I'm thankful...

A sweet friend of mine did this on her blog, and I thought that it was a great idea! We all get aggravated and annoyed, but there is always something in it to be thankful for! Every month, I will list my top ten annoyed yet thankful points. So...

• I'm annoyed that our house is full of loud, squealing little girls...and thankful that our house is full of squealing little girls...and that our one man loves all his girls to pieces, and still doesn't hate pink!
• I'm annoyed that I'm constantly cleaning this house...and thankful that I have this wonderful house to clean, and that it's full of little girls, dogs, and a precious baby who are busy making all these messes!
• I'm annoyed that Dow's job is so very stressful, and thankful that in this economy, in the construction business, he has a job and a paycheck!
• I'm annoyed that I still haven't watched the Grey's Anatomy season premier...there's just been no time! But I'm soo thankful for the invention of Tivo and that I can live my life and watch the tv shows that I love on my schedule, not the network's!
• I'm annoyed that love bugs and sand gnats have taken over the outside...and thankful that their arrival means that the beautiful fall weather is here!
• I'm annoyed that the girls have to be at school soooo early in the morning...and thankful that they are in such a wonderful Christian school, and that they are so excited to jump out of the car every morning! I'm also thankful that Dow knows when I need a morning "in" with a large cup of coffee, and will make the coffee and take the girls to school for me...if that's not love, I don't know what is!!!
• I'm annoyed that my computer and printer are constantly humming, and that my email inbox is overflowing...and thankful that all this busyness means that orders are coming in and my business is doing well!
• I'm annoyed that I'm constantly washing clothes...and thankful that I have a husband with a sometimes messy job, two little girls who are healthy and happy and love to play outside, and a baby who really enjoys her food and likes to wear it when she eats!
• I'm annoyed that every weekend is so busy with birthday parties, dinners, and activities...and thankful that we have so many sweet friends who want us to share in their lives!
• I'm annoyed that I have so many pictures that need to be printed and framed...and thankful that I have captured so many special moments that I want to remember!

Our lives may be busy and hectic, but thankfully, they are full of the people we love! How boring would it be if it wasn't? I'm flat out thankful that my life is a fun, messy, full, busy, crazy, hectic, but ultimately blessed one!

It's FALL, y'all!

Well, fall is finally here...changing leaves, college football, pumpkins, and the occasion cool day when the temp is in the 70's...even in South Carolina! We love it, and the girls have been spending every waking moment playing outside. We "decorated" the house this weekend, and pulled out the fall leaves, spice scented candles, and jack-o-lanterns. The girls had so much fun figuring out where to put everything! Maggie's new favorite activity is pumpkin bowling...crawling by and sending my pumpkins spinning across the floor...we'll see how long they last!

Last week, we had our nieces (Kendall & Reagan) staying with us while their parents went on a cruise. The girls had so much fun playing together...and Maggie loved trying to keep up with Kendall! Kendall is almost 18 months old, so she loved acting like a big girl and playing with Gracyn and Emma.







Reagan is almost four months old, and she is the sweetest baby! To get a big, blue eyed smile, you just have to talk to her. She is precious! It was great for us to be able to spend some time with them, and we hope to be able to do it again soon!

Gracyn and Emma have been participating in a cheer clinic every week, and have been using everything they've learned to cheer on the Dawgs on Saturdays. This is a picture of our smallest Dawg fan in her little smocked, bulldog dress. She's just learned to say "Go Dawgs!" Well, it actually sounds like "gooooo da!" but we know what she means! Then she smiles and claps... She must be the cutest little fan out there!

Gracyn and Emma are both really enjoying school, and are learning new things every day! They are really looking forward to Halloween and to our trip to Disney over fall break in mid-October. They're already planning (mom takes care of the boring stuff like which hotel to stay in, while the girls take care of the important things like which ride to go on first!)

Happy Fall, Y'all!

The Zoo & Maggie "Firsts"

~The girls at the Botanical Gardens...such cute little flowers!~

~Gracyn & Emma watching the giraffes. ~

Sometimes I feel like we live in a zoo, but today we actually visted one! It was Labor Day, so Dow was home from work, and Gracyn and Emma were home from school. We decided to visit Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina and make the holiday a special one for the girls.

It was a great day! We saw some really neat animals, learned a lot about endangered species, and the girls got to do some really fun things...like riding a pony and milking a cow (a fake one, but still, it was fun!)

Maggie was on her best behavior..except when it came to picture time...the flower picture is the only one that I could even get her to look in the right direction to take! She's definitely come in to her own, and is very interested in everything around her!

Maggie is growing up so fast, and had a few "firsts" this weekend. Her first visit to the zoo, her first time on the swing set, her first time trying to eat grass (in the picture, she's looking at it closely and really thinking about it!)and her first time standing on her own...of course, once she realized that she was standing on her own, she promptly sat down and cried!

Now, it's back to the grind of a normal week...it really was such a great holiday weekend, and a perfect end to summer. Now, if we could just get some fall weather???