Bling it, Baby!

So we finally finished painting Emily's room and "blingin" it out! She had a blast helping me paint and then we finished it off by putting the jewels on the flowers with hot glue.

Thanks to our friends Shauna and Fiona for helping! She loves her room!



This picture is a painting I got on my mission from an artist that lived in our complex at the time. I thought it was time to put it to use.

4th of July!

So for the 4th we decided to join the rest of the state of GA at Stone Mountain. My new sister-in-law has never been there so most of our gang treked down there for the experience. And boy was it an experience.

We had a fabulous time with everyone with the exception of the 4 hours we spent in traffic getting in and out of the park. Joy. Other than that, we really enjoyed each other's company and had a fun memorable experience-- and most of us got a little more work done on our tans (or lack thereof in my case).





Avery fell asleep during the fireworks



This is how dad spent the 4th-- on a blanket catching a few zzzzzz's





Emily, Pierce and Avery

Trying to work the paddle balls


Steele enjoying watermelon

Tooth Fairy.... Finally!

So we've been waiting and waiting for Emily's tooth to fall out and last night she got tired of waiting and wiggled it until it finally came out! Can you see her little tooth in her hand?



She was elated when she woke up and saw what the "Tooth Fairy" and given her. A gold $1 coin!! (Man, I only got a quarter when I was little!)

Funky Tooth

So Emily has a permanent funny little tooth trying to come in and our dentist-friend says the baby tooth needs yanked so it can come in. I had to get a picture of one of those rare weird -but cool- things that happens. Can you see it? It's the bottom tooth that's right in front of the red bump.

Andrew's "Baby"

Need I say more? He built it and the kids love it and I'm trying to keep the Poison Ivy from invading it. Thanks to our neighbor down the street for hooking us up with a fair amount of the pieces! Thanks a lot Barry!

So long... *sniff, sniff*

My good friend Steph moved to Kansas last weekend. I will miss her greatly but thank goodness for email, phones and planes! Love you Steph! Shauna and I miss you like crazy!




As a farewell present Shauna and I went "thriftin" and got her some new shoes to remember us by.

Camping

So this year the annual Father/Son camp out turned into a Father/Children camp out and Andrew took both the kids. They had a great time. (Thanks Steph for loaning us the stuff!)

Father's Day

So we took a few pix for Father's Day and we gave a few to Andrew after he enjoyed a nice breakfast in bed. I failed to get pictures of that event, but Andrew's not complaining so I'll just put the pix of the kids up!







A few candids by the kids...

Water, Water Everywhere

So it's been awhile since our last post and this is what we've been up to... SWIM TEAM!
Our first year of swim team has been so fun and very busy. Emily gets to swim and actually compete since she's five. (Four and under just get to mostly practice)

We have several friends we know from church that are on the team and we've been having fun swimming with them every day and also getting to make new friends.

The swim meets are really fun and exciting. Emily cracks me up so much when she's in the middle of swimming in an event. Instead of just concentrating on swimming from one end to the other she makes sure to take time and look around to see who's cheering for her and to get a little wave in to her friends! I hope to actually capture this moment in a picture.

The swim team is so great and they give ribbons to each child for participating no matter what the outcome!

Mother's Day... My Thoughts

Mother's Day always brings up mixed emotions for me because of the death of my own mother just over 5 years ago. Emily was only 5 months old when she died so it's hard to not have her here when there is so much for me to yet experience and so much I want to share with her and partake in her wisdom. She was (and still is) a wonderful woman whom I love and miss very much.

After a wonderful dinner of Lamb Kabobs on the grill, cooked by my fabulous grill-master husband, we honored her by visiting her grave and sharing some quiet moments together as a family. There are not enough words in the English language to express the effect a mother has on her children. I can only hope to be as wonderful and effective for my kids as she was for me. I love you Mom.

Just Hangin' Around

So Emily said she has something to show me so she leads me in to her room and I see this....














His feet are actually touching the floor so he's not in any danger (just for those worry warts out there!) Kinda' funny, eh!

Friends

These are my great friends Shauna and Stephanie! Occasionally the girls in our ward get together for a girl's night. Usually it's over at Shauna's house. This particular night it was just the three of us that showed up so we did a fun thing called the Tim Tam Slam which is a tradition from Australia. I have a video we made of us doing it but for some reason it won't post to Blogger!! If you know how to remedy this situation PLEASE contact me! Anywho, here's a fun link to see how it's done "Down Under." Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJsEMKX3dXI&feature=related

Sleep-gee Guy

That's how Avery used to say "sleepy guy" when he was tired. I thought it was cute so we didn't correct him and just let him figure out how to say it on his own. So in honor of this thought I thought I'd post some pictures of the random places and ways that he's fallen asleep. I wish I could sleep anywhere. I put a little one in there of Emily who fell asleep at the kitchen table not too long after we moved into the house.