"We eat all we can and we sell the rest"

As many of you know my summer is almost over. Monday begins my 2010 volleyball season. So today I decided to end my official summer with something fun. The kids and I met some of our best buds The Perronis in Brenham, TX to take the Blue Bell ice cream tour. The girls and I did it last summer and enjoyed it so much we just had to return.

Here we are ready to go.(the girls were sporting some Hannah Montana gear since we are now loving her- a little late but loving her nonetheless)

When we got to the creamery there was a bit of a line so we bought tickets and had some photo ops. The tour is great because it runs every 10 minutes and kids 5 and under are free with adults only $5.00(with free ice cream at the end- the best part!!)

Case didn't know what he was missing.

Hudson, Mallory, Bella and Morgan

Waiting for the tour to begin

Mallory kept coming up with photo ideas...Such a ham

Cutie patooties- big kids starting kindergarten in a few weeks! ahhhh!!

I love this picture because of Morgan's face. If you look closely she has that look that we see quite often. She is such a character.

Mommy, Case, Mallory and Morgan

Mom and Jen got in on the fun- Mallory actually took this photo and one other and they were both pretty good.

This picture was after the tour. They don't allow cameras while you are touring- don't want their secrets getting out. It was very interesting to learn all about the ice cream.

Fun Facts:

*The milk from 50,000 cows = 1 day of ice cream production

*Vanilla is the only ice cream flavor made every day and is the #1 seller

*Cookies and Cream is the #2 seller and they don't use oreos but cookies made at their bakery

*Dutch chocolate is #3- I had to include that fact because that is Lonnie's favorite

I won't give any more info away in case you want to learn all about it yourself. The best part of the tour is at the end when you get to choose your ice cream. YUM! I tried a new flavor they just made in July called Caramel Kettle Crunch- it was outstanding. As we were leaving I had to take the elevator down with the stroller and this gentleman walked by and said, you know "we eat all we can and we sell the rest but today we don't have any left"- he chuckled as he kept walking. As I got in the elevator the tour guide said that was Paul Kruse, the CEO. I thought that was pretty neat. His grandfather started Blue Bell.

After the tour we went to eat at Must Be Heaven. I have been quite a few times both here and in Bryan, TX. The place is very quaint and the food very tasty, I wanted Jen to get to try it.

The kids posing with what Bella said were not real people.

I LOVE this picture. Once again Mallory setting the pose and Morgan following suit.

This one was Morgan's idea. Do you think my kids ever have their picture taken??

Case captured how we all felt after our drive to Brenham, an ice cream tour, a yummy lunch with friends and our drive home....WORN OUT!!

Salon Leslie

This morning the girls helped me clean the kitchen and make my bed. While cleaning, Mallory asked what their "reward" would be. (Isn't helping mom reward enough??) Anyway, I asked what she wanted and she replied a makeover. So when we were finished cleaning I set up Salon Leslie. I put the girls in their robes and slippers and let them know what their spa day would consist of.

Eagerly awaiting a pedicure.

Chillaxing while reading their Barbie magazines

Princess Purple was the color of choice and the pedicure came complete with a foot/calf massage.

Next I fixed their hair. Considering I have been in about 20 weddings I was able to do a generic "up-do".

You can't see but I included sparkles sprayed in their hair as well.

Case was busy chewing on his new favorite taggy blankie that my BF Janna's mom made! He LOVES it

After hair was of course make-up and they got the works. Eye shadow, mascara, blush, lip liner, lip stick and lip gloss- Morgan has the best eyelashes!

My beautiful Mallory- getting so grown up

When make-up was complete I painted their nails and finished with a spray of perfume for each of them. They were very happy with their day at Salon Leslie and posed with their #1 man(besides daddy of course)

Cutie patooties

Work it girls- our Salon fashion show

Diva Morgan

Glamorous Mal

We topped off our wonderful morning with a royal lunch consisting of one of their favorites, pigs in a blanket. I am so lucky to have such fun times with my girls.

Fun Facts at 5 Months

It is hard for me to believe that Case turned 5 months old this week(7/9/10). Talk about time flying by. It is crazy how you forget all of the baby stuff even though I have done this twice already. I thought I would share some fun facts about Case at 5 months. Below are a few pics I tried to take tonight before I put him down. He smiled in the second one but it was fuzzy and then he got mad.

Tricks:Can roll over front to back and back to front

Can chew toes and likes to do so often

Can grab mommy's face, bring it to him and kiss!

Eating: I am still nursing every 3-5 hours depending on when it is

He has tried rice cereal about 5 times and gags(different from the girls who loved it)

He has not tried fruits or veggies

Bedtime: Naps twice a day in crib- see teeth

Co sleeps in our bed which people think I am crazy but when he still wakes up 1-2 times at night and wants to eat it is much easier having him right there. (Co slept with both girls)

Refuses a paci, a bottle and usually only wants momma at sleep time- gotta get out of this phase!

