Wordless Wednesday

Ashlyn and Madi Charlotte, NC 2005

My little ballerinas

Madi and Mallory love to dress up like ballerinas! Playing dress-up was one of my favorite things to do as a child.

Pumpkins and bows

We picked up MORE pumpkins today after the soccer game. Madi and I carved hers as soon as Mallory went down for her nap. I will help Mallory carve hers tomorrow after church, but I could not do both of the girls at once. Daddy was watching Georgia Football, so we knew we were not getting anything out of him! Perfect time to ask him if I can go shopping! "sure,sure honey,what ever,OK, shhhh..., what the @%$#@*%$#@ Stafford! Who are you throwing to?"

Yes, Madi has on a sleeveless pink tank top, blue and white checkered shorts, and no bow! It is still so hot here. The girls were swimming with Bill last night at 8:30!

Do not throw away those pumpkin seeds!

Preheat oven to 300º F. While it's O.K. to leave some strings and pulp on your seeds (it adds flavor), clean off any major chunks.
Toss pumpkin seeds in a bowl with the melted butter or oil and seasonings of your choice. You can do garlic salt or go the sweet way with cinnamon and sugar. Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet. (or spray with cooking spray).
Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.
Yummy!

These are still drying. I let them dry out over night before I season and bake.

Madi with her pumpkin! She is so proud of herself. This was really fun. I enjoyed spending some one on one time with her. It will be Mallory's turn tomorrow.
Please ignore my dirt porch. I had to replace a topiary tree, and I haven't cleaned it up yet!

The pumpkin is shiny because Martha Stewart said to rub chapstick along the edges where you cut and it will help it last longer. We will see. I used Vaseline and Madi helped. Can you tell?

Yes ladies, my pumpkins have always had bows. What did you expect?

Just 3 more pumpkins to go.

Ashlyn,Mallory and Allie Grace

Georgia

Every time I get Georgia in my car, she sits right on that middle console. It is so cute because she fits perfect in that tiny space. Every trip I have made to Greenville (10 hrs) that is where you would find her, sound asleep. Yes, I have a girl dog too. My poor husband is so out numbered!

Allie Grace

Guess who is sitting up by herself ?! What a big girl!

OK mommy, now I am going to fall over because you put this huge bow on my head!
Just a sweet sister moment captured on film, because lately we have not had many of these! Mom, I don't know how you did it with Andrea and me!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Mallory

Happy Birthday Mallory!

This morning after church, we rushed home, changed clothes, and were off to Sea World to celebrate. Bill took this picture of us this morning after service, and I wish I could photo shop Ashlyn in, that would make it perfect!

First we did the presents and cake. It was so good! Extra sit-ups in the morning for me.

Sea World had a great event going on for Halloween. They were all dressed in sea character costumes, and were passing out candy.

Mallory loved this lady in her fish costume.

Mallory just had to take her baby doll with her to "wide wides". Madi gave it to her for b-day.

What a great Daddy!
Waiting in line. You know he is about to burn up!
Even Allie Grace was having a ball!
Madi's favorite thing at Sea World are the penguins!
Watching the penguins swim and dive into that freezing water. I could have sat in here all day. It felt wonderful!
Of course we had to end the day with Shamu! Here is Shamu waving at the crowd.
Shamu spinning on the deck. Amazing!



Happy Birthday sweet girl! Thank you for always making me smile. You have the biggest heart, and I am so thankful for you everyday. We love you so much!

A day at the park

I am so glad that I signed up for this boot camp. This is the best thing I have ever done for myself! I feel so much better, and I have changed my eating habits completely. The trainers gave us a wonderful nutrition seminar last night, and I got tons of great information. I will share that for another post.

After I picked Madi up from school, we went to the park. Thank God I had the famous "princess potty", because 2 min after we unloaded our toys and the girls lunch, Madi had to go potty!

Allie Grace loved the swings, and her big sister had a ball pushing her!

Madi Kate
Mallory loves the swings too, but not when she has a Happy Meal!
The girls have been having a ball with their moon sand. This stuff is great. It keeps them busy and they play great together. We had a great day today. I hope you did too!

I took these of my neighbors house. He is a professional baseball player, so he is never there, but his sons go all out for Halloween. I can't wait to see it at Christmas!

I AM alive!

Boot camp is kicking my BOOTY! Holy cow this is hard! Here was my Monday:

5:15 alarm goes off

5:45 on the lawn for Boot Camp and immediately started with Indian runs. We all run in a line for 1/2 a mile and the one in back runs to the front, then the next person does it after them, and this continues the whole way! Lots of curls, crunches,push-ups, and all kinds of other stuff. Cool down time- Yes, I made it through the first day!

7:00 feed Allie Grace and get a shower

8:30 take the girls to the church

9:00 I go to my first day of Bible study Beth Moore Breaking Free (love it)

11:00 pick up girls

12:00 Pumpkin Patch with our cute little friend Bennett from school

I love the way Mallory is looking at her big sister

Holy bow!


Madi and her new BFF Bennett! Madi says his "hair is cool". He is a doll!

Allie Grace is ready for a nap!

1:00 Chick-fil-A with moms and kids from preschool

2:30 Home and everyone took naps- even Mommy

Lord, thank you for getting me through the first day !

Matt and the girls!

Mallory walked around with that pretend chicken leg the entire weekend! She even took it to church this morning.

This weekend was great, but definitely busy. Friday Bill came home and again, took the girls to Fun Spot to ride the rides, then went to Sams and Publix! I stayed home with Allie Grace and had "me time". It was quiet for a good 3 1/2 hrs. Saturday morning we had the annual Celebration Community Yard Sale. It was great, and I got rid of tons of baby clothes. Two ladies started to argue over a Ralph Lauren dress! I guess when every item was only $1 they knew they were getting a great deal! My husband had to leave and take Mia, I mean Madi, to her soccer game. This game was much better than last week!


One of our best friends came from Tampa to spend the night, and the girls would not leave him alone! They just adore Matt. Mommy does too! He is the kind of guy every dad wants his daughter to date! He was at our house in Charlotte when I went into labor with Madi! He is a very special guy! We love you Matt, and come back very soon!


Wish me luck! My Boot Camp starts in the morning at 5:45 . Good night!