Nature Center pictures

 Miss Independent. "Charleigh do you want to hold my hand? NO!"

"Mama! Looooook! A bald eagle!" (She learned about them in school last week)

 

 

 

 

 A pit stop on the picnic table for lunch.

 Chickens and roosters.

 

Snakes

Checking out the Maryland Terrapin exhibit! She is a Maryland baby after all!

 

Float on...

Mondays are like...

Ha! Love this quote. Happy Monday. It was nice weekend. I took Charleigh to the nature center for a picnic while Greg had to work on Saturday. I'll try to share some pictures tomorrow. We did yard work and played outside with C. The weather folks say rain is coming to our area this afternoon and will continue for the next 4 days. Leaving for Ohio/Kentucky Thursday night! Time to focus on four good solid days of work! Float on...

It hard to think about anything else!

Sometimes, when you live far from family, no matter how long you've been "gone," you can still get homesick. But not to worry!

 

In one week we will leave for Cincinnati.

In one week and one day we will see Mom, Rod, Gramma, Tim, Jodi, Hannah, Rod's girls, and his mother for a cookout/Red's viewing party! : ) Go Reds.

In one week and one day I'm hoping to catch a hug from my wonderful godmother and godfather.

 

In one week and two days we will see my best friend Ali and her growing family! She is halfway through her pregnancy with her second son. We will have breakfast together where I will give her son way too many kisses and maybe candy when his mom isn't looking! (That's what aunts are for!)

In one week and two days, after that breakfast, Greg and I will drive to the wedding of one of our college roommates. I will hug my best friend Kristy and we will catch up on life lately over a box of Chez Its.

 

We will be reunited with 7 old roommates and a handful of close college friends whom we haven't seen since Christmas 2012. Way too long.

 

Some have gotten married. Some have had children. Some are now working professionals. Some have celebrated big milestones and birthdays. Some have moved. Some have stayed. Some of us are still immature and silly (Not pointing fingers...cough... Jason...cough)

But this group of friends is that group of friends that when you are reunited after such a long absence, you pick up right where you left off and you remember how truly lucky you are to have them in your life.  

 

 

 

 

Float on...

 

Read an awesome article today.

I did NOT write this. This was taken directly from a Yahoo Shine article! I loved the story and thought I'd share.

 

"Hector Montoya (age 9) of Grand Prairie, Texas, has spent the past few years saving his allowance and birthday money. After accumulating $305, he decided he would purchase the $400 game console when he had socked away enough cash. However, in late January, while watching the news, he learned about a mother and son who had died in a house fire. “Hector couldn’t understand why the family didn’t have smoke detectors,” Tanah Montoya, Hector’s mother, tells Yahoo Shine. “He said, ‘But mom, we have one in our home.’”

 

A few days later, Hector approached his mother with an idea. “He wanted to use his savings to buy 300 smoke detectors for people who didn’t own them and asked me to drive him to the store to buy them.” The money Hector had was enough to purchase 100 smoke detectors, which he and his mother planned to distribute around their neighborhood. However, Hector’s grandmother, who works across the street from the Grand Prairie fire station, decided to contact the department for help. “On Friday, the fireman teamed up with Hector and took him to each house to install the detectors,” says Montoya. “He got to use a power tool, which he was excited about.” She added that many of the homes they visited didn’t have the two working smoke detectors required by law, including some homes occupied by elderly people.

 

Dallas-Fort Worth news affiliate NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth covered the story of Hector and the fire department’s mission and, later that night, the Montoyas received a phone call from the news station. “They informed us that two teenagers, a brother and sister, had seen the news story and wanted to purchase the PlayStation 4 for Hector,” says Montoya.  

The young good Samaritans were Ashton Harder, 20, and his sister, 14-year-old Peyton, of nearby Allen, Texas. “We were so amazed that a 9-year-old would be so selfless that we decided to reward him,” Ashton tells Yahoo Shine. “We wanted to donate the console anonymously, but the news station invited us to the Montoya home.” So, on Sunday, the siblings showed up on Hector’s doorstep with their gift, along with $150 extra to purchase additional smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to give out.

“Hector was so happy and surprised because he had planned to start saving all over again in order to purchase his PlayStation,” says Montoya. On Tuesday, Hector and Ashton launched a GoFundMe page called Hector's Detectors where people can donate money so that the pair can purchase more detectors for members of their communities. They even plan to visit elderly people to teach them about the importance of fire safety.

“It’s really cool, and I can’t wait to play racing and Lego games on my PlayStation,” Hector tells Yahoo Shine. "And I'm going to continue saving my money for smoke detectors."

 

Float on...

Long Weekend

We had a wonderful long Easter weekend. Charleigh's daycare was closed on Good Friday and Monday. I worked from home on Friday and took Monday off. I will say that working from home with an active toddler is... interesting. Overall, Charleigh did good and was patient while I did my work. We did so much stuff this weekend that I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

 

We can start with yesterday and work our way back. It was Chachee day! (As she lovingly refers to herself!) We went to Target where she took every children's book off the shelf, looked at one page, and tossed it on the floor (A favorite past time of hers) We then went to a bounce place that she loves to burn off some energy.

 

While there, a big boy who was maybe 6ish pushed her down. He put both arms out and shoved her. Needless to say she cried and I nearly lost my mom-cool. How do you deal with that? I gave his mom a glarring look... and the little boy one too!

After that Charleigh didn't feel like bouncing much more so I asked her if she wanted a grilled cheese, in which she replied by running to the exit. Ha!

 She couldn't get the grilled cheese in fast enough.

 She gave me a dirty look for taking her picture. Perhaps she saw me give my dirty look to the little boy who pushed her.

I then spoiled her completely by getting an ice cream! (No, I didn't let her eat all of that... that is the smallest dish they had)

Her day was made.

 She took a long nap and then we walked to the park and looked for bugs, which is also a new favorite past time.

 

Let's rewind way back now and talk about Easter some more. Remember Easter 2012? She was only 3 months old and we took this picture.

 It's now turned into a tradition. Here she is last year at 1 year and 3 months.

 And here is this year's picture. 2 years and 3 months. What a joy she is!

 We dyed Easter eggs on Saturday and Mema (my mom) sent Charleigh a Cinderella Easter Egg Bedazzling Kit! Who knew they made such a thing? Charleigh loved putting sequins and glitter on her eggs. She also loved sticking her hands in the cups of dye and dying her hands. Go figure.

 

 Also on Saturday we went to a local park/farm for their annual Easter egg hunt. We had never been before, but they truly did a wonderful event. They seperated each hunt by age group so that no older children trampled the little ones. Good plan.

 Her best friend Nico came as well. Charleigh and Nico have quite the love affair going on. They love each other and there is nothing anyone can say. Early Satruday morning, prior to this egg hunt, they had swim lessons together and then went to get bagels. Greg and I have become friends with Nico's parents. They are great people. As we were leaving the bagel place we told Charleigh and Nico to say goodbye and that they would see each other in an hour at the Easter egg hunt... what happened next was epic. If only it had been caught on camera -

 

Nico and Charleigh leaned in and kissed one another... on the lips! HAHAHAAHAHA! Myself and Nico's mom both gasped and thank goodness Greg didn't see. He doesn't know how to deal with this. Poor guy. He thought he would have at least eighteen years before worrying about boys.

 

 Here are the two together. We've been told by daycare they always play together each day.

 

 Eating candy that they found on the hunt.

 Dying eggs together.

 

Float on...