The Pope Family

Back in Time

2011-08-09T11:08:00.002-05:00

Yes I'm still here. Ha! I am in the process of back posting a ton of post. I've made it to the beginning of May. Hopefully this week I will be caught up. Hope everyone is doing well. We have enjoyed our summer and our gearing up for school to begin. Blakely starts Kindergarten, Lilly starts preschool and I'm going to be a preschool teacher. Exciting times!!

Dance, Dance, Dance

2011-05-15T10:19:00.000-05:00

Blakely took Ballet, Tap and Jazz this year. We were so proud of her. She did such a wonderful job. She does love dance and will take again next year.

Rehearsal Time

Blakely and Cambry Lilly danced out in the aisles the whole time at the rehearsal. She is such a hoot. She can’t wait to star dance this fall.Dress Rehearsal Day

Blakely’s Ballet ClassBlakely’s Tap and Jazz ClassBlakely and her sweet friend, CambryA few girls ready for tapSweet BallerinasBlakely and her friend, TaylorSo sweetReady to DanceDoing Jazz Day of the show

Julia and BlakelyProud Mommy

Silver Dollar City and Shower

2011-05-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

We went to Silver Dollar city on Saturday and went to Sam(Daniel's brother) and Brittney’s shower. It was a quick trip to SDC, but nevertheless the girls had a great time. Then we headed to the shower in the park. The girls had fun seeing everyone and then playing at the park. We are excited to have another Aunt in the family.

At Silver Dollar City Nana and BlakelyLilly and NanaLilly and Grandma VirginiaMe and the GirlsBlakely took this of Daniel and IBrittney and Sam

First T-Ball Game

2011-05-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

Blakely loves T-ball! She has had a wonderful time playing and learning new things. Miss 6Our Batting GirlStill miss SassyCheering SisterI love this picture of her-so her personality Blakely’s favorite part of the game-hitting the other team hands and telling them good game.

5K

2011-05-01T10:52:00.000-05:00

Since January I have been training to run a 5k. I really wanted to just say that I did it. It was hard, but a very rewarding experience. The pictures below are from my 2nd 5k. I ran on on the 16th of April-and man it was hard! I have to admit I had tears crossing the finish line. I ran the entire way-except for a little hill-about 30 seconds. I ran my second one on April 30th. I knew what to expect from the first one, but man there were a lot of serious runners in the group-very intimidating. I think there were over a 1000 people. It was a fun race, but I pulled my hamstring and was in a lot of pain for about a week. I’ve learned that running is a mind over body experience. There were lots of praying and praising during this whole experience. I plan on doing another 5k in the fall.

My wonderful friend Tiffany and I. She really motivated me to keep going.My two great friends from college-they cheered me on at the end!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T10:50:00.000-05:00

We had a great Easter, despite the rain, storms and wind. Daniel’s mom came to visit. The girls had a fun time with her. Our church meet at the local performing arts center. It was a true blessing to see so many people praising God. The service was wonderful. We are truly blessed to be apart of such an amazing church.

Easter GoodiesExcited Sleepy HeadSweet MessExcited about the plates that I made themShe loves purple!!Silly GirlQuick picture before churchSweet GirlsFamily picture in the rainFighting the wind and rain-HA!

Bowling Party

2011-04-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

Blakely’s dear sweet friend, Rachel had a bowling party celebrating her 6th birthday. The girls had so much fun!

Easter Party at School

2011-04-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

Blakely’s Class plus extra siblings The Three AmigosBriar, Julia and Blakely It was WINDY outside during our egg hunt

Registered for Kindergarten

2011-04-20T10:17:00.000-05:00

On April 20th We registered Blakely for Kindergarten. It was a bittersweet day. Knowing that she is so ready to take this major step, but mom is not ready to let her go quite yet. We toured the school and afterwards mommy had to get a pedicure and then had a picnic at the park. She can’t wait until August to start school!

Spa Party

2011-04-16T10:08:00.000-05:00

Blakely and Lilly’s friend, Anna Kate had a spa party! The girls loved getting pampered!

Princess for a day

2011-04-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

The girls had gotten gift cards for a pedicure. We meet our friend Olivia Grace there. They had lots of fun!

Starting T-Ball

2011-04-01T09:31:00.000-05:00

Blakely is getting ready to start T-Ball this year. She is super excited!!

Spring Break in Branson

2011-03-28T09:22:00.000-05:00

The girls and I went to Branson with my parents for a few days. It was unfortunately a little chilly. We had a fun time going to Silver Dollar City, shopping, hanging out at the cabin, going to the Butterfly Palace and eating. Thanks Mom and Dad for a wonderful time!!

A visit to Nana’s and Grandpa

2011-03-21T08:58:00.000-05:00

In March we went to visit Daniel’s parents. We fished, shopped and had a fun time hanging out. Daniel’s brother, Sam and his fiancé, Brittany were there and Daniel’s Grandma Virginia.

Brittany with the girls Grandma Virginia and LillyGrandma Virginia and Blakely

Daniel, his Grandma Virginia and Sam

Ready for Spring

2011-03-14T14:51:00.001-05:00

I just downloaded pictures from my camera and realized I have only taken one picture of the girls (see below) since February 14th. That might be a miracle that I have only taken one picture of them in a whole month. We have been busy with school, dance, playing with friends, training for a 5k-just mommy, getting ready for t-ball, kindergarten registration and etc., etc., etc… We have been tempted by spring with a few warm days, but hopefully in a few weeks we can start wearing short sleeves and flip flops everyday!

Daniel and I did have a weekend getaway with some friends several weekends ago and the girls stayed with my parents. Everyone had a great time.

Me and DanielMe and GinaThe MenSara, Gina and Me

This past Saturday Daniel and I went to a party for a friend of ours and the girls (both of them) ended up staying the night with Rachel and Aubrey-their first official sleepover. They had so much fun and did NOT want me to pick them up on Saturday. I snapped the picture below before I took them home. I see a lot of these in the future.

