we miss her already

Kiki came in from the Windy City to visit this weekend. It was a super quick trip, but I'm so glad we got to see her before she and Steve move all the way out to Cali. E was super-excited to see Kiki...A was a bit wary at first but quickly warmed up to her.

At dinner last night, I asked E what her favorite part of the weekend was.

"Kiki," she replied.
"Me, too." I told her.

Story Time
At Lunch...with their matching dimples
Kiki teaches E the Art of Making (and Eating!) Dirt

And, lest Nonna and Pop-pop feel left out of the documentation of the weekend's festivities....
In case you were wondering, both John and I were there the entire weekend. Just nobody took pictures of us. Since I'm usually the one wielding the camera, I feel like I'm becoming like Charlie from Charlie's Angels...just the voice telling the story. Well, they are *my girls.*

oh what a beautiful morning

This morning has been pretty damn nice. I got up a little early, and just as a sat down at the computer I heard A in her crib. Since we were the only two up we got some good uninterrupted snuggling time. It was *so* nice, since she's way too busy to just snuggle these days.

E got up shortly after, and so we played upstairs for a bit. It looked like the girls were going to fight over creepy baby...but E was able to distract A with a teddy bear.After getting dressed (only requiring two wardrobe changes from E) and brushing teeth and hair, we then headed downstairs for a little bit of breakfast. Then it was time to go. No car ride for us today. We loaded up the double stroller and off we went. It was such an enjoyable way to get to school. E asked if we could do this coming home, too. We will, since I left the stroller at school (rather than walk through the neighborhood with an empty stroller).

Tonight will be a quiet night. Tomorrow, Kiki (and Nonna and Pop-pop) will be coming over. It should be a good weekend!

the discipliner

The teacher's in A's class use "redirection" to discipline her and her classmates. This has apparently rubbed off on A. The other day, John was tickling her. She turned to him and said,

"No no touch!"

On Monday, after all of the big kids had moved on from the water slide and were riding bikes around the cul-de-sac, A got into the pool. It was just A and E and the two little grandsons of our neighbors, who are about the same age as our girls. The younger of the two boys went down the slide and ended up landing close to A. He didn't knock her over or even really splash her ... but A was not happy. She wipped around and shook her finger and yelled,

"No no nah nice!"

I guess it wasn't a very nice thing to do. And, the little boy relented. He didn't go down the slide again while A was in the pool.

creepy babies, water slides and e's first date

The Slacker Memorial Day weekend was tons of fun. My parents came over on Saturday. While John and my dad golfed, the girls went to the playground and had tons of fun. Afterward, we cooked out and had a yummy blueberry cobbler for dessert.

On Sunday, we packed everyone in the car and headed into DC to visit our friends and their 4-week-old son. He was a little cutie and so sweet and tiny. Both E and A liked him...but they liked playing with their dolls in his swing even more. Our friends had a ginormous creepy baby that they had used to get their dogs used to the concept of a baby...and (lucky us!) E liked it so much they gave it to her. This baby ranks about an 11.5 out of 10 on the creepy baby scale, and E and A have been playing with it non-stop ever since.

On Monday, we spent pretty much the entire day in the cul-de-sac. A group of neighbors (including us) chipped in and purchased this:So while the kiddos had fun splashing, sliding and shooting the water cannons, the parents sat out, chatted and cooked out.

When we moved onto our street, E was 11 months old. Most of the kids on the street were a couple of years older (5 or 6 back then). There was one younger boy, but he was 8 months older, which seemed light years ahead at the time. But, now as E nears 4, she not only plays with the other kids but she is actually becoming friends with Sean, who will be in the same grade as E.

Well, yesterday at one point, E and Sean were driving around the cul-de-sac together in one of those battery operated Jeeps. They looked *so* cute and of course plans for weddings were drawn up. When E said she had to go potty, Sean actually drove her to our house and waited her to use the potty and come back out, and off they went again. Quite the gentleman.

Today is back to reality...but this weekend, Kiki comes to town! We can't wait!!!!

coffee talk

When your Mama doesn't drink tea, what are two little cuties supposed to do? Have a *coffee* party. A stuck her hand into my mug this morning and discovered that she loved coffee. After stalking my mug for a good part of the morning, I relented. Each of them got a serving of milked-down coffee in their tea party mugs. If and when we ever get together with the Jersey Baby clan, I know what we'll be serving with snack.

