A whole bunch of Nothing

Hello world...it feels like it has been awhile since my last blog..
Let's see, not a whole lot going on that you would be interested in...
Maybe a quick recap of the week?
I had varicose vein surgery on Monday...it went well but my leg now looks like a wild animal got a hold of it.
YUCK.
I liked it better when it was all neatly bandaged up and I couldn't see it.
Childbirth-it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Hollis had her Kindergarten program at school yesterday.
Collins had been screaming all morning and I showed up with no time to spare and a camera in one hand, a video camera in the other , a bum leg and a grumpy baby on my hip.
What a sight!
It's no wonder I never seem to get good pictures at these programs.

I looked and felt really frazzled!! But I was there! These pictures are proof,right?

Poor Hollis.
She is so tall that they just stick her in the back so the shorter kids can be seen too.
I remember being always stuck in the back  row for programs too.
Sure makes it hard for a Mama to get good pictures!

This weekend is a big weekend for these Hoosiers-The Indy 500.
Although we are not a huge fan of the race, we are huge fans of the activities that it brings...lots of cookouts and outdoor activities and time spent with good friends.
The city is just vibrating with excitement this weekend of the year-
I think it might be one of my favorite weekends of the summer

This is kind of random but it makes me smile.
We have a little nest of baby robins living in a bush beside our garage...

So sweet.And cute and ugly all at the same time.

Their Mama loves them so.

She lets me know it anytime I get two feet from the nest.

Can you believe I have kept this a secret from a very curious 6 year old for 3 weeks?

Me either.

Don't worry Mama bird.

Your secret is safe with me.

And a picture of my baby bird.
She loves to pull the cord on my camera while I attempt to take her picture now.
That makes for some interesting/bad  pictures.
She was up before sunrise this morning!
My coffee machine is set for a 5:45 am brew. Maybe I need to move it up an hour.
Carpe Diam, right?

Denial

Please  tell me that my sweet baby is not 6 months old already.
How could this be??

This sweet and tender soul who has captured all our hearts and held them captive since day 1...

She can't really be 6 months, right???

Those sweet little old ladies in the grocery store are right- it all goes by in the blink of an eye.

Two years ago, I was in such a deep valley of my life.

Tears.Frustration.Anger.Doubt.

Too many dark moments to count.

Now I am at the peak of the mountain top-with a heart swollen with happiness!!

 I hold the most precious gift from heaven in my arms everyday.

Can this really be happening? To me??

God is so good!

I am so very humbly grateful to have a second chance at motherhood.

I want to treasure every moment of it.

Yes, even the 5 am wake up calls, the poopy diapers up the back, the crying fits as I try to fix dinner.

It is well.

It is well with my soul.

Hollis' Happy Place

The weather has broken.
It is really hot here. 85 degrees!!
Where for art thou, my friend Spring??

We spent most of yesterday working in the yard.
Mulching, planting,  weeding.
It felt good to be outside again.
We gave Hollis a choice of what we were going to do after naptime.
Picnic at Arbuckle Park or a long car ride complete with new movie to the Beef House.
I bet  you can't  guess where we ended up. :)

No amount of bribbing could change this child's mind.

Arbuckle Park or Bust.

Poor Man. He loves him some Beef House.

He looks so defeated, doesn't he?

We were hiking on one of the trails and Jason looks down and says,"Do you think that thing is real?"

Not sure what kind of snake it was-Dad, do you know?
Jason says most people run away as fast as they can when they see a snake-
and my Dad runs towards it.
Jason was really wishing he was at the Beef House after the reptile encounter.

I heart this picture.

I really *heart* these two.

Look at this face.

This kid has the best faces.

And the sweetest disposition.

She's a keeper.

Ahh, the famous stick in the water race.

No picnic is ever complete without a run to the Dairy Bar.
Jason is not a fan of lines-
Especially in 85 degree weather.
But he will wait forever and a day for an M&M flurry at the Dairy Bar.
He waited 25 minutes!!
Collins and I waited in the car and practiced our wet slurpy kissing.

I love days like today.

Being outside. Being with my family.

