On Sunday afternoon, we decided to carry these two little Halloween-lovers to our local zoo for the annual Boo at the Zoo event. Despite what our daddy says, it did not disappoint. Just in case there is any question, Ella is Olivia the Pig for Halloween and Sophie is a pumpkin. Due to some unseasonably warm weather, Sophie skipped out on her costume, with the exception of her 'boggin. Hopefully, come Sunday the weather will be cool enough for some fuzzy knits! Sophie had the pleasure of hanging out in the carrier for most of the night and it was a life-saver. I was not looking forward to navigating a crowded zoo with a stroller and we all know that carrying a baby for hours while waiting in line is not a fun time for ANYBODY. We were smart enough this year to head straight for ...
holidays
Fall Festival
After another day of rest, a shot to the fanny, a z-pack and some fancy cough syrup - I was starting to feel much better. I woke up late Thursday afternoon and felt great, but the combination of medicines and an empty stomach was making me feel dizzy and very loopy. There was a fall festival at my mom's Elementary School and Ella has been begging to go for weeks. Since I should have been at work, mom was planning to take the girls and then meet me for Ella's dance class afterward. Instead, she picked me up {since I was too impaired to drive!!} and I followed them around for an hour or so. Let me just say that by the time we got home I was worn out and ready for another nap. Waiting in line to buy our armbands Hanging out with our friends, Kaitlyn and Madeline Connor and ...
Guess Who?
I didn't plan to share this until a little later, but Ella was SO excited that she couldn't stand it. I am amazed that although I ordered every piece from somewhere different, all the boxes managed to litter my front porch on the same day. Ella wanted an Olivia the Pig birthday party this year, so we've pretty much been planning since January. I can't wait to fill you in on all the details. Much like last year, we'll be dressing up for the party and then recycling pieces of the outfit for Halloween. These pictures show the Halloween look. For the birthday, we'll be wearing sandals and a birthday tank instead. The shirt is from Mini Boden, tulle skirt from eBay, tights from eCrater, shoes from Puddle Jumpers {thanks, Nana}, the noses can be found at just about any costume shop ...
American Beauties
I'm starting to realize that Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays. Not only do I love honoring the sacrifices made for freedom, but I love the tradition, the colors and the time spent with family. We almost always have a poolside picnic on the fourth of July and this year was no different. We got started a little later in the day since it fell on a Sunday, but we more than made up for it on Friday, Saturday and Monday. Closer to dark, we loaded up picnic number two {fast food this time} and headed downtown for Thunder on the Mountain, our local fireworks show. Garan, Poppy & Jared joined us this year and we had just as much fun as last year. The boys threw the football until dark, Ella and Sophie got plenty of attention and K & I took lots of pictures. Pictures ...
Memorial Day
This might be the only picture I took yesterday, but at least it's a good one. Yesterday, we: slept late and had fruit loops for breakfast. packed three bags of towels, toys and food. spent about 8 hours at the pool, in the sun and rain. watched Sophie sleep the day away in her bouncy seat under an umbrella. had many noodle fights. ate a few too many hamburgers and drank way too many Dr. Peppers. finally got some sun on my cheeks. watched red, white and blue clad cheeks run around the pool all day. got stuck under the awning during a rainstorm. enjoyed wonderful conversation. Happy Memorial Day! ...
Easter Picnic
After church, we headed to Garan's for a picnic with the family and of course, family pictures. I'll be sure to share those that K took, but we snapped this quick one in the meantime. After the photo session, we all changed clothes for vegging out in the sunshine, hunting eggs and stuffing face. How cute is this little one in the sweet dress the Bunny brought? She convinced Jared to hunt eggs while she was waiting on the other kids. Her idea of "hiding" the eggs is to throw them in various locations around the yard. Luckily, he was very agreeable. Thank you, Jared! This much be Molly's serious face... she, Stanley, Jay and Ella were gearing up to hunt eggs. Just like on Saturday, she was pretty proud of the 32 eggs she found. Unfortunately they all came home with ...
Bunny Business
On Easter Sunday, I decided to get up early to make sure we had plenty of time to enjoy each other and still get out the door on time for church. I was up by 5:30 "making sure the Bunny hid the eggs" and moving the girls Easter Baskets from the kitchen counter. I'm sure the Bunny put them there to keep little gray paws out of the chocolate! I baked apples-in-a-blanket for breakfast, ironed our Easter clothes and had a cup of coffee before I was greeted by my little princess. A little person screamed at me and as soon as I opened the door she was off to see what the Bunny brought. I did manage to convince her to wake daddy first, but as you can tell from the pictures, he wasn't quite ready to be up. From mommy and daddy, Ella got a new Bitty Baby ballerina outfit that she's been ...
The Hunt
After dyeing our eggs on Saturday morning, we got all dolled up and headed for a local egg hunt. We were probably a little over-dressed, but Ella has lots of new springy dresses that she's been dying to wear, so we went with it. Unfortunately, it was a little dreary outside and we were glad we brought a sweater. We started out in the gym of our elementary school, where there was face-painting while we lined up in our age group. Luckily, Ella wasn't interested in having her face painted, but she couldn't wait to start hunting those eggs. The preschool set got to search on the playground, so they were easily contained. Although we didn't find the grand-prize egg {thank goodness - it was a stuffed horse the size of our dog!}, we did find a prize egg and my child selected a gallon sized ...