All dressed up

Rachel decided she wanted to wear one of her cotton comfy dresses today while we ran several errands. That's fine with me, because the dress isn't fancy, it's just really comfy and spring-y. It looked so cute on her and she acted so adorable in it. She must have thought she looked like a little princess or something. She kept twirling and couldn't help but skip in and out of each store that we went to. She said several times, "my dress is so pretty". It was just so adorable watching her enjoy being a little girl and feeling pretty in her new dress. Who would have thought? I guess we should have gotten her lots of little cotton dresses a long time ago! I didn't get a picture of her in one yet, but I will tomorrow.

I remember I used to like dressing up when I was young too. I loved wearing dresses, but I really loved having my hair curled with sponge rollers and then wearing a curly ponytail. I always thought my ponytail was soooo pretty when it was curly. So, I would always ask mom to fix it that way. I might have to try and sponge roll Rachel's hair sometime too. I wonder if she'll love curly ponytails as much as I did.

Popsicle Madness

It was so warm this afternoon, I decided to give the kids a popsicle when we went outside. They were both excited because we haven't had them in awhile. Rachel was really enjoying hers and playing and walking around, etc... Bradley was enjoying his too...at first. Then he started holding the frozen end of the popsicle and it started melting. Then little pieces of it started falling off the stick and onto the ground. Bradley started pitching a fit. He was so mad that his popsicle wasn't one whole piece on the stick anymore. He started crying and yelling and was just furious. So, I decided to replace it with something else. Luckily, I found a sucker and gave that to him instead. He was happy with the sucker and stopped pitching a fit. He is such a little mess! I guess we won't be snacking on popsicles again for awhile.

What the kids love...

Rachel and Bradley are such amazing kids...they find joy and entertainment in the simplest things. They bring us so much joy and the little things they say and do just add to the fun.

They both currently LOVE their new fishing poles (courtesy of gege and papa)...we had to bring them home even though we have nowhere to fish at our house. It doesn't seem to matter to the kids. They swing with their poles, slide with their poles, walk around with their poles, put the ends of their poles in muddy puddles, etc... Rachel actually does practice casting her fishing line all the time...sometimes on Bradley or on Dixie or in a nearby tree, but she's getting the hang of it.

They both currently LOVE muddy puddles. Probably because we've been doing alot of watering lately (with our WELL water). Nick has moved a bunch of bushes from the front of our yard to the back and we're hoping they will survive, so we've been making sure they get watered. Anyway, with the backyard undergoing some changes, we've got plenty of low spots for water to collect. The kids LOVE jumping in the muddy puddles. I made the mistake of letting them jump in them last week and get their shoes, socks and pants saturated with muddy water. So, now, everytime a puddle appears, the kids want to do it again. Oh well! They keep dirtying the same old pair of shoes, so who cares! They think it's fun!

They both LOVE listening to music while they take a bath. We recently got a new kid's tunes CD from a birthday party and it has a huge assortment of great songs. I tell you what, it has really changed our bathtime. I think it may help me more than the kids. I like singing along to "This little light of mine" and "Cars:" 'Life is a Highway' (and many others). Anyway, the kids love dancing and moving their little arms while it plays. We all seem to get cheerful and it lightens my mood at the end of a long day.

Bradley still LOVES his beloved "Bay". He still carries it everywhere, chews on it, sucks on it and stuffs as much of it into his mouth as he can. It's definitely his little pacifier.

Rachel still LOVES her "Hairbaby". She still makes comments about how soft her hair is, even though it's like a coarse "fro". She still treats her very special and doesn't want us messing with her hair or her dress. Hairbaby definitely comforts her and keeps her company.

Bradley LOVES getting into things. EVERY day, he gets into the bathroom drawer and pulls out whatever he can. Today, he started out with a jar of vaseline...which he thinks he should use massive amounts of on his eyebrows, cheeks and nose. I got that away from him and a little while later, he had one of Nick's colognes. Rachel got that away from him and offered him an empty toothbrush holder. (I thought it was cute that she noticed he shouldn't have it, and that she tried to replace it with something safe.) A few minutes later, he had a bag of make-up remover cotton rounds. The little booger is just into EVERYTHING!!! Usually when he sees that he's been discovered with something he shouldn't have, he runs and giggles, thinking it's a game. What a precious little stinker!

Rachel LOVES being a helper. She likes to look out for Bradley (most of the time) and lets me know if he has something he shouldn't have. She also likes to give Bradley food. If she thinks he's dropped something that she thought he wanted to eat, she'll go get it and give it to him. She's very in tune with Bradley's needs and wants. She likes to tell me what he needs or wants if he's crying or fussing. Most of the time, she's right. What a precious little helper!

They both LOVE Dixie. They think she's the greatest dog. They LOVE feeding her and giving her dog treats. Bradley loves playing with her dog food. The sweet dog is such a great dog, she doesn't even mind.

They both LOVE Caillou. I haven't figured this one out yet. That kid is such a dork with no hair and a whiney voice, but Rachel and Bradley both love him!

They both LOVE their families...they love people who give them individual, undivided attention, adoration and affection. They're just such sweet kids who are so easy to love back!

"Braddy fell off the table..."

Rachel is an extremely sweet, kind little girl and sister. She is tolerant of her brother about 95% of the time. But, there are occasions where she loses her temper and doesn't want him to destroy her doll house or artwork or puzzle or CandyLand game, etc... And, I don't blame her. After all, she's only 3! And, poor Bradley doesn't understand that his demolition of whatever she was doing was not her objective! Lately, Rachel has been using a famous line that she likes to use as a "cover" if she decides to get mad at Bradley. If I hear Bradley crying or fussing and I can tell that it's an "ouch" or "I'm hurt" cry, I always go check it out. As soon as I enter the room, (ANY room) Rachel always says, "Braddy fell off the table". This is her explanation as to why Bradley is crying or upset. It doesn't matter if there's no table in sight or if he's 10 feet away from a table, that's always her explanation. She usually comes clean after a few minutes and confesses what really happened. It might be that she squeezed him or "hugged" him too hard or she just hit him. But, the poor boy is usually not hurt too badly, gets over it pretty quickly and then they go about playing as they were before. As for Rachel, I think she's pretty clever to have chosen this excuse to cover her actions. And, I don't think she'll be able to get away with it much longer...Bradley will be paying her back one of these days for all the times he's "fallen off the table".

By the way, Bradley really did fall off the coffee table about a month ago, when I scooted the couch up right next to it so I could vaccum and dust behind it. He slipped and busted his lip open and it started bleeding really badly (as all mouth injuries do) and obviously, this made quite an impact on Rachel. The smart little booger figured it would be a good excuse!

Sugar Overload Pt. 2

Bradley found an Easter egg!

Bradley loved his jellybeans!

Rachel loves her stuff!

Look what the Easter Bunny brought!

Watch out! Rachel & Bradley are driving Papa's tractor!

Pretty girl...funny expression!

Happy Easter from our family!

Today was a very Happy Easter! Rachel and Bradley were so excited to see what the Easter bunny brought them in their Easter baskets. They, again, got a little bit of candy and immediately wanted to start eating it. Bradley was enjoying his Starburst jellybeans and would NOT give them up. Unfortunately, we didn't get up early enough to get our rears in gear in time to make it to church. So, we took some pictures here of our family and then headed over to Gege and Papa's house for lunch. We had such a good time playing, flying our new kites (from Nana and Pop), eating a fantastic meal, having an Easter egg hunt and fishing. The kids, again, got candy from Gege and Papa and Uncle Stacy. Rachel did eat a great, healthy lunch, but Bradley only ate a little bit of steak and strawberries for his lunch. So, the majority of their (lack of ) nutrition today was SUGAR! I think we'll be de-toxing from all the sugar we ate this weekend for the next week! We had a very fun day and were VERY tired this evening! Both kids went to bed early and will hopefully sleep well all night long!!

Sugar Overload Pt. 1

Rachel & Wylie

Bradley braving Wylie's slide

The adorable birthday girl...Ashley!

Rachel & Wylie playing with Ashley's new kitchen

Nana, Pop, Rachel & Bradley

Me and my sweet little explorer

Hunting for eggs...they were so hard to find!

Future Equestrienne!

Visiting the Easter Bunny

Sweet bub and sis

Well, Saturday was lots of fun! Nana and Pop went with us to the Easter Egg Hunt at Heritage Park in Oconee. There were lots of kids there and lots of things to do. Rachel had a blast jumping on the spacewalk, riding a pony, petting animals at the petting zoo, saying "hi" to the Easter bunny and hunting for eggs at the Easter egg hunt. There were also several other things that we didn't get to do, because we ran out of time. They offered face painting, giant bubbles, visiting a fire truck, a mini-choo choo train ride, etc... Rachel loved it all and also enjoyed a giant wand of cotton candy, a bag of popcorn and a rice krispie treat. She had a blue beard when she got through with the cotton candy. Bradley had a blast too, but not from doing any of the offered activities. He wanted to walk around and observe all the things that were going on. He didn't care to participate, but loved walking to each thing. Luckily, Nana and Pop took turns following him and allowing him to explore. He did "gum" on a rice krispie treat for a good hour and then ate some cheetos. When we left, everyone was happy and "sugared" up for the day.