These pictures crack me up. In the first one they look like two ladies chatting it up over coffee. And, A apparently inherited her coffee drinking style from me, as I'm a big fan of the dual-hand sip she's using in the second picture.
And any concerns that caffiene would hype these kids were alleviated by A falling sound asleep for her nap. E's out at The Teets getting some items for dinner tonight with Nonna. John and Pop-pop are golfing. And me? Maybe I'll get out of my PJs, take a shower and get dressed. It is almost two after all.

little links of interest

My co-worker told me that this morning on NPR they ran a story on slugging. For those of you not in the DC area, slugging is basically organized hitch-hiking. You wait in a line while cars going into DC pick up enough riders to qualify for HOV. But, there's a whole ettiquette involved, including no talking. When I lived at home and worked in DC right after I graduated from college, I slugged in. Ah...those were some good times.

Also, the Social Security Administration has come up with their list of most popular names of 2007. E's name is in the top 10...but A's, name is a fast riser up almost 100 spots from last year! She's a trendsetter, I tell you!

Other interesting things I learned while cruisng around the SSA site on my conference call.

• The big trend is boys name rhyming with "maiden". Dear lord, there are a lot of variations: Jayden (No. 18); Aiden (No. 27); Aidan (No. 54); Jaden (No. 76); Caden (No. 92); Kaden (No. 98); Ayden (No.102); Braden (No.156); Cayden (No.175); Jaiden (No.191); Kaiden (No. 220); Aden (No. 264); Caiden (No. 286); Braeden (No. 325); Braydon (No. 361); Jaydon (No. 415); Jadon (No. 423); Braiden (No. 529); Zayden (No. 588); Jaeden (No. 593); Aydan (No. 598); Bradyn (No. 629); Kadin (No. 657); Jadyn (No. 696); Kaeden (No. 701); Jaydin (No. 757); Braedon (No. 805); Aidyn (No. 818); Haiden (No. 820); Jaidyn (No. 841); Kadyn (No. 878); Jaydan (No. 887); Raiden (No. 931); and Adin (No. 983). What's so awesome about this is the quote in the press release:

  Social Security spokesman Mark Lassiter indicated that the agency would resist any legislative efforts to standardize the spelling of these names.

  I just think it's *hilarious* that it was even a consideration to try and make people back off the damn creative spellings.
  
• People still love, love, love to name their twins with matchy names. All of the top 10 name pairs start with the same letter. And really, 38 parents named their twins Ella and Emma?!?!?! As a twin, whose sister is named with the same letter, I beg you STOP THE MADNESS!
  
• You can also see the top 100 names by state. It's interesting how that, even across a state there are pockets of popularity. For example, there were 80 Paiges born in 2004 in our state, but two of them are in E's class. Conversely, there are 3,500 girls born that were named one of the top 7 names in the state...and E is the only one in her class with one of those.

And if all this name talk intrigues you, or you are pregnant and looking for names....head on over to Nymbler, which will suggest names based on what you like. It's actually pretty accurate...for example, it suggests our unused boy name based off of E and A's name.

Which reminds me...I was wondering about this. For those of you that had picked out both a "boy" and a "girl" name when you were pregnant...do you keep the unused name for your next kid?

When I was pregnant with E, we had picked out our "boy" name, and if A was a boy she would have been named that. But my mother-in-law mentioned that she had three separate girl names picked out for each of her sons.

So there you have it...enough stuff to keep you busy for the morning.

it's not like brushing your teeth

If you were fly on the wall in the Slacker bathroom (or an ant...because dear lord we are losing the battle against ants in our house), you would have heard the following conversation between me and E.

"E, did you go potty yet? It's bedtime."
"Yes, Mommy."
"Did you wipe?"
"No, Mommy. I only have to wipe twice a day or if I poop."

maybe they have hollow legs

Last night before bed, I was singing E "Goodnight, Sweetheart." I sing this to her just about every night; she loves the Doh-doh-doh-doh-doh part. Well, we always sing about what she did that day and what she'll be doing tomorrow. (Thankfully, E doesn't require that When I told her that she would be getting dressed and going to school,she looked at me and asked if she could eat breakfast at home. I told her if she got ready fast enough in the morning that she could.

Lo and behold, this morning she was ready with enough time to spare for breakfast. Since I haven't had a chance to make it to The Teets for our weekly grocery shopping trip, the Slacker pantry is looking pretty bare. E and A's breakfast options were limited to...well organic cereal bars and bananas. Both girls ate this up as if it were the last meal they were having. We then hopped in the car and headed off to school.

