Pedicure Princess!

Mom, Mackenzie and I went to get a pedicure this week! I know, I know...she's only 3 and already getting pedicures! I think we are in for it with this one! She is truly a little princess! We took her for her first pedicure on her 3rd birthday, and ever since then she asks to go again! So, one day while Brian was in Brazil, G-Ma decided to take her to get another pedicure! (I got to go along too!) Mackenzie was VERY excited, and sang songs all the way there about pedicures! She picked pink for her toes and light blue for her fingernails. She wanted a pattern, but we steered her away from that! She got to watch Beauty and the Beast while she got her pedicure. Its so cute to watch them rub her little feet...she sits so still! A few times she giggled and said, "That tickles!" The man that did her pedicure put black zebra stripes on her toes! So that inspired G-Ma and me to have pretty things on our toes too! Well, that didn't exactly turn out like we had planned! G-Ma ended up with Japanese fireworks and I ended up with huge flowers on my big toes! We laughed about it, and of course had to have a picture of it! Such fun times with two of my very favorite girls! Before long, there will be four of us girls going to get pedicures! Madison got to stay at home with Pa and Poppa Jim...she never could have sat still for that long! We did paint her toenails later that night though, so she wouldn't feel left out!

The "I Love You Guys" pose! That's what Mackenzie says every time she hugs two people at the same time like this!

G-Ma and Mackenzie with their colors!

Momma was not looking great on this day!

Mackenzie's toes were so little that this didn't work for long...it popped right off! When her pedicure was done, she asked the man who did her nails for some little pink shoes. So he found her a pair and cut them to make them fit her little feet!

Just us girls! So thankful for G-Ma, who pays for us to do fun things like this!

Our beautiful, fancy toes!

Poor Madi got left out of all the fun! She got left behind with her Pa and her Poppa Jim! She doesn't seem to be too bothered by it! It won't be long and she'll be big enough to get pedicures too!

Another Trip to Pa & G-Ma's House!

We had another wonderful week in Newcastle while Brian was in Brazil. This was our last big trip of the summer. We were there for 9 nights...and still, I was amazed at how quickly it went by. I love getting to spend time at my parents' house with the girls! I always miss Brian so much, but I am also thankful for the opportunity to share that time with them. It was VERY hot, but in the evenings we sat out in the front yard and let the girls play in the sand and with the water hose. We even went walking a few times. One night that we went walking, one of the neighbors had a miniature horse out in their yard. They let Mackenzie sit out it, which was great fun until it was time to get off and keep walking. She burst out in tears and said, "I wish I had a pet!" So G-Ma said, "Well, one of these days maybe you'll have a puppy." and Mackenzie said, "But I just want a fish!" (So I'm sure we'll be getting a fish soon!) It was very sad and sweet at the same time! Sometimes I think a puppy would be fun, but I just don't know how we would have the time to take care of it. We are gone so much....and I'm not sure I can take care of anything or anyone else right now! Two kids and a husband are enough work as it is! (Not that I'm complaining...I love my job!) I spent a lot of time during the week working on our 2010 family scrapbook. I am proud to say that I am completely caught up from January to July! (Yes...like, right now!) I am pretty excited about that! We also went up to WHBC and helped with their backpack giveaway, got a pedicure, and got to see Leslie before she moved to Louisiana! My 10 year class reunion was the Friday night that we got there, but I decided not to go without Brian. Dad had his check up with his Oncologist, and everything looked good. Praise God for that! He is still dealing with a lot...he is seeing an eye dr. and a lung specialist this week to try to fix some things. He is a trooper! I know he doesn't feel well a lot of the time, but he does a great job of handling everything. Romans 12:12 still comes to mind when I think of him, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful to prayer." Even though the cancer is gone, I need to remember to be faithful in praying for him. I will say this...I stay up way too late when I am in Newcastle. My mom is a night owl & it is just too fun to sit up with her! I am so thankful for her as my mom, but also as my best friend. I really don't know what I would do without her! We have so much fun together, and she is seriously one of the funniest people I know! One night at midnight we were watching the Neely's on Food Network and they made a chicken alfredo pizza. Sooooo, the next day we made their chicken alfredo pizza and it was SO GOOD!!! I really think it probably tasted better than the one they made, because we put more cheese on ours! Okay, I don't know what is wrong with me...I just keep typing and typing! It was a great week in Newcastle, but I am glad to be sleeping in my own bed again! In fact, I'm gonna go do just that!

