A Thorn Among Roses

in the midst of a house full of chaos and an outside full of blizzardy icy ick...sofia found her calm...and it's really stinking cute! i'm sure at some point soon, that finger sucking will annoy me, but for now, she's finding her calm.  sheeeeewwwwwww.

i have never had a kid more in love with mickey mouse in my entire life... sofia literally sees those stinking ears in the world all around! so it was only natural that she would BEG for a mickey mouse birthday celebration... and then the flu hit this house.  and hit again and again.  but the birthday must go on...and on before nana and papa head to the sunshine-y place for a smidge.  so on the party went...or the dinner with dq ice cream cake, fun plates and napkins. the great thing about sofia is that she has hubs attitude on most things...so merely having anything at all with mickey mouse on it, well, that made it the most perfect party ever. add the nana and papa factor in and well, life was more than complete for sof.  everyone knows when nana is coming there are gifts not far behind...usually in papa's arms! i guess you can see by the face...she was delighted! in absolute awe of the mickey cake...and to think i was going to put effort in making her a cake in ...

sofia is in this giggle bunny phase...where she loves to be tickled and that leads to contagious giggles and grins. location of the tickle-fest is never an issue...i mean, tickling is for everywhere. even on the driveway... {{and wow, do i look good or what?}} but the result is always the same... uber cuteness all around! hanging at 5 minutes for mom .

how do we handle rain outs??? first, never ever go to a morning game without a venti.  it's a rule. then, always have a fab movie on hand so when the game gets called, you can bribe them with movie time in the car whilst you get things organized with the team. and last but not least, keep 'em smiling!!

...but it sure does make the ride home better! last night was p's first varsity conference softball game...there was some pressure, i'm not gonna lie. she would never admit it, but conference games, well, they bring some extra pressure. but our lady shamrocks came out and kicked some conference butt!  it was fun to watch...and after coming back in the 6th from a 0-1 to winning the game 8-1, it was awesome! {that's p sliding into the catcher at home...and still making the play. oh yeah} and to make things better...today is p's 15th bday. so starting off with a conference win was the perfect gift for her. hard for me to believe that my paige was actually born...she was soooo late, i swore she would go to college in utero.  i tried walking her out. i tried eating burritos. i tried everything...she was more than content to stay right where she was...but the bean burritos finally paid off and she decided to come and eat some taco bell on her own... {my fav pic of her as ...

do you smell the brick dust? hear the screams from over zealous parents in the stands? well, we sure do here bc it's varsity softball time, baby...and paige is a playing!! based on the look on her face, i'm going with her loving it... we're so proud of her...she's such a great kid on and off the field. what a slapper!! woo hoooo! {{look close at the ball behind the 3rd baseman...and the score from 3rd}} way to go, paige...good kid. wow...now there's only 3 more! any chance that i can get all 4 girlies to be such great kids? i sure hope so! oh...and for those of you that don't know my friend, tabitha , from a 5 oh 4 uplifting , well you have to meet her. she's one of the most inspiring women in the world...someone that doesn't let the loss of an arm and leg and any thing else ever get in her way of showing and giving love. go see her interview HERE and then visit her blog HERE to help her make someone smile!

nana and papa are STILL i florida {stinking snow birds}...the girlies are really missing them.  ok, i am really missing them too.  but sofia has discovered a new technique...i call it the "talk on the phone and make faces at the picture" tactic.  seems to work for her... while chatting on the phone with nana and papa {or neee-naaaa and papppp--ooo in her case}, she sits at her little table, looks at the fam shot and chatters away. so when we get this face bc we miss nana... we do this...{do you love the diaper butt hanging out or what??!!} and then we get this... seems to work out fairly well, but there's nothing like a good spoiling in person from nana and papa...which comes very soon bc we're heading to florida!  woo hooo!

oh my word...what a week!  i never miss not me monday...and i totally did this week.  you wanna know why?  well, this is why... seems someone, who shall remain unnamed, but pictured above, has decided that being two requires a constant battle of the wills.  i mean, she's precious, don't get me wrong, but seriously, when a 2 year and 2 month old {who is suppose to be behind bc of her preemie-ness} takes her dinner plate and chucks it at daddy when she was "all done. no more, daddy"...i think we are definitely in the strong-willed or "spirited" category. yep...you think the plate toss was good...well, it got better. stinker-poo also decided that when daddy gave her  a towel to clean up her mess that she would teach that towel a lesson. she tossed the towel on the floor, started gibbering some words that included, but were def not limited to "no towel. don't like you. you mean. no way."  then, as if to fully win the argument, she jumped up and...

my jada...she's got some style. i'm not sure what kind of style it is, but she's got lots of it! and one day, i think she'll take the world with her fashion. for now, she'll just be cute and eccentric!

yep...that's true fear. wanna know of what? the mean, viscous and always evil... car wash! come back tomorrow and check out the actual video...it will totally be worth it!

humor me, okay? i thought this was hilarious when i took it...i mean, a drop down on the couch, belly laugh funny. everyone sees hubs as such a sweet guy {and he totally is}, but to see him with devil horns is hilarious! it's all i got today. hubs is off on another business trip, which started this morn at 4:30am...so i'm beat, it's freezing and well, please just humor me. and 5 minutes for mom are helping me out today!

some things are totally genetic...and some things are just learned. and i'll totally take credit for this one. do i hear an amen??

this is the most amazing and wonderful, miss abby!!! ok, here's what you have to know about her...she's totally amazing! she's talented in soccer, swimming, piano...and here's the big one...she's got a love for Christ that is more amazing than most adults! i love this girl and it was such an honor to do her senior pics!! ok, so here's a few of my favs... super fun...so what do you think? i think she's totally amazing!!! {{it goes without saying, but i gotta say it...all photos are property of dhaus photography and can not be used without permission and expressed written consent.}} if you wanna see more of my shots, you can...right HERE !