Things keeping me busy

A different kind of post from lately!

These are some of the things that have kept me busy lately. Kids and house projects. The girls keep me on my toes and keep me thankful. Bella has such a sweet heart and loves to tell me that she loves me, all the time! It never gets old :) And she must be teaching Farrah her ways because today, Farrah said to me, "You're my best friend!"



Dress-up inside!


Lots of "crafts" as Bella calls anything involving crayons or markers. Farrah is getting into this now, too! It's fun when activities start holding their attention a little longer. She is so proud - she can draw circles, the letter "F" and the letter "A"!


It has been soooo beautiful outside the past couple of days!! We've had bike races, picnic lunches and learning ways to crack pecans without a nut cracker! (I finally bought one today because we have so many pecans in the yard!!)


While at Lowe's, the girls have discovered the fun bathroom section. They should have this be the babysitting area while mom's and dad's shop...


Chris and I painted a bathroom one night this weekend. It's the only room we've never painted since we moved here five years ago!!! My sister, mom and I painted the girls' room last week. I should say, we painted it back to how it was two years ago... exactly the same way. We girls like pink in the Green household! :)


And lastly, we've been working on actually printing out some pictures that Chris takes. It's hard to remember to do that, you know?!? And before you know it... you have a gazillion pictures and they are all digital and nothing on the walls! I combined a bunch of frames with the beautiful canvas that Christy Martin took of our family. Now, I just need to fill up the frames! So... you can see what the collage wall looks like, but the frames are almost all empty. But you get the idea!




And, the only reason this room is clean is because it doesn't get used very much right now. Please don't make me take pictures of any other room, then you'll see how real life is around here! :) :)

But hey - "real life" is messy, unorganized, unplanned, unexpected things stop working (like our stove for a few days!), and a work in progress. And real life isn't always happy, we don't all get along, I anger too fast at my kids and the checklist of things to do just gets longer. But when my kids go to bed and I look at these pictures, or remember that I did a cartwheel in the yard just for a laugh or the fact that Bella worked all day at getting us to "pretend to be in a marching band!" I realize real life ain't too bad. If it were only all cartwheels and no to-do lists, we'd be set! But for real - we've had a hard year. And I'm so thankful that I can see what we do have and feel blessed. Because we are.

Big Ham & Puffy vests

Tonight I am thinking I should start packing bags or at least getting things organized in case Hallie decides to come early. I am so a last minute person, but I have been a little worried that I'm going to be caught off guard and need to get to the hospital fast! So I should probably pack some! Besides that, I'm going to try and relax as much as possible this week. Last ultrasound tomorrow, my brother is graduating with an MBA (go Ryan!!!), getting a few Christmas presents (can you say online shopping?) and the girls Christmas program. That's about the extent of my week I am hoping.

I'm trying to get a few posts out that may never make it out if I don't now...

Here are a couple of Farrah being a ham for the camera.


The "silent scream" started out as a joke to get the girls to stop squealing... but now, it's preferred! I highly recommend it!


And Chris loves to "cat" things... ha!!!


These were taken back in November at my friend Kristy's. Farrah walked around with a tortilla in her mouth for quite a while. She cracks me up! And I love the puffy vests!!

Rain, Rain, Will You Stay?

We went on a family walk one night this week. It was hot & muggy and NO breeze. The actual act of swinging the girls at the playground made a tiny breeze - that was it. We took some pictures on the way there in the park...

Ummmm... she sat like this on her own. How old are you??


As we were out, a big cloud rolled in. Chris ran home with the stroller as not to get the camera wet. I walked & just soaked it in. It felt so nice.
But then... the rain came harder as we got up on our porch. So we all sat and enjoyed the late afternoon summer storm.

And look what came out to play.... Farrah's curls!!!! Crazy how much it curled up in the humidity!!

And Chris captured her curiosity so well. He says it's one of his favorite pictures ever. I have to agree:

Storytime/ Bedtime

At night, we usually read a book or two. On this particular night, we were doing an "I Spy" Book. It is fun because Bella can look for things, and Farrah can practice saying all kinds of everyday words.

Here... Bella says, "Farrah! You cannot talk when I am talking!"



Then, this is a second later ... (slap!)



