2 year old shenanigans...

There is a little toddler girl under there somewhere...

One of her bitty twins taking a nap... this one is named "Madalynn", she calls the other one "Mommy". When I saw this it reminded of "Sleeping Beauty".

It's been snowing or raining since Wednesday... see yesterday's post about our weather... Photographing snow is a challenge this were some of my attempts to photograph it today... mainly I was practicing catching the motion of the falling snow by leaving the shutter open longer (these pictures aren't a very good composition again I was just practicing exposure for snow)

 

 

Madalynn wanted to take a picture with her 'camera' too ...

Being snowed in I decided to bake cookies with Madalynn today... I had one of the large bags of chocolate chips where you only need half, so when I turned my back for half a second, I turned back around to see little hands reaching for the remainder of the bag on the counter... Did my saying "Madalynn, No" make a difference??  How do they ALWAYS manage to pull bags of the counter so the entire contents spill out??  I will admit to not having my greatest Mommy moment after this.  But we've hugged & made up since.... oh, but the Mommy guilt remains...

 

 

Anyone know how many cubits in an ark?

This is the weather forecast VERBATIM for my zip code... Notice a theme???  This is from tonight (THURSDAY through MONDAY!!)  This doesn't include the 8 inches of snow we got yesterday that turned to rain, and is now melting as rain continues to pour.

• Tonight: Windy with a heavy, steady rain this evening. Rain showers continuing overnight. . 1 to 2 inches of additional rain expected.
• Tomorrow: Periods of rain and snow. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. 
• Tomorrow night: Rain and snow in the evening, becoming all snow late. Low 32F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Snow accumulating 2 to 4 inches.
• Saturday: Light snow during the morning will give way to a mixture of rain and snow during the afternoon.
• Sunday: Rain mixed with snow. Highs in the upper 30s and lows in the low 30s.
• Monday: Snow showers at times. Highs in the low 40s and lows in the low 30s.

I couldn't bring myself to look at the 7-10 day... any of my southern friends have a guest room??

Madalynnisms...

The things that come out of her mouth make me laugh everyday...

The other night she came in bed with me at about 3am... we were snuggled, and cozy, and all was quiet.  I was drifting back to sleep, and hoping she was too, when I hear her say "Ohhhhh boy.... here we go again".  That's a quote from the Disney Robin Hood movie which has become her new favorite (along with the book at bedtime).

This is a favorite when driving...

"Mawwwmy... What are you doing?"

This is a favorite when talking on the phone to various family members...

"What are you doing?"

Tonight as I came out of the bathroom...

"Mawwmy you go pawty"

"Yes honey I did"

"You wash you hands?"

"Yes, Madalynn I washed my hands".

Today driving in the car while she was eating a cheeseburger...

"Mawwmy, we go see Ga-gagranpachaham ?"(see yesterday's post)

"No, honey... you'll see them tomorrow".

"Wanna show Ga-Ga my cheeseburgert"

 

We're still here...

It's been super busy the last couple of weeks.  My parents are moving this week into a temporary apartment as they wait to move to their new home... VERY close to us which we're super excited about.  This is how Madalynn feels about the fact that she hasn't been able to spend as much time with them while they've been packing & moving... pretty much all I hear all day is "Wanna see Gaga-granpa-chaham"= I want to see Ga-Ga, Grandpa, & Chatham.  When she says it, it all comes out as one word.

My decorating continues, and I CANNOT find the right shade of green for my living/dining room area.  My kitchen & entry way are done in "You Are My Sunshine", and "Old World Romance"... 2 shades of the same yellow hue.  The green is driving me crazy... I have 2 that I really like depending on the time of day... One is fresh, and soft during the daylight hours, and then turns to mint ice cream at night.  The other one is brownish/grey during the day, and then turns warm, and calm at night... uuuurrrggh... not to mention that the same color looks different on each wall... the lighting in this space is crazy.  Even the yellow that's in the entry & kitchen looks different, and they're both east facing... weird.  I won't give up though... even if I drive the paint dept at Lowe's crazy I will find the right shade.  Although, now I'm considering going in a different direction, either a warm brown, or blue.  I know there are much bigger crisis's in the world than the color I choice for my living/dining room.

