Go Vote!

In the spirit of the POTUS '08, Go Vote! Not just for President, but for the Pumpkins (look above posts)!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Picking Pumpkins

Well, not exactly picking them, but I did take the girls to a local Pumpkin Patch (not really a patch) that a church is holding to sell pumpkins to support their mission trips and we got 6 pumpkins in all: 2 small ones for school, one tiny one for Anna, and medium one for Mary Mac, and 2 big ones for Sam and I to carve for the girls. We had a great weekend this past weekend - the girls stayed in pajamas all weekend (Molli, you guys can appreciate this!) and they did not leave the house all weekend other than to play outside. Sam and I went to the Alabama game but we left them with a sitter and had a great time together! Anyway, yesterday was a perfect day for carving pumpkins. . .And so we did! If I can figure out how to do the poll thing I am going to conduct a poll (per Sam) on who's pumpkin is the best! We have a contest between us every year and this year we will let you Bloggers decide (if I can figure it out)! Here are pics of the weekend: one of Anna and her devil horns for hair and then of the pumpkins!

By the way, I am not telling who did what with the pumpkins so don't ask! Sorry for all the posts at one time, but we are now caught up! I told you we had a big/busy couple of weeks! Please read on!

First Lesson

Mary Mac had her first horseback riding lessons last week and she was in heaven! I was shocked how easily she caught on to the concept of "steering" the horse where to go. Her teacher said she was impressed too at how well she did the first time as a 4 year old! Carly (teacher) showed her how to brush the horse and get the saddled and then helped her get on it and then she was off! She rode Jimmy (is sooo old and perfect for her to learn) for about 45 minutes and by the end of the lesson she was doing it all by herself and getting him to go through and around jumps (not jumping, just walking). Then Carly showed her how to give him a bath to cool him off after the lesson. She had a ball, to say the least!!! Here is a video and pictures from the lesson.

And Anna had her first ballet class (Mommy & Me) last week too! She absolutely loved it - not sure what she loved more - having mommy all to herself or the actual class? Just kidding, she loved the class and giggled the whole time. She couldn't wait to show her sister what all she learned at ballet. She and Mary Mac danced all that night at home with each other which was so much fun to watch! I hate I didn't get it on video. Mary Mac was acting like the teacher and Anna was doing everything Mary Mac did! Here is a video of Anna's class - sorry for the blurry beginning, but her smiles and giggles are worth the watch!

Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend we took an impromptu trip to the zoo in Birmingham. This was Anna's first official zoo adventure and we weren't real sure what she was going to think about it since she is not a big animal lover like Mary Mac. I did pack her babydoll though just in case of a meltdown! Sam had been out of town from Wednesday until late Saturday night and the girls (and mommy) were really missing him. So when we finally got moving on Sunday morning it was beautiful outside - the perfect day to go to the zoo - a little cloudy and cool! So why not? We packed our luches and headed to the zoo for picnic first and then to see the animals. Mary Mac (our little planner) already had in mind what she wanted to "show" Anna her first trip and in which order we would see the animals. We has so much fun watching both of them interact and actually enjoying the same thing. Anna was hilarious! She was such the busy body! We brought 2 little strollers instead of our double stroller because we thought it would be easier to get around. Anna did not sit in her stroller hardly at all. She was loving being able to walk around freely (somewhat) and kept walking up to the animals and waving and saying "Hi!" to every single one of them. She was soooo cute! We were so glad that she enjoyed the zoo as much as the rest of us do (mom and dad included). This is only picture of the girls - we were too busy chasing Anna to get any pictures. This was also as we were leaving - you can read the exhaustion all over their faces!

Doctor's Appts & Hair Cuts

We have had so much going on the past couple of weeks, so I apologize for the lack of posts. This one may be long as I attempt to play catch up for all of the things we've been doing. I may end up posting several instead of one long one.

