WWW - Wednesday's Weekend Wrap-Up

I realize it is already Wednesday and I am just now posting about the weekend.  It has been busy around here (what else is new right?) and I have some sort of cold/allergy thing that is doing it's best to knock me out.  Last weekend we planted a small garden on the side of our house.  Chatty loved helping with it.  We planted tomatoes, cilantro, basil, cucumbers and jalapeno peppers.  Can you tell we love homeade salsa around here?  If it works we are going to plant another one in the fall.

My little Gardener

That evening we had a pedicure session at home.  Bia has been obsessed with "painted nails" for a long time so after her bath I painted hers, Chatty's and my toenails.  She was so good for it and didn't want to cover them up the next day with socks and tennis shoes (PS- that is not a spot on my rug - I think it is a shadow from something)!

I haven't figured out why Chatty always seems to have her mouth open

Tomorrow I will post a few pics from our "photography session" - amazingly we got a few decent shots.   

Random Ramblings

I really don't have anything fabulous to talk about just some random things ...

1. My good friend is having an awesome giveaway on her blog check it out here - cute aprons from Etsy!  Go check it out but remember I need the apron (even if I am on a baking hiatus!).
2. Coco and I can't figure out why mom's let their little girls have long stringy hair.  Especially in the summer when they swim - ick!  Yes Mom - now I realize why you kept my unruly/curly/smelly (yes it smelled and I never wanted to wash it) hair short as a child
3. Some lady who smelled like cloves got on the treadmill next to me the other day and I about died - I couldn't get done quick enough!
4. I am going to a Women's Retreat at church tomorrow.  I am not sure what to expect but I hope I am not one of the only young women there.  I keep having dreams that it is me and all of the Grannys!  Overall I think it should be a good experience (plus it means a kid free day).
5. I am annoyed that it is taking so freakin long to find out about the position I was asked (by the hiring manager) to apply for
6. Bia looks like Albert Einstein's daughter when she wakes up in the morning.  No exaggeration there at all - it is funny and a little scary all at the same time.  Note to self - document it with a photo!
7. Chatty started a basketball skills class last night.  I asked her if she was any good and of course she said yes.  Her daddy said he would buy her a new basketball so they could practice together.
8. The girls had their annual checkups on Monday.  Chatty is in the 90% for height and weight (a little like her mom) and Bia is in the 50% for height and weight (which is a major improvement from previous years).
9. Bia told me this morning I had a very big booty.  I told her that wasn't very nice to say.
10. Chatty wrote all of her own thank you notes this year (I wrote a template and she copied it).  I am not sure if my 84 year old Mam-ma will be able to read her writing or not!

I guess that's it ... have a good weekend

Party Time

A quick little recap of the girls' birthday party ... all of the kids seemed to enjoy themselves and Mr. ESPN and I enjoyed the fact that we didn't have to clean up after everyone left.  We had the party at our local train park.  Casey - Jack would love it!  For an extremely reasonable price you can rent the party train car for 1.5 hours.  The staff plays games with the kids, feeds them cake and ice cream, takes them for a ride on the train and also a ride on the carousel.  Pretty good deal.  Plus after it was over all the kids played on the playground for another 30 minutes.  So here are a few pictures ..

First off cupcakes - I made grass cupcakes with little soccer balls.

The sign in the Party Train Car

The Parachute Game

Bia and her buddy A taking a break

The Big kids playing Tug-O-War

Chatty and her buddy L were excited about winning

Her buddy S looks beat in this picture

Time for cake and ice cream

My girls love cake!

Time for the train, both Chatty and Bia elected to sit by

two of their favorite boys - S and S

After the ride they got to sit in the conductor's seat for a photo

When we arrived home we found this ...

and this ... (she gets that look from me) 

Look Who's 6

Six years ago (yesterday - yeah I am that kind of mom - a day late and a dollar short - but better late than never) I became a mom. It was Easter Sunday and two and half weeks before my due date when Chatty decided to make her arrival. We were watching the Master's on the television at the hospital and Chatty made her dad happy by waiting to make her debut until after Phil Mickelson holed out on the 18th to win his first major (yes every milestone in our lives seems to have a sports tie in; Mark McGwire broke the homerun record they day we got married - it's fate I tell you)! Although she tries my patience on a regular basis she is a loving, independent, stubborn, talkative girl and I wouldn't want her any other way! Chatty your dad and I love you more than anything!

