{Janey and Today}

this girl really does amaze me sometimes.
all my girls do actually, but today it's janey's turn.

she has such a tender, loyal, loving heart.
her bestest friend since day one of third grade is sad that janey will be out of school for the next few days. (trip to MD, more on that later) janey helped her come up with some things to do without her and games to play with other friends while she was gone. so motherly and caring don't you think? she wrote notes to put in her locker after school for her to find friday morning and we even took a late night trip to claire's last night to get her a bff locket. and she put the cutest little teeny tiny picture inside.

 

she is leaving her wrapped up surprise with her teacher to give her friday morning too. she was so concerned about her other friends seeing her special gift for kamryn that she thought the teacher could do it more discreetly.:)  all that concern for feelings and hearts just makes me so proud of her.

 

i love you so my sweet janey brooke.

 

********************************************

 

feeling a bit frantic and whirly swirly today.

you know the feeling.

kind of like standing in a sea of spinning to-do's flying around you and you're either standing still watching it all spin out of control or moving in slow motion trying to make a dent.:)

either way = swirly whirly

 

 

found this selfie on my phone this am...

 

tomorrow we are going to see my brother and his family in MD.

my niece emily is dancing in a holiday performance and we can't wait to see her.

we are on a bit of a time crunch so we have to leave bright and early at 4:00 am to make it in time.

call us crazy and think of us when you see the sunrise.

 

so this afternoon i am finishing up

packing

cleaning the house

cleaning the car

completing my Christmas card order

plus all the other things i do during the day.

 

but it's all good and i'm not complaining.

 

i feel happy and full and ready for a 12 hour car ride.

i love car rides actually.

everyone stuck together in one spot.

even when things get crazy and hectic, and they do and they will, we are still together.

 

 

 

so first i will unpack our overflowing library book bag, then turn on michael buble holiday on pandora. because i feel it...it's here...the holidays are a comin!!!:)

 

have a happy day,

cindy

{Dallas...plus a bunch}

hi there.
so did you think we just up and moved to texas or what??!!:)

can i just take a moment to sigh?
deeply.

it happened again.
i paused blogging to live the life i blog about and now i feel so behind and am draaaaagging myself back to this computer.

 

it's not all drudgery,
don't get me wrong...it's just that those few spare moments filled by blogging get completely overtaken the minute i stop and it's hard to give those things up to jump back in.
does that make sense?

aubrey and i have been snuggling more and just sitting on the sofa chatting.
i love chatting with a very precocious 3 year old.
she says the absolute sweetest and funniest things.
i wanna just eat her up.
i tell her that too and she will say...."but mom...i'm not food ya know"...giggle giggle...then i will proceed to tell her how sweet she is...sweet like sugar...and she will say..."ok...you can nibble me only"!!:)  and i will kiss and hug her all over...how can you not melt to that.....? how can you trade that for a computer........!:(

believe me not all the things filling my time have been "snugly good and worth it".
since my alone hotel time (when dave was at his meeting) i have gotten back into words with friends with two of my besties...we currently have 10 (yes 10!) games going...great for the brain...but a slightly obsessive time waster too.

ok, we can get back to all that has been filling our days soon...first let's do dallas!

********************

dave and i got up early sunday to sneak out of the house before anyone was up.
we knew with our emotional threesome that saying our goodbyes at night would be better.
for everyone.
we headed out of town towards the most glorious sunrise.
pretty good way to start the day don't ya think?

that and our alone time bagel of course.:)

after a pretty uneventful day of travel and surviving the busy construction filled roads of the big city we met up with nicolle and megan.
it was just as wonderful and easy and fun as i knew it would be.
wish it could have lasted longer.

these are two very special ladies and i'm very lucky to call them my friends.

the next day after a breakfast with some of dave's work buddies he was off to his meetings and i was off to sight see a bit with nicolle. she was driving this time so i was much more at ease...no need to navigate!:)

after seeing some historical sights in downtown dallas, nicolle took me to the most charming little place for lunch.

the food was so yummy and the conversation even better.

i think we could have talked for hours.

i'm so glad we had this time together.

now i just need them to travel north to visit us.:)

thanks for a wonderful day nicolle.

 

 

later that night we went out to dinner with some friends from dave's work.

we went to javier's and the food and atmosphere were awesome.

but the big hit of the night was by far the salsa verde.

this stuff is amazing.!!!

