My sweet Daniley sings the blessing at our meals.  Sunday night, I asked her to please ask the blessing.  I prepared myself for lovely song.  Instead, I heard this:  "Dear God, Thank you for the food and drink.  Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Little Sister and my grandparents.  Amen."  My heart melted.  She is so precious!

Also this weekend we were at the house and we all had initials on our cups.  GPaw couldn't see my cup but asked Daniley to read him what it said.  duh, ell, cu.  DULC.  GPaw looked very confused so I had Daniley turn the cup around and there it was:  "DLC."  She read it perfectly.  LOL.

Also Daniley has suddenly learned to draw.  She came home from church Sunday with a picture of Mommy, Daddy, and Little Sister, and to my surprise we had bodies, arms and legs.  We also had eyes, a nose, and mouth.  Only I, Daniley's mom, would appreciate this drawing.  I asked her why Daddy had arms and I didn't.  All I had was a wad of color in front of my tummy.  She said, "Mom, that's a brownie bowl."  LOL.  I would put this picture online, but you might not be impressed.  I am, only because we went from drawing scribbles to full bodies.  Overnight.  How does that happen??

A couple notes:
1st:  Daniley sounded out and successfully "read" her first word yesterday.  We were sitting at the counter and I was eating, paying her almost no attention whatsoever.  Then I hear:
huu
ehh
rrrr
sss
hhh
ehh
ww
She had a mini Hershey bar in her hand.  (She missed the y sound, since when you say it, you get a w sound first, duh). Anyway, I knew there was no way she could possibly get "Hershey" out of that but I made a big to-do about her sounding out each letter and trying so hard.  I went back to my eggs and sausage, then I heard:
kkk
ihh
ttt
KIT.
Yes, that's what I heard exactly.  I looked down and she had a Kit Kat bar.  I could not believe my ears and eyes.  I was so proud.  It's like the moment when your hard work pays off!  She successfully spelled and sounded out other words in the car (log, hot, sam, etc) that morning.  We learn a lot of stuff in the car.  GOOOO DANILEY!  I have never been more proud.

2nd:  Some of my readers may have links to their blogs on my sidebar.  If your blog reaches a year since your last update, please don't get your feelings hurt when I delete the link.  I see no point in using my real estate to link to yours if you aren't updating.  Please, don't take it personally.  :-)

This weekend was one of the best ever.  It was jam packed with lots of stuff, all with my kids!
Friday Danslen and I hit some yard sales, then I had therapy.  Then we picked Daniley up from school and headed to ballet rehearsal.  Fun day.  No pics.

Saturday.  Up at the crack of dawn.  Went "picking" (the new "in" term for yard saling) on the way to recital.  10am.  Recital.  Daniley did AWESOME.  I wish they would have chosen a rap song so she could have really showed off.  ;-)  (GPaw has the actual dance pictures.  I'll post a few soon.)
After recital, Honey, Aunt Judy (Honey's sister), and GPaw met Daniley at the door with her first ever rose and a cute little purple doll.  She was thrilled.  So was I.  I heard lots of moms complaining about how hectic it was.  I didn't think it was too bad.

This is what Daniley thinks about dance:

  

Oh well, maybe next time we'll shoot for gymnastics.  Flipping and jumping seem to be more her thing!

Home for a nap....getting ready to wind down....Honey calls and invites us over!  My nephews are there as well as Honey's brother and his kids (Tyler INCLUDED.  Daniley LOVES him!!) and Honey's sister, Aunt Judy.  We go play dance.

Yes I'm 3.

We traveled on foot.  After walking home at 9pm, we hit the sack and then slept in.  Yes I admit it, we slept right through church.  We got up and did some chores (laundry, I don't hate it nearly as much as most people), and then it was time for a trip to Pump It Up!!  Lil' Darlin' went when she was just a few weeks old, but this would be her first trip down the slide.  I took Daddy with me so he could assist.  (Don't want to re-injure the old knee.)  

 

[Like the cute shirt?  $1 at a yard sale Friday.  Still had the tags on it.  This is why I love yard sales!]
 

The Pump It Up verdict is in:  She LOVED it!!!!!!

So one last thing.

I haven't rode my motorcycle since....a LONG time....well before my knee injury which was in February.  Dan bought me a new one several months ago and today I decided I was gonna have to be a big girl and take it for a ride.  I admit, I was scared, but I made myself be brave.  It's a bigger, heavier (not heavy) motorcycle and it will go a lot faster (only if I tell it too).  But with my leg still a little shaky, I just wasn't as confident as before.  Since we all went to Pump It Up, I just had Dan follow me in the car to keep tailgaters off.  I did fine.  It was fun.  By the time I got home I decided I love the new bike and I'm ready to hit the road.  I hope this fall or winter Dan and I can ride our bikes down to the beach together and sit along the shore while the sun goes down. Babysitters sign up here!  :-)

Have a great week everybody.  Love to you all!

