Happy Day, M!!!

2 years old...
I can hardly get over the fact that you are 2 today!
M you have grown so much over the past two years.
Mommy, Daddy, A and R have LOVED watching you grow and learn new things.
These past couple of months have been big for you.
You have...
* moved to a big girl bed
* started saying lots of new things...almost on an hourly basis
* you make it your goal to make us laugh constantly
* no more baby food whatsoever...you will only eat what we are eating
* you can climb ANYTHING
* we had to add more door knob covers since you mastered the deadbolt and lock on the back
door and loved going out to play on the deck.
* you can hit the ball off of the tee and are often found a few steps from 1st base after you have snuck onto the ball field during one of the big girls' games.
* you love to sing and still think Barney and Elmo are awesome

There is so much more, but we just wanted you to know that we love you and are so proud of you. And in your own words..."Happy Day, M"

Love, Mommy, Daddy, A and R

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

from our house to yours!

R's Family Birthday Celebration

R getting ready to blow out the candles on her cake!
Happy 6th Birthday!

Spring 2009 Softball Opening Day

Well, like I said before...it does not take long for softball to roll back around again!
This past Saturday was Opening Day! The girls were so excited.
Some of A's team talking with a coach and getting ready to "Play Ball"!

Our nephew K eating his breakfast.A and Grammy just before the game began.M and Granddaddy waiting on the game to begin.Saturday night: R's team waiting on the game to begin.
The weather was much better Sat evening than it was on Sat morning.R getting ready to bat! This is when the whole crowd was singing Happy Birthday to her...
Big day...opening day and birthday!
R at 2nd base waiting for the ball.

Reading My Books!

R wrote and illustrated 2 more books.
She went to read them to A's class on Friday!

Good job, R! We are so proud of you!

Snow, Snow, Snow!

Last Sunday and Monday we had SNOW! (Now it is 80* - go figure)
The girls had a blast playing in the snow, throwing snowballs,
building a fort (really a wall) and getting wet.

M and I only lasted about 10 minutes. It was just too cold for her and she got
soaking wet everytime she fell down. B and A and R were out for a few hours altogether.
They loved it, and also loved that they got to miss a day of school too!

Happy 6th Birthday!

R, you are 6 today!
I am not really sure how or when this happened.
Just yesterday you were toddling around and now you can read!
Wow! What a great 6 years!

You are such a good middle sister...you get the perks of being both a little and big sister!
You love to have fun and you play hard until your head hits the pillow at night.
At which point it usually takes less than 6 minutes for you to fall fast asleep.
You love school and have learned to read and write stories this year.
You have already written 3 books and are working on #4. The best part for you is going to read them to A's 2nd grade class. (A secretly LOVES it too)
M thinks that you hung the moon and asks for you first each time she wakes up!

We are so proud of you, R!
We love you very much!
Happy 6th Birthday!

Love, Mommy, Daddy, A and M

Family birthday dinner.
A with some of the boys eating hamburgers and hot dogs.

Then cake and ice cream.

Our girls with all their 1st cousins...yes, all boys. We have 5 nephews.
Lots of wildness when this bunch gets together.

And finally...PRESENTS!

First Spend the Night Party

Last Friday, A had 3 friends come over for her first spend the night party.
They had a blast and I have to say it was a lot of fun.
We started off with dinner and cake and ice cream.

Then the girls decorated a tote bag.
I have to say that they turned out really cute and the girls were so creative.
They got to take these home Saturday morning filled with candy.

Next, the girls entertained M and I with some singing and dancing (Daddy and R
had to go to softball practice for a bit). This part I videoed and will enjoy laughing at
it for years to come. Then we put colored stripes in the girl's hair. They loved this and thought
they were so cool. Even M kept saying "My turn". We put a little pink in her hair too.
Don't worry it washed out very easily.

They finished the night watching HSM3, a gift from her friend R. A was the last one asleep around midnight. Not to bad if you ask me.
Saturday morning they ate waffles and then headed outside to play some kickball before everyone went home.

I think they had a great time. I know that I had fun watching these wonderful girls.

EIGHT is GREAT!!!

A is 8 today!
My how time flies!
We can hardly believe that she is 8. She keeps telling us that she is now halfway to getting a
driver's license. UGH! I hope these next 8 years go by slower.

