A Coloring House, Brownies and a Birthday Party

I hope this Sunday finds all of you happy and well. So far my whole family is both. Gracie is sleeping, Emily is resting, I'm blogging, and Chis is fishing. And I hope he's not getting wet because I can hear a thunderstorm off in the distance.

Pardon the blogging break. Once again I'm having computer troubles. Chris thinks I should test computers for a living because I can sure reek havoc on one. I have been using Blogger in Draft so that my pictures would be big, but now it won't let me upload my pictures. It asked me something about my cookies (the only "cookies" I know about are the kind that you eat!), so I'm back to the old blogger with smaller pictures.

Not much has been going on around here. Just getting school supplies and relaxing. In one week I will be the parent of a school age child. Not looking forward to it, but it's coming none the less, and despite the sadness I feel, I've made my mind up not to cry. (guess we'll see how long that lasts).

Here are just a few snapshots of what we've been up to this week. We are the proud owners of a coloring house (thanks to Aunt Maggie) and the girls have loved it!

We've made some brownies, but Emily likes licking the bowl the best.


And we've celebrated my Daddy's Birthday.

I hope you had a great day Daddy.

May you all have a great Monday!

Hey Y'all

Man, time is flying by faster than I realize!  I looked and the last time I blogged was nearly a week ago,  I guess there just isn't a lot of excitement around here.

Emily went to spend the night with Granmother and Pop last Thursday, so Gracie and I spent two days together "just us".  It was fun due to the fact that for 2 days I didn't have to break up one argument, but it sure felt like a piece of the puzzle was missing.  I miss Em so bad when she's not here. But Gracie made the best of it.  She played with all of her toys!

And jumped on her bed.  (excuse the dirty shirt. those Popsicles tend to drip)

It's strange at bedtime with just one child.  It's much easier!!  And you can judge me if you want to for the fact that Gracie is 2 and still takes a bottle at night, but I don't care.  It works for us!!

Emily came home Friday night, so Saturday morning we went shopping for Emily some school shoes.  They can only wear tennis shoes, so I hope Keds will do.  They are so pretty and white right now!  "Right Now" being the key words.  I'm sure they won't be for long. 

Saturday night, Chris and I took the girls on a date.  We went to eat and then went to Academy to walk around.  Gracie thinks she's just as big as anyone else and it's so funny to watch her.  Chris promised them that if they were good, that he would get them an ice cream on the way home.  Everyone was good, so we stopped at Sonic.  Emily wanted an ice cream cone and we got Gracie one too.  Big mistake!  We stopped to rent a movie on the way home. I went in to get the movie while leaving Chris on ice cream patrol in the car.  Well, I don't think he even tried to keep Gracie wiped up because when I got back to the car, she was covered in ice cream.  These pictures are before the mess.  (sorry for the blurriness. They are cell phone pictures)

Em's an expert at eating ice cream, so it may look like she made a mess but she didn't. 

Well, that about wraps up the weekend.  I hope everyone has a good Monday!!!

If The Crown Fits

We started our day on the move.  I still needed to get a few more school supplies for Emily so we headed out to town.  Due to the fact that my printer isn't working, I ran by my former place of employment so I could print off a coupon for Hobby Lobby (just in case I wanted to ride buy).  When we left I decided to hold off on Hob Lob for another day, so we hit Walmart wide open hunting for school supplies. 

I think I'm out of luck on the pink scissors.  There was more of a selection at this Walmart, but the type that Emily has to have doesn't come in pink, so we'll just have to make do.  Walmart may have had more scissors, but they sure didn't have much else.  We still have a few more things to get, but we're doing okay on time, so all is good. 

You can bet I was the only Mom with a camera taking pictures of their kids getting school supplies.  Who cares!  I'm going to do it while I can!  Before long, this will mortify her. 

Gracie said, "Picture me".  You bet!

She also told Emily, "Mone Sister" which means "come on sister".   She is too funny!

When we went to Walmart when Emily was a baby, we would always stop at the front door and smell the flowers.  Sometimes we would pick up every bouquet.  Today, we introduced Gracie to the tradition.  Every time we would smell them, we would say, "You gotta stop and smell the roses".  Oh, so true. 

