River House

The weekend before last we drove to my uncle Steve's river house near Berryville, AR. We went once this summer for a day trip and walked in the low river with Lyla. Needless to say she had a blast! Her daddy found and caught a few slimy tadpoles of which she eagerly held.

I was a bit more laid back about them... haha... but once I held one and caught a couple for Lyla I got over the slippery sliminess of them!

She would hold two or three at a time for a minute, then put them back. Shortly after, we would start the hunt all over!

We went back to do some work on Uncle Steve's shop and stayed for the weekend this time. Of course it was to cold to get wade in the water, but we did have fun riding four wheelers, walk in the fields and woods, and walking on the bank of the river. It was sunny and beautiful!
Unfortunately Saturday evening Lyla got pretty sick. This was literally the FIRST time she has ever been really sick. She has had basic ear infections, and sniffles, but never a stomach virus or a high fever. We battled this for the next few days, but Lyla knows she is healed by the stripes of Jesus and even remembered to declare this over herself! She also asked us to pray for her Saturday evening during dinner when she wasn't even feeling well enough to eat. In all the times we feel like we are not doing anything right, it is times like those that remind us we are doing okay!!! Praise God!!

Here are some pictures of the River trip!!

My niece Addison (now 16, she and Lyla have the same birthday) left some dolls at the river from when she was a little girl. Lyla remembered exactly where they were! This is the one doll that will be a reoccurring theme in the next few photos. This was Friday night. She was so excited about the trip!

Also, notice how the dolls clothes are off? Not sure why, but she loves taking those clothes off first thing when she grabs a doll.



She also like to take pictures! I've been collecting photos for a blog of photos from Lyla's point of view. Well I will get there one day. For now, I like this one because it shows her cute little legs and feet! Still so small. :)

Here we are riding in the Kubota with Mimi and Papa. Does it look like the doll is smiling to anyone else too? Haha. I was glad to see that the Kubota had seat belts! It was a bumpy ride.

Lyla and her daddy!

Papa in the ranger. He decided he wanted one of these after riding in one. Haha. The boys had a good time hunting/watching deer. My uncle is working on managing the dear so that the good genes live. Casey enjoyed just watching then one evening in a deer stand.

Also, my aunt Kathy and Uncle Dennis have also built a house up there. Near their house were lots of young maple trees that they were going to get rid of, so they told us to take as many as we wanted. We have been wanting some trees for our land, and free trees are the best way to go! We got three maples, and a sycamore tree. I think the sycamores are just beautiful. Very hopeful that tree does well.


On the way to the land to plant them tonight. Lyla is really into oranges lately. She asked to bring one with her. Also, she likes to wear her cap, so I naturally put it on the 'normal' way.
Soon to be corrected. haha

Apparently this is the way she prefers them! Lol. I suppose she learned this from her daddy. :)

Random mobile pics and other GREAT stuff.

So unfortunately I am not real good at having my camera with me at ALL times, but I do always have mine or Casey's iPhone. In which case, I will probably be posting pics from our phones that have no connection, but are still VERY cute. :) Oh, we videoed Lyla dancing in her ballerina costume at Hallelujah night, but it would not let me upload it! Something about the type of file... I'll figure that out later.

This was a life size (for Lyla) nativity scene! We walked into Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, and she was just almost glued to it for 20 minutes. She did ask very sweetly if she could pet the animals however, which I was glad she did instead of barreling off into it! She also told me who everyone was, and asked to hold baby Jesus.

So as you all know, we adopted "little baby turtle Cecil" back during softball season. When we found him, he was only 1inch in diameter. He has grown to about 3 1/2 inches since then, but we no longer have him. The rest of this for adult ears only!  Unknown to us, turtles are VERY messy creatures. Don't want to get into the details, but I'd rather have a dog, that can just go outside to do his business, any day. We ended up putting baby turtle Cecil outside in his tank for a few weeks. After not changing the water for two weeks, it got VERY dirty! Out of site, out of mind right? Wrong. So I go to clean his tank out. As I pull his big sunbathing rock out of the tank to dump the water out, about 50 mosquito fly out!!!! And then I notice lots of larvae. YUCK! I quickly rush Lyla inside while screaming like a little girl. I DO NOT like mosquito bites. Then, gathering up some courage, I run back outside and dump it quick!!! (I also read online, and the larvae must have water to survive, so just dumping out the water would have killed them :)  ). Okay, so all that to say this....

