Some comments just make you want to cry...

We were in the car this morning, headed to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens to meet some friends and feed the ducks. On our way, Emma was asking me for more about the story of "Our Founding Fathers" and at some point I explained that England has a Queen, and we have a President. Sophie then asked the question of the day!
"Mom, does Barack Obama have to behave himself like I do?"

Sunny spot in the playroom

This is where Sophie behaves a lot like a cat. She finds the nice, warm and sunny spot in the house and takes a little siesta. Can't say I blame her.

stars of the show

Emma and Sophie usually play together really well.
They like to pretend a lot - going to the roller rink, playing mom and dad, going on trips around the world (Emma and the neighbor boy rode their bikes to Italy over the weekend), ice skating on sheets of paper, swimming in the living room, birthdays are celebrated daily. One thing is pretty constant though. Who they are.
Emma is always called "Miss Curslyn" and Sophie is always called "Daddy Phim". Always.
Sadly, Andy and I are referred to as grandma and grandpa a bit too often...

finally!

It has been a while.
My last pair that really fit, and made my feet happy were purchased and worn for a long time until the birth of Emma. Something horrible happened to my already large feet. They grew.
Fortunately, I was able to still purchase the same shoes - in a bigger size (just half a size bigger, thank you). I wore those for a long time, but strangely they just weren't quite right. Eventually, I allowed them to get icky, icky and icky - in the yard, the garden, on muddy trails, etc. I stopped caring for them as they stopped fitting me (my thought - my feet were going back to normal).
I replaced them a couple times but that is a bad sign since good shoes really ought to last. None felt so good as the first. None could compare in comfort during extended use.
Eventually, I got to this place where I didn't even have a pair fit for wearing - except for a pair of casual tennies that couldn't hit a trail if I cared for my feet - ever.
I have been looking. Always disappointed in the end. But, I never stopped looking. And - Tuesday it happened. A visit to REI with happy girls who love to crawl through the tents and stare dreamily at the canoes and kayaks (we really need to do both, camping first of course). I found some shoes (in my old size, phew!) and after a few minutes in them I decided to bring them home with me. Aaahh! My feet are happy. I wore them for a short Charley walk that night just to test them out and it was good. But yesterday - I wore those babies all-day-long and my feet tell me they are having flashbacks to the good ol' days. And guess what! These new shoes of mine are even the same brand as the old loves of pre prego days. I think I know what my feet like (asics). I am happy to report that I now have a great pair of tennis shoes intended for walking, hiking, playing and my feet are happy.

water, water... everywhere

These girls had a spectacular day. They even said so. And when they fell straight to sleep, we knew it was true. At 9am, we headed to the strawberry fields for one last day of picking before season end. Afterward, we came back home for lunch and then packed up to head to the water park. It was such a nice day (finally), we just had to go. We came home again, for a couple hours of chill out time (play with the neighbs outside, while momma reads a few pages in her book) and then headed off to gymnastics class (Andy got to see them in class for the first time). The final piece to their day (and it really was a day ALL about them, forget that Andy and I were celebrating our anniversary) - we treated them to Burgerville for dinner (around here, Burgerville is considered an upscale, all local products, fast food restaurant).

But the best part - I got this picture. I think it should be obvious that my camera is back (I hardly put it down), and I am happy it's here. It seems I have a new picture to love pretty regularly lately. I do love this one.

Happy Father's Day

When I called my grandpa today, I got to briefly speak with my aunt Sandy. The first thing she said (practically) was how beautiful she thinks our girls are. I couldn't disagree one bit, although I did point out to her that they are also little monkeys.

I mentioned this to Andy, and he said something he has said before. That he looks at these girls of ours and thinks that they are just the smartest and most beautiful little girls, and reminds himself that he is probably a little biased, being dad and all. Then we talked about how there probably isn't a dad out there who doesn't find his daughters to be the most beautiful and smartest in all the land.

Since Andy so graciously agreed to clean out the garage for Mother's Day this year, he is getting the day off today. Sort of...

He went for a haircut. Now he is getting the studio gear together so that we can head out to the Airplay Cafe for today's Father's Day show. Emma painted him a portrait of himself. We gave him a new book, a bowl full of cherries and a cherry pitter. I saw one on this blog and couldn't resist - oh, and it works great.

Happy Father's Day to all wonderful dads out there. I'll post the portraits that Emma painted soon (yea, she made one of me too). They are sweet.

Love

This picture makes me smile. I love it. What's not to love about a moment like this. Especially that crazy little thing Sophie's hair was doing. High on my cute list. I have to say that I love that Andy decided to take the time to capture this picture and many more like it. You can just see that he was having fun too, right? Love it.

I hope there are some special someones making you smile on Valentine's Day too.

Happy Valentine's Day - hope it is filled with goodness!