Just in case you were wondering,

we are still alive and kicking here in small-town South Carolina.

Here are a few pictures to prove it:

Lillie dozed off in a platic tub. Please don't call DSS. She is fine. :)

See? She's fine. Just a bit messy. And droolly. Have I mentioned that she is teething like mad? Poor thing.

Sara-Kate is a ham, as per usual. I wonder where she got that?

Not the neatest eater, but she gets the job done, doesn't she? I love that kid. :)

Yet another milestone reached...

Lillie's first tooth has popped through her gums. Pictures to follow when she is cooperative about showing off her new pearly white.
That's all for today. :)

Congratulations!

I wanted to congratulate a very dear former student, and dare I say "friend", on her engagement. Alyssa, I wish you all the happiness in the world! We miss you here in sunny, hot South Carolina, and I am sure your December wedding will be beyond words. I can't wait to see pictures! Your fiance is getting a great girl. And you can tell Sally Mac said so. :)

The house, the house...

What to do about the house? We've just outgrown it. No two ways about it. With four of us here full-time and SIX (6) part-time, a two bed, two bath simply does not cut it. So, we need bigger digs. In order to meet that goal, we are doing to some fixing up around here. The front porch, which formerly resembled something terrible now looks like this:

Better? Of course, the inside, and the outside for that matter, remain a work in progress. Not to worry, we shall prevail.

Lillie in Happy Heinys...yes, that's what they are called.

Well, if you know me, you know I love the brown and pink color combination, and this is my favorite diaper. Who knew that I would have a favorite cloth diaper? We have two of them actually - Sara-Kate had to have one as well. :)

When Lacy was brand-new...

The first day we brought Lacy home, she charmed our girls. Here are a few pictures to prove it:

She has grown so much! She's gotten heavier and much, much leggier. I think she'll be a beauty when she grows up. Right now, we are working our way through the puppy stage. I'm ready for no more puppy teeth!

Introducing Lacy...

Here she is - Lacy. She is an Australian Shepard. Super-sweet with super-sharp teeth. Yes, she has one blue eye and one brown.

Baby Tap. :)

Sara-Kate has started "Baby Tap." She LOVES it. Mondays are her favorite day, I think. Whenever she sees her tap shoes, she wants to go see Miss Gwen, her tap teacher. So, we have dance classes and horseback riding. Maybe if I can keep her busy, she will stay out of trouble. Yeah, right. I'll let you know how that works out. This picture is after we got home and she is re-hydrating with a cup of milk. :)

Lillie's growing up!

Lillie sat up all by herself about 2 weeks ago. AND, she stayed up. She'll do it for quite a while, if she's in the mood to hold herself up. Anyway - here's the photographic evidence:

Horseback riding....

We ventured out to Lee County last week. Sara-Kate and Josh both did a spot of horseback riding....Sara-Kate was born for it. Seriously. She was born to ride.

Virginia Beach!

Well, this summer started off with a trip to Virginia and Virginia Beach. We picked up the boys in Williamsburg, and then travelled over to Virginia Beach to spend time with sister Carol and her family. She lives about a mile from Chesapeake Bay, so that's where we took our beach pictures. It was fun, but I discovered that with little ones, I am a pool person. There you have it. Sad, but true.

Apologies, apologies...

Summertime, despite not having to "work" (ha! yeah, right), is actually pretty busy. I'll try and get some new stuff up for our friends and family tonight or tomorrow. We do have new pictures of the boys, the girls, the puppy (yes, the puppy), BUT I need to edit them to get them ready to post. So, there's the delay. Love to all, and check back soon! I'll have something fun to see soon, I promise. :)

Bedtime Bum!

Well, so far, so good on the cloth diapering front. Of course, it's more laundry, but diaper laundry is pretty easy, and it all goes in a basket, no worries about folding, etc.

Anyway, as I was putting Sara-Kate to bed last night, I couldn't resist a picture. We have to double stuff our diapers for nighttime use (obvious reasons), and the result is a - BEDTIME BUM!

I personally love the look on her face. Is it not the cutest?

Fluffy bums!

