Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Madeline's Birthday

Miss Madeline turned 4 on July 23rd!! We celebrated with some friends who have a little girl (Khila) who has the same birthday, but is one year older. Look at this gorgeous cake!! Khila's mom, Christi, even got Madeline's nickname right.
Beautiful Birthday Girls!!

Is there anything cuter than a 2-yr-old eating birthday cake? We were at Leia Taylor's house, and this is her little girl, whose name is also Natalie.

Man, that cake was GOOD. I had like 3 pieces. MMmmmmm.
Frosting on your nose. That's how you know the cake was amazing!!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Monday, July 21, 2008

Duck Tales



Look how big our feathered friends have gotten!! They are going to be full-grown in less than 2 weeks. Their wings are starting to develop and soon they will be able to fly. They are sweet little things and I hate to see them go, I really do. Plus heaven knows what Jesse will bring home next, when Baby starts feeling sad and wishing she had a pet again. I don't want to pull down the driveway and see an Alpaca tied to a tree.

Well, folks, it has been a wonderful break, but as of this weekend, I have re-opened the store. Ye Olde Weblog may suffer some neglect in the weeks to come. If I don't post for a while, it is because I am making cakes around the clock again, so I may have to go back to the occasional post when something more exciting than a day that ends in 'y' takes place around here, which is about all the reason I've needed to post lately.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Big Guy

Isn't he pretty? Despite his being a colossal pain in the heiny *most* of the time, I do love the dog. Except when he wakes me up by barfing in a corner of my bedroom, barks at the UPS driver so adamantly that he moves the entire rug, desk, and my laptop, tears through the office and catches my laptop cord, pulling it off the desk, walks through the house with an entire sofa cushion in his mouth, pulls the railing off the deck because his leader caught on it while he was after a bunny, poops on the driveway because the grass was just a little high for his taste (hey, who likes to be tickled while they poop?), insists on using the sink as his own personal drinking fountain while I'm trying to brush my teeth, and leaves what can only be described as "egg white slime" by the gallon on my kitchen floor when he drinks from his water bowl.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Prepare to be cultured....

Yesterday was Jesse's birthday, and I got him an Espresso machine. We both have rather a lot of energy this morning! >:} So, speaking of high energy, here you go - this is just for fun - turn up your speakers and get ready to smile. A lot.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Yeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaw!

We attended a local rodeo a couple of nights ago and it was so much fun! They had a petting zoo, pony rides, giant inflatable slides, and of course....ice cream. The girls were in heaven. The Saddle Club puts on the rodeo every year, but this is the first year they were really old enough to enjoy it. We definitely won't ever miss it again. It was about 137 degrees out and it had just rained a few hours earlier. Ew.

I think the pony rides were the highlight of the evening, for sure. The girls could not stop smiling. Jesse was awesome trying to distract the guy running the ride with conversation so the girls could ride for a few extra minutes.



The actual rodeo was under a pavilion and it was very dark under there - I couldn't get my camera to get a very good shot of the shows, but there were cowboys riding bulls (for a second at least, until they got thrown to kingdom come,) cowboys roping and hog-tying calves, and all the usual goofy rodeo clowns telling jokes that weren't funny between shows. The shot below is of the 'kid rodeo.' They got ALL the kids out in the pen (like 150 of them), and then tied a flag to two little cows tails. Then it was, "On your mark, get set, GO!" and all 150 kids chased the cows all over the rodeo pen trying to get the flags off their tails. It was pretty funny. If you look carefully at this picture, you can see kids falling all over each other chasing one of the cows.
Daddy and Rooney watching the bull rides, or at least Daddy is watching the bull rides, and Rooney is engrossed in an ice cream sandwich.
The same people who brought the ponies brought a camel! We skipped the camel ride though. Maybe next year.
The girls did the giant slides over and over. I was so proud of Miss Madeline, who climbed all the way to the top of this 20 foot slide all by herself.
You know you are in the South when this is what you see by the sign at the slide entrance that says, "Please take off your shoes."

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

La-Z-Ben

Some things start off innocently enough. Who turns down a little belly scratchin'?
And then again, sometimes you pay the price for letting your guard down.

On an adorable side note, here are the girls with their makeshift microphones, singing along with Todd Agnew's "Grace Like Rain." Play the song below to get the full effect. :)

Friday, July 04, 2008





Sometime during the night both girls ended up in bed with me. I became aware of the occasional [frequent] knee, elbow, or foot in my back, and when I got up, I saw why. There they were, sleeping like a pile of puppies, with Rooney sideways and all snuggled up with Baby, who didn't appear to mind [be conscious.] Hence my sore back.

We went to Lake Acworth Beach yesterday for a playdate with some kids from church. Jesse takes the girls to that lake all the time, but on the boat. I had no idea that they had a wonderful little white sand beach, where the water was shallow and the kids could play within arm's reach while the moms sat in lawn chairs with our feet in the water and chatted (and there was no charge, not even for parking!) We had a great time and the girls did not want to come home. However, I forgot the camera. I grimaced as I was walking down the beach and realized my mistake, because I know I promised pictures!! In my defense, I took lots with my cell phone - then I couldn't find the USB cable for the phone to load them to the computer. BUT, there is hope, Leia Taylor had her camera and told me she would email me any pics she got with the girls. In the meantime, we will definitely do that again, so stay tuned, eventually, there will be pictures!

And finally, I know this country isn't perfect, but I am so grateful that I live here. My life is so easy - I live in luxury compared to MOST of the people in the WORLD. My house is HUGE, safe, clean, and comfortable. I have clean, cheap food and water abundantly available and my children are safe and well-fed. We have state-of-the-art medical care available 24 hours a day if we need it. I don't have to worry about watching my girls die from a common and preventable illness like pneumonia. If I want to work hard to change my life for the better, I have EVERY opportunity because I live here. I HAVE IT GOOD. I'm grateful to God, because I should be!! I have TONS to be grateful for, and the list goes on, it would take me hours to mention everything. And I'm grateful to the men and women who are overseas fighting to protect me and my family and keep America safe and free. God bless them, and God Bless America.
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!