For Real Life!

So...Loren has been sick the last few days with a cough/runny nose, as has Miranda. Today Loren's cough sounded like it was getting worse, even though we've already managed to go through an entire bottle of Mucinex. I debated taking her to the doctor, but just knew it was thanks to this crazy Memphis weather and was probably just her sinuses.

She was so worn out tonight that she didn't even feel like eating...and that rarely happens with her, she's my good eater! I went off to get her some Benadryl and IcyHot rub to help her sleep tonight. I also grabbed two miniature tubs of Cotton Candy ice cream. :)

When I got back from the store Homma had given them a bath for me and I told them what I had for them. My sick child hopped out of that tub so fast! Quickly dried off and ran across the house to get dressed and even brushed her own hair. I told her that we had to blow her hair dry first, to which she responded, "My hair is already dry, for real life it is! Feel it!"

Haha! It was soaking wet, so of course I dried it first. But I love her new saying. Any time she is trying to convince us of something lately she says, "For real life!" I love it! So cute!

She and sissy enjoyed their ice cream, but not 10 minutes later Loren spiked a fever. It's a low one right now, but I'm taking her to the doctor first thing in the morning.

Loren and Miranda cuddled up in Homma's bed watching Snow White before bedtime. :)

And of course...little miss gets to sleep in mommy's bed tonight since she has a fever. I already know she's going to be waking me up in the middle of the night, so I am making things easier on both of us, haha. I love watching my children sleep. They seem so peaceful and are so very precious! I hope she has sweet dreams tonight.

Birthdays and Boyfriends!?

Now that I have posted the pictures my mind has drawn a blank, haha, I hate it when that happens. Saturday we attended my friend Leila's daughter's 5th birthday party. The girls have so much fun with Leila's little ones, Hayden and Jeremiah. Oh and yes, Miranda says that Jeremiah is her boyfriend and he calls Miranda his girlfriend, Haha! Leila and I have our eyes on those two for sure! But it is rather cute!

Loren and Hayden, the birthday girl, both girls covered in cupcake, haha!

Cake Face!! :) Miranda chose to lick the icing off. (That girl, so picky, haha!) Little Miss Hayden, the princess/birthday girl. Happy Birthday Hayden! The girls had so much fun...let's just say, there were Barbies galore!

Last night the girls and I made a last minute trip up to Mickey D's after dinner to meet up with our wonderful friends, Janessa and Lora and their girls, Brooklynn, Kate & Alex. We always love our random McDonald's meetings. The girls have a blast playing while us mommy's get to catch up. ;)

On another note, Miranda made straight A's on her report card AGAIN! I am so very, very proud of my monkey! I can't believe there are only two months left of her first grade year. My baby is going to be a second grader before I know it! And she will be SEVEN on May 16th! Time flies by way too fast.

So many plans...So little time!

Loren and I went to lunch at Miranda's school yesterday. I would have taken a pic to share, but there is a new school policy against it thanks to Facebook issues, lol. Anyways, we took her some Mickey D's and she loved it! I got LOTS of love while we were there.

Today Miranda went to her old kindergarten classroom and read Three Billy Goats Gruff to them. She said she only messed up a couple of words because she was nervous. Too sweet! I do love that her school lets them do that. Anytime they want to go read to the kindergarten classroom they used to be in they just have to ask.

When we dropped Miranda off at school this morning she started walking to school and looked very confused. I had to roll down my window and yell at her to turn around! hahahaha! That girl! She is so used to me parking on the other side of the street that she was walking away from her school...ummm....blonde moment?!

We had a talk on the way to school this morning about the Michael Buble concert. See...the tickets are a bit pricier than I thought they would be, and I honestly don't see Loren sitting through a concert...just don't see it! So my mom volunteered to take Loren to a movie that night and let me and my sis take Miranda to the concert. Loren was ALL about this. That child LOVES and is obsessed with going to the movies. And Miranda was fine with it, she said she is NOT missing Michael Buble. Whew, glad that worked out!

Tonight the girls and I, and Homma too, had grilled cheese and tomato soup. I found out Loren likes to dip her grilled cheese in her tomato soup just like me! That's my girl. :) Then we cuddled on the couch and watched Casper, one of our regular favorites around here.

We have a birthday party to attend tomorrow and have to go to church twice on Sunday, lol. Once for service and then for an event. I just got two more plan invites text to me tonight and had to turn them both down. :( I get cranky if I overbook myself and the girls.

