A Picture (or 7) is Worth a Thousand Words

Warms my heart <3

Ryleigh 6 Month Photos

Jen brough Ryleigh over this morning to do some photos since she's celebrating her half birthday! Here's just a few. There's more at www.imagesbyautumn.wordpress.com Happy half birthday Ryleigh!

1st Day of School

Both girls had their 1st day of preschool today! Cheyenne always yells "school, school!" whenever we pass by it driving. She was so excited to go back. She walked right in and didn't look back. I then took Hailey upstairs to mother's morning out. They said she cried for a minute or two but in no time was playing and having fun. I picked her up 2 hours later (they're on a modified schedule for 2 weeks while they get used to it) and then picked Chey up an hour after that. Both girls had a great 1st day! Here's a few pics I snapped of them this morning before we left!

Chey sportin her "big girl" packpack! She had to have a bigger one for all the stuff she has to have. Her own markers, rest towel, change of clothes, etc. Wow!

Carolina Beach 2010

Click here to view these pictures larger

Beach Trip Recap

Thursday we left for Carolina Beach..boy we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. The ride down was good. We checked into our condo, cooked dinner and got the girls in bed. Everything was looking good. We took the girls out on the beach this next morning. Cheyenne loved it. She had a blast with William in the ocean and digging in the sand. Hailey on the other hand was alot of work! She started walking the day before we left and is still pretty wobbly. She didn't walk on the sand so therefore had her hands in it constantly. And then the sand went into the mouth. We went back and forth letting her play to rinsing her off in the ocean. Back and forth. It was exhausting. But she seemed to have a good time. We went to the aqaurium since we could get in free with our Natural Science Center season passes. So Cool! That night we had a really hard time getting Hailey to sleep. She took a super short nap that day and was very overtired. It took almost 2 1/2 hours to get her to sleep, only to be woken up an hour later by the fireworks at the Boardwalk. She went right back to sleep after a little cuddling. Saturday morning we went out for breakfast and walked Kure Pier. We did the beach in the afternoon that day and it went much better. Hailey would sit and fill up the buckets with sand some and didn't eat as much...lol although she probably could have pooped a brick at this point. That evening we went to eat at our favorite restaurant "Rucker Johns" It has the most amazing food. We didn't get to enjoy it. Between Cheyenne making a complete mess of her self with my ranch cup for my salad and her PB&J and Hailey sqealing at the top of her lungs and trying to keep her fed and entertained, it was a disaster. Cheyenne had to pee in the middle of her mess so I took her to the bathroom and William said while I was gone Hailey had a handful of mashed potatoes that ended up on the lady who walked by her... uh oh. We were in and out in 30 minutes and I don't even remember eating my food. LOL Well, we're used to that by now. People actually laugh at us because we eat so fast. In our house we have to, because the minute one of the kids are done, they're ready to get down and cleaned up etc. We don't know any different anymore. After dinner we tried the carnival at the Boardwalk. Cheyenne loved riding the ferris wheel, the carousel and tea cups with William. Hailey got to ride the carousel with me and them we all enjoyed some ice cream. Getting Hailey to sleep that night was much better. The next morning William and I decided we had had enough for one trip so we packed up a day early and headed home. I'm glad we did. We got to spend Sunday afternoon with my family at the pool and it was just what we needed. Hailey is just not a good age right now for traveling and the beach. Next year will be much better. She'll be 2 and enjoy it just like Chey does now. I did love see the girls on the beach though. We definetly made some memories!!

Luke and Lily's Party

This afternoon I took Cheyenne to a birthday party. Her friends Luke and Lily (brother and sister, 11 months apart!) had a joint party today. It was at their house and there was a slip-n-slide, water balloons and pools set up! She had a great time. It's so much fun to watch her with her friends.

Grandma Lucie's Surprise 75th

This afternoon we held a surprise birthday party for my Grandma Lucie. Grandma will be 75 on Monday. Let me be the 1st to say that this 75 year old is like no other Grandparent I know. She said herself she feels like she's 50. She bowls and is so active, you would never know she's 75. I'm so proud to call her my Grandmother. While everyone was getting up and doing speeches and telling stories, I had in my head what I wanted to get up there and say. But everytime I started going through it, I started to tear up. There's was no way I was going to get up there without ballin'. So Grandma I'm telling you now. You are one of the greatest women I've ever known, next to my own mother. I hope I can be half the parent you were/are to my dad and that he and my mom and have been to me. You are so many things to so many people and I can't even begin to tell you what a blessing you have been in my life. From sleepovers at your house growing up to Smith Mountain Lake trips, chin puppets and leaving groceries at the Winn-Dixie in Virginia. There are so many memories with you that I'll have for the rest of my life. I love you and Happy Birthday!All the kids did so much work to pull this together. Grandma was so surprised!