Rain, rain go away...

It has not rained in almost two months, but it had to rain today - the day we were having a pool party!


We planned to celebrate Emily & Allie's birthdays today by renting the neighborhood pool. All was looking great until just before the party when the echo of thunder sounded. So there was no swimming for a while. We took advantage of this by hitting the piñata (shaped like a football) and opening gifts while we waited to swim.

Once we received the "thumbs up" to swim from the lifeguards the kids had a great time.






Emily wanted a swimming theme complete with a "pool cake" and Allie wanted a football theme. It must be because she loves to watch football with her Dad so much. She had cupcakes complete with a footballl ring.

A nice surprise....

Amanda received a surprise package in the mail today. It turned out to be a wonderful "spa day" gift basket for her 16th birthday. It was sent from our family in Australia.


The basket came packed in the cutest decorator "cupcake" box.

Inside was a gourmet cookie shaped like a cupcake and an assortment of spa day products - A cloth covered loofah sponge, bath salts, body wash, shower gel, lavender scented hand wipes and a relaxing gel eye mask.

Amanda was pleasantly surprised! But I can't help but wonder how the folks in Aussie knew she was going through a "cupcake" phase at the moment....

What a wonderful gift!

Thank you all for thinking of her in such a special way!

And later that day.....

David and the kids quickly tired of the manual "scrapping"to remove the grout from under the old tile. They rented an electric jackhammer and had a blast using it. What would have taken days took less than an hour.



Note the safety glasses but no shoes mentality of my bunch!

A few photos of Shayne's visit on Sunday:

Allie turns 8

The day started with Allie opening gifts... I think her favorite things were her "Hannah Montana" wig & glasses.

She spend the rest of the day like a 'Pop Star' - shopping and eating lunch with Dad at Fuddruckers. She even had a special visit from her sister Shayne.

Happy Birthday Baby - We love you!

Under Construction

David is replacing the tile by the front door and the kids had a great time helping remove the old tile & grout. Julius even thought about spending the night so he could keep on working. Not so sure Constanze was as excited about the idea as he was. :)

All grown up.....almost!

Today my baby girl turns 16! What an incrediable young woman she is turning into. It has been an amazing adventure watching her grow. I can't wait for the many wonderful things that are ahead...................Once she finishes drivers ed that is!

Happy 16th Birthday

"Manda Panda"!!

Hello World!!!!!!!

Grandma Betty & Great Grandma Quarles welcome me into the world

I was cool even as a baby!

Happy Easter!

Best buds - Emily & Amanda in OZ

Happy Birthday Amanda!

We love you!

Kyla made Amanda cupcakes to celebrate her special day. We took them with us to eat at Hooters and had the best time!!!

Ice Cream Cake ~ YUM


A perfect end to a GREAT Day

Fun Filled Weekend

Camping is fun, but camping with good friends is the best!




We had a busy, fun filled weekend at Inks Lake with our friends and their kids. The kids kept busy swimming and playing while the adults spent some time relaxing. The early risers (not my family!!) did some hiking and canoeing as well.


Relaxing in the lake with a cold one...or two.

Making Smores...







Playing on the playground...

And just hanging out...