Little Girls, Little Girls, Everywhere I turn I Can See Them

Now I am channeling Miss Hannigan.  Not good.  The reason I can't stop singing that song is that I realized I have little girls.  Not babies.  I was checking out some pictures from our Sunday afternoon in The Grove and this realization hit me.

Lethal Combination

Thanks to Jack, I finally understand why our conversations about where to pick up dinner (which is most nights) go around and around in circles.  Apparently, I am both indecisive AND opinionated.  So true.  Poor guy.

On a completely unrelated note, why don't people tell you that the terrible two's start around 18-20 months?  It's like not knowing about that stupid pressing on your stomach thing they do after you give birth.  I'm still mad about that.   

The girls are so fun yet so challenging right now.  After going through a relatively "easy" stage from 12-16 months, the last few have introduced many new hurdles and have proved quite trying at times.  On the cute side - they are completely hilarious and really sweet.  Favorite things  are saying "I don't know" when you ask where things are, pretend talking on the phone, saying the blessing/prayers with a loud "AMEN" at the end (or in the middle), reading books, giving hugs and kisses, pretending to sleep, surprising you with a "haaayyyy", and singing and dancing.  On the challenging side - they are not great eaters (and by not great I mean that two of them only have about three items they will touch), they are starting to get in little tiffs with each other, they climb and jump on furniture, they throwing things, they hit each other, etc.  Normal two year old things....just multiplied times three.  They tend to feed off of each other and so once some bad behavior starts you know its about to get real.   We've been exploring different tactics for dealing with all of this, and are starting to find our groove.  Different things work with each one.... while one can be easily distracted into doing something different (Anna), another is totally focused on whatever she is doing and distraction does you no good (Brooks).   Just when I think I have no control and I am raising juvenile delinquents, they start singing and hugging and kissing and "amen"-ing and acting irresistibly cute.  I don't know the best concoction for dealing with behavior issues, but I do know that consistency and patience are in the mix.  I'm working on that.

Anna Ruth took some photos recently that are a great depiction of life these days.

And a few other pics.

Bombing Photos

Bombing you with photos.....not to be confused with photo bombing.   My internet friends with adorable triplets over at Instantly Outnumbered inspired me to just post pics since I can't seem to find the time for a regular blog.   And my mom and Jack bullied me about it, too.

Here are some pics from the last few months.  Our most recent fun involved a visit from Fran and Anna Ruth last week.  I failed to take pics but AR did and you can see that over at AR's blog.  

Mother's Day weekend

Trip to the beach with our friends, the Perry's:

Don't you wish you sat next to us?

General fun:

Anna loves a stranger

Waiting rooms

The girls are doing and saying so much these days, it is overwhelming to think how quickly they are growing. All is good (and wild and chaotic) in our house.

Grump's Corner - inaugural post

Welcome to the first edition of Grump's Corner.  Grump's Corner will feature stories from my dad....better known as Grump...and even better known as Bubba Grump....but actually now known as simply BG.  BG is a talented musician and his music adventures have led to some great stories which he will share on Nichols and Nonsense.

2 Degrees of Separation

In 1971,  I was at school at Tulane and so was Tom Petty’s keyboard player Benmont Tench.    His dorm room was across the hall from mine and we formed a band together called Tuna Fish Larry – played a few gigs locally.  Benmont was a vegetarian at time and we would go to  Burger King and order Whoppers without the meat.   We also used eat at the Camellia Grill a good bit.   He could actually study while he was playing his piano in the dorm room.

One night, we were down in Jackson Square playing acoustic guitars.  We walked over to Bourbon Street and were leaning against the wall of a building when a policeman came up and arrested us for “blocking a public thoroughfare”.     The cops threw us in the paddy wagon and then took us to jail where we were put into the drunk tank with a number of pretty rough looking dudes.  The cell had an open toilet in the corner – no seat.    Our friends bailed us out later that evening.   Benmont and I showed up for court a few weeks later but the case was dismissed.   Benmont’s father was circuit court judge in Gainesville and apparently made a few calls. 

I last saw Benmont when Tom Petty played at Oak Mountain about 10 +/- years ago.    He got me and my daughter, Anna Ruth, back stage so we could catch up on things.  It was good to see him.   Tom Petty was going to come over to Benmont’s dressing room to say hello to Anna Ruth but she ended up with an autograph on a scrap of paper instead …….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1D3Qwp87c0

Stay tuned for the next post.....Grump and Jerry Garcia 

I'm Crafty (once a year)

Related posts:  My So Called (Pinterest) Life and last week's post, Is there a Name for This?

Chalk board paint on my screen porch table.