Mom's Hands

My Mom drove down on Wednesday to stay with the kids and I while Spencer was off vacationing, I mean "working," in New Orleans for three days. I was so thankful she was able to come because I had to take Spencer to the airport early Thursday morning and pick him up on Saturday evening plus I would have been all alone with Ella Ann and Rane for 3 solid days...yikes! The kids were so happy to see their Mimi and vice versa!

My Mom helped me out tremendously around the house and I even told Spencer today that she was more of a help to have around than him! Don't worry, he acknowledged that fact! We had a blast together and did a few fun things, like eat at our favorite restaurant, Nuevo Laredo Cantina where mom chowed on lobster tacos and I tackled their massive taco salad! Yum! It is a perfect place, too, to take our kids because they both like Mexican food and the atmosphere is so entertaining that Mom and I could actually, somewhat, enjoy our meals! We went to the mall while Ella Ann was at school on Friday morning and we were the Mystery Readers before dismissal that day too. Ella Ann nearly burst with excitement at her Mimi being the class Mystery Reader, much better than me! On a side note, when I walked in the door her teacher, Mrs. Elaine, informed me that, "Ella Ann told me that her Grandpa calls her Mimi 'babe' and her 'tootsie!"' I couldn't believe Ella Ann told her teacher that..... SO funny!

We also went to the DeKalb Farmer's World Market one day as well to browse around all the exotic foods and make some fun purchases. I could honestly write an entire post about how I adore the Farmer's Market but I will spare you for the time being. We also checked out the Oak Grove Market (thanks Bobbi Jo for telling us about it!!) on Saturday for lunch. It is a deli/grocery very close to where we live that will take you back to the 50s with their meat, deli, and hot food counter, along with their array of homemade desserts. It was so fun! The highlight, though, of yesterday was Ella Ann getting to see her best friend, Mara Kate! The Barker's were in town for a baby shower that morning and stopped by for a visit that afternoon. While Rane took a nice long nap Jana, Mom and I chatted, Kane graded papers and the girls blissfully played nonstop! The girls were so excited to see each other and to watch them play together and interact you would think they were sisters. It is a precious relationship, as I have blogged about before. Anyway, after that we headed to Richard's Variety Store for some fun and then next door to Trader Joe's.

We were so happy to see Spencer and we really missed him. He brought Ella Ann home a "real" necklace and she has yet to take it off! So sweet. We were sad to see Mimi go home but we will be seeing her again very soon! Thanks again, Mom, for everything!

Mom reading to Ella Ann (note, this was probably her 4th wardrobe change out of the 25 for that day).

Playing at breakfast.

Rane is such a lover boy and if you have ever been around him at all you can vouch for me!

Good picture of mom, not so good of the kids.

Mimi bouncing her babies!

The girls are always in princess costumes when they get together at our house!

He loved playing in Spencer's empty suitcase this morning.

Family Weekend

This weekend we traveled to Zach and Mandy's house in Tennessee to visit our family and retrieve Rane. Our trip there was great because we just had Ella Ann in the backseat, who is a very easy traveler. We left on Friday after picking up Ella Ann at school and eating a quick lunch. Ella Ann was beyond ready to see her cousins and her little brother! Carter, Seth and Ella Ann began running around like crazy, as usual, and playing nonstop as soon as we hit the door. Gary and Gayla arrived that evening with Rane and we were so happy to see him! However, all he wanted to do was explore Mandy's house!

On Saturday we just hung out around the house after getting out to eat lunch. The weather was fantastic and the kids spent a solid 5 hours outdoors! Gary and Craig even took them to the tennis courts to "play" some tennis with Carter's new racket that he got for his birthday. Very fun! Ethan and Rane enjoyed being cuddled by the grandparents and a few stare offs with one another! They have no interest in each other right now, but being that they are only 4 months apart they will be best friends soon enough!

We headed home after breakfast Sunday morning. Rane slept well in the car so it was a pleasant trip. Thank you again, Zach and Mandy, for having us! We had a great time!

They always love playing in and on the car, that is until someone gets hurt!

Mandy showing Carter how to work the Silly Putty we bought him and Seth.

All blank stares except for sweet Ethan around 7 a.m. Saturday morning!

Hmmmm....I wonder if I could take you down....

He loved being shaken by his Uncle Zach!

Watching Carter open a gift on Saturday.

Snacks at the picnic table!

Rane loved the car too but he rarely got to play in it!