Lyla and I go outside to enjoy the weather (after spraying down with some bug spray!). We get a quilt, read some books, and watch/ hold baby Cecil, who is also on the quilt. Then we really get into to some of the books and forget about baby turtle Cecil. And then I hear a crunch.... coming from Duke's direction!!!!!  :O  I rushed Lyla inside and told her we couldn't go back outside until daddy got home. So rest in peace baby turtle Cecil. We will miss your shy character, but not your stinginess. Thankfully, Lyla has not asked to see or hold Cecil. So we are not bringing the subject up!!

This is a tree we are planning on planting on our land! Mimosa (sp?) My parents have one and its blooms in the spring are sooo pretty and smell so nice! It also made a good easy climbing tree when we were young. Lyla is helping me carry one of them.

This was taken at the Schrimshire wedding! Papa stayed home with Lyla, so it felt like a date night! We were all dressed up, watching some good friends say their vows, and hearing some groovy classics to dance too. Fun night! I always enjoy going to weddings because it reminds and freshens our vows to one another. :)

October 23rd Jeremy and Sarah Pearsons came to RCC! It is so good to see Sarah when she comes down, and this time we got to meet Justice! He is 18 months old. Lyla and Justice hugged, smiled, and played for a while before and after church. Sarah sent me this picture from her phone. For quite a few days afterwards, Lyla would ask to see the picture of Justice, and then she would show anyone near her, who her new friend was.  Too cute.

We have been in a creative mood lately. Well maybe just Lyla and I, but nonetheless here is one artsy project we created.  I painted the tree and the leaves are our fingerprints. I think we may add some more leaves later, maybe some orange?

I will work on posting the way cute video of Lyla dancing! But in the mean time here a pic of her hair slicked back with ballerina eye make-up on, with her mimi. Casey kept saying "She looks so different!" I don't think he liked the make-up too much.... haha.

Oh! We also got Lyla a new car seat. The old one was SO bulky and heavy. I need to move it pretty often, so we were looking forward to the day when we could get a new one. She hit 30 lbs, so we rushed off to pick one out. Lyla enjoyed trying out the car seats in the store and discovering where the cup holders were. This one has elastic cup holders so any size cup will fit! It is so nice. Lyla can move and the actual seat is only like 2lbs. Nice!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!............................................

Casey's got a new truck! We have been saving and diligently working on our finances for quite a few months now. We have looked for new cars several times, but never decided it was the right time. I still have the Lincoln, but if we needed to haul anything then we would have to take two vehicles, because not all three of us could fit in Casey's truck. Ralph Greer had been driving this 2006 1500 Silverado Z71 to church for a while with a for sale sticker on it. Casey mentioned that he liked it, but it was out of our price range. So we didn't consider it any further. A couple of other people looked at it, and made sure we were not still interested (at which time we said no). Then last Sunday Ralph came up to Casey and asked if were still interested. Casey said no, it's not in our price range. Ralph then told Casey a number that was in our price range without even knowing what it was! God is sooo good. We knew we wanted something that we could haul stuff in, and that Casey could use for work. It is extended cab so Lyla easily fits in it and we could fit two more back there!

Here is the really awesome news though! When we decided we were going to buy it, we had the thought lets give your old truck away. We didn't need the money so we were excited use it as seed. Then we heard a name and told this individual that we would like to give him our old truck. We knew he didn't have a vehicle, but we did not know that, a couple weeks ago, he had gone up after service for prayer and agreement for a new vehicle. So when we gave him the news, he teared up thanked us, and said "I'm in agreement with ya'll for your return". We said thank you, and he said "No, really, I'm in with ya on this one". :)

God is good.

