dancing queen...

kate had her first weeks of dance class this summer.
it was a short session.
she liked it.  well, she LOVED it.

pretty ballerina kate

posing

curtsy

she couldn't wait to tell me she was DONE!

she already is looking forward to the fall, when we can go again.
my pictures aren't great-at all.  but you get the drift.

figures...

so it's been hot.
i mean hotter then hot.
it makes me want to say bad words, kind of hot.
today the girls went to sweet debbies for a little day of debbie fun.
i decided to take a deep breath and get some things done.
i had lunch with a friend and her momma.
then decided i needed to get anne clara some new shoes for school.
i know better then to take her to the shoe store.
lord have mercy.
so i measured her foot the other day and went today. (shmart! don't you think?!)
i know what she likes, i know what i like, it's a win win.
throw a diet coke in the mix, it might as well be a lottery win! :)
anyway...i go to good ol' payless.
i look.
i take them all in.
i realize that children tennis shoes, are really, well, less then cute.
they are gross.
i got over it.
i picked two pair that i thought would do and checked out.
i was proud of myself.  i thought she would like them.
she looks at them, and realizes she can't live without BOTH PAIR.
nice.
not what i had intended, but i guess it can be worked out....
she proudly puts on the white pair.
she then says, 'uh, mommy, are these on the right feet?'
i was puzzled because she knows the right feet.
i look down and realized they weren't, so i helped her.
well, as a matter of fact, i couldn't help either.
THEY WERE TWO LEFT FEET!
seriously?!
SERIOUSLY?!
it's waaaaaay too hot for this.
how do you explain to a 6 year old that the shoes are no good until you can get two that are NOT the same feet.
nice.
like i said...
it's just too hot for this...
back to payless this morning!
~chat soon.

driving miss daisy...

so today, i look in the rear view mirror and see this...

i seriously felt like i was driving miss daisy...

 she had 3 or 4 necklaces on, a pair of satin gloves that went to her elbows and a pair of great aunt pat's clip earrings!
what a riot!
(she smuggled all the items into the car and put them on at a stoplight!)
what would we do without our anne?
~chat soon!

stingrays

i signed anne up for a fun little deal at the zoo.
it was called wake up with the rays.
it was a family event. (aka-need to be a with a parent type of event)
we had to be at the zoo on saturday at 7:30.
thats not too bad.
we have seen the stingrays once before.
she loved it.
so i knew that she would love this little class.
it was feeding the rays and then having breakfast ourselves at the zoo.
fun. cool. memory making.
we got there bright and early.
we found the spot.
the lady says, OH HI! ARE YOU READY TO FEED THE RAYS THEIR BREAKFAST?!
i see anne give the lady (who was way to chipper and loud for 7am) a half smile and she reached for her skirt.
she does this thing when she is nervous-just grabs whatever is on her bottom half and knots/balls/twists it up.
great, i thought. 
its time to walk in...
she goes.  but she doesn't touch, or feed the stingrays.
i did.  it wasn't bad.  the feeding was weird, and made me really wish i was wiser about how stingrays eat...but i made it out with my fingers, so that is a plus.
not too long after we got there (30 minutes)
we were taken to the dining area where we were given breakfast.
it was fine.
it was short.
but it was good.
as the time as passed, anne has talked about it.
but i don't know if i would pay extra to get up waaay early, and eat cafeteria eggs and bacon.
live and learn.
hopefully she'll remember it.
it was good, just to be with her.

Kodak moment in front of the seal statues.

stingray

not at all in love with the idea...

~chat soon!

look who's back....

it's back, and better then ever! 
~chat soon!

more week of the cuzints

we also went to the train store.
it's this adorable little store near our house.
it sells little trains (can you tell i'm not a boy mom?!)
i don't know the kind, that is just a detail...
anyway, they have train tables that anyone can come in and play with.
for as long as you want.
for free.
awesome.
we took the girls because it was just too dang hot to do anything else.
they loved it.
in fact, they loved it so much, i took my girls back the very next day!
we also went to take kate to dance and ellen came with us.
anne thought that was soooo cool that she got to 'bring someone'. 

reading at kate's dance class-cute as can be!

aunt sara gave ellen her first gum ball.  she loved it, not sure about her mom'

s opinion though!

anne thought she was cooler then cool, since she had someone in the back with her.  weird, i know!

~chat soon!

the week of cuzints.

anne and kate refer to cousins as cuzints
its so dang cute the way they say it.
it was so dang hot when suz was in town..
i think she brought the desert with her...and the humidity.
ugh.  but we survived.
here are just a few little things we did.
we spent a lot of time, just playing at meemaws.
suz and i went shopping.
drank margaritas in the middle of the day.
drank a beer at the pizza place in the late afternoon....
got our toes done.
laughed.  and made fun of each other.
it was a good visit.
i know that the visits home with two small kiddos aren't easy.
but i love it when she does come.  we appreciate it soo much.
xoxo

regulating the heat with some popsicles

saturday making pottery

dress up!

swimming at meemaws

buddy! :)

all in all, it was a great time!  always is!

a little catching up...

this has nothing to do with my post...just a fun innocent picture of the chicks on memorial day weekend

so...this past week, my sister susan, has been home.  along with her kids, ellen and jacob.
my girls have been in hog heaven. i mean heaven.
each day has ended with a child in a heap on the floor due to sheer exhaustion.
anne woke up today and said 'i'm STILL tired' and then proceeded to make a list of all the things she wanted to do on susan's last day here.
we have gotten to spend some good sister time together, as well as refereeing the children.
it's been fun.
i've taken some pictures but today am feeling a little like anne...still tired.
i'm going to try to catch up on blogging later this week.
to update the building....the ride continues.  the lease is being passed back and forth and there is wording issues...but other then that, it should be legally official very soon.  once last week, we thought the whole thing fell through.  how frustrating!  and dramatic!  and exhausting!  that all got ironed out.  thank goodness.
it's just been nerve wracking to say the least.  i told my mom that the whole thing is very similar to a high school romance.  no one knows whats going on.  it can be very exciting one second and heart breaking the next.  it will all work out.  but patience isn't my strongest personality trait!
~chat soon!

