Bows! Bows! and More Bows!

This is my new addiction! Hair bows! I just had a fabulous time last night with a bunch of friends learning how to make these hair clips and bows for my girls. I never knew it could be so much fun. Thanks Melanie for teaching us last night, I've already started making some more!

Can We Adopt Them?

My kids are currently pet crazy! They pretend to BE pets and pretend to HAVE pets. Grace even mentioned that she is saving all her money to buy a dog and a cat. Well, a little while back we started having an ant problem in our house. The kids spotted them and went crazy. Grace had Ashton pick them up (of course, she didn't want to touch them)and put them into a cup. They put cherrios and rice crispies in the container with the ants for food. Then Grace turns to me and says,"Mom, can we adopt them(the ants)?" Wow! They must really feel pet deprived I thought. I didn't let the guilt last long when I realized I could really capitalize on this experience. I told them that they could have ALL the ants as their very own pets. It was a Win-Win situation. They got pets and I got rid of the ants.

Ducks?

It has been rainy the past few months. We have been feeling a little water logged. I didn't realize how much until...we opened our blinds one afternoon to see ducks on our lawn. We were in shock! I guess the water logged feeling was right on. The cutest thing was how excited our kids were and once again they wanted these birds to be their pets. Grace wanted to bring them inside.

Early Morning Breakfast at Keeneland

Hats Off

Hats off to Abbie! She is now using her helmet only during sleeping hours. It is fun to finally be able to do her hair.

Pinewood Derby

Okay, I've been wanting to blog about this for awhile, but have not. So, hear it goes. This activity was to be a daddy bonding experience and unfortunately Daddy hurt his back and wasn't able to do much, so it became a mommy and kids project. We had a fun time! My lack of quality tools and know-how was a minor set back, but overall the cars turned out okay(lucky for me they are young and don't know the difference). I definitely know what to use next time POWER TOOLS!

This is me in the garage cutting the wood blocks using a small saw.

The final result was wonderful. The kids loved their cars!! Ashton really enjoyed seeing them race down the car track at the Pinewood Derby.

"She's my Zebra, Mom!"

"She's my Zebra, Mom!" Ashton was adamant that Abbie was HIS Zebra and HE was the Zookeeper. I had to wonder to myself was it the striped shirt Abbie's wearing or just a little boy's longing for a pet that she was transformed into a Zebra this morning? I do have to agree that by putting up the chairs across the entrance to the kitchen, so I could mop the floor, made it look somewhat like a nice holding place for zoo animals. The bars on the chairs made it look so real. Well, if anyone does come to visit we can really call this place a Zoo afterall. Our first animal being a Zebra (thanks to Abbie and some help from a little brother:))

First Climb

After having about a month of crawling, our Abigail decided that she needed to try a new terrain. She has currently not shown any interest at all in the stairs, but for some reason today was the day. I have to laugh because just last night I talked to my sister-in-law about the stairs not being an issue yet and here she goes and proves me wrong the very next day. Well, our little mountain climber didn't get too far, but she seems eager to try again.

Up goes Abbie

What do you get when you put a baby, a sister, a brother, and an air mattress together? Yep, you guessed it! A laughing baby:) Family, friends, and especially grandparents please don't worry. This event occured under close supervision.

Our Visitor

We were able to enjoy a wonderful visit from our friend, Jilly. As you can see Ashton loved the one on one time he got, especially when it involved making cookies:) I enjoyed the opportunity to have one extra set of hands each day to help me with getting kids ready, putting kids in cars, feeding and all those things moms do. Once they leave I often find myself wondering how much a full-time nannie would cost.

Off to Primary

Our little guy was off to Primary this Sunday. He entered the world of Sunbeams. It was totally adorable to see how excited he was to accompany Grace and Mommy to Primary. The best was when they had the Sunbeams stand up in front to sing them the "Hello" song and he made a face just like Bashful on the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Daddy came in to enjoy the welcome song and got a little wave from Ashton. What a proud little guy we have and how quickly he is growing.

Head Gear

Here is our little cutie sporting some serious head gear. She has been using it for a couple of weeks now. The helmet is to help with reshaping her head. It is nice because now we don't get as many questions about her birthmark. Also another fringe benefit is the protection it offers her from her three year old brother, Ashton. For example, just tonight she had a semi-hard ball ricochet off her helmet compliments of Ashton.

Grace's Tent

Grace created her own tent today after church or should I say it isn't even called a tent. She said it was more like her own house without a kitchen. The place has a bed, two flap doors, toys, baby dolls,and more. It was so cute to see all the work she put into it. I told her that we wouldn't take down her house till tomorrow. The only draw back with the tent is it's placement. I literally was crawling on my hands and knees tonight through this modern tent to reach her bedroom so I could check on her before going to bed.

Someone needs to create a Dummy's Guide to Blogging

Okay, so everyone said to me..."Blogging is soooo easy. You need to do it." So I said, "Why, not?" Well, now that I've done it wrong I've realized that the right way is so much easier. Why do I seem to make things harder than they should be?
So about four months ago I started a blog and had quite a few entries. I just could not understand why I didn't get any dates or places for people to comment. I finally called my sister-in-law for help. Unfortunately she wasn't home, but her husband was and even though he wasn't the family blogger, he still knew how to do it. Well, it goes to show that someone needs to make a Dummy's Guide to Blogging for people such as myself.

My Sister Pillow

As we headed back to the hotel after a fun day at the beach I glanced back to see this. Is that not sweet or what? Who knew that big sister made such a great pillow?

Our Fabulous Vacation

We took a trip this summer that was amazing. We were able to visit tons of family and friends. It took us to California, Las Vegas, Utah, and Idaho. Our three kids were fantastic in spite of travelling well over 2000 miles in Alan's dad's mini-van and sleeping in over half a dozen different place. Who knew that a 3 and 1/2 week vacation could go sooooo well with three small children?