My little girl, the T-Ball player

I can't believe that Riley is old enough to actually play T-ball. For her age group, it's actually called "WeeBall." They take turns batting and get to run the bases each time. They also get their turn in the field. No rules taught, really, just a good way to learn to take turns and get some time practicing. Her first practice is tomorrow. She really wanted PINK everything. I got her a pink bat, but no one around had any pink gloves left, so she got a regular brown one. She wasn't thrilled about it, but c'est la vie chickie! I can't wait to see her in her little uniform and I hope they come in size teeny-weeny!


I found this cute poem on one of my favorite scrapping sites, 2peas.

"God bless the coach of little league
Because although we’re small
He makes us feel that we, each one,
could someday play pro ball

God bless the coach of little league
Who guides us through each game
He cheers our wins and cheers us up
when bad calls are to blame

God bless the coach of little league
No matter if we’ve won
Our coach thinks we are champions
when baseball season’s done"

Ok, I know I'm jumping the gun a little, but I like it anyway :=)

Fun at the Park

It was a beautiful day for playing yesterday. Very windy, but a little wind couldn't stop my girls from having fun at the park.












Mommy and her girls

The girls loved to see-saw

















Couldn't count Daddy out of the fun!!




S
L
I
D
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Upside down

A 2 year old's view of the world :)

We did our running around yesterday morning and then Maddie started feeling bad, so we've been in the house since. We missed church this morning (actually it's happening right now).

Adding a picture of my kitchen that Jeremy painted on Thursday. The picture doesn't do it justice and the color is off. It's a really dark taupe and it looks more chocolatey during the day, and olive at night.

A few pics of the girls playing earlier in the week. They seem to LOVE to jump up and fall down on their "booties." Looks painful to me!.























Playing a friendly game of Dora Candyland

Busy Saturday

I used "busy" as though all the things we did today were necessary. Jeremy worked today from 6-6, so the girls and I did some shopping. We were up at 6:30 and out the door by 8:15. We hit Lowe's, Cato, Hobby Lobby (to nab some of that yummy ribbon Christina told me about and use my 40% off coupon) and Wally-World. The girls were VERY good and they totally passed out the minute we walked in the door. Mommy did, too!


I got this little Q&A thing in my email, so I'll share here. It's long....ugh, but if you're a blogger and want to copy it, feel free.


Off the wall

1) When was the last time you went to the bathroom outside? I'm not sure I ever have....Yuck!2) Last time you saw your parents?Saw my mom today.
3) Which family member do you most resemble?My sister probably, especially since I got all my hair cut off last week.
4) Do you own your own Bible? Yes, I got an awesome new one last year that I'd had my eye on for a while.
5) Do you wear deodorant?Uhh, yea
6) Do you clean up nice?Whoever wrote that question is definitely OLD.
7) When was the last time you tripped and fell? When I was pregnant with Riley
8) Where was the last place you slept besides your home? At Jeremy's hotel while he was staying in Memphis.
9) What are you listening to right now?My kids arguing over a pink froggy blanket.
10) Have you ever started an uncontrollable fire?No
11) Ever run out of gas on the road? No
12) Would you rather cut the grass or rake the leaves? Definitely mow.
13) Your middle name spelled backwards? Esile
14)Last thing you downloaded to your computer? Don't know...probably the Hobby Lobby sale ad.
15) Last time you swam in a pool? At the Baymont Inn in Jonesboro. Jeremy, me, the girls, Travis, Lesley and their boys.
16) Have you ever been in a school play?No
17) How many kids do you want?I'm good w/my 2, but we might end up having 1 more.
18) Type of music you dislike most?REAL HEAVY METAL
19) You registered to vote?Yes
20) You have cable?Yep
21) Ever prank call anybody?Yep
22) Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?I'd like to say I would ( I think I would love it) but when it came down to it, I'm not sure I could jump.
23) Do you have a garden? Yes, but it's not well tended.
25) What's your favorite comic? Not sure.
26) Bath or Shower, morning or night?Whichever I can get, whenever
27) Best movie you've seen in the past two weeks? Walk the Line
28) Best pizza topping? Pepperoni or Sausage? Neither!!
29) Orange Juice or apple?Orange
30) Chocolate Bar? Skor Bar
31) When was the last time you voted at the polls?last year
32) When was the last time you ate a home grown tomato? Not sure, don't really care for raw tomatos
33) Ever order anything from an infomercial?I'm sure I have, just can't think of any at the moment. I'm dying for a Jack Lalanne Power Juicer
34) Sprite or 7 up?Neither...Diet Coke all the way!
35) Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work/school?yes
36) Ever thrown up in public?Yes
37) Would you prefer being a millionaire or find true love?I found my true love so how about a million now?
38) Do you believe in love at first sight?Yes
39) Who was the last person you visited in a hospital?Jeremy's grandmother
40) Did you have a lot of hair as a baby? I think so?
41) What do you think about most?my kids and hubby
42) Favorite form of travel?plane
43) If you could have one magical power what would it be?Be able to read minds!!

