Big Yellow Bus - And One Lonely Little Girl

Hattie boarded the big yellow bus this morning. And as happy as she was to be on that bus, well, that is about how sad Sophie was to watch her go.

Here is how it all went down:

Waiting for the bus


This shot clearly shows how she feels about having her picture taken!



Finally!!!!


And away she goes!



And here is Sophie waiting for her sister to come home :(

Kinda breaks the heart, huh!

The BIG Day ...

***Please excuse the quality of the potos in this post. It was dark in the house, the camera was acting up and I was being rushed by a certain, VERY handsome, man that needed to go to work "AS SOON AS WE ARE DONE!!!". Also, just kinda ignore the big pile o' shoes behind Hattie in the house shot. Thanks:) ***

Hattie is a school girl once again. And no one is happier than she is! In fact, because we were only at school for an orientation today, she was very disappointed that she did not get to stay. Here is our morning in pictures (oh yeah, ya knew the pics were coming!!) ...

My big girl, all ready to go!


This was followed by a tad bit of sadness that she had to ride in the car and not the bus!! But Daddy made the car a fun experience so it was all OK soon enough.


"OK, School, here I am ... let the fun begin!!"


The long walk in.



Sophie is none too happy about the prospect of not having her sis around all day :(



Headin' off to class, she knew JUST where we were going (her classroom from last year) and wanted to do it all on her own.


Here we are!!!


Of course, once we got inside I forgot all about the camera, so I have no pics with her teachers. STINK!!

We had our meeting, filled out the papers and it was time to go. I told Hattie to say good bye and she said "goodbye mom". No, no, no ... you are coming with mommy. Tell Ms MaryAnn see you tomorrow. "See ya tomorrow mom, I love you".

Well, at least she loves me.

By the way, my friend SuperModel is now a blogger!!! YAY! She let me help her make her page pretty. Yep, designed it all by my own little self! Then she helped me tweak the colors and VOILA! I am LOVING putting these blogs together and learning something new. Anyone else want one? I am thinking, if I get real good at it, of using it as a way to offset the adoption costs and get us back above water. What do ya think?

What A Weekend

We had a lovely weekend. Three whole days with Daddy home always makes the mommy a happy camper, and that sentiment seems to be felt by the girlies as well. Which also makes the mommy a happy camper. A happy-er camper, if you will!

Saturday was mostly a work day - getting the yard ready for Sophie's b-day party this coming weekend, laundry, cleaning, etc... However, Hubby did manage to have a date with his girl. He took Hattie on a few of his errands and then took her for a milkshake and playdate at McDonald's. She LOVED it, as always, and I think Daddy enjoyed it himself. I love that he will be the first dates that our girls will have. He is teaching them how they should be treated by a man and respected on a date and I love that they are learning from the best. He is such a great dad!!!! AND a great husband. We are, all three, lucky girls!

Saturday evening we had family fun time and stayed up a little later than we intended. We have been working to get Hattie ready for school hours and had spent the week getting her up earlier and earlier so that she would go down earlier as well. And in one day we ruined it. On Sunday, as is a rare occasion, Hubby and I had nothing to do at church. Neither of us was up for worship team or sound or drama or ANYTHING! So, we decided to go to second service, which means sleeping in! However, BOTH girls also slept in and we ALL woke up too late for even second service!!!!!! OOPS! How often does that happen? Never, I tell ya!

Saturday evening we went to Aunt Weezer's house for a pool party. The girls LOVE the pool in a very big way. However, Hattie does not like going under water. After doing so she attempted to climb to the top of my head to avoid the water all together. She eventually decided that the steps were OK - as long as everybody left her alone. Sophie swam like a champ though, even went under water a few times and it was all OK. After a rousing game of water volleyball, in which hubby was the conquering hero (as always), mommy got to enjoy a rousing game of 31/Blitz. Usually they play for quarters, but they must have been feeling a bit rich, cause they went for DOLLARS this time. I had to borrow my three dollars from Madison ... an 8Th grader!!! However, I did win!!! After giving Madison her $3 back, I walked away with EIGHTEEN DOLLARS! Oh, friends, that is a haircut (with my trusty coupon)!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!

