Bye Bye Blog

Well...all good things must come to an end, right?  For the time being, I'm taking a break from blogging and to be honest, I'm really excited.  One of the main reasons I did the blog in the first place was because I wanted to be able to print out my pictures, and by putting them in the blog, and then using a website that printed my blog into a "book", I would have my pictures for the girls to see when they get older.  The problem is, the books are really expensive and the pictures are pretty small.  Like when I look back on them when I'm 60 I probably won't even be able to see the pictures.  HA!  It also takes a lot of time.  With the girls getting older and becoming more involved in activities and sports, it's just not something I have a lot of time for.  So I've decided to start using a different photo app that will let me upload my pictures directly from my phone into a book that's much cheaper. I think it's going to be the perfect solution for our family.  Bigger and better pictures in a book and takes way less time.  I will miss sharing our lives with all of you, but you can still follow me on Instagram (Grandma...I'm so proud of you for having this!) to keep up with what's going on in our family.  Thanks for sharing our family journey over the last few years!

Birthday Muny/St. Louis Trip!

The week of my birthday we had a special girls day in St. Louis.  Pam and Sarah and I took the bigger girls up to St. Louis to go to the American Girl store, go out to eat, shop, and then the guys met us at the Muny after work to see the Wizard of Oz!  

Pamaw let the girls pick out a new outfit and even got their hair done...we were all SHOCKED by how amazing their hair looked when they were done!  It was night and day difference!

I took Ansley and Brynn with me into Sephora at the mall because I needed to pick up some make-up I was out of...these two were hilarious.  I think they would have stayed in there forever!

We headed to Pottery Barn kids to check-out some bedding Sarah was getting for her girls new bunk beds...and I could have about cried when Brynn tried on a new back-pack and lunch box.  =(

We got to go to a fancy Italian restaurant on the Hill for my birthday dinner...SO YUMMY!

And then it was MUNY/WIZARD OF OZ time!

 
Poor Charli had an allergic reaction to a pistaccio like five minutes before the show started and didn't get to see one minute of the it, but most importantly...she is fine!  These three were such troopers...no nap and didn't get to bed until almost midnight...but they did great.  But they all three were out in less than two minutes after driving away from the Muny!  HA!

Thank you so much Pam and Rick for such a fun day in St. Louis!

Beth Moore Weekend

A couple of the college girls and a couple of ladies from our church got together to go see Beth Moore in Springfield...we had such a great time together!

Our bus rides were hilarious!

We were only gone from Friday morning to Saturday evening...which was perfect!  The next morning for church when I was combing out Emory's hair I was just amazed at how long it is when it's wet...it curls up so quickly though!

The weather here this summer has been HOT HOT and HOT!  At small group on Sunday night we let the kids run around in a sprinkler...poor Brynn had to cover it up with a trash bag...and it was so hot and gross afterward...YUCK!  But glad she enjoyed playing!  =)

Summer Randoms...

Every summer I get the itch to make strawberry and blueberry pies, eat more salads, and things that are more "summery"...HA!  I got a bunch of strawberries and the girls and I attempted to whip up a strawberry pie...it tasted great but didn't stay gelled very well. Oh well...A for effort.  HA!

I do think I've found the perfect recipe for blueberry pie and this one is perfect every time!  =)  Thanks food.com  HA!

Pam gave us a TON of fresh blueberries so we had pie and muffins for DAYS!

I heard Emory talking about "lip gloss" in the back seat one day...turned around and she was COVERED.  OH MY!

We've been doing lots of fishing!

I had some special one on one time with this hilarious girl...she is a mess and I just can't get enough!

Birthday Number 31!

On June 13 I turned the big THIRTY-ONE...whoa!  The girls and I had a good morning playing around the house and running a couple of errands...then for lunch I got to eat with one of my very best friends...Kelly surprised me with an awesome bag of birthday gifts and lunch out at Tractors.  The coolest part was the Jared watched the kids for us so we could have some mommy time!

Thanks Jared and Kelly!

That night our family went to eat at Outback...I ran into one of my other besties parents who were celebrating their anniversary...so I had to snap a pic and send it to Emily!

We headed back to my mom's house for gifts and dessert.

The whole day was really special.  The older you get you realize it's not about a lot of gifts like you wanted when you were little, but just about feeling special.  The entire day my phone was buzzing with calls and texts and messages from family and lots of friends.  I went to bed that night just thinking how many wonderful people God has brought into our lives and how thankful I am for all of that.  Thanks to everyone for making it such a simple but special day!

New Cast and Soccer Camp

At the beginning of June Brynn had a doctor's appointment to check her wrist.  They decided it was healing well so they took off the longer arm cast and put on a new short arm cast.  She was really excited...she could finally bend her elbow!  HA!

Weird without a cast!

Tie-dye for the short arm cast...=)

Right after the EARLY appointment, it was time to head to the first day of soccer camp.  It was put on by the Jackson high-school soccer team and Brynn LOVED it.  Last year when she went to her first soccer camp she was so nervous and unsure about everything.  But this year was completely different...she ran right down and ROCKED it all week!

I got to hang out with my friends Lindsey and Staci and watch Emory play under the bleachers...HA!

These three had a great time together during soccer camp week...they all three had dance together too!

When I taught in Jackson I taught next to Jennie Pehle and I loved working with her.  We got really close and her oldest daughter is on the Jackson girls team...she was one of Brynn's teachers this week and was AWESOME with Brynn!  Thanks Grace!  I loved sending Jen pictures of them together!

Laura Ingalls Wilder House - Last stop of the Trip

Since the wedding was on a Friday evening, we packed up on Saturday morning and headed for home from all of our adventures.  But we had to make one stop first...the LAURA INGALLS WILDER HOME AND MUSEUM in Mansfield, MO.  

We have been reading the picture books and have the set of chapter books at our house.  Brynn and I read before nap and Ryan or I always read with her before bed, so about two or three months ago we decided to try the first Laura Ingalls Book.  She LOVED it.  We've really enjoyed reading a chapter at night with her!  Now she likes the TV show too, so we've been all about Laura Ingalls at our house.  When we realized that her home/tour was RIGHT on the way home from Springfield, we decided to give it a visit.  We spent the whole morning there and the girls (and Ryan and I!) were in heaven...it was so cool!

The front of Laura and Almanzo's farmhouse.  It was amazing how tiny all the little rooms were...they have a lot of different rooms, but they were all so small.  I feel like people were so little and petite back then or something...and in this house their bedroom had two little twin beds that they slept in!  Interesting...

A guide takes you on a tour of the farmhouse, and then you can walk through yourself in their "rock house"...which their daughter built for them (also on their 200 acre property).  It was much "bigger" and "fancier" than the farmhouse.  But after they lived in it for like 7 years, they spent the last few years of their life and moved back into their farmhouse because they liked it better!

The girls though the picture of their first car was so interesting!

We weren't allowed to take pictures in their farmhouse (and there was a guide watching) but I couldn't help sneak a few pics of the Rockhouse.

We came back to the museum (not allowed to take pictures) but it was SO neat...lots of their original stuff, etc. And then of course the girls were loving the museum store.  They wanted to get every book and every toy in the place...HA!

I'm really glad we got to spend the morning there...after lunch both girls fell asleep and slept the rest of the way home!  

We had an AWESOME trip to Chicago and Bolivar!