Quinn's first horseback riding lesson

Here is Quinn getting ready for her first horseback riding lesson. She has everything she needs...even a carrot!

The helmets are so cool and lightweight now. When I rode they were sooo heavy and hot...and velvet. Now they make them a little more like bike helmets, so they are really light. They come in all colors too, but Quinn chose black.

Here she is with the horse she groomed and rode, Navi. She even got to wash him after their lesson. She LOVED it! I think we will be regulars out here at the stables!

Quinn - Star Student

Quinn was the Star Student of her class this week, so she got to make a poster all about her favorite things. We included several pictures (although walgreens did leave some out of my order...like a full family picture, and a picture of James - the only cousin that got left out-poor thing!) She hung it up in the hallway so that all of her friends could see it. I think my favorite is that she said red beans and rice for favorite food - would never have guessed that!

Maylen & Gage are here!!

Look at these two ADORABLE faces!! Aren't they precious? They were born this morning right around 10:00. Gage Patrick first, weighing in at 7 lbs, and then Maylen Amelia at 7 lbs, 10 oz! Wow...wonderful birth weights for twins!! We are so happy for Lindy and Eric...Congrats! Can't wait to meet them in person!!

the dirtiest clean boy

Here is proof that {almost} two-year old boys can make anything messy:

...looks fairly harmless...right? yeah...that's what I was thinking too...

wash the face...don't mind the gallons of water that are falling on the floor...

dirty job...looks like he needs some soap!

that last soap was too small...how about this big one?

notice...even the shirt is starting to get sudsy...T is really loving this!

water break

oh...looks like the counter needs some washing too...bubbles and water everywhere!

but it was just too much fun!!

My little Pink Lady

Check out Quinn's new look...(inspired by Grease, we believe) ...she loves to wear a scarf every now and then. I love how she does her own thing and is very confident in it!

We are in big trouble....

...because these boys are going to have so much fun together! We got together with the Belks and Gimmie Friday night for dinner, then Brad and I took Violet and Quinn to the first BHS game.

Here are the girls in all their Panther cheerleading glory...dont tell Nic, but Violet is really wearing an Ole Miss uniform that she borrowed from Quinn!

We have had an absolutely gorgeous fall-like weekend and yesterday we spent most of the day outside. Here is my yard crew...pretty cute, huh?

August catch-up

We have had an eventful first few weeks of school. Unfortunately we had a computer catastrophy, and had to replace our laptop. On the bright side, this one is super-fast and has tons more storage! Let me catch you up on what has been going on. Some after-school art time...

...a few Saints pre-season games...

...fun times with cousins...

...and friends...

...kisses and hugs...

...Panther Spirit Days...

...this past Friday, Q and her friends (Maelee, Georgia, Anna Grace and Charlie Ann) got to cheer for the Panthers over the loudspeaker! "Fire up Ole Brook! Fire Up!" She was so excited and even got to pick a prize out of the principal's treasure box!

...the Panther cheerleaders came over to paint panther paws on faces!

Q has been doing so great in Kindergarten! She loves her teacher and all of her friends. Last week her teacher called her "kind-hearted," and I think that is about the biggest compliment a parent can get! She sure is a sweetie-pie! Yesterday we were driving in the car and she said, "Mama, do you want a cookie cake for your birthday? Because I would be delighted if you had one!" I think she may have gotten some of her Aunt Kristy's lobbyist genes! Ha!  And what has T been up to this whole time Quinn has been working hard at school? Let's see...

...walking his buzzy bee...

...cleaning up the toy closet (yeah, right)...

...and helping me make - and eat- our yummy chicken salad recipe!

I don't know if y'all have these where you live, but here in Brookhaven we have these SUPER GIANT grasshoppers that come out around this time of year. They are really awful things that eat all of your good plants...I mean, why not the weeds? Anyway, a few days ago, one met it's match when Maddie stalked it on the porch. This was so fun to watch! Of course it was rated G because Maddie couldn't actually kill a living thing - she would never survive the wilderness! But it was fun to watch them jump around after each other!

We are getting excited about welcoming our new twin cousins in just a few short weeks!! Hope yall had a great August!

Quinn's first day of kindergarten!!

Today was Q's first day of kindergarten and we are so proud of her! Her teacher is named Mrs. Chasity Moak, and she is a perfect match for Q. She is young, energetic, and super-fun. Q has some friends in her class from last year, and she also has some new friends. Today she got to be the leader to lunch and I asked how Mrs. Moak picked that and she said, " she picked the quietest one who was a good behaver."  (Ha! love it! Did she mean behavior?) After school she jumped in the car and said, "today was GREAT!" I can't wait to watch her grow and learn in this precious environment!

On another note, we are a host family for two students from the Mississippi Arts School: Melanie and Whitney. Tonight we got to meet them. We took them out to dinner and really enjoyed getting to know them. T was a little wild - screaming and throwing his sippy cup- so unlike him! (Hope we are not venturing into the twos early!) The girls are precious and it was really cool to get some insight into what it is like to be a part of MSA. I will post more about that later, along with some pictures of Melanie and Whitney.

BARL Summer Camp

Q attended Doggie Days Summer Camp last week and she LOVED it! It is the first year that our rescue league, BARL, put on this camp. The kids learned all about animals...safety around strange dogs, how to treat animals, what a veterinarian does, what a groomer does, what agility training is, teaching your dog tricks, etc. They learned songs and did arts and crafts. We celebrated at the end of the week with a "Pooch Parade," where each child could walk their dog in a big parade.

Gimmie so kindly volunteered to bring Wiley so that Q could walk him in the parade. T loved visiting with "Liley"...as he called him.

The pups on parade were led by a Brookhaven Fire Dept fire engine.

Brad and T watching the parade.

Here is Q's team...the Pupsqueaks...posing with their pets.

Afterwards, all the kids (and dogs if they wanted) got to cool off in the water park..fun fun!

Girls' Trip 2010

Unfortunately this is the only picture from our entire 2010 beach trip!! We are usually so much better about taking pics..but we had too much fun playing on the beach and in the pool, eating out and laughing!! We vowed to do a better job documenting next year!

Exchange Club Fair

Brad and T fueling up for the rides.

Q was so happy to see her friend Lily right when we got to the fair and the girls were inseparable the entire time!

T's favorite rides were the carousel, the planes, and the cars.

Here are the girls in line for the ferris wheel...it is SO high up there! They wanted to rock back and forth but I was the scared one that said no! (please dont!!)

         The girls on the swings - by far their favorite ride of the entire fair - we rode them twice. We always look forward to this fun summer-ending kick-off to school.

summer sweets

You gotta love that watermelon juice drip down T's arm! We also had a watermelon seed spitting contest: Q won for distance, Daddy won for accuracy, and T won most watermelon spit out along with the seeds.