Suddenly it was almost 10 o'clock and, again, the girls were still up! Oops. So we took 'em home and straight to bed! And they both - which means all of us - slept in again Monday morning! As nice as it was, I was worried about the whole school thing! However, after another work/play day, we went to Weezer's house AGAIN and swam in the pool AGAIN. So, two times in Weezer's pool and two times I forgot the camera. Good job mom! However, Weezer (AKA Melissa) IS our family photographer, so she had us covered!!!! However, she is old school and works with FILM instead of digital, so we have to wait for development! Ugh!!!

We did have the girls in bed by 8:30 last night, and in some strange twist of fate, they both woke up early this morning, so we are back on schedule for school starting tomorrow!!!! Oh, who am I kidding with the "twist of fate" thing. It is an act of God - who cares about even the small things! Thank You Lord, for Your awesomeness!!!! Oh, the love and mercy You bring! We are so very Blessed!

Pictures are coming soon!!!

Picture Perfect Monday - My Little Buggie

In honor of Sophie's first birthday on Friday, today's PPM post is all about the Bug!!!


Sophie likes fish ...

... neck nibbles from Daddy ...

... playing with sis ...

... and being Mommy's helper.

(She's also pretty cute - even when she cries!!)

Summer Fun Contest

Kristen over at We Are That Family is having a summer wrap up contest. Ya link to your favorite summer fun - or summer gone awry - post and there are door prizes etc...

Here is a link to the post that I entered, it was a great day!
If you have a fun summer post to share, go see Kristen

Last Days Of Quiet

We are having a pajama day here at the B** Manor. One of the last we will be having for a while. Our pajama days are numbered my friends. Numbered!

See, Hattie goes back to school next week. An event that we do NOT plan to take lightly. Because, as you may remember, our girl's first day of school got a little less fan fair than it deserved last year. For good reason, might I add. It seems that our Miss Sophie made her debut into the world on the same day.

Oh, we have pictures of her seeing her classroom and meeting her teacher and they are sweet. But her first time on the bus? Her first time coming home with her little back pack filled to the brim? Mommy in a puddle on the front lawn the first time that big 'ol bus drove away with her baby in it?

Yeah, we got NONE of that!

Which, as I said is understandable. But try to explain that to a little girl who wants to know where all of the school pics are. Oh, the pressure of being a mom.

It is rough.

And pretty great too!

Wouldn't trade it for the world!!!

But, back to today ...

We are having a pajama day. Because, well, they are fun. And the girls get to take it easy, which is good for them. And they are happy lying (laying?) around watching movies and reading stories and having tickle sessions. And they enjoy it. Plus, add to all of that the fact that I am just plain lazy and having a day where I get to hang out and enjoy my girlies and not worry about make up and hair products is pretty much a preview of Heaven for me! Everybody wins!!!!!!

So, in summation:
Today - pajama day ... FUN!!

7 Days from now - Hattie goes to school

9 Days from now - Sophie turns ONE YEAR OLD (and, ohhh, there will be a post THAT day!!!)

10 Days from now - LUAU to celebrate Sophie's big day and her adoption!!!

(all of this plus, in 8 days I get to have a date with my man to see STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I mention the preview of Heaven? Cause, yeah, I am pretty sure that when he gets there some poor angel in the choir is gonna be looking for a new gig!!!)

Ohhhhhh, we also dressed up like pirates today ...


... ARRRRRGGGHHH!!!!!

(of couse Hattie refused to pose ... hmmm, maybe THAT's why we have no good pics from last year!!!)

'

Picture Perfect Monday - Stop The CLock!!!

So, in 11 days, my baby will be a year old ...





... please forgive me as I submerge myself in memories and try to stop the clock.


(yeah, she is growing up ... so much joy, and yet ... STINK!!!)

In A Tight Spot

Last summer when my Mom was here we did a LOT of shopping. The biggest task was to get Hattie's new big girl room ready so that her old room could be used for the nursery for the new baby. We were just beginning to feel confident that we were going to get to adopt Kim's baby, whom we knew was a girl. A girl we named Sophie Lee. So we set out to give Hattie a room to fit her personality and celebrate all she is!!!

One day, while we were shopping Hattie spotted a little something in Babies-R-Us that she wanted. And I do mean a LITTLE something. And my mom, being the overindulging Grandma that we all know and love, bought it for her.

That "little something" was a kangaroo Halloween costume.

We looked for it in her size, but the biggest we could find was a 6 month size. SIX MONTHS!!! Sophie - under EXTREME protest from Hattie, wore it for all of 10 minutes on Halloween. Just long enough to take the picture above. Since then (and even before then) Hattie has taken full ownership of the stinking thing.

