Personal Chef and Gardener or Scary Aunt Mary

My sister Mary came to visit us this past weekend. As you may recall from here, she was foiled last time. April proved a much wiser choice; the weather was perfect. We were able to fit in our favorite things: weeding, cooking, eating, a long walk pushing the double jogger, more cooking, more eating. Add a child free trip to Target, a pedicure and seeing a really funny show with Dotty, and the trip was complete.

The only person who was not thrilled with her visit was Michael. Maybe he didn't get the social gene, or maybe it's his age, but he took awhile (24-48 hrs!) to really warm up to her. Of course, Emily took about 2 minutes, and Sophie about 1/2 second. After Michael claimed she was "skawee" her nickname became Scary Aunt Mary. He called her that, when he didn't refer to her as "Who dat lady, me no like huh". By Monday he was all smiles when he saw her, probably because he knew she was on her way to the airport. Ironically, when he woke up from his nap that afternoon he asked me, "Where Ant Madgee go, I miss huh". He's the sensitive one of the three, of that there is little doubt. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Sophie talking on the banana phone before it gets added to the smoothie recipe.
Trying to keep up with the weeds, it's never ending, but very satisfying to get rid of them.
Sophie took this one of Emily and Michael wearing buckets. No expensive toys needed.
Rolling out the homemade cinnamon roll dough on Sunday morning.
One of the two pans the recipe made, they were quite delicious.

In other news, I visited my optometrist today, and as I expected I need reading glasses. Yes, I am officially OLD!! Go ahead and gloat Joan, remember a few years ago when we went out for dinner and I almost fell out of my chair laughing when you pulled out yours? Yes, what goes around comes around.

Gould cousins

We had a great time with our Gould cousins yesterday. As they live in CT, we don't get to see them very often. They were down here for Spring Break, and since Terry's brother Jay (their father) is taking a new job in Atlanta, we hope to see more of them.

Sophie was a bit surprised when they met her at the bus stop, we didn't think they would be here in time. She was tongue tied at first; a rarity, I know, but warmed up quickly. They left today for a visit to Seaside, FL. We hope they enjoy the beach and some warmer weather.

Here's the girls on the slide, from the top: Kylie-almost 16, Blair-11 and Sophie. I can see so much of Blair in my Emily.

We played in the basement for a bit, and Michael decided he wanted to be a baby again. Once he was in the carrier, he pretended to cry, and Emily rushed over to him so she could pretend feed him.

Blair making it look easy:

Jake proving that you're never too old, or too big, to swing!

Spring has sprung!

I was going to post some pictures of our backyard to show how beautiful it is right now in Atlanta. Then I got word that Miss Sharon, our absolute favorite teacher at preschool, has a blog of her own. Sharon and her husband Michael have turned their entire backyard (which is probably about 2 acres) into a gorgeous garden with paths, benches, a hammock, the works. She even had a little house built that overlooks the garden, and they often eat dinner there.

Sophie had Miss Sharon when she was in the older 2's class, and next Fall it will be Michael and Emily's turn. She and her co-teacher Marlene are so great with kids, I am really looking forward to M and Em experiencing all they have to offer. But for now, check out her blog. It gives me something to shoot for once my kids are grown!