Now, I'm sure I've bitched and moaned about mentioned this before, but the girls' school does not serve lunch, except for Friday when they order pizza. But, they do serve breakfast in the morning and an afternoon snack. When we got to school, they were still serving breakfast. And you know what, *both* of my kids sat down and helped themselves to another meal.

Now, only if I could eat two breakfasts with wild abandon...

a galloping good time

The weekend to Philly was tons of fun! We arrived on Friday evening (after a 3 1/2 hour drive...ugh!). After a quick dinner, Maura, Maggie and E all got in their matching pajamas for their slumber party (A and Bridget were too young to join in). At 11 PM, we had to go back into the girls' room to tell them that the really, really had to go to bed.

The next morning, we got up and got ready to go. We met up with the rest of our group and caravanned over to the races. Our tailgate was set up and ready to go around 11:30 AM...and then someone read the program that the first race started at 1:30 PM. Nevertheless, the kids had tons of fun running around and playing. They enjoyed watching the horses run by and E even got to pet a horse.

We did try to get a group photo of all the kids...but that was the least successful aspect of the day.
In the end, we were only able to get a picture of A and E together...And then John and Maura joined in on the action.We had initially planned on staying for 4 hours or so, thinking that would be the longest the kiddos could manage. But before we knew it, it was 5:30 PM and the races were over...so we packed up and headed home. And how much fun did the girls have? Well...here's how they arrived after the 20 minute trip back to Sean and Autumn's. The girls did rally for a cookout in the backyard and some fun jumping in the Princess moonbounce. [Note to self: Start stalking Craigslist for a moonbounce...that thing rocked!] The next morning, we got up, had some breakfast, played a bit and then headed home.

The rest of the afternoon at home was fairly uneventful...a little laundry, getting ready for the next week, some more playing outside. Then, about 6:30 PM the exhaustion of the weekend set in for the girls. Massive tantrums ensued. So we threw the girls in the shower, got them in their PJs and they were both conked out by 7:30 PM.

All in all the weekend was so much fun! It was one of those weekends that I wanted to just pack up and move to Philly. But, alas, we are back to the daily grind here. Luckily, I get a four day weekend (Friday and Monday off), which should make it a bit easier.

I'm already counting the minutes until the weekend.

and they're OFF!

The Slackers are headed out a little early today, up to Philly to party with the Party of Five. We're going to the Radnor Hunt Races, which are steeplechase races.

Since John, Sean and I all went to Virginia (WAHOOWA!) horse races are near and dear to our heart. An annual spring rite of passage at UVA is the Foxfield Races...which was basically an excuse to get dressed up and get tipsy (football is our excuse in the Fall). In fact, one of the first people I saw at Foxfield was a girl who was crying because she was so happy...it was her fourth year at Foxfield and she had *just* seen a race horse. One of the second people I saw at Foxfield was a guy wearing a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, a bolo tie, and...well...nothing else. Oh, the stories I could tell about Foxfield.

But, I digress. The Radnor Races is like Foxfield for adults! We bring the kids and have a much nicer tailgate. And we bring sunscreen, being the responsible parents that we are. (You could always tell who went to Foxfield at class on Monday by the tell-tale sundress shaped tan lines.) Last year, the girls had a blast. This year should be even more fun because we've got a bigger group going and have planned a little bit better.

E is uber-psyched to see her friends, Maura and Maggie. She missed out on the big St. Patty's Day sleepover because of A's ear infection du jour. When she got to school today, she told every teacher she saw "I'm going to Philadelphia." She then proceeded to walk up to every student in her class and tell them individually that she was going.

"Triniti, I have to tell you something. I'm going to Philadelphia today.
Chad, come here. I'm going to Philadelphia.
Siyona, did you hear? I'm going to Philadelphia.
Connor, I have to tell you something. I'm going to Philadelphia."

E is also excited that, since this is a road trip over 2 hours, she gets to watch the DVD player. We have those portable ones you strap to the back of the seats...which are quite possilby the best invention known to man. Thank you, Mr. or Mrs. Inventor of the Portable DVD Player!

So...what is everyone else up to this weekend???

I've got a busy morning...I have to pack the girls and myself, pack the car and run by the grocery store. Not sure if I'll get back to post about the New Kids on the Block performance on the Today show this morning. Feel free to comment about it in the comments as well.

a little retail therapy

This morning, I got an e-mail from a store called Crazy 8. Apprarently, it's the Gymboree brand, but a little less expensive and a little hipper. It seems to be new, as they don't have that many lines...BUT they gave me a code for 20% and free shipping (SAVE20, if you want to check it out between May 15 - 18) so I took a look.

