haircut

Karis got a haircut last week...a MAJOR haircut - no trim here! We just decided it was time to bite the bullet especially with school. She loved her long hair but it was getting to be a pain to wash/dry/comb so she decided she wanted it short (to her shoulders). SO...we did it! Actually Rachel did it :) And she did a great job!
And now Karis looks all grown up! She really does look a lot different. It'll take me a while to get used to it...it's very cute and I do love it short but I sometimes miss that beautiful long hair!

married

ok...so Dakota's new thing is "getting married".
Up until Sat anytime she was asked who she was going to marry she would say "Daddy."
But Sat, my brother (Uncle Dave), came in town and, as always, won her over. She absolutely LOVES Dave and talks about him constantly. So, after asking him to make her a bunk bed (so her "puppies can sleep on top"), she told him she was going to marry him.
And then tonight she let me know she has a new plan:
D: Can God help me carry my room?
me: ummm...well, where do you want to take your room?
D: to a new house when me and turner get married
me: oh really?
D: yes...I'm going to marry Turner at McDonald's

So what do you think McD's would charge?

The beginning of the next 13 years

Well...this morning we started a routine that will continue for the next 13 years! K went to her first full day of Kindergarten. Over the past couple days she has said she's excited but still a little nervous. But she did great today! She had SO much fun and was WIRED when she got home. We have started a "couch talk" time as soon as she gets home. We all sit on the couch and she tells us all about her day. We want to keep her talking to us for as long as we can! :) The only thing she's having trouble with is that she has to go 5 days a week - she said, "mom, do I have to do this EVERY day?" I think last week's two half days were really good for us all. Karis got used to her class and seemed really comfortable going in today. And Jeff and I both seemed to handle today pretty well. Jeff ended up playing golf in the MWS?DCTalk tournament after I went to coffee with Rachel. It was our "mourning morning". We actually wrote prayer cards out (scriptures to pray for our girls this year). It was the perfect way to begin the school year for me. My baby girl is growing up and I have to keep reminding myself that she is not MINE! It's hard to imagine that God loves her even more than I do!

first "almost" day of school

Don't know exactly when to say K's first day of Kindergarten really is...she had a camp day last week (only half a day as a group - not her teacher). Today she had her first real half day - in her classroom! So I guess this was her first day...except she only went half a day and goes half a day on Thur. So not really...
(I think I may be in denial!)
Her teacher's name is Ms. Hardison. She is GREAT! And K had a fantastic time today. Jeff had a bit of a hard time this morning dropping her off - but we got to stay in the room at first and do a little scavenger hunt with K to help break the ice and get her aquainted with the room. Here are a few pics...but of course I forgot to take one of K and Ms. H. So maybe on her REAL first day... :)

Do NOT try this at home...

ok...if you are on a diet...definitely don't make this!
I found a recipe (on a SUPER cool site - sugar plum for a brownie to DIE for! Make sure to stick them in the freezer for a little while before eating one. I know...that sounds crazy! Normally brownies are really only good right out of the oven - but trust me on this one...

Oreo Cream Cheese-Swirled Brownies (Recipe by Emiline from sugar plum)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (scant)
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped Oreo cookies

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch square baking dish with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Whisk in sugar and bring to a boil, whisking frequently; boil 1 minute. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract, until well combined, about 1 minute.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and salt; whisk until combined.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, until combined. Whisk in melted butter-sugar mixture until well combined. Stir in flour mixture until just combined, followed by Oreo cookies.

Spread half of brownie batter into baking dish, followed by cream cheese layer; dot the top with remaining brownie batter, and spread evenly, as best as you can. Run a knife through batter to make "swirls".
Bake at 350 degrees F, for 23-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature before slicing. Lift foil out of baking dish, and slice into 9 bars. For easier slicing, try freezing the brownies for 30-60 minutes.

"disgusting bird"

Jeff's parents were in the area on a fam tour this week...so we got to go with them to Kentucky Down Under (not as redneck as it sounds :)). It is a zoo-like park in Horse Cave KY that focuses on the culture and animals of Australia. So we got to see kangaroos, dingos, wallabes, lories, sheep, emu and cocatoos. We got to watch them herd sheep, tour a cave, mine for gold, play a digeridoo, milk a cow, pet kangaroos and emus and feed lories (which landed on our heads!). We had a blast! But I think the girls favorite part was the "disgusting bird", the cocatoo. When we first got there, he was having lunch:

miss this

Have I mentioned that K starts Kindergarten next week? Still don't want to talk about it...esp when watching this makes me want to go wake her up from her nap and just hold her because I can do that at 2 in the afternoon still...

the fair

Last night we headed off the to County Fair. It was blazin hot but we had a ton of fun! We got there right at 5 and it was the perfect time...there was NO ONE there! We had every ride to ourselves (thank you to the neighbors who gave us unlimited ride passes! woohoo!) and ran thru our favorite things more than once!
They loved the Little Farming exhibit where they could plant, harvest, milk a cow, take food to the market and then (the best part) buy ice cream with their earned money! They also had a little teacup ride - so we had a reminiscent moment with daddy about getting sick at Disney (they think that's SO funny!) Dakota's favorite ride was the Rockin Tug boat - she thought that was the greatest! She looked SO cute up there...it was a huge boat and each time they rode it they were all by themselves. She would raise her hands and scream! She's just like her mama! As it was getting dark, Karis said..."Mom, don't you think the best part of the fair is when it is dark and all the lights come on? It's so beautiful!" She's so right and just to prove it off we went to the ferris wheel which we LOVED!
Check out the slideshow...

ok...how cool is this? My sweet friend, Laura, wrote about this today and I just had to try it. Basically this program takes your blog and creates a collage (check it out - wordle.net). So this is our summer in a nutshell:


title="Wordle: summer"> src="http://wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/105550/summer"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

a flower for you

"I picked this for you mom!"

this photo is in a contest on the 5 Minutes for Mom blog.

last "official" week of summer

can you believe that summer is almost over? we've stared the last week before school (K is starting Kindergarten - let's not talk about that right now...). so we've been doing fun summer stuff - basically just playing! Playing in the pool, with neighborhood friends; we went bowling; picking blueberries (again!); and the list goes on...
here are a couple pics from the last week:
tickle time with daddy


neighborhood friends


bowling fun: we had a great time - and Chlo won (she's really good)!

this might take you back...

how many dances do you know? :)