Ebay...

...A bit addicted...

PINK-A-LICIOUS!!!

Have you heard of this book? I LOVE it! Anna Claire especially is a fan and enjoys every bit of the girly-ness it brings. She now has the whole book memorized (literally) from cover to cover and adds great expression while "reading" it!

We loved this book SO much that while caring for two of Anna Claire's best friends, we had a PINKALICIOUS party. Thanks to Nana's creative brain and shopping efforts (this was right in the middle of setting up my classroom for school - the first time)

we had pink cupcakes and pink flowers,

pink plates and silverware at lunch, storytime, a pink craft and lots of GIRLY play time!

It was such a blast!!!

Maybe next we will have a PURPLELICIOUS party! :)

Some more great pictures of the girls...

Cousins...

I LOVE my cousins! I have several, but these two are definitely more than just family to me! They are both older than me and we were not in the same stages of life for a long time, but the thing that has mostly brought us together is motherhood. They are both so wise and WONDERFUL mothers and I am thrilled to have them as cousins and friends.

Jodi is the mother of Anna Claire's "Nevada cousins", Jack and Julia.

She is my oldest cousin on my Mother's side. We are so proud of her husband Steve and his success with his business and even though they moved far away, we celebrate their successes and look forward to more visits. Their clan came to Texas this summer and we couldn't have been happier! We love catching up with them through Blog pictures, emails and phone calls, but to be together in person is the BEST! Anna Claire loves to pray for them at night and "check Jack and JuJu" on the computer.

When they came we planned a scavenger hunt filled with clues all over the house and each spot had a new clue and a new prize. Anna Claire, Jack and Julia were LOVING it!

Jack was fantastic at reading each one and the girls loved guessing and finding them! We also enjoyed swimming, playing on the play structure at church and just being together!

Not too long after the Connolly clan's visit we had a swim day with the Smith girls. Holly is one of my many cousins on my Dad's side and though I love her and her sisters, I have been able to be closer to her. Anna Claire LOVES spending time with her daughters Saylor and Sutton.

We had fun swimming at our house and not long after we had a fairy party at their house.

Anna Claire LOVED dipping the "fairy wands" (marshmallows) in chocolate. I think a little bit made it on the marshmallow. :)

Anna Claire LOVES Saylor and Sutton and now they get to see each other every week at Children's Day Out!

Fourth of July/60th Wedding Anniversary

Since Fourth of July was almost 3 months ago, I decided I can finally blog about it :) We had a great time starting out with a festive pedicure...

We drove down to Fairlie, Texas to "the farm" to celebrate the fourth and my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary! Can you believe it?

60 YEARS! We all chipped in and bought them a windmill for their farm. They seemed to like it. Don't they look festive?

We were able to see a lot of family...

Eat some delicious food...

Play with our cousins :)

Dress up the dog...

...and the kids even put on a FANTASTIC Fourth of July show! I don't have a picture of "Miss America" (Julia), but she was stunning. Isn't Anna Claire crazy? She entertained us with many made up songs on the key board and Jack was an incredible announcer.

At the end of the night we set off our own fire works and danced in the yard with sparklers. Aside from Jack almost losing his hearing from a Black Cat, we had a wonderful time! I love summer :) I hope you all had a wonderful 4th with friends and family as well!

Dentist

I finally took Anna Claire for her first dentist visit this summer. I have mentioned before that A.C. does the best if she is prepped with a book of some sort before a "major" event. So...ironically I won a book titled Going to the Dentist from an Usborne rep at school right before school let out. I began reading it to her and booked the appointment. She was precious! She LOVED the atmosphere and I told her I am glad because that is the LAST time Mommy will spend that amount of money on a dentist visit. None the less...she was brave and well behaved and told the dentist and ALL of the nurses that would listen...

"I don't need a shot in my mouth today thank you because I have eaten all of my "begetables"! She may be a LIAR, but at least she is cute, right? I did find out that the "gap" between her teeth is caused by skin growing there, but doesn't need to be clipped or anything and that braces (cha-ching) will fix that in several years. SO...until then we will be gazing at these precious chompers.

I think it adds excellent character, don't you? Don't worry I won't be saying that to her when she is getting ready for her prom! ;)

Did we even go to San Antonio?

This trip feels like it was SO long ago! It was a fun 4 day trip to San Antonio with my fantastic parents and of course the princess. We have loved San Antonio for as long as I can remember with several trips down there over the years. My first time was when I was 3 and my Mom was expecting my sister. We took my cousin Jodi and I thought she was so cool. I would prove how cool she was, but she would kill me for the picture :) I also went to San Antonio in high school for drill team competitions and to watch Lindsey's as well. Needless to say it is a family favorite and here are some of the highlights.

MEXICAN MARKET - only here could you watch little kids dancing to "Grease Lightening" and have a HUGE crowd cheering them on. My child was among the many fans.

SEA WORLD:

Anna Claire LOVED Shamu! What kid doesn't?

But look at the amazement on her face...

and then her looking at me and saying "AWWWW!" Too cute!

She loved the aquarium and all it's beautiful colors. Fishy face!

I turned my flash off and got this cool shot...

Enjoying a very nutritious meal of ham, cheese and strawberries (that of course cost an arm and a leg!)

I think my parents began tiring at this point...

But Pop wasn't too tired to stand in a forever LONG line with Anna Claire to play in this "water park"!

This was Anna Claire's favorite part of the WHOLE day (besides Shamu)! It was an animal show with tons of trained animals (rescued pets) performing stunts and tricks. It was called Waggin' Tails! She was in awe and got to pet a cat at the end.

SALADO:

Our last stop was in Salado and we stayed a night at the Stage Coach Inn and ate at their glorious restaurant! Of course Mom and I squeezed in some Salado shopping. Here is the famous stage coach that I think my sister and I have several pictures by. The tradition continues...

Here we are on the ride home...chicken nuggets, french fries, DVD player...HEAVEN!