Our week

In no particular order....


We cleaned the garage. OK, they played (quite well) while the garage was being cleaned.



We made cookies. (Check out how far she is off the ground. This kid has amazing guns!)

We did laundry.

We entertained Nemo.

We picked up Brenna.

We were absolutely adorable.

Walking Queen.....Princess....ok, duchess.

Even though I prefer acapella singing in corporate worship, i gotta say this song (click here, Mom), will get you around the block!! (Mom,any phrase in the light grey color is a link to something else.)

I have been walking in the mornings and listening to my ipod (a congrats gift to myself for closing my shop!). I have been enjoying all my favorite radio songs. This playlist includes songs that make me want to move and sing along. Many of them I really wouldn't want a grandparent to read the lyrics of because they really have nothing positive to offer my start to the day, just a great beat to get me moving. Don't get me wrong, they aren't horrible songs, but seriously, how does 'Dancing Queen' or 'Love Shack' help me have anything intelligent in my brain.

Anyhooo....I took the time yesterday to make a play list of Worship Jamz. I used that this morning. I gotta tell you, I ended up adding about 1/2 mile to my routine because I felt so good and wanted to keep going. I know it wasn't because I was physically refreshed and ready to add more "workout". It was entirely because I was praising God while walking. I give him credit for the extra steps (I give him credit for my weary bones getting out of bed at 5:40AM - yes, I shouted a.m. Ugh!).

I just wanted to encourage any of you who do listen to music while exercising to consider Worship Jamz. Most of us know these lyrics and are emotionally moved by them, and now you can be physically moved by them as well. (Blessed by Your Name ws my warm up song.)

Dancing Queen

Only a grandparent would enjoy this. Anyone else should feel NO duty to watch any part of this silly, little slice of life video. We'll just call this a video-downloading experiement.


Dancing Queen from Josh Bailey on Vimeo.

When digging through some old photos for the bad hair contest, I found these.

These are my girls from college. We are scattered all over this great nation...well, if things go as prayed for, we will be West coast(ish), East coast(ish) and the Midwest
I miss them so much it makes my heart hurt.

So much to catch up on...

First of all, Grandpa Bailey is doing much better. The doctors got some infection under control and now that sweet man is pestering all the nurses as we knew he should. Thanks for you prayers. The God we serve is a good and gracious God!!

Hours after my last post my fam loading up and headed out on our first major road trip. We were to see Grandma and Grandpa in Ohio. Thankfully, Aunt Kathi lives half way from here to there so we had a great pitstop location. We were in Ohio for a week and had a WONDERFUL time!! I can't possibly include enough pictures to do the trip justice, so here are some highlights.
Turns out our girls are GREAT travelers. Even for two days straight! They did better than the adults, and NO TV!!!
hanging with Grandpa



Friday was my Mom's Relay for Life. I HAD to be there for her. They had a fantastic team. Their church had over 47 people show up to help work the station and encourage the walkers. (As a side note, I think Mom and Dad have one of the most outgoing, loving and supportive congregations I have ever seen. They greet us with great,sincere hugs every time we darken the door. And they are the eatingest-I know, not a word- group of folks! They have at least fellowship meal every week. Literally, and more in the summer. The friends my parents have made while living there have blessings to us all.) Several members of our extended family attended Relay as well. It really was a great event. I was exhausted, but it was so worth it. I didn't take ONE picture. If you did, will you send me copies?

It was a wonderful visit filled with great memories. Brenna got to ride her first motorcycle and canoe. What a treat for her.

And then we got home Tuesday evening to prepare for the next main event...
The FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
Brenna has been excited beyond words about this. There has been a count down for several days. I am thankful to have a child that is confident in herself enough to walk into a new place and join right in. She didn't even hesitate once.

All the parents got to stay and hear a story (The Kissing Hand) before abandoning their children in the real world. The little boy beside her was having a hard time leaving his mama, and mama was having a hard time leaving him. THIS mama actually did okay. It wasn't until she hopped back in the car and started telling me about her day that I broke. She seemed so big, so confident, so thrilled. My heart swelled until my tears spilled over.
This is Ms. P. She came to the house the day we left on our big trip to meet B. I can't tell you what a difference that made for all of us.

There is the update. Now I'm off to blog stalk. I have missed keeping up while we gone.

Please pray for Grandpa. It looks like he might be going Home before we are ready to say goodbye.


He has done a lot of living in his 89 years. But if he can have a few more good ones, we'd like to keep him around. He is a pretty incredible man! Please, God?!

Quick getaway

I met up with my BFF in Ardmore, America... a great 1/2 point for us to visit.
This time we brought our kiddos.
We stayed in the cheapest hotel we could find, but got the best service available. Thank you Mr.-Super-8-day-manager-who-worked-all-night, you were swell! We swam like fish and ate like Italians (we had pizza, but I have no idea how Italians really eat). We stayed up WAY later than our usual bedtime, burning the midnight oil giggling and playing Barbie's until 10:00pm.




Morning came early and was quickly filled with a lousy breakfast, more swimming (this time in the rain) and an early lunch!

After lunch, we went on a great adventure to Turner Falls. I seriously recommend this for all you with adventurous young'uns (how often can you use that word?) We filled our afternoon with wading, castle climbing, naturing hunting and enjoying what my children will forever call their first visit to the beach!









Thanks, Jen!! I loved every second of it!

Party!!

just a little snack

Well, I am no Pioneer Woman, but I sure like her ideas!






We had the ingredients so made a treat. Turns out my girls just pulled the marshmellows off and just ate the peanut butter and crackers. Crazy kids.

$11 and 45 minutes

I am determined to be content in our house for at least another 2 or 3 years...or 6 or 7! So...I am doing little projects to help make it feel fresh.
Here is the before (almost) of our built in bookshelf in our living room. It has been this way for the 7 years we have lived here. Only I have added more stuff because I don't know where else to put it. This corner of our living room always feels dark and junkie to me.

So...I decided to lighten it up a little bit. I used scrapbook paper to line the back of the bookshelf.

Then I weeded out the stuff I don't love and packed it away for another day...perhaps another house! I rearranged and spruced things up.
And voila!!

I am quite pleased with myself.

Dog days of summer

We really need a pool!!!

shop downtown

mid 2007
July 2008

Well, we have officially finished at the shop. Floors are swept, windows washed, keys turned in. It was a wonderful experience, but today I got a glimpse of my future, and I am VERY happy!!
Cinnamon Bears is a GREAT baby gift shop. They have all kinds of treasures for kids from newborn to preschool.

Dean Lively does custom framing and have amazing art. It is fun to just look around there, and they welcome it. They will be moving to my location in a few months.

Java Daves makes a great cup of Java, obviously, but they also have a great breakfast and lunch menu. You really should eat there from time to time. If you ask me to meet you for lunch, you can be sure I will suggest we meet there!
While I have it on my mind, I'd like to encourage you to shop downtown Edmond as often as you can. There are some great businesses that offer much more than you realize.