Ten on Tuesday

1. YAY for 80 degree days! We are just started into Spring and already the outdoor activities have started! On Friday we had a little neighborhood Easter egg hunt. I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood that does fun stuff. It seems easy here. Maybe it's because everyone is new and all it takes is someone saying, "hey i've got an idea, lets do an egg hunt!" So we did. I recruited a 10 year old to help me with the hiding. Seemed like it took for-evah to hide and toss 150 eggs on a field. Maybe it's because it was 85 degrees!

But it took like 5 minutes for these kiddos to swoop in and pick up 150 eggs! We didn't plan very well, so the eggs got stuffed with change, a few stickers, and a few pills that turn into bugs when dropped in water.

2. After egg hunting we were HOT. So out came the Dora hopscotch sprinkler!

3. On Saturday Katie's mom invited a few of us to an Easter Breakfast and egg hunt. Little Bit immediately bee lined it to the Easter Bunny and the face painting clown. But instead of a cute little bunny painted on her cheek, she went for the whole enchilada. Actually, Emma did too....

4. Cutest godson ever!

Ok, so the only one I have but still the hat is over the top cute!

5. He is one of my biggest fans.

6. And she is slowly getting there.

7. Got the paint for Sophie's room! It's a Benjamin Moore paint called "Robin's Nest." And I've got a theme to go with it, "3 Little Birds." I've found a place on Etsy that can make a vinyl quote to go over her window that says "Rise up this mornin', Smiled with the risin' sun." But what color? White, black, pink? Ugh.

8. I know I wouldn't use it that much, but I really want to by a DVD projector like this. I saw ads for it back at Christmas for $100 and wanted it then. But now I'm REALLY itching for it. I'm picturing Drive-in style movies out on the drive way or in the yard with bags of popcorn and blankets. So I've got my eye on a few of them on ebay.

9. Is anyone big into Twitter? I signed up about 2 years ago but never really got into it. To be truthful, i just don't get it. I don't get the @ signs and # signs and RT's and etc. I got back into Twitter just so I could stalk WVU basketball players when they started posting videos and pictures on their way to the Final Four. I even managed to get one of them to follow me. Do you think he appreciates "tweets" from a 32 year old mother of a four year old telling him to "lay off the Iphone and hit the books." I'm sure to be "unfollowed" any day!

10. I love love love finding new bloggers to follow. And boy did I find a whopper of a blogger to follow thanks to Erin Cobb. Her name is Kelle Hampton and she's a photographer. And she's the most honest blogger I have ever "met" in cyber world. She's been blogging for awhile. But her post about her daughter born with Down Syndrome is the most heart opening words of honesty I have read in a long long time. That it took her 2 year old daughter to teach her how to love makes me pause, look over at my own Little Bit and be in total awe of her innocence. She's colorblind, unjaded, unbiased, and there's yet to be a cynical bone in her body.

C'est la vie

The French definitely say it best. "C'est la vie," that's life. So we won't be huddled around the TV tonight to watch our 'eers take on the Butler Bulldogs. But what a heck of a ride! I don't think that any Mountaineer will be forgetting this season any time soon. My step-dad has always said that "it's hard to be a Mountaineer fan." It's true. You can be built up soaring high one minute and nose diving the next. Maybe that's why mass quantities of alcohol plays a part? But through thick and thin there's also nothing better than being a Mountaineer. They might not have gotten their official "One Shining Moment" but I can safely speak for quite a few people who would say that they gave us many many many shining moments.

So on the regularly scheduled programing, it was also Easter weekend. A high holiday for some. But for the past 5 years Steven has been so busy with tax season that it sort of just flits by with out much fan fare. We don't go to church. And I'm not going to drag my butt to church one day a year just to be seen on Easter Sunday. So we relaxed at home. The Easter Bunny dropped a basket off at our house full Because according to Gi, she only has one grandkid. Period.

I'll post more through out the week about other Easter activities. Including a neighborhood egg hunt and getting together with some of our friends for an Easter breakfast and egg hunt. Until then, remember, c'est la vie.

On the Eve of History

(updated to apply to loves in other states, thanks, Rosalie!)

I can't quite explain it. It's as though there's this thick, invisible, energized air reverberating off of everything around here. Even at the Walmarts. The Mountaineers are going to the Final Four and they ARE going to win.

Have you ever heard of Noetic Science? I first heard about it in Dan Brown's book, "The Lost Symbol" (side note, I love that I get my science from fiction, but I digress). Anyway, Noetic Science involves claims that the human thought can affect the physical world. On Saturday, Noetic Scientists around the world should use the state of West Virginia as a case study. At 8:47 pm there will be 1.8 million minds focused on one thing and one thing only. And those minds want one thing and one thing only: the complete and utter annihilation of Duke.

(Side note- there's actually, 1,819,777 people in West Virginia, but I figure that maybe around 19,776 are living under a rock or mentally impaired. And then there's my uncle who puts the count back to 19,777 who is against anyone playing WV. He obviously was dropped on his head one too many times as a small child b/c seriously, why you gonna hate?! I mean seriously, what's the legitimate answer to that question?)

It's an unbelievable feeling to know that an entire state is standing behind 16 young guys and 1 legend of a coach willing them to go all the way. Clark Griswold put it best. I can guarantee you that when they bring that trophy home, the State of West Virginia is going to be "the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse." No one....and I mean no one would be prouder. Sure other teams have fans. But other teams don't have Mountaineer fans. So LETS GO MOUNTAINEERS!

This message brought to you by the mother of a child who will probably put the "P" in "Party School" class of 2024.

Better Late Than Never....

