October Birthday Girls!

Today all the girls went to Mix It Up in Dadeville, AL to celebrate the October girl's! Clark Madison was born on October 18, 2006. Harper Baylee was born on October 21, 2008, Janie Ann was born October 30, 2009! Georgia just joined us because she was the only girl not born in October! :) It was a lot of fun and we will definitely be going back for more celebrations!!

 Janie Ann and her Aunt Neena- her mini-me!

 Clark was the pumpkin princess and Janie Ann was a butterfly!

Everyone had a great time!!! I still can't believe Janie Ann is going to turn 3!

Happy Birthday my October girls! I LOVE YOU BUNCHES!!!

Can we say slacker??

So, I made a promise that I would update the blog weekly and I failed. I'm sorry to my readers (if I have any!) With the start of school and football season, along with Janie Ann's weekly dance lessons, time spent on the computer has decreased and time spent in the road has increased!! I am loving life right now, though and would not change it for the world! Janie Ann has learned so much in her little time at school and she is constantly amazing me and what she knows. She will be turning 3 soon-- too soon! We are beginning to play her birthday party which she has chosen the theme of "pretty in pink". Little does she know that she will be getting a bounce house to play on for her birthday party, but that we will also have to return it when the party is over! I'm so excited to see her face when we set it up!! She has also been asking to get her ears pierced for about the last week. Her older cousin, Harper, got hers pierced around July and Janie Ann has been wanting them pierced and so we went once and she backed out... now she is asking again and I'm thinking her daddy is not wanting it just yet! I can't decide if I want them pierced or not... I was very little (maybe 6 months??) and while I think that is too young, I'm not sure of the 'perfect' age to get your ears pierced. Any thoughts on this moms or dads?

Anyways- here are a few pictures of last weekend! We started out Saturday by tailgating for the AU vs. LSU game! It was a wonderful game and while we did not win- those boys gave it all they had and for us to almost beat the #2 team, I was very proud! And sadly, this is the only picture I have on my camera from the tailgate and we weren't even at the tailgate spot yet! But she has on a cute AU outfit made by Mrs. Debora Hunter or Gammie! :)

 On Sunday we went with the church to little petting zoo in Clay County, AL. It was pretty nice little area- perfect for toddlers! Janie Ann was able to ride a pony and then a big horse and to say that she loved it was an understatement! She now has her heart set on getting a horse.... we shall see!

 Hay ride with my nieces and Janie Ann (minus Georgia!).

 She did not want her mommy or daddy walking with her- she wanted to do it all by herself!



WAR EAGLE!!!

We are ONE WEEK away from College Football kick-off!!! Needless to say, after a wonderful summer break and starting back to school I'm ready for Saturday's on the Plains! Seth and I have been purchasing season tickets for about 7 years now and starting 4 years ago, when I was pregnant, we started purchasing 3 tickets so that Janie Ann would be able to go with us. Here are the pictures of her with her tickets every year! It is crazy how much she changes from year to year! NO- she has not had a hair cut!!

WAR EAGLE!! 

More pictures from NYC

Here are a few more pictures from our time in NYC!

Times Square

If you can't tell...NYC was under an air quality alert while we were visiting.

The memorial fountain where one of the towers once stood. There are two of these to represent the North and South Towers. Around the fountain are the names of the people who were in the specific building that lost their life. When you touch the names in the summer it is cool to the touch and when you touch them in the winter they are warm- it was beautiful.

The Survivor Tree

This was the only tree that survived the attack- it was saved and kept alive

and it is now the only tree of this type in the memorial gardens.

In the 9-11 Memorial gift shop, the Flag of Honor with

every ones name that lost their life on that day.

Brooklyn Bridge

New York City!!

