The Durham Family

2012-01-09T20:22:00.001-08:00

Charlie~ That's what's been going on in our house in the last year and a half. We found out we were pregnant last fall and in June, the third specifically, we welcomed the latest addition to our family. Charles William Durham is a happy, healthy blessing of a boy. He is truely one of the greatest blessings of my life. I was so nervous to have a boy. Never really being around a "little" boy, it was intimidating to think about raising a boy. I mean, I knew what to do with a baby girl, that was easy. But a boy, A BOY! What in the world was I supposed to do with that. How would I feel about having this little guy around? Would I be able to relate to him? Would I actually think he was cute? Little girls are cute from the get-go what with the bows and ribbons and ruffly pink things but a boy? Weren't they just...well, boys? I knew I would love him, but was I going to be able to relate to him? Well, I decided to just leave it to the Lord and let Him prepare me. Everyone I talked to who had a boy said, you just wait, there's something special about boys. Honestly, I had no idea what they were talking about. I mean, I LOVE my girls. At night, I say to them: Abbie, you are the heart of my heart, Aubrie, you are the light of my life. And I mean it. They are more special to me than I ever imagined a child could be and quite frankly, that has not changed a bit. However, there is something new in the mix now. It happened quite unexpectedly and quite instantly on the day that Charlie was born.

I have NO, absolutely NO memory of delivering the girls. I have a pretty crummy memory in general so my sketchy memory of the delivery room I chalked up to just that, crummy memory. But as the date for Charlie's delivery came closer, I talked with my OB/GYN Steve Marks and mentioned not really having any memory of the girls births. He was shocked and said, "We will make sure that you remember this one! If my wife didn't remember the birth of our baby, I would have been in serious trouble. I wouldn't want that to happen to her and I won't let it happen again to you." It was so sweet. That said, I told him that if it came down to it, I'd rather have sketchy memories that clear memories of blistering pain. As it turns out, my anesthesiologist the day of deliver (ironically his name escapes me now) figured out (through his own personal experience) that I have some kind of weird reaction to the anti-nausea medicine that they put in the cocktail for the spinal block and it makes me lose my memory. Well, they put the cocktail in, sans the one drug, and I'm telling you, it was like a whole new experience. Totally new! As I was wheeled into the delivery room I realized exactly how little memory I had of the girls birth. It was as if I had never delivered a baby before. I remembered NOTHING! Everything was new. The sounds, sights, smells...so weird! I knew it was going to be such an exciting experience because I was going to actually remember this baby being born. Problem with that was that it was all so new that I got really nervous...and nautious. Being straped down to a table in the buff, and 40 weeks pregnant, and with lots of people around, and feeling like you are about to lose your lunch is NOT a fun experience. The doctor had to adjust the table so that Charlie rolled over a bit and off of my stomach and then sickness went away pretty quickly. I was so relieved and then they started the procedure to bring our boy into the world. It was weird hearing and smelling all of the sights and sounds of the delivery room. But in what seemed like no time, I heard the sweetest sound ever. A wet, very upset little cry. It was CHARLIE!!! He was here!! Tears from me, tears from Phillip. It was a precious moment.

They lifted my little fella over the sheet so that I could see him and it was as if a ton of bricks hit my heart. I saw him and instantly I heard in my heart: This little guy is yours for a very short amount of time. You get to be his number one for 18 years and then he will leave and be the love of someone else. I'm telling you that if a momma bear's instincts are anything like what set in the moment I saw Charlie, it's no wonder that people use them as examples of fierce love. It was like instant, fierce, gargantuan love. And it was so different from how I connected to the girls. I really feel like falling in love with the girls was a process but falling in love with Charlie was instantaneous. That's not to say that the level of love it different, I'd die for any of my kids, I love them all to pieces but the how, the when of it happening was different. In the end, the depth of love is the same but it was a different beginning all together. He stole my heart the moment I laid eyes on him and I'll never be the same.

Twin Day

2010-05-31T21:50:00.001-07:00

Anna and Abbie

Abbie Grace and her friend Anna coordinated on twin day this year. They wore matching shirts and bows with pony tails. They were so excited to dress up together. We had a blast getting them coordinated and watching them match up. It was lots of fun.

Afterschool Snacks

2010-05-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

Brie with Sticky Hands

Yum!

My Cute Crestwood Cougar

The Afterschool Crew

My babies!

One of the new school traditions from this first year of school is the afterschool snack. It's something I remember loving myself when I was a kiddo. My girls love this time of day. Sometimes we do fun stuff and other times it's a PB&J or Breezie Crackers (Wheat Thins) with Abbie Cheese (American Cheese). On this particular day we had a fun time making Rice Krispie Treats. The girls LOVE this particular snack (and who wouldn't). We tried to save some for NiNi since it's her super favorite but we ended up licking the bowl clean.

Prey and Competitors

2010-05-31T21:38:00.001-07:00

So yet another Abbieism has emerged. This last week the kids were learning about Sea Life. Beach day is tomorrow and they have all been eagerly learning all kinds of things relating to the ocean. Abbie is great at picking up information. She is a fountain of new facts at the end of most school days. Last week when we were walking home from school she started to tell me about the little fish that were in the ocean. She said, "Mom, did you know that those little fish are the prey for the bigger fish?" "Yes, can you believe it?!?" I replied. "Yeah, I know" she says. "It's amazing because they have to swim really fast to get away from their 'competitors'." I had to really think about that for a second. Because yes, they do have to outswim other fish which implies some level of competition but what I quickly realized was that she meant that the prey had to outswim their PREDATORS. Ahhhh....it's all becoming clear to me now. Predator, competitor, close call either way!

Abbie's Zoo Trip

2010-05-02T20:41:00.001-07:00

Phillip, Brie, Abbie and Faith at the LR Zoo

Faith and Abbie

Standing like the Blue Crane

Mrs. Murdock's Kindergarten class at the LR Zoo

Last week we got to go with Abbie's class to the Zoo. It was lots of fun.

She walked around with her friend Faith and her little shadow, Brie. Phillip was off work so he got to come to which was a huge blessing. Brie fell down three different times and scraped her hands and knees each time. However, that was the only true trauma of the day which is saying something. Abbie's favorite animal was (again) the Armadillo and Brie (again) said that the Bear Cat was her favorite.

Regarding NiNi's fitness

2010-05-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight Abbie started an exercise regimine...of her own volition. She went upstairs, dressed herself and came down ready to go walk on the treadmill at NiNi's house. She also gathered up some weights (she has one pound ones that are just hers) and her towel for floor work (just like mom). So we all traipsed next door and Ab's walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes, worked up a little sweat and then wanted to do some weight work (which I did with her) and we ended with the crampy crunches referenced in the last post on Abbieisms. We then went downstairs and I overheard Abbie chatting with NiNi. She said that she wanted to exercise to be skinny and healthy. (Yes, I've already jumped on the skinny thing and we talked about being healthy is important but being beautiful on the inside counts more than beauty on the outside.) NiNi responded with something along the lines of "Oh girl! Your little tummy is strong and tight. I wish mine was like that." Abbie looked at her and said without missing a beat. "Well if you would exercise more and eat healthy then it would be."

Abbieisms

2010-05-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

Abbieisms are sayings created by Abbie that I find funny. Here are some recent ones...
1. Betrayed-ed (see post below for details)
2. Crampy Crunches (This is Abbie's explanation for what it feels like to be on the floor and doing abdominal curls. She said doing them made her tummy feel all crampy. I replied that we call it a crunch. She said, well it's a crampy crunch! Too true...)
3. Names for Brie: Fuzzy Head, Peepy Weep. For the record, Brie hates these names and corrects her sister anytime she hears them which is frequently. The conversation goes something like this: From Abbie "Hey Fuzzy Head!" Reply by Brie "I not Fuzzy Head. I Awbwie Faif or Bweezy (Translated, I'm not fuzzy head, I'm Aubrie Faith or Breezie.)

Betrayed-ed

2010-04-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Phillip did his second triathalon which was his first outdoor tri. We did a team tri in February and came in second place (which shocked us). Had we known that our team name was going to be announced we probably would have picked something other than "Garlic Gangsters," but I digress.
The tri went great for Phillip, he came in second in his age division which was awesome. We went down to Arkadelphia with the Simon fam as well. Becky and Phill did the tri on Sat and Ken did the Duathalon on Sunday. I watched kiddos as I have no interest in bike riding or open water swimming. Bring me a half-marathon but no tri's please! As we were entertaining the kids on Sunday, Elaina and Abbie managed to run into each other and bump heads. Abbie, as usual, didn't feel anything as she seems to be impervious to pain when it is directed toward her skull. (Literally a hard head) Elaina, however, had a full on goose egg on her little forehead and shed some tears over the incident. Abbie had already run off and Becky snuggled Elaina and then told her to run on but she was still feeling a little weepy (as would I) so I picked her up to give her an extra little snuggle. Well, that didn't sit well with the little green giant known as Abigail Grace and she proceeded to register shock, disbelief and then betrayal on her face. She turned her back on me and started crying as she walked away. Becky and I noticed this and one of us asked her what was wrong as she was walking. She turned around and with her little fists by her side she cried out, "Mom, you betrayed-ed me!" Bless her heart, she was more hurt by my snuggling Elaina than by the actual injury. So Beck and I had to spend then next few minutes convincing Abbie that I loved her more than Elaina and that she was the most special Abbie I could ever know and that she was still Queen of the world to her momma. (A title only shared by her sister.) It took some time but she managed to recover. What a drama queen! Wonder where she gets that from...hmmmmm.....

Anatomy by Abbie Grace

2010-04-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

So, along the line of the "frinkles" post...one of my all time favorite things that Abbie has ever said was "foot knuckle." As in...
"MOM!!!" crying and yelling.
"What, Abbie? What's wrong?" says Tracie.
"I hurt myself." Sniff, sniff as she says this.
"Well, where did you hurt yourself, hon?" asks Mom.
"Right here," she says pointing to her ankle "on my foot knuckle."

Yeah, the compassion that followed only came after I doubled over and tried to hide my laughter. Gotta love these days!

Brie at the Fire Department

2010-04-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Fire Fighter Durham, Jr.

Brie and Dad on Engine 1

Breaker, Breaker, Come On Back

A couple of weeks ago, Brie and I stopped by the Fire Station to visit Phillip. He let her climb around the truck and pretend that she was on the headset. It was so cute. She's quite the little fire groupie!

Frinkles

2010-04-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

My girls say really funny things from time to time. Sometimes I know where they come from and other times, I have no idea but either way, they make me giggle. Last night Brie had a milk shake from Dixie Cafe (a favorite place) and it came with sprinkles on top. She was holding it on the way to the car (yes, it had a lid) and it got too cold to carry so she handed it to me. When I was putting her in the car, she looked at me with her serious face and said, "Momma, don't fill my frinkles!" Which translated means, Momma, don't spill my sprinkles. It was so cute. Right up there with her phrase to start all of us out the door, Let's Rock and Roll! (That she got from her Daddy...)

Aubrie's Easter Bunny

2010-04-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

Aubrie by the Bunny

Aubrie's Bunny

Aubrie was walking with her Daddy and I in the yard today when we found a baby bunny! It was so tiny! We are hoping that we will be able to show Abbie when she gets home from school. What a great find on our Easter weekend!

Fancy Abbie

2010-04-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Fancy Abbie

Fancy Abbie, Poet Extraordinaire and her helper!

Yesterday was "Be Your Favorite Book Character" Day at Crestwood. Abbie chose to be Fancy Nancy from Fancy Nancy, Poet Extraordinaire. We had originally wanted to be Nancy from Posh Puppy but she just got the Poet book this week so it was more fun, apparently. So, yesterday we got up and got to work on her ensemble. We teased her hair so it would look more like Nancy's and wrapped her in a toga just like Nancy is wearing on the cover of the book. (The toga was a white table cloth, I had to talk her out of using my good blanket that I keep on the couch, she was slightly disappointed until she saw that the tablecloth had some lace on it). We added a crown to her hair and beads and she looked beautiful! She wore her toga all day long, even on the playground. Great Day, Great School! (Note in the pictures that Brie is still in her PJ's. There wasn't time to get me decent for public view, Abbie all fancied up and Brie dressed. Nothing like an exciting morning in the Durham house!!)

