A song for the night

Lifehouse ~ Broken

The broken clock is a comfort
It let's me sleep tonight
Maybe it can stop tomorrow
From stealing all my time
I am here still waiting
I still have my doubts
I am damaged at best
Like you've already figured out

I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain
There is healing
In your name
I find meaning
So I'm holding on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
Barely holding on to you

The broken locks were a warning
You got inside my head
Tried my best to be guarded
I'm an open book instead
I still see your reflection
Inside my eyes
That are looking for purpose
There still looking for life

I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain (In the pain)
Is there healing
In your name (In your name)
I find meaning
So I'm holding on (I'm still holdin'), I'm holdin' on
(I'm still holdin'), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')
I'm barely holding on to you

Hanging on another day
Just to see what you will throw my way
And I'm hanging on to the words you say
You said that I will, will be OK
Broken light on the freeway
Left me here alone
I may have lost my way now
Haven't forgotten my way home

I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain (In the pain)
There is healing
In your name (In your name)
I find meaning
So I'm holding on (I'm still holdin'), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')
Barely holding on to you
I'm holding on (I'm still holdin'), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')
Barley holding on to you

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok...so maybe the Mount Prospect Kindergarten Storm didn't have so many goals today...but they certainly had a lot of fun trying!  I am thankful that the rain held off as they would have all been crushed to miss the first game of the season...

Check out
Lilli and the tongue...just like her Papa...

For the Love of a Colored Egg

I hate dying Easter Eggs.  HATE.  Despise.  I have strong disliking of....

But it's one of those things that a "good mother" should do.  So every year I pull out the vinegar, the PAAS cups, the little bunny shaped egg scoopers, and let the girls go at it.  Thankfully this year I had Becca to help with the process which made it much smoother.

What was interesting to watch was the style that the girls used to color eggs was very much like their little personalities.  Lilli likes everything to be done now, and likes to claim everything as her own.  Therefore, most of her eggs hardly have any color on them as they were in and out of the color baths so fast, and EACH ONE has her name written on it with the wax crayon....all 18.  Abigail moved nice and slow, takes her time, and her eggs took long dips and came out bright and vibrant colors.  (And I just WAY over thought the Easter Egg Coloring process....wow....)

Now the question is, what do we do with 32 colored eggs?

Umm...yeah, my walls are different colors....still trying to plan out what to do with them...

Gotta make sure each egg has my name on it!

Sisterly Love

There are times where Lilli and Abbi do not get along.  At all.  I mean like black and white.  Sweet and Sour.  USA and Afghanistan.  It makes me (somewhat) regret that they were born 363 days apart. 

And then there are those brief moments of pure bliss and happiness.  Segments of time when they happily play for hours, when they take turns, when you can hear little bits of "It's your turn to have the crown first."  It makes my heart melt.

Abigail can play independent.  She disappears into her world of make-believe with long stories about her dolls and horses and fairies that fly in and save the day.  Lilli needs demands almost constant one on one attention.  She wants you to sit there, not necessarily to interact, just to be present.

I often wonder how close they will be to each other as they get older.  They have never gone to a school apart from the other one since Abigail was born.  They are even in the same Sunday School class.  There are days that Lilli still holds Abbi's hand as they walk into St. Emily's.  The big sister.  The protector.  The one who is most likely to turn around and bop her on the head if she doesn't agree.

It's an interesting journey, one that keeps me on my toes, one that makes me appreciate the moments like the one below....just two best friends, two sisters, together forever....

What do you mean it's still Winter?

Really Chicago?  Really?  It's so dang hot I almost wanted to turn the air conditioner on.  Which I WILL NOT DO in MARCH!  However, it was a great background for our St. Patty's Day dinner...and the kids loved having dessert on the back porch.  Our mistake, we bathed them before the cupcakes.  Lesson learned...

Green little leprechaun

This one...this one needs to stop growing up...

Abigail always smiles so sweet...

Spring has Sprung!

Our fabulous babysitter, Becca, took these pics of the girl at the park the other day and I had to share!  I am amazed at how well they came out, considering she took them from her phone....

Catch The Beat?

Those of us with kids in the 2-7 age bracket will appreciate this.....

Some days it's hard enough to listen to the same program over and over and over again, especially when the songs are always the same and the jokes are kinda lame.  So, I am not sure what came over me when I begged Jim to buy tickets for us to take the girls to see The Fresh Beat Band Live.  Wow.  Hundreds of screaming children (and parents)...but let's start at the beginning.

We decided not to tell the girls that we were going because I didn't want to listen to a day of, "Is it time yet?" or "When are we leaving?".  It ranks right up there with "Can we open presents now?" on Christmas.  We showed up at the theater, and there was no outside signage, so they still had no idea.  We walked inside the Akoo Theater (formally the Rosemont Theater) and there was a HUGE banner right in our way.  I looked at Lilli and asked her if she knew what is was that we were doing.  She asked if we were going to see a Fresh Beat movie.  I said no, we were going to see their concert.  She looked at me like I had lost my mind.  "Are they really going to be here?"  I told her yes, that they would be on the stage and singing live.  I don't think it sunk in; she asked about 10 more time if they were really here.  Abigail just didn't get it at all....she just clung to my hand and followed close.  We made a quick stop in the bathroom (because they always have to check out the bathrooms in a new place, I think it's a rule they made up to torture me), bought the over-priced blinking-do-hickey that I wanted to hide within 5 minutes, and settled into our seats.  Great seats.  We were on the balcony, the first row of the second section.  Extra leg room, and no one directly in front of the girls to block their view. Phew...

The show started about 10 minutes late (awesome), and when they Fresh Beats finally came out and started singing and dancing and doing their thing, what did my girls do?  They sat there.  They sat as still as I wished they would sit through Easter mass.  No clapping.  No singing.  Heck, Jim and I were clapping and singing to try and get them into it...and little to nothing.  Uggg!!!  I finally dragged Abigail onto my lap, and clapped her hands for her.  When did they get into it?  The song before intermission.  Awesome.  At least for the second half they were slightly more pumped and danced around a little.  In between each song, though, Abigail asked me if it was time to go home.  Home?  Sister, do you know what I paid for these tickets?  We are staying for the whole dang thing.  (However, when we did get home I took her temp and it was 100.0.  Good job, Mom of the Year.)

So, what did I learn from this experience?

A.  Bring Cash.  Parking was $20 and they only took cash.  (what a rip-off).
2.  Bring more cash.  We were able to get into a shorter line for the light up do-hickeys because we paid in cash.
c.  A concert is only as much fun as you make it out to be.  When I started to enjoy the show myself, clap and sing and respond to their questions, the girls got more comfortable.
IV.  I am not doing that again for at least a year.

"We had a great day.  It was a super way to spend some time together.  We had a great day.  The very best day.  And nothing could be better."   ~  The Fresh Beat Band