Laurie's Life

Emily had her last playgroup yesterday! Soooo sad! These three started playgroup together when they were just infants. Emily, Alex and Jackson. We are also so sad that Jackson will be moving this weekend. More time with the goats!!!! The highlight of Silver Dollar City last weekend. Sarah Kate always walks on her toes. She had her three year check-up this week. I discussed the toe walking with her Dr. He suggested we give it 6 months and then see a pediatric orthopedist. He told me to remind her to walk on her heels. He said that her muscles were tight, but not super tight. He said it was good that she WAS ABLE TO put her feet flat. He told me that the only real fix was to do surgery. Have you had experience with a child walking on their toes?

I am just curious........what is your favorite song right now? I always learn so much from readers who leave me comments. You have introduced me to some great musicians and bands through my blog. THANK YOU! I have several songs that I LOVE right now. In fact, when I hear them in the car, they make me speed. I just get so excited. (Well, when I say speed, I just mean go the speed limit. I am usually driving slower than the speed limit). Sidewalk Prophets: You Love Me Anyway Selah: You Deliver Me Taylor Swift: Mean The Band Perry: If I Die Young Zac Brown Band: Colder Weather Tell me what great songs am I missing out on.

We spent the past few days in Branson. My parents met us there. We had a fabulous, but HOT time! Friday we spent the day at Silver Dollar City. I saw something there that I will NEVER forget! The park has a show right now featuring the Wallenda Family. I had never heard of them, but they are a family of tight rope walkers. My Dad knew all about them and he got me excited about them. The show was in SDC 's Opera House theater. We got in line fifty minutes early for this show. I thought we were nuts, but I stayed there in the blazing heat to get a good seat at the Wallenda's show. We DID get good seats, but I realized that we were so close to the stage that if one of them fell the bars that they held would go right trough us. I was a nervous wreck at the show. I just can't imagine walking on a rope so high in the air that if you fell, it would kill you. But not only that, they ride bikes and stack up on top of each other. I LOVED the show, but I was actually misera

I finally broke down on Saturday and ordered two pillow shams to go with our duvet cover my parents got us for Christmas. I hardly ever order anything from a catalog or online. I think I got scarred in the fourth grade when my mom ordered me a ventriloquist dummy that I thought would be really big and nice. When we got the package it was about 10 inches tall and the body had to be stuffed with newspaper. What a disappointment! It was just a piece of junk. I like to see and feel and look at what I am buying. But, the particular duvet set is only sold through the catalog. One drawback on mail ordering is paying the shipping. I am way too tight for that. I really needed two King size sham covers. All they had was standard and Euro. The standard was $25 and the Euro was $35. I had no clue what Euro meant, but I knew it sounded big and it must be bigger since it was ten dollars more than the standard. I placed my order on-line and payed the $17 for shipping. YUCK! I LOVED track

I always say that VBS is my favorite week of the Summer. I have been sad this week not to be there. Thought I would post some more pictures of the sweet babies. Plus some pictures of my own babies. I always work in the VBS nursery with Shelly and Sally. I love working with them. They are really FUN! The top picture is Shelly with Eden. Shelly is a SUPER talented singer. I always tell her that she needs to make a c.d. She is professional quality. Darling Nicole and her mom, Lindsey. Caroline Wonderful Hollis with Sally. Sally shared some great recipes with us last week, yet she says she hates to cook. Emily during playtime at VBS. She said her favorite part of the week was playing outside. Emily with her crew and crew leaders, Melissa and Delaney. I was so thankful for her great leaders. Sarah Kate playing outside.

When I was a little girl, our close family friends, the Jordan's introduced us to" Lemon Cooler" cookies. Does anyone remember them? It was in the mid seventies that I used to eat them. I LOVED them. I have wondered about them from time to time. Yesterday I happened to find something VERY similar at Walmart. They are wonderful! They are very crispy with little bits of very tart little lemony chips. I also remember eating cookies in the 70's that were shaped like flowers and were butter cookies. They had a hole in the center. I would put my pointer finger through that hole and eat them off my finger. Ha! I am going to have to stay away from these cookies when I shop. They could make me as round as the cookie. For the past few months Emily has been earning jewels in a glass when she makes good choices. A jewel comes out of the cup when she makes bad choices. She gets three jewels for sleeping through the night/staying in her room at night. She reached the top