I took some time with my family and spent Mothers' Day at the beach this year.  My BFF Jamie and her two girls went with us.  Having Daniley someone to play with at the beach is the best idea I ever had!  We had such a fun time.  I won't go into all the details here but I will tell you 1)  Lil' Darlin' loved the beach and the sand.  She put her face right down in it (see slideshow) and never  missed a beat.  2)  Daniley didn't get a spanking on the whole trip.  and 3)  We parked the car and never moved it once the whole time we were there.  Great trip.  Need more.

Happy Mothers' Day everyone.  A couple months ago I was getting cracked up at all our mothers and I wanted to share some of their quirks, I mean GIFTS!  ;-)  I decided I would save those thoughts until today, MOTHERS' DAY.  Enjoy the parody.

We've been blessed with alot of mothers.  A lot.  I have a mother.  Dan has a mother.  But wait, there's more.  I have a step-mother.  And I have a grandmother.  Or two.  As you can imagine, things get "interesting" at times.

LeLe--Fun Mom
Whether it's being the Queen of Halloween or the brains behind the next city parade, Fun Mom isn't going to miss a beat.  The trouble that she goes through for a party is incredible.  Sometimes just her talking about all her plans is enough to send me over the edge.  I think at times she recognizes this.  At that point she says nicely, "Just show up."  The last parade she had a costume for Dan, and I was afraid to tell him he had to dress up like an Indian (Native American).  LOL.  So I just simply waited til we showed up to break the news.  He's up there rolling his eyes....(but he's smart enough to shut up and get dressed!).....but like always, Mom's plan was thorough enough that she pulled it off perfectly.  As usual, we ended up having a great time.  When it comes to those Grandbabies, Fun Mom is going to be in the middle of the action, with costumes, props, and plenty of other ridiculousness but making sure those grandbabies, and their friends, are the stars of the show!

Honey--Spoiler Mom
Spoiler Mom is notorious for spoiling grandbabies.  Every time we go to Publix now, Daniley thinks she is entitled to a trip down the toy aisle.  Spolier Mom and Daniley go to Publix twice a month together and each time Daniley comes home with a little something new.  Spolier Mom also gives them lots of JUNK but justifies it by saying "It's sugar-free!"  Daniley will call Spolier Mom and invite herself over so she can get hot chocolate, cookies, ice cream, PEZ, and whatever else goodies that are hidden in that closet.  If you see that Daniley has a little junk in her trunk, don't look at me or my junk.  IT'S ALL SPOILER'S FAULT!!!

Mawmaw Nina--Clean Mom
Ohhhh sometimes I worry Clean Mom is going to have a heart attack that takes her on out of here when she comes to my house.  You could have dinner on Clean Mom's floor.  It would surely be cleaner than the surface of my kitchen table.  Clean Mom's house is always dusted, vacuumed, and spotless, but Clean Mom never thinks it's good enough.  Each time she has company, she says "Come on in....IF you can get in."  A side effect of being Clean Mom is that Clean mom never gets any rest!!  However, this might be just what keeps Clean Mom ticking.  My kids stay with Clean Mom three days a week.  I know that I never have anything to worry about.  Everything is clean and safe.  And the doors are always locked.  And there's always a gun in arms reach.  Take that you nasty criminals!!

Debbie--Unprepared Mom 
Bless her heart, Unprepared Mom is just....not ready for all this.  Unprepared Mom came into our lives before the kids were born.  She didn't have any kids but did have a few neices/nephews.  One of the prime qualities that got her through Daddy's "checklist" was that she didn't have any baggage.  (Her looks didn't hurt her either.)  About 5 years later.......out popped Daniley!  Suddenly poor Unprepared Mom was thrown right in the middle of an attention demanding little baby calling her Grandma!!  I say Unprepared Mom was lucky to get the grandkids without having to raise the kids.  I'm told being a Grandma is far better than being a Mom.  Well anyway, Unprepared Mom just learns as she goes.  I usually have a spy out when she has Daniley anyway, so it's all good.  LOL.

