September Fun {balloon festival & arboretum}

After an entire week of rain we were really excited to get out of the house and go to the Plano Balloon Festival. We grabbed some yummy chicken from Babe's and headed to the festival - We had a little picnic and then got to enjoy the balloon glow. Ashley's favorite balloon this year was the dragon (you can see him slowly rising in the background).

Dancing with her glow necklace.

Ashley has been really 'into' paint lately -- literally. This is the third body painting experience mommy has caught her doing. The first time included painting the dog - boy, was that was fun to get out....I think Biscuit may still have some purple hairs on her head. Oh and by the way - these are not washable kiddie paints...nope it's the real thing.

But - I had to take a picture this time because it truly is a part of who she is at this age. She loves to paint --- anything and EVERYTHING!

We joined the Mama Bears at the Arboretum for some fun in the pumpkin patch. Ashley and cousin Sam got to color and glue feathers for this craft.

HAPPY FALL, yall!

1st day of School

This is Ashley's second year at CLC :) and she LOVES it! We are so lucky to have such a warm and loving environment to send her to twice a week. She loves all the crafts, playing with all her friends, her sweet sweet teachers, romp, and chapel. It is precious to hear her randomly throughout the day singing the songs she learns at school. I love that she is learning so much about God at school and developing such a strong love for him. Here's a shot I took of her before heading out the door for her first day of school -- showing off her new panda backpack. She loves this thing.

and the matching lunch box -- of course!

First Lemonade Stand

Back in June we were driving through a neighboring neighborhood and three little boys were selling muffins and lemonade to raise money for a summer camp. Ashley thought it was so neat that they had a lemonade stand. She kept asking when she could have one - we told her once she was a little bit older. Well, when we decided to have a garage sale in July we thought a lemonade stand would keep Ashley entertained. So she went to the grocery store and bought the lemonade, borrowed a cooler from Gigi & Granken, helped make her sign and then sold lemonade (forced people to buy) to unsuspecting garage sale patrons. It was kind of cute -- she would fill up cups and then take them to people -- who of course couldn't resist and probably felt obligated to purchase a cup from her. She made about $20 and proudly took it to the bank. But not before purchasing a new game from Toys R Us :)

Hoe Down @ the Plano Farm

My sister-in-law, Tiffani and I took the kids one day in July to a local farm - where the kids got to learn about life on a farm and participate in some chores. It was cute and the kids had a blast!

Cousin love - they are so cute -- they were holding hands skipping down the path.

The crew posing after the wagon ride around the farm. Fun times!

Ashley giving Sam a hug.

Ashley performing one of the farm chores. Milking the cow.

and ironing.

and washing the clothes on the washboard.

beating the dust out of the farmhouse rugs.

grinding the corn to feed to the chickens. they got to feed REAL chickens...loved it!

picking apples to make an apple pie with.

It was a busy day on the farm for these three kidos! They sure did have fun though and learned a lot in the process about farm life.

Going Private - for real this time

Alright - I know I've posted on two other occassions that I was going to take this blog private and didn't follow through for one reason or another.

But this time I'm serious...so if you'd like to keep up with us (not that I've posted very many times this year -- 8 times! wow - last year was over 50 - I'll try to do better from here on out) - send me an email or put a comment here with your email address so I can send you the invitation.

Summer Activities

Ashley, Mommy, and Daddy have been quite busy this summer with Ballet classes, Art classes, Swim Lessons, Library Story Time, Gymboree, splash parks, visiting with friends, dressing like cows for free food, birthday parties, building bird houses, painting bird houses, painting Ashley's playhouse, vising the animals at the zoo, playing at the local children's museum, planting flowers, playing in the backyard, swimming at Gigi & Granken's, and so much more. We have had a blast this summer --- and it's only half over!
Our little palaeontologist :) Diggin' for some dino bones at the Children's Museum.

The Museum of Nature and History - Ashley thought it was cool to see such large creatures!

Children's museum - playing some great tunes on her wall xylophone.

Watch out - it's an escaped giraffe!

Ashley always has a good time at the Children's Museum. There is a lot for her to explore and she takes full advantage of it all.

Perhaps a future career?

Ash had fun pushing all the buttons and learning about all there is to learn about science.

Visiting the zoo - check out that albino alligator...FREAKED mommy out - big time! I had to leave right after taking this picture!

There's that giraffe again...oh wait - this one is real :)

Just a fun low-key Saturday morning - feeding some ducks!

Ashley put her best paint clothes on and got to work on the interior walls of her playhouse! I can happily report that the painting is done, the floors are installed and Ashley's house is completely done! YEA!

Ashley listening to Miss Jenn {her ballet teacher} She loves Miss Jenn and her ballet class. Ashley truly is a natural dancer - and I'm not just a proud mom saying that. I am a horrid dancer - I have no rhythm at all -- so you can imagine how proud of her I am that she can actually move to the beat ;) YEA! Ashley - you are a fabulous little ballerina! I love to watch your classes from the other side of the glass wall. Week after week you continue to amaze me at how much you can do and how well you listen to your teacher. You are a beautiful ballerina!

Just a silly girl :)

A swim playdate with some friends - unfortunately we took the picture after the kids were done playing and ready for naps!

Hanging out w/ the great grandparents. Ashley and Memaw put together this super cool Mickey and Minney Disco puzzle. These two are puzzle whizzes!

Ashley and the bubble blowing hippo :) This is a music festival that we went to with Matt, Kris, Gigi, Granken, Memaw & Papaw. It was a nice night in early June and wasn't too hot out yet. We had fun and as always Kristen cooked some great food for us to enjoy!

Playing ball w/ Uncle Matt. Ashley loves Matt :)

Yea! Granken! Thank you for installing the baseboards and flooring in Ashley's playhouse :) She loves it! It looks amazing!!

Ashley and Daddy building a bird house in the backyard - Ashley is quite handy w/ a hammer...she can actually hit the nail. Pretty amazing for a 2 year old!

This is the signature <<<>>> Ashley likes to make while swimming. She doesn't like to get water in her mouth - and apparently this is how she accomplishes that ;)

After building the birdhouse - Ashley decided to paint it pink (of course!) This girl LOVES pink!!

Weekly art class :)

And another art class.

Ashley and Halle - destined to be long distance BFFs :) Enjoying an afternoon swim and some snacks together when Ashley, Halle, and Lucus visited us in June. We miss you guys!!

Ashley got this crazy bubble bath machine for her birthday - thank you Rachel! As you can see here - it works really well :) Ashley loves it!

Mama Bears day at the splash park.

Enjoying a smoothie while swimming at the local pool :)

and a hotdog...this girl works up quite the appetite after swimming ;)

Hanging out in the kiddie pool.

It's C*w Appreciation Day - and of course we took full advantage of the opportunity to get some free food ;)