Birthday Girl Picture Time!

On Caroline's actual birthday her Godmother and two of her kiddos came by with a big bouquet of balloons and pressies for Miss Priss. As you can see, the balloons were a HUGE HIT! Thanks Marcy, Tierney and Blake. She loved seeing you three, as did we, and we love the goodies you brought. And, making Bryce feel extra special with his super cool and way fun nerf ball gun (which Mom and Dad have even snuck and messed with it a few times I must admit...shhhhh!) was so kind of you guys. But, that's how you roll and we love you guys!

Oh yes! Happy happy joy joy...these balloons are just so much F-U-N! I can hardly contain myself!

Hmm, what have I found here?

Ah yes indeed I am my Mother's daughter! I think this chocolate that Marcy, T and B put on my pressie looks divine and I must try some! Won't someone put the camera down and help a Diva open it up?!? Ah ha! I know your plan Mom...you want to keep me out of it so you can have it. Sneaky, sneaky, woman!

Bryce had a baseball game after the fun visit. When we got home it was 'Party Time, Round #2' with the balloons!

Oh my goodness what an awesome first year we had with our little doll! C's bday was on a weekday so we had her cake and fun last weekend. Stay tuned for our next post~ photos of the party princess doin' her thing!

WAY TO GO PORT DAWG!!!

Jason just found out he is the annual award winner in the 'National Defense Transportation Association' of their 'Junior Executive Leadership Award' (military category). He gets to take a mini vacay to Reno-Tahoe in September to receive this award in person. I am so proud of him and the work he does! Way to go baby!!!

St Louis Race For The Cure

The joys of my life in front of the pink fountain, dyed just for the Race! Jen, you did a great job with the color~ it's the perfect shade! Miss Priss wore her pink outfit so she could be pretty in pink in honor of her Gran! Look, she matches the water perfectly! ;)

Dad and Bryce; Jason, Caroline and I; & Stephen and Allison~ get a fam photo snapped in front of one of Mom's trees on Race day.

Miss Priss had enough of being a smiley baby and got fussy when she saw me with the camera. She was doing just fine before this. Stinker!!!

Bryce's annual photo by Mom's tree.

Best buds indeed, sharing a moment knowing that Mom is watching over them!

Taking a break in the shade where there was a nice breeze with Daddy.

I finally got to meet Jen in person! I was so excited!!! Jen has been on the 'In The Pink' committee since they started doing the tree adoption. I've emailed back and forth with her for a long time now and finally got to give her a hug in person! I also got to meet her adorable daughter who is such a cutie patootie! We've shared email stories about us, our kids, we send photos back and forth... Since we only live across the river from each other we were cracking up at the fact that it took us this long to meet in person! Love ya Jen!!!

This was a very special tree tag, done by Jen for my friend, Therese. Therese's son and Bryce have been in school from K- present with each other. We have had the great opportunity to get to know her precious family through school functions and classroom things, school pick up times, soccer, baseball, emails, phone calls... She was diagnosed with breast cancer in mid May of this year. Please add Therese and her family to your prayers as she will begin her battle against cancer soon. Also, if you are from our area, know Therese, and haven't spoken with her about her diagnosis yet~ at this point they've told their kiddos that Mommy is sick and will have to take medicine to help her get well. They ask that you not directly say anything to the children and let them handle what and when they tell more. xo

Mom's Girlfriends!

Bryce in one of the fountains in Keiner Plaza, St Louis

Jason, myself and the kids went to Keiner Plaza the Thursday before the St Louis Race For The Cure to meet with a group of my Mom's girlfriends. For those of you who don't know, my Mom died of breast cancer in May of 2005, right before the 2005 Race. These terrific ladies (who held Mom up in prayers, love and friendship throughout her 6 year battle with cancer) have adopted a tree in her memory each year. The 'In The Pink' committee for the Race lets you 'adopt' a tree with a tree tag 'In Memory Of' or 'In Celebration Of' someone with breast cancer. The money goes into the Susan G Komen foundation. The girls meet each year to view their tag a few days before race day, when the committee decorates the adopted trees.

Stephenie, Diane, (me and Caroline), Leena, Wanda, Cindy (all the way from Arizona!) and Mary...You ladies are truly amazing! You ROCK! I love you each so much and thank you for keeping Mom's memory alive! I hope you know how much she loved you all and the special friendships she had with you all!

