Happy Halloween

Well the girls are out trick-or-treating right now with their Daddy. I'm sitting in a rocking chair on my front porch waiting for any little ghosts and goblins in need of a sugar rush to come by. The girls look almost scary in this picture. I told them to say 'candy' and they got this crazed look in their eyes! Maryn was so excited to be a little black cat this year and Brynnie is a cute little white rabbit. They made it totally easy on me with their costume requests. You know I'm loving that! Hope all of you are having a safe and fun Halloween!

Mood Swings

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm fearful already of the level of hormones that our house will hold in the next 10-15 years. Maryn and Brynna have just been wearing me out with their mood swings that last few days and they are only 4 and 2 for crying out loud!!! They remind me of the Rockem Sockem Robots on 'Toy Story' that are having a polite, civilized conversation and then something so small and meaningless sets them off and they start duking it out. This is my girls in a nutshell. I tell them all the time, "You girls are sisters for life. Be there for each other and always love one another." And sometimes, actually oftentimes, I believe that it has somehow sunk in. Like this afternoon when I took them shopping for winter coats. Maryn and Brynna were walking hand in hand through the parking lot, the best of buddies. Maryn pulled Brynnie's hand up and gave her a kiss and said "Mom, I LOVE my baby sister!" Warm fuzzies, right? Well then why in the bathtub tonight did it turn into an all out water brawl? Brynna was throwing water and screaming too loudly for Maryn's liking (which is ironic, because Maryn is the loudest member of our family). So in return, Maryn was screaming that Brynna was screaming too loud. Before I knew it, the bathroom was doused in water, the girls were furiously kicking at each other and Maryn chucked a cup at Brynna's face and split her lip a tiny bit. Are you kidding me?! I swear they become possessed! Then when I asked Maryn what the heck was going on, she said "Brynnie was screaming, but we're better now!" And then they went on happily playing together. I just can not keep up mentally with these two, they absolutely wear me out sometimes. I pray to the Lord all the time that I'll survive parenthood with the majority of my brain cells intact. And hopefully, despite our 'Rockem Sockem Moments', I hope Maryn and Brynna will grow up knowing that they are indeed each others very best friend and sisters for life.

Our Busy Morning...

It was my turn to host Brynnie's Joy School playgroup this morning at our house. Me and three other Mom's from Church, each take a turn having the kids at our house for two mornings, one week out of the month. Brynna had a lot of fun with her friends and we were happy to have them over. By the time 12:00 rolled around though, that girl was ready for a nap! She's been one moody little diablo lately. Justin and I are really hoping it is a phase that fades FAST! Here are a few pics of her in her happier moments!

After the girls had played for a while, we had storytime. We read one of my girls' favorites, "Duck on a Bike" by David Shannon. Brynna's friend Ivy had the funniest look on her face the whole time. Like she was deeply disturbed that a duck would ever ride a bike?! I asked her if she liked it and she said "Uh-huh." still looking very concerned. It was pretty funny! After that, we busted out the Play-Doh. As usual, it was a big hit. It was so cute seeing them being so proud of all their little creations! They kept saying "Look at this!"

After Play-Doh we cleaned up and had snack. They all gobbled up their grapes, but wouldn't eat their string cheese or graham crackers. It was actually refreshing to see that it's not just my kids that won't eat their food! While I was cleaning up lunch, I had the 'Curious George' soundtrack by Jack Johnson on (my FAVORITE!) and the girls broke out in a little jam session and started dancing in the kitchen. It was so cute, they were all holding hands and bopping up and down.

Then we played some more and made Halloween cards for the girls Moms and Dads. About then Brynna went balistic, so she went to bed. The other little girls, Katy and Ivy climbed into Maryn's bed and snuggled together while I read them books. It's so much fun watching Brynna, and the group of girls her same age at church, growing up and becoming their own little people. It's just crazy how fast that time goes!

Simple Saturdays

The girls are in bed, the day is winding down. I'm just sitting with a smile on my face as I think about the simple joys my family brings to my life. I woke up this morning and realized my good husband had gotten up with the girls to make them oatmeal, so that I could stay in the warm bed and sleep a few more minutes. Justin is a total keeper. He is just so good about doing those little things that he knows make me happy. I opened one eye and then the other and realized that it was 8:00am and I needed to hustle and get Maryn to soccer practice. So I hopped out of bed and realized that it was actually cool outside (Yay!) and I pulled on my sweats and my baseball cap and got Maryn ready to scoot out the door.
It is so much fun to watch her at soccer, running around and having fun. Today during a scrimmage she was muscling for the ball and got it and all the parents started shouting "Way to go Pigtails! Take it to the goal!" (There are so many kids, there's no way to know everyone's names!) It just stuck, so now her soccer name is "Pigtails". I heard one dad saying to his wife "Pigtails and Pink Bow (another girl) were really doing good out there!" I thought, yeah, that's my girl!

