The Guenther Gang

Christmas Sneak Peek

2012-01-03T09:04:00.001-08:00

Bad Blogger.... Bad!

I know, I know. I have left you guys hanging in December. My sincere apologies. It has been a busy month. My birthday, Christmas festivities, and family gatherings. I can only hope that you understand that MAKING memories is far more important than BLOGGING. That being said, in the process of making those memories I took a TON of photos. Over the next few days, as we get back on schedule... I will start posting some of those pics. I know, I haven't even posted the last few days of Disney pics.

I promise.. if you give me this month, I will update you with loads of holiday photos, information about our fabulous holidays and plans for the new year. In the meantime, I will leave you with a few sneak peeks of the holiday edition of the Guenther Gang.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Was it worth it Wednesday?

2011-11-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

Lily... seeing her first Parade.

In planning our trip to Disney World, we never doubted that we would have fun. We never doubted that it would be a fun vacation or that the girls would enjoy their first trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. But, John and I did occasionally wonder, "is it worth it?". Is it worth the expense? Is it worth the hassle? Is it worth it?

The answer to that question is a resounding YES. It was worth every dime, every hassle, every inconvenience and every frustration. It was a wonderful time to go to Disney, a time when my children still BELIEVE. They BELIEVE we visited the Princesses home. They BELIEVE they met the real Buzz and Woody. They BELIEVE. And John and I are thankful that we got to experience this with them.

Above are pictures of Lily seeing her first parade. When you look at those pictures, you tell me... wasn't it WORTH it?

Thankful Day 29 - Disney Day 4

2011-11-29T18:43:00.001-08:00

After our typical early Guenther start, we headed back to Epcot. We had a special lunch planned on this day and we were all crazy excited. Right after we entered the park, we met Stitch. He had the girls rolling, when he sneezed on them and licked their autograph books.

This may be my favorite picture of the Guenther Gang at Disney. We loved Daisy Duck. Lily walked right up to her and said, "I pinched Donald's bum". We were in good with Daisy after that!

Seeing the Lion King movie.

The Guenther Girls on The Land ride. The girls were fascinated by the agriculture. After this, John watched the girls so I could ride Soarin'.

For lunch, the much awaited Princess meal! This is Akershus in Epcot. It is in Norway and it is supposed to be Belle's castle. The girls are wearing their new dresses and the excitement was huge!

This is what you get if you tick off tiny Princesses.

The girls meet Belle! Anna immediately asked her about the Beast.

Princess Aurora

The girls had been waiting and waiting to see Ariel. She was second only to Rapunzel in who the girls were dying to meet.

Lily said to her," You are Snow White and I am Snow White. We are Snow White twins".

Cindy herself!

Fiesta Donald and Lily were fast friends!

Souvenir shopping. Anna got a Jasmine bank and Lily got Tinker Minnie.

After lunch, we headed back to our hotel for a swim. In a weird and wonderful twist of fate, one of Anna's kindergarten friends was at Disney the same week in the same hotel. They met us for a swim. Lily and Anna enjoyed dancing on the pool deck.

My Tiny Dancers

Anna and her kindergarten friend, Samantha.

After the pool, we headed out on the bus to catch the Fort Wilderness Ferry. Lily was in non-stop contact Tinker Minnie Love.

One of Anna's oldest friends, Olivia, and her family were at Disney the same week. Yes, I know it is hard to believe that we traveled 600+ miles only to meet up with TWO friends from Holly Springs. They have an RV and stayed at Camp Wilderness. Tonight, we took the boat to Fort Wilderness for a night of fun. There was a campfire, S'mores, and great friends.

Could there be a better way to end the night? Anna, Lily and Tinker Minnie call it a day.

Thankful - Day 23. Disney Day 3

2011-11-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

The day started early, as it always does with the Guenther Girls. We began our day with a bath, lots of playing and some nekkid breakfast eating (quit your scoffing, people! It was the girls who were nekkid NOT us!)

We headed out to the Contemporary Hotel for our second character meal: breakfast with Chef Mickey and his friends.

My lovely ladies waiting for breakfast.

It is a struggle to get the girls to eat because they see the characters starting to circulate. John and I finally give up and enjoy the moment.

Mickey finds us first!

Then Mickey's lady friend makes the girls laugh.

Pluto was great fun...and very huggable.

Pluto signs his autograph on his nose!

Who doesn't LOVE Goofy?

Little does Donald know that he is about to get groped by a 2 year old!

Thumbs Up!

After breakfast, we took the Monorail to Animal Kingdom. The ladies were absolutely fascinated by the Monorail and how it went right through the center of the Contemporary Hotel.

Riding the monorail

The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom. We went inside to see Its Tough to be a Bug. What a great 4D movie!

On the way to the safari ride, we stopped for some face painting.

My patient girl

Safari riders. Lily conked out 3 minutes later.

The girls LOVE hippos. See them in the water?

While Lily slept in the stroller, Anna explored fish and birds and other animals on the Animal Exploration trail.

Flick!

We stopped at the Boneyard to play and dig for fossils.

Lily's first parade!! It was quite an experience!

It as a wonderful parade...and we had front row seats!

The girls got a lot of attention!

Lily loves her some goats.. so the hands on part of the park was one of their favorites. The park closed at 5:00 and the Guenthers were still going! We headed off for our first trip to Epcot. Our hope was to see the fireworks.

The Guenthers take Epcot!

We rode the Nemo ride, which the girls adored.. and then did Turtle Talk with Crush. It was a live interactive experienced and it was totally funny!

The ladies NEVER saw the fireworks at 8:00. By 7:15 they were conked out. John and I carried two sleeping ladies back to the hotel.

Travel Log - Day 3

All is all, a great day. A long, exciting, tiring day.

Today, I am thankful for parades and the joy that they give to children.

I am thankful for my kids and their sense of humor. I love it that my 2 year old reached out and pinched Donald's bum. We laughed about it and she continued to humor us about it all week.

I am thankful for Anna and Lily's flexibility. I don't think we saw any tears in 7 days.

I am thankful for patience and kind words. John and I were stunned by the number of children and parents totally at the end of their ropes. Kids on leashes getting dragged/tugged by frustrated parents, lots of yelling and lots and lots of tears. I know that Disney is a tiring and at times, patience killing kind of place. So, I am thankful for deep breaths and patience.

And I am thankful for naps. Not only did they refresh the kids and keep us all sane but sometimes, one girl would fall asleep while the other was wide awake. That gave us time to spend time with each of them individually in this great place. We make a good team, us Guenthers, but sometimes it is incredibly nice to focus our attention on just one kid.

Giving Thanks Day 22 - Disney Day 2

2011-11-22T00:32:00.000-08:00

Anna and Lily on the bus to the Magic Kingdom. They were given buttons that said, "My 1st Time at Disney". A lot of people made a big deal over that.

Our first view of the Magic Kingdom. Anna and Lily are squealing with excitement at this point. Anna has finally forgiven me for dressing them alike. She tells everyone she passes, "the park is big and my mom dressed us the same so she doesn't lose one of us".

Anna inside the gates of the Magic Kingdom.

Sooooo....Mommy made a big mistake here. I saw that the Extra Magic Hours were at 8:00. I thought the park OPENED at 8 am but it actually meant the park was open until 8 pm. So, we were there an hour early. The good news is that because of that mistake, we got to watch Mickey and the gang enter the park on the train.

Also, we were standing next to some Disney experts and they gave us lots of good advice. The first piece of advice: as soon as we enter the park, go to the right and enter the theater. There will be a surprise there that the girls will love.

Lily, siting on John's shoulders, sees Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc for the first time. I am not sure who was more enthralled..Lily or John and I watching Lily!

Per our Disney experts, we went into the Theatre first thing. Who was there but THREE of the Princesses. So, within 10 minutes of entering the park, the girls had met Princess Aurora.

Princess Belle (who remarked on how much she liked their matching shirts)

And Cindy herself!

Funny story here. We didn't KNOW that the Princesses who be right there, at the entrance to the park. So, when we walked in the theatre and were told there was a 5 minute wait to see them, we panicked and realized that we didn't have autograph books yet. John jumped the partition and ran to the gift shop to buy 2 autograph books and 2 pens. He made it back to us JUST as we were walking up the Princesses. White men can't jump.. but they sure can run when there are little girls and Princesses involved!

The Castle. It was impressive by day and absolutely beautiful at night. The crane is there because at night, during the fireworks, Tinker Bell FLIES out of the castle.

Anna and Lily's first ride at Disney World. It's a Small World. I think one of my TOP TEN parenting memories will be seeing the sheer wonder, fascination and joy on their faces during this ride. They sang, they pointed, they laughed, they sat in awe. When it was over, Lily whispered, "let's do it again". So, we did.

After It's a Small World, we met Tinker Bell and Terrance. Lily LOVED meeting Tinker Bell. Then we headed to the River Boat ride.

The girls liked the River Boat although Anna was a bit nervous on it. She kept asking if everything was "real". It had one dark tunnel and that made her very cautious of rides. Like John, Anna doesn't want to ride anything scarier than a park bench.

While we waited for lunch, we had great fun watching a Princess show that was done on the steps of the castle. Anna could watch it all day long. And did watch it.. twice. At one point, Malificent the witch comes out. Lily would always turn her head into my chest and say, "I do NOT like that bad lady".

Our first of four planned character meals. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace. We met Winnie the Pooh....

And Piglet......

And Tigger......

And of course, Eeyore.

After lunch, Anna and John rode the Buzz Lightyear ride and afterwards, we lucked onto Buzz himself standing outside.

Upon leaving the park, we went back into the Theatre again. This time, we went to see Mickey. We didn't stand in line more than 10 minutes and they probably spent close to that amount of time with us. We got fabulous pictures and there was lots of hugging and kissing. A very nice end to our first full day at Disney World.

