Audrey turned THREE WOOPEE!

It's hard for me to believe that 3 yrs have so quickly passed since I first laid eyes on my sweet little Audrey. I remember thinking she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen and still think that to this day. Granted, she had an advantage on her siblings since she did not have to endure endless hours of labor and 2 + hours making her way out the birth canal. ;) Audrey was an extremely easy, very content baby. She hardly made a sound, a cry, but often would look into my eyes and smile contentedly. In fact, I began to worry a little about her lack of noise, when she wasn't speaking at 2 years old. So VERY VERY different from Mya! :) However, my fears have been put to rest. She has found her voice and although, not quite as verbal as Mya (of course, I don't know if I've met a child who is!) Audrey can hold her own in the vocal dept. It has been SO fun to see her sense of humor develop. Because she often cracks her jokes in a low, soft tone, you have to listen carefully to hear her silly humorous words. She is as tenderhearted and sensitive as ever. All I have to do is give her a stern look and she melts into to tears. She continues to treasure her times of solitude and will escape to her room to play with her dollhouse or little ponies when she needs a break from her very talkative siblings. Nate and I have really enjoyed seeing Audrey's personality blossom, despite all the hecticness and changes that has come with 2 moves in one year. I do have to give Mya some credit for this personality explosion. I thank God for all the joy she brings into Audrey and Slaeter's life! More on Mya in November when I celebrate her life... Audrey was happy as could be to have Mya at her birthday and it made me wonder if I needed the "friends birthday" at all?
We celebrated her birthday on Saturday as a family and will celebrate with a few friends this friday.

I have failed my daughter in the blowing dept. Poor girl couldn't figure out how to blow... :)

Mya was there to encourage and lick the candles. I found these crazy cupcakes at Harris and Teeter - pretty crazy, which suits my girls perfectly!


Slaeter was quite happy with his portion of the cake as well.

Mya understands the value of investing wisely... she bought a gift with her money (very generous), but no without careful consideration... "Mom! I can play this game I LOVE I have been WANTING with Audrey! She'll love it! " Well, Mya was right. Audrey did love the game and they played for hours! I now LOVE this game as well! ;)




Thanks papo and Mema Dave and Patty for the gifts! All the gifts made the day for her... and to think there are more to come!

To Audrey: As the song (scroll down to listen) says, "Be strong in the Lord!... You're gonna do great things, I already know!...God's got His hand on You!... "

Ramblings...

Fall is in full swing around these parts... :) We are ready to celebrate... fall festival, birthdays, thanksgiving, a much-looked-forward-to-visit from Nate's family and all that comes with the holidays! I took this picture about a week ago and this tree is now completely red! Gorgeous I tell you! Our hydrangea bushes have taken on a rose tone ( from the crate-myrtle bush beside it) and its blossoms have dried. However, as I gather for bouquets, I find they are just as delightful as the ones from summer!

Above: Always inquisitive Mya studying the bushes... which somehow led to her testing the durability of the bushes. I was curious to see if they would stand the intense, very vigorous shaking. To my surprise, they did! Another reason I love these gorgeous flowers. :) Aside from her sense of humor, her curiousity and thirst for knowledge are attributes I truly cherish.


And below: The hydrangeas getting the beating of their lives! :)

Sisters~

Who said blondes have more fun? :)

Slaeter is becoming quite the toddler and will do anything to be a part of the fun. He loves to play with the girls from sun-up to sun-down.



We have had some warm days, downright cold days, sunny, rainy... we are bouncing between our winter and summer clothes. I soak in the warmth whenever I get the chance, in hopes of storing some for later use this winter. :)

Audrey is always there to give him a little shove in the right direction and takes the big sister role very seriously. ;) Actually, I think she relishes every chance she gets to be the bossy big sis.




I love to see her "mother" and love on her "baby Slae".