Seth and I were lucky enough to be able to visit New York City 10 years ago after high school graduation with our mother's. We saw and did a lot then.... 10 years later we were lucky enough to be able to visit NYC again with the Whiteard's! We had a BLAST!!! I'm not going to lie- I was scared. The last time we went to the big city we had our mom's to protect us and make sure we were where we needed to be, when we needed to be there and tell us how to get there! This time we were responsible for getting ourselves around the town! Thank goodness for smart phones and free Trip Advisor Apps, we survived and had a wonderful trip! We packed so much into our short time in NYC. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and had a limo at the airport waiting on us! It was a wonderful ride to our hotel, which was a block from Time's Square! We dropped off our luggage at the hotel and hit the streets, walking! I honestly can't remember what we did first, but I do know that we ate dinner at Carmine's Italian restaurant. It is a family-style dining that was absolutely wonderful! I would have eaten there for every meal! We ordered Chicken Parmesan and because it is family style, we only ordered one meal and then split the dessert. Carmine's was just around the corner from Time's Square and we only had to wait about 10 minutes! We also took a walk through Central Park and actually walked approx. 10 blocks, one way, to the Natural Museum of History...which was closed. Therefore, we turned around and walked back through Central Park. We passed Tavern on the Green, it is currently closed but had a sign stating they would be reopening in the spring of 2013. We continued walking back and stopped to watch a personal soccer coach helping a little boy, a softball game and 2 different games of kickball. We then returned to Time's Square and we visited different stores including the HUGE Toys R Us and Forever 21! I can't remember if we ate at Roxy's Thursday or Friday night, but we did stop one night and enjoy a wonderful piece of cheesecake! It would melt in your mouth- delicious!

Friday morning we woke up and had places to be! We purchased the Double-Decker bus tour tickets because we, Rachel and I, thought it would be a wonderful way to get around town (hoping for no taxi fees) and learn more about the City. So, we picked up our tickets and loaded the bus! We rode until we reached Battery Park, which is the area where you can get onto Miss New York and go visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We had about 2 hours before we had to be back at the World Trade Center/Freedom Tower/9-11 Memorial visiting area. We didn't spend too much time at either location, but they were doing a lot of construction on/around Lady Liberty and you were not able to go up her. So, we walked around the entire base and then loaded to go visit Ellis Island. I did wish we had more time to spend at Ellis Island, but we quickly went through the museum and ran back out to catch the boat back to Battery Park! We walked from Battery Park back to the Finical District where the 9-11 Memorial is located. There is a huge line/security area that you must go through before entering into the memorial area, but it went by quickly. Once I entered the memorial I instantly had an overwhelming feeling that felt very surreal. Seth and I saw the huge hole in the ground approx. 9 months after the attack, we saw all the rubble and flags, prayer ropes, signs, etc. Nothing was there- it was so peaceful there. The huge waterfalls were beautiful with every one's name around that had lost their life in the attack. I felt like I could have cried and I'm pretty sure I had a tear or two fall down my cheek. As I was the first time we visited, I was trying to imagine the chaos that was happening after the attacks and I also thanked God that my family was not effected. From the memorial park you exit through a gift shop. While the gift shop was PACKED with people, you would never know because it was so quiet- everyone paying respect to those that lost their lives. After we left the memorial we ate lunch and began walking again... we walked to Wall Street and went through Tiffany's, saw one of the Trump Towers and then headed towards the Brooklyn Bridge. At this point we were all pretty exhausted, but we wanted to cross the Brooklyn Bridge- and we did!! We might have purchased some $1 waters from random guys with white coolers, and they might have been the best thing we purchased on the trip, we might have all been complaining a little bit about being so tired, but we did it! After that we walked back to a bus stop and took the longest bus tour ride ever back to Time's Square! We then went in and rested for approximately 40 minutes before heading to the Yankee Stadium! That night we rode the Subway, and survived, to Yankee stadium to watch them play in the new stadium! After the game we rode back and wondered around Times Square some more! Then we rested for another busy day! We woke up Saturday morning and started off by going to the Natural Museum of History and then a taxi ride to Macy's! Macy's is an AMAZING store! We rode on some of the original wooden escalators and visited the Children's clothing that was located on the 7th floor!! We then wondered around the city- walked around NBC Studios, FOX News, etc. We ate some wonderful pizza for lunch and continued just walking around. Saturday night we were able to see "WICKED" on Broadway- A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! No other way to describe it! I loved every minute! I was scared that I would be so exhausted that there would be a lull in the play and I would be out! I'm so glad I was wrong! It was a wonderful play and I would definitely go watch it again. Although "The Lion King" is still my favorite- "WICKED" is #2 and then "42nd Street" is my 3rd. After the play we once again wondered around Times Square- picked up some more make-up for Janie Ann and headed back to the hotel to pack for flight home!