First, we had a rough time last week when I had to take both girls for their check-ups! Take note - I WILL NEVER AGAIN TAKE THEM TO THE DOCTOR TOGETHER FOR A CHECK-UP! Mary Mac was getting her 4 year booster shots (2 shots and a toe prick) and Anna was getting 3 shots for her 18 month. I was totally prepared (or so I thought) with Blow-Pops for each girl (bribery has always worked in the past). Well, not this time! Mary Mac takes after one her aunts and just goes crazy at the sight of her own blood and the toe prick (might I add it took 2 tries - explain that to a 4 year old?) was no exception! Once we got over that "trauma" it was time for the shots. I gave Mary Mac the choice to go first or after Anna (mistake!) and, of course, she chose for Anna to go first. As you expect, Anna starts screaming once she gets the shots (bless her - she had no idea what was coming!). Well, when she starts screaming, Mary Mac begins screaming - in empathy? in anticipation? Who knows! And I mean the head-spinning, blood-curdling scream as she proceeds to curl up in the fetal position in the corner of the room. After loving on Anna and giving her a Blow-Pop in hopes of calming her down (which it didn't), I then have to pry Mary Mac off the floor in a ball and attempt, along with the nurse, to pull her pants down enough to get to her leg. Remember, she is still in the fetal position and at this point has a death grip on the waist of her pants, all the while still screaming and Anna still screaming - again, not sure if this is out of empathy or thinking she's going to get more! Well, after loving on both girls and attempting to soothe them with sugar, we have finally settled down and gladly leave the doctor's office with stickers in hand.

My stress level was out of this world and I could have downed a glass of wine even though it was only 10:30 in the morning! Then, leave it to Mary Mac, she looks at me and smiles and says, "Momma, I was very good. Can we go get my surprise now?" WHAT? GOOD? You call that good? OOHHH, my darling child, if you only knew! It was still cute, though, and, yes, we did get her a surprise that night (horse-related, no less). Another funny thing was that out of all of that drama, the only thing Mary Mac keeps telling everybody was that she tee-tee'd in a cup! She was so proud! That was another feat all in itself.

After the doctor's appointment, we took Mary Mac to (finally) get her hair cut off to donate. Here is a picture of her getting it cut and then the finished product (not a great picture of the hair cut). She was in total shock while getting her hair cut. We were laughing because we were saying that she was in a state of shock - first, the shots, then her hair! She didn't say one word the whole time until we left and she was so proud of her "big girl" hair cute. And, can I say that it so easy to fix now!

Oh, and yes, we donated her hair (hence, her holding her ponytail) to Wigs 4 Kids. After a little research, I decided that we would donate to them instead of Locks of Love (no need to go into the reasons).

The Birthday Girl!

Here she is getting ready for the party - the party did not start until 2, but she was so excited that we went over to the barn at 12:30!
I think she's a natural! She starts her real lessons Tuesday. She is so excited that she gets to ride a horse for a whole hour all by herself and not have to share the time with anyone.
Of course, I couldn't post pictures of the party without including a picture of Anna (by the way, who is not an animal lover!).
And the cake. . .
They had so much fun at the party and the girls who put on the party kept them entertained for the full hour and a half with pony rides, finger painting the ponies (above pic), water balloon fight/toss (the kids weren't so sure about this - they were terrified that it would be loud when they busted), a horse pinata, and, of course, cake and ice cream! Needless to say, I think all the kids slept well last night, or at least ours did!

We were also privileged that my grandparents and uncle from Mobile were able to come for the weekend and the party and both of the girls had a ball playing with them. I've always felt like Mary Mac has this affinity for older people and that maybe (if you believe in reincarnation) she has this "old wise-ness" (is that even a word?) about her. She is always so sweet and wanting to take care of Mimi and Papa. Thank you Mimi and Papa for coming for her party - it meant so much to all of us and we love you!

By the way, I cannot end this post without saying - ROLL TIDE!!!! It was not the prettiest of games Saturday, but considering that we were coming off of that big win, I'll take a WIN!

Just found this old picture

I was just looking at old pictures on my computer this morning and found this picture of Mary Mac from about a year ago. It is so funny - just call her Picaso!!! It's amazing how much she has matured in a year because she savors each marker until it is exhausted now and would never waste it on herself! I had left Sam with the girls while I ran errands and then we were going to meet for dinner. While he was giving Anna a bottle, Mary Mac got very quiet in the playroom and this is how he found her. . .