...for a birthday party! Little Bit's birthday party had to be postponed for about 3 weeks because of the unfortunate incident leading to the hot pink cast. Apparently inflatable bounce houses casts don't mix! I'll be honest, we probably could have gotten away with canceling the whole thing and she would have never known the difference. But we went ahead and got a giant princess cake and carried on. She jumped and ran around like a maniac with 12 of her friends. Thankfully she didn't re-break her arm. But she did manage to act like a turd some and cry and pout at her own party. Seesh. And so goes the drama of a 4 year old!

I went a little overboard on the cake size. I wanted to make sure I had leftovers. Well i have leftovers for a week and I even gave some away!

Every little thing gonna be alright...

If you were to ask Little Bit what my favorite song is, she would triumphantly shout "Three Little Birds!" It's not. But hey I'll go with it. Everyone can use a little Bob Marley in their lives (in more ways than one, HA!). I do love that song and we jam to it quite frequently. Especially strolling through the Walmarts because that place sucks the life out of you.

So anyway, that Rastafarian got it right. Every little thing IS gonna be alright. I FINALLY got a call from my plastic surgeon, actually he had to leave me a message. And in not so many words he said "this my message to you-ou-ou." (wow, i'm totally on a roll!) No really he said that the lymph nodes that the general surgeon removed and the margins that he removed were cancer FREE! I've actually listened to that message like 10 times now. He's a strange dude. One of those people who leaves awkward pauses in the middle of a conversation so you aren't quite sure if he's finished talking, just thinking, or pausing for dramatic effect. But despite the oddness he's an excellent doctor and my face is pretty much going to be scarless. He also fixed up Jackie the Ripper, I mean my general surgeon's scar on my neck because it bothered him. If I had a lot of money I'd go to him in a heart beat and say, "work your magic!"

So things are on the up and up. In the middle of all the madness, Steven got a new job. He'll be starting as an in house tax guy for a large corporation right after tax season. Maybe it's now starting to rain good things. He hadn't been looking for a new job, this one just kind of found him.

Thursday marks the great cast removal! My girl has been such a trooper with that cast. Once aunt Laura fixed her up with some tape few weeks ago she hasn't complained one single time. So hopefully this Spring we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program of normal craziness.

Through all of this unpleasantness though I was reminded time and time again how lucky I am to have such an amazing husband, little girl, mom, friends, family, cyber friends, neighbors, co-workers, you name it. I have NEVER been one to keep how I feel or my drama bottled in. I share it all with my small world. I figure why suffer alone and on the other hand why just share your joys? To everyone I am grateful. I'm grateful for all of the thoughts, prayers, well wishes, food (my friends seriously know the way to my heart, HA!) flowers, cards, my uncle for offering to shave his head if things didn't turn out the way I had hoped, and just listening.

Love Me.

So now I'm off to party Bob Marley style! Kidding mother.

Top o the Morning

Here are some fun facts about leprechauns. A leprechaun's principal occupation is that of a shoemaker. Hence, the tapping sound you may hear when one is in the vicinity. According to legend, the little suckers are aloof and unfriendly, and live alone. They keep a secret a pot o gold with them at all times. If you are lucky enough to catch one, he can be forced (but you have to threaten him with bodily violence) to reveal the whereabouts of his gold. BUT you must keep your eyes on him AT ALL TIMES. If you look a way, even for a second, he'll vanish along with the hold. AND the craziest thing about leprechauns. They are major pranksters. Case in point:

Can you believe the little devil TPed Soph's room while she was sleeping!!! Her exact words upon waking up were, "This is UNBELIEVEABLE!" And "we are NEVER going to be able to get that toilet paper off the fan." According to Little Bit, the leprechaun had entered her room searching for gold. When he didn't find any, he got ticked off and "trashed the place." Pesky leprechauns. Next year we'll be making a trap.

On the Eve of Four

Four years ago today we got the news that you would be gracing us with your presence the following day. That night I had my first ever panic attack. I felt my chest tighten. My airways constricted and I began hyperventilating. I knew that in less than 24 hours life as we knew it would never ever be the same. In those few minutes that I was sure I was going to die and Steven had the phone in his hand ready to call 911, a million things went through my head. From the absurd like, "what if the doctors are wrong and you turn out to be a boy?" To the more profound, "will me we make good parents?" The questions and the unknown were a lot to bare.

The next morning came. And at 12:05 pm you came screaming into the world. In some ways you haven't stopped since that minute! And life as we know it did change. From 12:05 pm on March 16, 2006, it was as though someone finally pushed our "go" button. Apparently, that "go" button doesn't come with a companion "stop" button.

We can't imagine you stopping. Just yesterday we were laughing with Grammy and PapPap about how we couldn't really wrap our heads around a time when you didn't talk. Seems as though you've always been voicing your opinion on everything.

You are so many things to us. Our princess who longs to live in a castle and marry a prince. Our tough cookie who can walk around with a broken arm for a week. Our little girl who likes nothing more than crawling into our bed a 2am and family movie nights. Our adventurous one who can dive off diving boards and climb rock walls. Our opinionated one who says she's rather die than eat a fish eyeball or go to church. And our only one who can act spoiled and bossy.

You are so many things at once. And tomorrow you will be four. For four years we have watched you grow and turn into a little kid. No longer a baby but a beautiful strong willed little girl. I will never worry about you getting lost in the shuffle of this world. You will always make yourself heard and I know that you will always come up swinging (and probably shouting obscenities). You have your daddy's loyalty. My devil-may-care attitude. And you are your own biggest fan.

You are going to be just fine in life. So happy birthday my sweet princess. And I've got news for you. Your prince has been here the whole time :)