Teeth:Has cut his first tooth:bottom front right (this is two months earlier than both girls) and is about to cut the one right next to that which is making for a very unhappy little boy especially at sleep time

Personality: Smiles regularly and loves to laugh at his sisters, especially Morgan. Favorite thing to do is play in exersaucer. If he is mad, he has a serious temper

Stats: I don't know how tall or how much he weighs at this point but he seems long to me and lean. We have his next appt at 6 months

The next few pics are random ones from the pool tonight. The girls are fishes when it comes to the water and love to swim. Morgan who is only 3 1/2 has been swimming without floaties since last summer. Here they are jumping off the diving boards. No Fear!!

Mallory with her eyes closed

Here is Morgan

Super Girl!

Almost at the same time. Who knew Mal could walk on water

Dad in on the action- good thing he didn't capture my toe touch that I did. I think I pulled something haha

C-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e, Good Times C'Mon!

We are only a week into July but already we have had a lot to celebrate. First off, Independence Day! We woke up Sunday morning and I got the girls ready in their July 4th outfits. I then gave the girls pedicures and manicures with red, white and blue polish. (I am a sucker for most holidays :)) After that we headed over to my in laws for their annual get together and ate some delicious home cooking.

Morgan, Case and Mallory. The girls enjoyed swimming in the hot tub and eating all the goodies as well. Our friends, the Perronis, joined us late afternoon and round two of the hot tub with the kiddos and again some more eating.
Silly sisters
Morgan is standing on a rock- not a sudden growth spurt and if you look closely her shirt says Miss Independent- couldn't be more perfect

After we finished up at my in laws we headed to what I consider the best kept fireworks secret in The Woodlands. For three years now we have gone to Augusta Pines Golf Course and had a wonderful firework experience. There is hardly anyone there, you can bring your own chairs, blankets, cooler and actually sit on the golf course and the fireworks last about 30 minutes. For young kids it is perfect. Not to mention when you leave, no traffic. I keep thinking it is a fluke but 3 years running and it has been great.
Sweaty Mallory, Hudson and Morgan after running around on the golf course
Hudson napping on Morgan while watching the "show". When the fireworks were over we treated the kids to some late night swimming at my parents house. It was so fun for them and a great way to celebrate the 4th!

July 7th- Our next celebration is my sister Sharon's birthday. We love Aunt Sharon very much and think she is one of the kindest and most beautiful people around. Hope you had a great day. We are going to go celebrate at dinner on Thursday.

Our next celebration which was another birthday and also on July 7th was one that was very important to us. Over the last 10 years this honoree has lived with us in one apartment, one duplex, 3 houses, 3 different cities, has been there for 7 jobs total between Lonnie and I, 8+years of marriage, 3 children, another companion(Brynn) and was our very first "baby". Broadie, one of our boxers turned 10! She has been an amazing dog and if her personality has anything to do with her longevity she will be here a while. Although she has turned a little grey she is still a puppy to us. Happy Birthday Broadie- we love you.
She loves the kids- I think she thinks they are hers.

Notice the grey- her face used to be all black! Case is loving his exersauser these days- he is getting so big.

Road Trip

Our busy summer continues as we loaded up the car and headed north for a road trip to see my sister in Nebraska. Monday night, or technically Tuesday morning, we woke up at 3:00 am and put the kiddos in the car and set off. We made it to Gainesville, TX before the girls woke up and just in time to eat at Cracker Barrel. We were the only people there with the exception of some old timer early eaters.

It ended up taking us about 14 hours counting breakfast, lunch and gas stops. We drove through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and ended up in Lincoln, NE about 5:45 Tuesday evening. We then went straight to my nephew's baseball game and got to meet Maia, my sister's new boxer puppy. The cousins were so happy to see each other. Wednesday morning my brother in law James gave us the tour of the Nebraska football complex. James is the Head Strength and Conditioning coach at Nebraska.
Ellie, Morgan, Mallory and Colton in the weight room. Husker Power.

Here is the Nebraska indoor football field. It also had an indoor sand volleyball court for the volleyball team and indoor batting cages.
The famous blackshirts which is Nebraska's defense. Ellie, Morgan and Mallory( I apologize for my camera- the settings were off and the pictures came out crappy)
Statue outside of complex. Anyone seen Morgan's other leg?

We went to the country club after the tour and swam with the kiddos. Lonnie went with James to a track where they rode four wheelers. On Thursday we hung out and then took all the kids to see Toy Story 3 in 3D. I highly recommend seeing it. I even got choked up in some parts. Thursday night we dropped Ellie off at gymnastics and even got to watch a little. She is quite the limber little girl! She likes to do flips and flops all over the place. Mallory tried to keep up but I was afraid she was going to break her neck.

Morgan passed out in the car going back to Becca's house which led us to the idea of just loading the kids up and driving through the night. We weighed the pros and cons and decided the longer the kids would sleep while we drove, the better. So we loaded up and left Lincoln at 10:00 pm. Our plan worked. Not only did the kids sleep about 9 hours of the drive but we shaved off a few hours with less stops. We arrived in The Woodlands at 10:30. What we didn't account for was the kids rested and us exhausted when we got back. We managed some naps however.

The trip was quick but fun for the girls to get to see their cousins and Aunt and Uncle. Thanks for having us Aunt Becca!

This doesn't really go along with my post but I had to put in on here. Case has started laughing a lot lately and the girls always crack him up. We got home the other day and they were running around crazy and Case was belly laughing. I grabbed the camera and below is what I got.