The end of February through early April

Here goes the synopsis of the last two months, mainly in pictures. In no particular order.

Since it's sort of a quicky post, I thought this photo of probably the best dinner the kids ate this year (in their opinion) would be appropriate.

McDonalds.

Gross.

We were running short on time before Devon's spring choir concert so this was our only dinner option.

Devon is in the second row from the top, sort of on the left side. Looking directly at me.

Dead center almost, again looking straight at me. It was a great concert-all Disney music.

Isabella attended several fabulous birthday parties (here's another she had great time at)

She has lots of spring birthday friends.

Last weekend, she went to a "dress up as your favorite princess party" and wow, did she have a good time. Cinderella (the real one) showed up at this party, complete with balloon tricks, make-up, and tattoos.

Cinderella even gave all the girls manicures.

Apparently they also had a photographer at the party, since Isabella only wanted to pose with her head tilted once I picked her up.

Clearly this photo is an "on the way to the party" photo....see, no tilted head.

Lauren invited Isabella to attend her daddy/daughter girl scout dance a few Saturdays ago. I think it was one the best nights of Isabella's life. It was fun to shop for a spring dress and shoes and she also got her own

wrist corsage.

Such a lovely couple!

Isabella really loves to dance.

Paul, not so much.

Isabella also started soccer in March, although all the games except one have been rained out.
Devon found the first ladybug of the season.

The games consist of 30 minutes of practice and then a 3 on 3 30 minute game.

Here she is in her Hurricanes uniform, cleats and shin guards...lucky number 7.

Devon earned his orange belt in March!!!! He is already practicing to move up to a green belt-maybe at the end of summer or beginning of fall. We are all so proud of how hard he has worked in karate.

Isabella went on the dreaded 4 year old checkup last month.

4 shots coming right up! It was worse for me then her....as soon as it was over she laughed and was ready to go to Chuck E Cheese.

Her she is on one of the rides, proudly sporting 2 band aids on EACH arm. Eek!

Good news is no more shots until 11.

Hurray!

Devon was off school the day we went to the doctor, so he got to enjoy the pizza and games without any shots. Lucky guy!

We had a surprise snow storm in March. So much fun when you don't get snow on a regular basis. School was cancelled, of course, so the kids enjoyed playing in it 2 days in a row.

This picture is from the 2nd day, so you can see we got a significant amount (at least for GA).
Devon and Isabella played for hours in the snow. Then Devon went off with neighborhood friends and played in all their snow as well. This is our second snowfall since moving here two years ago.

I found this photo in my February file...Isabella found the baby in our Mardi Gras King Cake. She has to buy the cake next year!

And she's done a little baking recently with her Easy-bake Oven, including a delicious brownie. It was supposed to be a gift for our neighbor, but she ate it instead.

Well, that's all I can remember (the downside of posting every 11 weeks!). Keep your fingers crossed that I'll have something exciting to write about next week....and that I get my lazy self motivated to post about it before May!

Another year older

It seems like I blinked and Isabella went from this....

to this.......

Happy birthday Isabella!

We started the morning with our traditional birthday cookie cake.

Everyone loves having cookies and m & m's for breakfast.

Especially on a Tuesday.

You can look at her face and know she has been counting down to this birthday since about 8 months ago.

I have never seen someone so enthusiastic about becoming 4.

So, of course, I had to buy this ribbon when I saw it at Party City, for her to wear to school.

After school, Mama took us out for lunch to celebrate. Isabella chose her favorite Chinese restaurant, Chopsticks in Peachtree City.

Egg drop soup...our favorite

Flowers came that afternoon from Grandad in Texas

And look great in her bedroom next the the other arrangement Mama gave her that morning.

After enjoying a delicious dinner from Steak and Shake (her choice...I offered to cook but she wanted a milkshake for dinner...we insisted on the hamburger and fries), it was time to move on to what she had been waiting for all day...birthday cake and presents.

This is the first year I didn't make her birthday cake myself, but don't forget that I DID make all those cupcakes for school, so I guess that counts.

She saw this cake in the store and begged me to buy it, only because she feel in love with the tiara and wand.