Just the 3 Of Us

I didn't realize how easy one child is, especially a 4-year-old, until I had two! Gary and Gayla drove through Atlanta on Tuesday after being in Florida for over a week and spent the night at our house. They, oh-so wonderfully, took Rane back with them until the end of the week! We are going to Mandy and Zach's house this weekend and Rane will be there so we won't be too long with out our sweet boy. Ohhhh but the time without him has been wonderful. Everything, I mean everything, is so easy and relaxed. There are no time restraints on what we do, where we go, where we eat, etc. Oh my it is great! I only have had one child to feed each morning, she sleeps until after 7, I laid in bed and watched the news before she woke up this morning, we went out to dinner and I didn't pack a single thing, I could get in and out of the car and not have to put anyone in a car seat, we could go anywhere we wanted to after lunch becuase there wasn't a nap time, etc. I feel liberated!

I really wanted to make the two full days we had together really special for Ella Ann. It is a rare occasion that it is just us girls because Rane is always with me. Ella Ann goes out and about with Spencer but rarely with just me. She was also very upset that Rane was leaving because they are literally stuck together like glue and when I told her he was going home with Nana and Papa she cried. It was not good. When I picked her up from ballet at 2 on Wednesday I told her to get dressed because we were going to the Children's Museum downtown. I swear I blinked and that kid was dressed and ready to go! She was super excited about going, especially not having to go to rest time! She had a ball running around and doing whatever she wanted to do and staying as long as she wanted at each activity. She also had my undivided attention so that was just great for her. When we got home I said, "Get out all of your toys with little pieces, your puzzles, markers, Zhu Zhu pets and crayons and do WHATEVER YOU WANT because Rane isn't here to swallow a thing!" Hallelujah I even left my cabinets unlocked! Wahoo! That girl worked three huge puzzles on the floor by herself while I prepared dinner. She was in her element without being disturbed. Ella Ann loves to have picnics but we can never do them because Rane would be in our food, of course, so last night I threw out some towels in the living room and the three of us ate manicotti (not the best choice for a picnic dinner) on the floor.

Today Ella Ann and I test drove a Honda Odessy, which I loved, and after eating lunch at home we drove downtown and hit the zoo. We had plans to drive to Rome to visit Jana and Mara Kate for the day but Mara Kate got sick Wednesday night so we were unable to go. I was just thankful I hadn't told Ella Ann yet or else she would have cried all day. Anyway, it was a beautiful afternoon for going to the zoo and when we walked in I told her that we would go to whatever exhibit she wanted and do whatever she wanted to do. Boy was she thrilled! We went to nearly everything but the best for us was watching the gorillas during feeding time. The baby gorillas and the massive daddy came right up to the glass where Ella Ann was standing and ate their apples. It was fascinating. We also went to three play areas and rode the train, her absolute favorite. We are members of the zoo and every single time we go she asks to ride that train but I always have to say no because Rane would take a dive off of my lap had he ridden it! She was grinning from ear to ear the entire trip! Once home we relaxed with Spencer for a bit and then went out for dinner. I can honestly say that I wore her out these past two days! She has been so well-behaved and I have thoroughly enjoyed my one-on-one time with Ella Ann.

We miss sweet Baby Rane terribly, though, and are looking forward to seeing him tomorrow night, along with the rest of our family. I know he is enjoying his time alone with his Nana and Papa and being well taken care of!

Our picnic dinner Wednesday evening.

Three birds were perched on the railing and Ella Ann crept up to them and started roaring like a lion. They weren't too happy.

Of course I missed my photo op with Ella Ann and the huge gorillia right in front of her!

After the gorilla exhibit we went to a little playground. I asked Ella Ann to come to me so she got on all fours and pretended to be a gorilla.

Ready to ride the train!

Climbing around on a playground thingy.

Enjoying our mommy/daughter date!

Happy Valentine's Day

We are enjoying our Valentine's day together thus far today. Spencer had to work this morning and I taught Children's Church so we have been a little busy. I made the kids' oatmeal this morning pink with a heart in it and cut out Ella Ann's cheese for lunch in the shape of hearts. Now I have to figure out what I can cut into a heart for her for dinner since she won't eat bread! Hmmmm. After eating her heart cheese Ella Ann said to me, "Mom, you are the best! The BEST!" Awwww. All for making her food heart-shaped. I think it also could have been the fact that I told her she could have a piece of her pink Valentine's Day cake after she finished her lunch. Whatever, I appreciated it none the less. So we made our strawberry cake with strawberry icing in honor of the holiday yesterday. All I needed was an excuse to bake a cake! I let Ella Ann decorate it all by herself.

