Lilly's Sense of Style

Need I say more?

Emma, Lilly and "Pickles"

Here are my three children enjoying the fireworks on the 4th of July. It was a fun day full of celebration.

We have been busy, busy bees this summer and I have been slurping up every moment of it. This last month has been filled with gymnastics, playing, swimming and spending lots of time with good friends. Both of the girls are older and more independent, which makes for really fun interactions with them. I realize the word "blessed" is overused quite a bit, but it's the word I always think of when I look at these precious children. John and I are so incredibly blessed by these two wonderful, little girls. Yes, being a mommy can be quite painful at times (in more ways than one ;), but the intense joy I feel for these children outweigh it all!

New Kitchen = More Cooking?

I got a new kitchen update a couple of months ago and I love, love, LOVE it. This first picture shows what it looked like before we installed new granite counters, back splash, and sink. Being a loyal Baylor Bear, this Aggie-maroon kitchen was never my favorite room in the house.

Before

After

Oh yeah, this is very much an improvement. I took this last photo before getting all the drawers back in, but you get the idea. Many people ask me if I cook more in my new kitchen. Uhhh, honestly...I really didn't cook much at all in the beginning. It was so shiny and new, I didn't want to dirty it up. Actually, I found myself shining it several times a day. Eventually the newness did wear off, and I do really enjoy cooking in it.

Speaking of cooking, I'm off to prepare sloppy joes for my family. Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend.

Our Beautiful Dancer

Hello, sweet friends. Hope you haven't forgotten about me. :) Emma just finished up her 3rd year of dance. Her recital was a couple of weeks ago and we were so very proud of her. She seemed to have a lot of fun and was quite the performer. Her photos on stage were terribly blurry, so I apologize for the first picture.

Her daddy and her grandparents each gave her roses.

I enjoyed fixing her hair for the performance - it turned out really cute. I made two small topsy tails on the front part of her head.

Then, I put the rest of her hair in a slick, high pony. I sprayed the heck out of it to make the pony nice and stiff, then took small sections and curled them with a small-barreled curling iron. To add a little volume to the curls, I bobby-pinned several of them to her head.

Lilly will be starting dance in the fall and to say she is excited is an understatement. I'm looking forward to it, as well. She will be an adorable ballerina.

Perfect Photos

I have a certain file saved for pictures like these. You know what I'm talking about - special photos that will be proudly displayed only when our daughters bring boys home for us to meet. Yep, these will be perfect!
Ok seriously, my girlies look soooo cute in their little curlers! Lilly loved them right away, but it took a while for Emma to get used to them. She told me she looked like an old lady.

A Beautiful Easter

In addition to our fun and traditional Easter activities, Emma expressed a deeper understanding of why we celebrate Easter. Hallelujah, Jesus is Risen!

I love Lilly's expression in this photo. It cracks me up every time I look at it!

Green Potatoes

Some of you were asking if the girls enjoyed their green mashed potatoes.
They kept telling me, "Wow, I love these green potatoes, Mommy...MMMM...Thank you so much...MMMMM!" Hearing things like that does a Mommy's heart good.