it (was) a polka dot party!

i'm 3!! she turned 3 on nov. 8th.



caroline had a polka dot party to celebrate her 3rd birthday. the weather has been awesome the past couple of years around the 1st of november, but the party day was quite chilly this year. everyone bundled up, ran out some energy, and enjoyed some colorful chocolate cake. i think every girl, and maybe a few boys, that arrived had some kind of polka dots on. :) it was a fun day. happy 3rd birthday to my sweet caroline!






caroline having a blast with all the boys in the thomas bounce up thing. she is always right there in the middle of whatever the boys are doing. it's hilarious.

mimi and caroline

mommy designed the cake and cupcakes this year! very colorful polka dots :)

after eating her orange cupcake (her favorite color!)

polka dot natalie pushing the birthday girl

the birthday girl stealing the m&m's off the cake

a new bike!

big 3 year old!

sissy loved the cool camera caroline got. she didn't like it when it wasn't her turn though.

winding down after all the fun!

love you big girl :)

a few fun facts about our 3 year old:

- she is as i.n.d.e.p.e.n.d.e.n.t. as they come

- she loves the color orange, by far her favorite

- she loves her babies and talks to them and plays with them all day

- she loves to take care of anyone and everyone, a tad "bossy" - she just likes it her way :)

- she loves the beach and talks about going quite often on a regular basis

- she loves max and ruby

- she is always singing and often times i will hear her make up songs while she talks

- she loves "jingle bells," and we have officially have been singing it since last christmas every night at bedtime. "ningle bells ningle bells"....granny had a gun-daddy's version) -lovely

- she has always been go with the flow. she loves to go anywhere, anytime.

- she has the sweetest prayers. lately, she will always say in her prayers, "and thank you for everyone i don't know. amen."

- she gives the best hugs and kisses

- she is a wonderful big sissy

- she is a clone of her daddy

- she is a JOY and a true blessing from God!

oh how the time is flying by......savor every moment.

fall leaf fun

just trying to catch up on the fun fall we had!

sliding down into the big leaf pile

sissy wasn't so sure at the end ...

raking was a great entertainment one morning

the crew came over after halloween to play. they had a blast in the huge leaf pile.
mitchell, parker, hollis, and caroline

trick or treat

here are some quick photos of our cute doggie (no, not a cow) and sweet strawberry from halloween.

caroline was a doggie and anna kate was a strawberry, along with kennedy and natalie. they had a fun time going door to door, especially pulling out all the yummy surprises!

caroline's favorite part was that she had a tail :)

with kaylee and jackson, and austin, natalie, mimi, megan, kennedy & auntie joanna

tis the season....

....to target! happy shopping! MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

*best picture/smile i think ever from them both at the same time.....in a target shopping cart :)

flashback.....

.....to this time last year! i was browsing through some pictures and came across these: for a good 3 months my sweet little caroline slept on the floor. from the time she was 15 months, she never got out of the giant queen size bed, for 6 straight months. then one september night, she decided to do something different! oh how it makes me laugh now. first it was just on the floor, then it had to be right by the door, peeping underneath it. i am glad we are past those days!o my, who's paw could that be?!
o to think about moving anna kate in there with caroline.......i'm just not quite there yet! i have a feeling it will be like a party to them every night for awhile!

miss cool

she is so funny and so expressive :) i love you my anna kate

where is anna kate?

anna kate is a little sneaky when it comes to what she is up to. we are finally at the stage where i can trust her a little more on her own. :) there for awhile, you could not take your eyes off of the girl. i swear, when she learned how to climb onto the couch by herself, it was awful. she thought it was hilarious to run down the whole thing and then crash. she had no boundaries and it got really annoying....real fast. :) justin and i were always like, watch out, she's on the couch again! o it was a couch nightmare. lol! you would leave the room for 5 seconds in hopes she would not fall and then you heard the thump and crying....never good. good thing that God made those little bodies and heads to where they can take about any kind of bump or bruise and be fine. thank the Lord. we are now at a stage where she plays awesome by herself. she strolls her babies around and reads books and sits and plays on the couch without running. yea!! she is my snuggle bug and i always have to get my anna kate fix when i need some snuggles.

you can see her cute little painted tootsies - mimi did this on her sleepover

hanging out in sissy's bed feeding the baby and reading

merry christmas shutterfly!

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas! One of my favorite things about December is getting the mail which means christmas card time!! I love receiving christmas cards. I post them up around one of our doorways so everyone can see all the pictures and cards! This year as I searched for the perfect christmas card, I came across this awesome promotion for bloggers. Thanks to Shutterfly, I will be getting my christmas cards for free this year!! Woohoo! What a fabulous deal in the midst of christmas card shopping!



I have been browsing Shutterfly for the perfect christmas card. They have tons of ideas and lots of christmas card collections for 2010. It is hard for me to pick just one picture to sum up a year, so I don't know if I will do one picture or several pictures in the card. It is near impossible to get a picture of my girls both smiling in the same direction. As long as they are both looking, that will work!



I have ordered tons of pictures from Shutterfly and have also done several photo calendars from them. Check out the birthday invitations too for your little ones. They have some very creative and adorable ideas for parties! Just within a few clicks, a masterpiece is created! Shutterfly has great deals, they provide lots of free shipping, and they do it quickly! Now is the time to order those cards and check out the great blogger promotion if you haven't already! And don't forget to add us to your christmas card list this year! :)

Thank you Shutterfly!!

fall festivals 2010

it is my most wonderful time of the year!! fall.....where did it go?! i am in christmas mode now, but just trying to catch up on the fun fall we had. we tried out the pumpkin patch out towards smyrna? nolensville? this time. i can't even remember the name now. ok now it is driving me crazy i can't think of the name. anyways, it was fun. (if you haven't noticed, i have a tendency to ramble as i write while i think.) does that make sense...ramble as i write while i think? ha

here we are, smiling for the stranger taking the picture while the girls just stared at him



seriously girls, let's look at mommy and get a cute pumpkin loving sister picture :)

still attempting at group shots

caroline braved a little ride they had, of course she picked the orange one, her favorite color!

and their favorite part.....organizing pumpkins in the patch!

sissy was bound and determined to line every pumpkin up, she probably would have stayed all day and done every single pumpkin out there!

"scaring" the animals :)

and this is from the molasses festival

both fit in the stroller....look alike?

$5 pony ride

oh how i love the fall