Vacation!! ~ Sunday

Well after I threw the baby shower on Saturday, we drove down to Richmond for a week of vacation and relaxation. Chip put in over 200 hours in the last two weeks with all the installs at the church. He is very happy to have a break!
So on Sunday we went to church, it was fun to be able to see some of our old friends and actually worship together. We the went to one of my most favorite restaurants, Welliver's! They have amazing food, and a great salad, not to mention the peel and eat shrimp, and crab legs, and roast beef and so much more~















After getting to Welliver's we waited in the car for a minute before they opened. We actually were really early so we drove around looking for horses, cows, any animal~ These two pictures are of the kids hamming it up before going in to eat.

Then we came home and Brooklynn was able to ride her Barbie car down to the horse stables.
Let's just say we are going to have to get her a horse one day :/





Blessings~

Andrew

Andrew is growing up so quickly! I don't remember it going by this quickly with Brooklynn. I know things go by faster when you have another one to entertain and keep up with. Andrew was so funny today, I was trying to take pictures of both the kids and I told them to say cheese, well Andrew now will hold the camera and look at you with a grin from ear to ear and say "Cheezeez Mama" (I will try to figure out how to add a video on here tomorrow of him saying it!) At Andrew's apt. he has jumped up on the weight chart, he is in the 20th percentile, and really shot up in the height, he is 33 1/2 inches putting him in the 95th percentile! I was really happy with the weight as was his new pediatrician, after looking through his charts and then seeing his current weight he was excited about his growth from dropping off the charts, going to a nutritionist, going to 3rd percentile and then 10th, to now continuing to gain! I think we are on track and he looks wonderful!
Enough about his weight....Andrew is so much fun, and all boy! He is such a climber, Brooklynn never was a climber, Andrew on the other hand you can turn away for a moment and he will be standing in the middle of the table (I will take a picture some day!). He is on a dead run from the min his feet hit the floor. He just loves life and wants to experience everything he can. It makes me wonder what he will be up to in the next few years! I am sure he will be very mischievous! He loves to play in the water and enjoys playing with just about anything. The kids and I almost always dance to two songs before bed, and Andrew loves to spin in my arms! I love that he is a snuggler and is his mommy's little boy!

I know this picture is of both kids, but they have so much fun together with a simple balloon, and they are typical church kids.

Andrew loves apples, and watching signing time! He thought it was so funny eating an apple all by himself. And both my kids love to swing! Brooklynn looked at an add from this last weeks paper and said "ALL I'll ever ask for ever is this swing set mommy!" I said that's it, ever? "Oh, and a balance beam! That's it ever, I PROMISE"
We'll see about that, maybe I could get her to sign something! :)

Brooklynn

What a highly spirited little girl! This is just one statement to explain her. She has curly hair like her mommy, and looks like a mini-me. She has grown another three inches, what should I do put a brick on her head? She loves to soak up information, she has to know why and how things work. She is amazing! She is smart, sometimes too smart, and has a memory (my does that get me in trouble!). She is a dancer, she loves to take dance classes and gymnastics. She is a performer- a singer,actor, just a very talented girl in general. Whenever she is intently doing something, sometimes I notice that she will start to make a song out of what she is doing. You just never know whith her! Of course I am her mom and I am biased, I love her to pieces and I don't know what I would do without her. She loves to tease daddy and me about who her bestest friend in the whole world is. I get to hear it almost everyday! She is so cute! She loves everyone not to mention her brother, and wants to be everyone's friend, which causes some worry and anxiety for her mommy. If we really wanted to make some money we really should get her into acting! She would nail it on the head! Well, without fail I have some wonderful pictures of our wonderful daughter.

This is of her playing the piano at church!

This is of her trying on an old dress of mine, she wanted to be a princess!


Of course Brooklynn is happy that there are more yellow flowers in our yard again!

Have a great day and strive to find something to be thankful for!
~Blessings

All the Wood Is Gone + a tree!!!

Okay so we listed wood for free on Craig's List, a guy showed up this morning and took all the large pieces in the back yard. Then another guy called and asked if he could come and get some wood, I told him there was just a little bit of brush left, and didn't know if it would be worth his while, and then joked about the fact that we have three more trees that we are thinking about taking down. Well that peeked his interest and he and two of his buddies came and took one of the trees down and the other brush! Amazing! It started to rain so they didn't take the other two down, but Chip was a little worried about letting them do that anyway, for fear that one may fall on our house. We'll leave that to the professionals! Just thought I would post some success!!!




