Baby Charlotte

My sister Ashley had a new baby girl July 1st. Isn't she just the cutest little baby? Don't you love her dark hair?! This is Ashley's first baby with any hair. The other 2 girls were bald babies. We already love Baby Charly so much and were so happy we got to meet her and attend her baby blessing.

Nana and the grandkids.

My other sister Christine made cute matching skirts for the girls. We are a little heavy on the girls in this family, huh?

The whole group, minus Sarah who was screaming in her car sear!

Emily talks about Baby Charlotte all the time. She always wants to give her a kiss. We can't wait to see her again... or at least just see some more pics of her on Ashley's blog (hint, hint!)

Pullen Park

For our most recent joyschool outing, we went to Pullen Park. As usual, we had a fun time riding the merry go round and train. And this time Emily rode the boats too.

Most importantly we just love hanging out with the girls (both the moms and little girls)! We do have some boys every once in awhile.

And these little "babies" are always such good sports while being stuck in the stroller and watching the big kids. Soon these little ones will be running around getting in on the action too.

Sitting Pretty

Sarah started sitting up by herself the weekend we moved into the house. For awhile she was very content to just sit and play with her toys.... but now she is itching to crawl. Somehow she maneuvers herself all over the room to get what she wants. And of course she gets stuck under furniture and gets REALLY mad. She is trying to get up on her knees, so I am sure she will be crawling soon, hopefully not too soon though.

Now that she is sitting up I can put her in the cute duck bathtub. Sarah loves it... unless Emily "helps" give her a bath by dumping the cup of water in Sarah's face.

We also got out the wading pool Emily used as a baby. But with the 2 girls .... we TOTALLY need to get a bigger pool (that was TOTALLY for you Erin). However the girls didn't see to mind the small size.

I put out the sprinkler for Emily too. She liked watering the grass... um, I mean weeds. Our yard is in need of a major overhaul this fall!!

4th of July

Prepare yourself for a long post... July 4th was a long day for us!

We started it out with a children's bike parade in WF. We met up with some friends and had lots of fun decked out in red, white and blue with lots of streamers and ballons.

Oh Emily, why won't you just look at the camera and smile??!

After some furniture shopping, a visit from my dad, and nap time, we were off to Family Fun Day nearby with some friends. I was excited about the pony rides there for Emily. She was talking about the ponies all day, however when it was our turn she changed her mind. Oh well! So instead we played on the playground, ate some food, played with sparklers and watched the fireworks. Oh, and there was a pageant for little girls. Emily loved watching them and I wonder if we will enter her a few years from now.

The girls chatting it up!

Andy enjoyed playing around with the camera while the kids played with the sparklers.

We ended the night with a great fire works show, which Emily would not even look at, however Sarah loved them and laughed the whole time.

Pig Pickin'

Recently we went to a good ol' pig pickin' at church. Andy helped cooked the pig and he loves a good pig pickin'. In fact, he wants our girls to have a pig pickin' as their wedding reception. I am not sure about that, but we have a long time to fight that out. :) Little Sarah has already been to 2 pig pickin's in just her short 8 months here. She will be a country girl for sure!r

For all you non Southerners, here are some pictures of how the pig is cooked for a pig pickin'. After it is cooked, it is chopped up with some sauce (vinegar sauce is my preference) and I eat mine on a sandwich with some cole slaw. Mmmm... I am already ready for another one!

Date Night

Recently our friend Steve turned 30, so Lindsay planned a fun surprise party at Kanki for him. It has been too long since Andy and I had a date night, so it was lots of fun. Thanks for the invite Lindsay!

Pool Time!

Last week we spent a fun morning at the pool with friends. It was a rare day that was not sticky, blazing hot, so we really enjoyed ourselves.

This was our attempt at a group photo. There are about 6 kids missing. However, Emily and Tyler remained sitting way after we gave up on taking pictures.

Smith Mountain Lake

Time to catch up on my blogging...

A few weeks ago we went to Smith Mountain Lake with my family. My sister Ashley decided to quit her work with my brother's in law company since she is expecting her 3rd baby. So I took over her job and we got together for a training session. It was a great excuse to get together and play as well. The house we stayed in was awesome and the kids loved running around chasing each other. We didn't have the best weather, but had one fun morning playing in the lake.

Check out Emily going down the slide into the lake! She caught us all by surprise and went over to the slide without us even saying anything to her. She is usually very timid and doesn't like to try anything new or adventurous. However I am learning if we don't pressure her or ask her to do something, she will just go and do it all on her own...sometimes.

We also had a special treat and all got on the boat to go out to dinner. We were definitely over the # of people recommended for the boat, but since the majority were under the age of 10 we didn't hit the weight limit.

One bad thing about the trip was the Andy didn't get to come with us.... however his ONLY set of car keys were in my car!!! Of course, I didn't see them in there until I was unpacking the car. This was especially bad since he had jury dury first thing the next morning. Luckily, his was able to borrow an extra car from someone at church. We are thankful for the generosity of others. They sure saved the day!