hiatus

i have been on an unplanned hiatus. ;)
susan is in town.
it is great.
i haven't had time to sit and write.
i will soon.
lots to talk about. ;)

yes siiiiiiirrrrrrrreeeee!

adams business will officially be leaving our house!
after 10 years.  many people.  long hours.  never leaving the work setting.
wow!
it's awesome.
he sealed the deal.
it took a very long time.
he said it wasn't easy.
but those are just 'details'.
thanks for the prayers, folks.
they worked.
~chat soon!

here 'ye here 'ye....

taken with my new sweet lens. before my camera died.

sara declares this day, july 9, 2011-DO NOTHING DAY!
that's right folks.
this house ain't driving anywhere...until 5.
no swimming lessons, no swimming for fun,
no gymnastics, no dance, no free movie,
no sightseeing, no zoo...
NOTHING!
i was reviewing the summer so far...and we haven't had a day like that yet!
sheesh.
that's not good for anyone.
the girls dug out an old movie they haven't watched for a long time.
kate found her mcputer (computer) that she put away and forgot where she put it.
anne isn't going to brush her hair she says...
and i may very well, not put regular clothes on.
until a dinner with the inlaws tonight.
but then again, that may be quite funny if i show up in my jammies! 
i think it will do everyone some good.
now...
onto the building saga.
i promise on this very day of july 9, 2011...
i will say nothing more about the building.
it very well may still be a go.
adam is indeed meeting with the landlord again today.
last day of negotiations.
he is quite optimistic. (i think on wednesday, he was just spent.  emotionally.  he had thought about every angle this could possibly go....and ended up settling on, 'it not going anywhere')
if you don't know.
adam is a very, very, old soul.
he is not impulsive-on serious things anyway.
he is a thinker.  a stew er. a wonder er.
those are all great things.
but they can wear on a soul.  even if it is an old one!
so once again....say a quick prayer.
that it ends, happily, or not.
but that it just ends.  and we can either go back to square one.
or start packing!
TGIF!
~chat soon!
p.s. if you are keeping track...it has been 2 weeks since my camera when in to the hospital.  lets hope it is just two more to wait.  it really stinks.

it's thursday...

that's all i know for sure.
we to the free movies this morning.
ran around like a chicken with my head cut off to get us ready and then ready for swim lessons to be right after the show.
i texted the swim teacher to remind her we would be at 11:30.
she forgot her 11:30 student was coming today-he had been on vacation.
bummer.
anne is very sad.
i took them to the grocery store to pick out a lunch-able because i forgot to put the cool packs for the cooler in the freezer, so i couldn't pack lunches for the pool.
bummer.
anne saw that it was starting to turn grey.
decided she didn't want to swim after all.
so we head home.
kate has a melt-down because she wanted to swim.
anne is taking storm precautions on the couch (faking being tired....)
i just ate three, count 'em, three fried chicken legs (picked it up at the store for myself instead of a lunchable)
in about 56 seconds flat.
mostly out of frustration.
haircuts tonight.
maybe that will bring back some spunk.
oh, and the roller coaster ride of trying to lease a building continues....
nothing agreed upon yet.
lots of frustration.
tomorrow is the make or break day.
the day the propsal will say 'take it or leave it'.
i'm hoping that mr. landlord, says take. or at least says...i need to think about it.
it will be a shame if it doesn't work out.
that's all i know.
need to find a diet coke to nurse a nasty tired of being a grown up headache...
hmph!
~chat soon!

the weekend.

for years we have talked about going to 'the meadow' for the fourth of july.
we are usually, just coming home from vacation on the fourth, so it has never panned out.
this year, we are doing stay-cations. ;) so it worked.
sweet.
we packed up and arrived saturday.
it started with a visit with maw-maw and paw paw phil.
they have a small pool. it was a hit.
for everyone.
it was hotter then hot, so splashing around was a welcomed treat.

 we then went to meemaw and pawpaws.
it is always so much fun there.
i can never put my finger on why, it's just a blast.
ol' fashion fun, i suppose.
i didn't know this about adam, but he is a bit of a fireworks freak.
we stopped at a road side stand.
he bought two bags worth.

we had adams parents on sunday evening for dinner and the big fireworks display.
adam had purchased a beebee gun for anne a few weeks earlier.
(if you don't know, adam, he is an avid hunter.  he is all about hunter safety, and the proper precautions while using a gun....so don't get nervous when you read the rest.)
last week when we went to the meadow, we practiced, with the girls.
it was a blast.
he of course helped them with the whole thing.
they loved it.
mom and i enjoyed it more then we thought.
 so we busted out the bb gun for a family competition, with adam's parents.
we piled onto the front porch, set up our targets, and away we went.
everyone followed the rules and protocol which is always good.

this is adam's mom.  it was her first time.  she didn't do half bad.  :)

we all joked that we needed this song piped in...
who doesn't just love that song????

the men loved the fireworks...

kate, not so much.  she invented her own sort of ear-plugs.
cracked us up.
she settled down as the show went on.

it was a great time.
we are hopeful to put it into the tradition box! ;)
here are some miscellaneous pictures from the weekend.

we love finding treasures at 'the meadow'

before church.

playing dress up

enjoying the country life.

relaxing with some chalk.

hope you all enjoyed your july fourth weekend as much as we did!
~chat soon