Well, our cloth diapers arrived yesterday (happy birthday to me!), so we got them all washed a ready to go. So, the journey of cloth diapering begins. I'll let y'all know how it goes. In the meantime, here's a picture or two of Lillie in her Smartipants. :)

Memorial Day!

First, and most importantly, I want to say THANK YOU to the veterans of the Armed Services. So many have paid the ultimate price that is a debt we can never repay. As the saying goes, "the soldier, not the reporter, gives us freedom of the press. The soldier, not the protestor, gives us freedom of speech."

Secondly, in honor of our Memorial Day holiday and our nation's upcoming birthday, I made the girls new outfits. What do you think of them? Sara-Kate does not like hers and refused to wear it for more than 5 minutes. Yes, my friends, the terrible 2s have arrived. She does have a mind of her own. I will love that about her, but it can make dressing time difficult. She still wore a patriotic outfit, but it was one of her own choosing....Love to all! Sally

Cloth Diapering

I've been inspired by my cousin Wendy and my sitter, Linsie to attempt this cloth diapering thing. I'm going to give Smartipants (http://www.smartipants.com/) a try. I'll let you all know in a couple of weeks how we are doing. Wish us luck! :)

Love this....

Lillie has had cereal before, and she wasn't crazy about it. She ate it, but she wasn't thrilled about the experience. Anyway, Linsie over at Munchkin Things told me that she fed her daughter cereal with applesause orther baby food fruits in it to give it some flavor. As you can see below, Lillie loved this! Blogworthy? Probably not, but it's a cute picture anyway! :)

Sara-Kate's 2nd Birthday gifts....

Sara-Kate has enjoyed her birthday gifts! The Dora back-pack gets frequent use, and she loves her new comfy dresses! I embroidered an 'S' on her light pink t-shirt, and
I love it with her new capri-cut jeans!

A random weekday....

I am fascinated by Lillie's blue eyes. I guess it is because we are a household brown eyes; that is, we were a household of brown eyes! I really think she favors her Daddy, but I think she and her sister are obviously siblings too. In case anyone is interested, most of our bows are courtesy of Linsie at Munchkin Things and Strings (http://munchkinthings.blogspot.com/). She does a great job, and her bows are very reasonably priced. If you have the need for such things, I would recommend her highly!

More Mother's Day...

as promised. I've been having technical difficulties, so hopefully this will work. :)

Mother's Day at Lake Wateree

So we headed up to the Lake for Mother's Day. My hubby stayed home as he is still recovering from major surgery, but hopefully he will be up and around soon. We think it will be a couple of months, though. Anyway - pictures, my computer battery is dangerously low, so I'll add more tomorrow. :)

Sara-Kate's New Dress

The dress is one version of Portabello Pixie's Claire. Sara-Kate wasn't happy to pose, but she does like the dress. I think it's a good length for her. :) I think I'll make this again with a different fabric choice soon. I have one in mind for Memorial Day and the 4th of July.

Visit with Family

Aunt Donna and Granddaddy came up to SC to visit this weekend. Aunt Donna was an angel and stayed with us while Gunny was in the hospital and began his recuperation here at home. It's going to be a long haul, but all looks good right now. Gunny is doing as well as can be expected. Thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes; I know they helped! At any rate, on Saturday, as I was getting everything in line for the LE Prom (ack!), Aunt Donna took the girls up to the lake to visit with my Daddy's side of the family. Sara-Kate got to see her cousin Allie-Ann for only the second time, and Lillie met her for the first time. I've stolen a couple of pictures from Wendy's blog to post here. I hope she doesn't mind! Allie-Ann is an absolute doll - isn't she? From what I hear, she and Sara-Kate are still working on mastering the concept of sharing. Maybe this will be the start of a wonderful relationship. :)

Lillie's 1st "solid" food

Lillie tried bananas for the first time recently. That was a treat. I don't think she's quite sure what to make of them.

Heath Springs High School Rodeo

A few weeks ago, we went up to Heath Springs to watch friends' daughters compete in the Heath Springs Elementary High School Rodeo. It was pretty chilly. But, here we are!