Happy 85th Birthday, Nanny!

We recently celebrated Nanny's 85th birthday with a big barbecue luncheon for about 80 people. It was quite an undertaking but I think everyone had a great time. Family and friends from all over joined us to wish a happy birthday to our Nanny and we sat around eating ourselves silly, telling stories, looking at pictures, and watching the children run around covered in cupcake icing. Emily and Abby had precious matching outfits - and matching icing rings around their mouths by the end of the afternoon! I don't know how many cupcakes they snuck off to eat. Just wanted to share a few photos of our big day with our family.

Posing while we sing to the birthday girl

So delicious!

Twin sisters...almost!

100 birthday cupcakes on a special tower made by Daddy - before the kids got into them!

A Trip to the Circus...Finally!

We actually made it to the circus this time on a night when they were performing! Donald, Emily, and I met up with Mimi, Papa, and Abby at Callaway Gardens to see the Flying Seminoles perform their high-flying act. And hold on to your seats...I drove on the way down. Most of you know that I don't drive unless it's a state of national emergency! Emily's face was priceless...as were all of the "ticks" (tricks) she performed for the spectators during the show. She was so carried away by the acrobats that she wanted to swing around all over the place, too. We spent some quality time in the parking lot letting Donald swing her around after the show to get some of the boogie out of her for the trip home. Both girls had lots of fun eating loads of junk - Emily had never tried cotton candy before and really enjoyed it. And as an added bonus, a woman behind us tried to set me up with her son before she realized that Donald and I were together. That's what I get for going out without my wedding rings! We got some cute pictures with the girls and the performers after the show before whisking Emily into her PJs in the parking lot and heading home. She sang Elvis songs and whispered the story of the Three Little Pigs to herself the whole trip home before finally collapsing as we passed the Cannongate golf ball. What a great way to spend a summer evening!

She's crazy about anything purple

Sugar in a bag...YES!
Performances during the show
You can't see it, but the performer's shins were bleeding!
Those are some tight shiny pants!
Performances after the show

Ready for the drive home!

A Fortunate Mistake

Last Thursday, the Farr House and the White House carpooled to Callaway Gardens to see the circus. The White House car arrived first and discovered, unfortunately, that the information desk at Callaway had given the Farr House the wrong information - the circus wasn't happening that night! We sat and stared at the empty tent for a few minutes with a storm of toddler anger brewing in the backseat. In a desperate attempt to salvage the evening and avoid an Emily-n-Abby-hurricane, we all trotted down to the beach to see what kind of fun was happening. We ended up having a wonderful evening! The girls loved walking in the sand and water - although they wanted to venture too deep and had to be pulled back to the sand. Abby had a great time bungee-jumping on a giant trampoline and Emily loved climbing through the giant blow-up village. They roasted marshmallows with a herd of other children, took lots of pictures, and generally wore themselves out. We tried to stop for ice cream at The Purple Cow in Pine Mountain, but they were closed, too! We really know how to plan a trip! So we stopped at a scary gas station for Cokes and candy for the ride home instead. We're attempting the circus for the second time tonight (don't ask - we made certain that it's happening tonight!) so I'll post pictures of that event tomorrow. Sometimes the worst evenings can be salvaged into something wonderful!

Emily's Rockin' Jailhouse

Emily recently discovered Elvis while Donald was scanning some of our CDs into our iTunes account and has fallen completely in love. It's actually a welcome development - I can now listen to The King in the car instead of the Backyardigans (although I don't mind them so much). She especially loves what she calls "the rockin' jailhouse song." Donald caught this cute video the other morning while they were hanging out in their pjs. I love the way her wild hair bounces around while she's dancing. Enjoy!

Fun in the Tub

Emily spent the evening at Mimi and Papa's house the other night and ended up in the tub for a bath because she had Kroger feet from playing barefoot. I came home just in time to snap this picture of her wrapped up in a plastic shower cap. Isn't she stylish? And waterproof, too! I love how modest she's being by holding up her washcloth. Nobody can accuse her of baring it all on the internet!

Bag Lady

I snapped this funny picture yesterday morning while Emily was playing before church. She insisted on sleeping in one of my Jingle Bell Trail shirts which absolutely swallowed her whole. In the morning, she loaded up her grocery cart with all kinds of things she found lying around the house - I'm still missing a pair of earrings - and shuffled all around the house like a little homeless person. With her wild hair, crazy outfit, and cart full of treasures, she makes quite a picture!

