luck o' the irish

 

i was lucky enough to score a date with garry for st. patty's day, while the kids spent the night away! what fun! i think i am still seeing green!

these pics were taken last week, on a beautiful, sunny day in kansas! all three kids, & dodger too, headed to our neighborhood park for lunch, tree climbing, swinging and more, with evie & jen, and meghan & hope! what a fun day! we later gathered at our home for dinner, as all three of our husbands were out of town! fun girl (& boy) time!

fun with friends

after a day of fun at the park, we enjoyed even more fun with some LONG time friends. They are just like our sister and brother! ashley and brad are their names...they were both in my wedding, as flower girl and ring bearer! we had a wonderful evening of food, drink & fun! look forward to many more special times together! love you both!

splish splash

we had such fun watching evie...which included tub time! we had fun doing many a hair-do with a very special "doozie shampoozie!" hampton and evie have such fun together...we look forward to many more evenings just like this!

happy number 40

despite garry's continual requests for "no big 40th birthday bash," i made the choice to plan one anyway! the mere thought of taking on such a task seemed simple in the beginning, however, the normal turn of events led to a more daunting task (shall we never forget, that we chose to enlist the help of our puppy friend the week of the acutal event). what on earth was i thinking? nevertheless...garry's parents and sister flew in from north carolina and atlanta, to make the event even that much more special! upon garry's entrance, they were hidden at the back of the 50 guest pack...and garry was beyond pleased at his discovery of them! that moment made it all worth it! the house was a mini party company beginning the second he left for work on friday morning. several friends and family helped decorate, and assist the caterer for the entire day...while others fulfilled kid duty, cake pick up (and take back & pick up) duty, video compliation duty (thanks dad!), grocery errand duty, puppy duty, and keep garry far, far away duty! thank you, thank you, thank you all for offering your generous help...i am sincerely grateful for your many sacrifices! i could not have been more pleased with the final event, for it was truly an evening to remember! garry even said as the night came to an end, that it "was the greatest party he had every been a part of" with the deepest of gratitude, and tears in his eyes! love you gar! are you really 40 already?

welcome home dodger

 

 

 

today was the day that we brought our new puppy, dodger, home! he had been brushed & wrapped him in a big blue bow to greet us! dodger was a great traveler on the 40 minute trip home, sleeping most of the way, between austin & coleman. so far, we are enjoying him very much...he has a very calm disposition (hope he stays that way, too)! time will tell!

here dodger

 

a pic after coleman opened his early birthday present, including a dog collar, leash, treats, and dog brush! he was a little confused, stating, "i thought i was getting a dog for my birthday!" after we let him know that we would be picking him up tomorrow, he was thrilled beyond belief! on monday, we will begin yet another chapter of our lives...the addition of a furry friend to our family! we picked out "dodger" last monday. he is an 8 week old goldendoodle, and is cute as can be! more pics to follow i am quite sure!

celebrating sallie

 

 

 

 

we spent the weekend in fayetteville with sallie, rich & renee for sallie's dedication. it was such fun to spend time with the fam...swimming, food, fun, & fellowship! no pics of the actual dedication, oops...just pics of the fun we had! we love you baby sallie!

coleman takes to the skies

coleman had the opportunity to go flying on saturday with dad and uncle trevor, in a cessna 182. coleman became motion sick due to the bumpy ride in the wind, but still managed to enjoy the flight over kansas! he wanted to deliver the barf bag to his brother austin as a joke, but thankfully chose to pitch it upon landing! despite his upset tummy, coleman still managed to thoroughly enjoy the day with two very special guys!

hampton's 1/2 birthday

 

hampton celebrated her 3 1/2 year birthday at preschool today! since she has a summer birthday, the 1/2 birthday celebration at school is extra special! she was able to bring in her choice of a snack, which included her favorite things...mac-n-cheese, strawberries and strawberry & banana smoothie. she shared a bag of her favorite things as the class listened intently, followed by a class interview session! too cute!

three cheers for the red, white & blue

hampton recites the pledge of allegiance and sings her favorite patriotic song, in honor of president's day!

happy heart day

 
 a couple of pics from coleman's valentine's day party at school! the class (and hampton, too) feasted on doughnuts, strawberries, cheese, crackers & cherry 7-up! they also enjoyed playing bingo, making bookmarks, painting hearts, and of course, exchanging valentines! coleman made a very special one for a girl in his class...as soon as i can get my hands on it, i will post a pic! hoping you all had a happy day!

shall we dance

 
 
 
 a few pics from hampton's most recent "observation class," where mema, aunt ju-ju & evie attended! thankfully, evie was able to participate, as she just could not sit on the sidelines and "watch"! they all had great fun! hampton absolutely LOVES dance and has recently learned to skip and gallop! yeah!