Where My George?

Uncle George has been the focus of Camden's attention for quite some time now! Every morning, she goes through her routine of asking where everybody is..."Where Daddy? (or if Daddy's with her, it's where Mommy?), Where Katie? Where Bapa?" (Grandpa) At some point, I think around Christmastime, she added George to her questions, and he's always on her mind! "Where George?" "Where my George?" over and over... on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis...

So George, we don't always get it on video, but this was just this morning when both the girls were thinking of you!! They love and miss you lots!!!



I should let everyone know, also, that George made THE coolest birthday invitation for Katie's party this year. I tried to upload it to the blog, but it's a pdf and I couldn't figure out how to make that work yet. It looks like a CD, with Katie on it dressed as a sparkly popstar... maybe I can scan it and put it in that way so you can see it. I'm sure you will all want to hire him to do your invitations too!!!

Our Latest Work...

In the library/guest suite area of the basement, behind the playroom, we now have pictures on the wall and (some) books on the shelves. These are the pictures we had on our playroom wall before - the pictures of favorite kids' books:

And here's my dream come true: A wall of bookshelves! And here we thought we had so many books...see how many empty shelves there are? I must need to fill in some of my favorite collections: John Grisham, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Mary Higgins Clark, and Nicholas Sparks!

By the way, when you come visit us, the middle two shelves slide open and the bed comes out! We hear it's comfy but haven't tested it out yet!

Here are the girls in their new BIG BONED BBQ CO. t-shirts. What faces they make!

Happy Birthday, Zander!

Today we went down to Georgia to celebrate Zander's 3rd birthday! His party was at a place called the Bounce House (an indoor all inflatable party place...fun!!) The kids (and adults) had a GREAT time, as you can see!

Katie and Camden playing together

Katie going head-first!
Zander and Katie climbing up the wall
Camden's loving it!
Daddy and Camden sliding down fast!

Grandpa Ballou pushing Zander and Katie on Zander's new playset in his yard
Zander using his present from Ben...cymbals!
Grandma Ballou helping the newest band members
What a day! This is how Katie spent the ride home:

This is how Camden spent the ride home:

Like, Gag Me with a Spoon...and Summer's Over!!

Yes, Camden's latest activity is gagging herself, either with a spoon or with her fingers! Apparently she thinks this is really fun and will laugh like crazy about it when she finally stops.

Here is a picture of her this morning with her crazy hair!!

And yes, my summer is OVER!!! Tomorrow I start workshops...aren't all of you with another month left so jealous???

Some Recent Activities

Katie's Crafting Corner
I should show you a before and after picture of this area of the playroom...but all you're getting is the after. The before was just a BIG pile of craft materials on the floor. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the colored drawers on the cart are green, red, blue, and purple...the same colors as the playroom!!! (I planned that, of course...)

Camden's Paperclip Fun
Did you have any idea how much fun it is to take every paperclip out of the box and throw it on the floor? :)

Snuggly Sisters
When Katie got home from Jr. Red Raiders camp at Baylor today, (and we had all dried off from being caught in the torrential downpour!) the girls decided to snuggle together on Katie's bed.

The Status of the Rooms

Camden's Room
Camden's room started out an army green color. When Katie was out of town we got it painted light purple. Still haven't gotten anything on her walls yet, but that will come...Today we found a rug at Target that has all these pastel colors in it. Perfect! It really pulls the room together...(and covers a few unsightly stains on opposite sides of the room). So here's what it looks like now:


Katie's Room
Katie's room colors were good to start with...light khaki on the bottom and a light blue/periwinkle (in the right light) on top. She wants to keep them (fine with us!) Now I know my Mom and Dad are chuckling as they read this, because I know that I was never good at picking things up when I was young. So I guess this is payback, and you know what they say about that...

Every time I turn around, she's got something else out and spread all over the floor! Like a tornado hit it! And, I'm going to qualify this picture with the fact that it was taken after we filled 2 Extra-Large Rubbermaid tubs full of toys to go to the playroom (which already has tons and tons of toys all by itself).

In this picture, she had just found the Pooh clock for her room, and taken it out of the box and out of the 2 pieces of Styrofoam around it. Now, I would just set the Styrofoam aside and put the clock somewhere. But that's not how Katie's mind works. She sees the one piece, turns it on its side, and thinks it would be a perfect couch for her doll. So then, she gets every stool, box, or bench type thing in her room and finds a doll or stuffed animal to sit on it, because obviously, they are having a sleepover and watching a scary movie tonight!

Double Trouble, Hell on Wheels, you name it...

Yesterday we visited our friends in Georgia. We've gone from seeing them a couple of times a year to a couple times a month! You can see how we (the grown ups) are all in trouble as these two (Camden and Kaya) grow up. They were all over each other, as you can see!

Who Started It? Who Knows?


Let's Kiss and Make Up
What, We're not Doing Anything!

Katie and Zander had fun too, and they are very much alike as well, but maybe they won't be as much of a handful as Camden and Kaya!

Watching Backyardigans


Fishing in the "big red boat" catching dinner for the Sea Creature Meat Restaurant