this weekend...

Sydney had a good little weekend...one of her friends came over to play on Friday. They got in the pool for awhile then went downstairs to play house. Sydney was the baby, her friend was the mom and Carter was the dad ;) Then they switched and Sydney was the mom...they got all dressed up and everything. Pretty funny!

Even though it was 98 degrees (seriously), they wanted to eat lunch outside :p


On Saturday, Julie came over that afternoon and got in the pool with us. Then we ate dinner and Sydney went home with her to spend the night! They rode the 4-wheeler, fed the fish and watched a movie {Sydney had to wake her up a couple times though...ha ha!} The next morning they met us at church...Sydney had a fun girls night out!

thanks for the pic Julie


After church we went to eat with mom at Applebee's...when we got there, Dennis, Sheila and DJ were there too so we all got to eat together! I hadn't been there in awhile but it was good! Then since it was about 100 degrees out, we came home to hang out in the AC! Gotta love this hot weather!

a sad day...

Maxxwell Otis Byers
October 11, 1998 - July 22, 2010

I did it!

I just rolled over for the first time by myself!!!

Today's schedule...

After church, Sydney came home and made a list of what she wanted to do today.



Bathing suit
Pool
TV
Play
Petshop (her littlest pet shop toys)
Supper
Dessert
PJ's
Bed

And we got all of those things checked off the list ;)

time to party!!

Sydney's birthday party was today...it was a pool party and the weather wasn't looking good. There was a good chance of storms and it was cloudy all morning. I went out around lunchtime to get some balloons from the dollar store and when I came outside it was a total monsoon!! It was POURING rain and the wind was blowing like crazy...nice!

But somehow by 5 the skies cleared and the sun came out! The kiddos got to swim about an hour...they had a great time!




After we ate it was time for cake!!






Sydney absolutely loved all her presents...she got a little bit of everything! Earrings, diary, a sheep pillow pal, her first zhu zhu pet, necklace, a wallet, money and a few other things too. Later on she was sitting on the patio with her presents looking at everything again...it was cute :)

my brother is a monster :)


As always, it's pretty exhausting getting ready for these parties but they always turn out fun! Carter is already looking forward to his birthday in a couple months!!!

hello!

She is so close to rolling over on her belly these days! Her bottom half is turned over but her top half gets stuck on her little arm! She grunts and grunts and allllllmost rolls, but not quite! Won't be much longer!!

Poplar Forest

Two weeks ago we took Sydney to Poplar Forest. They learned about Thomas Jefferson some in school and when I told her that his house (well, one of them) was about 10 minutes away she got all excited! Every time we drove by that road, she would ask, "when can we go see Thomas Jefferson's house?"

So Kevin was off that Friday and the weather was nice so we went over there for a couple hours.

The first thing we saw was the "outhouse". Sydney laughed at the thought of using that as a bathroom!! Guess it was pretty nice at the time though...bricked and everything!! :)



Then we walked through the inside and saw his bedroom, dining room, library and a few other small rooms. The tour guide talked about them for a bit and then I would explain to Sydney what it was (in simpler terms). She was impressed that he had his own library in his house!!

We couldn't take pictures inside but I snapped this as we came back outside.


Then we walked around outside a bit...it was beautiful! There were several huge trees out front that they believe were there when Jefferson lived there.


There was another section of the house out to the side where the kitchen was and where the workers lived. Then underneath the house was the cellar...there was a room about the archaeology they've done around the house and what they have found. It was pretty interesting...Sydney and Carter found a little table with coloring pages to work on while we looked at that for a few minutes. (Allie slept the whole time!)



So now Miss Sydney can say she has been to Poplar Forest!!

Two little fish...

These two are turning into little fish this summer! Sydney has learned to swim underwater and get things off the bottom of the pool. Then she started jumping off the diving board and letting herself go under the water (before, she would jump off but not go all the way under somehow!!)



Carter learned to swim the day he jumped in with no arm floaties. He sank then popped back up and started swimming to the steps! Now he swims all the time with no floaties! He jumps off the diving board too, goes under, then pops right back up!



