2 Little Monkeys Climbing in the Tree

The girls discovered that they could climb the big magnolia tree in the backyard yesterday. We had beautiful weather for tree-climbing and my "monkeys" took full advantage.

We have a playdate this morning so I have to cut this short.

Enjoy the pics! Ash is the first pic/Anna is the second.

Sunday Six

I have a tendency to procrastinate when doing the Sunday Six, so I thought I would go ahead and do it now while I'm thinking about it. So here we go...

1. What is an Oscar?

Ash: You get something you like and don't like.

Anna: It has a garden eagle on it.

2. How many times is an Oscar given out each year?

Ash: lots
Anna: 20 + 8

3. What Movie should win Best Picture this year?

Ash: Pinocchio

Anna: McDonald's

4. Name some actors that should win an Oscar.

Ash: Mommy & Daddy
Anna: Spirit & John & Max & Captain

5. What does Oscar look like?

Ash: Like a fish

Anna: Like a cheetah eagle

6. What should you wear to the Oscars?

Ash: My Ariel dress

Anna: A handsome suit

Oh my heart...

Ashlyn has really loved playing "princess dress up" lately. And both girls love dancing with each other. We have been watching this ballroom dancing show on PBS on Wednesdays that the girls LOVE. So Ashlyn decided she wanted to dance with her Daddy the other night with her Ariel wedding gown on. I just couldn't help but tear up a little watching them dance. My mind did a fast-forward to her wedding day - AUGH! Anyway, I grabbed the camera and took this sweet picture. I look forward to showing it to everyone at her wedding.

Just because...

We spent part of the afternoon outside today in Middle Tennessee's beautiful weather (high of 70 degrees today - crazy). I took a few random shots that turned out pretty cute. I have absolutely nothing profound to say today so I'll just let the photos do the talking. We just got this new basketball goal last night at a local consignment sale - got a GREAT deal on it. The girls love it and were practicing their menacing blocking faces. I was trying to be artistic and take the photos at an angle - didn't turn out too bad. Anna is the first pic and Ash is the second. Enjoy!

Bowling Beauties

Hmmm....What ever can we do when it is SO cold outside and we have cabin fever????? Why - let's go bowling! And that is exactly what we did. We had a great time and the girls thought it was "cool". The nice teenage boys next to us even let the girls use their "pretty/handsome" red and blue swirly ball - so sweet.

And - funny enough - they both ended up with the same score - a 61. I thought that was very interesting considering they are twins.

So here are a few pics of our little Queen Pins. Anna is in green and Ash is in yellow.

How Do I Love Thee....

I have a WONDERFUL husband. Yes - he was not too thrilled at all when I lightly suggested (okay - I brow-beat him into submission) that we take the girls out in the snow yesterday, but we made our way outside because he knew how much the girls would like it.

Chris is not a "cold" fan - at all. The boy grew up in Ohio where there was plenty of snow during the winter and - frankly - he would prefer to never see a bit of snow again. This is the same guy that will literally bake himself in the sun without getting anywhere near a pool. When we went on our last cruise I don't think he ever touched the water - seriously. I, however, make up for this lack of H20 interaction by jumping in the water every 5 minutes - at least! Momma does NOT like to be hot!

Anyway, we wrapped up the kiddies and ourselves and hit the yard. The girls had a GREAT time making snowballs (which Ashlyn proceeded to eat) and helping Daddy make the most pitiful snowman ever seen. It is so ugly it is cute - kinda like E.T.

10 on Tuesday

1. I have a lovely sore throat from all this drainage (aren't you glad I shared). I don't really feel that bad - it is more uncomfortable than anything.

2. The girls had their Valentine's Day parties at school today. I was an idiot and agreed to be in charge of Anna's class's party so had to do all that prep work as well as bake for Ashlyn's party (they are in different classes).

3. Since the girls had their parties they didn't have their "quiet/nap" time they usually do for that last hour of pre-school. So now they are exhausted from the day's activities, but have one heck of a sugar high from all the party goodies. You know what that makes them - hyper, whiny, fussy, fighting little girls. Lovely!

4. I took our new camera to the parties to get some cute pics of their classes. Unfortunately I forgot the memory card for the camera. AUGH!

5. I haven't worked out in two days and I feel it. I was doing REALLY well there for a few weeks and now I feel like a bit of a slacker. Maybe I can try to get on the treadmill tonight. Yeah, right - I'll probably fall asleep on the couch at 8:30pm again.

6. Oops - forgot I have a meeting for the Homeowner Association's Social Committee tonight. The word is "no" Shelley - learn it, live it, try to say it every once in a while.

7. Still have LOTS to tag for POTATO's upcoming consignment sale. I need to get on that. Maybe I can finish that this weekend.

8. Ha! My hubby always laughs when I say I'm going to do something "this weekend" as it usually means I'll never get to it or will wait til the last minute on Sunday.