Let's just say thank goodness for washable markers! It all came off very easily. BTW, I cannot believe how clean the playroom looks in the background - not that clean these days with 2 little curtain climbers playing in there!

Changes are a comin'

If you notice any weird things on here it's because I am in the process of changing backgrounds and pictures, so bare with me!

Getting Ready for the Party!

Our house is in an all out frenzy of excitement awaiting Mary Mac's 4th Birthday party on Sunday - she is literally counting down the days. We are having it at Westminster Farms which is where she will be taking her first horseback riding lessons (Surprise - that was what she wanted for her birthday). She will be learning English (against Sam's wishes - sorry honey!), but as long as she learns to respect the horses and ride English style then she can easily learn Western as it isn't as formal. As you may have seen from previous posts, we have taken her to several rodeos and she is in awe of the barrel racing, so who knows what she will like better!

Several gifts have already showed up on our doorstep and she just couldn't wait so we had to open them. One of the gifts was from some new family friends (I say new family friends because although we have just recently gotten to know them, they feel like they've part of the family for years!) whose daughter is a horse trainer and has loved horses all of her life just like Mary Mac. Cliff and Catherine knew exactly what MMC would need as far as pants and boots to get her started with her lessons so they begged to find some for her and send them to us. Well as you can see in the pictures, MMC was all smiles when she tried them on and cannot wait to actually wear them to ride horses! She was "posing" and the last one is a pose with her riding her horse!

Here are pictures of her horsey socks that our friends also gave her - so nice!

On another note, I bought some pears (organic, no doubt!) and the girls just found them in the frig last night and this is where we found them - chowing down on the pears in the playroom! Anna is taking a swing at Mary Mac and yes, that is blue marker in MMC's hair! You think our girls like fruit or what? They both ended up eating their own all the way down to the core (and even some of the core).

Locks of Love

In case you were wondering why I have added the Locks of Love image on the sidebar, there is a reason! We have been letting Mary Mac's hair grow for about a year now and it is getting so long. She has not wanted to cut it until just recently, but I wanted to make it a learning experience for Mary Mac to realize how blessed we are! You have to have a minimum of 10 inches to donate and we are almost there. As soon as we reach that point, I am going to either take pictures or a video of cutting it and post it on the blog -so stay tuned! Does anyone have any suggestions on how to help Mary Mac understand the importance of donating her hair? I'm up for suggestions because everything I think of telling her sounds like it will be over her head.

On another note -and a Mary Mac funny- Sam and I got back from our trip on Sunday and Mary Mac and the babysitter had made cupcakes over the weekend. She wanted one after dinner that night so she pulled her stool up to the counter and she picked out the one she wanted. She took it into the playroom and within minutes she ran into the kitchen and had licked the icing off and threw the cake part away (UUGGHHH - Mommy would have eaten it!). When she asked for another one (standing back on her stool), Sam told her that she could have it but that if she only wanted the icing then give him the cake instead of throwing it away! So she starts laughing and tells Sam, "Well, blow me down!" Sam then blows on her and she falls off of the stool (being funny, of course). She jumps back up on the stool and continues to say, "I've gotta quit saying that!" It was hilarious!!! I guess, though, it's only hilarious to those who have ever watched The Wiggles - this is a famous saying of Captain Feathersword! It's amazing the things kids remember and repeat!

Future Player?

If only Mary Mac was a boy I could say that we may have an Alabama football player in the making! Oh well, she looked too cute not to post this picture! Roll Tide! And, yes, this is Sam's real helmet.

Veggie Lessons!