I thought a lot of the clothes in the Baby Girl (3 mos - 5T) section were cute, especially since they had a line that was pretty much all polka dots. I love polka dots. Though most of the stuff in A and E's sizes were already taken, I did get them this dress:Cute, huh? I am having a bit of buyer's remorse because I'm worried that it's not "pink enough." E is in a *very* pink phase in her life where she is refusing to wear things that aren't pink...so I'm not sure this will work for her. But it is a dress, so hopefully that will cancel out some of the brown-ness of it all. I'll keep you posted on how it goes and let you know what the quality is like when I get the dresses. I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seats.

Now if finding clothes for me were only that easy!

nothing doing

Not too much is going on Chez Slacker to write about these days. The girls have been getting along wonderfully, and continue to make my heart melt by getting so excited to see each other, playing together and giggling hysterically along the way. The sun finally came out after days upon days of rain, so the plans to build the ark have been scratched. Work's been...well, work. Not too great or too bad...which is okay I guess.

I think the Slacker clan will all be home at a reasonable hour today, and there are plans to grill steaks for dinner. While usually I get psyched for steak (I love me some red meat and it's a sure-fire dinner that both girls will devour), I'm kind of over the steak thing. As a Mother's Day "gift" to me, he took both girls grocery shopping on Sunday...and returned with a whole beef tenderloin, 4 pounds of ground beef AND 3 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast. We've had beef everyday since Sunday. So I'll be making a big-ass salad for my, well, big ass.

Oh, and before you get all, "Wow, that is *so* nice of John to take both girls grocery shopping...I can't believe that she's complaining!" please note that I spent the time they were gone PLUS an additional hour and a half putting together this monstrosity:It's a combination gas and charcoal grill...all we need is a fire box and it becomes a smoker, too! While I admit, it's kind of awesome...I hadn't planned on buying and assembling a grill on Mother's Day.

So, there you have it. A big, bad post about nothing. Hopefully I'll have more exciting things later.

looking up to her big sister

As A gets older, she has definitely started to look up more and more to E. Whatever E is doing, A is most likely right behind her trying her best to do it as well. And E can get A to laugh this amazing little laugh that I just *love* to hear...so much so that I often overlook the fact that sometimes the activity generating this laughter really isn't allowed (jumping on the couch or playing on the stairs, anyone?).

Last night, my parents came over for dinner. As we were sitting at the table eating dessert, A thought it would be a great time to play peek-a-boo. She sat at the table with her hands covering her eyes while the adults were asking "Where's A?"

Except A wouldn't take her hands away from her face.

"E-uh-bet," A said.

E was too busy eating dessert to ask where A was.

"E," I asked her, "do you know where A is?"

E looked up from her dessert and smiled.

"Where's A?" she yelled.

And with that, A pulled her hands off of her face and smiled at her big sis.

Later that evening, E decided it would be a perfect time to get naked and dance around. A, on the otherhand, went around gathering up E's discarded clothes and put them on. E's undies were pulled on over her diaper. E's t-shirt was pulled over sweatshirt. She was so puffy and lumpy from all of the layers, that she ended up looking like the bodybuilders from Saturday Night Live, Hans and Frans.

Here she is...and she is ready to PUMP YOU UP!

And you know me...equal opportunity mama. Here's a picture of E causing trouble on the stairs from earlier in the day. (Sorry internet pervs...no naked E pictures for you!)

mother's day 2008

A few days after E was born, some family friends stopped by for a visit. When Janet walked in, she came over to me and said something that really struck me.

"Isn't it amazing how much your mother loves you?"

Growing up, parenthood was always used around as a bit of a threat. When Kiki and I didn't eat anything except Chef-Boy-R-Dee and McDonald's...when we stayed out too late over Thanksgiving Break causing my mother to show up at the party we were at...whenever we did something and complained that our parents "just wouldn't understand", the response was "wait until you have children and you'll see."

We knew our parents loved us, knew (to an extent) the sacrifices they made for us, and in return, loved them back the best we could. But it wasn't until that moment while holding a newborn E and talking to someone who had watched me grow up that I realized the depths in which I was a daughter who was loved.

And since then, the love, admiration and respect for both of my parents infinitely grew. I've said this many times before, and I'll say it many times again, but my parents provided such a great guide as to how I want to be a parent to my own children. If I do half as good of a job, I will have not just succeeded, but over-achieved.