Points for Jeremy

Jeremy has today and tomorrow off before starting in his new store, so he's finishing up a "honey do" at home.

About 3 months ago, I started taking down the absolutely UGLY wallpaper that was in my kitchen. Makes you wonder what people were thinking putting THAT up! Anyway, I never finished....Imagine that! I took him some lunch a few mintues ago and he had finished removing the rest of the paper and was getting ready to paint.

I'm really not great at picking out paint colors, so I hope what we picked out looks nice. There's really not much wall area in my kitchen, so it can't be TOO bad, right?

He doesn't know that the hallway is next :)

Mommy's missing out :-(

Daddy has both girls at Chuck E. Cheese right now! They met Papaw, Nana, Holly and Jamie there for some fun and pizza. I wanted to take the girls for their first time, but as long as they're having fun, Mommy is happy! Daddy and Papaw better take LOTS of pics!!!!

Edited to add that I'm having a bad hair day, so I'm in THAT much more of a grumpy mood!!!!!

Cousins

The girls are still at Papaw's house, but Papaw took a break from playing to send me some pics of their fun time!












A nice cousin hug! This is Maddie with her cousin, Jamie, who's about 6 months older than she.












Riley and Holly having dinner. Holly is 6 years old!





Riley enjoying a bowl of spaghetti

I've now been childless for over 24 hours. Getting pretty lonely around here, but my house SURE is clean! The only pieces of dirty laundry are the clothes I'm wearing. All of our sheets have been washed and changed, all of our blankets, throw rugs and towels have been washed. The dishes are done, the floors swept and mopped..........Now if I could just finish smocking that dress, my world would be at peace :)

Daddy's Coming Home!

Jeremy will be home late tonight (early tomorrow morning, actually) for good! He's been "living" in Memphis since January 17, and my girls will be SO glad to see him. I'll be glad for him to be home, too.


Edited to add a pic of Maddie (at about 14 months) and her favorite man!!

Kidless for an evening

Nana and Papaw are on spring break this week, so they are keeping R & M's two cousins, Holly and Jamie, from Benton. The girls are like stairsteps. Holly is 6, Riley is 3, Jamie is 2 1/2, and Maddie just turned 2. They LOVE each other to death, and only get to see each other a handful of times every year. Nana and Papaw like to get them together to play, so they asked if R & M could spend the night.....Um....YEAH! Didn't have to think about that one! I immediately started planning my evening. I lost my excitement when I realized that my kid-free night would consist of laundry, scrubbing, laundry, vacuuming, and more laundry! Does it ever end???


Daddy is coming home tomorrow night for good! He'll have a few days off and then he starts in the new BB&B store in Jonesboro on Friday.

My house isn't getting clean with me sitting here blogging!!!!

It's cool and drizzly here today, but I know spring is coming soon! Here's a little reminder from my yard :)

Weekends are short

We promised the girls a treat on Saturday. They've really had a hard time with their Daddy being gone, so when he's home we always try to do something fun. Fun=Baskin Robbins! The girls get a big kick out of picking out their flavor. It's funny because they always pick strawberry!!










Maddie did well with her ice cream cone until I heard "Woops Mommy!" Right on the floor! Riley shared her ice cream with Maddie, and she stole a few bites from me, too.




















A cute pic of Maddie wearing Mommy's sunglasses!



Mommy's big event of the weekend consisted of a MAJOR haircut! Riley and Maddie both just oooohed and ahhhhed over it when I picked them up from daycare. They both said they LOVED it!!

Riley's tune changed Saturday when she was in trouble. She said, "And Mommy..I don't like your haircut!" Boy, she'll be an awful teenager!

Friends

Riley told me yesterday that she's glad she has friends. Mommy is glad, too! Friends are nice to have around :) Last night was our time to meet with the other families in our church life groups. We all met at Christina's house after service for food & play. Riley says that Isabella is her "favorite church friend person," and it's apparent in this pic. Isabella is enough older than Riley that she's WAY cool. And how could you not like someone who ALWAYS has the coolest shoes?

Maddie had a good time, too. She tries so hard to keep up with the older kids! She makes every step they do, just a few steps behind. She had to be the center of attention by refusing to put her pants back on after a diaper change. Lucky for anyone viewing this, the pic was taken before the nakedness! She loves to be "Nekken." Playing here with her friend Reagan.