Slaeter, as mentioned previously, is quite the toddler. Or maybe his Y chromosome has decided it is no longer content to remain unoticed. :) He is tough and strong. Strong both physically, emotionally and dear Lord, I PRAY spiritually one day as well! He is quite stubborn and strong-willed. He will just laugh at me when I give him a swat, give me his mischevious "I will push the limit" look as he attempts to repeat the forbidden. He will not hesistate to fight my grasp with all his strength and voice when I refuse to back down. He will choose a ball over anything sparkly anyday. He makes noises only boys can make and loves to laugh his low gutteral laugh after teasing the girls. Give him anything and he will "pop the hood" (as Nate likes to say) to inspect it. To be sure of it's durability he will test it with a good "whack". He is ALL boy! And I would have it no other way! :)

Don't be fooled by this sweet face. Do not mess with the boy's ball and bat! I warn you...

As I wrote, he can produce the loudest, gutteral laugh after teasing his sisters... and this is the face that accompanies it. :)

To the degree that Slaeter is ALL boy, Audrey is ALL girly girl. As tender-hearted as ever, this sweet girl enjoys more peaceful pursuits.

Been working on this post all day, inbetween wiping bottoms, decorating pumpkins (pictures to come - of course) :), kissing bruises... and now dinner. Mya requested ricotta/mozarella/parmesean cheese filled jumbo shells for dinner. Excuse my rambling... I love fall and people I have to share it with the most!

Really Great Finds!

God Bless the USA!

Every year in October, a Townwide Tag Sale is held in the town of Purcellville. It is basically a HUGE garage sale. However, because it is on the East Coast, the treasures to be discovered are truly antiques and well priced! People come from the surrounding towns to participate and shop... We were just 2 girls in search of hidden treasures among the thousands!

The rain and cold did not dampen our spirits!

This little guy wasn't thrilled about the shopping, but made out alright in the end, with a doughnut and hotwheels. :)

This awesome antique shop is literally "just around the corner", "just down the lane", (you get the idea) from our house - the name - Really Great Finds and boy did I find some finds that were really great! ;)

The traffic jams and people lined and filled the streets

After doing some hardcore hunting, I went back home to get the girls so we could hunt for colorful leaves. While we were out, Mya and Audrey were given the stuffed animals of their dreams, or so you would have thought by their gushing and raving. Another stuffed animal, not exactly what I wanted around the house, but I enjoyed watching them delight over their new gifts. :)

Some leaves that lined the sides of Main Street~

I found a couple things... this was one of my favorites! I was need a magazine rack and was delighted to find this cheap ladder!

We enjoyed decorating the centerpiece with the leaves later. Notice anything different? This is our dining room , now painted a beautiful brown! Thanks for the color Paige!

Fall is a busy time for us... be back laterzzzzzzzzzzz

"A shortcut to the shortcut..." ~ Holiday Inn

I gave the above quote a whole new twist a couple weeks ago. :) The "shortcut" was to cut it myself and save some time & $$$, but that didn't work out quite so well... I ended up taking my girls into the salon to have their freshly butchered hair fixed. I TOTALLY messed up on Mya's hair and somehow cut her hair on 1 side WAY shorter -what the heck???! So, the only option was to give her a really REALLY short cut. This is why I titled my post the latter, because my shortcut resulted in her short cut.

Now some would be discouraged, give in to feelings of defeatism, but not this woman! I saw picture of a cute little girl in the Jcrew mag (who looks a little like Mya) with short hair and bangs... that's right bangs. Surely I can cut bangs, right??? Only one way to know right?? So, after some thought, I did. Not bad eh? :) I do plan to let Mya's hair grow out some so that it will more closely resemble the little girl's haircut in the Jcrew mag and NO I will not cut it myself next time. ;)

I didn't do quite the damage to Audrey's hair THANKFULLY.

It did not need to be cut as short as Mya's hair. I think it looks cute, but isn't quite what I want. I plan to let it grow a little longer so the stylist can have more to play with.

What I would like for Mya's hair to look like go to ~
www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/Crewcutbrowse/ShopKids/girls.jsp

I do think their new do's look quite adorable, it is a whole lots easier to fix come morning, and more importantly far less tears are shed when it we brush. It was soooo worth it!