Ok last Monday

So here's last Monday in a nutshell since I've got so much other blogging to get caught up on. We've been busy bees lately. Anyway, Alex got home early that day so he was outside working and the twins were playing in the little pool. Well, I hear "Michele, is Kelsey in the house?" To which I say, "No, don't think so." Not soon after that chaos erupts. Yes, the back gate is open, I have two little 3 year old guesses as to how and our dog has escaped. Now when she was little she would dart out the door but now she's older and wiser. We have been letting her out in the driveway when we are out there and she's done pretty good but she got brave and took out to the open world this day. So Alex and I start yelling and walking up the road looking for her. Alex even gets in his car and drives up the road to search for her. That terrible feeling begins to set in that this is the day we are going to lose our dog for good. But I walk down the way Al has driven and he's found her way down in the cul-de-sac. She was just visiting neighbors I suppose. Thank goodness I do not have to go tell my girls that Kelsey Bug is gone. She gets out of the car panting like crazy and happy as a Lark! First thing she does is flop down on the kitchen floor to rest. She was so tired after her adventure she slept most of the rest of that day.

Now on to later that same day. Wendi and the boys from across the street had been visiting and were on their way back across the street. So we are doing our usual waving 15 times and saying our goodbyes when I hear CP yell from inside for me. I get back in the garage and all I can see is her face popping out of the door. I ask what she needs and this is what I see but this is not even half as bad.....

She has "painted" her face and hands with a RED RED RED Revlon lipstick she "found" in the garage. My first words to her are, "What have you done and have you lost your mind?" Now let me say she is a very funny and precocious child but this is not something she would typically do. I'm not sure what possessed her that day. Her face was completely covered in what was really a very dark maroon color. It was not mine! I have no idea where it came from. All I could really see were her eyes. It was kinda creepy. Anyway we tried soap, eye makeup remover, and all kinds of stuff. It finally came off but let me say that if you want some stay-all-day lip color, Revlon might just be the brand for you!

It was an exhausting day. I'm tired just typing about it. Ahhh, a day in the life of a Hicks family member!

On to parties and baby showers next!! Stay tuned.....

yesterday, today and tomorrow

Linus: "I guess it's wrong always to be worrying about tomorrow. Maybe we should think only about today."
Charlie Brown: "No, that's giving up. I'm still hoping that yesterday will get better."

Just a little quote from our favorite blockhead that I just read and thought was cute. Don't you feel this way sometimes?

Swimmin on Father's Day

I know I'm behind badly on the bloggin'. Just too much going on and too little energy or time. Mom gave me some Vitamin B12 pills today so maybe they'll help. I'll let ya know. Anyway, here are some pics from our Father's Day at Al's parents house. It was a great day of swimming and just hanging out.

Is she a beach bunny or what?? (Maggie)
Here's CP and Park loving the water. Park even went down the slide and loved it (ok with a little help). He's such a cutie bug.
And here is my Gracie. She's not much of a water bug yet. She'll get in the big pool but not for long. She likes to play in our little purple pool but the big one at MeMe and PawPaw's intimidates her. I'm hoping she'll get better as she gets older. Still a doll in a swim suit though.
And just one cute pic of Clara Paige in the "tube." It's really a big tire tube. It was a great day. On to my Horrendous Monday from last week soon.

Images of my Babies

A couple of weeks ago mom and I traveled up to Priceville, Alabama so My Cousin Jared's Wife, Cassie Lawson could take some pictures of our girls. Here are a few so I can let you see how Amazingly talented Cassie is and how great the pictures turned out. Let me start out by saying that my Girlies were absolute monsters in the car on the way up there. Mom and I thought we were about to be wasting our time and Cassie's but when it came picture time it was like a HUGE light from Heaven shown down on us and my girls were transformed into photo-angels. I'm so glad!! Mom and I stepped back and let Cassie do her magic.
Here's the free advertisement part for Cassie. You can go to Lawsongallery.com and look through her galleries to see what she can do. There are a few of my girlies in there under Big loves and Family loves I think. Hope you enjoy!!

Happy Late Father's Day

"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it." -- Clarence Budington Kelland

Just a great quote I read today that I think reflects what Alex would want his girls to say about him one day and what I think of my own Dad. I know I'm a few days late, as usual, and always a dollar short but just thought I would take a few minutes to recognize the Father of my Children and my own Father. I have lots of things to blog about for everyone but I'll get to those soon. I just wanted Al to know that I do appreciate all that he does for me and our girls. They adore him and look up to him so much. My heart goes out to all that do not or didn't have a Father figure in their lives. My Dad is one of the most unselfish people I know. And my girls also love him to death. I know I'm lucky and I need to remind myself that I too have an exceptional Dad and am married to one too!

Twin Anxiety

OK, so they look like little rag muffins in this particular picture but I have to tell you this funny story from Monday. Again mom and I attempted to do a little shopping with my 3 little munchkins. Always a load of fun and surprises and well lots of frustration too, lets be honest.

