yesterday's voice message

Every morning during the week Vida Blue phones Brad at work. Yesterday was no exception. She woke up, went pee and ran out of the bathroom all out of breath saying she had to phone dad.

This was the voice message she left for him:

"Hey dad. Umm, you left your clothes in the bathroom. THAT NOT GOOD. You HAVE TO put them downstairs in THE WASH. Bye."

You can {insert my giggling here}. 

a few more for good measure

dear ever,

We kept things simple for you tonight. Earls take-out. Skor ice cream cake. A few treaters to open. You would've thought we threw you a themed party for ten... with goodie bags to boot. Thank you sweet girl for being so gracious, so full of smiles and for not taking your crown off for anything.

Love Mama

vida blue's latest installation

Self-guided viewings are free of charge and open to the public. : )

happy valentines day!

Yah, so this year we're celebrating it a little late. We got hit by a bug and let me tell you it wasn't the lovin' kind. When Tuesday rolled around three of us could barely roll outta bed, the mister being one. So we put our plans on hold and to be honest it hasn't been all that bad. Yesterday we picked up some treaters at Target for 70% off. This alone may've got us talkin' about celebrating a little late every year. We've had more time to perfect our homemade cards (a few were hand delivered this morning) and finalize the details of our scavenger hunt. It's been a day full of love, surprises and kisses... many, of the Hershey variety. As I type, we've got heart shaped pizzas in the oven. What's not to love?

Below: I first did this for B when Vida Blue was just twelve days old. I've kept it up every year since. He keeps their little feet lined up in a row at work. Makes me smile just thinkin' about it. 

Happy Love Day Everyone! 

*half smile*

After four years of successfully not coloring on walls, B walked into the girl's room today to find this... 

While he proceeded to distract a very bashful Vida Blue with a little talk on  R-E-S-P-E-C-T, I snuck in a few photos. It's all about teamwork I tell ya. 

just because...

9:40pm / 4:06am

"Shhh! Shhh!"

"Can you make me a peanut butter wamwidge?"

...

She's comin' around. : )

laying low

This is how our week has looked so far; lots of homemade souper (curried sweet potato lentil pictured here) and lots of readin' in bed. Today I actually got dressed if only to head out with my pj'd crew to pick up some ingredients for a new soup tonight. Terribly exciting I know. This post may actually self destruct out of sheer boredom.......... *BAM*

a little birthday love from last week

amen baby girl. amen.

Vida Blue was sick in the middle of the night and of course I did all the things that us mamas do during these times. I tucked her hair behind her ears and rubbed her back reassuring her the whole time that she was doing great. She asked for a hot bath & so I drew her one. I cleaned her mouth out with a cold cloth and gave her sips of ice water. We put on her new favorite PJ's and got her all set up in our bed. I curled up beside her and lightly scratched her back and whispered "Who takes care of you the best?" and she replied...  "Jesus". Not really the answer this mama was looking for, but who am I to argue with that.  

oh gosh.

Miss Ever just cracks me up. She is so utterly & completely infatuated with her older sister who just so happened to turn four last week. More on that later. But for today... today I just couldn't help but wonder if I was as gracious an older sister as Miss Blue is to Ever. Every word she says is repeated (or at least attempted), every action mimicked. She's followed and smothered day after day after day and yet she continues to shower her little sis with such loveliness. We were on our way to V's swimming lesson this afternoon and Ever was slowly falling asleep and I heard Vida whisper "Ever! Ever! Grab my hand! Grab my  hand!". And Ever did of course. And then there they were... one asleep, the other quiet, holding hands across the van.