After we headed back to the hotel, we went swimming. The hotel had a very cool Dragon slide that Anna wanted to try. We had dinner at the hotel and then I put Lily to sleep. John and Anna went out to the movie on the lawn for awhile and everyone conked out.

These are the stuffed animals that we brought with us to the hotel. Every day the maid would set them up on the bed.

Today, I am thankful for the sweet innocence of my children and how they REALLY do believe that they came to Disney World to see where the princesses live. I know that we don't have much longer, but we are enjoying this chapter of life while we are living it.

I am thankful for my patient, devoted husband who A) carried a pink polka dot back pack for me, B) didn't' show one bit of frustration when I made us arrive at a park one hour too early, C) folded up and carried a double stroller onto and off of a bus/boat/monorail countless times and did not complain once and for D) his total lack of hesitation at jumping the ropes to get our sweet little ladies autograph books so they could have their PERFECT Princess moment. I know he couldn't care less about tiaras and dazzling gowns but his love for two little ladies far outshines any of that. The things he will do for them sometimes astounds me.

Thankful Day 21 - Disney Day 1

2011-11-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

We rented a double stroller for the trip. Yes, Anna is a bit old for a stroller but it was so very helpful. Both girls fell asleep in this stroller on a daily basis. This is Lily trying out the stroller. We are on the docks of Port Orleans-French Quarter, our hotel. We took the river boat to Downtown Disney.
On the river boat. The girls LOVED all modes of transportation on this trip: boats, buses, golf carts and the Monorail.

We took the girls to dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. They LOVED it. This was our Anniversary dinner. The food was pretty good but the company was fabulous.

Lily dons her first pair of Mouse ears!In true Guenther Girl style, she is wearing the pink sparkly pair!

At night before bed, John and I gave the girls brand new Princess dresses for their upcoming date with the Disney Princesses. They were delighted.

A lovely bouquet of flowers was waiting for me on our return from Downtown Disney. My sneaky, wonderful husband ordered them before our trip.

Disney Travel Log: Day 1.

John and I packed the car the night before and got up on Sunday morning at at 2 am. We plucked the girls out of bed and were on the road by 2:15. We anticipated the girls sleeping until at least 6 am. This would have made the 10 hour car ride seem much shorter to them. However, the cool night air woke both girls up and while Lily was kinda groggy for awhile, Anna regaled us with show tunes for an hour and a half. Needless to say, we were up for awhile. The girls finally fell asleep and to be honest, the whole trip went by very quickly.

We got to Orlando about 2:00 and checked into the hotel. We dumped the luggage, put on lighter clothes (it was 83 degrees) and took the boat to Downtown Disney. Anna has seen the Rainforest Cafe advertised on TV but has never been to one. So, we took the girls and they loved it. For John and I, it was our Anniversary. We had a truly lovely day. We walked around Downtown Disney for awhile and then headed back to the hotel . The girls LOVED the riverboat cruise. They are so very social and they enjoyed talking to everyone and seeing the sights.

The ladies fell asleep pretty early and they REALLY enjoyed sleeping in bed together. It was a pretty early night for all of us, knowing that we were going to hit the ground running the next morning.

Today, I am thankful for our safe travel and arrival.

I am thankful that the girls are such easy going travelers. I am thankful for our friend Kelly Tabolt who made the girls a "Boredom Bag" for the trip. It was full of cute activities and treats for the ladies. It kept us all busy for awhile.

I am thankful for my parents, who gave Anna and Lily each generous gifts with which to buy souvenirs and a bag full of books and treats for the trip. Also, for making dinner for us the night before our departure.

I am thankful for my brother and sister-in-law who came over to watch the girls the day before we left.. so John and I could get a few things done.

I am thankful that as a family, we enjoy being together.

Thankful Day 20

2011-11-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! We are back from our wonderful vacation. We are tired, there is lots of laundry to do but we are happy. It was a truly fabulous vacation. I will be posting pictures over the next few days.. so be on the lookout. We drove to Florida. It was 10 hours door to door and this was the longest car trip the the girls have ever experienced. They did great. I do feel bad about missing a week of giving Thanks but I figured you would understand. (Note to others: Disney hotels and theme parks costs a bazillion dollars but alas, they do not provide free WiFi. That will cost you $10 a day. That is why there were no updated blog posts).

Anyway, I realize that my blog has only a few followers, mostly friends and family that I pay to read it. But.. I got a nice treat when I logged onto my Facebook page on our first day in Disney. Someone DID miss my blog entries! So, today I am thankful for Tammy Haire. Not only does she read the blog and comment... but she even filled in for me in my absence. So, without further ado, here is what I am thankful for today, in the fine words of Tammy Haire:

Today, I am thankful for Princesses. Princesses -- the workhorses of the Royal Family --who leave the castle early every morning knowing that they have balls to plan, just so they can bring smiles to the faces of little girls.

THANKFUL

2011-11-13T01:23:00.000-08:00

For my husband, John. Today is our Anniversary. As a celebration, we will be spending 10 hours together on the way to Orlando. If that is not a true test of love, I don't know what is! This is our second anniversary that we will be spending in Orlando. We are having a VERY fancy anniversary dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Anna has always wanted to eat there. Here's to a wonderful anniversary and my wonderful family!

Thankful Day 13

2011-11-13T00:18:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for VACATION. The Guenthers are headed to Disney World! There will be no posts for a week. I am still thankful... and I will update when I get back. But, I am going to have fun with my hubby and my kids and not worry about real life for awhile.

Thankful Day 12

2011-11-12T02:06:00.000-08:00

Lily and her BIG GIRL dresser

Sad to say goodbye to the baby dresser

THE BLACK PERIL

The New Car. The color is listed on the invoice as Indigo Pearl. The girls call her "Indy"

The Old and the New.

Today I am thankful for all the wonderful things in our life that we have had for a long time. And I thankful that when the time has come, we have the means to replace them.
Just this month, we said goodbye to my 15 1/2 year old Honda Accord. It was a wonderful car with great memories. I bought it the day after I graduated from graduate school. I was very sad to see it go. In its place, a navy blue 2012 Subaru Outback. I hope it is as good to us as the Black Peril!

And we also said goodbye to our infant changing table. My folks bought it for us before Anna was born. It was one of the first pieces of furniture that we brought into our brand new house. After Anna grew out of the changing table, she used it as a dresser. Then, Anna got a new bedroom set so infant Lily could use the changing table. Well, when we walked into Lily's room a month ago and found her sitting on top of her dresser/changing table (she had pulled over a chair and helped herself up onto the dresser top), we knew it was time to upgrade. We sold that dresser/changing table to a young couple expecting their first child, a little girl. We hope that the dresser brings with it all the happiness that we have experienced. Lily is enjoying her "big girl dresser".

Thankful Day 9

2011-11-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten Hoe Down.
Today, I am thankful for the Kindergarten Hoe Down. It was a chance for the kindergarteners to dress like outlaws/bandits/ cowboys. And it was a chance for the teachers to sneak learning in under the guise of fun. I am thankful that we seem to be in a great class, at a great school, with a great bunch of kids. I am thankful for all of the wonderful learning opportunities to which Anna is exposed.

Thankful Day 8

2011-11-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

Cool things in the backyard.
Today I am thankful for the sheer excitement of backyard treasures. The girls get so very excited about any wild life, plants, odd weather pattern, etc that we see. Our little backyard is a veritable hotbed of wild life: toads, turtles, snakes, butterflies, caterpillars, snails, etc. And the little Guenther Girls are thrilled by it all. John and I practically shake with excitement when we find something new because we know the joy it will bring to two little ladies. Here is the frog that John found in our backyard about 2 weeks ago. Can you see the happiness in Lily's eyes?

Thankful Day 7

2011-11-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

"Like my Tangled socks? They are pulled up to my cutie bootie"

Proudly showing off her Disney Princess socks. A must for every outfit.

A black cat cardboard mask. Tuesday's accessory of choice.

Today I am thankful that Lily likes to dress herself. It makes my mornings easier. Sometimes she is is serious "Fashion-Don't".. but mostly she dresses the way she lives: full of excitement, a little modesty and a lot of sass!
2 year olds that dress themselves and their fashion choices are what I am thankful for today.

Thankful Day 6

2011-11-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Uncle Mikie.
Today, we are all thankful for Uncle Mikie. I could list all the reasons why he is a fabulous Uncle. But.. I think the video speaks for itself. Enjoy.

Thankful Day 4

2011-11-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

Bed Head.

Today, I am thankful for bed head.

Let me be more specific: I am thankful for this crazy curly hair that my girls get from their father. And I am incredibly grateful that I get to be the one to tame their curls, kiss their sweet curly heads and giggle with them when I tell them they are crazy cute.

Thankful " Day 3

2011-11-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today, I am thankful for bleach. And Lysol. And cold compresses.
Anna came home from school today with a NASTY stomach bug. Without going into all the gory details, let's just say I have needed to shout, "clean up on aisle 7" a lot today. She is sick, she is puny and she is scared. She has had one or two tummy bugs in her lifetime but she was very young and has no recollection of them. So, for the next few days, we Guenthers are hunkered down at home.
Oops..Anna is calling. Better get the Clorox spray and paper towels out again.
Today, I am thankful for powerful disinfectants.

Thankful: Day 2

2011-11-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Getting a closer look at Anna's first tiny cavity

Shining up the pearly whites

Even in a dental bib, this kid is crazy cute.

Our two year old's patience amazed the dentist

Sweet Lily let the dentist work her magic

Lily holds Anna's hand for the entire cleaning

Lily holds Anna's hand for the entire cavity filling procedure.

