The pool perked her up

Charlotte finally perked up when Pozz got home from work and it was time for the kids to go swimming. From the time I got her from Alissa at 10:00 pretty much up until 5:00 she was a possessed cranky child, but the mention of the pool from her Pozz broke the spell and she was one happy girl. Amazing. I am going to have to remember that trick for the next time.

She was so happy to show off her new Princess bathing suit and even more excited that Frances also got one to match.

Frances was a little slow to get into the water, but once the kids started jumping in off the planters, she was all in. "I wan dump!" she squealed.

"You want to jump?" I asked.

"Uh-hun!" she said then started climbing up behind her sister. With no fear, she jumped into the water while holding Pozz's hand.

When Charlotte moved onto the diving board, Frances was two steps behind her. "I wan dump!" she would say, then grab my hands and walk to the edge of the board. She would bend her knees to help her catch some air, then I would throw her into the water. Down she would sink until she started kicking her legs and reaching for Pozz. He would help her to the top and she would grab a quick breath then it was head back in the water to "swim" to the side. She would climb out the pool using the ladder then immediately say, "I wan dump!" as she would head back to the board. She must have jumped in about 20 times. She loved it every time!

so proud of her new suit
Gran in his alligator suit

Whew! That was fun!

Granison and Pozz

Don't take pictures of me while I jump Mama!

(she might have been in a better mood, but was very against having her picture taken)

Brave Frances ready to jump

There she goes!

Splash!

Not even up for the water

Yesterday afternoon we headed over to my sisters house for the girls and Granison (my parents are keeping him for the week) to play with the big girls. Charlotte was still in her funk and cried 95% of the time we were there. She even refused to get on the Bounce N Slide Mega Fort my sister just bought. Yes, you read that correctly, my child was in such a bad mood that she refused to play in water. And not just refused, had a complete and total meltdown when I tried to get her to put her pinkie toe in the water.

Frances, always one to follow her sister's lead, wanted nothing to do with the waterslide either. In fact, she spent most of the time crying at my feet. Good times.

Oh well, at least Gran and the girls had a blast!

Frances and Katie
Charlotte, smiling for the moment, with Katie

Granison having a blast!

Sassy Morgan

Frances so not enjoying the water. Who is this child?

This about sums up our day.

Rock star Brooke

Maybe I bribe them too much

While driving Down da Bayou this afternoon, Frances was crying not happy about being stuck in her carseat yet again.

"Fran! Frannie! If you stop crying I will get you some water, how 'bout dat?!" Charlotte tried to calm her sister. "Fran, it's okay. When we get to Tutu's I'll get you some water in a sippy cup but you gotta stop crying."

"Mama," she continued on, "I can't reach da big girl cups, but how 'bout you get me a big girl cup and I'll get you some water cuz I can't reach da big girl cups but I can reach da water. How 'bout dat Mama?"

"Sure Charlotte, I will get you the big girl cups so you can get the water," I told her.

"See Fran, if you stop crying, Mama's gonna get me a big girl cup and I gonna get you some water!"

A playdate with our "old" friends

This morning we all went to Ms. Cari, Dylan, and Lily's house for a music playdate. Charlotte, having spent the night with her best friend Peyton, met us there. She was exhausted from staying up late and was not in the best mood.

To all those people who told me "kids are so resilient, the girls won't even know their friends are gone," I have one thing to say: you lied! The girls love their new house, seem to like their new school, but their friends, well, they aren't doing so well without them. Charlotte still asks for Peyton each time we head to school. Still wants to show Peyton her Princess stuff. Still wants Peyton to come over. And it isn't just Peyton, it is all of our MMM friends. We did so many fun things with our friends, multiple times a week, and the girls are starting to taking out their frustration on each other.

I had such high hopes for today, which is always a setup for disaster. Charlotte was in no mood for a crowd. She cried most of the time, but did perk up with the promise of Princess goodies. I am not above bribery.

When I finally had had enough of her crying and whining, we packed up and headed Down da Bayou. For a good 10 minutes, Charlotte cried, "But I don't wanna leave my friends! I wanna pay with my friends! I wanna show Peyton my Princess shoes!"

Oh love, I miss our friends too. Change is hard, but it is apart of life. And with the power of the internet (and Skype) we will get to "see" our friends more often! (Alissa, this is your BIG hint to start a blog...even if it is just pictures of Peyton! My Goose needs her Peyton fix.)

Tambourine girl
Wait, these don't work like Daddy's!

Smiling Henry

The best of friends happy with the promise of Princess goodies!

Sweet Dylan kissing his new baby sister, Lily.

All smiles

Yesterday after school, we all packed up and headed back to The City. Wade has a conference today and tomorrow and I had big plans for more painting with my friends.

The last 30 minutes of our drive, Charlotte could hardly contain her excitement. "We gonna see Ms. Sara, and Andrew, and Baby Henry, and An-dre (Landry, Andrew's dog), and PEY-TONNN!!"

When she saw Andrew, they both just lit up and went crazy. After some quick playing and tons of pictures, it was time for Sara and I to bring Charlotte to Peyton. Again, it was smiles all around. Peyton gave Charlotte her new Snow White nightgown and both girls were in matching Princess heaven!

Sara, Alissa, and I left the kids in good care with the daddies and headed out to Corks and Canvas for another fun night of painting (my 6th time if you are counting). We painted Uptown Memories and while it was fun, all those straight lines and black outlining nearly drove me to drink. Good thing wine was handy.