Ok, so I keep running out of time to actually schedule a time to have a class on how to "put up" veggies so I decided to just put it in a post and hopefully this will be helpful to more than people than could come to my house and do it. Here is a list of things you will need to get started:
1) Obviously, fresh veggies. I prefer to buy an assortment of peas (purple hull, crowder, lady peas, lima beans, etc - you get the idea), green beans, whole okra. Most of these items can only be found at a produce stand or farmer's market.
2) Large Colander
3) Large stock pot with a steamer basket/metal colander OR (my preference) a large stock pot with a pasta drainer pot in it (does this make sense?)
4) Clean towels
5) Quart sized Freezer Ziploc bags
6) Sharpie

Once you have all of these items together, you want to thoroughly wash the veggies (keep each type of veggie separate) in the colander. Put a small amount of water into the large stock pot and bring to a slow boil. Place the veggies in the pasta drainer/steamer basket/metal colander and into the pot of boiling water (make sure the veggies are not submerged in water). Cover and allow to blanch (or steam) for 5 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and rinse under cold water. Spread veggies out on towels in a single layer and allow to dry. Place in bags (1 quart size is enough for 2 adults and 2 small kids), making sure to remove air. Label the bag with what it is, how much you put in the bag, and the date and place in freezer.

To cook, get out of freezer and run water into the bag to loosen the veggies and place in your pot. Season accordingly (fresh veggies usually require a good amount of salt). I prefer to season with salt, pepper, tiny bit of olive oil, and tiny bit of Splenda (the Splenda and oil replicate the flavor of bacon fat or ham hock which is what gives that yummy flavor without all of the bad fat). Bring to a boil and continue cooking until tender and done.

Okra - DO NOT DO THE ABOVE PROCESS FOR OKRA!!! All you have to do with the okra is wash and allow to dry then cut into small, thin pieces and place in bags and freeze - EASY PEEZY! When you want to fry the okra, dump it out into a colander and allow to thaw and dry out a little before breading it with cornmeal. Then fry! Yummy! Our family prefers it cut into tiny pieces because it is nice and crispy when its fried and not mushy!

TaDa!!!! I told you all this is easy! It takes me about an hour to put up several bags of veggies! P.S. You do not need or want to do any of the seasoning during the blanching process! Hope you all enjoy!

Update to Phone Line

After reading my post about the phone line, Sam made it a point to fix it as soon as he got home Friday afternoon! See, I told you really is handy! Seriously, he can fix anything! Weeellllll, almost anything! If anyone wants to help him get this surround sound wired, we are taking volunteers. I decided to finish our painting projects yesterday and paint our bedroom and Sam decided he would finish hooking up the surround sound. Neither one of us expected to still be working on it until late last night. I certainly do not know anything about wiring the surround sound AND I was up until almost 11 last night painting (AND STILL NOT FINISHED!). Sam had to sleep with Mary Mac and I slept in the guest bedroom since our room was in shambles and covered in painting supplies. It was really weird to sleep in separate rooms in our own house knowing that we were both there. I mean I'm used to sleeping in my bed alone when he is out of town or sleeping in the guest bed if one of the girls is sick, but it was just plain weird! I don't ever want to do that again!

What do country boys, phone lines, alabama, and apologies have in common?

These are all things going on in our house these days!

1) This is a true testament to the fact that you can take the boy out of the country, but you can NEVER take the country out of the boy! I say this affectionately because this is one of the things I LOVE about my husband! He just got back last weekend from an annual hunting trip to Texas with his dad and brother and uncles. They drive to Senora, TX which is very close to the Mexico border and this makes for very long trip for them. They got back late Sunday night and this below is a picture of what I found the next morning soaking in bowl by my kitchen sink - I just wish the picture showed the detail of the "stuff" that he was soaking off! EEWWWWW!

2) My wonderfully handy husband has decided that he needs surround sound in his Men's Den. So, for reasons of which I still do not understand, he felt that the phone jack that was in the same box as the cable outlet needed to be cut (his defense is that he doesn't need or want a phone in there!). Well, after 2 days of fighting with what I thought was my internet connection problem, we realized that none of our phones had a dial tone! OOOPS! Apparently the one he cut is the main line coming into the house (although he will disagree). So if you've called our house and we still have not called back? Now you know!

