Mr. Rolling Cooler Cooler Roller

In preparation for our trip last weekend, we decided we needed to get a cooler for our food & drinks. Now, had we known before we left Indiana that we would have use for a cooler than we certainly would have brought ours from home, but that was not the case. Since most of the prep work for the trip fell to me while Steve was at work, I took the girls and headed to the store for everything on our list...including a cooler. I thought the cooler Sarah & I selected was genius because it was large enough to hold everything, was $20 less than the competition, and had wheels! It was so great in fact that Sarah was able to wheel it around the store for me.

When Steve got home that evening I could tell he did not share our enthusiasm for this wonderful find, but I wasn't really sure why. To his credit he didn't say a word even though he had to know his man card was about to take a huge hit! :-) It wasn't until we were driving to the campsite the next day that he shared with me the Real Men of Genius video clip from You Tube. Needless to say, I haven't stopped laughing...nor has anyone else who saw him that weekend. I will say though that never once did he actually roll the cooler...except to humor me for my photo op. :-)

Thanks Sweetie, for being such a good sport!


The Hauler of the Hotdogs




To truly appreciate this story, be sure to check out the You Tube clip below. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B07dsTXSZkE

Buggs Island 2011

We spent the Memorial Day weekend camping at Buggs Island with some great friends and their families. While the name makes you think of mosquitos and other creepy crawly things, it's actually part of Kerr Lake which is a reservoir bordering Virginia and North Carolina and is absolutely beautiful. Building development on the lake is very limited so all you see are trees for miles. I've seen two bald eagles "in the wild" in my lifetime and both times have been at Buggs Island. We saw one on Saturday while out in the boat and watched it fly for quite awhile and it was amazing.

The last time we camped at Buggs Island was seven years ago so it was just Steve & me hanging out and sharing a few "adult beverages" with friends. My how time changes. :-) This trip included 6 adults, 7 kids, and 2 dogs so while it was a little different than we're use to, it was still a lot of fun. Sarah loves the water and pretty much stayed in her swimsuit the entire time. She had the best time playing with Kylee & Kate and the three of them are now BFFs. :-)

Emily did great too and we're pretty sure she's going to be a water bug like her sister. She would start kicking her legs like crazy whenever she saw the floaty we had for her because she knew her turn in the water was coming up. She would sit and float for what seemed like hours and the older kids had so much fun with her too. It's a bit challenging to camp with a baby who is crawling and starting to pull up, but she did great sitting in the pack-n-play and kept herself amused with whatever toys were in there. We're so fortunate to have two kids who are pretty flexible and go with the flow when it comes to things like this.

As for Steve & myself, it was so nice to spend some quality time with some wonderful friends. We've done a pretty good job of staying in touch since moving to Indiana, but it was so nice to just sit and visit with everyone. A big thank you to the Hughes family for letting us spend the weekend with them!

Below are some pictures of our weekend. Be sure to check out the slide show on the right hand side though for more! :-) Enjoy!


The gang!


Emily hanging out in the pack-n-play.


Sarah with Erik. Should we be worried? :-)


The girls...Kylee, Sarah, & Kate! :-)


This s'more is messy, but good!


It's a rough life. :-)

Wedding Weekend

My brother Matthew got married a couple of weekends ago in Augusta, GA, and Sarah was asked to be their flower girl. She was very excited at first, but as our trip drew closer, she started to get a little more hesitant about the idea. I'm happy to say though that her reservations quickly faded once she saw Kate, my brother's new wife, and all of the other girls. She was so excited to be "one of the girls" for the weekend and everyone kept commenting on what a wonderful job she did. Steve & I were just hoping she actually walked down the aisle once the doors to the church opened, but she walked down with a big smile on her face and we couldn't have been more proud. :-)

As part of her "big weekend," I promised Sarah I would take her to get her first pedicure on Friday morning. She didn't really know what to expect, but the thought of getting to pick out her own nail polish was enough to get her in the door. We found a little shop near the hotel and we both had the best time. They even did a little flower on each big toe which she absolutely loved! Not to worry though, her shoes for the wedding were little ballet shoes so the flowers didn't show for the big day. :-) I also asked the girls to paint her finger nails, a lighter shade of course, so she was very proud of herself when we were done.

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the "Nail Garden!" :-)


Getting started...feet in the bath!

The massage tickled a bit, but she did great!

Getting the polish.

