Date with Dayne...and some eye pleasing pics of our pretty girl

Geof. and Dayne have a very special bond. It'd be more than safe to say she's a daddy's girl. However, Dayne is not at all prejudice and once you give her a little attention, you have all of her. She's very forgiving and Geof. and I both agree that she is by far our least selfish, MOST selfLESS child.

Dayne and I went on a mommy/daughter date tonight. Before I forget to post about it, I'll fill you on on some of our conversations. This girl is hilarious! Her mind is always going a million miles an hour. The rest of us can all be sitting in the family room watching a movie and she's busy entertaining herself (in the other rooms) coloring, story telling, doing her hair..not so interested in something else (like a movie) keeping her attention.

While driving to our destination tonight, here were a few of her thoughts and questions (she talked, and talked, and talked ALL NIGHT LONG):

(In a frustrated tone): "Aah, Mom...when am I going to grow up? It takes forever!"

"How many days to get married, 100?"

Lest you think that Dayne is anxious to grow up and leave us to find her Romeo (you see, Dayne brings up this whole growing up and getting married thing often), this was her reply when I asked her why she wanted to get married and leave us: "No mommy! I don't ever want to get married! I want to stay with you and daddy forever!".

We went window shopping, had some heavenly frozen yogurt, and then saw "Tangled" at the Byrd.

While driving home, Dayne's talking and inquiries didn't stop. They ranged from how the mail gets into the airplane and all the way to Grandma's house...to whether or not I would want to go on a date in a hot air balloon at night, or stay at home. ???

Funny, creative, smart, independent girl. Don't grow up.

Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Anniversary!!

Happy anniversary to the girl I love. Thank you for being so great and making me better. I'm still amazed that I got you.

almost 9 years?!

geof. and i went out tonight for a late valentine/early anniversary date. what we chose to do? a bike ride in richmond and some yummy greek food in our favorite part of the city. can't beat that, in our opinion.

things i thought about tonight while riding around with geof. (yes, in random order): *how good his legs looked

*how lucky i am that he's so good (yes, he's a good cyclist, but i was talking about his naturally 'good' nature)
*that i've known him half my life. i'm 32! i met him my 16th summer. i didn't realize it then, but my heart loved him even then.
*although the first 7 years of our marriage were hard (not the marriage part, just the rest of it), i would do it all over again knowing i had geof.

*i'm so glad we feel strongly about most of the same things. i love talking to geof. i could live in the middle of nowhere with him because there's nobody i'd rather spend ALL my time with.
*he prays. a lot. that's a comfort to know my husband is humble enough to acknowledge a higher power and want to feel and know Him.
*he's only 30. so young! and he takes care of himself. i hope that means we have many more years together.
*he's always making me laugh. thank you for that, geof.!
*he's such a smarty pants. a real thinker. i'm a follower and scared to even form opinions, many times. he's not. a very attractive trait.
*doesn't judge others. a loyal, true friend.

*adores me. i always said i had to marry a guy i knew adored me. and he does. so nice. (:

here we are

Let's just shoot off my thoughts right now. First of all, I'm feeling good, feeling happy..., so despite what I might type in the next few minutes, just know that I AM happy. Right now, at least. Dayne's bawling in the other room because I made her wash her hands. I always make her wash her hands after school. Why is it that EVERY DAY she cries about it. Maybe I should be hugging her and snuggling on the couch with a book. That's what a good mom would do. Give me a minute.

I went to the gym today and took an EXTREMELY hard TRX class that left me feeling worthless. I couldn't even do one push up at that end. And I'm pretty decent at push ups! And instead of feeling pumped up and motivated to take that class again and again until I can conquer it (although you never really conquer this particular instructor's insane classes), I felt down right mad and depressed that I couldn't finish the class; that I actually had to leave and use the restroom half way through (sp?) cuz I felt so sick. Geof. met me at the gym and showed no sympathy for my whining. He says Cole and I are just alike and if we can't do something relatively well the first time we try it, then we have no patience for it, or for ourselves. Kind of a lame trait. Gotta work on that. And then afterward Geof. and I decided to take a Tai Chi class together that was nothing but boring, boring, BORING. Not that I don't think Tai Chi could be interesting and extremely beneficial--just not the way this instructor was doing it. Too much talking with us standing around waiting to begin.

And then when I was leaving the gym, the workers at the front desk informed me that my van was hit. Luckily, it's fixable and the guy who hit it did fess up to the deed and will be paying. Good thing, right?

And now it's dinner time and my kitchen is a mess and I gotta read to and snuggle with Dayners.

bye (but I'm happy, remember?). And our weather is perfect right now!

Geof. doesn't want me discussing our taxes on here so we deleted the part about having to pay MUCH more than we thought. So, for those who are confused with the comments made below..there you have it.

Conversations with the girls

Dayne: "Mom, who do you think is the most nicest, Jesus or the New Year's Baby?"

no waiting for my response...

"I think it goes like this: first, Jesus, then Santa, then the New Years Baby, then Heavenly Father. No, Heavenly Father first and then Jesus."

Me: "Cole, my phone just died, could you get my chord?"

June: "It died?" (look of disbelief) "Aah, mom! Why'd you do that to your phone?"

While wiping June on the toilet (too much info?) she looks over in the garbage can at a broken piece of her dolly's stroller, "Mom, did this break?" Me: "Yes, it broke off your stroller. Keep it in the garbage." June: "Oh, poor yittle fellow."

February

How'd I survive Alaska winters (see above pic)?? I'm just starting to feel better after more than a week of nausea, cold, aches, and more sleep than a mother of 3 should ever be allotted (three hour naps EVERY DAY??). It's been a difficult week.

Question (and I want some sincere answers): How do you get through winter?

Pa's the Mystery Reader!

I asked Ellery if he wouldn't mind being the "Mystery Reader" in Dayne's class when he came out to visit. Of course, he agreed and was a hit! Dayne was in HEAVEN having grandpa read to her class. And Ellery didn't mind at all having 20 Kindergarteners crawling all over him. Good grandpa. (: