The Fox Family

Halloween 2011

2011-11-09T08:11:00.001-08:00

I am just getting around to posting our Halloween pics. We had a great time. Rylie was Dorothy and Cohen was the cowardly lion. These were taken as we were getting ready to head out into the neighborhood with a few friends from church. This is our first Halloween in our new house and the first year that somebody wasn't sick or having a major meltdown. Not to say the cowardly lion didn't have his moments, but when he figured out that when you went up to someone's door and knocked and held out your bag and people put candy in it, he was all about it!

The Cowardly Lion checking out his candy....

Scooby-Doo (Tristan), Dancer (Emma Cate), Dorothy (Rylie), and the Cowardly Lion (Cohen) getting ready to hit the sidewalks!

This was taken at Rylie's preschool. Her friend Logan was dressed as the Scarecrow, so I had to get a picture of the two of them together!

They had a really cute Halloween program and sang lots of cute songs and then went back to the room for a party! I got to help with this one, so I got a few pics!

Pumpkin patch fun!

2011-11-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

Rylie had a class trip to Tate Farms again this year. It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun picking out just the right pumpkins, playing in the corn pit, and seeing all the baby animals. The kids had a blast going down the giant slide and jumping on the huge bouncy mat! She really enjoys her preschool class. I am so glad I get to go with them on fieldtrips. Fun!

Soccer Mania!

2011-10-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

Rylie's first time to play soccer! She was a trooper....she was the only one on the team that hadn't played last year and she may have been the youngest on the team too. She hung in there, though, and didn't give up! They were so cute to watch, even when they scored in the wrong goals! We had a great coach with lots of patience and a fun group of kids. Their team was called the "Jets" and two of her best buds, Kaylen Wilson and Andrew Bolton were also on her team! Fun times!!

I am blessed...

2011-09-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely humbled sometimes by the blessings God has given me....two wonderful children, the best husband I could ever ask for, a great church family to worship with, meeting my needs daily and constantly loving me with Grace and Forgiveness that I am undeserving of....Thank you Lord!!! You are worthy of all praise:)

Growing up so fast!!

2011-08-23T13:55:00.001-07:00

My babies are growing so fast....Rylie started her second year of preschool. She is now going three days a week and I miss her terribly on the days she is in school. She loves it, though, and her teachers are really sweet ladies. Rylie is such a funny girl! She is always cracking us up with the things she says. She loves anything purple and anything with kittens on it. Oh, and glitter. She is a girly girl. She is playing soccer this year for the first time and has done pretty well at practice. Everyone else on her team has played previously and she is one of two girls on the team. (The other is her best friend Kaylen!) Sometimes they get distracted and wander off pretending they are princesses or something! Typical little girls! Cohen is 15 months old now and is such a charmer. If we are out to eat, he will get down and walk by tables and smile and say "hi". He can say "hello", "bye-bye", "da-da", "ma-ma", "here ya go" and "baby". He loves bath time and if you ask if he wants to get out he shakes his head back and forth adamantly and says "un-uh!". He loves cars, trucks and trains and anything he can tinker with. (Like his daddy:) He LOVES music and will dance and nod his head anytime he hears a beat. He has 7 teeth and one more pushing through. I am so thankful for my children...they truly are a blessing from the Lord!

Rylie-isms

2011-08-17T07:48:00.001-07:00

So here are some of the latest:

I was cleaning the stainless steel fridge....
Rylie:"Mom, is the paint you are spraying on there?"
Me: "No. It is stainless steel cleaner."
Rylie: "Oh, I get it. It steals the stains!"

On her nose that had been peeling from sunburn....
Rylie: "Mom, I need some more lotion for my nose."
Me: "Rylie, that was last week. It is all better now."
Rylie: "No, Mom. It still feels rusty."

In the kitchen...
Rylie: "What does that sign say, Mommy?"
Me: "Good Moms have dirty ovens, sticky floors and happy kids." (Pause) "Do you think I am a good Mom?"
Rylie: (mulls it over for a second) "OH YES! You are the best!!"

While Grandmom was giving her a bath...
Rylie: "Oh, no. There is a razor. I don't want it to 'raze' my hair." (Then the razor fell into the tub) "OH NO! IT'S GONNA RAZE MY BUTT!"

I love that silly girl! Thank you, God for my 2 sweet babies:)

The Hotel California via Montgomery, AL

2011-07-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Last week we were psyched and ready for the family vacay to Florida. We had planned to leave early Wednesday morning, but my dear hubby suggested that we load up and leave Tuesday after he got off work. Fun! I spent much of the day packing and trying to make sure we didn't forget anything vitally important and just after lunch it began to rain. Buckets. Did I mention that we had decided to take my mother-in-law's bigger and more comfy SUV on the trip? Seemed like a great idea because it would mean not having to load up the "turtle shell" thingy and put it on top of my car in the rain. (Not to take credit, my dear husband always takes care of that task.) I had already gased up my car, cleaned it out, gone through the car wash and gotten an oil change, but a roomier car would make up for all that prep work into mine. So, what seemed like hours later, we had transferred strollers, car seats, portable high chairs, DVD players and the like into the borrowed vehicle and we headed home to pack up. Soon we were on the road. After a couple of stops we realized that with a 13 month old and a 4 year old, it may serve as more prudent to stop overnight somewhere, say, around Montgomery. After consulting Price-line and the Garmin we discovered a quaint Red Roof Inn, and I called ahead to let them know we would need a room and would be there in roughly 15 minutes. The super friendly voice on the phone asked me if I would like an inside or outside room, and I chose an inside on the third floor. (First red flag being the question inside or outside room. Hmmm.) Let me preface by saying I am a former flight attendant. By that I mean I have seen my fair share of hotels, including one in NYC called the Milford that we referred to as the "Mildew". But I digress. Upon arrival, we had to circle the building twice to locate the entrance. No signage, and it was on the side of the building. (Red flag number two.) By deductive reasoning we found the tiny porthole serving as the entrance and unloaded our tired kiddos to find our room. The lobby was modest, but the staff (of one) very friendly. She checked us in and off we went. Upon leaving the elevator, we rounded the corner and I felt a bit of a surge of adrenaline. Was it from excitement, you ask? No. Have you ever seen "The Shining". You know the one. I half expected twin girls at the end of the hallway or Jack Nicholson peering from around the corner. We quickly found our room and entered. Yowza....the kids headed for the bed but as their faces started for the comforter, I am pretty sure I yelled "NYOOOOOOO!!!!" and dove head first before them to strip the comforter off the bed. There were mysterious stains on the furniture and rug, and I kid you not, a wad of gum behind the headboard. I went immediately into the bathroom and discovered some unsightly hairs clinging to the inside of the toilet bowl. EWWW. By this point, the pack and play (ours...NOT BELONGING TO THIS ROACH MOTEL) was set up and the kids were tired. I bathed Rylie in the shower and almost passed out when she went to pick something up from the bottom of the tub, because I thought she was going to sit down. The kids were ready for bed and I suddenly realized there were no extra blankets for the pack and play. Dilemma. Do I risk my life by going down to our car to get ours or risk scabies by borrowing a blanket from downstairs. I had already literally sniffed the sheets (No, really LITERALLY...picture me going from bed to bed sniffing pillows and sheets) and they all smelled freshly washed, so I ventured downstairs to the front desk figuring it would be easier to get antibiotics than to try to recover from a stray bullet. The lady at the desk was nice, and went to retrieve my linens. She returned with a sheet that she assured me was "new" and also found a baby blanket, commenting that maybe they used to have cribs here? Don't worry...I sniffed it too. As I walked away she asked me if everything was ok. I hesitated and then told her about the small hairs in the toilet. After offering to come and clean it or asking me if I would like some bleach (REALLY!?) I politely declined, and rushed back up stairs praying that a random act of violence didn't happen to me in the hallway. Did I mention that our room overlooked the pool, which apparently had to be well lit ALL night long and the minuscule shades did not black this out. It reminded me of the pool scene from National Lampoon's Family Vacation. Seriously. Anyway, after Cohen woke up 3 time during the night screaming like a banshee and then thrashed the rest of the night like a fish out of water with me in the full bed, I looked at my clock which read 6:00 am and I was ready to go. I showered and got dressed and we all headed down for breakfast. (Side note: No one was allowed to go barefoot in that room, and had I had water shoes, Rylie would have worn them in the shower. Also, I actually put toilet paper down on the seats for her to go pee pee and touching any remote control was banned. Don't Judge me. Have you ever seen those 20/20s with the black lights in the hotel rooms. EWWW.) Anyway, after a lovely breakfast downstairs in which there was no high chair so my 13 month old sat in his adult chair and ate a muffin in a style akin to that of a log going into a mulcher (muffin explosion) and my excited 4 year old chatting non-stop, much to the chagrin and raised eyebrows of the businessmen with their laptops and/or papers all around, we were at last free from our stay at the Bates Motel a'la the movie "Psycho". We walked out into the warm breeze which smelled of a rotten egg baking on a pile of dung and loaded our kids up. As I attempted to buckle Rylie in, I placed the two barely-touched-but-opened milk cartons on top of the car.We had checked out and were on to greener pastures. As I smiled at Stewart through the other side, where he was buckling in Cohen, the breeze picked up, and suddenly a tsunami of white came down upon me, dripping down my head, onto my clothes, legs and shoes. One can only laugh at times like these. Thank you Lord, for humbling situations that cause you to look at life a little less seriously!

My cup overfloweth....

2011-06-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

Ummmm....my sweet neighbor invited us over so the kids could paint with her sidewalk paint. Rylie decided Cohen needed a little painting too. Don't worry...it is non-toxic and washed right off!

I hope these kids know just how much joy they bring into my life daily. Maybe one day they will look back at these pics and know. They are the apples of their Mommy and Daddy's eyes. Thank you, Lord for these sweet babies!!

This is Rylie and her friend Andrew. They were cracking us up acting like they were consulting their "maps" for which way to go!!

2011-06-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

We rented some library books and one was a story about a rooster who was baking strawberry shortcake. It had a recipe in the back, so Rylie really wanted to make one...here she is with her finished creation:)

Like Father, Like Son....

A girl's gotta look stylish when doing sidewalk art....

Decided to give herself a marker mustache...

Check out the new teeth...

Fun at Biscuit's Backyard:)

Rylie says she is marrying Tripp and Kaylen says she is marrying Cohen so that Rylie and Kaylen can be sisters. The girls are 2 years and 4 years older than the boys, thus Dawn and I lovingly refer to them as the "cougs" aka cougars! Haha!

Last day at preschool riding bikes with Andrew and Kaylen.

Lined up all her Barbies in the hall with one Ken and said "Mommy, what is that show where they give out the roses?" HAHAHAHA! Too much Bachelor watching around here!

A day at the Spoiled Rockin' Kids Salon...A trim, glitter for her hair, vanilla scented hairspray, and a purple balloon! What could be better?

Cohen's 1st Birthday

2011-05-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Friends (Greenlee)

....(Tristan)

Rylie and Mommy

opening gifts...

...ready for cake:)

favors and other fun decorations....

I can't believe my baby boy is already one! The year has gone by in a flash!! We had a great birthday party for our little "Buckaroo" with lots of family and friends. We had little pony cupcakes (I got the idea from "Hello, Cupcake" a fabulous book of cute cupcakes)and my traditional cookies on a stick, this time consisting of horses, horeshoes and "1" s. We served haystacks, "little doggies" (aka pigs in a blanket),ranch dip and chips and lots of drinks labeled "the watering hole". I used lots of burlap and bandana print for decor and made him a little banner saying "Happy Birthday, Cohen". My sister gave me a highchair that is an antique and used to be her girls' and I painted and distressed it to look rugged and little boy-ish:) We sang happy birthday and Cohen had his own cowprint cake with a "1" cookie that looked like a bandana, but our little cowboy didn't like the cake so much...too much for him I guess! So after a wardrobe change, he opened lots of fun gifts and gave out favors of "baby" trail mix (yogurt melts, freeze dried fruits and cheerios)labeled "happy trails to you, thanks for coming to my party! Love, Cohen!" and everyone got a stuffed cow. Thanks everyone for making our little buckaroo's day special and THANK YOU GOD for our wonderful children!! You have blessed us so richly:)

Tail feathers

2011-04-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

A warm spring day....the sun shining through the picture window in the kitchen and onto the kitchen table, where my kids are sitting...enjoying an afternoon snack. Very serene. I see that they are occupied and content and round the corner to straighten the living room whilst my little tornadoes are distracted in a moment of culinary bliss. Just as I knelt to collect a lone sock I heard a sound that sounded as if one of my kids had body-slammed the window, and in a nano-second ran through the possibilities (Cohen...negative. He is secured in his high chair and is a wee 11 months old. Rylie...nahhh. Doesn't possess the speed or trajectory for that noise.)As the adrenaline surged through my body, I entered the kitchen and quickly assessed my surroundings as my heart pounded. Whew! Kids still in place and intact. But wait....what is that running, no, OOZING down my kitchen window!?! Rylie could only look at me in horror and shudder as she murmured something incomprehensible with a look of someone who may need therapy in the future for what she just witnessed. Cohen just kept munching his graham cracker. Upon further inspection, I saw a few feathers had adhered to the window and realized that one not-so-lucky fowl just went to the big coop in the sky right before my children's eyes. Not only that, but it looked as if it pretty much exploded on impact with my window. Gross. After getting a few details...Me:"Rylie what did you see?" Rylie:"It was big...feathers...grey..." I went outside to see what might be left of the victim. You know that feeling you get if you think a bug or even a mouse is going to run across your shoe or even in your general vicinity? That is how I am with fluttery birds. Don't like that. I braced myself and rounded the house, looked up and gave Rylie a little wave and a half-hearted-mommy-is-brave smile. My chest tightened as I approached the crash site and I didn't see anything. Whew, again. I turned to look for the hose to wash off the remains and there a few feet away was a LARGE grey bird, face down. Nope, not going NEAR that. If it moved I might have a spasm and I don't think my daughter needs to witness two traumatizing events in one afternoon. I did the only thing I could. I called Stewart. What a good husband:) He came home after work and took care of the bird, which turns out was a pretty sizable dove who was missing part of his face. I know where he could find the rest of it....Jeez!

Kiddos and furniture makeovers

2011-03-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

This is a table I scored from Craig's List for $10. I needed some new pieces for our new house, so I ran to Lowe's and grabbed some paint for .50 cents and voila! After a little elbow grease and some distressing, our coffee table was complete! Rylie really enjoyed helping me make it look "old"! Sweet girl!

