fun with jack

Earlier this week Jack came to spend the day with us and we had a ball! I was working around the house cleaning cabinets and such so it was great to have someone to help with Caroline. The two of them played so well together! It was so much fun to have him around!!! :0)

We made a cake for Caroline's teacher Mrs. Brown. Caroline's new favorite part of baking, licking the beaters...almost as yummy as the cake!

pretending to be asleep like Jack...

love this sweet face!

and this one too!

our first real puzzle

Caroline and I found this great puzzle in the clearance section of TJ Maxx. She couldn't wait to get home to put it together. Of course she needed just a little help from mommy but she did great. She was able to find the blue ones or the red ones and tried to put the puzzles in place. Every once and a while she actually found the right piece. It was a lot of fun so see my girl in action and realize it's just another way that she is growing up...

making memories Monday

Uncle Joe

Seems like it wasn't too long ago that Mema and I took Caroline to Uncle Joe's farm for the first time. Uncle Joe is almost 86 years old and works just as hard as anyone on the farm. It's amazing to look at his crop and realize that he does it all by himself! As usual, Caroline had a blast and we came home with some yummy goodness!

Caroline wanted to help Uncle Joe shell butter beans. He asked her is she knew how and she replied "No but my grandmother does." Grandmother??? Of course Great helped her and she was a happy girl.

yummy, can't wait to make my first sandwich with these beauties

heading to the field to pick some green ones

got one

staying close to Great in the field

the most fun thing to do on the farm-get in the dirt!

once we got back to the shed, Caroline decided to sit and wait patiently for mommy to load our fresh veggies...she loved filling her shoe with dirt and then emptying it over and over and over again

look at this sweaty, dirty, adorable face

wiping down before getting into Great's car

Caroline sang a song about getting some ice cream on the way to the farm. Great said maybe after we get our veggies we could get some ice cream. As soon as we were back on the road, Caroline asked Great if we could stop for ice cream. Of course, Great agreed. Lucky for us, we spotted Andy on his way home and he decided to join us. When we turned into Chick-fil-A, the carseat took a tumble...Caroline said "Weeee I falling." Needless to say we tightened it before we left.

I had to include this picture even though it was taken with my phone and wasn't very clear...Caroline loved her cone of cream. She was almost finished with her ice cream when she decided she wanted to go play. She had a great time! It was the first time she was able to climb the entire play set and was able to slide down the slide by herself. So proud!

When it was time to go, she immediately looked at the table and realized that he ice cream was GONE! She asked "where is my ice cream?" I told her daddy ate it because it was melting. And then she had a meltdown "I want my ice cream...daddy ate my ice cream..." poor kiddo. Lucky for Caroline, Mrs. Kim, who owns Chick-fil-A happened to be there. (sooo good to catch up with her and her beautiful daughter Abby who I taught in 3rd grade...now she's going to be a freshmen in high school) Mrs. Kim came over and asked Caroline what was wrong. Caroline gave her the saddest face ever and said "Daddy ate my ice cream..." Mrs. Kim walked over and asked for another ice cream cone and my girl was tickled beyond words! The sadness left and she had the biggest, happiest smile ever! She ate that entire cone in the 5 minutes it took us to get home! Thanks Mrs. Kim!

Today was one of those picture perfect days that I wish I could have made a video of. A way to remember everything about it-the temperature, the fun, the excitement, the conversation, etc. We loved our time with Great at the farm. Brings back such good memories of my childhood. Then the ice cream with Great was such a special treat for all of us. I pray that we are making memories that will last...

odds and ends

for the most part we have had a pretty laid back weekend. andy had to have some oral surgery on friday and has done well overall...

caroline spent the morning with peep while we were at the surgeon's office. they enjoyed breakfast out and then a fun trip to target. caroline came home with these super cute boots! in the picture below, she was taking bear to the mall, isn't she quite the fashion setter!

yesterday was really nice here so we tried to spend some time outside so that andy could rest...

it's crazy to think that her third birthday is right around the corner...wow, this time has flown by. i use to be really good at documenting what she's up to, what she likes, says, etc. i haven't done that in a while so i thought i would take some time to do that now.

what she's up to these days...

• she loves to play dress up
• she loves to pack a bag to take with her
• she loves anything art related (playdough, markers, crayons, paint, glue, etc.)
• she loves to read books in her rocking chair
• she loves to sing

she says the funniest things...

• when someone does something that isn't nice she says " that not good nice"
• when she does something wrong or is just being silly she says "oh crackers"
• if she wants something we have and we tell her no she says "Jesus says you gotta share!"
• she loves to play her piano and sing "Deep and Wide" and "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." when signing deep and wide, she says "get your hands ready" and with old macdonald had a farm "pick a farm animal"
• if she is watching tv or getting a snack and it's not something she likes she says "that one not my favorite..." in other words, can i get something else
• just last night, she walked into our room for the first time ever during the middle of the night and said "da da, there is a dinosaur under the couch." and what's even crazier is that she got up this morning and looked under the couch and said "the dinosaur is gone..."

some of her favorite things...

• food-pickles, fresh fruit and veggies, and of course M&M'S
• shows-Curious George, Clifford and Super Why
• shoes-her pink crocs or flip flops

Our First Road Trip!!!!

Caroline and I had a blast on our first road trip together, just the two of us! Monday afternoon Aunt Lill and I were comparing summer schedules. We soon realized that this week was the only week that we were both available. So on a whelm, Caroline and I decided to pack up and head out for the 4 1/2 hour drive north. She was such a trooper! I must say that I too was VERY proud of myself!!!!

resting in the hammock after the LONG ride

enjoying a cookie with Uncle Ed before dinner

sleeping in a real BIG girl bed...too bad mommy was a little nervous and ended up sleeping with her. we enjoyed some snuggle time. it also made me thankful that she sleeps in her own bed every other night!!! :0)

On Wednesday we decided to visit the local botanical gardens. They have a wonderful children's area with lots of fun stuff to do. The weather was little on the overcast side which made it a lot more enjoyable. Also, when they designed the area, they made sure to include a lot of shade in the children's area.

the fun tree house that over looks the pond below as well as the actual children's garden

Aunt Lill and Caroline looking for the turtles, fish and ducks below

fun bench

I LOVED this idea. The kids filled buckets with water and then used a sponge to "water" the plants.

mommy helping Caroline

hula hooping

they also had a small splash pad for the kids to enjoy

we stopped to enjoy a yummy snack Aunt Lill packed for us. The geese quickly decided they wanted to be friends. Aunt Lill was talking with a cheeze it in her hand and the big goose took it right out of there.

back to the splash pad

Then we headed over to the large sand box! As much as she enjoyed the sandbox, we enjoyed the water faucet MORE. She was washing the sand off of her hands and feet as she did many times while we were there!

Carrying her sand and water mix back to the sandbox.

She loved the playhouse! It was so cute!

She made us a birthday cake for our birthday "coming on Friday."

"I'll be 4 on my birthday coming on Friday." Her friend Catherine is going to be 4 so she thinks she is the same age...

We made a fan in the outdoor art section

enjoying running in the grass

Needless to say, we had an awesome morning! Once we got home, she took a great nap. We went outside later that evening to enjoy the balance beam and the hammock. Uncle Ed made the balance beam below and SHE LOVES IT!!!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Aunt Lill and Uncle Ed, only wished we could have stayed longer...

8 years....

It's hard to believe that it's been 8 years since I married my wonderful husband. We have LEARNED A LOT over the last 8 years. I can honestly say that I love him more today than I did the day we got married. We have gone through some tough times together (family illness, infertility, career strugles) but in the end, we have relied on God and each other and made it through. I feel very blessed to call Andy my husband and I look forward to many more wonderful years! :0)

Happy Daddy Day Andy

I knew 8 years ago when I married Andy he was an amazing man. I knew I was blessed to have him as my husband. I had no idea the man he would be when he became a father! From the moment we found out about Caroline, he went into Daddy action. He couldn't wait to meet his little girl. The moment he laid eyes on her, tears fell from his face and all he could say was "that's my perfect little angel." I have watched the two of them grow together over the last three years and I couldn't be more proud of him. He always has time to read a book, play with baby, dress baby, feed baby or watch ca-toons. He loves our family and works hard to provide for us. I know he has some long days at work but he's never too tired to hang out with his girls. And for that, we are very thankful!

This afternoon we had Andy's family over to celebrate Father's Day with cake and ice cream. Mrs. Susan made a yummy chocolate chip cake and it was SO.GOOD! After that, we headed outside with the kids. They had a blast!!!

Caroline with daddy and Pop

Caroline gave her daddy a nice charcoal grill for father's day. Just the right size for a camp out in the back yard...we grilled some hot dogs for super and it worked great. We enjoyed them as we watched the Gamecocks win the first game of the World Series playoff. Go GAMECOCKS!

enjoying her hot dog while we watched the game