On Thursday night, our little family packed up our gear to go to Jacob's first soccer game of the new season. We headed away from the storm near our house to the beautiful weather at the soccer park. We weren't there very long when all the talking and whistles and noise from the games stopped to hear the tornado sirens. One of the officials ran through the fields yelling for the parents to get out of the park because of lightning and a possible tornado. That really wasn't that scary. What was eerie though, was seeing hundreds and hundreds of parents grabbing their kids and running off the fields to their cars. It was like a scary movie. We had to wait in our truck for a long time before we could get out of our spot. When we did finally drive back to town, our truck was hit with hail so loud that we couldn't even hear each other talking. Here's what we found when everything calmed down. The kids were sure school would be cancelled because of all the ice.=)
a crazy night.
another year older.....
This year's birthday was a little special because it was on Easter Sunday. It has never and will never be on Easter again as long as I live. To celebrate, Nathan and I went on a little date to a great Mexican restaurant in Harrison and then headed to a little get-together with some new friends. We had so much fun and at the stroke of midnight, I was serenaded with "Happy Birthday". On Sunday, my mom cooked a big meal complete with my favorite fried okra and a yummy chocolate cake.
Then, today my favorite UPS man delivered my birthday present from Nathan. Meet my new shootsac . I love her. She's my new best friend and will accompany me to many weddings.
I had to do some self-portraits with me and my new friend.
I also got a birthday haircut from Kristy. I love it!
Despite a few of Nathan's 'over-the-hill' jokes and the Subway lady truly mistaking Nathan for my SON, I still feel young.....for another year at-least.
Baby Cole
I recently spent a lovely Saturday morning with this wonderful baby boy. He's too cute for words!
Thank you Rhonald and Jenny for sharing your incredibly adorable baby with me!
Princess for a day...or everyday.
Saturday Emma had a little princess party. There were lots of tiara's and fluffy dresses, screaming and running around, a few tears, and only three broken potted plants. Really a good day all around.
We had many lovely princesses.
Out of all the cute princess cakes with princess stuff doused all over them, Emma chose a Hannah Montana cupcake-cake in the shape of a guitar. We still have cupcakes in the fridge if anyone wants to come over for dessert.
Happy Birthday to my favorite princess!
Happy Happy Birthday Baby!
It seems like just yesterday that Rachel was on the phone with 911 while Nathan was delivering this 10lb baby girl on the bathroom floor of our tiny apartment! With Emma's birthday this week, she has asked to hear that story over and over. It's been all about her for a few days now and I'm not sure if she's ready for that to end. Her birthday morning started with pancakes complete with candles, and after school we had a little photo shoot. These "poses" were all Emma's idea. She's such a ham.
After gymnastics, we came home to a very neighborly birthday party where 'Mrs. Lori' cooked Emma's favorite meal, and Anna made some cute signs. We had cake and opened presents. Can a girl have too much attention? 
Anna covering Emma's eyes so we could surprise her with her gift.
This is a fake reaction, but I think it's cute. (Emma's idea of course.)
Countdown....
We have had a few countdowns going on in our house this week. One for Jacob's school play, one for Emma who was starting gymnastics, one for Emma's birthday next week, and one for her birthday party at the end of next week. Emma will give you an update whenever she sees you whether you want one or not.
Emma loved going to gym last week. She's been wearing her leo and dancing around ever since. 
And Jacob did a great job singing in his school musical "BuGz". Well, I think he did. We never did see him during the actual performance. His class had to sit on the floor out of site. 
Here was our view.
sweet, sweet baby
It's been a few posts since I've shared pictures of Audrie. I haven't changed my mind about her. She's still beautiful and wonderful and sweet in every way. It's nice to have such a cute member of the family to help me build my baby gallery.
Emma is still loving this girl too. This was the first day they met, and Emma was singing her some of her favorite songs.
a winter zoo.
Lately I've been noticing all the animals attracted to our yard. We have lots of squirrels, little moles, and some rabbits here and there. But recently, we've had a bird who pecks on the same window for a while before going around to every window and pecking on each one. We've also had quite a mix of different birds in our yard at the same time. We must be a little wormy.
Then, last Saturday Jacob and I had the flu. We were up pretty early that morning and I was on my way to the kitchen when I saw 7 deer in the front yard. I'm not sure why I'm always impressed by them because I guess they're pretty common. It was nice to watch them for a while before they noticed me moving around. They seemed to stay around for a long time.
These pictures aren't exactly National Geographic, but they'll do.
Today, this guy made a lot of noise. I'm just glad he's not the one pecking on our windows.
our flu bug.
I can finally see the light at the end of this stuffy, headachy, nauseated, tunnel called the flu.
Jacob and I have had it this last week. I don't think our house and my work (or my hair) have been this neglected in a long time.
I'm so glad to have some energy back, and I have to admit that it was kind of nice to be curled up on the couch with the kids watching movies for a little while. Thankfully, Nathan and Emma didn't get this nastyness, and they took great care of us.
Clearly Emma tried to entertain herself. Doesn't she make a great super-hero?!
She even learned to fly. (she had been watching Peter Pan)
good morning.
I've been slowly shuffling through my photo library. I started with over 20,000 pictures and am trying to weed some out and re-organize some important files into a new 'back-up' system Nathan set up for me. So, I've been coming across some cute pictures that I've forgotten about. Here's one of Emma in the morning. I couldn't pass up a picture of this hair.
After a stressful day of Wal-Mart, school parties, and a sick kid, we cancelled our dinner plans and ordered pizza.
It was much more family friendly which is how we've spent the past few romantic holidays. The kids loved it and really, I did too.
Jacob was up all night telling me he was dying. He feels better today, but this picture sort of sums up how I feel this morning. Hope you all had a great Valentines Day!