Today I am thankful for the dentist.
I despise going to the dentist. Okay, let me reprhase that: I am petrified of the dentist. But.. I go every 6 months religiously. Thanks to my parents being so conscientious, good genes and some great tooth sealants, I am approaching my 40th year and I have only ever had one cavity. Yup, one. And it was a tiny "preventative" filling.
The girls go every six months. I hope they don't develop my fear of the dentist. So far, all of the visits have gone well. Anna had a small cavity between her teeth this week and we decided to have it filled. I am so proud of these little ladies and their ability to cope with situations that make them nervous. They trusted John and I when we said there was nothing to fear. They trusted the dentist when she told them it wouldn't hurt. I love it that they are developing into kind, patient, trusting little ladies. Lily even insisted on holding Anna's hand every time she was in the chair. Today we are thankful for dentists.... and now that we have had our first filling, we are also thankful for dental insurance! Ha.

Update, Halloween and 30 Days of Thanksgiving Kick Off

2011-11-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

Rapunzel
Rapunzel

Spider Girl

Spider Girl busts a move

The Guenther Ghouls

Spider Girl shoots her web

Lily warms herself with cocoa after trick or treating.. our Halloween tradition

Lily and the Meatball wait for Trick or Treaters

A visit from Graham and Porter, the Thing Brothers.
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Thought I would give you a quick update, share some Halloween pictures and kick of my 30 Days of Thanks.

Halloween is over and we already miss it. It is one of my very favorite holidays. Unfortunately, last night was 40 degrees, dreary and pouring rain. Despite all that, my little Rapunzel and my fierce Spider Girl had a wonderful time. My folks came for dinner, Anna and Lily trick or treated- with umbrellas and coats, and we had a ton of kids come to the door in fantastic costumes.

We leave for Disney in less than two weeks!

I am back on Facebook. I am not entirely thrilled about it. The reasons that I exited Facebook still exist but I am enjoying the connection with the families of Anna's new friends. I struggle to find time to post to one outlet and this blog is my priority. Please, bear with me as I try to juggle it.

Kindergarten is going great for Anna. Lily is a Rock Star in her 2 day/ 2 year old classroom.

Auntie Peggy is coming to visit tomorrow and the girls are over the moon!

Today is November 1st. The month of Thanksgiving. Like last year, I really want to remind myself to count my blessings.... on more than just one day. So, starting today I want to blog daily about all of our blessings.

Today, I am thankful for this blog. It provides me the opportunity to share photos and stories about my favorite people. And I am very thankful for all the comments people leave that let me know someone is reading!

The Guenther Ghouls

2011-10-23T18:36:00.001-07:00

Where are Your Panties Wednesday?

2011-10-19T13:36:00.001-07:00

Friday Foto Dump

2011-09-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

Anna at Krispy Kreme. John likes Dunkin Dounuts better. Scoff! I am raising these kids right!

Yes, they fell asleep like this. Yes, a little tear fell from my eyes.

Sunday afternoon family nap. Lily, Daddy, Gigi (my parents visiting dog), Anna. What can't you see? Punky, our 75 lb mutt sleeping at the bottom of the bed and one bitter Mommy. There was no room for me!

Lily in kindergarten.

Lily beating John at the Jumble.

White pizza from Anna's Pizza. Oh. My. Goodness. I don't need no stinkin man!

We drop off donations at the SPCA once a month. Lily likes to pet the kittens. John has to take a cocktail of 3 Claritans, 2 Allegra and 14 Benedryl to get within 5 feet of her afterwards.

Anna and Lily "helping" me put away laundry.

Anna's kindergarten buddy, Ryan. Anna is trying out her Prom photo pose. We would be honored if she picked him for Prom. He is an awesome kid.

Shopping with Lily. I told her I would buy her a present. What did she pick? $89 Kim Kardashian glittered 5 inch heels. What did she get? A ring pop. When she loses Project Runway someday, remind me of this.

Cool dude in the car.

Rainy Days... Rainy Days...

2011-09-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Rainy Days and Mondays don't get me down. Not anymore. Two girls, 4 rain boots and lots and lots of smiles. That's what rainy days are about. When the girls see rain, the FIRST thing they ask is, "can we go outside?" It is so hard for me to fight that initial urge that I have.. to say "No". Why would you want to go out in rain? Your hair is gonna get all wet. Your feet are gonna get soaked. What's to do in the rain? And then I see their eyes light up. I see that our regular, everyday yard becomes... different.... in the rain. There are fabulous puddles to jump. There are worms galore. The rain drops make visible all the hidden spider webs. There is mist rising off the cement. There are raindrops to taste. Come see.... here is a little glimpse of the Guenther Girls after a rain storm.

Where are your panties Wednesday??

2011-09-28T05:47:00.001-07:00

All you need is love....

2011-09-27T20:35:00.001-07:00

Would you say "NO" to these faces?

2011-09-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

It is Sunday evening here at the Guenther home and we are tired. Very tired. The girls are washed, jammied and snoozing away. John and I are headed off to bed soon too. We had a wonderful time at today's Heart Walk. The girls are little troopers! We were so happy to be there supporting our buddy Ethan and his sweet family. I promise to post more pics tomorrow but I did want to leave you with this parting shot. This is what you get when you ask the Guenther Girls to give you the "Stink Eye". I know we shouldn't encourage it but it cracks us up. every. single. time.
Goodnight to everyone!

Fun, Fun, Fun Friday

2011-09-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well, the weather is finally getting cooler and we had a very brief respite from the rain. The girls have been asking more and more to go outside and play. They don't do this much in the middle of a North Carolina summer. So, time to clear out the garage and make room to put the bikes, cars, and yard toys out in front. The easier it is for the girls to get to this stuff the easier it is for me to ask them to put it away! Hope everyone enjoys your week-end!

Where are your panties Wednesday?

2011-09-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Show me the MONEY!

2011-09-20T21:27:00.001-07:00

See this guy? You have heard me talk about him before. If you have been to a Guenther gathering, you have probably had the privilege of meeting him. He is our future son-in-law, Ethan Mullis. (Shhh.. I know that he has other lady "friends" out there that are calling dibs on him too. We haven't had the heart to tell Lily). Because of his dashing good looks and his stunning way with the ladies, you can imagine that he is destined to become quite the heart breaker. Sadly, broken hearts is something that he knows too well.

Ethan was born a few weeks before Lily but has traveled a bumpy road.... being diagnosed with heart defects, undergoing multiple cardiac catheterizations, pacemaker, open heart surgery, an unbelievable cardiac arrest, and several other surgeries. Things that make me shudder as I type them... things that Ethan and his sweet parents, Joye and Jeramie, have lived.

The Guenthers are proud to be walking in the American Heart Associations Heart Walk 2011 on Sunday. We are even more proud to be a part of Team Ethan. What can you do to help you ask? Well, first you can read more about Ethan and his amazing journey HERE. Second, would you be so kind as to donate to the American Heart Association? You can donate HERE. John, Anna, Lily and I will all be walking... for Ethan. Please, consider donating in honor of our buddy Ethan or any of your loved ones with heart disease.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2011-09-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

Word Free Wednesday

2011-09-07T19:39:00.001-07:00

What's New Pussycat?

2011-09-02T19:20:00.001-07:00

I keep meaning to sit down and update the blog but ya know, life gets a little crazy around here. So, an update you want, an update is what you are gonna get:

- Anna is tracked out right now. She gets three weeks of vacation before heading back to school a week after Labor Day for 9 more weeks of school.

- Kindergarten is going well so far. It has been so much more of an adjustment... for the whole family..than we ever thought. But, we are all trying to figure out our new normal.

- Lots of people are bugging me to get back on Facebook. I am really torn because I really don't miss it and yet I wanna be in the loop. Decisions.... Decisions....

- Anna is making some GREAT new friends in kindergarten and attending lots of birthday parties. Her three best buddies so far are Brynna, John and Ryan. From the stories she tells, it sounds as if she if mostly playing with the boys out on the playground. They play Mario Brothers and she gets to be Princess Peach.

-Lily is completely potty trained. Don't hate me... she did it at 2 years 1 month old with very little prompting from us. Gotta love an independent second child. It has been several months now and I can count the number of accidents on one hand. Girlfriend made this REALLY easy on us.

-The Guenthers are headed to DISNEY WORLD in November!

- Our 15 year old Honda Accord, the Black Peril, is likely on her last legs. We are probably looking at a new car by year's end. I hate buying cars. I want an Outback. John wants a Prius. Lily wants Cinderella's carriage. Compromise may be in our future.

- My brother has now beaten me at 13 straight games of Scrabble. I think he may be a savant. Who gets three (7) letters words in one game? I never liked him. How many points for the word "RAINMAN"?

- Anna is doing great in kindergarten. So far, she is keeping up with the work and she really seems to enjoy her day. She is, however, completely exhausted.

- I am enjoying volunteering in her class one day a week. Lily LOVES having lunch with the kindergartners.

- Lily is doing great without her Binky. She has actually NEVER asked for it since she gave it up. And she has a new wonderful friend in Binky Bear.

- Anna has decided that she wants to be an Entomologist

- We don't look forward to summer ending. We Guenthers love Friday night picnics at the pool, nature walks with Punky after dinner and playing in the hose. The girls also love playing outside in the evenings while there is still plenty of light.

- Anna and Lily rescued a lost cat. The owners offered Anna a cash reward and she graciously declined it. I was SO PROUD of her.

- We are so sad that we aren't going to see Auntie Peggy this month... but we are so incredibly grateful for all the good news.

- Anna has enjoyed a few days with my brother and sister-in-law. There are dance-offs, lots of arts and crafts, bologna sandwiches and squeeze applesauce. And peeing in the woods. I will let you guess who did that?

- Dickie has successfully taught Lily how to stick her thumb up in the air and ask people, "look up, look down, see my thumb, bite my bum". I am so proud.

- We have been doing all that necessary but un-fun stuff like getting carpets cleaned, houses and fences power washed and garages cleaned out. When did I become a grown up?

-Work is going well for John and I. Nothing really new there. Just happy to still be employed.

- The Guenthers will be walking in the American Heart Associations Heart Walk again this year. Yup, get your wallets out cuz I am gonna be asking for donations. Yeah, I am looking at you!

