Rose

These are pictures from our last warm day. The weather went from a high of 90 degrees one day to a high of 60 the next. I have a single rose bush that made it thru the whole summer. I don't tend to be able to keep plants alive so this is huge for me.
Mr. Ethan being the little charmer that he is... giving his rose to Miss Ella.

Three heads are better than one.

Enough said....

First Day of School

So Ethan started School last week. He had been on the wait list and finally got a spot. He did not want me to take a picture of him with his backpack so I had to take a self portrait of us. As you can see he still has his black eye. Also here is a picture of Ella and me.

Jennifer's Wedding

Many of you have been bugging me to get these pictures posted. You ask so you receive -- lots of pictures from Jennifer's wedding. We had a blast and came away with a new family member -brother-in-law and Uncle Steve. We went down on Wed. morning and stayed until Monday. The days were filled with lots of fun family and wedding festivities. The start was on Wed. night where we celebrated Bill's (Blake's Dad) birthday. Then on Thursday we had the bachelor and baccalaureate parties. Friday was a full day with golfing, bridal luncheon, rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner. The Big day on Saturday started early with a 12:30 wedding, 2:00 reception, pictures, and then an 8:00 reception. Jennifer was a beautiful bride (she actually looked like a barbie bride). The kids did OK at the wedding. If it were not for my parents the whole thing would have been a disaster. My mom and dad stayed back with the kids and told them when to walk down. They started off perfect - they walked slow, did not make any noise until the got halfway down the aisle. Then they just stoped and looked at each other and around at everyone there. They were so cute. I finally had to go get them and bring them to the front with me - and just in time because the Wedding March started right after that. So here you go:

Debbie bought Ella's dress down in Florida so this is Ella when she first tried it on. She thought it was a dancing dress. My dad actually has pictures of Ella dancing in her dress.

The Rehearsal Dinner was on a Dinner Boat. So this is a picture of me and Blake at the front of the boat.
This is of me and Debbie (don't ask what we are laughing at).

Here is a precious picture of Jennifer and Debbie right before we walked over to the church. Debbie of course looked beautiful.

This cake not only looked good it tasted wonderful.

The first dance.

Here are some pictures of Miss Ella. My dad has the good pictures of the kids. I actually don't even have a picture of Ethan in his Tux, so when I get the pictures from my dad - I will post them.

Here are pictures from the 8:00 reception where there was chocolate fondue and dancing. Jennifer let all the bridesmaids change into something else for this event but Blake still wore his Tux.

I hope you all are happy now -- you have been blessed with way to many pictures. Oh but the fun does not stop there -- keep scrolling down - I have more posts of our Florida trip.

Beach Time

We were able to slide in a time at the beach while down in Florida for the Wedding. But, I must say - the beach was not a big hit. Ella does not like getting dirty (or dury as she would say). So we did not last long but I did get a few pictures taken of the kids having fun. They preferred the pool to the beach much more.

Shiner and stomach Virus

So when we got back from Florida -- watch out -- things got a little rough. Poor little Ella woke up the other day with a stomach virus (which she is still fighting). I felt so bad for her - when I went to get her out of her crib I saw that she had thrown up in her crib. It was all over her and her crib. That was just the beginning. So she has been taking it easy the past few days. And of course Ethan has another black eye. This one was caused by his favorite John Deer tractor. He did not want me taking a picture of him so this is the best shot I got.

10 Year High School Reunion

Yes, I know it is hard for some of you to believe that I have actually been out of high school for 10 years. I know, I know -- I don't look a day over 21. Any way, my friend Jenni and I did the majority of the planning. It turned out to be so much fun. We only had 68 in our graduationg class so we were all pretty close. We had a casual setting outside with a picnic style meal, hayrides, games, and a bon-fire. One of the fun things about it was that we all brought our kids - and boy did that make me feel old - looking at all of us with little rugrats running around. Anyhow - here are some pictures from the event. This first one is of me and Jenni before everyone came.

Here is just a picture inside the tent as everyone started coming.It was a cold night so we all bundled up -- here is a picture of the kids having fun on the golf cart. From right to left - Caleb (Corey's kid), Ella, Ethan, and Austin (Jann and Adam's son) is behind the wheel.Julie, Bari, ME, and Janaya.

Here is a picture of 2 of my best friends from High School - Jenni and Bari - and Clay is on the end. This is toward the end of the night at the fire side.

Stephanie, Becky and Todd (Todd is Jenni's husband and not a Heritage Alumni but he is still a good guy).

Few are the moments...

Few and far between are the moments, when I catch my kids playing well together on their own and cuddling with each other. But... I was able to catch 2 of these moments within a 48 hour period. Does that mean there is hope? As they get older will they fight less and get along better?

BIG shoes to fill.

As we grow each day we learn something new all the time. Just think how much our kids are learning everyday. All the new experiences , trials, tears, foods, friends and the list just goes on and on. Every time the kids put on our shoes I am reminded how impressionable they are -- how delicate their little minds are -- and how sensitive their little hearts are. God has given us such a huge responsibility with our children. So I am reminded to step into God's shoes to help raise our children in His light.

Used Toy Lot

Well - this looks either like a used car lot (excpet used toys) or like we are just plain messy, dirty, or trash. But I must say the kids sure do have fun playing with all their outside toys.