PARTY AT OUR PLACE!!!

This year, we decided to stay home for the 4th of July and do our own thing. We invited over some of our favorite people....the attendees (In random order, of course):

Bradley, the master of Pyro ceremonies. In Arkansas it is tradition to let the underage be in charge of all explosives.

Brad, my brutha from anutha mutha. He enjoyed taking a puff of the punk.

Dana, his lovely wife....posing with "Little G" (Garrett), who makes his debut any day now!

Greg and Krista - some of the sweetest you'll ever meet.

Todd and Courtney, lighting a unity Roman Candle....

Tommy T - The one who orchestrated the fireworks display.

Bryce, the life of the party!

Bob and Judy, Dana's parents.....So sad I didn't get a picture of Judy. She is stunning. Bryce always flirted with her when Bob wasn't looking.

Karah, the debutant party princess.

Following is a large assortment of children. Let's play a little game and see if you can match the child to the correct parents. Some are dead giveaways :) You may be wondering why there is no picture of Brady, Brad and Dana's little boy. He was not available for a photo shoot due to his intense fear of fireworks. Brady spent a peaceful night in our basement watching a Barbie movie...much to Brad's dismay.

We enjoyed S'mores as we debated whether marshmallows are best toasty brown or encased in carcinogens.

When we invited Bob and Judy to attend our 4th of July fireworks- they later told us that they had expected a few sparklers. They were shocked to see that it really was "a show". It rocked! Go Tom! I think we will stay home every year!

Double Date Night - Naturals Baseball Game

We decided to kick off the 4th of July weekend by going to a Naturals Game on the 3rd. They were to play San Antonio, and then there was to be a 40 minute symphony concert and fireworks. Tom's company has season pass tickets behind home plate - great seats in a beautiful new stadium. We went with Courtney and Todd - hopes high of enjoying a fabulous night together.Love was definitely in the air....along with a few storm clouds. Once the downpour began, I was given the opportunity to grab a piece of my "men" while we waited for the storm to pass. I had to tell "Strike", the mascot, that it just wasn't going to work out. He had major hygiene issues and was in desperate need of an esthetician. Tom SO had him beat.

The game was resumed long enough for us to eat every bit of junk food we could find in the stadium. Between all of us, the list included: burgers, nachos, Italian sausages with peppers, ice cream, pretzel, cotton candy, drinks. Courtney and I had worked out the night before and vowed to get "a" treat. Well, not so much.

"Strike" wasn't going to take no for an answer, so he was sure to try to dissuade me from my decision to stick with Tommy T. He even threatened me with a gun, but I would not be his Ozark Mountie. NEVAH!

The clouds rolled in again and I told the others that I felt we should get out of there. Of course Tom wanted to watch the end of one more inning - when I forced the issue by running out of the stadium. He was such a gentleman - he followed me. Just then, there was a HUGE bolt of lightning and we looked back to see the stadium in the dark. All of the field lights and everything had lost power. Even the parking lot lights were out. The lightning kept coming as I ran to the car - much to the amusement of the others. We ended up going to a movie afterwards and saw Hancock, which we really enjoyed.

There may not have been a symphony or fireworks - but it was a fantastic and memorable double date and a GREAT way to ring in the 4th of July!

Karah's Gymnastics Birthday Party

Karah was lucky enough to have her "friends birthday party" at her gymnastics place. Most of her closest friends were able to attend - so she was on cloud nine.

Before her friends arrived, I walked in on a serious conversation between Karah and Bradley. To this day, I don't know WHAT was being discussed (neither one would tell me) but this I do know - it was SERIOUS. It was like they didn't even see me standing there taking a picture of them. Their eyes were fixed on each other and you could cut the tension with a knife. If I had to guess, it probably entailed Karah telling Bradley that this was a big kids party - and Bradley letting her know that he IS a big kid now. It was hilarious. Whatever it was - it blew over and they had a great time together the rest of the time.

The kids got to do the trampoline, balance beams, vault (complete with foam pit), rope climb, floor exercise, and a little obstacle course they had set up for them. Bryce took some time out and did a little pommel horse demonstration for us.

It was the typical kid party..... as listed below:

1. Child looking frantically at mother as a mob of children "help" unwrap her gifts. This one was especially painful for the others to violate...it was a princess dress from Grandma.

2. "Help" blowing out the birthday cake. I have always wondered if the helper gets to make a wish, too???

3. A frenzied "assembly line" process of opening gifts wherein the mom is constantly having to remind her child to say "thank you" each time she opened a gift - before it was tossed aside in the frenzy to open the next one.

Her party had it all! It was perfectly imperfect....and we loved every minute of it.

Karah Turns 6!

On June 27th, Karah turned six years old! We started her special day with our newest birthday tradition, breakfast in bed. She requested blueberry pancakes, turkey sausage, yogurt, fresh berries, and juice. What an appetite! Maybe the "power" just went to her head :)

We then sped off to the last day of swimming lessons, where she and Bradley had an hour of the water slide and diving board all to themselves. After their dip they were good and water logged, pruned fingers and all!

After a quick lunch and showers, we all went with friends to see Kung Fu Panda. It was so cute! Bryce stayed behind with the babysitter, since he hasn't quite acquired a taste for sitting still for two hours straight.

Later that night we had her family birthday party. She opened gifts and eventually got to blow out the candles on her raspberry cheesecake ice cream cake. Yikes, it was good!

Daddy helped Karah put on her new charm bracelet.

Grandma got Karah a beautiful new tea set - complete with the perfect outfit to wear at her first tea party. It included a precious pair of lace gloves that her grandma wore when she was a little girl!

Karah had been begging for an Ipod - so mama compromised and got her an MP3 player. It's no Ipod - but there won't be any tears if it gets misplaced or broken. Maybe when she is a teenager she will get the real deal.

Her brothers got her a butterfly garden. She gets to mail in a card and they will send us the live caterpillar that will eventually transform into a butterfly that we will set free.

She was SO excited to get her own makeup artist kit! Bradley was quite jealous - but he got a makeover soon after!

It's hard to believe that it has been six years since this little girl came into our world and changed our lives. Sometimes I just want to slam the brakes on time - it just goes too fast. Our baby is growing up!

We just adore her!

Summer Fun With My Little Fishies

Karah and Bradley have been enrolled in swimming lessons....Karah to improve her already beautiful stroke....and Bradley - well, to teach him that he DOESN'T know how to swim. The boy has no fear- which is a big problem during the pool season. We LIVE at the pool during the summer. Basically, if it isn't the middle of a thunderstorm, we are likely in the pool. We enjoy our "parade of pools" - will it be the city pool, or one of the pools in Bella Vista? Perhaps we will take a dip with Shanaynay - or maybe today will be Brady's pool. Maybe we will even stoop low enough to go to the pool at the gym. Gotta have lots of options when your children are fish.
On the last day of swim lessons, they both had full reign of the waterslide and diving board. It happened to be on Karah's birthday - so that was the best gift she could have ever received....not having to wait in line for a turn. Things got kind of crazy!

Bryce was content to sit on the side and watch all of the action. All he needed to have a good time was a crazy brother and sister....and or course, a spoon.

Got to love 'em!