- Anna has gotten to be the "candle snuffer" in church a couple times. I wish everyone could see the look of pride on her face.

- Anna is starting to sound out words. Just the beginnings of words and she does a lot of guessing.. but wow, this is a wonderful thing to watch.

- Lily has a new buddy at school named Ella. They are sorta inseparable. Lily is known as the "little mother" the group.

Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed the update!
I will try to be a better blogger.

First Braids

2011-08-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

We were headed out to church last night and both the girls looked adorable. They really like to get dressed up for church in "special occasion dresses". While I don't always ENCOURAGE it.. because I have to iron all those dresses... I certainly never DISCOURAGE them from wanting to get dressed up for church.

Well, we have been putting Anna's hair in braids a lot lately. Her bangs have ALMOST grown out enough that when I put her hair in a pony tail, they will stay put. Remember, I said ALMOST. It has been SO hot here in NC this summer and sister plays hard at school.. so I have been putting her hair in braids to keep her hair up and out of her face. Plus, as an added bonus, she looks REALLY adorable.

Anyway, whenever I am doing Anna's braids, Lily will often walk up and ask me to braid her hair. I have been telling her that her hair isn't long enough or we don't have time, etc etc. It's true.. her hair isn't very long and she usually does ask me in the midst of our morning craziness.

Well, last night we were walking out the door to church and I quickly took a brush and made Anna's hair look presentable. Lily promptly walks up to me, hands me a brush, turns around and says, "I want braids too. Like a big girl". I was about to say "no", I was about to say that we were going to be late for church, I was going to say that her hair is so curly that no amount of NO More Tangles will help me tame that beast, I was GOING to say all of that. But I didn't. I looked at my sweet blonde moppet, we soaked her hair down and she patiently stood there while I wove my fingers in and out of her hair. We weren't late for church. We didn't need a gallon of detangler. We did Lily's braids. And she looked adorable.

Makes me SMILE

2011-08-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday (Class Picture Day)

2011-08-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

Petting Zoo

2011-08-16T00:39:00.000-07:00

Hanging out with the little animal lovers = One Happy Daddy

Lily "feeding" the Zebras. Nervous Nellie preferred just dropping the carrots.

Touching a scarlet macaw

Eerie little owl

Mommy LOVES some Raptors!

Brave Betty touching an alligator

So gentle... we could have pet these gentle giants all day.

Lily is not quite as brave as Anna and Daddy. Look at that face!

Giving some love to a baby fox.

Yes, this is Anna getting a high-five from a tarantula! One highlight of the day!

That's a big pig!

I take that back. THAT'S a BIG pig!

I know that I am behind on my postings. We have had a whole summer full of fun and adventure and I have hardly documented it AT ALL! Over the next few days, I will try to remedy that. Here are some pictures of our day at the petting zoo. It was Father's Day and we surprised John with new activities all week-end. This was, by far, his favorite of the week-end. We drove to a local petting zoo. It was a zillion degrees but the Guenthers didn't care. There is only one thing that animal loving Guenther Girls adore more than looking at animals...and that is touching them!

John was intrigued because he didn't know where we were going and was nicely surprised at our destination. We got to touch tons of exotic animals, stare down Raptors, give high-fives to tarantulas, shout, "that's Mikie's favorite animal" when we saw the Prairie Dogs, eat snow cones and enjoy another day of fun with our family. The Girls got to take John to lunch at the restaurant of their choosing. John was very gracious when accepting his Happy Meal!

BYE BYE BINKY!

2011-08-15T08:43:00.001-07:00

Lily's choice of outfits for BYE BYE BINKY day!

The Sisters Prim

Watching her much loved pacifier getting sewn up into her new Binky Bear

A Love Affair...with Uncle Monkey AND her pacifier.

I can't believe how quickly Lily is growing up. It is all going so fast with Anna..but it seems to have lightening speed with little Lillian. It really does seem like just yesterday that I was fretting over the fact that she wouldn't take a bottle. And it seems like a blink away when we were teaching her to walk. Now, she is rocking out with some new Tinkerbell panties, she sleeps in a big girl bed, the baby gates are down, the toddler potties given away and the high chairs gone. Lily is currently 2 years and 4 months old and she seems to be in a race to grow up. John and I are holding on for dear life! Lily is SO much fun right now. To say that she speaks in complete sentences is an understatement. She chats, she has a wonderful sense of humor and she charms many people that she comes in contact with. The hair.. yes... the hair is still wild...but (we think) charmingly so.

Saturday was a big day. This little lady has crossed lots of hurdles in her dash out of toddlerhood ...but one still remained. (cue ominous music here). THE BINKY.

Lily is pretty attached to the pacifier. In the last 6 months we have gradually been slipping it away little by little. She doesn't take it to school. She can't have it unless she is in bed or in the car seat. Finally, it was time. Saturday was BYE BYE BINKY day. We had a lovely brunch with my folks. Lily got all dressed up. We had been talking this day up so much that she asked to wear a "special occasion dress". My brother and sister-in-law met us at the mall to head into Build-a-Bear. Lily stoically picked a Koala and we named her Binky Bear. Prior to having her stuffed, in went a little red heart and Lily slowly but confidently dropped her binky into that bear. ( Of course, this was not before climbing into my brother's arms and feverishly sucking on the binky during her last few moments of reprieve! )

We are really proud of our little lady. She has made it two nights now with no binky. She clings to Binky Bear and she is struggling a bit in learning how to calm herself at night without the pacifier. However, there have been no tears about it and she hasn't asked for it. Now, if we could just talk her into staying a toddler for a bit longer....

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY (My Beauty, My Bug Catcher)

2011-08-10T19:13:00.001-07:00

Guess WHO is potty trained?

2011-08-07T20:19:00.001-07:00

WordFree Wednesday

2011-08-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Happy 5th Birthday

2011-07-26T19:19:00.001-07:00

To our dear, sweet, bug-loving, talkative, tiny but mighty, girlie girl who has captured our hearts. We love you more than all the fish in the ocean, sand in the dessert and stars in the sky. And Lily says she loves you more than candy and ponies. Could a girl get a better compliment? We simply love you. Welcome to your 5th year, little Miss Awesome.

First Week Wrap Up

2011-07-24T19:12:00.001-07:00

THURSDAY. Out of order (sorry). Wearing sneakers because she got a second day of gym this week.

MONDAY. First Full Day

Wearing her new favorite dress

Check out them guns.

Tuesday. I love this sweet face.

Tuesday. VERY excited about going to school today. MUSIC class!

Wednesday. A bit mad at me because I made her wear shorts and sneakers. She was having GYM today. I came and helped out at lunch. Wow, was that fun AND eye opening!

Friday. A repeat of the dress she wore on staggered entry day. Can you SEE how tired she looks? It was a GREAT week!

Hi everyone. It has been a GREAT week at the Guenther house. Great and stressful and sad and exciting and exhausting and the list goes on and on. It was Anna's first week of kindergarten.

She did one day last week, a staggered entry day. It was only her and 3 of her friends for her first day. This week, the whole class came. I must say, she handled the week and the transition beautifully. Did we expect anything different from Anna though? She doesn't know anyone in her class. She does have several friends at the school but they are all in different classes and on different tracks.

NOTE: For those of you who are NOT from around here, Anna attends a Year Round school. She has 9 weeks in school and then 3 weeks off. This goes on year round. So, she still gets 12 weeks off every year, just like a student at a traditional calender school, but instead of 12 weeks off in summer she gets four different 3 week breaks. Make sense? We love it. I understand that it is not for everyone but did I mention that we LOVE it?.

Anyway, she did great. She was most excited about the specials: art, music, PE, media and technology. She had wonderful behavior and got rewarded at the end of the week for it. She is on her way to getting used to carpool and after school and walking to class by herself. She and I are figuring out what she likes best for lunch and she is adjusting well to her new, earlier bedtime. She has made a few friends and has learned to do something big: buckle her own car seat buckles. For those of you who have ever been through a carpool line, you know what a BIG thing that is. Anna is currently attending the LARGEST elementary school in our county so needless to say, there are A LOT of cars and the line moves FAST. I am really proud of her. She went from being totally car seat dependent to pretty independent in less than a week.

Anna is exhausted. We are getting her to bed earlier but it is about more than just a bedtime. Anna has never attended school full time. She has always gone to preschool 2 days a week until this year. When she turned 4, she started going 3 days a week to get her ready for kindergarten. But, even just going 3 days a week.. she was tired at the end of the week. So, you can imagine what going to kindergarten 5 days a week is doing to her. We are planing some really low key weeks and week-ends for the coming month or so as she adjusts.

I went in to volunteer twice this week. I will have a regular schedule of volunteering in her classroom but for this week, Lily and I went in to help at lunch. We opened lunch bags, cleaned spills, and patted nervous shoulders. Lily was VERY excited to be sitting in the lunch room with all the kindergarten classes. She sat right next to Anna and was as pleased as punch. I do need to get Lily a lunch box because she was pretty indignant that Anna had one and she didn't. Anyway, it was great to meet some of Anna's friends and more importantly, talk to the teacher's assistant for awhile. It was nice to get some more information about how Anna is doing.

This week was much harder on me than I anticipated. She seems so SMALL...and yet so independent. it was so incredibly hard to let her walk into that school by herself. I have been pretty blue all week. I am hoping that this week is better. Who I am kidding? This coming week my girl turns 5! Yup, I am really gonna be a mess!

And no, I am not going to take her picture EVERY morning. But, it was a BIG week. John thinks I am nuts... but I want to remember this week.

Blogging Blues

2011-07-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.

My apologies that I have been such a slacker lately. We have been very busy, as we often are during the summers. There are lots of posts that I started and didn't finish.. or thought about but never started. I have never even really posted pics of our family vacation back in June. I will try to get some photos up in the next week or two. I didn't really post about Dickie's birthday or John's birthday or Father's Day. Like I said, my apologies. I am kinda in a blogging funk.

