Country Fair

                          Sunday after church we spent the afternoon at a little country fair.

We did the "divide and conquer" method with the girls. I took Rebecca and Raphael had Rachel and Ivy. There weren't too many little kids rides, but Rebecca rode them all at least once and some several times. Her first ride was the big ferris wheel!

                             A picture of Ivy and Rachel from the top of the ferris wheel.

Rachel and Ivy went on lots of rides together. Raphael and I can't handle all the spinning and turning.

                                        The girls both took a ride on the fun slide.

Rebecca tried a fishing game and won a Dora balloon! She was excited and proud of her fishing skills. 

And we had to have snowcones, corndogs and lemonade too. It was a fun day at the fair.

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

                              We started our Memorial Day by going to the parade.

                                       Waiting patiently for the parade to start.

I am proud of our little town for honoring all the veterans each year.

There were lots of tractors, old cars, marching bands and people throwing candy to the kids. The girls both came home with a bug bagful of treats.

And of course there were some strange floats in the parade.

     After the parade we came home for lunch and then went to Lake Lanier for swimming.

                    At the lake- the girls love playing in the sand and making sandcastles.

Great day with the family. We came home and got Rebecca to bed. She is worn out from all the activities of the past few days and no naps. Tomorrow she and I are staying home, while Raphael takes Ivy and Rachel out and about.

Summer at Stone Mountain

On Friday afternoon our niece, Ivy, came to stay with us for a few weeks. The girls were SO excited for Ivy to arrive. Rebecca asked me about hundred times if Ivy was here yet.  Rebecca has been holding Ivy's hand every chance she gets- it is very sweet and Ivy is very patient with Rebecca :)

Saturday afternoon we took a trip to Stone Mountain. It was the hottest day of summer so far, a nice ninety three degrees. We spent  most of our time at an attraction called Sky Hike. It is thirty feet high and each person is in a harness and attached to a rope. You walk along going through obstacles and over highwires. Thankfully, Rebecca is too young, so she and I played in the childrens section.

                                           Ivy is in the pink shorts and black shirt.

Rachel did pretty good. She made it through the second level and then decided to come back down.

While the big kids were on Sky Hike, Rebecca was in the childrens part and doing her own obstacle course.

She loved it. We went through the whole course about twenty times. Then we went to an area with a creek and she played in the water and cooled off.

We also took the gondola up to the top of Stone Mountain to enjoy the view. I wasn't listening too carefully, but I think the mountain is the largest granite out-cropping in the USA.

                    Carving on the mountain- Robert E. lee and some other guys.

                                                                      The view.

It was a fun day, long day, but fun.

School's Out for Summer

Rachel's last day of school was Wednesday. She had a great last day and made straight A's on her report card! After school I took her to a new cupcake shop in town and we celebrated with cupcakes.

We spent the first day of summer vacation at the park with friends. The kids had fun playing and getting wet in the stream.  Today we went to a MOMS club end of school party.  There were little pools and sprinklers for the kids to splash and keep cool. The girls had fun. I am excited for summer to finally be here!

Farewell to our Friends

This post may end up being all over the place, so bear with me.

I started blogging a few years ago so that I could remember our days and be able to share them with our family.  I blog about the girls most of the time. What they are doing at school, with friends, and fun places we have been.  I usually don't blog about difficult times or long days when I have lost my patience with the girls or gotten into a disagreement with my husband . Trust me, we definetly have trials and tribulations at our house. And I rarely blog about myself, not sure if I have ever done that?  I try to write about the lighter and brighter events in our days.

Since this blog is a sort of "scrapbook" of our lives, I need to share about our friends. Our good friends-the Jones- are moving to Arizona today. Last night they came over to our house one last time for dinner. We sat and talked, while our girls ran around playing. Like we have done so many times. I knew they needed to leave around eight and I kept watching the clock, trying to will it to stop or at least slow down. I had been dreading this day since November when Ashley had told me they were moving to Arizona.

I believe that God sends us the people that we need in our lives. He makes it happen. We cross paths at the same time, end up sitting next to each other on the bus, start a new job the same day,etc... and we form friendships.  The Lord sent me Kayla Finn, in the seventh grade. I would not have survived junior high without her. In high school, Kristin and Gerri Ann became my BFFs and still are today. My first day of college, a beautiful blond girl kept knocking on my dorm room door, looking for my room mate. My room mate was out and about, so the blond girl asked me if I wanted to go to lunch with her. Christy and I were two peas in  a pod for the next two years and still keep in touch. I know that God blessed us with Jones family and we are better people because of their friendship.

                                                             Catie and Rachel
Rachel and I weren't supposed to be in playgroup with Catie and Ashley. Rachel was four years old, but because of her preschool schedule, she ended up being in the three year old playgroup. I remember when Ashley first joined our group. They had recently moved to Georgia and were settling in. We discovered that we had a lot in common- both of us had moved in Georgia from another state, our husbands both worked and traveled alot, we had daughters, we went to the same church, the floorplan of our houses were almost identical, we had very similar dark brown leather couches, we loved Beth Moore Bible studies, we liked shopping at consignment stores, and the list went on and on. I knew pretty quick we would be friends.

A few weeks before Easter, I decided to see if Ashley and her family wanted to join us for Easter dinner. I was a little nervous because our husbands hadn't met yet, but Raphael and Gregg hit it off and our first dinner was a success.

                                                            Gregg and Raphael

Since that first Easter dinner, we have had countless get togethers, BBQs, double dates, guys nights out, girls day at the spa. We celebrated birthdays, new babies, and holidays. We spent summer days at the waterpark and often sat together at church.

Catie, Rachel and Sydney

I am thankful for the friendship our daughters have with each other. Rachel,Catie and Sydney have spent lots of fun times together and I know Rachel will miss her friends.

Kate, Catie, Keely and Rachel

I watch a t.v. show called "Bethenny Ever After" and in a recent episode, Bethenny was talking with her therapist about her friend moving away. Her doctor said this about saying goodbyes--"that saying goodbye is a valuable thing to do well."

We have known for six months that moving day would arrive, but it was hard saying goodbye to our friends last night. I am glad we had one more chance to spend time together. A few tears were cried and lots of hugs for everyone. And promises made to visit Arizona soon.

Our families have made a lot of memories the past few years. And it has been a joy to have friends like the Jones. We are going to miss them very much. We love you Gregg, Ashley, Sydney and Catie!!

Last Day of 2nd Grade

Today was the last day of second grade for Rachel! She has had a great year. Blessed with a wonderful teacher and made many new friends.

We celebrated the last day with cupcakes at a new cupcake store in town. We are ready for summer!

Party at the Painted Penguin

We celebrated Rachel's birthday this weekend.  I decided to have her party before school gets out so that more of her friends could make it before they were busy with summer vacations.

 At the party the girls picked out a ceramic statue and then started painting. Everyone seemed to have a good time and I was happy to not have the pressure and mess of a party at home.

Rachel picked out a cat to paint. Rebecca and Raphael both painted too. Rebecca did really well and was taking the painting seriously.

Silly girl! After painting, each girl used a hair dryer for her statue to help the drying process along.

                                                    Singing "Happy birthday" time.

                   Best Friends Forever! Daniella and Rachel- these girls are attached at the hip!

                                                           Rebecca, Gigi and Gabby.

Rachel had a great time with her friends. I can't believe she will be eight years old in a few weeks!