And then today we were hanging out having a "pajama day" - one of those days when we go nowhere and do nothing ALL DAY LONG! It is one of our favorite things to do!!! (The only thing better than PJ Friday, is PJ Saturday - when Daddy can join us!!) Sophie was down for a nap and Hattie was amusing herself and I was working on a project for church (ps - writing a short version of your own testimony is H.A.R.D!!). Suddenly, Hattie came up to me and asked for help. She was trying to put the kangaroo costume on! She had her feet in it and wanted help getting her arms in.

I giggled and tried to explain that it was too small for her, that it was for a baby and she was a big girl. I told her I could not help her because there was no way she was gonna get the costume on.

A few minutes later she came up asking for help again. This time her arms were in (creating a wedgie to be reckoned with!!!) and she wanted help putting her head in. Again I told her it was too small and I could not help her. Undaunted, she just kept trying, and eventually got her head stuck half in and half out. As I was trying to get her head OUT, she found an opportunity to put it all the way IN. She was so proud that she started dancing around and I fell on the floor laughing. Here is what I saw ...


And THIS is how proud of herself she was ...


Then I asked her to show me her tail ...


I think my favorite part - other than the fact that she is sticking her little hiney straight up in the air - is the nightie sticking out of the back.

On a side note, Steve called in the middle of all of this and I was laughing so hard it took about ten minutes to explain - in a language that he could understand - what was happening!!

I am still CRYING from laughing so hard!





Aaaaaaaahhhhhh, I LOVE this girl!

Picture Perfect Monday - A Ride In The Park ...

... or at least the subdivision!!!

So on Saturday Hubby fixed the tires on all of the bikes and the trailer, so we put the new helmets on the girls ...



... and we took us a little ride around the neighborhood so we could see all of this...




... but, really, for Hattie to be content, all we really have to do is BE outside!!

Olympic Thoughts

Here are a few thoughts on the Olympics - these are the viewpoints of the writer and the writer alone, and do not necessarily represent the views of the blog administrator ('cause, the writer, she has been up to all hours all week trying to watch the stinkin' Olympics, and is liable to go on a tangent!!!).

First of all - the opening ceremonies. I know that everyone is talking about how spectacular they were. I don't get it. At one point I looked at hubby and told him they coulda saved millions by just painting a wall and letting us watch it dry. The only parts of the ceremonies that I enjoyed - the fireworks and the little girl singing - turned out to be LIES!!!!!!!! Fireworks - superimposed into the picture (not quite sure how that worked, but that's what I have heard), and the little girl - lip syncing. 'Cause some foolio in the Chinese government decided that the girl who actually sang it was not cute enough ... WHAT?!?!?!?!?! Oh, don't get me started!

Gymnastics - I so wish I would have taken stock out in the Goody hair product company. Because, clearly, if the gymnasts of the world have anything to say about it, this ...
... is the next big hair trend. And the more the better - seriously, how many of these can one "sixteen year old" gymnast get on her tiny head?!?!?!

SIXTEEN?!?!?!?!?!?! -

ummm, yeah, sure. And the "cute" girl sang too, right?

Gymnastic scoring - First of all, I don't understand it - I miss the perfect 10 (GO MARY LOU!!! - who, 24 years and four kids later, is still rockin' ... and BUFF!!!). Second of all, let's just say that it's a good thing Nastia won, cause I was ready to go kick some judge tushies!!! In all my "1 o'clock in the morning and I am STILL up watching the Olympics" glory!!!

Heroes - I have two, so far, in these games:
First off, this person ...

Nope, not Michael (although, ummm, WOW!!!!!), but his mom!!!! I LOVE to watch this woman watch her son. She ROCKS!!!!!

and then there's THIS lady ...

Dara Torres - 41 years old and she gets two silver medals (the first, she missed the gold by one/100th of a second!!! AND, she was older than the gold and bronze medalists COMBINED!!!!!). PLUS - before the final, one of the other girls ripped her suit and Dara asked the officials to wait for her and TOLD the other girls that they would ALL be waiting for her to get ready. 'Cause, ya know, she is a mom and can talk to these children that way!!! LOVE HER!!!

There ya have it. My thoughts. I am sure there will be more, but I gotta get ready for church.

Have a great Lord's day!!!!!!

Praise Him LOUD!