Cookies and Milk

2011-02-28T13:10:00.001-06:00

The girls had a fun time at Blakely’s Valentine party. Sara and I did a cookies and milk theme. The favorite cookies of course were OREO’s. The kids enjoyed decorating their own cookie and playing stack the hearts game. Of course they loved getting valentines from all of their friends. Blakely’s class is so sweet!

Cookies and MilkStack the Hearts

Cookie Decorating

Three Amigos-Blakely, Julia and TatumLilly, Blakely, Julia and Tatum

Blakely and Lilly’s Valentine they passed out to their friends. I got the idea from one of the creative blogs I read (I don’t remember which one it was)-they can be found on the right hand side under blog love. I wish I would have came up with the idea. I took the girls picture in the play room with them making a fist. Then I Photoshopped the greeting on the photo. Printed them on a 4x6 photo card and then made two slits to slide in the sucker. They turned out so cute. The girls really were excited to give them to their friends.

Snow equals Crafts

2011-02-28T12:43:00.000-06:00

On one of the many snow days I made the wreath below. Snow days make great craft days. This snow was on February 9. I think we got around 7 or 8 inches. It was definitely the most we had gotten this winter. I think I might take the heart out and put a bunny there for Easter.

Too Many Snow Days to Count

2011-02-28T12:37:00.000-06:00

This is one day that is snowed in February. We had so many days of snow I’m not sure which one this was. We went to the Nutts to sled. We all had a fun time-sledding, making a snowman a snowball fight and eating pizza.

Photo Contest

2011-02-22T14:32:00.003-06:00

The photographer that took our pictures is having a contest for a free canvas! If you are like me I love canvases. All you need to do is click here and like or comment on my girls picture. Whoever has the post likes or comments wins! The only requirement is that you like Callie Granderson Photography on facebook. Plus when you vote you are entered into a drawing for a free session.

Thanks in advance for the votes. The contest ends on March 1st!

Happy Valentine’s Day

2011-02-14T14:26:00.001-06:00

Lots Of New Posts

2011-02-04T15:55:00.001-06:00

Due to all the snow I have caught up on my blog. I even post dated back to December so it looks like I actually posted in December. HA!! So scroll down to see what we have been up to.

Took some pics on snow day take 3 for the girls Valentines-more to come later!

Blakely Lost Her First Tooth

2011-01-25T15:48:00.000-06:00

Almost a month after we discovered Blakely’s tooth was loose…she let me pull it right before bed time. It was basically dangling. She was scared at first but then she got super excited about the tooth fairy coming. She also couldn’t wait to tell her friends at school. The girls wanted to roll there here so that is why we have rollers in our hair. She is growing up so fast!!

Snow Day 2

2011-01-20T15:42:00.000-06:00

The second time it snowed the girls and I hunkered inside and made Kool-Aid play dough, snow ice cream and lots of baked goodies. They spent hours at the table playing. I got the recipe for the play dough here.

Single WONDERFUL Friend in Northwest Arkansas-Marisa

2011-01-20T13:33:00.001-06:00

Our friend Marisa is:
- loyal (to her friends, coworkers and parents)

- FUN -- she'll try anything, and is always up for an adventure!
- LOVES sports – golf, football, bball, etc.
- loves the HOGS!!!
- takes care of herself --loves to exercise and be healthy, etc.
- great educator – teaches Kindergarten - cares about kids!
- does extra stuff -- Junior League, Big Sisters/Big Brothers-Big Sister of the year 2010, Women's Shelter
- genuinely a sweet person - cares about others' feelings...she'd drop everything to help a friend in need!
- so pretty on the inside and the outside!!!

If you know someone who would be interested leave a comment or email me at anitapope@cox.net

Bowling Birthday Party

2011-01-17T15:36:00.000-06:00

Blakely’s good friend Tatum(and Lilly’s friend too) had a bowling party. The girls had the best time.

The Three Amigos-Julia-Tatum-Blakely

My Sassy Girls

2011-01-15T15:27:00.000-06:00

Pics I took before going to a birthday party

First Snow Day (of many)

2011-01-10T15:20:00.000-06:00

The girls had a fun time playing in the snow on January 10. They were sad we didn’t get to make a snowman, but had fun making snow angels. Throwing snowEating snowThe Aftermath

Cousins

2010-12-31T21:06:00.000-06:00

It’s hard to believe that my niece and nephews are 13 and 16(times 2). I remember them like they were babies. The girls love their cousins! They had such a fun time with them over Christmas!Zach and LillyDarby and the girlsBlakely, Colby, Zach, Darby and LillyPlaying chase with Colby They really love each otherZach and the girls

Christmas at Grammy and Papaws

2010-12-31T20:56:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed a great Christmas at my parents. The whole family was there and it was a bit crazy at times. I really took a lot of pictures before everyone arrived, but after that I was to busy visiting and being with family. I have no pictures of my other brother or my parents….ughh. We enjoyed eating lots of great food, going to see the lights and Garvin Gardens, the boys went to the movies and the girls went shopping. I love this time of year when we can all be together! So thankful that God has blessed me with a wonderful family.

Family PictureDaddy and his girlsMommy and her girlsBlakely and RebeccaLilly and BelleMy Nephew and My BrotherColby, Terri and KennyThe girls love playing with Uncle Kenny!!

Dressed to see the lightsExcited to see the lightsMy Neice, Darby and IZach and Lilly

Santa 2010

2010-12-31T20:43:00.000-06:00

Santa said the girls were really sweet this year. They loved the doll house, Blakely asked for an American Girl Doll Rebecca and Lilly wanted big Belle. They were happy to get both plus other goodies too.

Blakely and Lilly wanted a picture of their dolls.

Twas the night before Christmas

2010-12-31T20:28:00.000-06:00

We decided to head to my parents early for Christmas. The weather was supposed to be bad so we decided Santa was coming to Grammy and Papaws. It was really hard for Santa, but he was able to bring most of the girls presents. We had a fun time making cookies and feeding the reindeer. Every year Christmas gets more fun with these two sweet little girls. An extra tidbit- On Christmas Eve Blakely realized she had a loose tooth-she was so excited about that!