This is Rylie and her "traption" aka contraption. You see, we have been having a bit of an ant problem and she got up one morning, found about 10 random parts around the house and built this ant detector. She wasn't quite satisfied until she raided daddy's closet and donned this hat, completing her Ant Buster look! She went around checking the corners for ants and where they might be entering our house:)

I don't think that my kids will ever know how much joy they bring into our lives. Stewart and I just look at them and smile and are so thankful for them and the way that God watches over them and protects us. Below are some pics from Cohen's baby dedication at our church. He was really hamming it up in front of the congregation. I sincerely hope that Stewart and I can raise these sweet babies to realize how much the Heavenly Father means to us and that he will abide in their hearts one day as well. I will post more about our visit to the ER later, but I am tired now:) Goodnight!

Rylie-isms

2011-03-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

Rylie: "Mom, I am the mama lion and Cohen is the daddy lion. He is going to work and I am gonna pack his lunch....
Me: "What do you pack in a daddy lion's lunch?"
Rylie: "Oh, you know, dead stuff. Like Wildebeasts, Ducks...oh, yeah and some butterflies."

Meanwhile....this little lion has his first tooth! He is about 20lbs and came in at a whopping 90th percentile on the height chart at his 9 month check up. He will be 10 months next week and he is "cruising" everywhere, you know...pulling up on furniture and using it to hold on to while he walks! Busy boy:) He claps and says "yay" and is sooo smiley most of the time!

My babies:)

2011-02-09T12:04:00.001-08:00

My, how my babies have grown! These are current pics of Cohen and some pics of Rylie when she was the same age. He will soon be 9 months old and he is "army crawling" (meaning that he refuses to get up onto his knees to crawl, thus looking a bit like an inchworm as he goes across the floor at alarmingly fast speeds!). He is quite the eater, and there isn't much that he will turn down. He says "mama", "da-da" and yells at Rylie alot. He is very friendly and he tries to pull up on any object that he feels will support him these days. (Sometimes this does not end well for our little adventurer.)He definitely has Stewart and myself on our toes. As for big sis Rylie, she is busy keeping barbie shoes out of his mouth and can't understand why he constantly wants to be in her room "messing up" her stuff! Oh, little brothers!

Rylie is into the 2nd half of her first year at preschool, where she attends 2 days a week. She loves her class and her teachers and is really learning a lot. She is recovering nicely from the scary accident that happened about a week ago. (For those who didn't hear, the blinds fell on her face at the rental house where we are living while we are in transition between buying and selling houses.) Her face was cut pretty badly, but we parise God for protecting her eyes. She is going to have a bit of a scar on her forehead, but I told her that the scars people have are kind of like little stories and she will always have one to tell when people ask about it. In the craziness and hurry of the move, I have misplaced my camera charger, so I don't have any recent pictures to post. We are set to move sometime next week, so I will post as soon as I get set up:)

Oh what a beautiful morning....

2010-11-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

The weather was fabulous yesterday, as it is today. We bounded out of bed, ready for a day at the park with friends. As I wrangled my three year old into her outfit for the day, trying on two pair of shoes before realizing that she had out grown them, hence the reluctance at my cramming her foot into them, I realized that we were two minutes away from our arranged meeting time at the park and we weren't even in the car yet. Then I remembered that the lone pair of sneakers that still fit her (aptly dubbed "my fast running tennis shoes" by my dear toddler) were left behind at my mother-in-laws house after our last visit. So I grabbed our lunches, which I had previously packed on the fly, and whisked my kiddos out the door. As I strongly encouraged my toddler to hurry and I loaded the baby, something orange and fluffly caught my eye at the end of the driveway. I got "Oh, no..." out before I could stop myself, as I realized what it was. You see, we have 3 or 4 ferrell cats that wander around our neighborhood catching small prey and vermin. At least two of them have taken up partial residence in our backyard, due to the rampant chipmunk population I would surmise. Well, this orange furball at the end of our driveway was one of them. As Rylie repeatedly said "Oh, no, what? Mommy?" I strapped her in her carseat and said "Oh, nothing!" as nonchalantly as possible, shoving barbies that were stockpiled in the floorboard in her lap as a distraction. I cautiously approached the kitty, who appeared to be sunbathing as I tried to convince myself, knowing the worst was really the truth. I sheepishly called out "Kitty!" as if it would miracoulously perk up and run away. Alas, it appeared to have recently met its demise on our busy road, so I promptly called my husband and backed out of the driveway, careful to avoid our friend who had passed on. (Hey, don't judge me! How was I to get the cat in the trash without the curious stares of my 3 year old?) I quickly drove the 2 blocks to my in-laws house and grabbed the tennis shoes en route to the park, placing a call to my friend who by now had been waiting oh so patienly at the park for us to arrive. We arrived at the park and I sat down to enjoy a sip of my ice cold water I had filled my rubbermaid water bottle with. With saddened thoughts of the cat on my mind I somehow slammed the end of the water bottle into my lip, tus busting my lip in the process. Really?! I went to the rear view mirror to check it out and sure enough, blood was covering my upper teeth and for a moment, I thought I had chipped my front eye tooth as well! Upon further inspection, this was fortunately not the case. In the meantime one of the boys in our playgroup had run to the top of the hill and all you could see was his siloutte, releaving himself on the backside of the bathroom building! Soon after, my 5 month old blew his diaper up his back, requiring a full strip down and mini-bath on the grass at the playground! I regrouped and gathered up my troops because we were all in the beggining stages of our children having melt-downs. We loaded up and I thought, I will just swing by Wally-world and print out some pictures of Cohen for his scrapbook, now that I am officially 3 1/2 months behind on that project! I got the kids out of the car, making the snap decision to put my 3 year old into the car sans-shoes, because she had removed them en route and I was tired myself by this point. I told her she couldn't get down and off we went. In the oh-so-inconvenient floorplan of Walmart, the photo center is located in the rear of the store, so I hoofed it back there only to discover that the instant photo kiosk was broken down and wouldn't be up until the next day! Gotta love Walmart! About halfway back throught the store my dear toddler began to chant that she needed to potty, with some urgency I might add. As you will recall, she has no shoes (uggghhh!) so I disregarded the no unpaid merchandise sign at the restroom door and took my kids, cart and all, into the ladies restroom. (I dared someone to challenge me after the morning I had had:) I hoisted Rylie onto my shoes (we are not about to Britney Spears it barefoot in the public restroom) and precariously dangled her over the toilet so she could go. After situating her back into the cart, I realized that she could not reach the sink to wash her hands (really, really tired at this point) I ran by the service desk and grabbed the hand santitizer to ward off whatever strains of germ she had aquired in the stall in question. On the way home there was a thump-thump-thumping coming from one of my front tires. I kept driving, thinking to myself if I ignore it it might go away. When my dear hunbby got home I had him inspect the car and he found a huge screw and bolt wedged in the tire and he fixed it for me:) Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Getting Bigger...

2010-10-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Cohen is growing like a weed...he is 5 months old and weighs 17+ lbs. He is eating rice cereal and rolling over now. He loves toys and loves his big sister! His eyes light up when he sees her and he can't stop watching her:) Rylie is the sweetest little girl...she will be 4 soon! I can't believe it! We were reading a bible story about the widow who fed Elija and God blessed her, so Rylie wanted to do something for our neighbor (who I had explained was a widow). She picked out a birdhouse when we were at a neighborhood church's rummage sale and said she wanted to paint it for her. She is very thoughtful...it was all her idea! So we went home and she painted the birdhouse and made her a card and we took it next door. I am so proud of her! Thank you God for the blessing of my children and showing your love through them:)

Owl always love you

2010-09-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

I have been redecorating Rylie's room, so I made her an owl to match her bedding. Here she is holding her...she named her owl Pearl.

We went camping this weekend and it was a fun and relaxing time. Mom and Haleigh came to visit and bring cake. It is bad when you have so many candles you have to light them with a blow torch!

Who can resist these chubby legs?

4 months old! He rolled over the day he turned 4 months old and he slept 7 hrs that night! Whoo-hoo! Thank you, God, for our sweet baby boy:)

Here is my sweet girl...she is getting so big and can ride that bike like a pro now! She suprised me with a birthday card that she had written her name in perfectly! She has been practicing so hard:) Stewart got me a Cricut machine...let the projects begin! I am so excited:)

Rylie and Cohen

2010-09-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

One of Rylie's favorite pasttimes, and probably one of Cohen's least favorite....

Rylie Kate

This was first thing in the morning...they both still have sleepy eyes! Oh, and yes, they were both in our bed!

Rylie dresses herself these days...note the creative use of multiple patterns in one ensemble. She also has on a navy blue and green patterned shirt under the orange one. Never dull, that is her motto!

Cowboy and Cowgirl day at preschool! She was so excited:)

A big belly laugh because he got to sit up in his crib! He was big stuff!

My sweet niece Breanna is growing up too fast! She is the oldest of my sister's girls and I had a photo shoot with her...so pretty!

Grandmom and her grandkids!

Breanna, Cohen, Haleigh and Rylie

Breanna

Fun times

2010-08-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Rylie's best bud Kaylen got to come home from preschool with her yesterday. They had sooo much fun and were so excited about it. They even wore their matching outfits that Dawn and I bought them, complete with matching pigtails!

Sweet girls!

Rylie and I had craft day this week and made critters out of egg cartons. (Salmonella free!) Pictured from left to right: a turtle, a "callerpitter", Rylie, a patch of carrots with a bunny peeking out, and a ladybug. The shoebox is Rylie's own creation...she painted it and glued shells inside and added lots of glitter and told me it was for a wedding!

This is a table I scored at a garage sale for $2.00 and I revamped it. It was solid black, so I painted and decoupaged it for a kids table. (See my other blog for more pics:)

Can you spot the real baby? Yes, that is Cohen on the far right. Rylie thought he could use some company in his crib, so she added a few babies of her own:)

Mamie and Cohen! Mamie, Papaw and Grandma Fox came to visit and have lunch after church last Sunday...Cohen had fun playing with Mamie!

All dressed up in his hat and tie!

Rylie is my helper! She is such a sweetie and loves to help clean, do laundry, wash dishes, sweep, cook....ahhh, if only it would last! She was washing windows in her jammies here!

Tummy time! He hates it! I only got a few pics before the fussing began! He is such a good natured little thing...I feel bad making him do it!

Sweetest boy ever! His eyes are starting to look a bit hazel, like mine! We went to his 3 month checkup a week ago and he weighed 15lb 7 oz and was in the 97% for height and 86% for weight! This week we had to go back because he has a cough and he weighed 16 lbs! Chunky Monkey! I love to squeeze him! He has to take an antibiotic now, so keep him in your prayers, please. It is hard to administer oral antibiotics to a 3 month old....he keeps spitting it out!

New Blog

2010-08-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

HI! Everyone! I have a second blog now, one dedicated to crafts, deals and recipes pretty much! Check it out : www.carrotstewcarrotstew.blogspot.com

Rylie's first day of preschool and other goings-on....

2010-08-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

August...the hottest month of the year and yet I can't deny my toddle the pleasure of washing our car...(I practically begged her to just let us take it through the car wash, but she would hear nothing of the sort!). So, we got out there and washed my jeep and when daddy got home from work, Rylie decided his truck was dirty too. I thought it was too cute, the way she stretched so far to get as high as she could! The bottom 3 1/2 feet of his truck look great:)

We went grocery shopping today.....$130 of groceries for $67! Woo-hoo! We also had a fun playdate with 3 of Rylie's friends. Yesterday was a milestone in the Fox household...Rylie started preschool! She is going 2 days a week and she is sooo excited! So without further ado, here are some pics of her first day!

We got up and had a special breakfast of blueberry pancakes, eggs and bacon. (Ariel dined with Rylie, as pictured).

After donning her new first day of school outfit and accessories, she posed for a few pics. We had her backpack and a matching lunchbox with her name, but then she decided she had rather carry her princess lunchbox instead.

A classic shot....my mom has one just like this of me on my first and last day of school. She has the same of my sister, and my sister has taken this picture of her girls on their first day. It is tradition...

This is the craft she made her first day...they had a beach theme and they made a mini-beach scene! She was so proud. I found it in the refrigerator today...not sure why it was there?!

I have several projects that are ongoing. This is the first to reach completion. Pantry makeover!

BEFORE:

AFTER...

Hopefully, more projects to follow!

Rylie, doing one of my workout videos with her "weights"

too cute not to post...a smile for the ladies!

She loves her brother!

My babies:)

love the look on Cohen's face....

my fave!

Cohen's first smile and other pics...

2010-07-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

" Sloppy Joe, Sloppy Sloppy Joes"....the Lunchroom Lady-land song floods my head as I strive to make creative lunches for my toddler...this is an idea I got from a mail-out I received recently. Banana + peanut butter + whole grain hotdog bun = smiles all around. This was a fun lunch...thought I would pass it on to my fellow mommies.

The men in my life.....They were so cute, lying there tandem on the sofa watching the tube. Love them! They both had on their little striped polos, too.

Is there anything sweeter than SLEEPING children! So peaceful....my babies after a hard day of play. The only thing wrong with this picture...they are in our bed! There were 4 in the bed and the little one said, roll over! Thank you Lord, for our King sized bed:)

My chunky monkey at 2 months. Sweet baby!

This boy absolutely LOVES his mobile. We can lay him in the crib and turn it on and he immediately smiles. When it stops, he will fuss a bit until we wind it up again. It has cute little animals, including a fox of course!

Cohen has started to smile and coo....so cute! He is 2 months old now and weighs 14 lbs! He is a healthy little thing:)

This picture says it all...Rylie would be content squeezing her little brother all day long. I have to limit the "squeeze" time each day. She likes to say, "Mommy, can I pet him?" I suppose he is a bit like a little pet to her. She adores him!

Rylie and Stewart displaying their hands after working on the truck in the garage. We love "Goop" at our house....great for getting grease off hands both large and small! Just last night I saw a commercial for Arm and Hammer detergent with OxiClean and I yelled out "THAT STUFF IS GREAT!" Stewart looked at me in astonishment and commented on how old we were getting when I got really excited over detergent! HAHA! I could be their spokesperson, what with all the grease and baby poop that stuff has cleaned lately!

4 generations of Foxes....love those pics!

Cohen James relaxing on the sofa at 1 month....such a sweetie. Yesterday he pooped on me and this morning he peed on my pillowcase while I was changing him on the bed. Surprise attacks from my wee boy...gotta be on your toes with this one.

