Hike at Montgomery Bell State Park

Our family decided to do a day hike at Montgomery Bell State Park. The girls were very excited about every leaf, stick, rock and bug. Dada kept Noelle on a short leash..literally, due to poison ivy. A highlight of the hike was when I spotted a tortoise in the folliage off the trail. The other highlight was Dada showing the girls how he can skip rocks in the creak. We may come back here some time and camp. It was a beautiful day.

Current Style Trends in our Household

"The Frilly Diva"


"The Pampered Principessa"

A Magical Day of Blueberry Picking

Today we went blueberry picking in Murfreesboro with our friends, Jackson, Gavin, and Zoey, their parents, grandparents, and other friends. Instead of being a hot humid summer day, it was a cloudy but still warm day; perfect for picking blueberries. I have a special place in my heart for blueberries since they remind me of my overnight summer camp days in New Hampshire where the campers romped down countless trails while picking and eating wild blueberries. The bushes we saw today were quite a bit larger than the ones I was used to seeing.




My girls were entranced and immediately took to picking blueberries. Natalie was especially good at picking the blue ones while Noelle's bucket held pink berries, white berries, and several sticks. All of Noelle's blue ones went directly into her mouth. All the kids searched high and low while the adults talked and picked berries themselves. It was a lovely afternoon. Tonight I made the girls some blueberry pancakes. If this is what living in the South is all about, I am all about it.

All American Baseball Game

Last night Chris got tickets for all of us to attend a Nashville Sounds game. They are a minor league team here in Nashville. It was fairly empty and perfect for Noelle's first baseball game and Natalie's first baseball game that she can probably remember. We got the hot dogs and sodas and had great seats with Chris' Nashville Teaching Fellows friends behind home base. The girls' favorite part by far was the team mascot "Ozzie," which appears to be a mountain lion. To both the girls he was simply known as "Big Cat." He would come out on the field and dance and then reappear later elsewhere. Noelle constantly inquired as to the whereabouts of "Big Cat" and got anxious when he stayed away for too long. Finally one inning, "Big Cat" showed up in the stands and Natalie was overjoyed to get her picture with him. Noelle appeared excited as well but as Dada carried her over and set her down at his feet, Noelle let off a piercing cry like she was in pain and clung to her Dada like a baby spider monkey clings to its' Momma. Apparently "Big Cat" is best viewed from afar; at least if you ask Noelle. We ended up staying 6 innings and probably would have stayed longer except that a spectator got hit in the head with the ball in the 6th inning and the game stopped until the paramedics could take the teenage boy away on a stretcher. It did appear though that he was awake so hopefully he was OK. All in all it was a success of an evening. I had forgotten how fun baseball can be, especially the minor league games. There aren't the crowds and the intense yelling from the spectators like there can be at the major league games. I threw in my "pitch" for the girls trying softball in a few years. Time will tell if that becomes something they enjoy some day. We could have many ball games to come!

Quality Time with the Cousins

The last few days have been great fun. Aunt Cathy and the kids came to visit us from Kentucky! My girls had it made with all kinds of girlie attention thrown their way by their older cousins. It is so much fun watching all the cousins interact and bond. My big hope is that they can somehow move here so we can see them all the time! While they were here, we went swimming at Maryland Farms, saw a concert at Cheekwood, explored the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, attended the Celebration of Freedom at our church complete with fireworks, and walked around the Franklin on the Fourth. A wonderful time was had by all and we hope that our dear cousins will return again soon.

Coffee Kids

Before anyone calls Child Protective Services on me, they are actually sipping chocolate milks.

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens

Mimi and Poppa gave our family a pass to Cheekwood so the girls and I packed a picnic lunch and set off on another fun day adventure. Natalie was our guide as we hiked the sculpture trail. The girls were excited to turn each corner and discover yet more sculptures. Their favorites were the little animals that they could sit on.

It may be my imagination but I think my little Natalie is growing again, both emotionally and physically. She has been very helpful with me lately at the stores and in staying close by. She also has started helping me to calm her little sister and make her happy. Now don't get me wrong, she of course still has her moments of tyrannical three year old-ness but I am starting to see a light at the end of that tunnel and a glimpse to age 4. Very exciting!
We found a nice little gazebo to eat our lunch in amongst the beauty.
All in all, the girls hiked the entire trail and more. A great time was had by all!

Noelle's Birthday Festivities

It has been a roller coaster of a birthday for our now 2 year old little girl. We started the festivities off on Thursday at The Monkey's Tree house with our little friends Jackson and Gavin. After a whole lot of monkey business, the troops moved and set up camp at nearby McDonald's where we had lunch and monkey cupcakes. On Friday evening, we brought more monkey cupcakes to a summer concert to share while the girls danced to catchy kid tunes. Then on Saturday, we attended the RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival which was tons of people outside in sticky 100 degree weather, all eating sugar covered and fried foods. Thus, it was pretty fun! We finally finished up the celebration at Noelle's favorite restaurant; Old Spaghetti Factory where she happily tore into her mac n' cheese and ice cream. What I haven't mentioned is that Noelle exhibited symptoms of a festive birthday stomach virus after being at Monkey's Tree house. The problem was that it seemed to come and go at will, for 8 hours or more at a time, so it left me thinking that maybe it was just too much junk food. This makes us thankful that our kids are hardly ever sick. Well, happy birthday and get well soon Monkey!

Noelle is almost 2!

In anticipation of Noelle's second birthday next Sunday, I have created a montage of her last year, age 12 months to 24 months. Hope you enjoy viewing it as much as our family does!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mud Pies

So today I took the girls to Edwin Warner Park Nature Center where we had signed up for a mud pie activity program. It was a huge hit with both the girls. We don't have any dainty dirt haters here in our family! Natalie and Noelle were actually the only ones from about 20 kids to sit in the mud puddles instead of simply play in them. After playing in the mud, the Nature docents took us all on a creature hunt in a nearby creek (that we walked through). Our group found tiny crawdads, strider bugs, a baby water snake (luckily not IN the water with us) and eventually a salamander. Noelle happily picked up rocks and sticks while walking through the creek. The next activity was the making of actual mud pies. By this point, Natalie was visibly uncomfortable in her very damp and dirty clothing. After telling the docent that she made a "cat mud pie" we decided it was time to call it a morning. After a nice warm strawberry bubble bath and lunch at home, my girls are off to what I hope will be a very quiet time/nap experience. We can't wait to sign up for more of these programs in the future!
The Before Picture..


Nothing Stops Miss Natalie from a Chance to get Messy!


Noelle Digs the Mud Too..


Natalie in her Element


Certainly Sisters


Noelle the Nature Girl



A Walk in the Creek


Happiness is Being a Muddy Three Year Old