3) Although last weekend was officially the start of football season, this weekend is when the fun really starts as this is the first home game! The girls and I are all decked-out in our Alabama gear today for Friday Spirit Day! Mary Mac took the one of Anna and I by herself - a photographer in the making!

4) Finally, and as a mom, most importantly! We have been have struggles lately with Mary Mac in pushing her limits on just what she can say to people before getting in trouble with her sassy mouth. Her class in school this year is more like a "real" classroom and less like daycare with the grandmotherly types that loved her and thought anything and everything she said or did was so cute and funny. Well, she came home earlier this week "On Yellow" for the first time which means we did not have a great day (Green for good, Yellow for not so good, and Red for Bad). The note said that she was talking back to her teachers all day. That night Sam and I sat down with her talked to her about watching our mouth, saying sweet things, minding grown-ups, listening with our ears and following directions, etct., etc. (You get the picture!) We weren't mad at her or getting on to her - we just felt like this was a perfect "teaching" opportunity since she was so upset about being On Yellow! Well, it made me feel like we had done our jobs as parents when she informed me that she had told her teachers the next morning that she was sorry for talking back to them. We did not tell her to do this or even mention it, but she felt in her heart that she needed to express her sorrow for acting like this. I wasn't sure if she really did this or just told me that she did, so this morning I asked them if she had apologized and they said that she came up to them first thing that next morning to say she was sorry. I guess she felt she needed to "clear the air" first thing and start off on a new foot that day! Will this last? Who knows, but it warms my heart that maybe, just maybe what we told her and tell her on a daily basis might really stick inside that little horse-obsessed brain of hers! I just love her to death!!!! And Anna, too, of course!

And these are some priceless pictures, especially for Mary Mac since she is not a girly girl! Anna really loves playing dress up and being a princess. And I have to admit that it is so wonderful to do these girly things for a change. Mary Mac is getting into it too now that Anna likes to do it. Sam walked in when I was taking these pictures and said that I was trying to corrupt his little country girl! Oh well, these may be the only pictures of Mary Mac in a princess outfit so I am enjoying them thoroughly!

Cooking Lessons Anyone?

Ok, so since I have already had 2 requests on our blog and several verbal requests, I am considering doing a cooking lesson for anyone interested in learning to "put up" fresh veggies! I actually learned from my grandmothers. When Sam and I first got married (and since he is a "country boy") I called my grandmothers for some advice on how to put up veggies. I actually still use the notes that I took from their lessons and I would be glad to pass along these precious tips that you just can't find in books or cookbooks anywhere - I got them to good ole' fashion way - word of mouth from the experts! Hopefully these are some things I can pass on to my girls when they grow up! My next lesson that I want to learn is how to can things and I will pass this along as well!

If anyone is interested in this, let me know and we can plan a day at my house to do it!

Rainy Days

Well, as I write this post, I look out the window at the rain and accept that we must settle in for a weekend full of rain, due to the long-lasting TS Faye! Oh well, at least this was not a bad storm for my family in the Tampa area and Mobile area, so we are thankful for that. I can tell that we have not had one of these rain-filled weekends in a long time because the girls are already stir-crazy and it's only 11:00am. Did I say the girls? I should say WE ALL ARE! But at least our yard is loving this very much needed rain!

I have to brag on myself this morning. All summer I have been gradually buying fresh veggies from our local produce stand and farmer's market and putting up veggies for the winter (for those of you not from the South, this means freezing them for later consumption). This morning I have already made a trip to the farmer's market (in the rain, I might add) and blanched and put up about 10 cups of peas and 6 cups of cut okra. I am so excited about doing this because I am always craving fresh veggies in the winter and unless you already have them put up or you have someone in your family (i.e. my grandmother - who is no longer able to do it) then there's no hope of fresh until next summer! So Yea Leigh! I am prepared this year!

