oh. my. girls.

These girls have my heart.

I adore every little move they make.

My loves, oh my loves.

CHOO CHOO!

A few weeks ago we had a great train adventure. Georgia has a couple of fantastic day train rides and they are worth every minute!

Kid4 invited her good friend who just happens to live next door. We had an amazing day exploring the little towns of Georgia!

The weather was perfect and Kid5 enjoyed being carried all day.

We met some very sweet people on the ride. This wonderful train is run by all volunteers and we were treated like royalty. The men and women who work on the train were so informative, so genuine and a rare group of people. If your ever in Georgia you really should try it. It's a great adventure for all ages.

quirky colorful beauty

Im a serious Easter egg dying fool! Well, let me clarify. I LOVE to boil eggs, make colored water and watch the kids GO. TO. TOWN. Have you ever noticed how no single Easter egg EVER comes out the same as another? There are no twin Easter eggs in this business! Easter eggs remind me of kids, they are a dramatic mix of pure individual beauty.

But this year, there were a little less kids (plural) and a little more kid (single). I made every color of the rainbow. I boiled 5 dozen eggs. And… well… ONE kid came to my little egg dying party. (to be perfectly honest, another little girl came too, but she was NOT interested in hard boiled eggs… she took a big ol' bite and decided this was no fun)

I'll tell you what, THIS little girl, THIS little brown haired beauty is a pleasure! Watching her splash the milky white round canvases into their bright destiny was awe inspiring. This little lass adds a brilliant splash of vibrant life to all of us.

I often sit and wonder how I could have gotten so lucky. She makes our days bright, our nights superb and our lives rich. She has aspergers and there is no way I would change a single thing about her. She neatly lines things up, she lives by dates and times and she is absolutely lovely in every way. She's MY very own personal easter egg, MY colorful princess, MY own quirky little ball of gorgeous fire and I couldn't ask for more.

I ADORE you kid4!

stabbing, skyping and falling jack o lantern faces!

We SKYPED with Daddy while we carved. I'll be honest Daddy is the KING pumpkin carver and I didn't do our pumpkin justice. I prefer painting pumpkins… Hard pumpkins, sharp knives and orange guts just aren't my thing. I carved away while Daddy cringed from all the way across the world afraid he was about to witness a massacre of orange and red… I jabbed and poked and carved while daddy and Kid4 enjoyed visiting. When I was done, the ENTIRE front of the face fell OFF!!!!!

SOOO… I was a pumpkin carving failure, Daddy was the glad it was over and Kid4 tried to glue it back together… but, our night was complete… because we got to spend it with Daddy.

she's MY fairytale! :)

My little princess came home with a family project in the month of October. We talked and talked about ideas… I mentioned "Where's Waldo"… she said "Who's Waldo"?. She mentioned jack sprat and I said "How"? I mentioned hello kitty and she said "my friend so and so is doing THAT one". She mentioned Little Jack Horner and I said "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" We went back to the drawing board… I knew she wanted a fairy tale and she knew I wanted something cute… we brainstormed and we decided on The Princess and the Pea!

We cut and glued and painted and …

VIOLA!

My princess and her pumpkin princess! What a fun project!

fall in love with sisters...

Every day I FALL in love with my girls all over again.

Every morning I FALL in love with those little giggly smiles and bright eyes.

Every afternoon I FALL in love with the snuggles I get from a sleepy baby.

Every day after school I FALL in love with the pounding of feet running in the door from the bus after a long day of school.

Every evening I FALL in love with the singing and cooing that silly babies do as they learn to talk and communicate.

Every twilight I FALL in love with the jabbering and stories about life from my favorite school girl.

Every sunset I FALL in love with the splashing girls at bath time as they play and giggle and just be sisters.

Every nightfall I thank my GOD for giving me little girls to be thankful for and FALL in love with over and over everyday.

my crazy girl… :)

Your Family

Your family must love you, no matter what.
Even if you often behave like a nut.
They don’t care if you’re lazy or if you swear.
They love you because you are theirs.

You can’t chose the family you’re born in, it’s true.
Sometimes the fit may feel quite askew.
But you have more in common with them than you know.
They’ve shaped your life much like bread’s shaped from dough.