This picture is so typical. Miss poser and Miss busy! Love them.

Feeding the Reindeer

Christmas Cookie Decorating Party

2010-12-31T19:23:00.000-06:00

We had a fun cookie decorating party at the Boyd’s house. All the kids had lots of fun together and enjoyed decorating their cookies. Thanks Boyd girls for hosting.The Two Little Hosts

Sunday Before Christmas

2010-12-31T15:07:00.000-06:00

The girls participated in the preschool Christmas sing on Sunday night. I snapped a few pictures of them in front of our tree. You will see these dresses again next year. I ordered a bigger size so they could wear them again.The Preschool Choir at church

Lights on The Square

2010-12-31T14:27:00.000-06:00

We had a great time with the Winborns at the Square. We rode the Cinderella carriage, saw all the pretty lights and got to pet the reindeer. My flash went out on my camera so I didn’t get any real good pictures.

Dance Time

2010-12-31T14:22:00.000-06:00

We got to sit through one of Blakely’s Dance classes. It was fun to see all that she has learned this year. This year she started taking Jazz too-she loves that! She is the youngest in her class, but you sure can’t tell! Go Blakely!

School Christmas PJ Party

2010-12-31T14:06:00.000-06:00

Both girls had a fun time at Blakely’s Christmas party at school. Of course they were so excited to wear PJ’s! They had a fun time eating, painting ornaments and opening presents.

Tatum, Julia, Blakely and half of LillyOur Chocolate MessPainting her treePainting her angelBlakely’s ClassShowing off one of her presents from her teacher

Miss Claus in the School Play

2010-12-31T13:58:00.000-06:00

Blakely played Miss Claus in her school Christmas play. She did such a wonderful job. She loved having the grey hair-Ha! Wait till she is older. We are all so very proud of her.

Blakely and TatumThe Three MusketeersBlakely and Branson-They were so cute togetherGrammy and LillyDaddy and BlakelyBlakely and MommyLittle Miss ClausGrammy, Papaw and the GirlsBlakely and her teacher, Miss Tracy

Breakfast with Santa

2010-12-31T13:49:00.000-06:00

The beginning of December the girls has Breakfast with Santa. He was the nicest and sweetest man. Blakely got up and told him exactly what she wanted and then got down. Lilly stayed and had a little sweet conversation with him-it was adorable!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T16:06:00.001-06:00

Here is our Christmas Card from this year! Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! Hopefully I will post about December before January! HA!

November Part Two

2010-12-23T13:30:00.001-06:00

We had a fun Thanksgiving at Daniel’s parents. We ate lots, saw Tangles, shopped and played a lot of Just Dance on the Wii!! We have so much to be thankful for this year!!

November in Review Take I

2010-12-23T11:00:00.001-06:00

So every year my November and December I neglect my blog. I’m always on the computer doing Christmas orders, so the blog end up coming second. Somehow facebook doesn’t…HA! So here are our pictures of the first half of November.

End of the season Cheerleading party! Proud of their trophies!

Cambry and BlakelyVivi and Blakely I got a new camera-actually not brand new, but new to me. Blakely wanted me to take a picture of her when I got it out of the box. A little visit with Olivia Grace and Annalyse Sweet Lilly Fun Girls Thanksgiving Feast at Blakely’s schoolHer friend, Noah, from her last years class Three Amigos Fall pictures at the local park Caroline and Blakely at Hayden’s B-day party Carlee and Lilly This girls LOVES cupcakes!!The week before Thanksgiving I was the substitute teacher for Blakely’s class the whole week…we had lots of fun!!

Halloween Party at School

2010-11-06T14:21:00.001-05:00

Blakely (and Lilly) enjoyed the Halloween party at school. Blakely coudn’t wait to dress up in her costume for school. I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures, because I was busy helping with making boo hands and slime-this is a must do-the kids loved it! Blakely’s has a great group of kids in her class this year. They are all so sweet and she also has a super sweet teacher, Mrs. Tracey!

Blakely’s Class Blakely’s class plus the mascot Lilly By the witches caldron of PunchThe girls in the class plus mascot 2 Yummy Candy Corn cupcakes that I made Miss Shortcake

Halloween Party

2010-11-06T14:10:00.001-05:00

The Sunday before Halloween we went to our friends church for their festival. The girls of course had the best time playing games, eating and being with their friends. Blakely even bopped for apples-I only got a picture with my phone. It was a great way to start the Halloween festivities.

Lilly, Blakely, Rachel and Aubrey Sweet Strawberry Shortcakes-we had no idea that either one of them picked the same costume-last year they were both fairies! Such great friends!! Sassy Tinker Playing GolfBeing Silly Miss Strawberry Lilly with Jessie Mommy and Lilly Fishing for some goodies with our cute Whimsy Tin Bucket

More Cheer Pictures

2010-11-06T13:55:00.001-05:00

Here are a few more cheerleading pictures. Lilly decided she wanted to do the dance that day during half-time.

Getting ready to shake their tail feathe This is what Blakely does when they introduce herShe loved learning all the cheers Lilly all smiles when the introduced her

Blakely’s Pre-K School Pictures

2010-10-31T14:56:00.001-05:00

Little Princess

2010-10-31T14:52:00.001-05:00

Blakely was asked to be a little princess escort for the local pageant. She walked with one of the Misses in the evening gown competition. She loved getting all dolled up and wearing a sparkly dress. She also got to meet Miss Arkansas and got her autograph. It was a long night, but fun!!

At practice the night before Little Princess Aubrey, Blakely, Rachel and LillyCambry and Blakely Miss Arkansas Our Family Sweet Sisters

Fall Swimming Party

2010-10-31T14:38:00.001-05:00

The girls were so excited to go to Olivia Grace’s Birthday Party. They just couldn’t wait to go swimming since it had been awhile. Hope you had a great birthday Olivia Grace!! Blakely says “welcome to the 5 club!”