Baby Cohen and my first outing with 2 kids:)

2010-06-11T11:39:00.001-07:00

He's here! May 16th little Cohen James made his appearance, a day before I was scheduled to be induced, weighing in at 8lb 3oz and 20 inches, about 2 1/2 weeks before his actual due date! Praise be to God the Father for this healthy baby boy! We thank you Lord for our two beautiful gifts from above! A more doting sister you would be hard pressed to find than our little Rylie...she LOVES her brother! He is smothered in hugs and kisses daily and if you come to see us, she will likely ask you to wash your hands! Her current favorite past-time is "petting" Cohen, as she likes to say!

As I write this entry, it is early afternoon, and already I have been pooped on, peed on (twice) and showered in a bit of spit-up. I have just finished bathing Cohen and showering, and he is now eating for the ump-teenth time today as I type left-handed and juggle him. You can seriously set your watches by his feeding schedule...precisely every 2 hours, although we are working on trying to stretch that out a bit (all you Baby-wise followers give me a break!) He had already packed on over 1 pound and 2 inches in length by his due date...so we are doing well. He is good natured, except when pushed past feeding time, so I can't complain!

My first outing was to the pediatrician, with both children scheduled for well-visit check ups, Cohen's being his 2 week. I was flying high, ready to conquer this task alone as a mommy of two now! We sailed through the appointment, even arriving on time, and then the Dr. called in some vitamins for Cohen, to be picked up at our preferred pharmacy, ours being Target. So off we went, new sit-n-stand stroller in tow! I loaded up the kiddos and headed inside, making a quick detour to the gym clothes that were on sale. After selecting a few items that looked promising, it was off to the fitting room where I encountered my first obstacle. You CANNOT get that double stroller into the handicapped fitting room, so I resorted to unstrapping the car seat and carrying Cohen while guiding Rylie along beside me. After being brought back to the reality of seeing that I had not bounced back to my former glory after a mere 2 weeks (imagine that?!?) of giving birth, I returned all the spandex but one item to the fitting room attendant and headed over to the pharmacy. Just as I approached, Cohen started his engine, letting me know there was about to be a full-scale screech if I did not get him to the milk pronto. So, I told the pharmacist I had to make a quick detour and headed back to the fitting room. This time, I extracted Cohen from his seat and grabbed Rylie and my purse in one faille swoop and off we went, with a quick smile to the attendant, asking if I could borrow a fitting room. As we whisked by she nodded with a smile as if to say "better you than me" and we procured the nearest room, which incidentally did not lock . This was to be discovered moments later, when Cohen was securely latched and someone burst in to catch a quick glimpse of me sitting with my baby nursing and my toddler salivating over her bag of jelly beans that I would not let her eat until we had them weighed and paid for. It was about that time that Rylie started what I like to call the pee-pee dance and started shouting " Mommy, I 've got to go potty!" To this, I quickly detached Cohen and sailed out of the fitting room, grabbing the stroller and heading to the nearest bathroom, which was occupied. I began saying (rather loudly) "HOLD ON BABY, SOMEONE IS IN THERE!" and soon they got the hint and came out. We went inside, and I quickly reattached the baby to resume feeding, while grabbing my toddler and gingerly placing her on the strategically placed strips of tissue on the toilet seat. We finished up and washed our hands and headed out, determined to go straight to the pharmacy and grab our vitamins and go home. Upon arriving, our pharmacist said "oh, about that..." and proceeded to tell us that they didn't carry that kind and I would need to go to CVS or the like. Oh, yes, and I forgot to mention, when selecting the said jellybeans, Rylie first choose some seemingly harmless gummy bears coated in sugar. I told her she could eat ONE and she popped it into her mouth. About three isles later I looked down to see her eyes, like big brown saucers, looking up at me and watering profusely. About the same time, I could smell the cinnamon and putting 2 and 2 together deduced that those were in fact red-hot-cinnamon bears instead of gummies. Luckily I had ice water with me and we put out the flame and went back to choose the less offensive-to-your-senses yellow jelly beans. We went to pay for the few groceries we had procured and left the store. After a quick jaunt into Walgreens to get the vitamins, we headed home and it was then that I discovered that one bag of groceries had been left at Target, paid for! So much for super-mommy status! :)

What's been going on....

2010-05-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

I had a fabulous Mother's Day with my two favorite people, Rylie and Stewart of course! They had the most beautiful bouquets of roses, one large white bouquet and one from our private collection that grows on a trellis on the side of our house. They bloom every year around Mother's Day, so it is tradition that some of those are harvested in addition to the store-bought roses! Stewart's first attempt at making French toast proved to be successful...yum! They also had a sweet card in which Rylie drew a smiley face and a gift certificate to a local spa!! Wonderful! Thanks, you two, for a special day! The picture above is Rylie showing off the painting I did for my Mom for Mother's Day....

Here is our girl applying some of Mommy's lipstick that she found in the bathroom! Can't leave them alone for a second!

Rylie's first dance recital....she proudly got on stage and performed with her peers, however, by the time the recital started we had been there for 3 hours practicing and prepping, so she was pretty much exhausted and over the whole thing! She did great though...I was so proud of her for getting up there and she was the youngest in her class!

A lovely side-view of my gia-normous belly! I am all set to deliver Monday if he doesn't appear before then:)

My latest craft.....I give credit to Kelly Martin for posting a link to this cute and easy craft on her blog (thanks, kelly!). I promptly went to Lowe's and got supplies and voila.....new coasters! My old ones were a bit worse for the wear anyway:)

Have a great weekend and keep us in your prayers....baby Cohen will be here soon!

2010-05-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

Stop by Starbucks May 7th-May 16th to get a Frappuccino blended beverage for half price! Happy hour last from 3-5 pm. Go here for more information. Yum! I would be all over this one if it weren't for the retched gestational diabetes! Maybe they have something decaf/sugarfree??? Anyway, props to SouthernSavers.com for the info. I love that site.....

Speaking of, this has been a good week for grocery shopping at Publix...I spent $54 and some change and saved almost $55 with coupons and sales. Even scored some free lunch meat, deoderant and neosporin:) If you go to this site, this week is BOGO on Sarah Lee bread and there are tearpads in the store that make your bread about .25-.30 cents a loaf if used with the online coupon. Happy Couponing!

Stewart decided to put the environmentally safe sticky traps in the back yard to catch little critters (aka chipmunks, which he hates). Before you say how nice that is to catch and release them, I am pretty sure he has plans for their demise upon capture. The other traps just weren't working! Today Rylie and I went in the backyard and there was a SNAKE caught in the sticky mess! I promptly called my hubby and he came home, got it out and concluded that it was not poisonous and released it down the street in a wooded area....hmmmm. Now THAT I wouldn't have minded if he killed off. The irony!

I had a OB appt. today....all is well with my little (maybe not so little) man. He is scheduled to make his appearance May 21, God-willing, via induction. Please keep us in your prayers. God is great and faithful to complete the good works he has started in us! I speak for all of the Fox family to say we are getting excited to meet Cohen:)

Rylie has her first dance recital Saturday....they are the cutest little things you have ever seen, all dressed up in their flower costumes! The routine may be a little rusty, but their cuteness makes up for their precision! Pictures will follow....

Have a great weekend and a wonderful Mother's Day....Children are a blessing from the Lord! Thank you, God!

The last few weeks...

2010-04-08T12:59:00.001-07:00

We are slowly but surely getting the nursery ready for baby Cohen James Fox's arrival.....notice the decor has foxes on it!
Here are the canvases I painted to match the quilt and bumper pads....

It is getting there...a bit more painting and equipping with baby necessities and we will be ready for the little bambino!

Yesterday Rylie and I ventured out to Old MacDonald's petting zoo in Woodville, AL. If you haven't gone before, you should definitely check it out. They are actually going to retire and close it down Aug. 1st, so make your plans! It is a short trip from HSV! Rylie kept calling this Llama Allie.....

Feeding the little goats...Farmer Fox!

The highlight of her trip...holding baby bunnies!

Petting the deer...

There were 2 baby goats there only 1 1/2 days old! So tiny they could fit in your purse like Paris Hilton's chihuahua! The cutest things ever!

A quick lunch break.....

Back to feeding the animals!

Easter weekend was rough for our household. Rylie had been sick for 2 days prior to Easter, and then in the wee hours of Easter eve, Stewart got super sick! Rough day for my "peeps"....(sorry for the pun!) Anyway, here is my little bunny at 6:30 am checking out her Easter basket!

We managed to get outside long enough for a few pics....no Easter dress, just hunting a few eggs.

Posing by daddy's beautiful tulips. He plants tons of them every year for us...they are my favorite!

Found one!

This was the previous week, when we dyed the eggs.....can't you smell the vinegar??

70's disco party at our church marriage retreat...fun times! Stewart won "best suit"!

Me with my fellow Charlie's Angels, Rebecca and Angela. Everyone tells me and Angela we look like twins!

Me and my honey, 70's style! I totally left this dress at the hotel in Florence, so if anyone is up that way......

New pics...

2010-03-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

Rylie really likes to pose for pics these days, which is a good thing, since Stewart bought me a cool new camera and I love taking pictures with it!

She came into the office and said "look mommy" and then proceeded to drop the stuffed animal out of her shirt as if giving birth....hmmmm. I know I can only dodge the question "how is that baby gonna come out of your tummy?" so many times.....

One of her favorite haunts.....Biscuit's Backyard! We can't get enough of that place:)

Strutting her stuff on the catwalk at my dear friend Hollie's little girl's 2nd birthday party. They had a blast dressing up and taking turns down the runway. This was the finale....

Stewart had a minor headache, but Rylie felt that he needed her Hello Kitty ice pack on his forehead. Such a good little nurse!

A tea party with some of her little girl friends from dance class. They munched on heart shaped cookies and all got decked out in princess dresses for the occasion. So much fun!

Visiting Grandmom at work....Rylie had to model just about every pair of children's glasses and , you guessed it, wanted me to take her picture in each pair!

Sipping some of BB's famous peach tea.....we all went for a visit and BB always has fun things planned for the girls! She is like another grandmother to them!

BB had boas, purses and earrings for the little ladies. They had a blast dressing up:)

Grandmom, Breanna, Rylie, BB, and Haleigh, posing with a reluctant cat!

I don't have many pictures of my baby bump....I had better get snapping, so I can fill up Cohen James's baby book!

Rylie practicing her dance moves.....she is in the hot pink!

Posing in her "hostess" attire. We had been making cookies and preparing for her friends to arrive. This is one of her favorite poses.

Once again, my little model in action.....

My sweet girl....we love her so much! It is great to be a parent! Thank you, Lord:)

Snow Days!

2010-02-20T16:02:00.000-08:00

With all the crazy weather we have been having lately, I thought I would post some pics of our snow day fun! In this pic, Rylie and Stewart are feverishly trying to make a snowman. This is a bit more challenging to us southern folk I guess, not being accustomed to all this accumulation. Rylie bailed about 2 minutes after this picture was taken, saying she was freezing. Alas, she is a lightweight, much like her mommy!

Cheesing in the snow! I loved the snowflakes falling all around us:)

My snowbunny!

So excited....she kept wondering when Santa would be here, what with all the snow we were getting!?

Throwing snowballs at daddy! She kept throwing them to our dogs, too, and they would eat them. She thought that was hilarious:)

Help!!! We need a baby name:)

2010-02-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

So our second child will be a boy and we CANNOT agree on a name!! The one we have jointly agreed upon, we can't seem to agree on the spelling!

So give us your feedback, positive OR negative:

1) Cohen James Fox
2) Koen James Fox

The fate of our second-born's name may lie in your hands!!!HAHAHA!

New Coupon Deals this week at Publix

2010-01-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

ok, my fellow couponers...as some of you know I have recently decided to become a coupon user and have thus saved $$$ doing so on our grocery bills. I want to share my finds with those of you who are interested in saving some cash!

A few tips to get started:

SouthernSavers.com is the bomb! This is where you will find most of the links to various coupons you will need. Just log into their site and click on Publix. There, you will find a list of their Buy-one-get-one deals.

Only choose the things you will use, not everything, so as not to get overwhelmed. Pay special attention to the coupons highlighted in blue, because these are printables and are most accessible.

Lastly, keep any coupons you may need from newspapers, magazines, etc. They are bound to go on sale soon. Also, when you walk into Publix (where the carts are) there are yellow and green flyers that can be used along with coupons you bring in the store. Also, you CAN buy only one of the BOGO items and get it at half price (sometimes this means FREE with coupon).

So this weeks Deals:

BOGO~Juicy Juice @2.49.....use $1.00 off coupon = .75 each
BOGO~Rotel @1.09.....use .75 off coupon in yellow flyer and .55 off coupon found in aisle (the kind that spits out coupons right below the rotel) = FREE plus .21 extra cents off your bill!
BOGO~Ronzoni pasta, assorted kinds @1.39....I used 2 x 1.00 off coupons and got them for FREE plus .61 cent off!
BOGO Pillsbury Toaster Strudels @2.49....use one 1.00 off coupon+ .55off coupon=.47 each
BOGO Hidden Valley Ranch @ 3.45.....use 2x 1.00 off coupons=.72 each
BOGO 8'oclock coffee @4.99.....use 1.00 off 2 coupon=1.99 each
Flinstone gummy Vitamins @6.79 + Aleve @ 1.95 + 1.00 off coupon on SS + coupon in green publix flyer for $5.00 off these 2 products = 2.74 for both
Lysol wipes@ 2 for 4.00+ 1.00 off = 1.50 each
Ground sirloin @ 3.49lb + 1.00 off 2lb coupon in yellow publix flyer = 3.19 for a little over a lb (they still took the coupon)

**This wasn't my whole list, but just the best ones:)

GOOD LUCK!

6 years of wedded bliss....oh, yeah and some great coupon deals, too!

2010-01-19T15:35:00.001-08:00

We have a lot to celebrate and to be thankful for! We just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Sunday, got news last week that we will be having a baby boy, and today is my sweetheart's 32nd birthday...my younger man (so to speak, if you can count 4 months!). God has blessed our family so much and I just want to take a moment to give Him all the praise!

This is a beautiful bouquet of roses that my dear husband and our sweet daughter picked out for our anniversary! I love tulips!

I had to include this shot of my "couponing" scavenger from today. Everything ended up being around $125, but I paid about $72 for everything! Awesome! Some of the best things were:
4lbs pork loin for $6.96...I cut into thirds and marinated some and froze them for future meals, 2 boxes of granola bars at .99 each after coupons, 2 bags of bagels at .40 each after coupon, olive oil for $2.50, my favorite Hunts speghetti sauce for .59 each, and dental floss pics for FREE! I bought enough chicken, pork and ground beef that my freezer is full! I am going to need a deep freeze!!

Great News!!!

