Twinsies

They say that "twins" have a special bond... I'd agree with that...

even if they are 9 years apart...

they sure have a bond :)

I love it!

Summ-AH Dayzzzz

Playing dress-up (also a source of fun but not pictured is a multi-colored grass skirt recently handed down from Sky :)

Lake time on Wednesdays with new and...

old friends....

playing on the deck waiting for Daddy to get home from his new summer job working with Tricky....

some body make the time SLOOOOOWWWWWW down.... how is August just 2 days away???

Minnie: 20 Months

Dear Minnie,
Another couple of months has gone by in the blink of an eye but Mommy has to say that she is SO thankful for Daddy who reminded me that you are "only" 20 months today because I had it in my mind that you were 21!!! :) Yikes!!!! You'll learn quick he does the math around here. :) Course I am praying and working with you REALLY hard so that you have a little math mind just like he, Doe-Doe and TiTi :) You can count to 5 and you especially love to say 1, 2, 3 GO! Especially if it means you are going to jump into the pool on "GO!" :)
We have been having SUCH a blast with you!! You LOVE spending time with your family and friends and wake UP saying "outside, outSIDE!" :) We have definitely entered the "parrot phase" where you are at least attempting to say anything that we ask you to and copying some things that we don't :) You know ALL of your family by name and you even know who goes with who. For example; if we say Nana, you say PaPa... if we say CJ... you rattle off the other three :) It's ADORABLE!

You are a VERY busy girl, always trying new things and checking to see if anyone is watching you. (Only child much? :) As most children your age, your favorite thing to say is "NO" but we are working on you being a more "agreeable" child and I'm getting you to copy saying "sure" and "OK" which come out "SHOOOOW-AH" and "Oh-TAY" :)

You are still not a great eater ~ and just this week you had a fever for a day due to some teeth I think you have coming in and that made it even worse. It is really difficult to get you to eat things once you have made up your mind but we do force a TASTE and for the most part you do keep it in your mouth. With these teeth coming in you have been scratching the sides of your face and telling me "Boo-Boo". When I ask you where it is, you point to your cheeks and say "Right THEY-AYH"

You are wearing size 5 diapers and starting to tell us when you have to go potty. I'm not rushing that but I am definitely ENCOURAGING you to pay attention to the feeling and we make a few trips a day to try and go. You know that if you do go on the potty that DADDY gives you a "treat" :) We give you one chocolate chip. Lucky girl! (BAH!)

Most of your summer clothes are 18 months - 2T. The 18 month shirts are getting pretty short but the shorts/capris fit just fine. I haven't had full length pants on you in about 6 weeks so I'm not sure what size you are in those with the legs you have that go on for miles! :) You are still in your size 7 sandals and sneakers.

You typically wake up anytime between 6:30 and 7, sometimes later if we have really been running around out and about at night, it is SUMMER after all. You have a nap from about 11:30-2 and you go to bed anywhere between 7 -7:30. Last night I think was the latest you have been up and it was 8:45!! YIKES! Bink and Bear are your BFF's and you want them as soon as you start to get sleepy. We do still do a little bottle before your nap and before bed but you really aren't drinking much out of them. I think it is just the down time for you before you sleep.

This week I went to Wal*Mart and bought you some new hair bows!!! :) You do pretty well at keeping them in and if you DO take them out you tattle on yourself, tell me "BOW" and hand it over. I am PSYCHED that we are able to get piggys in and I'm in LOVE with ponytails on either side of your head! :) You look SO cute!

By FAR your favorite thing this summer besides having Daddy home with you and Sky and Doe-Doe all to yourself a few times a week has been the water. You are OBSESSED with being in it, playing with it and doing anything you can to GET there. TiTi found one of Sky's old floatation suits down in her basement, it's a little big, but that combined with some arm floaties that TiTi got for you keeps your head above water and now you are ALL ABOUT the pool BY.YOUR.SELF. You LOVE to jump in, swim around, float on your back and then get back onto your belly. ALONE. :) You have started to dunk with Mom or Dad after we count 1, 2, 3, GO and you're a little dramatic about holding your breath. It's hysterical :) We are SOOOO proud of you.

Minnie, you are the MOST outgoing, sassy, silly, smart, beautiful, independent, and funny kid we could EVER be blessed to call our own ~ on borrow from God. We love you and LOVE when we say that to you to hear "yuv, you". We have never heard anything sweeter. We pray that you continue to be a strong girl who uses all her talents for the Lord.

xoxoxoxo Minnie,

Mommy and Daddy

Baby T ~ Version 2.0

Lookie Lookie who's here!!! :) Baby T, Version 2.0. made HIS arrival on July 22nd at 8:28 AM weighing in at a nice healthy 8 lbs 8 oz and 22 inches LONG... J.T. sure doesn't grow "small" babies that is FOR sure! :) I think he looks just like his big sister through the nose and mouth and I couldn't be MORE in love...

