From the Mouths of Babes.... and in the Words of Zoe

A bottle of milk is called a "nigh, nigh" - no matter what time of day it is.

A bottle of water is her "wabee"

Carley's hair brush is the "ow, ow, OOWWWCH"  (think she's been listening to Carley too much)

Anything round is a "baw"

When she wants to show you something it's "yook"

Most of her other words are a little more accurate, but where's the fun in that! I love the way kids pronounce things when they are learning to speak. It makes me giggle.

And I LOVE how Zoe starts humming when she gets sleepy; and tries to follow and do everything her big sister does.

Melts my heart!

Mind Blowing Science Experiments

Zoe and I watched as Daddy and Carley created more of their "mind blowing science experiments" in our kitchen tonight. Wow!
So completely adorable to watch them do activities like these together and to see Carley's inquisitive mind marveling at the way things work.
This is the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.
They've erupted a color changing volcano, created ooze, grown crystals in test tubes and made powders dance in bubbling water all in the name of scientific exprimentation. What fun!

Monday Evening News

• This morning Jeremy headed out to Coaching school.
• Carley Zoe and I went to a playdate with a friend from church. It was nice. Met several other ladies and their kids; went swimming; made some new friends. A very good morning.
• Arrived home to greet the unfinished loads of laundry, toys strewn throughout the house, unmade beds and mountain of dishes overtaking my kitchen counter.     hmmm....
• Ate lunch with the girls and all took a nap.

• Later.... refreshed and awake I attacked those ugly chores with a vengance.... and survived. :)

And now for the biggest and most important "news exclusive" of the day!!!

• Jodi had her sonogram today and they found out that Katelyn's new sibling is going to be a:

                      GIRL!!!

Yay for baby girls! Our poor guys are so outnumbered, but that's quite alright. Congratulations guys! We are so excited and can't wait to meet her in December. Love you.

Summer Road Trip 2011

For the past seven years since Jeremy and I started teaching together we have made it a priority to take a special road trip during our summer breaks.

Our goal was to eventually visit all 50 states together, and so far we have checked 25 of them off our list. Wahoo! Some of them we've repeat visited. :) And over the years we got a little wild-n-crazy and took off to see a couple of other countries... Canada, England and France.

This year we were blessed to be able to make a fun family road trip down south to Louisiana. Since Brenda and Monte were coming down to New Orleans from Tennessee on business for a few days we decided to met up with them. We had the best time hanging out together, exploring the sites and eating great food (using up every moment of their free time, of course).

(Note: I took a ton of pictures, as always.... so I tried to condense a little for this post by using some collages. However, it's still a long post, enjoy)

Day 1: Greeted by Nana and Papa at the hotel just before Papa had to head out for work. 

We were immediately lovin' the 80 degree weather and overcast skies (enjoyed a nice bit of rain throughout the week)

Hung out at the children's museum & had a blast with all the interactive exhibits... sooo cool, I think some of them we were more into than the kids were.

Went out for a yummy NOLA style dinner.

Jeremy and I had a date walking the French Quarter, going down Bourbon St. and checking out the casino while the kiddos were at the hotel with Nana and Papa. And Bourbon Street definitely lived up to its' reputation! Was shocked to see people with their kids down there... but that's a whole other post.

 The girls had fun blowing bubbles in the hotel room & swimming in the pool. Zoe decided to use the stationery to write a letter. In the bottom right pic you can see our sweet ride..... the minivan (and a very sleepy passenger being carried in by daddy after a long day of sight seeing).

Day 2: We toured two local plantation homes not far from New Orleans. One was the Houmas House and the other was the Nottoway Plantation. Both had incredible grounds with beautiful plants and trees, a photographer's paradise. The tours were so interesting, I've always found it fascinating to see these homes and hear about their history and the people who lived in them.

It rained off and on today and it was so appreciated..... wish the rain would head to Texas too.

Lunch today was a special treat at a local place called The Cabin. It didn't look like much from the road but it was probably the best meal we had our entire trip. Nestled in the country, part of the restaurant was in an old building that used to be slave quarters with the big stone fireplace in the middle and old newspapers plastered up on the walls with flour and water used as a kind of insulation. The rest of the restaurant was part in a large round silo type structure and part in an old general store. They had the best cornbread, crab claws, stuffed crab, fried aligator, catfish, gumbo...... oh and sweet tea served in mason jars sweetened with local cane sugar....mmmmm good!

Day 3 & 4: Sights from New Orleans, French Quarter & French Market. Had scattered rain & a couple of downpours both days. Took the girls to the Aquarium while Brenda & Monte had to work. It was the only place I didn't take my camera, but that's ok.

Walked a Lot! So much to see.

 Tried on hats & masks and browsed through local shops. Rode the trolly cars.

