Daddy Time

While I was out in Boston over the long weekend (blog post to follow on that in a day or two), the girls got to have some pretty special Daddy time.  They had a couple of really great babysitters while Kyle finished out the work week, but then the real fun began!  It started with dinner & ice cream down in Mondovi Friday evening with Kyle's BFF, Randy and his son, Blake.  From there they headed down to do a little fishing.  They had a blast until the fish flopped around a bit too much and splashed Pipey right in the face - crying (by all) followed! (*Note Kyle's first attempt at putting pigtails in the girls' hair!  Pretty impressive, eh!)

The next day they got a very special visit from Grandma & Grandpa A!  They did all kinds of fun things together: dominoes, gardening, exploring our land, hitting our favorite greenhouse, picking out some flowery shirts for Grandma at Kohl's, and even eating out for dinner.  I think it was a win-win for everyone that day :). 

To get ready for my big return on Sunday, the girls took a long hot bath that morning.  Kyle wins the award for the best tub pictures yet!   I am SO very thankful to have such a supportive (and capable!) husband!  And the girls are SO very lucky to have such a great Dad. 

Humid Fun

This is how we spent our oppressively hot and humid days this week:  playing in the water bucket, wearing sunhats & sundresses, and trying to water the flowers & hostas while really watering ourselves!  Don't look too closely though, you might still spot a runny nose or two amongest all that water splatter.  Kyle and I laughed a couple nights this week about using the humidifers in the girls' rooms to help with their congestion - we could have just let them sleep outside, ha!

Bossy Boots

We had a great weekend, well, sort of. We got to have our favorite college age niece, Paige, finish out her freshmen year at our house. She moved out of her dorm Friday/Saturday, but needed a place to stay until her dance recital on Sunday. We very happily obliged! The girls were thrilled to have her here, and ate up every opportunity to snuggle her (Piper) and show her things (Hadley). Flash back to Thursday though, and we were a snotty, pukey, croupy bunch again. Ratsaroni!!! So, between nose blowings, buckets, and humidifiers, we did still have some fun. The girls LOVED watching Paige dance so beautifully up on the stage again, and are both mending now (and actually Kyle too). As always, we are just thankful that it was a quick one and not anything serious.

Since my hands were mostly used for wiping noses this weekend, I did not capture any pictures (what a slacker!). But, I do have a video that Kyle caught not so long ago of the girls playing together under our dining room table. For those of you who knew me way back when, I have a feeling I may have looked very similar to Miss Hadley B. It was some of that action that may have earned me the endearing (terribly annoying!) nickname of 'Bossy Boots.' Many belated apologies to you, Michael.

Top 10 Sayings

TOP 10 (current) SAYINGS - that could be heard in the Anderson Household:

10)  "Good morning, Benell!" ~ Piper tells Benelli this just about any time she sees her during the day, even when its not morning.

9)  "LuLu do this." ~ LuLu is Hadley's endearment for Piper - whom we've called Piper Lu since nearly the beginning (a nicer version of Piper Poo - she sort of pooped all over me when she was a week old!)

8)  "Lulu do that." ~ Any version of that really.

7) "No fanks, Halee" ~ Piper's attempt at telling Hadley to stop doing whatever she's doing to annoy her.  If 'Halee' doesn't stop, Piper just tells her over and over with ever increasing volume.

6)  "Are there 3 beauties here?" ~ Kyle's greeting when he gets home from work almost every night :). 

5)  "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit." ~  Am I really one of those mothers???

4)  "Done, ta da." ~  At the culmination of nearly anything, Piper signifies it by saying this.

3) "I did a nugget!" ~  This is Hadley's way of saying that she pooped and needs someone to wipe her.  She knows that we won't wipe her, unless its for number two, so sometimes she'll purposefully squeeze out a nugget just to get us into the bathroom.  Especially at bedtime.

2) "Rats-a-roni!" ~ Everyone.  Well, maybe not Kyle.  I guess its my version of 'shoot' or 'sugar' or worse.  Kind of goes back to my own mother who didn't let us use words like 'suck'  - I think Kyle's mother may have been that way as well :)

1) "Let's go somewhere as a family, all of us, with ea-cha-dee-ow!"  ~ Hadley's request to be together (all of us with each other) on Thursday mornings.  Kyle has that morning off to stay home and play with us, it is hands down the best day of the week.

Sunshine!

With a fabulous sunshine filled weekend, the girls spent most it out in the vegetable garden with Kyle.  Kyle did very well with (or maybe despite!) all of his 'help', but apparently he didn't get the memo about gardening in your sundress & underwear?

