HOORAY FOR USA!

I'm sure you'll be very happy to know that the Float #23, entitled the "Original Tea Party Story" and sponsored by the Meriwether Historical Society, won THIRD prize in the Sweet Land O' Liberty Parade today. 

It 'twas a taxing event!

Thanks to some ingenuity and mad engineering skills on the
part of Gabba Gabba and GrandDandy,
this ordinary canoe turned into a sassy little replica
of the 1773 mini-rebellion. Take that, Parliament!

Uncle B got to pull the boat for the whole parade route.
He looks so pleased to be assigned this task, doesn't he?
(He had a serious upper body work out today!
Be sure to tell him his arms look HUGE the next time you see him!)

Our Colonists-masquerading-as-Indians happened to also
have a collapsible light saber in their arsenal.
I think we intimidated the judges a bit. 

Eh, maybe.

TEA PARTY TIME!
Can you believe we were initially told by a (possibly well meaning) parade official that our float wouldn't be allowed in the parade because we weren't allowed to make political statements? Umm... Seriously?!
Public concern about being "P.C." has gotten WAY out of control for my tastes!  Our parade float was a handful of 2-to-12 year olds  trying to recreate a historical event!
And isn't INDEPENDENCE DAY a massive political statement in and of itself?!
Can I get an AMEN on that one?!

Here's a political statement for ya! HA!
Either way, I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day. 

BELLY LAUGHS

Watch this and try not to smile! I dare you!

DADDA'S DAY

Did you know that (according to Wikipedia) more phone calls are made in the United States during Mother's Day than during Father's Day, but the percentage of collect calls on Father's Day is much higher, making it the busiest day of the year for collect calls? 

How's that for showing some cheap love to your paternal figure?!

Luckily, our little monkeys didn't have to place a collect call to reach their Dadda...  they just jumped right into our bed bright and early on Father's Day morning to tell him Happy Fahd-ddder's Day! (Abbott appeared in our bed a little earlier than Evie... he finally fell asleep on Momma at 3 AM after a grumpy teething session. Evie was polite and waited till a more humane and bearable hour of 7 AM to join us.)

Dadda got showered with some fun goodies to show our love and appreciation for him. He seemed to like all his gifts - or at least he was a good sport by saying he loved it all!

First up was the "Brain Food" cookie jar to assist in Dadda in his midnight snack runs.

The brain is a hungry organ, so let's feed it!

Evie promptly stole an Oreo to feed her brain.

Dadda also received a few traditional Father's Day goodies,
like a grilling  glove and some spiffy neckties.

I must say I was very proud of the following gifts from Evie (who had some assistance from her Momma in this endeavor):

Evie's adorable card for Dadda.

This is the front of her card.
Please pay special notice to the tie.
The tie with blue polka dots.
That blue polka dot tie was EXACTLY what Evie wanted to give Dadda.
She said so. No other tie was good enough.

 

Seriously, do you know how long it took me to find a tie
with blue polka dots?
Actually, just less than 48 hours, thanks to Brooks Brothers!
If you see Chris wearing this tie,
be sure to compliment him on it, will ya?!!

And finally, Momma gave Dadda a gift certificate to go receive some tonsorial services at a local "gentleman's barber."  According to Jonpaul's website, Dadda is going be on the receiving end of some spiffy grooming practices: 

"Haircuts include hot towels, shampoo & after cut rinse,
straight razor attention to sideburns & neck, ear & nose trim,
moisturizing facial massage, blow dry & style,
finished with a vibrating neck and shoulder massage.
Our straight razor shaves consists of a 25-step process
using hot towels, pre-shave oil, rich lather, and shaved
with a straight razor using disposable blades.
Finished with an alumn block, fine after shave balm,
talc, and a vibrating neck and shoulder massage."

Dadda seemed pretty excited to receive a spa gift certificate for some pampering. Although I can hear him now, "It's not really a spa, Katie.  It's a man's salon!"


Potayto - potahto.
Tomayto - tomahto.