Once my mom told Kiki and I "I don't know how I ended up with two daughters like you." Now, I know that the answer to that.My mom is a wonderful mother. And for that, I'll be eternally grateful.

Happy Mother's Day, Zamms! I love you!

first mother's day present of the weekend

Today began the weekend-long celebration that is Mother's Day. And, you wonder, how did we celebrate it? Well, John got me tickets to a musical. A Broadway-quality show. Guess which one...Wicked? Moving Out? Mamma Mia?

Nope. This one: John and I, suckers that we are, drove the girls down to Charlottesville to catch the 2PM show of Sesame Street LIVE! I know, I know...you are totally jealous of me now!

Actually, it was a great way to spend an otherwise intermittently rainy and overall dreary day. After breakfast we got dressed (E even changed into her Elmo undies in honor of the day) and headed down to Charlottesville. We met Uncle Matt and Aunt Noreen for a quick lunch. There was a fountain outside that kept the girls pretty entertained.

Though we extended the invitation for Matt and Noreen to join us, they (suprisingly!) declined...so we headed off to the JPJ for the show. Complete slackers that we are, we actually hadn't purchased tickets in advance...so imagine our suprise when we were able to score second row seats! After we got in, we took a few pictures with our new friends, bought some snacks and headed to our seats.
Once the show started the girls were absolutley mezmerized. While Broadway quality as the internet description touted was kind of a stretch...it was pretty entertaining. I have to admit, I got a little teary to see how excited the girls were (and I'm not one to get teary!).


E even got to shake a few characters' hands! A had none of the meeting the cast. After the show, we packed back in the car and headed home. A was crashed out before got out of Charlottesville; E made it to about Culpeper before dozing off. Once we got home, the girls spashed in some residual mud puddles before dinner, playtime and bed.

All in all, it was the kind of day that only a mother could say was great!

money and finances according to e

E has always been fascinated with the concept of money. Since she was a little girl, she has loved putting "monies" (as she calls them) in a piggy bank. Every night she gets to put John's pocket change in a money jar. And when she was younger, John and I could get dressed in the morning while she would put coins in her piggy, open the cork snout, dump the coins out and start all over again.

As she's gotten older, she has begun to understand more and more of the concepts of money...namely, that you buy things with it. Yes, at the tender age of three and a half, she's become quite the saavy consumer. Here are some lessons about money that E has taught us this week.

On America's Over Reliance on Credit Cards...
E: "Let's go to Pickle Bob's. You have to have monies to go to Pickle Bob's. Pickle Bob's doesn't like credit cards."
Me: "But, E...I don't have any monies with me."
E: "That's okay. Do you have your credit card? We can go to Maggie Moos!"

On Parents Buying Their Children's Love...
Me: "E, where did you get the new book from?"
E: "The Book Fair at school!"
Me: "But, E. I took you to the Book Fair yesterday and got you girls each a new book. Didn't you tell Daddy that?"
E: "Well, Mommy, I didn't want Daddy to feel bad that he didn't get to go the Book Fair. He really wanted to go."

On Budgeting...
E: "Mommy, your special day is coming up this weekend!"
Me: "It is, E! I'm very excited!"
E: "We're going to buy you lots of presents. Some pants and some shirts and an Orange Birginya sweater. Do you need an Orange Birginya sweater?"
Me: "Wow! Pants, shirts AND a sweater! That's a lot of stuff. How will you pay for all of that?"
E: "Daddy."

we've created a monster

Last night during dinner, I let E have some chocolate milk. Truth be told, it was bribe to get her to actually *drink* her milk since she is on some sort of milk strike at home. When A saw that she began grunting and madly gesturing, I figured she wanted some, too. So I scooped up her sippy, added a little syrup and announced that dessert was served.

A couldn't get enough of it. She slurped every last drop in her cup and looked at me with wanting eyes and said, "Muh peese, muh muh muh PEEESE!" Luckily we were able to distract her with promises of NHT upstairs.

But...this morning, we went downstairs to get her morning sippy of milk and turn on the crockpot. I handed her her sippy cup, she looked at me and said,

"No!"
"What do you mean, no? It's your sippy...of milk." I told her.
"Chalk-a-ut," she responded.

Luckily, she seemed to accept my explanation that we don't have chocolate milk all the time, only for dessert. But I'm forsee a tantrum about this issue very soon in my future.