They next time you feel like disowning them,
Take a moment to ponder before you condemn.
Without your family, you’d be more alone.
They’re the only family you’ve known.

by Angela Rose

(http://www.veryfunnypoems.com/funny-family-poems.html)

She is of pure heart and mind...

Dear beautiful girl of mine,

I love a million things about you, but one of my very favorite things is how you are smitten by all animals. I absolutely adore how it doesn't matter how many years we have been away from these sweet horses you always remember what you named them the very first time you met them. (Allison and Brittany- remember THIS BLOG) . I love how you want to gently pet every single dog never missing one stroke, even the GIANT, KNARLY slobbery ones! I love how you are positive that every single fluffy kitten has a lovely soft mommy to cuddle and how every wonderful bird has a warm cozy nest to call home.

I love how your mind and your heart are connected, that is such a rare quality in a person now days. When you love someone or something you are devoted with your heart and your mind; my darling girl that is so few and far between in this world.

You my sweetheart are such a rare gem to be admired and enjoyed. Most days I feel like the luckiest mom in the world to have you, your literalness, your pure view of the world and humans. You call it like it is and always believe in the best. I can't imagine life without you and I am positive that God gave you to Daddy and I at a time that we needed you most. You are our treasure darling and I hope to never let you forget how truly adored you are.

I'll love you forever and ever and ever….

Love,

Momma

even dogs...

Kid4 used stickers to tape this flag to our porch this weekend and when we asked her why she had put it there she responded:

"Because EVEN DOGS should worship America!"

We laughed because she always says the most profound things. I laughed, I smiled, I chuckled and I walked away and hoped that flag would stay there for a very long time because it meant something more to me than just a flag, a little girl and her dog, knowing though that someday it would fall. It spoke to me differently. She is right, everyone needs something, someone to adore. Now I doubt that our dog Max will worship, adore or admire this simple flag or even realize that he lives in a free country but so far every time that I have walked on to the porch I have teared up with pride and a little sadness knowing that I live in a free country, knowing that my husband is fighting for a free country and knowing that some things that I adore and admire I will gain and lose through no control of my own but I think thats all part of being truly free.

Freedom isn't free.

Little girls thoughts ARE free.

Love isn't free.

what are little girls made of….

Sugar and spice and everything nice?

I beg to differ!

a re-post of my favorite picture! :)

This will always be one of my all time favorite pictures of my goosey pie!

I absolutely love this self portrait!

our next adventure...

The

VERY

day

Kid4 and I got back from Chicago

we picked up Kid2, kid3 and Max and headed to New Orleans for spring break!

We were so excited and SO tired!

Bat Girl picked us up from the train station,

we headed home,

cleaned up,

repacked and headed south!

We had fantastic adventures with our dear friends in New Orleans.

One of the highlights of our trips was getting to love on our sweet Haylie!

She is Kid2's childhood friend from Mt. Perfect.

She just happened to be New Orleans for a wedding.

We met her downtown and loved on her for a few minutes!

Is she the cutest thing you have ever seen or WHAT?

I threw kid2 down on the filthy streets of New Orleans

so she could participate in a show with a street performer.

She was mortified.

Our dear friends may or may not have thought this was such a good idea.

I may or may not have thought it through before I volunteered her.

I may or may not have realized the filth before I shoved her out there.

I may or may not have taken my medication.

I may or may not think things through before I do them.

This may or may not be a blog for a different day.

:/

anyway……...

The art in New Orleans has pure eclectic beauty.

It's expressive art, I loved it.

I saw so many pieces that I would have loved to bring home.

I could have looked all day,

I enjoyed looking at the art first and then the artist.

It's interesting to me to study the art and then the artist.

Usually the artist never looks like you think they will.

This little beauty kept getting roses thrown at her… she loved it!

She was practically lost in all the buildings,

the color, the people.

She took it all in.

She wanted to look at everything and it's just not possible.

I wish I could have read her mind.

From Chicago to New Orleans…

WHAT a change!

She was enamored by the music, the street performers, but we all were.

I wanted to ask the young street performers a million questions.

I love to pick peoples brains- there are so many things I want to know.

There are just not enough hours in the day…

We saw SO MUCH water…

I had no idea how much water was in Louisiana…

I had always wondered and I want to say "now I know"

but I don't even think I can wrap my mind around it.

