& this is sweet too...

the girls & a few (new!) neighborhood friends were playing together on our front porch yesterday. first, they pushed about 50 tiny bits of playdough into the concrete...again. then decorated the porch walls with playdough. then they asked for markers & stickers & scissors & tape to make party hats.

then they told me they were making a birthday party for me! 

as i was looking through the party hats, they told me each person had a certain hat & you could tell because their age was written on the hat. my hat--highly decorated--had the number 58 on it...*sigh* i have reached that age already when kids automatically think i'm over 50?

***

i was going to post pictures of our new floors...but our camera battery was dead. so, maybe next time? but, it was a fairly uneventful & quick activity, taking up carpet, tack strips, nails. the tiny part of the tile we had to get rid of--holy crap. that took about 2 hours.

when we started with the tile, wes handed me the hammer & said i deserved to have the first whack at it (i abhor this tile--ugly white & cream mix, it shows every single crumb on the floor). so i hammered with all my might & nothing happened. except i think i was vibrating like something from 'tom & jerry' or whatever cartoon would do that. 

so then wes takes a whack & a few nicks fly around. so then he whacks it harder & this time only sparks flew. (my he-man!) we finally figured out that even a sledgehammer doesn't totally work. because whoever put it down GLUED it to a board which was overly nailed to the floor. seriously grueling to get that up...all wes.

somehow it was a lot of fun to do all this him. we had been wanting to take the carpet up for years so we were both giddy (until the tile part). or maybe it's just fun because we're neurotic...?

***

amelia is in this stage where she only wants one certain person to help or hold or hand her plate to her or really, do anything for her. most of the time it's me. hardly ever is it wes or a man. if one of her grandma's are around, it's for sure them & not me.

i think i've mentioned before that she has such a mean, piercing look at times, it could make adults cry. & now she also has the talk to go with it: she will glare at you, arms folded on her chest, hip out & say "i don't want YOU, i want mommy/grandma/gram-mum".  & she can not be talked down.

i'm super hoping this is just a stage *smile* but i do know that a mean look & the attitude to go along with it will be useful in life...but i guess so is a smile?

***

as for the 4th of july, independence day weekend...the girls had a blast. we stayed home saturday & went to church. i was able to be in about 10 minutes of the service between addy refusing to go into her class & amelia's number being called (a boy hit her & she was so, so upset about it & only wanted mommy). so anyway, good day, stressful evening...but the next morning we drove to my parent's house & both girls were simply giddy to see everyone.

they played with their cousins & amelia ate so much watermelon her belly looked almost non-human, it was so big & water-logged. the girls had TWO desserts that evening (well, everyone had two desserts). there was a campfire & marshmallows roasted (but apparently my girls don't like roasted marshmallows! what?!). & for the first time in their lives they learned about fireflies--they were awestruck. we caught, many, many fireflies.

we drove home super late, putting the girls in their beds still asleep (i think addy walked into the house not knowing what she was doing). wes & i collapsed into bed only to be woken up by amelia the next morning crying & crying & crying, wailing: i want my grammum! i want my grammum! for a good 10 minutes. finally, she switched to wanting me & we snuggled in her bed, nearly falling asleep.

& just yesterday she came into bed after wes was already awake & just layed next to me. it was so sweet, our heads on the pillow, dozing.