Sunshine & BBQin'

. . . Go hand in hand!

In honor of my sister coming up for a visit {and also for someone's 30th birthday, ahem} we invited a few friends and family over. And oh, what fun we had.

We only had one uninvited guest. This "little guy" came boundin' down the driveway, and once he saw the kiddos he didn't really want to leave.

Would you be wanting to leave if you were getting all that love and attention?

This is my friend, Mandy, and her two adorable babies. My mom used to take care of Mandy and her sister when my sister and I were little. We pretty much grew up together, and haven't seen each other since we were about 13. Yeah. It was quite a reunion.

The kids only had a teensy bit of fun. It was rather boring for them, actually. Can you tell? They were half asleep from the sheer boredom. Yawn. ;)

Guess who ♥ LOVES ♥ their cousin? Kam could not get enough smoochies from Mona. She kept chasing after her trying to give more and more loves. Precious, I tell ya.

My sis and my best friend from middle school and high school. Annie planned the entire gathering {with some help from my mom}. She is a party animal ;)

Ang & I met up again last summer after losing touch for several years. How precious friendships are. I'm so happy to have her in my life again.

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It was a gorgeous day.

Sunshine.

Blue skies.

Friends.

Family.

Good Food.

It doesn't get much better!

Summertime!!!

We have been enjoying some seriously beautiful, sunny, perfect days! Pair that with my sister and her kiddos here for a visit, and it doesn't get much better.

Yesterday we went to Enchanted Forest {to check out last year's Enchanted Forest fun, click here}. Oh the kids had such fun.

The stroller was a ride in and of itself for Kam. I don't think she's been in a stroller since she was a few months old. In fact, I can probably count, on one hand, the number of times she's ridden in a stroller. This child is an Ergo girl, I tell ya. She'd rather be carried than strolled any day. Now, Kenners, on the other hand . . .

We enjoyed a walk through the park, and a few rides . . .

My gorgeous sis, and her daughter, Sonoma riding the train ;)

And Miss Kam lovin' Sissy's Sno Cone.

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It was a good day.

House Pictures

Okay, seriously, I know you guys are getting tired of the house updates, so I will try not to post any more for a little while. But . . . the trusses came the other day, and our house is really beginning to look like . . . a house! :)

I can't help but post a few pics.

Our side wall had to be lifted by crane.

Ta-da! There it is.

The first truss going up.

And the last.

A side view.

And a view from the front. Kind of. It's hard to get a good frontal picture, as our current home is right.in.front. of it!

So, that's that! All caught up on house pictures. In a week or so we'll have windows!

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In other news, my sister arrived this afternoon and the kiddos have been having way too much fun playing. My inbox is overflowing and I'm missing my blog friends, but I'll be back soon ;)

Hope y'all are enjoying Summer!

Housekeeping

♥ Oh my goodness, it's been a long week and it's only Wednesday. This blog is in definite need of some housekeeping, so bear with me while I put my jumbled thoughts out here, and try to wrap a few things up ;) ♥

♥ First let me say THANK YOU for the "weather prayers". It has been sunny and dry! YAY! On the home front~ the trusses came yesterday, and everything went smooth as silk. What a blessing! Give me a day or two to go through {the millions of} pictures, and I'll post a couple of our "house". It's looking more and more like one each day, and it is so exciting. ♥

♥ My sister and her little sugarplums are coming for a visit TOMORROW! Ahhh! We can hardly contain ourselves. We can't wait to see them! ♥

♥ Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the super sweet birthday wishes! Guess what, 30 isn't as bad as I thought ;) I had a wonderful birthday. My parents and Jeremy's parents came over, Jeremy grilled the yummiest ribs I've ever had {and I didn't even think I liked ribs! Who knew!} the girls sang me the sweetest birthday song {Kam included!}. It was the loveliest day. ♥

{A few pics . . . I had to!}

Check out these yummy kabobs the girls put together.

Somebody got a new patio set for her birthday ;) {I cannot wait to put it on our new back porch! Squeal!}

Sorry about this blurry orange-y photo. I hadn't changed the settings before handing it off ;)

Kam had to sneak a little taste ;)

♥ Also, just want to say a GIANT thank you to Miss V ;) I won a $25 gift card to Wal-mart at her place last week. Thanks, Girl! ♥

We've got walls . . .

Just a quick house update for y'all :)

We've got {some} walls up, WOO-HOO!!!

