Cousins, Aunts, Uncles and more

116 family arrived at the old home place to visit, laugh and have a fun day with family. We were missing some of the sisters/brothers, but the turn out was great for such a large family. We had my Mom's cousins and their families also come out for the fun.

We go all out when it comes to family fun! We had a DJ and did a little dancing!

The kids were kept busy on this blow up slide. (This same slide was rented a few years back and one of the older cousins broke his leg on it).....

No injuries occurred during this reunion.

It was great to see some of my cousins because it has been up to 10 years since I've seen some in person.

Let me back track a little and tell you a little bit of family info. My Mom is the 3rd born of 17 children. All were born and raised by my wonderful Grandmama and Grandaddy Moore in Seven Springs, North Carolina. They were a farming family and didn't have a huge house and lot's of money but made up for it in love.

My Grandmama was kinda the head of the house and she is one of the most wonderful women I have ever met and probably will ever meet in my life. She raised her children for other's to love and taught them morals, values and Christian beliefs.

Grandmama and Grandaddy have passed away but all 17 children are still alive and most keep in touch and make sure to come down for the twice a year family gathering. I know Grandmama would love to see all the grandbabies/great grandbabies she has and would make every single one know they were extra special to her.

I have so many wonderful memories of running in the fields, sleeping on the floor, eating at the bench at the long table and playing with all my cousins. I am so happy that I am able to bring my girls down to share in all the fun at the family reunions. The girls are starting to remember extended family and are not as shy around everyone.

No southern family gathering is complete unless you are slow cooking a pig....also known in the south as BBQ:)

recap #2

My busy busy busy little bee had a blast at her Memom and Papa's house.

She wanted Memom to help her get and do most things, so you heard her call our "MEMOM" a lot! It is so sweet to hear her talk and say everyone's names. By the time we left she was saying "aya" (Kayla), "seph" (Aunt Steph), Arley (Harley), Mia and of course Memom and Papa. She was funny with her Papa. She loved playing with him, but would turn into shy girl and then whisper to him.

Sarah explored the house and outside like she was on a treasure hunt! She was into any drawer that could open and went around the house and touched all the lights in the flower beds.

Sarah loved picking up the phones and would then say "ello Memom"! One evening I called Rob and she got on the phone and said "Dad, ello"! It was so clear and cute.

She is talking so much and most I can understand. She loves to call everyone to dinner and one evening we set the table and she saw the high chair at the table and she yelled out "dinner", then climbed up in her seat. I didn't think she could get in it, but she proved me wrong.

*****the high chair she used was the same one I used at her age! It has been painted since then, but still in great condition!

Sarah's favorite pastime is eating.....yep eating. She is eating some cheetos in these last two pictures and Harley was hanging pretty close to her.....just in case she decided to share, which she did often with him.

She even tried to share an ice cream cone with him one night....thankfully we caught her in time, so he didn't get a lick:)

We have all decided that Sarah and Harley are a lot alike....they are both feisty yet loveable and their cuteness lets them get away with things.

recap #1 of vaca in NC

Summer Vacation 2011

567 miles , 1 Mom, 3 little girls and no car sickness started out our trip!

I was up for the challenge of driving us by myself since Rob had to work and it was a great trip. Lot's of bonding time and we made great time and made it in about 10 hours. Meghan normally gets a little carsick, but we had none of that this trip...both ways!

We couldn't find the DVD cord, so we only had DS's and music to keep the girls busy (and some toys).

We set out on our trip a day earlier than originally planned because the big girls and I were going to see Taylor Swift with Steph and Kayla......but very sad to say the concert was cancelled because Taylor was sick:( The girls and I won't be able to make it to the makeup concert because it is on a Wednesday in November.

Steph and I took the girls to see Monte Carlo and we all 5 loved it.

The heat and humidity was up in the triple digits during our trip, so my first few pictures are blurry. I learned pretty quick to keep the lens cap on and take it off after I had been outside for a little while.

