The Dad of Daughters

I walked upstairs the other day and saw this...

I looked at the TV and saw this...

For those of you who don't live with tweens, Steve and the girls were watching Hannah Montana: The Best of Both Worlds Concert in 3-D!

He's a great dad! :)

Swimming... What More Can I Say?

This is why she's so skinny! Constant motion! :)


This is what Ella does while we are at the pool- sing and turn. Most of the time, I don't even have to watch her because I can hear her!

The Little Mermaids

We've had a really hot summer (we're almost reaching Vegas temperatures this week!) I am so grateful for our neighborhood pool. The girls would live in the pool if they could. However, it's quite an ordeal to get packed, dressed and down to the pool that is 100 yards away. See what I mean.

First, we get dressed. It's always hard to pick which bathing suit to wear, and Madison doesn't want Ella to look cuter than her! Go figure!

Then we pack.

Let's see if we've got everything...

Floaties... check

Noodles... check

Swimming rings... check

Beach ball... check

Sunscreen... check

Sunscreen stick... check

Beach towels... check

Madison's goggles... check

Ella's goggles... check

Scuba breathing apparatus thingie... check

Diving rings... check

Barbie... check

Barbie's swimming pool... check

Crackers... check

Grapes... check

Small water bottles... check

My water bottle... check

Cell phone... check

Garage door opener... check

Pool card... check

Then we say goodbye to Allie here...

And here...


It's a looong walk to the pool.

Most days, we have this Jr. Olympic sized pool to ourselves!

Madison lets us in.

Sunscreen time...

Madison jumps in everytime. She was too fast for my camera!

Ella moves a little slower!

Let the fun begin!

This picture will probably end up in a senior slide show someday! :)

My secret strategy behind all of this swimming plays out in the afternoon... naptime and quiet time... for all of us! I took some cute videos of the girls swimming, but I'll save that for another day!

If Only I Could Sing Like That... sigh...

I remember sitting down in praise team practice many years ago next to a new girl that I was supposed to sing with. She was like a freshman in high school at the time. The minute we started singing however, I wanted to stop and just listen to her! I remember turning to her and saying, "Wow, you have a really pretty voice," (and then feeling very inferior!) Since then, she has been through a very prestigious music conservatory and is in the process of auditioning to get her music/Broadway career started!


Last Saturday, Steve and Megan sang at a wedding together. It was absolutely beautiful. Steve as you all know, has a fabulous voice and can sing anything that is given to him (and I'm not the least bit biased!) Anyway, here is a bit of their song. People raved through the reception!

PS. Here are a couple of cute pictures of Ella from the wedding. Madison was not there becaue she was at one of her two parties last weekend.

We Look Like Celebrities!

I saw this on another blog and thought it was fun! You upload a photograph of yourself (or your unsuspecting husband) and it will tell you the celebrities that you most resemble. However it left off one of my celebrities- Jani Lane, the lead singer of Warrant. See...

Let me explain... Bobby something, the guy I sat next to in chapel at Harding turned to me one day and said, "Do you know who you look like?" I immediately thought of the most beautiful star I could think of. He said "The lead singer of Warrant." I had no idea who Warrant was, so the next time I was at the mall, I went to find a CD of Warrant. I was shocked when I saw this guy on the cover of the 80's hair band CD. When I looked closely, though, I was amazed at how much we looked alike! I'm not sure if I should be offended, or if he should! :) All I know is, I'll take Candace Cameron over him any day!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family pics - Family tree search

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

She Likes You... She Really, Really Likes You

Ella "writes" all the time. She uses more paper and loses more of my pens than I can count! She was writing in her journal the other day, so I asked her what it said. This is what she wrote.

And of course it ends (as all videos of her do) with her saying she wants to watch herself! She's truly a digital kind of girl! :)

Metro Mamas Outing

A group of young moms from church have formed a group called Metro Mamas. Somehow, I got included in that group... thank you Ella for making me a "young" mom! Anyway, we went to a place called Extreme Jump this week and let the kids run themselves ragged so they would take a great nap in the afternoon.

Ella wouldn't play when we got there. She said, "This place smells like stinky feet." (She was right!)

