A little update

My girls are growing.

Best friends who love each other so much yet still face the day to day challenges of sharing and dealing with the "I don't want her foot touching me!!" drama. Cailen is such a blossoming little gentle loving wonder. Learning baseball, kickball, gardening and art. Her new favorite outing is the library reading hour. She's coming out of her shell there bit by bit. It's been really good for her.

Riley is just such a snuggly, sweet little comedian. She knows she's funny. She talks with fish lips sticking out and lowers her voice to talk like a man with the fish lips. It's quite comical. She has finally picked up some songs that she knows much of the words to...Twinkle, Twinkle, the Wonder Pets Theme song and she's almost got the alphabet down too. Her signature thing is to repeat what she just heard with a high pitched voice and a question mark at the end. This is her way of keeping a conversation going. Don't get me wrong, outside of repeating people she can talk your ears off on her own. ;) She thinks everything that is big is the "mommy--" The mommy train, the mommy tree, the mommy ducky. She is also potty training herself!! For the past month she has gone on the potty at least once a day. NEVER did I ask her to or even think to have her do this at this point. She is taking the example of big sister and is doing a great job. We've said since she was one that she's acted like a 3 year old all along. She'll be turning 2 this week, I guess she'll soon be acting like a 4 year old. Look out!!

The sun is shining.

Thank God. I hate being cooped up in the winter but unfortunately I always feel like "once spring hits, summer is almost over" and last year, by the end of summer I had people believing it!! ;)

My garden is sprouting.

I did my sprouts in egg shells this year as a frugal, eco friendly, nutrient based project and it's working well thus far! I have tomatoes, broccoli, okra, basil, thyme, marigolds (a natural pest keep-away-er), cucumbers, pumpkin, cantaloupe and I'm just waiting on my watermelon now. :) I'm really excited to hopefully have an organic load of fruit/veggies to eat and share this year. :)

My brother is graduating with a 4.0 in Dental Hygiene

(receiving the Chancelor's award-the highest award in SUNY schools and even got to sit on the stage with the important faculty during graduation) and soon, he is going back to Uganda. I couldn't be more proud of a person than I am of this guy right now. He has really impressed me. My brain is designing new hats to sell for the Ugandan Water Project for his upcoming trip. Last year I could only crochet in scarf or square (honestly more trapezoid shape) and now I'm a hat designer!! Cailen is wearing one of my original creations in the pics above.

My mom is healing.

She fell and broke her arm and is waiting to see how bad it really is. I hope that we will all realize what a giving, serving person that she is and how much she does to serve her family and friends and even strangers home and abroad. Now that she is incapacitated and can't move without a jolt of pain, we are trying to keep her house running for her when we can. I hope to visit her more in the coming weeks and help where needed. Her pillowcase dresses for (The Pillowcase Project) were beautifully started and some finished but now will have to wait. The baby blankets she makes for Angel Names Association will be put on hold. The men of the house will have to figure out how to keep the laundry, ironing, dishes, grocery shopping and meals (ETC, ETC, ETC) all going. Things will be different for a while, as I am nervous about my energetic Grammy loving children being too close to her. I think once she is all healed and all better, those of us who may have not realized how tirelessly she works to keep everyone happy will have a greater appreciation for her. Hopefully in reciprocating care for her, she will realize how much she is loved. We are praying for a quick healing Grammy! We love you!!