Icecapades

After we finished our supper tonight, Emily performed for us a bit and I was lucky enough to catch it on camera. She calls this trick "scaping." She actually means skating and loves to twirl around wearing her bedroom shoes on the hardwood floors. Tonight she realized that she could skate on all fours if she put bedroom shoes on her hands. She thought it was quadruple the fun!

Pizza Party

Tonight we made pizza together for supper and had a great time making a huge mess in the kitchen! Emily and Donald went to the grocery store this afternoon to pick out everything while I went shopping with Mimi. When they got home, we all went to work. Donald and Emily were in charge of the pizza while I manned the camera (most of you know that I am not much help in the kitchen!). She loved rolling out the dough with her "little roller thing" and helping Donald put all the vegetables on top. After they finished up and put the pizza in the oven, she and I worked together to make an apple crisp - one of the few recipes that I'm good at making - while Donald took some pics. Again, there was lots of mess but lots of fun. I think this is going to become a weekly event!

Looking sassy in Daddy's apron

She loved rolling out the dough!

She kept asking for a "cheesy bite"

T.C. helped to clean up any leftover cheesy bites

Ready for the oven!

More olives went on her fingers than on the pizza

Lots of cinnamon and sugar!
Can somebody please wash my hands???


Finished product - finally!

Trip to the Dentist

Today was my day to visit the dentist and Emily was (initially!) excited to join me and have her teeth "counted" by Dr. Tommy and his staff. I thought it might be a nice introductory visit before she has to go for the real deal. She enjoyed playing in the kids' area and had a blast with Donald while I got my cleaning. She came in to sit with me while Dr. Tommy checked me out and that's when her enthusiasm disappeared! She climbed up in my lap, latched on to my neck, and wouldn't look anyone in the eye. He blew up a rubber glove and drew a silly face on it for her, which caused her to thaw out - but only just a little! Aunt Rita gave her lots of stickers and goodies, which ended the visit on a good note, as did the new Cinderella toothbrush our hygienist gave her. As we were leaving in the car, she suddenly said, 'That Dr. Tommy is such a funny guy!" I guess she liked him more than she wanted to let on in the office!

Getting ready to go inside - Bear came along for comfort

Posing with Dr. Tommy's bear

Check out our pearly whites!

Happy Fourth!

Emily celebrated the Fourth of July with lots of family and friends. We had lunch with Mimi, Papa, Amy, Abby, and Nanny in the afternoon. She had fun running around with Abby for a while and then had to go home to take a nap before heading out to Amy and Lane's house off the square in Newnan for supper and fireworks. She's been begging for about a month to go and see the fireworks and the day had finally arrived! She has been too small for the past two years to stay awake late enough to see the fireworks show in Newnan but she was able to stay up late this year to see her first fireworks. Those of you who know Emily know that she hates loud noises, so we didn't know if her expectations of the fireworks would actually hold out. To our surprise, she loved the show and didn't mind the noise at all. She also loved holding her first sparkler. Hope your Fourth of July was full of family and sparklers!

A rare picture of all three of us - usually one of us is behind the camera!

Two sweet girlsPosing with NannyGetting ready for some corn on the cobSnuggling with MimiSparklers!Giving Scrawny some love Scrawny sported a new circus-lion haircut for the Fourth. Emily loved her poofy tail!

So much fun!
Happy Fourth of July!

Arts and Crafts

When Abby was little, she liked to make what she called "craps." This was sometimes a very appropriate name for the things we turned out! Emily also likes to make crafts, so yesterday evening we visited Mimi and Papa's house for some creative activities. We made bead bracelets with the girls first. This caused everyone's blood pressure to rise significantly, so we finished up and moved on to sewing. Emily got two new dresses and a purse out of the evening. Each of the girls got a hair bow for the Fourth of July and a couple of bracelets. While we worked on sewing and hair bow making, the girls made Play Doh art. How times have changed...Amy and I were NEVER allowed to play with Play Doh inside when we were little!

Getting started on a bracelet

Clowning around with Papa
Abby posing with her creation
Fashionista in her new cherry dress. That hat is actually supposed to be a purse!
The girls stole the bandannas for Emily's dress and played dress-up. Rawr!