I haven’t been around much here, if you hadn’t noticed. And it’s not because there aren’t things I’ve wanted to share…there’s plenty. So today, for the sake of catching up, I’ve decided to create one BIG post that includes everything that I’ve wanted to post about over the past couple of weeks.
Lots of pics (mostly unedited).
Few words.
We had an absolute blast at a butterfly garden:
(photo by my wonderful husband)
Here’s Annabelle chasing the butterflies:
Here are both girls totally engrossed watching this one little white butterfly on the red flower.
Charlotte’s favorite part was smelling the flowers. I think she smelled each and every one!
The flowers bloomed
Annabelle got sick…she was so miserable.
We broke out the watertable and have enjoyed it daily.
We made a sailboat for our water table adventures.
Then this guy came around.
He was showing a little too much interest in our recycled watercraft.
And the next thing I knew we had a stowaway. It seems you can’t go anywhere these days without being invaded by pirates.
Have I mentioned before that our neighborhood is classified as a registered bird sanctuary? One of the perks is this distinction is being able to look out into our backyard and see this on the other side of the lake:
Quite the looker, wouldn’t you say?
I love those wispy feathers that hang from his neck.
Oh..and what’s this? Putting a little show on for us, eh?
And if the scenery here looks familiar it’s because it’s exactly where Mama Duck was hanging out with her babies. I guess the geese were getting to be too much of a nuisance to her because I haven’t seen her around lately.
Annabelle started feeling better and Charlotte and I enjoyed having her home so much that we pulled her from daycare.
More fun at the water table:
I thought the girls would enjoy making a birthday card for their friend’s first birthday party so I carved up a quick potato stamp.
Ooops! Forgot to reverse the image! We didn’t have the time to redo everything so I captioned the inside with something about the baby girl being “on the other side of one now.”
Had some fun fingerpainting.
This one got a little carried away:
By the time she was done her upper body resembled a smurf…I’m sure it was a wonderful sensory experience for her, though. 
Surprised my husband with a cake for dinner on April Fool’s Day:
It’s a meatloaf cooked in a cake pan covered with creamy mashed potatoes. I got the idea from Jenny last year and knew I had to do it. It was great. Poor Charlotte was *very* disappointed when she bit into her piece…even though both girls saw me make the whole thing. And Cory was totally confused until he realized what it was.
There…all caught up now!
Now that both girls are home I’ll likely be doing more kiddie crafts around here. Hopefully I’ll be able to share our daily goings on more regularly than I have been. I’m still trying to find the right balance for everything. I’ve decided not to post more than 3 posts per day on OCP and I’m hoping that will help me manage everything better. But frankly, there’s just so much good stuff going on that it’s hard not to post everything I come across.
I’ll also be working on the girls’ Easter gifts over the next week and hope to share some of that.
Did anybody actually read all of this? If so, thanks for hanging in there!
See you soon!
I read it all
You have been busy having fun. I love the smurf photo and the “cake” is hilarious. I think I would have had some upset folks in my house since sweets are a favorite around here.
i’m here lovin’ catching up with you. don’t feel forgotten, we think of you often
I did and loved it!!! Great catch-up post!
Looks like a great outing. And your daughter’s rainbow colored dress is toooo cute.
Looks like a fabulous time!! And nice sunny weather too!
Love the pictures! Your girls have so much fun together. Glad everyone’s feeling better, too.
What a fun post! I loved all the pictures. It looks like you’ve been keeping busy and having fun!
I’m so glad Annabelle is home again w/you and Charlotte. yeah!!!!!!!! Day care is a good thing for socialization skills but not so good for contagious illnesses. And you have so much fun all together!!! It’s great for sisters to grow up close — and they certainly are doing just that. Annabelle is protective of Charlotte and Charlotte looks up to Annabelle –I love to watch their sisterhood continually changing, growing, and loving.