Happy Birthday Little Sister!

We celebrated Glo's birthday at our house on Thursday. It's a luxury when 3 generations of the same family can celebrate on a weekday! Happy Birthday Glo and best wishes for a splendid year!

Esther: The rock star

Esther received an electric guitar for her (upcoming) birthday from my in-laws. Here are two recordings of her first performances. Brace yourselves.

CC gets in on the action.

Coke is it: a bonus day with Nonnie and Grampy

For no detectable reason, Big Daddy and Little Mama's flight back to RI on Monday morning got cancelled. So, we spent the day being tourists in Atlanta- at the World of Coke.

It was cold and windy.

How did Big Daddy balance that gigantic Coke bottle on his head? I tried a group shot, but Esther escaped.

CC fit nicely under the serve yourself soda fountain counter.

This part of the museum, where you sample Coke products from all around the world as long as you want, was a HUGE hit with the older two.

I haven't had that much Coke since 1986.
You even get to bring home your own bottle. :)

CC's 2nd birthday party-at The Music Class!!

CC and friends had a fun birthday party at the Intown Atlanta Music Class location. I did a specialized birthday class and then we feasted on cupcakes. :) Mommy, in action, looks like the kids are listening!

L to R, Oliver Kosar, Rybolt Miller, Robert, John Edward Kosar and Esther.

We loved having Grampy and Nonnie with us!

Rybolt had a cupcake collision. It was a good thing. The ever-lovely John and Karla.CC digs into the prezzies. Mama and CC.

Nothin' like juice and cupcakes!

Granny crafted these lovely cupcakes, made to look like butterflies. Thank you Granny!! (And thanks to Martha Stewart.com!)

The boys dig in.Queen Sandra.Papaw a.k.a. daddy to me, doing the final clean up. thanks Dad!

Did I mention that it snowed?

Saturday morning we suited up in our rain boots and headed outside. Magical Winburn Drive, above. CC took her time learning how to walk through the snow. The work of my hands. And when I say "my hands" I mean that nobody wanted to help me. I think he ended up resembling a priest at the altar.

A snow blessing. :)

Footprints to the neighbors.

A local super stud works hard to clear snow from the vehicles. I got his number.

CC contemplates cold weather.

Happy Birthday #2 CC!!

The baby that came when I started the blog has done turned 2! It snowed in Atlanta in honor of the occasion. Also, Nonnie and Grampy travelled south for the celebration. They left snow and ice behind and were met with more snow and ice!! CC on our deck as the snow began. . . Cuddling inside with Grampy.

Looking out at the Hartsfield-Jackson runway from the Rennaissance Hotel.

'Nonnie, do you see that snow?"

By 6pm our backyard looked like this:

More cuddling on the sofa during the Opening Olympic Ceremonies.

Reflections of a seasoned mom.

A few weeks ago I took a Marta train ride with the girls to and from church. All Saints' is across the street from the North Ave. station so transit is a pretty convenient way to get there. Esther and CC LOVED being on the train with other people and watching out the windows. Esther didn't even complain about the pungent urine smell in all of the elevators, she just pinched her nose closed to cope.

On the ride home I took the wrong train (heading north instead of south) which added a little extra time to our trip. Sometimes those little annoying detours really get to me. But on this day, I wasn't really rattled. We sat in the Midtown station waiting for the train and suddenly Esther made a weird sound that grabbed my attention. She was choking. Before I did anything she coughed out the hard candy that had gotten lodged in the wrong place onto the station floor. But her body wasn't done assuring her survival. She started to heave and was soon depositing her previous snack of watermelon and cantaloupe on top of said hard candy. The whole thing was messy (thank God we had an extra sweater that CC had been carrying around that morning) and scary for Esther. She burst into tears and clearly upset by her sister, CC followed.
There I sat, with two hysterical girls, vomit on my shoes at the wrong Marta stop. And then our train came.

Happy to leave that scene, we found a seat on the train. Unfortunately, none of us had occupied our intended seats before the train lurched forward, sending us down the aisle. We recovered quickly and sat down. Now the girls were mute from the shock of previous events. They sheltered in my lap like little bunnies. It was then that this thought came to me: Five years ago this day would have knocked me over with exhaust, despair and anxiety. 7 years of childcare and 3 births have hardened me somewhat. Maybe 'seasoned' is a better word here. I am a seasoned mother of three. Now, understand, I don't claim to be fully seasoned, well-seasoned, or even adequately seasoned. But I am learning, I am stretching and I even have a little salt in my hair.