Easter Egg Hunt at MDO

2010-04-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

Aubrie Faith, 2 1/2 years old
Hunting for Eggs

In front of the MDO sign

Full Basket!

Aubrie went to her first official Easter Egg hunt yesterday at MDO. Last year she was just too little to really "get" the idea of the hunt but this year, she got it! I had so much fun watching her run around at her sweet little school. We LOVE her MDO. It was absolutely wonderful. (First Baptist Church of Sherwood) Great teachers and administrators! We got there just before the kids were ready to start the hunt. We had to walk through the playground to get to the door so Brie saw the eggs around and was so excited! We lined up with her class and they attacked the playground with some speed. There were eggs flying all over the place. She had a great time filling up her basket and when she maxed out her basket it was off to the playground where she played on everything. She can climb up everything (steps and bars...and the slide) and go down all if it too. It's amazing to see how big she has gotten this year. She is fearless on that playground! It was a great day and a great way to kick off our Easter weekend!

Kickin' It

2009-09-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Aubrie, Abbie Grace, Kennedy Grace and Colson

Kennedy and Abbie chasing the team

Abbie, Kickin' It

Nearing the Goal...

Sometimes God just blesses our socks off and I have to tell you about how He did it this time for our family. Over the summer I decided that I should sign Abbie up for soccer. Now, mind you, when I decided to do this it was the end of July. Having NEVER done anything with this sport, I had no idea that they would have already signed up for fall soccer. So I call Sherwood to find that they had filled up and were not even thinking about having a waiting list. So I called Lakewood and talked to the nicest man, Ken Sullivan, who put us on a waiting list for another soccer team if they had enough players and coaches. I called on a Monday in August and on Thursday we had a team! Blessing right? Yep, huge blessing and we were so excited. We went right out and found pink cleets (is that with a "K" or a "C", I have no idea...seriously I know nothing about soccer...) and pink shin guards. We know all of one person (Kennedy Grace, one of Abbie's best friends) who plays with the Lakewood team and she signed up months in advance for Fall soccer. I did NOT want to push the limits of decency and ask for Abbie to be put on her little friends team so we just were excited about meeting new friends and getting to know something about a new sport. So, Abbie, Brie and I show up for our 1st soccer practice and we have no clue what we are supposed to do or where we are supposed to go. We wander around aimlessly and as we were wandering, we see the Burkett's, the one family we know who plays soccer up there. I decide to humble myself and check my "I can figure this out" prideful self and ask them if they would recognize Coach Hopkins so they might point us in the right direction. Well we walk over and they look shocked to see us and Kennedy and Abbie hug each other like they hadn't just seen each other at church two days before. I ask if they know the coach and they look at me like I might be crazy and say, "yes, that's Kennedy's coach!" At this moment, the coach comes over and says "this must be Abbie Grace." I nearly fell over! I mean, never in my wildest dreams did I think that Abbie would end up on a team with her friend. In fact it was so far from what I considered a possibility that I didn't even pray about it. It just felt too selfish to pray for. I never want to approach God like He is some kind of magical genie who will grant whatever wish I ask of Him. This just felt so ridiculous to ask for so I prayed instead for Abbie to easily make friends with the kids that she was placed on a team with. Never did it enter my mind that God would take that wildest dream and make it come true! That's what is just overwhelming to me and it is so consistent with the character of God. He is so big and so intimate. He knows the desires of our hearts, probably even better than we do, and His desire is to bless us. I just have to praise Him for how He knew my heart and my desire to have Abbie know someone on her team. I know this sounds so trivial but that is what God has taught me so much about this year. He is a God who is so big; He created the universe and causes all of us to be and yet, He is so small and intimate that He blesses us in ways that are intensely personal and specific to our needs. Do you know Him like that? If you don't and you want to, ask me about it. I would love to share with you just how much you are loved, because you ARE! He loves you just like He loves me and loves my daughter. Enough to carry me through this summer as a single parent and experience blessing after blessing and enough to put Abbie in the one team that has a forever friend in it. What an awesome God!

FL Pictures

2009-08-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

Traveling Down

At the Donut Hole: Elaina, Joyanne, Abbie, Brie and Kaden

Mom, Brie and Abbie

Aubrie in the Sand

Splashing in the waves

American girls at the Beach

Abbie Grace, 5 1/2 yrs old

Underwater Swimmer

Brie baby in her floaties

Mom, Abbie and Brie

Superstar Abbie

Beautiful Baby Brie with her fishing net

High Flying Acrobat Abbie

I have to tell you, I LOVE going to Destin. This was, perhaps, one of my favorite trips down there ever. We (the kids and I) went down with Becky and her two kiddo's, Kaden and Elaina, and we also took an INCREDIBLE baby sitter, Joyanne. We had the most relaxing week I think I've ever spent at the beach. Well, the time after I took the bar exam was pretty relaxing too but this may have beaten it. We only ate out once with the kids and we did one girls night when we put the kids to bed and Becky and I went to dinner with my sister Brooke. It was a great week. Tons of swimming (pool and ocean) and lots and lots of giggling and laughing. We both said that we really did miss our boys being there but it was okay with us to not cook dinner or worry much about what we were going to eat any other time of the day. We did frozen pizza, mac and cheese, cereal...I mean it was simple and WONDERFUL!! Joyanne was just amazing. She was such a blessing all week. She knew just what to do and when to do it and she never once complained about anything!! She sat in the back of my car with Elaina and Abbie for 12 hours down there and 13 hours back and never once acted like she'd rather ride on the roof of the car than spend one second longer in the back seat (which I would have felt like saying after approximately 10 ot 15 seconds...) Here are some brief highlights:

Kaden swimming in the ocean without a lifejacket.

Abbie swimming in the baby pool with goggles and a nose plug.

Brie swimming in floaties under protest on Monday and transitioning to delight by Wednesday when she realized they come with a great gift: FREEDOM!!

Abbie being so scared to swim in the big pool without her life jacket that she literally nearly scared herself sick.

Hannah Montanta montages and dance parties

Two ladies, one king size bed, one cavernous space in the middle, nuff said...

Really sticky suntan lotion for the Durham's, great stuff for the Simons.

Dolphins off the port bow!!

"Snorkling" by Becky, "Near Drowning" by Tracie

Wave Jumping by the kids

Net fishing

Catching 3 large hermit crabs: one now lives in AR.

Poop in the baby pool (not by any of our children...)

Sleeping on the beach by Tracie...unless a baby is crying, quick check if it's yours, nope. Return to sleeping...

Wine? OKAY!!

Super Spy Kaden

It was a blessing. Thanks Becky for tagging along with us!!

First Day of Kindergarten...

2009-08-19T18:05:00.001-07:00

First Morning: Dressed and Ready to Go~

Abbie: THE Crestwood Cougar (can you see her fangs and claws...)

Abbie's Booster Club: Pap, Ni Ni, Paw Paw and Brie

Walking the sidewalk into school with her pink mesh backpack that is as big as she is...

Waiting for her class to be called back. Sitting next to her buddy, Hope

Well, we have officially made it through the first day of Kindergarten. I've been writing back and forth to Phillip today, via email, so I thought I'd use our correspondance to document the day. It goes something like this...

From Phillip to Me: (Preface, he called Abbie as we were walking out the door to school...)

~I'm so glad that I called when I did. I was not sure what time school started for her and all I can say is that the Lord put it in my heart to call and check this morning on Abbie's school time. What time does she get out of school? I've called and ordered some flowers to be delivered to the house for her. Let me know because I want to call her and hear from her how her day went. Love Phill

From Me to Him:

Oh my word, I'm so glad that you called today. It was perfect timing and Abbie was thrilled to talk to you. She did great today...MUCH better than I did. I cried (not big cry but a constant stream of tears that I just could not stop no matter how hard I tried) the whole way there, the whole time I was waiting for her class to be called back to their rooms and the whole way back home. Not to mention I cried for a while after I got home too. Brie was a nice distraction but it about broke my heart leaving her there today. Not because it's a bad place but just because she's growing up and this just feels HUGE and super permanent. No longer my baby, but a real big girl. It's just so bittersweet. Great, and now I'm crying again. Anyway, she was excited and I have a special treat for here when she comes home (Webkinz figure) and she'll be so happy about the flowers.

God certainly had good timing when he prodded you to call today. It made the morning super special.

Lots of love~
Tracie---

Follow up to Phill after Abbie got back from school:

Well, she had a great first day of Kindergarten. She really likes her teacher and she and her buddy, Hope, from MDO got to sit next to each other and she was really exicted about that. They learned some of the rules of the classroom, cafeteria and playground. She also said that she went to the bathroom all by herself and it was, in her words, "fabulous!" Today they colored a picture of Chester the Racoon from the book, The Kissing Hand, which is what you gave to her a couple of years ago for Valentine's Day. They brought home a handprint for mom and dad and a little copied book of pictures about the story that she had colored. She said it was a great day and she can't wait to go back tomorrow. I'm hoping this great attitude keeps up! I think I'll do better tomorrow too. Here's hoping anyway...

All in all, it was a great day. Wish you were here...can't wait for you to see all of this for yourself.

Lots and Lots of Love~
Tracie

Mommy and Abbie Date

2009-07-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday Abbie and I had the treat of having a Mommy and Abbie date afternoon! We had so much fun. Brie went with Nonnie and Abbie and I had an entire afternoon with each other. We started out at Gadwall's and then headed out to get a Manicure at WonderNails in NLR. I highly recommend them, they were so generous and sweet with she and I. We had a gift certificate from one of my "secret sisters" so thanks to whomever is part of that for a wonderful treat for my sweet baby and I. Abbie got polish and the lady was so sweet, she added flowers on four of her nails. Abbie was so excited she could hardly breathe! She had her top lip curled over her top teeth and her smile as big as you can imagine. She was so excited...she later told me it was her favorite part of the day. From there we caught a movie, Ice Age 3 (which was funny) and then we hurried home and had an hour and a half at the pool. We rushed home and grabbed a quick shower. At this point, my little princess was starting to s...l...o...w...d...o...w...n... I was drying my hair when I realized she was sitting in her towel on my bedroom chair, sitting up and sound asleep. It was so cute! That girl was worn out! We had a wonderful day and were both happy to go get Brie and have a delicious dinner at Pap and Nonnie's house but we were all too happy to get home and crash! What blessing to have a day to just hang out and have fun...mother-daughter style!

Underwater Mermaid

2009-07-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

This is some quick footage of Abbie underwater. She held her nose for this shot but for most of the afternoon she let go of her nose and just blew bubbles to keep out the water. She did great!!

Brie Baby Gets Dunked!

2009-07-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

Brie watched big sister go under so many times today that she just couldn't stand being left out. She requested that I put her face in the water and so I did. She is so funny. She seemed to go in eyes open and mouth open in excitement but when she came up she was all closed up. She never swallowed water so I count it as a success!! Guess that's what you do when you turn two!!

2009-07-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today Abbie took a HUGE leap forward with her swimming. We took Daddy's underwater challenge and she nailed it!! Her friend Elaina was swimming without her life jacket but Abbie had hers on. She really wanted to swim without it so she could be just like Elaina. Mrs. Becky encouraged her to just try swimming without her jacket right by the steps and once she realized that she could touch the bottom, she was fearless! There's no stopping her now!!

2009-07-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

4th of July Pictures

2009-07-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Tracie and Abbie

Brie Baby with her "haci"

Mommy and Abbie at Air Force Plaque

Brie trying to make it to the show...

Aubrie basking in the sun...

Paw Paw, Ni Ni, Nonnie, Pap, Uncle Mike and Shana

Stylin' for the the 4th

Cute Kids, AJ, Brie and Abbie after swimming time

Daddy's Big Girl

We had a wonderful 4th of July this year. It was weird since Phillip is deployed but it also gave some new meaning to what the holiday is really about. We had a great day over at Nonnie and Pap's house with the girls. They let me stay home and work on Aubrie's birthday cake while they took the kids over to a friends pool to swim and cause general mayhem for a while. We had a great dinner thanks to Pig and Chick from Sherwood. My parents came out and joined us at the new house for dinner and they stayed for the fireworks. We had one small accident at the fireworks show... Abbie was crossing the monkey bars and I had helped her across and when we made it to the last two bars she said she could finish herself and not thinking "danger, danger" I let go of her as she was swinging for the next bar and slipped narrowly missing crashing her face into the platform at the end of the bars and spinning in mid air to land on her back and knock the wind out of her. It was traumatic for both of us. We went back and sat on the blanket and cried...yes, both of us. We managed to regain our composure before the show started which was great. The first firework went off and it exploded from our line of sight, directly in front of the moon. Abbie exclaimed "Look Mommy it hit the MOON!!!!!" everyone around us giggled and laughed. It was precious.

Brie didn't make the fireworks show. When we left Jo and Bill's house to walk to the lake for the show, the neighbors were shooting off some small fireworks but they did make a considerable boom. She hated it but was really trying valiently to make a good show for the rest of us. She tried but was unable to muster the courage to do the big show. She fell asleep on Paw Paw and he and Nini took her back to the house to sleep off the final hours of the 4th of July. Maybe next year...

Aubrie's Birthday Party

2009-07-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

Mickey Mouse Cake by Mommy

Aubrie Faith, 2 years old

Birthday Song & Candles...

Brie and Paw Paw

Kaden, Brie, Paw Paw, Abbie, AJ, Eric and Elaina

Aubrie Faith is now two years old!! I can't believe it's been two years. She had a wonderful birthday party this past Sunday with everyone who loves her celebrating her special day. We were not planning on having a "friend" party until she was three but with her Daddy deployed, it seemed appropriate to surround her with people who could help substitute for him. No one could replace Daddy but it was fun to have everyone there singing with Brie. The Simon's, Watkin's, Durham's, Peerson's, Alfonso's and Hannah Garner were in attendance. We served Subway sandwiches and tons of fun finger foods. We did a Mickey Mouse theme and everyone brought books for Brie's presents. We got some wonderful new reads. We did have one minor incident at the party. We sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles and the whole shabang before we realized that Abbie wasn't in the room....so we did it all again and enjoyed singing to Brie the second time just as much as the first. What a great party for such a wonderful little girl! Happy Birthday Aubrie!!!

Swimming Lessons

2009-07-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Cat, Dog or the Pig

2009-06-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

So today Abbie was hanging out in the den and she had been doing some coloring. Brie saw an opportunity to stir up a mess and promptly scattered the crayons all around the floor and coffee table. When I walked through the den, I asked Abbie to please pick up some of the crayons. Now, I have to pause here to tell you that we have been reading a book about the Little Red Hen who wants to plant some seeds and grow some wheat to make into bread. She is on the farm with a cat, a dog and a pig who are pretty lazy. Everytime Little Red Hen wants to perform a step toward growing, cutting, milling, and baking the bread she asks the cat, dog and pig "who will help me?" to which they respond, "Not I." So back to Abbie and the crayons... I asked her to pick up some of the crayons. She looks at me and says, Mom, who will help me pick them up? I said, well, honey, I'm about to go up and find Brie's "haci" so she can go down for a nap. She looks at me and says matter-of-factly. "Okay, so who are you, the cat, the dog or the pig?" I nearly fell over. Not much to say to that, I picked up the crayons with her. Gotta love kids!

Eggs to Baby Birds

2009-06-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our eggs a few days ago and the baby birds today.

Hatching Day...

2009-06-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

We have had the pleasure of watching some birds make a nest in the wreath on our front door and lay four eggs. These eggs are as tiny as they can be! Today when I went to check on the eggs, we had not only eggs but also BABY BIRDS!! They are sort of creepy looking but they are also such a little miracle. Today they have survived people coming up to our front door, me walking in and out of the door without knowing that the eggs had hatched, a torential storm and constant interruption by my camera and the kids checking on the newest residents of Sugar Creek.

Chicken Dance

2009-06-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

So a few nights ago, the girls and I were hanging out finishing our dinner and recovering from a crazy busy day. While I was working in the kitchen, Abbie was wandering around looking for something to do. I suddenly heard hysterical laughter coming from Brie. I look over at Abbie, grab my camera and the video here is what I saw...Enjoy Abbie's Chicken Dance.

Secret Sisters...

2009-06-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

Tracie and Abbie
Tracie and Brie

First let me say that the pictures with this post really have nothing to do with it except that I'm smiling in them and that's what I have been doing a lot of lately thanks to some secret sisters. Yes, someone or several someones, I don't know which, have been leaving the most delightful surprises on my car and on my front porch in such beautiful bags and envelopes. I don't know what to say except "THANK YOU!!!" And that's just not enough...I have loved all the gifts from my annoymous secret sister(s). Each one has brought squeals of delight from me and from my girls. Abbie and I just keep looking at each other exclaiming "Who is doing this!!!!" quickly followed by something like "Open the bag Mommy and see what you got!!" I told my husband that's it's been better than a lot of my birthdays! The gifts are so thoughtful and are exactly the stuff that I love! I know, I keep using exclamation points but seriously, even as I sit her writing this, I'm equally flabbergasted by this sweet, secret, generous outpouring of love and selfishly loving every minute of it...I'm such a girl!! So, thank you so much. I just can't say it enough. I am so blessed by the people in my life and so grateful to the Lord for placing you in my life. More than anything, I am blessed by the friends that He has brought around me to keep me smiling while Phillip is away. Thanks to you and thanks to Him for you! Love and Hugs~ Tracie

Our Blessings

2009-06-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

While Phillip has been in Kuwait, we have experienced the most incredible blessings. I know that the source of these blessings is the Lord Jesus. We are literally overwhelmed by His outpouring of love by His people. In the last month, our computer has broken, our washing machine broke and my vacuum cleaner broke. Small things, yes and no. Our computer crashed the night before Phillip left and it was the only means of communication we would have with him in Kuwait so it was important to us that we get it up and running. Nick Ferguson, the son of one of my parents missionary friends came over and fixed my computer and swept it of all the viruses that were making it slow. Then my washing machine literally broke in the middle of the spin cycle while there was a full load inside. My mom finished the load at her house but I was still in desperate need of a washer. Enter Action Jackson (aka: Gary Jackson our "furniture guy"). We called him, he had a washer without a dryer that he would sell to us at a great price. We drive out there and when we get there, to my astonishment, he wants to GIVE us this washer and will deliver it and set it up and take my old one away. Why? Because he wants to repay my parents for their kindness to him over the years and because he wants to help out a solider's family. This was a HUGE blessing. It's a fabulous machine...works great, has a large capacity basket and most importantly: cleans like crazy!! Then the vacuum cleaner literally caught on fire while I was using it. Sparked, shot out what can only be described as a small electrical flame and then poured out smoke. It was dead, no coming back from that kind of destruction but God had a plan! I had a older Hoover (like more than 10 years old) that worked great but I had stopped using it when I got this new one...I thought I had killed the old when I sucked up a belt thingie under Abbie's bed. Turns out, it was repairable for a super low price ($26.00) and I was able to shell out another little bit for an extra machine so that I can keep one upstairs and one down. The man that helped me, Rick at Rick's Vacuum World on Kiehl Ave in Sherwood, was wonderful and as it turns out, his son is a fire fighter at Station 2 in LR. Small world. There have been so many blessings that I can't really even contain them all in this posting. From annonymous gift certificates, notes of encouragement, invitations to be involved with other families, playdates, job opportunites, PRAYERS and so much more we have been so abundantly blessed. I thank God for the way that He has moved His people to care for my little family. In the scheme of things, that He loves me and mine enough to do that when He is busy keeping the world on its Axis is phenomenal.
Praise to Him who is Holy and thanks from this daughter of Christ Jesus who deserves all the Praise. Thank you Lord for loving me so much and for providing in every need and blessing us even with things we didn't know we needed and weren't expecting. We love you.

More Graduation Pictures

2009-06-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Abbie Grace and Mrs. Marabeth

Abbie Grace and Ian Walker
Abbie Grace and Her Candy Diploma
Future Crestwood Cougars: Hope and Abbie

Abbie getting her certificate with

Mrs. Marabeth and Mrs. Jamie

Cubbie's Awards Night

2009-05-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Mr. Eric Day and the Crew:

Kaden, Eric, Abbie and Elaina

McKenna, Brie and Abbie Grace

Ms. Jean, PawPaw and Abbie

Ms. Jean, PawPaw, Aubrie and Abbie

Elaina and Abbie

Abbie with her certificate

The ceremony

So due to a technical glitch, we were 20 minutes late to Award's Night but we squeaked in just in time for Abbie to be annouced with her class and receive her outstanding attendance award and certificate of completion. A cubbie no more, my little darling is now a sparky!!! She was excited and can't wait to move from a blue vest to a red one. We had surprise visitors tonight. Paw Paw and our dear Ms. Jeannie showed up to cheer and congratulate Abbie Grace. She was so excited to show off her awards. Brie was ecstatic to see more faces that she knew. It was a super fun night.

2009-05-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Abigail Grace Durham, 5 Years Old, Preschool Graduation: Sherwood First Baptist Church, Mother's Day Out, May 2009

My baby is growing up. Last week she graduated from her MDO program. It was such a sweet little ceremony. They all processed into the cafeteria and had assigned seats they had to find which went better than I imagined. They all sang their "good morning song" and they said the Pledge of Allegiance while one of Abbie's friends held the flag. They reviewed the alphabet in sign language and then they all told their favorite sign. Abbie's favorite sign was for "love." Mrs. Marabeth and Mrs. Jamie had them all play one of their favorite games. Abbie says that the game is called Mouse Count. In this game (based on the book, Mouse Count) the kids are all mice and crawl around on the ground. One child is selected to be the snake who is looking for dinner. He finds the mice and counts each and every one and puts them in a jar. The mice trick the snake and all the mice escape at the last second. It was so cute!! Abbie was mouse number 3. Then the kids all recieved their certificate of completion for the year. Abbie was so excited. You can see on the video that they skipped her and then came back to her. She was so proud as she walked across the stage. I have to say that I was so proud of her that I wanted to pop! After the ceremony was over, we all had lunch and a delicious cake from Littlest Cake Co in Cabot. All the Mom's had brought food for a buffet and decorated the tables. Abbie of course only ate fruit and cake. No veggies and dip... We will miss Mrs. Marabeth and Mrs. Jamie but in a couple of years, Aubrie will be in their classroom so it's not the end yet. Abbie had a wonderful year and was so blessed by her teachers. They were amazing and I highly recommend the program to anyone. It is the only MDO program that is certified by the State of Arkansas. Quite an accomplishment.

One chapter of school is finished for Abbie and soon another will begin. Kindergarten, here she comes!!!!

Playing Doctor

2009-05-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

Abbie, Brie and Eric

Abbie & Eric
Dr. Brie

Abbie Grace

We had a friend come over the other day (Eric W) and the kids got out all the doctor stuff and diagnosed each other. There were broken bones and boo boo's galore. They had a fun time giving each other shots...paticularly when they did it on the top of the head for some reason. Brie swiped several items from the big kids and performed her own version of medicine on herself and some stuffed animals. I'm pretty sure none of it was covered under any kind of health insurance plans...

Popcicle Pushers

2009-05-12T05:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a little video of the girls with their popcicles and Abbie and Aubrie at their finest!

NiNi's birthday

2009-05-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great Mother's Day and NiNi birthday this past weekend. My dad brought me flowers (since my sweet husband is away) and he played with the kids ALL afternoon while my mom and I played two hands of Phase 10...which I resoundingly lost incidentally. Mom got a beautiful ring for her birthday and I think she really loved it. I got a stunning necklace from Abbie made from beads she and NiNi had found in our craft area. She did a good job stringing the beads...they are decorated in an American Flag theme which works well for what our family is experiencing right now with Big Daddy away. Both Abbie and Aubrie loved the cake and devoured a couple of pieces...well, Abbie ate the icing and Brie ate the cake. They make a great pair together. Abbie's teeth at one point were orange and looked really gross so we made a point to brush really really well since we have a history of cavities. We did have an exciting phone call from Phillip yesterday. It was so good to hear his voice and get to hear him say he was okay. It's hard being separated by distance but it's nice to have all of this technology to keep us in touch even across the miles. All that to say, Mother's Day was nice this year...it could only have been better if Phillip had actually been here to celebrate with us. We are missing him but are so proud of all that he is doing for our country.

Popcicles

2009-05-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

Aubrie: 21 months

Abbie 5 years old
Aubrie

The girls first summer popcicles

My kiddos love to eat popcicles. There is something special about sitting on our front steps and just hanging out with an icy treat. These are pictures of our first summer treat this year. It's been warm (not as warm as say in Kuwait) but it's been nice. Brie loved her popcicle and was very protective of it. Abbie tried to swipe it and that got a definitive and swift response from little sister: a boisterous "Sop" which is her version of Stop! Gotta love sibling interactions.

Marathon Pictures

2009-04-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ken and Phillip waiting on Becky and "watching" the kids...oh wait, where are the kids... hmmmm...

The Crew: Aubrie, Abbie, Elaina and SuperKaden
Completion of Relay One and a very happy Simon Family

Meeting my cheering squad at a checkpoint

Off to the finish line!

Little Rock Marathon 2009

2009-04-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

This year I ran in the LR Marathon. I did a relay which was 6.2 miles as one leg of a four man (woman) team. It was tons of fun, lots of work and I'm so glad that I did it. My friend Becky ran the first leg through downtown LR and over to the North Shore then I go to run through historic downtown LR (gov's mansion, Arkansas Baptist College, Central High, the State Capitol, the park from gang-banging in LR...you know, the interesting places in town). Becky and I had our own personal trainer to run with us...that of course was my dad. He ran Becky's leg of the relay with her and then ran with me too...and he ran crazy fast, I had to book it to keep up with him! It was a beautiful day for the race...perfect weather for running! The best part of the run was seeing my own personal cheering section and three different spots along the way. Phillip, Abbie, Aubrie, Ken, Becky, Kaden and Elaina Simon met me along the way and cheered me to the next meeting spot. It was awesome and so encouraging. I have the best friends and the sweetest family ever!

Okay, it's been a while...

2009-04-01T20:56:00.001-07:00

Brie in her car (20 months)

Tulip in the yard...Hooray it's spring!

Abbie upside down on the swingset

My girls in the Azaleas...springtime in Arkansas

There is no excuse, I know. It's just been busy but tonight I'm up late and not really wanting to head to bed so I thought I'd do a quick update. Things are fine in the Durham household. It's been a wonderful year so far and we are enjoying our time with Phillip before he deploys for the summer. The girls are so wonderful and so much fun. These pictures are from today. It's the first time they have been out since early this past weekend because they both came down with cold...thank goodness it wasn't pneumonia again. They are clearly on the mend and doing fine. We were out looking at the few pitiful flowers in our backyard and took these pictures.

Thanksgiving in Heber Springs

2008-12-08T21:40:00.000-08:00

Daddy & Abbie Hangin' on the couch

Cranium: the word was Rodeo, the result was hilarity (this is when I peed my pants a little)

Two of these guys are surgeons and are befuddled by this game, the other is licensed to carry a concealed weapon...be afraid, very afraid...

Pam and Wendy during CRANIUM: again, the word was rodeo

Blowing out the candles on Abbie's family party cake

Daddy taking a moment to fish

Jumping on the new trampoline

Aubrie and Fannie...making friends, sharing crackers

Daddy and Brie

Crazy Aunt Wendy

Abbie and Mommy

Run Brie Run!

The Happy Couple (almost 10 years...)

Riding on the Zip Cord

Mom and Dad are Twinkies!!

My beautiful Sisters, Niece and Daughter

Abbie, PawPaw and Back Phat (the turkey)

My little Pilgrim: Costume made at school

We love going to Heber for Thanksgiving and this year was no exception. It was so fun. Here are some memorable pictures from the weekend.

I would have to say the funniest moments of the weekend were centered around the Cranium game. It was hysterical...like pee your pants hysterical. Check out the pictures, it might make you question the sanity of the men in my life.

FUNTASTIC PARTY!

2008-12-08T21:20:00.001-08:00

The Birthday Girl at Funtastic

Brie and Abbie

Carsyn, Brie and Abbie playing Busy Bee

Opening Presents from Mr. Ken...

It's my Cake!!

Brie, AJ, Abbie, Carsyn and Emma waiting on the cake

Good Buddies: Eric and Kaden

Our friend Hannah (or Kid Hannah as Abbie calls her...)

Magdalen and Abbie Grace

Daddy and Brie at the Party...

McKenna and Abbie team up for a crazy game of Air Hockey

Emma and Abbie

Party Crew: Elaina, Eric, McKenna, Hannah, Magdalen, Abbie Eric and Kaden

What a great time was had by all at Funtastic. Funtastic is Abbie's idea of heaven...she loves the games and the noise and the pizza. I have to admit...the pizza is actually quite great there. She has been looking forward to her party since we booked it and as a testament to her excitement, she didn't fall asleep on the way to her party. Generally, Abbie is snoozing when we get to any party, but this one she stayed awake for. All of her buddies were there and she cheered everytime someone came in the door. Once everyone arrived, we divided up the game cards and it was a free for all at Funtastic. We played until it was time for pizza then we ate till we were all uncomfortably full and followed it up with a princess ice cream cake. Abbie was thrilled to see that the princess that was front and center on the cake was her favorite: Sleeping Beauty. We opened gifts (she made out like a bandit, I tell you!) and then everyone ran off to play some more games. The only glitch of the afternoon was a couple minute period when I lost Aubrie in the busyness of the party but she was located with Ms. Tracy (praise the Lord) and all was well with the world again. Abbie ended the day by spending the night out with her cousin AJ at Pap and Nonnie's house. She had a blast! Thank you to all who made her day so very special. Enjoy the pictures! Happy Birthday Abbie Grace!

Abbie is FIVE!!!

2008-12-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

Opening Presents

Aunt Shana helped us celebrate

The GIANT new pink pony from Nini...the name: pink glitter sparkle pony. It was exactly what she wished for.

Birthday girl with Mommy

Abbie is FIVE!!!

Oh my goodness...my baby girl is Five years old. Where did the years go? We celebrated her actual birthday by doing anything that the birthday girl wanted to do. We went to a movie (Madagasgar 2) and were the ONLY people in the theater. Brie ran around like crazy (good thing that we were the only ones there) and Abbie enjoyed it immensely. Phillip took the day off so we could spend it with her. We went to dinner at "Gagwall's" and had her favorite...cheese dip and chips with chicken strips. It was a great night. These pic's are from after dinner when we did the birthday cake and presents. ... Five years full of blessings and fun and the girl that made us a family. Wow.

Falling in the Leaves

2008-11-23T20:35:00.000-08:00

Aubrie in the leaves

Aubrie and Paci in the leaves

Midflight!!!

Siding down into the leaves

Running through!

Happy Fall Ya'll

I love the fall...not just because my birthday is in the fall (although that helps) but I love the sense of change that comes in the fall. I can literally smell when it starts to change...the air smells different to me and it gets me so excited to think about what is to come...Thanksgiving in Heber Springs, Abbie's Birthday, decorating for Christmas, making Christmas cookies, Christmas music at Body & Soul with Jingle Bells on, My Christmas Tree...so many wonderful things that just the change in the air gets my blood moving faster with anticipation. One of the things that I love to do in the fall is watch Abbie play in the leaves. This year, we have our little Aubrie joining in the fun too! She was not sure what to think about the huge pile of leaves but she eventually consented to sit in the middle of it and explore the textures and sounds. It was so fun to watch her as she picked up the leaves as best she could in her mittens and moved them around. Abbie is now a veteran leaf pile jumper. This year, my dad moved a HUGE pile of leaves from his yard to ours and strategically placed the pile at the end of our slide. Abbie immediately went up the slide and slid down into the pile. After she had done this a few times she suprised me by standing up and launching herself off the top of the slide and into the leaf pile. I was anticipating another picture of her sliding and as I snapped the picture, she was midflight...the result is posted above. What can I say, change is in the air, my baby isn't a baby anymore...she's a toddler and my toddler is now an adrenaline junkie jumping off the top of slides.
I LOVE THE FALL!!

Guatemalan Girlfriends

2008-11-23T20:27:00.000-08:00

Sandra, Michele, Tanya, Sessia and Abbie Grace

Abbie, Sessia, and Brie

The girls, bundled up on the swingset

Abbie, Sessia, Michele and Brie

My parents hosted some wonderful ladies from Guatemala this week. They have been here in AR teamed up with Fellowship Associates Residency Program. Tanya's husband is a pastor in Guatemala. It's so fun to meet all these missionaries and see how God connects all His people from all over the world. Abbie just fell in love with these two girls... Sessia and Michele. They both speak English beautifully and are so sweet to her. They are experiencing a new climate here with the changing season and the cold! This is all of us playing around in our backyard.

Breakfast with Santa

2008-11-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Abbie Grace

Abbie and Eric

They were giving out Fire hats...these guys are ready for an emergency!

This is what really happens when you take a picture with kids...one is struggling to get out of my arms and the other one is in a mid-tackle trying to take me down to the ground...

Tracie and Tracy with Brie Baby

The posed shot....

Eric, Abbie and Aubrie

Abbie after Santa moves away

Our encounter with the Claus Family

Last week we had Breakfast with Santa at McCain mall. We got up, got dressed, got excited, drove up to the mall, took out the super stroller, met up with Tracy and Eric and then experienced sheer terror at the presence of Mr. & Mrs. Claus. Yep, terror...especially from Aubrie. We didn't have to pay for the terror, thank goodness. We were going up there to take pictures but that dream quickly faded when we approached Santa and Aubrie attempted to climb over my shoulder. When her escape plan didn't pan out, she opted for hiding her face in my shoulder and shaking with fear. Abbie, my normally outgoing child, clung to my leg like it was a lifeline and wouldn't make eye contact with either Mr. or Mrs. Now, understand that these were some of the best and most pleasant Clauses that I have ever met. Not scary at all...so needless to say, we passed on having our picture officially taken with Santa. Maybe next year, maybe not...I'm just glad that my expectations have been set low, okay really low, for any and all Christmas encounters with Santa for 2008. Our holiday song will go something like this...

Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La stay away from Santa...

Homeschool at Mrs. Tammy's

2008-11-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

Eric and Nate

The girls club!

My little artist at work

Kaden and Elaina creating their fall tree

Painting in process!!

Mommy and Brie

Abbie painting

Brie during story time

Our special guest, Elaina

Story Time

In the month of November, we did our homeschooling at Mrs. Tammy's house. It was so much fun. Tammy is awesome and the kids had a wonderful time learning all about fall. Abbie was calling the colorfull tree's "Changing Tree's" and after Mrs. Tammy explained a little about chlorophyll, Abbie now shouts CHLOROPHYLL!!! everytime we pass a tree that is changing colors. I love that she picked up on that! What can I say, my child is brilliant. The kids did a weaving project with foam leaves, Tammy read stories and they did some painting. We had a special guest on this day too...Elaina May! She was out of school and got to come with Beck and Kaden. Abbie was so glad to see her girlfriend!

Mornings at the Durham's

2008-11-23T19:51:00.001-08:00

Abbie Grace, 4.75 years

Brie Baby, 16 months

Hanging Out watching Cartoons

So we don't always have lazy mornings at home but on my girls ideal morning, we are at home hanging out on the couch watching TV with their sippy cups full of chocolate milk. Both of the girls nursed...well forever. So when I weaned them, I did it the easiest way possible...from mom to Chocolate Milk. I mean really, if you have to be weaned why not move to the best kind of milk...chocolate. So both of them LOVE chocolate milk...chocolate was Aubrie's sixth word, I promise. In the morning, both the girls want to snuggle on the couch, sit in my lap or under the big white blanket and drink their hair of the dog...otherwise known here as chocolate milk. I love this tradition...when Abbie goes to Kindergarten next year, I am going to miss these mornings and I'll miss moments like these the most. Chocolate Milk, Cartoons, Coffee and my two little girls...it just doesn't get better than this for me.

A Night at Home with the Durham's

2008-10-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

This is just a glimpse into life at our house. The girls are growing up so fast. We have been so blessed just to be their parents. We love taking video's of them doing momentus stuff but sometimes it's good to see the basic's too. Tonight after the girls had their bath, we all sat around in Aubrie's nursery and watched her walk around. I got out the camera to video her newest accomplishment but she didn't exactly cooperate. What you see is what happened for a couple of minutes at the house. How awesome is God that He lets us have these precious little gifts to remind us that there is glory even in the littlest things...little dances, little words, big sisters and little sisters. What a great God we serve!

