Alaina

Alaina wanted to ride Caitlin's old scooter so I made her put on Caitlin's old helmet.  It swallowed her.

But she sure did look cute.

On Saturday, I took the girls to McDonald's to play.  Alaina finally got her nerve and went up in the big playhouse with Caitlin.

She can sew better than me!

Saturday, Caitlin suffered through her allergies and went to a 3 hour sewing class.  She's been wanting to take the class forever.  She fell asleep on the way there because she felt bad.  And when I came back to see if the class was over, she was laying across three chairs asleep.  But her pillowcase was done and she had done it all herself.  She is so proud of it!

These allergies

This poor girl.  Every Spring, the pollen attacks her eyes.  This year it is the worst it has ever been with record breaking pollen counts.  For over a week, she has been on two different prescription strength eye drops and a daily OTC allergy pill.  It's just not working.  She has missed church and today she missed school.  Yesterday, we got a call from the school nurse.  Caitlin was miserable and she didn't even go out at recess.  Rusty took her some more medicine and she toughed it out.  She came home, though, and slept 3 hours, missing a softball practice. 

We researched a little more and put her on Zyrtec.  That's is supposed to be the best one.  The only downside, she had to swallow a pill.  She did it like a champ!  I didn't tell her until afterwards that I was an ADULT before I could swallow pills.  Pathetic, huh?

This morning she felt better but her eyes were still bad, so we kept her home.  I wish we could put her in a bubble.

Here's her eyes this morning.  Can you believe this is much better than they were yesterday?

I am obsessed - Mumford & Sons

It is rare that I LOVE a band.  But I LOVE Mumford & Sons!!  I have bought every album they have out - live and studio.  I have LOTS bootleg audio versions of songs including some from the album they have yet to release.  I love every song - that's rare.  They are 4 guys from England, write their own songs and have a folk rock sound, using a banjo, stand-up bass, mandolin, accordion, etc.  Their lyrics are rooted in Christianity and are based on MacBeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, The Odyssey, etc.  Here's some of my favorite lyrics:

"Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free

Be more like the man you were made to be"

Sigh No More

"In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die

Where you invest your love, you invest your life"

Awake My Soul

"And you have your choices - these are what make man great

His ladder to the stars"

Timshel

"But there will come a time you'll see with no more tears

And love will not break your heart but dismiss your fears

Get over your hill and see, what you find there

With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair"

After the Storm

"But hold on to what you believe in the light

When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight"

Hold on to What You Believe

"You and I now

We can be alright

Just hold on to what we know is true

You and I now

Though it's cold inside

Feel the tide turning"

Feel the Tide Turning

"But, don't test the ones you love

It'll only tear us down

If you want to feel alive

Then learn to love your ground"

Sister

They just came to Nashville and played at the Ryman three nights.  I couldn't get tickets because they sold out so fast.  I was so mad, especially when I read about people who went to see them multiple nights.  They are awesome live - I've watched every youtube video out there.  One day, I will see them!!

And just cause Marcus is my favorite!

Finally some good weather

and Caitlin could go back to riding horses.

The rain earlier in the week, though, had flooded the arena, so Caitlin practiced in Miss Patty's front yard.

Blaze kept wanting to eat the grass!  You can see he was trying to lean down to have a little snack.

Here's Caitlin riding!

So who thinks Alaina looks like Rusty?

I think I see it!!

WHY??

This morning I go to get Caitlin up and I find this all over the floor.  WHY??

She has been creating again using notebook paper, paper towels and scotch tape.  What did she create, you ask?

A Ship! 

Complete with sails and oars. 

WHY???????????????????????

Kara has a store

Rusty's conversation with Alaina this morning:

Rusty:  "Alaina, want to go to the store?"
Alaina:  "Yep."
Rusty:  "Which store?"
Alaina:  "Kara's house."

And so it has begun

We have started the craziness that is kids team sports.  Caitlin has several practices each week and games start in April.  She is way behind compared to the other girls that have played Spring and Fall seasons for probably 3 years.  But she is listening and learning and already getting better.

She's getting so tough!

It used to be that Caitlin would wreck and be done for the day.  Not anymore.  She will take a licking and keep on ticking now.  I'm proud of how tough she is!

Yes, we are those parents!

Alaina likes to feed herself and is still messy so we strip her down before feeding her meals.  Tonight after she had eaten, I cleaned up and went to talk to Rusty for a minute.  Before we knew it, we hear Caitlin yelling outside.  Alaina had opened the door herself and was running to find her sissy and she was in nothing but a diaper!!  We were those parents!

Thankfully, she was running on the sidewalk and she knew where to find Caitlin - two houses down with Sarah, Paige and Ashton.  I'm so glad Caitlin saw her and she did not go in the street and get hurt.  That girl is definitely going to keep us on our toes!!

Alaina is a houdini!

Duct tape isn't working anymore.  It doesn't matter how much duct tape we put on Alaina's diaper - she can get out of it.  After some research, we found two solutions.  (1) Turning the diaper around so the tabs are in the back and (2) putting zip up footy PJs on backwards so they zip in the back.

We went with #2.  Rusty cut the feet out of one pair and turned them around.  They worked like a charm.  He also still duct taped the diaper just in case.  I don't think that will be necessary anymore though.  Unless she grows Inspector Gadget arms, I don't think she will be able to unzip it down her back.

Welcome . . .

To baby Ethan born yesterday!!

My new nephew weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds and was 22 inches long!

Silhouette Heat Transfers

I've had some wins and some fails with my Silhouette.  I think these tie onesies are a definite win.  I LOVE THEM!!

I had some trouble with getting the Silhouette to cut out my designs, so I just hand cut them.  I didn't like how in between the words, it looked yellow.  While trying to fix the boy night owl shirt, I kinda ruined it.  :(

I made Caitlin a St. Patrick's Day shirt from a white T-shirt she rarely wears.

Our weekend . . .

consisted totally of playing outside . . .

and getting Caitlin ready for softball.  We went to Dick's to get everything she needed.  What didn't she need??  We got cleats, batting gloves, a new softball to practice, softball pants, shirts and socks for practice, etc.  Good thing we had coupons!

And of course, we can't go to Dick's without stopping to play on the putting green.  Both girls LOVE that!