{decorate your soul}

Friday Funny

Susie to Andy: Honey, Can you get the stuff out of the bed of the truck before you leave?

Andy: Sure. What's out there?

Susie: Our new mop and cleaning supplies.

Andy: Why can't you go out there and get them?

Susie: Because we're having some... weather.

hahah.

Lightning and thunder is pretty common around these parts. Obviously, I haven't acclimated to weather yet. I'm not sure I ever will.

 

He's such a good guy- braving the rain for me :)

10 on Tuesday: The Late Wednesday Night Edition

1. Sarah and Ashleigh are signed up to take gymnastics this fall and classes began yesterday- both of them LOVE it.

2. While Sarah was in her class, I joined the three person kickboxing class. I haven't pretend kickboxed in five years, probably, and you know what hurt? My knees. I thought, what's next, my hips?

3. Andy just reminded me that I'm four months older than him. Stinker.

4. Season 4 of The Office went on sale yesterday. Too bad that NBC Olympic Coverage spoiled my anticipation by giving me premieres for Season 5 in one fould swoop. Doi!

5. And because we were watching our newly purchased DVD set, I missed the premiere of 90210, the next generation. Why am I so bent out of shape about watching teeny bopper shows?

6. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Red Tent- I'll have to tell you about our newly formed Book Club soon!

7. We have yet to find the bolts & screws to put together the toddler bed. Lauren may be sleeping in a crib until her toes reach the rim!

8. I'm a little conflicted about telling Sarah's teacher that I used to teach kindergarten- from my own experience, it was intimidating to me to have a student's parent as a teacher, and not helpful, as I would obviously intend it to be (as in, I would like to help in the classroom). What would you do?

9. The girls took their wheels to the basement this afternoon. Nothing beats skating and scootering in the depths of the earth, right?

10. I never mentioned just how much we enjoyed the Parisian culture this past June (did you know that I'm part French? Probably only like 1/32 when it comes down to it, but it counts). I very much enjoyed thier kick back, hangout, "enjoy life" lifestyle. That place has become my mental vacation.

7:11AM

Sarah's first day of Kindergarten finally arrived! She's had her first day outfit picked out for over a week, sitting out on the dresser, eagerly awaiting when she could wear it. After all, you have to look cute on the first day of school.

Here she is sportin' her new Barbie backpack- thank you Grammy!

Did I mention how early the bus arrives (see the title)? It was virtually dark outside when we went to take some photos. Photo nerds, my ISO is at 1000- ouch!

Sarah had a first grade buddy at the bus stop that's been through this before and when Sarah started to get nervous about going on the bus, her pal Megan just pulled her along. This shot was taken by Andy- I think this is when her bravery was trying to pounce out the panic: 

And she's off.

But only for a few hours. And word has it, the bus ride was the favorite part of her day!

Four Weeks JUMP!

It only took four weeks of living here for me to gain enough courage to ask my neighbor friends to jump with me.

Here's me demonstrating how to get some mean air (apparently, I'm taking some lessons from my karate chop husband):

(from l-r : Susan, Anna, Julie, me, and Suzi)

(if you're new to the neighborhood and can't remember names, it's likely you're talking to a Sue of some sort)

And here we are contributing to the jumping project (it's so FUN, I can't stop!)

Bummer the other neighbors had already left the barbecue, maybe we'll get them to join in next time!

On How to Make a New Friend out of a Google Search

First, one must have Google. And do a search for people that might like the same things you do in the area you are moving to...

Second, after meeting her in real life (in a public place, ha!), invite her over to have some homemade coffee cake. Enlist the troops.

Third, or don't.*

Fourth, make new friend comfortable with a spot of (decaffeinated) tea.

Finally, enjoy fresh fruit and fellowship with new said friend :)

*don't worry, Lori, Lauren ONLY got into the measuring cup with her snotty face AFTER it had been used!

...

Lori has been my friend for about 6 months now- she was one of the first people that knew we were moving to the Dayton area because I randomly e-mailed her asking if she might like to answer questions about the area we were moving to. She kindly obliged and we found out that we had more in common than just photography and geographical locations- she also is a mama to three girls, a Christian and had moved about with the Air Force, too! Honestly, Lori is such a sweet lady and I am lucky to have landed upon her site after a google search.

Now, I don't recommend this as a way to making all your acquaintances, but it's kind of worked out in my favor recently! Next time, we'll get our jumping game on :) 

Let's Just Call Her Determined

This one is giving us a run for our money. 

She's strong-willed, stubborn, feisty, and among other things, determined.

 We keep praying that she'll grow into her God given powers and use them for good. 

I mean, what else can we do?

I'm putting this here tonight to remind me that this is such a quick season for my little Lauren, and yes, we will make it through- this verse specifically is speaking to my heart. It's from The Message Bible:

"God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, 
   to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope, 
   quietly hope for help from God.
It's a good thing when you're young 
   to stick it out through the hard times."

Lamentations 3:25-27

Ashleigh Goes to Preschool

Ashleigh is like a little celebrity around here, let me tell you- this girl is growing by leaps and bounds lately and today was no exception as she welcomed her first day of preschool!

