The Adventures of The Dirt Girls!

Hey y'all! I hope everyone is having a great week so far! It's been very relaxed around our house. Trying our best to stay cool.

A few trees fell around our house last year and Chris had been waiting for the ground to dry out enough so he could get the stumps up. The guy came last week to do the work and the girls were so glad he did.

It amazes me how a big pile of dirt can put light in a child's eyes! The girls climbed and played for several hours. We had a few "dirt to the head" situations, but they loved every minute of it. It just goes to show, that you can buy your child every toy imaginable but it is truly the simple things in life that are the best.

And this picture just makes me laugh! Emily rolled this watermelon all over the house, but Gracie mostly sat on it! What a little lady!

Happy Tuesday y'all!

Party Time

I still need to tell you about Emily's birthday party. She decided to have a bouncy party with her theme being Snow White. The fact that she chose Snow White was strange to me because she WILL NOT watch the movie. But that's what she wanted so that's what we went with.

It was so sweet to see Emily play with her friends and it be "her" day.

When we got home, the girls were absolutely wiped out. Gracie came in and climbed right up on the couch.

Emily couldn't wait to get into her birthday loot. She grabbed the new PJ's and house shoes and pranced around for an hour.

A fun time was had by all. I want to thank everyone for coming.

VBS

Yee Haw! Hello partners! I would like to show you our very busy Bible School week! It was very fun, but also very tiring!

Emily finally had a reason to wear her cowboy (correction "cowgirl") hat. When you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she says "a cowgirl".

Me and my cousin-in-law, Johnna kept the nursery for the people that worked in Bible School. We had two little sweeties. Easton, who is 10 months and my niece Sophie Clare.

I got tickled at the bag of snacks that Maggie packed Sophie Clare.

She is also a little monkey.

Emily was part of the Praise Team that would do the Saddle Ridge Ranch theme song on stage every night. I was really impressed! She did a great job!

Gracie at play time. She looked like she was having a blast. She was also having a great hair day. She looks like a brunette Farrah Fawcett.

The second night we had ice cream for snack. Easton was in hog heaven.

Got Ice Cream?

Oh, I wish you could have seen Gracie during the program. She danced and sang just like the big kids! We videoed her and every minute of every day she'll say "Ridge Ranch" and wants to watch herself on the video. It was way cute!

Father's Day

 As the old saying goes, "Better late than never".  I have so much to tell you about, but first I want to start with Father's Day. 

I'm very blessed to have so many good fathers in my family.  My Dad first and foremost because let's face it, without him I wouldn't be here!  Daddy, I love you so much and I'm thankful for every bit of guidance you have given me over the years.  To my Father- in- Law who is always there to lend a hand.  Because of you, my husband is the man he is and I am very thankful for your example in his life!  To my husband Chris, who is the very best part of our family.  I don't always vocally give him the credit he deserves, but I couldn't have asked for a better father for my children.  He plays with them, he reads to them, and best of all, he prays with them!  He is a Godly example of what a father should be to his children.  I am very blessed! 

We tried to give Chris a stress free weekend.  Not a "honey do" list in sight!!  Although Emily's birthday party was on Saturday night, I think we accomplished that for him.  Emily couldn't wait to give Chris his present.  I had picked out several shirts that I thought he might like, then I let her choose from those.  Emily decided on  the one he has on in the last picture.  She said, "I just know Daddy will love the pink one!". I also got him some cologne.  Emily told him that he sure smelled good and Gracie said, "smell good, Daddy".  Melts my heart!

I hope all the Fathers in your life had a great Father's Day! 

Stay tuned for VBS and Emily's birthday party.

Show Us Your Life-Proposal Stories

I looked at Kelly's Korner today and saw that she was featuring Proposal Stories, so instead of telling you about mine, I thought I would tell you about my cousin Jenny's proposal.

I hate to call us cousins (although we are), we are more like sisters. Sisters that God put at different houses because he knew that we would probably kill each other if we lived together (ha ha). All joking aside, I love her like my sister, and she married a wonderful man, Michael.

Jenny and Michael were high school sweethearts. When Jenny went off to the University of Tennessee to study sign language, I thought "I hope they stay together". Michael is the perfect fit for Jenny. He compliments her in every way and they work as a team better than any couple I know. So when Michael decided to propose our whole family was over the moon.

Now just because Jenny knows sign language, didn't mean Micheal did. So for the big day he learned to sign "Will You Marry Me". He took her to a very special restaurant in Knoxville, and in front of the whole restaurant, he got down on one knee and signed "Will You Marry Me".

To this day, that story just makes me smile! It's been 5 years, and two beautiful children later, and I do believe they are happier than the day they met. I love you Jenny and Michael! I hope you didn't mind me sharing your story!

Emily is 5!!

Hey y'all! It's been a very busy week! We've had VBS this week and we are all pretty wiped out! But it was fun. The best part about this week was that my baby girl, Emily, turned 5! We are going to celebrate her birthday on Saturday with our friend and family, but on her actual birth "day", we HAD to do something special.

We called Tessa and Robin and asked if they wanted to go to the Cultural Arts Center downtown. They have an imaginary town where the girls can dress up and play, but before we went there, we had a stop to make.

I know it sounds weird for me to take Emily to my former place of employment as part of her birthday celebration, but you just have to know the story. Some people revel in their pregnancies. They have a glow about them and they just can't stop smiling and talking about the blessed day that their little one will come into this world. I did that, but it wasn't always very sweet (to put it mildly). To be honest I was a downright nightmare!!! I was sick at first. I don't think I slept for nine whole months. I worried everyday that something was wrong. My blood sugar was out of whack. Labor and being a mother I'm good at, but not pregnancy. Just like Chris and my mother, these sweet people took the brunt of my "craziness"! They put up with me when I know they wanted to strangle me! I think the day I told them that I wouldn't be coming back after Emily was born, they all did an "Oh Happy Day" dance right in the office!

But what's amazing is that as soon as Emily was born, I didn't feel crazy any more. I saw that she was perfect, and all was well. So I will always feel that I owe them a debt of gratitude because they didn't fire me (ha ha) and loved me anyway. These people are like my family and I would do anything for them.

They were sweet enough to give Emily a card and some money for her birthday. They wanted to pin the money on her, but she wasn't having any of that! Later that day we went to WalMart and she bought a movie and some bubble bath. Thanks again y'all. We love you!

Emily and Bon Bon

My coworkers breathed a sigh of relief when I got pregnant with Gracie and I wasn't working there anymore. Pregnancy was much easier the second time around.

We met Tessa and Robin around 10 and the girls played for 2 hours! There was so much to do, so it went by pretty fast!

They had a construction area.

Kitchen area

Dress up area

The kitchen had the menu on the wall. Very cute!

A bank.

A grocery store. And Gracie personally licked every piece of fruit they had! Yuck....I know, but she wouldn't stop. I tried to get her mind off of it, but I didn't have any luck.

Gracie loves a computer, but when she realized that it didn't work, she got over it real fast.

A doctors office

A fun time was had by all! We will definitely go back soon.

I tried to get Emily's picture holding up 5 fingers. Oh well, maybe I'll get a better one when she turns 6.