Emma Hope (with a little Hannah thrown in!)

Just keeping with the routine...

We have spent several of the past few weekends getting together with our dear friends, the Rush's. They came over tonight for some pizza, football, and silly fun. The kids all get along famously (I know that's a British term, but I just love it!), and the grown-ups get a little giddy, too. Here are some pics that we took:

Kaleb and Delaney. Future husband and wife.

Hannah adores Kaleb, too!
Lauren, Kaleb, Kolby, Delaney, and Hannah (Emma was the only one who went to bed at her normal bedtime! Sorry, Emma!)The guys... gettin' cozy.and the moms!

Friday night on the town

All five of us piled into the van last night and headed to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. We had a blast, and the food was delicious, too. We even managed a quick trip to Borders afterwards--which, by the way, has a fabulous children's section! Hooray for family time!

Daddy and his twin

Photo shoot

Hannah asked me to take some pictures of her while I had my camera out yesterday. I am so happy to oblige, considering we couldn't get her to smile for the camera for the past, well, several years! Say cheese!

I get by with a little help from my... sisters!

The girls have taken a liking to feeding Emma her bottle whenever possible. And sweet little Emma never complains... she's just happy to eat! They did a switch-off here... right in the middle of the bottle.I love how Delaney is looking at Emma... and how the angle of the bottle was causing the formula to run all over Emma's chin!

A twilight surprise

I took Delaney outside this evening to say "goodnight" to Bryan, who was working in the yard. I looked up and saw the most beautiful display that I have seen in quite a while. There was a double rainbow in the east (the one on the left is very faint), and a gorgeous sunset in the west. I couldn't take my eyes off of either and kept turning from one to the other to stare in awe. The funny thing is that it hadn't even started to rain at that point. I always think of a rainbow as appearing after a rainstorm. This one came before. Just another little surprise from God... He never ceases to amaze me. He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth— the LORD God Almighty is his name.

Amos 4:13

Delaney's first haircut

I took Hannah and Delaney to my salon today to get their hair cut. This was a first for Delaney, and I could tell that she wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing. She was very quiet the whole drive there, and as soon as we walked in she tightly gripped my hand and told me that she wanted to go home. now. uh-oh. So, we watched Hannah get her hair washed "like a big girl" and cut "like a big girl" and blown out "like a big girl"... you get the idea. Corrine is the best. She is so meticulous and patient.
Delaney helped out by feeding Emma (who, by the way, sat quietly in the stroller the entire time. She is the BEST baby!)So after 30 minutes of going back and forth between "yes" and "no", our (getting braver!) brave girl climbed up onto the elevated chair at the sink and never looked back. I did let her keep her pacifier, which I personally cannot stand, but it helped a lot and my sweet Delaney never once batted an eye. She just smiled occasionally, like she was proud of herself. Every girl needs a little pampering, right?!Ta-da!
I must have heard, "Hey, Mom! I got my hair cut!!!" 16 times on the drive home.Two freshly-cut cuties. Hooray!

...and no school means a trip to the ice cream parlor!

This past Friday the kids had off from school. My friend Camille and I took advantage of the perfect weather and hit a little country ice cream parlor that we'd heard about. It took a little help from my GPS to find the place, but once we arrived we had a blast. The kids marveled over the 24 flavors of soft-serve that they offered (here's a shocker for you--both Hannah and Delaney settled on vanilla!!!), and they all sat quietly for the three minutes that it took them to scarf down their treats. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Our baby girl goes to kindergarten

Well, the big day came and went with little fanfare. Hannah was as excited, confident, and happy as we could have hoped. I thought all along that I would cry at her departure. But seeing her in such a state of "big-girl-ness" made me so proud and excited for her that I could only smile, hug her, and snap tons of pictures.

Here she is! All ready to go!

Proud Daddy.
and proud Mommy!
All five of us drove to Hannah's school to see her off.Look out, world! Here I come!