When I Grow Up...

...I want to be a princess.

my reply: oh really, and what will you do as a princess? (you must understand how shocking this was to me. we don't have much princess stuff, and we certainly don't place great emphasis on princess-ness with our girls).

I will dance. and after I'm Snow White (it changed sometime in there), I want to be...

a volcanologist.

when Addie gets focused on something, she's stuck on it. sometimes it lasts a few days. like the what is a miracle mommy? question. her all things animals kick isn't as prominent now, but there isn't a day that goes by that something animal related isn't discussed around our house.

but somehow she got stuck on volcanoes. I dont remember how or when except she eagerly discussed it with my brother when we were in Raleigh. he, being the always thinking brother that he is, told her that I could certainly build her a volcano that we could erupt. thankyouverymuch!

and then the discussion quickly turned to assuring her that it would be a pretend volcano and the pretend hot lava would not in fact be hot at all!

after watching volcanoes erupt on mommy's computer and checking out a handful of books from the library on volcanoes...

hot lava talk soon moved to most volcanoes happen in the ring of fire around the pacific ocean (no where near us!) when the pressure underground pushes the magma up and out causing the volcano to erupt hot lava and plumes of ash creating craters...

...all of which can cause salamis, otherwise known as tsunamis!

so last week, I got up the energy courage to gather the supplies and build this thing. storms were predicted for the afternoon, so I was counting on a long little girl afternoon nap.

because this was certainly one of the larger projects we'd attempted.

and so we proceeded to build a volcano.

I think when I built one in elementary school, I had a nifty little megaphone I'd gotten at some sports event which became the form for the volcano.

since we didnt have any of those lying around the house, we just used posterboard.

and then instead of making my own paper-mache (knowing the large volume of newspaper strips it required), i cheated with this...

best $4 i spent at w@lmart all day!

so we (i) cut the pieces, and we dipped them in water before placing them on the cardboard cone.

while we patiently let the plaster dry so we could paint it, we watched volcano videos online and learned more about how volcanoes work.

but that didn't last too long!

this kid was giddy with excitement about building a volcano, but i've never seen her quite so serious as when it came time to paint it!

she made sure every bit of that volcano was covered with paint!

from top to bottom...

and all that serious painting paid off!

unfortunately her 3 year old mouth prevented us from erupting the volcano that night, but it served as a great reward for helping us pack and load the car the next day!

you think she was excited?

her first reaction was a little funny because even after all of that prep, i'm not sure she expected what happened when that food colored red vinegar hit the baking soda.

but it didnt take long for her fascination to return along with her reassurance to us that that pretend lava was in fact not hot!

a week later, she's still going strong with this one. we've watched a few more videos and found a book for her to keep from the bookstore. every library book we checked out pertaining to volcanoes has been read multiple times.

i sure am thankful this big girl has her daddy's memory. it takes everything within me to keep up with her, but it's such a joy to witness her make new discoveries and learn knew things...and then want to share them with us and others! 

what's next? musical instruments just in time for christmas!

Bowling Babies

before thanksgiving, addie's friend maggie (and her mom, little brother dylan, and baby sister sarah) invited us to go bowling. maggie's mama assured me that dylan (who is the same age as the little girls) loved it. so i trusted her, and we all went bowling! 

and let me tell you, all 3 of our girls had a BLAST!

penny showed us how she helped dylan bowl.

and maggie showed us all about climbing!

addie wasn't quite as good at it, but she sure did get a good laugh from it!

and while i didn't manage to get any pictures of the little girls bowling because I was supervising it, audrey kate was showing me how to throw the bowling ball here.

and anne perry and dylan (who had just tried to hug her! so sweet!), were all about  making sure the green and pink ball made it back up to us!

i thought addie was a little monkey, but i'm pretty sure maggie was the best monkey that day!

sweet mrs. jennifer holding baby sarah!

in addition to being a great climber, maggie was an expert bowler!

and with maggie's help, it took no time at all for addie to get the hang of things.

and every single time she bowled, you'd have thought she hit a strike!

but one of the sweetest things was seeing addie, maggie, and lyndee play ring around the rosie. 

...and all fall down!

bowling was absolutely a hit with our kiddos!

thanks mrs. penny for inviting us and thanks mrs. jennifer for the free passes!!!

