All ready with no place to go!

Someone else thought they were off to 1st grade too this morning. She was sobbing as they pulled out of the driveway. Let's just say "where'd my sissy go?" has been the question of the day! Carline can't come fast enough...we miss Sissy!

Can you guess what today was?

1st day of 1st grade! What a memorable day! We love our school, our teachers, our class, and our friends! Most of all we love our God and thank Him for sweet blessings such as these! Pictures to come...it has been a great day, but a long one!

Sweetness

Golf with Daddy

Steve took these pictures with his cell phone while they were on a daddy/daughter outing on Saturday. And, yes, she picked out these red "Dorothy" shoes from the "dress-up" box. Can you tell?

Party Pictures

Better late than never....Here are some pictures from Owen's 2nd birthday party. Yes, it was in May. Yes, it is now July. Yes, I am a slacker summer blogger. I am so impressed by all of you who are putting up new posts every day! Maybe I will get back to my "once-a-week" posts soon! Anyway, we had a fun family "cupcake" party right here at home ...enjoy!


the birthday girl...



the big sister...


the food...we did a late morning brunch



the cake...made by my mom and my sister



the candles...







Sweet Cousins Emme and Eb...


Our family...



Cupcake cookies that G.G. brought for party favors




Modeling her new swimsuit...



OK...show us the back...



Trying out G.G.'s sand and water table




Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July!!!

May in June

My friend Dona compiled a very busy month into a May Recap post. Considering I have been a slacker blogger lately, I am going to "borrow" her idea and try to fit as many May events as possible into one post.


First, we went to the beach with two of Steve's friends from college and their wives. We try to go every year with them, but it has been a while due to babies being born (us and them). They are so much fun, and we always have a great time together. Bill and Shannon left their boys with grandparents and Brooks and Stephanie are still enjoying "newlywed" life so our girls were the only children there.









Owen and Shannon



Bill, Steve, and Brooks

Somehow, I missed getting a picture of Steph and their two (four-legged) children! The girls were crazy about the "big" dogs!

Next up...AC and I left the beach on Friday morning and drove back for her Kindergarten Mother's Day Tea. It was precious! The boys escorted the girls in and then came back to escort the moms in. We enjoyed tea, lemonade, yummy treats, and songs by the children. It was truly a sweet and precious morning together! After the tea, she went to spend the weekend with my parents and I headed back to the beach to relieve Steve of his 2-year-old duties!







Anna Clare's Splash party was at our neighbor's house and as always, the kids loved it. Here are a couple of pics from it...



Then came Kindergarten graduation. As always, the program was fantastic! Their music teacher, Mrs. Owens, is fabulous! She retired this year, so it was bittersweet. I wish Owen would have been able to have her in preschool, but I was also glad that Anna Clare was a part of her last program. She did great with her speaking part. I have a video of her practicing it that I will post later. And, of course, she wanted to celebrate afterwards at her favorite Mexican restaurant.









I am almost done...

Anna Clare lost her first tooth! She was one of the few in her class who had not lost one yet so I think she "willed" it loose! She was thrilled to have a "wiggly" and it was out in a manner of days.



Whew! If you have hung on to the end, you are a trooper! I think the only thing I didn't capture about May was Owen's 2nd birthday party! We had a family party at our house to celebrate, but those pictures will have to wait a couple of more days!

I will leave you with this pic from last night. Steve said this was all he wanted for Father's Day...to have his girls in his lap eating watermelon!


And a very Happy Father's Day to my daddy and my husband! I love you both very much!

9 years!

I have a date tonight with one good-looking man and I am super excited! Steve and I are celebrating our 9th anniversary today! He is my very best friend, and I can honestly say that he makes me laugh every day! Tears, too, sometimes, but laughter every day! I think laughter is important in a marriage. Yes, marriage can be tough, but it can also be one of the biggest blessings ever! I am so thankful that God brought the two of us together.

We met in January of 1997 when I was working part-time at a golf shop in Auburn while in graduate school. I will never forget that they called me in on my day off to train the "new golf pro." As I was vacuuming the shop at the end of the day, he said, "You are going to make someone a good wife one day!"

He told this story at our rehearsal dinner and then added, "And I haven't seen her vacuum since!" Ahh...the laughter! Just one of the very many things I love about him. Here's to many, many, many more happy years together!