(lucky for us we found the recipe when we got home. we are having it again tonight with dinner you MUST make it!)

 

we ate and shopped and ate some more and then it was already time to go home.

it was a fast trip but a wonderful one too.

we really need to get away more often!:)

 

********************

we were welcomed home by three happy girls and two happy parents...they were happy to take their list of dates and times and places to be and throw it in the trash i think. not easy coming out of retirement to care for a house of three active girls.:) but everyone had fun so i guess that means they'll do it again some time if we ask real nicely...right?!?!:)

 

it was my mom's birthday the day we got home so we had some take out thai and ice cream cake.

 

 

happy birthday mimi!

 

********************

so what else have we been up to?
valentines day happenings and class party planning.
talent show preparations and play date arranging.
(both girls have blown me away with their desire to be in the talent show this year!! riley and a friend are playing the clarinet and janey and a friend are dancing. where oh where did they get this thrill for being on stage and performing...certainly not from me!:)) i'm so proud of them!!!
girl scout activities and outings
sleepovers
and all the rest of the little things that make up our lovely simple life.
i love it all.

i must say that i have missed you all and even typing this jumbly post (which took me two days) has got me excited about hearing from all of you again and catching up on your lives.
thanks for hanging in with me and continuing to come back.:)

have a happy day,

cindy

{thankful for}
1. happy mail
2. pandora
3. almonds and chocolate chips (thanks mom)
4. aubrey's love notes
5. it's 45 today

{Guess What?}

dave and i are getting on a plane tomorrow.

alone.

yes you read that right.

alone.

he has a work meeting in TX and i am tagging along for the ride.

my parents are here to love on the girls

and i know they will all have a wonderful time.

i am still gonna miss my babies like crazy.

i'm sure you can all relate.:)

we are excited to take in the sites,

eat some yummy food,

shop a bit and

just relax.

oh...and one of the best parts of the trip is i get to meet my two dear friends...nicolle and megan.

it feels like i have known them forever.

we have shared so much of each others lives through blogging and now we get to hang out and talk for "reals".

tomorrow can't come soon enough!:)

have a happy night,

cindy

{Day Trippin~Chicago Style and a Weekend with Friends}

hi friends!

is it odd to say i have missed you all like crazy??:)

well i have!:)

 

 

so friday morning came and the girls were all besides themselves with giddy excitement.

dave had a cold that was kickin into overdrive so we decided the level of effort needed to help me with two excited and undecided shoppers and a three year old was just too much.
so he stayed home with aubrey and i made the trip solo!
yikes...

i do not like to drive.
i like to be the one who gets to look around...take in all the scenery...wonder about the people who live in those cute little houses...admire the view.
and driving in the big city for me is like getting a root canal without novocain...ugh!:(

but i did it and we arrived in our parking garage unharmed and happy.
funny...the valet guys probably thought i was the biggest dork on the planet as i frantically looked around for the place they wanted me to pull-up to...tried to organize all our stuff, make sure we had every ones money etc and then had to go back to the van twice cause i forgot something!:)

since janey had to order her new doll, she brought felicity along for moral support.

she is hoping for a horse for her birthday.
every girl needs a horse right?

riley decided in the final hour that she wanted a doll after all so she bought julie.
i think it really had a lot to do with just wanting some else's hair to do.:)
i was secretly glad she picked julie...she's from the 70's and all her "stuff" reminds me of all my "stuff" when i was a kid. i've heard other mamas say that so i guess i'm not alone there.:)

a happy, happy few hours for sure.

 

the city really is amazing.
i could live there if i never had to drive anywhere
or park anywhere!:)

we met up with my friends and had a yummy lunch at cheesecake factory.
then we checked our gps and prepared for the long sloooow traffic filled ride home.
the girls were happy cause they had lots to play with, talk about and plan in the backseat.
i was happy cause i had two of my besties in the car.
when we got home riley said..."poppy was right...you guys DO talk a lot!"

************************

 

it was so wonderful to see my girls bonding with and loving on my friends.

there was so much:

game playing

pillow sewing

nail painting

book reading

and so, so much more.

 

and i got to see TWO movies in one day!

how often does that happen??:)

 

playing iassociate after pizza night

 

i finally caught dave's cold sunday evening around 10.

but it didn't keep me from staying up well past midnight with my tech-savy apple pal laura

my phone was in serious trouble

i thought for awhile it might just end up in the trash.

