BLESSED...

This morning, my sweet girl woke up with a smile and a "good morning"...then, "may I watch a video?"  :0)  My beautiful boy woke up and talked to himself in his crib for a good 15 minutes, so I was able to finish a few things before I went in to see his sweet smiling face..."nigh-night, all done" he tells me :0)  We go into the kitchen to get his bottle and he greets daddy with a happy and loud "dada!" (Tom is often gone before he wakes up in the morning, so he's always excited to see him).  After making beds, dressing kids, making breakfast and starting a load of laundry..I'm at my kitchen sink doing dishes, looking out the window to my backyard while Bailey finished up her pancake and Brandon sat on the floor by my feet, playing with the tupperware.

And so... I started my day, feeling very blessed.  I have a wonderful husband, who has a job (huge praise in this current economy!).  I have two healthy, beautiful, children whom I get to stay home with everyday.  I have a house that (while not worth what we owe on it and might float away if we get anymore rain)...is "ours" and it's our home.  I have laundry to do, because my family has clothes to wear.  I have dishes to do, because we have food to eat.

No question about it.  I am blessed.

Kids enjoying their "new" playhouse.  This playhouse has been
outside for the past 3 years.  I decided to bring it inside
 (after a really good scrubbing) so they could get more use out of it.
Our office has now become more of a playroom
and I think that's just great :0) 

Calling YiaYia and Popo to tell them all about the playhouse :0)

FIRED CREATIONS...

A couple of weeks ago, Bailey went to a birthday party at a local pottery shop (Your Fired Creations in Douglasville).  She had a great time!  It's the first time she/we had ever been to a shop where you paint pottery (then they "cook" it).  Her finished product is now proudly displayed in the kitchen window :0)  Great job Boo!

 

DIRTY DISHES AND A DIRTY BABY...

Okay, so he wasn't filthy...but he was a little cranky/bored this particular morning, so I thought we'd try something new.  I've never given either of my babies a bath in the sink, but Brandon did get a kick out of being in there.  He played for a good 20 minutes...then he noticed the dirty dishes in the sink next to him and it was time to move on... :0)

CUTIE PATOOTIE...

That's what she is....which is a good thing as it helps balance out the (shall we say) spirited and sometimes sassy side of our girl :0)  

I had taken 8 or so pictures and kept catching her with her
eyes shut or half-shut...so I told her to, "keep your eyes open"...
this is what I got :0)  haha

DISNEY JR....

We're Disney fans, no doubt about it.  Whether it's a vacation, toys/decorations or videos on TV....Disney's where it's at in our house! :0)

Watching videos is serious business!

Brandon has two "friends" in the living room and he has to grab
them, if he's watching them on TV :0)

This afternoon, they got to watch two videos...
so our little man had to get his second friend out :0)

20 MONTHS OLD...

and trying to figure it all out :0)

Hey...look at this...

I can fit in here....

Yep...somehow, I can do it...

Maybe this way....

Man.....this is tougher than I thought...

Okay...almost have it...

There!  Knew I could do it!

Hey...you know...this is a bit snug.
 Does this box make my butt look too big?

Man...how do I get out of this thing?

Oh...okay, here we go...

That's it...whew...that was a toughie.

Mean ol' box...showing the world just how much I've grown.
You stay over there...

TENNIS CAMP...

Bailey is once again participating in a tennis camp put on by In Tennis (held at Tolleson Park in Smyrna); she also participated back in 2011.  She's having a great time.  The group of coaches that work with this camp are wonderful.  Anyone in the area looking for a fun activity for your children, I would strongly recommend Chris Peck with In Tennis.  Our group is the youngest (ages 4-7 I believe) and we are lucky as we got the early morning slot (9a) which is a big help when the sun is out...hot, but not as hot as say 3pm :0)

You're doing great baby girl!

Looking so grown up...

Laughing and having fun...

Focused and ready...

Hits the ball...no problem!

Once again looking so grown up...

Love this picture as it shows how much fun the kids
were having.  And, no....Boo wasn't the only girl :0)  The kids
were broken down into 4 or 5 small groups.

WE'LL DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING...

For some free Chick-fil-A!  :O)    That includes dressing up in cow apparel.  Tom was dressed up as well, so as a family we got to eat dinner for only $.78...and we only had to pay that so Boo could have 6 nuggets instead of the 4 piece meal they hand out to kids.  Plus the kids scored a couple of Chick-fil-A stuffed animals!   We had a Chick-terrific (or should we say Cow-terrific?) time! :0)

THE GANGS ALL HERE...

Glenna and I are very blessed...combined we have 5 beautiful, healthy children.  The last two are both boys and it's so fun to watch the difference these two little men bring to the group.  We both find it so funny that they already act SO different than the girls. My only "regret" is that G and I don't have belly pics together; we were pregnant at the same time with our oldest and our youngest...friends in the womb they were.

This week, we were able to get together twice for some good playtime.  As always, we had a great time :0)

I LOVE this picture....so excited to watch them grow together.

Quinnie was letting Brandon brush her hair and
that was cracking Brandon up :0)  Quinnie has always loved Brandon...

Our two little men; Brandon is 19.5 months and Chris is 13.5 months.

LEGOLAND ATLANTA...

Last weekend we took the kids to Legoland Atlanta (at the Discovery Center Mall); they were running a promotion so we spent the $11/person (Brandon was free) to get in.  A bit expensive in our opinion...but worth doing once every year or so.  Both kids had a lot of fun.  We spent two hours there easy.  Pictures below are from my cell phone so, not the best quality.

Bailey was in the playground area and we couldn't
get her out for a family pic so...we're down one here.