Laughing, dreaming, focusing on each other and while knowing in my heart it will not always be this simple.

Yep.

It's a gift.

The gift of an ordinary day.

Hello all.
Happy Tuesday.
Last night we took the girls for their first wagon ride of the season.

One of my girls was a little too big to be in the wagon.

And one was a little too small to be in the wagon.

The little one kept falling to the side since she hasn't mastered the art of sitting up yet.

The big one found a really large stick which came along for the ride-it had turned into a really short stick by the end of the ride (???)

Hmmm..possibly directly correlated to her sisters crying half the ride???

We walked down to the end of our street-to a wide open field facing west.

The sun was setting- like a big fat pat of butter in the sky.

I gotta hand it to Indiana, they've got the sunset thing down perfectly-the sunsets here will take your breath away.

Oh, and here is a picture of Mothers Day-before we went out to dinner.

It felt so good to have my arms wrapped around two little girls.

And that, my friends, was the best Mothers Day gift I could ever hope for.

Ever.Ever. Ever.

Mothers Day

Hi Mom.
Happy Mothers Day.
Thanks for loving me the way only a mother could.
Thanks for never giving up on me even though when I know there were times when you really wanted to and, maybe even more importantly, teaching me to never give up on myself.
Thanks for helping teach me how to be a Mama to my sweet babies.
Thanks for teaching us that we are here to leave the world a better place-not just take from it.
Thanks for taking me to church so I could learn about God and Jesus-you gave me the gift of faith.
Thanks for teaching me the golden rule and making me write thank you notes.
Thanks for modeling kindness, love and respect in our home.
Thanks for all those silent sacrifices you made for us everyday,without ever getting a proper thank you.
Thanks for giving me the priceless gift of a wonderful childhood.
(I am not going to thank you for making me eat fried chicken liver though)


They say that you don't really appreciate your Mother until you have children of your own and that is so very true for me.

I wish I could be there to fix you a big plate of runny eggs and burnt toast this morning..and then eat off your plate. :)

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Humble Pie

My mom used to say that kids can humble you like no one else can.
She is so right.
I swear God sent me Hollis to help keep my feet on the ground.
He sure does have a good sense of humor.

Just a few weeks ago, Hollis was with me in the bathroom getting ready and she turns to me and asks, "Mama, why does it look like you still have a baby in your tummy?'

Um, maybe it is because Mama does not remember where the elliptical machine is since I have lost all remaining few brain cells I had after giving birth
 or
maybe  it's because your Mama has never met a carb she didn't like(where did she think all those Peeps in her Easter Basket went??).

Then there was the day 2 months ago I was bringing a dinner to a new mom in my Bible study. I was really excited about the dish  because it was new and easy and I thought I had found a winner.

Just as I rang the doorbell to deliver the dish to her, Hollis looks at me and says," I'm so glad you are getting that thing out of the car-that really smelled bad Mom."

Lovely.
Here you go, exhausted, sleep deprived new mom.. have fun eating your stinky pasta dish I just made you.

Last week Hollis asked if rode in a covered wagon when I was little-you know the one.
The one Laura Ingalls was fond of.

Two days ago she asked if I knew any pilgrims growing up.

Um no, not that I can remember-but memory loss is a sign of aging and I've been wrong before.

Here is a short video for your friday...you might want to pause my playlist music   so you can hear.
I think I have been doing it all wrong...I haven't been lifting with my thyroid...but I do have a weight with a onesie.
Happy Friday, ya'll.

Bliss

The title of this blog is a bit misleading.
I feel no bliss right now.
I am really sad, a little depressed and slightly lonely and daresay grumpy.??

My parents were here for a (too short) visit this weekend
And they left this morning.
Oh, and I am also mad .
Mad that NC is 10 hours away and I am stuck here.
Mad that I always feel like a little baby watching them pull off and turn right at the end of the street.
I mean, I am a 36 year old mother with chlidren of her own for goodness sakes.
GET A GRIP, ALLIE!!!
I don't think I will ever stop missing them-ever stop needing them.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our visit...hence the title of this blog...
Thanks Mom and Dad for the visit...it was pure BLISS.