She cant believe it! NO more braces!

We went for her orthodontist appointment today...

I was thinking that it was taking longer than usual....

as she came running out to me...with a HUGE grin on her face NOT showing her teeth..

I had my suspicions!

Then she came up to me and opened her mouth so big and happy and said 'LOOK...I had NO idea I was getting them off today!'

She was one happy and shocked girl!

Now...she still has a long road as this is just round 1.....BUT her teeth look SO good and she is sooo excited about it!

Her very first official doctor picture! LOOK at the difference! Wow!

 Her 1st official picture with braces!

 And....look how much she has changed! :)
I hope round 2 goes as well as this round. I have a feeling it will just because she is used to how it is with braces, etc...so when she gets both top and bottom on....hopefully it will be a breeze!

 She did this...................the rest of the afternoon! :) :)

Summer is winding down!

Tomorrow is August 1st!

WHAT?!!???!

WOW...this Summer has just been an absolute blur! It has been a good Summer...but still at blur! The girls claim its been an 'okay' Summer just because it has gone by so fast and it has rained SOOO much. Literally every other day it has rained at some point in the day! I have enjoyed the rain..but it has been odd how its been!

The girls had their last field trip at the Community Center today! They finished with a bang at The Factory! They LOVE there.....so they were super excited and said they had the best day! I decided to go into work for a couple of hours since I was waiting on them to come back even though today was my day off. Im sad as those days are winding down too! BOO!

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing some errand running....doing Alexis' orthodontist visit {HUGE surprise with that coming in the next post!} and then coming home and cooking the BEST new dinner recipe! OH yum! Sausage, carrots, cabbage, onion and potato foil packs for the win!

We are all nice and cozy {me with my favorite blanket and a candle burning} as a thunderstorm is rolling through. Perfection! :)

The Summer is ending...which means...Fall activities are gearing up! Danceline practice galore for this girl!
Love these two sweet girls!

Kick line is coming together!

See! :)

Early morning picture before heading into the Community Center to catch the buses to go to The Factory! Two very excited girls!

The wait is finally over!

They thought they would be getting their teacher's name in the mail on Saturday....but...

it came TODAY!

And BOY were they ready to find out who their teacher is and find out what friends are in their class!

OH happy day for them!

Lily was a little bummed, she was hoping for Mrs. Royster {for some reason all Summer she kept saying...she wanted Abby Grace's teacher, Mrs. Royster! I honestly dont think she really knows her but just knows that Abby had her so I think that is the main reason}.

She got Mrs. Ramsay, though, and we are excited about that too! Mrs. Ramsay goes to our Church and is a super sweet lady who even helps out in Lily's childrens area so Lily knows her really well already! {And she knows Lily really well, too, which is a good thing to know her personality already!} :) :)

Alexis BUSTED out screaming {at Sonic....with the windows down} when I gave her the letter because she was SO excited about getting Mrs. Ashley Smith for homeroom. BOY, she loves Mrs. Smith...and I do too so Im excited she got the teacher she was hoping for! I was a little worried that someone was going to call 911 on me for child abuse or something when she started screaming with excitement. OH me! :)

Alexis and Lily, both, have a few good friends in their class so they are excited to start school and have a great year!

We celebrated the good news with a fun drink from Sonic before taking Alexis to danceline practice....and dropping dinner off to a sweet family in our Sunday school class that just had a new precious baby boy named Luke!

Today was a great day................or....per the girls, best day ever! :)

Life lately!

We have been soaking up the last days of Summer and just in disbelief that Summer is almost over!

The girls had Camp Rock at Hillcrest Monday-Wednesday and had a blast! It was a nice little change for them even though they have been loving the Community Center! They have had alot of fun this Summer which makes my heart melt since I cant be out with them.
This one has been loving that Daddy set up the sprinkler so she can 'jump and swim' per her! bahaha!

They both love this! :)

Yesterday we loaded up and did some errands and had just a nice low key Saturday! It was a beautiful day and a perfect way to kick off the weekend!
Lily had her baby READY to go! So cute! :)

This chick is just way too grown and cool for school!

Lily made sure to have her baby buckled in and safe before we left! :)

We got Lily a nice...and really 'big girl' bike {per her} that has hand brakes and SHE is in LOVE! She has rode and rode it! What crackes me up is that she had to wear her gloves to help her go fast and ride her bike! :)

She got a new helmet and its her favorite!

Can you see the two specks of girls riding and enjoying their Saturday!?! I do! :) :)

Love! Perfection of a Saturday!

I couldnt pass up a cute spot!

So...when Tyler and I went bike riding this past Monday...

I found the most adorable little spot with the most beautiful and brightly colored flowers along the trail!

OH I fell in love!

NOW....boy....picture taking is NOT fun! When we pulled up...it was nice and overcast...

well, then it started raining right when we had the chair and the camera on the pod. So we quickly started loading up so we wouldnt get wet....then it just stopped! Well...we lug it all back out....then the girls didnt want to cooperate...Tyler was 'blind' and couldnt see. then he went to the car and didnt take anymore pictures...then the SUN came out and we all started sweating like pigs! OH.....

but...I have said it before...to get that one or two pictures makes it worth it! I think several turned out so good! :)

Tyler was testing the timer on this one and you can literally see the raindrops starting to fall and get harder! Right about this time we starting taking off to the car! This would have been one of my most favorites...if the raindrops were not included!

Us chicks!

My little family of 4!

These two are growing way too fast!

I just love this!

Miss 10 year old Alexis!

I love this of her!

Sassy thing!

Then...took a couple more in our front yard before calling it an afternoon! :)

She loves this pose! ha!