Madison and Caitlin loved this slide!

This was a big Velcro wall. You were supposed to get a running start, jump as high as you could and stick the ribbons on the wall. Ella however, chose to walk up to the wall and place the ribbons about the level of her head. She chose to decorate the wall instead.

Our crew going up the slide

This is pure joy...


A lovely view of the girls!

Ella "babysat" Quinn. Whenever he got too far away, she would just put her hands around his neck so that he wouldn't run away. We probably won't put that on her babysitting resume!


This picture was taken in between the arguing and bickering!

This final video is of Ella and JD playing air hockey. JD had some serious help in this match. (That's his friend in the middle of the table.) Fortunately, Ella doesn't know what air hockey is, so in her mind, she wins!

Steve was Bored...

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Lazy Days of Summer

So, we have been staying up SUPER late and getting up pretty late in the mornings. I beat the girls up yesterday and when they got up, they looked like this...

I LOVE SUMMER!!!! :)

Eight is Great... sort of!

I was going to post a super-happy birthday post (see pictures below,) but I decided instead to tell what really happened on Madison's birthday. If you would prefer to believe that her day was perfect, skip this post and go directly to the slide show!

July 12 started with a bang! The girls were still awake after midnight for some reason! Around that time, I heard them getting in trouble with Steve for being up and out of their bed. I heard them swear that they were only going to the bathroom... likely excuse! Ahh, summer hours. Anyway, the next morning, the tired family got up to start the "Day of Madison!" Unfortunately, we had to run to the store and had to attend a wedding, which wasn't exactly in her plans for the day. We had also had a praise team party the night before, and had life group the next day at our house, so the playroom needed to be cleaned. That did not fit into the "Day of Madison" either! So, in between arguing about cleaning the playroom, arguing about getting dressed for the wedding and arguing about going to the store, we did manage to get a few "happy" birthday pictures. (See below.)

Madison did enjoy opening her presents. She got some diving toys for the pool, a Gabriella doll that sings along with a microphone, a Webkinz with some clothes and a 3-D Hannah Montana poster to color. She was very excited about her Webkinz which she named Tory. Whoever came up with the Webkinz idea is a genius... a stuffed animal with a code to play a game online! Why didn't I think of that? Oh well... Madison also bought a sticker maker and a foil paint project with the $8 she got in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Brock.

After we returned from the wedding, I made Madison's birthday dinner of spaghetti with bolognese sauce. Her big treat was that she got 3 pieces of bread! She's a girl after Aunt Tamra's heart! :) Then she got her "plain Jane" French Vanilla cake with white icing. Seriously, no chocolate...

The day ended on a positive note, and we are in the process of planning her party...... a sleepover! Hopefully, that will run more smoothly!

Happy birthday Madison! I love you... really!! :)

10 Years Ago Tonight...

10 years ago tonight, we were married at East Grand Church of Christ in Springfield, MO. 2 girls, 2 houses, 3 moves, 3 cities, 1 dog, 8 job changes (WOW), and 3 churches later, we're still going strong! I'd do it all again in a heartbeat! I love you!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

We enjoyed a lovely, cool evening with Dave and Pat at the Texas Rangers ballpark last night. Actually, compared to Vegas it was cool. We had great seats- 18 rows up along the third base line. We had to watch the left-handed hitters because they hit several foul balls our way!



Before the game- and the cotton candy!

During the cotton candy...

After the cotton candy!

Kit, Katie and Anta enjoyed the game with us.

The girls LOVE sports!

Finally, enjoy Madison's 7th inning stretch!

The All-American Girls get American Girls... and a boy

While we were gone, Dave and Pat took the girls to see Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Madison loved it (that's an understatement!) Madison also loves the fact that everyone thinks that she looks like Kit. Pat, the girls doting grandmother :) took Madison to the American Girl store to get Kit. These dolls should be birthdays and Christmas for the next two years! :) Anyway, Ella got the blonde-hair, blue-eyed Bitty Twins. Ella has always had imaginary twins named Katie and Anta, so now she has dolls to match. Here are the American girls with their dolls!