Blessings

Craig's List

Okay so I haven't had much experience with this site; but I am getting addicted! I have sold a couple of things and I know it isn't a lot but hey what I sold yesterday paid for our babysitter last night so we could go to dinner with the pastors on staff. It will also pay for her for tomorrow night!!! Money that was just sitting in our house. So tonight I have listed three more items, and an item for my parents! I am really hoping my parents listing sells because it will pay for a vacation for us. My mom said we could have the money go towards a cruise if it sells!!!! We grew up with a wonderful baby grand piano, for years I have always laid claim to it, stating to my brothers: "When I grow up I am going to have it in my house!" and now the statement goes "When I get a bigger house I am going to have it in my house!" Well, now my parents want to carpet the family room, and don't want to have to worry with piano movers, so it is time to say goodbye.



I remember taking piano lessons, and while I wasn't that great, I loved to play the piano. I especially remember playing with my mom, ooh and singing "The Old Rugged Cross". I remember learning Cannon in D on that piano, I also remember playing Stairway to Heaven, thinking it was a "good" song~ not really knowing the meaning behind the song....I am sure my parents were thinking why did we buy that sheet of music! :) I remember playing the piano with my friend Abby before she moved out of state.
I also remember my brother swinging me around the room by my heels and almost cracking my head on the piano! YIKES..... It was so much fun. We used to have the best of times when I was younger. He would lay on his back too and launch me across the room- again by the piano! We always would laugh too! Never any accidents-man if God was ever present in our house it was in there!!!!
I will always remember wanting to re-arrange our family room, thinking of new ways to design the furniture without having to move the piano. This if you know me isn't uncommon, I would change our furniture more often than not!
I will also remember at Christmas time, setting the porcelain Nativity Scene up.

Way too many memories that come with this fine musical instrument. All three of us took piano lessons, and my mom would even play the piano too. So do I have a connection to this piece, does it have history with the Smith family? Yes!! Does it have history besides with us? Yes, it is an original Starr! The company no longer exists, but it was made in Richmond, IN ~ so in a way I think it is my connection to a city that I was born in, a city I will most likely never live in anymore. It has original ivory keys~which is rare now, they use facade ivory look alike now....let me tell you~ I was at church the other day messing around on the piano, and thinking about mine at my parents house, and the keys are so much nicer with the original keys! I know I am biased, and I am really sentimental tonight, but I am sure if I never had the chance to play on these keys before I would never know what I was missing, but I had to mention it!



So all this in hopes to sell it! I am thinking that Craig's List is going to be a godsend to our family and to my parents as well!
If anything Dave Ramsey will be very proud of me and my finds in my house!

Have a great evening!
Blessings

Thunder

It's amazing how rainy days make you want to clean out a drawer, or sit and do crafts with the kids. I was able to clean out two drawers in the kitchen, and plan a craft! Because it is a rainy day we talked about what all the rain does for the ground and plants! Brooklynn emphatically said, "Well maybe it will make a lot of my yellow flowers grow in the yard! Because you let me pick all of them and I want to give more flowers to you mama!" So funny how a little weed can light up her life and think she is giving me the world. Only to think that I was so happy that she had picked all that had managed to sprout up!
So after we finished the craft I needed to take out the trash, and since it is raining I thought I would just run out quick and then run back in-not closing the door....the kids thought it was so much fun, Brooklynn grabbed her shoes (thank goodness) and ran out right behind me, maybe she didn't hear me say STAY INSIDE, oh well, it was fun to see her twirl in the rain and splash in the puddles. I let her put on her rain boots and they ran around on the deck! Every time they heard the thunder they would giggle, and say "Hi Jesus" at the top of their lungs! I am sure our neighbors who for some reason are home in the afternoon think we are silly. Especially hearing a one yr old laughing hysterically and then screaming with his sister HIIIII JESA, at least that is how Jesus is coming out now!

Hope you are enjoying the rain as much as we are today.....the rain now actually has stopped but they say we are to expect more!
Blessings~