Jason, Bryce, Caroline and I by one of Mom's trees.

Leena played with Caroline and finally got a smile out of Ms. Stubborn!

Aww, giving her brother a big ole' hug!

The fam in front of the tree the girls adopted for Mom! Thank you girls!!! xo

Summer Is Upon Us!

Bryce caught a lightening bug! Oh yes, summer is upon us when the yard starts flickering yellow here and there from the little buggies and boy do I love it right along with the kiddos!

Alright, so Bryce had me rolling when Caroline wore this outfit. I can not for the life of me remember what movie it's in, but there is a bird that keeps saying, 'Bonjour Stupid' over and over and over. Bryce got a glimpse of Caroline's shirt that day and said, 'Bonjour Stupid' (laughing to himself as he passed by, remembering the movie line). Needless to say, I about flew off the handle because 'stupid' is not a word we say in our house. He stopped me rather quickly and told me he was repeating the movie line, wasn't it funny, etc... You should have seen the look on his face when he realized I didn't know what in the heck he was doing saying that and laughing out loud about it, that is, before he explained it to me and I had a major 'ah ha' moment! Boys!!!

I think Miss Priss rocked it out in this glitzy rhinestone top and looked 'Tres Chic' indeed, but I know I'm biased as her Mama!

Happy Father's Day in our house!

Jason and our two angels on Father's day. What a wonderful day we had together! Gosh I love family days!

Aww, our love bugs giving Dad-e-o some lovin' on his special day!

What better way to unwind on a nice summer morning than to swing in the hammock after church before stuffing our faces with donuts?!?

Jason said these smiles were present enough for him but... we got him a patio cover and a light to hang in it and were sneaky! He spent a good part of his day outside putting it all together. How he manages to do these projects flying solo is beyond me. I must be married to a true 'He-man'! He got very badly sunburned though (to the point that he told me he will never do that again and will always let me spray him with sunscreen!) but is recovered now. He also shaved his head that weekend because he said he was 'in denial' about his receding hairline. Alright, for those of you who we knew in Germany there was a guy there who had BAD HAIR and I might have told Jason he resembled that certain person and I didn't need to say any more...he went straight to the garage to do the deed! (Email me if you were there with us and I'll tell you the name of the bad hair offender. I'd hate to type it in case this person might happen upon this blog via someone Jason works with now! Talk about major foot in mouth circumstance I'd like to avoid!) ;-)

Our neighbor, Tyler, Bryce and Caroline taking a break on the front porch swing.

Caroline gives Tyler a high five!

Can't leave out her brother. She was giving him some high fives, too!


She was a hoot that afternoon and was full of kisses and hugs for her brother. She was really hamming it up for the camera. This photo is Miss Priss about to go in for kiss # who knows at the rate she was going! She loves her brother!

A few fun pics to share

Hello one and all! We had our blog redesigned and I must say Jaimee, I LOVE IT! It was so fun to go through all of the different things available out there and to choose the ones that would 'fit' us the best. You truly took my emails and made it just what I was visualizing! It was a pleasure to work with you! Thanks chica!

Caroline thought she was a big shot when she was sneaky and got ahold of Jason's Sunday paper.

Oh Mom, this is so much fun. Heck, lets just play with it guys~ forget about reading it! As long as she saved the Sunday ads for me, I'm game!!!

Bryce and Jason had to work under the house the other weekend and boy oh boy did they get D-I-R-T-Y! Boys will be boys and they did not complain one bit about the muddy mess. After all... that's what little boys are made of, right?!?

Our little man is not so little anymore. He is so fun to watch grow up though! Oooh, Bryce's big news from this week? He was chosen from tryouts to be on the local select soccer team! YEA BRYCE! He's so very excited, as are we!

A few random summer pics

Bryce was making things out of dominoes as Caroline spectated from my lap. Boy did he have her rolling with laughter each time he finished it and let her knock it down.

I'm practicing folks! I like to cruise on furniture and things and can crawl faster than I think Mommy can even run, but this walking thing is much harder than it looks!

Blowing bubbles for his sister...

...Laughing at the bubbles Bryce was blowing for her!

Good shot Bryce!