In the van I hear Maggie tell Gracie, "Gracie you're Ugly." Well, Gracie cries and I am just horrified at what I heard. So I get onto Mags telling her that it just not nice at all and that it doesn't make sense since they are twins and well ,they look just alike! At that Gracie announces that she is NOT A TWIN. So me and mom talk to her and tell her she is a twin. (They know this and have known that they are twins for a long time.) Gracie then lets us know that she doesn't want to be a twin anymore. So, there at 3 1/2 years old it starts, not wanting to be a twin. I wondered how long that would take but WOW, at 3 1/2???

So fast forward to later on in the day. We were at Kohl's Dept. store looking around in the kids section. It's been quite an exhausting day of rationalizing, fussing, fighting, crying, laughing, potty trips, bribery and all sorts of fun stuff. So I'm looking for CP some clothes and mom has all 3 of the girls just down the isle. And this is what I hear, "Nana, I think I'm starting to be a twin again." Hahahaa. Did you know twins could decide when they get to be twins and when they don't? Neither did I but apparently in Gracie's book that's how it works. I guess she got over being mad at her sissy.

Too funny. You gotta love kids.

Just for Fun! & ya might learn something...

* Maybe I should... pray more.
* I love the smell of... clean babies and fresh bread.
* People would say that I... am a loyal friend, passionate about my family and hard to get to know.
* I don’t understand why... people ride the merging lanes on the interstates to the very very end.
* When I wake up in the morning... I am not usually a happy person.
* I lost my will power to.. stop drinking Cokes. Just addicted I guess.
* Life is wonderful with... family that you love dearly.
* My past made me... a very well rounded individual.
* I get annoyed when... my girls make multiple messes in the house.
* Parties are not... something I go to often.
* Dogs are... always gonna be happy to see you when you come home!
* Cats… are fine too but more sneaky.
* Tomorrow I am going to… work. Yippeeeee!!!!!!!! Catch the sarcasm???
* I have a low tolerance for...stupidity and lack of compassion.
* I'm totally terrified of... letting people down and driving/riding on the cliffs in Gatlinburg. Ask Alex.
* Never in my life...did I think I would have twins! But I'm so glad I did!!
* High school was something that...I remember fondly but definitely not the best years of my life. I live in the present and it is so blessed!!
* When I'm nervous... my legs shake like I'm freezing.
* Take my advice... send your babies to the nursery at night in the hospital when they are born, enjoy everyday as much as possible and remember that we are never guaranteed a tomorrow.
* Making my bed is… something I have NEVER enjoyed or been good at. Great example for my girls huh???
* I'm almost always... content with where I am in life and what I have been blessed with.
* I'm addicted to… Coke-A-Cola and my family, ok, and maybe this blog. Hee Hee.
* I want someone... to think of me as a person who made their life sunny and not stormy.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and maybe you might have learned a little bit about me. I hope you might be inspired to do the same. It's a great way to look inside yourself and see what's really there! I hope you find good things.

Weekend Update!

No pictures today. Sorry! I left my camera at home. However, just thought I would give an update on our weekend. Saturday we ventured back to T-town, well ok, Northport to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's house for Cousin Jackson and Cousin Park's birthday get together. We had a great time. It was good visiting them and being back in our old stomping grounds againg for a day. However, it was so blasted hot that no one really wanted to go outside but the girls did convince MeMe to take them outside to draw with sidewalk chalk. One quick little funny, I heard Gracie asking MeMe for her "shalk" and MeMe kept telling her that she didn't have on any socks. HeeHee. Shalk in Gracie language is chalk!! Funny!
Anyway, we drove by our old house just for old time sake. It looked pretty good. We did love living there and the neighborhood but we LOVE being back home in B'ham too. And we Love our current neighborhood too.

Happy Late Birthday Jackson and Park!!!! We love you guys!!!

Our great Neighbors!

Here's the girlies riding around in the Barbie Jeep. It's a really popular vehicle around our neighborhood. Well ok it's popular with our neighbors and we love it. They are so much fun.
Here's adorable neighbor #1 - Nicholas! My girls just love him to death and his little brother whom you'll see next.
And here's cutiepie neighbor #2 - Zack, affectionately known in our house as Zaxby! Wendi, I'll tel you why later. We are so glad they have been so hospitable and friendly to us since we moved in back late last fall!!
OK and this is a terrible picture but probably taken by our resident photographer, CP, but here is what Nicholas and Zack's mom, Wendi, and I do best: stand around, watch our kids play and talk, talk, and talk. She is so easy to talk to and Alex and her husband, Todd seem to have hit if off too. Here's to great neighbors!!

And Finally Animal Kingdom

And even more Disney. Although you may be tired of it by now. Well, I just had so many darn pictures to share. Here are my girlies beside the Tigers in Asia.
And here's one of the Tigers that actually looked in our direction. They were pretty lazy when we were there but they are so amazing and beautiful to me!
Daddy (Alex) with his Bug's Life 3D glasses on. He makes a cute bug don't you think?
And the girls LOVED getting their faces painted. It took a lot of effort to actually find the face painting station but it was worth it. Nana even overheard them pretending to paint each other's faces the other day.
Well, this picture may not be the best but I just had to share one with them in their Mouse Ears!! You just can't go to Disney and not get Disney Ears!!!