Blakely and the Birthday GirlCute little swimmer All Smiles before going down the big slide Eating her favorite food-PIZZA!!

Homecoming Parade

2010-10-31T14:27:00.001-05:00

It has been almost a month since this took place, but that is normal for me to update a month later. HA! At the homecoming parade each little league squad got to be on their own float. Blakely was so excited about riding on the float. Lilly was going to ride, but she didn’t want to so she stayed with Daddy. That day was very hot!! Who would have thought it October. Luckily the parade didn’t last too long. All the girls had a fun time. The night before I got to help decorate the float with several other moms.

All smiles getting on the floatCute Mascots All the girls getting ready to be in the parade Blakely and CambryEach girl had a flag with their name on itEnjoying a sweet treat while we waited in line for the parade to start. Miss Sassy Luckily we sat in the shade for awhile-the train came through town so we got stuck.

Visit with Family

2010-10-22T09:59:00.001-05:00

Several weekends ago the girls and I went to my parents house. My brother and his family were coming in for the weekend and it had been forever since we had seen them. The girls had the best time. They loved playing with Uncle Kenny! We all went and played putt putt one day-Lilly’s first time. It was so fun! I hate that we live so far away from each other, but it least will we get to see each other at Christmas.

Blakely and Uncle Kenny being silly Grammy and The GirlsMe and My ParentsThe GirlsWith Cousin Colby Aunt Terri, Baby Girl and Uncle Kenny with the girls

Uncle Kenny Helping Lilly Out My Little Golfer This picture is blurry but I had to put it on here-she would make the hole and then hold up the ball and yell, “go golf.” She is a mess!! She really was concentrating

Cheerleading 2010

2010-10-11T15:05:00.001-05:00

This is what we are busy doing these days! Blakely and Lilly(sometimes) are mascots this year for pee-wee football. Blakely loves it, but Lilly would rather sit with us in the stands. Blakely loves it! She loves doing her dance at halftime and learning all these new cheers.

Blakely at her first game Blakely and Cambry Dancing Girls They wear these masks for their half-time danceCute cheerleaders The Squad Picture day Sweet Sisters They love each other so much (most of the time)! Lilly, Cambry and Blakely Proud to have on her uniform

The Brothers

2010-10-11T14:18:00.001-05:00

The Brothers (Colton and Tristan) celebrated their 2nd birthday a few weeks ago. It was so hot and humid! We had a fun time and enjoyed a cookout with our friends.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-10-11T14:12:00.001-05:00

On Labor Day weekend we traveled to go see Daniel’s parents and his brother. We were so busy that I only took a few pictures. The girls had a fun time riding the boat while daddy was fishing. Nana and I took the girls on a canoe trip around the cove at the lake. They had lots of fun doing that. We also did a little shopping. One night the girls went over to one of Nana’s friends and got in the hot tub and watched fireworks. Nana said they had a marvelous time! Daniel, Sam, his girlfriend and I went fishing-it was comical and fun!

The girls and NanaBlakely and Mommy Being Silly

Trip to the Dentist

2010-10-11T13:47:00.001-05:00

Lilly had her first trip to the dentist about a month ago. She did very well and was such a big girl. Blakely is already a little miss pro after several trips to the dentist. The girls both have great visits and they couldn’t even tell that Lilly use to suck on a pacifier.

Getting Ready for her 1st teeth cleaning Such a big girl Showing me her clean teeth The Pro

Dance

2010-09-29T23:39:00.001-05:00

Blakely and her friend Cambry before dance class Blakely started back to dance this year. She couldn’t wait to start going to dance class again-except she calls it dance recital every time we go to class. During her first class they called me on the phone to see if she could move up to the older class. They thought that she was ready to do jazz and told me she does so well at listening to what she is supposed to do. So she is now taking ballet, tap and jazz. She was excited because they moved her two friends up too, Cambry and Taylor. After her first jazz class she told me she had lots of fun and really liked it.

First Day of Pre-K

2010-09-29T23:13:00.001-05:00

Blakely started her first day of Pre-K several weeks ago. She is still going to the same school as last year. She loves going, but really wanted to go to Kindergarten when she turned 5. She has several friends who are in her class and the other class-so I think in a month or so she will get over about not going to Kindergarten.

This was on open house night Blakely and her teacher, Mrs. Tracey Blakely before School Blakely and her backpack-she also got her hair chopped off that day-so last picture with long hair Blakely and Lilly-she was sad that she didn’t get to stay-she will go next yearBlakely and her good friend, Julia

Blakely’s Birthday Dinner and Day

2010-09-27T14:39:00.001-05:00

Only a month behind…Just have been so busy with school starting back, girls activities and card business. These are pictures from Blakely’s actual birthday. During the day we went swimming with Olivia Grace, Annalyse and Mrs. Leslie-the girls had the best time!! That night we went to eat birthday dinner at Cheddars-we celebrated Blakely and Daddy’s Birthday. Blakely was so upset that they didn’t sing Happy Birthday to her-they don’t do that there. She and Lilly both loved the monster cookie sundae-so that made it better. I still can’t believe that my baby is 5!

All Smiles from this 5 Year OldSuch a sweetheart with all her silly bandz Blakely and Mommy Blakely and Olivia GraceBeing SillyHaving fun in the water

Birthday Time

2010-09-08T13:45:00.001-05:00

I’m so behind on blogging-every time I get on the computer it seems I’m making cards, birth announcements, etc… I just haven’t had time to update my personal blog. So I’m making the time today to do it before I forget stuff.