We enjoyed the beauty of the water, the swamps,

the wild flowers, the fish, the way the sky touches the blue water

and the way the trees twist around…. Louisiana is truly beautiful.

Some of us were a little crabby :)

But we all had a BLAST.

We made LIFELONG friends here…

family really.

The end of this day was the beginning of amazing...

last memories of Chicago...

view from our room

the beautiful city

me at downtown dogs having a hot dog

Kid4 having a hot dog at downtown dogs too

Kid4 at the hershey store in Chicago

gorgeous church downtown chicago

Kid4 and I on the double decker bus touring Chicago

WE LOVE CHICAGO

traveling puppet theater

Kid4 and my mom shopping in Macy's

restaurant in Macy's

Macy's was WONDERFUL!!!

what a dream….

When you were little did you dream of dolls? I did! I loved my dolls and I dreamed of being a momma someday. I use to look at a calendar and count out nine months and just know that I would never ever be able to wait that long to see my babies faces! I loved my baby dolls just like they were real babies. When I had little girls I could NOT WAIT to get them baby dolls and when I was introduced to American girl dolls I have never looked back. When we planned out trip to Chicago we planned an afternoon at the American girl doll store and picked a special doll to bring home with us.

We looked at all the beautiful dolls and enjoyed our surroundings. An American girl doll store is a treat to spend an afternoon in! There are shoes, clothes, hundreds of dolls and the most amazing backgrounds and settings. We all loved the American girl doll store!

Here is Kid4's personal shopper. Although this is truly an awful picture of her she really was a beautiful person who was so sweet and spent a lot of time with Kid4 helping her pick her special doll, shoes, clothes and walked kid4 and Kanaani up to the doll salon to get Kanaani's ears pierced. She was so helpful and so lovely. We felt so welcome in Chicago!

Kanaani and Kid4 were fast friends and enjoyed their matching outfits! They had a nice train trip home together and she has adjusted well to her new home. She has settled right into the crib with the other American girl dolls and enjoys having her tangles groomed and clothes changed often.

We loved Chicago. We loved the train. We loved it all. Take a vacation with your kids, it's pure bonding time. Time to talk, get to know them again, laugh, and look into their little souls. Plus, you just might learn something about them that you don't know! Kid4 thank you for giving me a memory I will never forget. Thank you being you, thank you for being unique and for being amazing. I adore you my little goosey!

The Art Institute in Chicago (utterly amazing)

As a child I dreamed about art, I dreamed in vivid colors and of famous painters. I drew frames around my pictures and dreamed about being a famous artist… I use to tell people that my mother was an artist and to me she was. My mother painted and I thought her paintings were beautiful. I got in trouble for lying, but I never felt like I lied because the definition of the word 'artist' is a person who produces paintings or drawings as a profession or hobby and she painted as a hobby. I loved her art, her drawings and her creations. To ME she was a famous artist.

Visiting the art institute of Chicago was literally a dream come true. I have always wanted to go to Europe to see the art, the architecture, the pure beauty but I don't fly… and thats a WHOLE different blog! I could have easily spent all day at the museum and although Kid4 did great she was understandably struggling with appreciating the obvious nudity in many of the paintings. Seems as though many of the 6 year olds there didn't quite get the beauty of it. (understandably)

For me it was a dream, for her it was popcorn and a rare chance to see some inappropriate parts in a frame with her grandma. I loved it, she got a pair of earrings and some great postcards. What a wonderful day in Chicago!

Saturday...

Have a GREAT Saturday

We're headed to the zoo!!

hard to find the right words...

*ASTOUNDING*

*SUPERB*

*STUPEFYING*

*PHENOMENAL*

*REMARKABLE*

The field museum is truly nothing less than mind-blowing. I really can't put This amazing place into words. I could have spent all day there easily, maybe all week. I hate to admit it but I was so exhausted that I barely saw any of it. I probably saw half and even then I paid attention to maybe a quarter. It was the first thing we did when we got to Chicago after traveling for two sleep deprived days. Kid4 soaked it all up running behind my parents, learning everything she could. I was just happy to soak in my Dad and see his face. I adore my dad, have I mentioned that before? At one point I sat for a minute and before I knew my dad was shaking me awake, I have no idea how long I slept in a cozy chair among fossils and tourists… I was too tired to care. I wanted to take in every single bone, every single animal and fact but I was just too tired.