Word Free Wednesday

2011-07-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Weepy, Weepy Wednesday (first day of kindergarten)

2011-07-13T07:52:00.001-07:00

Anna AMAZING

2011-07-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

It was a bittersweet day in the Guenther house today. It was Anna's last day of preschool. She spent 2 days a week at her preschool for the better part of her life. She starts kindergarten on July 13th. She is excited. I am weepy.

As we round the corner to her first day of kindergarten and her 5th birthday, I am so amazed when I think about my little girl. While far from perfect, she is mannerly, pensive, often serious and always kind. She is empathetic and incredibly easy going.

John and I agreed that we wanted to expose our children to as many things as possible and enjoy our time with our young children as much as we can. Our hope for them is that they are great travelers, wonderful explorers and roll with the punches kinds of kids. Anna is certainly on her way.

I am so happy when I think about what this little lady has experienced.. and she is not even 5 years old yet. Here are just a few:

She has been to every local museum and play space and she has her clear favorites.
She has been to the Smithsonian and looks forward to doing more of it
She has experienced Kindermusik, gymnastics, swim lessons and ballet
She has been to our NC Zoo, the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Preserve and the
Baltimore Zoo... and we have several more Zoos on the list.
She is great on an airplane and has made several trips
She has been to Sea World in Orlando, Lego Land in Carlsbad, CA, Great Wolf Lodge, and
Busch Gardens in Virginia.
She has become a pretty mature/patient church goer and just completed her first vacation
bible school.
She has been to several aquariums, including some of the 3 NC Aquariums, The National
Aquarium and the aquarium in SC.
She has been to the beach more times then we can count, including trips to explore wild
horses and also alligators farms.
She has been to Colonial Williamsburg and has a trip planned to Boston and Plymouth Rock
She has been exposed to our family's love of travel and has heard her grandparents share
photos and stories of their recent trips to the Galapagos Islands, Africa, Tahiti, China and all over Europe. She knows that travel is fun and possible.
She has learned to say prayers of thanksgiving that go beyond being grateful for the food on
her plate.
She has seen two Broadway shows, Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King (including the
chance to go backstage)
She has had the same best friend since she was 4 months old
She has met her favorite TV personality
She has, in our home, raised fish, snails, butterflies, and ants.
At the age of 2 1/2, she lost a grand-mother and gained a baby sister. All in one week.
She has shown everyone that you can be mighty when you are tiny
She has experienced the love of caring, involved grandparents and an aunt/uncle willing to
move to get closer to you.
She has found her sense of humor, her intense love of animals and her kind spirit.

Still on our agenda: The aquarium in Atlanta, Disney World, New England, Plymouth Rock, the Lemur Center, the Planetarium, Discovery Place, the Insectarium of New Orleans and lots more zoos and aquariums.

I am so sad...and excited.. to say goodbye to my preschooler... and hello to my kindergartner. I can't wait to see what the next 5 years holds for us!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

From the Guenther Gang!

Word Free Wednesday

2011-06-29T00:50:00.000-07:00

A whirlwind weekend.

2011-06-28T20:07:00.003-07:00

I was doing some research on the computer last week. Anna's current favorite TV show is the Wild Kratts on PBS. (It is an animal adventure show and she wants to have a Wild Kratts birthday party. Yes, they are the same guys that do Zaboomafoo). Anyway, I mentioned to John and my mom that the Kratt brothers were going to be at the Baltimore Zoo in a few days, making an appearance. I LOVE my Mom. Within hours, a hotel was booked at the Inner Harbor and off we went for a Girls Weekend. Mom, Anna and I headed to Baltimore to meet her current loves.

Anna and Nana trolling the halls of the hotel.
Anna at the National Aquarium

Fascinated by the anemones

Watching a giant catfish and a turtle face off in a battle of wills

I am GROSSED out by Moray eels. Anna LOVES them.

Watching movies and having a snack in bed at the hotel

Anna and Mommy synchronized swimming in the hotel pool

We are going to try out for the Olympics

(We just need the nose plugs and sequins)

The BIG day. The Kratts at the Baltimore Zoo.

First, we met the polar bears

And a beautiful giraffe named Angel

Anna fed the gentle giant....

..and got to see how long his tongue really is!

Show time!

The Kratts arrive on stage.

Anna is as close to a groupie as she can be.

No, she didn't throw her little 4t panties on stage.

Anna wants to get Chris Kratt's autograph.

Think I would have been suspicious when the line started more than 1/2 mile back.
No, I am not exaggerating.

My girl stood in line for almost 2 1/2 hours.

She never complained.

She waited patiently.

And it was worth it.

She got to meet her idol , Chris Kratt.

He was very kind to her.

They have the same favorite animal.

She gave him ideas for future shows.

He told her she was an excellent animal adventurer.

She was almost shaking with joy.

She showed him the lightening bugs she had been holding...

for close to two hours.

He made a big deal over them.

I thanked him for that.

One happy girl.

Thanks, Nana..for a wonderful weekend.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T11:44:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T20:04:00.001-07:00

Daddy McAWESOME!

Egg McMuffin

McLovin

McGyver

McDreamy

Sun -n- Streak

2011-06-11T00:46:00.000-07:00

Anna and Mikie: Wave Jumpers

2011-06-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

Beach Beauties

2011-06-09T19:10:00.001-07:00

Just where we want to be.....

2011-06-08T17:59:00.001-07:00

My Dirty Faced Smarty Pants

2011-06-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

The Graduate Sings

2011-06-02T05:21:00.000-07:00

Anna's Preschool Graduation

2011-05-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

Anna and her friend Julien at Preschool Graduation
Her "Diploma" and bucket of goodies

Anna and Savannah

My proud preschool graduate

Ready for kindergarten!

The Graduate, Auntie KK and Uncle Monkey

The family

Celebrating a great accomplishment

Lily cheers for her sister

Anna and her buddies, the Spy Girls

Wordfree Wedneday (the crossing the road in your pajamas edition)

2011-05-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

My sassy strawberry picker

2011-05-20T01:57:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten Orientation

2011-05-19T01:47:00.000-07:00

This is Anna on Tuesday morning. We were on our way out the door to Kindergarten Orientation. She wanted to wear a special occasion dress. She went off on her own tour of the school with all the other rising Kindergarten students while John and I sat through the orientation meeting. How could this be happening? How could this sweet, petite, 31 pound little lady be eligible for kindergarten? She LOVED every minute of being there.

I came home and cried. I made her promise me that she would stay 4 1/2 years old forever. I made her promise that she will always be sweet and loving and gentle. I made her promise that she will someday buy a house and live next door to me. And then I made her promise to ignore everything I said and go out and be amazing.

She looked at me as we were walking out of the school and she said, "Mom, I got some bad news about kindergarten. Maybe I can't go. You know, I can't wear open toe shoes in kindergarten".

I'm in love. Still in love.. with this charming little lady.

Wet and Wild Wednesday

2011-05-18T19:39:00.001-07:00

Word Free Wednesday

2011-05-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

A Wonderful Day

2011-05-08T18:40:00.001-07:00

Lily gives the new big girl bed the thumbs up!
Cinnamon Bun Magic!

How could I NOT smile?

Lily's bed before.....

Lily's bed after.

My corner of Mother's Day roses

The New additions!

It was a wonderful week-end to be a Mom. Well, it was a wonderful week-end to be THIS Mom.

The Guenther Girls and John really went all out this year. I had a marvelous week-end.

Saturday morning, Lily and I took off for some girl time. We went to the local Farmer's Market for some organic meat, eggs and veggies.Then we went off looking for a big girl bed! Yup, a BIG GIRL BED. Lily is getting her bed a little earlier than I would have liked, as I really love the baby containment options that a crib provides, but she has been making some moves to climb out lately. We then met Daddy and Anna for lunch. After that, John sent my Mom and I off for mani's and pedi's.. which we loved... and to Bonefish for dinner. Just me and the sweet Mamacita sharing mussels and spicy shrimp and scallops. FAB.U.LOUS.

This morning I woke up to breakfast in bed, a mantle full of pictures, balloons and nice words. Anna and Lily got me some wonderful gifts from their favorite store.. the Dollar Store.. and I love them. Anna got me a ceramic angel and Lily picked a resin white kitty cat. They love picking gifts out themselves and their choices always say a lot about them. I got cinnamon buns shaped into "I LOVE MOM" and John made me an omelet. This was a big step for Mr. No Eggs and i really appreciate the effort. He also got me a new skillet. I know that sounds like a less than ideal Mother's Day gift but I have recently been on a kick suggesting that we not use Teflon pans anymore. I am ticked pink to know that he actually listens to me when I am talking. For other moms out there, I think you might agree: it is wonderful when your spouse buys you something that you blatantly ask for. It's another thing altogether when they show that they are listening to your thoughts and concerns.

After breakfast, we did what all Mom's long to do on Mother's Day: we headed to a bounce house! All jokes aside, we wanted to check out this place for Anna's birthday, we went on the spur of the moment and we had a blast. I think the 4 of us laughed more than we have in a long time. There were a lot of Dads there with their kids. I guess they were giving Moms the morning off to enjoy some peace and quiet. I was the ONLY mom there. I was really glad that we were all having fun together.

After bouncing til we dropped, we headed to a Hibachi grill for lunch. It is not a favorite of the Hubs so again, I really appreciated the effort. We had a great lunch, complete with flaming volcano onion for Anna, and then we went to pick up Lily's bed. We set it up, she took a great nap in it and is now sleeping soundly. It was an exciting day for Lily. I am not sure if I am very happy or very sad that my baby made this big transition on Mother's Day. Maybe a little bit of both.

After nap, my folks came over and my mom brought lobster for everyone! Woohoo! We had a lovely evening eating shellfish, cake and playing outside. It was a beautiful night, sitting outside among the roses and watching the girls use Dickie as a human battering ram. John got me several Knockout Rose bushes last year for mother's day and they are my favorite part of our yard. This year, he got me 3 more. I love flowers. And I love it that these roses won't die after a week.