So this year we decided to to join the girls parties together-I’m so glad we did-even though they are almost 2 months apart. It was nice to get everything done and now I don’t have to worry about another party in October-which is crazy month for us anyway. So a pool party was already planned, but the girls had two different themes. Blakely had mermaids and Lilly had fairies-aka Tinker Bell. Well of course it hasn’t rained in weeks or maybe months…who knows, but it decided to rain and storm 15 minutes before the party started and it continued to thunder for the next 30 minutes-so the rule is that you can’t swim until 30 minutes after the thunder has stopped….ughhh. Well there was no swimming involved at the girls swim party. So we moved on to plan b-there was actually no plan b but hey the kids didn’t know that. We ate, did cupcakes, opened presents and then out of nowhere came the camp site person with his banjo to save the party. He sang great kid songs and the kids danced and had the best time-Yeah for the mysterious banjo player-you were a life saver. Then we decided to move the party to the play area and of course after being there 5 or so minutes another downpour comes-so party was over early, but I think everyone had a great time. I know the girls had a wonderful time. We did have a few melt downs over presents-aka Lilly, but it was great sharing their party since they are so young. I think we might do it again next year.

Blakely and Her Jessie-from my mom and dad Lilly and her Buzz from my mom and dadBirthday GirlsRachel and Blakely Sweet Girls-Bella, Aubrey, Rachel, Blakely and Lilly Bryzen and Aubrey Little LillyAnna Kate and Caroline A little shy with all the singing just to her Making a wish Not sure want to think

She liked blowing it out thoughOur neighbors the Browns Julia, Tatum and Blakely Anna Kate, Olivia Grace, Caroline, Carlee and Aubrey Opening Presents Our Little Melt Down-over a present of course and more presents…I love this sweet little picture The two Lilly’s-we call her big Lillie but her name is actually Lillian-look at her precious face. The Life Saver of the Party-The Banjo PlayerAll the girls having fun Enjoying the music Some songs they knew and some they didn’t, but they didn’t seem to care. Our little dancerThanks so much to Jennifer for taking pictures at the party it was so nice not having to worry about taking pictures!!!

Below are all the decoration pictures

Blakely’s Birthday InvitationThe Back of Blakely’s Card Blakely’s Thank You Cards Lilly’s Birthday Invitation Lilly’s Thank You CardMy attempt at making a cupcake stand with the cupcake toppers Flower Bell Wand Favors Mermaid Bottle Cap Necklace Favors-Brown haired girls had brown hair-boys had pirates The Wands at the party Lilly’s Birthday Banner Blakely’s Birthday Banner

A Pedi Please

2010-08-25T09:08:00.001-05:00

Last week I took Blakely and her sweet little friend Rachel to go get a pedicure. It was Blakely’s special treat for about to turn five and Rachel starting Kindergarten. Blakely had never had one and I don’t think Rachel had either. They had such a fun time and loved every minute of it. Of course they picked the same color and wanted polka dots on them-a girl after my own heart.

Mommy was enjoying her own little pedi while I snapped a quick picture with my phone. Sharing the bear chair with their very own movie-Tinker Bell was playing. The Pink Toes

Fun City

2010-08-25T09:06:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago we meet up with our friends in NWA and went to Fun City. The girls had lots of fun playing games, eating pizza and running around. It is definitely hard to catch up with the big girls when you are trying to keep with all the kids. Hope to do it again soon.

This is not the best picture since I took it with my phone.

Carlee, Presley, Lilly, Olivia Grace, Blakely, Caroline (behind the Dora wand) and Spider Man(he represents Parker) missing from the picture were baby Annalyse and baby Paige

First Time Skating

2010-08-22T08:08:00.001-05:00

Our sweet friend Bella had a skating party a few weeks ago. The girls had so much fun. Blakely was so excited about going skating for the first time. Well, we put those skates on and even used the support handle helper and she had a rough time getting around. Lilly even put some on, but daddy just held her up. Thank goodness they had inflatable bouncers, a big jungle gym inside play area and these awesome little seat rollers. I have to admit I put on some skates and gosh it has been a long time. It seemed so easier when I was younger. hahaha

Don’t let this smile fool you-once she fell she really wasn’t all about it.Not sure about all this-it lasted about a minuteShe would get out there and dance to all the music Blakely and Rachel This is was so much more fun than skates Lilly loved it too! The sweet birthday girl and her sister Julia Aubrey, Rachel and Blakely

Zooming around

Branson

2010-08-15T19:21:00.001-05:00

We went to Branson a week ago and had the best time! We went with my parents and all the grandkids. It was a Grandparent-Grandkid trip, but I tagged along to help. So my niece and nephews are all teenagers so there is quite a bit of age difference between them and the girls. It doesn’t bother the girls at all and they love being with them.

All The Grandkids-Colby, Zach, Darby, Lilly and Blakely

Our first night we went to go see Noah the Musical-it was such a wonderful show and would highly recommend it to anyone that goes to Branson. Blakely Loved it! Lilly did too, but she was a little scared during some parts-she LOVED Noah and the animals!!

Darby and the girls in front of the Lion

Zach, Darby, Blakely and Lilly – In front of the Ark

The next day we did a little shopping, went to eat lunch and then headed to Silver Dollar City. This was at the Mel’s Diner for lunch. Both girls had such a fun time listening to all the singers and then after they ate they decided it was time to dance. These girls LOVE to dance!!

Both girls love all the rides-this was the first time for Lilly to ride anything and she loved it all-even the kid roller coaster. Blakely even rode her first big roller coaster with the big kids-mommy is not much of a thrill seeker. I did ride fire in the hole(inside roller coaster) with her and she did NOT like it and told me she didn’t want to ride that again

All the kids minus Zach on the teapots-Colby almost made me sick from spinning us so much. While Blakely was riding the swings with the big kids I took Lilly over to the little kid rides. She had fun riding all by herself!! That night they had a street dance party and little Miss Blakely was all about it. She was right on the front row trying to learn all the dances. When they started dancing Miss Lilly joined along too-I hate that I didn’t get any pictures, but I didn’t have time to get my camera.

Silver Dollar City - Day 2

We got up early that morning to head to SDC, but it was actually raining. I total change from the 100 degree weather we were dealing with the day before. So we went to go eat breakfast and did a little more shopping until the rain stopped. Today the girls were so excited because they were going to meet the Backyardigans. So we got there and stood in line for the meet and greet.