On another note (totally unrelated to the above), there are some amazing things happening this past week that can only be credited to God's Grace and the persistence of His Prayer Warriors! A family in our neighborhood (whose kids I babysat when they were about the same age as my girls) has experienced first hand the power of prayer and God's Amazing Grace! Their middle child, Carter (age 20), was on a camping trip with some of his Sigma Chi pledge brothers from Bham Southern about 10 days ago and fell off a 50 ft cliff into a creek and was unconcious and underwater for about 4-8 minutes before his friends could get down to him. One of the boys is a pre-med major and started performing CPR while still in the water (which his docs say saved his life because his body would likely have gone into shock if pulled out first) and was able to get him breathing again and a pulse back before he was airlifted to the local hospital. Well, here we are more than a week later, and Carter has improved tremendously and his team of docs expect him to make a full recovery! From the time of hearing of the accident, e-mails went out immediately to who-knows how many people all over town and the Prayer Warriors went to work! Wow, you cannot believe the amount of out-pouring of prayers that have taken place in this past week for Carter, all in the name of God! AND, add to the fact of his miraculous recovery, an article was in our local paper this week about Carter, his accident, and how only by the Grace of God is he even alive, much less doing so well! In the article the author actually used religious terms in his writing!!!!! The article stirred up so much talk about Grace, Faith, etc. in our town and it is amazing! If you had told me 15 years ago that this cute little blond haired boy would be used by God in this way, I would have called you a liar!!! Anyway, he is doing amazingly well considering he shouldn't have even survived and if you want to check out his Caring Bridge site for more updates and to hear his parents (who are the sweetest people)profound thoughts, emotions, and feelings every day of his recovery go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/cartercrutchfield. Praise GOD - that's all you can say about this!!!!

Days of New

Well, we are finally getting adjusted to our new school schedule (they go all day on Mon/Wed/Fri and only half days on Tues/Thurs). I can't believe how much Anna has grown up in the last 2 weeks. She is becoming much more independent and will actually go play by herself in the playroom! She is also becoming more verbal, which is so nice (and so darned cute!)!

Sam and I had a nice break from the girls last week, even though it was a business trip. I kept telling Sam that I was looking forward to my "vacation", so before we even got to the airport he had asked my 3 times if I was enjoying my vacation yet. We went to Chicago to work one of our shows and I loved it! I think I loved it because it reminded me so much of New York, but cleaner and with a lot more parks and "green" stuff! We were gone for a full 7 days; Mary Mac is finally old enough now that she realized that we were gone for a long time. She kept asking us on the phone (which is unusual because she normally won't talk to us on the phone) when we were coming home - awwwweeee! I'm not sure if she wanted us to come home because she missed us or she was looking forward to her "surprises" we brought! I'll take either option - at least they missed us! They were both so excited to see us when we got home - I think it was a good break for all of us. Of course, they both looked like they had grown a foot in one week!

A Mother's Reflections. . .

I'm writing this post more for myself than anyone else's benefit, so just bare with me as I work my way through my thoughts on this post. I have lots of friends (both bloggies and non-bloggies) that are pregnant right now with babies (#1, #2, or #3 children) and those that have just had babies and hearing all of thier stories makes me kind of reflect on my family's lives over the past few years.

The day of Anna's birth and those days that followed are still a bit of a blur, but there are a few things that really stand out in my mind of the emotions and feelings I had (I know, Sam, you remember my weeping very clearly I'm sure!). These emotions were very raw and real and I am so thankful that I had a husband and family that allowed me to express them and deal with them. I think my mom was really worried that I ws suffering from Post-Partum, but I am very confident that that was not the case at all!

So, you're wondering, what emotions and feelings were you dealing with? Well, the biggest one was the idea that somehow I was "losing" Mary Mac as my baby - I mean, up to that point, she WAS my baby and in a matter of a few hours, she WASN'T - she was my Big Girl/Big Sister. I felt so guilty for taking her baby-hood away from her so young and forcing her into this world of being a Big Girl at the ripe old age of 2 1/2. i mean, Sam and I made this choice for her and never consulted her on it. How selfish could we have been? We wanted another child, not Mary Mac - she was happy and content being the only child. I vividly remember seeing her for the first time after having Anna and immediately I noticed (whether in reality or just in my head - dunno?) that she had grown like a foot and had these enormous hands and feet, that is, compared to this new miracle that we had been waiting on for almost 9 months, who was so tiny and fragile.