(or i would be upgrading a lot sooner then i planned)

but she fixed it and it's all good.

 

 that cold has kept me out of the computer scene for a few days and now i'm playing catch-up.

i have so much to tell you and show you in the house.

we have been busy.

and loving every minute of it.

 

it's Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

 

have a happy day,

cindy

 

{thankful for}

1. good friends

2. making my list and checkin it twice

3. a warm december...so far

4. a new advent calendar

5. a three year old to read to me and take care of me when i'm sick:)

 



{St. Louis}

we surprised the girls with an unplanned trip to st. louis for the long weekend.
we were going to just jump in the car saturday with packed suitcases in the back and hit the road but then we wised up and figured that meant we had to do all the work!

so we told them friday morning instead.
they were running around like busy little bees.
there were clothes everywhere.
suitcases being dragged around from room to room
it was a nutty "everything half done" disaster.
throw in trying to clean the house (cause i always have to do that before i leave) and i was pretty much a basket case by the time dave got home!
maybe it would have been better to do all the packing ourselves!:)

our first stop was the arch.

have you ever been?
i was there once when i was young.
this place is impressive.
even on a cloudy day.

we headed inside to see the museum and to maybe take the ride to the top.
someone wasn't quite sure yet?!?!

the museum was so fascinating.
so many amazing details and information.

after exploring a bit we decided to come back tomorrow when our bravery level would be at it's highest and we could try that trip to the top one more time.

15 degrees warmer and this would have been the perfect picnic spot.:)

see the wedding?
we saw a TON of weddings on saturday.
guess this is the go to spot for wedding photos.

and just so i don't forget how i look on most trips....three year old on my hip and all.:)

the girls were so excited about getting back to the hotel to swim before our fancy dinner.
when we saw the pool we were a bit bummed.
it was seriously the size of about two king sized beds next to each other...the water was brownish and there were about 10 people (very loud people) in it when we got there.
dave was such a trooper.
i wish i had a picture of his face as he held aubrey and swam her around.
it was hilarious!!!
poor guy.
luckily the girls kind of agreed with the yuckiness factor and we were out of there in 30 minutes.
never to return again!:)

for dinner we went to a fancy italian place on the hill.
i guess this is an area known for their italian food.
sorry to say, for me it was just ok...i guess they never had my baby's italian cooking before.:)

we woke up sunday to sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures.
they was a big festival at the botanical gardens we couldn't wait to check out.
what a beautiful place.
if we lived in town this would be one of our favorite hang out spots for sure.

see janey.
love this girl but she never just walks.
she is always spinning, practising a dance move, skipping, hopping or some form of all of the above whenever she goes anywhere.
i don't know how she makes it through the school day cause she would never dream of doing that in school!:)

the tents were filled with such amazing things from local vendors.
dave sampled (and purchased) everything from sausage to dips to wine.
all the girls and i really cared about were the sweets.
we had mint cookie fudge that was amazing and this gooey chocolate butter cake....oh my word!
we devoured it in about 5 seconds and really needed another!
dave was like, let me snap a picture of you four ravenous sugar fiends!
with four ladies in the house...this is your life baby so get used to it.:)

after visiting all the tents and snacking like crazy we decided to explore the grounds.
this place was amazing.
we could have wandered around here for hours.
i was imagining a picnic blanket somewhere under the trees while the kids ran around.
maybe next time.....

not sure of the significance of the red fountain?!?!:)

i just loved all the old buildings here.

she finally sat in her stroller...but it took fruit snacks to get her there.

i look like 10 of this shot...this was the best one.:)

give three girls anything that resembles a stage and this is what you get.

learning about bees and
abandoning the stroller again.

after a lovely afternoon and lunch...

we headed to the arch to give the trip to the top one more try.
and just in case you hadn't seen enough pictures of this majestic masterpiece,
here's a few more.
this time with sun.

we made it to the top of that beauty.
and we had a perfect birds-eye view of the cardinal game below...totally cool!

it was a wonderful weekend.
and one we will always remember.

have a happy day,

cindy

PS
this was how much stuff we wheeled into the hotel that night...the girl at the counter laughed as dave remarked something about having three daughters!:)