Now if the rain would just hold off for a few days maybe we could get the rest of it framed! :)

Happy Father's Day!

I am so blessed to have many special dads in my life.

My own dad:

I don't even know where to begin.

They don't get much greater.

My dad always taught me to dream big. Probably my BIGGEST supporter during my pageant years, he was the one to encourage me to put my all into everything I set out to do. Dad was the one working out to Buns of Steel with me each morning, hauling me in to the salon when I needed a nail fixed, and continually giving me the encouragement I needed during the trying times.

Not a big surprise, then, that my own daughters LOVE him to pieces. Kam lights up every time she sees her Gramps. He is so very special to us.

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My hubs:

Oh how my girls love their Daddy. He's the best snuggler, tickler, wrestler, hide-and-seek player, tucker-inner on.the.planet. I love watching him with them. There is nothing more precious than seeing the love he has for them, and it makes me love him all the more.

I know that when our girls are grown they will remember how hard their Daddy worked to give them all they could ask for.

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Of course I have to give a shout out to my favorite dad-in-law. He is like a second dad to me, supporting Jeremy and me in every adventure we pursue. And to my favorite Papa ~ Jeremy's grandpa. I could spend hours chatting with him.

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Happy Father's Day to all of the special dads in y'alls lives!

Not sure how I got here

So . . .

Today's my birthday. . .

I'm thirty.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. {Not that I really have a choice}.

I'm not really upset about turning 30. More like, I can't figure out how I got here so quickly. Perplexed. That's the word. Okay, and maybe a little sad. Not because I think I'm old or anything. No. It's just . . . my twenties were so momentous, I'm sad to give them up. I got married to my best friend when I was 21, became a Mama at 22, had my second daughter at 24, bought our very own home and 20 acres of gorgeous land at 25, gave birth to an honest to goodness miracle baby at 28, and started building our dream home at 29. How do ya top all that?

Anyway.

Just thought y'all should know that you're not in the presence of a twenty-something anymore. Can you handle it? ;)

When in doubt, add some felt!

Now that school is out, dance is over, and we have a little more time to ourselves during the day, I've actually found a few minutes for crafting. It doesn't hurt that we've been stuck inside due to all of the rain. But really, I'd trade my crafting in for some sunny days. Sun, come back!

Anyway.

After Kam's camp trailer shirt success, Sierra needed a top to call her own.

This is what we came up with:

I started with a tank from Old Navy and my favorite craft supply, felt :)

I cut a few circles, sewed on a bead here and there.

Added some leaves . . .

And finished it off with some decorative stitching.

Sierra loves it. And I do too. Now Makenna wants one ~ though she wants ladybugs instead of flowers {or was it a butterfly? I'm not sure, she keeps changing her mind ;)} Back to the craft room ;)

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Linking up at Jen's! :)

Wordful Wednesday ~ Sunny Days

The other day I was watching the news, and our weatherman stated that not only did we accumulate a full June's worth of rain in just one day, but we were also {only a handful of days into June} over 700% of typical rainfall for this time of year.

So . . . .

days like this:

make me shout, "Hallelujah!"

Ahhh, glorious sunshiney days!

They make me feel so cheery!

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What puts you in a good mood?

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For more wordless/wordful Wednesday fun, head on over to Seven Clown Circus, 5 Minutes for Mom and Miller Racing Family :)

Dance Recital!

{A little warning: pictures may be blurry, dark, and completely out of focus. It was DARK in there, and I didn't have time to do much more than just crop. Sorry!}

Saturday was Dance Recital Day!

The girls had seriously been counting down for weeks, they were so excited. Preparations started early in the afternoon. A girl has gotta look her best, you know.

Hair curling, nail painting, there was a whole lotta pampering goin' on.

Once we got to the auditorium, we had a few minutes to kick back.

And then it was time for the show!

Kenners did such a great job. She tapped her little heart out!

There was a little bit of a jumble exiting the stage, but all in all, the whole group did a fabulous job!

Next up was Sis. She was groovin' to "I will survive", ha!

After a costume change she was Princess Jasmine in "A whole new world".

They were pretty proud of their performances {and their roses!}. Afterward we went home, got into jammies, ate pizza, and watched the recital on video. It was a great evening!

And now we are officially on Summer Break! Woohooo! Now, a little sun would be nice ;)