Tucker's Baptism

about two weeks ago, we all piled in the car (including my mom) and headed to Raleigh for our sweet nephew's baptism.

the trees were gorgeous, and i'm pretty sure addie's head nearly exploded seeing so many beautiful colors!

i have two words to describe the trip there and back: long drive!

but it was totally worth it!

it was such an honor to be a part of this special weekend to celebrate baby Tucker and be there to witness his baptism and the commitment of Judson and Anna's church to support them and teach him about God's love.

there were grandparents, a great grandparent, a great aunt, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends to celebrate this handsome boy!

anna's mother was so sweet to host a delicious lunch following the service that included this beautiful (and yummy I might add) cake.

tucker got lots of loving on from everyone, but i loved this picture. a beautiful lady and handsome baby!

the weather was perfect; and our girls, along with at least six other cousins, had a blast playing outside!

but what's a party without tarheels cornhole?

my aunt flew in from atlanta

and while our littles weren't too keen on stopping to take a picture, they loved seeing their nana!

tucker's apparently a great little helper

and an even better sport. this kid was surrounded by girls (with at least one fussing at all times) and took it with stride! (love this picture of my mom and her 4 grandchildren!)

he even let Addie hold him!

that is until he'd had enough! so i scooped him back up and loved on him while we headed back inside to his sweet mama.

and while addie loved baby tucker, she absolutely adored aunt anna and uncle judson. i'm pretty sure she would have stayed with them 24/7 had she been given the opportunity!

my brother only planted a few unnecessary things in her head (like showing her food and insisting on me building her a volcano that could erupt...more on that later!),

but it was all worth seeing these two together!

getting to love on this baby boy!

and be with this gorgeous family!

aunt anna, uncle judson, and baby tucker, thank you for including us in this celebration. thank you for spending the weekend with us, helping to entertain our girls, and just loving on them! it was an honor to be a part of this special event; and we loved every minute of our time with you.

"But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

Luke 18:16

the "Crisis"

so Paul and I went to a dinner the other night and left the girls with my mom. about halfway through dinner, Paul texted her to see how things were going. this is what he got back...

{7pm Thursday night}
Crisis! Addie saw lizard on lamp in bedroom. I couldn't catch so we are snuggled in chair in living room. told her she didn't have to go back in room until you caught lizard. tiny and green.

our entire table got a good laugh.

and while clearly this was indeed not a crisis; in three-year-old-world, it was!

by the time we got home, Addie was sound asleep in her bed.

crisis averted?

{7am Friday morning}
mommy/daddy, there was a lizard on my lamp in my room. 

yes, i'm sure he's gone back outside to live with his family...

{fast forward about 36 hours}
i go to grab a bow for addie's hair as we're leaving the house...

...and there he is! perched on the warm lamp again. 

and the following ensues:
i try to grab him, and he jumps to the wall and crawls up to the crown molding.

paul stands on the stool and tries to grab it, and it jumps to the roman shade.

i see it and try to grab it, but it jumps from the shade to the blinds to the dresser to the floor and quickly runs...

...behind her bed!

(now try picturing that!)

assuring addie that he is headed back to his family, we leave.

{Later that night}
Addie's all ready for bed; and as i go to help her in bed, i think to myself:

am i really going to put her in a bed that we are almost certain a lizard is hiding behind? 

and i move her giraffe and pillow and there he is!

asleep, as still as he can be, under her pillow!   

i tell addie to get daddy quickly. huh she says? go get daddy fast! hurry!

no time

i cup my hands over it and it slides out. i cover it again with one hand and scoop it up, tail sticking out as he wriggles in my hand.

my thought: do lizards bite? if so, do they hurt?

we run out the front door with Addie in tow, and i gently lay my hand down and let him jump out.

finally...crisis over!

lizard returned to his family...outside!

let's just hope he doesnt decide to come back in to bask on Addie's lamp!

i'm not sure i can catch another one anytime soon! 

my only regret? i didn't get a picture of it ;-)

Little Turkeys

i was just certain i could get the perfect picture of the girls if only i sat them on the front steps again.

my friend kelly made these darling t-shirts, and i wanted a picture of them!

i'll never admit to the silliness it took for me to get these laughs.

then again, maybe i was just mimicking them!

and while none of the pictures turned out exactly as i planned, i've learned that sometimes those are the best...at least showing the girls {real} personalities! 

happy {early} turkey day!

Punkin' Patch with Grandpa

we were SO excited that Grandpa and Ms. Gail could come visit a few weeks after Addie took her field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. she was beside herself excited to take them to the pumpkin patch and show them everything she loved...especially the animals!

I was so proud of Addie for feeding the goats all by herself!

the little girls were a little more hesitant about all the animals, but that baby goat was the cutest thing!

it was all ok when grandpa was right there holding a hand though!

there was a silly singing farmer that didnt keep our attention for long...but gave me an opportunity for a picture with all 3 girls! Can we say a little confused with the singing farmer?

all the girls had fun in the corn box!

of course, what's the pumkin patch without a hayride?

apparently waiting for the hayride to start is rather exhausting!

And it's a miracle everyone was facing the same direction...at the same time!

Love watching these little girls experience & discover new things!

i love how the little girls are "loving" (or licking) on their pumpkins.

But I really love Addie's smile in this one!

Grandpa and Ms. Gail, thank you so much for coming to the Pumpkin Patch with us!