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 ;)

Happy Father's Day

Ashley is a daddy's girl all the way! She loves her Daddy so much and was so proud to give him his alarm clock on Father's Day :)

We had a great day - relaxing and hanging by the pool.

Daisy!

We have season tickets to the local baseball team and Ashley loves to stalk Deuce and Daisy the entire game ;) Here's a cute shot we took of her and Daisy at a recent game.

Ashley's Ice Cream Shoppe {3rd Birthday}

Ashley had some friends over to her Ice Cream Shoppe to help her celebrate her 3rd birthday! We had such a great time and the "make-your-own-sundae" party was a big hit!

I love this picture of Ashley and her sundae all loaded up.

All the kids got to load up their ice cream with all kinds of goodies. The kids loved it!

We started the party off outside with a Tinkerbell pinata and playing in Ashley's playhouse and sandbox.

Mommy had an idea to make a sundae and play "pin the cherry on the sundae" - Alex was the winner of this game :)

Here is Ashley getting ready to pin her cherry on the sundae :)

Ashley just had to make sure all of her friends had a cherry on their sundae. Here she is passing them out.


Happy Birthday, Ashley! Your party was super fun! You are such an amazing little girl. Always full of happiness and smiles. You are so kind to other kids and are always making sure they are ok and have everything they need. You are a sweetheart and I so look forward to watching you grow up over the next few years :) Love, Mommy

We got a {puppy}

Introducing Biscuit!

{the sweetest little dog on the block!}

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Eric was off for a 4 days over the 4th so we got to hang out a lot as a family. We had a great time.

Eric got to attend Ashley's ballet class on Thursday, we went to Rudy's for BBQ, Le Peep for breakfast, had a yummy dinner at our favorite local Italian place - Fino's, went on walks, played in the backyard, went shopping, watched the Ice Skaters at the Galleria, went swimming with Granken, watched a baby bird take its first flight, went to Kaboom town to enjoy fireworks, walked in a parade, enjoyed lunch w/ Nana Pops Larry Tiffani and the boys, got a fish and a PUPPY!! So in honor of Biscuit, our new GoldenDoodle - I whipped up this new blog design :)

A girl and her dog. Biscuit is the sweetest most calm puppy I've ever met! Seriously - she is precious! She is so good with Ashley and loves to play - but also loves to nap at our feet. We are so happy to have added her to our family and are looking forward to many great years with her.

Look at that fur baby! What a cute face!

Biscuit and Ash having a blast running around the backyard.

We went to get a fish on Saturday...walked past the dogs and Ashley just had to play with this one. So we got her out and played with her for about 30 minutes. We were completely impressed with her calm and sweet demeanor. Ashley said, "that's a biscuit dog" - and we quietly started calling her Biscuit. We said goodbye to her and went home w/ our new fish. Mommy and Ashley just couldn't get this adorable little puppy out of their minds - so they kept talking about it. Mommy had been secretly looking at Austrailian Labradoodles on the internet, but didn't want to bring the subject up with Daddy until after our August vacation. Daddy secretly loved this little pup - and when Mommy and Ashley wouldn't stop talking about it - he said, "OK, let's go get her". Ashley got this huge smile on her face and said, "what did you say daddy, we can get her?" So off we went back to the pet store. Well, being the 4th of July - they closed early :( Ashley was so sad. Daddy looked through the window and *thought* that he saw her in there - so we spent the remainder of the evening at Wal-mart getting some puppy supplies. Ashley had a blast picking out all the stuff. Mommy & Daddy started praying that Biscuit would still be there in the morning. We woke up Sunday morning - skipped church - and headed straight to the pet store to wait for them to open. Mommy was ready to push and shove if need be - to get that sweet little puppy. It all worked out - we got Biscuit and brought her home. She fits in with our family perfectly and we already love her so much!

So how did this all come about? Well, we went to Kaboom Town on Friday night to watch fireworks and Ashley saw a boy carrying a goldfish around in a baggie...we searched the grounds high & low for anyone selling/giving away fish...no luck. So we promised her that we'd go to the pet store on Saturday afternoon and get a goldfish. We did - she named her fish "Super". Let me just say that I couldn't be happier at how the names worked out for the pets...I don't think I would have enjoyed having a dog named *Super*
Enjoying a fun night out w/ Mommy & Daddy at Kaboom Town. Ashley had a blast eating a picnic, jumping in the bounce house, sliding down the super slide, making a sand art Tinkerbell bottle, and watching fireworks!






On the 4th - Ashley participated in her 3rd Independence Day Parade. We love this parade and have a great time each year.
Ash is wearing one of Mommy's dance receital costumes from when she was a little girl.

Little Miss Firecracker!!

With the cousins, waiting for the parade to begin.


And one more bounce house for the weekend. This girl loves a good bounce house!!

We had a really great 4th and are now enjoying our new puppy :)

p.s. - I have 4 months worth of posts coming sometime soon! I'm way behind!