Happy 4th Birthday Baby Girl!

There are no words that can describe how lucky I am to have this little girl as my daughter! She's a smart,loving,caring,hard headed, stubborn sunshine of my life! I can't imagine my life without her!


When we started planning her b-day party I asked her what she wanted to do this year. She threw out several options but kept coming back to Strawberry shortcake. Everyone know's I'm not big into character party's so before I agree to it I had to look online to see what all I could do with Strawberry Shortcake! After SEVERAL hours of playing around online I told her okay she could have SS--she was SO excited! And the planning begins......



This year I decided to do somethings different: I didn't have a big cake, I decided I was going to do customize cupcakes. Rileigh also requested to have PBJ's for the food this year. At first I was hesitant cause I didn't want people to leave the party hungry so we timed it so it was after lunch and before dinner. Plus lets face it the party is for the kids and what do kids love...PBJ's!!!!!
I had a LOT of fun putting this party together, I made almost all the decorations myself(with the help of a wonderful friend)! I would go online and find ideas and then when I saw the price of it I thought hum...I can make that all it is is scrap booking paper! So needless to say I spent many of nights up late cutting! (Was not easy to do when R was awake cause she wanted to help WAY TOO MUCH)! It was all worth it when your little girl goes in the dining room where it's all laid out and screams out "WOW mommy, this is the BEST bday party EVERY"...made my heart melt. Totally worth everything we did!
Here are some of the decorations that I made!


Pom Poms

Buffet Tags

Flower With Strawberry Shortcake

Balloon Holders

Happy Birthday Banner

Up close Picture of the Banner!

Straws with all the kids names on them!

Rileigh's Artwork she made for her party! Of course she had to add some stickers to personalize it!!!





I want to add, all the pom poms around the lower deck was made by her daddy! Yep that's right he helped make decorations too(not much just the pom poms!!!) He loves his little girl!

Here are just some random pictures of her and her friends playing! She is very blessed to have so many great friends! Even though it was a 100 degrees outside the kids still had a great time playing in the bounce house and on the swing set! We had ton's of fans everywhere (really those were for the adults- don't think heat bothers kiddos!!!!)










So the group picture didn't turn out so well!!! Should of had them sitting with the sun behind them not blinding them!!!! This is almost all the 21 kids that came, some had to leave early! This is one sweaty group of kids!!! LOL BUT they were all having fun and that's all that matters! Thanks parents for being such great sports, Rileigh's day couldn't of been any better!

Presents: WOW is all I can say! She is so blessed with everything she got! I don't think there was anything she didn't get!!!! This year from mommy and daddy she wanted a ballerina doll she saw a couple months ago. We've been telling her she better start being good if she wanted it!LOL The morning of her birthday she comes running downstairs "MOMMY, DADDY can I finally get my ballerina doll it's my birthday!!!!" Needless to say when she open it she was ecstatic!









So I'm realizing we didn't get a lot of pictures of what she actually got, just her opening them so here are just a FEW of the things she got: Lot's of Strawberry shortcake stuff including SS House, SS remote control car, SS Bat & Ball, lot's of dress up cloths (Princess, Tangle, Barbie with matching outfit for her barbie) She got a cowgirl outfit for her baby doll and a carrying case for them. Lot's of cute cloths, Baseball Bat. Like I said these are just a few of the things.

Again, thank you everyone that made my little girls 4th birthday so special! She will never forget it! Happy Birthday Baby Girl- we love you more than words can describe!

Georgia Aquarium

Dennis had to go to Atlanta for work so Rileigh and I decided to tag along with him and go have some fun! If it was me I could of spend the day shopping in Atlanta...BUT I knew Rileigh wasn't going to go for that so I started looking at things to do with kids. My cousin recommend the Aquarium, Rileigh loved the Chattanooga Aquarium when we went last year so I knew she would LOVE to do that. Another surprise for her was she was going to ride a train for the first time, MARTA! I think she was more excited about that than the aquarium! I must admit I was nervous about riding MARTA by myself, not only because we are in Atlanta but last time I rode a train I missed my stop and had no idea where I was!!!!! When purchasing the ticket I know I asked that woman a million questions about the train and where does it go if I miss my stop...lol! On top of figuring this train thing out once we got off the train we had to walk to the Aquarium (again nervous being just the two of us)! I had Dennis google the directions and email it to my phone ( I so looked like a tourist with my phone out walking around trying to find streets)! It worked out great, when we got on MARTA I found this couple with kids ( I figured they MUST be going to the Aquarium) so I asked and they wasn't BUT was going to the Coke- Cola building which is right next door to the Aquarium....score! We all walked together and got there with no problems! It seems like a pretty safe area down there so I wasn't too nervous walking back by our self's.