Thank you to my wonderful family. It was a week-end that brought nothing but smiles to my face.

My Mom, My Friend

2011-05-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to my sweet Mamacita. I am so excited that she is actually in town this year for us to celebrate! She is often traveling during this week-end in May but not this year! Well, actually...yes this year. In two days her and my Papacita take off for a month in China. Yes, China. It was either that or Hoboken and I think they made a good choice. Anyway, I was so happy that she will be here on Mother's Day. We are going to hang out together, with and without the family, and I am very thankful.

Happy Mother's Day... to my Mom. Her patience amazes me, her generosity astounds me and her ability to make our motley bunch into a wonderful family comforts me. Here's to my Mom. I am so glad that I have her. Never have I met a better Mother, Nana or friend. How lucky am I that I get all of that, in one person. I love you, Mom.

Why everyone needs an Uncle Monkey

2011-05-06T00:05:00.000-07:00

Because he lends a hand (or arm) when a daddy's arms are full...

because he's always willing to give you a spin....

...and to still call his own little sister, "Midgetaur"

..did I mention always being willing to give you a good swing?

..and to be a human jungle gym...

..to spin you around and around and around and around.....

..and to hold you up when you are dizzy.

...to kiss you and make you think you hung the moon....

...even when you show your stinky face.

Here's to the world's best playmate.

Thanks, Uncle Mikie.

Got some extra prayers to lend?

2011-05-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

How about saying a few for our buddy, Ethan. He heads to Duke today for another heart procedure. His mommy, Joye, seems to handle all of this with a sense of grace and calm that I cannot fathom. Or she is just marvelous at putting on a serene face. Either way..I admire her.
So please, today, look upward and pray that someone is smiling down on a little boy in a hospital gown. And his parents.

Strawberry Smiles

2011-05-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

Little Girl.... big field.

Girlfriends - Lily and Auntie KK

Anna wins the Biggest Strawberry contest

Auntie KK and Lily - each holding something wonderful

Fresh Strawberry ice-cream

Matchy-Matchy Monday

2011-05-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday...and it's Word Free.

2011-04-27T01:53:00.000-07:00

What's new, pussycat?

2011-04-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

Anna and her BFF, Elena

My sweet southpaw writing notes to Grandma

My little co-pay cutie.

Punkalicious Punky Guenther.

Tiger bicyclist

Sorry I have been such a terrible blogger lately. Life... it gets in the way of writing about life. Funny thing about that. For those of you who have been asking for an update, here you go:

Anna is still sick. We haven't had a full day of work/school in over a week thanks to this bug. My kids are like little carrier monkeys. I love them.. but I sometimes wish that hosing them down in Purell wouldn't warrant a referral to Child Protective Services.

We logged 4 separate visits to the pediatrician in less than 7 days. Our new family motto, "Another day, Another co-pay". John jokes that we need a new family Coat of Arms. It will be 2 hypodermic needles and two tongue depressors crossed and the inscribed words, "In Augmentin We Trust"

Anna, who is normally a saint at the doctor's office FREAKED out when she saw a ear wax cleaning curette come out. I was so proud of my kid and so proud of my doctor after we calmed Anna down and got the job done. Anna was wiping her tears and the doctor knelt down, looked her in the eyes and said this, " You were really scared and you CHOSE to be brave. There is a word for that. Do you know what that word is? Courage" Anna BEAMED. My heart swelled. She has been repeating that word all day. It was the one visit this week that resulted in my smiling while handing over my co-pay.

Punky has to have surgery. She has a mass on her neck and it needs to be removed. It is likely a benign fatty tumor but its location warrants removal. That is being done May 2nd. Our vet quoted us 800-1000$. Thankfully, our friend Lindsay suggested a second opinion from her vet. He quoted us $320. I don't think I need any input on which option to pick. Punky, being our only non-insured dependent, will likely not be paying for any part of this herself as she is not gainfully employed (functionally illiterate and with limited job skills) and hasn't paid rent in close to 7 years.

My 1996 Honda Accord, which we affectionately call the Black Peril, just passed its 15th state of NC inspection. We looked down and the mileage was 166,666. Huh. Creepy.

I got an iPhone. I still have no idea how to use it. Anna does. I now officially feel like my mother... and 4 year old Anna is doomed to doing the equivalent of programming my VCR for me for the rest of my life.

I am ADDICTED to Scrabble on my phone. I think that when celebrities check into rehab to "work on their life", they are secretly seeking help for their Scrabble addiction. I got my all time high score tonight. It would have been higher but those #$%#ers didn't accept that "YOKO" is a word. Ask Paul, George and Ringo... they would agree with me.

With all the Guenther illness, we seem to constantly have a child, or two, sleeping with us. If you see John and I walking around sleepy eyed and hunched over it is because we probably spent the night with little feet kicking us in the kidneys. Just offer us coffee, Xanax and the name of a good chiropractor.

Anna has really taken off with her pre-academic skills. She currently has a diary and she loves to write her letters in it. In addition, she has learned how to draw a heart. In the pictures above, she is engaged in a semi regular activity:sending a balloon to heaven so Grandma knows we are thinking of her. The difference? Anna is now writing on the balloon and not me. I do love that kid. It makes me almost want to forgive her for hobbling me by kicking me in the neck all night. Almost.

John works for Smart Start and I am a contractor with the schools. The looming black cloud of a budget is turning into a tornado. We feel like we can only exhale at about 75% of normal. Keep us in your prayers because if anything happens, I am going to be asking you for money. Yeah, YOU.

Our better eating efforts continue. Anna and I are doing fine but Lily, aka Cathy Carnivore, is not. Every night at dinner she just looks at her plate, raises her arm questioningly and says, "where are the nuggets? Are they hiding?"She removes every fruit and vegetable off of her plate before she will commence with eating. Ketchup. She is pretty much just eating ketchup. And a Flintstones vitamin. I am sure that my next blog post will be about rickets or scurvy or some other nutrient deficiency. She is still pretty cute though.

Okay peeps. I am going to bed. Consider yourself updated.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I hope that you had a wonderful Easter and a relaxing long weekend. It has been a long few days here at La Casa Guenther. It started mid-week: After a few puny days, Lily was diagnosed with an eye infection and a double ear infection on Wednesday. Ruptured eardrum, fever and all the good stuff that comes along with it. Well.... they called it an "eye infection" but we got further clarification when Anna woke up Thursday with a raging case of pink eye. So, Wednesday through Saturday was generally pretty yucky around here.

We thought that everyone was on the mend and we had plans for church and a brunch with Pop Pop and his new friend. However, Saturday night Anna spiked a fever that has continued through today. I feel for my poor, sweet, feverish girl. I know that a good mom doesn't play favorites but my heart goes out to Anna when she is sick. She gets quiet, pensive and extremely stoic. I just want to wrap her up in my arms, rock her and make her feel better. She is getting a bit big for that but luckily, on occasions like this, she still lets me do it. This is in direct comparison to Lily's behavior when she is sick. Lily spikes a fever and immediately displays behavior that can most closely be compared to that of Greystoke. Yup, gimme a sick Anna any day.

So, after the girls surveyed their Easter Bunny loot, off went John and Lily to church and Pop Pop's. Anna and I spent a quiet Easter napping, eating chicken nuggets and playing together. Not a bad way to spend a girls-day in. (And John was nice enough to take photos of the buffet that I was missing.. so I could live vicariously through him).

Here are a few pics of Lily is her "twirly dress". This is actually just a dress from her closet. She had a beautiful Easter dress but she wouldn't wear it. Anna and Lily had matching Easter dresses and Lily wouldn't wear hers since Anna wasn't going. Very sweet.

I have some more pics of the last few days and I will post them later this week.

Happy Easter

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Something to smile about

2011-04-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

How can I NOT smile looking at these faces? It has been a rough week at Guenther central. I got several things done off my To Do List:

TiVo replaced (thanks to my friend Allison).

Router replaced (thanks to my brother).

Modem replaced and internet restored (with grudging thanks to Time Warner)

The 1,245 things in our house that run off our network have been reprogrammed (again, thanks to our personal tech support.....uh....I mean, my brother)

Tears were shed today when I realized that the lightening also knocked out our chest freezer in the garage. I spent awhile today cleaning it out and throwing away all the contents. A sad day indeed.

I promise. That is my last Whiny Wanda post for the week. Thanks for letting me vent.

Whiny Wednesday

2011-04-13T05:45:00.000-07:00

Isn't is amazing that words that start with "W"? And you know how much I love an alliterate post.

Whiny. Definitely how I am feeling today. Sorry for the week without posts but we got hit with lightening late last week. It knocked out our Internet, router and our TiVo (which serves as our cable box). We are in the process right now of replacing everything but it really puts a damper on things. We just got our Internet back yesterday so I promise to post some cute pics soon. If my mood and/or my luck doesn't improve soon you may see upcoming posts like Funky Friday or Sad, sad, Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T01:27:00.000-07:00

Lily -vs -the Sidewalk

2011-04-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Can you guess who won?

Friday Cuties

2011-04-01T13:00:00.001-07:00

Time to give back

2011-03-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, you probably read the title of this post and thought that it was going to be some sweet post about something altruistic that the Guenther family did. Nope.

I am calling you out.

Yes, YOU. And you, sitting in your desk chair playing Peggle while you read this. And you, reading on your phone at work. And of course you, reading this and saying for the fifth time to yourself, " huh, i really liked that. I think I will email Meg and tell her."

Well, people...now is your time. I am asking all of you lurkers out there to step up and say hello. I write this blog for myself: to laugh, to share and mostly to show off pictures of two lovely ladies. No, I don't do it for a response. I do it because I like it. I don't Tweet... and I got off Facebook so you can't "like" this. But, you can leave a comment or two from time to time. It is really nice to know that there are actually people reading it.