I had to have a picture of this. Too cute!

The finished product. :-)


On Saturday morning we attended a bridal brunch with everyone and then went and had our hair done for the wedding. Neither Kate nor myself really had any special ideas for Sarah's hair so we let the girls at the salon work their magic. Sarah loves the curls she gave her and even commented on how she looked like "Apple Dumplin," one of her baby dolls. She looked so cute when it was done, but it was a challenge to keep it looking so nice for the rest of the afternoon.

Here she is at the salon. :-)




Curls anyone? :-)

Finally, here are some pictures of Sarah in her dress. She loved being with Kate and the bridesmaids and didn't seem to be scared or nervous at all. In fact, at one point I had gone to see Matthew and she told Steve that he could leave too so she could hang out with the girls by herself. :-) Right before the ceremony, Kate gave her a pearl bracelet to match the one she received from my brother as a wedding gift. Needless to say, Sarah was very excited about this and wanted to show everyone. It was a wonderful weekend and we're so happy everything went so well!

For more pictures please be sure to check out the slide show on the right hand side of the page. Enjoy!


Sarah in her dress.

Sarah & Kate with their bracelets. :-)

Sarah & Daddy

Emily - 9 Months

Emily turned 9 months old this past Saturday and I wanted to share some recent pictures of her "photo shoot." :-) We visited our good friend Dr. Sanders last week for her 9 month check-up and she currently weighs 17 lbs., 13oz. and is 28 1/4" long. This put her in the 35% and 96% percentiles, respectively.

She's been crawling for awhile now, but it is still the military style where she drags her lower half across the floor. We've been trying to work with her on putting her knees on the ground, but so far, she doesn't seem the least bit interested. She's also started to pull up a little bit the past couple of days so we're curious to see how the next few weeks go. Pulling up at this point is pretty much just getting her chest and waist off the floor, but it's a start. She also loves it when you stand her at some type of toy or table so she's definitely starting to realize there is more to life than hanging out on the floor.

Last week we finally said good-bye to the baby bathtub we were using and she is now in the big tub. She really seems to love the water and will usually flip to her belly and float around rather than sit on her bottom. This certainly makes it tough to get her clean, but she has the best time...especially if her big sister is in there with her. :-)

Here are some recent pictures of Miss Emily! Enjoy!


Emily with Mr. Ears the bunny.


Standing at her table.


Another "big girl" job...feeding herself! Certainly a messy endeavor!

Emily's Baptism

I'm a little late with this post, but I wanted to share with everyone pictures from Emily's baptism at the end of February. We decided to do this the same weekend as Sarah's birthday since my family would be in town, and while it was a very busy weekend, it was definitely the right decision. It was so nice to have both my mom & dad here to celebrate with us and to see this very special moment in Emily's life.

Steve & I have become very close with our church family and it meant a lot to us to have Pastor Herb perform the baptism. Everyone at Clay is wonderful and has made our family feel so loved and we are blessed to have them in our lives. We look forward to watching our children grow in their faith and their love of God through the wonderful teachings and experiences Clay provides.


Pastor Herb performing Emily's baptism.





Steve, Emily, and Grandma. This is Steve Grandma and Emily's Great-Grandma!



Sarah & Emily at brunch following the service.

The two pictures below are from the "professional" shoot we did.

Emily - 8 Months

As promised, here are Emily's 8 month pictures. We're traveling right now and forgot to bring along "Mr. Ears," so my apologies for not including that one this time. Emily has finally mastered the art of sitting (without needing someone or something standing behind her) and she is beyond pleased with herself. :-) She is finally able to enjoy some of the toys she got for Christmas because she can actually sit with them and explore all of their sounds, textures, and movement.

She is also starting to scoot across the floor a bit on her belly so we're guessing crawling won't be too far off. She tends to get a bit frustrated from time to time when trying to get from A to B, but she figures it out.

She still loves to smile and flash those gums...no teeth yet. :-/ She'll smile for anyone, but Sarah is still the only one who can really get her to laugh. It's fun to watch the two of them interact and to see how Emily just stares at her. Very sweet!

Enjoy!








The kid has got some crazy hair so we're currently trying out hair bows. The jury is still out. :-)

Cool kid

I'm long overdue for some recent pictures of the kids, but I hope these two of Emily will make you smile. I promise to have her 8 month pictures up soon so be sure to check back. :-)