That evening, we went to Rachel and Bradley's friend, Ashley's 2nd birthday party. She had a princess party and invited lots of her little friends. Rachel and Bradley had a blast playing on their playground and then finding eggs at the mini-Easter egg hunt that Ashley's mommy organized. Again, we had an abundance of sugar...candy, cake, ice cream...Rachel and Bradley would NOT eat their sandwich or anything that was halfway decent food. So, we had the most sugar-y day of the year! I think that beat Halloween! But, we had a great time and Ashley looked adorable in her Princess attire.

One of those days

Dyeing Easter eggs

Serious business

My sweet little girl

Today was one of those days. I truly enjoy staying home and not rushing out the door to be somewhere every day. But, I swear, I think staying home all day is sometimes harder than getting us ready and getting out the door. Maybe I was just a little more tired today or something, but I seemed to have a much shorter fuse than usual. We started fine...a little housework and then we went outside to play. All I wanted to do was throw away some garbage that was in the garage. It would have taken me about 5 minutes, if I had been able to do it without stopping. But, I had to stop every 5 seconds to see where my little explorer, Bradley, had gone. For some reason, he's obsessed with a small tree/bush (?) in the front pine island. He'll stand next to it for 15 or 2o minutes and just pull old buds off it. I guess he likes the crunchy feel of the dead bud. ?? Anyway, that's the first place he went. I had to get him, because I certainly can't see him from the garage if he's at the front porch. So, I went to get him and he started running and giggling because he thought it was a game. I chased for a minute then scooped him up and headed back to the garage. I pulled out some cool toys for him and showed him what to do, in case he had forgotten, and then tried again to get a few more pieces of trash out of my car. One minute later, he was gone again! This time, I headed for the backyard, since that's where his golf club and ball were discarded. He was all the way at the back deck when I found him. This time, I scooped him up and spoke sternly to him. I know he's doing what's natural to him, but it sure does get frustrating (and tiring) when I want to accomplish a simple task! In the meantime, my poor, sweet, obedient Rachel is playing where she's supposed to and trying to keep up with me and Bradley. I finally let both kids play in the car and finished cleaning things out of it and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. We played on the playground for awhile after that and then came in to make lunch. Everything was going smoothly until I put lunch on the table. Bradley lost it and started fussing and crying and demanding that I hold him. Poor Rachel was eating her lunch and holding her hands over her ears. Bradley finally settled down while I held him, rocked him and watched Teletubbies with him. We sat there for about 45 minutes in the rocker and Rachel joined us. We all covered up with the kid's favorite blankets and snuggled together. Anyway, that was a nice end to an unpleasant little fit. I think poor Bradley was having a stomachache, so he was extra-needy today. Unfortunately, I didn't have the patience that he deserved. It was just one of those days.











Also, Rachel and I dyed our Easter eggs today since we have such a busy day tomorrow. So, we boiled the eggs and I let Rachel have her fun. We had all the different colors in all the little containers and Rachel loved dipping and re-dipping. Unfortunately, she dropped several of the eggs and cracked them. I told her it didn't matter, we would decorate them anyway. Anyway, while I was on the phone, I noticed that she only had 2 eggs on the table. We had started with 6. I asked her where they were and she said they were cracked so she threw them in the trashcan. For some reason, I overreacted and got mad that she threw them away. Poor little thing told me she didn't like me anymore and ran to her room crying. I felt terrible. I know she shouldn't have thrown away the eggs, but she's only 3 and it was supposed to be a fun activity!! So, I hugged her and kissed her and told her it was okay and that we would boil more eggs. But, I told her that even if those eggs got cracks in them, we would still decorate them and leave them for the Easter bunny. So, we boiled 4 more, she decorated them beautifully and we had a great time.







I feel sad now that the kids are in bed and the house is quiet and I can think about the day's events. I don't know why I didn't have the patience I needed today. But, I don't think it was my precious children's fault. They acted their age and did the things that come very naturally to them...heck, maybe I did too! I just hope and pray that I develop more patience and remember that they're my sweet little babies and that I'm blessed to have them, so enjoy them and be thankful!