and More....

a few more hummingbird pics. For some reason, I wasn't able to upload all of them at once.

Hummingbirds

We visited mom (way out in the country, in the middle of nowhere...really) for Mother's Day this past weekend. Since it was so nice outside, we spent a lot of time just visiting and sitting on the front porch, while the kids played. Mom is a big nature lover and has all kinds of plants around her home to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. She also has a few of the nectar filled feeders for the hummingbirds. While we visited, several of the little birds buzzed around my head, so I grabbed my camera to take a few pics of them. These little guys are SO fast that it's hard to get a picture, but I got a few shots I was happy with.

The girls attended a friend's garden themed birthday party a few weeks ago. At the party, they were given a pie pan filled with dirt and instructed to sprinkle grass seeds in the shape of their initials. They were so excited to bring their little "garden" home and watch it grow. It was only a couple of days before we saw green, and this is what they had at the end of only one week. Their initial grass was 5 inches tall! They also put seeds into a clear plastic zip bag and taped it to the window.....we now have a few bean and corn plants as well. :-)

FFFF Challenge - Gotcha Clothes

This week's photo challenge is to take a picture of the "gotcha day" clothing. More links to photos can be seen on this site: http://2happy.typepad.com/double_happiness/

Since our girls are a bit older, there was no way they could try their clothes on for pics, so they're just holding them instead. (Emily said her outfit looked like she was a LONG baby, but it's just because it's a footed outfit...funny kid.) Claire did try to put her outfit on, but they were just a bit too small.
This was a fun trip down memory lane. Since I rushed to take the pictures today, I think I'll take the pictures again with a nicer background on the girls' actual gotcha day.

Race for the Cure

Em and Ally have been participating in an after-school track program called "Girls on the Run", which is sponsored by the Girls/Boys Clubs. I think they really wanted to join at first just because they got new tennis shoes, :-) but they've had a great time in the program too. The coaches (teachers and a few parents) have been not only been getting the girls active, but have also taught them skills about how to get along with others, making healthy eating habits, etc. They always try to run 3 miles on each of the two days they meet every week.
All of their "training" culminated in the group's participation in our local Komen Race for the Cure last Saturday. The girls had to get up EARLY so they could leave at 6 a.m. to run in the race. They both finished the race and got (pretend) medals. Way to go girls...we are so proud of you!!!

Just Perfect

Ally's class has been reading "Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days" by Stephen Manes. I was a little surprised to see Ally come home from school with this big piece of broccoli around her neck this week. I guess the class is doing all of the steps to becoming perfect. Ally was so funny because the shirt she wore to school had the word "perfect" on it, and she wanted to wear the broccoli until bedtime! She doesn't need the broccoli though...she's pretty perfect for me!

Button, Button...

who's got the button? Gussy the goose does! OK, so she looks like a duck to me, but the girls want to call her a goose, so Gussy it is. :-)

We got this little stuffed goose in the package with a "Charlotte's Web" DVD. I glued the giant buttons on it so it would be a reminder to the kids that it's a special stuffed animal (& not one to be thrown into the toy box!). For now, Gussy sits on the kitchen counter, waiting to be put into use.....and here's how:

We're trying to start a new family tradition using this little goose with her big buttons....hoping to instill in the girls that it's good to show others "random acts of kindness = RAK". Whenever someone wants to do something special (or make a little gift - no money involved) for another member of the family, they will put a note (or the gift, etc.) with Gussy and place in a spot where she can be easily spotted. The recipient of the gift is now in charge of Gussy and it's their turn to do something nice for another person in the family. There are no time limits as to how long they can take to perform a RAK, but I'm hoping we will see Gussy getting used at least once a week or so. We talked about this "game" at dinner the other night, and the kids are excited to get started. Emily has asked to be the one to start...I know she's working on something for a little sister so we'll probably be seeing Gussy popping up soon with a special gift.

FFFF Challenge

This week's photo challenge (posted at www.2happy.typepad.com) is "pets", so it's an easy one for us. Emily loves all types of animals...from our 3 dogs to grandma's chickens, she loves them all. She even has a pet chicken at grandma's that she named "Peepers".