Once we got home from church we gave Ella Ann and Rane their V-Day gifts and I gave Spencer his. I received some beautiful pink roses (Spencer said they were for Ella Ann too, hence the reason for pink) and Ella Ann gave Spencer a pink rose as well. We stopped on the way home from church to buy him a rose and she picked out the color so at least my bouquet matches! We will either go out to eat sushi or pizza tonight or order in. Considering it IS Valentine's Day I think my choice will win!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Rane got in on the icing action and loved it! Ella Ann did too, as you can see from her pink mouth in the background!

She wanted to put Christmas nerds (????) on the cake so I told her she could put some in a corner and that would be her piece.

When I went to Richard's Variety Store last week to purchase the gifts I saw this head massager and I immediately HAD to buy it for Spencer because he is always asking me to scratch his head! Now he can do it himself! (We are getting a camera as our V-Day gift to each other, so no I'm not that cheap!)

We all liked it, especially Rane! It sends chills down your body so I'm sure that's what is making him smile. So cute!

Playing Barrel of Monkeys. Remember that game??

sShe needed some help from Daddy.

'

Where Do We Live Again?

Oh yeah, Atlanta. I keep looking outside at the 3+ inches of snow covering our neighborhood and I have to remind myself that I am not supposed to be seeing it, even though it is everywhere. I hate it. Ella Ann has never touched snow, that I can remember, so she wasn't too happy about it either. While the snow was coming down hard yesterday afternoon she was running around the house in her new bathing suit and flip flops. I asked her if she wanted to step outside and touch it and I got a "NO!" I do have to admit, though, it was a tiny bit beautiful. What made it somewhat pretty was knowing that today was going to be 40 degrees and it would all melt away. When Spencer got home from work this morning he took her outside to go sledding in her bilibo, along with the top to the recycling container, and build a snowman. Since Rane has definitely never seen snow (not that he cares) I took him out as well to just sit in it. He didn't know what to think of it at first, Ella Ann didn't really either, but once he sat in it a while and covered himself with snow he enjoyed it. We do not own any snow-type clothes for the kids, again it is not supposed to be outside my door, so I pulled together what little clothing we had for the outdoors and piled it on them. Of course EA was not too happy to have a hat on but she complied in order to play in the snow.

He's somewhere inside the fluff!

Ella Ann rode down our front hill in her bilibo one time and didn't want to do it again. However, I needed a picture of her doing it (hello, the blog!) so Spencer dragged her back up the hill, pushed her bottom in the seat and slid her down the hill....don't worry, he held onto her at least!

After Spencer and Ella Ann peeled the wet clothing off of them once inside I asked Ella Ann to stand in front of the space heater to warm up. Her bottom was frozen, as were her limbs. She comes running out of her room wearing, but of course, her bathing suit. Seriously.

The random pictures attached to this post........Rane wraps himself in his blanket when he sleeps or puts it over his head. He often sleeps as if he was sitting up and then simply fell over into his lap, like in this picture. If you cannot tell, he is laying in between his straddled legs.

I always have to push my step stool in front of this cabinet to keep Rane out of it (there are no locks that will fit on it). Today I was standing at the counter and watched Rane climb, on his feet mind you, to the top. Great. Now I have to figure out a new plan to keep him out of my cabinet!

It's summertime inside at least!

Only My Child

This is what Ella Ann came home from school with on Wednesday. Spencer and I both nearly wet our pants laughing when we saw it. Typical Ella Ann....arms crossed and all. On the day they took these pictures I ended up picking her up before ballet because she was sick. I saw the teachers taking each child out of class to take their picture with a cowboy hat on. As SOON as I saw them I thought, well that's not going to go over well with Ella Ann. She hates hats, I mean hates them. People that see us out and about in the arctic Atlanta temperatures probably think I am a terrible mother for not putting hats on my children but they both dislike them and it's not worth the fight. Hey, I'm lucky to even get a coat on Ella Ann.

So she had her very fun Valentine's Day party at school on Wednesday, Lunch Bunch and ballet so it was a great day for Ella Ann. I go inside to pick her up from ballet and they always have all of their backpacks and gear lined up in the hall. They attach all of their weekly crafts and such on the outside of the backpacks with a big safety pin, so I saw one little girl's picture (she was all smiles) with the hat on so I quickly picked up Ella Ann's backpack because I knew a hilarious picture awaited me. I seriously wonder what her two teachers thought as they were laminating this picture of her. It screams, "I will be displayed at Ella Ann's rehersal dinner one day!"

