4th of July!!!

Had a fun 4th...

Unfortunately we didn't win the "wagon contest" in the parade again (would have made 3 years in a row...so we are ok letting someone else have a turn!). BUT, we had a great time decorating the wagon, enjoying the parade and the neighborhood festivities. My parents and grandmother came to watch the grand event & then stayed for a fun dinner. Lilly was a little more laid back about the 4th this year...probably because Jackson wasn't here like prior years (he's in Ohio with family). But, we are thrilled that, unlike last year, there were no stitches or ER visits today!

Actually, I think Lilly's favorite thing was playing with the water jug I had set up in the front yard so folks could have some ice water. She probably played with that for at least an hour. Then...later when I was doing yard work in the back she still kept offering to get me a glass of water so she would have an excuse to go play with it some more. Very cute.

Unlike yesterday when she declared she wanted to be a "different kid" (her words) and not where red, white and blue on Red, White and Blue day at school...she went along with the spirit of the day and wore the colores well.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July....

From the Mouths of Babes...

So yesterday was a treat for me. My mom picked Lilly up from school, took Lilly back to her house for the evening and then to school this morning - so I had a night off! For the first time in more than 2 years I headed out to dinner and a movie with a friend...(The Proposal...very funny chick flick). True to luck, the power went out in the middle of the movie, but it came back on eventually and we got to see the whole, funny film.

So...when mom brought Lilly's things back today she shared this little tale...

Lilly knew Mae Mae was picking her up after nap at school yesterday and she was very excited...so she woke up long before the other kids. Miss Caludia (a slightly older, very proper skinny, southern woman who ALWAYS wears her "blond" hair in a boufant) was looking at the newspaper while the kids napped, so Lilly was looking at it with her. When Mae Mae got there, Miss Claudia laughingly told her that Lilly was looking at the adds in the shopping circular, pointed to the wine bottles and declared that "Those give you headaches!" Apparently Ms Claudia was beside herself with giggles. I asked my mom if she took the opportunity to let Ms Claudia know that I don't drink wine, as it gives me migraine headaches...and my mom said no...she thought it was just too funny as it was and let Ms Claudia enjoy the moment. Great. My mom! My daughter! Now every time I bring Lil in a little late Ms Caludia will think I've been hitting the bottle!!!

Mulch A Thon

Got a BUNCH of mulch delivered today. And, once again, it was a huge hit with Little Miss Lilly. As last year, she loved conquering the "mulch mountain" and climbing the thigh-high mound of mulch in the driveway. But, this year she has her own shovel (from the grocery store and designed for sand castles) and her own wheelbarrow (from her grandmother and actually a wheelbarrow that is highly superior in every way except volume capacity as compared to the rusty old wheelbarrow I have that I found left in the garage when I bought the house!). So...Lilly started saying she was my helper...and then evolved to declaring that I was actually her helper. Very fun. She was most annoyed at me when I was taking pictures and she felt I wasn't carrying my share of the load so to speak. We got the front beds done this evening, and they look good. The backyard will take much, much longer. But, the neighborhood 4th of July Parade doesn't end in my backyard...it ends in the front yard...hence the motivation ;) You'll notice the swaet covered kiddo...that was sweat and not from the hose you see in this picture. Then she tried to convince me that her hair wasn't dirty and she didn't need to wash her hair. Finally...an argument I won!

In other news...she had her 3 year old "well kid" check up today. Her doc says she is right at 50th percentile for hight & weight, which is nice...and she had to get two shots, which Lil didn't enjoy, but recovered when she got a Happy Meal with chocolate milk after the appointment.

Bowling!

Lilly went to a birthday party on Saturday...at a bowling alley. I was having a very difficult time picturing how this would work with a 3 year old at 2 pm (which means no nap since we had to be across town by 2). This is her on the way to the party...very excited. Eventually woke her up after hanging out in the parking lot for a while.