Look how proud Dani is of her new baby!! :) Minnie... eh... she's just concerned with why is he making that noise? :)

and how do I get into these cabinets... I wonder if they have "nacks" in them...

Ah... Husband... the natural... and yes... L.C. and Tracy Michele, please note the NEW, old shirt :)

Minnie taking a closer look and making sure this guy isn't going to steal her Daddy :)

He really is just the SWEETEST thing even if none of us know QUITE what to do with a BOY! :) We are all just so used to the little ladies that it will be nice to have a little man to even it out a bit...

Welcome to the world little man ~ we love you lots and lots alREADY and we are so happy to have you in this crazy bunch!

Congrats J.T., Dude and Dani... you guys got yourselves a GREAT one :) HAPPY BABY!

A Summer Catch-Up Post

Same thing happens every summer...Husband is home, the weather is AMAZING and there is too much FUN to be had to blog the way I'd like :) All GREAT reasons not to blog though I think :) Minnie had the opportunity to show off her Daddy to Miss K at the library and Miss K gave her a VERY special balloon...she played with it for a little while, Husband and I got distracted and the next thing we knew she was standing in the living room looking up and saying her version of balloon :) Sure enough... the string had let go and it floated all the way up... 24 feet up....

Daddy to the rescue :) Course the very next day Sky and Daws were here and the ENTIRE string let go and just the balloon went up up and away AGAIN. It stayed up there for a couple of days that time before we figured out how to get it down instead of just waiting for it to deflate :)

Full on summer has hit my gardens and I am LOVING it...

We had a girl's night last week. Minnie, Sky, SIL L and I hung out at their house while the boys went golfing. SIL L found this suit in her basement that used to be Sky's... it was a little big but she LOVED it...

showing Sky her muscles :)

she jumped into the pool and was a HUGE fan of the fact that she could float :) (no worries, Mom or TiTi were right there to catch her :)

Husband and I had plans to go to see the Lady at the Lake et al for a potluck dinner and lucky me... Sky felt like baking :) She and I already had plans to make this Martha Stewart creation sometime this summer so we thought this get-together would be the perfect opportunity. Thankfully SIL L felt the same because we coerced her into baking the cookies for us :) The cake was delish and Sky even came to above said pah-ty to try the deliciousness that had to sit overnight... it was a huge hit with everyone and definately fun to try something new :)

In other news Husband had some digging going on in his garden... so he set the have a heart trap and lookie lookie what he caught...

can you tell NOW? :) Thankfully??? he is an expert skunk wrestler (having trapped a few...or 45ish at his Mom's :)

You have to deal VERY carefuly with these stinky beasts...mostly because I threatened if he got sprayed we were moving. :) He took it to a hill far away and wouldn't you know... coming home that night from L&L's there was the stench in the air that could have indicated he was no longer WITH us... if you get my drift :)

I think we are all caught up now... well except for that little part where J.T. had her NEW BABY but that deserves a post all on its own so stay tuned :)

Sassy

Does anyone else think she looks a little "16-ish" here? YIKES.

SELAH ~ Girl's Night OUT!

On Saturday ~ (I know, it's THURSDAY and I'm just now getting this up here :) SUMMER... does it to me everytime! :) GA, Liz, Momma S and I hit the road to see one of my FAVORITE groups ~ SELAH! As an added bonus, Adam Joel, opened for them and the girl there on the left... his sister? She's in my current Bible Study. I kinda felt like a groupie :) We were encouraged and lifted up, enjoying each other, the music, the ride and the summer night weather.

But the BEST BEST BEST part of the night....

was listening to the harmony of these three... I could listen to Amy Perry ALL night. She is AMAZING!

I felt so blessed to spend an evening with these three gals and SO special that Husband would encourage me to go and take care of Minnie and everything at home. I am a well LOVED girl and I was sure feelin' it that night.

If you haven't heard anything by Selah, do a quick YouTube search. You'll be blessed. :)

Visiting a Campground

Last Friday we drove a bit to visit some friends at a FAVORITE campground of ours!!! A little bit $$ for out little budget when we camp with a TENT but it was SUPER fun to go for the day and enjoy the campground amenities! My girl was PSYCHED about 1) Water 2) a slide and 3) stairs she got to go up all by herself to GET to said water and slide :) She had a BLAST going down to her Daddy's arms and by the end of it even went down a few times on her belly.

Good thing "Tricky" was there to help maneuver the slippery part of the fun

She would wiggle her little behind until she got to the part where she knew the water would take her whizzing down to the bottom...

Every time she splashed into the water she squealed "MORE! MORE!" :) Just no keepin' her outta that water :) I love how much she LOVES to have FUN!

We started the day at the pool, ended up over near the lake and then ended the day with FND at L&L's where we ordered sandwiches for dinner. To top it ALL off... MIL made her famous raspberry glaze pie for dessert with fresh berries from her yard.

Honestly. Best. DAY. EVER. So far. :) It was an AMAZING day spent with my two favorite people, PLUS our friends and then back again with extended family. Beautiful.