2 Days Old

Baptism 1.5 mths Old

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

(a little blurry-my first attempt at cake decorating)

4th Birthday

(the kids decorated their own cupcakes)

5th Birthday Picture

(didn't have any good ones from the actual day)

6th Birthday

(please disregard the fact that my pentagons aren't all the same size)

3rd/6th Birthday Party Pics coming up this week!

Tis the Season

for this:

Yep that's right - tis the season for rattlesnakes!  Mr. ESPN just sent me this picture taken from our front door.  I can't even explain how freaked out I am (it is mere feet from our front door)!  Yes I know I live in the desert and this is part of life here - but they freak me out.  Mr. ESPN tried to run it over when it went in the street but missed (the visions I have from this are like a bad comedy skit) and the snake ventured over to our neighbors' front yard!

I am a day late on Chatty's birthday post but will try to get to it tonight, if I quit freaking out about the snake and dreaming he is inside my house! 

Hey Good Lookin' What you Got Cookin?

It should say What you Got Bakin' - 48 cupcakes, 12 mini cupcakes and a soccer ball cake was bakin' last night.  I also whipped up a double batch of butter cream frosting and tinted it pink and green.  Sounds like an exciting Thursday night at the ESPN household.  And guess what I will be doing tonight?  Frosting all of those bad boys and hopefully not licking too much frosting off my fingertips (sooo fattening!).  As if that wasn't enough excitement for a Thursday evening I mopped the floor and then proceeded to try and find outfits for our family for pictures tomorrow. 

Yes we had the bright idea of doing family pictures tomorrow before the party.  I found stuff for everyone to wear in the family except me - what else is new?  So that means in addition to my frosting duties and grocery shopping this afternoon, I need to find a shirt that is either navy, yellow or green so I look like I belong with the people who live in my house!  Bia told me this morning "No want picture taken" - lovely!  We told her and Chatty that we will stay and take pictures until we get good ones even if it means missing their birthday party (yes we are those kind of parents).  I even told Chatty to start practicing her smile (she has this goofy, constipated looking, fake grin that Mr. ESPN and I hate).  Needless to say I may get a note home from her teacher telling me that she couldn't concentrate in class because she was too busy practicing her smile so she could make it to her own party on time. 

If my children listen as well as they usually do it will be a doozy of a session tomorrow!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly aka Easter 2010

We had lots of activities this past weekend (what else is new?).  We also had lots of melt downs as evidenced here:

Why this melt down occurred?  Who knows - maybe because she is 3 and is just like her mom and wants everything HER way?  But low and behold she can snap out of it and be sweet as can be as evidenced here (which was taken approximately 10 minutes later):

Our church had an Easter egg hunt.  Nana and Poppa met us there with Chatty (she spent two lovely nights at their house and proceeded to go through detox the rest of the weekend - it wasn't pretty)

After the egg hunt it was time for cake - we Presbyterians like to eat at any and all social gatherings and we always seem to have sweets (sort of like my southern family) 

Then after several meltdowns on the way home we decided to color Easter eggs (nice Christmas tablecloth huh?)

Note - I ate one of the eggs before we took the picture; Bia was obsessed with green

The Easter bunny brought a few little goodies for the girls but to be honest they both got in trouble before church and the baskets were put away for awhile.  I am telling you it was a painful round of detox and only one had gone to Nana's house.  Chatty told me before church she didn't want to live with me ever again and wanted to live with Nana.  Sadly to say we weren't in the Easter spirit on the way to church.

Once we got to church things seemed to turn around.  The Pastor said something in his sermon about seeing people in Jesus and I turned to Mr. ESPN and said I sure would like to see Jesus in Chatty today.  A couple minutes later she came over and kissed me out of the blue!  He sure works in mysterious ways!  Needless to say we finally got some nice Easter pictures (even if they are posed).

This picture is for Granny - she bought the girls their Easter purses

I was exhausted by the time this picture was taken ... we had FINALLY gotten a good one of the three of us!  And yes Mom - I wore black on Easter Sunday - I tried to find something to wear last week and didn't succeed and this was all I had in my closet.

This week I have to get ready for Chatty's birthday and the girls' joint birthday party.  Guess what that means?  Yep - decorating another cake and cupcakes!