Lyla's Birthday Party!

We had lots of fun at Lyla's 3rd birthday party. We set up quite a few "art stations" for the kids (or adults) to play on. The most used one was the "Pumpkin Painting"; there were also Face Painting, Reading, and Sculpture Stations. Here, Lyla is painting her pumpkin.

This was the reading station. A big quilt, pile of books, beautiful weather, and friends make for a great read!
Lyla and I try to do this at home whenever we have extra time and pretty weather!

This was the "Sculpture Station". Really its just play dough, but hey that is a happy medium right? haha This is Lyla, Jaden, and Sarah. :) Sarah is soooo good with children of any age. Lyla loves her!

Sarah quickly got most of the other kiddos involved. They all decided to work together and make ---snakes. Yes, snakes. Don't ask me why, other than that is by far the easiest animal to make with play dough.

Here are their precious little snakes made from precious little hands!!

I think her favorite part was just squishing the "dough" between her fingers.

My lovely Grandma. :)

Jana and Lainey. Fallish backgrounds and beautiful subjects make for such great pictures.

Granny Sue, Jubby, and MiMi! Lyla is always excited to see her Jubby, (most of the time he bribes her with coins or dollars, which we have in her "piggy" bank.)

Singing Happy Birthday! She was getting used to being the center of attention at this point I think. ;)

Open big!!!

Ripping open presents.

This is the gift Seth, Jana, Caleb and Lainey gave Lyla. She really likes it! We have done pretty well with keeping all the pieces in one place too. Success.

Giving BIG hugs to Grandma.

Sometimes she literally runs right into you giving you the perfect opportunity for a -throw in the air and land with a BIG hug- squeeze. Love it :)

The beautiful pumpkins everyone made.

Near the end we went the the playground near by so the kiddos could run off some of that sugar energy!

Lyla had a wonderful day, and it showed that evening. She went to bed so thankful and extra smiley! We love her so much.

Lyla's Birthday

The following, is what we did on Lyla's actually birthday. (Oct. 13th). A post of her party will come next!

Lyla's Aunt Mary always seems to plan the mailing of her gifts perfectly! Every year they come right on her birthday! This is a doll from the movie Tangled. This is her first "barbie", but she just calls her "baby". Lyla is actually very good about taking care of the dolls long hair too. If it starts too get to tangled (no pun intended) she will bring it to me to fix it. Love this smile she posed for us! :)

Another good smile! Lyla REALLY enjoys painting and markers. Crayons are not her preference anymore. She likes to use paintbrushes when ever she can. Thankfully we now have three of these coloring books that came with watercolors and a brush!

One of the outfits from Aunt Mary and Momma Dot! Casey and I are always happy to see new clothes in the present she sends!

Aunt Jo Jo, (my sister) was the giver of this exciting gift! Lyla's eyes got very big when she saw her very own tiny cake. Jordan also gave her a "baby lion" (Nala from the Lion King), and a little tent that had the baby lions on it. She played house for a while, putting her baby down for a nap, hiding, etc. And asking to eat her cake about every 15 minutes! Haha. We all ate it together that evening after supper. We just let her dig in, similar to her first birthday.

We also went to eat lunch with her at Learning Land. It was neat to see how they do things and how they handle the children if they are not eating their lunches. And it was also neat to see what the other parents packed for lunches. We sang to Lyla, she seemed a tad shy when we did. Her teacher Mrs. Lisa said when the class sang "Happy Birthday" to her she was very embarrassed. She has never been the center of attention with so many little ones her age before. Mrs. Lisa was slightly shocked saying "Lyla is NEVER like that!". I made mini-cupcakes to share with her class. Lyla was very excited to share them first thing when we walked in the door! She sat down and started opening the container talking non-stop about the treat she brought for everyone. So cute. :)

Random Photos

We have been working with Lyla on her letters and tracing them/ drawing them. Learning Land has also been working on letters in her class. Depending on the day she will draw a few fairly well by herself, like A, O, C, H, L, and some other easy ones.  This day we were tracing though. :)

Since the weather has been so lovely, we have been going to the park pretty often after I get off work. Her expressions when sliding down are of pure joy! This slide is pretty steep (made for 5-12 years-olds) so Lyla really likes it.

