The Girls

Today was a good picture taking day.  The stinking boys went to the stinking farm with their Dad and Uncle Don, so it was it just us girls.

Kelcie and Megan neither one hesitate to seize the opportunity to have their picture taken.  It's a bit harder these days though because they have to pose, smile, fake it, swing it and hip it.  I have the hardest time catching any kind of natural smiles with them, and of course they're in it together! 

Then the "girliness" in them comes out.  Weeds!  You want me to walk through those weeds?!!!  Then the "itichiness" starts and we're pretty much done.  Once you itch ... it's over you know!

So these have to do.  It's my fix for the next couple of weeks until they're together again.

Life ... Stop and Smell the Roses.

I know ... I've been MIA! I had to "stop and smell the roses." Otherwise, I had to catch up on life. My life.

I have so much to blog about that I can't even begin to put it all in one blog, but I've taken pictures, and wrote things down ... and now I'm ready to start uploading. Yes, I'll be backdating .. but this is my blog and so be it. So when you, that are on feeds, get posts dated from the past 6 weeks, it's just me playing catch up.

I've had Kelcie for the last 24 hours ... and mixed with my kiddo's, it was a wild twenty-four! When Juli came and picked her up this evening ... we did a little Mother/Daughter shoot, set up my Alien Bee's and a backdrop in the living room and got some great pictures!

What can I say .... I just love my girls!

Fired Up!

Last night Juli and Kelcie met up with me and the kids for a evening at "Fired Up."

They were a rowdy bunch, and we resorted to finishing up the painting and pottery just to get the kids out of there. A ceramic place and 4 five year olds just don't go hand in hand.

Trust me .... she might look all cute and cuddly, but she wasn't. Meg had more fun running everywhere than she did painting a cup and saucer lime green and hot grape!

Kelcie was doing just fine with her cereal bowl until we walked in ... and she instantly turned into a wild woman. Kelc and her BFF were in trouble!

Did I say these two were perfect angels? NOT They led the pack at first ... right before they got busted and grounded to their seats!

Most likely, we'll not be doing Fired Up for a long while ... it was not what I call a successful night out with my hoodlums ... especially since their cups and saucers and shananigan's cost me seventy-two dollars! Just think, I could have done a movie with popcorn and chained them to their seats! :)

Splish Splash

Yesterday evening it was hot outside baby!  Juli and I took the kids to a splash park for a big cool down.  They didn't have any problem finding the water!

We splished.

We splashed.

We posed.

We got drenched.

We waited for the water.

We hammed it up.

But we had fun!

Spunk

How can one little girl that is four years old be so busy?! Especially when I already have 3 four year olds running around here. What's one more you say? A lot ... when you're only used to three kids.

This little version of her Momma is one busy little chick. Everytime she visits ... it's like the very first time and everything is brand new and exciting.

I love her busyness and her visits and how she and Meg are great friends and "girls." This semester while Juli is still in engineering school I'll have Kelcie every Tuesday and Friday night and some Saturday mornings. She brings back memories ... of another little girl over twenty years ago that acted just like her.

Juli ... she is her Momma's child, and I'm a lucky Grandma. We'll just call it "spunk."

The Girls

A photo op. That's what I always have when Kelcie and Meg get together. They love the white fur and they love love love the camera.

I ask Meg who Juli was and of course she said that she was her sister ... but I ask again who Kelcie was and as always, "she's my best friend." Stinkpots they are, with a wild case of the giggles!

It's just very cool that Meg's best friend is her niece. Meg kept telling me that I'm Kelcie's Grandma but I'm her Mommy .... but then she kept calling me "Grandma Tannie" and Kelcie was calling me "Mommy." Funny funny girlies!

~ Spoof ~

You know, there are times that someone needs to literally kick my butt and twist my head in circles to knock some sense into me .... like the other day when I picked a skinny young cat up on the road.

This cat appeared homeless. He/She was standing on the side of the road meowing for all he was worth. Marlboro Man said he was just hitch-hiking and I was the sucker that stopped!

So I put the cat in my van ... took it out to daycare with me to pick up the kids and tried to pull a slick one. I nonchalantly said, "there's a kitten at the door meowing." Every adult in the building sighed and said, "that's just wonderful .... another cat dumped off here." I felt the heat crawling up my neck, so I put the cat back in my van and pretended that I was going to find it a home. I wasn't about to confess that I dumped the cat at the door just about three minutes before!

So the cat takes a ride with me and the kids to a Nursing Home several miles away so I can check on a IV that I had to pull for pharmacy. Being the good nurturing Mother that I am ... I'm thinking that dang cat is starving and needs something to eat. I grabbed a little container of ice cream and thought it would eat it. Well, it did! The whole container! The whole container of Chocolate Ice Cream.

When we got home, Mr. Marlboro Man was none too happy with me. His first statement brought reality schreeching home .... "if you put that cat outside, the dogs will kill it instantly, and you can't keep it in here, so what'ya going to do with it?"

I'll tell you what I did with it .... for three days I've cleaned up liquid cat poop (thanks to the chocolate ice cream) on the enclosed back porch and listened to it cry and claw at the door to get in. Never again will I bring home a homeless cat.

This morning "Spoof" got a new home ... Juli came over and I sweet talked her into taking the sweet little kitty home to Kelcie. When she said that she'd take it ... I cut holes in a big cracker box, put the cute little thing in there and taped it shut. I put the box in Juli's arms and shoved her out the back door and locked it behind her! (Not really, but I wanted to.)

Spoof is now Sassy ... and Sassy is now loved! Thank you Lord for bringing Juli here this morning!

Farm Princesses

Oh how they love each other. More than I know. Kelcie and Megan are more than niece and aunt ... they are best friends. We have a whole wardrobe of princess clothes for when they are together, and they transform right before our eyes. I feel totally excluded in their world ... when they're together.

They love to match and to look alike. They love to trade shoes and touch each other's hair. They love to laugh and do girls things and they burst into giggles about the boys. They live in their own world ... when they're together.

They don't see each other as much anymore. Kelcie has moved a little further away, and goodbyes between these sweet kindred spirits are getting a little harder to say. They're both almost four years old and I hope for all of their lives, that they're close and love each other.

Kelcie and her Mommy are getting married in August and we've been busy planning and doing, and getting and making. Kelcie and Megan will walk down the aisle together in front of Juli, and they'll hold hands and throw flower petals. I'm sure these two will giggle and do it their way.

Be Blessed Everyone.

The Heartbeat of Motherhood

The gals over at "5 minutes for Mom" are having a contest. A photo contest, and the prize is a $1,000.00 gift card. Go enter! Click the logo on the sidebar to get there.

Do you have a picture, that as a Mom, it makes your heart beat just a little bit faster and catches your breath when you look at it? I do. I take so many pictures of my kids, it's hard to pick just one, but for today ... here is my newest favorite picture that makes my heart melt, and tells me that it is a wonderful thing .... being a Mother.

It's Megan and Kelcie. I was taking pictures of these two the other day, and without prompting, they just leaned over and kissed each other. It was a true Motherhood Moment for me!

As most of you know, Megan (on the right) is Kelcie's Aunt (on the left). My first Grandchild, Kelcie, was born two months before my triplets were born.

It was a Motherhood experience to be pregnant at the same time as my daughter Juli. We shared a lot together. We shopped a lot together, and in the end, we shared the joy together .... these two beautiful daughters that truly love one another.

When I look to the future and imagine their life in twenty-five years, I hope they are as close then as they are now .... and I hope they both are blessed and experience The Heartbeat of Motherhood together ... just as my daughter Juli and I did.

Not to leave the boys out ... this was just a girlie moment. We have those when Kelcie is here visiting! It's a girl thing you know!

Be Blessed.

Fruitful Friday

Meg is my daughter. Kelcie is my Grand Daughter. They both are three. This evening they were fairy princesses, and they loved every moment of it ... and each other.
They walked. I followed. Hand in hand and together. They took my breath away and at times I couldn't see for the tears in my eyes. How can one heart be so full?

They told secrets and they whispered to each other.
Then they danced. With each other. Barefooted in the grass.

.... and they twirled. They were Ballerina's. Today.

Best friends. Forever.
They saw me. ... and they were so shy, and they giggled.

Then Kelcie had to go home, and Meg was so sad. Their fairytale for today came to an end. .... until the next time.

I am still amazed that one woman can have this life ... and bear this fruit. I am just so blessed ... don't you think?

(Click the pictures)

Late Night Visitors

This woman and her child comes knocking on my door frequently. And frequently, it's late night. This woman is a "night owl" too. Tonight she came ready for some Mommy & Kelcie pictures. Kelcie didn't cooperate as well as we'd have liked her too ..... she's at the stage where she wants to pose and do the "Cheesy Smile" thing.

This late night visitor, my daughter Juli, and I were talking and laughing about an incident that happened this fall. She had come to the city and met up with me for lunch, and to give me Kelcie for about an hour, because she had an Doctor's appointment.

Kelcie and I were going to meet Juli at Kohl's. I got there first, probably about three minutes before Juli, and decided to go on in and wait for her at the door. Juli walked in just a few minutes after I did, and I said to her, "Where's Kelcie?" It took Juli a long few seconds to sort it all out. Then she said, "You have her Mom!" At that moment, I realized I'd left her in the car. Juli and I both ran out to my car, and Kelcie was sound asleep in her carseat.

Juli was even parked next to me and didn't see her either. That was very scary for both of us. When I look back on this .... it's hard to believe that I really did that, and it made me realize that accidents happen this way and it could have been a bad outcome! Months down the road we can chuckle just a little bit ... but from now on, I'm writing myself a note .... that is if Juli ever lets me take her again.

Be Blessed Everyone.

True Love

It really is true love. Love between a Mother and her Daughter. My Daughter and her Daughter. I was there to witness it. From the very beginning, from the very first moment that my Daughter became a Mother. It was love at first sight, and an instantaneous overwhelming rush of emotions, that rose up and tickled my heart, as I experienced this miracle happen.
Three years later, that love has grown into a bond that will be forever. My daughter is a single Mother now. It's just her and Kelcie everyday. It's hard some days, but that love is always there. I see it in the smiles, and hear it in the laughter.

This Christmas morning, my daughter woke alone with her daughter. It was just the two of them. She wanted her to be in her own home, with her own Christmas tree, and start their own traditions. She wanted Kelcie to open her presents in her own home.

My daughter is smart and beautiful. She's strong, and she'll make it just fine as a single Mom raising her daughter. She's an awesome Mother to Kelcie, and she's my best friend.

As her Mother, I worried about her because she didn't have a present to open on Christmas morning from her daughter. Kelcie's Daddy didn't take her shopping to buy a present for her Mommy. In fact, he didn't want her on Christmas, and this saddened me to look at this beautiful little three year old girl and think how could he not want to be with her. It saddened my daughter as well. But she's strong, and she made Christmas beautiful for her Daughter.

Santa was told that Kelcie needed to get her Mommy a present, and he helped her. It was wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with the most beautiful yellow ribbons, and held the most precious gift in a rainbow of color. Colors that Kelcie's Mommy knew exactly what they stood for. Godly colors held together by a silver circle for her to wear. A circle, that is never-ending.

White for forgiveness and pink for Love. Gold for glory and yellow for Heaven above. Green is for eternal life and Blue for the baptism of being born again anew, and red for the Blood of Christ that washed away the sin (black).
It's sealed with a kiss ..... a kiss that says, "I love you Mommy!" ... and she does. She has a wonderful Mommy, and she has a Mommy that loves her from the deepest center of her soul. It's true love!

Be Blessed Everyone .... remember those Mommy kisses you had when you were little, and remember now to give them, no matter how big your little ones may be!

~ Photo Friday ~

Thanksgiving Day! Kelcie and Luke (my grandchildren) both came outside with me for a few minutes to take a few pictures. Of course they didn't cooperate, they're only three. But I did get the biggest smile out of Kelcie!Luke played hard to get .... nothing doing with that camera. He was cold and it was time to eat! He turned and looked at me only once, and I swear I could read his mind, "what you always doing with that camera Grandma Tannie?" Then, he sighed, shrugged his shoulders and walked straight into the house. But as he got to the door, he turned and looked back and gave me the biggest grin .... and I missed it!

I don't think my camera was the treat that he had in mind! Oh well .... there will be a next time!

Be Blessed Everyone .... and say, "Cheese".

Kelcie and her Mama

Kelcie and her Mama came out to the farm this evening to take pictures. Kelcie being the Diva Princess that she is, wore THE dress. The itchy dress that little girls wear to get their picture taken in. This is the third little girl to wear this dress in less than 48 hours. A little girl named Lorien also wore it yesterday morning. Just pictures of Kelcie Jo ... and her Mama Juli.

I'm a lucky Grandma to have a little princess like this!

Be Blessed,

Tan

The Girls

Kelcie and Luke

Kelcie Jo P.

Luke E.