Boys and Cars

     The boy has discovered Lightening McQueen. 

    I don't think his fascination with cars, trucks or trains is going to die down anytime soon. He still reads his big truck book from Rebekah daily. But we also read The Little Blue Truck a lot. He lost his mind at Kroger last week when he saw a display of 5 car packages of Hot Wheels. And he is rarely without a train. I don't allow him to eat with a Thomas because they'll rust so he turns his forks, fruit or whatever is handy into imaginary trains. We hear "choo choo" quite a lot. I just love my little guy!

Who's Child is This?

     Our cable and Internet quit working at around 8am on Tuesday. I left the tv on, it was just a black screen, and went on about my day in the back of the house. I started the dryer, put a roast in the slow cooker and checked Audrey's workbook.

     Barker swung by briefly to grab some coaching clothes since he was in a suit, then left about 10am after making a salad to take with him to the shop. I was reading Little Blue Truck for the millionth time with Huddie in the back. I had been reading sight words books with Audrey before Hudson decided it was his turn. After 10-15 min of silence from her I figured I should check on A to make her finish the book.

     I found her in just her underwear, on the couch, eating a dry salad, watching Star Trek! Apparently the cable came back on and what had been BBC News was now Star Trek. I told her she's not allowed to eat on the couch and that she could watch Daniel Tiger after she finished her salad and book. She shoved the salad in her mouth and declared she was watching Star Trek in a very matter of fact manner. Goodness! She might have some hidden nerd genes in her. Who knew? Barker and I have never even seen a single Star Wars movie, let alone Star Trek! We're more likely to be Parrot Heads than Potter Heads.

     I waited until a commercial came on then told her Star Trek was over and turned the TV off. I was afraid Dr. Who might come on and then she'd go full on geek and we'd lose control of the remote forever. 

Monroe

    Barker had to coach 2 games in Monroe after church. Both kids had a blast! 

    The girls are 11 years old and several even have older sisters. So in between games the girls decided to hit up the mall which meant Audrey had friends to sip lemonade and ride a 2 story carousel with. Then they even tried on homecoming dresses! Ha! My big girl was especially big today. 

 

    In the meantime Hudson enjoyed some one on one time with his daddy. 

    A ball and snacks is all it takes to make him happy. Which isn't surprising since he's a combo of myself and Barker.

    My party of four is really enjoying this simple little life in Louisiana. 

Fishy

    We stumbled upon some random outdoor expo this weekend and figured 'why not?' Audrey enjoyed the bounce houses and caught a fish. She looked so proud. 

    Hudson played basketball with his daddy and admired a monster truck and boats. Typical boy stuff, as usual. 

Locks of Love

    When Audrey was about a year old I saw a girl at Little Gym with the most adorable short, stacked hair cut. I just loved it. But Audrey's hair was so curly back then that I thought that wouldn't ever be an option for her. 

    A few weeks ago at soccer camp Audrey made a new friend with, as she called it, short hair...to her neck bumps. And she hasn't stopped talking about cutting her hair off, to the bumps on the back of her neck, since camp ended. I made her sleep on it for a few weeks because I always regret it when I cut my hair. But she was adamant that she wanted to cut her hair off. Okay, its her hair. I assured her that it would grow back slowly should she not like it. And with that we visited the salon. 

    My brave girl climbed into the chair for a wash and was very still while they measured her pony tail. We were both so excited when they confirmed her hair was in fact long enough to donate to Locks of Love, a charity that takes donated hair and makes wigs out of it for children with cancer. 

     So they made the big cut for the wig, then an hour later the big reveal was made. 

     It's even more adorable than I had imagined years ago at Little Gym! She is just cute beyond words. 

Oh and don't worry about Hudson. The salon had a variety of cookies out so he was pretty patient as the stylist carefully shaped Audrey's layers. 

I realize I should have cut his too. He had an appointment. But his hair is so thin above his ears that I don't want to cut it for fear of it looking like a toupee. So I just leave it in this crazy blond mullet and he gets compliments every day. Funny. 

Anyway- best part of Audrey's hair cut...

                   she loves it, too! 

     We especially loved the look on her daddy's face. He had no idea we had been to the Salon. He thought she looked so beautiful and said he just wished Audrey had talked me into getting the same hair cut because he's always much preferred me with short hair compared to the ultra long hair I always keep. I wouldn't be all that shocked if he cut my hair off as I slept then tried to plant the scissors in Hudson's room. 

Happy Happy Joy Joy

My beloved Jeannie got married last week in the most adorable vintage garb complete with blue suede shoes and a bee hive. I've never seen her look more beautiful or elated. She was so nervous she giggled and cried the entire time, which is so typical for her. Here are a few pictures from their very, very happy day. 

The only way I could be happier would be if I was going to the Dominican Republic with them!  

Summer Soccer

Audrey participated in her first ever soccer summer camp last week.

She made crafts, a new friend, and showed off her fancy footwork. She also ate snacks. Lets face it, most things we all consider to be fun are made even better by food. Which is why her regular soccer class group had an end of summer pizza and pool party! Score! It was great. Audrey and Hudson played in the pool with their Daddy hovering above and I actually got to relax a bit and chat with other mommies while I stuffed my face. Paradise!

 

Audrey enjoyed playing summer soccer with this group of adorable kids from her preschool. I think making new friends is her favorite thing about playing soccer, because thus far she's showing my complete lack of competitive nature. 

Next up: fall ball! 

Tickled PINK!

We are all thrilled to be adding another precious girl to our little family, but no one was more excited than sweet Audrey who has been asking for a girl baby for quite some time. I'm so thankful to be able to give her a sister. 

You Say It's Your Birthday

For Audrey's birthday we celebrated on her actual day of birth, just the 4 of us, like we always do. Nothing major. We decorated her door with streamers for when she awoke. I made her waffles with whip cream and sprinkles for breakfast before soccer camp. 

And this is the first year she picked out her own cake. It too had sprinkles. The girl loves sprinkles. But what girl doesn't? 

However she did not like turning 5. Claimed she wasn't ready and didn't feel 5. Some ages do seem more intimidating than others to some people I suppose. 

And we did one last party. From here on out I just plan on letting her have a friend or two stay the night or maybe even take a trip some years. But no more overwhelming parties with 2 dozen friends, relatives, themes, and more stress than I want to deal with. My first baby is a big girl now and would much rather have a sleep over, which is more than fine by me. 

So this year we just did a little splash pad party with her play group friends.

Since it's so hot we had the party in the morning, so I brought various donuts instead of cake. Plus, donuts look like floaties, tubes, you know, since it was a water park birthday party. Ok, ok, I know. It's a stretch. Lamest party I've thrown so far. I'm so over it. Can't you tell? Luckily she doesn't seem to mind. Plus, she loves donuts. Especially those with sprinkles. You're shocked, I know.

Her interview:

favorite color- rojo

what do you want to be when you grow up?- an artist

food- apples and spaghetti with meatballs

movie- Alvin and the Chipmunks

song- the song from Wall-E (an instrumental called Define Dancing by Thomas Newman)

place- the park

toy- Melissa & Doug doll house w/ 4 doors and keys

drink- chocolate milk

friend- Camden and Grayden

smell- strawberries

what do you want?- skates (ouch)

tv show- strawberry shortcake

animal- horse

game- checkers

favorite thing to wear- shirt with red roses on it

Audrey Madison is Five

5 Years Old

Don't ask me how that happened, I'm not sure myself. 

I just know she's made it the best 5 years of my life.