So we move on to "I'm a little tea pot"





I have such sweet kids. :) And I have a great husband who goes and grabs a camera anytime he sees a cool, or even everyday, moment. One of the million reasons I love him. (And yes, it is every night that Bella refuses to wear PJs to bed).

And look at the precious baby:

What time do your kids wake up?

Mine are about a 7:30-8am wake up call. I know that's not terrible... but we are night owls big time, so 7:30 is never fun. I usually get up with them, with Chris getting up around the same time to get ready for work. Weekends we try to switch off, so the other can sleep just a little longer. These were taken well over a month ago of Farrah (or Farrah Beara which is my nickname for her, or Farrah B is what Bella calls her as a nickname). They are from a morning Chris got up with the girls. (which makes me in such a good mood. I love to wake up on my own to the smell of coffee!) :)




So, when do your kiddos wake up?? Do you wake up before them to get the day started, or do you let them be the alarm clock?

Gone Fishin'

About two weeks ago, Bella & Farrah's GG and Poppy took them to a family birthday party. The house was on Lake Sinclair. On the way down, Poppy stopped and bought the girls Barbie fishing poles. It has a fish on the end to weigh the line down and Bella is pretty darn good at casting the line!

While they were there, her line got tangled and Poppy gave her his fishing pole to reel in. On the way in, she caught this!


The girls like to "fish" in the front yard. These pictures were at like 8:30 one morning last week. Fishing in our PJ's. I'm sure we were a cute sight to drive by and see... :)



I love these two! I mean, are these not the days of making memories or what? Drinking coffee watching my kids fake fish in the yard in their PJ's. Ha! Thanks GG and Poppy for the fun toys!

Bikes and Daredevil

These were taken about a month ago. We just found them on the camera.
We walked down to the end of our street where there is an old fountain (and possibly an old entrance to the zoo?) It's sort of abandoned and cool looking. It has a little turn around, perfect for little bike riding :) We went after dinner one night to get some energy out of two little girls...


Have I said before that Farrah is our little daredevil?


I LOVE this pic! This is an often used expression of hers...





pretty one of Bella... secret... Chris was stick fighting with Bella to get her close and lots of fun shots



Seeing these pictures reminds me that we need to use this after dinner activity more! :)

Swingin'

Happenings

Oh goodness I am busy.
It's hard to look at what I actually get done during the day and know so. But I know such is this time in my life. I'm sure I'm no different that other mommies! Honestly Farrah keeps me ON MY TOES!

I could blog all day every day on different things, but I can't justify the time spent right now. I love it, but know I can't keep up with it like I want. Sometimes I want a cool blog that people come to for a reason, but I know that's not what I should be doing right now.... anyway, let me tell you some of what we've been up to!!

Bella got her second haircut. She didn't love it, but was a big girl. However, she did LOVE the braid the lady gave her.

I do spend my downtime doing very housekeeper-y stuff. It's kinda funny. But I love doing it. One of those those things I love is reading how to be a better/healthier cook. I've been on a cooking / Betty Crocker / organic / weight watchers kick. I love cooking but I've never been "good" at it. And I like couponing (DORK!) Now I'm trying to figure out meal planning. I know my close friends would find this hard to believe, but I am a planner down deep. This is something I've found, and something I think I can "make myself". In other words, I'll spend too much time trying to figure out how to do it and putting it off, when I should just buy one.

Anyway, these are all things I've done this week and I have LOVED them all!
Zucchini Goat Cheese Penne

Homemade Granola Bars (YUM!!!)

Apples and Sweet Potatoes (YUM, too! And such a healthy side item!!)


We have played with Aunt Melissa and Luci and Eli (the kids she nannies) at Imaginations at Play a few times! Bella likes all the activities, and Farrah can't get enough of the Tub and Bubbles.

Farrah and her "smile" (and I think she could be eating a crayon right here)


Speaking of Melissa, Ryan and Melissa's wedding is March 5th!!! We can't wait. Our bridesmaid and flower girl dresses are in and we are so excited!!

Chris got a new position, and the adjustment to that has also kept us busy. He's loving it; we are so blessed to be at a great church that we ALL love so much! I still enjoy volunteering there and the outlet there to work.

Like I said, I slowly get through a to-do list of things, but mostly I rescue this one. She currently has two bruises on her head and a black eye!


But I swear she's one of the cutest things you'll ever see.