our previous blog's recap

Okay, so I have made this whole thing of setting up a blog much more complicated than it should have been. I don't think I belong in the information age. But the other site was doing weird things to my pictures, so I decided to move my blog here where I should have created it in the first place. Then I didn't want to lose everything I had posted in the past week, so I just copied it over into this post. Maybe I'll have better luck this time.


Thursday, February 23, 2006
Cookies for lunch
Nikki outsmarted me today. A couple of ladies from church came over today for lunch and then to practice for a song we'll be singing in a few weeks. So this morning I ran to Food Lion to pick up a loaf of bread, and of course I was caught by the Bakery display that you have to almost trip over to get into the store. I got some icing-filled chocolate chip cookies for our dessert. When we got home I was trying to clean up a little bit before everyone came over, and Nikki was begging very sweetly, but also very persistently, for a cookie. My attempts to convince her that we were going to have lunch soon didn't even phase her, and I was just not at a point where I could enforce the law. So I made her promise that if I gave her a cookie she would eat a good lunch. Actually, she flat out told me she wouldn't, but I coerced her into agreeing with me. Well, did she eat her lunch? One slice of banana. Did she get more cookies for dessert? Of course. Well, maybe I'll be a better mother tomorrow when I don't have company coming. But here's the thing ... How does a 2-year-old know just how to pull my strings? If she had been crying for the cookie she most definitely wouldn't have gotten it, but she knew just the right amount of sweetness to lay on me. What's going to happen when I'm having company when she is 16?5:59 pm

Memory lane
Having problems with the camera has made me start thinking about all the old pictures we have sitting on the computer, and I admit I have wasted quite a bit of time looking through them. But, I thought I would just post a few of my favorites.

Nikki is such a big helper. She loves to do the dishes, and she's getting better at it -- the puddle on the floor when she is finished now usually hasn't spread out much past the chair she's standing on. This one was taken a few weeks ago.

Our sticker girls. Hannah has absolutely loved living closer to her cousin Emma.

In Sumter, SC we had the neatest park called Swan Lake. The girls loved to go feed the birds. They loved the swans and ducks, but there were some pretty aggressive geese that were just about the same size as Nikki. We were okay as long as we could feed them fast enough to keep them in the water and away from our fingers.

We spent a really fun week at the beach last summer. Oh, I can't wait for summer to come again!

I just love this one!

Hannah is just so cute sometimes. I wish she could just stay permanently this young. Well, ... maybe I just wish she would always have this smile on her face.

Anyway, there's some of the highlights of my trip down last year's memory lane.4:38 pm

Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Thank you, Baby Jay
We've been babysitting my nephew, Baby Jay, for the past couple of days, and we have all had a lot of fun with him. Alli talks about how difficult he is, but I guess he just must like me more because he has been great for me :)! Yesterday at quiet time was a prime example. My camera has decided to go crazy and not let me download any pictures onto the computer. So, I decided to call Kodak yesterday, and I don't think they employ English-speaking representatives. After 70 minutes of "Could you kindly turn the camera on now. Kindly tell me if the green light is blinking. Kindly try another USB port," etc., etc., etc., I still had no luck. It was a waste of time, but it didn't irritate me as much as it could have because it didn't take up my whole quiet time (yes, quiet time is more for me than the kids). Jay must still be suffering jetlag from his trip to Utah because he napped for 3 1/2 hours. It was the nicest thing he could have done for me. When he woke up he wasn't grumpy like Nikki usually is, and the girls had a lot of fun playing with him. So, Alli I won't believe you anymore when you say he's so naughty. He's just about the cutest baby around, and if my camera worked I would post a picture to prove it.
10:50 am


Sunday, February 19, 2006
Nate's little red tomato
Nate drives a little red piece of junk to work that gives his co-workers a good laugh. They even went out to the parking lot one day to watch him get in it because they couldn't believe he would fit. It looks like a tomato on wheels. Anyway, we just got it registered here in NC, but it was much more hassle than it is worth. It didn't pass inspection (they didn't have emissions testing in SC where we bought the car), and the first mechanic said it would cost more to fix it than it was worth. Apparently, the check engine light had burned so long that the bulb went out before we bought it and, therefore, never knew there was a problem. So, anyway, after three mechanics and my brother's help, we finally got it fixed (for much less than what buying another car would have cost). Then, as Nate was driving home from getting the inspection sticker the check engine light came back on again. Hah! Maybe this light will burn out too, and we won't have to worry about it again until next year!4:45 pm

Little chefs
I recently got a bread machine, and so I've been on a kick of making bread (never thought that would happen to me!). It has created little jelly monsters in our kitchen. Uncle Mike taught Hannah how to make toast a little while ago, and now this is frequently her choice at snacktime. Of course Nikki is not to be outdone and wants to do it herself, too. That makes it a little tricky, though, because well ... just the thought of the clean-up after a two-year-old finishes spreading her own jelly makes the muscles in my neck tense up. Oh well, I guess it's better to have a confident two-year-old than a clean kitchen.4:31 pm

Friday, February 17, 2006
My thumb hurts
I remember being in 1st grade and trying to get out of going to school by telling my mom that my finger hurt. Today Hannah was supposed to be in her room for quiet time, and she came out with the most pitiful look on her face. "My thumb hurts," she whined. I just had to shake my head. What goes around comes around. I can almost hear my mother laughing at me.2:22 pm

Thursday, February 16, 2006
Crazy hair

We are having some static cling issues at our house, and the girls love it. They love to come and show me their "crazy hair" in the morning. We also have some balloons left over from Hannah's birthday, and they have figured out that they can get some really wild hairdos with them. Hannah wanted a picture of her hair and how could I resist? I think they're pretty cute even with "crazy hair."11:46 pm


Hannah's butterfly birthday



Hannah has been on a butterfly kick lately. Here is my masterpiece for her birthday. I couldn't decide how to decorate it and thankfully as I was baking it Hannah decided she wanted it to look like a rainbow. That was the easiest part. I have decided that I am glad the girls only have one birthday a year because getting the icing on the cake takes just about all of my artistic abilities.