2010-01-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

As most of you may already know, we are expecting our second child later this year...(Praise God!) This is truly a blessing, because I have had fertility issues and as most of you know, lost my last baby early last year due to a miscarriage. God has proven faithful and full of rich blessings and has allowed us to walk through that tough season and go on to rejoice as we found out (after about 8 more months of trying) that we were again expecting. Rylie ( our 3 year old) is the sweetest, most precious gift God has ever given me, and I think Stewart would agree! Now we are happy to announce that we went in for an ultrasound this week, and the baby is healthy and growing strong (All praise to God!!!!) and it's.....a BOY! This is quite a shocker (in a good way) to Stewart and myself, because we both fully expected to have 2 girls. You can imagine our surprise when the ultrasound lady said "ITS A BOY!" Rylie went with us to the appointment and she is thrilled to be having a little brother. She has been telling everyone that has asked her all along that she was going to have a little brother...uncanny coincidence! I think all children are truly blessings from the Lord and I thank him daily for entrusting us with the one that we have and the one we are expecting. They are little miracles from God. I am a bit nervous because apparently this is a big baby already (the Dr. said I am measuring a week ahead) and I have gestational diabetes which requires me to take insulin each night by injection. If you remember, I would ask you to please continue to pray for the health of this little one I am carrying and that I will be diligent in watching my diet. I thank you for all the prayers and encouragement that you have offered my family and we cherish our friends and family. You are all blessings as well, and we love you. So, with that, I will leave you with the promise to keep you posted as we progress ever closer to the expected arrival of our newest little Fox!

Rylie's 3rd Birthday and other fun things

2009-12-16T12:04:00.001-08:00

Decorating the Christmas tree was fun this year. A vast majority of the ornaments were hung about 6 inches off the floor by my little "elf" who was helping me. She was so proud and she absolutely LOVES decorating! She has only been busted once so far for trying to unwrap gifts under the tree!

Here she is with her BFF Kaylen.....those two love to play dress up and get all decked out. Girly-girls through & through!

Here is Rylie getting lots of help from her friends while opening her birthday gifts. We celebrated her 3Rd birthday and what a blessing...it was warm and sunny outside for the kids to play! Great day for all:)

Here is the birthday girl blowing out her Strawberry Shortcake candle.

Can you spot the 4 children in the leaves? This was by and large the hit of the party! A last minute decision by her daddy to leave the mound of leaves in the backyard proved to be a success! I had a ball pit and a tent with a tunnel that all but got ignored! Just proves that free is usually the most fun to kids anyway!

Rylie sporting the "3" shirt I made for her!

We made little trinket boxes in the shape of strawberries and filled them with goodies for the kiddos to take home.

One of the posters I painted for her party

Yummy strawberry cupcakes and homemade strawberry cookies....all things strawberry for this party girl!

Here is Rylie's birthday cake. It was my first time to use fondant, and was a lot easier than I would have thought, although dying it proved to be a bit messy. It is Strawberry Shortcake's hat, in case you were trying to figure out what it was! I made a red velvet cake and slathered it with cream cheese icing before applying the fondant, because I personally think fondant is for aesthetic purposes only (not all that tasty).

Tasty Tuesday 2

2009-11-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

This is a savory fall dish that I ran across on ALLRECIPES.COM......(love that site). It was submitted by JRLJACKSON, just so credit is given where it is due, but I tweaked it a bit and it was still delish. So here it is in case you are feeling exotic....it is a Moroccan dish!

Moroccan Tagine

I tablespoon olive oil

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves,

cut into chunks

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 small butternut squash, peeled & chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth

1 (14.5 oz. ) can diced tomatoes & chilies,

with juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 dash cayenne pepper

1) Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the chicken, onion, and garlic about 15 minutes, until browned.

2)Mix the squash, carrot, tomatoes & chilies with juice, broth, sugar, and lemon juice into skillet. Season with salt, coriander, and cayenne pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, and continue cooking 30 minutes until vegetables are tender.

*This is really good served over brown rice. It is pretty healthy and tasty. The original recipe called for 1 (15.5 oz) can of garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed, but I didn't have this. It also called for canned tomatoes with juice but I only had the ones with chilies (like rotel) and I used chicken bouillon instead of vegetable broth, as the recipe stated. Stewart said he didn't love this, but he is a traditionalist when it comes to meals. I thought this was both tasty & healthy & Rylie liked the butternut squash, so I would say it is going in my recipe box!

Just some random pics and some good news!

2009-10-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

Ok....so first things first......we have some great news! We are expecting the newest little Fox June 2! We are very excited about this and want to give ALL the praise to our heavenly Father! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement during this time & please continue to keep our little one in your prayers as we anticipate his/her arrival:)

Here is our little doodle-bug raking the back yard in her skivvies! Her daddy bought her a pink rake at Lowe's...."She has to have that" were his exact words!

This is our fabulous encounter at the Safari park we went to at some random location in Georgia that I can't quite recall right now....( I am a bit tired). Tons of fun...haha...literally! There were Buffalo, Giraffe, zebras, and many, many others, all desperately trying to stick their huge craniums through the bars of the ghetto van. (It was rented there at the park.....DO NOT attempt to drive your own vehicle through....we saw a nice Dodge Ram pickup behind us and I am pretty sure he was cursing himself....oh, and I do believe he had a Bama tag on the front.....I'm just sayin'...)

Breanna, Rylie & Haleigh in the ghetto-fabulous zebra van! Fun times! The Mystery Machine has got nothing on this fine piece of machinery!

Me & my honey stopping for a lunch break.....

This is not at the safari park...just a cute pic of Rylie posing with her Daddy & Pawpaw. She kept making me take it over & over saying...."I blinked".

My sis, My mom & my nieces walking with Rylie as we approach the Safari Park....can't you feel the anticipation radiating through this pic?

TASTY TUESDAY

2009-08-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me well knows that I LOVE to cook...therefore I am anti most anything that comes prepackaged. There are exceptions, however! ZATARAINS! I love it! My faves are currently their black beans and rice (serve with a side of sour cream with a healthy dash of chopped cilantro mixed into the s. cream...very yummy!) And now, the Jambalaya mix! Of course, I did doctor it up a bit......Here's my take on it:

Make the jambalaya mix as directed; when it tells you to add the meat, I used turkey smoked sausage. This comes in your deli meat section of the grocery store and is pre-cooked. I used half of the package and just sliced it and then cut the slices in halves. When I added the meat, I also added a small can of whole kernel corn, and a small can of diced petite tomatoes. (drain the tomatoes a bit, but not all) While that is simmering, slice up a small green bell pepper (or just half of one) and about a 1/4 of a small vidalia onion. More or less to your taste. Saute the bell pepper & onion together in a skillet with about 2 tablespoons of butter. When this browns a little, add it to the zatarain's already in progress and throw in a handful of chopped cilantro. Yummy to your tummy! Serve with crusty french bread and hot sauce:)

**Some of you may know that Houston (our lovable, but high-energy weimeraner) was struck by a hit-and-run driver in a truck, pulling a trailer, no less. This was about a week and a half ago. Stewart had gone out in the front yard about 10:00 in the evening when we realized that Houston has gotten out. Stewart called him and he heard the truck hit him and Houston yelping. The truck drove right past Stewart and he ran up the street to find Houston lying on the sidewalk. He was still alive, and Stewart got him home. I came out and saw him lying on the garage floor with multiple wounds on his head and back leg and we both thought he probably wouldn't make it. The next morning, Houston was able to raise his head, but that was about it. Now, a week and a half later, he is back to his old self! You would never know he had yet another brush with death! That dog has 9 lives! On a lighter note, the same day that Houston was struck by the truck, our hamster Jack-Jack had gotten out of his cage. When Houston was trying to stand after his accident, he threw up, and in the mix was a blob that looked mysteriously like a furry little Jack-colored rodent! What are the odds? Stewart & I didn't get close enough to inspect it and verify...one can only speculate. Hmmmm....

August is halfway over already???

2009-08-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ahh...summer is winding down, and soon it will be fall. I can't believe school has already started back for the kiddos...I see them filing into the elementary school down the street with their new backpacks and freshly sharpened pencils. Rylie isn't old enough for school yet, but I couldn't help but buy her a fresh pack of crayons on our last visit to Target. Something about school supplies...I love it! This is a picture of Rylie and her Grandad blowing out the candles on the yummy German Chocolate cake we made him for his birthday. He and my mom came up to see us & we went out for sushi to celebrate, then back to our house for cake! Rylie is a budding chef....she loves to help out in the kitchen and even frosted most of the cake herself!
My little Rachel Ray in the making!

Here is Rylie and her buds Andrew & Kaylen, munching down on some frozen treats! We had an impromptu pool party in the backyard....fun times!

Stewart recently acquired a motorcycle....it just so happened to be while I was out of town...go figure! Don't worry, he called me and let me know before he got it...actually, it was on his way to get it! HA! Anyway, he is schooling Rylie on the mechanics of the bike in this picture. She had been helping him wax it and make it look "cool".

Here is Rylie on her "motorcycle". This is currently her favorite vehicle to play with and she will take it in and out of the house, wherever she may be at the time. Inside the house she likes to load the handlebars down with purses. As you can see, there is a baby doll in the back trailer part pictured above. She calls the trailer her "boat", like daddy's truck when he pulls the boat behind!

She is learning to swim with her floaties or a life jacket quite well. At the beginning of the summer, she was somewhat afraid of the water, but now she loves it!

Rylie and her daddy on the "hog". Too cute!

Sporting her Cinderella tattoo. That thing did not come off for days! What does Disney make that glue out of? Jeez? The other day we had this conversation:

Rylie: "Mom, do cats sometimes bite your tongue?"

Me: (Thinking where did this come from???) Did someone ask you if the cat got your tongue when you wouldn't say anything?

Rylie: Yes. Pop.

(She had seen my grandfather, Pop, the week before and had been mulling over this for the whole week apparently! The kid never forgets anything!) She looked relieved.

Farmer Rylie checking our tomato plants. She is sporting the overalls that were her daddy's when he was that age. We have a few tomatoes, zucchini, and bell peppers left in our little garden, aside from the jalapenos that must have come from Lucifer's home collection. I thought I would be a domestic goddess and make my own pickled jalapeno slices, so I researched, found a tasty recipe and proceed to slice a large jar's worth of jalapenos (sans rubber gloves) and made the brine to pour over them. As I placed the lid on, I went over to the sink and rinsed the jar, as well as my hands. A few minutes later I scratched my nose and afterwards it felt as if I had cut it in the process. So I went to look in the mirror and lo, and behold there was nary a scratch there. That's odd, I thought and splashed a bit of water on my nose. This, in turn made the inside of both nostrils feel as though I had just snorted a match. After a bit more water splashing on my face, (I thought that would help?) my face soon felt like the dry lands of the west engulfed in a brush fire! I literally could not see out of both eyes and my face felt as though the skin had been peeled off! I yelled for Stewart and he told me to put Milk of Magnesia on my face. I blindly got the bottle of or closet and poured it directly out of the bottle in a mad frenzy over my almost certainly disfigured face. This, all while I struggled to maintain composure because Rylie was following at a close pace as I ran from kitchen to bathroom to bathroom seeking relief! When that didn't work, I ran to the fridge and grabbed the milk jug and poured it all over the first piece of fabric I could find and stuck my face in it screaming "my eyes, my eyes...oh, the burn" with Rylie looking at me like I was crazy! By this point, Stewart was making phone calls, probably because he finally realized I wasn't being overly dramatic (this time:) and I had threatened to go to the ER! So, he hastily grabbed a bottle of Aloe and covered my face in it! Ahhh~ sweet relief! After I could peel my eyes open again, I opened them to see my dear husband and sweet daughter staring at me with horror and awe. I looked at myself in the mirror and found that I had mascara running down my face, my nose was running, eyes watering and maybe a bit of drool was involved. Rylie said, "Mommy, I brought you this soft kitty cat from my room so you can rub it on your face!~ (Don't worry, you can laugh! It IS funny in hindsight!)

Sweet girl!

Rylie, Jonah, and baby Katherine on one of our family camping trips!

Long time no see!

2009-07-08T20:18:00.001-07:00

It has been quite some time since I wrote......and, as promised, here are some new pics! My friend Megan came over and took some gorgeous pictures of Rylie in her "element". This went over significantly better than the previous 3 tries at Portrait Innovations and the results were absolutely fabulous! She did such a great job with Rylie, who is not your easiest subject. June was a busy/crazy month for us. My grandmother found out she had an aneurysm and they had to do major surgery to correct it. Praise the Lord! The surgery went well and she is recovering as we speak. She has not been released from the hospital to come home, she will have to stay a few weeks, but she did well and continues to recover. Thank you for your prayers:) On a sad note, my great aunt Marge lost her battle with cancer and we will be traveling to Charlotte, NC for her memorial service this weekend. The family has dubbed it "Marge's Celebration" because she was a person who liked to celebrate all things in life and lived life with vigor until the end. She was a lovely lady inside and out and will be missed. I know that she loved the Lord, so we celebrate that she is in His presence. On a less important note, Houston "McGyver" Fox strikes again. We took him to the vet just under 2 weeks ago to see about a mass on his leg and the Dr. seemed sure that it was a cancerous growth and had to be removed promptly. $$$ later, we picked him up, heavily sedated, with 25+ stitches and a lampshade on his head and took him home to quarantine him for 2 weeks while he healed. The very next day he jumped out of the area in the garage that we had him hemmed in and by the next day had managed to bust open his sutures. We returned to the vet...more$$$...because that is what we as responsible dog owners felt the need to do and his wound was awful. They kept him, removed the sutures and cleaned the wound, gave us antibiotics and sedatives and sent us on our way. A few days later, after borrowing a kennel from Skyler, I opened the door to give him water and he barreled out, knocking me backwards and breaking my tailbone in the process! Curses! The next day was the 4th, so we went out on the boat and came home that evening to find that he had McGyvered his way out of the kennel (not through the door, mind you, but somehow got the side of it off....what dog does that?) and defiled our home once again. If you missed the first episode of Houston ransacking our house, go back to older posts so you can appreciate this. It will be the one with his picture. Anyway, at least the pantry was closed this time, so he only ate what was on the island and in the trash. Fun times! If you are thinking of getting a weimeraner, here's my advice: Go buy one of those cute calendars with the weimers dressed up as people in the photos and save your hard earned cash on the actual dog! I love Houston, but he is HIGH MAINTENANCE!!!