Side Note:
Sweet Pea Chef (or any other crockpotters "in the know")...I'm making your Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ with a Boston Butt (heh). when I went to turn on the crockpot at 7 this morning, I neglected to actually plug it in. Luckily I figured out my mistake at 8:30 before leaving for work. My two questions are:

1. After sitting out on the counter for an hour and a half not cooking, is this Butt still safe to eat?
   
2. We try to eat at 6 or so...which puts us at 9 1/2 hours on LOW. Should I jack up the temp to HIGH when I walk in the door to get it to cook more, or do you think it'd be fine? It's a small Butt (5 pounds) if that makes a difference.
   

they should charge admission

I've mentioned before, but my neighbors have a tree in their front yard, around which they've built a small stone wall. When E was a baby, she loved to play around this tree. I thought it was cute and quirky. But then A had the same fascination with it...so I now attribute this to my former career as a Tree Hugger Extrodinare. (Sidenote...did you know that my tree hugging organization is no longer in existence. Never was the same with out my talents.)

Anyway, as I was saying, this tree and wall has provided both A and E with hours and hours of entertainment. They dig in the mulch, attempt to hang from the branches and walk around it ... a lot. Because of the location of my house on our lot (we're in a pipestem), it's kind of in our front yard, which allows me to get my groceries at least to my front door with them entertained. If they ever need to rebuild, John and I should surely pitch in as my kids have used the heck out of it. Here the girls are doing one of their favorite activities around The Tree, from Sunday.


Note: No toddlers were hurt in the making of this video.

See what I mean? She pops right back up and keeps on keeping on.

get up and DANCE!

Last night after dinner, the girls and I had a bit of a dance party before John got home. I turned on the iPod and we had a good ole time. Both girls have inherited their father's total lack of dancing abilities, so our dancing was limited to spinning, jumping and rousing games of ring around the rosy with three lucky baby dolls.

Then Laurie Berkner's "We are the Dinosaurs" came on. There was a time when E watched the Laurie Berkner DVD all the time, and "We are the Dinosaurs" was certainly a fan favorite. So when the song came on, E and I started re-enacting the video by marching around the room singing along. A, never to miss out on anything, marched around with us as happy as a clam.

The trouble came in the second verse. When E and I "stopped to take a rest, over in our nest" by lying down and pretending to sleep, A mistook us for actually trying to sleep. She frantically ran over to me and started yanking on my arms, my shirt, anything she could get a hold of trying to get me back up and dancing. Luckily, before she resorted to tears, it was already time to wake up and march again.

And, then it was time to roar. Really, there is nothing cuter than two sweet girls doing their fiercest dinosaur roars.

For those of you familiar with "We are the Dinosaurs"...I dare you to not have that song stuck in your head all day. I've been singing it over and over and over and over all day long. Just wanted to share the joy!

a & e's excellent adventure

A couple of people asked about A & E in the comments of my Ireland post. I don't know if you guys re-read comments...so I thought I'd quickly post.

The girls spent the week in Kentucky with John's parents. My parents drove them down to a mid-way point...and after lunch pulled a car switch-a-roo, and off the girls went to Grandmom and Grandad's.

The girls had a blast. They did a lot of playing outside and going to the playgrounds. They went shopping for new sandals and summer clothes (and are pretty much set and the most stylish tots around). They went out lunch. E and Grandad went to the movies. It was a great week had by all.

On Friday, they all piled in the car and drove back here. It was so nice to have the weekend to snuggle and catch up and spend time with them. Since it was a beautiful weekend, we spent a good deal of it outside...coming in only when we were overtaken with allergy attacks from all the pollen out. And, the girls are still as cute as ever. Here are some pictures we took on Sunday.


The only downside of all this quality time with Grandmom and Grandad is that Grandmom's penchant for shopping has rubbed off on both girls. When we ran to Target on Saturday, I had the following conversation with E.

"Mommy, let's go buy me some clothes."
"E, you just got a ton of clothes and new shoes from Grandmom."
"I know, Mommy, but I need more clothes and shoes. I need new stuff for every day of summer!"

And A isn't much better. At the shoe store, she got fitted for a pair of sandals. They had different colored butterflies all over them and came in white or lime green. Grandmom, thinking that the white were more versatile, told the salesperson that they'd get the white. A upon hearing this refused to take off the green ones...hanging on tightly and shouting "NO!" until Grandmom relented and finally bought her the green shoes. When they went to put on her old shoes, it turns out she had hidden them around the corner in an apparent effort to ensure that she would get new shoes since no one would be able to find her old ones.