HAPPY SPRING!

I think we can declare Old Man Winter officially gone. It has been downright summer-y around here lately!

The azaleas are poppin' around here!

But pain is beauty and beauty is pain, right?
The pollen has been KILLER this spring. Momma had a sinus infection that
kept us inside for a few days..

That's okay though... because while avoiding the pollen, we've been checking out the new gypsy tent that Momma made for Evie.

Whoa!! Flashing some plumber's crack!
That's one side effect of potty training -
the pants don't fit quite like they used to with a puffy diaper.

Double Whoa!! I see where she gets it from!
(ha... Dadda is gonna kill me when he sees this!)

 

I wasn't sure whether I should add a window to the side for Evie to peek out of... I love this fabric pattern, so I didn't want to cut a hole in it!

I asked Abbott's opinion on the matter, but he didn't seem to care.

As long as he's fed, warm, and can find his fist/thumb to chew,
he doesn't really care about much at all!
HAPPY boy!

HAPPY SPRING Y'ALL!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANDY!

Happy birthday, Grandaddy Neal! 

Or as Evie calls him in toddler talk, "Happy Birthday, Dandy!"  She's getting better at pronouncing Grandaddy, but it now comes out more like Gran-Dandy.

For those of you who actually know my father, feel free to laugh at the nickname. We all know that Mr. Winston R. Neal -- although he is a gentleman extraordinaire, a rugged individual, a bona fide cowboy, a licensed aviator, and a few more (possibly unmentionable) things --   he isn't exactly the first image that pops to mind when you think of the dandiest person you know. "Dandy" is so very not appropriate for my father, that it just makes it all the more hilarious that his granddaughter calls him that.

This weekend we traveled down to celebrate Gran-Dandy's birthday. 

And he gave us something in return: our little girl has a fully diagnosed case of airplane fever after taking a ride in Gran-Dandy's airplane.   It's most definitely genetic, although the same fever hit me a little bit later in life.

This may be the first time a frilly pink tutu has been considered acceptable aviator attire.
Or maybe not. You never can tell about those silly pilots these days.

"See, Uncle Battle? I'm going to sit there and you're going to sit there."

Sassy little pilot!

Abbott is so excited about his very first plane ride.
Can't you tell?

"Y'all strap in back there! This could get bumpy!"

"Um, Mom? They do know what they're doing, right?"

A view of the runways after taking off.

We checked out some of Grandaddy's cows.
(The cows would be those teensy little black dots
in the middle of the grassiest area - the light green rectangle.)

Different angle, same cows.
Grandaddy was showing his passengers  the skill
it takes to orbit a plane around a fixed point.

She was silent for a while after we landed and taxied the plane back to the hangar. (I was a little worried that the silence meant she was getting airsick, but she proved me wrong.)  The minute we opened the door, she got out and turned to look at us and proclaimed, "Evie's a pilot!"

Kissing Abbott after a safe landing!!

LITTLE EINSTEINS

Spring is springing, our chickens are laying, and the little people in this house... well, they are getting bigger. Much bigger.

We're going BANANAS around here!
And of course, Momma had to make the silly FEED ME!! face that served absolutely no purpose, since little man wasn't even facing the right direction to see it. His big sister had sweet potatoes for her first food, but our little monkey received a serving of mashed bananas for his first "meal."
Hey, monkey see, monkey do!

Miss Priss decided you're never too old to try to climb in your brother's  exersaucer.
And then she got stuck trying to get out.
So she decided she was too big to climb in her brother's  exersaucer again.

My how time flies so fast and furious. In just a blink of an eye, we've gone from this... 

To this... 

Our little Abbott has been with us for four months now. Although it doesn't sound that long, we can't remember life without him!!

FUN WITH LETTERS

Evie and I sat down to play with her alphabet blocks earlier tonight. After she informed me multiple times that "E" is for Evie ... and for Elmo...  and for Elephant, we decided to spell out Abbott's name just to throw some variety in our all-about-the-E-spelling bee.

This was too good of a photo opportunity to pass up, and luckily the little man was in a happy and very giggly mood... so here are the results!

Not to be outdone by the 3-month old,  his big sister requested her own photo shoot.... but in typical 2-year old fashion, she wouldn't stop talking, wiggling, being distracted, or making faces.  

So, these pictures capture her personality perfectly!!

"It's MY name, Momma!"

"Smile, Evie!"
"No."
"Please? Pretty please?"

"Oh, okay!"

"See momma? It's MY name!"

FUTURE JAVELIN THROWER?

Or maybe a long jumper? Or triple jumper? Heptathlon?

Either way, our little lady is willing to run down a runway.

Especially a runway made out of pink bubble wrap.

Pretty good form on the run-up so far...

Ahhh... Nope, she lost concentration and looked down at her feet.
Your eyes should be looking out towards the sector, little lady.

Going back for another round.

Really fast run-up this time...
here comes the speed demon!

Good form!
But don't look at Dadda!
(well, unless you plan on throwing the javelin at him.)

Dude, I gotta call my agent about this chick.

WHY I WEIGH 500 LBS....

Because it's "Happy Valentine's Day!"

And I'm not 500 lbs. Not yet, at least. If I keep eating this way, I will be soon.

I went on a baking binge last night. "E-bie's Momma" signed up to bring cupcakes to Evie's Valentine's Day party at school.

Which meant I went overboard and made 24 red velvet and cream cheese icing cupcakes, PLUS an entire red velvet and cream cheese cake to bring into my office, AND 24 cupcake-sized rice krispie treats. Because... well, just because.

To say we have had a sugar high in our house in an understatement.

Oh, yeah. And with Dove chocolates.
Because all that sugar needed more sugar on top.

I'm very happy Valentine's Day only comes once a year.
But who are we kidding? I'd have one of these every day if possible.

The tower of confections.

Not the most polished icing writing I've ever done,
but I was playing with some new Wilson icing
tips to see what would happen.
I didn't hear my coworkers complain when I brought it in!

These were Evie's Valentine's to her classmates and family. 
Yup, the idea was copied straight off of Pinterest. It was too good not to!!
The Valentine we actually gave to her classmates is in the upper right hand corner. The other pictures were just options that I thought were too good not to print, using captions that fit our little lady's personality.  

Miss Priss on Valentine's Day morning.

Wearing her momma's pink bathrobe...
because, well just because she wanted to.

I'm off to crack open a bottle of the bubbly with the hubby...
because, well just because I want to. 

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!!!