Beautiful

Ok, so this obviously isn't me......no where near it! I was flipping through a TV Guide today and
there was a pic of Amanda Peet. Maddie pointed at it and said, "MOMMY! There (you) are. Mommy bootiful (beautiful)!"

Ahh....Love is blind, isn't it?

I TOUCHED A FISH!

Ever touched a fish? Well, Nemo/Spongebob's bowl was looking a little grungy today, so I took him over to the sink for a routine transfer to a drinking glass. I always pour a little of his water out into the sink before moving him to a glass, but today he just slid right out into the sink!


I went into an instant panic! What if he went "down?" What would the girls say? Am I going to have to TOUCH this thing? EWWW!!

Lucky for me, he didn't wriggle too much and I got ahold of the little slimy thing. The whole time I was saying to myself, "Tara, it's just a fish!"

Nemo/Spongebob is safe and sound back in his bowl.

Razorbacks play in the SEC Tournament tonight!

PIG SOUIEEE!!!!!!!

Do they look like twins?

This is just a pic I snapped before heading off to church last night. I took my camera to church with me because we were having the Crowley's Ridge College Choir come to sing for us, and they were going to be singing a couple of children's songs and would invite the kids up to participate. Scrap page in the making, right?

Well, when they invited the kids up, Riley immediately bolted toward the front of the building. She got about one foot from where the kids were and decided the crowd was TOO big! Charlotte Swann (Caroline's mommy) was sitting right up front, so Riley sat with her and helped the choir sing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children."

Before church, we went to Wendy's to eat. It seems to have become our Wednesday night ritual. It never fails that someone asks me if the girls are twins. I realize that twins don't always look identical, but come on! Riley is almost a foot taller than Maddie! I guess since Riley is so tiny, she doesn't appear to be a year and a half older.

Sons & Daughters

I was really looking forward to the premier of ABC's "Sons and Daughters." I thought it looked really funny! I was a little disappointed. I never laughed out loud, not even a chuckle, but I did enjoy it somewhat. It had a totally different camera angle than most filmed shows do and it was a nice change. I'll watch it again, but I miss Commander in Chief!

Mommy, can we play "order?"

Riley has invented a new game that she loves to play. She calls it "Order" and it tells me that we've been through one too many drive-though windows! Here's the dialog:

Mommy: "Can I take your order, please?"
Riley: "One tomato, please."
Mommy: "Okay, here ya go! One tomato, one napkin, and a straw."

She just can't get enough of it.

Thought for the day

I've heard this quote before and always loved it.

"Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile."

I have NO idea who wrote this!

Fill in the Blanks

Fill In The Blanks

1. I almost peed on myself when Riley played the "Monkeys always look" joke on me for the first time. I had no idea she even knew how to "trick" people!

2. Country music = Kenny Chesney!! MMM

3. The smell of leather reminds me of a new softball/baseball glove.

4. When I was little, my mom was the strongest woman I knew.

5. The last time I screamed (a big scream!) was...gosh...that's hard! The last time I can remember is once while Jeremy and I were dating. I was at his house and was leaving to go home. My car was parked under this HUGE willow tree and the branches were hanging all around me. It was dark and he ran out to tell me something. I was sitting in my car already and he scared me so badly, I probably should've used this instance for question #1!!!!

6. The one person I aspire to be most like is me. I say this because I tend to conform to whatever anyone wants me to be. I just want the courage to be "me."

7. I tell my girls that I love them every day.

8. People drive me crazy when they are dishonest.

9. A special gift I remember receiving, that meant the world to me, was a check for $20 that my dad gave me for my 22nd birthday. It was the last time I saw him , about a week before he died. I never cashed it and have it in my sock drawer.

And in the beginning.......

6:08 pm

Hm, well, I've never been great at journaling either, so here's my chance to start fresh!

Today was a boring ol' Tuesday! I only worked half a day because Riley had a doctor's appointment at 2:30. (If the appointment was at 2:30, then why did the waiting room clock say 3:30 when we were called back?) Riley has always had allergies. She inherited them from her father! Her allergy medicine (Claritin) has become ineffective, so I thought it might be time for a switch. Dr. Reinhard put her on Singulair.

We went to Kroger to get her prescription and, of course, she spotted the balloons. She insisted on having one, but she at least thought of her little sis' and wanted to bring one to her, too.

Home at last. Funny how a short trip to Jtown can wear me out!

I have a sore throat and headache....surely I'm not getting sick :(


Adding a picture of the girls playing outside yesterday.......Moments reflecting sisterly love are few and far between in this house!