April should hopefully be a good, calm month and I am SO very excited about Easter, by far my favorite holiday with the girls! Definitely enjoying this coming month, because in May things will be getting a little hectic. We have Mother's Day the first weekend, then the following weekend is Miranda's 7th birthday, the weekend after that their dad is getting married and they are in the wedding way down in MS, and then the following week is Miranda's last week of school and then the weekend after is the Michael Buble concert. haha! Not to mention that due to all the chaos our parenting schedule is being thrown completely off for a month. But it's only for a month! Then we'll be back to normal, whatever that is. ;)

Random Little Things

Yesterday Loren and I ran some errands and then spent a couple hours at the mall window-shopping and playing. My girls love the Wolfchase. Not my favorite mall, AT ALL, but when it's not crowded it is nice for them. First we rode the carousel. (That word never looks right to me, lol!) Anyways, Loren loved it, and had to ride on the flying dragon. She kept looking straight up so I asked her why and she said she didn't want it to go up inside the top with her on it, lol! I explained that it wouldn't.

After that we went into the Disney store where she had a ball! I still can't believe we left without her begging for something though, AND I managed to sneak by Godiva without her noticing. We finally made it to the play area, which was what she kept dying to do! She wore herself out...I had a lot of fun watching her enjoy everything. I love spending time with my soogabooga!

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Today I had to take Loren to Kid Station, which is a drop-in daycare. She LOVED it! She had a really good time, and I was worried about it since we have never done daycare before. We have done Parent's Day Out, but never daycare, so this was a first for us. She said she wants to go back, "not everyday, but sometimes." haha! When we first pulled up she had her backpack on and got out of the car and told me bye! I said, "Well, are you going by yourself!?" lol...She said, "Mommy, I want to go like sissy does!" haha, I explained to her that I had to check her in, she only gave me a quick peck before she was off!

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On another note, Miranda is doing SO well in school! She brought home her progress report today and she is just excelling in everything! Math, English, and spelling. She is also breezing through her accellerated reader tests at school. I am so very, very proud of my little monkey!

Spring is in the Air!

We are absolutely loving this weather. Yesterday I got the girls' dad to meet me at a park in Germantown so the girls could play and swing for a bit before we headed home.

They got upset when the swings were being hogged, lol...so after some pouting I told them I had gotten them some bubble wands.

We headed home to our own backyard and they had a blast playing with their bubbles. Uncle Jonathan came by for dinner and while we were all out back the girls requested to be lifted up to see the horses over our fence. They LOVE seeing the neighbor's horses.

Just look how excited they are! Poppy and uncle Jonathan...not so much it seems, haha!

Today Loren and I went shopping for a daycare after we dropped sissy off at school. It is so hard to find a daycare that is suited for both girls and has an opening for Miranda for before/after school care, at an affordable price, but still nice. I have found one I really like, but it does not have availability for Miranda until summer.
So...we shall see...no need for one at the moment. Maybe by the time I need it something will open up, God willing!
Toward the end of the afternoon Loren and I hung out outside waiting for Miranda's bus. The girls rode their biked in the garage/driveway while I cleaned out my car from ALL their crumbs and messiness! I'm ashamed and have told them NO more eating in my car, lol...we'll see how long that lasts!
We came in for dinner and homework and then the girls wanted to take Scrappy, our sadly overweight miniature pinscher walking. Haha, that out of shape little dog ended up taking them for a run! He may be overweight but he is still stout and strong!
We love our little Scrappy Doo!
And we are so happy that the weather is so absolutely beautiful. The girls want to go walking every night now, Yay, nothing like a nightly family walk around the neighborhood! :)

My Little Artist

I have been spring cleaning ALL weekend long! From sun up to sun down. I cleaned out Miranda's nightstand and found some of her drawings.

The picture above I am guessing is a pic she drew of herself after she lost her tooth. :(

I had never seen it, and all I could do was smile when I saw it.

The one above is of a princess, of course, haha, and I am thinking she must be screaming or running from something.

This is her interpretation of the country and the city. She did this one at school, so I have already seen it. She is sending it to her dad's house today so I wanted to get a pic of it first.

The pic above is the cover to her drawing book Homma got her.

She flipped back and forth drawing this bird! I was in awe watching her. No tracing whatsoever! She simply drew it from looking at it. How great is that!?

This is a close-up of the bird. And since she did so well with this, I am making sure she remembers she has a Let's Draw Fairy's book aunt Nanie got her for Christmas.

And the picture below is of the Bible I bought Miranda today at church. It is her final birthday present. I have now finished all shopping for her birthday. :)

It's so gorgeous out, I can't wait for them to get home...I'm thinking about getting their dad to meet me at a park to drop them off so we can get in a little play time before dinner. :)

Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend!

Missing the Chaos!?