I had told Emily that I would buy her some jewelry (specifically clip on earrings) today while we were at Walmart.  When I was little, I remember seeing that stuff everywhere.  Now, you have to be committed to spend $20 if you want it at Walmart.  That was a little more than I wanted to spend, so we stopped at Walgreens to see what they had.  They had the whole set at a steal of a deal, so I got two.  One for Emily and one for Gracie.  They played with this stuff for a long time.  We changed Emily's clothes several times, but Gracie seemed content with what she had on.  Look at these faces!!!  I'm in pure heaven!!!

Tonight we had Emily's all time favorite food, taco soup.  Some folks don't understand why I fix taco soup when its a 100 degrees outside, but I don't understand their logic.  If you cook anything, it's going to come of the stove hot, so why can't you fix soup in the summer.  The girls love it, it's pretty good for them, and the best part is that I don't have to beg Emily to eat it!  She's such a picky eater!  She may end up taking it everyday for school!  I try to explain to her that she won't be able to snack whenever she wants to, but I think she's going to have to find out for herself. 

Alright y'all, I'm headed to bed.  Sleep tight!!

Weekend Round Up

I hope everyone out there had a great weekend!  Ours was pretty good.  It started out Saturday morning with a visit from my cousin, Jenny and her girls.  They ran and played ( for the most part) while Jenny and I got caught up on things.

I'm diggin' Ava's smile.

Gracie just cracks me up.  She thinks she's just as big as the BIG girls.  All the girls are 18 months apart, so before long, Baby Kate will be in the mix.

Sweet Kate.  Doesn't she have the prettiest eyes?  She looks like her mother in this picture. 

Our town had a City Fest Saturday night.  They had several bands that played at the high school and since we don't live that far from the high school, it was like they were playing in our yard.  We usually have a block party type thing when the City Fest rolls around, but because of the rain everyone mostly stayed around their homes.  Maggie, Jamie and Sophie Clare came over to enjoy the festivities. 

Sophie Clare and Gracie wanting outside.

Pucker up buttercup!

Sophie Clare enjoying her Popsicle.

Playing in the rain.

They were going to have fireworks but with the rain, we weren't sure what they were going to do.  Maggie brought some with her and we let Lady Liberty hold a few sparklers.

A friend of mine is interested in buying a double stroller.  I bought one when Gracie was born, but I don't think that I used it to its full potential.  I told her that I might be interested in selling it and I would take a few pictures and put on Facebook so she could check it out.  Well, I hope she doesn't mind that my kids are in the picture because I wasn't able to get a picture without them in it. 

Since Emily is about to start school, I decided to put off straightening up the playroom because I didn't want to take the time away from her.  But after having most of my family over this weekend and the fact that I was ashamed for them to see it, I decided to go ahead and tackle it. 

Here is the finished product.  I didn't take a "before" picture because it was so bad.  But if you have ever watched the show Clean House, then you've seen my playroom.

Ahhh, much better. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about the wild and crazy life that I lead (ha ha).  I wouldn't have it any other way!

Stayin' Cool at the Pool

My goal for today was to straighten up the house and do laundry (lots of laundry)!  But all of that changed around 8:30.  My brother Jeff called and reminded me that I was suppose to meet them at the swimming pool today.  I totally forgot that we had talked about it at his birthday party on Wednesday.  He has been on vacation all week, so I guess today was the celebration of his last weekday off before Monday. 

Gracie was in terrible need of some new ear plugs, so on our way to the pool, I decided to run by the ENT's office to get a new pair.  Now, when I go to the pool, I'm no where near one of those people that can "rock" going to the pool.  You know what I mean...those people who still look fixed up even though they don't have any makeup on or their hair combed.  I thought I would just run in the door, stop at the front desk and get what I needed.  Well my friend, that wasn't the case!  They asked me what size I needed.  Now that's a question I didn't think they would ask (which I don't know why, now that I think about it, it's a logical question). Since I didn't know what size plugs we needed, they put us in an exam room.  Now, let me paint you a picture of how we look.  Emily (looking the best by far) had a cover up over her bathing suit...thank goodness.  But Gracie just had on a bathing suit with a pair of Crocs that were too big.  And let's just say, this was not a glorious moment for me.  To make matters worse, the nurse was so hateful.  So, I grabbed my ear plugs and left. 

On a happier note, the pool was wonderful.  It was a zero entry pool, and Gracie thought she was as big as everyone else when it came to swimming.  That is until she got a good drink of water. 