The girls played in the water.....road the golf cart around the neighborhood and to the bean field to look for deer, watched TV, ate ice cream.....and played pretty hard!

Sarah and Harley became best buddies. Sarah tried to share all her food with him and found the drawer where his treats are kept....thankfully she couldn't get it open.

Harley became an early bird with Sarah and I....not because he wanted to..but Sarah was up around 6-630 most days, so he got up because he heard us. Sarah would call out his name when we went into the kitchen in the mornings:)

The girls were playing in the water when it started to rain.

Meghan and Jenna said playing in the water was one of their favorite things about this trip.

Stay tuned...more pics to come.

cousins

Cousins are some of your first friends......and last a lifetime.

Just thought I would pop in and show you just a few pictures from our vacation in North Carolina. I will post more once we arrive home.

My girls with cousin Kayla.

Sarah and Valentina are first cousins once removed...or something like that. They were due the same month but V decided to arrive at 32 weeks. They were so cute together and I look forward to watching them grow up together.

room #2

I am starting to really enjoy this room makeover job I have taken on! I had help painting Meghan's room and it only took us a few hours to get the whole room done. We only had to paint her walls, so it was much easier than Jenna's room. I let the girls pick their own colors and I have to say Meghan did a great job matching up her walls with her bed comforter.

Here are a few before pictures.

The room was painted in a light blue color and it just didn't have the "pop" Meghan was wanting...

I'm not sure how I took a picture of my arm....but oh well, I still included the picture.

Rob is hard at work:)

We still need to hang some pictures and decorate a little more...

..but here is the completed paint project.

I really like this color! It is bright and cheerful.

18 months

Baby girl.....I mean big girl is 18 months and counting.

She is one busy little bee and she thinks she is boss of the house too.

She is super smart and is picking up new words daily.

She loves to play outside and likes to swing on her tummy (all by herself). She also likes to squeal really loud when her sisters bother her.

She likes to sit on the potty, but I don't think we will start potty training just yet.

She loves to eat and tries anything put in front of her. Some she ends up wearing, some she ends up eating.

She loves shoes and will try on any pair that she can get her little toes in.

If the phone rings, she will ask if it's Memom and Papa. If you say yes...she will throw a fit if you don't let her talk to them. And by talking that means smiling at the phone and listening to them talk to her.

She is strong willed and when we tell her no or move her from something she will yell out our name.

It's cute, but she still doesn't get away with too much.

Sarah is wearing 18-24 month clothing, size 5 shoes, size 4 diapers. She sleeps great and takes one long nap during the day (about 2-3hrs) and then goes to sleep between 730-8pm and doesn't get up until after 7am.

Sarah has 10 teeth with two more bottom molers working their way in.

She weighs 24 lbs 8oz and is 33 1/2 inches long! (She is 50% for weight and 95% for height)

*****Meghan and Jenna also had doctor checkups late last week.

Meghan is 52.25 inches tall and 51 lbs

Jenna is 47.75 inches tall and 43lbs

first room done....well almost

This is my first time doing "big" home improvement. I had Rob help me get the shelves down....and we were not too happy to find out that they were glued on the wall (they were screwed on too). So as you can see in some of the pictures I had to do some patch work. I didn't do that great of a job...I thought I did, but when I started painting it was noticeable that I didn't make the spackle completly flat with the wall....

The wallpaper boarder came off pretty easy, but it took me two days (I only work when Sarah is sleeping).

Rob supervised and I did all the work! I have wanted to do something like this for so long, I couldn't wait for his help. I had to paint inside the closet (it was the bright green color) and the ceiling was blue.

It was pretty easy to paint the ceiling and I actually started liking the green walls as the blue was disappearing.

The base boards were blue too....so I painted them and the closest doors white.

Jenna LOVES orange and that is what she wanted her room color to be.....so here ya go.

We still need to decorate....and down the road the carpet will change too.

Next paint project is called playful pool......Meghan's room.