anniversary.dinner

So, Josh and I went out for dinner last night at this great little restaurant that we love. The dinner was fabulous, the discussion even better, and I only embarrassed Josh slightly. Notice, everyone, that there are no pictures of our dinner here on the blog. JOSH TAKES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS! (love you, honey...mwah!)

I pull the camera out to take pictures, and he looks at me with this I-can't-believe-you-are-taking-pictures-in-here look. I said, "Am I embarrassing you?!!" Slightly. He said, "We look like we've never been to a nice restaurant." But I just wanted some great pictures for my blog as this restaurant has an awesome atmosphere. However, I decided to be an unembarrassing wife for the evening, and I put the camera away. And alas, it is the blog that suffers. Please, readers, no protests.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for watching the kiddos (they loved the popcorn). Thank you, nice little restaurant, for a fantastic night out. And thank you, Josh, for not taking your shirt off during dinner...wink, wink.

company.picnic

Here are a few pics from Josh's company picnic. He went by himself with all three of the girls since I had a wedding. Even though I knew there would be plenty of wonderful ladies there to help him with the girls, I was proud of him for taking on the task of taking the girls out to a big event all by himself. He had lined up a "temporary mommy" for Amelia for the day...thanks Jennie (she's holding Amelia in the top row). He said that he arrived, gave Amelia to Jennie, and didn't see them much for the remainder of the afternoon! You ladies spoil him too much!

They had a fun time, though! They went on a hay ride, fed the animals, ate LOTS of ice cream, and wore the cutest little cow and duck hats! Meredith insisted on wearing hers all day today as well. Everyone at the bookstore commented on how adorable she looked! Thank you, Josh's work, for a fun picnic!

seriously.july28

Hullabaloo Rocks! Seriously.

If you have a preschooler, you need it.




Also, "Beauty Tips By Meredith" presents....the ever-popular chip-clip hair holder...

Quote: The hair lady put it in my hair. Doesn't it look pretty?

How do you answer this as a mother? Seriously.

6th.anniversary

Today, Josh and I are celebrating our 6th anniversary! There were flowers, cards (the kids even made one just for me...which I had to laugh about because it was OUR anniversary...hey, I'll take what I can get!), cookies, and more! It hasn't been a typical anniversary day, but we have had an extremely enjoyable day nonetheless :) Today was our annual church picnic, so we spent the day at a park just south of town with our church family whom we adore!

We started our day at 6:30 am, and we made chocolate chip cookies for the picnic even though our letter of the alphabet was supposed to bring a side dish. Rebels. What can I say? Cookies just sounded better than salad....don't they always? :)

Anyway, there was tons and tons of excellent food. I must admit that there is a slight advantage to walking through the beginning of the line for your kids' food and then once again for your own food. I was easily able to identify which food I would save room for on my plate. There was a lot toward the middle/end of the line that was great, but the beginning-of-the-liners didn't have room on their plates once they made it that far! When I went through the 2nd time (for myself), I heard at least 2 people say, "I don't have any room on my plate left for this!" One guy in front of me put his sandwich on top of his potato salad just to add more food...slightly gross.

The service started with a great baptism (congrats Ghrey!), continued with food/fellowship, then on to the softball game, and it ended with a swimming competition. The weather was perfect and the kids really enjoyed themselves!

We're currently back home enjoying the weather (again!) with some swimming, playing, and Popsicles.

Like I said, not a typical anniversary day, but completely enjoyable! Six years, three kids, and two houses later, we're still oh-so in love and are looking forward to another memorable year together!

updated.look

I got an itch to update my blog tonight (ahem...this morning...it's currently 2:31 am). What is wrong with me? Well, I'll tell ya. I was feeling like I was dragging with the brown, and now I feel fresh and light with the green. I'll probably change it again after another 50 posts or so, but for now, I'm likin' the green.

By the way...for all 8 of my faithful readers...a quick note on the "seriously" post (scroll down to see the one before this one). I'll be posting quick "seriously" posts fairly frequently...it's my new thing. When I post my "seriously" posts, I'm going to encourage you to post your own "seriouly" comment in the comment box. It can be anything that you've just realized (like Christmas is 5 months...minus 1 day away), something that stood out to you as crazy (like that mom from FL that reported her daughter missing after 5 or 6 weeks or whatever....seriously!), or something that you are contemplating (updating the look of your blog!). Anything that made you say....seriously? I would love to hear your thoughts! Seriously.

seriously.july 25

Seriously.

Christmas is 5 months from today. I think I'm going shopping this evening...ok, maybe just for myself. You never know: I might save it until Christmas. Or not.

