Spring Break Monday At The Mall

Bri and I hit the mall with my mom, sister and nephew to celebrate my mother's birthday (which was on Tuesday). Mall days of the past with my mom and sister consisted of lunch, shopping for clothes, chachkis and jewelry. Now mall days consist of lunch, carousel and train rides, Disney store visits and stops at the indoor playground. It is a new normal. :D

Somehow Briana and my nephew convinced my mother to buy them something from the D Store (it didn't take too much convincing though)...

Train ride...

Carousel ride...

 

Birthday cookies...

Playing at the playground...

 And big birthday hugs for Gramma...

Exhaustion from a busy day...

Precursor To Spring Break

Last Saturday, I had a "me" day. I knew I would need a day like that before I jumped head first into spring break with Briana. I had my hair cut and colored, had lunch by myself and did a little shopping.

This was my lunch...

When I came home that afternoon, I suggested that Doug, Bri and I fly our kite. After that, I sat on my back porch enjoying the beautiful weather with a glass of wine and my sweet kitty... 

It was a wonderful day.

But...I paid for it. Sitting out in the pollen totally screwed up my sinuses the next day. And I had an allergic reaction to my hair color causing welts on the left side of my neck (which has never happened before). Ugh. Sunday was a bit rough for me. Luckily, I was able to pull it together to enjoy the rest of spring break.

However, I am choosing to remember my wonderful day instead of what I endured after it. Because it really was a wonderful day.

The Easter Bunny

We are nearing the end of our spring break whirlwind! We just have the weekend now and it will be back to school on Monday.

I am in the process of downloading the million pictures I snapped during the week. On our mall day on Monday, we stumbled across the Easter Bunny and Briana wanted to visit with him (and my nephew did not - LOL!). Bri showed him her new Bambi she had just gotten from the Disney store (purchased by Gramma).

I hope you all have a great weekend. Spring break recaps will start popping up in a couple of days!

Spring Break So Far

We have been super busy on our spring break so far! I don't have a lot of time this week to post because of our schedule, so I am popping in real quick to say hello and I will fill you in with all the fun details next week! Sunday, Doug, Bri and I saw "Hop" and it was really cute. Monday, Bri and I met my mom, sister and nephew for a mall day to celebrate my mom's birthday (which was actually on Tuesday). Tuesday was a quiet day - Bri slept in until 10:15AM! She and I needed to do a few errands that day and then had dinner out with daddy that evening. Today, Bri and I went to the zoo with friends Suzanne and Matthew. Tomorrow, we have a picnic lunch planned with friends. Friday, Bri has a dentist appointment (just a cleaning). Saturday will be another quiet day and finally, Sunday we are going to a museum with some friends.

So, hope you all are having a great week so far. We definitely are. I think I will need a vacation after this super busy spring break!

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Saturday afternoon, I suggested to Doug and Bri that it would be a perfect day to try to fly a kite. Doug and I hadn't flown a kite in years, but Doug had bought this beautiful dragon kite over a year ago and I wanted to give it a try. There is a big field right next to the swimming pool in our neighborhood and I knew it was a perfect place to try to give the kite a try. The kite flying experience would have been a bit better if the winds had been sustained rather than gusting in and out, but we did get the kite in the air a few times before it would plummet to the ground again.

Doug had the first shift and I was the picture taker... 

 

And now it was my turn to give it a try and Doug took over picture taking. I managed to get it in the air but never got it as high as Doug did...

It was a picture perfect day. But unfortunately, my sinuses really started acting up after the kite flying adventure. There is LOTS of pollen in the air in GA. But you know, just the look on Bri's face watching the kite fly in the air was worth all the sniffling I did later. :D

Me and My Gal

Doug, Bri and I did some kite flying this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day - 69 amazing degrees with gusty winds. I will write all about it in my next post. Doug snapped this pic of me and Briana setting up to fly the kite again. I love how we were walking so similarly. :D

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

For The Love Of Pink Baby

The love of my daughter's life is "Pink Baby." All of my family and friends can attest to this. They all know that no one can touch Pink Baby except for Briana. Because Pink Baby is Briana's one special doll. The doll she shares with no one. It is her lifeline. Her attachment. Her love.

I remember my mother and I shopping in the Toys R Us before my referral came in. She spotted this cute little doll with a plastic face and decided to buy it for Briana. We both thought it was cute, but we never imagined the hold this doll would end up having on Bri.

We have all sorts of dolls in the house - Asian dolls, princess dolls, barbie dolls. And all sorts of stuffed animals - tons of them. But the blue eyed doll with a bonnet is the doll that won Bri's heart.

The doll originally had a voice box in it. When you squeezed it, it would make kissing noises and say "I love you" in a baby voice. Well, whenever Bri rolled over on it at night, it would ring out over the baby monitor and scare me and Doug to death. So after a minor surgical procedure, Pink Baby lost her voice forever.

When Pink Baby cannot be found, it is like the end of the world. Briana cannot sleep without her. She doesn't like to be without her. We have told her that Pink Baby can ride in the car, but she cannot go into stores and restaurants anymore. She is that priceless to us.

I actually bought a "stand in" Pink Baby a while back that is still sitting in my closet. It took me a very long time to find another Pink Baby and by the time I did, Original Pink Baby was starting to get a bit worn. I tried to switch her out once, but the jig was up. Bri knew she was an impostor. I never tried the switch again.

After years of love, lots and LOTS of love, Pink Baby is pretty worn out. She is discolored after all the washings. Her cheeks are blue from the ink of her eyes running onto them in the washing machine. She got pretty flat. Her head floppy. But none of this matters to Bri because she is so in love with her.

Bri begged me to let her bring Pink to show and tell at school a few weeks ago. I finally agreed. But I warned her the kids might laugh at her doll because she was so worn. She didn't care. I told her to tell them that Pink Baby looked like that because she is so loved. Bri beamed as she walked into school with that floppy doll. Standing in the hallway, immediately LG (the girl that Bri had problems with a few weeks ago) saw the doll, laughed and said Pink Baby had a flat head. Bri said right in her face "That is why I LOVE her so much!" Atta girl.

Well, today I couldn't take the flatness of Pink Baby anymore. I went out with Bri and we bought stuffing for her. I stuffed Pink and sewed her back up again. And then I washed her again. She is still discolored, but at least her head stays up now. Bri is super excited to have a poofy Pink Baby again.

This is where the love story began...

A girl and her Pink Baby...

Carried all over the place...

Always ready to head out the door...

She attends sleepovers at Gramma's house...

Always gets hugs...

Participates in tea parties...

Goes on vacations... 

She is always there for the holidays...

And loves to ride with Bri...

And tonight, she went into the restaurant at dinner. Bri and I celebrated her new stuffing. She said today was Pink Baby's birthday...

This doll is priceless. She can never be replaced. She is truly the love of my daughter's life.