I will leave you with a brief anecdote: Rylie and I went for a walk to Dollar General, which is a couple of miles from our house, just to pick up a few items and get some exercise in the process. At dinner that night, Stewart asked Rylie what she did today and she told him about seeing turtles in the creek on our walk and she said "...and we walked to Dollar Genital"! Stewart and I laughed so much and that made her say it more. The things 2 year olds say without even knowing...hysterical!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Rylie & John Gavin watering ALL of our tulips! I bought them watering cans & I have never seen anything hold their attention so long! What a great investment:) They literally played in the yard for HOURS! It was so cute.

Here is my little Easter bunny posing for a pic.

So cute! Rylie & Stewart were sitting in the garage, whiling away the hours while it rained.

I told Rylie to pose for me.....sometimes she can be a ham! I have about 7 more after this, each with a different expression!

Just in case you forgot what I look like......JK! Stewart took this one.

I told you we had lots of tulips! My dear sweet husband planted hundreds of them, red, white, yellow, orange & pink! Tulips are my favorite flower...he is really such a romantic guy:)

Tip-toeing thru the tulips!

She was probably getting so tired of me trying to get her to smile & play in the tulips! She was a good sport, though!

One more!

Checking out the inside!

“He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would.” Matthew 28:6

“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

(Praise, God! Don't forget to stop & thank our Lord for his sacrifice and his continuing mercy & grace! God is so good & we serve a risen savior! Thank you, Jesus!)

Have a Happy Easter, everyone!

Spring is here!

2009-03-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful week it has been! Such great weather! Tuesday we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade with Kaylen & Andrew. The kids had fun and got to see a green dog! They walked their little legs off to get to the parade and then we went to the park and saw the ducks afterwards. While we were still at the park, the Harlem Globetrotters bus pulled in across the street at the Holiday Inn, so we ran over & got our picture taken with some of the extremely tall players! (The picture is still on my phone). Anyway, here is a shot of the awesome tulips in our yard! We have hundreds of them, ranging from pink to red! Stewart planted them...he knows tulips are my favorite! They make for great spring pictures. This is Rylie's favorite baby, who we named Theo originally, but she has since started calling him "Leo" and insists that he wear dresses.....we now refer to the baby as "she" and we will say Leo is short for Leona!

Wow.....what a toddler can get into in the time it takes you to call the dentist! I got off the phone & she had crawled back into her bed (a dead giveaway that something was up). She turned to look at me & her face was covered in lipstick! She is quick, & had returned the evidence to my make-up bag in the bathroom!

This is Stewart & Rylie re-enacting the previous night's sleep! He told me he literally woke up the night before like this, with his little "backpack" on... I laughed so hard I cried! WE have a king sized bed!!!

Here are the girls painting outside yesterday at the Wilson's house. Andrew was there too, but he took a fall & skinned his nose up. He was o.k.....back to playing soon after! He is a tough little boy:)

A shot of the flowers & ladybugs on my mom & my grandfather's birthday cake....they share a birthday. Rylie helped me make the ladybugs.

my mother & "Pop"

Rylie & her grandaddy during an intense fishing lesson......she learned how to reel'em in! A Mexican family walked up behind us on the pier & she said "What are they talking like???" really loud! I told her they were talking like Dora, and she said "oh".

I love this picture of my sweetie!

She caught one! She did not want to touch it though.

Snow in Alabama.....my snow bunny doesn't look too happy in this pic! She perked up when we made a snowman & gave him m&m eyes and an almond nose!

Stinkin' Cute

2009-02-25T16:06:00.000-08:00

Let us begin our blog today with a short story: You all recall the quaint childhood story of Peter Pan and his beloved Tinkerbell....Rylie is really in to the Disney classics these days & I love to watch & reminisce with her. I guess that may be the inspiration for her lovely spreading of pixie dust in Daddy's office....only it is not pixie dust. (Imagine a screeching sound as the story comes to an abrupt halt). Instead of pixie dust, there is a substance of green, red & yellow color & smells a bit like shrimp & squid liver meal (whatever that is), because it is not, in fact, pixie dust, but FISH FLAKES!!!! The office has been christened by a fairy who could only be thinking of Nemo's wish come true....yikes! I am still not sure who did this random act of vandalism, because I was babysitting John Gavin also & the two of them cannot be left alone for a second...(case in point!) Now, on to our pictures.....

These are cookies that Rylie & I made for Valentines day....

You make them with heart cookie cutters. Rylie helped with the eyes & noses!

Rylie enjoying a cookie!

Here are Jonah, Kaylen & Rylie playing on the bunks at our Gatlinburg cabin. (Yay, the camera is working again & we salvaged some photos!)

Rylie & Jonah before hitting the tubes!

Rylie, Kaylen & Jonah playing in the snow!

Rylie , Katherine & Jonah

The three musketeers!

The Fox family in Gatlinburg. (Stewart HATES my sunglasses in this pic! HAHAHA!) I do look a bit fly-like:)

A pictureless blog...(sigh)

2009-02-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

O.k.....so we just got back from a lovely romantic getaway in the Smoky Mountains for Valentines Day. We went with Keith & Holie Carlisle & their kids & Dawn & Allen Wilson & their little girl. The kids all had a blast playing together. We stayed in a beautiful log cabin overlooking the Smokies, and you could see the slopes from our balconies. The cabin had 3 floors & was equipped with an air hockey table, pool table, hot tub & loads of movies! It had a great fireplace & 2 balconies with rocking chairs. So relaxing! Anyway, we had a great time tubing in the snow & the guys went skiing one day. We all visited the aquarium & went to the Dixie Stampede on Valentines Day. We put all the kiddies in the Jacuzzi tub one afternoon & I got the cutest pics of them dumping water on each other....but this is where our story takes a turn south. Alas, my camera was resting on the vanity & I went to get my brush & the camera fell into the bathtub with the kids! It was like slo-mo....Dawn & I both watched in horror as it bounced twice & landed right in the depths of the tub! So sad! I hope I will be able to salvage the pictures from the card, but I fear that my camera has suffered a worse fate! Oh , well...material things can be replaced. Other than that, we had a wonderful trip (with the exception of Rylie's bout with carsickness upon leaving our cabin the last day...poor child.) So with that being said, I may or may not have pictures to post at a later date! I will have to scrounge some up from Hollie & Dawn!

Last Disney Post....Part 3!

2009-02-10T12:46:00.000-08:00

Finding Nemo....we had to fight off the other kids to get inside the shark!

Epcot.....can you guess the country?? We tried to get pictures in every one.....

France....note Stewart's expressions as we move through the countries! Priceless!

Where's Waldo, I mean Emily & Rylie???? This is Morocco, by the way!

When we got to Germany, she spotted Dopey & was so excited! Perfect photo op!

Ahh, Italy!

Any Karate Kid fans out there? Yes, it is Japan. (The real crane is in the background)

Please, I beg of you, double click this one to get the close up!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!

La Cuccaracha.....

LOVE the expression! This was in Asia, at the animal kingdom after a tasty lunch of Kung Pao beef & Shrimp Lo Mein! Yum!

" I miss the rain down in Africa.....dum, dum, dum, da dum dum dum....."

This was on our safari. I have many, many pictures of animals much more interesting than this, but I didn't want to get all Geographic Explorer on you & bore you any more than I already have. I thought you might especially appreciate this one because this Wildebeest was practically IN the jeep with us! At least it wasn't a rhino this close, and the lions were sleeping.....a-weem-o-way...a-weem-o-way....

This was at our fabulous hotel...the Animal Kingdom Lodge. There were animals all around hotel...so cool! We loved it! It was rich with African culture...from artifacts & tribal music in the lobby, to the food & fire pits inside & out that simulated the Savannahs of Africa & the animals that you would see there. They had parades through the lobby that African women, dressed in their native colorful headdresses & wraps would lead & you could listen to an African native talk about their country & where to go when you visit or go on safari. They also had a very talented African artist doing demos of his artwork & selling his art. Lots of cool things to see & do...we especially liked the night vision glasses you could use to spot the animals at night...really a neat experience!

Our Cinderella playing dress up at home

Princess Rylie

Disney Part 2

2009-02-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Playing at the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!" playground....I love this, because I have a picture of me, my sister & my cousin sitting on this ant when we were younger!

Lightning McQueen! Rylie was sooo sleepy here!

This is a random shot of us in Norway. We took goofy pictures in most of the countries at Epcot. Rylie refused to be a viking!

By the end of the trip, this was her adopted pose when meeting the characters!

Every time she would leave one of them, she would blow them kisses! Too cute! (This pic is for you, BB! We know you love Donald:)

Squeezing the life out of a seahorse at Nemo's Living Seas Adventure!

Posing in front of Cinderella's Castle right before the amazing fireworks show!

Stewart LOVES it when I tell him to pose for pictures...can't you just feel the enthusiasm?

Ariel, the lovely little Mermaid! This is the only "real" person character she would indulge us in having her picture with!

I wish you could have seen how excited this little girl was to see these two! She ran up & she and Minnie held hands looking at each other for a minute before giving each other hugs. Then she hugged Mickey & turned for her pose & then blew kisses! Probably my favorite moment from the trip!

Mickey's garden

Its a small world after all......(I know you are singing this to yourself right about now)

Watching the parade at the Magic Kingdom...can you see the excitement on her face! She loved it!

The lovely Cinderella & Prince Charming...

Sleeping Beauty was her favorite of the princesses we saw....

Belle was less fortunate. This is Rylie telling her she wanted to go!

Rylie & Stewart getting ready to ride the Barnstormer (a kiddie roller coaster that she was just tall enough to ride!) It was pretty fun, but she didn't really want to do it again!

Our Family trip to Walt Disney World...Part 1

2009-02-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun on our trip to Disney!! I am breaking this post into sections, because we took about 300 pictures & videos & I am weeding through them a little at a time. I cannot wait to go back again! We arrived in Orlando on Stewart's 31st birthday, so we got to celebrate in style at Disney's Hollywood Studios! He got a special button to wear and everyone wished him a happy birthday! He even got in free on his birthday to the parks, but since we had purchased a package deal, they gave him a $75 gift card instead! Awesome!

The picture above is Rylie cheesing it on the Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride...she loved it! I think this was actually in the Magic Kingdom.
This is our second day, at the Animal Kingdom. This parade was cute....we got great spots for all the parades because there were less people there than during the summer. I highly recommend going in Jan. We got great deals & avoided any waits in line:)

Waiting to see "A Bug's Life" in 3D...she fell asleep literally about 2 minutes after this picture was taken & slept through the whole show! Stewart & I really enjoyed it !

She LOVED the characters...well, at least the ones like Tigger, in full costume. (You will understand later what I mean)

This was the first character she saw & she was so excited....

She ran right up & gave Pooh a big bear hug! Eyeore was next in line & she would have NOTHING to do with him...she went straight to Tigger & Eyeore looked sad.....

This is at the Finding Nemo show at the Animal Kingdom. All the shows were great...she was glued to this the whole time, because Nemo is one of her favorite movies!

Some pics from our Kilamanjaro Safari....we did this twice! The animals were so close...some even came right up to the jeep!

See how excited she got??!! Priceless!

Hippo on the safari...the guide said they are hardly ever out of the water!

Me & Raffiki!

See what I mean? She was not feeling the love for Pocohantas....too much of a real person, as opposed to Pooh, Tigger, etc. I think Stewart liked her, though:)

Rylie's first airplane ride! She & Stewart watched out the window for our plane & the picture above that shows her on board, watching Nemo on my ipod!

This was at the Fantasmic nighttime show at Hollywood Studios....it was awesome! All outside with fireworks, water, boats, fire & cool holograms! She waved her arm off at the big riverboat with all the characters! Pictures didn't do it justice!

This was our first night at the hotel....little bit was exhausted!

This is a shot of me & Rylie aboard the train in the Animal Kingdom...yes, the first 2 days were that cold! Very sunny, but unseasonably cool. We were prepared with our toboggans & jackets. By day 3, it was wonderful warm Florida weather!

More to come......

Struck down, but not destroyed....

2009-01-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that a short time ago we announced that we were expecting our 2nd child....we had our first ultrasound on December 22 & saw the baby with its tiny heartbeat at only 6 1/2 weeks! It was amazing. A few days ago I started having some problems & we went in to the Dr. for an ultrasound where our fears were confirmed. Our little baby's heart had stopped. My Dr. was very kind & compassionate with us, as we had been trying for a while to have this baby. I had to have a procedure done & she scheduled it immediately. It is a blessing to have a Dr. that is so empathetic. She hugged me & Stewart and told us she was sorry & was very reassuring. She told us it was probably a chromosomal defect or could have been a heart defect or something else very serious. It is kind of a blur really. It seems like something you always hear about but would never really happen to you. As we Stewart & I waited for my procedure, one of the nurses & the nurse anethesist both told me they had been through miscarriages as well. They were both nice ladies, and I believe God placed them there to comfort me because they have been through it. As I woke up from surgery, the nurse taking care of me talked to me & we talked about how the Lord gets you through these times in your life. God has really spoken to me & Stewart over the past few days. Stewart reminded me of the scripture that says that God gives us the good & the hard times & we have to praise him through them all. That is so true. Rylie has a CD with bible verses that are set to music & one ran through my head yesterday..."Trust in the Lord with all your heart & lean not unto your own understanding;in all your ways acknowledge Him & He shall direct your paths" how appropriate. Our ways are not His ways.....when things don't happen just as we think they should, that is just the problem....that is the way WE think they should be & not the perfect plan that God has for our lives. I would have never wanted this, but there is a reason God is taking us through this pain. In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 it says"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." I read this verse the night before I had the miscarriage. I prayed so hard for God to save this baby as I began to have complications, but that wasn't his will. He has a bigger plan, but we have yet to see it. I know that he has provided us with the most gracious, caring group of friends & family that we could ask for. They have showered our family with prayers, cards, flowers, great food & more than anything compassion & love. They have cried with us & held us in our tears. I am so thankful to have a husband who is such a godly man & has been so strong through this time. I know he is hurting, too, but he puts me first. I thank God for our beautiful daughter, also. He has already blessed us so richly! So, as for me & my house...we will continue to serve the Lord & wait for whatever blessings that may be in his will for our future! Thank you all for everything you have done for us....we love you!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-16T11:04:00.000-08:00

These are some pics of Rylie's recent photo shoot. She is 2 years old...I can't believe it! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! God has blessed our family so richly....I praise God for giving us such wonderful friends & family & most of all for giving us his precious son ....our Saviour! Let us not forget what we are celebrating during this wonderful season:) Have a great Christmas & God Bless!

Rylie's 2nd Birthday!!