It's so funny how sometimes I really feel like I need a break from being "mommy." Yet when the girls are gone, I miss them like crazy and can't wait for them to get back. I usually call them twice a day while they are gone, which I have today. Miranda used to talk to me on the phone for a good bit and Loren was always really short...it went something like this, "Hey momma, whatcha doin? I'm playing and watching cartoons, and chasing the dog, and I love you, Bye!" All within 30 seconds, lol!

Now...Miranda is usually the one who gets on and has nothing to say...she is usually watching cartoons and therefore I am interrupting it seems, lol. Loren gets on and rattles on like above and then she quiets down and really wants to have a conversation. But she still abruptly says, "I love you bye!" It seems Miranda no longer says I love you to me on the phone at least. The last couple months she'll say, "Bye." And I'll say, "I love you, bye." And she'll say, "Bye." Again! I know she knows I know she loves me, haha, hope you followed that. And I know they don't spend as much time with their dad and they see me everyday, so I get that. I guess I'm just scared of her growing up...she will be SEVEN in May and I just don't want my baby to grow up! Not yet! I want her to still want to be loved on and cuddled and still be my baby! I know she has to grow up some time, but it's killing me that it's going by so quickly. I'm just going to love on them both as much as I can for as long as I can.

Now I can't wait for those heathens to get home tomorrow so I can give them big hugs and lots of kisses! I miss them when the house is so quiet! I actually, honestly miss the chaos! :)

Just Peachy!

Loren woke me up in the middle of the night AGAIN! (It's getting so old and I'm getting to be more and more exhausted by it. I keep threatening to buy one of those things to tie her to her bed like in the movie Mommy Dearest, lol!)

We were cleaning all day! Spring cleaning time of course, so I know the girls were bored to tears, but they did help me organize the thousands of movies we own.

It was such a beautiful day outside. We opened up all the windows and even the back door to let some fresh air in. Well...somehow Loren smashed her finger in the door. It had a big red cherry on it and underneath her fingernail! OUCH! I put a band aid on it thinking it would calm her down, but no such luck. So Miranda and I left her with Hamma while we ran and got them both a chocolate shake from Sonic. That helped a LOT!

Miranda was not feeling that well today. Still stuffy and coughing like a seal. :(

We had a bit of trouble with lunch, being that Miranda refused to eat because she didn't like what we were having. After lunch the girls took a nap, so I packed their things and finished organizing and cleaning. Neither one of them really took a nap, they just laid in their beds. When Loren got up from her nap, she said that she loved feeling the wind blow on her since her window was open, but that it is what kept her from being able to sleep, haha, yeah, whatever excuse will work!

Miranda came out from her nap in a much better mood and even thanked me for cleaning out and organizing the linen closet that she and sissy had destroyed?! She promised they would not mess it up again! We shall see. ;)

A pic of the girls as they were about to leave with their dad.

The pic above was after I made Miranda stand next to her sister!

Now this is the first pic I got!
Miranda would NOT let Loren stand next to her and Loren was determined. She really likes to cuddle up to her sissy and Miranda wanted nothing to do with it. She said she didn't want her leaning on her!
Luckily, Miranda was in a cuddly mood with me for a bit. The last 15 minutes before their dad came to pick them up I spent cuddled in the bed with both girls watching a cartoon. I don't even know what it was since I was too busy loving on them so!

Busy Little Bees!

Miranda woke up coughing like a seal today, along with congestion. No fun! So I figured we'd take it easy today, especially since I had a house to go clean.

Our morning got better after uncle Jonathan surprised us by dropping in with some Howard's doughnuts! YUM! And yes, we are heifers and ate them! :) They were delish!

When we got home I started on dinner and the girls decided to go play in the backyard. It's so warm and beautiful outside today. I wish I could have taken them to the park, but they are using their imaginations very well in our backyard!

Crazy heathens!

Loren came running in all dramatically saying there were bees chasing after her because they think she is a flower! More specifically, because her shirt has flowers on it! lol...goober!

Miranda decided to dress for comfort today being that she didn't feel so well. Funny how she felt just fine running all over the backyard playing Hot & Cold, Freeze Tag, and Hide & Go Seek.
I left the back door open to let in fresh air while I cooked and so I could hear them while they played. I really enjoyed and giggled quite a bit hearing them play these games and remembering my sister, brother and I playing them as kids.

There was only one meltdown when Miranda accidentally threw her Frisbee over the fence into the neighbors backyard, which we can't go into because they have horses and whatnot!

But all was well after Loren, sweetly gave her Frisbee to Miranda, "Until I go to heaven!" Don't know where she got that from, but it was cute.

