Our Chorus Girl!

T is taking Chorus this year as one of her electives. We thought it would be a good way for her to develop her voice, since we haven't been able to afford vocal lessons. They sing some pretty crazy songs, and she absolutely HATES the dress that is her uniform...but we thought she looked beautiful, and they sounded GREAT at their first concert!

Our Annual Fall Picture

Each year we go to the pumpkin patch, pick out pumpkins, decorate a fall scene in our front yard and take pics of the kiddos in front of it. We have done this for many years (since we lived in VA). Last year our beloved scarecrow Johnny was destroyed by the "ill-mannered" neighborhood dogs...I found poor Johnny in a million pieces in our front yard one morning. So we ventured out to get a new "Johnny", even though R is very scared of anything scarecrow related. Well, by the time we made it to Hobby Lobby, they were out of scarecrows anyway, so we wound up with a very "fallish" rake decoration...which suited R just fine! We got everything together and got the kids rounded up for the photo shoot...and this was the result! As you can see, R is not in the pic with the girls...after taking a pic on my lap, he would have nothing more to do with the photo shoot. As soon as we would sit him down, he would hop right back up and walk off. So we got a lovely picture of our great kids...minus little R.

Purity Ball

R and T went to a purity ball last weekend. They had a great time having dinner and dancing together, and got a lot of good information! The girls both thrive on "time alone" with Daddy, and any time they get a chance to go on a date with him they are thrilled! Now hopefully I have a chance with little R actually getting excited to go out with Mommy when he is bigger...somehow the mention of a Mommy/Daughter date night just doesn't hold the thrill for the girls that the Daddy/Daughter date night does! (I mean, I'm only the one that threw up for 5 months straight, suffered through horrible heartburn, weight gain, stretch marks...and we won't even discuss the labor, delivery and nursing!) I'm really not bitter...I love that the girls love their Daddy and want to spend time with him...and I think that relationship will be VERY important as they get older and start making decisions about the kind of men they want in their lives...

Little Professor

This is R sporting his "intellectual" look!

How do you keep a 2-yr old from destroying the house while you shower??

Put him in the bathtub with a bunch of toys!!!

Simple Shoes

Okay, I just found a great shoe brand, and I had to share! I have always bought little R Stride Rite shoes, because they are flexible and comfy. Well, I came across simpleshoes.com the other day, and I hit the jackpot!!! I bought R a pair of shoes that were full price and they weren't cheap, but no more expensive than Stride Rite. But, I also got A two pairs of shoes (one pair was $7.90 and the other pair was $8.90), and I got myself a pair of shoes for $14.90. And shipping was free!!

The best thing about the shoes is that they are all "earth friendly", made from organic cotton, recycled tires, etc. We have a great recycling program here, so we are adamant about recycling and teaching the kids to recycle and take care of our earth...and here's one more way...new shoes without harming our environment...and they were cheap (and WAY cute, by the way)!

I'll post some pics of the kids sporting their eco-friendly kicks as soon as they wear them!

R's 2nd Birthday Party!

Headed out on the hayride...

I didn't get pics of R eating his piece of cake, but the tractors on the cake had their buckets full of frosting, and this is R enjoying every last bit of that frosting!

The party site...PaPa's shop...one of R's favorite places!

On the tractor w/ PaPa...another one of R's favorite places!

The entrance to the "job site" AKA MiMi & PaPa's house!

We decided to go home to Arkansas for R's birthday party. That's where we celebrated his 1st birthday, and it just seemed right to go home where we could celebrate with our extended family. And boy, did they show up!! We had a Bob the Builder party, because R is into everything Bob...tractors, dump trucks, fixing things, oh yeah! My parents worked VERY hard to get everything ready at their place, and the party was great! We grilled burgers and hot dogs, Uncle Paul brought fish and cooked fish and hushpuppies, and of course yummy birthday cake and ice cream!! We had tractor rides, a hay ride, go kart rides, and even an impromptu baseball game with R's new bat & ball! It was tons of fun!! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate our little guy's 2nd year...it is obvious he sure is loved!!

Sorry!

Sorry for all the mess with the slide show! For some reason it didn't work the first time. I wanted to do this for R's first year, but with Daddy being gone, I just never found the time. It's a little long when you are trying to fit 2 years worth of life into one slide show!!

Happy Birthday Little R!

Happy Birthday Little R!!!!!

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