mudliscious

Mud Play

by Mike Bayles

After the rain,

when water and dirt

make goo

this play delights.

What a sight

it is,

children covered in mud

and laughing

while splashing

in their imagination,

the ponds and lakes,

when cleanliness forsakes,

the delight they seek

until the sun

evaporates their dreams.

Mommy Wow!

i'm a big girl now!

Cutie Face sat in it first

Cutie Cakes played in it next

and now Cutie Pie is experiencing the thrill of it it, too

the thrill of the Rainforest Booster, that is

i'm not sure who was more excited:

Cutie Pie or her sisters

but she sure squealed while sitting next to them 

& enjoyed every minute of playing with her new toy!

dinner times will definitely be more exciting from now on...

the outside house

Go play outside!

i can hear it

i hear my mom saying it, i hear myself saying it

it's the best place to be when you're little

for imaginations to run wild

for a free place to jump, shout, and be crazy

for a place to get messy and be messy and not worry about messy

to discover and grow

to learn about change and growth

in the world

in yourself

outside is awesome

unless you want to be inside

then it kind of stinks

thankfully, the cuties came up with a solution:

the outside house

complete with cash register, birthday cake and a balloon bouquet

a car to take you on all essential errands

and a sweet Cutie Face face peeping through the door's window

where you can still head out

and explore the great outdoors

but always be close enough to touch home

(with outside dining--deluxe!)

in case you just need to curl up and relax...

a field of clovers

our weekly Tuesday run to storytime

takes us near a busy road...

but we have the option of taking a wide, well designed trail

that runs parallel to the busy road

but provides ample shade and respite from the noise

i tried it out last year when pregnant with Cutie Pie

the double jogger fits! so we take it!

it lands you in this field

where clover flowers are rampant this time of year

paradise for Cutie Cakes:

she ran all over the field until 

she finally wound up

at our stroller again

and then she wanted to run some more

by pushing the running stroller

oh yeah! 

There's a real baby in that running stroller she's pushing!

you okay, Cutie Pie? You 'kay? okay!

when we reached our bookstore,

Cutie Cakes was thrilled to see that it was barefoot day

she quickly took their cue 

and went barefoot for the next hour

her reading buddies did the same

all that reading and running

wore the younger cuties out

for the run home

unfortunately, they both thought they'd napped enough

after that 45-minute napper they got in

and didn't fall back asleep until bedtime

but that was okay because then Cutie Face had playmates!

they all were about ready to crash pre-dinner

so i thought it was the perfect time 

for a sisterly photo-op

what's that, Cutie Pie?

bad timing?

okay! but i'll take what i can get

3 cuties on a couch

love. them.

going to the zoo zoo zoo

i thought i'd escaped the spring break crowds by avoiding Atlanta museums altogether last week. Seems like that was a popular idea--everyone showed up at the zoo on Monday thinking they'd escaped the throngs of people only to be surprised that there were full parking lots and lines to get inside.

the more the merrier right?

at least when more=a papa for us to play with!

since we go to the zoo nearly every week

i don't bust out my camera for much these days

but we finally saw the orangutans 

and they definitely warranted a picture!

be sure to click on the pictures

to see the big orangutan smiling--crazy!

speaking of smiling,

this Cutie Pie is smiling a lot more than crying

these days

(finally!)

just proof that she and i exist :)

and a random shot in this sequence:

Cutie Cakes came up with her own solution

of getting onto the swing

when i had my arms full with a nursing Cutie Pie

and could not help her into it.

then that cutie pie enjoyed her own swing 

when she was all done eating

(and, get this mom--she didn't spit up...

well, at least not right away :)

and speaking of eating, Papa made the grownups

DINNER!

what a treat!

and he gave our arms a break and held

sweet Cutie Pie

thanks, Papa!

and next time we'll do a proper portrait of you and the girls...

Resurrection Sunday!

Last Sunday the cuties awoke to this:

Cutie Face came up with a few ideas

1) He flew away to California (?!)

2) He went up to Heaven with God (getting closer)

3) He came back to life...ding ding ding ding ding!

Then we went to early service

(we only go to two services on Easter so an early option was a treat!)

complete with baptism and beautiful hymns

we made a beeline for Mimi and Poppy's house

there was brunch to be had!

and Uncle Joel kindly shared his birthday with us

(and, of course, with Jesus' resurrection 

which allowed for all to be reborn, right?)

the cutie's favorite part of the day was about to start

egg hunting!

we had about 120 eggs for four kids

to shove into their fashion shopping bags

(disclaimer: i left our cute PBK bags at home. oops)

so here's cutie cakes looking like a 6-year old

oh my head

she still opted for eat-the-candy-as-you-go route

especially if some found itself on the ground...

Sweet Cousin M was hilarious. 

(Sorry twin, but this was such a funny picture of M I couldn't resist)

and oh so sweet Cutie Pie

with her dapper daddy

we of course had to have the obligatory cousin

photo shoot

we love our cousins

and they love each other!

and our big cuties love each other, too!

even though looks can be deceiving!

we had an Easter basket unveiling

before we headed to Aunt Meredith's house

for a delicious and joyous

Easter dinner feast

the kids table was full of

coloring, sharing

and thanks

it was a wonderful celebration of our Savior's resurrection!