Beach Babe Bonanza

This was one of the best weekends of the year, no doubt about it! I don't have many pictures of this year's gathering probably because I was too busy talking, laughing, racking up exercise competition points, and generally whooping it up. My college friends came to town!!! Through a turn of events, everyone ended up staying at my house at the last minute. It was so, so, so fun. I LOVE these girls. It did my soul good to be with them again. The only sad part? We were desperately missing Annie & Merilee.~:-(

These girls are all so dear to me. We know each other. Better said, they know me - yucky stuff and all. AND YET, they still love me!
Anne & Polly Jane:

Jenelle with Peter, Lauren's super-chub baby: Jenelle & Polly Jane: (I love this picture!) Michelle with a very happy Jolly: Lauren, Momma to super-chub baby: Mexican dining at its finest~:)
This baby! He is wonderful! Ooooh, and so is she!

Would you like an example of how these girls are so wonderful? When I emailed everyone "I'm in this exercise competition...I'll probably have to exercise a lot over the weekend...Bring any workout you have..." I was met with enthusiastic responses. Things like, "Great! I'll bring my Hip-Hop-Booty-Bop! It's a great workout!" And then they let me march and kick and punch and twist while we all talked. Amazing friends? Yes.
It was especially fun to have Anne & Jenelle in for a prolonged visit. Seeing dear friends with my own children is such a blessing. It seems like you can't really love someone - totally, anyway - until you know their family and see their kitchen. I treasured these few short days with a whole houseful of fabulous friends. And I can't wait until we are all together again!!!
3.19.2011 & 3.21.2011

Eric Turns 30!

We celebrated Eric's 30'th birthday with a really fun weekend. Some good friends came over Friday night for dinner. Saturday we visited Rock Castle, a place I had been wanting to take Eric. Haven made sure we brought her cup with us.
Elijah pretended to rest in a patch of incredibly dense clover. {Do I look sleep-deprived, or what?} Haven played among the old tombs. (Inappropriate? Yes.) Polly Jane took a nap.We ran. We climbed. We peeked into windows. We threw rocks into the water. We looked at an old fort. We imagined how people had lived in that home. We looked around the (excellent) gift shop.There was even a tiny little hike through the floodplain there. Here, Eric initiates Elijah's current tree-climbing passion.Sweet boys! Sunday night we celebrated with Eric's family.Luke was super pumped.
Happy Birthday wonderful husband! I'm so thankful I get to be a part of your years!
3.12.2011 & 3.13.2011

Breakfast Time

I'm not sure what strange thing was happening in the universe this day. Elijah is wearing his pajamas and both girls are dressed. That NEVER happens. Elijah is a bit obsessed with putting on his clothes the very moment he wakes up. The very moment, I tell you. Every night I hear, "And Mom? You pick my clothes out? Yeah, yeah, you do that, and then you pick my clothes out?"




Hmmm. Maybe this was dinner time?
3.10.2011

Cozy 'Jamas

3.7.2011

Matthew is Four!

The Kirby's know how to keep a party going...so we got to celebrate Matthew's birthday a little after this big boy turned four!Matthew is probably the most athletic kid I know. He's been jumping off this thing practically since he could walk. We're hoping he'll be able to teach Elijah a few things~;-)Mason! I love these kids!

A lot.

Praying. Thanking God!

My kids were mostly excited about the juice boxes. ("And THEN I GET A JUICE BOX!?!?!")

Happy times! We are so thankful for our friends!

3.3.2011

Cousins!

On our way home from Pennsylvania, we stopped to see these wonderful children!
We spent a while at my favorite toy store in the entire world. This even beats the one I really liked in Chicago. All their toys are quality toys - cute, durable, able to teach, promoting imagination. Ah, wonderful! They also have some fun things outside.


This is the cutest baby I have ever seen.


This is why every little girl should wear bloomers.
These pictures make me so happy. I can't stop smiling as I look at them. Miles and Polly Jane are sure to be fast friends!


My sister has done a great job with her super fun playroom. Actually, beyond that, her whole house is an inspiration in organization, cuteness, and functionality.
Here is a shot someone snuck of Bella. She and Haven kept "borrowing" each other's shoes.
Sadly, our wonderful visit came to a crashing halt the next morning. I'll spare you the details, but only because I am not gifted enough to convey the horribleness of the experience. It involved vomit from the three oldest members of the family, over eight hours in the car, lots of praying, and lots of Ziplocs. Wow. It was so terrible, even the memory is hard!

2.26.2011