When we got there she FREAKED OUT. The whole little bowling alley (6 lanes maybe) was rented out for the party...and the lights were out, disco ball on, racing christmas lights, and maybe 7 or 8 flat screen tvs & one ginat move screen at the end of the lanes all playing some princess fairy movie - LOUD. So, between being sleepy, just woken up, disoriented, not liking noise and fairy princesses Lilly was not into it. She screamed and cried for a good 15 minutes.


But, once she got over it a little, she really (and I mean REALLY) had a great time "bowling." Bowling basically meant she and Jackson simultaneously each lugging a bowling ball to the line and dropping it like a sack of potatoes, squealing, and running back to the ball return to get another one. The lanes had the "gutter rails" up, so you couldn't get a gutter ball. The patient little man who worked there had to repreatedly reset our lane as there were 5 or 6 balls going (inching) down at once, or just rolling back the wrong way.
All in all we had a great weekend. Friday night had a great time at a "luau" party with Jenny and Abby - and who would think it...the 2 photo snagging, blogging mommies and no camera in site! ANyway, the girls loved playing in teh sand and dancing all evening...very fun.


And today Lilly "helped" me with some yard work and then we headed to my parents for dinner...after a not so brief excursion to find someone to patch my EXTREMELY leaky tire on a SUnday. Easier said than done, but we knew of a place near my folks' house...but I had to over pump the tire to make it that far. Lilly's reward for all her patience was a chocolate ice cream cone at a dairy bar near the tire place...which quickly was all over her shirt...but it was a good day. Enjoy the pics...

Pictures From Fathers Day....

Lilly & I took my dad on a picnic at the local beach (a beach on the bay, not the main ocean...so salt water and waves, but waves small enough to play in...)

"Well you don't see that every day"

That is how Lilly described the double rainbow we saw from our front porch this evening....not sure which made me smile more...the view or her old cynical man comment...

Enjoy the pics...the outer rainbow is a little faint in the pictures, but was much stronger in real life.

A Toddler's View on Privacy

Just a few overheard conversations to give you some insight into a 3 year old's perception of privacy...

Lil: Mommy, I have to go potty. I need a little privacy.

Me: Ok, baby.

Lil: MOM, come with me.

or this....

(me in the shower washing my hair)...

Lil: MAAAAAM!?!

Me: What,, sweetie?

Lil: Open this.

Me (with an exasperated tone): Honey...

Lil: Open this, please?

Me: Lilly...I am in the shower.

Lil: Its ok, I'll bring it to you.

Me: Honey, just wait please. My hands are too wet to try to open those fruitsnacks

Lil: You're wet?

Tacky Shoes Make For a Happy Girl

Sooo...since she has only agreed to wear one pair of shoes, Lilly and I went online and found something else she would agree to wear. She declared they would need to "have people on them." I groaned...I would have to buy some of those terribly tacky shoes you always see kids in and wonder what their parents were thinking. Soo...her "Boy's Diego Fisherman Sandals" arrived today and Lilly was thrilled....

These pics crack me up for a couple reasons beside the tacky shoes...the pirate patch perched on her head like an elastic yamaka and her "summer legs" covered in mosquito bites. Good stuff.

Amusingly - at the other end of the gender spectrum for shoes, the other pair we bought are Max & Ruby sneakers off of ebay that have yet to arrive...sort of a pastel puke of rainbow on a metallic surface with max & ruby slapped on top. Ugh. But, she feels fantastic in her "people shoes" and she will at least wear them...which is more than I can say for the really cute shoes I have currently in her room. To see them...check out ebay soon!

Graduation Party

Tonight we went to the Graduation / 18th Birthday party of my friend's daughter, Kayla. The cutest thing of the night I didn't get a picture of...it was her very sentimental Dad Donnie wearing the "Its A Girl" button that the hospital gave him the day she was born 18 years ago today.