Blakely –waiting in line and super excited about the Backyardigans!

Lilly can see them and is so excited she can barely contain herself.

Both girls go in for the hug!

Sweet Lilly with Uniqua

Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua and the girls – the girls guessed that Austin and Tasha were on vacation.

Blakely getting in one last hug

Waiting on the Magic Show

Me and the girls

At the Magic show-Blakely was chosen to be in the magic show. She was so excited. It was so funny because he asked her if she was married and she said, “not yet.” Then he said do you have a boyfriend and she said, “yes, Brant.”-a little boy from her class. She was so serious about all her answers. He then asked her if she believed that she could fly and of course she said, “yes.”

Getting ready to float in the air- I could tell she was really not sure what was going on at this point .

You can’t really see her face, but she was a little freaked out.

Our little floater

After her magic trick she got a magic rope and wand for being in the show-she was so proud!!

Playing in the colored sand

Blakely needed a little help from Papaw

Lilly had to do it too.

Lilly and Papaw on the train ride

Grammy and Blakely on the train

The girls loved the Bear in front of our cabin

Papaw, Grammy and all the Grandkids at the end of our trip

Fun with long distance cousins

2010-08-10T11:11:00.001-05:00

Several weeks ago we went down to my parents house to see my Aunt Glenda, Uncle Charlie and my first Cousin Jana and her family-she had two girls and one boy. They had come up to take a vacation. We hadn’t seen each other in so long. When we got there we were busy non stop going to the lake, then to magic springs/crystal falls and then to a Jeremy Camp concert. They had so much fun!!

Blakely, Brooke (her youngest) and Lilly Sassy Little Girls Lilly had lots of fun!Me and Jana Me and Brittyn (Jana’s Oldest) Being Silly!!

Magic Show and Train Ride

2010-07-31T17:39:00.001-05:00

Several weeks ago I took the girls to the local park for a magic show and a train ride. They had lots of fun! Of course they were super excited to see Rachel and Aubrey there. Blakely was really into the magic show-she LOVED it!! Lilly was a little hesitant and stayed more in the back. They both loved riding the little train. As you can tell it was HOT!!! Not sure what they were thinking about having a show at 3:00 in July, but hey whatever works.

I love this picture of them two-pure laughter!! Aubrey, Rachel and Blakely

Not sure what to think

Aubrey and Lilly

Happy to be on the train

Mommy and Daddy Trip

2010-07-31T17:21:00.001-05:00

After July 4th Daniel and I took a trip with his Mom, Nana and brother, Sam to Destin. We had planned on going somewhere out of the country, but plans didn’t go the way we wanted so we decided to head to Destin. My parents had already planned on watching the girls so they went with them for the week. We had a great time! It was just nice to be able to relax and not have to worry about anything. I did miss the girls, but I must say it was nice to get away for several days. Here are a few of our pictures from the week.

I took this the night Daniel and Sam were fishing on the other side of Destin Harbor We went on a Dolphin Sunset Cruise We did see a few dolphins, but had a fun time on the boat

The View from our condo

Sam and Daniel getting ready to go fishing-Sam’s hat and Daniel’s Shirt are quite comical.Nana and I at Dewey Destins

Daniel and I at Dewey Destin's

The Brothers

Nana and Daniel

Daniel and I

On our patioThe last night we got to see a sea turtle lay her eggs. It was actually one of my highlights of the trip. Just a few days before Nana and I were walking the beach and we saw some eggs that were being protected and I told her I would just love to see a sea turtle lay her eggs-who would have thought we would have been able to see it.

4th of July

2010-07-17T09:15:00.001-05:00

That night we went down to our local firework show. Blakely has always loved fireworks. Last year Lilly spent her past couple of years in the car. This year Lilly was excited about them and didn’t cry at all-Yeah for her!! We all had a fun time watching them and the girls just loved them-especially the pink ones!

All Smiles for The Fireworks Not really sure about thisWith DaddyA fireman came around giving handouts about forest fires and Lilly took upon herself to read to all of us how to prevent forest fires. hahaha… Mommy and Lilly

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-05T00:28:00.001-05:00

Blakely Swim Lessons 2010

2010-07-05T00:27:00.001-05:00

The week before last Blakely took private swim lessons from Miss Courtney. She had such a fun time and learned so much. She is a our little swim bug for sure. By the end of the week she was jumping off and swimming to the other side all by herself and swimming down to the bottom to get dive sticks. We went swimming last week and now she thinks she doesn’t have to wear floaties. I still make her if I’m not right beside her or if she can’t touch. She still was a little uncomfortable going down the slide without floaties, even when I was there to catch her. Hopefully she will get better with being more confident by the end of the summer. She sure didn’t have a problem jumping in the deep end without her floaties and swimming back to the side. Next year Lilly will take lessons and I’m sure Blakely will want to take them again too. Love you little swim bug!!

Chuck E Cheese

2010-07-05T00:04:00.001-05:00

Sara and I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese a few weeks ago. The girls have been begging to go. They just love it there! Luckily we had coins left over from our last trip this past winter. Blakely is all about getting tickets and would just scream of excitement anytime she got them. You would think I’ve never taken her there before. Lilly loves just putting coins in, but by the end she wanted to get tickets too. We ate lunch and also enjoyed a little show by the Chuck E Cheese band. Lilly was having a fabulous time dancing to all the music. I’m sure we will make another trip before the summer is over.These girls were all about posing-sorry they are blurry-they were too cute not to put them on here.

Toy Story 3

2010-06-24T19:02:00.001-05:00

We took the girls to go see Toy Story 3 on Friday night. They have been watching Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 for months and couldn’t wait to go to the movie ater(this is what Blakely calls it) to go and see Toy Story 3. Lilly’s favorite character is Woody and Blakely’s is Jessie. They sat still the entire movie. When we were walking out Lilly told us, “that was so good, I liked it.” Blakely of course loved it and told us she had to hide her eyes, because some parts were scary. Overall it was a wonderful movie and I would love to see it again.

