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!

Picture Catch Up

Some pics and snippits from the past few weeks...

Lilly actually ENJOYING doing the dishes after an evening making cookies...(check out the cute apron...my mom got Lilly and I matching aprons for Mother's Day...I love them!)

Here are some pictures from her actual birthday...and her "school party" where we passed out cookies at school. The reception in the "new room" was flat, but her old teachers saved the day and brought the entire 2 year old class over and seranaded her and made her feel like a queen.

Here is the dark side of toddler birthdays....the meltdown at the end of two days of being the absolute center of attention....I had told her she actually had to go to bed and stop playing...she was NOT happy, but came around. We were playing outside because the power went out in the middle of making dinner (Jackson and family came for dinner that Monday)...it was out for more than 7 hours! But, it made for great memories as Lilly and I read stories by candle and flashlight on the porch before bed!
Then it was my birthday about a week later (May babies only in this house apparently)...Lilly enjoyed it a lot - especially opening my presents. Here she is admiring a button necklace.

This weekend we headed to the Pungo Strawberry Festival in VA Beach. It was a looong drive, but we split it up and stopped at IHOP halfway. Pungo isn't actually near the beach...its at the very southern tip in the farmland area just north of the state line. It was fun...but sort of standard festival fare...I think next year I will just stick with local festivals without the long drive. It would have been better if Lilly wasn't scared of the parade. I keep thinking she'll grow out of that - and I keep being proven wrong. She cowered in my chest until I took her away from the parade to play in the dirt. But it was a long parade...I mean, any thing that includes a corvette carrying Miss Outstanding Pre Teen Virginia Beach is too long. BUT, after that she started to recover her mood. We headed into an "antique" shop (really just for a few minutes of AC), and she marched up to a stranger and announced "I AM NOT HAVING A GOOD TIME TODAY" The lady started laughing hysterically - as did I. But, then we did some shopping and she perked up. I swear - just when you think she is all tomboy, she will drop anything to go shopping and has MUCH more stamina to shop than I do. Anyway...she had a good time by the end of the day...and enjoyed ice cream w/ Jackson and the standard trio....