{life with} the Cuties

mudliscious

2012-04-17T22:49:00.003-04:00

Mud Play

by Mike Bayles

After the rain,

when water and dirt

make goo

this play delights.

What a sight

it is,

children covered in mud

and laughing

while splashing

in their imagination,

the ponds and lakes,

when cleanliness forsakes,

the delight they seek

until the sun

evaporates their dreams.

Mommy Wow!

2012-04-16T20:30:00.000-04:00

i'm a big girl now!

Cutie Face sat in it first

Cutie Cakes played in it next

and now Cutie Pie is experiencing the thrill of it it, too

the thrill of the Rainforest Booster, that is

i'm not sure who was more excited:

Cutie Pie or her sisters

but she sure squealed while sitting next to them

& enjoyed every minute of playing with her new toy!

dinner times will definitely be more exciting from now on...

the outside house

2012-04-12T23:14:00.000-04:00

Go play outside!

i can hear it

i hear my mom saying it, i hear myself saying it

it's the best place to be when you're little

for imaginations to run wild

for a free place to jump, shout, and be crazy

for a place to get messy and be messy and not worry about messy

to discover and grow

to learn about change and growth

in the world

in yourself

outside is awesome

unless you want to be inside

then it kind of stinks

thankfully, the cuties came up with a solution:

the outside house

complete with cash register, birthday cake and a balloon bouquet

a car to take you on all essential errands

and a sweet Cutie Face face peeping through the door's window

where you can still head out

and explore the great outdoors

but always be close enough to touch home

(with outside dining--deluxe!)

in case you just need to curl up and relax...

a field of clovers

2012-04-10T22:55:00.000-04:00

our weekly Tuesday run to storytime

takes us near a busy road...

but we have the option of taking a wide, well designed trail

that runs parallel to the busy road

but provides ample shade and respite from the noise

i tried it out last year when pregnant with Cutie Pie

the double jogger fits! so we take it!

it lands you in this field

where clover flowers are rampant this time of year

paradise for Cutie Cakes:

she ran all over the field until

she finally wound up

at our stroller again

and then she wanted to run some more

by pushing the running stroller

oh yeah!

There's a real baby in that running stroller she's pushing!

you okay, Cutie Pie? You 'kay? okay!

when we reached our bookstore,

Cutie Cakes was thrilled to see that it was barefoot day

she quickly took their cue

and went barefoot for the next hour

her reading buddies did the same

all that reading and running

wore the younger cuties out

for the run home

unfortunately, they both thought they'd napped enough

after that 45-minute napper they got in

and didn't fall back asleep until bedtime

but that was okay because then Cutie Face had playmates!

they all were about ready to crash pre-dinner

so i thought it was the perfect time

for a sisterly photo-op

what's that, Cutie Pie?

bad timing?

okay! but i'll take what i can get

3 cuties on a couch

love. them.

going to the zoo zoo zoo

2012-04-09T23:14:00.000-04:00

i thought i'd escaped the spring break crowds by avoiding Atlanta museums altogether last week. Seems like that was a popular idea--everyone showed up at the zoo on Monday thinking they'd escaped the throngs of people only to be surprised that there were full parking lots and lines to get inside.

the more the merrier right?

at least when more=a papa for us to play with!

since we go to the zoo nearly every week

i don't bust out my camera for much these days

but we finally saw the orangutans

and they definitely warranted a picture!

be sure to click on the pictures

to see the big orangutan smiling--crazy!

speaking of smiling,

this Cutie Pie is smiling a lot more than crying

these days

(finally!)

just proof that she and i exist :)

and a random shot in this sequence:

Cutie Cakes came up with her own solution

of getting onto the swing

when i had my arms full with a nursing Cutie Pie

and could not help her into it.

then that cutie pie enjoyed her own swing

when she was all done eating

(and, get this mom--she didn't spit up...

well, at least not right away :)

and speaking of eating, Papa made the grownups

DINNER!

what a treat!

and he gave our arms a break and held

sweet Cutie Pie

thanks, Papa!

and next time we'll do a proper portrait of you and the girls...

Resurrection Sunday!

2012-04-08T22:17:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday the cuties awoke to this:

Cutie Face came up with a few ideas

1) He flew away to California (?!)

2) He went up to Heaven with God (getting closer)

3) He came back to life...ding ding ding ding ding!

