Muddy Pictures

Lauren has the hat on backwards, cherry chapstick smeared all over her face and no pants. She just danced and danced.


Lilly bear is so happy.


Keith after working so hard all day in the yard.

The girls getting into their sandbox.


Brand new sandbox Keith made.


After all the rain we had lately, the big puddles were bound to come back. Lilly wandered (supervised) to the very back edge of our yard and splashed around. I decided to go ahead and let both girls play in the water. It was a warm day and clothes can be washed.













Toothy-smile Lil
Lilly playing dress up in Lauren's old Lil' Dolly dress from Grandma Jo.
She woke up so happy, of course! Those are Grandpa Swartz's eyes! (And Uncle Kurt's red hair.)
Being goofy with Daddy after a bath.
I got the girls some "tattoos" out of a vending machine at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Lilly got the "fighting hellfish." Okay, it was a glittery fish but I like calling it the "fighting hellfish" after the Simpson's episode.
Grammy and Lauren swinging in the backyard.
The gazebo were Keith proposed to me. It is prettier at Christmas with its tree and sparkling lights.
The girls and I washed the car on the first nice day of last week. They still don't know what to make of it. I told them it was a bath for the car and oohed and aahed over the bubbles and water but they were still a little freaked.

The sheep farm that is about a quarter of a mile down the road from our house. We always "baa" at the sheep as we go by. If there aren't any cars behind me, I will slow down or stop so the girls can get a good look. One day I will stop and ask if we can see them up close.

Pa, Lauren, Lilly and Grammy

Today in Few Words...

Keith and I had a conversation that started out, "You know. As I have gotten older, I notice that when I check out women....." Uh....yeah.

While in the drive through at Uncle Ray's to get frozen yogurt with Grammy, Lilly ripped a very large, rumbly fart. Lauren shouts in disgust, "Lilly farted on me!" ("Farted" came out sounding a little British!) It was really funny.

Our lawn tractor went kurplunk today and Keith had to drive down to his dad's to borrow his trailer and tractor. He took my car. Lilly and Lauren were climbing in the front window and noticed that Mama's car was gone. Lauren started running through the house screaming hysterically, "I lost the car. I lost the car." She did not like that Keith took her car!

We worked in the yard this morning while it was beautiful. The girls played and played while I trimmed the two bushes directly off the deck. I was wearing my heavy duty garden gloves but I am arms have welts all over them and are so itchy and they sting whenever I get water on them. I knew that happens to me but I thought I was completely protected. Ouch. Now I have a reason to avoid them.

The sunshine didn't last and we had a big downpour. So we all ended the afternoon with a nice nap while the storm really kicked up.

Wiggly Time

Okay...it's official! We are going to take the girls to see The Wiggles when they come to The Palace in August. I think I am the most excited one right now. Ridiculous! I think it will be so much fun. Again, ridiculous! It will be for the girls' birthdays. Now, I just have to be patient until August!

Cinderella is Everywhere!!!

By now, if you have learned anything about Lauren then you know how much she LOVES Cinderella! I found this woman on etsy.com (the most fantastic place that consumes almost as much of my time as facebook!) who paints children's clothing. When I saw the Cinderella pants, I knew I had to get them. The price was fairly reasonable, too. She was wonderful to work with. She uses gently worn (sometimes new) clothing. I picked the short sleeve shirt with summer coming up but for the same price, I could have had the long shirt. For the jeans, I told her that Lauren was really skinny and if she had any adjustable waist pants, I would prefer to have those. That is what I got! Size 2T adjustable waist jeans from Old Navy. Those tend to fit Lauren just right! She absolutely adores her new Cinderella outfit and I think I may have to order more for Lilly! Go to www.etsy.com and search Babykid35 or follow this link.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6804858 I just noticed that she has some Snow White, Lion King, Ariel and some really cute bunnies!

