Lowes

We went to Lowes Build and Grow workshop this weekend. This was the first one the Lucy has done. She was so cute and excited about it. They built helicopters.

Chuck of course had to wear his Jimmy Johnson Lowes Racing hat that he got for his birthday.

Afterward we went out for ice cream. It was a fun Saturday morning as a family.

Pics of Charlotte

Our good friend Abbie took some pictures of Charlotte when she was just one day old in the hospital meeting her big sisters and also when she was one week old. She has a photography business, but is moving to Nashville, TN in a week. Check out her website and blog here.

I had so many favorites. but here are a few of them.

I love her long crazy toes - she got them from me.This fist by the face pose is her signature look. It's even the pose she was in for her last ultrasound pic at 36 weeks. The picture below captures Charly the best - eyes open and content as can be. I LOVE this picture of Chuck holding her. He is such a wonderful father to little girls. I feel so blessed to have him in all of our lives. I also love that this picture is in our yard in my favorite place to sit and look at our gorgeous view of the mountains.

County Fair

Last weekend was the County Fair. Chuck and the girls watched the tractor pull, while I fed Charly. I'm glad I wasn't out there with them, because those tractors were so loud. A nice man gave Chuck a pack of earplugs but the girls refused to stick them in their ears. Check out that gorgeous view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We then all headed over to watch some of the juvenile horse competitions. Leland really enjoyed watching the horses much more than we anticipated. We enjoyed a picnic lunch while picking out our favorite horses and riders and watching them go around the ring.

Lucy loved getting to see and even pet some of the barn animals. We saw goats, sheep, chickens, roosters, peacocks, turkeys, cows, and mini ponies. Lucy's favorite was the baby calf that we got to pet. Leland's favorite were the peacocks.

Leland got to participate in the kids tractor pedal pull again this year. She didn't go very far (only about 10 of the 40 feet) and seemed a bit nervous with all the people watching her, but she did okay. She came in 5th place in her class. She won a little toy tractor that she loves. You had to be 3 years old to participate, so Lucy didn't do it, but she did well cheering her sister on.

Leland's memory is crazy - the second she saw those mini tractors, she started talking about last time she did it which was a year ago.

Charlotte's Blessing

While Chuck's parents were in town from CA, we decided to bless Charlotte at church. Chuck gave her a beautiful blessing. I love Charlotte's little feet in this picture. All three of our girls have worn the same blessing dress which I got at Ross for under $10 right after Leland was born. I love a good deal!

We were lucky that so many of our family members were able to come to the blessing on such short notice. We loved having them all here for the day.

We, of course, had to get a Nana and cousins picture while we were all together. That's 9 grandkids with 7 of them 4 years old or under. As you can tell by the picture on the left it was a little crazy getting a picture, but the one on the right is pretty good. They are all actually looking at the camera. I love how Nick is hugging Lucy. All the girls have matching skirts made by my cute sister Christine.

Fun Times in Lex

Chuck's mom and dad were able to visit us for a few days and meet their newest grandchild (#14). The McBrides (Chuck's sister) came up from NC to hang out with us one day while they were here. We decided to take them on the horse drawn carriage tour of our town that we have always wanted to do. It was very fun and of course the kids loved it.

Our town is very hilly. There was one time that the horses "refused" to pull all of us up a hill, so some of the adults had to jump out and walk up the hill. I thought it was pretty funny, but I was sitting next to our driver and she was really nervous and pretty shaken up by it.

The boys were able to play a round of golf. The kids played at the park, went to Boxerwood Gardens, and out for ice cream with Grammy. That evening, we all went to a concert in the park. We enjoyed a picnic dinner and the kids danced. At night, Chuck and his parents went on the Haunted Walking Tour of Lexington. You get to hear all sorts of legends and ghost stories about places all around town.

We had such a wonderful time with all of them. Thanks for coming to visit.

That's what I get

One night while putting Lucy to bed I noticed some dried ketchup smeared on her forehead that did not get cleaned off from dinner. I know it's gross, but I'm sure most moms have done it before - I licked my thumb and tried to rub the dried ketchup off of her.

She looked at me like "What in the world are you doing?!?!!" Then she licked her thumb and rubbed it on my forehead. That's what I get I guess.

Chopped

10 inches cut and on their way to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. This is the 3rd time I have donated 10 inches in the last 5 years. The first 2 times I donated to Locks of Love. My last haircut (besides a trim from my husband) was 2 years ago right before Lucy was born.

The last 2 times I chopped my hair was right before giving birth to Leland and Lucy. During labor with Charly, my long hair was driving me crazy and I kept telling Chuck to remind me to cut my hair before having another baby.

Leland thinks it's pretty neat that we have the same haircut now. Lucy tonight kept stroking my hair with a confused look on her face.

Nana Comes to Play

When Charly was born we were lucky to have my mom (Nana) come stay with us for a week. It was so nice to have her here to take care of Leland and Lucy while I was in the hospital and the first few days home.

She took the girls to the park I think every day and loved playing outside with them. My mom does a great job engaging all of her grandkids in wonderful games. She is a reading specialist in an elementary school and has great ideas for teaching children to read. She is like Mary Poppins and brings a suitcase full of games and books when she comes to visit. Our favorite thing she introduced us to is the website www.starfall.com. My girls LOVE it.

My girls loved playing with her and seriously learned a lot for the week she was here. Leland is learning to read and does a great job trying to sound out words.

Thanks Nana for coming to stay with us! We love you!

Big sisters

These girls love and adore their new baby sister. Lucy has taken on the role of big sister beautifully.




Breaking Charly in early to the craziness of our house. This was the morning of her 3rd day home.

4th of July Festivities

Every 4th of July in Lexington there is a hot air balloon rally on VMI parade grounds. For 2 days, hot air balloons go out twice a day. The girls loved watching them lift off the ground and float through the sky. We went for about an hour or two on July 3rd and on the 4th to watch the balloons take off.

We also played in the 2 bounce houses, an obstacle course bounce, and a huge slide that were set up up for the kids. The girls loved all of them. Lucy's favorite was the bounce house with the Nemo characters on the side.

Lucy amazed us all by climbing through the obstacle course all by herself, including the 8 foot rock climbing wall-style ladder to get to the final slide. She is such a strong little girl. They just went on all of them over and over again. You had to buy tickets for the kids to play. Once it started raining a little bit, the boys taking tickets just let our girls go again and again.

About a half hour before the fireworks were scheduled to start, we finally pulled the girls away from the bounce houses. Lucy got kicked in the face by a little boy so that was it for her.

We started out waiting under our umbrellas for the firweorks to start, but then we got smart and headed for the car. We found a parking spot with a perfect view of the fireworks and watched from there. We enjoyed the show out of the rain and even turned on some patriotic music to listen to. It was perfect. This firework in the picture was the biggest one we have ever seen, ever. Chuck was able to capture it on film, but this is not even at it's largest state.

Nana was a trooper hanging out in the rain next to the stroller while Chuck and I played with the girls by the bounce houses. Thanks Nana.