I am surprised it all happened so fast!! They absolutely love the pool though!!

Lindsey came to see Sydney and Carter today...she also got to see Allie for the first time!



We had a good visit! It started with a cupcakes she brought...doesn't get much better then that! :)

They she had a present for Sydney's birthday...all kind of goodies! A bathing suit cover up, photo album for her summer pictures, birthday party favors and some of the silly band bracelets! Carter got some of the silly bands too...they were a hit with both of them!



Then they showed her their awesome dance moves from the Just Dance game...quite entertaining!

It was a fun morning/afternoon! Hopefully we'll see her again soon!! :)

Mini-me!

Carter wants to be just like Kevin these days.

I'm talking matching outfits and everything.

Kevin had all the week of July 4th off. And at least once a day Carter would go change his clothes and put something on that looked like what Kevin was wearing!

About Wednesday it occurred to me that I should take a picture every time the two of them matched...there are more like this, but you get the idea.



Mesh shorts, no shirt, socks, tennis shoes.
Hokie shirt, mesh shorts, socks, tennis shoes.
Matching bathing suits.
Working together with wheelbarrows.

He even started wearing a ring he got at the library. Kevin asked him why he had a ring on and Carter said, "Well you have on a ring!" Duh!!

Even on Sunday, Carter wants to wear khaki pants to church like his daddy! Then we went to church one Wednesday night and Kevin said, look Carter, I am wearing shorts. So now it's not such a big deal anymore.

We have really had some good laughs over this! Kevin has a mini-me!!

allie at 2 months...

Allie is a laid back little chick! :) She loves watching everything that's going on around her. But if there's not much to see, she'll tuck her thumb under her index finger, make a fist and stare at it intently.


If you tell her how beautiful she is, and she'll give you a big ol' grin!


She loves sticking her tongue out too!


She weighed 12lbs 8oz and was 24" long at her 2 month checkup. She likes you to talk to her and she will "talk" back...says "ohhhhhh" and "kewwww" (sounds like Q). She is very content to lay in her crib and watch her mobile go around. She takes naps in her swing despite Sydney and Carter playing nearby. Sleeps in her crib at night...she goes to bed around 9 and we usually get up at 3 for about 20 minutes. Then she might wake up again at 6 and get in the bed with me to eat/sleep some more. I love how she fits perfectly between my arms and legs when I lay on my side. Wish I could keep her that small a little longer!

cow appreciation day :)

at Chick-fil-A that is!

We dressed up like cows again this year to get a free meal! Sydney and Carter love doing this! Ok, I love doing it too!!

Getting ready to leave (in our crunchy, dry front yard!!)


When we walked in they rang a cowbell and gave us coupons! It was pretty funny. Then while we were eating the Chick-fil-a cows came out to visit everyone!!






He is a pretty cute cow!!


We love our Chick-fil-a!!

fishin'

We went fishing across the road tonight with Kevin's dad...it's the perfect place for the kids to fish. As soon as you throw the line in, you get a bite!

Carter takes it very serious!!




Want to kiss your fish??


I was with him when he was reeling this huge bass in. He was struggling a little bit and I said, "do you need some help?" He said, "I think I can handle it!!" And he did...reeling it in all by himself!


Sydney had a good night too!! She caught a big bass like Carter's but I had left to go feed Allie. This was the first one she caught!


We might have to start calling them fish slayers!!

i'm back...

well, I had a little blogging hiatus there...we've been busy but I haven't sat down to look at pictures for awhile!!

This week is MEGA hot...96-98 degrees! One of Sydney's friends came over today to play & swim. I saw a lot of this...



Sydney is learning to swim underwater...she put goggles on and said, "Cool, I can see underwater!!" Then Carter jumped in the deep end today with no floaties on and started swimming!! They are turning into fish!!



Allie wanted to hang out with the big girls :)


Well, Allie is calling at the moment so hopefully more soon! :)