And finally, who can forget Miss Lilly? Just like Lauren did when she was Lilly's age, she has found a way to climb into the middle of the easel! Looks like fun!

At my mom's urging, I entered Lilly in the Children's Place/Good Morning America cute baby contest. Lauren is too old now. They would be fools not to pick my sweet, pretty, little Lilly!

Easter and Other Pics

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We did. We started our celebration off Friday and Saturday, since Grammy and Pa came to our house. We had the ever wonderful traditional Mexican feast with enchiladas and tacos. SO YUMMY! On Sunday we headed over to Holt to visit with Nana and Papa and had another delicious meal with them, Gram and Aunt Evie. Here are some pictures.



On the way home from Nana's, the girls finally tuckered out (me too). Lilly had taken her shoes and socks off so I snapped a picture of her cute toes that Grammy painted.

Lauren and Lilly at their best! :)

After Easter dinner, we walked to a school very close to Nana's house to play on all of their awesome playground equipment. I had the greatest time on the slides! Loved it! I think the girls enjoyed it too!
(I swear we fixed Lauren's hat not too long after this!)

This slide was wicked! Look how Lilly is about to fly off the side!
Ready, set, go!
Mama and Lilly on the twisty slide!
Lilly coming out of a tunnel!
Lauren posing!
Lilly in the back ready to go!
Lauren was so excited to go to the playground!
Lilly kept getting tickled by Nana's dog Brady.
Where is Lauren? Under the cushions!
Nana and Lauren.
Daddy and Silly Lilly!
Brady
Aunt Evie and Gram
Nana and Lilly
The girls
She is saying, "What's that?" It was an airplane. She knew it but that is how she draws our attention to it.
Trying to get a picture of the two of the them together.
Lauren and Nana hunting Easter eggs.
Lilly found an egg.
Grammy and Pa leaving our house Saturday. Mom looks like she has had it with the paparazzi.
Pa with his girls.
Grammy and happy Lauren.
Lilly and Pa
I found this at a resale shop. It is brand new. It isn't completely taped together, yet, but you get the idea. I bought two boxes for $30 each. Normally they sell for $99 a box at flor.com. Yeah! Lauren loves her new princess rug!
Pa and Lilly
Miss Lauren
Who's your tiger! That is right, Curtis Granderson! I just wish it was him on the TV, too. Go Tigers!
Last week we finally had a play date at my cousin Rachel's house. It took us way too long to get together. We had a great time!
Bryce, Blake and Lauren eating.
Lauren cuddling a doll.
Cowboy Bryce riding the horse.
Pop Goes the Blake! (He is wearing the tie I made for him.)
LOLO

And finally, today was a rough day. I bundle the girls up and took them to play at Bicentennial Park in Grand Blanc. We love this park. We weren't even there 5 minutes when Lauren fell off the steps climbing up to the slides and hurt her arm. I was so upset! I saw her laying there with her arm in a crazy position and I thought we would have to go directly to the ER. Lilly was mad that we had to leave but neither Lauren or I felt like staying. I moved her arm around and she could bend it at the elbow and wrist so I figured it probably wasn't broken. I decided to take her home and just watch it for awhile. She wasn't using it at all. She wasn't crying but she wouldn't eat or play or even smile. Once the Motrin kicked in, she was much better. Grammy ran down in case I had to take her to the ER but she seems to be doing alright now. I can't believe this happened. It just so happened that there were two other moms with their kids at the park. The one mom had a boy younger than Lilly and he, too, was bundled up. The other three boys were not dressed for the weather. The youngest was probably almost 2 and crying because he was cold. Where was their mom? Sitting in her warm car doing her nails! And MY DAUGHTER IS THE ONE THAT GETS HURT! I watch them like hawks and try to keep them safe but "phone it in" mom does nothing to keep her kids safe! Isn't that how it goes? I'm just relieved that Lauren is okay. I know we have some warm days coming up so we will have to give the park another go...maybe.