More redecorating...

Actually this post shouldn't be called re-decorating, it should be decorating. 

Just to update from my post yesterday...

This is the wall I painted... Like I said it's 2 1/2 feet wide, so it was a small project.  I think with Madalynn I'll have to tackle painting this space one wall at at time... The color is called "Old World Romance"... in my opinion the name of a paint color is almost as important as the color itself.  My last home I painted my living room red... vibrant, cranberry red, it was the perfect shade of red, not to orange, not too purple.  I did however hate the name "Burnt Peanut Red", red has to be one of the hardest colors to get just right so I went with it... I digress...

This is the change I made from the yellow rose...

To the hydrangea...I like the hydrangea better as I think it's a fresher look... I could always put the rose in a lighter frame too... goodness knows I have enough frames...(see post regarding trying to sell my photos)...

Finally, 2 11x14 black & whites from the Robin photo shoot last year...

This is one long wall that goes the length of my living room, dining room, and kitchen so it overwhelms me a bit.  I do have the room semi-divided by furniture, and a peninsula in the kitchen, but this wall still needs more although these 2 photos are a start.

Valentine's Day

Friday night I hosted a Valentine Family party/birthday party for my aunt.  We had spaghetti & heart-me-balls for dinner, heart shaped brownie sundae's for dessert (complete w/ Valentine themed sprinkles).  I also did a treasure hunt for the kids to find their goody bags... Madalynn was more interested in seeing her Grandpa than participating in the hunt, but the older kids really enjoyed it.  Unfortunately I was so busy I didn't get ANY pictures, which I'm bummed about... I need to remember to stop & take pictures.

I did take some pictures of the sugar cookies we made before the party...

I have no idea why but for some reason this weekend I became obsessed with decorating my house... I've been here for over 3 years, and have done very little apart from the bedrooms.  Our main living area which is one  kitchen/dining room/living room had very little done, and barely anything on the walls...I have these 3 black shelves that have been in their original box for well over 5 years I'm sure.  I got those out of the basement & thought I'd start there.  So, I got those hung, and pictures arranged on them.  Years ago I tried to sell my photography at craft fairs to no avail so I have quite a supply of framed photos for artwork.  I also have pictures from Madalynn's photo shoot about 1 year ago...  I have since changed this display... the yellow rose is gone & replaced by a hydrangea also in a natural frame.

Display by the door...  The fire tulips were taken by my friend Jen, and the picture of Madalynn is from our photo shoot with my friend Robin about a year ago...

These letters that spell Madalynn have been propped up on the chair rail in her room for about 2 years... I FINALLY got them hung up... I had put it off b/c I knew how tedious it would be... I think they're a little too high.  The pictures again were from the Robin photo shoot last year.

I also painted a wall while Madalynn was sleeping... granted it's only a 2 1/2 foot wide wall, but I finally have some color in this room, now I'm inspired to paint more, and warm up this space.

In honor of Valentine's Day we had heart shape pancakes with mini Hershey kisses...

 

 

I hope you had a blessed Valentine's Day surrounded by love... I feel so blessed by my spunky little girl.  I pray today too for those missing, and longing for a loved one/special someone to share life's special moments with.  I pray one of these Valentine Days I'll have that special someone.

Photo Shoot

This is typical of getting Madalynn to look at the camera & SMILE... A real smile... any pics I've posted on this blog of her smiling, are b/c I got lucky or for that ONE of her smiling there are about 25 that look like this...today we had no luck... no smile to be given...

Flat out REFUSING to look at me...

 

Looking & then turning sooo quickly it's out of focus...

She is usually a very happy, laughing child... until the camera comes out... I also have it out A LOT so it's not like the vacuum that she only sees once a season... you'd think she'd get used to it.