I have had the best week! The highlight of every Summer is getting to work in the baby room at VBS. I LOVE THAT ROOM!!!!!! We have it made this Summer....we have three workers and four babies. They are all girls. The best part......they are all under 6 months. I like newborn babies, so I am in bliss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This first baby is Nicole. They have named her my baby for the week. She is a mama's girl but likes me too. She reminds me lot of Emily at that age. She is a petite little miss. She is almost 3 months old. This is Eden. She is so funny. She was putting on a show for the camera. I love spying on my girls while they are with their groups. Emily is loving VBS!!!!! I got to have a baby at my house this afternoon. This is Lena Kate. She is the best little thing! Her sister is Sarah Grace, Emily's "bef" friend. Sweet Hollis. She is just the dream baby!!!!!! We have had some good bonding this week. Nicole Eden Caroline is all smiles. This is

I had the great opportunity to meet two of my best college friends while I was in Memphis. This is me and Sara. She is from Memphis, but now is a missionary in Turkey. We were roommates for a year in college. Sara is sooo MUCH FUN! She is just so funny and a blast to spend time with. I have laughed and laughed at the things she said and did this weekend. She is a WONDERFUL mother. She has taught me so much about handling children (and life). I think I need to send my girls to live with her for a week and let her train them. Me ,Sara and Kim. We had to make a trip to Dairy Queen. Kim is also a whole lot of fun and laughs herself. I always tell her that she needs to be a comedian. You can't help but laugh when you are with Kim. She is also very kind. I am sooooooo thankful that the Lord brought these girls in my life. They love the Lord and are so real through and through. I smiled all day Saturday after being with them. We stayed in a hotel together on Friday night.

We spent the weekend in TN and MS. We had a wonderful time seeing friends and family. This is Steve's Granny. We love her so much. Emily with cousin Carrington. She is a beautiful baby! My girls loved her. Whitney and her Mom, Louise. The cousins did a "play" together. They were setting up for the performance. Me holding Sam Henry. He is 6 weeks old and he is very cute! Beautiful blue eyes. We had a GREAT meal!!!!!!!!!! I ate fried squash, fresh black eyed peas, fresh green beans, poppy seed chicken, fresh cream style corn, corn bread, THE FAMOUS ROAST and sweet tea!. It was the best meal I have had in months. I will post more pictures and highlights from the weekend later. I am not able to post any picture right now for some reason.

The girls took swimming lessons last week. Emily liked it a lot more than Sarah Kate did. I think Emily is going to be swimming soon. She did good in her lessons. Their teacher was GREAT! Sarah Kate learning to blow bubbles and put her face under water. I think this is a great way to fall asleep! The teacher asked that the girls wear goggles during the lessons. It made it so much easier for them to put their heads under water. I heard from a friend this weekend that her children's swim teacher said children should NOT learn to swim with goggles. She explained that if they ever fall in a pool by accident they will feel like they can't swim without their goggles.

There is a small town in South Arkansas called Smackover. It was a booming oil town in it's day. It is also known for being the home of Rhene Miller Myer, also known as the "goat woman." It is a true and fascinating story. She used to be an opera singer in a big city. She fell on hard times and came to Smackover, lived in a box car, a caboose, and had many goats. Anytime we passed through Smackover as a child, my mother would point out the goat woman's house. She lived out on the highway and I remember seeing her goats and maybe a time or two seeing her out there with them. The Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover now displays her boxcar and pictures in their collection. There is even a children's book about her. Well........I think I have my own little goat woman. What was Emily's favorite thing about Silver Dollar City????????????????? Yes, the goats. What is Emily wanting as a pet now? Yes, a goat. She spent about an hour with these goat on Sa

On Saturday we went to Branson to Silver Dollar City. We discovered a part of the park that we had never seen before. Their original park started out with a cave, tour of a log cabin cabin, church and a school house. They also used to offer horse and carriage rides. The park grew from there and just keeps getting better and bigger. It is easy to miss the original attractions, but we stumbled upon them Saturday morning. I was so excited. It was just like stepping back in the days of Little House on the Prairie. We spent the majority of our time in this area. Emily really thought the Ingalls lived there. The top picture is in the church. The girls loved being in the one room school and Emily loved the teacher. The best thing about this area: It was VERY SHADED and COOL!!!!! Sarah Kate only rode three rides. Here she is in the tea cup ride. We had a very low key Fourth. Steve grilled burgers and we made homemade ice cream. I need to lay off the ice cream. I could eat it all. I