Lessons Learned!

Some lessons I've learned this past week:

1) My kids do "hear" what I say, even if they don't react....case in point...I told Kyleigh 2 times to put my shoes back on the mat. As usual, she pretended not to hear me and went on playing. The third time I repeated myself, I got louder, used her middle name, and changed my tone. She spun around, threw her hands up, and yelled, "OKAY!!!! You don't have to fuss!!!" I had to turn my head for a minute so she wouldn't see me giggle and so I could regain my composure to "teach" her in this moment..."Mommy has to fuss when you don't listen," I said. Lesson learned: She DOES hear me when I tell HER that she doesn't have to fuss.

2) NEVER, EVER drive with something in the back of the truck that is not tied down, no matter how heavy it is. It IS possible for the wind to catch it and cause it to fly out. ESPECIALLY don't do this when the item belongs to someone else!!!!!!!!!!!

3) Choose your words carefully. I came home late with Billie one night from my mom & dad's, and as soon as we got out of the car, I saw a shooting star. However, I told Billie, "There goes a falling star!" Billie is such a caring child (which I love dearly), but I realized very quickly that I chose the wrong word in this situation. "Mama, where did it fall? We have to go find it! We have to go find it now, and blow it back up to the sky!! God is going to be very sad that his star fell out of the sky!!!" 30 minutes later, I finally got her mind onto something else.

4) And finally, "I am too blessed to be stressed!" I have decided that I must repeat this indefinitely in order to "learn" it! Ha!

Farewell to Summer '09!

It seems as if summer is officially over now! What fun we've had, though, making lots of memories! The girls are at such a fun age...everything is so exciting to them, and it's so special to see those looks of excitement on their little faces!

Matching swimsuits from Mommy...SO CUTE!!!!

They absolutely loved the Dora slip-n-slide! It was a birthday gift for Kyleigh from her friend Noah. (It made me wish I was young and had no arthritis...I always loved slip-n-slides too!)


Anything with water = FUN!!!! Thanks to Aunt Shelly for the new wigglin' water sprinkler for Kyleigh's birthday too!


The girls had their 1st sleepover...with their cousin Drake. He spent the night after his baby sister Ella was born. Of course, we had to go all out, too! Michael set up the tent for us to sleep outside. Drake was out probably 30 seconds after we laid down. The girls, on the other hand, were still bouncing around 1 1/2 hrs later!!!!



Parties, Parties, and More Parties! The following pictures were just of 4th of July celebrations we had. We're always running, running, running, but if we weren't, we'd probably miss it. It's nice to have lots of family and friends to celebrate life with!

Here are the kids playing water balloons at our church's cookout!


Here we are in Lee Creek (Natural Dam) enjoying the water. We had a picnic in Kerry's cabin and played in the water all day!


We enjoyed a fish fry prepared by my friend JaQuita and her mom and then fireworks afterwards. Here are the girls with friends Allie and David after the cookout.


Michael had to work on the 4th of July (one pitfall of working in retail), but at least he got off in time to meet us for the fireworks show in Charleston. The girls and I went early and enjoyed eating and playing at the park with our friends, the Jones'. My girls think so much of Katie; she's just like a big sis to them!


The girls got sparklers when we did our own mini-fireworks show at MaeMae and PawPaw's house the day after Independence Day. I was a nervous wreck with Kyleigh. She has no fear of anything! Billie is a little more careful and cautious.

Next...one more batch of pics from summer '09 (told ya we were busy people). Stay tuned!

Precious Newborn!

I remember praying for this newborn's mama to receive the blessing of a child, and here lays baby R as proof that God answers prayers! What a cutie! He gave me several grins during the photo shoot, and his mama said we wore him out, and he slept the rest of the day! Congratulations to you guys! You have many smiles ahead with raising this little one!