After the pool, we came home and rested.  I finally got to the laundry. The DVDs I ordered Jeff for his birthday came in and he called and said he was coming to get them.  So, we had a nice little visit with them this evening. 

When we put Emily to bed tonight, I went back in to check on her and this is what I found.  Oh, how she can make me smile.

Tessa (my sister-in-law) said that Jeff was talking tonight about how great it would be to win the lottery.  And she said something so true...she said, "You know, our kids are healthy, so really it feels like we have won the lottery".  She is so right!  We have so much to be thankful for!  Thank you God for all of our blessings!

Ole Shifty Eyes

Thursday, we were up and moving!!!  Back in March I started Weight Watchers and I lost 16 lbs (yea me)!  Well, come May, I stopped going to weigh and decided yesterday to get back on the wagon.  I was a little nervous because I know I had gained and I wasn't at all fired up to go see how much.  But to my surprise, I had only gain 1.8 lbs. So, as I said earlier, I'm back on the wagon.  I'll keep you posted.  

After the weigh in, the girls and I headed to town to take Em's backpack to get her name put on it and to meet Maggie for lunch.  It was a little wild, but still very enjoyable.  We tried to take the girls picture sitting on this bench, but as you can see, it didn't work out all that well. 

After we ate, we took the backpack and dropped it off.  I can't wait to show you the finished product.  When we got home I put Gracie down for a nap.  This is the sweet face I saw when I went to get her up.  Sometimes I could just squeeze her to death.....but I won't.  I am well aware that the red pillow doesn't match her bedding, but that is her pillow pet and she loves it!

I was in the kitchen putting things up, and Gracie came walking through the kitchen holding my camera.  Yikes!  I'm not real sure how she got it because it was up on a table that she usually can't reach, but needless to say, she brought it to me saying, "Take picture me".  So that's what I did!  She looks a little wild.

Em and I had a hair appointment last night. I wanted to get her hair trimmed up for school.  This girl is about to drive me crazy with the shifty eyes!  I'll say look at me, and she will for a split second, and then....shifty eyes.  I got tickled at her and she got tickled at me.  Her hair is so cute and will be easier to manage for school ( I hope).

I'm not real sure what we are going to do today, but it must involve straightening up the house and doing laundry. 

Y'all have a great day!

Happy Birthday Jeff

 Oh man, y'all, I have been dragging all day!!  Little Miss Gracie decided to wake up at midnight last night!  I laid down on the couch with her, and every hour on the hour, I woke up to check on her and she was wide awake!  Not complaining, just laying there looking around.  And today was not the day that we could be hampered by fatigue!  At 5 am, I put her in her bed, but I can't say that she was all that happy about being there.  I woke her up around 8 and we hit the floor running.  I had several errands to run and most importantly we had to make a trip to Walmart.  We haven't been in a whole week and I'm sure they were missing us.  

School Supplies!  That was at the top of our list today.  Our very first purchase was Emily's backpack.  I was a little bummed that she was required to have a clear backpack, but I was over the moon when I saw that they had a pink one.  Last year, my friend painted on a few clear backpacks and they were very cute, but my sister-in-law suggested that we have something vinyled on there.  And I think that is what we're going to do.  I wish I could have found her a pair of pink scissors, but that little voice inside told me to "get real".  But if I do run across a pair, I'm so getting them .

  

Emily wore the backpack all through the store! 

Today is my big brother Jeff's 40th birthday.  I really hope he had a great day.  I had ordered him the Lonesome Dove DVDs, but they didn't arrive in time for the party.  So this morning I decided to go get him a small gift so that he would have something to open on his birthday.  I settled on two Auburn shirts, and even though Emily was not at all fired up about buying him something Auburn, she made the final decision on which shirt to get.  And you know what she did?  As soon as we saw Jeff, she said "We got you an Auburn shirt, and I picked it out!"  That little stinker ratted me out!!!  But it was so funny!

This is what my Mother and Daddy got Jeff for his birthday.  I thought it was funny that Jeff is turning 40, and my parents are still buying him toys to play with.  He will definitely always be a kid at heart!

Mother made the girls these outfits so of course we had to get a picture. 

  Mother fixed Jeff's favorite meal for his birthday and it was sooooo good!

 Since I didn't sleep too well last night, I'm hitting the sack!!!

Night y'all!