I watched Piper stand back and take it all in several times during the whole weeding, raking, mulching, & planting process.  My guess is that she was probably thinking to herself... Ahhhhh, Hadley is finally too busy with Daddy to boss me around and tell me what to do!

We also ventured down to the beach this weekend to dip our toes in the warm sand and get just a little taste of summer. The crisp (freezing cold if you ask me!) waves were too exciting for Hadley, and she just could not resist running and jumping into them.  Here she is slightly damp...

And then almost completely soaked! She quickly admitted that maybe she'd gone out too far, but then very honestly asked if we could go home and get her swimsuit!  It was a lovely weekend, and we are looking forward to a sunshine filled week as well!

Mother's Day Surprise

We had a FUN Mother's Day surprise on Saturday... Grandma & Grandpa from Minnesota came for the day! Kyle & I actually knew that they were coming, so we were able to catch a little clip of the girls' suprised excitement when they first arrived at our door.    I missed Piper's crazy highstepping action all the way to the door, but you'll get the jist of their geniune happiness from this noisy clip.  Its hard to hear, but Piper is telling both Grandpa and Grandma to take off their coats! 

It was a huge blessing to have them here for the day.  And it was extra special for me to be able to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom.  There is nothing better than spending an afternoon with her.  Getting a real hug (versus a phone hug),  sipping a cup of coffee right next to her, laughing at old stories, laughing at new ones.  She is the best. 

Hadley had to show off her mad basketball skills while they were here, and apparently this is what basketball players wear in her world - legwarmers & a tanktop?

Later that night, after my parents left, Kyle and the girls rallied around and helped me cover all of my hostas.  I sort of have a fondness for them, and I suppose it could be called an obsession (150 different varieties and counting) but whatever!  Thankfully we covered and 'put them all to bed' that night, as there was a pretty serious frost cover the next morning.

 
 Who are those blue eyed blondies with me?  I actually had someone at the grocery store ask me if they were mine the other day!  I could not be more honored or humbled to be their mother.  God is so good, and I am so very, very thankful. 

Morning Catastrophe

Have you ever had one of those mornings when your blow dryer just up and quit on you?  Or your curling iron stopped clamping?  And you were either late to work, or had a really bad hair day?  Something worse happened in my house this morning... my coffeemaker BROKE!  (You should have seen the look on Hadley's face when it happened - she was up on the counter helping me grind the beans when I opened the top and it just cracked right off!  Her stunned expression gave me the impression that she probably knows just how much I really need, um, like my coffee!)  I got to thinking, and decided that you know you are a real woman when the idea of a broken coffeemaker is far worse than any other stupid electronic device in your home.  Good thing Mother's Day is right around the corner... even Kyle, the healthy till it hurts guy, knows that I need my coffee :). 

Fun Northern Weekend

We had a great time up North this weekend - playing with cousins, going to a greenhouse, and visiting the farm animals. 

Ava & Piper - that is Pipey's 'cheese' smile these days!

Hadley trying to measure up to a growing Hayden.

Greenhouse fun with Auntie Kara (and Grandma A too!)

I wish you could see Hadley's face better...if you look real closely you might see the tear/snot stained face and her look of serious distress!  But you can see her plugged ears (the cows might 'moo' too loudly) and Kyle's laughing smile.  We were able to settle her down eventually.  Just a regular Hadley day -afraid of something that might be noisy, but she is gradually getting braver and braver.   Piper on the other hand, loved it all, and even went on a little four wheeler ride with Daddy & Grandpa A!

Recital

The true highlight of the weekend was spent in NHS's beautiful new auditorium watching Paige, Sydney, and Ava take the stage!  Paige actually owns a dance studio up North, and it was their big spring recital this weekend.  A pretty impressive feat for a college student (her mom is a large/HUGE part of its success:). I really wasn't sure what to expect of Hadley & Piper during the 2 hour recital, but they were enamored by it all - the costumes, lights, music, and their dancing cousins!  Piper would say, rather loudly, as the curtains closed each time, "Bet more dancers!"  And Kyle could barely contain Hadley as she danced/rocked his seat while grinning from ear to ear. 

6 of 7 Anderson girl cousins ~ Brooke, Piper, Ava, Hadley, Paige, and Sydney - just missing Kennedy in Alaska!

When I asked the girls what their favorite part of the whole weekend was, Hadley said that it was definitely the recital!  And Piper said "Sydney."  We are blessed to have been a part of it all.