 Took a carriage ride through the French Quarter.... very interesting history and a few ghost stories too.
No wonder so many books and movies are set in this area. It just oozes with all kinds of juicy, mysterious and scandalous tales to be told.

 Day 5: Last day, we got up and enjoyed our last amazing full service breakfast bar at the Hampton Inn & Suites and headed out to take a steam boat cruize down the Mississippi River on the Natchez.

It was like stepping back in time. The sights, sounds and smells all took us back to another place in history as we made our way down the river. Music from the calliope (a traditional steam organ long associated with steamboats) marked the start of our venture. We explored the boat seeing the steam engine room, visiting all three levels to check out the view, and eating local cuisine in a beautiful dining room on the second level.... it truly looked and felt like we had gone back in time; at least for a moment..... then I looked around and noticed all the other tourists on board.

Finally, we took our time driving home from our summer road trip, and when we got back we all walked into our home and crashed on the couch.... we were tired.

Wonderful memories were made that will always be cherished. Thank you Nana and Papa. It was so fantastic that we were able to meet up with you and enjoy some great times together. Love you.

Thankful Thursday....posted on Friday morning :)

I am so incredibly thankful for my amazing mom!

Thursday was her Happy Birthday! Yay!

Mom, we all love and appreciate you so very much and hope that your Birthday was indeed truly happy! We had the best time yesterday and hope you did too.  Great company, yummy food....  awesome.
Love you! xoxo

Backyard Surprise

Jeremy was mowing our yard when he discovered this adorable baby bunny rabbit hiding in the back corner beside the fence post.

When Carley and I went out for a closer look we discovered that our little bunny friend was not alone.... there is a second baby bunny huddled up behind this little guy.

The girls were fascinated. They have been going out several times each day to "check on the bunnies".

Coloring Book Pages

An afternoon of fun with the girls. Carley, Zoe & Kaitlyn color in coloring book pages together, play with toys, and pretend cook in the kitchen since it was way too HOT to play in the back yard.

Love you Kit Kat, thanks for hanging out with us today!

God Bless America

We are so thankful to all who serve to protect and preserve our freedoms each day.

May God truly guide and bless America.

We had a very Happy 4th of July and hope you did too!

 We actually wound up with ONE shot where everyone was looking at the camera. :)

Precious sisters.

 Beautiful Carley

The many adorable expressions of Zoe.

The girls and their amazing grandma.

The gorgeous Emerson family.

Our little 4-legged family members, Abby and Tucker

Katelyn, Carley & Zoe

After a yummy hamburger & hotdog cookout and lots of playtime in the backyard, we went inside to have dessert.

Oooh, look who has ice cream!

We may not have gone out to see a big fireworks show this year but....

Sparklers did light up the night sky

Happy 4th of July!

West Texas Road Trip

Last week we loaded up the truck and took a drive out west.

On our way in to Tulia we stopped to capture this gorgeous summer sunset.

 Our first day we made a very special trip to Lubbock to see Jeremy's Poppy.

 It was a nice visit. He loved picking on the girls and making them giggle. He is such a sweetheart. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as he recovers from a recent stroke and is doing well with his therapy. Love you Poppy.

We did quite a lot of driving between Amarillo and Lubbock and this was a common scene in our back seat.

 At Brent & Traci's house we got to see all of the home improvement projects they have been working on. The addition looks incredible! Can't wait to see everything when they are finished.

Traci and Tyler taught Carley how to play some games on the Wii.

Tyler & Carley were super excited about going to see Cars 2 in the theater! Loved it!

Zoe's morning hair tells it all..... late nights, sleepy kids.

 But after a dip in the hot tub we were all revived and ready to get going for another day of traveling around and visiting family and friends.

Thank you Don, Marsha & Leah for a yummy breakfast! We loved seeing you and getting to visit and take a tour of your new office building!

Zoe and her Grandpa Kendall comparing cool sunglasses. :)

A stop in Hale Center gave us the chance to reconnect with some very special friends, Lynn and Jackie Sims. The girls also got to play with their sweet grandbaby, Paisleigh.

 The trampoline was a big hit and the girls were fast friends!

 Jeremy showed them a trick or two doing some flips. :)

They have the sweetest kids cottage that all the girls played "house" in, cooking and taking care of baby dolls. LOVE this photo of Zoe on the porch.

 Back in Tulia for our last night we had a little cookout at Tay's house and the kids all played and went swimming together.

Tay's new puppy, Artemus. She is an English Mastiff

 Silly picture of the cousins: Tyler, Zoe, Carley & Savannah

It was a whirlwind trip & we love you all...... so sorry if we didn't get to see you this trip, we'll try again next time but know that you are always welcome to come see us too! :)