Then we went to early service

(we only go to two services on Easter so an early option was a treat!)

complete with baptism and beautiful hymns

we made a beeline for Mimi and Poppy's house

there was brunch to be had!

and Uncle Joel kindly shared his birthday with us

(and, of course, with Jesus' resurrection

which allowed for all to be reborn, right?)

the cutie's favorite part of the day was about to start

egg hunting!

we had about 120 eggs for four kids

to shove into their fashion shopping bags

(disclaimer: i left our cute PBK bags at home. oops)

so here's cutie cakes looking like a 6-year old

oh my head

she still opted for eat-the-candy-as-you-go route

especially if some found itself on the ground...

Sweet Cousin M was hilarious.

(Sorry twin, but this was such a funny picture of M I couldn't resist)

and oh so sweet Cutie Pie

with her dapper daddy

we of course had to have the obligatory cousin

photo shoot

we love our cousins

and they love each other!

and our big cuties love each other, too!

even though looks can be deceiving!

we had an Easter basket unveiling

before we headed to Aunt Meredith's house

for a delicious and joyous

Easter dinner feast

the kids table was full of

coloring, sharing

and thanks

it was a wonderful celebration of our Savior's resurrection!

Egg hunt practice v.2.0

2012-04-07T23:31:00.000-04:00

our final egg hunt practice

(before the real deal at my parents' house)

was held at a beautiful church in our neighborhood

they had a 2 and under category

(Go Cutie Cakes!)

and an over 2 category

(Go Cutie Face!)

the girls had so much fun running up and down the hill

searching for eggs buried in their thick lush grass

Remarkably, Cutie Face found about 20 pieces of chocolate

& Cutie Cakes found 8 bottles of bubbles and 3 bubble gums

J and i found the free coffee and cookies

donated by San Francisco and Alon's

fancy!

we also found cute junior high girls

with painted-on mustaches

who happily painted flowers on Cutie Face's hand and cheek

(she double dipped on the face painting session because

Cutie Cakes forfeited her turn...

don't know why she was scared but Cutie Face didn't mind!)

i also found my newest fave photo...

if only Cutie Pie was wearing her matching dress

and looking at the camera...

can't have it all, i suppose :)

Cutie Face managed to fall asleep

maybe she was dreaming about the Easter bunny...

and maybe the sight of him was keeping Cutie Cakes awake...

the girls definitely have the Easter egg hunt thing

down pat

so here's to the real deal* on Easter Sunday

*clearly, hunting and gathering the most eggs is

NOT

the real deal

but it is a fun game!

truly a Good Friday

2012-04-06T23:56:00.000-04:00

every Friday is mommy/daughter breakfast dates

that is always good in my book--i cannot wait for Fridays!

this Friday was a bit different

Today is GOOD Friday

it was even appropriately dark and chilly today around noon!

Speaking of chills, I had the privilege of reading the girls

the story of what happened leading up to Jesus' arrest

and then what happened on Good Friday

It gave me such major chills to share it that

i got goose bumps

enough for Cutie Face to notice

and run and get me a blanket!

after describing a kid-version of the brutality of the cross

and how much Jesus loves us all to endure it

I took a cue from this blog

and drew red dots on their hands to symbolize the nail wounds

and wrote their names across it

(names smudged out for privacy!)

He died for Cutie Face

He died for Cutie Cakes

Cutie Face knows that even if she were the only one in the world

Jesus would still die for her--that's how much He loves her

she says that if she believes that He alone can save her from her sins

She won't go to Helen

(the opposite of Heaven apparently)

we also made Easter and Spring cookies today

the girls picked out the cookie mold for me at Target

thanks girls!

they had an absolute blast frosting and decorating

even J commented on how nice and Springy they looked!

about half the frosting and sprinkles

were on the floor, table, or in their mouths

(as clearly indicated in their crazy antics!)

Even Cutie Pie got into the decorating spirit!

today is the first day that i've noticed her eyeing food

she's growing up so fast! eek!

ahh, this mound of purple sprinkles on one tiny cookie

cracked me up

Cutie Cakes just couldn't get enough!

both girls were allowed to pick one from the pile cookie

and eat it

they definitely didn't need any instructions on how to do that!

then, during dinner, J finished reading the Good Friday story

following that, we made a Calvary hill and cross on top of a grave

Cutie Face drew an image of Jesus

and placed it inside the tomb

i forgot that i wanted her to wrap him in burial cloths

next year...

then we stuck a huge piece of our sidewalk in front of the tomb

and Cutie Face placed her

awesomely drawn soldier

in front of it to guard it.

complete with sword :)

there was a reflection on the image so it might not look like it

but it's a really neat drawing that i love!

i cannot wait to see what happens when we roll away the rock

and she sees an empty tomb on Sunday!