Tonight after dinner, we decided to make an Apple-Blueberry Crisp with the apples we got from the orchard up in North Georgia yesterday. The girls LOVE to cook with me and always want to wriggle themselves in the middle of everything and do this and that. Sometimes I just think it would be easier if I could just do it myself. But I know someday, they'll be too busy to want to help, so I guess I should eat it up while I can!

While the crisp was baking the girls decided to have a little star watching session. They love sitting out and looking at the night sky. It makes me wish I was as smart as their Nana so I could point out all the constellations. After they had dragged out pillows and blankets they decided that wasn't enough. They decided what they really needed was a tent! So they pulled out all the chairs and more blankets outside and make their little hideout. They said they were ready to go camping and I actually agreed, just not tonight. It was time to get those monkeys in bed! So we convinced them to come inside for their baths and jammies. I couldn't help but give them an extra kiss as I tucked them in and I just marveled at how much I love them. I couldn't help but wonder what joys tomorrow will also bring.

Burt's Pumpkin Farm

Well, we just got home from our annual trip to Burt's Pumpkin Farm up in the North Georgia Mountains. I tell you what, my October would just not be complete without seas of fat, orange pumpkins, cute kids, fried apple pies, and some beautiful fall colors. We went with Grammy and Gramps, Uncle Adam and his special someone Kayla, and my friend Laura and her two handsome boys, Thatcher and Max. I can tell that I've officially been a Mom for awhile now, because the kids were not feeling like having their picture taken and they were kind of irritable at times and I just thought "Who cares?! We're rolling with the punches!" We had a great time and managed to pick out some cute pumpkins, have fun on the hay ride, and Maryn and Brynna were digging getting to wear their ghost sweatshirts Grammy got for them! So all in all it was a great day!

Maryn and Brynna were both ready to bolt at any moment! Maryn and Daddy with the winner! That one's coming home with us! That's a good-lookin' load! Phil & Jody chillin' on the hayride. Adam & Kayla... she's a keeper, we all love her! Laura and her handsome monkeys, Thatcher and Max.Justin and me with our crazy monkeys... gotta love 'em!

New Dolls!!

My girls are so spoiled and so loved! We were over at Grammy and Gramps for our usual Sunday visit yesterday, when their Gramps gave them such a fun surprise! He sat them down and showed them that their Great Aunt Susie (Gramps' sister) had handmade two beautiful dolls for each of our girls! They loved them! They each had a Raggedy Ann style doll, which Maryn named hers Molly and Brynnie's is Annie. Susie also made each of them a Bedtime Buddy dolly that has their little eyes closed! Which I loved last night when I was trying to convince two excited girls to go to bed! I told them their dolls eyes were closed and that we needed to be quiet because they were sleeping! Brynnie's bedtime dolly is named Emmy and Maryn refused to give her doll a 'real' name. She insisted that her dolly's name is 'Sleepy' because well... she's sleepy!


I creeped into the girls rooms in the middle of the night and caught them snuggling their dollys!

Maryn & Brynna are all smiles with their new dolls! Thank you so much Aunt Susie!!

Big Girl Panties!!

Well, our Miss Brynna Grace is almost two and a half, so I figure it's time to start doing the potty training thing. With Maryn I was really spoiled because as soon as she got her big-girl cotton panties, she only had two or three accidents before she decided she could master the whole potty thing, even through the night. Ahhh, if only the second time around I could be so lucky again!

So to begin our new challenge, I took Brynna to Wal-Mart yesterday and let her pick out her new panties. She was in great spirits and oohed and ahhed over all the choices and finally settled on some Dora and Little Mermaid panties. I asked if I could take her picture with her new panties and she went into complete meltdown mode. She was having no part of me or the camera. She wanted her monkey Coco and that was IT!!! You just never know at this age what's going to set them off! So we found Coco and she calmed down, thank heaven's. She's like Linus and his blanket with that monkey. Hopefully she will have weaned herself from him by the time she goes to college. Anyways, so after we got home and got her panties out of the packages, she was happy as a clam again and very proud of them. Now we just need to keep her still long enough to sit on the potty for more than five seconds at a time! Wish me luck!

"Hmm, how do I decide?"

"I feel a meltdown coming on!"

"Yup, there it is! Ditch the panties and get the monkey!"

"Okay, got my thumb and Coco, I'm feeling better now."

"Sportin' my new look! I'm such a big kid!"