Chicken Festival

2010-06-21T14:43:00.001-05:00

A week ago we went to the Tri State Chicken Festival-my husband works for a chicken company. The girls had a fun time going around eating chicken, playing games, seeing dressed up chickens and mascots(besides Lilly-she is scared to death) and eating ice cream. That night Daniel and I hired a baby sitter for the girls and went to go see Randy Travis-he was the entertainment for Saturday night. We all had a great time! In the middle of those two events we managed to go see a friend in the hospital and go to a birthday party-It was a crazy day!!

I only took a few pictures-no pictures of Lilly. Like I said she is deathly scared of any person that is dressed up in some big furry outfit. She literally screamed and ran away.

Blakely and Cowboy Chicken Blakely and StrikerDaddy and Blakely on the Bull-not sure why it is so blurry Randy Travis

Our Artists

2010-06-21T11:15:00.001-05:00

Little Miss Blakely loves to draw. One day after the girls had watched Tinker Bell the Lost Treasure. They wanted to draw Miss Tink. First Blakely just drew Tinker Bell and then she decided to draw the rest of the fairies in the movie. Of course I was very impressed with her-I am her mom. I loved how she put her name and Lilly’s name on the paper. They were so excited that I was taking pictures of their drawings. I love to see the progression of how far they come within just two years.

Blakely’s Drawing Lilly’s Drawing

Swimming and More Swimming

2010-06-19T16:53:00.001-05:00

After Memorial Day we have been swimming a lot. We bought a season pass to the pool not to far from our house so needless to say the girls want to go everyday. It is really nice with a gated kiddie pool, a bigger pool with two slides and a water/splash pad. Our friends the Nutts go a lot too so the girls have fun with them. Blakely is such a little swimmer. She still needs a little more confidence in the deep end, but hopefully after swim lessons she will gain some. Lilly has come a long way the past three weeks. She was so scared for us to let her go in the water, but starting this week she swims around with her floaties!!! Yeah for her and mommy!! These pictures were taken our first week going.

Blakely, Lilly, Julia and Bella LillyBlakely and Julia

Birthday Parties

2010-06-16T21:18:00.001-05:00

Several weekends ago we had two parties to go to. One was for Julia, who turned 4 and the other was for Aubrey(Rachel’s older sister), who turned 7. Julia’s party was a carousel party. It was lots of fun…but HOT!! The kids rode the carousel as much as they wanted for two hours. Yes one kid did get sick from all the spinning. The other party was a swim party at the pool. It was actually was a joint party shared by three kids. Both girls had lots of fun and enjoyed playing with their friends and the big kids!

Tatum, Julia, Rachel and Blakely Getting on the cow!Mommy and Lilly Daddy and LillyJulia, Blakely and Rachel at the Swim Party Lilly running through the sprinklers

Staples for Lilly

2010-06-16T21:16:00.001-05:00

The weekend after the dance recital, little Miss Lilly had a little accident. She fell in the bathroom off the stool onto the tile floor. Poor thing cried so hard, but after a few minutes she was OK. My parents were still there and my dad was standing over her and said umm, yeah Lilly cut her head(above her ear) and I think you are going to have to go the ER. I can’t believe we didn’t see it when she first fell. So off to the ER we went. Luckily it was around 11 that morning so we didn’t have to wait very long. She was so good the whole time and only cried after they put the third staple in her head. She really did well the whole week with them. She let me clean it and put Neosporin on it. When they had to take them out she didn’t even cry. Hopefully this will be our last visit to the ER with her, but she seems to be our accident prone child so I’m sure we will be there again. I did take a picture of her actual staples so you might want to skip looking if it grosses you out. I have some cute pictures of her on my phone in her bandage all wrapped around her head from the hospital when they were numbing the area, but of course I don’t know how to get them on my computer. It looks all oily from the Neosporin.

Our Gymnast

2010-06-08T20:41:00.001-05:00

Little Miss Lilly has been taking Mommy and Me gymnastics since January. She has come along way. She has learned a lot over the past several months. It was also some great bonding time that we shared every Tuesday morning. We are going to take a little break this summer, but hopefully start back this fall. Here are some pictures from our last class. That is Blakely in the big yellow bow behind her. She participated a little in the last two classes. This picture cracks me up. She was always so scared to do the trapeze. Every time Coach Mike got to this part of the rotation Lilly would start telling me, “I want to go home, I’m scared Mommy.” She is obviously still scared, but did it to show her Daddy and Blakely. What is so funny she loves the zip line that they have.

Dance Recital Night

2010-06-04T16:47:00.001-05:00

Blakely loved every moment of her dance recital. She loved that Grammy, Papaw, and Nana came to watch her. She was thrilled to show them all her moves. I was sad I didn’t get any pictures of the grandparents with her-It was a bit crazy that night-trying to get seats, parking places, etc…Also Blakely wasn’t allowed to wear her costume out in the audience. So next year I will be more prepared and get pictures of everyone.

Blakely’s Dance Class-Aren’t they all so cute!! Blakely and Taylor-She broke her arm the weekend before the recital :-( Blakely and Mommy Blakely(my little poser) and Julia-Backstage Blakely, Bella and Julia-Bella performed in the second half of the recital so we saw her back stage getting ready. These girls have all been friends for a long time.

The Backup Dancer

2010-06-03T09:36:00.001-05:00

Lilly had the best time watching the dress rehearsal. She was cracking me up the whole time. She was trying to copy every dance that was going on. If the girls did something on the floor she got on the floor. A couple of times she even attempted to do the splits. They kicked their leg-she kicked hers. We all could not quit laughing. If they got in a circle and were holding hands, she came over and grabbed my hands. She was so adorable trying to copy all the dance moves. I’m sure when she is old enough to start taking dance she will be there with bells on.

