Bath Time

"Zippity Do Da, Zippity Day. My, oh my, what a wonderful day!!"


"Did I get all the bubbles out?"
Am I the only who finds this disturbing?

Lake Murray

Here are some highlight from our weekend at Lake Murray. We had a fantastic time. I highly recommend taking the short trip to Ardmore and enjoying this family friendly resort.

Thanks Doug, Trelenza, Mia and Libby. We loved every minute of it!

The girls feeding the fish. These were the largest carp I have ever seen.
We played miniature golf.
Josh and Mia were the winners.
We played games.
They had a fantastic play ground.
A GIANT slide that our fearless girls loved.
tricks on the swingset
We took a Sunset Cruise around the lake. The girls loved it!!
Doug did not. (He wasn't loving being on the boat in general, but then he kept getting splashed.)


Doug, Trelenza, Mia, Libby
Our family

I had a dream

last night that we were putting on a VBS Cruise.

Imagine 350 children ranging in ages from 3-10 out to sea for 4 days. Only chaperoned by the Christian Families and Just Starting Out classes and my mom.

Yes, nightmare is a better term.

We are having issues.

Without going into details...here is a possible (hopeful) solution.

***Just for clarity..."going" isn't the issue as much as going without a freak out dance to follow.

Sarah Palin

sure is cute.

Don't get me wrong, I thought she held her own pretty well tonight. But, I thought I was going to need an insulin injection by the time it was over. Gosh darn it.

I am one proud mama...

...and Brenna is pretty proud herself.

Brenna read this entire book, Dick and Jane! That is 193 pages!!!!!
Brenna took the book to school to show her friends and teachers. Mrs. P. gave her a certificate to congratulate her on working so hard. (It took her about a week.)

I hope Brenna loves reading as much as her Grandma and Grandpa do. I am excited about where that will take her.

Bailey Art Gallery

I decided to redo the end of our hallway for displaying the girls art projects.
Brenna calls it our Art Gallery. I anticipate that I will change this constantly as new art comes home. But for now, this how it looks.
The two on top, Brenna created on the computer while I was at the shop. The two retangular ones were done by the girls this summer (the pictures of the girls were taken while they were painting on those canvases). The tree is one Brenna did at school while they were reading Chicka Chicka Boom. The leaves are her hands.

Git-r- done

I can only image that every person in my direct family is shaking their head at this!

Saturday - A day in our city

We had a wonderful weekend!!!

Josh got up early and worked with the Day in the City program at church. He and the rest of our class (and the Empty Nesters class) were in a neighborhood that has several elderly residents. They spend a good part of the day trimming trees, shaping bushes, painting houses, and clearing debris. The girls and I wondered over there mid morning hoping to find a job they could do. But first, Brenna presented this...


(Thank you, Grammy!)

So, we got wiped down and headed to find a job for little helping hands to do. When we got there, we quickly figured out there really were not jobs for us. So, I made up a job. We gathered acorns. (Hey, you do what you gotta do when you tell your kids they are going to help other people!) We also helped clean up after the lunch they provided.





And then, finally, after naps, we got to go to Frontier City!!! The hospital where Josh works rented out (for lack of a better term) Frontier City for the day and all the employees got to go for free. It was wonderful!! I didn't know what to expect, but it turns out I got a couple of thrill seeking girls. Of course, Piper was too little to do most rides, so we got to hang out and watch a few times, but she did fine with that as well.
Brenna and Daddy on the Pirate Ship. She said this hurt her tummy and scared her a little bit, but was SOOOOOO fun.
Brenna and Piper rode the Teacups and Train by themselves. We could hear both girls squealing during the Teacups. Turns out Pipers were not so much squeals of delight.

Of course, the Carousel. Twice.


And finally, the Ferris Wheel! This was a great note to end on. They both absolutely loved it. Piper loved that her hair flew up when we were moving and Brenna spotted OC's clock tower from the top.

Randomness with a camera

We also went to the High School Musical on Ice. You can read more about that here, here, and here. After it was over, we rode the space needle. This is my favorite picture from the day. Oh, and of course, I LOVE all the ones Brenna took of every animal in the petting zoo!!


Brenna has been taking lots of pictures lately. Some are worth keeping. Some are not. She took this one of herself by herself. I think it is actually on the best pictures we have of her.

We were playing around with their blankets.

Do you want to play a game? It's called....

...uh...Balloon Ball.

If you have ever played a game with Brenna, you know you just can't win. And if you play imagination with her, you will never be able to it right. Do I lie, Grandma, Grandpa, Grammy, Aunt Jaye...?

Here is proof!!!

Balloon ball from Josh Bailey on Vimeo.

Did anyone see the sunrise this morning?

I sat on my back porch this morning with a cup of coffee and quietness. The breeze was wonderful.

Just as light started appearing, Piper came outside with her 5 blankets and teddy bear to join me. She curled up in my lap and snuggled in. I felt the breeze and listened to the birds and with my eyes closed, told God "It just can't get any better than this." Then, in all God's glory, He once again showed I have no idea what I talking about.

Piper patted by shoulder, which got me to open my eyes. I followed her point to the most beautiful sky. We couldn't see the horizon, but the clouds were turning a beautiful vibrant pink and the blue sky peeked between them. Piper and I sat there very still enjoying God's beauty as the clouds turned to pink to orange and then to white. And just after the pink hues went away, Piper said "Breakfast time!"

It was a glorious way to start my day.

Prayer Request

Please pray for Bob. He is a great man that will spread God's word in any situation. I know good will come from this, but the family needs your prayers for peace and strength.

We love you Bob, Debbie, Karyn and Damon.

ugh

There are days when my vow to allow my girls to choose their own clothing haunts me worse than others. Today is one of those days.



There are new posts below

Hide and Seek

I will say they are getting better at finding hiding places. Now I need to teach them to stop giggling while they are hiding!

on the far side of our bed

on their toilet

under B's covers (this was actually a great place to hide, except for the giggling.)

in their closet, hugging the shoe holder

Until I get my stuff together for another post...

...enjoy this!

Apron Making

The girls have been helping me a lot in the kitchen lately. Now that I am home to cook and bake. It is a good teaching activity for all of us. Brenna learns about measurements. Piper learns about taking turns and sharing. And Mama learns about patience!!!!

The girls have also been wanting to wear an apron while we cook because I do. So...I decided to make the apron process an activity too. This time Brenna learned about measures (too much vs. too little paint). Piper learned about taking turns and sharing. And Mama learned about patience. :)

I had to completely abandon my control issues and let them have fun with this. Turns out that once I released my issues, I had fun, too!
Now we all have matchy aprons. Does it get better than that with a side of cake batter beaters? I think not!!

This is our life!

My dad sent me this. Hilarious, but true.



Thanks Pa!!

My guess is he didn't anticipate this to follow...


By the way, this was not the case when I was growing up nor is it the case in my family currently...but with 2 girls, I think it might be coming!

New Blog

I've started a new blog as an experiment... go check it out.

Anonymous Truths

Somebody get the ball rolling and answer the first question.