Either way, I think Dadda's going to enjoy a few hours at the spa, don't you?!

;-)

M.I.A.

Sorry for disappearing for so long.  I've been M.I.A. in MIA!!!  (Wacka wacka wacka...bad joke. Sorry.)

Yes,  I have been busy preparing for and then going to Miami for a work event, which meant the little ones and their Dadda had a few glorious days without their usual despotic commander bossing them around.  

And a very special thanks goes out to my Uncle Wesley and Aunt Mary for bringing a truckload of Boston Market to our house.  Yummy leftovers were available to sustain the hubby and motherless children while I was gone!

I have never felt so loved than when I got back from the trip - the little man immediately snuggled into my embrace with big smiles and tried to tell me in his 7 month old gibberish just how much he missed me.  He wiggled and flashed his (two!) pearly whites with huge gummy grins and then got so worked up that he bounced in my lap until my arms wore out from trying to hang on to him.

Evie, on the other hand, was all smiles at first, until she had a complete meltdown - tears, sobbing, and requests for hand holding and lap sitting with Momma. This toddler-sized Chernobyl event resulted in a heart to heart conversation between us over Wendy's Frosty milkshakes. (Frosties have been scientifically proven to alleviate the foulest of moods.) 

Evie informed me that she was very sad and her tummy hurt a lot while I was gone. She said she didn't want Momma to go away again-  and although she had fun with Dadda and Dadda let her talk to me on the phone, it just didn't make her feel better.  And her friend Ethan bit her finger in class and she couldn't tell me about it because I wasn't there.  It was all so very traumatic.

All has been made right with the world.
Mom's presence can't be replaced by a Frosty,
but the chocolatey goodness sure does help.

And then she wanted to know if Big Jet scared me or stole my purse.(Background: She loves the show "Little Einsteins." In most episodes, Big Jet is the bad guy. The little Red Rocket is the good guy. Evie was very worried for my safety when she found out I was going on a BIG airplane.)

After soothing those fragile toddler nerves, reassuring her, and reminding her that she gets to go with me on the next trip we take on an airplane (yay!), she seemed satisfied that I was home for good. But, good grief, does that little girl know how to rip a momma's heart in half?!

I'll stop blathering about the melodrama that is the female psyche and instead give you a quick photo documentary of Abbott's adorable months here on this planet so far:

"I'm a handsome dude, aren't I?"

So verrrrry close to sitting up all by himself.

Practicing his flying sidekicks...
'cuz you know he's going to need them
to fend his big sister off once he's mobile!

MUDDER'S DAY

"Happy Mudder's Day!" - Evie 

When I've asked Evie what day it is lately, she has been responding "Mudder's Day! It's your day!"  I have yet to explain to her that Mother's Day was only one day. But I won't correct her anytime soon.  

The Y&P house had a very happy Mother's Day earlier this week, with all four family members home to celebrate my ability to keep two kids alive, relatively happy, and usually healthy while not losing my (complete) sanity.  To be honest, absolutely anything could have been better than the stomach turning events that occurred last year on Mother's Day!

The bambinos with me on this Mother's Day.
Behaving.  Kind of.

Abbott decides to bail out on us when we started our girly giggle fest.

This year, I received exactly what I wanted requested for my Mother's Day presents... yes, I selfishly requested gifts. Don't judge.... these were really good suggestions!

My Mother's Day loot looked something like this:

(1) a kickplate for our front door - in the size, shape, and patina needed to spruce up our entryway and protect the door
(2) a new screen door for our back porch-  to replace the old wooden one that has gotten into a fight with our dogs one too many times
(3) a weekend breakfast with the family at my all-time breakfast fave: The Flying Biscuit
(4) a surprise delivery of roses to my work last week (that was not requested or expected!)
(5) and Chris was also nice enough to give much needed assistance in the makeover/finishing project that I wanted to do on our back porch...

