It's Official

He's a big boy.

Gift Idea

To buy me this:go here.

West Virginia

This past weekend, Curly and the girls went to see Aunt Becky's new land in West Virginia. Like the state motto suggests, the land is wild and wonderful.

There was hiking. Lots of hiking. That's pretty much all there is to do there.

Taking a break from hiking.

A stream runs through it. It would be cool if a river ran through it. But, just a stream.

Here they are, one foot on Aunt Becky's land, the other on National Forrest.

There was a huge waterfall. Huge.

Dress Up

While at GrandPatty's house the other day, the kids found the dress ups.

Flower was a beautiful bride.

Mini-me was a disgruntled bridesmaid.

But, she got over it and put on an evening gown.

Patch put on the Armor of God. He's so spiritual.

A Week Late

We wore green and ate corned beef and cabbage. It was a lucky day to be sure.

The missionaries came for dinner. The last time they came, my cousin was one of them. I served them pizza and cake. From a store. I totally redeemed myself this time around. The tablecloth is still wrinkled.

Patch spent much of the day with chocolate on his face. He found Curly's secret stash.

My internet connection went on vacation this week. It must have heard it was Spring Break. We had a great time with Flower this week. Tonight, she is tucked into bed at her mom's house. I am sure she is not too thrilled to go back to school and routines tomorrow. She got to stay up late at our house. How late? Well, one night she was on Skype with her aunt and uncle until 11 pm. That's pretty late.

Yesterday, I told Mini-me that Patch had barfed earlier. Then we laughed. Barf is a very funny word. Just try to say it without a giggle. You cannot.

I have an angel food cake in my oven right now. It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe. I saw lemons at the store yesterday and was inspired. It smells really good and I hope it tastes even better. Curly is working late tonight, and I hope to share a slice with him when he gets home.

This upcoming week is a busy one as well. My main focus is to teach Patch not to fight with other children. He got kicked out of nursery today. It's a class of mostly boys. It's a class of mostly boys who can easily handle their own. Which means that in a class of bullies, my son is the bulliest. I am not proud.

Break for Spring

Flower is on Spring Break this week. Today was a dreary start to that. It was cold and rainy. We did boring things like take a nap and go to the grocery store. Hopefully tomorrow will be more fun for her. The bug man is coming. You can't get more fun than that.

Tomorrow is the Irish holiday. My kids have no green. What kind of Irish mam am I? The kind that came via Germany. I have to whip up something crafty for them to wear tomorrow. Hopefully I can do it while we watch Dancing.

Photo Friday

Ignore the Wrinkled Tablecloth

This is my finished table topper. It was supposed to be project #1 for National Quilting Month, but thanks to the flu, it just might be my only project.

Patch has decided to renounce daylight savings time and is on a sleep strike. It's fun. It involves lots of crying for mommy and begging to watch "Dancing" at 9 pm. He was a little disappointed last night when I told him Dancing wasn't on. He is a boy who loves to boogie.

Curly's tummy is starting to show signs of distress. I am hoping my can of lysol and box of clorox wipes can stop the further spread of disease.

Until then, think spring.

On Being Sick

I think Mini-me is tired of having a sick mommy. At the beginning of February, I was a little bit pregnant, and it started to not go so well. By the end of the month, I miscarried. Then, this past weekend, I was struck with the stomach flu. All of this was explained to a 5 year old as: "Mommy's tummy hurts." On Sunday, she looked at me and with frank honesty said, "Well, Mommy, maybe you should go see a doctor." Yesterday, Curly took Mini-me to school to give my tummy a little more time to heal. She suggested that he take Patch to the YMCA and do "Mommy's work." When I picked her up, she asked if Daddy had taken her suggestion. She was disappointed that he hadn't, and said, "But Daddy is so strong. He could do your work for you!" She clearly has no concept that a workout is only good if you do it yourself.

Curly is home today and I hope to tempt him into fun stores like Home Depot and Furniture for Kids. I want to move the girls into Patch's room and put Patch in the girls room. His room is bigger, but it has a smaller closet. I have always wanted to own a wardrobe closet, so we're going to get one or two for the girls new room. I have found a couple that I like on Ikea.com, but our local Furniture for Kids is having a recession sale, and we're hoping we can get something good quality and maybe a little cheaper than Ikea there. We also need to paint, because no boy of mine is going to sleep in a purple and turquoise room. Patch's current room is brown. The girls could sleep in there and be ultra-mod.

Photo Friday

Mini-me, one year ago.

Terrorism

We have a family policy of not negotiating with terrorists. I often falter in this resolve when faced with a screaming child with a list of demands a mile long. It happens. Even Jack Bauer has his bad moments. This morning I was face to face with a terrorist who tried to prevent me from using my sewing machine. I don't like to profile here, but I will be very wary of the next blond hair/brown eye 2 year old who crosses my path.

Today my cones and rods are misfiring. We switched Flower to this afternoon, instead of yesterday, and Idol has a performance show. I'll wake up tomorrow thinking it's today! And don't get me started on the weather. It snowed on Sunday, and by Saturday it will be in the 70s. Don't get me started. Don't even get me started.

Yesterday I was making an apron for a Molly Patch order, and realized that I cut out the fabric upside down. This is my second time making that mistake. You would think I would learn. You would be wrong, but you can think it anyway.

A year ago, this is what Patch looked like:

Weight Loss Wednesday

I am down two pounds from last week. Ah, pity pounds. Luckily, these ones are not here to stay but were just passing through. Alas, I was not able to log in any time at the gym this week. Again. Hopefully tomorrow.

Did you know it's National Quilting Month? Well, sort of. The 21st is National Quilting Day, but my favorite shop is expanding it into a month. My goal is to have one personal project finished a week this month. I am picking small projects to do this, of course. I wanted to get one project done a month, but that hasn't happened so far. If I can get three done, then I'll be caught up for the year. Luckily it's only March :)