does it get any better?

So I have to mention the perfect day I had on Sunday. Not to rub it in, but just so I can go back again later and re-read it and re-live it. It was just one those days that couldn't get any better and if I had to be stuck in that movie "Groundhog Day" and redo the same day over and over again... it would be yesterday. We went to church and the sermon was very inspiring! We picked Audrie up from the nursery and she was just SO darn cute running towards us all happy "Mommy, Daddy, yay!!!". Came home and had a picnic lunch on the back porch in the insanely BEAUTIFUL weather. Then Jamie went to the movies with some guy friends and Audrie went down for her long afternoon nap. So I sort of had the house to myself... opened the windows to let the cool breeze air out the house, cranked up my favorite playlist on my iPod and I cleaned the house (which is actually something I enjoy). We had dinner again on the porch that night and then finished up the evening by taking Audrie to a little playground near our house. It was just one of those days that before I had kids I used to sort of imagine a great day as a family would be like. Almost makes me forget about how many times Audrie has pooped on me. Almost.Pictures from our evening at the playground. (And I took these photos on phone so they're a little blurry...)

"Nothing is more than this day."- Goethe

welcome to the audrie show

Jamie and I joke about how much we love coming home from work to "The Audrie Show" every evening, but it really is so true. A few people have commented to us about how quiet Audrie seems... but honestly she talks/babbles/sings NONSTOP at home. She cracks us up and we look forward to each new "episode". Here is a little sample from her latest repertoire that we got to enjoy this evening after dinner...

I think she may be ready for Broadway! Or at least maybe we can get her a gig in the mall food court with a tip jar, right??

we have a winner!

Jamie competed in a tennis tournament this weekend and HE WON! Whoo hoo! (Click the image below to see his mad tennis skills up close.)
Audrie and I went along to cheer him in the finals. (I think you could watch the entire match in the reflection of my humongous sunglasses... ha!)

It was cute to see how much more Audrie actually watched Jamie this time. She really was into watching and clapping for her daddy out there hitting the ball. She even yelled out "DADDY" a few times before I had a chance to explain to her about the delicate nature of tennis audience etiquette.

She did get a little restless but then she discovered how to use my iPod and was pretty enthralled for awhile with how the sound come out of the earbuds. Every 18 month old needs their own iPod, right?!

Jamie's final match went into a tie-break... it was quite a nail biter! Audrie was hoping her daddy would win...

We were so proud of him!

We love our tennis star!

our nanny is back!

It has been so wonderful having Jamie's mom taking care of Audrie again since I'm back at work. And even though Audrie was away from her for two months (with a few visits this summer) she never missed a beat jumping back into her Grandma's arms and welcoming the spoiling! It really is such a huge blessing to have Donna here. She loves Audrie so much, teaches her new things almost every day, gives her tons of tlc... AND she does dishes, laundry and so many things around the house that I'm very grateful for!! We are ALL getting so spoiled by her. :)

the overhead doors

Last Saturday night Jamie and I went to hear our friend, Becky McBride (friend from college), perform with her band- The Overhead Doors. Becky is one of those people you meet once in a lifetime and we're so happy that she has moved back to the area so we can be around her crazy funloving outlook on life. She sang so amazingly awesome with her band and even though it was a super scary bar we were glad to be there to cheer her on!

Not only can she sing, but she's a great dance partner, too!

Thanks, Mom, for babysitting so we could go out and do a little dancing and cheering for Becky.

(I had to snap this last photo because when I looked down and saw our feet like this I thought it captured our two personalities pretty well!)

alone in rome

So for some weird reason I've been kind of an emotional mess this weekend. Lots of random tears and taking it out on my lucky husband. I think it must be the stress/excitement of school starting and getting the children's choir going for the year and the fact that ABC hasn't announced who the next Bachelor is going to be yet... Anyways, I was just starting to pull myself together when my mom told me that my youngest brother, Caleb, started a blog about his upcoming study abroad in Italy. And reading it made me cry. No explanation for the tears. Maybe because I'm just so proud of his accomplishments at 19 and pray he becomes "all he can be"? Or maybe I just need to take some Midol.

Check out his blog... hopefully he'll keep it updated on his adventures in Rome so I can pretend I'm there, too!
http://www.caleblowery.blogspot.com/

schoolhouse rocks

I think this has been the best start of the school year I've had in a really long time! I don't want to jinx myself but I'm REALLY excited about what a great year this is going to be. I spent the past week getting my choir room all ready for today.

I even made my poor husband spend some time helping me in my classroom... doesn't he look thrilled??

Bring on the students!

This is the music office I share with Melanie and Shannon. Kate calls our office the "bat cave" I think because we tend to shut ourselves off from the outside world at times back here. But we love it! And I am so happy to share an office with such a wonderful group of cool chicks!

Decorating is one of my favorite things about getting ready for another school year! My classroom kind of looks like a big scrapbook, but since I spend the majority of my life in that room I have to make it something I love to look at all day.

I even had a few awesome students who gave up a few last hours of their summer to come help me in my room. I love middle schoolers!

And oh my goodness- Mel whipped up the cutest bulletin board I've ever seen. She even managed to use to word "tarnation" on there somehow! Love her.

And ok, this is Shannon... who is days away from giving birth! And just for the record we tried SO hard to convince her to GET DOWN and let us hang those dang letters, but her nesting instinct is kicking in hard and she wouldn't listen to us!

I'm going to miss Shannon while she's out on her maternity leave, but I'm excited I have student teacher this semester from the U of A who will be helping me out.

So today was the first day of school and it went just awesomely. It went so good I think I'll go back tomorrow. :)

ugh

I can only title this post "ugh" because that's the heart aching joy I feel when I look at these pictures of our beautiful daughter. Kim babysat Audrie last week and was so sweet to take some adorable photos for us. Ugh. Can't believe this our BABY. Can't believe God gave us such a sweet gift. Can't believe Kim's amazing photography. (To see more photos that Kim did the other day CLICK HERE and go to proofing at the bottom of the page... the password is Audrie09).

I also put together a video montage of some of my favorite moments with Audrie this summer (set to one of my new favorite songs "Find Your Wings" by Mark Harris).

dinner and dancing

Our friends, Jim and Emily, came over for dinner last night (it's SO wonderful having them just a few minutes down the road now!). Um, Ben... where's your hand??

Ben and Audrie had a great time playing outside together while we ate.

Audrie kept trying so hard to get Ben to hold her hand...

Finally he gave in. Such a sweet boy!

But then, oh my goodness, they started dancing together (they are topless because they had been playing in the water in the kiddie pool and because it's summer time so babies don't need clothes, right??). They really were too cute...

Then Audrie moved in for the kiss...

But settled for an awkward head bump instead. Just friends?

Then Ben decided he had enough dancing...

Just in case a million photos weren't enough... here's the video footage.