Preppy Fall Swap

I got my partner for Preppy Mama's Preppy Fall Swap today.
She has an awesome blog!
I can't wait to get started with the Harvest theme.
Fall is my favorite season and what a wonderful way to get it started.

Looking forward to "meeting" The Preppy Engineer. : )

My Feathered Friend

My husband was nearly dive bombed by a beautiful hawk the other day golfing.

Hawk Schmawk...I would have passed out!

I don't do birds. And the feelings are mutual. I'm always the one they target. At Disney, 1 tiny bird flew over a huge crowd at a parade and pooped on my shirt. Nice to walk around the Happiest Place on Earth with a poop stain on your back.

Funny thing is that birds and I are not a match, but I adore a nesting bird. More so the nest and eggs. Then again I love all "babies."

Great camera phone shot!

How did they do it?

Today we drove to the mall to let the girls spend their gift cards that they had saved from past holidays, because some were so old that I did not want to start losing money on fees. We have attempted to spend them before, but my girls never want to spend "their" money. If there was anything in The Disney Store that we didn't touch it would be a shock. Who were those frugal little ladies? They can't live without half of Target when Mommy is paying. It was very cute to see their minds working overtime to get best "treasures" for their money.

On the drive my girls enjoyed a DVD, since we were going to be in the car for more than the normal 10 minutes. About half way there, the funniest thing happened. Olivia started asking me to please back the movie up (you know rewind), since she missed something. I gave her a puzzled look and asked, "how did you miss something, we're in the car?" She said (in her 6 going on 16 tone), "Mom, when I leaned over to get a drink of water." I asked her what she thought she missed during the second while she reached for her water and her reply was, "how do I know I couldn't see the screen." That's hysterical since she has seen the movie 424 times.

I admit getting the mini without a DVD player was not an option, (I just wish I was the one sitting in the back watching the movie). It is beyond me how my parents took 4 girls on a road trip with out any form of "entertainment" to pass time. Bless their hearts. I love you, Mom and Dad!

15 mins of Shame

A few weeks ago our 3 year old plasma TV had an annoying streak running through the upper half of the screen. To our great delight it was still under warranty. We always purchase an extended warranty because my Father in law spent a zillion years as a retail manger and swears by them. Usually our warranty runs out the same week as the item breaks or the broken "part" is not covered. Not this time. Thanks Favorite Father in Law!!! I was thrilled, since a new wide screen would never be a priority and my fall TV shows would not be the same on a 26" screen.

We waited for almost 3 weeks for them to fix the TV. As it turned out it, would cost more to fix it, so we got a spankin new one. Oh yes, more features than I can list. TVs have greatly improved in 3 years.

My husband and I unpacked our new addition and began studying the features while our daughters played in the next room. A few minutes passed when I heard a little knock at the door. We paused and listened and peeked out peep hole, but saw nothing and went back to reading. Then a tiny little squeak from the storm door.

We opened the front door and to our surprise, there stood our 21 month old daughter wearing only a diaper, a ballerina necklace and a bike helmet. She gave a huge smile and said "buu-ckle stuck Da-wee!" Hello...our baby had climbed out of the play room past her sisters and over the baby gate, gone down the stairs, out to the sun porch where she put on her sister's helmet, opened the door and headed to the backyard to ride her bike. I guess she was finished and could not open the door, so being the genus she is, she came around to the front door to get Daddy's help. ALONE!!! All alone. My heart nearly stopped. Thank goodness she came to the porch instead of "going on a walk" in the neighborhood.

I hate to imagine what all could have happened during those 15 minutes. The fact that my baby was outside playing without her shoes is enough to make me sick. Those sweet feet on concrete. Shame on us for not considering that she might be able to open doors and climb over the baby gate. We now keep the doors bolt locked so she can't just turn the knob. We consider ourselves very lucky and blessed that she was unharmed. We promise to do better, Sweet E!

Kids say the cutest things!

With only a few weeks before school starts and Fall just around the corner, we have been busy sorting out all of last years clothes. Trying things on to see what still fits and what Emerson might have grown into. My girls love to touch all of their out of season clothes and remember the fun times they had wearing them. I dislike the entire time consuming process, since very few outfits actually end up getting handed down.

Landon found some cute little clothes she had worn and quickly dressed Emerson. She was so proud of the outfit she created and paraded her around the house for us to enjoy. She then preceded to tell me she can't believe how big Emerson is getting. She can now wear a 3tiny. We should give all of her 2tinys to Goodwill. How precious. I just couldn't tell her the "T" stands for toddler.

Lazy Days

Daddy took the older girls golfing while Emerson and Mommy played at the pool. They are developing Daddy's love of golf. Although, I'm sure driving the golf cart isn't bad either.

They stopped by to say hello while making the turn.

(Don't feed the animals)

Emerson has no fear of the water and loves climbing in and out. It makes me so

nervous. The water is only 1 foot deep, but she thinks she is big like her sisters

and can just step in, instead of sitting down first. I spend the entire time

following Emme around like nut. My sisters tease me because I am

more protective of my 4th than most mom's are of their 1st.

Letting her climb out at 20 months is huge. I would have been sitting

in the baby pool holding my 1st born while she wore a life jacket and water wings, too.

She had so much fun being "alone" in the pool and having Mommy all to herself.

Making the laps. She walks the pool instead of swimming.


Floating in the big pool.

We had a very relaxing day.

Move That Bus!

The Queen City was buzzing with celebrities. Extreme Makeover Home Edition has been here working all week with local builders and volunteers to build an awesome new house for a family who's children go to school with mine.



Yesterday, we went to help "Move that Bus" in support of The King Family.
They have a truly remarkable story. We are so glad they have been given this opportunity.
I took my three older girls and my niece Chandler. When we first arrived everyone was pumped up to see the family's reaction. They filmed the crowd screaming while we pretended to "move the bus" over and over and over and over. It was a very hot and very confusing to my little ones. The limo pulls up and we yelled with excitement. Nope. Still filming. After about an hour the family arrives and the bus finally moves. It was such a touching moment to see their reaction. Congrats King Family!!!

Although my girls weren't actually workers, they did look adorable in their hard hats!

There were local celebrities as well.

It was great meeting the design team and getting a little face time with Ty.

It was a wonderful day. Thanks Extreme Makeover for recognizing one of our own!

24

I am quite the list maker, but tend to procrastinate. Many things on the to do list carry over from week to week. This summer in trying to get a jump on the school supply list for the fall, I have been stashing away tons of supplies based on last years list. I will have 3 in school, a kindergartner, a first grader and a third grader and wanted to avoid the rush. Today I got a letter from the girl's school. With excitement we anticipated learning "our teachers", only to discover a school supply list, stating that kindergartners will not be bringing supplies. As luck would have it the only year in 3 that I have been ready and the early bird did not get the worm.

I am a little sad to see summer come to an end. It has really been fun having free time. We have had a blast doing a lot of nothing. The girls have already started the count down game. Only 24 more days. I say left and they say to go. For me, it marks a return to schedules, endless homework, dragging sleepy girls out of bed, packing lunches, and car pool. For them, they see new teachers, new friends and new adventures. As exciting as to is to watch them grow, I wish it took longer. I've often heard the saying, the days go by so slow, but the years go by so fast. It has never seemed truer.