A Little Blown Glass...

Unusual? Yes. Totally fascinating? Yes. Blowing glass is a true art form and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to do it with friends! Even if I did sweat my tail off, it was a great experience. We should be able to pick up our pieces any day now... I'm excited!

Laura, the group coordinator

 Kelley in front of the 2000 degree furnace...SO hot. And the warehouse was not air conditioned! So it was hot. Even with the fans, the open doors, and the fact that it was a pleasant morning in Dallas. Still sweated my tail off!

 me in fron tof the very hot furnace

 poking my super-hot gooey glass in order to make little pockets of air (or air bubbles) in my piece

 more rolling, more poking

So cool! I can't say what I made, because it's a surprise for someone, but I am excited to see the finished product! :)

More First Day Pictures...

Courtesy of Maddie...thank you! :) Here's the neighborhood crew, minus Keegan.

Ainsley, Lainey, Walker, Gage, and Audrey

Kaitlyn joined in the fun...picking flowers that are not supposed to be picked! Haha...

Beautiful Weekend Weather

Sunday evening in our backyard...we definitely enjoyed the cooler temperatures this weekend!!

He wouldn't smile for me. :)

And now...a series of blurry shots portraying Lainey's pretty good cartwheel... She would start her cartwheel before I was ready with the camera. She's getting pretty good at them!

Mr. Soggy Pants playing catch with Emmy. If he would miss it, he'd say, "Close!"

Lainey - Update

Favorite things:

• She's been very fixated on Heaven and how Grandfather is there. I tell her we can talk to him whenever we want. She wanted to talk to Grandfather and wrote him a letter (verbalized to me). "Dear Grandfather. I hope you feel better soon. And maybe you can come down from Heaven. But if you can't, that's okay. I might miss you. Love, Lainey."
• She LOVES Reagan. Reagan is her newest obsession. She carries Reagan around the house, showing Reagan "[her] closet," "Daddy's office," and "Daddy's chair," "Mommy and Daddy's bed," and the list goes on and on. Poor Reagan. She's searching for a noose to end it all. 
• She loves "doing homework" in Daddy's office. This "homework" is drawing pictures and writing the few words that she knows how to spell. :)
• She dances all the time. Constantly. Always posing, always trying new moves.The girl can "shake it." She does gymnastics when she's not dancing. She has a pretty good "run run skip cartwheel." She is moving all the time...she's not even really watching TV much these days. She'd rather be moving. Eek. 

This picture depicts the both of them perfectly. Lainey looking happily at Reagan, Reagan timidly looking for an escape route.

Funny quotes:

• “Back when you were 32 or something, you did ______.” She has a hard time with time...thinks that I was 32 years old many, many moons ago. 
• "I wanna watch him get docted." (She wanted to watch Walker get examined by the doctor - hence, he was going to get "docted.".)
• "Back when I was 3-1/2 or something, I saw/did_______. It was a long time ago." 
• Frequently tells "stories" about things - we have to distinguish between what really happened versus what is just a pretend story. 
• God has a watering can...that's how he makes it rain.
• "How many more naps until ________." Fill in the blank. "...until I turn 5." "...until I start Kindergarten." (And she counts daytime naps and nighttime naps...anytime she sleeps it's a "nap.")
• “I thought I went poo poo in my pants, but I really just blowed in them.”
• "Shoot it!" (Instead of saying "Shoot!" when she's made a mistake, she says "Shoot it!")
• "Don't see me! Don't see me do this! You'll never see me do this ever again." (She usually says this when she  has done something wrong and is about to clean up a mess that she's made...whether she's colored on something she wasn't supposed to color on (a plate) or if she's made a mess at the sink with her Barbies...but at least she tries to clean it up so I won't see what she's done!)
• "Look! Reagan threw up a heart!" (Reagan threw up some yellow liquid and it took the shape of a heart on the carpet.)

Frustrating things:

• She is a true sass-pot. Talks back, whines, argues, cries. You name it. All of it. Four has been a hard year for us.
• Bye-bye naps...she's officially given them up. She will take one about once or twice a week. I hope that this continues because a tired Lainey is an unhappy and mean Lainey! :( All of us suffer if she doesn't get sleep!
• She gives me unreasonable ultimatums. Example: "Mommy, if you don't let me walk in the store, then I'm never going to ride in the cart again." "Mommy, if you don't let me have a cookie, I'm never going to let you put me night-night again." ?? Just crazy talk.
• She doesn't understand when her new love (Reagan) wants some space. Reagan will snap and bite and protect herself and Lainey gets SO upset about this...but I always tell her that Reagan can't communicate with us to explain her feelings/frustrations so when she starts to act feisty, we need to pay attention to that...and give her space. Lainey HATES it. She would like to carry Reagan all over the place, up and down the stairs, in and out of rooms. She would like to put her under the covers, on top of the covers, on the bed, on the couch, in her lap, on the blanket, in her bed...everywhere. 

I'll be surprised if Reagan doesn't sustain another injury from Lainey's manhandling.

We love you Lainey Lou! You are bright, silly, active, athletic, creative, loving, and kind. And a little sassy at times. I wouldn't have you any other way; you are unique and special and we LOVE you! 

First Day of School

Yippee! School has started!

This is a VERY typical face from Lainey during pictures. Eyes off to the side, a forced smile, and striking a pose. And Walker just doesn't want to look at me. 

Again, very typical. :) 

Walker's attitude about the first day of school. His teachers said he did great, but it was like pushing a donkey into the classroom. He dug in those heels and didn't want to move! But I'm glad he had a good day. His teachers said that he followed around a little girl most of the day...that would be Grace. I'm so glad she's in there with him! 

Walker's been answering me lately with the words "ohh-kay." For example, I'll say, "Walker, don't touch your poops in your diaper." Walker will say, "Ohh-kay." (Yet he still continues to do this...ugh. So gross.) Or, I'll say, "Walker, we are going to the gym first and then we'll go to the grocery store." He'll answer with his "ohh-kay." It's pretty funny. However, he will still happily throw fits and cry when he doesn't want to answer me with "ohh-kay" but I'm glad that he's finally giving me an answer besides "no" (which is always accompanied by him turing his head, closing his eyes, and crossing his arms). 

 Cheers to a new school year! :)

A Little Labor Day...

Despite the fact that Ben was out of town, we had a great Labor Day weekend seeing friends. We saw the Fords on Friday, the Sieverses on Saturday, several families at Baughman's house on Sunday, and the Youngs and Clarks on Monday. What a fun-filled weekend visiting and seeing friends. Thanks to all who hosted! The only pictures I managed to take were of Walker being pushed around by Nolan (on Saturday). They had a great time doing this. Most of the time Walker had a towel over him (the whole car was covered in towels) but I managed to capture a couple pictures of his cute little self (and his cute little chauffeur). 

Making Pizzas

On Friday night, my friend Caroline and her daughter Alise came over to hang out with us. Both of our husbands are out of town for the weekend, so we decided to team up for Friday night's dinner. :) It worked out beautifully; I'm so glad the kids got to play and that Caroline and I had a chance to chat for a bit. We loved hanging out with these two gals!

Walker, Lainey, and Alise making their pizzas

(Yes that was an oversized spoon! Looks huge from this angle!)