How to...

...find out for sure who *REALLY* reads your blog.....




We are expecting #3 early next summer!! We did not expect this AT ALL but of course we are thrilled. Getting to tell the girls was a lot of fun too, because they are old enough to understand (5 & 7) and they were SO excited. So are we! ;)

Duck house

This morning when we walked out the door to take Baby to school we were greeted by a surprise...


Two freshly-laid ducky eggs resting in two different spots in the grass. This meant we could wait no longer...the little critters needed a place to build a nest.

Since we are lucky enough to have a farm supply yard just 3 miles from our house, I just popped in there on the way home from dropping Baby Bug off. We came home with a bale of mulch hay lashed to the Jeep (I love my Jeep) and this:

Isn't it perfect?! I think our little feathered friends will be very cozy in there. It was also HEAVY!!
This is the male (you can tell by the curly feather sticking up from his bum.) He has been positioning himself between us and the female, who has been keeping her distance lately. (You can see her behind him under the Japanese Maple.) They are both very sweet but the male will walk right up to me and let me rub his belly sometimes.
I love my Jeep. :)
It only took like 1/10 of the hay I bought, so we got way too much. Maybe we'll spread some grass seed and thatch it. (No way, the ducks would eat it.) I picked up the eggs and snuggled them down in the dry, sweet-smelling hay. From what I have read, the female will lay 1-2 eggs per day but she won't sit on them until she is done laying. That way, they will all hatch at the same time. Who knows, we might have ducklings in about 6 weeks. All we need now is a heifer tied to the front porch and maybe an old car on blocks in the grass. :)

I will keep you posted and take lots of pictures. Hope your day is full of sweet little surprises! :)

LOL courtesy of BabyBug

Jim was in town to help Jesse with a work project, and on the day before he left they took the girls fishing. Jesse recounted this story to me the next day. :)

After several hours out on the boat, they decided to head home. Once the boat was back on the trailer at the launch, BabyBug said she had to go potty. They pulled the truck into the "No Parking" zone in front of the launch to free up the launch. Jesse was tying down fishing poles in the boat while Baby went around the side of the truck out of the line of sight of any approaching traffic to tinkle in the woods. GrandPap stood nearby with his back turned. :) After just a few seconds, Baby came running back from behind the truck and said, "GrandPap, I can't go potty here! The sign says NO PEE!!"

Baby's 1st day of 1st grade!!

Brace yourselves people, I know this might upset the very fabric of time and space, but I am posting about something ON THE ACTUAL DAY IT HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!

Today is Baby Bug's first day of school! She is a First Grader! Let's all take a moment to have a mini panic attack that almost 7 years seem to have flown by in less time than it takes a gallon of milk to spoil. :)
Oooooooh she has grown so much. She will be turning 7 on October 1st. Doesn't she look gorgeous in her cute little school uniform?! I'm so proud of my little sweetie pie. :)

Mini photo shoot

I got the girlies these cute little matching sundresses from Target the other day...and they are so gorgeous in them that I had to take a thousand photos. They were only too happy to ham it up for the camera...please to enjoy:








This one is my absolute favorite...Rooney is just a riot.









Are they gorgeous? I love my little beauties. Hope your day is as full of tiny little beauties as mine!

The 4th of July

As is my habit, I took the girlies to see the Fireworks display that Cartersville puts on every year. Usually, we park waaaaaaaaaay far away in a church parking lot where you can juuuuuuuuust see the fireworks over the trees in the distance. Then, when the show is over, there is a lot less traffic to fight. This year, however, I decided to go right into the Belly of the Beast - and we parked right across the street from Dellinger Park, where they set off the display. With just a few thousand of our closest friends. Thank you Jesus for my wonderful Jeep, which has been nothing but a blessing since day 1. It took a little bit of 4-low to get into (and out of) that spot in the pasture. :) I opened up the back of the Jeep and the girls and I sat in the back, blowing bubbles and waiting for the show to start.

This is the ever-darkening skyline beforehand:

And as if you've never seen fireworks before, I will now post gratuitous, poor-quality shots of every single blast that we saw, because hey, I'm cool like that. I was fiddling with my camera the WHOLE time and trying to get the setting that produced the best shots. Finally I just put it away and enjoyed the show though.
ooooooooooohhhhh......
aaaaaaaaahhhhhh...


I love these sparkly ones that trail down like a willow tree.

Big Finale!

And thank God for the Jeep again, because the *instant* the show was over it was GRIDLOCK in a pasture. The Jeep is consistent, steady, and never gives me a moment of fright. Other drivers, on the other hand....but we made it out. The girls had a great time. And I'm asking myself right now why I didn't take any pics of THEM? Duh. I won't make that mistake again, they are, after all, the stars of the show. :) Love you guys, hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!!

A day at the lake

Jesse is forever taking the girls out on the boat, but it is unusual that I get to join them. Well, these are a couple of weeks old but it was a slow week in the store, so I got to go out on the lake with them and it was great - I even pouted until Jesse said it was okay to bring Blackbeard (as Jesse calls him when he's on the boat. I bet that dog has no idea his name is Ben.)

Baby Bug still has the same sweet little chubby cheeks that she had when she was a baby. This picture reminds me of her when she was about 2.


She's going to hate me for this one. Especially when I sneak it into the slideshow at her wedding.

It was a *gorgeous* sunset!

For some reason the girls were extra silly and sticking their tongues out in every shot.

Dad, watching the rods for a bite!





Sun-kissed sweetie.
Baby in the wind....

....and Ben in the wind.

What a great day. On the way home, my Jeep turned over to a hundred thousand miles. We bought the Cherokee brand new just a few weeks after 9/11, when interest rates took a giant tumble. It is paid for and has been the most wonderful vehicle I have ever owned. Lord willing, I always want to drive a Jeep. It was a sappy moment for me - I really love it.