Another major emotion was my fear of how I was going to be able to raise not just 1 fearless and confident female, but 2! Mary Mac was already growing into this confident, yet sweet little girl and, for the life of me, when Anna was born, my brain just went blank as to what I thought "we" (Sam and I) did to get her to this stage of life! How on earth can I repeat this? The answer I have realized is that "we" did not do anything - the "we" in this equation was not just Sam and I, but also our faith in God as our guide to raise these little earthly beings! The other answer is that as Anna is getting older and developing her own little personality, I realize that I shouldn't have wanted to make a "clone" of Mary Mac or try and repeat her! Anna is her own, sweet, funny, loving little person - all by herself - curls and all! And Mary Mac is her own wild, fearless, confident, loving little girl, too! Wow, what a blessing we have in these 2 miracle babies!

Looking back, I can't believe I really had those crazy feelings and emotions, but I don't think I am the only mom that goes through this! I'm just going to chalk it up to being totally normal with just a little hormonal influence added to the mix! So, for those of you who are thinking that I am writing this because I have baby-fever? WRONG! No fever here! I think, for now at least, I will just enjoy everyone else's babies and live vicariously through you all. The thought of going back to All Things Baby world is sooooo not appealing to me! so if you find me smelling your sweet baby's head (yes, Molli, you were right - that smell is distinct and wonderful!), don't worry, just consider it my "fever medicine"! I'll get over it really quick - like, as soon as they start crying!

A New "Big Girl" Room for Mary Mac

We had not planned on doing anything anytime soon with Mary Mac or Anna's bedroom furniture - that is, until we realized that the furniture we REALLY wanted for Mary Mac was going on sale, but only through the end of July. So, not knowing if it would go on sale again anytime soon, we decided to go ahead get it for her and really give her a room with personality (Mary Mac's personality=horses). So within a week's time, we bought the furniture, ordered the bedding, matched the paint to the bedding, and painted the walls accordingly (or should I say, I painted the walls since Sam was out of town). It's not totally finished yet, but I am so proud of it I wanted to go ahead and post pictures of it. I meant to take a "before" picture, but forgot! So, for those of you who didn't know what it looked like before - she had hot pink upholstered twin headboards with bright colored striped bedding and the walls were just a khaki color because I knew we would be changing it in the near future (just didn't imagine it being this near). For now, her old stuff is now located in our other guest bedroom (which was being used only for storage), so we have plenty of sleeping room for any guests! Mary Mac is so proud of her Big Girl room that she likes to just go up there by herself and read or play by herself on her "horsey" bed! The plan to finish out the room is to have a girl that Sam's family knows paint a fence on the bottom half and maybe a horse on one of the walls - hence, the idea of the bottom walls being green (i.e. grass) and the top being blue (i.e.sky)! Hope you enjoy! By the way, this is it for furniture for Mary Mac's room - she will have this furniture until she can afford to buy her own!

First Day of School

Well yesterday was the first day of school for the girls for this next year. We had a week off last week and now they got to move into their new classes yesterday! Anna (just as I suspected) was not very excited about her move -she is definitely our child of habit! Mary Mac, after a little hesitancy, warmed right up to her new class after she realized that all of her friends were still in the class with her. Ms. Patty said that Anna had a great day and actually fell right to sleep on her nap mat on the floor - for that I am floored! I was really worried about my sweet little angel, but she was so glad to see me when I picked her up! We actually had a great night last night after getting home from school. Sam and I decided that she was so happy to be home with us that she was not going going to whine or fuss or hang on my leg - just full of gratefullness!!!!

On a side note, Anna has decided that she really loves this one baby doll that someone gave Mary Mac when she was a baby (Mary Mac was never "into" dolls - only animals!). She loves it and carries it all over the house with her, calling it "BaaDaa" which is her word for baby doll I guess! It's so cute! At least one of our girls is a "girly girl"! Sam doesn't know what to think about this!