Even though I didn't make it myself, it was a great cake nonetheless.

It looks like she is thinking about what to wish for when she blows out the candle.

However, clearly she was just figuring out which part of the cake she should start playing with first.

Cutting the first piece of cake

Presents!!!!!

Little Pet Shops from Grams-

Leapster Games

(Princess one from Grandad and JoAnn)

Easy-Bake Oven from Mama

Little Pony play land

It was so late by the time we finished opening presents that she didn't get a chance to play with anything.

Paul suggested she take the day off from school the following day to play.

So she did. :-)

More Valentines gifts

We have had many days of warm weather sprinkled in with cold this month, as you can tell by what we are wearing in my February posts.

These are from the first weekend of the month.

I guess she would do better with her eyes open.

Day 8: Magnetic kissing birds

Day 9: Guess How Much I Love You mug.

Little Nutbrown hare...I love you!

Day 10: Strawberry magnets.

When I saw these on the counter, I thought they were real.

February 10th was a big day for us, so I need a separate post to cover the rest of the day.

However, I do want to include pictures of our cupcake bake-off extravaganza.

48 cupcakes mixed, baked, and frosted in one afternoon, for Isabella to take to school the following day for her birthday.

We got started right after her Monday afternoon ballet lesson

(which is why she is still wearing her dance clothes)

She is the best egg cracker in the house (good thing because we use the entire dozen)

Unfortunately, I was so OVER cupcakes by the time we finished later in the evening that I forgot to take pictures of the final product.

Oh, well....they were beautiful and tasty too. You'll just have to believe me on that!

Playdate

Day 5 of Valentines: It's a bottle opener-cute.

The following day, Isabella and I met our friends for a play date starting

with lunch at Chick-fil-A.

Here's everyone playing underneath the table

(mommys sit at a separate table)

After lunch we headed over to the park.

No one remembered to bring bread for the ducks, so the kids weren't quite sure what to do down by the lake.

Hugs for everyone, until we play together again.

Day 6: A heart-shaped measuring tape.

Day 7: Magnetic X and O

Imagine It! Childrens Museum

Isabella's preschool went on a field trip today. Of course, I was there to chaperone!

Here are a whole lot of photos from the Children's Museum.

Fishing pond

The art wall...she started writing her name backwards and then ran out of room.

Moon sand....she visited this section twice so I guess she really liked it.

We also have moonsand at home but it's not the same as having tons of it to play with.

The tap dancing area

Even more fun when you where a costume


Some of the teenagers from her school were so inspired they put on shoes and joined in

A tap ensemble

Lunch time. I think that's a Frito sticking out of her mouth.

There was about a 15 minute theatrical performance too. Singing, dancing, costume changes.

Here she is with her class, waiting for the show to start.

Still sitting in the back with her class.

They are "raising the castle roof" here.

Raise the roof! Raise the roof!


Moments later, notice Isabella has moved to the front of the large group and is sitting dead center, with another school class.

Her teacher told me she always likes to sit in front.

I guess so.

This is in the grocery/food play section. She is unloading a conveyor truck.

Cashier.

That will be $20 please.

Shopper girl

I don't understand what was happening in this section. Some sort of physics demonstration.

More of the same.

Moonsand again.

We stayed until about 1:30pm, a little longer than the field trip but since we drove, it didn't matter.

And somewhere along I-75, she fell asleep.

3 hours later, her she is.

Still sound asleep.

A sure sign of a completely fun day.

Our weekend outings

Every weekend in January, we've made good on our resolution to drive into Atlanta, trying a new restaurant with the kids and looking around neighborhoods we haven't been to yet. Well, usually Paul has been to them but the rest of us get a fresh look at our new hometown. Unfortunately, until last Saturday I forgot to bring a camera with us to document all the great places we've explored so far, which is why I haven't blogged about it before now. I know most of you are just here for the pictures right?

Truth be told, I'm on the hunt for a new neighborhood to settle down in, not necessarily now but sometime in the next year or so. A neighborhood closer to Atlanta, with more diversity in people, places, foods, etc., but still a safe enough distance from downtown to appease Paul and his imaginative views (which seem to be somewhat accurate sadly) of nefarious activity inside the perimeter.

