driving miss daisy

We have 2 of these Little Tikes cars/trucks.  Parker got the police car when she was 15 months old for Christmas.  And Grace got hers, I think, for her 1st Christmas.  Anyways….they'd play with them here and there…but it got to the point where they were just sitting here in our living room collecting dust (like the rest of the furniture in our house).  So when we pulled out the Christmas decorations from the attic in November…I had Geoff put them in the attic.  

I figured they wouldn't miss them.  And I was right.  

But then- just as we were putting the decor up…they started asking about them again.  So we brought them down and have pretty much played with them everyday since.

Parker loves them the most.  And Grace…..well…..she'd rather just have her big sister drive her around.  At first- Parker didn't seem to mind at all.  But as the days have passed…Parker has since gotten tired of doing this so much.  :)

Anyways…the liner that popped into my head as I watched them day in and day out was…. 'driving miss daisy.'

morning…

….and night.

Silly girls!

over the last few days...

...nothing too exciting has been going on.  But I did try to pull the camera out to document a few things since I rarely ever do anymore.

Wednesday, Parker was in school....and so I had some one-on-one time with Grace.  This is one of the things I have been looking forward to having Parker in school 2 days a week.  But it's taking some getting used to.  Grace doesn't really seem to skip a beat...but she does 'need' me more because she doesn't have Parker to entertain her.  I even had an hour and fifteen minutes to kill while she was in dance...and it was like I didn't know what to do with myself.  Don't worry...I'll get used to this and plan ahead and fill my time alone just fine. 

We had an afternoon tea party....

_________

 This morning we did a few school-like activities.  Practiced pre-writing skills with circles and straight lines....

Grace tries too...

I've had this activity printed out a while and never used...it's from Confessions of a Homeschooler and she just did letter matching (the spoons had the uppercase letters on them).  We'll do again later with lower case letters.

I kept little sis busy picking up spoons we weren't using.  ;)

Hiding from me before lunch....

While the girls were eating lunch....I decided that I wanted something sweet.  I decided on sugar cookies.  Easy and good.

BUT...this time I decided to go ahead and have all of the ingredients already measured out and we'd just have to pour and mix.  Grace is so grabby (more than Parker ever was)...so this helped tremendously.  And we had just as much fun as if they did the measuring.

Taking turns....

Their favorite part...

The terrible 2s have officially made their way into our home again.  Grace picked this shirt out to wear this morning.  Which is fine.  

She comes out and says to me...."Is my shirt on backwards?" 

 I said, "Yes- let me help you turn it around."  

Her, "No- I want to wear it backwards."  

And she did.  All day long.  She is a mess.

But she can be the sweetest thing, too.  Of the two- she is the one that will out of the blue just say, "I love you, Mommy."  And I say, "I love you, Grace."  Then she says, "I love you, too.  And I love Daddy.  And I love Parker."

Just the sweetest.

just because...

I came across these pictures the other night and I don't think I've ever posted them.  They are from last month sometime....and the girls were playing outside by themselves while I was getting dinner ready.  I peaked out the window to check on them and thought they were so sweet.  They aren't always this nice to each other...so when they are...it absolutely melts my heart.

eatin' good in the neighborhood...

My friend, Jodie, is a part of a co-op and offered to let me join in last week.  I was very excited to receive all that you see below for $10!  It's a steal!

I didn't really know what I wanted to make for dinner that night...I was thinking possibly this frozen dinner meal thing that Geoff picked up the week before....it has the meat, vegetables, and pasta (or something like that)....because I just wasn't feeling like cooking.

Until....I got all of this fresh produce.


So I decided to thaw some chicken for Geoff to grill when he got home.....

Made a loaf of homemade bread.  I love our bread maker.  Really, I do.  And I love that I can have a fresh loaf in just under 2 hours- dumping in the ingredients and all.

Because of my change in meal plan- I knew that we would be eating later and that the girls would definitely need a snack.  So I made these.  I got the idea from here.  I'm fresh out of pipe cleaner which would have made them much cuter.  But the girls were entertained nonetheless (especially since our caterpillars are now in their chrysalises and should be butterflies within a week!).

So for dinner....we had

baked potatoes...

with freshly chopped green onions....

the girls played outside by themselves for 2.2 minutes....

and I was able to start listening to my current favorite playlist....

had some fresh kiwi as a snack.....

I love this picture.  It's through the window.  One of my faves, actually.

Aaahhh.....homemade bread.

the girls quickly gather at my feet when the bread is ready!  Girls after my own heart for sure.

Waiting outside for Daddy to come home.....

Our new flowers planted a week or so ago (the days really all run together, don't they?)....

Also from the co-op stash.....freshly chopped romaine lettuce for a nice a crisp salad....

Remember Steve?

Organic grilled chicken....

Fresh corn on the cob.  It was seriously the sweetest corn I've ever eaten.  I think.  It really was so good!  And I'm not usually much of a corn eater.

I call this a well-balanced meal!

We are currently repainting our kitchen table....so we ate at the kids' table.  ;)

I think I came to a conclusion today though.  

The messier the house at the end of the day.....the better the day.

And today was a great day.