right alongside them.

dear cinderella

My girl has recently graduated from obsession over Dora to love of princesses.

I found an address for Cinderella and we decided to see if it was legit.

Peach wanted to know exactly four things about Cinderella:

1)  What is the Prince's name?

2)  Do you have a daddy?

3)  What does your house look like?

4)  Do you have a baby?

About one week later, Peach was over the moon when I pulled a postcard from Cinderella herself out of the pile of junk mail.

Cinderella didn't answer the questions (just a generic, "May all your wishes come true"), but it was fun for my little lady to get some of her very own snail mail.

So fun, in fact, that she has carried this post card with her everywhere for three days now.

She insists on sleeping with it and has even tried to get it in the bathtub with her.

Silly little pickle.

time for us

it's no secret that I adore spending heaps of time with my family.

when we have to split, up, J taking one girl and me running with the other, I tend to cringe.

case in point:  spring break, when J took Peach to the zoo and I ended up at the clinic with Tulip for another ear infection.

I spent the whole time feeling sorry for myself...wishing that all four of us could have been together.

and, I absolutely HATE to miss bed times...

but, my students have been working for over four months on "Seussical the Musical" and it just seemed too perfect...I had to hand over bed time rocking privileges to J for the night so I could make some time for us:

after we painted our toes and put on "fancy" dresses, Peach picked out necklaces for us both.

she then packed her purse:

two tubes of chapstick, one piece of gum and a sucker

and with her baby doll gabriella in tow, off we headed to the "theater"

Wow!  I knew it was gonna' be good...'cause every year I walk away thinking how phenomenal our arts department is.

But this year took the cake!  I was so proud of our school and my super-talented students!  From the set to the choreography to their perfectly timed facial expressions, everything was truly impressive.

It was just right for Peach.

I didn't know if she'd be able to sit through the whole thing or follow the story line, but she tapped her little feet along to the music and looked at me with big, dramatic eyes every time something exciting happened.

She loved the Cat in the Hat, the Whoos and Horton

Multiple times throughout the show and during the brief drive home, she voiced her disapproval at the antics of the Wickersham Brothers

And she was sure to tell J all about Mazey LaBird upon our arrival home.

The last few minutes of the show, as she leaned her tired head back on my shoulder, I breathed in her just-clean-from-the-bath hair and sent up a little prayer of "Oh, can't she just stay this way forever, Lord?"

We'll both be drifting off with big smiles on our faces and snazzy tunes dancing through our thoughts tonight.

april extras

april started out so sweet my teeth hurt.

spring break was too good.

we did a whole lot of sittin' around in jammies and letting sunlight pour over us as we drank coffee and ate cinnamon rolls.

mmm...that's exactly how I like my breaks to go.

no plans.

no trips.

just going doing whatever we feel like.

but, all good things must come to an end.

and back to work we went.

Peach told us that she thoroughly enjoyed our time at the park, zoo and home, but was excited to get back to her friends.

I'm glad that she has her little "home away from home".

It makes me happy that she has those bonds.

They really are a little family.

J tried so hard to get this kite to fly, but in the end it was a cheap piece of junk destined not for the sky, but the garbage can.  :(

spent some time making homemade wrapping paper for the butterfly house we bought my dad for his birthday.

Peach blew the surprise by dialing him up on the i.pad only minutes after it arrived on our doorstep and saying,
"Grampa...we gotcha a bird house.  You can put butterflies in it if you want to."

met a handsome little guy that we've been waiting since last summer to lay eyes on.

loving him will be so much fun!

spent the weekends just hangin' around

J made me want to marry him all over again when I found him practicing his braiding skills on My Little Ponies one morning

watched a few rip roarin' thunderstorms from our front row seats in the bay window

and discovered that May flowers are not all that April showers bring.... 

had a hard time not taking pictures of this adorable outfit...not to mention the lil' peanut who wore it!

crossed another treshold

learned to ride a bike

pedaling away from little and right straight into big

this monkey climber was blessed with a couch-cushion jungle gym custom-built for her almost every day by J

 

although i'm sure our neighbors cringe, J and i don't do a thing about the weeds poppin' up here, there and everywhere in our yard.

it's the hippie in me - i like our "flowering yard"

always somethin' bloomin'

and it provides for pictures like this one....

be still my heart.

finally, the best part about april is that i feel totally at peace about something i've been praying about for quite some time.

with the help of my wonderful and supportive husband, i've come to the decision to work only part-time next year.

i'm excited to continue pursuing my love of teaching and working with adolescents while also carving out a few more hours in the day to be with my sweet girls.

coming to that decision was a journey of the heart....and mind...and checkbook.

but, in the end, i'm hoping it will be God's answer to a lot of prayers.

heading down this new path has me slightly nervous, but mostly overjoyed!

and on that high note, i'll bid farewell to another month and welcome May with open arms.

ONE little lady

one year ago today i was holding an itty bitty girl just four days new.

yesterday, we celebrated the turning of a year.

and because i know she won't remember the love that went into it, i'm gonna' document it here.

i'll let the pictures the tell the story....

Auntie H and Uncle L couldn't be with us today, but they provided the girls' outfits...just perfect!  One homemade and the other jumping right off the rack and into Auntie's cart.

i had a little different idea as to how the cupcakes would turn out.

but, my little helper wanted to take things a different direction and i decided to just roll with it.

our guests got into the lady bug theme - fun gifts!

this dog knows Tulip's name!

celebrating a year with this little love-muffin

did my heart some serious good.

thanks to all who joined with us in praising the good, good Lord for this beautiful life.