Thursday, September 29, 2011

CoverGirl Claire

I just finished scrubbing lipstick out of the carpet because my little mischievous (and a little bit prissy) daughter had fun getting into mommy's purse.

Experiencing all this girliness feels strange and good all at the same time.

And yes, I was smiling while I was cleaning...

Monday, September 26, 2011

Celebrating Carter

On August 24th Carter turned five years old and we celebrated his birthday the following weekend with a Cars themed birthday party at our house. Carter has been a big Lightning McQueen fan for quite a while and out of all of our boys, Carter is by far the most passionate race car fan. He loves anything with tires and is perfectly content to sit on the sofa and watch a Nascar race. And he can make a mean engine sound effect! Yes, that boy loves racing and a Cars party was right up his ally.

We invited several of Carter's buddies and they all had a fun time coloring Cars themed posters, racing toy cars on the "track" in our hallway, stacking "tires" (miniature chocolate donuts), "towing" cars, racing for a place in the pit stop, and eating cake of course. It was all out boy fun!




Carter brings so much joy to our family with his big smile and dimples, his silly games of "find Carter" where he pretends to hide but really wants to be found so that he can receive lots of tickles, the sweet way he dotes on his little sister, and even his insatiable sweet tooth. We are so blessed to have him in our family and praise the Lord for our Carter Bradley. We love you Carter!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Wrapping up the Summer

The summer is officially coming to a close, and while the transition from summer to fall seems to be such a momentous event with little ones and the beginning of a new school year, we can move forward knowing that we have truly enjoyed this season to the fullest. We have taken advantage of the more relaxed summer schedule, spent as much time as possible outdoors, and shared many fun times with family and friends.

We went blueberry picking two times this summer. There is a blueberry patch just a few minutes down the road from us, making it an easy morning activity. We met up with friends, making the picking all the more fun. The kids had a blast and I still have about two pies worth of blueberries in my freezer.

We were also able to join Brian's parents for a day of fun at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Definitely a super fun day!

On the train.


Riding the boat.

Bryce lost his first tooth on his favorite ride, Escape from Pompeii. He let Brian yank it out! I guess he really is brave!


Enjoying a trip to the park with Gramma.

Grant finished up the golf season with a couple of tournaments.

Bryce saved up for several months to purchase this magnetic mosaic set. Way to go Bryce!


Visiting the animals at Maymont Park.

Our friends the Myers joined us at Maymont. Lots of kids and lots of fun!

Dinner out with friends--kid free!


All the kids love the pool. The boys had some really fun water gun fights this year.

Claire was mesmerized by the animals at the zoo. And she is brave enough to try to climb into the rhinocerous' cage and try to stick her finger in the mouth of a giraffe. The boys love the bat exhibit. I, however, do not.

Grammy met us for a second day of Busch Gardens.

Davis and Grammy on the train.

Yes, it was a fun summer! I'm taking a deep breathe as I gear up for fall, but joyfully anticipating all that God has in store for us we follow His leading.


Going to the chapel...

In August my brother Eric and his sweetheart, Mandie, went to the chapel (Commonwealth Chapel, that is) and got married! The ceremony was beautiful and we are all thrilled to welcome Mandie into the family. You can view some of the wedding photos at http://www.photoreflect.com/store/store.aspx?p=235505 (look under recent photos for Smith-Waagner wedding). Congratulations Eric and Mandie!