So far, Marietta and Alpharetta are at the top of my list, primarily due to the above mentioned criteria as well as the fact that they are within decent driving distance to the zoo, museums, shopping malls, restaurants and other retail establishments that make a city feel closer to the home we left behind in Houston. I'm not saying I'm a city girl but I know after living two years out in the middle of nowhere land that I just wouldn't make it long in the country, even with the fastest Internet connection to facilitate my online shopping needs. Amazon is great but every once in awhile I NEED an Indian buffet lunch and a trip to an indoor mall.

Anyway, last Saturday I finally remembered to grab the camera on the way out the door, on our way to lunch, once again, in Marietta.

We went for a casual meal at a highly rated restaurant called Blue Moon Pizza.

The pictures speak for themselves. Great pizza (did I mention we've been eating a lot of pizza lately?) plus the waitstaff were extremely forthcoming, even when I cornered one waitress in the bathroom for the rundown on Marietta housing, schools, and shopping. She gave me the goods, plus a great tip about Forever 21 that I didn't get a chance to follow up on. Next time.

Isabella recently discovered black olives and ate 2 pieces of pizza herself along with the olives on all the slices in the picture above.

Devon seems to be anti-black olives this week, so he wasn't complaining one bit.

No trip in town would be a success without a stop at Trader Joe's. A true bonus of living in Georgia, since they aren't in TX yet. They have kid sized shopping carts which Isabella loved. Devon was just happy they have clean bathrooms (too many glasses of Root Beer at the restaurant). In Isabella's cart are her snack choices of dried snap peas and pistachios plus a bag of dried cheese tortellini.

How do you like her red mary janes? She might already have more style sense then me!

But not more shopping stamina. We frequently exercise the mantra shop til you drop and she does...but usually way before me.

Well, she dropped (power-napped in her own words) on the hour drive home.

I managed to stay awake. Ha.

One more thing...the photo of my Valentine's day 3 present. Isabella got a cute frog puzzle but I forgot to take pictures. I got a heart-shaped set of measuring spoons, with sayings like a pinch of patience, a dash of kindness, a spoonful of laughter, and a heap of love on the handle.

Paul wrote inside my card that together he and I make a great combo meal. Awwww.

Sally's Trip to Texas

Sally went to Texas today. Houston specifically. With Paul. Who's Sally you ask? Well, she's Isabella's webkinz. That's a small stuffed animal to those of you without little people in the house.


Anyway, I don't know how the idea came about but Isabella asked Paul to take Sally on a trip and since he's in meetings all day, it seemed like the perfect time. Since 6am this morning he's been sending these photos from his Blackberry to my phone....some are grainy so I'll caption just in case you're confused.

Yes, this is going to be a silly post for Isabella but I'm gonna do it anyway.

Here Sally reviews the emergency landing procedures...looks like she's seated in an exit row.



Making conversation before take-off this morning. Next stop-Houston, TX.

Uh oh, looks like she might have run into a little bit of trouble with HPD.

Too many Bloody Marys on the plane ride over Sally?

Sally finally made it to the office....caught her hanging out at the water cooler beneath a map of the great state of TEXAS.

I can't believe she got to go on this trip and I'm stuck here with these kids.

Ah, corporate meeting which means lots of snacks. Shipley donuts...Paul and I reminisce about eating these. Hot from the store....an entire donut melts in your mouth in one bite.

Apparently Paul forgot Sally over here by the donuts then retrieved her later. I wonder why no one said anything to him about carrying a stuffed dog and photographing her all over the office. I'm sure they think he's lost it.

Potty break. Yeah, the kids were pretty hysterical about this one too.

Here we have Sally reflecting on the city life, probably wishing she were back home. I like the "seedy hotel" lighting. It's not but it sure looks that way.

A shower before a night out on the town. Love that shower cap girl.

Finally a steak dinner at Saltgrass. Well deserved.

15 hours in the life of Sally, on the road with the best dad ever.

Today Houston, tomorrow Memphis. I'm not sure if Paul will be photographing Sally on Wednesday but if so, I'll make an addition to this post down the road.

Good night!