Fall pictures....

were a BIG LET DOWN!! WE had soooo much rain - so between days when I was subbing and days when it was raining we had about 2 days to choose from to take pictures. Then, we get to the park, take a few warm-ups and as the sun was hitting the right spot...BAM...dead battery. How did we not check that before we left? Please enjoy the few not quite salvagable pictures we took.

Halloween 2009

This year the girls both decided they wanted to be Disney princesses. Big surprise, I know. After choosing and changing her mind nearly 10 times, Brynley was set on being Cinderella and Sydney chose to be her favorite, Sleeping Beauty. My mom sewed these both in about 36 hours on a whirlwind visit to their house. I helped a bit; maybe I can help more next year (if I am feeling crazy enough to do this again). Here are some pictures of the evening. The pumpkin was Zach’s masterpiece. He carved a fancy Cinderella against his better judgment, but it looks cool.

Our favorite dog

With Zach needing to work so much during August, the girls and I went to my parents house 3 of the 5 weekends this month. After we leave they miss grandma & papa and ask to go back, but the one getting the most requests from them is this guy:

His name is Chewbaca (my parents got him already named), but we call him Chewy or Choo-Choo. His is the most patient and gentle dog, Sydney has tested him out several times and he has never even snapped at her. He may be ugly, but he's a good dog.

A Momentus Occasion

Today we had a milestone day...Brynley lost her first tooth! She actually pulled it herself (not in bravery, she just couldn't stop fiddling with it). It was a blessing that little tooth came out the way it did, because Brynley had been very worried about how the tooth would eventually be taken out of her mouth. It popped out on the way home from a short run to Wal Mart. Check out her new, jack-o-lantern grin:

We're getting pretty late into summer, but when I had the chance to go visit my parent's farm again last weekend the opportunity to take some summer pictures of the girls was open. Clearly, I'm not a professional photographer, but around Bolivar there aren't a terribly large amount of prof. photographers that are very good and the ones that are good require a dowry-size payment for one or two photos. So, I'll keep snapping the photos myself and see if they gradually improve as time goes on. There aren't many of Sydney, as she would much rather chase the dogs or dig in the dirt than sit still for a picture. We'll get more of her later when daddy is available to help out.

First Day of School

Here are some pictures of Brynley on her first day of preschool. She was very excited and I don't think she would've minded if I dropped her off at the door and drove off without walking her into the building. Sydney has yet to miss her while she's gone, mostly because Brynley is at school while Syd is napping. Things seem to be going well and I'm thankful that she remains excited about school.

Gearing up for vacation

Not even four short months ago I was scurrying around, trying to find a way that my family could afford (both money and time) to take a vacation to Hawaii with Zach's parents. We were blessed to find incredibly cheap tickets (we flew to New Mexico last November for roughly the same cost...the tickets we purchased for Hawaii are also round trip...amazing!) and I have been packing for the last 2 days in order to take as little as possible and to avoid paying extra for checking luggage.
I preface with that to say what was once incredible anticipation for travel has become dread as I focus on the fact that Zach and I will be on a plane for roughly 10 hours with both our kids. Wow. 10 hours. 10 hours with no meals and no snacks (which I had to find a way to pack with the carry-ons). Please pray for us and our kids (more specifically Sydney...she doesn't like to sit still).
So I probably sound like a total butt for complaining about my wonderful vacation to Hawaii; however, I'm not whining about the time in Hawaii, simply the time spent getting there and back. So, see, totally justified in the whining (just joking).
I hope to post pictures of our trip while there so my family can check up on us, but bear with me as I hate technology and may not want to spend time with my husband's laptop when I could be spending time with, well, my husband.
We leave on Friday morning at 6 am...ALOHA!!!