3 little fish!

We were curious to see how the girls would take to the water...it has been a few months! You would have thought there was never a break from them being at the pool 1-2 times a day, all summer long!

Emma was swimming under water in no time! Ellie was the slowest to warm up...it took a few minutes!

And Edyn, she surprised us. This is a girl with no fear! She did NOT want us to hang on to her and when she went under water she got right back up and was not afraid to venture deeper into the water! It was funny to watch!

This is one of my favorites...Emma holding Ellie's hand explaining to her, "Now Ellie, there is nothing to be afraid of, you went swimming before and you like it. I'm right here, OK?"

I love being domestic...

yes, it's true! I love to sew! When we were first married and with no children, I would sew and make everything from curtains to quilts!

I made a VERY unplanned trip to Hobby Lobby to pick out ribbon for my cousin to make bows for the girls and came home with some ribbon...and fabric...check out the fun dresses I made for the girls!


They LOVE wearing them! My cousin made bows to match...check out her site at www.bowreesa.etsy.com. She makes the BEST bows!!!

Family Fun!

The girls have a blast with Uncle Mike...of course, they LOVE that he brings a 10 LB bag of candy when he visits (I secretly like it too, so I can satisfy my candy cravings!) They had so much fun bouncing up and down on the trampoline and of course, they all had to take turns being catapulted into the air!

so BRIGHT!

Edyn is hilarious! She found some sunglasses in the toybox and adamantly wanted to wear them for the afternoon.

She couldn't see and kept tripping over all of her toys but she was determined to keep them on!

She will NOT keep a bow in her hair but when it comes to these glasses, they don't seem to bother her at all!

Funny girl. LOVE her!

Batter Up!

My neighbor Tina has SO MUCH patience with my girls so when Edyn really wanted a turn at bat, of course, she was here to help! Edyn tried so hard...she thought standing up would help her game a bit!

Slipperslide fun!

The girls just LOVE it when the little neighbor boy comes to play! A few weeks ago, him & Ellie got in a disagreement and had their backs turned toward each other and they were silent for awhile then he said he was going home, then Ellie decided she better be nice! I didn't get a picture because we were laughing so hard watching them! We are pretty sure this won't be the last disagreement with a boy in our backyard!!

Big Stuff!

Edyn thought she was SO BIG getting on Ellie's tricycle and "riding it" (ie being pushed around!) This girl LOVES being outdoors and wants to do EVERYTHING her sisters do!

This one is for Mike!

The girls & I had the opportunity to watch Owen on Monday and the girls had a lot of fun playing dress-up with him! And I had fun watching and taking pictures to give to Uncle Mike who ALWAYS shows up with a big bag of candy for the girls. So here you go Mike...I found a way to get you back without offending Sara (because I like her too much!)

My Jesus...

I heard a song today on the radio that I've heard before many times but for some reason (it was God, I know!), I decided to look up the words and it amazes me how God speaks to me SO OFTEN through music. I LOVE this song and the meaning....so true....and so convicting.

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,
Then why do you look so much like the world?

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant.
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land?
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that You follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He’d prefer Beale St.to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus

Not a poster child for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I’m tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus
but I’m not sure what that means to be like You Jesus
Cause you said to live like You, love like you but then you died for me
can I be like you Jesus?
I want to be like my Jesus.

Rhyme Time..

Emma is really into rhyming...this is her latest!

"Praise the Lord,
Oh my cord.
Put the baby down,
on her crown."

It is March,
Now let's farch (?)

This is more funny to watch than to blog! It reminds me of a time last year when she was in her cheerleader outfit and spelling out random letters (like the cheerleaders would do). Instead of THS, she was yelling out, "E-R-L touch the ground then turn around!" Then she randomly yelled out "S-P-E-R-M". Quite random.

No more babies...

Ellie was being 3 (crying on the floor b/c she wanted candy for breakfast) and Edyn is quickly growing closer to 2 every day (she threw herself on the floor and was crying) at the same time. Emma just looked at me and said, "Please mommy, no more babies around here. We have too many kids in our family and they are driving me crazy!" What an insightful (almost) 5 yr old! She sounded SO grown up when she said that.

Dekalb Girl!

Emma LOVES this shirt and wears it constantly! This is Jared's shirt from when he was a child. This makes Great Grandpa Joe proud (and Jared too!)

We think she looks pretty cute in it as well! Especially with her 70's style short shorts with a rainbow on them!

Emma was watching basketball with Jared one night & they were showing a flash-back of basketball in the 70's & the players had on really short, tight shorts. Emma said, "Daddy, why are they wearing their underwear?"

Sassy Girls!

Emma & Ellie wanted to get their new outfits on and "take pictures"...

...and oh, did they pose! It's a good thing daddy wasn't home to watch! He would have had a few more gray hairs, that I'm sure of!

They are quite sassy and full of spunk!

But so much fun!

I was laughing so hard by the end...they were wanting me to take pictures of EVERYTHING! Eating...dancing...jumping off stuff, etc. So funny.

Laugh Out Loud!

One of my favorite things as a mom to my beautiful girls is to just hear them laugh & giggle!

The kind of laugh that is so contagious & so hard that your belly hurts when you get done!

I love it that we have so many moments like this in our family. Here are just a few glimpses of my girls and those moments.

When the girls get on the trampoline, it is a non-stop giggle!

I love that they are starting to laugh at themselves when they make a mistake.

Edyn kept spitting & just laughing so hard at herself. Of course, we laughed at her, so she kept doing it over and over!


I love that they are happy and easy tempered kids. So full of joy & carefree. I have a lot to learn from them most days!

When Daddy stays home sick....

...and mommy goes to work.

Yes, Jared did admit to falling asleep on the couch while the girls cleaned out the armoire FULL of books. Oh, the fun they had!

And oh, the mess on the floor when I got home! Er, I mean, what floor?

This is just breaking me in for summer when daddy becomes Mr. Mom. But he is really good at it. What a great dad he is...the girls treasure their time at home with him. And I just LOVE LOVE LOVE that he has every single summer with them. They will never forget that. Can you tell I'm ready for summer?!?!

Dad's Little Ballplayer...

...or so he hopes! But this is a good sign...

Edyn has REALLY been into tossing and throwing or just plain CHUCKING everything in sight. If she can throw it, she will!

Here I caught her throwing every single container of Play Do as far as she could get it, along with all the cookie cutters and tools that were in the box.

Then, she puts it back in (every single piece) and starts throwing it out again...so entertaining!

It's Fun to be Messy!

As a child, one of my favorite things to do was help my mom in the kitchen...

then stand close by so I could be the first one to lick the mixers, spoon and bowl.

I will never forget those fun memories with my mom...

and I know my girls won't forget either!