Dyeing to Color

2012-04-05T22:42:00.000-04:00

...color-dye eggs, that is!

the cousins and the cuties trekked up

to the beautiful farm country of Alpharetta

for an Easter egg dyeing session and picnic

The kids were allowed to hunt for

FIVE eggs

to turn in for two prizes

the older girls definitely got the number

FIVE

done pat and had no issue finding just five

Cutie Cakes, though...

let's just say she tried to redeem herself from last Saturday

while the other girls finished hunting

Cutie Cakes stuffed her basket

we had a hard time convincing her that she needed to pare it down!

Thankfully, the eggs were empty so they weren't

that alluring

before it was time to dye the eggs,

we explored the farm and nursery

it was really fun to watch the girls discover everything.

we tried to do an older-cousin photo-op but it didn't last long:

thankfully, by then, it was time to head back down to dye the eggs

the girls all found and claimed their spaces

and could not wait to get their four eggs into the dye

the girls were SO patient as we waited to get instructions

poor B-man...not feeling well and not too keen to wait

finally the girls could dunk and drop

their eggs into the cups

they had so much fun watching the color seep in

and figuring out which color combos they wanted, etc

the twin and i were definitely impressed by the older kids

who made "sunset eggs"--red then orange then yellow stripes

and other elaborate dyeing patterns

but, truthfully, we were pleased with our girls' efforts, too!

picnic in the park

2012-04-04T23:14:00.002-04:00

i've had my eye on a house

super close to the hospital where Cutie Pie was born

it's also SUPER close to this incredible park

so the girls and i decided it was a perfect place for a

Spring Break picnic!

it is part of the new Beltline & incorporates old railway trestles

its curves and green space and idyllic stream are just beautiful

the girls definitely loved it!

Cutie Face even asked to have her portrait done...

i definitely heard my mom's voice in my head

That's a fake smile! Smile naturally!!!

oh too funny how it's all a big circle

her biggest thing right now is picking wildflowers

rest assured that she knows the difference between wild & planted

the girls had tons of fun having a picnic on the blanket

it even made eating all their veggies a blast

Cutie Cakes had a brief photoshoot, too

but she's all about being two and goofy

and rest assured about that, too--we love it!

because deep down, she's still our super sweet snuggler

the biggest hit on the playground?

old fashioned merry-go-round!

they could not get enough of it!

and in other daily news,

we're finally getting back into crafting for the season

(once Cutie Pie was born i totally slacked in that department)

today's craft?

bunny masks!

of course, they were accompanied by hops, jumps and all around chaos

Cutie Pie just pretended her baby toys were carrots...

nom nom nom

the longest day

2012-04-02T22:58:00.000-04:00

as you'll see from the pictures, it definitely was the longest day...at least in the eyes of a non-napping 3-year old who awakes before 7 am and falls asleep after 9 pm

...at least we squeezed in lots of fun on the last day Mr. H was in America:

started with a very fun trip to the fountians

where the kiddos crawled

giggled

splashed

and played all morning

lunch brought a bit of energy for a playground trip

where they did more crawling

balancing

sliding

and playing

two little ladies (above and below)

fell asleep on the run home

but they quickly awoke when we made it to park #3

by that time, Cutie Face was definitely on her last leg

but she rallied after more water

(in the form of a bath)

and more food

(in the form of dinner)

where all 3 big kids

walked up and down the sidewalk with their babies

playing "real life house"

while waiting to head to the airport

until someone decided she wanted to switch

modes of baby transportation

and that was the last straw

...as they say in Hotlanta, bless her heart

The Swing

2012-04-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

by Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,

Till I can see so wide,

River and trees and cattle and all

Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,

Down on the roof so brown--

Up in the air I go flying again,

Up in the air and down!

Hunting for eggs

2012-03-31T22:36:00.000-04:00

last week i ran past

a church

advertising a community-wide Easter egg hunt

SOooo

when the girls weren't sleeping on Saturday

we decided we needed to

head to the hunt!

there is something so thrilling yet simple

to them

when they're allowed to paint

something on their body!