2008-11-19T19:37:00.000-08:00

It is so hard to believe that our baby girl is 2! Times flies....it is true, they grow up so fast! Here are some pics from her birthday party. We had a "Charlotte's Web" theme, so we staged a county fair. The only hitch was that it was FREEZING that day, so instead of the back yard, we had to use the garage. We had balloon animals, face painting, a popcorn machine, a booth to get your picture with Wilbur & friends, go fishing & the infamous CORN PIT! Yes, you heard right...a pit of dried corn for the kids to play in until their hearts content! This is Rylie in the corn pit, holding a pig (of course). I hid lots of farm animals in the corn for the kids to find. She is into baby dolls right now & holds everything like a baby, as seen here!

It was very hard to find anything resembling Charlotte's Web, so I had to make do & use some ingenuity! I managed to find this little gem at a local shop that sells all things for the would-be baker:) I was so excited! It is the only authentic Charlotte's Web thing I could find......Rylie has played with Wilbur every day since the party (he comes off the base). Today, while carrying her to the car, I heard her begin to wail....she had dropped Wilbur in the grass & leaves! The wailing did not cease until I found Wilbur (not easy)!

Some of the cookies on a stick & pig cupcakes I made for the shin-dig! I made pig & spider cupcakes & the cookies were barns, blue ribbons, and of course...pigs & spider webs!

Kaylen & Jonah were at her side to assist in the gift opening! She got so many cute gifts:)

We wove "Happy Birthday Rylie" into the web, as if Charlotte wrote it for her! Here she is posing with Templeton (the rat) & Wilbur! She loves them both & wants to take them everywhere....we get some odd looks.....

Here aer some of the kids at the fishing booth. They caught live goldfish & got to take them home! Somehow, we still have 5......goldfish anyone?

Wolfing down some pig cupcakes before heading back to the corn pit.....

And here is Rylie with some of her guests, playing in the corn. I must say, it was the hit of the party!

All the kids posed for their picture...here is Rylie:) I painted this with the help of Dawn's projector!! Thanks, Dawn:)

Rylie posing in her "I'm 2" t-shirt"....I made this one like the owl shirt. This is so easy & fun...you should try it!

" Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done."

-Chronicles 16:8

**Thank you God, for our baby girl!!!

Halloween pics....now that it is almost Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

While surfing eBay, I came across this little cowgirl outfit up for bid & decided to make it myself. It took some coercing, but we got the majority of the costume on our little cowgirl! At first, she wouldn't wear the hat or boots or the bandanna on her neck....2 out of 3 ain't bad! (We ended up putting the bandanna on her horse, who we dubbed "Butterscotch"!

After about an HOUR, our little Annie Oakley decided she would in fact participate in the games at the fall festival. (Finicky, those 2 year olds!) When she got to this booth, we had to make her leave so other kids could have a turn. Then she forgot to get her "prize"...a.k.a. CANDY! She went back in the booth with her loot bag & practically threw it at the man & looked up at him expectantly, without a word! She got her candy:)

Here she is modeling her ensemble....riding off into the sunset!

Giddy up, Butterscotch!

Rylie at the petting zoo...she liked this big fat bunny!

Some Randoms....

2008-10-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

This was taken at Hayden's 4th birthday party at the children's museum in Gadsden. That place is awesome! This is just one of the stations set up for kids to pretend....a vet's office, complete with kennels of puppies & kittens that the kids can "treat". Here, Haleigh & Rylie are giving shots to this poor unsuspecting bulldog, over & over!

Yes, that is indeed my child eating the cake with her face! She wastes no time with petty utensils or even her hands....this girl knows how to party!

This is Rylie at Carter's 2nd birthday party...note the look on her face! She kept watching him eat...it was cute! (Also, check out her shirt...I made it! I have been into projects lately & this one was fun & easy:)

I was not even kidding when I said she has a mild obsession with Charlotte's Web right now! Here, she is watching the cartoon while sitting with "Wilbur" & "Templeton". We bought these for her birthday party, which will be themed...you guessed it....Charlotte's Web! She got so excited when she saw these & people thought I was a wierdo for buying her a stuffed rat I am sure!

Family Pumpkin Carve!

2008-10-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

We had a family pumpkin carve night...1st Annual! First, we chose a design for our pumpkin & carved it, while eating chili & watching "The Great Pumpkin". (Stewart made fun of me for checking this out at the library, since it comes on TV every year! But what would a family pumpkin carving night be without watching The Great Pumpkin?) Then, Rylie & I made some decorations for the front door & we finished off the evening with a batch of orange sugar cookies that looked like jack-o-lanterns with all different facial expressions! Rylie loved the finished product so much, she kissed it! (See above picture:)

Of course we chose the spider web, since Rylie is into all things "Charlotte's Web" these days!

Here are the cut-outs we made for the front door.....Rylie kept ripping the eyes off the pumpkin for some reason....

Rylie, posing by the jack-o-lantern!

Enjoying a pumpkin cookie!

Showing Daddy how it's done!

Trying on her pig mask that she got at Hayden's birthday party! (Once again, a throw back to "Wilbur" from Charlotte's Web"....I am telling you she loves it!

Cleaning out the slimy pumpkin guts!!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

2008-10-26T01:34:00.001-07:00

This is our 2nd Annual trip to Tate Farms.....we had so much fun! This year we went with the Wilsons, and Kaylen & Rylie had a blast!

Our little sunflower:)

Rylie and Kaylen, oh-so-carefully picking only the best pumpkins. Rylie's litmus test....to sit on the pumpkin & make sure it was the right one! She actually sat on one that was rotten & fell right through! She said "that one is broken".

This little guy was a favorite to both girls!

How about this one?

Yep....seems just right!

Carefully inspecting.....

The hayride to the pumpkin patch was lots of fun!

Dawn & I decided to get in the corn pit with the kids! I can see why they love it so much....it was the highlight of their trip!

They could have stayed here all day! Let me just say.....corn pit + overalls.....needless to say, we brought home quite a bit of corn as an unexpected souvenir! Even after I thought most of it fell out, I still had it in the washing machine & the lint filter of the dryer! It was soooo worth it, though! Too cute! (Thanks, BB for the CUTE overalls!)

Little farmer!

"I picked you a flow-der! Wanna hold it?" ( She loves to ask you if you want to hold something these days, from a baby doll to a flower, whatever it may be! Always say yes....I think she considers it impolite to turn this request down!You just hold it for a minute & then give it right back...pretty funny.)

Getting so big!

Pumpkins for days!!

Rylie room!

2008-09-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

We took down the crib in Rylie's room some time ago & there has been a blank wall that I have been trying to figure out what to do with. I couldn't find pictures that I liked & I didn't want to paint directly on the wall, so I did these. They are a combination of acrylic & paper...mixed media inspired by none other than my dear art-guru friend, Dawn Wilson. She convinced me to add some paper in the mix to make it more interesting & it worked! Thanks, Dawn! Rylie loves the lady bug on this one!
Although you can't read it in this picture, this one says "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy..." I sing that to Rylie a lot. It was Stewart's idea to put a balloon in the tree...I love it!
Rylie is really into owls right now...go figure! Stewart put an owl statue in one of the trees in the backyard to keep the birds off Rylie's swing set & Rylie always wants to go see "Mr. Owl", so I painted one for her room! He has a button for an eye:)

My 31st Bday!!!

2008-09-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

O.k....this is a picture less blog (boring) but I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed my 31st birthday! (I will add some pics later, don't worry!) I am so blessed to have so many wonderful family members & friends that made me feel so special, whether it be a phone call, an email or a card.....thank you so much! I especially appreciate it because I have been so bad with birthdays lately, but I love you all even if I sometimes forget to tell you. I started out my day with a huge bouquet of pink roses & sweet cards from both Rylie & Stewart. Then I opened my first gift (from Rylie )& it was a certificate for a local artist workshop where I get to go & paint my own canvas! Fun! Then Stewart gave me concert tickets to MICHEAL BUBLE!!! I am so excited! Then it was breakfast with the Foxes...Gary & Darlene, Grandma Fox, Skyler & Me Stewart & Rylie Kate all had a great time eating together. Then my mom & Haleigh drove up to see me & take me to lunch. Then I had a great dinner at PF Changs with the Wilsons & the Carlisles! After church Sunday, we had lunch at Sherry & Clay's with Vickie & Phillip & Skip & the girls. Lots of fun! In the midst of all of this I got several texts, phone calls, cards,gifts etc. from lots of great friends & family! Thanks for making it such a special day for me:)

Camping with the Carlisles

2008-09-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

These are some shots from our camping trip with our good friends, The Carlisles. (Keith & Hollie, Jonah, Katherine). They embarked on the maiden journey of their newly purchased camper & we met up at Guntersville State Park for a fun weekend. My sister Melinda & one of my nieces, Haleigh, also joined us. We had a blast! My dad happened to be fishing there on Saturday, so he took Haleigh out on the lake & she came back with this catch! What a bass! He didn't make it, so we grilled him up for dinner...much to my dad's dismay. (He is an avid Bass fisherman & doesn't eat them! He catches & releases!) It was quite tasty, though, I must say:)

Rylie & Jonah, scarfing down some cinnamon rolls & blueberries for breakfast.....yes, that's how we "rough" it in the wilderness!

The deer were very domesticated. They came right down into the campsites, even eating from one woman's hand! They were beautiful and there were lots of them!

The only major mishap of the trip...Haleigh went to grab her bike & a yellow jacket stung her hand. We put a coffee packet on it to try to ease the swelling/pain. I guess it worked. She was as good as new in no time!

Yes, that is me, the rickshaw taxi driver for Jonah & Rylie. They loved it & it was great exercise for me! A win-win situation:) It was a great place to go for a ride & the kids were so cute holding hands & waving to everyone. Jonah is so chivalrous....he even pulled Rylie out of the road when another biker was coming down the path...such a gentleman!

Here is our special outdoor movie "Shrek the 3rd". We popped popcorn & sat around the tube outdoors! (pictured: Hollie, "Baby Kat-rin" (as Rylie calls her), Jonah, Stewart & Rylie) Somehow Keith escaped all my pictures! We had so much fun...maybe more can join us next time!

Another Funny....

2008-09-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

I just went to get the oil changed in my car & while we were sitting there she started whining....I said "Oh, you are just sleepy." to which she adamantly replied...."I NOT SLEEPY!! I JUST RYLIE!"

Rylie update

2008-09-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Rylie is 22 months old today....her 2nd birthday is just around the corner! I can't believe how time flies!! I took her to Portrait Innovations today, but alas, we had another unsuccessful visit. It was a repeat of the attempt at 18 months.....let me paint the scenario for you......an otherwise jovial child, always quick to talk or smile.....as we enter the threshold of P.I. , assumes a vice-like grip on my neck, averting her eyes from all other human so as not to be captured by their tractor-beams.....She literally wrapped herself around me like a monkey & would not even let me put her down beside me! I tried to sit her in the "princess chair" they had on set & this resulted in a screech & the arching of her back much like that of a cat being placed in a bathtub. So, if you wonder why there are no professional pictures of my child from age 12 months to oh, say 15yrs (at this rate) ...that is why! ( Above: Rylie, Jonah & Kaylen having a hotdog!)

On to other topics...here is the Taj Mahal of dog houses, created by none other than my father! Here he is posing by the duplex (custom built for Jersey & Houston). Note that Houston already took up residence in the left side of the house before they could even get the doghouse in place! Pretty funny! We got him out & he jumped back in at least 3 times while they were moving it! Stewart later painted it to match our house!

Rylie's current faves: chocolate milk, Charlotte's Web, baby dolls & accessories, swinging, coloring with markers & singing/dancing to songs like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", etc. She is also sleeping in her"big girl bed" now & loves for her Daddy to read her stories each night at bedtime. She says the funniest things, too....today she said "I've got a good idea!" & she is getting better at saying please & thank-you! We are working on the potty training thing, but it is hit-or-miss....literally!

I was getting ready the other day & Rylie was sitting beside me in the bathroom. I looked over & heard her say "uh-oh" & this is what she had done~ Little did I know that she could get the lid off my mascara ! The "uh-oh" was because she got it on her cheek! Notice the rest is on her "eyes"!

Rylie & her daddy enjoying a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie with whipped cream! Oh-so-healthy!

One Big Happy Family

2008-09-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

What a great day! This was last Sunday afternoon outside of Casa Blanca. We all went to church together & had a wonderful afternoon. Grandma Fox & Theresa (Darlene's daughter) were also at church, but weren't able to go to lunch. What a blessing to have Skyler with us...as you all know he has been through quite a lot in the past month. He is recovering from his head injury quite nicely...he is not 100% yet, so keep him in your prayers! He is doing great though & what a blessing to have him go to church with everyone! (From L to Right...Gary Fox,Darlene Fox, Skyler Fox, John Gavin Fox, Lindsay Fox, Clay Buie, Alaney Buie,Lakyn Buie, Sherry Buie, Me, Rylie Fox & Stewart Fox!)

Casa Del Fox

2008-09-15T20:15:00.001-07:00

Here are the long-awaited photos of our newly renovated backyard! Stewart & his amigo friends worked vigorously designing & installing the stone on our patio...I love it! Stewart is very talented & he is ALWAYS working in our yard!

Here is the "inspector" coming to check things out....she became fast friends with Nacho, one of the guys working on the patio. He & his son Gustavo worked tirelessly, hand laying each stone! Certain sections are random patterned, which takes some major skill to do correctly. Rylie would come out after the guys had gone home & say..."Where's Nacho?" & "Those are Nacho's tools".

Another view of the columns & fire pit area. Stewart later installed lighting on the columns & it is so nice to sit out on the patio at night.

The inspector isn't happy!!! But it has nothing to do with the patio....probably just nap time! She sure enjoyed playing in all that dirt & sand though!

A lovely place for us to spend our mornings before it gets too hot! I can't wait to have our first cookout!

This begins the "before" shots...I wanted to include some so you would know how drastically different it is now! These are a little out of order...forgive me! In this shot you can see the columns beginning to go up......Stewart, Juan & Nacho in the pic!

Stewart & the official "ground breaking". (More like earth shattering or waking the dead, if you will). There is never a dull moment in the Fox household....he had been talking about starting this "little" project for some time, so lo & behold, as I drifted into a peaceful slumber while getting Rylie down for her nap, I was abruptly awakened by the sound of a machine gun...or so I thought as I wrestled my eyes open to see where I was! Sheesh! Warn somebody next time why dontcha! :)

I just realized that this picture is remarkably similar to the one above.....oh, well, feast your eyes once again!!

Here are Stewart & Nacho discussing the finer points of patio design......

...and once again our little inspector on the scene with her shovel, come what may!

**Thank you, Lord, for all of our blessings! Big or small, they all come from You!

The Foxes on the Funship

2008-08-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from one of our weekend adventures aboard the "Funship", our lovely vintage pontoon boat. It has made for many a fun weekend.......here is my handsome hubby on Skyler's jet ski.

