Fairs, Painting, Alligators...You know, just your basic summer stuff.

Thought I'd brave the computer issues and try to post. So far so good! The kids and I were gone all last week to a workshop that I attend every year near where my parents live. It's always a fun opportunity to get to visit with them. I commuted back and forth during the day to the workshop and came home in the evenings to be with the kids and mom and dad.
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Dad took the first two days off and kept the kids at the house for me and they all three survived each other. :) He did a great job and they loved getting to be with Papa! Mom took Friday off and kept them, so that just left two days for me to find babysitters. Brittany watched them one day and Lauren and her family watched them the other. Thanks guys!!! What was REALLY weird for me was that I used to babysit Lauren, and now Lauren is babysitting MY kids. UH...does that make me OLD????

Mom and Dad took the kids and I to the Bluegrass Fair that wasn't really "bluegrass" at all. It looked like we had stepped over the border and had taken a tour of Mexico. Everyone else there was Mexican, the people running the rides, the people selling the food, the entertainers (e.g. mexican music), AND the attendees, which were Mexican. Dad said that the title "Bluegrass Fair" was a little deceiving for sure and that it SHOULD have been called "The Mexican Festival." One thing I will say, they sure let you stay on the rides for a LOT longer than any other fair workers I've ever seen.
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However, they did have ONE show with the guy that you can see in the above photo with TY PETTING AN ALLIGATOR!!!!! Well, truthfully, I was trying to hurry and get the picture and missed the actual petting part. BUT you can STILL see him almost petting an alligator. hahah! Bwana Jim's Wildlife Show, which is what it was called, ended up being pretty hilarious. Macie and Ty both liked it. He had lots of animals and was VERY enteraining (funny jokes) for the adults in the crowd.

Macie at Mom and Dad's house. I can't believe my little girl is going to be ONE year old next month. She's still so tiny, even though here lately she has gotten taller and more mature in the face. I'm not ready for her to grow up yet at all!!!

One last pic of me and Ty on one of the fair rides. He had a blast!!! His favorite ride of a dragon that flew around a curvy up and down track. He LOVED it! We rode it 5 times.
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We're now safely home. I have taken pictures of the bathroom and music room which I've been painting and decorating. Both rooms look SO cool! Yesterday I painted the livingroom and today our new furniture is being delivered so I need to get off from here and make sure I have everything in order for them to be able to just come in and set it up. Till later!!!

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Okay this is later...Our furniture HAS been delivered and is AWESOME! It's looks great! Now I just have to finish decorating and then I'll be DONE! I will try to get pictures and post them soon. Everything is shaping up to look SO good. God has really blessed.


Per request of Ty's Aunt Vicki, I have added these two pictures of Ty's face. :) He's growing up too quickly too and is talking up a storm. It's really wild.

Look at those pretty blue eyes!

It's Summer!!!! And I'm LOVING it!!!!

Sorry peeps that it's been SOOOOO long! BUT it IS summer, and I'm enjoying spending it with my little family!

Every year we host a fourth of July, fireworks, cookout thing at our house. We had it tonight so these pics are from it. The above is me and my friend Carry from church. :) She's preggers and is due in Oct.

Is that face not crazy!!! haha...I just died laughing when I uploaded this picture. What a little nut. She LOVED the fireworks and clapped through most of them. :) Ryan's Papaw Gid is holding her.

Ryan helped the kiddo's hold there Morning Glory sparklers.

This week, we drove up to see my Gramma in northern Ohio. What a drive. Had a blast!!! Really enjoyed the time that we got to spend with her and the family too! I hadn't seen her or any of my aunts and uncle for over two years. WAYYYY too long to go. We drug Gramma all over the place. I think she enjoyed us being there and getting out of the house.

We took Ty to a Zoo while we were there. He had a great time. My cousin Connor went everywhere with us and acted as our "guide"! It was nice to have someone along who knew where everything was and how to get there. He has grown up to be such a nice young man.

