E's First Haircut

It started out as just an appointment for big brother.... I asked if they could trim the back of E's neck and get rid of her "duck tail." They called it a 'bang trim' and obliged! She did surprisingly well and enjoyed chewing on her very own comb.

Trip to Visit Family

We took the kids to the Grove Park Inn to see the gingerbread house competition. The houses were amazing.





We tried to get a good pic of the three kiddos, but this was as good as it got!


J really wanted to jump and I couldn't resist the photo opportunity! I ended up pulling him down and pushing him up until he got the hang of it. It was a little scary to watch his face grow paler and paler. After 5-6 jumps he would ask to be stopped and we'd wait a few seconds and start up again. I was convinced we'd end up "making a mess" somewhere in the mall after all that jumping, but his stomach is stronger than I expected.

J got along quite well with his cousins Shelby and Harley.

My Sister and her Family

J-Man's Birthday

Hard to believe our little man is four years old. He still loves

all things Thomas, so we indulged him a little :) on the cake! His

friends Ben and Michael came over for pizza and cake.

Grandma and Grandpa were here, too!

Dog Bite

I originally posted these pics so Scott could see them at work. They have, however, generated a little interest....imagine that! Evie crawled up behind Bear who was sitting at the sliding glass door. I didn't see what she did, but we can all see what he did! Bear is currently at the Humane Society, where he will be monitored for 10 days and then placed in the adoption pool to get a new home. Just as an FYI, he will be kept until he is adopted! :) We are sad to see him go, but we can't have any biting dogs in a home with children. As Scott said, had he bitten her hand he would probably still be here. He got her across the face. It's hard to see, but there is a small bite mark under her right eye and there are a couple of scratches across her nose. Obviously, her left check took most of the impact. In true Evie fashion, she was over it in about 30 seconds and I'm not exaggerating.

Cold Afternoon at the Zoo

Julie and I took the boys to the zoo for a couple of hours. Brr.....too chilly!

Time for a Haircut

E played while J got a much-needed haircut!

If Renae had seen him, she'd have had a fit about my little hippie-wanna-be!

Happy Halloween!

J-Man was an engineer again this year.

Little E wore J's first costume---the giraffe!

Too cute.

Daddy's New Toy

My sweet husband's latest toy! How's that saying go?

You can take the boy out of the country...!

Check out that stylin' camo!

Apple Butter Festival

We took a trip into the country and visited the Apple Butter Festival.

The family shared a bag of yummy kettle corn----even little E had some!

On the way home we stopped at the Longaberger factory and saw the world's largest apple basket.

Zoo with Friends

It was almost a perfect afternoon at the zoo. There were only a couple of downsides.....it was around 38 degrees and Jared was wet from jumping in puddles. He claimed he wasn't cold, but how could he not be! :) E was sufficiently bundled up and seemed to have fun, too.

Left to right: Michael, Ben & Jared

Birthday Cake Time!!!

"Look Mommy, it stuck to my hands."











"Mmmm, this is tasty!"














This is my favorite birthday girl picture. We took pics with the big cake first and then gave E her very own little cake. She looks like she's reaching for me, but honestly she was reaching for the cake I had just taken away! :)























Shortly after this picture was taken, E tore into that little cake. She grabbed it by the fistful and smashed it into her tray.





I have to brag on my friends Charity & James, who are responsible for this absolutely adorable toy box. Charity made one for J's first birthday and it meant so much that they made one for our little girl, too! It looks great in her new pink room!

Birthday Girl's Lunch

Birthday lunch. Aren't they cute together?? :)

Multi-Purpose Coffee Table

Little E likes to climb over things.

Another Day at the Park

J-Man liked going across the monkey bars with Daddy. Several days later I took him back there to play. He was all set to go across the bars w/his mommy UNTIL a couple of 5-6 year olds went across by themselves. J looked at me and said, "I do it by myself when I get bigger." It made me a little sad. :(

This One's for Aunt E

We went to a local Petfest parade on September 1. YES, we were wearing fall clothing b/c it was a might bit chilly (that has since passed and we have been wearing summer clothes again).

Little E is sporting a cute outfit from Aunt E's mom, Judy. I honestly didn't think she'd get to wear it.....nevermind that she's 10 1/2 months old in this pic and the outfit is size 6 months. We wore it the next day, too, just to make sure we got some use out of it. I think this cute outfit will last us through the fall and I'm glad....she's adorable in it!

Computer Savvy!

Two weeks ago Mommy showed J how to use the mouse. Since then, he has "painted" online and played numerous playhousedisney.com and pbskids.org/sesame games. I was amazed at how fast he picked up this new skill and even more amazed at how much he now likes to play with my laptop--he prefers playing on the computer over watching tv.

New House

Welcome to our (almost ours) new abode!

Random pic of pendant light over kitchen sink.

There are 2 more matching ones over the kitchen island.

Because of the living room's layout, we plan to block off the double doors with our entertainment center in the family room and book cases in the study.

Half-wall is necessary b/c there is a step down from the kitchen to the family room.

The pantry boasts 2 of these corner shelves. We plan to replace them with a straight wall-to-wall shelf system, allowing us to use all the space!

I'm thrilled to have a sink and cabinets in the laundry room!

The powder bath has a medicine cabinet/mirror, pedestal sink and nice fixtures. The wallpaper is coming down pronto....the floor tile is up for debate. I think it can stay if we paint the room an oatmeal color and accent with green and blue towels. Man of the house thinks it should go. We'll see!

There are 4 bedrooms upstairs. This is one of the 3 secondary bedrooms. This particular room will be E's and it shares a wall with the master bedroom. Master bath is below.

This is the kids' (& guest) bath. If you look closely, you can see little E's sweet feet.