Under Construction

I've lived in our house for approximately 6 years and I this room has been a thorn in my side every day of those 6 years.  Finally!  It's cleaned out.  We called it the "office."  It did have a desk and computer in it.  It also had lots of....stuff.  SEVERAL trips to goodwill/the dumpster later, our room is cleaned out, dust free and has a fresh coat of paint!  Even the closet is organized and full of clear plastic totes.  (Hillary, are you proud of me?)

Hope likes to be right in the middle of all the action.  We are actually turning the room into a playroom for her so she was extra interested in the action.

We highly recommend the FROG tape.  Rarely does something live up to its commercial and advertising claims, but this one does!  We will never go back to the blue stuff.  {I say "we" like I did any of the work....it was all Woody on this one.}  Now, let the decorating begin! {that will be all me.} 

Welcome Warmth

Do you get depressed in the winter?  We do.  I have been reading about Vitamin D deficiency in some of my continuing education and I believe I suffer from that.  So, we were thrilled to see the weather forecast this week for warm weather.  So far, Sunday was the only sunny day to go along with the warmth, but we aren't complaining!

Get out the bubbles! Get out the sidewalk chalk!

Get out the....football? Seriously Woody.

Sometimes I have to remind him that Hope is a girl....a girlie girl. (Not as long as Woody can help it.)

Happy Heart Day!

Our day has been all hearts, all pink and red, all fun! 

Is it Christmas or Valentine's Day?  Woody and I made Hope a little Valentine treat box...Grammy and Pappy got her candy and a toy...and when we stopped by Mamaw's with a delivery for her, we left with arm loads of bubbles and candy.  Whew! We are LOVED!

For our Valentines, we made cookies.  Red, pink and little pink, white and red ball sprinkles are sprinkled all over my kitchen! There's flour stuck in my hair and my toddler is on a sugar high.  But, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

We hope you have a terrific day filled with lots of sugar!
(if you're wondering where Woody is- he's still my main valentine...tomorrow will be our special day.)

Twisted

In case you have never...or have forgotten what it is like to have...lived with a 2 year old little girl, this post is for you.  I think boys are probably much different.  They probably eat bugs and laugh at their dads passing gas.  But girls are SENSITIVE!  And Hope is queen of sensitive.  I prefer "tender hearted" actually.  Let me tell you the story of the sucker.  It's a frequent story line at our house.

First, you need to know, this is sucker #2.  Sucker #1 was given to her by Dad, but she didn't finish it before nap so we wrapped it up.  After nap, it was all wrinkly from the dried spit. (yuk, I know).  Hope threw herself in the floor and wouldn't eat it.  She begged for another sucker and since this was day 6 of my working 6 days in 2 weeks, I caved.

Somewhere in the midst of the sucker meltdown, she decided she would fake a boo boo to get one of her new Dora band aids.  That worked on the tired, guilt ridden Momma also.

With a fresh "boo boo boo-daid" and new sucker, all is well with the world again.

until..."My sucker is twisted!" (translation: The sucker is now slightly off center from the stick.)

"I can't eat THIS!" That is literally what she says.

Total heart break.  What kind of mom takes these pictures anyway?  I'm embarrassed to say, these things actually crack me completely up.  She's crying, I'm also crying from laughing so hard.  I used to try to contain the laughter, now I just laugh.  She doesn't seem to notice.  Even posting these pictures...I'm laughing.

I fixed the sucker.  It is now acceptable, but she's still a little shook up over the whole thing.  Here's the trouble:  That stick: It's getting wetter by the lick and will soon completely loose form.  The sucker will then be thrown across the room and immediately confiscated by Mom.  More heart break.  Let's go read a book.  That will make it all better.  Lesson: Buy Dum Dum suckers.  The sucker is small and the stick is strong enough to withstand the moisture and stay straight for the lifetime of the sucker.

Love is in the air!

I'm sure I've said this before, but one of the things that I like best about having a little kid is making a big deal about the little things in life.  Valentine's Day is one of those things.  I spent most of my early years pretending not to care about this day, but now, I love it.  Woody's aunt Bobbi had a party for her girls at church and invited Hope and Susanna to come.  It was a valentine craft party.  Truly, it was a little girl's dream... Hobby Lobby doesn't hold a candle to Bobbi's upper room. 

Maggi was sweet not to let the little ones feel left out.  She helped Hope and Susanna make their crafts.

Hangin' with the big girls is hard work...especially when the party is durring our normal nap time.  Thankfully, Hope didn't crash until after most of the guests left.

This was really just the intermission between the girls party and the big Maglinger party that followed for supper.

Hope didn't make it through that one as well as the first. 

Zaccheus

A week or so ago, the weather actually got warm enough to go outside without your coat!  Just for a day, but it was a blessing.  I sent Hope out with Woody while he did a little yard work.  When I went to check on them, I found Hope in a tree. 

Do all Dads like to push the limit with safety or is it just Hope's dad?

Yep, it was like she was saying "Look Mom! No hands!!"  Where is Woody?!

Hope's comment: "I'm Zaccheus, you're Jesus."  Not prompted, just her little imagination. We love that little imagination.

Sleeping Beauty

One of the Pioneer Woman blog posts suggested I take some pictures of my kid everyday for a month doing something perfectly normal and routine.  I only made it one day into that month and here it is.  Hope waking up from a nap.

Actually it's right after she woke up because I moved her into our room where the light is better.  I'm very tired of winter and having to use my flash indoors.  So, I got the baby lens and put the ISO on 1600, but there was no flash- finally.

A yawn.

Then some more finger time.

Then I told her to make a mad face.

Then she really did get mad.  I think she was mad about her hair.  I'd put her to bed right after a bath and the wet hair dried funny. Sorry kid.

Does this remind you of Conan O'Bryan?  It does me.

Here's her "when I hear thunder" face.

and finally her Happy Hope face.