8:30 PM

Story time for Natalie

while Lindsey dreams the sweetest of dreams.

Silly Sisters!

Earlier this month Lindsey was crying in her bed and Natalie went to "check her." The crying was instantly replaced by giggles. I walked in the bedroom to find this:

My Little Women,
Silly sisters who giggle.
I love them so much!

Family Fun Day

Today was so fun, despite the fact that it started with taking the car to Goodyear for new rotors. Follow along the rest of our day in these pictures!

A favorite activity of Lindsey's is sitting in her chair, pulling a toy from her basket, playing with it, setting it down and grabbing another. Rinse and repeat. It keeps her entertained for thirty minutes or so! Therefore, it is a favorite activity of mine, too!

Dressed coordinatingly and ready to go!

~Touch a Truck~
Cherokee County hosted a (free!) event in which kids could explore many types of trucks. Natalie and Josh got some great father-daughter time in while Lindsey and I hung out and took the pictures.

a fire truck

an ambulance

Natalie trying on "Mike's" glove at a bucket truck from Cobb EMC

Lindsey being such a good baby!

Working the compactor of a Waste Management truck
Natalie said this was her favorite part!

"driving" a police car and honking the horn
also a favorite of Nat's

~Cauthen~Hager~McGahee Family Get Together~

Natalie and Ava sitting and spinning

In the red is Matthew and in the black is Olivia, both of who(m?) celebrated April birthdays.
Andrea has another baby girl due in July; Kenny in yellow is her hubby.
Don in green is the man of the house.

Sister and Brother

Joyce and me

Aunt Jean and Josh's dad, Jim and Lindsey

Pinata time!

Other way, Matt!

Ava giving it her all.

Natalie and Ava scampered over to fill their pockets after Olivia broke the pinata.

Following this picture I had to put the camera down and just enjoy myself. There was lots of chatting, laughter, girls giggling, baby passing, food eating and just great fun.
I love family fun days, don't you!?

While Dad's Away...

... we girls will play!

New spring shoes for all!

Jump Rope!

and just plain pretty!

Sitting Up!

Now, this is something to celebrate!

Celebrating the Ordinary

After just celebrating Lindsey’s half birthday with a zillion pictures and a kiss I began to think about other ordinary things in life we celebrate. There are the usual holidays and anniversaries and birthdays. In addition I celebrate some pretty commonplace things with my girls from peeing and pooping in the potty to making cookies with sprinkles and icing to welcome Spring. I recall our “house-aversary” every April 16th and give myself a little pat on the back when the house presents itself as clean. But when do celebrations become in excess? At what point are we teaching our children to expect a celebration for things that occur naturally? Since when do children need to graduate from preschool? I recall, even at the time, thinking my 8th grade graduation was a bit extreme. Moving from 8th to 9th grade is an expected, even government mandated task. So why do we celebrate it? In some school systems 8th and 9th grades are in the same building. Do they get a celebration? Or do they simply carry on with life only to find themselves on a therapist’s couch wondering why they were destined to be in a school system that didn’t reward the mundane?

Often children brought into the emergency room for very minor events are given a supply of toys and prizes for being there a few hours. I heard a friend of mine tell her child that she’d reward him with a toy if he could simply make it through lunch without causing too big of a scene. Why does this need rewarding? Shouldn’t some things be expected of children? Praise them, please after completing this seemingly impossible task. But, I wonder, when will the toy no longer be acceptable to the child? When will he require a cake and balloons simply for making it through a day’s events? Is this the child that requires he helicopter parent to follow him to the college town of his choice so they can be compensated for waking up and making it to class on time?

Let it be known that I believe very firmly that bribery has its place. But where is the line? And when do we cross it? How do we know we’re raising happy children who love life and appreciate celebration when it is deserved but not creating children who will never turn into the well adjusted adult we all believe we are?

Until the line is defined for my little women and me, I will continue to celebrate half birthdays and the changing of seasons and a clean home. I will continue to dance and sing after a successful trip to the potty and I will give m&ms to keep them smiling when smiles are demanded.

=)

Happy Easter!

Spring Break!

This week is Spring Break, despite the 30 degree lows. Natalie, Lindsey, and I spent the last 4 days in Athens. Most of our week was in doors and not "springy"; lots of shopping and latte drinking. By the end of the week we did receive some beautiful weather and enjoyed some Springy activities outside! My mom was gracious enough to keep the girls two afternoons in a row so I got some by-my-self time. The first day I did some mega shopping (shoes and hot mama clothes for the summer) and got my nails ~ even my hands ~ done the second. We also had our first experience with croup this week. Lindsey woke up barking like a seal Sunday night. She ended up worse each day and with her doctor out of town this week (NOT happy about that!) we ended up at a CHOA urgent care and found out she had an ear infection. Tomorrow it's back to work for me. Someone once said there's no such thing as a vacation, just life in another place. That's just what this week was, but I enjoyed every minute of it!

We started with a chilly neighborhood egg hunt on Saturday.

Only to be followed by a egg hunt in Athens sponsored by the Junior League with much nicer weather!

I don't often get my girl to look (or pose!) like this!

The kids at the hunt

Sneaking ~ or so she thought ~ a jelly bean

Wednesday brought sunshine and a new helmet!

and a hula-hoop!

Lindsey came out to enjoy the weather, too

That afternoon we got a little dressed up to go visit my grandmother

Thursday morning Natalie and my mom decorated an Easter ginger-bread style house.
(yes, Natalie slept in that shirt!)

Thursday afternoon we packed up the car and headed home.

Natalie actually said "Ba, I need a key!"
(yes, she's still wearing that shirt)

=)

Happy Half Birthday, Baby Lindsey!

Today you turn 6 months old.
Never ever ever has a half a year gone by so fast.
You are so big and so fun and so wonderful.

Happy half birthday, Lindsey Elisabeth!

Normally, I Despise Ironing

But not today...

(don't worry, this is a before picture)

Sundresses.
The warm weather is returning.
I love spring.

=)