A, we are so proud of you and the young lady that you are becoming.
Gone are the days of babyness, toddlerhood and "little" girl.
Now, you want to hang out with the grown ups a bit more, and
you do not like for me to show you much affection in public. (This is not fun for Mommy)
However, you do love to snuggle at night every once in a while.
You LOVE reading, softball, playing outside and riding your bike.
You are a perfectionist and like to have things where you like them (you get that from your Mommy). You don't care if your room is clean, but you could spend hours putting your hair up in the perfect ponytail.
You are a great big sister and you love to get a rise out of R and M.
You have taught and are teaching Daddy and I about parenting. Unfortunately, we have to try everything out on you first.

I can only imagine what the next 8 years will bring, but I do know that we love you very much and that will never change. Keep putting Jesus first, love your family and friends with all you have and know that we are so very proud of you!

Happy 8th Birthday, A!

R's First Published Book

Here is the book R wrote and illustrated.
Her teacher typed the words for her from her rough draft.
Isn't it wonderful?

We are so proud of you, R!

Way to go!

R published and illustrated her very first book this week in school.
She is so proud and we are so proud of her. It is titled "Valentine's".
Her teacher let her pick any class in the school to go and read to and
of course she picked A's class. So, this morning she went to read to A's class.
She did such a good job. She was really nervous and shy about it, so she was really soft.
It was so cute...

Our friend, Tyler, said "Hey, I know she can be louder than that?" ha ha...he is so right.

I know the picture is blurry, but I was trying to keep M from yelling at her so we could hear the story. Oh well...

Good Job, R! We are so proud of you!

Catching her off guard

M is into everything these days.
She is definitely keeping me busy and on my toes.
I can hardly leave her in another room on her own, for fear of what I might find
when I come back.

Here she is cuddling up with her BaaBaas one night watching Elmo...her most favorite
show to watch. She has her feet propped up on the entertainment center because
she watches her sisters do this all the time.

In this one, I had left the room for about 30 seconds only to hear the chair moving across the kitchen floor. I came in to find her standing in the chair at the island drinking my iced coffee...she is truly her mother's child. She thought she was so cute and turned to say "cheese"
when she noticed that I had the camera in my hand.

And about 10 times a day she gets hats, mittens, scarves out of the basket and puts them on.
Isn't she adorable?

I wouldn't have it any other way....I love that she keeps me busy.

A's New Look

A got glasses last week. Doesn't she look so cute?
She only has to wear them when she is reading or working on something at her desk.
So far she likes them and looks fantastic in them.

NYC Weekend...

was a BLAST!

We had a great time and are very thankful to our husbands for sending us.
I am waiting to get all the pics on a CD so that I can share them with you.
We were greeted Saturday morning at 4:45am with a limo waiting to take all of us to the airport. The trip up was uneventful (my kind of airplane ride) and were welcomed to NYC with 5* weather. It was COLD, but we did not care.

We walked, rode a tour bus throughout the city, shopped, went to the Empire State Building, dinner and to see Chicago Saturday.
Sunday we awoke to SNOW...beautiful snow. It was a bit warmer this day though. We walked some more, shopped a lot (got some great purses), cried a bit at Ground Zero, saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, the bull from the movie Hitch, Rockafeller Center, Central Park, and much more.
Monday we rode the Subway at an ungodly hour of the morning to try to see Regis and Kelly but they were not taping (despite what the internet and our hotel said), shopped some more, and headed back home. After 6 hours in the airport, 3 delay times and finally a cancellation and flight change we arrived in ATL around 1am.

I promise to post lots of pics as soon as I get them.

Christmas Day 2008

Santa came....

M on her Barbie 4wheeler...this is the only time she has gotten on the thing...she is scared of it.

All the girls got bean bags...they love them.

Wow, what a mess...too bad Santa doesn't stay around to help clean up.

Yes, we had a GREAT Christmas, and hope that you did too!

Christmas Eve 2008 Part 2

After we leave Granddaddy's house, we head to my parent's house to continue the festivities.
Here are my parent's grandchildren sitting in front of the tree with all their presents.
.

Aren't they a cute bunch?
Yes, we have all the girls.

And my parents with the little ones, including Magic, their dog and 4th child.

What fun times!

Christmas Eve 2008 Part 1

I know that Christmas is long past, but I wanted to make sure to post some pictures.

Here are the girls getting ready to head to our service at church on Christmas Eve.

Daddy and his girls...

Mommy and her girls...

After church we head to my Granddaddy's (my dad's dad and my only living grandparent) house. There are 37 of us now, so on Christmas Eve we have to use the garage to put tables for the Grands and GreatGrands to eat and then we all come out here to open presents. My Granddaddy has 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. It can get quite crazy at times. Here are some pics of the girls and some cousins enjoying opening their gifts.

M with her Elmo...she loves this new Elmo.

A with 2 new books...it won't be long before she is finished with these...she loves to read.