Grads.

Graduation Buzz is in the air ... I was DYING when I got my nieces'
graduation announcement!


How adorable are they?!

Congrats Twinners ... you did good!!!!  

Mother's Day.

It was a fabulous Mother's Day for me ... hope it was for you too!

Glam Girls.

  

Yes, it has been a while since I have done a blog post .... WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!! 
I actually have had another post "in the works" for a couple of weeks now, believe it or not.  But Blogger decided to go and completely change itself on me! Photobucket also decided to completely change itself on me and I am NOT happy about it!!!! (Let's not get started on Pinterest's changes either ....)  I don't like the look, I don't like the feel, I don't like the way they function, and I haven't come close to mastering either of the two aforementioned sites and frankly, just don't have the time to take to do it right now.  BOO!!!!!

So, that having been said ... the blog post I have been working on is not this one.  This one has a lot less pictures and has been a lot less frustrating and time consuming trying to get it posted.  And in my TOTAL and COMPLETE frustration about the whole "why do they bother to change things when they are working just fine?" state - these pictures really do make me smile and feel happy.

When I renovated my basement and brought these two girlies and their bedrooms upstairs, they lost their own bathroom too.  Now, as a reminder, Haley and Chloe had been living in Tennessee as entertainers for a year.  They each had their own hotel suite, with their own bathrooms and maid service twice a week.

It was while they were gone that I did the renovation and acquired my renters.  Welcome home girls:  You now have rooms the size of a large closet and you will be sharing a bathroom with your younger brother and sister!  Yay ... or not.

Seriously though, all of my kids have been really great sports about the whole living arrangement adjustment.  I told Haley she could share my bathroom with me since she is my cosmetologist and has hair products BEYOND hair products.  I bought one of those bookcase towers from IKEA just for the added hair products in my bathroom and it's worked out splendidly.

Lately, I've been noticing that Haley is becoming a little scarce around my bathroom ... my counter tops are far less cluttered.  This morning I heard her in the hallway with Chloe.  They were both sitting in front of our full length mirror putting on their makeup.  (It was too adorable.)  I said, "Hey!  How come you're out here and not in my bathroom?"

Haley said, "Do you miss me?"

"Yes, I do!"

She said that sometimes she would wake up and need to grab something but I was in the shower.  Or sometimes she wanted to come in and blow dry her hair but I was asleep so it was stressing her out.  She said, "This is just easier so I can get to my stuff when I need to - I'm sorry."

And then Chloe chimed in, "Yeah, and we like getting ready side by side too."

I don't ever want those girls to leave home .... I don't know what I'll do without them.

Brother Baby.

(Libby and Logan)

Children of the same family, the same blood, 
with the same first associations and habits,

have some means of enjoyment in their power, 
which no subsequent connections 
can supply ...

Jane Austen, Mansfied Park, 1814

(Oh how I love these two children of the same family!)

Early signs of Spring.

Although it was a very mild winter here, and I truly love the snow and missed it this year ... I always love to see the early signs of Spring when the grey skies start to fade, the color of green reappears and those pretty pops of color bloom forth.

I love the "popcorn popping" on my flowering pear trees ....

And the dark purple hint of the lilacs coming ...

I love seeing my hyacinths in my front planter - 

they are the only bulbs I ever managed to get in the ground.

(A little sad, actually ... I have had such high hopes for more.)

LOVE seeing my bleeding heart bush reappear ... still remains something miraculous to me.

Little grape hyacinths ...

Bright yellow daffodils ...

Glorious gold forsythia bushes ...

And early morning footprints in the freshly fallen snow.

(I think Mother Nature has menopausal symptoms, like me ... hot and cold flashes.)

Easter 2012.

For years I have had a tradition with my chicklets of taking their picture sitting in front of their Easter baskets wearing their jammies, with their sleepy little eyes, and messy little bed heads.  I always hid their baskets and they loved sneaking around the house looking for them, never giving it away if they found someone else's first.  Now that they are older (okay, and now that I am older and a little less enthusiastic about the whole Easter basket tradition), I just make them little bags of candy with a little "sumpin' sumpin'" in it!  This year I gave them passes to a local water park ... score one for mom! That was a big hit. 

Sophie also gave a talk in church that morning which made the day even more special.  When we walked through the door after church, I realized I hadn't gotten a picture .... "Oh my gosh! You guys! Your picture! I almost forgot!"  (That could have been tragic.)

And then we headed down to my sister Spring's house  ....

This is picture overload of a really fabulous Easter party. 

Good food, good treats ... and even better

PEEPS!

(Logan was the life of the party!!!)