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!