Recipe Card Swap

I've been participating in a recipe card swap with a group of scrappers for several months. It has been so much fun to see how everyone decorates their card for each type of recipe...I have been impressed with their creativity! I now have a big thick book with some tasty recipes. I was cleaning off my scrap desk yesterday and putting away some of the cards....just thought I'd scan in a few that I sent out to the other ladies.

FFFF Challenge - Spring Dresses

I've been reading several adoptive families' sites lately where they are all participating in this "Family FotoFun Friday Challenge" issued on this site:
http://2happy.typepad.com/

I didn't get any good photos of the girls in their Easter dresses this year, but thought I'd join in the challenge anyway....we all have to start somewhere right?! I'm still a bit new to all of this, so I hope I did it right.

Calendar

I'm not much of a digital scrapper (still prefer to use paper and glue), but I did try making a calendar for Christmas gifts. I did all of the pages digitally, then had it printed at cafepress. Randy loved his calendar and showed it off to family when we visited during the holidays. He now keeps it in his office. This was my first stab at digital scrapping. This is also my first try at making a slideshow.

Make your own | Click to play

Ready, Set, RUN !!

That's exactly what the kids did when it was time to hunt eggs! It was so hard to get a picture of them because they were in "run" mode the entire time. After church, we changed into warmer clothes and headed to grandma's for Easter lunch.

The kids also participated in an egg hunt at church, but they much prefer the hunts at grandma's....because her eggs have money in them!!!

Peeps

A friend gave us a "jar mix" recipe for a bar cookie that includes Peeps in the mix. Claire begged and begged to make it, so I let her make it last week after school. I think she enjoyed cutting those bunny Peeps apart! lol

We didn't really like the end result - thought it tasted like a really, really sweet s'more crossed with a really, really sweet magic cookie bar.....but it was sure fun making them. :-)

To Dye For

The girls had a great time coloring Easter eggs. Since we normally use the plastic eggs for the egg hunts, we only dyed one dozen of the "old fashioned" eggs. Claire thought she needed to make the same face as the one on the egg. :-)

Smelly Subject

Took the girls to a little walking park to take a few photos. It was really windy, so I didn't get many good ones. Thought this one was cute...would have like it better if the wind hadn't blown her hair into her face...oh well.......

Wheels

During spring break, Claire finally learned to ride her bike WITHOUT training wheels. It only took one time across the yard with me holding the back of her bike, and she was on her way. So far, she has only had two falls, and both were minor "accidents". We are SO proud of her!

I have to wonder though if the "bribe" helped with her confidence level. When I told her she would get a treat for riding without training wheels, she asked for a chocolate shake, a new bike, and a visit to the Fun City play place!! :-) The shake is easy, and we'll have to make time to go to Fun City...but the bike will have to wait until later this summer. For now, she's riding sister's old bike.

Spring Break

I finally got my card reader to work, so I can post some pics. During spring break, we did our best to keep the kids entertained. We went bowling, played basketball, rode our bikes, etc. Here are a few pics of the fun.

Unpredictable

Weather...an interesting thing. We've had so many beautiful days recently with high temps...perfect flip flop weather. Last night was a big change though as it snowed! The ground was white by bedtime, but this morning only the rooftops were covered with the white stuff. Easter will be interesting...Emily chose pretty white sandals to wear with her Easter dress, and it's supposed to be cold all weekend. It will be cold for the egg hunt tomorrow as well...but I guess we won't have to worry about any chocolate candy melting in the plastic eggs!! :-)

I'm still having photo issues with my computer, but will post as soon as I get them transferred to a disk at one of the store kiosks.

I saw this cool photo in an email sent from Martha Osborne of Rainbow Kids (she gave me permission to use it here). Thought it was cool and sort of symbolizes our family a little. :-)

Go Gators !

OK, so we're not big fans of the Florida Gators, but we ARE rooting for them in the NCAA Final Four since they're an SEC team. :-)

Thought I'd post one of Ally's recent drawings...a gator! (Sorry, my scanner cut off some of the drawing, but you can see most of it.)