Flower Power

Who knew this innocent photo session would reveal such a violent power struggle?
Take one like this...

Now take one like this....

No Lizzie, you can't touch the flowers....

Now take one like this.... (as Liz exits the scene)

Zoo Pals

Riley and Gracie on the train

Lizzie with Max Bowling.

Hey, kids, I found the camera... act excited and I'll take your picture....

I can always count on Riley for expression.

The Lost Beach Photos

Here, a sampling of some of our lost beach photos from when we went to Dauphin Island with our cousins this summer. To make a long story short, we found our camera, and got to relive all the "end of summer" moments.... Look closely and you'll see Riley is flying a kite. Seriously.

Norm Better Watch Out!

I took the older 2 to Lowes this past Saturday morning and let them build a pirate ship at thier kid's workshop. The loved it. After building the rough mmodel at Lowes, we came home and they sandedand painted thier ships all by themselves!

Cuties

I had taken these pics on my phone and have not had a chance to download them until now. The one of Riley is old. The Lizzie was taken this morning.

Lazer Tag Buddy!



Piggie Tails!

Cousin Reunion

We recently went to Memphis for my grandfather's funeral and got to do some serious catching up with our cousins! We've missed cousins Nadine and Lucie, and we took the opportunity to pose in (matching, natch) our new shirts from Aunt Katie.

ABC's and 123's

We've had all kinds of new beginnings this month. Mom started teaching preschool at Grace Community School. Riley is going to the four year old class and Lizzie gets to learn sign language and other uber-important baby socialization skills, like don't hit your neighbor with your shoe, and don't eat your paper.
Porter started school today at PCS. Kindergarden is sooooo last year, and he feels very big eating lunch in the lunchroom with the other big kids. So we've got a house full of teachers and students.

Smiley Riley

We had a song we used to sing to Riley when she was a baby called "Smiley Riley" because she was always so smiley and funny, and doing things that were.... smiley and funny. She's still the same way.
You may remember the pictures of Porter and Ben training to be Power Rangers using a very sophisticated training dvd a few months back. Riley found it today.

She has this thing about wanting to hand me her trash as soon as she's done with it. Most kids do this. Riley is incredibly persistent about this, and on this particular day she made up her mind that she was going to give me her empty Capri sun one way or another.

Kid Sister

Those of you that know Riley know that this is what she dreamed of when we told her she'd be having a sister. About a year ago when Lizzie was just a few months old Riley begged me to put her in dress up. Since then, she hasn't had much luck with her dress-up buddy. Until today.

Happy Working Song

You can do a lot when you've got such a happy working song to sing....

Sweet Home Alabama

Riley and cousin Ethan hangin' ten at Uncle John's baseball game


Group picture after church


Me and Rachael- for those of you who remember our wedding she was the four year old flower girl! She's all grown up now and sweet as can be!


The cousins, minus Lizzie, plotting their next attempt at shooting us all with water guns.


Monnee and Mikey (aka Brice's mom and step dad) with the kids at breakfast.


A jungle safari in Alabama? No, they were just posing at Southern Adventures in the jungle-like temperatures.

Pool Pals

Where's Lizzie?

There she is!

I'm a little tea pot!

I'm not a teapot, but Riley is. She danced and sang at the debut Ballet recital last night. We have video, but I am having difficulty downloading it right now.

So in the mean time, here are some pics from last night.

(She is in the middle wth the "Binocular Eyes", click to enlarge!)

Sister Act

Riley really wants to dress Lizzie. This is what happens.

Working Hard, Hardly Working

Riley says I never put pictures up of her school work. That's because it doesn't feel like we're even working on anything when I sit down with her. The kid's got a knack for making everything feel like fun. Case in point, "Mama, this sure is a cute letter F." She makes it look easy.

Dresses, Daring-Deeds, and Decongestant

Lots has been happening around here. Porter is sick, and has spent lots of time on the couch with a wet rag on his forehead. Brice taught him this trick in the middle of the night, and now he feels that it always has to be there. Poor guy. The baby started pulling up on anything and everything. Such a brave girl, but I don't like to be reminded that she's growing up. And on a cuter note, the girls wore matching Santa dresses to church last Sunday that were made and smocked by my grandmother almost 30 years ago! The one Riley has on was the one my cousin Lisa wore, and the one Lizzie has on was mine. Props to my mom for keeping those dresses in such good shape.