Bed Time Conversation:

Every night we say a prayer before bed.  We always pray for our family and friends and then we pray for our president, Obama.  I am not a fan of the man, but I always try to pray for him.  We ask God to help him to make good choices for America and so on.  Last night, after we got done praying, Alanna said "Mom, I think Obama is the devil."  Shocked, I asked her why she thought that and where she had heard such a thing.  She said "I didn't hear anyone say it, I just know it.  He tells lies and makes bad choices and I just know he is the devil."  WOW.  I had to leave the room to laugh.

Texas Friends in Vegas:

 Our friends Mrs. Jaymie, Aryna, Wyatt, and Shyne came to visit us from Texas!  Somehow, I only managed to get a few photos and they only consisted of Alanna and Shyne.  I am disappointed in myself.

Everyone had a great time though!  It was like none of use had ever been apart.  Alanna and Shyne are still like two peas in a pod.

 All of the kids slept in Alanna's room and she was beside herself exited!  It was such a treat for her.

We had so much fun showing our friends around Las Vegas!  We hope it's not another year before we get to see them again. <3

Monkey Monday:

Bible Verses:

Cie-J works with Alanna to memorize Bible verses almost every night.  It's been their "thing" since she was two years old.  They have about 36 verses that they have memorized together.  Cie-J asked me to pick up some note cards at the store one day, and that evening, he wrote each of the 36 verses on them and he asked Alanna to draw a picture on the other side of what that verse means to her.  I just love him.  He is a great leader for our family. <3  Alanna worked so hard to depict each verse and make them special.  One of them made me laugh SO HARD, so I had to share it.

The verse is...Romans 12:10 - "Love each other with brotherly affection.  Take delight in honoring one another."

Alanna drew her friend Jackson with a crown on his head and his mom April laying on the couch with baby Jacob in her tummy.  I asked Alanna why she drew this and she said "Well, Jackson has a brother named Jacob and they will love each other when he comes out.  Then, Jackson will wear a crown and everyone will honor him."  HA!  Makes sense to me!  So cute.

Monkey Monday: Straight Style

Friday Funnies:

Alanna took out all of the chicken in her taco (because it was spicy) and just ate a lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and cheese taco. =P  Silly girl.

It's Not True Mama:

Every night as I put Alanna to bed, I tell her a little story like this:  

"If they took all the little girls in Las Vegas and made them stand in a long line....some would have blonde hair, and some have brown hair, and some have red hair.  Some will have blue eyes, some green eyes, and some brown eyes.  I bet they will be tall and short and big and small.  If they told me that I could look at all of them and only get to pick one...do you know who I would pick?"  Alanna always grins really big and says "Nope, I don't know...who would you pick?"  And then I get to tell her that I would pick HER EVERY TIME.  It's so much fun and very silly, but it's special.

Last night though, I was telling her how much I love her red hair and her blue eyes and just how beautiful of a little girl she is, when she stopped me and said "But mom, I know it's not true.  It's not true when you tell me all that stuff."  I was blown away and asked her why.  She said that she knows she is not beautiful because a friend of hers told her that her freckles looked like owies on her face.  That they weren't cute and just looked like owies.  She was so upset about it.  My heart just sank.  I had no idea that the beauty standards start so young!  No four year old girl should have to feel that way.  She just knew that her friend was right and that I was wrong.  You can barely see her tiny freckles.

I found this blog and it says everything I want to say to my daughter when she is older.  And she is perfect to me.  Freckles and all!

4th Video:

I forgot to post this and just HAD TO! 

I sat up at the top of our little mountain by our house and saw the fireworks going off all across the valley.  This video just doesn't even do it justice.  It was silent....only a random car going by now and again.  It was so peaceful.  My eyes got a little teary as I reflected on our freedoms and how blessed we are to live in the USA.  

Monkey Monday: 4th Edition

A Visit From Our Friend Jackson:

 

Our friend Jackson came to visit us! 

Isn't he adorable?  It's crazy that my friend and I both got redheaded kids!!

Getting two redheads together is like letting toddlers set off fireworks.  It's fun!!!

 We let the kids do make overs on each other...

 We gave them large amounts of sugar...

 We let them watch scary movies together and hold hands when they were afraid...

 We took them to a rainforest and saw a big, mean, growling, alligator...

We let them take afternoon walks to the park...

 We let this transformer babysit them so we could go see a show on the strip...

 Alright, alright.....I may be exaggerating just a tad...

 What we REALLY did was have tons of on-the-go fun in the sun!! (hot hot sun!)

It is really neat to see our kids becoming life long friends just like us moms are. =)

Little Swimmer:

 Alanna has been taking swimming lessons (thanks Mamaw!) and she has done an incredible job!  She went from being almost afraid of water, to swimming like a fish in about two months!

 The teachers are really great and have pushed her a lot.  But she has also practiced a ton and worked really hard.  She loves to kick and "make big circles" with her arms.  I love that I get to sit and watch her from the side.  If I dare be on my phone (taking pictures of course), she will yell across the pool "Mom, watch me!"  Silly girl.

I hate that it's 100% humid in that small inclosed pool though and it's usually 90 something degrees in there.  I seriously melt y'all.

I am just so proud of her!  I couldn't decide which video was better, so you get to see both!

You're welcome.

 

My Baby on Groupon:

Literally....my BABY.  I think she was around 18 months old.  Look at her short hair and little head. *tear*  I always loved that monkey dress too.  Dr. Storey's wife came and took pictures of him adjusting Alanna and asked if they could use them for promotional purposes.  We just love them, so of course we said yes.  It was so fun to see it a week or so ago on groupon!!

Monkey Monday: