Girls weekend!!!

Brenna and I and two other girlfriends went to visit an old friend in Kingsport TN this past weekend. We got in on Thursday night, and stayed up talking for awhile. The next morning we enjoyed a yummy home cooked breakfast, and enjoyed chatting the entire morning. My friend Amy has two girls who are 8 and 5 so Brenna and the other little girl who is 8 that went on the trip with us had a blast together. Amy also has a little boy, but he got to stay with his cousin. I'm sure he was much happier not to be completely surrounded by girls! We had lunch and then took the girls to play in the sprinklers. They had a lot of fun, but it was like 105 that day! We headed back home to enjoy some A/C. We had dinner, and then headed to downtown Kingsport for their fun fest. There was a balloon glow going on. We enjoyed some ice cream, and watching all the balloons light up in the dark. On Saturday we headed to the outlets! We shopped until we dropped and just had a blast! The girls had fun having a babysitter, and decorating cupcakes and having their nails done. Then Amy's husband took all the girls to a movie, to get slushies, and pizza for dinner! I was afraid Brenna would never want to leave. We ended our trip with church on Sunday morning, and then headed back to Ohio after lunch. We had a such a great time, and Amy was a great hostess. I was teasing her that I felt like I was staying at a B&B! Can't wait to do it again. Thanks Amy!

Silly faces!

Towel tents

Amy, Nikki, me and Emily

All I want for Christmas is....

my two front teeth! Brenna lost tooth number 4!!!!

Natalie's first fried green tomato!

Ben watched Natalie for me while I took Brenna to church camp (more about that later). While I was gone, Ben decided to make fried green tomatoes! They were really yummy, and Natalie even tried some. She was in a great mood, so I got some really cute pictures of her being goofy.


Yum!

Really concentrating on saying cheese!

My big girl!

Such a ham!

Silly girl!

I thought it was time for some blogging about Natalie, since Brenna has had the spotlight with losing so many teeth! I was cleaning out our tub of winter stuff the other day, and Natalie decided she wanted to wear Brenna's raincoat. This kid is so funny! She wanted the hood up and it zipped up to her neck. She just walked around the house with this silly grin on her face!

This one shows one of her new two year molars!

Knock knock who's there....

the Tooth fairy again! I am starting to see a trend in this household! Brenna lost yet another tooth yesterday. It was super loose and she couldn't get the nerve up to pull it herself. She decided we should do the string tied to a door trick! Ben was all up for it, and it worked! When it was over Brenna goes, "Oh, that didn't hurt at all!" She is definitely going to be wishing for her two front teeth soon, because the other one at the top is already loose too! Eeek!

Her new (temporary) smile!

Mini me

Brenna has been wanting a new doll that looks like her. She is familiar with the American girl dolls, but of course Ben and I are not going to spend that much money on a doll! I thought I found a good compromise with this doll at Toys R Us. She was super excited, and has already named her Megan. Natalie is fascinated with it! I'm not sure what she is thinks about the doll, but maybe Natalie will receive her own little mini me on her birthday!

4th of July

We had a really fun 4th of July weekend. We went to church Sunday, and then had dinner with our friends that evening. We came home and played with sparklers with Brenna, and had lots of fun catching fireflies. Something I have not done in years! We just watched a few fireworks in the neighborhood before heading to bed. Today we went to Orchardly park, which is one of my favorite parks in Dayton. I didn't take any pictures, but we had a great time. We enjoyed grilling out as a family tonight, and the girls swam some more this evening. I am so blessed with a wonderful husband and healthy children. It is so great to be able to enjoy the freedom in this country. I am so thankful to my God who has given me all of these blessings.

Carriage Hill

While Brenna was in Indiana, Ben and I decided to take Natalie to Carriage Hill for some fun. She loves animals so we thought she would really enjoy it. She was more brave about petting the animals than I thought she would be. Her favorite were the horses, but she also liked watching the chickens (a.k.a. bak baks!) running around. It was really nice to have some one on one time with Natalie which we don't get very often. As everyone knows, Natalie keeps me on my toes, but that big spirit in that little body, sure brings me a lot of joy as well!




It was hard getting a picture of her petting the horse because she pulled her hand back so quickly!

She loved getting up on the fences.