After a couple pics Miranda told Loren, "You're such a poser!"

And I asked her what she thought she was, since she's a poser too!

Now I gotta go get these stinky, sweaty little girls cleaned up...bathtime is our favorite time of the day around here! Especially when it involves bubbles. :)

The Little Princesses

Oh, my precious babies! Who doesn't remember The Little Princess with Shirley Temple?! Well...my girls have never seen it, but I definitely do!

My mother got the girls these Disney nightgowns for Christmas and every time they wear them, which is A LOT, it reminds me of that movie. The scene where the girls find the beautiful nightgowns and robes laid out for them and they put them on...especially when they are playing princess and walking around with the gowns just flowing along the floor!

They are most certainly my little princesses! I love them so!!

A Day FULL of Surprises!

First stop, Gibson's doughnuts! The girls wanted to know where we were going so bad! They got so excited when they saw that big doughnut sign in front of the building. If you have never tried their doughnuts it is a MUST. We will drive across town to get these amazing treats, and that we did! (And they are open 24/7!) Best I've ever had. And for all you Howard's fans, until you've tried Gibson's, I don't wanna hear it. ;)

I told them they could have two each. So Miranda got chocolate and caramel and Loren got cinnamon and caramel. (Mommy got chocolate and coconut.)

They ate slowly so, (Miranda, "I can enjoy every last bite!") Ha!

Then we headed to the Memphis Botanic Garden, where I was only planning on going to My Big Backyard, BUT...

I forgot we always have to check on Swan White first! My bad! Swan White is the swan that lives in the pond there. While there, Miranda decided we should walk all of the grounds of the garden. (Umm...momma went for cuteness over comfort so not really a good day for that, but whatever...off we went.)

Finally the girls got tired and were ready to head to the Big Backyard. Miranda said it was cool that we walked the entire garden, ha! She was disappointed when I told her that we didn't even walk but a third of it haha!

The girls decorated the scarecrows...

Miranda went more glam with hers.

Loren just did whatever she could grab. After this we grabbed some pink lemonade and Loren got an apple and Miranda got some cheese crackers. So glad they have a snack/lemonade stand.

The girls finally got to swing in the hammock swing! Every time we've gone it's been taken!

It was so beautiful outside. Wonderful day for the garden for sure!

They did have some construction going on in My Big Backyard, but that's because they are creating a Wizard's Garden which will officially open May 20th.

Afterward we had lunch with my mom at McAlister's.

Then we headed over to Godiva for our free monthly truffle.

I tried the new peach truffle, Miranda got the raspberry mousse bunny, and Loren got the coconut Easter egg.

I desperately needed a boost, so I stopped by Starbucks since it was right there and got me a double shot espresso. The girls saw they had cake pops now and wanted to try one, so I figured why not! Miranda got the Tiramisu, and Loren got Rocky road. YUM!

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Finally we came home for a quick nap before their dad came to pick them up. Let me tell you, Miranda does not usually take naps, and Loren, so hard to give a nap!

LUCKILY they were so worn out they crashed, hard!

They both said this was the BEST day of spring break by far! :)

Change in Plans...Even Better!

So my plan for today was to take the girls to the Memphis Zoo this afternoon. See today the zoo is free between 2 and5 if you are a TN resident. The weather chose not to cooperate, so we had a change in plans.

Perfect, today the Pink Palace is also free, from 1-5, let's do it! After pulling into the parking lot, I quickly turned around. There was NO parking available it was so insanely crowded. I do NOT do crowds, unless I absolutely have to, and that was just not worth it...SO, another change in plans, lol.

Ice cream! We like Baskin Robbins, but do it a lot. Miranda doesn't like Ben & Jerry's?! I am not a fan of TCBY, and did NOT want Chick-fil-a's ice cream again, which is what the heathens were begging for. Light bulb! I remembered they had a new yogurt shop I had been really wanting to try out, Sweet CeCe's. The girls agreed and so it was our new plan!

If you haven't tried it, you should! The girls agreed it's our favorite yogurt place now! I mean you pick any flavor(s) you want and put them in your cup. It's all soft-serve. Then they have a wall...of as many candy toppings as you can think of in tubes that run up to the ceiling! Then you can pick any fruit toppings you want and fudge or caramel to top it off. They weigh each cup and charge you by the ounce...so be careful! (Oh and you can sample each flavor before you decide.) The people were so friendly and helpful.

