Arts and Crafts

We have been trying to keep busy while we are waiting for our new baby (still no name yet) to arrive. I am not to big on going outside during this hot weather and the last huge, I mean few, weeks of my pregnancy. Here are a few pictures of some arts and crafts projects that the children have been doing.

Painted initials

Making "things" out of milk jugs.

Cleaning up after painting

We can't wait to meet Evan, Noah, or Cole and we also can't wait till we finally pick his name. We'll keep waiting and try to keep busy.

July 4th Weekend

We spent July 4th weekend at Grammy and Pa's house. Sydney and Logan ALWAYS have a great time at my parent's house. They enjoy playing outside and getting lots of attention from their grandparents.

They got to help plant flowers

And play with their cousins. Sydney learned to drive,

And fish,

And play with fire.

Logan was MIA during most of these pictures either napping, eating, or sleeping for the night but Sydney let me take lots of pictures of her. We had a great time and can't wait to go back and show off our new little boy. Now if we only had a name picked out...

First Fruits

After lots and lots and lots of checking on our garden Sydney finally spotted the first fruits from our little garden. Here she is holding our half slug eaten strawberry.

We can't eat it but it is better than nothing and just look at that smile. She is so proud!

An Afternoon Outside

We went outside after church for a little playtime and the children had a great time just being themselves and running around. They both looked so cute still dressed up in their church clothes. I was able to get some really cute pictures of the kids. They are just so cute! I just love these kids!

Here are Sydney and Logan in no particular order.

Our Little Plot of the Earth

We decided to have a garden this year. We don't really expect much out of it considering we just have a 3x3 foot box for our garden and neither Heath or myself have green thumbs. Heath built the box and we got the dirt to fill it from my dad who had some leftovers from his garden. (My mom has a serious garden this year.) We planted zucchini, peppers, broccoli, and a few onions. Yeah, we probably over did it since our box is so small. Here is a picture of the first few plants to surface.

The children love going out to check on our little garden and get so excited to see something new sprouting. I must say that even if we get no produce out of this little experiment it will have been worth it. The children are learning lots and it is a fun family project to work on together.

Tennessee Trip Part 2

We had lots of fun the second half of our trip to Tennessee. One day we stayed at the condo and went swimming, bowling, and played miniature golf. Of course we were having too much fun to remember our camera but it was a great day with great weather. The miniature golf course was in a wooded area with paved side walks, lots of hills, and plenty of wildlife. Both children took a spill or two while we were playing (Logan did a face plant one time and we thought he would have a broken tooth for sure, but he was just a little scraped up) but they still had a good time and wanted to keep playing.

The next day we headed out to Nashville for the day. We went to the Opryland Hotel and wandered around for a while. We also had lunch there - the hotel was seriously amazing and I bet really expensive to stay at. Then we headed over to the Grand Ole Opry for a tour. It was fun to see all the back stage dressing rooms and we even got to go on stage and pretend that we were famous for a minute. The children were pretty tired after our tour so we headed back to our car and drove back to our condo.

Heath and the kids:

Sydney's favorite part of the hotel: Seriously beautiful!
The gardener's must be busy!
Posing with the musical horses:


Our 15 seconds of fame: Sydney finding fallen blossoms outside the Grand Ole Opry: We had a great stay in Tennessee and were glad to get in some much needed family time before Heath started his summer classes.

Tennessee Trip Part 1

The day after Heath graduated we headed to Tennessee to take a family vacation with Heath's mom and the kids. We stayed at this really nice condo timeshare Heath's mom has in Fairfield Glade, Tenn. The condo was really nice and big with plenty of room for all of us. The children's favorite part was the ENORMOUS hot tub in the master bathroom. Sydney got so excited when she saw it and kept saying that we had a pool in our hotel. Each night the children would get in their bathing suits and go swimming in the tub.

On the back deck of our condo:

Swimming in our "pool" in our condo:

Logan looking so big and handsome:

Sydney rocking and having a great time:

The day after we got there we went to tour The Lost Sea in Sweetwater, Tenn. It is the largest underground lake in the country and I must say that it was pretty neat. First we toured the caves that surrounded the lake and then we took a glass bottom boat ride on the lake. The lake had been stocked with fish and they were huge!!! They have no natural predators down in the caves and they get fed regularly so they are huge. They would jump out of the lake frequently which the children loved. It was a fun tour but lots of walking for a pregnant lady and poor Heath who was pushing the double stroller up and down several steep grades.

Heath pushing the children:
Emily and Sydney in the caves:

A few of the rock formations in the cave:

Picture of the lake and a few of the fish. It is the best one

we could get in the poor lighting:

Congratulations Grad!!!!

On May 9th Heath graduated from Radford University with his Bachelors degree in Accounting. After three years and lots of hard work we are so proud of him! He only gets a few days off before he is back to school at the MBA program at Radford. The program is only one more year, so this time next year we will hopefully be gainfully employed and starting a new phase in our lives together. Heath's mom came into town for his graduation and we had a great time visiting with her. My parents were also able to come up for the weekend to celebrate with us.

It rained early in the morning and his ceremony was postponed till the afternoon. He only got 4 tickets for the rain out ceremony so my mom stayed behind and took care of the children for us. We were a little sad that they weren't there but in the long run I think they were much happier at home having fun with Grammy. All in all it was a great day filled with fun memories.

Congratulations Heath, we love you!!!!

Sydney and Heath before his ceremony:

Heath and I just before we left:

Heath's mom, Heath, and Sydney:

Yep, it is official...fake diploma in hand and all. Don't

worry they mailed the real ones a few weeks later.

On the way out, look at that happy smile!

It's a ....

BOY!!!!!!!!

That is right we are having another little boy! Can't wait to meet him in a few more months.

We also celebrated my 28th birthday and Heath made me a homemade chocolate sheet cake. One of my very favorite cakes and he did a great job - it tasted GREAT!!! Sydney helped me blow out my candles. She and Logan also picked out some fun gifts for me. Heath got me a new bedspread and I love it. The old one really needed to go! Sydney got me some of those tiny fingernail polishes (sparkly pink, orange, and blue) and Logan got me some of my very favorite candy bars - SNICKERS!!!! Thanks to Heath for taking them out shopping all afternoon - that was a nice treat!