Madelyn's 4th Birthday Party

I can't believe my baby girl turned 4 last month!!! She is growing into such a remarkable little girl. She's always laughing, and anyone who is around Madelyn cannot help but smile. She LOVES her sister, reading books, puzzles, and God. I honestly think that seh all ready knows more about the Bible than I do. She constantly is listening and absorbing the world around her. I thank God everyday for how BLESSED I am to be Madelyn's mommy!!

We had her birthday party at the Big Backyard at the Memphis Botanic Gardens. It was very hot, but had about 20 kids show up, and lots of family!!

The birthday girl.....

She wanted a purple butterfly cake, so this is what I made. I was pretty happy with how it turned out....

Aubrey thought she was just as big as Sissy!! I'm not sure she completely understood that it wasn't HER birthday!

I just think this picture is funny. Like I said, it was HOT

Aunt A....

Mason...

Aubrey, Will and Reagan....

The spider web is one of Madelyn's favorite things there....

Mom's Wedding

As everyone who reads this is aware, Mom was married on July 24th :) Here are a few pics from the day. We had about 130 people show up, and everything was perfect!!

Here's Mom, Don and the Buchanan clan....


Buchanan and Martin families....

Mom and Don. She was such a beautiful bride!!

Groom's cake. Just FYI - I made the tuxedo strawberries....

My cousin Christy makes amazing cakes!!

Oreo balls (YUMMMMMM)

Mom and all her Grandkids.... LOVE this pic!

The blushing bride....

Clay, Colton, Bed, Don and his son Donny

It truly was a wonderfule day, and we're ALL so happy for Mom and Don :)

You make my Heart Happy.....

So last night I told Aubrey I love her. She stood there very thoughtfully and finally said, "ohhhhh. That makes my heart happy!" While she said that she was rubbing her belly, which is where she believes her heart is, I suppose. PRECIOUS! Moments like that make you realize that everything in the world is good!!

I promise to start posting more often. In fact, I have SEVERAL posts ready to publish....

Stay tuned

Soccer Practice

Madelyn had her first soccer practice on Tuesday night. The kids all did better than I thought, and they had a blast! Madelyn did really well, but when someone kicked her ball she about broke down for 10 minutes or so. As her coach said, if she was that upset about it then she should protect the ball pretty well :) She LOVES to play gaolie, and was able to block most of the balls. She also was able to shoot 2 into the goal when someone else was at goalie.
I forgot to take my camera, but here are a few pics that a friend of mine took with her phone...

Tonight is their first night of gymnastics at River City. I'm pretty excited about it, and Aubrey can't stop tlaking about it.

I have a ton of pice from mom's wedding and Madelyn's birthday party to post. I've been working on downloading them to the new laptop, so I'll work on posting those tonight :)

Mom's Wedding in Pictures

Encouragement

A co-worker friend of mine sent me the link to her blog the other day. She told me that she posts to offer a little encouragement. I have found that I LOVE what she writes, so I thought I'd share.

Enjoy!!

http://wigleysramblings.blogspot.com/

4th of July

We had an absolute blast on the 4th of July!! We spent the 4th at Mimi and Poppie's house swimming, eating, and shooting fireworks. I think my girls would both stay in thepool ALL day if we let them. Madelyn's swim lessons really paid off, and as long as she has her floaties on she can "swim" all around the pool by herself. She'll also jump off the diving board and go down the water slide!! Aubrey loves the pool as well, but isn't quite as brave.

On Monday we went to Clay and kally's house for another cook out. Clay made some delicious ribs, and we hung out and just enjoyed each other's company. It was pretty hot, so we decided to let the kids play in the sprinkler. It was hilarious to watch!!

So here are the pics from those 2 days. I'm having technical difficulties and can't get the pics in the proper order, but you'll still get the idea!!

Sprinkler fun!!

Notice in this picture that Aubrey is holding something. Those are Colton's shorts, which he decided he didn't need!!

Just starting out in the sprinkler....

Madelyn during the fireworks show....

Madelyn did this first, then everyone had their turn!!!

Smaller fireworks - still plugging her ears

I love Madelyn's "smile" in this one....

Colton's turn (before the shorts came off)...

AND after...

Clint was experimenting with the black and white setting on the camera. Not sure why

Will and Reagan joined us swimming on the 4th!

Not happy to be covered in grass...

Aubrey's turn!!

I think the bow stayed in just long enough for us to take the picture

Posing again

I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures to post again soon. Mom is getting married next weekend and Madelyn's birthday is the weekend after that!! Stay tuned....