Random thought: Tonight was my first time to get to wear a glow necklace. :)

Have I mentioned I LOVE church friends?!!!

(ON THE WAY THERE)
The 'girls' and I recently took a road trip to St. Louis. What a drive, what great memories, what a time to get sick as dogs, what a cool time to bond with one of my kids.
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Our mission was to take the kids to Six Flags one day, and the Zoo the next day. Ashley took her daughter Alyssa (who is 6 months older than Ty), I took Ty, and Carry took Molly (who isn't due to arrive until October...haha)
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The first day ended up being pretty much a disaster. Ty was already sick and had a fever, then I came down with something to the point that I was sure I was going to die and was having thoughts that I needed to hurry and call Ryan to tell him I loved him and then call mom to tell her to help Ryan with the kids. I'm not a big baby when it comes to pain and sickness, but this was just about as bad as I'd had it. Fever, chilling, nausea, other things. Ahem.
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We only got to spend 2 hours at Six Flags before having to bring me back to the motel. I begged the others to eat and go back without me but they wouldn't hear of it. THEN, it hit Carry as well. So she, Ty, and I all passed out in the motel and pretty much slept till the next day.


(ON THE WAY HOME)
The Zoo was a blast. Ty had so much fun. I tried to give him my undivided attention and "within reason" play and do whatever HE wanted to do. He got to feed a giraffe and was able to see and enjoy a load of other animals. FUN!!! We had a great time.
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We swam in the pool at our motel the night before the Zoo which he loved too. He wanted in the big pool with mommy where he could kick his feet like a fish. They had a really cool little kids pool that he and Alyssa had all to themselves, but he didn't want to play in it. He wanted all my attention, and I was definetly willing to oblige on this trip that, for me, was dedicated to him.
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Ashley's grandmother was sweet enough to let us borrow her Cadillac to drive up there. We endearingly bestowed the name 'the Hoopty' to the car.

In other news, I cut my hair. LOVE IT!!!! AND....*drum roll*....I made my weight loss goal and have officially lost 45 lbs. For those of you who check it, the updated ticker is on the bottom of my bloggie's page. I haven't been this thin since highschool and I love it!

Thanks to everyone who prayed for and encouraged me! I'm so excited that I made it. Ryan is buying me a massage as a congratulations gift! Thanks honey!!!
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Also, thanks to all you faithful bloggie readers and commentors. It's always great to hear from you to know who's reading.
MOST RECENTLY: *Sharon, I sure wish you HAD come to camp. Did you HAVE Lindsay already? I hadn't heard anything!!!* *Charlotte's Mommy, She only officially has 6 teeth, one of the other bottom teeth has a teeny tiny corner popped through, but not all the way and what would be her fourth bottom tooth hasn't even attempted break through at this point. I wish Macie was sticking more with Charlotte's schedule, that would be easier on this breastfeeding mommy for sure!* *RT, Hello friend how is your summer going?* *Andrea, Hope you're having a good time at both your summer camps too! You'll have to call and let me know. * *Jo, Those ice-cream sundaes sound like a great idea. Mom says that you have popped out but claims you're not a bit huge. haha*

Family Camp 2008

What a week....what a camp...what great friends...what awesome memories!!!

And, what a mean face. This is Ty's 'newest' favorite trick. You can tell him to make a "mean face" "silly face" or "happy face." They're pretty funny. He had a blast at camp playing with the "tids" (kids) and got EXTREMELY attached to his "Mawmaw."

In non-family camp related Ty news, he went to the dentist for the first time today to get a couple things checked. Every was A-OK and he was SUPER through the whole visit. WOOHOO little buddy!

My latest favorite picture of my little doll-face. Amanda took this. (Kudos friend, and thank you for this adorable pic!)

Macie cut her second front tooth while at camp. Poor baby. She's cutting two more on the bottom right now. She's running a low-grade temp and is pretty cranky in general because of it. I feel sorry for her. Once the bottom two break through, that will make our little Macie Jade EIGHT whole teeth.