Oh, and while we're at it...the weather is nice. You may want to consider putting up those Christmas lights before December 24th. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

Seriously.

pillows.are.overrated

three.month.pics

So, here is Amelia's three month picture!

It really was hard to decide which one to choose. I just really thought that this one looked the most like her at 3 months. She smiles a lot, but usually just has this sweet little spacey look on her face :) I decided not to take her to the photo place this time (even though they only charge $9.99 for the package that we always get). I figured I wouldn't have to listen to their little you-should-buy-all-these-extras schpeel....kind of drives me crazy. And, what if you don't like any of the 6 that they take?
Funny Meredith and Claire story: Claire was making Meredith mad the other day, and I said, "Claire, you need to quit pushing Meredith's buttons." Meredith responded, oh-so-sweetly, "I don't have any buttons, Mom!" Josh and I decided that Meredith actually has rather large, flashing buttons that Claire just can't resist! We adore her...buttons and all :)
A couple of other pics from our photo shoot...

By the way, I'll be posting much more regularly once wedding season is over!! Things have been rather crazy this summer with 3 kiddos and several weddings. I'm excited to blog more this fall about what we are doing with school and everything!

50.posts

My 50th post. I've been thinking about what I would write about on my 50th post. Sounds like a celebration, don't you think? So, in honor of the big 5-0, I've decided to highlight some of my favorite past posts.

Gotta include the kiddos:

Claire

Meredith

Amelia

And a few personal favorites:

it's still in my yard

you'll hear something like this at least once per day around here

who can forget the shrew?...i knew something was in there!

So, thank you all of my faithful readers. I hope we will enjoy the next 50 posts as much as we've enjoyed the first 50. I love reading your comments (so keep leaving them, and I invite any non-commenters to begin leaving them!), and maybe within the next 50 posts, my mom will be able to figure out how to comment with the best of you :) Love you mom (even though you're comment-challenged).

the.zoo

We went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago with our friends(E, E, and X...unfortunately, X didn't make it into our pics), and we had such a fun time! Even though it was Amelia's first trip to the zoo, she slept most of the time. It was the first time all of the girls had gone together this year. They just love to see all of the animals! Meredith loved the monkies, and Claire loved the tyrannasaurus (even though there were no dinosaurs). We're not short on imaginations around this house!

Claire, Big E, and Meredith watching the sea lions:

Amelia and Mommy:

Claire and Meredith after feeding the ducks:

three.months

Here is my sweet, sweet baby girl, Amelia. She was three months old on July 3, and we just could not adore her more! She is such a happy baby, and she loves to smile. She thinks it is especially funny when we clap her hands together. She's completely sleeping through the night, and she is on a schedule during the day as well. She continues to dislike taking baths :( but unforntuately (for her), they are necessary! She loves to be held, loves it when her sisters talk to her, and is finally getting a little "junk in the trunk". She weighed 8 lb. 14 oz. at her 2 month appointment, but we haven't weighed her recently. I think she's probably in the 9 1/2 pound range. She's definitely getting bigger and is finally filling out her 0-3 month clothes....it's about time! We love you, Amelia Kate!

the.fourth

What a fun weekend!!! We spent the entire weekend at the lake and had so much fun with friends and family. It was a completely relaxing weekend, and the weather was PERFECT! My parents, Jill and Andrew, and the 5 of us were all there on Thursday evening. On Friday, Mike and Pam, Penny and Wied, Tammy and Dave, and Bob and Mandy all came to the lake. Several of them were there Saturday as well. There were 7 kids that were 5 and under (and one of the babies was just 2 days old...I would have still been in the hospital, but Tammy was a trooper). We went for boat rides, the kids went tubing, we played water games with the kids, and lots of other games too (thumper, chief and scum, hillbilly golf, corn hole, scrabble, and probably something I'm forgetting). Anyway, here are some fun pics of the weekend.

Claire, Little C, and Big C playing water games:

Josh showing off his corn hole skills:

Claire driving the pontoon:

Big C and Meredith working together to fill the bucket:

Big C, Claire, Meredith, and Little C pointing out the buoys that looked like carrots:

Claire, declaring victory, in the fill-the-bucket game:

Big C filling the bucket:

Pam and Big C on the pontoon:

Amelia sporting her 4th of July sunglasses:

Bob holding H while she naps on the pontoon:

Claire and K filling their bucket...Claire is such an encourager!

Aunt Jill, Meredith, Josh, and Amelia hangin' out on the swing (the best swing ever):

And what day at the lake isn't complete without a nap? Drewski just a chillin':