I have a feeling Madison was being very loud, and Mackenzie didn't like it! This makes me laugh!

Nothing better than drinking cold water right out of the hose in the summertime!

Who needs clothes in the summertime?! I must have thought she looked really cute playing there at her kitchen because I have several pictures that look like this!

Madison loved putting sand into cups! (And throwing sand)

Madison says, "Shoo!" all the time!

Putting sand all over G-Ma's lap was fun too!

I wonder what they were looking at! Mackenzie was doing something entertaining, no doubt!

We were having a great time playing outside until the thunder started...this girl does not loud like noises at all! She tried to last a little long outside by laying on the hammock with G-Ma but...

...even that didn't last long! The second she heard thunder again, she was headed to the house!

Of course this is where we ended up every night as soon as we were done in the sand! They were some sandy little girls!

Now that's relaxation right there! I can't believe Madison is this big already.

Team Oomi-Zoomi girl! Mackenzie looks a lot like G-Ma with her hair in braided pigtails like this because that's how G-Ma used to wear her hair! Mackenzie has an opinion every day about how she wants her hair done and what she wants to wear. Gone are the days when I could dress her in whatever I wanted to!

Madi loves babies! If we see a baby at the store or anywhere, she starts pointing and grunting! How sweet is this picture?! As if she's such a big girl herself! She gives the babies kisses!

So Mackenzie decided Madison could be "Penny, the horse" since G-Ma wasn't home! I caught her leading her around with this scarf around her neck. Madison is looking at me like, "Help me!"

We have another little "Miss" player! That is what Mack has always called McDonald's. Mackenzie would be the cook and Madison was the waitress. Mackenzie would give her a chicken nugget and say, "Take that to Pa!" Madison would take it to him and go back for something else! She may not talk much yet, but she understands very well!

Playing Barbies is a favorite thing to do at G-Ma's house! She fixed the closet in our room into a play area for the girls and they love it!

Getting a picture of both of them looking and smiling at the same time is impossible! They look so much alike in this picture to me.

Lake Eufaula

We are so busy in the summertime with youth stuff that we don't get to go to the lake very much at all. In fact, this was our first day to be there all summer. We got there around noon and spent the afternoon playing in the water! The girls had a lot of fun playing on "Buttercup" (the inflatable dog) in the little blow-up pool in the backyard. (The dog as as big as the pool, but they didn't care!) Then, we took a boat ride over to the beach. It was so hot outside that the lake water was almost too warm. The girls had fun blowing bubbles with Grandma Baldwin! I forgot Mackenzie's hat, so she wore an OU hat that Grandma Baldwin found. I told Brian to squint a little and look at her to imagine what a boy would look like! She's way too cute to be a boy!!! (But I have to say after looking at that picture of her in that hat, I want a boy more than ever! It's just too cute!) It was fun to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin! Grandma helped Mackenzie make a hat, which she loved! I wrote her name on it, but she decorated the rest of it. I was totally impressed with her glitter painting skills...check out the ladybug she put on there! That's pretty good! Mackenzie has been going through this thing lately where she gets very sad when we have to leave. It doesn't matter where we are, if she has to say goodbye to someone, she is devastated. It is heartbreaking! It is especially hard for her to leave G-Ma and Grandma Baldwin. However, it only takes a few seconds for her to recuperate once we actually leave! She is a very sensitive little thing. Madison looked SO adorable in her little watermelon life jacket suit! I found this at a garage sale when Mackenzie was little, but she never got to wear it. I was so excited that it fit Madison! I could just eat her up, she's so cute!
"Hi, I'm Mackenzie!" Mackenzie doesn't know a stranger...she goes up to people all of the time (at the store, at church, everywhere) and says, "I'm Mackenzie!" People comment all the time about her outgoing personality. I really hope she stays that way!

She just couldn't quite get that leg up there...and she wasn't happy about it!

As if she weren't already chunky enough!

This baby is definitely not going to sink!

Headed to the water! Grandma and Grandpa have such a beautiful home at Lake Eufaula!

Grandma Baldwin is wonderful to the girls...she loves them very much! This is the "imagine what a boy would look like" picture!

Summer Sweetie! Just want to kiss those cheeks all the time!

Mackenzie is an artist...check out the ladybug she drew all by herself, with glitter paint!

Can this really be my baby girl? She is growing up WAY too fast!