Grandparent Overload

Whew. Coming down off of Ella Ann's get-anything-and-everything-you-want-from-the-grandparents attitude has been rough thus far today. Usually it's not bad but today has been trying. The kids and I took off to my parent's house last Wednesday after Ella Ann got out of ballet at 2.p.m. This was quite a late start for us but since we pay for ballet she must be throwing up or bleeding to death in order for her to miss. It was perfect, though, for Rane and his 2 o'clock nap! We jumped in the car and hit the road making excellent time. Rane slept from 2-4:30....the normal length for his afternoon nap, so that was absolutely fantastic since he hates the car and I have been struggling to get over some shoulder pain and handing him toys over and over was not helping the healing process. Well we had made it to just about 10 miles from Clarksville, Tennessee without stopping. I was going to stop there to feed the kids and then we would only have less than 1 hour left in the car. I crested a hill and only saw miles of red brake lights. Ohhh that was the pits after Rane was peaking for his tolerance of the car seat, as was I, I needed to use the restroom really bad, we were almost there AND we hadn't yet eaten dinner. I literally parked my car for 1.5 hours. We watched the sun go down. Ella Ann peed ON the interstate. I fed what little food we had left in the car to the kids and then we just had to sit...and sit....and sit some more. I was honestly shocked at how well Ella Ann and Rane did for such a long time. I never saw what happened, I am assuming it was a wreck. Once we started going, though, I wasn't stopping again except to get a little gas to get me the rest of the way. Rane screamed his head off for about 10 minutes solid and then he was out (it was past his bed time at this point). Ella Ann even fell asleep!

With all that behind us we were able to enjoy our few days with my Mom and Dad. Ella Ann secured herself to my Dad's hip every waking minute he was at the house, Rane enjoyed lots and lots of attention from both his Grandpa and Mimi and the good news is he would go to my dad happily without making his awful face! Dad was thrilled! A friend of our family, Vicki, came over for a visit Thursday morning and gave Ella Ann a princess coloring book with tons of stickers (doesn't get much better than that for her) and Rane a little toy. That entertained them both for quite some time. (Thanks again, Vicki!) We went out to dinner that evening at my favorite Italian restaurant and we all enjoyed wonderful food. Unfortunately Ella Ann woke up that day with a horrible cold she caught from Rane but she had it much worse than him. She was up several times every night we were there (gloriously I was in my room downstairs with Rane and never heard a thing since she was upstairs). We got really worried about her one evening with the cough. It was starting to sound like croup so I put her in the bed with me. Ummm...big mistake. She was perfectly fine with the breathing all night but I was up most of it because she tossed and turned, cried out, talked in her sleep and coughed in my face. Wonderful. She is better now but I still didn't send her to school this morning because she's still snotty with a gross cough.

The Jensens came over Friday morning to see the kids. They gave Ella Ann a huge Pre-K workbook and I swear she is nearly finished! They have given her two workbooks in the past and we play "school" all the time. She will sit for hours and do them mostly by herself. It was great to see Gary and Gayla and the kids really enjoyed spending a little time with them.

On Saturday I visited my friend, Sara, and her little girl, Lucy. I couldn't take the kids because we would infect them but it was nice just to hang with Sara by myself for a change.

Well that's our visit in a nutshell. We just hung out at the house each day because it was freezing up there. Fortunately our trip home was quick and painless. Now the task at hand is to readjust Ella Ann!

Ella Ann drug out most of my old Beanie Babies to play with.

Rane joined in on the coloring for the first time. He actually knew what to do, except for he wanted to color on the table instead....or eat the crayon.

Grandpa brought home from work a pink balloon for EA and a blue for Rane. Honestly that is what they loved the most!

We put Rane in a big pot of my Mom's and he loved it. He would play peek-a-boo with my Mom and laugh and laugh! We just wanted to contain him for a few minutes so we could sit down for a sec but he ended up staying a while.

Ella Ann got chocolate mouse for dessert on Thursday evening. It was her first mouse experience and she ate nearly all of it.

Workin' in the workbook.

Dancin' the night away!

Rane's first time really seeing snow. Side note, yes I know he desperately needs a haircut but I am not going to do it.....yet. We decided to let the boy's hair grow out reeeeeeeeeeally, really long. Hehehehehe. Just joking...grandparents you can take a deep breath now. Seriously, we are going to let it grow and see what it looks like and if it looks awful (I'll make that decision, thank you) then I'll chop it.

Finally I got a picture of Rane practicing his other new move. The Downward Facing Dog (non-yoga people....it's the name of this particular position)!

This is one of his favorite spots, of course, being that it's next to the paper shredder, Grandpa's gross shoes, his table full of little things, a cord and an air vent.

Baking chocolate chip cookies with Mimi on Saturday.