Pumpkin Carving

We carved pumpkins on Tuesday night and the girls enjoyed it, as usual. Thankfully, they really have fun no matter what they are doing! K1 and K3 were not too big into digging the insides out, but K2 got in there and got her hands dirty! Bryan picked up 2 good sized pumpkins down the street at a local farmers market. The ones from the pumpkin patch are really too small to carve, so we're just using them as decorations around the house. The girls are really excited about tomorrow night! We will post pictures of them in their costumes as soon as we can!

Have fun and be safe tomorrow night!

Our Trip to Grandfather Mountain!

We spent the second half of the day at Grandfather Mountain. At the top of the mountain is a mile high swinging bridge...it is literally in the clouds. We have never experienced anything as cold as it was to be on that bridge. The wind chill was seriously around zero degrees. It was a great view, however, and just one of those things you got to do! The girls really enjoyed the natural animal habitat. We saw a black bear, a bald eagle, a cougar, a bunch of deer and an otter. After visiting the animals, we stopped at a little fudge shop and sampled a large variety of fudge. It was nice to warm up and eat dessert before dinner. We stopped to take a few pics of Price Lake before we left the mountains. We're thinking we might have to go camping or rent a cabin at that lake next spring sometime...it was beautiful! We had an awesome day and enjoyed making fun memories with the girls! This time of year in the mountains is indescribable...you just see and feel God everywhere through His awesome creations!

Our 1st Trip to an Apple Orchard!

This past Saturday we took a drive into the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was beautiful, just like we had remembered! Our first stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway was to an apple orchard. It's the first time that any of us have been to one. It was located on the side of the mountain with a great view and we enjoyed picking our very own apples. The temperature was a bit chilly at the orchard, but little did we know it would be even colder at our next stop. Check back later for a slide show of the second half of our day...Grandfather Mountain!

For my 'deer' sweet daddy...

I was standing in my kitchen this morning checking my emails when K3 said, "Hey, Mommy, what's that?". I walked over to look out the back door where she was standing and was totally shocked to see a deer staring right back at me. Talk about a weird feeling!!! At first, I was really excited and grabbed the camera to start taking some pics. Then, I started getting really nervous, as the deer seemed to be zoned in on me. Thus, the crazy last picture...by that point, I was getting kinda nervous and rushed the close-up. Coincidentally, a couple of nights ago we saw a video on Animal Planet of a deer getting disoriented in the city and walking right into peoples' houses through their glass back doors. So, with that in mind I asked K3 to step away from the door and come stand with me. We continued our observations from the kitchen window over my sink. Once it realized that I was no longer there, it just slowly turned around and went back into the woods. Quite an exciting morning for us! That's not something you see everyday! So, Daddy, what is it? A doe or a young buck? I showed the older girls the pics after school and they were super excited! I told them that Paw-Paw suggested putting out some deer corn to see if others will come back and they jumped all over that idea, so we'll see! Maybe by spring time when you guys visit, I'll have a whole herd of them and Daddy, you can be the brave one who walks out there and lets them nibble out of your hands...your little girl is too chicken!

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch!

We went to a pumpkin patch a week ago this past Monday when the girls were out of school for a teacher work day. The weather was perfect and there were no crowds...it was a GREAT day! We took tons of pictures, so I decided to try a slide show. You should be able to view the slide show bigger and go through it at your own pace by clicking on 'View All Images'. We went on a hayride, fed some animals, milked a fake wooden cow, and went through our first corn maze. We really enjoyed the corn maze...K2 was a little freaked out by the end (it took about 30-45 minutes to go through) and wondered if we were ever going to make it out. K3 was having fun and took off running through it and K2 was very concerned that we would lose her. It was pretty humorous! There was a little area with a fort and a wooden play cabin and the girls had a blast just being creative and enjoying some free playtime outdoors. This is the first year that they each picked out their own medium sized pumpkin and they were all very selective about their pumpkins...they were looking for perfection. I don't know where they get that from!!! Heehee! We're thinking about taking a day trip to the mountains in the very near future to see the foliage changing colors...it is beautiful this time of year. If so, I'll probably be posting another slide show.

Happy Fall, Y'all!!!
This is my favorite time of the year...hope you all are enjoying it, too!

Sweet Girls...

I have to tell you what the girls did for Bryan this morning...