Both girls: Is it really him? We have missed Andrew!
Cheese!
Andrew: My girls are back!
Frances loving on baby Henry.
my house
our group

A whole lot of cranky

Oh the whining. And the crying. And the screaming. And the hitting.

I am about to lose my mind. The girls need playmates here and soon! Good thing we are heading back to The City tomorrow to visit some old friends for a few days.

Wade and I had planned to spend our day finishing getting our room together but it was spent 1) dealing with the A/C man who had to add 5 pounds of freon to our A/C that had 3 pounds added less than two weeks ago, and 2) keeping the girls from killing each other. Good times. At least the A/C is now working, for now.

So no pictures or funny stories today, just wine and vegging on the couch for me to try to regroup. Tomorrow is another day after all. Hopefully the girls will play nice tomorrow.

My little helpers

This afternoon Wade and I dug back into trying to get this house in order. It was a zoo before he left for his golfing trip and after four kids this weekend, it was even worse.

We got the girls' playroom back in order, wiped the windows, vacuumed and mopped the floors, and hung some more paintings up.

Charlotte and Frances were so adorable helping us out. Charlotte sprayed the Windex while Frances and I wiped the sliding glass doors down. While I was mopping in the living room, the girls pulled out their Princess chairs so they could reach a "higher pot" as Charlotte kept calling it. Charlotte even wanted to help me vacuum. I really can't blame her, my Dyson rocks!

Thanks girls for all your help! The kitchen, living room and your playroom looks fabulous! For pictures of the living room, click here.

using the chairs to reach a higher "pot"
Vacuuming is fun!

Going to pick up Daddy!

The girls and I headed Down da Bayou today to go pick up Wade. Just before we left, I was talking to Wade on the phone and Charlotte did not want to talk to Wade. "Come on," I pleaded, "just tell Daddy hi."

"Hi Da-yee," Frances piped up. So I put her on the phone with Wade and I told her, "Say 'I love you.'"

"Lub," she said into the phone. My heart just melted. What a sweet little girl. Of course after that, Charlotte was all about talking to Wade - she just can't be outdone by her little sister.

The girls were okay on the drive down and started to get really excited when we got close to my parent's house.

"We gonna see Tutu! Remember when she came to our new house? Remember dat Mama?" Charlotte asked. Why yes, I do. It was just yesterday that she left. "And Daddy's gonna be dare!"

"Da-DEEEEE!" Frances squealed from her seat.

There were many hugs dished out and requests from Charlotte to immediately get into the pool. Like a broken record she said, "I wanna go swimming! I wanna go swimming! I wanna get in da pool!" So we all got in the pool. Brooke, Katie, and Morgan came down to join in the fun.

Katie decided to show off her tumbling skills to which Brooke had to then outdo her little sister (see a pattern here?) and show off her tumbling skills. Charlotte then got out of the pool and squealed, "Me turn!" She got to where her big girls started, did a short run just like they did, then stopped, squatted and did two rolls back to back. The smile on her face when she was done was priceless! You really would have thought she just did the handsprings her cousins just did.

We are so happy to have our Daddy back home safe and sound! We missed him while he was away.

Charlotte so excited to be back with her daddy!
Frannie and Mama goofing off.
Katie doing her tumbles.
Now Brooke's turn.
Then sweet Charlotte!
Silly Morgan.
Frannie rocking my shades.
Out like a light. Big cousins are exhausting!

Tutu has taught her well

We had all just woken up, still all a bit groggy when Charlotte said, "Mama, let's go downstairs!"

"That sounds like a plan. And we can get some coco milk!" I said with as much enthusiam as I could muster at 8:30 in the morning.

"Yeah!" she sqealed. "Me want some coco milk!"

"Me too!" I said half serious.

"No Mama," she said. "You can't in a big girl cup becacue it pills!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah! Tutu says you can't drink coco milk in a big girl cup because it pills. But you can have some in da orange Dora sippy cup and me can have some in da lellow Dora sippy cup and we can have matching tops! You can be just like MEEE! How 'bout dat?"

How 'bout dat. And I thought you would never talk.

The best laid plans

This morning was a lazy one. We slept in, of sorts - as much as can be expected with little ones in the house - enjoyed breakfast, packed up, ate lunch, then headed to Tiger Country.

The game plan was to drop the boys back off with Amanda, play in the city for a bit then pick Wade up when his flight landed. Too bad they missed their flight. Stupid United and their 45 minute check-in rule. They missed it by two minutes. TWO minutes. Were the United workers not aware we were missing our daddy over here?! (I kid you not, Frances just said, "I wan Da-dee. Home!" after a hopeful Charlotte just asked, "Daddy's home?")

We made the best of the situation and played with Hays, Gran, and Eleanor for a bit before heading over to see Brooke (my cousin), Tori, Rives, and James (who was sadly napping). The three kids had fun playing while Brooke and I enjoyed catching up. I love watching our kids play together. I know Mere is shining down on the moment and wishing she were there.

Since the kids both napped on they way home, which they never do, I am keeping two kids who should be ready for bed entertained. Thank goodness for DVR. Word World is saving me. I am too tired to entertain them.

Granison giving Maggie a hug goodbye.
Hays saying goodbye to his BFF.

Charlotte, Rives, and Frances.
Frances pointed to everyone in the picture and said, "Char-witt! We-ves! Bay-bee!" I wonder when she will start saying her name.