Beach 2009 Part 4

Whew! Told you we were with lots of people this summer! We spent a few days with Drew's family at the beach also. How cutie pie are all of my nieces and nephews? My kids are so blessed to have so many cousins to play with.

A picture of my nephew L, or as I like to call him, "The shoe-stealer." I could only find 1 flip-flop the whole trip because he'd always have the other one on! The boy never stops moving!

H and my E are 1 week apart. I love the sweet bond between them! 2 new kindergarteners!!

Nana took the girls to Alvin's Island. I finally caved in and let Nana get them a crab. They are currently still alive, I think. I don't really care. (I'm taking a hands-off approach this time. I'll only step in when they are dead and start to smell.)

Beach 2009 Part 3

Little M hangin' with her new boyfriend, Shane. Uh...I mean, Bradford.

My friend Sue's kids and my kids. Sue and I were pregnant with our first two girls at the same time, and though she lives in Arkansas, we have relied on each other through lots of parenting. We could tell you lots of stories. But we'd have to kill you. Our kids are perfect. Really.

Mimi and PopPop had an early birthday celebration for O.

Just a great pic of our beachy, crabhunting girls!

Beach 2009 Part 2

My Dad, Drew, girls, and nieces watching fish be skinned and cut outside of Louisiana Lagniappe

A "lovely" photo of my sis and I

Just a cute cousin pic. How cute are they??

My friend from college, Susan, and I. Since this blog is full of "flattering" pictures of me (I mean, I get to pick the pictures, why not censor them down to only flattery of me??) I decided for once to just put a dorky picture on here. O told me to make a silly face. Sue left me hangin'. Joke was on me, I guess. Thanks Sue.

Beach Pictures

We've gotten the opportunity to go down to the beach twice this summer. I kiddingly say that we actually "Summer" at the beach. Oh, how I wish! But this summer has been fun. I think the beach is beautiful and relaxing and all of that, but to me the best part of the beach is who you're with. So I'm posting pictures of all of the groups of people we got to hang out at the beach with. From girlfriends and their kids from Tupelo, to Mimi and PopPop, to my best friend from college and her family, to my brother and sister and their families, to Drew's mom, sister, and neice and nephew, we pretty much had a "love-fest" with some of our favorite people! (and for the rest of my favorite people out there-just call me, lets plan another trip!) It was community at its finest, and I feel so blessed to have people who love me around me. The next few posts will be of these people and pictures!

I cannot believe I just posted a picture of me in my swimsuit. I will regret this later.

All the little friends lined up!(minus M who is never agreeable to taking a group picture.)

We toured the big battleship in Mobile with my brother and his family.

Dolphin hunting with Mimi. It was E's year! She was thrilled!

Wicked!!

As some of you may know, I am one of the biggest fans of the Broadway musical Wicked that you'll ever meet. I've been waiting 3 years to see the musical, and 3 weeks ago, I got to go! Because I'm so obsessed with the music, the girls and Drew really grew to like it, too, so they came along with me. It was better than I even could have hoped for. Absolutely amazing. We finished up the night in Memphis at the Peabody, where the girls got to be right beside the red carpet to watch the ducks march to the elevator. The ducks splashed water right on them! We then went to the top and got to see the "penthouse" where they live when they're not in the fountain. Ha!

Rock the Block 2009

This year our church did our first vacation Bible school. It was awesome because we did backyard Bible school in 4 different neighborhoods simultaneously around the city. Each neighborhood had a color, and the last night, we all came together at the church for a big carnival and a "war of the colors." As you can tell, we were a part of the red team! As usual, if my girls have a chance to paint themselves, they will! We even had some friends from church come over and get painted, too! Little M was actually on the "green" team, the toddler VBS color! Next week, we will be doing one more Rock the Block in the Ida Street area, followed by a Back to School bash, where we hand out school supplies. Join us if you want to help! There's nothing big smiles on kids faces when they're having fun!

Just A Pretty Picture

I just had to post this. Drew took this and it just melts my heart.

Father Daughter Ball 2009

The girls and Drew went to the Father/Daughter Ball for the 2nd year in a row last month. As always, the getting ready part is the most fun! My girls love to get pampered! Back in the spring, we hit a Target and Drew picked out each of the girls a dress of his own choosing (with their approval, of course!) This made it even more fun, since I didn't make them wear smocked dresses and bows! I guess they might get a little tired of that stuff! Nothing like some body glitter, hair glitter, hairspray, mousse, eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, nail polish and crowns to make a girl feel pretty. I think Drew probably had the prettiest dates there. He didn't look so bad himself! I'd date him! Ha!

Of course, this is the only good picture I got of all 4 of them. The professional photographer at the event did a little bit better job!