hermit crabs ~ not everyone is a fan

 

a picture i love... and a sneak peek (have i mentioned i like to paint)

this would be the picture I love...

and this would be the sneak peak... the master bathroom is in progress.

i won!

my facebook status shortly after this picture:

"i just won the world's longest game of chutes and ladders ever."

 

she kept coloring on walls and i was raiding the cookie jar ~ yep, sounds pretty true to life!  actually, she does not color on walls, but on every scrap of paper she can find, recipe cards, mail, tax documents, etc.  it's not like we don't have a closet full of craft paper! 

well, that's not good!

luckily with this much hair it's only noticeable to her mommy!

disney ~ then and now

m2 and mommy in 2010 above and in 2013 below.

m2 and ellie

 this is m2.

this is ellie.

ellie and m2 spend a lot of time together.  at the grocery store, in the car, in bed, playing tea party... it's a BIG deal when ellie gets lost.  i took advantage of the nice weather (68 degrees four days after our snow day) to vacuum out the car and sweep the garage.  this is how m2 and ellie spent their time together. 

  

her first ballet recital

morgan's ballet recital from sandi on Vimeo.

m2 is the sixth elf from the left... in the green and white.  forgive the camera shake... i was chuckling!

old timey stuff

 the girls and i went downtown (john david and little man were at the unc basketball game) to look at some of the *old timey* decorations like they had when i was little. 

most pictures by m1!

when we walked out of the building mickey was walking around... i don't know why he's very far from home, but we took a picture anyway!

what's missing?

look who lost a tooth!  

pumpkin patch

m2's class went to the pumpkin patch.  she loved the hayride and looking at the farm and the animals.  (if katy is reading: i think this is the same hayride you rode when pregnant with jacob that was so bumpy.  they did not want you to ride but you insisted!)

 the petting zoo part... a little timid at first and then she warmed up. 

 crazy haired girl! 

with her pumpkin.  why does it take so long for children to pick the perfect pumpkin?

"F" is for frog

she sure is a cute frog don't you think?

life as a preschooler

on wednesday i picked m2 up from school.  this was our conversation as i buckled her in:
m2: when do i have to go back to that place?
me: well, tomorrow you spend with mommy so you will go back on friday.  did something happen?
m2: we had chapel and i had to sit still and not talk or we would not get playtime outside.

this was our conversation on friday:
me: well, how was your friday?
m2: i loved it!  we had p.e. and could be as loud as we wanted to be. 

by monday she was still loving it because she was able to go to the library and bring home one book!  wednesday is definitely her hardest day because of sitting still, but she is getting better. 

no official plans are in the works

but if these two were to get married in the future, we would not be disappointed.

oh my...

"mommy you don't need to check out what i am doing...  i'll just dry everything off and clean it up before you look.  okay?"  that's not a good sign, little miss!  

i'm afraid...

that her school pictures next year will look like this.

when you say *smile* to this chicka, this is what happens.

don't mess up the play room m2!

 

before m1 got out of the car this morning, her last instruction for m2 was to not mess up the playroom, because she had cleaned it yesterday.  do you think m2 listened?  before school, m2 had asked little man to *draw* her a basketball court so her animals could play.  he used painter's tape (i have plenty of that around here) and marked off free throw lines.  after returning from the grocery store, m2 gathered all of her stuffed animals and placed them around the free throw line.  she even gave one of them a ball to use.  i was putting groceries away and overheard "let's go upward let's go" coming from upstairs.  silly girl, she had put on m2's upward cheering uniform and was cheering for the basketball players, umm, stuffed animals.  after the game the players had snack time and celebrated a birthday party.       

happy birthday baby girl

oh my, how this little girl has brightened our home!  she is funny, loves her sameredith (yes, she combines their names), adores her daddy and gives me numerous hugs and kisses each day.  we all have our patience tested by answering  472 questions daily, having lego creations taken apart and  polly pockets broken.  but we all agree that she makes up for it with her laughter and joy! 

hard to believe that when we discovered she was on the way we were so shocked we did not even speak about it for an entire week!  not because we were not excited but because after all we had been through with infertility and ivf it was just a shock to realize we were having a third.  God is good. 

john david borrowed a bounce house from the milligan family (thank you very much!) so a few minutes before the party we headed outside with just our family.  the bounce house was not blown up and just laying on the grass and m2 completely ignored it ~ we would later find out that she thought it was several blankets for the picnic lunch with her friends.  as john david started inflating it she looked intently and had the greatest expression once she realized what it was. 

john david looks relaxed as the children bounce behind him... the grandparents chat before the other guests arrive.  as always i think about pops on a day like today ~ he is missed greatly. 

john david and little man set  up the back yard for some relay games.  after dividing up the teams we were ready to go.  m2 and her friend cmc (m2 is her middle name ~ funny huh?) are at the starting line with their boiled eggs in large spoons. 

and they are off... running towards granddaddy and passing off the spoons... running towards the grandmom's who are holding a rope to climb under...

grabbing stuffed animals from the deck and running around the house and finally tagging the next person waiting in line. 

landon and kayliegh are up next... run guys run! 

as the older kids waiting in line i pulled out tea spoons for their eggs ~ little man groaned.  seriously dude, did you think i was going to let you run around the back yard with the egg in the pasta spoon?  you need a challenge boy!  

i did not get pictures of the younger kids doing this, but after crawling under the rope they had to run and make some ball tosses into buckets on the ladder.  of course little man excelled at this part! 

last up was m1 squared.  (cmc's older sister shares m1's name)  go m1's go!

crawl m1's crawl!

run m1's run!  our m1's team won but they all had such a fun time they wanted to run the relay again and again.  while they ran and ran some more i came inside to set up the food ~ typical birthday fare: hot dogs, chips, fruit salad, and lasagna soup in the crock pot for the adults.   present time was next.  the grandparents went in together for a new bike with training wheels.  such a great gift since morgan has so many hand-me-downs!  little man and m1 wrote clues and sent her on a hunt around the house for it... this is her running back into the family room. 

m2 making the loop around the downstairs... she did very well except for the braking part.  her tricycle goes forward and backward so she has to get that skill mastered. 

cupcake time!  the birthday girl's cupcake looked like a flower; the others were all purple, which little man loved! 

thanks to the two families that shared our day with us...  we appreciate your friendship! 

grandparents ~ thanks for the love and encouragement you lavish on our children.  they love you and are blessed by you! 

happy birthday sweet baby girl mgw!