Emma's 30 second makeover... BEFORE

Now don't go and think that this expression was staged. It was not. I also is not a JD mug shot! This is my beautiful daughter... you don't always know what is under all the complicated layers of your children. If "What not to Wear" got hold of this child, who knows what she would look like! Check out the next shot and see her great potential! By the way... Emma's softball team made it to the championship game on this coming Monday. She is really doing very well catching too!

Emma's 30 second makeover! AFTER

Isnt' she lovely!

My favorite photos of our Thomas Day.

Oh my. Who could resist those eyes? I think this is one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. "Tolton" will be its title because that is what Ayla calls him. BFF.

Are you laughing? They are hilarious. My daughter and her friend do not lack personality. Ayla is still talking about this fun train ride. I wasn't sure she would even like it. I know she won't remember forever, but we have captured the fun in photos.


My precious.

Watch your step! Big Thomas is BIG!

Ayla gets a lift from the friendly engineer man. So cute!

Two peas in a pod. Colton brought a train movie over to watch while I was babysitting and the rest is history. They just adore Thomas. What a special treat today is.

Whoo Whoo!!! I was concerned that Ayla wouldn't like the train whistle and would cry on the train. I shouldn't have worried! It startled her a few times, but she loved the train ride.

Colton did LOVE the train ride, but the whistle he didn't care for too much. We hadn't worried about him at all as he is THE train fanatic, but he didn't care for the toot!

We spent the day with Thomas and Thomas spent the day with us!

A DAY OUT WITH THOMAS!

All aboard for a fun day with Thomas the Train! Colton is one of Ayla's best buddies. I think she was more excited about spending the whole day with him rather than Thomas. "We're gonna have a lovely day" is one of Thomas's songs on his show, and we sure did. Enjoy the photos from our lovely day in Connersville, IN. It is a volunteer fundraiser for the Connersville and it really draws the crowd.

After the Storm

Everyone has a story these days about the storm they made it through. Ours isn't quite as dramatic as some, but we have enough drama in our lives the way it is. We were awakened suddenly last night about 11:30 to a severe thunder and lightening storm. The TV just said just a thunderstorm warning, so no worries, right? Wrong. Dave and I were standing in our hallway, he on his way back to bed and me with a foreboding feeling of fear. (I don't like storms much.) Right then, the hail started and it sounded like it was coming through the roof. We didn't even look at each other, he went for Emma and shoved her down the stairs and I grabbed a reluctant toddler and ran as fast as I could. Even David stayed in the basement, which tells most of you how icky it was. He is usually on the front porch watching the lightening. Shortly thereafter, the power went out and we bailed water from the sump pump for 3 hours until the power came back on. It was a long night and even a longer day for Ddub. He went to work as usual and come home to the mess in the yard. The neighbors lost a huge tree at the back of their yard and we lost some very large limbs. He has been looking for an excuse to buy a chain saw. (Happy Father's Day, David!!) The kids loved playing on the fallen tree most of the day and Tyler loved playing in it when he came to help us with his own chain saw. He was the brave soul to shimmy up the tallest tree in they yard to cut down the limb that was stuck. (Where was my camera then?? Hmmm.. .sometimes I just don't think. I was making dinner.) Thanks Tyler!

I was telling my girls the other night at dinner to be sure you choose a spouse who is willing to work hard like your Daddy. I am saying it again. I am so fortunate to have such a hard working husband. (The back door neighbors we have never met before suddenly got very chummy with Dave when he was armed with the chain saw. They were clueless about what to do with their little limb that was over the creek. The wife offered... "he doesn't even mow his own yard!" I can certainly not claim that. My Ddub is my hero today... a hero with a chainsaw and bailing buckets!

House for Sale!

We have been working so hard on our home, that I thought we would share photos of our fresh paint and brand new carpet. Luckily, the first thing Ayla spilled was water. Kira's room in the basement has a fresh coat of paint and cushy new carpet. She is quite happy about the new setup. We also painted the walls upstairs neutral. Still one more bathroom and 2 bedrooms to paint.... Who's in?!!

Emma's bathtub creation

Every child has to have this photo. Here is Ayla's!

Catch Her if you Can!

Ever wanted to see Emma hustle? Well, she CAN! We were so proud of Emma last night when she was catcher for her team for the very first time. She hadn't even practiced it, but has watched enough of it this year on Kira's team to get a pretty good idea of what you do. I wish I had photos of how red her face was at the end of the inning. She was pretty tired. Way to go Emma!