Abbie's Barrel Cart Ride

2008-10-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Aubrie Faith's First Hair Cut

2008-10-28T18:18:00.001-07:00

Aubrie's Hair Pre-Cut

Taking some snips off

Getting it even

The final product

Well, I finally did it. Tonight we cut Aubrie's baby hair. I struggled with this decison, just like I did with Abbie Grace but she was sort of sporting a baby mullet so it was time to get a little trim. We brought in the bumbo as our seat and started to cut. She did a great job staying still for me and I think it's reasonably straight. I only did the back because the front is still a little too thin to trim. I had a wonderful assistant helping me with the photo's that you see here. The first picture of the pre-cut hair was taken by Phillip but the rest are all taken by Miss Abbie Grace. I think she's showing some talent. Thanks Abbie for taking great pictures of Aubrie's first little hair cut. Aubrie, you look beautiful!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

2008-10-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Aubrie and Mom in the Corn Box

Daddy and Abbie picking out the "Perfect Pumpkin"

Abbie Grace in her Tractor Train Car

Searching for the Perfect Pumpkin...she said she didn't want one with any dirt and it had to be perfectly round... hard to come by but she found one that would work.

Aubrie inspecting the goods

My little baby WALKING around the farm

Aubrie the fearless in the Hay Bale Tunnel

Abbie Grace in the Hay Bale Tunnel

Checking out the critters

Look at the Goat!!

Today we went to the Schaffer-Collin's Pumpkin Patch in Mayflower. We had a great time playing there and exploring all of the fun stuff that was set up this year. When we got there the place was empty which meant that we had free reign over all the stuff that was there. We took the opportunity to hit the hay tunnels first. Abbie Grace went right in this year, no hesitation whatsoever...the scary part was that her baby sister who is only 15 months old went right in after her. There was no way we were going to keep her from doing what big sis was up to. Since she is only 15 months, Mom had to go in after her and help her climb the hill to the top of the tunnel. I don't mind telling you that it was creepy as all get out in there...way to small a space for this Mommy. Anyway, we made it up nonetheless and then proceeded to play on all the equipment. They have added a lot of playground stuff since we were there a couple of years ago. The great part was that there was a whole section of stuff that was baby friendly. Aubrie got to swing and climb and slide and have a great time. Abbie was climbing on hay bales and swinging on rope swings like she was born and raised in the country. I'm secretly very proud of the fact that my suburb born baby can do that!! Anyway...we also got to see all kinds of baby animals in the petting zoo. Abbie loved the baby goats and pigs, Aubrie loved the baby pony and the ducks. Neither one of them liked the goose much...too loud. Everyone liked the really LOUD donkey (or mule...I never can remember which is which...what more can you expect from a full blown Suburb kid turned Suburb adult) who made his presence known in more than one way. After we picked out the "perfect pumpkin" and the "perfect mini-pumpkin" we walked across to the Tractor train ride. Abbie rode in a cart/barrel all by herself! We were so proud and a little dismayed as it lurched to a start and started off on the bumby road into the corn maze. Phillip and I looked at each other and both said we couldn't believe we had just sent our baby out there without either one of us. She's getting so big. Aubrie and I decided to take the time then to play in the "corn box." She loved taking the dried corn kernals and putting them in the sifter. It made her super happy. All in all, we had a wonderful time together at the Pumpkin Patch!

Halloween Street

2008-10-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

The Durham Dames at Halloween Street

Watching the Taekwondo Demonstration

Sisters~in~law and Heart

Brie and Mommy

Hitting up the locals for candy

My little Halloweeners

AJ and Abbie

The Durham-Peerson Family

My Sweet Little Sunflower

My Busy Buzzing Bumble Bee

This past weekend we did some early trick-or-treating at Lakewood Village's Halloween Street. It was so much fun!! Shana and AJ were in town for the festivities and the kids had a blast. AJ is Dale Earnhart Jr, Abbie is a bumble bee (complete with stinger made from a 99 cent funnel, thank you Home Depot...) and Breezie is a flower as is our tradition. We scored an incredible amount of candy...and not just the junk stuff (thank goodness). We saw some crazy costumes...Abbie saw what she called a "red bat girl"... it was a shockingly revealing costume with red bat wings... Anyway, the rest of the stuff was pretty tame but very entertaining. We also did Boo at the Zoo and that was great fun too. It's so fun to watch the kids getting big. Can't believe Abbie is almost 5...where does the time go? It seems like yesterday she was the baby in the flower costume, now it's Aubrie and I know I'll be wondering what happened to my littlest baby soon. She started walking all by herself this weekend. She's been trying to get her courage up for a few weeks now but it finally happened and she is so happy! Guess it's time to RUN!! What a blessing...

Abbie's Questions

2008-10-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had your child ask you a question that you were so glad to hear? Last night Abbie Grace asked me how to get to heaven. I told her that Jesus was the only way to get to heaven and she followed up with lots of questions that have led us to believe that she is truely curious about the Lord. At the end of our conversation, I was teary eyed and she said, Mommy, are you gonna cry again? I just laughed and said, Yep, get used to it, your mommy is probably going to be crying happy tears off and on for the rest of your life. ~~What a blessing to have so many people building into her spirituality...From Mr. Patrick, Mrs. Annabelle, Mrs. Sherry and all the AWANA folks, to Mr. Brad and Mrs. Leslie at Fellowship and all the wonderful Godly families we have the privilege of knowing (and you know who you are!!), we are so grateful to all of you for how you are touching our children. In THAT DAY, we will be rejoicing with you and JESUS about the woman of faith that I'm praying she will grow up to be. Thanks to all of you~ Tracie and Phillip

Heber Springs with the Simons

2008-10-16T20:28:00.001-07:00

Hanging out at the house

Monster Faces Mom's and Kiddo's At the Waterfall
Abbie, Kaden and Elaina (and Brie...sort of)
Hanging on to my girls...Brie 15 months, Abbie 4.75 (according to her estimate)

What a fun weekend we had in Heber Springs with the Simon's! We took enough food to feed and army and we ate almost all of it. From the Pumpkin Cake to the Chili, we ate like crazy and did a whole lot of sitting around watching the kids play. It was so much fun! We did actually venture out to the Dam Site waterfall which has another name that I cannot recall for the life of me, but that's where the pictures are from. It's over by the fish hatchery and the campgrounds down from the base of the Dam. It's just beautiful and the kids had a great time splashing around in the ICE COLD water. We went from there down a nature trail and then had to hike back to the car...well, that's not totally true, by the time we did the trail and walked through the camp site, the kids and mom's were flat worn out and it was a short uphill hike back to the cars and so we sent the Dad's to retrieve the vehicles and pick up us and the kids. We had a blast being there with Ken, Becky, Kaden and Elaina. It was a wonderful trip!

Hokey Pokey Homeschooling

2008-10-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is video from our last homeschool Friday. We had such a great time at Ms. Becky's house. It was awesome! She did a great job. This was one of my favorite parts...the hokey pokey with a Christian twist! Thanks for blessing the kids Beck!

Texas Getaway

2008-10-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Not to make anyone jealous but it's possible that I am married to the most wonderful man in the world. That's right...IN THE WORLD! My sweet boy treated me to a flight down to Texas...by myself (yes, the time in the airport was sweet and wonderful...no kids, no one touching me or requesting anything...awesome!). Then we stayed on base in San Angelo and took a fantastic ride the next day to Dallas, TX where we stayed at the Gaylord Texan. It was incredible...in fact, incredible doesn't even begin to describe this place. It was unbelieveable. Phillip had arranged for us to have massages, which were awesome and then we had dinner followed by wine tasting and dessert (double chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache...yeah, it was tasty!!). The best part was being together and hanging out in the car together. Phillip drove the 1997 Honda Civic down there...it's quite a sweet ride...don't be a hater, the Civic rocks. In fact it was so cool that when we pulled up right next to a brand new Porche Carrera, I was SO not ashamed. We'll maybe the crack in the windshield was sort of embarassing but whatever, we held our heads up, handed the valet the keys and acted like we owned the place. All in all, it was such a wonderful weekend and one that we will not soon forget. We have decided that we are in need for that to be a more regular experience...the getting away part. It was a blessing to be together!

Homeschooling

2008-10-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

This year we are participating in a super-duper homeschooling project...we are doing pre-school with some of our friends every other Friday and we are loving it. In these pictures you can see the kids doing non-standard measurements (apples) and some other projects with apples. Tracy Watkins hosted this first day and she did such a good job! I was totally impressed and sort of overwhelmed with thinking about what we will do when it's our turn...that's not until December and let's face it...the theme is going to be Christmas...doesn't get much easier for themes than that! So my little elves and I will be working toward that and in the meantime I'll be taking notes and sort of "idea plagerizing" for our turn. That said, Abbie is loving doing some school work (bodes well for next year) and Aubrie has done well too. No major meltdowns and that counts as a big bonus for us during what I am affectionately calling her "screaming" phase.

Mother's Day Out 2008-09

2008-09-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

We have started Mother's Day Out again this year but at a different school. She is going to First Baptist Church of Sherwood MDO. So far she has loved her class. She is experimenting with "healthy" foods there (thank you Lord!!!) and she loves to be in the writing center doing workbook pages. Her teachers this year are Ms. Marabeth and Ms. Jamie. This was her little outfit for her first day...gotta love that the backpack is as big as she is...

Abbie's First Fish

2008-09-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

Vacation Bible School

2008-09-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

Abbie and Eric at the Finale

Abbie
My big girl
Eric and Kaden
Kaden, Elaina and Abbie

We had the pleasure of having Miss Abbie Grace attend vacation bible school this summer. She went to Power Lab at North Hills Baptist Church. It's a tiny little church in Sherwood but the people there were so sweet and Abbie had a great time. Everytime we go by the church she says, Look Mom it's Power Lab! They did all kinds of neat stuff there...songs and crafts of course, but also a neat ending finale. Music and dancing and a review of the week in pictures. It was awesome.

Weekend in Heber

2008-09-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

Abbie and Paw Paw with her first fish...note the Hello Kitty pj's...

Reelin' it in...
Bire Baby and Mom
Mom and Abbie
Evening Sunset
PawPaw and his girls
Abbie and Mom on the Razor
Daddy and his fishing girl...
Time to clean the gutters!!!
Loving Daddy's shoes...

We spent a weekend up in Heber Springs cleaning things up and relaxing a little bit. Okay, mostly Phillip, Dad and Mom did the cleaning and I hung out with the kids but our moral support was invaluable, I'm sure. While we were there, Abbie Grace decided that she wanted to do a little fishing with her daddy. Sure enough, they went down to the dock with her little Spongebob Squarepants rod and reel and his super expensive fly rod and who ended up catching a fish...that's right, Abbie did. Not only did she catch a fish but she actually caught FIVE fish!! It was hilarious. Phillip would get the bait on the hook and hand her the rod and as she reeled it in, boom, a fish would strike the line and she'd have it! It was so awesome.

Florida with the Simons

2008-09-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

Miss Becky and Elaina

Elaina and Abbie running from the waves
Girls Club!!
Final morning at the Donut Hole...
Abbie licked the sprinkles off her donut...

the girls
Mr. Phill and Laina
Miss Sanne, Abbie and Miss Becky catching some rays
Mommy and Brie
The kiddo's

Super pose...

Abbie and Super Kaden
Brie's first piggy tail
Daddy and Breezy
What a cool dad...

I am shamefully behind on the blog. These pictures are from our incredible vacation with the Simon family in August. It was so much fun! The kids got along so well and the adults did nothing but laugh the entire time we were there. It's lucky someone didn't bust a gut...the carpet's white so that would have caused a lot of extra cleaning. Anyway, it was so fun. The drive down was easy and the weather was a little iffy the first couple of days but by the end of the week we were basking in the sun and having lots of fun. We were blessed to have "Miss Sanne" there with us. She came and was such a help with the kids. Enjoy the pics!

UCA's Next Generation

2008-08-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

Abbie Grace standing in the hallowed halls of Old Main

On the steps of Old Main

My girls in front of Wingo Hall...my first year dorm. Laura O'Bryan and I roomed together on the second floor. Our room is in the corner of the building with three windows...What great times!!

Aubrie and Mommy in front of the fountain
Abbie Grace and the fountain

The girls

Abbie standing on Old Main steps looking at Torreyson Library...theoretically there's a paper in there with my name on it...the research was iffy at best...I sort of hope it was lost...