The Statue of Liberty

 Seth at Ellis Island

 The Clark's and Whiteard's in the 9-11 Memorial Park

 The Brooklyn Bridge

The Museum of Natural History

We had a wonderful, quick, exhausting trip and while I loved every minute of the city that never sleeps, I sure was happy to get back to my little home in Daviston! I definitely want to go back, but I will be good for another 10 years! :) Janie Ann will be old enough to go back with us, then! I definitely could not handle taking her to that city- WAY too busy for me and baby!!

*Also, totally random side note, but a co-worker and I have decided to keep each other accountable for updating the blog. SO every weekend we will each be posting a new blog. So no more long breaks between updates! Up next- Auburn football!*

Where has the time gone?

We started out the summer with so much to do and now we reaching the end of the summer with our last trip coming up in 2 days and I'm wondering where in the world did the time go??? I have enjoyed every minute of my summer break and I'm not ready for it to end- at all! While we did have a lot of trips planned and I was excited to go on each one, I did not wish my time between the trips away because with each trip we went on, the closer to the end of summer we were getting!! We went to the beach twice, my mom came in for a week long visit and we spent most of that time at the lake, and on Thursday we leave for NYC! With that....school starts in 2 weeks. :( Which also means my baby girl will be going to preschool 3 days a week and starting dance on August 14th! She will be taking ballet and tap- I didn't think she would be old enough to even care about it, but boy was I wrong! She is SO excited about preschool and dance she doesn't know what to do! She talks about it constantly and can't wait. We had to register for dance yesterday and she was so excited to try on tap and ballet shoes and was upset when we left without her getting to dance! So, needless to say this is going to be a hard school year to begin with and everyone at AJHS I would like to apologize ahead of time for being emotional- ha!

Here are a few random pictures from our summer adventures!

 Family picture at Mexico Beach- the only one all summer!

 Janie Ann and Hudson- I'm not sure what I'm going to do when school starts back and I don't get to see this little boy all the time!!!

 Janie Ann and her cousins tubing! Clark and Georgia's first time tubing- Janie Ann's second! They all LOVED it! Clark told me, "Thanks Aunt Tippy for taking us tubing- this has been the best day ever!" (Of course, that was before her trip to Six Flags!! HA!)

I LOVE this picture- Janie Ann and her Daddy flying a kite at Mexico Beach!

In other fun news- Janie Ann can now swim from one side of the pool to the other with out her life jacket! She has truly done a great job swimming this summer and I can't wait to spend Saturday's at the pool once school begins!

Beach Pictures

ok- for some reason the blogger picture upload isn't working properly tonight- so here is a teaser picture! :) (Facebook was also having issues). So I will hopefully upload more pictures tomorrow- we have been busy for the past week and I have actually taken my camera with me!!!

In other news- Seth and I will be going to NYC from August 2-5th with The Whiteard's- we deemed Summer of 2012 the Summer of Traveling! We will have gone to the beach 2 times and then NYC! We are so excited!!! Rachel and I have birthdays one day apart- hers is July 9th (today) and mine is July 10th (tomorrow)- so for our birthday present we are going to see Wicked! I have the book, just need to start reading it! It is long (approx 700 pages)- Seth is 1/2 was done with it, I need to begin reading soon!!! Anyways- more pictures and updates coming later!