Pawpaw & Rylie Kate hanging out on board...

Rylie & John Gavin having a Cheetos fest. Those kids love their Cheetos!
"Unca Skyler"

I love this picture of my in laws! It is so cute! Darlene was a trooper....she didn't feel too well that day, but came out anyway & ended up jumping in with her clothes on! We even rode the tube together:) A fun day!

John Gavin was worn out....he fell asleep on Pawpaw's shoulder!

***As many of you know, Skyler (Stewart's bro.) has been in the hospital for a week & a half now after suffering from a traumatic brain injury in an accident. He was in Neuro ICU for 4 days & then to a room & is now at HealthSouth undergoing treatment. He has come a long way in his recovery, but he still needs your prayers. He is still experiencing short term memory loss & vision problems. God is the great physician.....he will heal us physically & spiritually. Keep Skyler & the fam in your prayers....they need them:)

Birmingham Zoo

2008-08-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Rylie & I went to the Birmingham zoo with Dawn & Kaylen Wilson. We had so much fun! Here is a lovely shot of Dawn breaking the rules, feeding the giraffe! Some kid was trying to do it & he couldn't reach, so Dawn said "let me see it" & the giraffe took it! Great photo op....did I mention she is a teacher? HAHA! Such a rebel!

Rylie & Kaylen found this bunny statue outside of the butterfly house & they both started hugging it! So cute!

Hangin' out in the strollers! This was taken in the monkey house. There was a baby monkey in there with all the adult monkeys & it was acting crazy! It was fun to watch.

The look on their faces was classic! This was a birdhouse you could go inside & they would land on you & fly around your head....a bit creepy.

Posing in the botanical garden...

O.k......this is totally not at the zoo, but cute, nonetheless? It is in our front yard & I just had to throw it in the mix!

A little about our day....we got to the zoo & it was 1/2 price day, so it was pretty packed. We went inside & grabbed some lunch & headed for the live animal show. As we waited in the sweltering heat ( no shade in this area on a sunny July day) with at least 50 other visitors anxious for some animal interaction, Rylie & Kaylen began to get bored & played in the rocks, with Kaylen eventually taking the stage. After 2:30 came & went we assumed there would be no show & left the theater area. We ventured up to the area where the elephants are housed only to find THERE ARE NO ELEPHANTS!!! What!?! Rylie loves elephants & there were none to be found. Isn't that a zoo staple? So on we went & we found an area where you could ride a camel. We went all over looking for an ATM (cash only for the rides) & when we found the lone ATM machine, wouldn't you know it....it was out-of-order! What the French, toast? Apparently no one in the entire zoo can provide you with cash, so there were no camels ridden by us that day. We came to the conclusion that 1/2 off day is just that....you get what you pay for! Sheesh!

Here was one of the cool things we saw....the Rhino getting a mani.....or is it a pedi? Anyway, the zookeeper blew his whistle told him to sit & he did! Who knew they were trained like that? Rylie saw the Rhino & said "Dinosaur!". Pretty funny!

Rylie checking out "flow-ders" in the butterfly garden!

See her eyes wild with excitement! Nothing like a "pock-scicle" as big as your head to cool you down!

Rylie Kate

2008-08-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to add these....I love the simple black & white. These capture the essence of a warm summer day, just swinging in the yard! All you need is some lemonade! I will try to have some more posts up later this week....I have tons of pics on my camera that need uploading!

Rylie is getting so big.....she learned her colors & shapes & when we ask her "what's mommy's name?" she says "A-mily" & "what's daddy's name" she says "Stewart" & if you ask her name she proudly says "Rylie Kate Fox". It is so fun to watch her grow & learn new things every day! She loves to say the blessing & we all have to hold hands around the table. She is trying to learn "God our Father" (especially since her buddy Kaylen says it!). Last night while we were having dinner, it suddenly occured to me just how blessed we really are to have dinner each night, to not have to worry where our next meal is coming from, like so many less fortunate than us do. God is Great......God is Good.

Jeep! Jeep!

2008-07-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

Is she Stewart Jr. or what? We scored this jeep at a garage sale & the battery wouldn't hold a charge, so naturally Stewart souped it up with a battery he had on hand....twice as fast! He has to run along beside her as she speeds through the yard! He took her out yesterday & she had her first wreck...she hopped a curb! She escaped with only a busted lip & she was ready to ride again! She loves it! Definitely her daddy's child!

This is Rylie speeding by as I snap the pic....note Stewart RUNNING behind!

Mamie & Pawpaw came to visit....here is Rylie getting some sugar from her Pawpaw!

Rylie & her Mamie!

This is Jonah, Kaylen & Rylie after a day of riding the carousel at Bridge Street & playing in the fountains downtown....they had an impromptu game of ring-around-the-rosies! So cute!

4th of July

2008-07-16T16:39:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics from our family beach trip for the 4th. It was a nice week at the beach , and an exciting one because Melinda & Kenon got engaged! Congrats, Mel & Kenon!!

Here is the gigantic fish my dad caught in the ocean from his KAYAK!! It was crazy big & drug him way down the beach & when it got tired, dad reeled him in! All the other men fishing from the shore were green with envy!

I just love this picture of Breanna, Melinda, Haleigh & Kenon....so sweet!

Rylie & Stewart building castles in the sand! Every since we went on the trip with Haleigh & Bre (our nieces) Rylie has been calling him "Uncle Stewart" because she heard it all week from the girls!! Don't worry, she still calls him "Daddy" too! (Although that could be weird if the wrong person heard her say both....we are from Alabama!)

Breanna, Haleigh & Rylie!

Grandmom giving Rylie a pedicure! All week Rylie would say"pretty nails" & show us her toes!

Rylie & Mommy

The Fox Family

My dad always sits like this, so the girls took the opportunity to mock him! Too funny....even Rylie did it!

Daddy's Big Helper

2008-06-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this right after Father's Day, but if you know me, it sometimes takes me a little while to get around to all my ideas. Rylie is such a daddy's girl, as you will note in the following pictures! She is his little sidekick & loves to "help" him with all his handy-man projects around our house. Last night they came in from the garage & Rylie was FILTHY....complete with dirt smudges on her face & grease under her nails. I asked Stewart what they had been up to & he said they had been working on the Jeep! He promptly took her to the bathroom for a bubble bath!
I love this picture of her little hand....it is dirty, because she just helped daddy pot some plants.

Daddy teaching Rylie how to use a hammer & drill.....hmmmmm? Useful skills for a 19 month old to have! I will have to watch her ever more closely now! Did I mention that we got a Jeep power wheels at a garage sale on Saturday? It was a steal, a bright blue wrangler complete with KC lights! We went home & plugged the battery, but the next day it still wasn't running. Not to be discouraged, Stewart & Rylie headed off to the garage & after some tinkering, Stewart yelled, "IT's working". Now for those of you who know Stewart well, you will know why I became a bit wary when I heard this. I went outside & me fears were confirmed, because her power wheels went from your run-of-the mill battery to one TWICE as fast....thanks to her daddy's master rigging skills! Rylie literally burned rubber taking off in the jeep with Stewart frantically running after! Don't worry....it is all on video for your viewing pleasure! Rylie had so much fun riding around the yard & doing doughnuts in the driveway! She is just like her dad!

A sweet picture of Rylie & Stewart on the boat.

Story time with Daddy right before bed each night. Stewart asks her how many stories she wants to read & she always says something like "nine stories" & they negotiate a smaller number! It really doesn't matter how many they settle on because she always suckers him in by holding up one finger & saying "mooore 'tories".

I am a slacker....here are some random pictures!

2008-06-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

It has been waaaaay too long since I have posted! I have so many pictures to post that it will take a few posts to update you on all of them! Disregard the dates on the pics....they say Jan., but I am not that far behind! I just left the battery on the charger a bit too long & it resets the date & I didn't notice until I had taken a zillion pictures. I love this one of Rylie....she has her Daddy's big brown eyes & curly hair!

This was lunch at Victoria's with Grandma Fox & Mamie. We had a great time & Rylie entertained our fellow diners with a dance!

This is a shot of Rylie & her cousin Haleigh getting ready to take on the sprinkler! They had a blast running through the water!

Our good friends, the Roberts, gave us this cute table & chairs....it used to be Keely's. (Thanks again, Keely!). She LOVES it! She has tea parties with her babies & whatever friend is over at the moment! Here is her "Elmo bear" having a chat with her at her table....she calls him that.

Once again, Rylie showing her love for all things Elmo! She loves her Elmo shoes & her Elmo bear! (Note: this time for some reason the date says Feb., but it is really May!)

Rylie & Grandmom hanging out on the boat! This was a fun, relaxing day on the water.

Rylie & Grandmother posing for a pic after church!

Rylie & Aunt Haley & Aunt Lakyn....not sure where Aunt Alaney was? Anyway, we couldn't get Rylie to smile or look at the camera! I have very pretty sister-in-laws!

I love this picture of Rylie & her daddy on the trampoline! They had so much fun!

Daddy's big helper! Stewart calls her that & she will say "big halper, big halper!" He is getting her started early on the power tools!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day, all you mamas out there! I hope you had a wonderful day. I did! I woke up to see the smiling faces of my sweet husband & my beautiful baby girl, greeting me with a pink rose & a handmade card, along with a gift certificate to a local spa! They treated me to breakfast in bed & it was wonderful! After I finished my coffee, I shuffled into the kitchen, where Rylie was perched in her booster seat (she has recently opted to boycott her high chair) chowing down on a buffet of muffins, eggs & sipping on her "elmo juice"(juice box with Elmo's picture on it) served in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish! Pretty funny what Daddys can come up with when they are in charge! No complaints here...it was a great day. We got ready & went to church. I got a cute thing from Rylie that she made in the nursery....a butterfly made by tracing her hands & feet! It is proudly displayed on my fridge. The message/sermon was on Mary's role as Jesus's mother....good message. It got me thinking how blessed I truly am....Just have the privilege of being a mother. I had no idea how much you could love someone until I had my daughter. Now I can have a greater appreciation on Mother's Day for my mother. Stewart & I are both blessed with godly mamas & step-mamas who love us. I have received a few emails lately in honor of Mother's Day, talking about the highs & lows of motherhood & how we are so important in shaping a young life. This is true, but most important, God has entrusted me & Stewart to guide Rylie to know her heavenly Father.....to teach her how great God's love is for us. We are so blessed to have this little girl to take care of & to love & to have her love us. As I write this, I hear her in the other room saying "EEE-OOO" (translation "video") trying to coerce her Daddy into yet another viewing of a Baby Einstein DVD. Each moment is precious......I praise God for each one. We prayed & prayed for a child & God did truly give us what we asked of him. I hope that He will bless our family with more, but even if that isn't his will, I thank Him for already blessing me with so much more than I deserve.

What has Rylie been up to?

2008-05-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that these posts are getting few & far between, so I thought that I would bombard you with some new pics today! Rylie is now 17 1/2 months old......she is growing so fast! She has had a cold this week, so we have been stuck in the house watching Elmo & Barney.....those are her picks from the library. I am so glad we live so near one branch of the library. Rylie loves going to story time on Wednesday mornings (Mrs. Betty is great!). We usually get a few books & a DVD for Rylie. Fun for free!

The picture above is Rylie, Kaylen & Jonah....some of her best buddies! We had dinner with their families at Santarita's last week. The kiddos had so much fun playing together & giving each other hugs & kisses!

This is when Aunt Melinda, Haleigh & Breanna came to visit. We took them ice skating....Rylie & I observed while they skated, but here Rylie tried to get out on the ice!

Haleigh, Melinda, & Bree

Just a' swingin' with Pawpaw in our backyard! For 2 days after this visit, when Rylie would go to the backdoor & say "Pawpaw?" as if he was waiting in the backyard to swing with her! So cute!

This is a very belated picture of us at Mimi & Pop's for Easter!

Playing in the water on a hot, spring day!

Check out the pig-tails!

One of Rylie's favorite past-times..."Codor" (also known as "color")

Taking time to smell the roses,... er, whatever those flowers are!?

Falling asleep in her highchair after a hard day of playing....priceless!

The Break-in

2008-04-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

O.k...........Stewart, Rylie & I were out of town for a few days & upon our return, we were greeted with a house that appeared to have been vandalized/burglarized. Lets start with the kitchen....garbage strewn for days, 2 ENTIRE SHELVES in my pantry had been emptied of all but a box of trash bags, a previously-used wet diaper shredded to bits (this diaper shredding extended down the hall way to the bathroom, how courteous of him) and miscellaneous unidentifiable pastas, hot cocoa in powder form & other debris. The sofa had clearly been used to veg on & partake of various cheez-its & crackers & Rylie's bean bag was defiled as well. Our bedroom had been used for a springboard for muddy paws & a snack of graham crackers had clearly been partaken of on our bedspread. Stewart's office had clothes in the floor that had been pulled out of the closet.....but the worst was saved for Rylie's room. Her WHITE daybed had muddy paw prints & Houston (the culprit in this debacle) had thrown up all down the back of the bed! I was so angry I forgot to take a picture. Why this act of random violence???? We do not know. He had not been abused up until this point in his 7 year lifespan. So, if you see the previous pics on eBay, pleading for someone to take him to a good home, with compensation....you will know why!

Spring is here!

2008-03-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here is our little doodlebug with her Easter basket full of eggs! We had a practice egg hunt at Jonah's house earlier this week!

Jonah & Rylie comparing their eggs! They would only put their own eggs in their basket.....no mixing! It was fun to watch!

" 'mon, 'mon" (translation "Come on, Come on!)

Stopping to smell the tulips!

Rylie's new found past time.....digging in the dirt!

My little Parrot

2008-03-18T19:59:00.001-07:00

IT has been a while since I have been able to post......after a brief stint in rehab, our little computer has made its way back home, restored in it's new & improved glory. So, without further ado, I will try to catch you up on the goings-on of the weeks since my last post. A week & a half ago, Stewart underwent knee surgery, & came through with flying colors (Praise be to God!) Thank you for your prayers! He is a strong willed & independent man, so the news that he couldn't be up putting weight on his knee for 3 weeks didn't sit well with him (no pun intended!). He called 3 people (Dr., nurse & phys. therapist) to confirm that it was in fact 3 weeks! So, he has been hobbling around on crutches since the surgery & has been patient with me as I "gently remind" him not to be doing things! He is a trooper!

