No More Sunshine

After an absolutely beautiful day yesterday, I was saddened to wait up to a gray sky this morning. To make matters worse, this gray sky is quickly turning black and we are in for a round of severe storms. We are under a tornado watch until 7PM, which makes me feel like I need to be looking out the window at all moments. I grew up in Philly and tornadoes really aren't the norm there. Of course, there were tornado watches growing up but the amount I remember totals up to about the amount we have here just in Spring.

So I'll share some sunshiny pictures in hopes that the sun will come back to us tomorrow...

"What ma, I'm almost one!"



"Don't climb Molly Moo, you fall!"



"Look Mommy, Molly ride with me!"



"Your turn Molly. You press dis button."



And after explain to her that Molly was too young to understand...

"That okay, I help her."

Sunshine

Whenever I say that word I think of Remember the Titans. "Sunshinnne".

My blog has been greatly neglected for the past week because of the amount of natural Vitamin D I have been soaking up outside. The girls and I have been out almost every day, enjoying the warm weather. I have pictures to upload but our hard drive is full, so that will have to wait.

Speaking of sunshine, did you know that sunscreen expires? I didn't, and I am a sunscreen stickler. I am constantly putting it on myself, the girls, and even Dustin. But Saturday my sunscreen failed me, mainly because it is 3 and 1/2 years old. My chest and arms were beat red all day but have settled into a nice tan by now.

Hopefully I'll have pictures for you soon, I just need to move some old ones off the computer.

Things I Love Tuesday

I should make a badge for this with my new mad photo shop skills. ;)

1. Body Pump. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I head to the gym for an hour long weight lifting class called Body Pump. It is AWESOME. We target all the major muscle areas and do each work out to different music tracks, most of which are current hits. For instance, we do our chest presses to Usher - DJ Got Us Fallin In Love.

I chose this picture strictly because of the lady's outfit. Could you imagine your instructor showing up and doing 60 squats in this?

2. Salsa Chicken. This stuff is heaven from the crockpot!

3. Sunshine! Last week there were a few days of sunshine, which was more that we could boast for most of Spring so far, and it got into the 80s! The girls and I were loving being outside, and I think I may have even got a small tan. I am kind of a stickler for sunscreen and lathered up, but apparently nothing short of a body suit can stop my Italian skin from darkening.

4. This PSA. Grab a tissue, it is tear worthy toward the middle.

Happy 11 Months Molly!

Our "last" monthday celebration. Technically I have a 12 month sticker for pictures but really she will be ONE YEAR OLD! I cannot believe we are already at this point. It feels like just yesterday that Brooke was turning one. I attempted some stat taking yesterday...

Weight: 20 pounds, give or take ;)
Height: 29 inches

Molly is definitely our talker and not our walker. Brooke was walking by this point but not saying much, but Molly is very vocal. She says Mama, Dada, Uh-oh, Ta-da, Che [cheese], Breh [Brooke], and I think she may say Dog, but that is up in the air. She loves to wave at people.

She loves to play "So big!" and claps her hands afterward. Molly is our little daredevil. She loves to be swung around and flipped upside down. She will even go down the slide by herself! Of course we have to catch her at the bottom but she scoots her little booty along at the top until she is soaring down in giggles.

Molly LOVES bathes. If she hears the bathtub turn on she will come crawling at lightening speed from anywhere in the house. I love hearing the sound of her thumping down the hall. She also likes to poke around in the fridge and freezer, so I have to be quick when getting things in and out. Molly also loves her big sister Brooke and they spend most of their day playing together, or at least Molly pretending to do what Brooke does. Brooke has been good about including her and sharing her toys... most days.

"9-1-1, What's your emergency?"

That really isn't ever the way you want a phone conversation to start out. The next worse sentence would be the reply. "Hello, a biker has been hit by a car and he is laying on the side of the road." It may have come out different, but that was my general response.

Let's back up a little. After brunch on Mother's Day we ran home to change into comfy clothes and skype with my parents for a few minutes. After finally getting the car reloaded, we took off for the short 2 mile drive to Dustin's parents house. We were driving down the county road that leads to their house when a mini-van coming at us start swerving a bit. Dustin made a comment about how fast they were going but people tend to speed on that road. There was also a biker coming at us, he was wearing a helmet and the brightest yellow sweatshirt possible. He was as far onto the grass as he could get.

We all passed in a line and at the moment, I was looking down at my camera. Suddenly Dustin slams on the brakes and we skid to a stop. He yells "Oh my God, that van just hit that biker." He pulls a fast turn around in a driveway and throws me his cell phone. Meanwhile, the van that hit him keeps going. The biker heard us coming and threw his arm up in the air, either to let us know he needed help or to make sure we knew he was lying there.