Thank you to the few people out there to DO leave comments. I truly appreciate them. I realize that some people go to leave a comment but then realize that they have to sign in to Google and that stops them in their tracks. Come on! You enter your email address and password for lots and lots of things. Logging on for one more thing won't kill you.

So, I have entered some sample text below. Log into Google, enter the funny cryptic message so that Blogger knows you are not Spam and then cut and paste one of the messages below. Go ahead. Do it. Please. Peggle will still be there later.

1) Meg: I love your blog. You write with such warm wit and humor that I am sure that you will be awarded a book deal any day. It will be so tough for you to decide between that and the modeling contract... but I know you will make the right decision.

2) Meg: your children are perfectly gorgeous. How they embody your stunning looks, Mensa-worthy intelligence, and alarmingly amazing charm escapes me. Oh yeah, and John's curly hair. What fabulous DNA these children possess.

3)Meg: your life is so fascinating. I have sold my Kindle, my iPhone, my XBox and my DVR because reading about the Guenther Gang is all the entertainment I need.

Go on...do it. If one of the comments above doesn't' fit the bill, please feel free to leave your own.

Kill me...kill me now!

2011-03-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

That was my text to John on Saturday. I asked him to put me out of my misery. Why, you ask? It was not because we just finished Lily's wonderful birthday party or because the weather was crappy. It was because I had 14 loads of laundry to do and I was in the......drum roll please.....laundromat. Or, as I now refer to it, "the Sixth Circle of Hell". I honestly haven't been in a laundromat since college / grad school and people, let me tell you: times have changed!

See, here is how the story goes. We think our washing machine is limping its way to death row. Someone is coming to take a look at it but they can't get here until Wednesday. Remember, I was busy planning two birthday parties so I simply put the 1200 pounds of tiny panties, jeans and dirty dish towels aside until I had a few hours to tackle them. (For those readers without children, your laundry multiplies like jack rabbits on Viagra when you have one child. Two children? Imagine a VW van filled with 50 bunny rabbits jacked up on a cocktail of sweet tarts,Viagra and Cialis.... with a little Barry White playing in the background. Get my drift? It's a LOT of laundry!). Anyway, my mother and oldest friend kindly offered to let me use their washers but since I had so much, I thought I would just load it into the van, head to the laundromat and tackle it all in one quick trip to tide us over until Wednesday. So, I gathered up the Guenther's skivvies, grabbed my Purex All-in-One laundry sheets (keep this in mind, it comes back later), a ten dollar bill and head off to SCoH (the Sixth Cirle of Hell).

First of all, did you know that one wash is 4.75? Yup, that's right.. five bucks for a wash! I figured I had six loads. So, off to the ATM. I headed back to the SCoH after I took out, in cash, the equivalent of our mortgage payment. I lug all the laundry in while 4 people blatantly stare at me. No one holds the door, or picks up the detergent that I drop. Nope, they just stare. I get the first load started and guess what? I can't use my convenient and perky All-in-One laundry sheets. No, I need traditional detergent. So, I walk next door to the convenience store where a gentleman, who looks disturbingly like Marilyn Manson's less attractive sister, sells me 10 ounces of watery detergent for what I am sure I could use to buy a kidney on the black market.

Back to the SCoH. I get load one started. On load 2, I get 16 quarters in (yup, $4.75 is 19 quarters) and it locks up. I head back to the jovial Mr. Manson, he sighs and follows me to the laundromat. After he shoves a small metal rod( aka the metal shiv that he got in prison) into the machine and instructs me on the "proper" way to insert quarters, I get machine #2 going. Mind you, all these people are still starting at me. I get machine 3 and 4 going after plying the machines with Anna's first year of college money. On machine 5, I put all the clothes in, add detergent and bleach and then put the money in. No dice. I head back to the convenience store looking forward to bonding with Mr. Wonderful some more. All because I like my whites shiny white.

This time, I get a man that looks startlingly like the cartoon character Ziggy. It would have really made my day because I love me some Ziggy. My image, however, is quickly shattered as he starts cursing at me in what I guess is some type of Ukranian accent. He stomps out to the convenience store into the SCoH and I just follow cranked up Ziggy. He batters the machine around a bit and then he hands me my money back and tells me to use another machine. I explain that there is bleach in this machine and did he want to put a note on it so that the next person doesn't ruin their clothes? He stares at me (I am getting used to this by now) says nothing but points to the sign on the wall that says "Wash clothes at your own risk". Delightful.

I finally get all the clothes in to working machines and sit down, amid the stares, to read. Instead of reading, I quickly shoot off a bunch of texts to John telling him that I will never.. and I repeat, NEVER be doing this again. When it is time to transfer the clothes to the dryer, I have to head back to the convenience store to get some more quarters. I only have $5 bills and the change machine will only take $1 bills. So, I get to have another delightful interaction with psycho Ziggy. However, I have to wait because at the moment he is out yelling at a person for filling up their car with gas while talking on their cell phone. A bad practice indeed. However, the person is too busy recoiling from this man to listen. Why? Because the whole time crazy Ziggy is yelling at him at the gas pump, he is doing it with a LIT CIGARETTE in his hand. Yup, good times. Good times.

I finish my laundry, pack it up in the car and head home exhausted. Thankful for my laundry room,thankful we could spare the $47 dollars I just spent, thankful for the kind people that I am surrounded by and generally thankful for my life. Know what I am most thankful for? The fact that John and Meg will be headed to the appliance store first thing Thursday morning.

Lily's Party

2011-03-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

Nuggets of Happiness!

He (she?) looks taller on TV

If only John were in this picture.... it could be our Christmas Card!

Cow Kisses!

Lily finally got to high-five the bovine.

Cow Cookie favors

The mecca of artificial coloring. Boy, was it tasty!

The birthday Head Lock of Love

Our Two Year Old!

Lily turned two this week. We weren't planning on having a big party... just something small with our family. However, Lily had something different in mind. She started talking about her birthday, her PARTY, her friends and the cow. She would frequently just say, "I gonna high-five the Cow" and "the Cow is coming to my birthday party". So, the planning began!

Several of our close friends and best little buddies joined us on Saturday for chicken nuggets, cow cookies, extremely neon cake, trips down the slide, balloons and fun. I need to thank our friend Ethan and his family.... Lily's poor, stressed out Mommy passed out all the cupcakes and forgot to have everyone sing Happy Birthday to her. Luckily, the tri-Mulli helped us out and serenaded our girl with her sweet special song. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, sweet Lily. Here's to many, many more!

March 23, 2011

2011-03-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

March 23, 2010. Lily's first birthday.

This is what 10 pounds of baby looks like. Yep, count em....ten!

March 23, 2009. A proud big sister

March 23, 2011

The date of March 23rd never meant much to me.... until 2009. The day we welcomed our much longed for second child, Lillian. We often remind ourselves that we were beginning to think we were destined to be a family of three. But, someone had different plans for the Guenthers.

My mom is Anna's biggest fan, but she did always ask for a blond curly-haired grand daughter. Anna's hair was certainly curly but a blond, she was not. And then, along came 10 pounds of yellow haired girliness!

Today is Lily's birthday. Happy Birthday to our curly headed, giggly, smarty pants girl! We love you to the moon and back!

A new perspective

2011-03-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

So, I have been very closely following our friend Lindsay's blog. I am really enjoying it. She has really changed the way that she and her family eat: switching to organic foods, limiting preservatives and generally just consuming the foods that we SHOULD be eating. It has prompted some pretty amazing changes. I encourage you to check out her blog HERE. Anyway, I am meeting her for lunch next week and I am really, really excited about getting more details about what she is doing.

Sometimes when I read about the foods she likes, I think we may be twins separated at birth! (Neomonde! Bonefish!). I have to appreciate her love of nut butters. I have always loved me some peanut butter.. but her writing is encouraging me to branch out. Lately, I bought some Sunflower Seed butter at Trader Joes*. My eyes roll back in my head when I eat it. I am so excited to try some other varieties of nut butters. Tonight, I finished my jar of sunflower seed butter and I am so excited because right now, in my fridge, I am trying this. Okay, okay.. i admit it. I don't know what a gogi berry is... or an acai berry... but I plan on finding out. And, it their absence, I did put chocolate chips in mine. (Baby steps people! Baby steps.) Yep: empty nut butter, almond milk (another first for me), water, cooked oats and (you can pretend I inserted a healthy option here but I used chocolate chips). I will let you know how it comes out.

John may think I have tipped off my rocker a bit because this week, instead of toting the camera around and taking photos of the lovely ladies, I was taking pictures of what I was cooking. It is an interesting way to really get a good perspective on what we are eating and how we prepare it. I did roast some red peppers (photos coming once I find the stupid camera transfer cord) and they were scrumptious. I used them on homemade whole wheat pizza. John's pizza was BBQ sauce, chicken and fresh mozzarella. Mine was roasted red peppers, mushrooms, olives, and goat cheese. Pretty darn good.

So, stay tuned people. Changes are a coming. I am sure John is quaking in his boots and hiding the Cheetos as he reads this!

** Trader Joe's cracks me up. I can't help but laugh when I purchase their stuff. Did you know that their beer is named Trader Jose and their olive oil is Trader Giotto. Cracks me up.

An old hat and a smile

2011-03-17T01:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, you guessed it. I guess it wasn't much of a mystery with that photo, huh? I just really liked that photo. It is as close to an "artsy" shot as I have ever taken. (keep your scoffing to a minimum, people!). Lily found Anna's old, stretched out pink hat and she wouldn't take it off this weekend. It didn't matter that it is too big, or that it was almost 80 degrees out. I told her that she looked like that kid on Fat Albert, the one with the hat pulled over his eyes and a really politically incorrect name. She didn't care. She just ran around saying, "pink hat". She even wore it with her jammies. I guess I shouldn't complain. It did a pretty good containment job on that hair of hers!

Can you guess.....