HERE IS RILEIGH ON MARTA! AS YOU CAN SEE SHE IS LOVING IT!



THE AQUARIUM:
WOW....it was really nice, very large! I couldn't believe how crowed it was on a TUESDAY! It was hard to spend a lot of time looking cause so many people were there and I felt bad spending lot's of time at each location. They have a lot of the same things as the Chattanooga Aquarium so at least I feel like she's already seen it once! They just put in a new Dolphin show but of course it was extra, and well we all know how CHEAP I am so we didn't go! (Should be included as much as they charge to get in the front door...lol) Next time we will do it! It did look pretty neat. The 3-D movie was Nemo so guess what Rileigh talked me into doing...yep watching the movie! (another thing that should be included in price!! LOL ) Overall, it was a great place and we had an awesome time doing it together! Love making memories with my little girl!

HERE ARE A FEW PIC OF US AT THE AQUARIUM (All taken by camera phone so not the best quality but it works)!!





SWIMMING AT THE HOTEL POOL:

Life on the Lake 2011!

I'm so happy Rileigh enjoys going to the lake and being on the boat as much as her Daddy and I! She loves the weekends cause that usually means boating time! She's such a pro, as soon as she get's on the boat she goes and get's her life jacket out and puts it on! So glad she doesn't mind wearing it (seeing how it's the law she has too)! She is definitely a child that's going to like dangers things I'm afraid, the faster the boat goes the happier she is! She always tell's Dennis "go faster daddy", the boat will be wide open and she's still asking to go faster!!!!

We put a swim platform on the back of the boat this year for Rileigh and her friends to jump off! At the end of the year last summer she discovered jumping off the back of the boat is a lot of fun! At first she acted a little scared (think she forgot how much fun she had last summer doing it) But as soon as she seen all her buddies doing it we can't keep her off now!!!! Rileigh enjoys having friends go with her! I love watching her play with her friends, all the smiles and laughs are priceless!

This summer Rileigh asked if she could tube behind the boat. I've got to admit I was scared at first and wasn't going to let her do it. I was afraid she was still too young to do that. Tracy (our friend) said he would pull her REALLY SLOW so I decided I would give it a try. I really thought she would be scared and would want off as soon as he started going......wrong, she LOVED it!!! After all the smiles and talk about how much she loved it she asked can we buy a pink one of these~!!! LOL My girl and her pink! Oh and I was on the tube with her, basically having a death grip on her so she wouldn't fall off!!! LOL Another thing she got to do this year is ride the jet ski! Again, no fear! She loved every min. of it!

Here are some pictures of her on the lake this summer! I wish I had more but I never took the camera out so these are just one's off my cell phone! (gotta love camera phones to capture all the first time moments!!)

Destin With the McKnight Family 2011

Diana and I have talked about doing a trip out of town with our kids for a couple summers now. Finally this year we DID IT!!!!! We had talked about a couple options for our trip, one of them being Gatlinburg and then Destin,FL. Ean, her son (10yr) has NEVER been to the beach so right then is when we decided we were heading down to FL! Since we were driving so many hours with us and 3 kids we decided we would stay at least 5 nights! The kids were all so good in the car! They were so cute at one point they were all sleeping (very nice and peaceful for Diana and I!!!) and then they would all wake up and have either Ipods playing, DS, and then Rileigh had her daddy's Ipad playing her movies!!!! Diana and I joked about how when we were young we didn't have all of this to keep us entertained when we travel!!!!! I am very thankful for today's technology though cause it does make car rides more enjoyable!!!!!!

We left really early in the morning(3am) so we wouldn't loose a whole day traveling. So glad we did cause we got there around lunch time, had plenty of time to go to the beach and play! On the way down we found this awesome park on the lake, the kids enjoyed that. They got to go play in the water for a few minutes....got them really excited for the beach!!!! We told them to ONLY GET there FEET wet, well of course Kelley and Ean listen but Rileigh....nope! We had to change her whole outfit she got so wet...even her hair was soaked!!!!! LOL Oh well she was having fun, we just laughed about it the whole time!

I am not use to going to the beach right in the middle of summer....man was it packed down there! I remember now why I travel during "off" season! We finally found a spot on the beach that was packed but you felt like you could watch your kids a little better! The waves this time were un-believable for Destin! Of course Ean was having a ball playing in the ocean and riding the waves. On the other hand they were a little strong for Rileigh. She did enjoy staying close to the shore and riding her float in. Problem was the waves were so big they would push you right down into the sand. I think we all came home with sand scratches! Needless to say we had a BLAST! Lot's of great memories! I hope we can do it again in the future!

Here are some pictures from the trip...enjoy!!!!!











And you can't go to the beach without doing some beach pictures!!!!!!














Diana and I: