ms. shotwell

Have you read Lilly's Big Day (a la Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse) where the teacher marries the nurse, Ms. Shotwell? No? Well, you're missing out. Today it was one million degrees. Last week, it hailed. Good thing we found a slicker deep in the closet!

And that same day, we had to brave the streets and go to the doctor's office. Fordy needed a shot (thanks, Ms. Shotwell!) and Abby was pretty stoked to see the fishies. Who knew she could sit still for that long....

544. jeans that fit our girl
545. bins of hand me downs
546. a design job falling from the sky

Disneyland a la Grandmama

Before Easter, we hit Disneyland with Grandmama. I thought that since we have these passes and the kids are free we should take advantage seeing that we'll never do this again! It's always a really long day but we had a great time and the weather was perfect. Best of all, Grandmama was game for everything!

Grandmama and Abby singing and clapping on the Casey Junior train ride from Dumbo...

Waiting in line for Dumbo while Ford flirted with everyone in line.

What are we going on Abby? "Dumboooooo!" She loved it.

Grandmama and Ford from up above. They were both holding on tight!

All of us together on Winnie The Pooh.

The tea cups were a new hit this time. And there weren't any meltdowns! Hurrah! Grandmama thought we should watch the parade and Abigail loved it. I am usually unwilling to wait for anything ("Abigail, the line to meet the Princesses is over an hour. Let's hit it, girl.") ...but that was definitely worth it. And other than trying to leave the park mid-parade, the day was a big, fat success.

541. small world singing
542. tram excitement
543. the perfect words at the right time

Per Usual

Fordy's life.

She's gets to have all the fun.

I keep telling him, "Just you wait...."

538. getting laundry done early
539. no crying at bedtime
540. both kids sleeping till SEVEN THIRTY on a rainy, dark morning

Resurrection Eggs

Have you ever tried to explain the nails in Jesus' hands to an almost three year old? Tough stuff. But I guess that's the point. We are doing Resurrection Eggs this year and she's asking the hard questions.

"Mom? Who was Pilate again?"
"Mom? Did the crown of thorns hurt his head?"
"Mom? Why is there a sad part of the story?"
"Mom! Jesus is like Lazarus! He came out of the tomb too!"
"Mom? Are we all sinners?"
"Mom? Was Jesus a sinner?"

I mean, seriously, right? I thought this would be kind of fun. But at this age, it's all very serious. And for now, as long as I always end on the "good" part of the story, it's all good with her.

The nice thing is that she hasn't once mentioned the Easter Bunny this year. If only our Christmas could be so Santa-free, huh? But after Sunday morning when the sugar high sets in, I'm sure the Easter Bunny will be at the top of her list.

"When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.  Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."  The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."  There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"  But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."  Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. " Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
-Luke 23:33ff


535. the right meal at the right time
536. not saying the wrong words at the wrong time
537. facing trials with our neighbors

Ford 411

Fordy is successfully drinking from his straw cup now. Granted, half of the contents spill out of his mouth on to his fresh, new shirt -- but hey -- five outfits in a day doesn't phase me anymore! (I think God is getting me geared up for Abby's "I want to play dress up!" phase).

But he also loves sissy's sippy cup. And standing at the dishwasher is his new favorite past time. That and pulling out knives while I'm not looking.

Here's a typical dinner -- always avocado...

And most moments, I find him standing up and bouncing up and down.

Or outside in the evenings, learning to walk with Daddy...

He's now long enough to wear 6-12 month pants and is growing out of 9month sleepers before I can blink. I looked at him today, as he was protesting about something and I thought, "I really need to talk to him more...." Most moments we're just managing the chaos. As my dad recently said, "what precious, challenging times these are..."

" Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him."
 Matthew 27:27ff

530. pool time on the horizon
531. sparkly gifts
532. a solid coma-sleep without a single wake up
533. dora underwear
534. lists, lists and more lists to remind me of everything

Birthday Instagram

Yesterday we were able to teach Abby the finer points of saying "April Fools!" She liked to add "Only Kidding!". Sure, whatever convinces that person that there isn't really red stuff on their shirt is great with us.

 Beyond that, it was such a blessed day for me. Here's a (partial) look at the day through instagram pics.

First stop : church. After reading from Luke, Abby said, "Mom! Did he just say Pilate?" Yes, yes he did. Whew. Glad she knew who he was already. "Why do those people who arrested Jesus hate God?" These are the questions as of late. God help me. Literally.

 Second stop: Auntie Em's for brunch. Monkey Bread anyone? Thought so. It was deeeelicious.

Another beautiful moment was that Ford fell asleep just before we got seated. I'd forgotten what a meal was like with just the three of us. It was so nice to have conversation focused on Mikey Mouse pancakes. Honestly. There was no screaming. No throwing food on the floor. No talk of anything substantial.... but that was fine. It was almost... quiet. Ahhhhh.

And then it was home for naps (which everyone took but me) and off I went to get a blessed mani/pedi. Heaven. I read three entire articles in a magazine. That hasn't happened since 2008.

Then I opened a lovely new purse from my BFF ... isn't it amazing? Yep! And from a very itty bitty tiny boutique called Forever 21. That's right. Fabulousness.

And the day ended with my God daughter coming over with tulips and gelato. The bonus was that she read to Abby before bed. Cuteness.

Thank you to everyone who made my day so special with calls and facebooking and emails. I feel so blessed.

And since it was also Palm Sunday, here is part of what they read in church yesterday...

"Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people,  and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.  Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.  Therefore, I will punish him and then release him. " With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!"  (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)  Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.  But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" -- Luke 23:13ff

527. a hubby who served me all. day. long.
528. an extra long foot massage that felt like it lasted all. day. long.
529. hugs, kisses and Abby singing Happy Birthday all. day. long.

Ranunculas

We went on a family walk recently and saw our favorite horse, Smokey, as well as a sea of ranunculas. Abby and I were so inspired we had to buy our own.

She was pretty excited to give it a try...

So she lined 'em up and mommy did all of the dirty work.

And now we have spring to look at every day in our yard.

 524. the clearest day in LA I've ever seen
525. time to read three articles in a magazine
526. an impromptu day with Grandmama