Loren: Peanut butter yogurt, peanut M&Ms, Trix cereal, hot fudge and a cherry...surprisingly good. :)

Miranda: Strawberry kiwi sorbet, M&Ms, skittles, brownie bite, hot fudge. (This is my pickiest child who does NOT like for her food to touch, I was so proud of her for going for it...had to be the cool factor of the place!) It was also surprisingly good. I'm just not a fan of M&Ms or skittles, but the yogurt was great!

Good to the last drop...Loren didn't even know I got this pic.

I got Dulce de Leche yogurt with caramel, chocolate chips, brownie bite, shredded coconut and whipped cream. DELISH!!!! Seriously!

***Meant to add: Remember my blog about how we are always dancing...well, Loren decided to start breaking out in dance at the yogurt shop as soon as The Black Eyed Peas came on with The Girl Can't Help It! Everybody in the place turned to watch and started giggling at her. I told her to sit down, but she said, "I can't help it, Momma! What's this song?" I told her the name and she laughed. Then she told me to get up and start dancing also! Yeah, not happening, haha!

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After our treat we headed over to Davis Kidd for a bit. We love bookstores. And we are very exhausted. I can't wait for the girls to see what surprise I have planned for tomorrow! I really, really hope the weather cooperates! I've been looking forward to this all week! :)

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

There's no other way to put it...today was just plain yucky outside! So I decided to let the girls wear rain jackets and boots. They were so excited, haha, glad they are easily pleased.

Other BIG news...Loren finally buckled her seat belt all on her own! So proud. We've been working on this for a while and she was so happy!

She continued to do it on her own all day. :)

Miranda was also proud of her sister, and in shock, it seemed.

Giving each other some love!

Love those smiles!! :)
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We made a quick stop by Firehouse Subs before heading to Nanie's house and the girls got fire hats. They loved it. Miranda said she wants to try and draw a mural like the one they have inside of the firemen putting out a house fire. She's a very talented little artist, I should post a pic of one of her latest drawings.

Loren does not really cooperate with photos when she's eating, ha!

I just had to post this pic...Loren's facial expressions remind me of Marlon Brando from The Godfather! Haha! LOVE it!

Beautiful Sunday!

In all honesty it was a dreary Sunday, gray, hazey, and almost chilly. But we had a beautiful Sunday together.

Yes, I was exhausted in the following pics, not only did we set the clocks forward last night, but Loren, once again woke me up in the middle of the night. This time because someone closed her door, it was ME! At least it was 4am, instead of 3am this time, although my mind knew I was trying to pull one over on myself.

We made it to church, the girls love going to church. Miranda even asked for money to give to the offering today. :) Something Miranda does not know about.>>> Her Sunday school teacher asked to speak with me in private before services to just let me know how much they adore Miranda and what a great big heart she has. And then she told me that Miranda has been praying for her dad to start going to church. After I explained the situation (that we are divorced and he and his fiance don't go to church but have been talking about maybe trying one out together,) she kinda let it go, but then she said that Miranda also prayed for someone, she assumed her dad to get food, and they wanted to know if the church could help him in any way. I told her that her dad is doing very well and would have told me if he were struggling. To which she said, "Well, with children you never really know who they are talking about, so if it's you that needs the help we would be more than happy to do so. " To which I replied, a bit shocked, lol, that we were also doing very well and were truly blessed. And she continued, "Oh, it's nothing to be ashamed of, if you need help you shouldn't be ashamed of it." HAHA! I assured her we were fine and that I had no idea what she was talking about. (I still don't think she believes me. And I now think she thinks that Miranda's dad needs to be saved and go to church and we are all destitute!) Lord, help me! Children!

Also excuse the pic quality here. I'm not really happy with my camera lately.

The pic above I let Loren take, she did pretty well.

Miranda's photog skills are a little more shaky ;) but she did try to do her best.

After church we went to visit some friends in HornLake, MS. I have not seen them in over a year, but they haven't seen Miranda since she was two and Loren at all! Craziness!! I have known them all since I was four. We enjoyed a nice cookout with them, my parents and sis. They loved seeing the girls and catching up.

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On the way home Nanie and I heard on the radio that Michael Buble is coming to Memphis on June 3rd! And we started shrieking!!!!!!!! So very, very excited. When I was married and Miranda was just a toddler my ex husband bought me a ticket and my sis got her own and we saw him at the FedEx Forum, where he is coming again! Miranda was obsessed with him so we got her a picture of him, and now both my girls adore him. So we have always said that if he comes back we are SO going to take the girls and get front row seats to see him! He gives an amazing concert and is so funny!!! It's very entertaining. While we will NOT be able to afford front row tickets (Note we are not destitute or starving ;)), we are definitely going to have to take the girls. I'm so excited to take them to their first concert!!