Lately in (and out of) Our House...

Here is a little update on what we've been up to lately!

We've been playing outside A LOT!  With the weather getting nicer, and Daddy coming home early, we play outside as soon as he gets home until dinner.  And then usually after dinner as well. 

 

  

Reilly is Daddy's little outdoor helper.  They rake, shovel, prune and clean the yard.  Since our house was vacant for a few years before we moved in, there are TONS of leaves everywhere.  So they have been slowly getting rid of each of their piles.  Or, you know, rolling in them.

 

 Look what a good job they did with the front! Yay lawn!  We found a crazy amount of toys/bottles/pens in the yard as well...it was so nice getting it cleaned up!  (Yes, I said pens.  How weird is that??)

 Reagan likes joining in on the fun too, but the whole not walking yet thing makes it a bit messy!  Those little knees gets good and dirty when babygirl is chasing her sissy around outside!

 
 But she just loves exploring and climbing, so we let the mess happen.

 

 Reagan and Daddy snuggling.  That thumb, it kills me.

 Fun visit to Mima and Papas!

 Is there anything better than the Daddy Swing?

 Reilly + Meems = BFFL

There she goes!  This girl loves to run.  

There's a little peek at what we've been up to!  Looking forward to even warmer days, lots more playing outside, and a certain chickie's birthday in a few weeks!!

Daddy Post #3

Yes, for those of you who are keeping track, this is my third guest post in the long tenure of the Dirt Road Mama franchise.  I needed to break my silence for something that is quite important to me, and probably pretty important to most people out there.

That's right, super glue.

Now, super glue has played an important role in everyone's lives at a certain point, whether they remember it or not.  A broken coffee mug, a fractured Christmas ornament, or even a toy from when you were a kid that was meant for display purposes, but you decided that it would be best suited for taking headers off of the balcony of your parent's room.

The problem is that the only thing that super glue is good for is tearing the first three layers of your skin off when the glue sticks to everything EXCEPT what it is supposed to.  How can it take three-and-a-half-days to slightly bond a piece of ceramic back to a coffee cup, but three-and-a-half-nano-seconds to permanently bond your pointer finger to your thumb?  And why does it turn white?

Okay, I'll admit that the super glue really isn't what is bothering me.  It's Prince Eric.  Reilly was playing with all of her 'princesses', and Prince Eric came with one of her (yes, she has multiple) Ariel dolls.  She hyper-extended his right arm, and it snapped at the elbow.  I was then struck with a moral decision:  TO FIX OR NOT TO FIX.  Why would I EVER consider not fixing such an important piece of Reilly's daily routine?

Because I'm jealous, that's why.

There, I said it.  I always thought that I was the man of the house, being that I have a wife and two girls, but that is obviously not the case.  For those of you who are familiar with The Little Mermaid, Prince Eric and Ariel are married.  I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but just the other day I saw my oldest daughter perform his marriage to Cinderella.  This jerk gets to hang around with Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Ariel, Snow White, and Rapunzel every day of his life.  As if three Ariel dolls are not enough, he gets to hang out with Ariel Barbie, and Ariel Sing-In-The-Tub doll.

But yes, I fixed this playboy's hand, glued my fingers together, and didn't regain feeling in my left thumb and index finger for three days.  Partly because of the missing skin, but also because the glue bonds to ITSELF when it hits your skin, so part of my hand was coated in a thin layer, making it feel as if it were partially subjected to too much novocaine.

I took the high road by fixing his arm.  But no one is perfect.  Don't be surprised if you see a post in the very near future that involves a missing Eric and a warrant by Reilly for Daddy's arrest.

Those Days

 Those days when the little muffin has a runny nose and can't sleep, and the bigger muffin's favorite word is "no".

Those days when their favorite activity either involves emptying toys bins, emptying sock drawers, emptying diaper baskets, or bubbles indoors.

 Those days when every single meal, a plate of food ends of flipped over.  (I mean, what are the chances?)

Those days that are rainy and chilly, and we never seem to make it out of our pajamas.

 Those days when Daddy comes home from work with an iced coffee, and you swear this is how it feels to win the lottery.

Those days when you can't get a full meal, because both little chickies want to share everything you eat, even when they just ate.