Yesterday, K1 and K2 made Daddy birthday cards while K3 napped. This morning Bryan and I were lying in bed when K2 came in the room and secretly asked me where I had put the card she made him. I had it hidden in my bedside table, so I handed it to her and she ran out the room. I heard some clanking downstairs and I had an idea what they were up to. Next thing I knew K1 and K2 came through our bedroom door bringing Daddy breakfast in bed. They couldn't find the tray, so they used a small tote lid and turned it upside down. They brought him a bowl of Raisin Bran with milk and spoon, a cup of water and a napkin that they had folded in a fancy manner. And, Kamryn added her special touch and proudly announced that she brought him a magazine to read while he ate his breakfast. It was a JCPenney flyer we had received in the mail. It cracked us up!!! We were both so touched by their thoughtfulness...I had absolutely nothing to do with it! And, the added bonus was that they waited until 8:30 to bring it to him. K1 then went and got K3 out of bed and they all jumped in for some special cuddle time, after Bryan ate his breakfast and read his magazine of course!!!


I posted twice today, so don't forget to read the post below...

Happy Birthday, Bryan!

Daddy's Little Girl - K1


Daddy's Little Girl - K2


Daddy's Little Girl - K3



Daddy with his girls - Father's Day 2006


Daddy with his girls - Pumpkin Patch 2008



Happy Birthday, Bryan (Daddy)!
We Love You!


As most of you know, I am pretty spoiled and have the best husband ever! Just when I thought I couldn't love him anymore, he had to prove me wrong and be the best daddy ever (besides my own dad, of course)! His girls think he is just IT and they are right! He would do anything for his girls, including me, and we love him for it! Thank you, Bryan, for being such a GREAT man! I feel so blessed that God would choose me to be your wife! You are loved and appreciated more than you'll ever know!


We love you most!


The Girls

K1 is really growing up...

K1 sporting her TeamKid shirt...



About a month ago our church started offering a class for 1st-5th graders called TeamKid. K1 has been going since the first night and she loves it. She has 'homework' each week where she reads scripture and answers some questions, does some sort of act of service in our home or for friends, and memorizes a Bible verse. She is doing really well and amazing us at some of the verses she is memorizing. Some of them are pretty tough. The great thing about it, is that it is totally set up for kids and they have a lot of fun playing games and just being kids! What they don't know is that they are actually learning valuable things at the same time! I'm just amazed that K1 will even attend, much less enjoy it and look forward to it. She has always been so shy and not one to try new things, but she is finally realizing that it's fun to try new things. She has really matured in the recent months and it has been a blessing to watch her as she builds her own relationship with Jesus. She truly is a pleasure to parent! By the way, we just bought her a new Bible (in the picture above) called Hands On Bible and it really is a neat Bible just for her age.

A bribe or two come true...

I hate to admit it, but during one of our weaker moments during the months leading up to this move, we totally bribed the two older girls with 'new' bedrooms. Looking back now, there was no need, as they have made the adjustment with absolutely no problem. We just thought we would give them something to look forward to and be excited about. I have no regrets, however, because it has been fun for all of us setting up new rooms for them. At first, K1 was wanting to decorate her room with High School Musical. I told her that she would probably outgrow that very soon and be wanting something different. I made the suggestion of pink and black and she ran with it. She found a really cute comforter set at Target (my favorite store ever) that was reversible with pink/pink cheetah print on one side and black/white zebra print on the other. I was a bit turned off at first, especially by the zebra print, but once the room was all put together, it turned out really cute. We also bought her a new bed because her old queen took up much of the room. We bought her a twin loft bed with a desk under it...I must say it was a very wise decision and I'm sure we will get plenty of use out of it in the years to come! Her Daddy did all the painting and I think he did a GREAT job! He is getting to be a pro at painting stripes. Here are pics of K1's room...



(Yes, I know that you don't typically use a bedskirt with a bunk bed, but it came with the set and K1 liked it and it made her feel like she had a secret desk area...little does she know that I find her youngest sister meddling with her things in her secret desk area nearly everyday while she is at school...heehee!)


K2 wanted to do a Hannah Montana room. At first I was going to discourage it, but she's so young, that I'm thinking she'll get plenty of use out of it. The funny thing is, I think she likes the color scheme of all the Hannah Montana stuff as much as she likes the Hannah Montana part! She actually helped come up with the paint colors and design in her room. Again, her Daddy did all the painting and it turned our GREAT, as well! Here are pics of K2's room...



K3 didn't get a 'new' room because her bedding is fairly new and we didn't feel the need to bribe her. Ha!!! I did want to post a few pics of her room, though, because I wouldn't want to leave her out and she enjoyed posing on her bed for me. Her room still needs to be painted and she reminds us of that quite often. We're still a bit undecided on what color to paint her room, but I'm sure we'll get it done soon. Here are pics of K3's room...

I'll post new pics of K3's room once it is all painted!