Mawmaw Imogene--Grand Mom
Mawmaw Imogene isn't as healthy as the other Moms so I can't really write about her quirks.  She can't manage the babies alone.  She's always very happy when she gets a visit.  She loves all her baby girls (two of mine and one of my brothers).  Mawmaw Imogene is a great gardener and she gives Dan good advice and has given him all her vintage gardening books.  She also knows how to get by on the basics, like mater' sammiches.  :-) 

We love ALL our Moms!!!!!!!  You make my life so much easier and awesome for my children.  I always loved my grandparents more than my own parents when I was little (because they were FUN, CLEAN, SPOILERS, UNPREPARED, and GRAND!!)  I know how much you mean to my girls and I am so thankful to have each of you in my life!!!  Love love love love love love love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tell you what...we've been having some busy weekends lately.  Summer is definetely upon us.  We've gotten lax about taking the camera with us everywhere.  Don't wanna be the next Mrs. Dollar.  (Fellow graduates, go ahead and laugh.  The rest of you, don't worry about that comment.  LOL.)  Anyway, when you don't take the camera, you don't have good pictures for the blog...and worse, for the yearbook!  Don't worry though; we aren't short on stories.  In fact, I won't go into all the "stories" we got this weekend.  Lord help me, my house is like a zoo.  Oh well, everyone likes a zoo!!  :-)

Here are a few pictures of us winding down Sunday night getting ready for the workweek!!  Looking forward to a wonderful, fabulous Mother's Day weekend.  It's my weekend to relax and get whatever I want.  Dan, did you hear that?  I can get whatever I want.  :-)

One of the joys of being an aunt is having your neices and nephews over to play.  Last night was Bentley's first solo visit, and just like I did for both my nephew's first visits/spend-the-nights, she gets her own blog post.  :-)  First, Unc called to check on her before they even got to the pavement.  That's not even enough time to START crying, much less finish.  No worries though, Dan got on the phone and cried to Unc.  (Not sure if Unc caught on or just thought it was part of the regular zoo.  LOL.)  After we were sure Brooke and Unc weren't going to return to fetch her back, we played in Daniley's room.  :-)  We played with mirrors, Mr. Potato head, and Ariel.  Then we moved to the playroom and rode the total gym, watched cartoons, and Daniley and Danslen bounced.  Then we went downstairs for a snack, and Bentley was crying, and in popped her Mommy and Daddy to pick her up.  Too short of a visit.  Next time she gets to spend the night.  Maybe when she's 5, she will be allowed.  Hahaha.  Just kidding Brookie.  LOL.  We had a great time playing Bentley.  Come back soon!!!!!!!!

I am one proud Momma!  (And the end of the video is hilarious, at least to me.  Little Stinker!!)

So....I had originally planned to have Little Darlin's party on Saturday and I had all our little friends' invitations ready and sealed.  The next day, I found out "Family Counts" was ON her birthday, the same Saturday.  We CANNOT miss Family Counts.  It is one of our major events each year and it happens to be right in the backyard (well, almost).  That event is the free family carnival hosted annually by my employer.  Everything is free.  Rides, food, funnel cakes, drinks, popsickles, face painting, games/prizes, pony rides, BBQ, hot dogs, corns dogs, ice cream, hamburgers, cake, what do you want? they have it!!  They have a band on stage with nice music and it's just a really nice time to celebrate time with your family.  It even has "carnies" as my therapist asked (physical therapist, I don't have or need mental help...most days...)  Daniley's favorite part of the entire day was the puppet show.  I admit it was really cute.  It was the story of the 3 little pigs and you'll see the big bad wolf and the house of sticks in one of the images.  Also there was a reptile show and Daniley kissed a snake on the head.  She does know, however, if she sees a snake in the woods she is to run away and get help.  We do try to educate her about things.  :-)

Moving on, as I mentioned, this was Danslen's first birthday so we made sure she had a great time too.  She loved her little play area and every time I'd try to move on to something else, she'd cry to go back.  Since it was her birthday I let her play in her area an extra long time.  :-)  And, for our friends, I had to throw every invitation in the garbage and start all over with the party plans.  However since we had such a big day Saturday I kept Sunday limited to family!  Happy Birthday to my little sweet baby!!!!  Me, Daddy, and sometimes Daniley love you VERY VERY VERY VERY MUCH!!!!!!!  :-)

Easter was wonderful.  First we attended church together as a family (well most always we do that) but today was the first Easter as a family of four!  I made the girls' Easter dresses which made them extra special to me.  After church we dropped by Honey and GPaw's so they could see the girls in their Easter dresses.  We did a quick egg hunt and then headed to Shelby where my Dad hosted the family for lunch.  There we did another egg hunt.  It was a beautiful day.  Thank you God for sending Jesus and all the other blessings in my life!

Sorry I'm just getting around to Easter. When the blog is slow, it's because we're running nonstop. The day before Easter we did Alabaster's Egg Drop. It was crowded, but fun.

 Danslen was trying to have her hair like this little guy.

 It's called an "egg drop" because this helicopter dropped them onto the field.

Crystal and I sewed Friday and she made Daniley this cute little apron dress.  LOVE IT!  I think I might sew some more aprons for it.  Sort of like a bib, just get dirty, and change the top layer.  :-)

  

PS.  I'M WALKING EVERYBODY!!!

Okay, I realize I still haven't posted our Easter pictures and story, but I will.  They are on Dan's camera card which I haven't put on here yet.  I'll get around to it soon.

