This Saturday Sloane decided to part with her pacifiers.  We have been talking about the tiny baby moo cows of Papa’s that don’t have pacis and Sloane agreed it would be a good idea to give her pacifiers to his cows.  Papa stopped by on Saturday and that was all it took, she was ready and handed them over.  We went out for ice cream to celebrate then onto Seaside where we let her pick out a toy at the toy store.  Then we laid on her favorite “cozy blanket” on the green and enjoyed a quiet afternoon.   I honestly think I needed that quiet afternoon on a blanket more than she did.  I put in a few long hours on Saturday and my brain was close to fried.

After being so brave my poor girl came down with a stomach bug on Saturday night and we woke up to a big mess Sunday morning.  I thought I was tough momma, but cleaning up vomit is not my strong suit.  Even though she felt puny on Sunday morning she was so excited to see the photos of Papa’s cows with her pacis.  ;)

After a lazy day inside we went out for a little boat ride.  The dragonflies are thick here in September and October and one happened to fly into my photograph.

Yesterday afternoon I went solo to my niece’s 1st birthday party.  Poor Sloaney wasn’t well enough to go, which was such a shame because she would have loved it!

Sweet little Reese got spooked when we all broke into the birthday song…

If you’re wondering who my sweet niece looks like… she looks like her daddy, who looks like his momma (my mother-in-law)…

Happy 1st Birthday, Reese!!!

I wish we were next-door neighbors.  We may (or may not) be identical (never been tested).  She has a couple of inches on me… so I got on my tiptoes for this one below and she thought I was being stupid.  She’s never been the shorter one, so she’s not allowed to have an opinion on my tiptoe action.  I thought it was great.  Sloane was indifferent on the matter.

A spontaneous trip to visit her was just what I needed.  She is so dang hilarious, I nearly wet my pants everytime we are together.

When I get there she immediately goes into “let’s get out of here” mode.  I suspect this is par for the course for any off-duty mother of three. 

So, where do we go on our big adventure?  Pedicures? No.  Shopping? No.  Movies?  No.

She wanted to take me to a used car lot.  (I mentioned that maybe a newer car was in the cards for me.)  Here are two she picked out:

Both would turn heads.  I can’t decide if I want to be sporty or tough?  I still haven’t picked one yet, but must admit the ”Big @ss rollback” is tempting.

We stopped for pizza, then she wanted a snowcone.  After the snowcone, we headed home.  It was an eventful evening.  On the way home she brought her car to a screeching halt. ”Did you see that!?” she exclaimed.  Me: “those gas lanterns?” Her: “no that trash pile!”.  Me: “back up”. 

She threw it in reverse… then she hopped out to inspect:

My creative brain never stops.  Not even on weekends.  While she dug, I dreamt up a couple of suitable designs:

Please note the Mickey Mouse shirt.  She said she put it on just for Sloane!  Yeah right.  I don’t believe it.  I imagine she arrived at that outfit by sleeping in that t-shirt the night before and then got busy with her babies, and then… end of story.  Outfit!  She wears it well.  You can barely see it, but it reads “This is my happy shirt!”

She quickly looked both ways.  Coast was clear! 

I believe it was at this point she looked at me and said “put your d-a-m-n phone down and help me load this thing up!”

I’m still not even sure what it was she scored.  A box on wheels with short little handles.  A rolling toy box? A decorative wheelbarrow? A planter?

I hope you all have a Darby in your life.  There is no doubt that she is the coolest person ever.  Heart of gold and not afraid of digging through someone’s trash.  My kind of girl.