THE BEFORE: The priming process begins! 
I forgot to take a picture of the real before shot - when the ceiling was still dark unfinished wood and we hadn't moved all the furniture out.  The original owner of our house built the porch himself and did a great job (actually running electricity, a telephone line, cable, and speaker lines out to it!).

THE AFTER: 
 We painted the ceiling Martha Stewart Heavenly Blue, touched up the white trim, added curtains (that I made!), and used hardwood 'revitalizer' on the floor.
This pic was taken at night - obviously (!) -  because nighttime is momma's "project" time, at least once the little monkeys are all in bed.  I actually think the porch is prettiest in the daytime when the colors of the lawn and yard are seen as a background through the screens.

Yes, those chains hanging from the ceiling do have a purpose.

  

The chains hold up the kiddo's little wooden swing.
Evie loves to swing in it, but I'm thinking Abbott's going to inherit it from her sooner rather than later at the rate he is growing.

Do you see those snazzy industrial-looking curtain rods? Instead of forking over $80-$150 for a set of long rods that fit, we paid $2 for each of these. That's because they are actually electrical conduit from Home Depot. Score!

If you have been to our house, you may recognize the Waverly Chippendale fabric print of the porch curtains as a familiar pattern. I've used this fabric print so often that I told Chris that we need to name our house The Waverly House in honor of it.

(He said we should call our house The Chippendale house instead. Obviously!)

Don't know why... the print just appeals to me!?!
(Maybe the fretwork pattern reminds me of a honeycomb pattern, which makes me think of yellow jackets,  thus subconsciously bringing out my inner allegiance to our alma mater, Georgia Tech, which is why I always like to use it around the house? Hmmmm.)

I seem to put the fabric everywhere I can...

I even recovered Evie's little rocking chair
in the Waverly Moss color a few years ago.

And check out our butts!
Actually, check out the fabric that is underneath our butts...
I gave a few yards of the fabric to my mom and she put it on her porch swing pillow too.

Raise your hand if you think Mom should quit  trying to be a decorator.
(Chris secretly wants to throw his hand in the air.)

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE(S)

Isn't bedtime great?

That feeling of the day slowing down, you have (most of) your daily chores completed (ha!), and some semblance of calm (sort of) settles over the house.

In my opinion, the only thing that can beat the bedtime feeling is that special golden hour right before bedtime.   In our house, that means it's play time/bath time/snuggle time!

Or play-the-drums-on-your-brother's-head time.
A play category unto itself.

They like to rehash their day with a conversation all their own.
"Dude, I hear your class has banana snacks tomorrow.
I'm gonna have to get in on that action."

Seriously, how cute is this?
I imagine these conversations will change as they get older.
I foresee these discussions evolving into a strategic planning session
where they plot to stage a revolution and overthrow
their repressive parental establishment.
Sleep with one eye open, momma and dadda!

The only revolution this guy is plotting involves a diaper explosion.
That smell can make a person surrender pretty quick.

Ahhhh-ha! I spy a yummy  foot!

Toes or thumb? Thumb or toes? I can't decide!

The big toe is by far the tastiest of all the toes.
There is a very particular and delicate balance of flavors
that must be considered in the proper toe-chewing selection process.

Nom nom nom nom nom.

Can I chew on your toes too?

Help, momma! She's trying to eat my toes!

In other non-baby-cannibals-eating-each-other's-toes news:
We recently learned that Evie will have a solo in her upcoming school program! (A solo! As in ALL BY HERSELF! Yikes!)

It took us a few conversations to determine what song exactly she will be singing, as she told us a different one every time we asked. Finally, she explained that she will be singing "You are My Sunshine."

We've practiced a lot since this video, but this was one of the first times she sang it for me:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy, when skies are grey

You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
So please don't take my sunshine away

Please keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for our Little Miss Sunshine. She's not one to back down from a challenge- especially a challenge that involves her making noise(!) -  but I'm hoping a case of stage fright doesn't keep her from performing.  This school program has the makings of a learning experience for all of us!!

I think THIS Berenstain Bears book is a good bedtime book for tonight!