A Moment of Intensity?

In Stillwater this weekend, Ethan played a lot in the yard with his grandparents and cousin, Jack. Between the soccer ball and the slide, the boys were completely content. Luckily, my stud of a sister-in-law, Caylee, was there to catch some of it with her camera. Ethan looks so serious in this picture....like's he's planning out his next move to keep that ball away from Jack... 

Offers & Excitement

We received an offer on our house this past weekend. In a way, it came as a shock to us because we really had planned on it taking several months for anything to happen. But then, on the other hand, we weren't at all surprised because we think our house is stinkin' cute. (yes, we're waaaaay biased) We've been excited to see how God works through this whole process, and he's definitely surprising us along the way. The girl that is wanting to buy our house has to sell her house, so it's still not a "done deal". But we think we've found our new house, and we may be putting a contingent offer on the table for it this week. Craziness!

She's Here!

My newest niece, Claire Marie, was born Thursday, the 24th. She weighed 6 lbs, 12 oz and was 20" long. I get to meet her today for the first time...I can't hardly wait!!

Fun with Kate

Ethan's buddy, Kate, came over to play this week. (I say "buddy" b/c I think Tate has already been promised to her AND she's almost a head taller than Ethan...) Ethan loved having her over. They both seemed to learn some valuable skills from each other. Like Ethan showed her how to rip apart a magazine into millions of little pieces. And Kate showed him how to lock a door. Yes, lock a door....with them inside and me on the outside. Luckily she unlocked it pretty quickly and no harm was done. Of course Jill may never let me watch the kids again!

Family & Soccer

I don't know that it gets much better than soccer and family for Ethan... His cousin Alyssa had a soccer tournament in Springdale, so we went to see her play. (She did awesome.) Ethan LOVES balls. He screams "BAAAAH" every time he sees one (or something that resembles one). So a morning at the soccer field was full of "BAAAH"s. It was fun seeing the Hoyle fam too. Ethan eats up being the center of attention to his three older cousins.

Makeup for $1?!?

I got an email from my fabulous friend Christi telling me about an amazing deal... Apparently e.l.f. cosmetics is being bought by Nordstrom's. Nordstrom's is repackaging the makeup with their logo, so they're trying to get rid of all the product with the e.l.f. label. Everything is $1. I bought 22 items for $17.00. Pretty sweet. If you use the password code CAROLINA, you get $7.50 off of your first order of $15 or more... Just thought I would share a great deal! Enjoy!

My Guys

This picture is a couple months old (you can tell b/c this was shortly after Ethan's first haircut/shave), but I came across it and it made me laugh. So, I had to post it. Ethan loves his rock'n'roll sessions with his dad, and I believe this was taken in the middle of one. They turn the music up loud and Chris dances with Ethan (well, it's more like he throws him around). Regardless, Ethan gets the biggest kick out of it and when his favorite songs start, he screams and starts bouncing. I think this is the making of a music star...at least he has the hair for it...

Shoes

Lately Ethan has loved putting shoes on. Since mine are usually laying out (I know that's hard to believe, mom & dad), he's constantly bringing them to me to put on his feet. (Thankfully  he gravitates towards the tennis shoes rather than high heels...) It's pretty cute watching him try to walk around in them - he generally doesn't get very far. But that doesn't keep him from trying over and over and over and over...

Using a Fork

It hadn't occurred to me that maybe Ethan should start using utensils while eating till last week. I am not sure why I started with a fork, since in the hands of a 14 mth old could be a nice weapon, but the stabbing motion really excited him. Go figure. He picked it up almost immediately, and I couldn't help but be so proud. Of course at dinner when I proudly gave him his fork and told him to show is dad his new trick, he threw the fork, grabbed the place mat and knocked the plate on the floor. Lovely. So now we know he CAN do it...we're working on the does he FEEL like doing it. Our poor carpet.