Me and my honey. We had a great time together that week. The time together for the two of us, then the time with the kids as well, and THEN the time we got to spend with all our friends. It would be hard to ask for more! God really blessed us and it was a wonderful week.

We have actually managed to get a family picture in this same spot every year since Ryan and I have been married. Thank's to Jason's dad for the first couple of years, and then I tried to carry on with the tradition.

I only have hard copies of the ones Bro. N took, so I may try to scan them somewhere in all my sparetime someday and post us through the past few years.

It's good to be back to blogging. I haven't gotten a chance to visit all my favorite bloggies yet. I really didn't have time to post this, but I made myself sit down and get it done. Have a good night friends!

Upside-down***nwod-edispU

I actually meant for these pictures to be completely the opposite from what they are. So...you'll have to look at them from the bottom-up. Or...just get this post from the end to the beginning.

Isn't she just the cutest little bug you ever did see?!!! I don't know what I would do without my little baby girl. She's army crawling EVERYWHERE these days. She says "mama, dada, byebye, no no no, hi, and Ty" She jabbers on about a bunch of other stuff too, but I'm not really sure what it all means. haha



This is trully a "D" (my dad's family) look. WOW! I can't wait to upload this picture onto my dad's family website! They'll all go crazy over how much she resembles the family. :) *note: her eyebrows*

ON TO the BIRTHDAY BOY!!!!!!

As many of you know...our little man is TWO years old now and is completely into "helping" (all you moms know what that's like) and then saying "YAY Ty!!!" and then he claps vigourously for himself for doing such a good job. :)

Sandra took Ty out on his birthday since me and daddy were both working during the day. They went to the park, shopping, and Chuck E. Cheese. FUN!!!

Our sweet birthday boy eating his Chuck E. Cheese pizza!


This gift was a family collaborated thing. He hasn't quite mastered driving it yet, but this summer he'll have it down and will be all over the place in it. I'm actually looking even more foward to next summer when they'll both be in it driving all over our yard. He loves his new "vroom vroom."
When we took him outside to give it to him...he RAN to it and climbed in.

OH yeah! He just ate his birthday cake!!!! :)


It's "funner" opening your birthday presents if you can do it sitting on Grandma's lap!

Mom and dad bought him this cute little Thomas the Train plate set. The fork and spoon handles are trains. He LOVES to eat with them..because...you know..they're COOL!

I put FIVE adorable stack candles on his cake, and then put a #2 candle in the middle. That was my FAVORITE part of his birthday. He blew out all the candles himself! It was SOOOOOOO fun to watch.

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I'm not sure what I think about my kiddies growing up like they are. Wow...God is so wonderful to me. Even through my parenting struggles (which are everyday) He's always there to guide when I slow down enough to listen.

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I could go on all day about the way that God has worked in my life and in my family. I want SO much for us to be a godly christian family that serves and loves the Lord with their ALL. I want my kids to remember that their mommy told them about Jesus and that she loved the Lord. I pray that I can stop worrying about what I think and about what other people think about how the kids are raised and soley depend on God showing us the right way to do things. I know He will if we listen, pray, and follow His word. Pray for us when you think about us.

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Next week we'll be at Family Camp, so you can pray for us. I'll be MIA from blogging until after we get back.

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OH...today is my last day at work, so I am officially a Stay-At-Home Mom again.

Wordless Wednesday

Playing outside on the castle.

After Macie crawled into her toys.

Ty playing with his new fishing pole.

Cutie dimples.

Macie and Ty in his new "vroom vroom."
*picture credits go to "Benna" the babysitter. aka - Brenda =)*

Happy Birthday Bubby!

Today is my little man's TWO year birthday!

Wow! How did time fly that fast?! He's been such a joy and I love him to pieces. I tell him everyday that he is my 'favoritist little boy that I've ever had!!!'



This is Ty ONE year ago today!!!

HAPPY 2 YEAR BIRTHDAY Bubby!!!!!