(they both chose Easter eggs on their left cheeks)

then we decided it was high time for a snack

(carbo-loading for the race for eggs?)

turns out the snack was the perfect

energizing food for

jumpy castles

though Cutie Cakes decided she'd rather sit out the fun

and finish her popcorn

(who can blame her?!)

at least her sister jumped and slid enough for both of them!

right before the egg hunt,

we snuck in some fun bubble blowing

while i tried not to think that dozens of kids

had their sweet little mouths all over the bubble pipes and wands

before my cuties got their mouths all over it...

After a prayer of blessing and thanks,

the girls were divided into age groups

and off we went to our designated locations

it was SO interesting to watch how the girls took off

in their own way

Cutie Cakes grabbed a few eggs

and then discovered

THERE WAS CANDY INSIDE

that sidelined her for the rest of the hunt

while Cutie Face decided it was far better

to grab as many eggs as she could see

and then examine her loot with her sister

Cutie Face often blows me away with her generosity

and she voluntarily shared candy with Cutie Cakes

without any prompting!

i had so much fun hanging with these girls

and can't wait to see them in action again next week!

MUD!

2012-03-30T22:14:00.000-04:00

when we headed to the twin's house for afternoon naps

it started out tame

but then we busted out the water table

everyone

got nekid

(as they say in the south)

and then they added good ol' Georgia clay

to make MUD

(or hot cocoa as they told me)

and out of 75+ pictures that followed,

these are the only G-rated ones allowed on this blog

tales of the triple jogger

2012-03-29T23:02:00.000-04:00

the triple has served us well these past weeks, taking us from playgrounds to the zoo and the grocers to the museum. here are a few pictures of what we did at the jogger's destination--because every triple stroller run needs a half-way stopping point if I'm going to make it back home :)

Cutie Face calls this the "rainbow"

it's an arch with rungs

Cutie Face struggles with self confidence a lot of times

I know she can do it

She just has to believe it, too

we read the Little Engine that Could awhile back

and i get her to chant "I think I can" when she starts to freak out

We also run through a few truths like:

i will keep her safe

and

God doesn't give us a spirit of fear

granted:

1) that passage in 2 Timothy is referring to sharing the gospel

and i definitely don't want to take it out of context

2) we should have a healthy respect for dangerous things

and not do something careless or outright risky

but:

i think that when we as Christians lack self-confidence we are being poor witnesses just by our attitude and our spirit. In contrast, if we are firmly rooted in God's love, confident of who we are in Him, we can embrace the life and all that He gives us (trials, joys) with the power and boldness our faith gives. That kind of attitude allows you to preach volumes without ever opening your mouth! So maybe it's a stretch but i still feel like 2 Timothy 1:7 is applicable in this situation :)

ANYWAY

Cutie Face near flipped when she went up this rainbow arch the first time. And then I couldn't pry her off for the next 45-minutes. Her face lit up with the joy of accomplishment and it was so fun to watch!

Cutie Cakes, of course, had no issue scampering right after her sister, blissfully unaware that this was something she might fall off, etc. She is a usually quite a contemplative kiddo, sitting back to analyze a situation before she starts in on it. Sometimes, though, she just starts doing something without thinking first and finds herself halfway through it and unsure of how to get it done--for example, she followed Cutie Face halfway up the rungs until she realized what she was doing and then had a little freakout moment herself. Such is life.

3/4 of my whole life right here:

meeting new buddies to make the playground apparatuses*

a bit more fun

*the Latin person in me wants to say apparati!

the four of us girls miraculously

made it to the zoo (and back!) in the triple

...it wasn't that bad...

the girls loved it, that's for sure!

especially because we rode on the Carousel

and the train

for the first time at the Zoo

(thanks to the New Jersey folks with the awesome accents for taking our photo)

we've also made it to the fountains--

come summer, i forsee at least weekly trips here!

sometimes i luck out and get some quality one-on-one time with one of the cuties and the single stroller. Last Saturday, it was Cutie Pie who was the happy recipient. Just looking at these pictures of her in our original jogger makes me smile and reminds me of the fun trips Cutie Face and I took when it was just the two of us--things have changed SO much yet the purple wonder (ie the single jogger) is still up for an adventure!

i'm seriously loving this sweet little girl more and more every day

4-months of age just might be my new favorite stage for babies

substantial enough to be cuddly

social enough to giggle and smile and coo

ahh, she's great!

i almost want to go wake her up right now just to squeeze her

but i'll restrain for both of our sakes

because life is too short...

2012-03-29T00:04:00.000-04:00

...to wait around until all my photos are edited, perfected, and uploaded before i blog, I've decided to just go with photos in the raw and record the memories as we go! And so here we go

Today, Cutie Face's preschool class

***celebrated***

Pizza, Popcorn, and Pajama Day!

she ate that up (literally and figuratively)

you should have seen all the princess pjs on the playground today.