9. I think I'm going to attempt to put the critters down for a nap. I may nap with them. Sounds like a plan.

10. Dang it! No nap for me - I have too much laundry to do. Unless we decide to go naked the rest of the week. Hmmmm....might be worth it.

Be My Valentine

As many of you know, I am nowhere near as crafty as Martha Stewart. Shoot - I bet they wouldn't even let me buy the Martha magazine in Kroger.

Anyway, I really wanted to do something cute for the girls' Valentine's Day parties at preschool so I went on an internet hunt for some cute, easy-to-make Valentine's Day cards for thier classes. I found the perfect homemade "cards" and proceeded to cut out a bazillion (ok - more like 64) little hearts and made them into Valentine's Day flowers that hold suckers.

Here's how they turned out!

Stuff Portrait Friday - Something Red

I wasn't feeling too creative today. I think I've caught Anna's cold and am in a NyQuil-induced fog. Anyway, this little man was the first red thing that came into view. It is a "superhero" from Anna's birthday cake. It is actually a Power Ranger, but to Anna he will always just be a Superhero. It is so fun watching the girls make new discoveries each day of what they like and dislike. Interesting how two little girls that look SO much alike can be SO different. Ah - the joy of twins.

10 on Tuesday

Just some random thoughts going through my crazy brain this dreary Tuesday morning...

1. Anna is SO whiny this morning. She has a runny nose and just doesn't feel "right". I don't think she's that sick, but something about a runny nose just makes anyone feel bad. Hopefully this Motrin Cold will kick in soon.

2. Had my POTATO meeting last night. We had LOTS of new members/new mommies there and it was odd knowing I was one of the few "veterans" in the group. I could have sworn I just attended my first meeting a couple months ago (actually a little over 4 years ago).

3. I have been doing really well at working out, but I have a feeling I'm going to have a hard time working one in today with Little Miss Whiny and Mini Fast Forward (Ashlyn) around.

4. I taped Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars last night and am hoping I can sneak off from the critters sometime today to start watching them.

5. I went to the Orthopedic Hand Doctor yesterday morning and found out I don't have arthritis (yeah), but I do have tendinitis in both joints of my thumb. He gave me a steroid shot (ouch!)and a funky little brace called an Oval 8. It keeps me from moving my thumb too much. The doctor told me I was "way too young to have arthritis". It was all I could do to stop myself from jumping onto his lap and giving him a huge hug for that little comment.

6. I had lunch with my hubby after my doctor's appt. yesterday. It was nice being in the land of people over 3 foot tall and we had a nice time. We don't get to do that very often without the critters.

7. I printed out some pics of the girls in the snow last week and am hoping to do some scrapbook pages this weekend however....

8. ...I REALLY have to start tagging my stuff for the POTATO consignment sale. I will probably be selling more this year than before and I know I need to get going. Chris is going to have to haul a few more boxes/crates/furniture out of the attic so I can get this done.

9. My parents are coming in this weekend to do some house-sitting for an ex-boss of mine. It is always good to have them here as they are always a big help and the girls adore having them around.

10. That reminds me, I need to start my "handy-man" list for my Dad for stuff to do around the house...I wonder if adding a deck to our backyard would be a little too much to ask....hmmmm.

11. I just realized it is actually Wednesday so this is a day late. Oh well - Eleven on Wednesday - maybe I'll start a new blogging trend. HA!

New Scrapbook Page layouts

I haven't taken much time to scrapbook lately, but I did gradually work on two layouts last week. It actually took me a week and a half to complete them both, but when you only take about 10-15 minutes of time each day then you don't finish things as quickly as you would like.

I had these pics of the girls and a few of their friends all taking their first train ride. The girls had a great time and I knew I wanted to do a page for each of their books. I had a heck of a time finding paper, but finally found some cute train paper at the local scrapbook store that was closing (sad).

Plus I knew I wanted to make some sort of train on the page but wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. I just bought some Fiskar cutting system templates and have been thoroughly enjoying those, so I decided to use those pieces and make my own train.

Here are the results.

Snow Bunnies

Ah -my beloved snow was on the ground this morning...

And my girls feel they are personally responsible for the area having all this beautiful snow. To quote, "Mommy, we did it! We made it snow! I knew it!" Yes - my little weather makers were quite thrilled to see all the white stuff on the ground this morning. We waited til about 9am and then ventured out after putting enough clothes on the girls that they looked like the poor little brother in The Christmas Story movie. I'm truly surprised they were able to bend their elbows or knees.

Anna - true to form - was not real thrilled with how messy the snow made her shoes, but soon got over it and jumped right into making snowballs and throwing them at mommy. Ashlyn realized VERY quickly that snow tasted pretty good and Mommy made sure there weren't any yellow spots in the soon-to-be-eaten snow areas - ICK!

Here are a few pics of the girls. Ash is in pink and Anna is in blue.