Woohooo...I got an award!

Let's face it, I'm not the most creative cat but it's very exciting to know that there are a few people out there who check out my blog from time to time!!! Who knows, this may even inspire me to step it up a notch :-). I was nominated for this award by my friend Rachel. She is a stay-at-home mom, talented cook and a great blogger. What I like most about Rachel is that she has a big heart and a enjoys the little things in life. Beware...her little boy Noah will crack you up too!

There are specific instructions that must be followed now in order to maintain such status in blog world though, so here they are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Here are my nominees...

http://www.bethanyandjeramy.blogspot.com/ - My sister, my friend and the mom of my sweet Ella Jean! If you know Bethy, you love her. Her blog is about family and her health and exercise journey. She is transparent and real...what more can you ask for!

http://www.livefromthequickhouse.blogspot.com/ - Terra is my "let's not take life too seriously" voice of reason (which is particularly helpful to me :-D). She is creative and sassy and the mom of 2 cute kiddos! You'll enjoy reading about their family fun and her newest projects.

http://www.tylerkateshawn.blogspot.com/ - This girl has is going on! Life with a 2 1/2 yr old and twins that will soon be 1 and she still has a clean house, mows the grass and blogs. Her blog is a small window into the the world of all those beautiful babies. It will inspire you to appreciate life day by day.

http://www.pamelaposch.blogspot.com/ - This is the one member of our family with oodles of talent. She can turn trash into treasure and makes it look easy. She is also the most creative scrapper I've ever seen. Most importantly, though, she is an amazing mom to my very energetic nieces and nephew.

http://www.thekempfamily.blogspot.com/ - The focus of Amy's blog and life is her precious daughter Scotlyn. Amy, however, is an incredible decorator and really needs to expand her blog to include all of her great decorating ideas for those of us who are a little decorating challenged...hint, hint!!!

http://www.annamarie08.blogspot.com/ - My friends Steve and Ruth Ann recently adopted a beautiful little girl and this is their story. Start at the beginning...they share wonderful details about the adoption process and you'll fall in love with the love of their life!

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/ - This is the one blog in which I do not personally know the author, but I love what she has to say. Becky's trade is scrap booking (which I don't do), but she also posts the most handy little tips and ideas and has wonderful recipes (and great pics of those recipes).

Blackberry Pickin'

According to my husband, I am a city girl. I like a nice, clean hotel when we go on vacation (rather than a camping trip), I don't make biscuits and gravy and I've never been blackberry picking before (or any berry for that matter). Over the years I've come to appreciate the wonderful experiences he has introduced me to and our girls are always thrilled when daddy has planned an adventure. This week it was blackberry picking. When he mention what we were going to do, I envisioned the manicured strawberry patches that you hear about...that was not the case. There were thorns, lots of brush to climb through and the insects of summer. We had a great time though!!! We will be doing it again...except next time with long sleeves.

These are the days...

The past few weeks have been filled with summer fun. I love watching the girls run and play and pass out from pure exhaustion. It's amazing...as soon as we finish breakfast they are ready to go outside and I think they would stay out there all day if I'd let them.

This is a picture of the Zinnia's that Rylee planted around our garden. They are beautiful and attract tons on butterflies.

Reagan playing in the pool on the 4th of July. She also watched her 1st fireworks show that night and loved it! At the last minute, we decided to wake her up and let her watch the fireworks and we are so glad we did.


Girls waiting patiently to go play at the Splash Pad.

It was a bit chilly one morning last week, so Rylee decided she needed all of her winter accessories. She played like that for about 20 minutes and then decided it wasn't that cold any more :-).

We had a great visit with nana and pap pap last weekend. They brought Rylee the picnic set for her birthday and the girls love it!