This was Lyla's last haircut a couple of weeks ago. She did SOOO well. The lady told her to close her eyes. She did so and didn't open them until she said to. She sat perfectly still which normally is something we don't even expect from her. Our usual hairdresser is used to cutting Lyla's hair while she is in constant motion or talking the whole time. haha  Had to get a picture of her scrunched face. :)

This was one afternoon after work that Lyla was in a good dolling up mood and let me fix her hair! She even liked the end result!

Oh, how Lyla LOVES her cousins. She talks about them and asks where they are just about everyday. This is when Zuriel came down to spend the night with Mimi and Papa. As you can see Lyla was thrilled. And Zuriel is just like his daddy, not to fond of pictures. ;)

Johnstons Pumpkin Patch with the Ingmires!

Last Saturday we last minute planned a pumpkin patch adventure with Steven, Lindsey, and Liv Ingmire. None of us had ever been to a patch before, so we were all VERY excited ( I think Lindsey and I were the most excited). We all piled into their car packed with sandwiches for lunch and snacks and off we went!
Lyla had never really met or played with Liv (they are in different classes at church), so the night before I got on Facebook to show Lyla some pictures of her new friend! She was very excited and woke up the next morning talking about getting to see Liv. Here are some pictures of the event. :)

This is before we left. We thought it was going to be a bit on the cool side (low 70's with wind) so we let Lyla wear one of her new jackets. However, It was not cool at all. Rather warm actually. So we shed the cute jacket right away. Anyway, Here are some cute "poses" from Lyla with her new outfit. The one on the right was all her! I think she was tired of me taking pictures and she just flashed a half-smile at me. haha

This was the decoration at the entrance. They had so many opportunities for pictures! You will see what I mean as you scroll down. :)

 Lyla and Liv held hands constantly for the first 15 minutes. They were bonding :)

 Lyla picked this up and brought it to me. It weighed about 8 or 9 pounds! This is her "this is heavy mom!" face.

 All the pumpkins were pre-picked, and there were some piles of pumpkins that Lyla and Liv climbed on.

 SUNFLOWERS! It didn't look like their field turned out as well as hoped (only half the field grew and bloomed), but it was still beautiful. Lyla ran into the field and played a little hide and seek for a couple minutes.

 I do not remember what Lyla is pointing at, but she was getting pretty hot about this time and wasn't smiling for pictures too often. Still thought this was a good one of her and Casey.

Walking across a bridge over a dried up creek.

 Sandi, you and Tim would be proud! They had a petting zoo and Lyla was not afraid of anything. She wanted to hold or touch every animal we were allowed to. She also did very well with these babies. She was very gentle and sweet.

 A view of the pumpkin patch. They put ALOT of work into this event. Like I said earlier, all the pumpkins were pre-picked. Then they placed them around some smaller plants to give the kids a feel of picking the pumpkins from an actual field.

 They also had quite a few scarecrows. This one had a basket with strawberries (plastic) in it. The girls enjoyed looking at it.

 Here is a display of The Wizard of Oz characters as scarecrows and yes, even a little yellow brick road.

 Lyla is exactly three feet tall! This was neat to have to document her height right before her third birthday. :)

 Pretty bright orange and dark green pumpkins.

Ring toss game.

 This was a little building called "Pumpkin Elementary" I think. All inside it was painted with chalkboard paint for the kids to color on! What a great idea! The girls played in there for while.

Lindsey and Steven poking through the window.

These were some really neat pumpkins. Luminsomething or other and Cinderella pumpkins.

Riding in a wagon to the Hayride!!

Cute family photo + Lyla. Liv was very tired and hungry by this point. We were leaving after the hayride.

This was really cute! Lyla was excited to see the tractor and trailer!!! She was too short to look over the top with out one of us holding her, so she did some problem solving and found her own way!

Family Photo!!!