What a week we just completed. Daddy was away, so the girls and I managed to squeeze fun activities into each day. Despite coughing, sneezing, and snotty noses from both girls all week, we still made sure to keep busy. I have a list rather than trying to write it all out in sentences.

Monday: We spent the morning at the big, local park. Lots of action with bunches of other kids kept the girls very happy. Unfortunately, I discovered that I have the wrong stroller to walk to and from the park. Walking up ginormous hills (3 to be exact) with that thing feels like pushing a grocery cart full of 6 months worth of groceries. I’ve decided to invest in a double jogger.

Tuesday: While Annie was at school Mimi and I went to the YMCA. With my quick thinking I jumped in the shower and got dressed just in time to pick Annie up from school. Us girls then went to the mall to buy me some capris and to get the girls some sandals. At night we went out to dinner with Miss Trang at CPK. Yum!

Wednesday: We ventured over to a coffee shop to watch Mr. Don sing familiar tunes with which we could all sing along. The event was planned by a mommies’ group someone told me about. I overcame my shyness to introduce myself and the girls to several of the mommies from the group. That night I got a babysitter for the girls and went out the dinner at P.F. Chang’s with most of the other endo wives. Deliciosa! (Sorry, Dora the Explorer snuck into brain.)

Thursday: Annie had school. Mimi and I decided to sit this one out and try to get some work done at home. I had lots of web design work to catch up on and housework that was getting neglected. When Mimi woke up from her nap she had a “feber”, so we decided that it best to take it easy for the rest of the day. The girls did manage to harass my Visiting Teacher during her time here that night.

Friday: Due to Mimi’s fever the night before we cancelled a playdate planned for the morning with a friend from the neighborhood. Of course, Mimi was back to her old self by mid-morning, but it was best to play it safe. Annie had her first “kindernastics” class which she thoroughly enjoyed. She got to practice stretching, somersaults, jumping on the trampoline, and meet new friends. Mimi was very disappointed to not be able to participate. Afterward, the girls and I headed over to Gina and Jakey’s house for an evening of pizza and general rowdiness.

Saturday: Miss Trang, Mr. Matt’s parents, the girls, and I had a heck of a time at Maryland Day. Each year the University of Maryland puts on quite the event involving tons of crafty and educational activities for kids, booths with lots of freebies, farm animals to peek at, good eats, and so much more. Annie was very proud of her shark’s tooth that she “found”. Mimi and Annie made bracelets that change color when exposed to UV-rays. However, one is floating up to the heavens while attached to a balloon, and the other is dispered under Annie’s bed, in her sheets, and basically all over her bedroom floor. Feel free to have a look-see at the pictures from the day on the memories page under “Maryland Day 2007“. Below is just a sneak peek. The guys finally returned home. We treated them (Mike and Mr. Matt) to a dinner out at Ledo.

Sunday: Back to church after missing several weeks due to either illness or conferences. The girls were thrilled to finally get to go again. Afterward we had planned to go to the National Arboretum with George, Gina, Dave, and Jakey, but it was closing up for the night when we got there. Mike and I were awfully embarrassed. Right before dinner Mimi surprised us and our dear friends with projectile vomiting at the supper table. Our guests quickly excused themselves and took a raincheck. Can you blame them? Mimi gave us a few more installments of revealing her stomach contents.

There you have it–our week listed day-by-day. As you can see, we barely had a moment’s rest. Most, if not all, of you may not be interested in knowing what we did each day, but it was just easier this way. How was your week?

Oh my heck, I can’t believe it’s been a month since my last “real” post. I kept saying to myself, “It’s already been a couple of weeks, I better update that site.” But a month…well, that’s just not acceptable. In my defense, the past few weeks have been hectic and non-stop. Mike had some major projects due and mock boards this week. Our “holiday” weekend was spent staying out of Mike’s way and keeping the girls busy and happy. My hobbies have taken on a new life as they have filled up much of my free time with web design and photography. I have 3 websites that I’m now maintaining regularly. Now that the weather is making a turn for the better, people are also interested in getting pictures taken. I had 3 photo shoots last week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I really love doing that stuff, but it’s all just keeping me very busy.

The first born is constantly surprising me with her questions, witty remarks, and capabilities of learning new things. The child thrives to learn how to spell new words each day. She asked how to spell microphone yesterday. Um, what?!? Instead I usually try to quickly pick a smaller word from my brain to spell for her such as girl. Then the other day she said to me, “Mom, something’s not quite right.” Where does she come up with this stuff? I tell ya, I spend a lot of my day cracking up. Because of Annie’s tendency to dress up as a mermaid using socks and foam letters, Mike’s mom decided to make the girls mermaid tails (sorry, no pictures yet to document this). Annie has been thrilled to now have a meraid costume to wear regularly. The funny part though was when the tails arrived, Annie put it on and then asked to go swimming. Uh, I don’t think so. {We did happen to open the pool last week, by the way.} Annie’s school has been brimming with activities the past few weeks. She had a spring program early in the month where each class represented a season or weather pattern. Annie’s class was winter. Then Annie went on a field trip to a farm (Mimi and I went, too). The farm set up different learning stations such as how maple syrup, honey, and butter are made. The kids were completely exhausted by the end of the day. Tomorrow is Annie’s last day of school, and on Friday Annie’s school is having a graduation. Mike’s not too thrilled to attend an event that “celebrates mediocrity”, but I’m kind of interested to see what they do.

Mimi is growing up to be quite the cute, little girl. Her speaking skills are developing like mad. I love hearing the new things she says each day. Mike’s already got her memorizing the chain of command that Annie knows so well. She seems to be in perpetual motion, and I would dare to say she’s even more hyper than Annie. Mimi loves to tackle people (especially Annie) and usually doesn’t slow down before bashing into one’s face–I speak from multiple experiences. A surprising characteristic Mimi has developed is protectiveness of her big sister. Whenever Annie is getting in trouble Mimi will huddle over Annie and say, “No! Stop it!” I don’t know where that comes from, but it’s hard to not give in and let Annie get off scott-free. I’m sure the novelty will wear off soon. We’re still working with Mimi to get her potty-trained, but she’s resisting. I think we’re making progress though because I caught her putting her stuffed puppy on the mini-toilet telling it to “go potty” yesterday. Mike has been making a great effort to teach the girls about gardening. He has them help water the plants each day and had them weed a little one day. So yesterday the girls were spending their time outside working the land. They each had a watering pail and spoons. I didn’t notice until it was too late that Mimi had been sneaking inside and putting scoops of dirt into the toilet. I have no idea what she thinks she was doing. Hey, while you’re at it, check out the girls’ May 2007 album on their page.

Sorry to make this post short. My computers were down half of last week. It was some freakish thing where I could visit one website and click maybe one or two links, and then the computer froze. Forget about opening any programs because the computer just ignored me anyway. The strange thing was that it was happening on both computers. I figured some virus attacked. Mike installed and ran some registry fix, and, amazingly, the computers are working just fine now. In the midst of all this I discovered that I only have 3 gigabytes of harddrive space left on my laptop’s C: drive. I only have 30 gigabytes total and half of it’s partitioned on another drive. This is not good considering I can fill up a 1 gigabyte memory card taking pictures in one hour. What to do, what to do? Oh, I don’t know, buy a new laptop maybe…

I have more to report on. Sick kids…AGAIN! A visit to the White House. Annie’s spring program. Planting a garden. A field trip to a farm. In the meantime, I LOVE CAKE!