Chocolate time with Lylah

Thursday night as I was cleaning up after dinner I turned around to find this:


Apparently she found a mini-chocolate bar and took it upon herself to have a snack!
She was NOT happy when I took it away and cleaned her up! She was trying to lick every last bit of chocolate up!

Conner Prairie- Sat 10/27

This past Saturday we had free passes to go to Conner Prairie. The kids and Zach had never been- and I haven't been in probably 13 years. So, we made a day of it! It was so much fun! So, here are some pictures of our day!

I think Nathan would have played with these all day if I would have let him!


Carter did not want to take this picture! He wanted to go do other stuff!


I didn't know how much they'd enjoy putting on a puppet show! It gave me some Christmas ideas!!


Carter had fun pretending to be a store clerk!


Craft time!



The kids were so curious about the out-houses!!










Play time! We had a lot of fun figuring out this ring toss game! We never did get a good enough release to catch the ring though! We also all liked trying to walk on stilts!

Lylah would have been happy just playing the rocks and dirt all day! Anytime she'd be down from the stroller, she'd be sitting in the rocks playing!



Lylah was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot!

What a beautiful week!

We've had such a beautiful last few days, it's nice to be able to take advantage of it and play outside a bit!
Yesterday we decided to go to the zoo. It was a great time!



Fun on the bouncy bridge!

You talking to me?

Birthdays, Cantaloupes, Sleeping and more

What a random title huh?! lol
After my 9/11 remembrance, I also want to do a blog updating on the regular happenings of our lives. Zach and I celebrated our birthdays a few days ago. Zach turned 28 on the 7th and the next day I turned 29. Pete, thought it'd be funny to make a joke, asking me how it felt to be 30. Ha ha brother...you think you're funny.
We didn't really do anything special. I got Zach a new GPS for work.
My gift was a piano. We had been planning on getting one, but decided to spend a little more on one and it'd be part of my anniversary and birthday gifts. So, I am so happy with my piano! If you saw the one I used to have, you'd appreciate this one so much more too! It's beautiful and I LOVE playing!

A few weeks ago I decided that because Lylah had learned how to climb out of her crib, I would take the rail off and transition her to a big girl bed. I did not have very high expectations because she usually wasn't very consistent with bedtime. Some nights in her crib she'd go right to sleep; Other nights she'd cry and climb out to go get into mommy and daddy's bed. But, I decided that if she was going to get out of bed, I'd rather her not do so by climbing over the rail of her crib. So... night one I take the rail off and put her to bed, tucking her in and walking out. She stayed in bed and went right to sleep! Not once since then have I had any problems getting her to go to bed! No crying- no wanting to get in my bed- no getting up. (knocking on wood I don't jinx myself here!) The most she'll do is tell me she has to go potty, and wants to make sure she has her cup and bunny, Jazzy. She's growing up so fast and talking more and more every day. (She gets her love of talking from her mommy!)
Oh- and here is a picture of her wearing her new favorite PJ's her Mamaw bought for her.

And... lastly... I'm sure you've been wondering what on earth could I possibly have to say about cantaloupes?! Well- it's silly, but then again, I'm silly- so there you go! My neighbor brought over a home-grown cantaloupe for us yesterday. She didn't mean to grow cantaloupes- she was composting into her rose garden, and had mixed in cantaloupe seeds, not expecting them to actually grow. Well, here's the result:
The cantaloupe on the left side of the picture is one I just bought at the store. The HUGE volleyball sized one on the right is from my neighbor! I just wanted to share my amazement!

Some other quick updates:
Carter is still liking Kindergarten so far. They're just reviewing things now, but will start reading homework soon. He doesn't really have much to say about it, but I'm learning that's a guy thing. I guess I was hoping he'd have my detail telling skills- guess not. lol
Nathan is making progress in speech class. He goes every Monday for 30 mins. Right now he's working on correcting his beginning 'K' and hard 'C' words. He uses a 't' sound instead. He loves practicing saying them correctly because his speech teacher gave him cherry and grape flavored tongue depressors to practice holding his tongue down with!
I've been working on teaching Lylah her colors. She's learned red- well- the word red anyway! To her, everything is red right now- whether it's a tomato or a cucumber- she says it's red!

Anyway! That's all the update for now. I need go get to learning time! But, before I forget... for those of you that received this update through your email: I have this program automatically send you an email notification whenever I update this blog. If you'd rather not receive this email and you just want to check the blog on your own when you get a chance, let me know and I'll remove your email from this setting. (no hard feelings) If you didn't receive an email update and would like to, let me know and I'll add you. =)
Love you all!!

Remembering 9/11

I cannot believe it's already the 11th of September. As I think back, I have both positive and negative memories of this day depending on the year. The obvious negative memory is September 11, 2001. I remember being at work at my desk and someone running over saying there's been a horrible crash. I didn't really understand the severity of it. Even after I went to the breakroom to watch the coverage, I didn't understand what was going on. I was what...?...22. I remember everyone being terrified and then it hitting me on just what exactly was happening with these terrorist attacks. Ever sense then and the resulting war, I've had a new, stronger appreciation for our country and the men and women who serve it, as well as a new found respect for the Star Spangled Banner.


Now, to the good memories though! Just two years before that on September 11, 1999 Zach and I were having our first date (second time around). We went putt-putting and to the driving range. I don't remember who won, but I'm pretty sure it was him! Then, on the way home he pulled the sliest move while shifting gears and 'accidentally' grabbed my knee. It was so obvious it was cute! The rest is history! So, this day marks the 9 year anniversary of our first date.

This picture was taken fall of '99. We both worked at a warehouse together. It's kind of hard to tell by the picture, but Zach actually has a full head of hair! lol! We were engaged by November! <3

So, I do love September 11th. It reminds me of the appreciation of life, my country, first dates, love, and more.