Those days when no matter how hard you try all day long, the counter stays cluttered till bedtime.

Those are the days when I climb into bed, and find that it's covered with picture books and sippy cups.  And I realize:  I have the best job in the entire world.

Even on those days, we still snuggle in Mommy's bed in the afternoon and read book after book, and laugh at Reagan was she wants to hold every single book after we read them.

 Those are the days when I realize as I go to sleep, that there is no place I'd rather be than taking care of these babies all day.  There is no way I'd rather wake up than hearing "Mommy, I'm awake!"  There is no one else I'd rather share my pancakes with.

 Those are the days that I go to sleep with a messy counter, socks all over the floor, and really happy sleeping babies.

And I am grateful to the wonderful God who gave them to us, and gave me the job to raise them.

Even on "those days".

Spring Break!

 Mima and Papa came a visited us for Spring Break!  It was so fun having them around, it really felt like a vacation for us too!  Here are some pictures from their visit.

We went out to "the restaurant", which is one of Reilly's favorite things to do.  She informed us that she was going to have "pasta, salad with crunchies (croutons), and some chicken".

 Cutie little restaurant girls!  Reagan is happy anywhere, as long as she is being fed. :)

A pretty picture attempt, and Reagan ate the chair. :)

We sometimes wonder how this little chicken is going to learn to walk on her tiny tiny feet!

 

 She really is the most ridiculously happy baby.  Little lovey.

We had such a fun week!  We love our Mima-Papa time!

My Tiny Dancer

Dear Reilly,

I am in love with you, and all of your qualities.

There is something about your love of all things ballerina that is just so very precious - so very little girl. 

I hope you always have the desire to dance, no matter who is around, with no care as to who is watching you.  Dance with the soul of your inner two-and-a-half year old.   Dance and giggle like you do right now.  And never, ever doubt how beautiful you are.
Every single part of you.
My little dancer girl.

Happy Easter!

 We had such fun with our Easter celebrations!  Saturday afternoon we colored eggs, and made Rice Krispy treat eggs, with surprises inside!  Reilly had the best time making/tasting those suckers.

Sunday morning started off with an egg hunt!  Reilly LOVED the excitement of finding the eggs, and Reagan loved the excitement of eating her Cheerios inside. :)  At one point we were in the kitchen while Reilly was hunted, and I peeked back in the living room to find this...

 Little Bean was in her glory!

 The girls both loved their baskets and all of the princessy-bubbly-fluffy-bouncy fun inside.

 Every picture the WHOLE day, you will find Reagan hysterical laughing.  This girl was giddy all day long.  If I didn't know better, I'd of thought she sneaked some jellybeans!  Easter was definitely this girls holiday.

When you ask Reilly why we celebrate Easter, she will proudly scream "JESUS!! He died on the cross and then he went to heaven; a wonderful place come true!" Too funny that girl.

We had our wonderful friends over for dinner, which was such a fun ending to our day.  I just love holiday celebrations!  Easter is especially fun for me, there is just something I love about it.  I love the decorations, the Springy-ness of it all, the pastel outfits, and the feeling of hope that celebrating Jesus gives everyone.  Even our little angel felt it.

Painting Buddies

 This chick LOVES painting.  It's no wonder, it's in her genes. :)  But whenever Mama is painting, Reilly is painting too.  And yes, in the above picture, we are using actual wall paint to prime our project.  I was brave, but I like to just let her use all kinds of paints and not make anything off limits.  I want her to learn how to use everything, and just throw down our tarp and clean up after.  Sometimes this works in my favor, sometimes we have paint on our couch.  But either way, we have fun!  And she is a very careful girl, she knows that painting is no joke to her Mama!

 Here we are doing some updating to some star mirrors we had.  They used to live in our room, but I had a new idea for them in the new house.  They were red and blue...but I let Reilly pick what color we painted them, since they were going to live in her playroom.

 She chose pink.  Shocker. :)

 

Every time we are in the playroom and she is playing dress up in her mirrors, she asks if I remember when we painted them together.  I love that she can help me do these projects, and then feel proud of something she created.

 Of course I remember, sweet girl.  Our painting days are my favorite days.