Luke's 1st Sleepover!!

Luke Duke had his first ever sleepover at our house with his best buddy from our neighborhood, Jayse. He was SO excited of course and so was Jayse. He had almost packed a suitcase for his night of fun. We (they) ate pizza, ice cream, watched Mario movies, played Wii games and stayed up "a little later than normal". At one point the boys were playing Mario and Luigi and they made Ella be Bowser. She, of course, has no clue who that is but knows that means she has to chase them and act scary. They were screaming..."firepower" ....She was screaming "fluffernutter" - her favorite sandwich Daddy makes her. I got a kick out of listening to the kids play.

Now give me "silly"....

I had a funny face photo shoot before they "went to sleep". I noticed the boys were not asleep at one point and stood outside the door to listen to them talk. Luke's buddy was nervous to turn the lamp off and I heard Luke tell him that "Jesus is bigger than all the bad guys and He lives inside you". I smiled hearing this and did my little happy dance outside the door before going in and giving them kisses and turning off the light. Well...I did turn on the hall light in case the got lost in the night.

Now give me "scary"....

"zoolander"

Fake sleep - someone needs acting lessons....

Fools for free food.

Just before I headed out for a girls beach weekend we made it a priority to get free breakfast. We took part in Chick-fil-a's Cow Appreciate Day last year and plan on doing it every year. I plan on doing this until Luke's voice changes and Ella gets a cell phone.

Cousin Ethan came along for the fun and was a cute fellow calf.

When they asked me if I wanted a 4 count chicken mini or a 3 count....I laughingly said...Supersize me! It's free silly!

July 4th in Chartown

We were in Charlotte visiting during July 4th this year. We had a cookout and lit a few sparklers and threw a few poppers. We are talking kid friendly fireworks here. Thankfully there were some large fireworks displays in and around the neighborhood.

Uncle Daryl came out to celebrate with us. Ella loves UD and I think he might like her too =)

Luke - as close to playing with fire as he is gonna get for a while.

To Great Grandmommie's house we gooooo

We were so excited to be able to spend a beautiful morning/afternoon at Great Grandmommie's house in Charlotte during our visit. Luke, Ella, and I went down earlier in the week just to make sure we could see her. The kids don't get to see enough of her and it was really important to me that we have good time with her. She has had an extraordinary life and is someone I want them to always remember.

And Grandmom had a ball too! Luke is crazy about her because she is so hands on and you can always get her to play with you =)

Ella is "sleeping" here on the swing. I remember laying on swings like this when I was little and I would watch the bugs and ants through the cracks. It is funny the little things you remember while watching your kids!

Ahh..bliss. What a precious day we had together. It was a perfect weather in the mid 80's. We were able to spend more time outside which was a blessing with two excited kids.

Luke at Great Grandmommie's house.

More than a ham sandwich...

We ate lunch on Grandmommie's porch because it was so beautiful outside. It brought back so many memories for me of eating at my grandmas. These kind of memories are so important to me. Seriously, something as simple as a ham sandwich and ice cream just taste SO much better at Grandmas house! I don't even think I like ham but I certainly ate it all =)

I think it is because she uses the thin white bread and it is made with L.O.V.E.

THEN she went and made an ice cream sundae with Hagen Daz ice cream, chocolate syrup(the good kind out of the can) and a cherry on top. I am very easily pleased....and so are my kids =)

We had a wonderful time and made great memories visiting Great Grandmommie's house!

Freeeedom Park

Luke with his best girl at our Freedom Park picnic

Greg used to come here a lot when he was little. He has a picture of him with his sisters in front of this sign. This is our reinactment.

Luke was climbing huge rocks like a good boy =)

Say "cheeseberger" Ella...now that's pretty!

Amelie's French heaven

Amelie's French Bakery.

http://www.ameliesfrenchbakery.com/

I was so pumped to get to swing by this place while we were in Charlotte. It is in the NODA area of Charlotte and I first heard about it from my hero/favorite blogger - The Pioneer Woman. She had been in Charlotte not long ago and someone brought her some pastries from this place. It is definitely worth the visit. It is a super cute eclectic little spot.

Luke split an eclair with Grandmommie

Ella loved it!

I wish I took a picture of this before that 500lb. man came and ate it all. You should have seen it - he had a gun and demanded my pastries. I was kinda glad because I didn't want to be a total pig in there!

Think - Charlie and the Chocolate factory but with pastries and all kinds of goodness.

I will have to agree with PW though. The raspberry and lemon tea cakes were my fa-vor-ite. Wiping drool away ....and going for an imaginary jog right now.....