Weather's turning a corner...

 Thankfully, the weather has turned from winter to Spring. It's about time. Daylight savings time couldn't have treated us better. Longer days with more sunshine. This means lots of playtime after work; on our bikes, on the neighbors' trampoline and in our driveway. Yes. Please.

 Buggy is a little hesitant bouncing on the trampoline, as the big kids do so much bouncing that she often times falls (without any tears or yelps, as she is our rough-and-tumble kid).

 Izzy always asks me to play the "popcorn" game with them...bouncing them over and over again. How can I resist, as this generates lots of high-pitched laughter!

Sam & Iz taking a time out from their bouncing. Love the static hair!

Laney keeps on showing interest in riding the bike...and this is the one time Izzy lets her touch one of her toys...and even pushes her on it! Baby steps.

 Round 2 of beer brewing: filtration. Love that these guys are sharing a hobby...listening to them laugh while they are learning and creating is so fun to witness. Even guys need great friends and I'm glad these two have each other.

 Saturday morning I went out for a 12 mile run in the dark and freezing cold weather. The best part about the run was that the first 15 minutes I was headed straight into the largest moon I've ever seen. It was golden and as big as a saucer...and was able to stare at it for almost 2 miles. It was nothing short of amazing. However, I could have done without the FROZEN hands the last 4 miles. Just looking forward to warmer mornings to run in. Remind me of my freezing hands in August when I'm running in a sports bra and shorts that are soaking wet from my sweat at 6am.

 After a little ballet and napping, we spent the remainder of the day outside.

Saturday evening I came down with a horrible case of the flu. It's going around. Just hope it stops with me. Every joint in my body hurt. It took all I could muster simply to get up to go to the bathroom. I'm now on the upswing and finally able to stay awake for longer periods. No joke. I was up yesterday for a total of 1.5 hours. TOTAL. It was a nasty way to spend the weekend...just glad it happened here and not in Florida. Where we will be for 7 days next week. Izzy thinks we're going to be feeding dolphins and whales. I wish. The sun and the beach and the pool will be more than enough for me.

I've been busy changing out the girls' closets and drawers for the impending weather and vacation. Saying goodbye to the outgrown clothes and shoes is fun when you're packing them up for the next little to wear them. But saying goodbye to the clothes & shoes when you know you won't see them worn again is so sad. Makes me realize how quickly my girls are growing up. But oh, how I love opening the tub of 18-24 month clothes from Izzy to put them into Laney's drawers. Reminiscing memories from when a younger Iz was wearing the rompers. I simply LOVE having two girls. Love being able to use clothing twice. In another few years Laney will not love this...so I'm trying to get away with it while I can. In the meantime, I can't wait to see Laney's little toosh squeeze into her sister's bathing suits from 2 summers ago!

Beer Brewin' & Black Olives

We weren't up to much this weekend. It's almost not even blog-worthy. But this is what I do. I take note. I record. I snap pictures constantly. Of nothing. Of everything.

Typical Izzy: dressing up & layering upon layers of costume.

Mike & his best friend Jason bought a beer-making kit and have been working hard on their first 5 gallon brew. They spent over 4 hours the other night working on their first batch (and watching the informational how-to while drinking beers & boiling water). Just thought you'd like to know what Mike's been up to, as his personal life rarely makes it to this blog.

Saturday morning I went out for a warm 8 mile run. I was dressed for the 20's and the weather delivered 50's. Needless to say I was warm. A drastic swing from last week's sopping wet run. I am not a fast runner. I am not even a good runner. I never win. And I never will. But I was reminded why I run when a man was running the opposite direction on the Mon.on at a fast clip with one of those spring-like prosthetic legs. Put my pain into persepctive and reminded me that I run because I can. And so can you. Just sayin'.

Friday night I went over to Lori's to craft a few handmade stamps:

Today both girls took 3 hour naps. Must have been the time change. Or the fact that our summer nanny (aka the summer girl) came over for a playdate this morning and wore them out. Either way, I'll take the 3 hours.

Black olives are always a hit around our house.

And tonight the neighbors came over for a delicious dinner made by Mikey: spicy seafood pasta (aka Misto Mar or Seafood Diablo). YUM. We got all caught up on this guy:

Nothing too exciting. Just a typical weekend around these parts. Two week countdown to Florida. Bring. It. On.

Girls Weekend in Indy...

