Cora's Birthday Party

We celebrated Cora's first birthday with family on Saturday, August 15th.  We had a mid-morning brunch so Cora would be fresh and happy and able to enjoy the party.

Nate decided to help decorate by putting the rocks around the flowers.  Sweet. :)

A local lady made Cora's cakes.  We chose strawberry for the big cake and vanilla for the smash cake. They were both beautiful and delicious.  I wish I had a piece of the strawberry cake right now. ;)

She wasn't too interested in the cake.  

But, she loved the vanilla ice cream.  Granna shared several bites with her and she loved every single one.

We love Aunt Lynn and Aunt Bill.  

Aunt Bill is so sweet to come by and visit us every week or so.

My daddy (Pops) loves this girl so much!

We love Aunt Jill too!

I love this picture of Darren and Cora.  

After the party and a good nap, we went outside for better lighting and more cake.

Look at those sweet fingers. 

Look at those teeth.

Happy 1st Birthday, Cora!

These were taken on Cora's first birthday, August 12th 2015.

This girl loves the cats and being outside!  She loves to swing and ride the four-wheeler with Darren.  She loves Nate (Bubs or Bubba).  When he is near her, she lights up.  She loves getting into everything!  She's not interested in toys.  She would rather open all of the cabinets and drawers.  She has a lot more sass and attitude than I remember Nate having at this age.  If she has something she shouldn't, she grips it so tightly and is so determined to hold on to it!  She is strong too! She is also sweet and loving.  We are so blessed to have her. We all love her so. :)

So Long Summer

Summer is almost over and it's time for school to begin.  We had a great summer full of great memories.

We are continuing to home school for Nate's 2nd grade year.  This was taken on his first day of co-op: Thursday, August 6th. His co-op subjects are Bible Heroes (writing class), PE, and Science (aquatic animals).  We will study those subjects at home too along with reading, literature, handwriting, math, history, and spelling.

These two...

I could post a million pictures of them. :)

Cora is wearing one of Ashlyn's old bubbles.  It's about 20 years old.

Weekend Getaway

My sweetie and I got to have a weekend getaway at The Grand Hotel in Point Clear.  Darren had a work conference for the weekend and we decided to leave Nate and Cora with my parents!  This was our first time to leave Cora overnight and I was really nervous about it, but I relaxed once we got to the hotel.

I love the beach and The Grand is on the bay.  It was more like being on the lake instead of the ocean.  My favorite thing about The Grand is all of the inclusive activities.  You can kayak, sail a sail boat, paddle board, ride bikes, and more.  I loved bike riding while Darren was in meetings.  He and I went for a ride together also and we kayaked around the bay.  

It was mid-July and HOT! These hit the spot one afternoon when we were relaxing by the water.  It was cool to sit in the shade of a mossy, water oak tree and look out at the bay.  I did miss those sugar white beaches and clear water though. 

I'm so thankful for our weekend together.  It was just a week before our 16th anniversary so it was kind of an anniversary trip as well.  I'm thankful for my parents and their willingness to keep our children! :)

Happy 8th Birthday, Nate!

We had a great time celebrating Nate's birthday with our families.  Nate and Darren provided us with some sword fighting entertainment.  

If it was up to Nate, he and Darren would fight or wrestle all day, every day.  It's his absolute favorite.

Nate's favorite present from this birthday was an Xbox One.  

I love this picture of Ashlyn and Chris. :)

We always have nachos for Nate's birthday dinner since it's his favorite.  For the past two years, he's requested brownies instead of cake.  Can you see the 8 on his brownies?  M&Ms are also one of his favorites. 

Gosh, we love this kid.  He is smart, funny, tenderhearted, kind, generous, loving, thoughtful, and the very best big brother.  He loves Cora so much and is so sweet and patient with her.  There are no words to adequately express how much we love this kid.  We are so thankful God gave us Nate.