Laurie's Life

One of the highlights for the girls was going to The Track to ride rides.  Thank you for the compliments on my Chevron dress.  I got it at Gap.  SK's yellow dress came from Old Navy. Like mother like daughter.  When I was little I loved riding go carts.  Emily loves it too!

I have a dream vacation.  This magazine page shows my dream.  I invision being carried down through a Lousiana swamp.  Touring old plantations and eating Cajun food for every meal. Maybe I want my boat a little bigger and a little higher.  I want to return home with all limbs. Have you ever done this? Do you have any reccomendations? This place looks pretty promising. Good eats! Thank you Southern Living for the ideas!

DO you think Emily has enough sunscreen on?  I am terrified of skin cancer and I do not ever want them to get a sunburn. Scott's famous swimming pool on the beach!  The girls loved it! My hair was like a used Brillo pad at the beach. The girls most favorite bathroom ever:  a mermaid and shell wall. I still have more pictures to post...........

We left last Friday to go on our beach trip.  We stopped in Russellville and had a super good lunch!  I ran into two girls who told me that they recognized me from Kelly's blog!  Small world.  I was glad they said hello.  We had SOOOO much stuff in our truck that we were traveling like the Beverly Hilbillies.  We have been trying to unload the truck today and place the clutter in it's proprer place...if there is one. Steve dropped me off in Memphis to meet up with two very dear college friends.  Sara and Kim.  We meet up every Summer and it is the highlight of my Summer!  Sara and her family are missionaries and Kim is a therapist/counselor.    Kim lives in the Little Rock area.  These girls are soooooo sooooo funny, but also full of depth and wisdom.  Sara always gives great parenting advice.  Kim always has wise answers for any questions I may have about dealing with people and/or myself. ha! Saturday we went to a family reunion.  Emily and Aunt Marilyn entertained e

A few weeks ago, I bought the book Bringing Up Girls by James Dobson.  It is wonderful and just what I feel I need to read right now.  The book makes me more aware of what I am doing with my girls and also what the world is trying to do to them! The first part of the book talks a lot about manners. It seems a lot of our worlds problems are due to bad manners, or lack of manners.  We live in a VERY self-centered, ME centered world.  We seem to be drifting away from the Golden Rule:  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I am thankful that my parents and grandparents taught me to have good manners.  Good manners have always been important in my family. Am I always a bright , shining example of good manners????  No, I am not!  But, I know when I am not having good manners and it is due to laziness and self-centeredness. I strive for good manners in myself and my girls. Sheryl Eberly, who wrote 365 Manners Kids Should Know says,  "living by the Golde

I think I may have found a miracle for my face!  I went to Sephora last week to get some powder.  I had some points on my card, so I could receive a free gift.  I usually don't get too excited about the gift, so I usually turn it down.  I have been using this little sample pack for a week now and I think my face looks better, my make-up stays on better and I am way less oily!!!!!!  I have REALLY oily skin.  Make-up does not stay on my nose very well because my nose is so oily. The face wash makes your face tingle,  it is like it has peppermint in it!  I love the feeling and it wakes me up.  Then I use the toner.  I have never in my life used a toner.  The last step is a moisterizing gel.  All this seems to do the trick for me.  I think I am going to buy the big set when I run out of this sample. Have you ever used these Clinique products????? We all got our hair cut yesterday!  I LOVE getting my hair cut!  I love how Emily's looks and it is going to make it so much easie

Six years ago, some friends introduced us to a mennonite restuarant called The Wooden Spoon.  We have been regular customers ever since.  The place is a thirty minute drive for us and we ALWAYS have to wait.  We waited two hours one night for a table.  We waited an hour and ten minutes Friday night.  I told Steve that I don't know if the food is all that great or you just think it is because you are so hungry when you get it.  It really is good food!  We would not drive that far or wait that long if it were not.  Steve got fried catfish and I got meatloaf.  I was probably the only person that ordered meat loaf Friday night.  They gave me a ton of it-probably trying to get rid of it before closing. Ha! They are only open on Friday night for dinner.  They have four or five items to choose from.  It is good and fresh home cooked food.  They have wonderful bread and I don't even like bread, but I eat it there. (They are opened during the week for lunch.) We enjoyed our

We let our butterflies go free last week.  Notice how SK has her dress tied up on one side.  She saw kids do their Bible School t-shirts like that.  She would not wear a t-shirt, but insisted that  I tie up her dresses on one side.  People probably think we are nuts. SK loves ice cream bars, can you tell? This butterfly did not want to leave.  That worked out great for Emily. Our Bible school gave out free Papa Murphy Pizza coupons to all kids who attended VBS.  The girls got Mini Murph pizza kits.  SO so cute!  It comes with everything you need to make your own pizza.  The girls had so much fun making and eating their own pizza.  They even came with a tattoo! Last Saturday we went to our local farmer's market.  We got these beautiful flowers.  We have enjoyed them all week!

We celebrated 4th of July with Kelly and Scott and their girls.  We had a really good time and stayed way too long.  The girls loved playing with Harper! The girls enjoyed "cooking" in the backyard.  The cooking involved water, grass, flowers and leaves.  That was their version of soup.  It provided hours of fun. Kelly and Hollis look like they should be on the cover of a magazine!  I loved the dress and beads! We went to see some fireworks, but Sarah Kate and I stayed in the truck because she was beyond fussy.  Steve and Emily liked them.  I did my best to get a picture of us.  She fell alseep right after I took this. I want to record some funny things that my girls say right now. Anytime Sarah Kate helps me cooks she says that she is a "cooker baker." My girls hardly ever see squirrels.  But, when I used to take Emily to preschool, we would go past a vacant lot that had three huge oak tress.  Emily would see a squirrel most everyday that s