a talent for

so this is for all grandparents, something to make you proud (& anyone else who is sweet on my girls): adeline knows how to write her name!!! well, at least her nickname. & to think she just started saying her name last spring! here is a picture to prove it. smarty pants, i know *wink*

when i picked adeline up from school thursday mrs. g said with a big, nearly winking, but really ecstatic smile: addy make sure you show your parents your papers tonight! so i went home & pulled the papers out to see if maybe i would learn the why of how addy's pants became covered in (hopefully washable) paint on wednesday, maybe a note of apology, hardy har har. that wasn't the case; instead, it was the addy written addy. i was so proud i nearly cried. i was like DID YOU WRITE THIS ADELINE?! & she just looked at me & said "yup, addy" like yea mom i do that every day now, i'm in *preschool*. what a kid.

& i believe here is the answer to why addy's pants were covered in paint. every day they get to paint, but this day she was especially covered (apparently they painted with the 5th graders?). that was the day that a kind friend offered to pick up addy from school, right after i was in that stupid car accident (even though i later checked my voicemail to hear this friend say she wasn't even going to be at this playgroup b/c of work & then wes called her b/c he couldn't get ahold of me & asked her to go there to see why i texted him saying in car accident, call asap b/c he couldn't find the phone #'s of the playgroup host & i was then talking to the cop & couldn't answer my phone...anyway, judy, thank you for helping wes not have a heart attack...note to self, put in text: in car accident, call asap, we are okay! & to all the other ladies there that day, thanks for calming my nerves; what would work better than coffee & apple cake?!).

*anyway* so here's some sample art work from addy.

& you guessed it: shapes. you'd think she'd be tired of learning by now.

last sunday we went to the new albany classic, a fundraiser for my sister's non profit (columbus coalition against family violence)...the founder is loaded (think former? owner of limited brands, wexner) & it was at their ritsy small town sized estate. anyway, my sister invited us via vip tickets...so we got to slum it with the richies in the columbus area, complete with catered food, free *everything*...& this is what we have to show for it, a caricature of the girls (free!). the artist was a sweet guy to do this for our wiggly duo. cute, eh?

& i just have to say, new albany sorta freaks me out. hellooo, stepford? i mean, nearly the whole town is surrounded by a white picket fence?! egads. every single time i drive through new albany i get this weird vibe. (it's not you, it's me?)

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& today my mom drove here & arrived by 8:30 a.m. which is good b/c i was having a very rough morning with the pain situation. anyway, my mom came to watch the girlies so i could do some shopping & prep for addy's birthday party tomorrow night. somehow my mom kept them entertained, fed them, & also vacuumed the upstairs AND dusted! woah, slow down. THEN she took me up on my joke offer for her to take amelia with her for the night & pre-party tomorrow. it's amazing what can get done without a baby around. like, uh, going out to eat *smile* & watching a tivo'd show...& doing a bit of work around the house. a bit.

BUT we all miss dear amelia! addy walked around the house for a good 15 minutes seriously crying real tears saying 'baby come back'. what i should have done is recorded that & then will replay if for addy next week when she's angrily grabbing a toy out of amelia's arms screeching 'mine baby!' it was touching, though; they are friends!

so yes, tomorrow is our first attempt at a 'friend party' instead of only parent friends. (let me clarify, all the families coming tomorrow are our friends as well. it just so happens that you have a kid within a few months age of adeline also. good timing, folks.) so today i decorated (with adeline's help) 5 wee shirts that will be used for painting pumpkins...we are borrowing a friend's jump house (that we will pick up in the morning, crawfords, sorry!), & will be setting up like fiends in the morning. slow fiends, but fiends who will most likely have had a solid night's sleep (my parents will most likely arrive tired & hand over amelia with a sorrowful, tired, smile). the in laws are arriving early to help us...the rest is history. how will the first friend party go?