Here she is refusing to stay still for mom to get the first day (ever) of school shot- who can blame her, she was SO excited!

After her teacher greeted her and we took pictures (I don't post pictures of teachers and schools for safety reasons), she spotted an area that was familiar and took off- the dollhouse peeps on steroids:

She seemed pretty happy, so after showing her where the restroom was and being reassured by Miss H.  that they would ask if she had to go, I took off to let Ash have her day at preschool.

 That's one seriously cute preschooler.

"It's going to be an EXTRAORDINARY day!"

These are the words I heard from the backseat as we pulled out of the drive and on our way to Barnes and Nobles for story time this morning. If you are familiar with a children's book character named Fancy Nancy (not to be confused with my real life Aunt Nancy that has been nicknamed Fancy Nancy for some years now), than you know why Sarah said it would be an extraordinary day and not just a great day. Because extraordinary is a fancy word for great!

Sarah and Ashleigh requested these (Christmastime) fancy dresses for the Fancy Nancy party- complete with sparkles in their hair for story time (unfortunately, Lauren is not welcome at public story times until she can behave like a human child and not a lively zoo animal, which will be in 2015, probably. She tears books and we have to buy them- endofstory.). 

Oh, to be a little girl and get dressed up so fancy at the bookstore!

The girls got front row seats (okay, everyone did):

There were fresh baked cookies and milk for snack:

And crafts- note Sarah's heart on top of her paper tiara made out of glittery, sparkly pipe cleaner- such a clever girl, she is:

So Ash wanted one, too. Because that's how it is with little sisters ;)  :

I think the best part of going to the bookstore, though, is after story time when the girls get to peruse books on the shelves and pick a few to read on their own or with Mama.

Classic Sarah- this one's going to be a reader, lemme tell you:

Or when Ashleigh brings yet another Ariel or Aurora paper back over from the princess section- I think those stories just might be the little girl's equivalent to chick lit!

Later today, we went to Chick-Fil-A, signed up for gymnastics, made Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies and went to a going away party for neighbors we've met twice (yes, we really did!).

It truly was an extraordinary day!

Five on Friday: A few things keeping us busy

I. My purple cruiser showed up this week- isn't she so cool? My neighbor suggested the name "Purple People Eater." What says you?

II. Lolo is really getting into the pretend play around here as we set up the kitchen area and serve afternoon "tea." You should see her pour and do the sound effects-it's  priceless!

III. Because the girls have a larger area in their room, it allows for the Leap Frog train to stay out on a more regular basis. Lauren really likes to take the train OFF the tracks and the train says "OFF THE TRACKS," over and over again:

IV. But with a face like this, it's too hard to stay frustrated even after you've put the train back on for 147th time:

V. Even Ash loves the train, and she introduced me to her froggy friends: Taylor and Lilly (so named after our friends in San Diego). ha.

Happy Friday to you :)

 

We Met, We Shopped, We Jumped

Yesterday, some friends that I have only known through online correspondence drove down to meet me in Columbus- I was so excited to meet Missy, Marie, Katy and Jenny in real time after getting to know them and their families through the world of blogs! So what did we do? 

Doesn't surprise you to much, right? I feel compelled to say that Katy WOULD be jumping minus the brace holding her together from recent surgery!

Too bad they live hours away on the other end of the state... but it was so fun to meet in real time. You can see a few more pictures our our time together in a facebook album here.

Thanks for  a great day ladies, I can't wait until the next Girls' Day (+ Charlie) :)

On What Marines are Trained For.

A few weeks ago when we were staying at Miramar, we saw a group of Marines across the way from our hotel practicing what I only know as kill moves. Why do I call them that, you ask? Because every time they (pretended to) hit one another, they shouted, "Kill!" Over and over they repeated the exercise and words.

It was kind of funny until our five-year-old began to repeat them.

"Kill. Kill. Kill"

Not so cute coming from your kids mouth.

And a good reminder that those men and women mean serious business. Jeepers.

New Wheels on the Block!

In this neighborhood, you gotta have a set of wheels to keep up with the bustling bicyclists under four feet tall- add one more three-year-old to the mix. This one's got new wheels and calls it her Flower Power Bike (I totally had no influence on that, I swear):

She's a good corner rounder:

 Now if only mom would let her take off with big sis around the block...

On how to make use of your old tripod

Andy likes to use it to hold up the electronic laser level (courtesy my parents):

What you can't see is the straight red line projected on the wall to allow for easily aligning screws, bolts and wall hanging instruments. Thank you old, flimsy, tripod. You rock. My pictures are all straight as can be!

(And so does Andy for putting up with me! He said tonight that my blog exists solely to embarrass him (Now, we know that's not true, right?!).

Missing This.

I have a terrible case of missing my girlfriends today (of course, some of them aren't pictured here).

How long do you think it will take before I have good enough friends willing to be silly & jump with me? 

(from l-r- Michelle, Jenn, Sarah, moi, Becky, Reina) (photos by Andy)

Triumphant

Guess who's potty trained? Time to get big girl panties!

Oh, there is the right size! 

We couldn't be more proud of Ashleigh this weekend- she potty trained in just one day (never mind the two times we tried in the spring)-- she was just ready now!