Every Spring my high school girlfriends travel down from Chicago for a weekend in Indy. We have had this weekend planned for months, so I had been anticipating their arrival for a long time. I waited patiently on Friday evening...and could barely keep my eyes open when they got here at this time:

 Mikey, being the host with the most per usual had lined up some drinks for the girls' arrival:

 We ended up staying up pretty late so when the girls woke up on Saturday morning, we spent a long time lounging in bed reading:

 Jen, Mary & Erin (who didn't make it down this trip) bought Izzy a boatload of Dr. Suess books fo rmy shower years ago and it was fun to listen to the girls read them to Iz. Plus, it was the Doctor's birthday this week so we'd been reading a lot of his books already. Izzy's favorite one of the moment is There's A Rocket In My Pocket. Too cute.

After lots of lounging Saturday morning we went to Izzy's ballet class. Iz was excited to show off her moves...and Jenny challenged me to take pictures through the one way mirrored glass. I apologize for the poor quality of these pics, but I am just so tired of not being able to document her adorableness in class. Oh, I received the information on her recital (in June) and I learned that Izzy's hair needs to be pulled into a bun (if hair isn't long enough to do so, they sell bun kits...true story) and she has to be in full stage makeup which consists of foundation, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush and lipstick. Help me now. It's hard enough getting those tights on her, let alone MAKEUP?! That should be interesting.

 We came back to the house for some playtime...

 ...and craft time:

 Saturday night we went out for Mexican with Mikey and the girls and 2 pitchers of margaritas. So. Much. Fun. Then we headed down to the B-Ripp for some good old blue grass music. Love, love, love the Wellin.gton, as this was the location of our rehearsal dinner almost 7 years ago. Brings back good memories. Oh, and a lot of singing at the top of your lungs and dancing too.

 The night was an absolute blast. Did a LOT of dancing and laughing. I had to take a pic of this:

 Mary came back from the bar with a 6 pack of beer. This just screams class. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

And this is what it looks like after hours of drinking and dancing...melting faces. So glad these girls were able to meet my Indy friends and that my worlds collided. Erin & Ange...we missed you. Jaime...thanks for a crazy ride home, delivering us safe & sound. Girls, until we meet again...muah!

396th post...oh my!

So this is my 396th post since I started my blog 4 years ago. What's the significance of this number? Nada. But it does mark the day when I have had to actually purchase storage space because I have officially exceeded my 1GB free capacity. I just spent a whopping $5 on another 20GB of storage. Watch out.

 Izzy's hair is long enough to fit two little piggies again. So stinkin' cute.

 And a little Friday night snug time is the best. Who needs to hit the clubs when you have an adorable 3 year old to smooch on?

 Saturday was busy...I ran 8 miles in the frigid cold, raced to ballet with the girls, got a haircut, hit up the library (where, let it be known, Saturdays are filled with kids and their dads...apparently moms get this day off?) and then had a delish dinner out with the fam. I love, love, love days like these; racing around with lots of nothing to do. Then again, I love me a good jammie day! Anyway, Mike and his buddy bought a beer making kit and it came in two large boxes...which made for instant fun in our house. Whenever we get large boxes at our house they turn into a big to-do. I'm going to tell you why - Mike said when he was a kid and moved into a new house they had boxes from their new washer, dryer, fridge et al and used all of them to make himself a huge house in his basement. Complete with a real television. Plugged in. Oh my. So I'm pretty sure whenever we get a large box at our house he tries to replicate that same fun-in-a-box house with our girls. It's purely his gig and I let him have fun with the girls. Hours of free entertainment, I tell you.

After coloring their box-houses, a trip to the grocery and out to lunch...naptime left me time to craft a little baby gift:

We had an impromptu visit from Grandma Laura & Grandpa Bob. We love when they call on the road and say they are passing through and can they stop in for a visit? (They have family in Illinois.) The girls are over-the-moon to get these surprise visitors, too!

Izzy has a small infatuation with taking pictures with point-and-shoot cameras. She can't hold up my new camera, thankfully (but yes, I tried). Molly...I thought you'd appreciate her love for photos!

We had to show Grandma & Grandpa one of our favorite activities inside the house (we have to get creative in the cold months!): scooting back and forth across the kitchen in the buggy cart! This is more hours of free fun and the girls just love it. Plus, there's no box to clean up after this one :)

Delaney is 18 months old...

This little peanut is 18 months old. And I can hardly stand it. She's so grown up, yet still so little. Most 12 month olds are bigger than she is...but she's got quite the personality, so that makes up for her short stature. Laney Bug weighs in at 22 lbs 3 oz (10-25%), she's 30 3/4 inches short (25%) and her head measures 48 cm large (75-90%). Buggy is healthy and happy...and the most fun little 18 month old we know. I would say the large head size means she has a big brain; however, when you ask her what her name is, she answers with "Izzy!" Sheer genius I tell you.