Phoebe has been spitting a lot lately.

I’m not sure where she picked up the habit, but when she’s mad, she spits. When she’s sad, she spits. When she falls down and hurts her knee, she spits. If there’s a missing toy…you got it, she spits.

luckily she’s not spitting on other people, just the ground.

I’ve been trying it when I get upset. I see the benefits. If I’m mad and I feel like cursing, I spit instead. In an instant, I’m over it.

She’s on to something.

It’s been chilly here lately. 40’s and 50’s in the morning. It’s the kind of weather that makes me want to lay around the house in my sweats and sip coco and watch the girls play with their toys. But that would be too easy. We have schedules. places to go, people to see, therapies to practice, the list goes on.

We still like to visit the beach no matter how cold it gets.

And the girls still like to chase the seagulls and watch them fly away.

I’ve been a busy little bee lately setting arbitrary goals for myself. For instance, I would like to put furniture in our family room. I have been doing a lot of research on exactly what ‘look’ I am going for. I have found several pieces I am saving up for. But instead of taking my time in getting those pieces, I am putting these deadlines in my head. I want to have this by such and such day…

Just in case anyone wants to know how to create more stress for yourself, you can always  start by setting unrealistically high standards and then slowly unravel when you can’t possibly meet them. I’m really good at that. I am here for anyone who may need advice on how to make yourself crazy, no fee of course…

 I’m still moving forward with the furniture thing, but with a little less hurry.

I can’t separate these two. They are trouble. She has really taken on her daddies love of practical joking…she loves to pucker her lips at me (she knows I’ll come running in for a kiss) and right at the moment before my lips meet hers, she turns her head and giggles. She only does this with me. She just continues to giggle and giggle. Then I tickle her a little and as I am walking away, she does the pucker again. It’s a routine she only does with me. I don’t know why. But it’s funny.

A moment of calm this sweet bird has before our sweet angelic children chase him off with their loud shrills. There was a hint of sarcasm in that last sentence.

Abby is all about drawing, coloring and painting right now. She comes home from school, plays a little with her sisters, finishes her homework, eats anything and everything in our pantry, and finally immerses herself in her bedroom for an hour before dinner for a drawing and coloring fest. I love the art she is coming out with. Much of it is pictures of her family and trees, skies, grass and our dog, Bear. I love it all. I am running out of display space on our walls. Guess we will have to turn the garage space into a gallery.

She’s got soul.

There’s that pucker…see what I mean!!! She’s trying really hard right now to hide her giggle… It’s definitely there though…I can see it! SNEAKER!!

She is such a sneaker!