fun blessings in furry packages! :)

scott loves trucks and digging in the dirt...he's all boy! :)

brooke and her new friend, petey
brooke pretending to be a dog

puppy love!

petey

petey found us today. he escaped from his yard (he lives in our neighborhood) yesterday and wandered right into our hearts! we did find his owners and he was reunited with them tonight, but we sure enjoyed "borrowing" him today. he is the sweetest dog! he does not jump, bark, whine or chew. i was worried that he might be hungry, so i bought a can of dog food for him and even got a box of milk-bone dog biscuits. it was so fun to buy for a dog. call me crazy, but it was. i have always had a love for animals! just ask my parents. we adopted just about every critter that came our way while my sister, brother and i were growing up. anyway, i so enjoyed having petey today. thank you, God, for furry blessings!!! :)

girls' night out!

laura and stephanie

laura, kelly, stephanie, me and jeannie
jeannie and me

it was due time for a girls' night out around here. actually, i haven't had one since last may when i went to nashville to see christina and jen. so, stephanie and i organized a fun night at luigi's. i have a love affair going on with their martinis. they are super-yum! the favorites on friday night with us were the strawberry cheesecake, godiva chocolate, espresso and vanilla avalance. oh and the food is amazing as well. but nothing can top the company of girlfriends. so, thanks girls, for a fabulous night out! we'll do it again soon. :)

terrific kid!

brooke had her awards ceremony for the 2nd nine weeks at school. she receieved her advanced reader award and was also picked as the "terrific kid" for her class for the month of january! we are so proud of our girl. she has now added jumping rope to her "favorite activities list." and today she learned how to tie her shoes. i know....a little late, but honestly, her shoes don't have ties on them. she is either wearing crocs or mary janes or clogs. oh well, better late than never! :)

valentine's day celebrations

gramma surprised brookie and ate lunch with her at school

gramma and grampi gave scott a hockey stick and puck
he was thrilled!!! he LOVES hockey!
brooke got a "how to draw" book and a webkinz

showing off some artwork!

gramma came to visit yesterday and we had a wonderful time!!! the kids loved their surprises, but loved seeing gramma more. :) gramma ate lunch with brookie and then she and i went to lunch (sushi...yum!) and then engaged in some shopping therapy. it was so nice to spend some time together. thanks gramma and grampi for making our valentine's week super-fun!!! oh...by the way....that dress that brooke is wearing.....gramma made it for me and i wore that in 4th and 5th grade. crazy, huh??? just a hunch....but i think she's gonna be taller than me! :)

heaven-sent days

scott told brooke that the bugs think he is a sunflower because they keep landing on him...

could the sky be any more blue?

scott digging in the "rock quarry"...amazing that he even knows what that is...

our princess wearing her crown from paige's b'day party (brooke went to a sleepover last night and was so excited to go....it was so neat!)

so happy outside...

God has blessed us with a beautiful day today and we have taken full advantage of it! from jumping on the trampoline, to digging in the dirt, to doing "arts and crafts," we have so loved being outside. and, the day is only half-over! i captured some pics while outside. that was my "arts and crafs" for the day. i just could not pass up taking some pics of my 2 kiddos on this gorgeous day. :)

boot it up bash!

scott helped us get everything ready....

rollrz band....super fun! :)

brooke getting ready for the party!

brooke and paige gettin' down
yep, these moves came from her daddy
this move below is "so tyler"

scott and emily grace...cute together :)

scott watching the magic show while biting his nails (his latest new habit)

brooke and mrs. holt (i was playing with the white balance on my camera...see the difference in the color?)

brooke's school has a "boot-it-up bash" at the end of every nine weeks. the kids are rewarded for earning their AR points and are given snacks, drinks and entertainment. for this bash, the rollrz (band from fayetteville police dept) came and played music. the kids danced and danced and had a great time. there was even a magic show that taught about "saying no" to guns and drugs. brooke had a great time and i had fun trying to use my camera. i need stephanie to help me a little more in that dept! :) oh well....it's a learning process and i'm so excited to learn more! hope you all have a wonderful weekend! the weather is beautiful!!!

Hockey!

Tyler won a year of spaghetti dinners at a local italian restaurant by playing "chuck a puck." this prize is PERFECT for him. seriously....you should have seen how excited he was! (Mimi, i know you are laughing at this!)

Daddy and Scott celebrating a "GOAL!"

Daddy and his kiddos

Mommy and the kiddos (I was scared to death...we were standing backwards on those little bitty stairs. I just knew one of us was going to fall)

one of our favorite past-times of late has been watching the fireantz hockey team in action. they won and therefore got the hooter's cup this season. i guess that is pretty significant. i'm not really sure. anyway, scott and brooke love going to the games. they get so excited when the fireantz score. and, scott plays hockey here at home, too. he puts on his slippers (so that he can slide around) and uses a stick, hockey puck and the doorways with the door closed (so that the puck can go underneath the door for a score) and has a blast! he is into any and all sports. brooke loves to watch (like me) but is not much into participation unless it involves some sort of girly outfit. :) so, that is the latest here.....hope you all are having a wonderful week!