Now, for the pictures. Rylie got to see snow for the first time & she was so excited! At first, she didn't know what it was & just stood at the back door looking out, but then we made snow balls & we had to pick her up & make her come inside because she was freezing but didn't want to stop playing! Above, she has a snowball in her hand & is eyeing Houston. (she calls Houston "soo-noo". Stewart said it reminded him of the Saturday Night Live skit with the Danish couple named Nooni with the weird chairs & the white house that can't pronounce normal names like "Mark" or "Janet"......if you have seen the skit you will agree....hilarious!)

Rylie's first time to hold puppies.....my sister's neighbor had 5 newborn chihuahuas & Rylie & my nieces had so much fun playing with them!

Rylie loved jumping on the trampoline with Haleigh & Breanna! When she saw this picture she said "jump, jump!"

Future sushi lover (like her mommy & daddy!) We went to a Japanese steakhouse for my mom & grandfather (Pop)'s birthdays & the little girls all got chopsticks, too. Amazingly, Rylie ate her eggs with them! She was showing up some of the adults! We couldn't believe it....she ate better with them than she does a fork!

This is the reason I labeled this entry "my little parrot". Rylie has quite an extensive vocab, probably because I have been known to talk in excess at times. She has taken to repeating everything she hears (even repeating "its alright" when Brook White sang "Here Comes the Sun" on American Idol tonight!).......sometimes this can be bad! On this particular day we had a visit from her Mamie & Papaw & wouldn't you know it, she came out with "Oh, my, gah!" spoken with a bit of a Valley-girl flair! She got a laugh & continued to say it over & over! I didn't realize how much I say "Oh, my, gosh!" until that moment! I am going to have to keep my slang in check or it may reappear at the most inopportune times, say in the line at the grocery store or worse....in the church nursery! Yikes!

What's new?????????

2008-02-10T19:48:00.002-08:00

This is Rylie performing "Bitsy-bitsy" or as you & I would call it, "Itsy-Bitsy Spider". This is on her list of current faves, along with "Twinkle-Twinkle" & "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes"! She is Ms. Betty's biggest fan when we go to story-time at the library! Other favorites are: The Doodlebops, books (Peek-a-boo Baby & On Top of Spaghetti still get rave reviews from the littlest Fox:) & Baby Einstein videos.

Rylie & her little cousin John Gavin playing in the bubble bath !

Here is Stewart's latest project......rebuilding his jeep! Yes, the same jeep he has had since he turned 16! As you can see, it is in many pieces. Where are they, you ask? Why you ask? And more importantly, how are we getting into the attic????? Mysteries......In this picture, Stewart is removing the motor, transmission & transfer case, single handedly! He is so smart!

**As a side note, Melinda, Kenon, Haleigh & Breanna came to visit on Saturday. We all went to the park & had a picnic, but ended up having to eat in the back of the SUV because we didn't realize gale-force winds were blowing in from Antarctica! Unfazed by this, we headed to the playground, where Rylie braved the big slides for the first time with Breanna & Haleigh. It was all fun & games until they headed into what I like to call the "tube-of-terror", a plastic tube that kids can crawl throught to get to the next level of platforms. As Rylie & Breanna entered the tube, Rylie took a nose dive & emerged with her first bloody lip! After the wailing ceased, her lip swelled so that she looked a little like Rocky Balboa. She was a trooper! We all went home & made Valentines & grilled hamburgers & had a great time! I will have to get pictures from Melinda, because I left my camera at home when we went to the playground!

Mini-kitchen-makeover!!

2008-02-10T19:48:00.001-08:00

We finally did it.......painted the kitchen! After weeks of mulling over what shade it should be, I decided on a color & my sweet (patient) husband helped me. O.k......he pretty much painted the whole thing. I did the initial base coat, but he knows better than to leave me alone with a paint brush (that spells DISASTER), so he took over, doing the tedious trimming & the all important final roll coat. Here is a shot of Stewart putting on the final touches!

Before..........

After!

I love the color........sort of a pear green. The picture doesn't do it justice. I loved my red kitchen, but I need a change. I have all red kitchen-aid appliances & they look so cute with the green!

Our little helper, caught in the act! She kept climbing up & down the ladder. Stewart & I were both concentrating so hard on keeping her out of the bucket of paint while we were painting that we failed to notice that she was underneath Stewart, rubbing her hand on the freshly painted wall! Her whole hand & part of her sleeve was green! I didn't get a picture of that!

Our sweet little helper!

Another "after" picture!

Christmas pictures Part 2!!!!

2008-01-31T14:58:00.000-08:00

Yes, I do realize that it is February, but I posted a part 1 for Christmas pics & the OCD in me had to complete it with a part 2! This is a family shot of us at Santa's Village. We were in Santa's sleigh! I am still slightly dismayed that we never saw snow....the snow machine flaked out on us. I seriously considered boycotting next year's visit because of this unfortunate lack of snow, but I am sure I will cave & go :)

I know this is terrible, but it is hilarious at the same time, huh? Needless to say, Rylie is not a fan of the real live Santa experience. She freaked out & then looked over her daddy's shoulder at Santa (on her way out) & said "bye-bye" & waved, though she was still crying a little! I guess she still wanted to be polite!

This was too cute not to include! Merry Christmas, until next December!

Time for an update!

2008-01-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

This was a rare sunny January day......Rylie & I had a picnic in the front yard! I had to put the camera on our car to take the picture & while I was busy adjusting the settings, Rylie dug into the yogurt & had it all over her face. I think I cleaned most of it off of her face before taking this pic!

Here is a cute one of Rylie & her Pawpaw. She tackled him & gave him lots of kisses!

Cheese!!! Check out her teeth....they were just coming in. She has 8 now! She was playing in the big rubbermaid box that we were going to pack the Christmas tree in. Who needs toys?!

Rylie & daddy spending quality time watching one of Rylie's videos. She is really into Baby Einsteins' baby sign language now. She can do the signs for "kiss", "eat", "milk", & "baby". That video is pretty cool! Another thing she loves is the Doodlebops!! She could watch them over & over!

Rylie in her "bat" (that's what she calls the bath). Sometimes she just runs towards the bathroom saying "bubbles!". The girl loves her bubble bath!!

Christmas pics part 1

2008-01-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some belated Christmas pictures, but I thought you still might enjoy them. Here is our little gingerbread house all lit up for Christmas!

Here is doodle-bug helping us decorate the tree. She got stuck on one ornament, taking it on & off the tree repeatedly!

Oops....another sideways post....tilt your head! This is Rylie helping me to wrap a few gifts! She loved the ribbons & bows!

Busted! Doesn't her face say it all? I caught her red-handed opening gifts behind the tree! This face was hilarious!

The Circus came to town!

2007-12-18T18:23:00.000-08:00

This picture is classic! We had just arrived at the circus & this is Rylie's first reaction. There was an elephant in the pre-show & a man was leading him around the floor. We got an up-close & personal look at the elephant....Rylie was a bit concerned!

Here he is....Rylie couldn't take her eyes off him. Stewart put her up on his shoulders to get a better look!

We hiked up to ours seats & the lights went down & the show began! This is Rylie cheering & clapping! We couldn't believe how excited she got. It was great to see her smiling & clapping & saying "yay!"

Here is a lovely shot of the three of us....We went with the Wilsons & the Carlisles....we all had a great time & the kids loved it!

I am not sure why this posted sideways...I apologize for the inconvenience! Anyway, this was at intermission! Such a little sweetie. She just couldn't quite hang in there after all the excitement. So we packed up & called it a night...on our way out we got to see the zebras eating backstage. They are my favorite!

*As a sidenote, we are teaching her to say "Thank you" & today she used it appropriately several times without us having to tell her to! Yay!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

2007-12-11T08:54:00.001-08:00

We just wanted to take a minute & say Merry Christmas to all of you who check our blog.....we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends & family. God has blessed our family so much......Rylie is growing like a weed & this Christmas she is big enough to enjoy the tree & try to unwrap a few gifts! We put out our nativity scene & Rylie loves to look at baby Jesus & the animals, especially. We are going to take her to see the live Nativity this year. I want her to always know the true meaning of Christmas....the birth of our Savior. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas & a wonderful New Year....& don't be afraid to say "Merry Christmas" to people in a society that focuses on "Happy Holidays"! :)

2007-12-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

Playing in the yard before it gets too cold out!

2007-12-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of me & Rylie playing outside on a nice day in November. She had a blast crawling around in the leaves & exploring things. She is handing me a stick in this shot......she kept piling leaves & sticks in my lap. She loves the outdoors, just like her daddy! Note the teeth in this shot....she had one big one sticking out on the top & 3 on the bottom. Since then, 3 more have made their appearance on the top...she is getting quite the grill!

This is the photo shoot for Daddy's business Christmas cards. Rylie didn't like actually touching the bubble-mower, because when she put weight on the handle, the front would come up & she would lose her balance. (She is in the beginning stages of walking.) She actually took off on her own across the grass after this shot....she saw our pumpkins sitting on the grass & forgot about her fear of walking! It also helped that her friend Kaylen (who is 22 months old) was there to encourage her to walk! Anyway, this is the shot Stewart chose for the cards...they were cute!

I liked this one, too. She looks like she is posing just for the picture! In addition to the new teeth & walking, she has also learned to eat with a spoon or baby fork! I know, I can't believe it either! She holds her spoons & forks all the time, even takes one to bed with her sometime...hahaha! One day I was feeding her some pureed carrots & she dipped her spoon in & started eating! She has great co-ordination! I will have to post a video of that so you can watch...it is so funny!

Here is our little doodlebug playing in the driveway....she is pushing her walker around. She doesn't like to be in it, but she loves to push her cousin John Gavin around in his walker! He is 8 months old now! She has also added a few words to her ever-growing vocabulary lately.....she can say "Mommy" , "Daddy", "Mo"(=more), "Light"(especially popular when we go to look at Christmas lights), & "yellow" (the only color she will acknowledge!). She also says "eye" & likes to poke you in the eye while saying it! We are teaching her to gently point! We are also working on "Thank you".....this comes out sporadically & sounds like tattoo! Kids are so much fun!

Rylie's 1st Birthday Party Pics

2007-11-29T19:40:00.000-08:00

Here she is.....the birthday girl! I finally got around to posting some of the pictures from Rylie's 1st birthday party. We had so much fun! Here she is with her birthday crown.....it was on loan from her cousin Haleigh! She wore it the week before at her birthday party. I couldn't get Rylie to cooperate & wear the "1" hat that I bought her!

This is Rylie's first taste of sugar (well, her first official mommy-approved sugar....her grandparents & aunts have been known to slip her some sweets here & there). She was very girly about it at first, but after she offered us all a bite, she dug in!

Here, Rylie gets into it (note the black icing all over her face!). She ate & ate until she couldn't handle anymore! It is fun to be one! We let her eat all she wanted, because she won't see that much sugar in one sitting again until she turns 2!

Time to open gifts! Rylie got lots of fun things from her friends & family!

Giving good-bye kisses!

Here are a few pics of some of her decorations......we did hot pink & zebra!

Lots of treats, complete with pink M&Ms! I made cookies on a stick...zebra-striped "1"s & pink crowns with edible pearls!

Got Milk?

Rylie's smash cake!

Haleigh, Breanna & Rylie! (Rylie wore her special birthday shirt & tutu!)

An After-Thanksgiving Thanks

2007-11-25T11:16:00.000-08:00

Wow......the past few days have definitely been some of the toughest we have experienced as parents thus far. Little Rylie has been very sick, with her temperature rising to 103.7 on Friday night. We had just gotten home from a great trip to Gadsden, visiting with family for Thanksgiving. We couldn't get her temp to come down, so we decided to go to the pediatric ER at Huntsville Hospital. Everything went smoothly at first, they got us into a room without delay & soon the Dr. came & checked her ears & throat & decided to order tests to check for pneumonia, etc. This entailed several chest xrays & a catheter to check her urine. Both were terrible for Rylie, because we had to basically pin her down, while she screamed, to endure these tests. She was so weak she wouldn't even drink anything & just layed her head on either mine or Stewart's chest. Soon, the Dr. returned & the first thing out of his mouth was "has she had any injuries lately?" We said no & he continued to ask us, then told us that she had a broken clavicle (collar bone). As we stood in disbelief, he said he would show us the xrays, so we followed him to see. Sure enough, he pointed to the alleged break on the film. Soon, he began grilling us & telling us DHR would be involved and that they would have to do full skeletal xrays to see if there was any additional damage. We began to think of any possible scenario that could have caused this, & we asked the Dr. how old the break was & he said at least 2 weeks to 3 months. Stewart tried to see if we could get the xrays done later, because Rylie had already been through so much & it was 1:00 am. The Dr. put his hands on his hips & began to lecture us & tell us (very accusingly)that we would have to do this for DHR & they would be there to make us answer questions & fill out paper work & began to tell us we weren't leaving until we did it. Stewart took Rylie to the xray department & I stayed in the room. I just sat there, wondering how we would get out of this & how this could have happened & why we were such bad parents for not knowing our baby girl had a broken bone. I prayed harder than I have in a long time & asked God to put his hedge of protection around us, protect us & deliver us from the situation. A few verses came to mind....one was on a card in my purse..."Do not be anxiuos about anything, but in everything, by prayer & petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:3). Soon after, God filled my heart with a peace. I was still scared & unsure of what to do or say, but God filled me with his grace & let me know he was there. Stewart & Rylie came back (& Skip....he came to the hospital & was there with us through all of this) and we waited. They were both a bit shaken.....Stewart had to pin her down for the xrays & the technicians had done a terrible job, even at one point saying to one another that they messed up & didn't know what they were doing. We waited for another 30 min., & the Dr. came in. The first thing he said was"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Then he preceded to tell us that Rylie did not in fact have a broken bone, that the xray "tricked" them. Needless to say, we were extremely upset & proceeded to tell the Dr. exactly how we felt about the whole ordeal, from the 25+ unnecessary & potentially harmful xrays done to our 12 month old daughter, to the threats about the DHR case. The Dr. never really apologized, just continued to tell us very condescendingly how dangerous unexplained breaks were & how they had to follow procedure.....THERE WAS NO BROKEN BONE!!!!!! Then we had to ask him to get back to the reason we were there in the first place...her high temp. He blew it off & said she had a cold & for us to take her to her pediatrician on Monday. We got home around 2:30 am & were drained. After all was said & done, we had to stop & realize that God answered our prayers! He delivered us from a devestating situation....without him we can do nothing. (Thank you, Lord!)We were completely helpless & had to rely 100% on the Lord to see us through & he did! Please continue to remember us in your prayers. Rylie is still sick & we are supposed to take her to her pediatrician tomorrow. Also, we are not sure what is going to happen with this situation. We are supposed to talk to someone in admin. tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers as we sort out this mess. Thanks for listening & for your prayers!