Wordless Wednesday!

{THIS is the STORY of my LIFE!} There are NO words! :) :)

Our day!

Today was our day!

Today marked lucky number 13 for how long Tyler and I have been married!

WOW!...time has flown!

We have been through so much in our 13 years. Both good and bad as we have moved along but as each year rolls, I feel like no matter the good or bad, we both realize that we are not going anywhere and that we love and value each other more!

Here's to 13.....and 60 more!

We had a great day today....just the two of us!

We started the morning off with a long bike ride from our house and over to the trial. It was such a beautiful morning and setting for a ride! It was so peaceful and there was a perfect breeze as we rode!

Later on we got cleaned up and headed to Birmingham for some shopping. We have several fun spots that we always love to hit when we go to Birmingham so today we hit those! It has been awhile since we have done that...and it was a fun little 'flashback' that we did! We even went by our hold house. It was weird in a way to see it. We have been past it before since we moved, but every time..it is just surreal to see it. It looked like our hold home...where we brought Alexis and Lily home to except the plants have really grown! ha!

We also tried out the new and FAST go-cart place called Autobahn indoor speed track! OH my they were SO fast! We had a great time racing! Of course...Tyler blew me out of the water! Then we capped the fabulous day off at one of our favorites...Chuck's Fish!

Perfect day!

This place was awesome! We had a blast!

These things go SO fast!

You can see the track. Literally...I never put the break on! I squealed tires...I spun...I was nervous a little..but it was so fast and fun! ha!

I had to wear this under my helmet....yeah...it was odd to do! It didnt mess my hair up too bad though! :) :)

And...to cap off the great day...Chuck's Fish! OH YUM! This picture doesnt do it justice! I LOVE jumbo scallops....and no words! Soooooo good!

This is...

This day is never one I like to think about. The years grow in number but it's like it was yesterday in my mind. I know Heaven is one lucky place to have him. ❤️❤️ I just love this old picture of my Dad and I!

 8 years ago today....it was a really....really...really bad day! Fast forward 8 years...I can only help but think that God played a huge roll in the before and after doings of my Dad's passing.
Today...8 years ago...I look at where I am. I look at my little family...I see how beautiful they are, how blessed I am, how I know...without a doubt...that my Dad is SO proud of me and is looking after me and them!

 She is just growing super fast!

 These two girls have a pretty special Angel looking over them!

 Little miss Sassy thing! :)

 This is a day...that is super hard... but seeing these two...seeing them laugh and seeing them have 'the best day ever' {per them as they jump in the sprinkler} I know that my Dad did not want me to dwell on this day. He doesnt want me to be sad. That was just him. He never wanted the spotlight on him...and not even now.

 I truly believe...that he had a say in when he died. Instead of me having to always have this horrible day to think about....it was planned that instead, I get to spend my day planning mine and Tyler's anniversary as it is always the day after this day. We get to be excited in planning and having our anniversary. We get to watch, today, our sweet girls smile and laugh and have fun!
I am thankful that I have him watching over us. I am thankful that he is there and I know that he is in a better place. I am excited in knowing that one day, I will get to see him again.
This day may be hard...but this day is a day that I am most thankful and blessed and grateful to have him watching over me!

 These two may not ever know or remember Pops....but they had one pretty awesome grandfather! I hope that he got to see their smiles and hear their squeals all the way to Heaven! So today, this day...we had a great day! It was filled with Church, lunch with Church friends, cheer practice for Lily and then the rest of the afternoon playing outside until a nice, big, rainfall fell.
Love and miss you always Pops!

 

A fun day with Addie May!

No...her name isnt Addie May...

but thats what I like to call her! :)

Alexis had a pretty long dance practice today...and sweet Adalee came home with us for the rest of the afternoon after practice!

I have to say...I felt like I practiced my girls {for cheer} a good bit...but danceline has me beat by a LONG shot! I mean...a 3 hour practice on a Saturday! Blows me out of the water!

For a good long while...they all curled up and did some IPAD time...and then watched a movie because a great thunderstorm rolled through so they couldnt go outside or down to the basement. So they just relaxed...especially after two of theirs long practice today!

Then...they got a 2nd wind...and played and played. They played Twister for a long time!

They would play two at a time and then the one that won would play the third person. Here they decided to all play at once...and then realized there wasnt enough room for all of them! :)

They played outside...down in the basement...made braclets...ate watermelon...had popsicles....and more...JUST what all a perfect Summer day should consist of! :) :)

Spending time with LaLa..and Mommy night!

Lana had  planned with me...several weeks ago....and Alexis had no idea!

Last night I met Lana in Pell City and dropped Alexis off for a 2 night spend the night party and when we pulled up to meet her......she was SO excited!

Im sure Alexis is having a blast based on the pictures I have been receiving!

Dont worry...Lily is having a great time too! Though she would love to be at LaLa's...she is loving being 'home alone' from her sister AND today she went roller skating {her favorite} and got to pick where to eat tonight! She, of course, chose Yamoto! :)

Girls lunch...and shopping and fun!

One happy 10 year old!

To round out a great day...Sweet Frog!

My dinner date! I just love her! She told me ALLL about her skating today....and alll about her day as we ate! She also told me that Ryker wore his hair the way she likes it today!! I asked her 'WHAT?!' She said ...'Yes, Mommy...Ryker came up to me and said Lily, I wore my hair today like you like it and I am going to have my Mom ask your Mom to come over and swim at my house!'
OH me! :) :) I asked her what way of his hair does she like... and she said 'When he has it swooped over and has some a little sticking up!' haha! This girl of mine! :)