procrastinating

I shouldn't be blogging. We have six people on the way to spend the weekend at our house. I should be cleaning, changing sheets, vacuuming and grocery shopping.

I should not be blogging. Big Girl's taking her afternoon nap. Now is the time to kick it into high gear. Hustle. Get things done with some pep in my step. Unfortunately at the end of this long week, I'm not feeling very peppy. Or motivated. So I'm going to show you some pictures from our retreat this past weekend. Sound good?

This was taken at a gas station on the way. We had some trouble getting the bus to start. As you can see, Dan's contributing every ounce of mechanical insight he has to fix the thing.


Here are some of the girls trying not to panic during our unfortunate mishap. Thankfully twelfth turn of the key is a charm and we were back on the road in no time!


This is one of our girls during worship.


Here we are during high ropes orientation.


There was a zip line, a bungee swing and a rock wall. The rock wall was an automatic system. Instead of someone standing below, holding the line, the climber was attached to a cable at the top. I've never seen one before. I held my breath and prayed for the robots in charge of suspending each youth kid fifty feet in the air. Have mercy.


Dan was too scared to look.


Spidey-man, Spidey-man...


The best part about where we stayed were the two huge porches overlooking the Smokey Mountains. While we had to make sure no one was drying undergarments on the railing, it was the perfect spot to hang out.


This is one of our small group leaders, Mama Sherry. She has two sons and one of them is in college. Can you believe that? Most people don't, because she looks so young.

Well, there you have it bloggers. My favorite pictures from our trip. We went white water rafting as well, but I'll have to save those for another time. Most likely I'll be posting them as our guests are drying off with hand towels.

Happy Weekend!

big girl

In ten days my baby will be 18 months old. When we returned from our trip, it seemed like she had grown up all at once. My Baby's becoming a Big Girl and she didn't even ask me for my permission to do so. The nerve. You turn your back for a few days and your Baby is...

ascending to new heights,


seeing things from a different perspective,


unable to wait for Auntie to dry off the jungle gym,


sliding down the big slide without assistance,


and even swinging in the non-bucket swing, just like Big Cousin.


Now this is the type of swing she's authorized to use. Once upon a time I had a seven pounder wrapped in a swaddle who napped in this swing.

Then I blinked and when I opened my eyes she had climbed up into this sucker and started swinging away while contemplating all the intricacies of life. And she didn't even ask me what I thought about it.

If she did ask me what I thought about it, you know what I would say?

I'd say 18 months isn't nearly long enough for all this growing up.

when the 'rents are away...

This past weekend Danny and I took a group of high school students on our annual fall retreat. My sister came to stay with Big Girl while we were out of town. Little Boy Cousin...

and Big Girl Cousin came along for the adventure.

Actually they brought the adventure with them. My sister said one morning, Chica was so worn out she took her auntie's hand, led her into her room and pointed at her crib, longing to be put down for a nap.

Reesie's loves her cousins. Loves. Them. I know she had a great time and it was such a load off knowing while we were hours away working, she was safe, sound and having a ball.




Poor Aunt Manda may never be the same. She's going to need some serious recovery time.


What you're about to see is a series of pictures taken over the span of several days. Each was an attempt at capturing three kids under the age of three. Enough said.



This weekend was the first time Chica was able to identify each cousin by name. If you said one of their names, she'd point at the correct cousin (or auntie.) We're still working on pronouncing their names. When she says them, they come out as "Sir" and "Rah-rah."


Leaf Man is six months younger than Chica. His sister will be three in January.







Can you believe she wore a hair bow for her Auntie all weekend long?? It helps having a bow-wearing cousin around.


I'm thinking next time I go out of town I'll have my sister potty train her before we get back.



Thank you sweet family for driving all this way to keep watch over our precious girl. We love you so much. And we'll see you soon.

the path unknown

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. Theses are the things I will do; I will not forsake them."

Isaiah 42:16

all sorts of occasions

Today's a big day for all sorts of reasons:
#1- Reesie's cousin Nathan turned five years old! Happy Birthday Nathan! May the next five years be just as good as the first!


#2- My sweet sister and her husband celebrate four years of marriage. Woohoo! If they were president, they'd be up for reelection. I'd totally vote for them. :)


#3- Our beloved Tigers are playing on ESPN tonight! The game started after Chica's bedtime so this very old picture of her will have to do for now. I would sneak into her room and drape a Mizzou blanket over her for a more up to date photo, but Big Girl needs her sleep because....


#4- Some very important visitors are on their way to see us! We can't wait for them to stop by and say "hi" to Chica. :)

pumpkin time

First of all, thank you bloggers for all your advice on the bow situation! It's so nice to know I'm not alone when it comes to issues with accessories. In fact, your input has blown open the possibilities for which I could pick your brains even further! Let's see, where should we begin? Peace in the middle east? Anhilating world hunger? Magically making all your laundry disappear while sitting on the couch?

The problem-solving possibilities are endless!

In other news...

This past weekend, we took our annual family trip to the pumpkin patch. If this is our second year in a row, does it qualify as an annual gig? Our trip this year was much more spur of the moment, brought on by the unseasonably beautiful weather we've had.

Here's Big Girl taking her very first pony ride. You could have seen her smile in the next county.


It's the times like these when I'm most thankful for Daniel. Especially when there are ponies involved and I'm wearing really cute shoes.


She loved hanging on to that saddle handle knob thing. Anybody know what that's called? Dan said she was so steady should could have done it by herself. Heaven help me, if my daughter takes up horseback riding I'm going to need some serious prayer and shoes you can clean with a hose.




After we took a hayride to the pumpkin patch, Chica got a little sidetracked people watching. She's her mother's daughter. (Except for her love of horses.)


Here she is waiting for the train with some friends.


Whoo hoo for two and a half feet!


Of course, we couldn't leave without the obligatory owl picture.


Our little owl one year ago. Excuse me while I go reminisce over Little Owl's first trip to the pumpkin patch.

battle of the bow

I need help.

It's an accessories related conundrum. Since my beautiful daughter entered the world I've proudly adorned the top of her head with a complementing hair bow. Throughout her pre-hair days a bow established her gender, fending off most of the "what a cute little boy!" remarks we received at the grocery store.

Around 11 months, Chica started to rebel against her mother's bow aspirations. See. In one swift motion she ripped that bow out of her hair for good and my heart right along with it. Since then I've attempted to reintroduce the bow into her wardrobe. One Sunday she made it all the way to church nursery with a fabulous bow perched atop her obviously female head. Turns out she was just getting my hopes up as she yanked it out the second I turned my back.

Can you blame a girl for trying? Especially when this is how she looks?


It's like she appeases me for a few minutes...


and done.


So have any of you moms of girls fought the bow battle with your daughter? Any tips? Should I wait until the magical age when she wants nothing more than to appease her mother's every desire? (Ha!)

Please tell me I don't have to hang up the bows for good!