a little more landscaping

Well we finally got around to some more landscaping. Last Sunday, while Charlotte napped, Chris and I dug up the space in the front of our house in preparation for some plant life.
This Sunday, while Charlotte napped, we were able to go get the the shrubs, dig holes, plant them. By the time we got all of that done, Charlotte decided to get in on the fun and come out and help us spread mulch and place the bordering rocks. Here are some pics of our handy work. We'd like to plant something else in front of the boxwoods but we can't agree on anything right now so maybe we'll come back and do more later.

Here's our "before" pic - BORING!!!


And "after" - TaDa!!!


Safety First! Chris had to chisel off some of the rock so that it would have a good fit.


Charlotte had to rest from all of her hard work.






Yes, they are small now but they will grow and they were much cheaper than the more mature plants.

Some of my faves

I haven't posted anything in a while so I decided just to find some of my favorites from this summer that have yet to be posted and If anyone hasn't heard yet, Valarie has joined Laurie on the 'Official' adoption wait list, so hopefully Charlotte will have some new cousins soon!

This was a trip to Fun City, or whatever it's called, in Conway. She got to hang out with her cousins Christopher and Kirsten. Kirsten was too busy for a picture but Christopher couldn't stop lovin' on her. Pretty cute!


These were her "school pictures" this year. I was a little disappointed since I'd put her in the cutest little dress and shoes to match and she apparently didn't cooperate so these were the best they could do. Naturally, we had to have the thumb and blanket in the pic.


Just a fun pic with Rody


Day at the park. We played and then went to see the geese. She wasn't as impressed as I thought she would be but at least it filled a couple of hours.


She had more fun playing in the bucket than in the pool this day. No, we did not put her in the bucket or encourage her to get in it. She just loves to try to fit in anything.


She wasn't too sure about the orange push-ups at first. But she was lovin it after she figured it out.



She loves to share her food, she wants everyone else to taste how good it is!!

July 4th and more swimming

We're livin' large now! We tried to go back to the swimming pool Monday night only to find out that it's closed on Mondays. So we ended up at Toys R Us and came home with our very own swimming pool. Charlotte LOVES it! She wanted to stay in it all night the first night we had it filled.




We spent the Fourth in Conway at Chris's parents' house. While I was taking a nap, this is what the boys were up to...




Christopher couldn't wait to go buy fireworks and to start setting them off.




Baby loves Bubbles!





Our big finale

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Yesterday we had my company picnic at the Arkansas Naturals ballgame. We had lots of food, prizes, and fun! Even though it was super-hot, we managed to stick it out till the sixth inning. Val and Jonathan came out to play with us too.


Val and Jonathan


We had a photo booth there so Val and I decided to take advantage. We got one of Chris, Char, and I as well, but I left it at work so I'll have to post it later.


After all the big kids had their turn in the bounce house, they let Charlotte give it a try by herself - kind of. She was pretty nervous about it and just stayed on the outside edge holding my hands while I bounced her. As much as she loves to bounce on the couch and the bed, I thought she would have enjoyed it more. Oh well, I'm sure it won't take long before she's brave enough to try on her own.


After Charlotte got to play, it was Chris's turn at the fast pitch. He'd been looking forward to this since we found out where we were having the picnic. It was a little disappointing though bc the consensus was that the radar gun wasn't really working as they, the guys, thought it should. Of course it's meant for little kids who wouldn't know better so I'm sure the girl running it didn't really care if Chris got an accurate reading.


Charlotte was ready to go (we all were)!

Happy Anniversary House!

We've been in this house for a year as of June fifth and it has taken that long to finally pick out and actually plant a tree that we both liked and that we thought was worthy of the coveted front yard. It's a Yoshino cherry tree. The blooms should be pale pink in the spring. I just hope it makes it through this hot summer. Probably wasn't the best time to plant something but we'd procrastinated long enough! We didn't get a final pic yet bc Char had to go in and get a bath - her favorite part was playing in the dirt.

In the baby pool!

Last night we took Charlotte to the ol' swimmin' hole at Wilson Park. She was unsure about it at first but quickly warmed up to it and was loving it by the time they closed. She really enjoyed climbing in and out and even had fun getting dunked. Every time she would go under, she would come up smiling and ready to go again. I couldn't get any pics of her really having fun because she was splashing so much it would have got the camera wet!