PERFECT DAY [IT’S A LONG ONE!]

The only down side to today was no face time with Zack, for any of us. The rest of the day was wonderful though! Penelope ate breakfast with me, finished her school work and swam in the bathtub, all before Amelia even woke up!

Amelia, when she finally woke up, got to eat breakfast at the table!! It went well, but I’m not ruling the high chair out of options just yet though. Every time I turned around she would crawl on top of the table, and cry to get down. Ahhh…

Penelope got to swim in the tub with her getting-too-small swimsuit for a long time! Mainly because she had syrup in her hair that needed to be washed out, and secondly because it’s FUN!

I had to fold laundry, so Amelia joined me. She looked through books and made her monkey jump up and down. Needless to say (knowing my aversion to laundry), I spent the whole time taking photo and playing with her. Oops.

“It’s ‘comfty’ cozy in the sun!”

After lunch, Amelia took a nap, and Penelope and I went outside to play! We love being outside!

We snagged a few more rocks for her ever growing collection.

We watched a bird play peek-a-boo with us in a tree.

Penelope got to swing in Amelia’s swing and I in hers.

We discovered beautiful things growing in the yard.

“Oh no! Maple dug a hole!”

Mourned for a bit.

Made the hole bigger. :)

Below are some how-tos of sunscreen application: :

Step one: Remove cap.

Step two: Rub on face thoroughly. Silly faces are encouraged.

Step three: Repeat step two 37 times.

Step four: sit back and relax in the sunshine. (We used spray sunscreen everywhere except her face.)

I could stare at her face all day long. She is such a sweetheart.

After Amelia woke up, we went back outside, swung a bit more and went to see “Mrs. Brenda.”

At the end of our visit, she gave us a fresh jar of strawberry jam! So…

…we made biscuits! It was delicious!

Now we are snuggling up to watch some Brother Bear before bath time!

It has been a great day!

MY MRS. BRENDA

I decided to venture out into the yard today, since Penelope really wanted to swing. My neighbors happened to be out checking on their peach tree (Seeing if the deer left any for them), and invited us over to pick some blackberries (Penelope calls them ‘black blueberries’). For a half an hour I felt like I was back in the south! Kind, inviting neighbors, offering to share their freshly grown berries and vegetables.

She also gave me her favorite pie crust recipe! Although creating it with a baby on my hip and a toddler pulling on my leg left something to be desired in the aesthetics department. It is delicious though!!

I think Penelope and Mama might finish it off before Daddy gets home from taking Grandma Penny back to her house! Sorry Zack…

Thanks Brenda!

*(Penelope calls her “My Mrs. Brenda”)

COOKIES

Yesterday it began snowing in the afternoon, that soft flowing kind of Dr. Seuss snow.

What goes perfect with snow? Homemade chili and baking cookies!

My mother-in-law is visiting for a few days – she made chili yesterday for lunch – so so good!!!

All the ladies took naps while I worked on some computer things, until out internet went out again. Third world problem, I know, then I ran out to the store for some baking supplies, third world blessing.

Penelope used the rolling pin and cookie cutters from a Playdo play set she has, which we cleaned first, of course.

By the time we made it to the final  two cookies, someone had a mini meltdown…ahem…it was Penelope.

But then Grandma Shari gave her an awesome bath and everything was right with the world again!

Now we’re off to explore neighboring towns! “Adventure is out there!”