La la la la la la... Sing a happy song!

We have been over run with little blue people!!! The kids saw the Smurfs movie twice and we have been collecting the figurines from McDonald's ever since. After many order of chicken nuggets later, we finally have collected all of the 16 characters. It took a little help from our smurf fairy Amy and a very sweet McDonald's employee that kept Papa and Smurfette for us! (I think she was just getting tired of us asking for them... ha!)  The kids were so excited to have all the characters!

Inspiration

One of my very favorite blogs these days is J's Everyday Fashion. She has so many good tips about styling, how to mix up outfits, shopping tips, etc.  It is simply a wealth of clothing and fashion goodness! Another bonus, she works her closet on a budget so most of her pieces are very affordable and she is very open about where her items come from. I have gotten many ideas and inspiration from her outfits and I really love her style. I even went way out of my comfort zone by mixing black and brown recently... this is major for me.  I hope I pulled off as well as J did.
Thanks J!

Yes, I know I need to work on my lighting and photo, but this is with a self-timer at work.  Gotta do what you gotta do.

Superstar

I'm really hoping I'm not jinxing him, but my big 1st grader has been on Superstar for 8 straight days! This is a huge accomplishment for him. We are excited about his great start to the school year and decided he needed a little incentive to keep up the good work.  Nothing works better for encouragement than an M&M McFlurry! 

Gymnastics

New experiences for Miss Payton today! She has entered the stage of dance and gymnastics.  We are taking two classes this year... ballet and gymnastics. She was a little nervous at the beginning of the gymnastics class but had mastered it by 5 minutes in. Plus, we get to take it with sweet Bella. Payton loved it! Lots of jumping and rolling so far. Today we will tackle ballet.

"My Girls"

What a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon... surrounded by my current and former volleyball girls! It is so fun to see these girls that I have coached and watch grow up into young women... kinda feel like a proud mama!

Off to a running start...

The month of August has started off with a bang! It seems like the days are all blurs of school work, homework, practices, papers, laundry, packing and repacking bags for each day... and then repeat! We started off the month with a visit from Mimi and Papa.  Then quickly got right back into the swing of school routines, had 1st grade orientation, some fishing, sunday school promotion, a road race, school shopping, and a birthday for Nana. *Warning: picture heavy!

 Visit with Mimi and Papa

 RJ's favorite fishing spot... the bridge at the golf course

 Getting ready for his first mile race

 Finishing the Woodstock 2011 5k - time 24:57

 RJ with his medal for finishing the Kidstock 2011, time - 8:49

 Big kid bible from OFBC for promotion into 1st grade class

 Backpack blessing at OFBC

 First day - 3 yr old class with Ms. Mary

 RJ's snack for first day of 1st grade

 Orientation with his teacher at DES

 Nana's birthday dinner at O'Charleys

 starting Fall baseball practice with his baseball buds - Trace and Judd

 First day of 1st grade... walking in like a pro!