T-Ball

I have mentioned in a couple of posts about Cassy playing t-ball. She played on a team that Mark's brother coached. My niece Emilee also played on the team. Abby was too old but they let her be the "bat girl." They even purchased a team shirt for her.

Abby, Cassy, & Emilee

Cassy enjoyed playing very much. We hesitated at the committment because it meant that we had something every evening of the week: Monday - Prayer Meeting/Visitation, Tuesday - t-ball, Wednesday - church, Thursday - piano lessons, Friday - t-ball. We decided to let her play and she did love it (we enjoyed it too!).

It was quite comical to watch them chase after the balls that rolled in the outfield, hit the ball, and even just run the bases. It provided some good entertainment. We were able to meet some new people also. It was just all good!They gave out trophies after the last game this past Friday night. I thought it was so cute to see them lined up anxiously awaiting their name to be called. Cassy is #11 and Abby is #00. Those of you that know Lauren Pauley, she is #3. She is beside Cassy in the team picture. Dakota Gearin also played, she is #2 (all the way to the right in the front of the team picture.)It was rare to see Maddie sitting on the bleachers but I was able to capture this picture. She loved playing around in the dirt. Our bathtub has never seen such dirty girls!

We ended the night and the season with some cupcakes. Chocolate and icing is always a good combination with dirty faces and dirty hands. (I just try not to think about all of that!)

T-ball ended up being something we all enjoyed!

Pigeon Forge

The girls were out of school on Thursday and Friday so we spent a few days just enjoying each others company. We had such a good time together. We ate at the Applewood Farmhouse...yummy! We sat in the swings and ate. The girls thought that was great!

Abby took this picture. Not too bad for an eight year old!


We played putt-putt. That was interesting...for about 3 holes :) We did enjoy it although Maddie only carried her putter the first few holes. She mostly wanted to walk all over the rocks and pick up our balls for us...even if we had not hit it in the cup yet :)


The girls rode some rides and go-carts. They were so funny racing. The first ride Cassy was nervous and had decided, while sitting buckled in the car, that she did not want to ride. Mark assured her she would be fine and she was! Grandma, I mean Abby, was puttering around the track. Cassy passed her. Abby said she was going slow because she didn't want to hit the sides. She did speed up the second time though. It was so funny to watch them! Maddie wanted so badly to ride too. She did not think she was too short!
Can you tell she is nervous?They could hardly see to drive!
Maddie loved this ride! She laughed the whole time!

We ate IHOP for supper. This was a highlight for the girls. They ate chocolate pancakes. They serve them cool whip on them in the shape of a smiley face with cherries for eyes. (I should have taken a picture)We made a big deal out of the fact that we were letting them eat chocolate for supper! I told them not to tell their papaw because he would be upset that they had eaten "junk food" for supper. I think they enjoyed it all the more!

We spent the night which was an adventure as well. We are so thankful for the good time we were able to spend together.

(I guess I got carried away with pictures this time. I learned how to add 5 at a time.)

Bring on more days off!!!

Big Girl Bed!

Wow, another week and a half have past again with no post! I knew I was not going to do very well at this. I still enjoy reading everyone else's posts though :) I'm glad you all do better at posting than I do!

We took the baby bed out of Maddie's room this week. Talk about sad! My baby is in a big girl bed. I just can't believe it. It doesn't seem possible. We put it off as long as we could, she is 2 1/2. She stilled loved her bed so we kept her in it this long. I think it was time though. We have not really had a chance to see how well she is going to do because she has had croup since the first night in the big bed. I think she will do fine in it...a harder transition for me, I think.

I am attaching a few pictures of her room with the baby bed. I loved her room. Oh well, I guess it is time to move forward.