Dance Recital Take 1-Dress Rehearsal

2010-05-31T10:25:00.001-05:00

I took lots of pictures…so get ready for picture overload!! Blakely had her first dance recital last week. She has been asking for months every time I took her to dance practice - is today my dance recital. She was beyond thrilled to put on makeup and get on the stage! Unfortunately Blakely came down with tonsillitis on Sunday-her first day of practice on the big stage. She felt horrible, but they have very strict rules-if you don’t attend the two practices before the recital you can’t be in the recital. So we gave her some ibuprofen (it works wonders) and headed to practice. You honestly couldn't tell you was sick at all, besides the drooling (a lovely side effect of tonsillitis). So on Monday morning we headed to the doctor and got antibiotics. That afternoon we had dress rehearsal. I really thought she wasn’t going to make it, but she took a long nap and started to feel a little better. She was so excited about putting on make-up! Lilly was still taking a nap when she was getting ready and she said, “oh mommy, Lilly is going to think I am so pretty when she wakes up, she is going to love it.” What is so funny when Lilly woke up she saw Blakely and said, “so pretty.” These pictures are from the dress rehearsal-you are not allowed to take any pictures at the actual recital of them on stage. Blakely did such a wonderful job. She really is good and knew all her dances. Her teacher told me after the recital that she is so good and that she always does what they tell her and they only have to tell her once and she does it-can they come live with us…hahahaha. I’m sure she will be taking dance for years to come.

Mommy and Lilly

2010-05-21T19:29:00.001-05:00

While Daddy and Blakely where on their date Lilly and I stayed home. We popped popcorn and watched Sleeping Beauty. She was such a little sweetie pie!!

Blakely and Daddy

2010-05-21T19:24:00.001-05:00

Blakely and Daddy went to the Razorback Baseball game last weekend together. They said they had the best time. Blakely LOVES going on “dates” with her daddy.

I took this one of B before they left for the game.

Videos from B's Graduation

2010-05-18T14:48:00.003-05:00

Here are a few video clips from Blakely's Graduation. I only started recording in the middle of the songs. At the end of the second video it is not me laughing...It is the girl in front to me.

Blakely’s Graduation

2010-05-16T19:34:00.001-05:00

Miss Blakely graduated from preschool this year. Actually she is going to preschool again next year because they changed the date to start Kindergarten so she is missing it my 9 days. We knew this going into this school year, but we went ahead and put her in the 4 year old class since she was 4. We also thought about not letting her graduate this year and totally missing the program, but this girl knew all about graduation-they practiced a lot at school-so there was no way she would have missed it. So we will have two years of preschool graduation. There class performed two songs, quoted scripture and then sang a song as a school. It was a really great program and all the kids did a wonderful job! Blakely loved singing and dancing to all the songs. I of course was a proud mommy. I have a few videos that I will upload soon.

Blakely has learned SO MUCH this year. The 4 year old program at her preschool is truly an academic program to prepare them for Kindergarten. I know that she would be prepared to go to Kindergarten if she were to go this next school year, but I’m glad she is staying home with me one more year. I hope this next school year she can learn to have more confidence in herself and that I will be ready for her to go. I will tell you it has been hard explaining to her why she can’t go with the rest of the kids in her class. It least we will have the summer to hopefully forget about the word “Kindergarten.”

The Family Our Little Happy Graduate Blakely and her proud little sister-I love that they are holding hands…they can be sweet to each other when they want to be Her class Blakely and Miss Rachel-They will MISS each other next year!! Jackson and Blakely-these two keeping being silly together and his mom and I were snapping pictures of them-we laughed because it looked like he was trying to give her a smooch… Mrs. Sheena and her class Brant and Blakely Performing Blakely and Miss Sheena giving her her diplomaBlakely took this picture of me and Miss Melissa(Rachel’s Mom)

Blakely School Spring Pictures

2010-05-13T10:26:00.001-05:00

These are Blakely’s Spring pictures from school. It is hard to believe that she will be 5 in almost 3 months. Preschool Graduation (take 1) coming next.

Spring Pictures-Blakely and Lilly

2010-05-10T13:36:00.001-05:00

These were taken at Blakely’s school. Michelle (who took the pictures) let me put Lilly in a few of them.

More Easter Pics

2010-05-10T13:22:00.001-05:00

These were taken after church on Easter. As you can tell…Lilly was not in the mood for pictures that day.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

2010-04-24T21:35:00.001-05:00

Today we went to Blakely’s BFF’s birthday party today. It was such a fun party at a gymnastics place. Both girls had lots of fun!! Blakely was excited that we got to go and pickup her other BFF, Julia, to take to the party.

Rachel and Blakely have become very close at preschool this year. It is a little sad that they won’t start Kindergarten together, but hopefully they will still maintain great friends. Aren’t the girls shirts cute!! They came from Ruffles and Reptiles.

Easter Pictures

2010-04-19T15:40:00.001-05:00

My Friend Melissa and I took the girls to the Lake to try and take pictures of the girls. We took a lot and got a few good ones. Lilly is at the age of I really don’t have time for this picture stuff and Blakely is all about doing her model posing. It was a beautiful day and the girls love playing with Rachel and Aubrey.

Easter Morning

2010-04-16T11:17:00.001-05:00

The Girls Loved waking up to their Easter goodies. Blakely LOVES mermaids and Lilly LOVES Belle. So they were thrilled to get them.

The Girls Easter Tins thanks to Jaime from Whimsy Tin Blakely and her Barbie Mermaid Lilly so HappyLilly loves any Barbie that sings! Sweet Sisters

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-10T10:15:00.001-05:00

The Saturday before Easter we went to an Easter egg hunt with Rachel and Aubrey. The girls had a fun time. They got to listen to the real meaning of Easter, hunt eggs, eat ice cream and see the Easter bunny. It was such a beautiful day.

Lilly trying to find her some eggs to put in her Whimsy Tin Bucket.Blakely-she is into posing these days… Lilly getting into the chocolate…yummyBlakley was happy to see the Easter Bunny

Lilly wasn’t sure about the bunny, but she wanted the candy she was passing out. Look at this little adorable chocolate face…she can give you some looks. Blakely and Rachel inspecting R’s eggs.