They've come and gone

But I thought they deserved acknowledgement.

 The pink blossoms are so short lived! Sure do enjoy them while they're here!

Dining Al Fresco

I absolutely love eating outside. Our front porch is one of my favorite spots at our house.

Alan knows how to take a classy event and make it even classier.

And his daughters LOVE him for it.

And don't let the silly face fool you.

This daughter loves it just as much as the other one.

Dinner and dessert al fresco--the good life!

"Daddy, do you know EVERYTHING?"

I don't know what inspired Amelia to ask this, but Alan answered, "No, not everything."

She replied, "Right. Because if you knew EVERYTHING, you'd know where NALA IS!"

Nala is on the left above, and has been, sadly, AWOL since last summer. Nala held a position of high honor in Amelia's heart, and Amelia still talks about her. It's the hardest when she talks about Nala when answering questions like, "What do you want for your birthday?" and she smiles and says, "I really want Nala back, but I know that probably can't happen."

Speaking of birthdays, today Amelia turned seven. Not being a fan of cake, we walked to Dunkin' Donuts early this morning for breakfast, and I took ice cream sandwiches to her class this afternoon. How's that for hitting a home run (or striking out, depending on how you feel about donuts and ice cream sandwiches in the same day)?

And I told Amelia we'll have pizza for her birthday. Evelyn replied, "Just don't burn the crust, Mom." So I better go be diligent.

Happy birthday to our seven year old!!

Suck it up

When Evelyn or Amelia want me to pick them up and I say they're too big, they tell me to "suck it up, Mommy!" or "You have to suck up the time, Mom, suck up the time!"

They've heard me say I have to "SOAK up" this time when they are young enough, little enough, etc., to be picked up, to snuggle in one chair together, etc. It's just another one of those mis-heard funny phrases. Like when Evelyn used to call the TV remote the "commote re-troll."

Yes, soak it up. Soak up the time.

Innocence Slipping Away...

Evelyn asked me yesterday, "Mom, is 'f____' a bad word?" (She SAID the word, obviously, that I won't WRITE, obviously...and it sounded so jarring, although there is still something sweet in hearing a tender, young little voice say a horrible word she doesn't understand with such innocence and sincerity.)

"Yes, it's a terrible word." She asked me what it meant. I skirted deftly around that, proceeding to tell her how and why people used it, and that there were zillions of much more acceptable, thoughtful, creative, and intelligent ways to tell people you are upset about something or angry with them.

I heaved a big sigh of sadness yesterday. It is beginning. Here's to more open conversations with these beautiful girls...and zillions more conversations with God about how to handle them. Like the conversation that ANSWERS her second question instead of AVOIDING it. :)

"Mom, I'm addicted to TRASH!"

Evelyn's exact words. (She is in a phase of creating all sorts of unique sculpture--imagine egg cartons meet jars meet cans meet straws meet colored duct tape. I need to take a picture.)

And here's a winner of a line from Amelia the other night, "Mommy, I'm tired of being warm-blooded. I think it would be more fun to be cold-blooded."