In the meantime, this weekend was wild.  Saturday was crazy.  We did yard sales, then family at Honey and GPaws (Uncle Jerry and Aunt Shelia from Colorado, and Uncle Tom and Aunt Diane from Indiana.)  Uncle Jerry loves margaritas and since I have a new machine, I invited him over for a drink in the bar.  And since I have a new machine, I made Daniley a virgin daquiri, but I don't use the word virgin, because I don't want her screaming that out when we go to the mall.  I could only imagine how she might put a sentence together.  :-O

 

Afterwards, Dan and I had to split up because each of our friends was having parties.  He and Daniley went to Tegan and Tatum's, and Danslen and I went to my friend Rachel's grill out.  I don't think we have any pictures from the Turners :-( but I snapped only a few from Seth's house, the host of the grill out.  Dan and Daniley eventually met up with us there, and we all had a great time.  I think I'm gonna need a carrying bag for this margarita machine (yes, they make one) because I've been burning the motor up.  LOL.  I took it to the grill out so Rach could enjoy a margarita.  We were celebrating her completion of the PE exam.  Believe me, she deserved about 10 margaritas.  I know because I have been where she is.  Anyway, our kids played and we cracked up at them.  Poor Seth got trapped by Daniley and they played.  Here she is playing his piano and I have to say she looks very professional.

I'm gonna tell you what...I have some great friends in my life! 
After these parties we had tickets to the Baron's baseball game.  Let's see, that's 2 kids up since 5am with less than an hour nap each.  Baseball games starts at 6:30 and then fireworks afterward.  Ummm, ditch that!!  Oh well, maybe I'll have more guts next time.  I'm not sure Danslen would have been happy at the baseball game anyway.  :-)

We died Easter eggs with Honey and GPaw!  Daniley had a great time and the eggs were beautiful.  Honey was just in time to give us some Princess wraps for our eggs.  Why is it that girls love princesses?  I never liked princesses and never wanted to be one.  Of course that COULD be because we didn't own a VCR until I was 12.  Sheltered or Poor.  Your call.
(Wow I got way off track.)  LOL.

THIS KID LOVES ANIMALS!

She's just intimidating him a little while he eats. Just making him slightly uncomfortable. Because he knows that just when he gets into his ham, she's going to SCOOP HIM UP and carry him off by the legs.

Furthermore, her latest hobby is caterpillar hunting.  I have no idea how you find that many caterpillars.  Where she has them by her face is her "loving" her caterpillars.  She always returns them to the grass after she gets done playing.  :-)

Wednesday afternoon Daniley's school had their Easter party and since it was on Wednesday, my Mom was off and she and Lil' Darlin' accompanied us.  I LOVE BEKare and the party was so much fun.  I love Daniley's teachers.  They are always so organized and patient with the kids, and Ms. Chandra always likes to tell me the funny things Daniley says.  :-)

I uploaded on YouTube.  The blog doesn't like long videos. 


You should definitely turn your speakers up before clicking the links.
Don't worry, they got their Momma's rhythm.  :-)

"Boogie" Shoes

There's a lot going on in the video.  About the third time I watched, I finally noticed Danson pulling his shirt up...and just how many times DID Lil' Darlin' fall off that couch?  :-)
Jump Jump

 On the surface it looks like Danslen is being naughty but study closer and you'll see she actually tried to put the passy in Bentley's mouth.  Believe me when I saw her grab it that is *not* what I expected.  When she dropped it she did even look down for it.  But she didn't see it. 

"Oh well Bentley.  Too bad for you." (from Danslen)

This has been one of those weekends where I laid awake Sunday night going through all the fun memories we made.  Saturday night I had a Ladies Only party, a pinterest party in fact, where we had margaritas and I demonstrated my Silhouette.  We had such a blast!  Also I demonstrated my new margarita machine that I bought at a time when I did *not* need to be spending money.  :-|  Oh well, I'm sorry Habenero's I won't be "needing" you anymore...at least not just to quench my thirst.  Haha.  

  Also Daniley and Danslen got to spend time with ALL their cousins this weekend.  Here are the "4 Monkeys." 

Then Sunday night the sweet Bentley visited with us and we had a grill out and dance party.  I have only video.  Why wasn't I thinking to grab my camera?  Maybe because I was too busy dancing on one leg!  :-)  I'll try to post videos, but that's very time consuming....so check back, but give me a couple days! 
On top of all this fun, I had lots of good quality time with my babies this weekend.  And because I was having a party, the house was completely clean, top to bottom, which helps me relax...until things get out of place again.  That's why I don't try to always keep a clean house, because when it starts to get messy again it bothers me.  Might as well just keep it messy all the time, then you don't have to worry!  :-)  Love to everyone!!  Thanks for stopping by.