Dustin debated going after the mini-van but at that point no one else was around to help the man so we stopped. I jumped out of the car before it even came to a stop, and a lady from a house on the corner came sprinting over at the same time. I talked to 911 and gave them all the details they asked for. Amazingly a volunteer firefighter was driving by and he stopped to help. Within 5 minutes three or four other volunteer firefighters showed up and pulled their uniforms from their truck beds. Dustin and I had been directing traffic and they took over.

The man, a 57 year old, was conscious and talking, thankfully. At first he seemed to be in shock and was moaning but they he told us his name, age, and even joked with us a little. He had some serious road burn and was complaining about his hip. The ambulance pulled up shortly and blocked our van in, and by this point the girls were freaking out. I called my father in-law since they lived only a half mile down, and he came and got the girls.

Dustin and I stayed on the scene with the woman who came running from her house and gave a statement to the police. Dustin looked in his rear-view mirror to see the guy go down so he didn't actually see the van hit him, but the woman was is in her house and heard the impact, which should be enough to show that he did get hit.

Unfortunately the van was long gone and going way too fast for anyone to get a good look, so there is a good chance they will never be caught.

How is that for some excitement on Mother's Day?

Party Planning

First, you may notice a new gadget on the side of my blog.

Check it out, more on that later!

Now on to the point of this post. Molly's birthday party is in one month. Coming up with the theme was pretty easy. We call her Molly Moo pretty much all day long so we went with with a cow theme. My love of all things cows goes way back to junior high, so this is exciting for me to plan.

Here is the invite. It has been edited because as much as I love all my readers, I didn't want to get random phone calls or hate mail. Not that any of YOU would do that, but I can think of a few people who might.

The back...

Molly's outfit is already displayed in the invite above but she'll be wearing this.

Along with this from Blossoms & Bows.

Food will be pretty simple. I am going to do some appetizers to start; buffalo chicken dip, mini meatballs, chips and pretzels, maybe a cold dip. Then we will have a big cake and an ice cream sundae bar. Yum! I am hoping the weather holds because we would love for everyone to be able to hang out outside. Maybe a cake like this...

Decorations. First stop was Devany's Designs to get a Happy Birthday banner! Molly's banner will be baby pink with the black cow spots.

Then we will throw in some cow print balloons mixed with baby pink balloons.

I am still working on the rest of the decor. This weekend I am headed to a friend's house to have a birthday craft night. Her son is turning one the weekend before Molly, so we'll be scheming together to come up with some fun ideas!

Happy Mother's Day!

Yesterday was Mother's Day, as hopefully everyone reading this knows, and it was a wonderful day. It was 70 and sunny all day long, which was a big change from the insane amount of rain we have been having lately. I was the first one up yesterday morning, sleepily walking around the bathroom and putting old lady rollers in my hair. Dustin got the girls bathed as they got up and we got them ready for church. Before we left we took some pictures out in front of our house.

Squinting much?

After church we headed to Dustin's grandmom's nursing home for a Mother's Day brunch. It was amazing! They really did a great job with the food and all of the different options. Dustin thinks we should head back for Father's Day. Then we went out into the little garden area and took some pictures.

We headed home for a little bit after that to change and skype with my parents, and then headed back to Dustin's parents. The ride is only 2 miles but it proved to be an exciting one, and resulted in me needing to call 9-1-1. More on that in a separate post!

When we finally made it back to the in-laws we were just sitting around, not doing much, so I suggest that Kathy [my mother-in-law] and I head out to a movie. We went to see Something Borrowed, which was super cute!

All in all, it was a great day. Hope you all had a great Mother's Day as well!

Awkward & Awesome Thursday

This week I thought it would be fun to participate in Awkward & Awesome Thursday. If you want to join in the fun, head on over to Living in Yellow and grab a button! Erin and I happen to live about a mile apart, and she happens to be great friends with my sister-in-law.

Awkward

one. Smashing yourself, a toddler, and a stroller filled with the baby and about three diaper bags into a bathroom stall at the mall. And the grand finale would be finishing using the restroom and having your two year old yell "Yay Mommy! You did it! You used the potty!" and clap her hands loudly.

two. Setting yourself up in the front row at Body Pump class and then having some set up right behind you. THEN doing 60 squats in a row in front of said person. Hope you liked the view!

three. Following with Erin's school picture theme. WHAT is up with these pictures? First, the HAIR. I think I was in third grade? Volume much?

Then my 10th grade pictures. I have naturally wavy/curly hair and didn't know how to handle bands properly. The result...

Awesome

one. Wedges. I am obsessed with wedges for the summer. Hopefully I can lose this baby weight and get toned for short/skirt season!

two. Sisters. I have one sibling, a brother, and while he is absolutely AWESOME, I always wanted a sister. Sorry Ben. I am so glad that my girls will have each other and even though I know there will be hair pulling, clothes stealing, and fights over boys, I hope they can form a special bond and be there for each other through thick and thin.

three. Funfetti Cupcakes. Ask anyone on Dustin's side of the family, I make a funfetti cake for every birthday. This year so far my father-in-law, Dustin, and brother-in-law have all had the honor of eating my funfetti cake. I think I would want this to be my last meal if I ever ended up on death row.