2011-03-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

.....what accessory Lily has taken to wearing lately?

Waffles in the Tub!

2011-03-15T01:19:00.000-07:00

We went to church on Saturday night instead of Sunday morning. I was worried that the girls and I would be all messed up because of the time change. However, lounging around on Sunday morning allowed us to bring back a morning favorite: WAFFLES in the TUB! You guessed it: breakfast while bathing. It allows us to get two things done at once...and the girls think it is an awesome treat! The added bonus is that nothing ends up sticky after this meal! I highly recommend you try it!

Moments of Grace

2011-03-14T01:37:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of our sweet Anna. There have been so many times that I have thought that 4 1/2 has been the toughest of the ages so far. As most of you know, Anna has made so many things easy on us. The "Terrible Twos" were pretty terrific. While we had our moments at age 3, she still coasted thought most of that year as well. You name the milestone with horrible reputations and I show you a girl who sailed through. Transition to a big girl bed? No problem. Give up her binky? It was just one or two tough nights and the rest was a breeze. Enter preschool? Anna said, "bring it on!" We have talked with Anna about that fact that we are seriously considering red-shirting her for her kindergarten year (ya know, postpone her entry into kindergarten and do another year of preschool) and she seems genuinely fine with either option. Ya gotta love this kid.

Age 4 1/2 has been a little tougher. My mom warned me about this. Kids flexing their independence muscle but they are really still just physically little kids. Don't get me wrong, Anna has been delightful around every turn...but as we round the corner to age 5 we have definitely seen some flavorings of the years to come.

However, over the past week or two Anna has said some things that have just made me stop and smile. Here are a few:

When I was frustrated with Lily for the upteenth time, I said, "Anna, what am I going to do with this kid". She looked at me and said, " Mom, just love her. It's all you can do."

While driving in the car, the girls saw me pull over to allow an ambulance to pass. I hear Anna say to Lily, "let's say a prayer that everyone is okay". I then hear Lily say it too.

While jockeying for position in the tub (they both wanted to be toward the faucet, where the water was the warmest), Anna said, "Mom, Lily can sit there and I will sit in the middle. If I sit in the middle, I can see your sweet face better"

Anna asked me if God had tissues in Heaven? I told her that it was a great question but I didn't know the answer. She said that Grandma probably needed them if Gus was sitting on her lap now. (Gus was my parent's old cat that died a month or two ago. John's mom was allergic to cats).

Anna baptized herself in the local McDonald's last weekend. There is a fountain-like water wall in the McD's and Anna asked to be lifted up. When John lifted her, she quickly reached her hand out and put her fingers in the running water. Before I could tell her it is gross to touch that water, she quickly crossed herself and said, " thanks, God, for letting me eat in McDonald's tonight". I didn't know if I should kiss her or douse her in Purell.

And lastly, after talking about Lent and sacrifice, we had a conversation that went like this:
Me: What have you decided to give up?
Anna: How about I give up wearing pants?
Me: Anna, you don't wear pants that often because you love dresses. How about you give up juice?
Anna: But I really like juice and I don't want to drink milk.
Me: How about you give up candy?
Anna: ALL candy or just gum?
Me: All candy.
Anna: Do gummies count as candy?
Me: Yes.
Anna: Even fruit gummies? They are really just fruit.
Me: How about you give up using unkind words with your sister?
Anna: No. How about I give up saying things like this: "I don't like you. You are disgusting"?
Me: Do you ever say things like that?
Anna: No. That's not nice.
Me: Then you can't give up something that you don't do. This is about sacrifice.
Anna: Okay, I will give up candy. How long is 40 days?
Me: A long time.
Anna: Okay. I'll do it. (brief pause) Can I have some candy?

I do love this little lady.

Anna's Word on the Street

2011-03-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

Apparently Anna Banana took issue with me posting my favorite Sesame Street clip. While she likes that clip, she said that I should post HER favorite clip since this blog is about her. Ha! That really made me laugh. And, she is is pretty much correct, I will post a link to HER favorite Sesame Street clip. It is Celebrity Lullabies and it features Ricky Gervais. Ok, I know he took a lot of heat from his hosting duties at a certain awards show but here, he is just funny. Make sure you check out Elmo's hair and the last 2-3 seconds of the video. Click HERE for the link. Enjoy!

Word on the Street - link

2011-03-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

Click here to watch the video. For some reason, when I embed the You Tube video, it cuts part, the best parts, off. So, please click here and watch it if you want to smile.

The Word on the Street

2011-03-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

This video just makes me happy. I mean, when I am feeling kinda blue or stressed out.. this just makes me smile. Every. single. time. Lots of other things make me happy too.. but I often don't have time for a half hour to sit down with a cup of tea and watch Entertainment Tonight (hey, don't be a hater. This is my blog. I get to say what makes ME happy). But, if I only have a minute or two this video always does the trick. Especially when I have one or two little ladies watching it with me. So, today, I share it with you. The girls are big Sesame Street kids and I couldn't be happier. If you haven't watched it since you were a kid, I highly recommend that you check it out again. It is STILL a great program. Anna loved Sesame Street when she was Lily's age but she kinda put it aside for awhile in place of more "mature" TV.. like Barbie's Fashion Fairy Tale (makes my soul black) and "Barbie and the Mermaid Tale" (makes me wanna put a stick in my eye). But, since Lily has started watching Sesame Street, Anna is really enjoying it again. Especially since she now knows the letter and numbers, etc. Anyway, enjoy the video. I hope it makes you smile the way it makes me smile. Here is what I like best about it:

1- Ernie and Bert's hair...styled just like will.i.am. And Bert's will.i.am glasses.
2- The monsters dancing (on beat)..and how they wiggle with the drums.
3- Cookie monster's googly eyes
4- Grover's "Super Grover" pose
5- The fact that the girls dance around to the song and shout out the good traits, like "brave", "smart" and "special"

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2011-03-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

Terrific and Two.

2011-03-07T19:36:00.001-08:00

The Handsome Two Year Old.

Sneaking in for the kiss.

Sweet Hugs.

A Two Year old version of Cornhole....and a head injury for Cookie Monster.

The girls were lucky enough to have two birthday parties this weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day for our little friends Dylan (age 5) and Ethan (age 2) to celebrate their special days. I will post some pictures of Dylan's party as soon as we can find our Sony transfer cable. (Lily likes to "relocate" things lately. I just found my missing USB thumb drive, that was missing for 4 months, in the Tupperware cabinet. I guess she took the idea of "storage" a little far. Go figure). Here are some photo's of Ethan's big day. He, along with his parents, were VERY gracious hosts: Ethan gave Anna some hugs, Lily some kisses and even shared his Cookie Monster doll. It was a great Cat in the Hat Party. Remind me to ask Ethan's parents what kind of hot dogs they served...they were like CRACK! I do love me a good hotdog but I am telling you... these were FABULOUS. Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Sisters...aka Germ Sharing

2011-03-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh...sisters.

John and I are so pleased that Lily and Anna have started playing with each other. I don't mean "tolerating" each other or parallel playing next to each other... I mean playing. TOGETHER. Gaining shared enjoyment out of a common activity. They like to play on the computer together. They love to play with Play-doh together. They giggle wildly when jumping on the bed in tandem. And they are getting pretty amazing as a team on the playground.

Please, don't get me wrong. We still have our times of blood curdling screaming, pushing, taunts of "it's mine!" and all those other moments that make me want to see if Attila the Hun babysits. Times when I would consider selling them both of the black market for the price of a hot cup of tea, a manicure and a massage by someone named Jean-Claude. But we are having more sweet moments than ever before. Times when Lily cuddles up with Anna, shared games in the bathtub and lots and lots of giggling in unison. I love it.

However, there are times like this one: times when I am unsure if I should sweep them up and cover them in kisses or put them both on an antibiotic. I walked out of the bathroom for a minute last night and I came back to this. Girls helping each other brush their teeth...and sharing toothbrushes. Don’t worry..I didn’t dunk both of their toothbrushes in a bottle of that blue barbershop Barbasol stuff. I did indeed scoop them up and kiss their sweet toothpaste covered faces.

Yes, I brushed it!

2011-03-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

A really, really great day

2011-02-27T18:40:00.001-08:00

It was another beautiful day here in NC. We packed up the girls and hit another local park. Lily is getting big enough to play on the "BIG" playground and she couldn't be happier. Anna found a little friend named Eli and they ran around together for a long time. A nice gentleman was flying a remote control plane at the park and he stopped to show the kids the plane, how it flies, and let the kids touch it. It was an all around awesome day. Anna behaved herself so well in church that she got the help them bring up the gifts at Communion and got to snuff out the candles after Mass. She couldn't have been prouder! And before you ask, yes... I did get Lily a haircut this week-end. This is the AFTER picture... this is as tame as her hair gets!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2011-02-23T12:05:00.001-08:00

Friday at the Park

2011-02-18T18:54:00.001-08:00

It was a beautiful day here in NC today. High 70's and sunny. This was a warm day in February, even here in the South. We tried out a new park today and we had a wonderful time. I pulled the camera back out.. I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately. So, it was really nice to to take pictures of my favorite subjects: my lovely family. I am very excited because much of my New Years resolutions involved photos and media. I am signing up for a photography class, about which I am thrilled. I finally bought some good photo burning software and a double layer burner so I can make discs for the girls of all their photos. I am starting to do a lot of digital photo organizing because wow! I have a lot of photos! I am also converting some old videos to disc. And I am delighted because John got me a copy of Photoshop Elements for Christmas so I can try my hand at some basic photo editing. I know that there are lots of better editing packages out there.. but I want to give this one a try. I am going to load it up this weekend and give it a try. So, in the meantime: enjoy some brand new pics of the Guenther Gang!

Lily's Coffee Fix

2011-02-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

The BEST seat in the house!

2011-02-07T01:56:00.000-08:00

My sweet snowflakes

2011-02-06T20:45:00.000-08:00