Today we had quite the adventure! Ms. Becky invited us to a production of Sleeping Beauty at a children's theater in Conway. As it turned out, it was at the new performing arts auditorium at UCA of which I am a proud alum. The girls really enjoyed the play, Abbie said that she especially liked the sword scene and the part when the actors jumped off the stage and ran around the auditorium. After the play was over, we got to meet Sleeping Beauty herself which was really neat. We also went on a walk down memory lane as my girls and I toured campus. I can't get over how much has changed and how much has stayed the same. The new buildings were beautiful and the fountain was tons of fun. Abbie loved throwing a lucky penny in the fountain and making a wish (for a pink pony...) She was so excited to be walking around Mommy's old school. We went by McAlister Hall (Honor's College stomping grounds), Wingo (my first dorm), Old Main (History classes), Torreyson Library, Irby and the Fountain. It was so crazy hot today but we really enjoyed walking around. Friday at 4 pm during summer session turns out to be a great time to see the school because it was a ghost town!! We had the run of the place. The real fun for me was walking through the main part of campus and seeing Old Main...really cool was walking in the building and being in a visual and olfactory time warp! You can't go home again, but home can still smell and look the same which can evoke some pretty sweet memories. How neat to be able to share that with my girls!

Guard Drill Visitors

2008-07-14T19:46:00.001-07:00

A.J. and Shana

Aubrie in the Baby Swing
Up close
Having fun with Mom
Abbie Grace

It was a fun weekend in the Fort for the Durham-Peerson crew. We went up with Phillip for drill this weekend and had the chance to visit with his sister, Shana and her son A.J. and of course...cool uncle Mike. It was so nice to be able to hang out together. The kids just love each other and it's so nice to watch them play and laugh and run around like crazy making memories for a lifetime. They are just the right age to really play and get to laughing together so that they fall on the floor over the silliest things. I love that Abbie has a cousin so close in age. Aubrie was their little shadow all weekend. She wanted to be right where they were at all times. The kids did a great job of watching out for her. AJ was so cute about making sure that she wasn't eating any of his toys because "she might choke on the little pieces." They were diligent at keeping harm at bay. Great helpers those two...We stayed at the Holiday Inn Convention Center which was so nice (as always). The neat thing about this particular location (aside from the fact that it's not a dump like the Ramada always was...) is that in the lobby they have a 4 or 5 story cascading waterfall. When we first stayed at this hotel, Abbie was about 2 years old. At the time we were deep into Dora country and Diego had just come on the Nickelodeon scene. For those who don't know, these are pre-school targeted TV cartoon characters. In one of the first episodes with Diego, he and Dora have to save Baby Jaguar (his animal sidekick) from falling over a waterfall. Well, here we come into this beautiful hotel lobby and Abbie just stopped dead in her tracks. I remember she looked at me with those big blue eyes and said, "Momma! Is Baby Jaguar up there? We have to save him!" All weekend we kept a close watch on the waterfall to see if we could find Baby Jaguar. We were relieved when we didn't see him. This time we went I told Abbie that story and she thought it was so funny that she thought that Baby Jaguar was actually up there. It was fun to tell her about that but bittersweet too because it reminded me that my baby isn't such a baby anymore. Time goes by so quickly... The pictures at the park are from Ben Geren Park right around the corner from the base. We were swinging when the new A-10's flew right over us. It was way cool. Abbie loves to watch her Daddy's loud airplanes fly by. She's his biggest fan. We had to go pick him up from the base and when he came out of the door in his finest camo outfit, she said, "Wow, Mom! Dad looks so cool in that outfit!" From the mouths of babes...I couldn't agree more, that boy is Handsome!

I love Chick-fil-A !!!

2008-07-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Abbie, Eric and the Cow

Eric and Abbie Grace as "Cow People"
The Chick-fil-A Crew on Dress-like-a-cow Day
Eric and Abbie goofing off...
Abbie up in the tunnels

Sister's

Checking out the baby in the mirror
Look at my tongue
Hey Sis!

I have to admit this upfront...I have a profound love and perhaps an obsession with something that is not my husband. It's Chick-fil-A. I know, I know...fitness instructor and fried chicken should not be this passionate a couple but it's a weakness. I can't pass up an opportunity to go and get a chicken fix. It's pitiful really but I'm woman enough to own up to it. As an enticing bonus, my kids LOVE the playground and I LOVE that it's air conditioned fun for the summer. Bummer that it's all the way across town but beggers can't be choosers... Abbie and Aubrie were at the Chick two times last week but I only had to pay for one trip because Friday was Dress like a Cow, eat for free day. So we donned our finest cow attire and proceeded to hightail it over to WLR with Tracy and Eric and have ourselves at little Chick-fil-A party. The kids were so cute...as you can see in the pictures. It was a challenge getting everyone there and dressed in costume but it was so worth it. Abbie was so cute when we were getting ready. She is finally to the age where she want's to be sure that she's not the only one doing something. She doesn't even necessarily need for everyone to be doing it but as long as she's not the loner kid with her parents doing something crazy she's cool. As we were dressing in her Cowgirl outfit from Halloween (made by me by the way) she asked if anyone else was dressing up. I assured her that her buddy Eric was and that there would be other kids there dressed up too and that was fine with her. Once she knew that she wasn't alone in her cow get-up she was all about getting ready and looking like the total Cowgirl. Aubrie did the best she could do considering I didn't have a perfect costume for her. She looked cute in her black and white polka dot pants and black and white bow. What a doll. The food was tasty as always but I will say, when it's free, it's even better!

Pinnacle Mountain Playdate

2008-07-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sister's

Checking out the bee's flying in the building to the hive...
Kaden and Abbie being alligators...
Ranger Sarah and the kids
Mrs. Becky and Aubrie
Abbie in the tree
Elaina and Abbie by the River
Abbie with Cypress "knees"

Last week we packed up and headed South and West to Pinnacle Mountain. We went to a demonstration they were having called "A Worms Eye View." It was so much fun. The Ranger that was there was so sweet to the kids. It was open to any and everyone but the only ones there were Tracy, Becky and I with our respective "crews". So we had the place to ourselves. The kids got to draw on the ground and then they crawled around as Ranger Sarah showed them what a worm might see when it crawls through the grass. She showed them how the blades of the grass look different from each other and how different grasses look different from say a clover patch. She also scared up some bugs in the grass that a worm might see. The kids loved every minute of it. When we were done with the demonstration we walked the Kingfisher Trail. Ms. Becky knew of a cool tree that the kids could get in and have their picture taken while they were inside the tree. It was a major hit with all of them. We also went to the Visitor's Center and explored up there. The kids (and the mom's) were impressed by the honey bee display that was there. It was cool and freaky all at the same time. They have a hive (I guess that's what you'd call it) and the bees fly in from outside and this thing is COVERED in bees. So creepy...one of us, I won't say who but her name starts with a "T" and ends with "racy", didn't love the bee display. At the end of our adventure we headed over to Chick-fil-a for a playdate with food...no better way to end a day...Friends and Food....

More with the Birthday Girl...

2008-07-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Boy

Birthday Buddies

Aubrie's Birthday Cake...made by Mom

Mom and Brie...early morning...about the time she was born...
PawPaw and the birthday girl...without her dress since it was time for cake...
Waiting on cake...
Delicious!

Here are some more pictures of the birthday party. Aubrie had already tasted cake before so she knew she was in for a treat when the cake came at her. She didn't blow out the candles...I don't actually know if she knew that she could or not but regardless her Big Sister Abbie jumped right in and took care of the giant flameing #1 candle. Aubrie did enjoy all the claps and cheers. She loves to clap for herself or for anyone else for that matter. When we blew out the candles she was a happy girl and and was ready for her cake. She was actually very polite considering she had free reign on the cake and was content to take it in small bites. We then turned to the other birthday of the day which belonged to Daddy, aka: Phillip. He had a delicious peanut butter & chocolate pie for his birthday. For their collective day, I created a timeline for them in pictures. I had pictures from every month of Aubrie's first year (it's going in the scrapbook...) and I did one of Phillip from baby to Daddy. It was so much fun putting those together. It was neat to look back on Aubrie's first year and she her change from newborn to baby. There is such a difference to me...when they are born they are so tiny and such little infants...I never think of them as "baby" until they are bigger. Now she's officially one and is so much fun. We got her a neat walking toy for her birthday and she is using it to "walk" across the room...usually chasing after Abbie or the "dat" (penny the cat). She has had such a wonderful first year. We look forward to all the fun things she'll do in the next 12 months. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for her and for us as we adjusted to life with two kids. She has been such a wonderful blessing...our sweet Baby Brie...

Aubrie is ONE!!!

2008-07-08T21:03:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that my little baby girl is already one year old. It's gone by so fast! We had a party for her on Sunday and had her Nonnie and Pap, Aunt Shana, Uncle Mike, AJ and PawPaw come over to celebrate with us. She had so much fun eating her strawberry cake and opening her presents. I'll post more pictures tomorrow but I wanted to get at least something on the blog about her Birthday. What a blessing she is to our family!!!

Abbie Grace, Flower Girl Extraordinare!

2008-06-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Eden and Abbie at the Reception
Abbie, Daddy, NiNi and Jean (right before the fire)
Eden and Hunter dancing

Phillip and Tracie, proud parents of the flower girl

NiNi and PawPaw

Daddy and Daughter

At the Reception

Abbie Grace and Hunter

The Flower Girl
Peeking in the church before the ceremony
Abbie and Eden
Mommy, She's a bride!

This past weekend Abbie Grace was in the wedding of Kendall Bollen and Keith Jones. She did so well, we were so proud of her! Kendall was just beautiful as were all of her bridesmaids but for me, Abbie stole the show. She had such fun getting ready for the big day. We pulled her hair up and put her little bow under the bow and it looked great. She walked up with a little boy named Hunter and they were absolutely precious. The wedding and reception were great. So sweet and special for Kendall and Keith. We just honored to be a small part of their special day. We so enjoyed seeing so many good friends at the reception... the Bextermueller's, all the Bollens (of course) and Jean Grimes. Such a special night! One interesting event of the night was when Abbie spotted a fire on the table. Toward the end of the evening, Abbie was getting really tired and she was actually in the middle of a "disciplinary moment," sitting in Daddy's lap having a conversation about sharing her time with Eden when she pipped up about seeing a fire. We thought that she was maybe just talking about seeing the fire trucks or something but she was insistent that her Daddy needed to take care of the fire. Phillip said, where do you see fire Abbie and she said, right there on the table. Sure enough, we turn around and a napkin had caught on fire and it was spreading on the table. Phillip jumped up and snuffed it out. He later said, he would have poured water on it but all the stuff on the table was wine or alcohol of some sort and that wouldn't have helped anything. So, Abbie managed to save the day. But please don't call her a hero...it embarasses her! Enjoy the pictures of my sweet girl and firefighter in training!!

Destin Commons Fountain~ Long Version

2008-06-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is video of Abbie running around at the Fountain area at Destin Commons. I realize that it's sideways...I forgot to turn it around... If you are heading down to the area and you have small ones with you, I highly recommend doing this. It's FREE and it is a blast, especially in the evening when things have cooled off...There's a Johnny Rocket's for great burgers, Hard Rock Cafe and an ice cream store...lots of good treats and good fun!!!

Destin Common's Fountain

2008-06-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

Florida~ Early Week

2008-06-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Durham Family

The Fam...
Mommy and Babies
Daddy and the Durham Darlings...
Heading home...gotta stop by the Donut Hole...a tradition...Note the powdered bavarian cream donut in my hand, I've ended every trip the same way since I was about 10 years old....;)

Dolphin's at the Gulfarium

Elaina and Abbie at the Seal Show
Aubrie at the Seal Show -- yes, she was crying...time to exit the stroller
Swimming in the ocean...Aubrie's favorite!
Mom and the Girls

Abbie Grace

Aubrie Faith
Daddy and his girls, Walking into the Sunset
Exhausted before dinner
Daddy and Aubrie at the Gulfarium

Family Portrait

Abbie's Sand Castle
Beach Baby

Walking in the Water

Aubrie and Mommy

Abbie Grace, Destin June 2008

Underwater Mermaid

Under the Table and Dreaming...

At the Destin Commons Fountain

Ella & Abbie
Ella and a very wet Abbie Grace
Super Powers Activate...

Fishgirl in a Barrel

At the top of Joe's Crab Shack Playground
The Mom's
Goofy Girls
Is it nap time yet?

So I am aware that I am shamefully behind in my blogging. June was a hectic month at our house but we are back in the normal groove now and I hope to update the blog accordingly. As you can tell by the post title, we have been to Florida. Oh, how I miss the beach already. I am trying to swing a trip back in August but we'll just have to wait and see about that... The trip down to Destin was great. The kids were wonderful in the car which was a blessing (thanks in large part to having Little Einstein DVD's for Brie and Alvin and the Chimpmunks for Abbie). We stopped a couple of times for them to get out and run around and still managed to make it there in time for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack the first night. Our friends the Pengelly's came down with us and we really enjoyed our time with them. The girls played well together and we had the chance to have a lot of fun with Lee and Melody. In case anyone was wondering, Lee is a fabulous griller...in fact, he might qualify as a grill master but that's another story. We spent our days hanging out at the pool and spent some time at the beach as well. The weather was absolutely perfect all week and we all took full advantage. Abbie came a long way with her swimming...from being timid with the water to jumping in all by herself (still with floaties) and getting her head all the way under the water. Huge step for her... We went to Destin Commons and ate at Hard Rock and then played in the fountain and on the playground there. Abbie loves running around there! We also did a day at the Gulfarium with Ken and Becky Simon and crew. We had so much fun with them!! Aubrie has perfected the art of crawling now and started standing up while holding onto furniture while we were at the condo. She explored every inch of the floor including the area beside and behind the couch...she's so quick, she'd get into a tight spot before I could get to her... The girls also loved being in the ocean which really surprised me, especially with Aubrie. She LOVED the ocean. Abbie was not so into the ocean at the start of the week but by the end of the week she was diggin being in the waves and floating... Early in the week we were out in the ocean and saw the huge fish in the video. I promise it was bigger than my head~ it was HUGE In all the years I've done a Flordia trip, I've never seen a fish like this that was this big up by the beach. He was just content to swim around and hang out with the people in the water. Wild!!

There's just nothing like a Florida vacation...Hope you all enjoy the pictures and Video!!

Don't make me CRAWL!!

2008-06-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

So... it's finally happened...Aubrie is mobile! This video was actually taken about 10 days ago so she's going a little slow but I assure you that now she's really moving! It's a whole new world for her and it's a constant "pick-up" battle for us. She's like a little vacuum cleaner and everything that she finds she puts in her mouth. Thank goodness I took the infant CPR course and I know how to "sweep" a mouth. I've done it no less than 10 times with her already. She truely tests my ability to keep the house clean...those of you who really know me know that this is a constant challenge for me, the slob at heart. ~~ Abbie is loving having her sister move around the house. She thinks it's great fun when Brie crawls over to where she is...it's always announced with a "Mom! She's doing it!!" Makes me laugh everytime. Penny the cat is once again tortured by yet another human whose main purpose and motivation for movement is to grab her tail and pull it. Luckily the cat is still quicker than the kids but she's getting old and one of these days they are going to catch her...she still has claws in the back paws...I guess they might learn that the hard way...

~Sisters~

2008-06-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Abbie, Eden and Aubrie
Aubrie, Tracie, Abbie, Eden, Brooke & Wendy
Abbie (4), Eden (11) and Aubrie (10 1/2 months)
Last weekend my sisters were in town and we had a great time hanging out together. It's unusual for us to all be in one place at the same time anymore. Brooke and her daugher, Eden, live in Champaign, IL and Wendy is in Arizona. They are both so far away...I really miss them but it's great when they are here. We took the opportunity to celebrate Father's Day for our Dad while all of his girls were together. We gave him a picture of all of us together for his office at work. We had a hard time coming up with a gift for the man that has everything but this was nice because we realized that there wasn't a family shot of "just the girls" that included Aubrie. So the picture above is of all of us for our Dad. The other pictures are practice shots that I took with Eden and the girls. Abbie just adores Eden. She's like an Eden shadow when she's in town. Isn't it nice to be so loved!

Jack & the Zoo

2008-05-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

Abbie and Super Kaden
Magdalen, Elaina, Abbie, McKenna x2, Big Jack, Kaden and Jack
Ditto...
Big Jack, Elaina, Kaden and Jacl watching the Lemurs on Lemur Island

Feeding the Fish at the LR Zoo...

Abbie Grace and Magdalen Joyce
Aubrie, Abbie and Jack

Magdalen and Jack in the double stroller

Abbie, Kaden, McKenna Moore, McKenna Neill, and Big Jack

Jack and Kaden Feeding the fish...

Yesterday we had a little visitor over for the day. His name is Jack and he is the sweetest little boy. His mom is in the middle of finishing up a major project for her Master's program and needed a day to get some work done and so we decided that we needed a playday with Jack. Paige was kind enough to do that for me when I was studying for the ACE exam and I know how much it can help to have the gift of TIME! Anyway, Jack was on his way over when we got a call to come and hang at the zoo with the Moore's, Neill's and Simon's. Ther was no way we could pass up that kind of fun so we loaded up and headed to the zoo. The kids had a great time and it was fun being with everyone and seeing all the cool stuff at the zoo. Abbie's favorite part was trying to feed leaves to the giraffe's. Hilarious! The kids were all so good while we were at the zoo. The first of the funny moments started at the fish pond where we were feeding the fish. Becky had quarters for the little one's to share and get some food for the fish. She gave a quarter to Jack and told him it was for feeding the fish. Jack promptly obeyed and threw the quarter to the fish! How awesome is that!! The day really was great...lots of paying attention and great obedience (who could ask for more???). Abbie at some point, must have overheard Kaden calling himself Super Kaden and she has taken that to be his new name. Everytime we have seen him since, he's been SuperKaden! Which I think is Super cool. One of the funniest parts of the day was when the kids chased a Peacock they found in the covered picnic area. The poor thing was totally harrassed by the children and instantly got a good case of the runs as a result of the chasing. It was so funny all the mom's telling the kids not to step in the poop while the kids were so intent on getting close to the peacock. Ah...the memories of childhood...
...good friends, cool animals and poo.

Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

SATURDAY

Mother's Day this year started for us on Saturdy Night. We decided that we would do a party for the Mom's/Grandmother's. Phillip did a super job getting the food together. He smoked a shoulder (which was CRAZY GOOD) and we had sliced and chopped BBQ with all the fixin's. I had baked a chocolate cake for the Mom's with Abbie on Friday night. It turned out delicious thanks to the Better Homes and Garden's Chocolate Buttercream Icing Recipe. So good. If you want it, let me know b/c is was really good. Anyway, it was a super special night because my sister's were in town. Brooke and Josh were passing through so we got see them which was awesome. Have I mentioned that I have the funniest sisters ever. They are both so funny. Don't know what happened to me but every comedian needs an audience and I am good at that...It was so fun to all be together.
NiNi, Pap and Nongie
Abbie decided that she and PawPaw needed to give Aubrie a sink bath.
The Mom's (Notice Brooke's killer tan...I'm jealous...)
Sorry this picture is sideways but what it is a picture of is my Mom's six cupcake birthday cake. Saturday was Mom's birthday and so we did a combo celebration for her birthday and mother's day. We made her a flower out of cupcakes and topped it with candles that said Happy Birthday.

SUNDAY
We had what was possibly the best Mother's Day ever this year. First of all, it was nice because it's the first time Phillip has ever been home for Mother's Day. Usually we spend part of the day at the fire station but this year, we were actually all together at home. It was great. I went for a run with my friend Becky (Elaina's Mom) and burned calories before we even started into what was a calorie laden day. Phillip had arranged to have a breakfast quiche ready for me when I got back from the run...delicious...thank you Chef Nongie! Then we cleaned up and spent the morning at Burns Park. We had a blast there with Abbie playing on everything and Aubrie is big enough to ride the baby slide (in Abbie's lap) on some of the play grounds. When lunch came around we decided to go to Subway and have some sammies (yes, I was a cheap date this particular day...) then we took a walk to the duck pond and fed the ducks and threw rocks (not at the ducks) and even skipped a few of them across the water. I'm pretty horrible at that particular skill so the fact that it happened at all is a fact worth noting in the blog...We ended the day with left overs from Saturday Night's Mother's Day Bash (BBQ) and snuggling the kids while we ate a Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Icing from Silvek's Bakery. Super Yum!! It was the perfect day!!

Swimming Machine...

2008-05-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

Super Swimmer
Blowing Bubbles in the Water
Jumping in!

Shivering in our towel after lessons...
Daddy and Abbie...cool goggles...

What fun we have had a swim lessons. Abbie's instructor, Mr. Joe, is great with the kids. Abbie, in her regular fashion, has been quite the character at the pool. The last two times we have had lessons Mr. Joe has asked the kids to "grab" the water with both hands when they are swimming and to kick with their feet. When it was Abbie's turn to swim she jumped right to Mr. Joe and the "Turtle" (a mini life preserver) and then hung on to Mr. Joe (who holds onto the kids) with one arm and kicks like crazy with her feet. We were encouraging her to grab at the water with two hands but she said she was just too tired to use more than one arm. Too much work. I thought Mr. Joe was going to choke on the water he laughed so hard. We are making progress at the pool, I'm happy to say and hopefully we will be prepared for our upcoming trip to the beach. The funniest thing about all of this is that she loves to wear her goggles during the lesson but she doesn't really go under water yet. None of the other kids have goggles on but she is sure it makes her the best swimmer so she's sporting them at the pool. Notice that she refused to take them off for the ride home...awesome!

The dentist

2008-05-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the dentist's office for Abbie's first dental appointment. We have prepared for this day but it did not go as well as it could have. Abbie loved the waiting room and all the fun stuff in there...the TV train, the books, etc. They called us back really quickly and we went in with our special friend, "Tiger" ( who actually is a Jaguar but whatever...) We got back and things went South almost immediately. Abbie didn't love the chair but she did like the TV in the ceiling. She wansn't totally in love with the headphones but she did like the sunglasses she got to wear. She got to pick out the toothpaste flavor (strawberry) and she felt the toothbrush before it went on her teeth. Then the real trouble began. She laid back to get her teeth cleaned and she freaked! I think the toothpaste wasn't what she thought it would be like, the brush was different and she was not having any of that. She sat up, cried and coughed and nearly made herself throw up by dry heaving...it was horribly embarassing for Mom and Dad. Aubrie on the other hand thought the entire scene was hilarious and she laughed the whole way through. After some hugs from Mom, transforming Tiger into a pillow and some apologies to the hygenist, we decided that the dentist, Dr. Wilson could come in and count her teeth. She actually did okay at this point but they did decide not to attempt x-rays or anything since the early process didn't go well. So from what he said, Abbie will be getting braces later because she'll be crowded as she grows in the adult teeth and it looks like she doesn't have any cavities but that's not confirmed because she didn't get any x-rays. We did get to pick out some toys from the toy box (which was nice considering the episode...) and she picked the star sunglasses in the picture below. We exited with our tails between our legs and an appointment for November... When Abbie reported in to PawPaw she said the dentist "repointment" went great but she was a little scared. But overall, she felt it was a good time...Mom and Dad both responded with "Yeah, right!

The proud patient!

Swim Lessons...sort of...

2008-05-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night we were supposed to start our swimming lessons in preparation of our upcoming trip to the beach. NiNi and PawPaw kept Aubrie and Phillip

was at work so I loaded up Abbie and went to the YMCA. As we were driving the all of 4 blocks between our house and the Y, it started to sprinkle... We got there and there was a lesson going on...in the rain. I figured that they had a "no thunder" kind of policy and since it was only drizzling and not storming (ie: no thunder) the class would go on...I mean, what's a little rain when you are already wet head to toe? So Mr. Joe, Abbie's instructor, dismissed the 5:00 class and called for the 5:30 kids to come to the pool. Now, keep in mind that Abbie has been literally bouncing in place in anticipation to start her lesson. She is beyond excited...her anticipation meter is off the charts. So she runs right over and sets herself on the side of the pool. She turned around and grinned at me and I knew she was in hog heaven...I could see every tooth in her head, even the molars...big smiles. I'm thinking...well so long as it doesn't rumble, I guess we're good to go! Hooray, right? Wrong...Mr. Joe asked her her name and this was the response...Abbie says..."Abbie Grace Durham" and the Clouds say..."THUNDER!!!" Mr. Joe says, uhoh! Everyone out of the pool...class is canceled. I was really worried that Abbie would be crushed but since she hadn't had a swim lesson before, she thought that the lesson was over. She came back over and was so happy that the lesson went well. The rescheduled for Wednesday, and it was cancelled last night so tonight is out first lesson! Let's hope it stays clear!!!

SUPERHERO ABBIE

2008-05-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

So Phillip and I were grilling out and hanging out with the kids the other day. We were just kind of floating in and out of the playroom, taking turns watching the kids. As I was in the kitchen working at the sink, Abbie came in and asked if she could use my kitchen gloves. Since this was a pretty easy request to fulfill, I passed them off to her not thinking much about what she would want them for. Well, next thing I know, I hear her jumping off the couch and making what I can only describe as superhero background music...dun dun DAH!!! I walked in the playroom to check it out and this is what I saw...what an imagination!! I told her to hold the pose and I'd take her picture...she responded with, okay Mom, but I have too look serious. Hence the "serious" superhero face in the picture. As you can also see, she was playing with Aubrie at the time...I'm not sure if Aubrie was being saved or being attacked. Either way she was giggling like crazy so I guess she was happy regardless of if she was the villan or the sidekick!

Backyard Bubbles

2008-05-08T11:21:00.001-07:00

We love blowing bubbles in the backyard. The girls were having such fun this particular afternoon when we did the bubbles. Aubrie had not been in the middle of the bubble machine before. She wasn't quite sure what to think but she ended up thinking it was pretty great. Abbie loved blowing bubbles on her sister and her mommy.

Elaina and Abbie's Last Day

2008-05-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Our final day with Elaina was lots of fun. We started out with Church in the morning, where the girls did great at "Kid Church" as Abbie calls it. Elaina got to dress in one of Abbie's outfits because it was unexpectedly cold Sunday morning. We had a great morning and spent the afternoon doing some fun crafts and more playing in the yard. (Who can complain about playing in the yard...always fun!) We also went on what we call a "Flower Walk" around our yard and NiNi and PawPaw's yard too. As things start to bloom (and I notice them...) we walk around the yard and talk about the flower and the color of the bloom, the smell...whatever comes to mind. Well, Dad's gorgeous yellow iris's were blooming on this particular day so we explored the flowers over there and also enjoyed the last of the azalea blooms. At the end of our day, we went to lunch with Tracy, Robert, Eric and Caden at Cracker Barrell. Aubrie was really tired by this point in the day. We sat at the table and she happened to end up between Robert and I. She laid her head down on the table and just stared at him for minutes on end. It was so cute...she was exhasted and needed to rest and she was also facinated by Robert. It was precious. The kids ate great and after returning home we vegged out watching TV and reading books until Elaina's mom and dad arrived to pick her up. What a delight to have such a sweet girl for the weekend!

Abbie and Elaina Day #2

2008-04-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

My Teeth are Clean and Shiny! Mine too!!
Good Hygene!
Two Girls, One Hat...

Bubble Bath
One crazy Kitty and one Cooky Flower
Magdalen, Abbie and Elaina
The bithday girl, Momma and Aubrie
The "A" Hat Team

It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood and we have had another wonderful day with our friend Elaina. We started our day with chocolate milk and some Dora (is there a better morning for a four year old?) We decided early that it was much too beautiful today to stay in so right away we got up and got into our matching pink camo "A" hats and hit the swingset. The girls were very responsible and brushed their teeth and got all bright and shiny for the day. You can see what a great job they did in the pictures. PawPaw would be proud! After we played some more soccer and took a walk around to see all the flowers we headed back inside to dress Baby Aubrie and work toward some lunch. After that it was "rest" time. Elaina took a nice nap and of course my non-napper thought that I was torturing her so she skipped the nap. She ended up helping me put away laundry and play with the baby. Once Elaina was up we took off for McKenna's 7th birthday party. What a blast!! We met up with brother and Eric and Ms. Tracy and had a great time playing in the yard and running around like crazy. The cake was wonderful (I can say that honestly because I had a piece...okay a rather large piece... and I'll admit to some ice cream since I'm in confessional mode). Abbie ate her icing and left the cake...as always...and Elaina was so funny! She sat at that table and slowly ate every last drop of the ice cream on her plate. She was determined not to leave the table until her plate was clean of the ice cream. It was great! We stayed for a while and then headed back to the house where we played some more on the swingset. At this point we were very entertained by Elaina's questions that all began with..."You know what?" We ended the evening at Dixie Cafe with Phillip's parents and then dumped two very sticky little girls in the bath tub. The girls were so cute in all the bubbles. I have been introduced to a whole new way of bathing and shampooing. I have a whole new respect for Ms. Becky who does a marvelous job of doing her daughter's hair. By the time I was done with it, it was decided that the best option was to rebraid it and profusely apologize for the mess that I made. The girls were out like a light after a few books. By the way, Abbie also demanded that her hair be braided tonight and all I can say is that in the morning we are going to be majorly stylin'. And now a very tired Mommy is off to bed... ready for another day tomorrow!

Smiley

2008-04-25T19:12:00.001-07:00

Aubrie is 9 1/2 months old now. She is the happiest little girl. Here are a few pictures of my sweet smiling baby...

Elaina and Abbie's Day #1

2008-04-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Chic-fil-A
All three conked out in the car...

At American Pie with the boys
I like my pizza!
Night-Night Tiger and Lizard
Whooohooo!!!
Tandem Swinging!
Standing up tall
Let's Play!

This weekend we have the pleasure of having one of Abbie's friends over while her parents are enjoying a well deserved weekend away. Elaina is so super sweet. At drop off today she went right into the playroom and she and Abbie have spent the rest of the day playing together. What fun they have had! We starting off playing soccer and swinging in the backyard. (Incidentally it's hard to push two kids on side-by-side swings when you are holding a squirming baby, but it is totally doable if you put your mind to it!) Then we headed out to meet Elaina's brother, Kaden, and Ms. Tracy and her son Eric, at the zoo. On the way there, Tracy called to inform me that there were approximately a million people at the zoo. Traffic was backed up onto the interstate to get into the parking lot and people were actually parking at the War Memorial Playground and walking to the zoo from there. It was insane!!! I've never seen so many buses before...Greenbriar, Ft. Smith, LR, all over... So we hung out at the park and then had a few moments of stress when I realized I had lost my keys. (Okay so stress is putting it lightly, I was so ready to cry.) Once we had discovered where I had placed the keys, we moved on to lunch at Chic-fil-a. It was delicious, but totally crazy. The kids were actually done eating before Tracy and I even were able to eat one bite of our salads! It was so funny. Then we hung out in the play area for a while. Everyone had fun there, including Aubrie who loved watching the kids play. She was really wanting to play too. So cute! After we parted, we went back to the house and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks (thank you Becky!!!) and then met up with Tracy again for dinner at American Pie where everyone got bouncy balls and pizza. Is there anything better?!?!?! Now I am listening to two little girls who are cleaned and bathed and have been in Abbie's room for about 40 minutes now "going to sleep." The first time they came out it was to go potty (after we had already done that a few minutes before...) second time was for a round of nose blowing... I am about to go in and sit until everyone is asleep. I am 99% positive I hear a pillow fight in process. Truely this has been one of the most fun days we've had in a while. Okay...off to crash the slumber party! More tomorrow...

ASFD Fish Fry

2008-04-24T12:42:00.003-07:00

Abbie and AJ on Engine 3
Engineer Durham with his Assistants on ASFD Truck 1
Aunt Shana waving to her adoring Fans...
Daddy and Brie fighting on the front bumper!

Every year we attend the annual Arch Street Fire Department Fish Fry. Phillip's dad is the Chief there and we go to support the Volunteers and chow down on some killer catfish. It is seriously delicious. Usually Shana and AJ come down as well and the kids run like crazy all around the fire station and we can usually get about 3 bites down before one of them decides they have had enough of the food and are ready to climb on the trucks. They love going to their Pap's fire station. We love going out there and visiting with all the guys that Phillip used to run around with when he lived out in SW LR. It was great seeing everyone and having a chance to catch up. Life moves fast...I remember going out there before we had kids and wondering how those mothers could let their kids run wild over the trucks and stuff and now I find myself laughing at my kids doing yet another thing I said they would never do... Live and Learn, huh?

Dinner with the Pengelly's

2008-04-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Abbie Skewering her Fruit
Ella Grace making a delicious treat!
The assembly line...

Last night we had the Pengelly's over for dinner. We grilled burgers and had some yummy sides. The biggest hit was Jamie's Cabbage Salad. Super Yum! We had so much fun hanging out with them. Ella and Abbie Grace do great playing together. We had the girls make the dessert after dinner. Fruit kabobs! Yum. It kept them busy for a little while and who could complain about that!

Cabbage Salad:

One bag of Shredded Cabbage for Coleslaw
1 cup of Sesame Seeds
1 small package of sliced almonds
2 packages of Ramen Noodles (uncooked and crumbled)

Dressing: (Make this in advance)
1/3 cup of Vinegar
1/2 cup of Sugar
Dissolve the Vinegar in the sugar and then add:
1 cup of Oil
2 seasoning packages from Ramen Noodles

Pour dressing over cabbage/nut mix, toss and serve.

was

FUNTASTIC!!

2008-04-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Cycle Cutie

What cha' doing guys?
Air Hockey Challenge!!!
I won!
I love Funtastic!

Yesterday we went to play at Funtastic. It's a wonderful place in Cabot that is essentially the same thing as Chuck E Cheese only with more space and better pizza. Abbie had a great time playing the games and she and her Daddy ended up in a major air hockey tournament. It was intense!! And she won (basically...) Aubrie had fun too. She loves watching Abbie play and just being around her when she's busy doing fun things. I can tell she is just chomping at the bit to play too.

Princess Party

2008-04-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Aubrie's semi-self portrait at Kennedy Grace's Princess party. What a Party Animal!

So at one point in the party, the kids were instructed to pair up and they would dance together. Abbie was in the middle of the room and she looked over at me and said, Mama, I don't have any one to dance with. The girls around her had already paired up. I was sitting next to Jamie Garner and she looking a Rhett who is also looking for a partner. Well, you can see the kids paired up and Princess Abbie Grace and Prince Rhett danced to Someday My Prince Will Come. It was so sweet!!!

The Prince and Princess

Dancing the night away!

Princess Abbie at Kennedy's Party.
Prince Daniel entertaining Aubrie.
The birthday Princess and her Pal
Even Aubrie dressed for the party!

Azalea's in Bloom

2008-04-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

My sweet girls under the azalea's. We were going to a party on Saturday and I've been wanting to get their picture with the azalea's but haven't had a minute to take them. That said, they looked so cute for the party, I thought it was worth being a little late to snap a couple of shots of them while the flowers were on the bushes. Abbie was so sweet taking care of her little sister. I love watching her interact with the baby and Abbie is absolutely the favorite for Aubrie. No one makes her happier than her big sister.

Pudding is GOOOOOOD!

2008-04-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

Aubrie and I were up early and decided to eat a little chocolate cake trifle. Yes, I know, not exactly a breakfast of champions but dessert in the morning is a real weakness for me. Anyhoo-- she had some too and it was too funny not to share.

Note the cat is in the shot too...she also loves pudding...

Thanks Melody...

2008-04-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Melody who showed me what I was doing wrong when I was trying to add pictures to my blog. Now that I figured out how to do it, I'll post more often...this is way to easily addicting....

Kennedy's Chirstmas Party

2008-04-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from Kennedy Grace's annual Santa Party. Abbie and Rhett had so much fun bouncing on the long trampoline! It was hilarious to see them careening down that thing. Abbie always has so much fun at Kennedy's parties! What sweet kids!

Abbie and Rhett

Our Family, Christmas 2007

Abbie Grace

Mother's Day Out

2008-04-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Abbie's first day of Mother's Day Out was so exciting and crazy. She was so happy to be going to school but she was also really nervous. Thankfully we all made it through without tears. She had a good day but really didn't like taking naps. In this picture she's holding onto the nap mat made by NiNi and Mommy. She's quite the superstar!

Snow Days

2008-03-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day. We played out in the snow and had so much fun. Aubrie is struggling with a little cold so we only went out with her for a couple of minutes. She got cold so we went inside and watched Abbie play from the back door. She made snow cake and snow balls which she proceeded to throw at the glass door. She is so funny! What an awesome little girl!