Thursday, July 30, 2015

The New House - Phase 1

FINALLY after years of waiting and planning, and waiting some more (sometimes patiently, some times not as much) we are building our new house!! God's timing is perfect as always! It's amazing how He has provided all we need, including the timing, to start this new season of our lives. And we've had SO MUCH fun watching the house go from our dreams and visions to reality!

I've heard horror stories about building, and maybe we just haven't reached the rough part, but honestly, it's been fun for us.  Maybe since I built it for six years in my head, it's easy to see the vision unfold.  Maybe we're just so excited to be at this point we don't seem to mind the hurdles. 

Anyway, here's the progress!  We're bringing a little big of New Orleans to Mississippi!




(Seriously, real sophisticated inventory organizational skills here...)







Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Summer 2015 - Part 2

Well it's the same story every year; the summer goes by too fast. And this summer was especially fast as it was so unusual--in a good way. How often do you seel your house, move, begin building a new house and have your sister get married all within one summer??

We did manage so squeeze some "normal" summer stuff into this summer though.

We turned a trip to New Orleans for yet another flower girl dress fitting into a fun trip...


...complete with a pedicab ride down Decatur with D.





Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a...


A big girl haircut!




A third birthday!


Our new house going up!




Our realtor made this dress for Brielle...


Kendall was craving efouffee while in New Orleans...


Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Ballet Camp

Kendall attended her third ballet summer camp with her best friend, Hannah. They had a grand time. On Friday they presented to the parents what they learned that week.








Brielle passed the time imitating the big girl ballerinas.  She's so excited she can attend next year.


Fourth of July 2015












Thursday, July 16, 2015

Birthday Interview

Brielle, age 3...

Nicknames: Briellie Bop, Bopster, Doodle Bop

Favorites...

Place to go: playground

Food: grapes and apples

Good at: sliding

Makes me laugh: Mommy

Best friend: Avery

Thing to do with family: play school

Place to go: Children's Museum

Book: Sesame Street

Color: purple

Animal: lion

TV show: Full House

Movie: Mickey Mouse

Snack: goldfish

Toy: ball

Thing to do outside: bounce a ball

Restaurant: Chick-Fil-a

Store: Walmart

What do you want to be when you grow up? Make up

What do you want to do for your birthday? Eat cupcakes

What does Mommy always say? Don't get a lot of toys out!

What does Daddy always say? No no no!

What does the Bible say? God





Happy 3rd Birthday, Brielle!


Somebody needs to explain to me how in the world this "baby" is 3! There is absolutely no baby left in my baby! Overnight, largely in part to her new hair cut, she has grown into a big girl!

Brielle has definitely brought fun loving and spice into our family. Her wit at three keeps me laughing.

Here's some of Brielle's trademarks at the age of three...

...is still attached to her Blankie and often refers to it as "Blank"

...has a bad habit of twirling her hair and leaving it in knots, which is what led to the adorable haircut

...is a master at pushing her sister's buttons

...is so proud to be starting K3 in a few weeks. She's worn her school shoes every day since Mommy bought them

...purple is her favorite color

... still working on her ABCs, but impresses me everyday with her math skills

...says "tomorrer" for "tomorrow"

...asks me the same two questions about every article of clothing when I dress her "who gave this to me?" and "what store did it come from?"

...is a cuddler

...has a craving for junk food, but LOVES avocado, broccoli and greens

...loves to swim and is fearless this summer. She jumps in all by herself

...likes to watch I Love Lucy and Full House with her sister

...can sing every word to Love is an Open Door

...loves to mindlessly bounce a ball like her Daddy

...wants to take ballet like her sister

...has an amazing sense of direction and memory

...loves to jump

...writes or draws every day

...loves her nails painted

...never sleeps past 6:30 and wakes up ready to go

...loves Pete the Cat, Miss PattyCake and Mickey Mouse

...loves to laugh and make others laugh (and is good at it!)

...can read her Pete the Cat books word for word


Happy birthday, Briellie Bop! You bring much joy and laughter into our lives. We're so glad God gave you to us. You perfectly complete our family and we love you so much!!

Monday, July 13, 2015

Summer 2015 - Part 1

Well, as always summer is flying by. This year it's been extra unusual making it at times not even seem like summer. Two major events are happening/have happened in our family on a short span of mere weeks: we sold our house of thirteen years, moved into an apartment temporarily while we're building a house that has already been under contraction in my head and dreams for years, and my sister is getting married!

Needless to say it's been busy, stressful, exciting and monumental. (More on the move in later posts--I'm just trying to catch up.) And though we won't be taking a vacation this summer, I've tried to be Super Mommy and keep up all normal summer activities and schedules all while packing, moving, unpacking and building.

Here's some memories so far from our summer...

Brielle inherited Kendall's outgrown tennis racket. While watching big sis at tennis lessons, she's been working on her own serve.


Kendall's first tennis lesson...

I think swimming lessons paid off this year for a certain little dare devil...


Daddy sleepover in their apartment bedroom...


Kendall's dream of living in an apartment has come true. She finally has a pool!



Swimming like a fish...


Kendall got her first pair of Converse. Notice the second born in the background...




How we pass the time...


Frozen cake pops from a local store grand opening. They're marketing geniuses...




Proof of genius exhibit A: bring in Olaf...

Proof of genius exhibit B: bring in Elsa (though my girls weren't buying it. Sorry Daddy, we'll stilll be taking a second Disney World trip in the future.)...




Fun at Splash Pad with friends...





Fun with Michael at the children's museum...





Playing in our backyard for the last time...
Fun at the pool...









Family date night for Mommy's birthday...


Making Mommy a cake...


VBS...

Tennis...


More Splash Pad, more fun, more friends...