Anyway...it was a really fun party with lots of friends from work and of course Jackson. Lilly and I had quite the argument before we left as I had told he she had to wear a dress. This didn't go over well at all. I put her in this ADORABLE watermelon dress that I had been dying to see her in. You can see her reaction here:

Right...so I didn't want to ruin everyone's time at the party so we later compromised on a skort. I insisted on sandals and lost that argument too, as you can see she is in sneakers in every picture.

My friend has an amazing deck that backs up to a tidal creek - that combined with perfect weather made for a truly enjoyable night. Jackson is a watermelon man...here you can see the pics of him instructing Lilly on the proper technique for fully consuming every possible cell from the watermelon.

And...it just isn't a party until Lilly and Jackson end up on Coop's lap.


Here my friend is showing the kids their 8 year old bunny CoCo.

And here she is expressing her joy in the decision to get a bunny for Easter all those years ago and how excited she is to have such a long living creature that will be here even now that Kayla is off to college. Sandy has taught me many things...add "Cute little bunnies for Easter aren't all that cute after Easter" to that list. ;)

We stayed way too late and I paid for it with a meltdown at toothbrushing time...but we had a great night.

Sick Kiddo Update

Ear Infection.

Strep Throat.

Remnants of whatever virus started all of it.

BUT...as of this morning (w/ one massive dose of abx under her belt) she had no fever and was starting to get her appetite back. So...she should go back to school tomorrow.

The throat thing is a little concerning as she is pushing the level of where they start to recommend a tonsillectomy and I am not sure I want to do that. There is a lot more to that then just the little ear tube surgery - with a 10-14 day recovery instead of the 1 day for ear tubes.

Hmmm....

The pics are from our Ohio trip...

New Take on Weekend Entertainment...

So, Lilly came down with a 102+ fever yesterday. She has been fighting off a cough for more than a week. Then her nose started. Then she complained of stomach cramps and a number of other things. And this afternoon I finally got a good look at her throat and it looks awful. Definietly a trip to the pediatrician's office in the am for us. Ironically, her 3 year old "Well Child" visit is Tuesday morning. Hmmm...maybe they's let me reschedule that and trade in for a sick visit tomorrow ? ;)

Anyway, Mae Mae came and provided entertainment and distraction some today and let me go to the grocery store alone (a mother's dream come true). Then after a veerrryyyy long (and much needed) nap, Lil and I hung out the rest of the day. We definietly played some with the Thomas the Train set Maren gave her for her birthday. One of the trains has a battery in it so it goes on its own around the track....and it COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT OUR CAT DIDGY! It was sooo funny that Lilly and I watched Didgy watching the train for a good half an hour. Call it cabin fever, but we thought it was so funny that we took pictures...enjoy!

Fabulous Ohio Vacation!!!

We had SUCH a fabulous trip back home to the midwest, seeing old friends and having an all around fantastic time. More stories to follow later...but here are some pics to keep those of you (MAREN!) satisfied for now. Lilly followed Francess around like a shadow...I would have packed Francess up and brought her home if I could have!!! Fishing was a great success too. And, brave Lilly wanted to try the zip line like the big boys (really because Diego uses one)...she wasn't quite strong enough, and Mommy and Papa weren't quite tall enough...we'll try again next trip ('cause there will definietly be one!!!)

Trek to throw rocks in the river was a big success...

One day Lilly and I headed to Indiana to see old friends who are currently serving a church in the middle of nowhere...so the farm views were fabulous! Best moment? Looking out my friends' kitchen window and seeing Lilly naked running across the backyard in front of the cow field. Clearly Lilly felt right at home in no time flat! (she says she wanted to go swimming...so we compromised and she wore the bottoms of her suit)...that created my favorite "Naked on a John Deere at Sunset" shot!

Then we headed to the zoo with my best friend from 4th grade & her little girl, which was great...and Lilly and Rachael actually got to feed the giraffes...soooo fun!

But by then, Lilly was tired! Three solid days of play, no naps and late nights caught up with my sleepy girl!

But - seeing old friends and watching Lil instantly love their kids and they all head off to play together...that was absolutely priceless!