When Rabbits Attack

Last Thursday night around 11pm, we were all in bed. I was reading my Nook and Dustin was playing on his iPod. Suddenly we hear a bang in the basement. Naturally I tell Dustin to get the bat and I grab my phone to dial 911 but he stops me. We hear a second bang and curiosity gets the best of me. The bang came from the basement but near the egress window so I first went and turned on the back light and stuck my head out the door. There were a few rabbits hopping around out backyard so I wondered if maybe one got stuck.

I went down to the basement, 911 set on my phone still of course, and discover I was correct. Dustin comes down and sighs when he realizes that I am going to make him save the rabbit. He decides to open up the glass part of the egress window a bit but didn't anticipate that it would spook the rabbit. The rabbit went crazy, jumping everywhere, and landing against the window. Dustin yells "Jimminy Christmas!" and runs away yelling "It went for my juglar!"

So now I am on the basement floor crying I am laughing so hard. I tell him to go outside with a laundry basket and put it over the rabbit, and then we can slide cardboard underneath and lift it out to free it. Well the rabbit had leaned up against the wall by now so I opened the screen an inch or two to poke it with a stick. Well, Dustin is about a second from trapping it when it goes crazy AGAIN.

It pulls off some Harry Potter double decker bus move [or I don't have any bones move for non HP fans] and slips through the inch of window open. I am screaming my head off standing on a stack of drywall holding a broom. Dustin comes bursting out of the window and quickly shuts the door to the upstairs. He ran to the back of the basement because he was afraid it would get into the storage area and then we would never find it.

We finally got it cornered and somehow into a box. We then slid plexiglass to trap it, then wrapped it in 3 blankets and duct taped it. We took it upstairs, out the front door, and I hid inside while Dustin let it loose. It got cut somewhere so there is blood all over our basement and my blankets. Ugh.

When it was over Dustin goes "You are supposed to be Miss Steve Irwin, the animal lover, and there you are standing on a stack of drywall screaming like a little girl"

We decided it was like Tangled [pictured above] when she jumps on his back and he is like "Stay calm... it can probably smell fear"

Things I Love Tuesday

I am not sure if there is a blogger who does an official "Things I Love Tuesday"... but there should be! And if there is, great work. Some things go with out saying, like Dustin and the girls. Perhaps shopping.

one. Signs of Spring
April's weather was pretty miserable. It rained for about 22 days out of 30, and it was cold and windy. But there is a subtle reminder of Spring right outside our door. The plants are budding and the animal babies are making their appearance. The mama bird spooks every time we open the front door and I told her she better get used to it. She also likes to watch me do dishes each afternoon. I'm guessing soon these little babies will be watching me as well, hopefully with more feathers and open eyes.



two. Essie Nail Polish
I really like any nail polish but I have been obsessed with Essie's colors recently. I am also slightly obsessed with painting my nails. I think last week I painted my nails different colors three days in a row. Dustin will vouch for that, he claims the fumes are going to kill him.

three. Slobbery Baby Kisses
You haven't been kissed until a 10 month old has come at you with an open mouth and drool hanging from the corners.



four. The Royal Wedding
Yes, I got up at 4am to watch the Royal Wedding. Was it worth it? Yes! I find the Royal family fascinating, and I plan on delving into some books about them sometime this year. The whole thing was like a fairytale. I mean, what girl doesn't want to be a Princess?

Isn't Kate absolutely stunning?


five. My Nook
I always thought I would hate having an e-reader. I wanted the feel of real pages between my fingers, the feel of the binding cracked the first time you open it up. But in reality, my Nook has been AMAZING. It is so easy to read on. Plus, if I finish a book and want the sequel, I can download it right then and there instead of going onto Amazon and waiting a few days for it to ship.



six. Hidden Platform Heels
Seriously, where have these been all my life? I cannot wear heels over 3.25 inches [specific, huh?] with out losing feeling in my ankles and toes. But then I found hidden platform heels. Which make it look like you a wearing 5 inch heels but in reality you are only walking around in 3 inch heels. I like feeling tall. Okay, some of them are ugly, I'll admit. But I have found a few pairs at JCPenny and Kohls that seem just right, especially the sandal type ones.



seven. Target
Enough said right?



eight. Writing
I have been working on a book for several months now. It is at about 50K words, which still isn't enough to make it a novel. I'll let you know when I publish it!



nine. The Game of Things
This game is sure to bring in plenty of laughs with friends. I promise!



ten. Friends
Not just my friends, but my little girls friends.