(glad we're not the only ones...)

sweet Cutie Cakes

(who is becoming a true 2 year old in actions, vocabulary, etc)

was sad that she was not allowed to wear her pajamas

to Bible Study

so the compromise was a Rapunzel dressup dress for naptime

(j's favorite pictures of Cutie Cakes are of her sleeping

so those are for him!)

while her sisters slept

(for hours! SOOO nice!)

Cutie Face hung out in her house

decorating it with pictures, stickers, balloons, and nightlights

She informed me that she had her pillow, blanket and *tons* of food

in case she got hungry or tired

(food being Melissa and Doug pretend food sets)

the sisters finally awoke and we were off!

The girls and i helped cheer and direct Kilometer Kids runners

on their 1-mile race course

it was a great and active way to end our day!

until the next adventure,

here's looking at you, kid :)

twirly frilly girls

2012-03-23T23:02:00.000-04:00

and finally a boy in sight

okay not our boy but we still get to play with a very very sweet little boy every once in a while and the girls just LOVE having him over to play

of course, what do they want to give him to play with?

flowers, of course. We're learning...

until we have one of our own, though,

we'll wear our twirliest frilliest

FOOTBALL dresses

and tap into our fun tomboy sides!

PS Thanks, Becca + Adam for letting us practice sometimes :)

{picture a cutie} February 21-25

2012-02-25T23:20:00.000-05:00

the rest of our week in Florida largely looked like this:

{2.21.12}

Grammy + Cutie Pie

sweet bonding with the oldest and youngest in the fam

{2.22.12}

Here, Papa.

Have a chip

{2.23.12}

Elvis?

{2.24.12}

finally, Cutie Pie

is NOT

screaming in the pool

{2.25.12}

waterbaby

we couldn't get her out of the water from morning to night!

{picture a cutie} February 13-20

2012-02-20T23:09:00.000-05:00

Big Blog Picture Catchup! Here goes!

{2.13.12}

Craft time while her sisters sleep

very sweet times with my equally sweet Cutie Face!

{2.14.12}

Happy Hearts Day!

The girlie girls received

jewelry boxes, baubles and jewels for V-Day!

{2.15.12}

fingerpainting with homemade fingerpaint

(made too thick in the Vitamix...oh well!)

{2.16.12}

Mom! this reminds me of "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More"!

{2.17.12}

hello there, friend!

{2.18.12}

Prima Ballerinas

maybe...

{2.19.12}

quality outdoor time before we hopped in the car

to drive down to Florida!

{2.20.12}

kitten, meet baby

2.12.12

2012-02-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

This almost had to be the picture of the day

I turned on my camera, realized i didn't have any pictures from today and remarked outloud to J, "AH! I don't have any pictures for today!" and then snapped his facial response to such an atrocity.

and then, relief!

i realized i'd snapped a sweet one of Cutie Pie

on the iPhone

waiting patiently on Mimi & Poppy's couch

for me to finish packing up the car

not, of course, to say that an impromptu picture of J

wouldn't count...

;-o

2.11.12

2012-02-11T21:23:00.000-05:00

Oh my head

Cutie Cakes

has a personality all her own

thank goodness because

only she could handle it all by herself!

it's pretty dynamic

and we love it!

2.10.12

2012-02-10T21:21:00.000-05:00

This little cutie

was supposed to be in Chicago today

instead, she was lucky enough to hang out with her Poppy

on my birthday

because...she and her sisters all have ear infections

Cutie Pie's being in BOTH ears

at a sadly pathetic 12-weeks of age

:'(

what a trooper!

2.9.12

2012-02-09T22:27:00.000-05:00

post-doctor playground visit

for Cutie Cakes 2-year well checkup

Poor Cutie Cakes cried from the moment we walked into the room to the moment we left. Thankfully, the stickers and the "treasure" (teeny tiny puppy dog) from the treasure tower helped cheer the cutie up in time to enjoy the playground!

Can you spy all three cuties?

2.8.12

2012-02-08T22:23:00.000-05:00

speaking of crafty time with Cutie Cakes

we did some craft time at Cutie Face's preschool today

(painting rocks for a class project)

they were very kind to let the kid sister participate!

2.7.12

2012-02-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

Cutie Cakes loves all her new birthday presents

& i love that we can do some one-on-one crafty time

when Cutie Face is at preschool