This daybed is what she is sleeping on now. Not sure what we are going to do about decorating. I can't really leave this cream chenille quilt on the bed for her. It would not be cream long, I am sure. I will have to let you know where we go from here :)

I will post more later...how much later? You never know!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Yesterday was Mark's birthday! Happy Birthday, honey! He is young...2 weeks younger than I am! We celebrated Saturday night with a meal together and cake! We made his favorite chocolate cake with homemade icing poured over the top. It was thin this time so I poked holes all in the cake so it would saturate down in it. It was absolutely delicious! We put 3 candles of one color and 2 candles of another on it for the 32 years it represented. We had such a good time just enjoying being together. The girls enjoyed celebrating "daddy" and making it special for him.

We love you daddy. Thank you for giving us such a wonderful home.

School, Maddie, Hair Cuts, Missing Tooth, Hannah, Etc.

Wow! I guess it has been a while since I posted. We are settling in to our new routine and enjoying it very much. The girls are loving school. They both have wonderful teachers and we are very thankful! Maddie and I are having a good time just being home. We stayed so busy this summer (which we loved too!) that it feels great to just be home!

Miss Qualls and Cassy - First Grade

Mrs. Ruwersma and Abby - Third Grade

Maddie:

I am hearing a lot of "Why?," "I do it by myself," and "What is that?". She is at such a fun stage, although challenging at times. Answering her questions all day can become tiring but I am thankful for her developing mind. We are still working on the WILL.

I guess the banker must wear her high heels!

Mom:

Just more of the same :)

Hair Cuts:

We decided to get their hair cut. It had gotten so long and stringy. We are enjoying this new look :) It is fun to fix.

Missing Tooth:

Cassy's first tooth that she has lost. It was very exciting for her!

Showering Hannah with gifts:

My sister-in-law is due in October. We went to Nashville for her shower last week. We had a great time! I made this bag for her. I can't wait for her arrival!



I will have to post pictures later of piano and t-ball.

Thanks for checking in with us!

We just have too much fun!

We were able to spend the day at Dollywood as a family last week. It was so much fun. The girls and I had a couple of yard sales early on in the summer and we had been saving our money to spend on a fun day together. We decided to go to Dollywood after much thought of how to spend the day and money.

Maddie absolutely loved riding these rides.

The man that worked this ride would squeal like a pig and wave at the children throughout the ride. Maddie thought he was so funny. She would look at me and laugh and say, "He's wavin' at me." She was so funny.I just thought this picture was hilarious. Abby walked around in this part with Maddie in a harness. There is a splash pad and water guns and such and I did not want to get wet. It was so cute to see Maddie dragging Abby around from thing to thing. Abby is really such a big help to us! You can see the "leash" in this picture.

Abby and Cassy were planning to ride the farris wheel. When they got up next in line, they told Cassy she was not old enough to ride without an adult. Abby still wanted to ride. She is so brave. Cassy was not too disappointed. Mark took her to ride the bumper cars while Abby took her turn on the farris wheel.This ride is called the "Shooting Star". It takes you up and keeps you there in anticipation and then drops you quickly. It goes up and down to different heights all during the ride. It looked like fun.

Abby has a smile, it must have been!

Abby, Cassy and I rode the Blazing Fury. It is a small indoor roller coaster. It was Cassy's first time to ride a "big" coaster. She loved it!

We enjoyed ourselves very much and are glad that we had the opportunity.

Visiting with Family

Mark went to the Sword of the Lord Conference this week in Walkertown, NC. He had a good time. Since he was gone, we went to Nashville to help my brother and sister-in-law get ready for the baby (she is due in October). We had such a fun week and we got a lot accomplished! We painted the baby room, painted letters for her name, painted a dresser, and painted and hung shelves. Here are a few pictures of the room....

The chair rail is not hung for these pictures but the room looks great!

While we were there, Derrick took the girls and my mom and I out on the lake in his boat. We had so much fun. We went tubing, swimming, and Abby even skiied with Derrick.

They each had a turn to be the driver...

They drifted away from the boat on the raft...the smile came when Derrick threw them the rope and pulled them back to the boat.

Abby did a good job with Derrick. She loved it!

We have more to post about but until later...thanks for stoping by!