Summertime!

I'm loving my new camera!  This picture above is of a bumble bee which has overtaken our Hibiscus plants.  In hindsight, the Hibiscus plants sure look good by the pool, but it was a bad choice.  We fight the bumblebees a lot of the time!

Rylee Grace's snapshot.....She looks like her daddy, but I'm starting to see a little of her momma in her too...... :)

Round 1 of Swimming Lessons complete.....

These are the Bell kiddos - they were spending a few days with their Mimi and Pop (Rick and Mandy Bell) and came to spend an hour a day with us.  Sweet kids.....

Rylee thinks swimming lessons are a perfect opportunity to have a pool full of kids for her pleasure!

......and my favorite concotion from my garden!  I love, love, love me some "Refrigerator Pickles".  For those interested..... the recipe is:

2 quarts of thinly sliced cucumbers

1 cup of thinly sliced onions

Pour 2 TBSP of salt over the cucumbers and onions and mix well.  Let sit for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, pour the water completely off.

In your bowl, put 1 1/2 C sugar and 1/2 C of White Vinegar.  Mix well.

Refrigerate and it keeps indefinitely......although, it lasts about a day at my house!  :)

Enjoy!

Some Favorites

Rylee Grace

My little swimmer

Roy and Rylee Grace - I think Roy was getting ready to go under water? :)

I love this man! 

Miss Priss

Day at the Zoo

Today we left after Sunday School and met Joe, Kim, Jeremy, Natalia and Ian, along with LOTS of other members of the Chism / Aylett clan.  And a clan it was!  It was VERY hot, but we had a good time.

Colin and Rylee Grace were patiently awaiting the arrival of the other members of the family.    We waited and waited.....and finally were able to go in!

As we waited, Rylee Grace was a little nervous about whether the animals would be out of the cages or not.....and about riding the carousel and the train.....and the monkeys peeing on her (thanks, Uncle Joe).

We had plenty of time to shoot some pictures.  I love these two precious angels with all of my heart!

Rylee and mom waiting for the carousel to start.  Can you see the look of anxiety in Rylee's forehead?  HA!

Colin acting silly in one of the photo "ops".

He is growing up so fast.  Such a handsome, sweet boy!

Roy and Momo waiting patiently.  Patience is NOT in my husband's vocabulary.

BecBec and Momo trying to keep cool.

Rylee Grace found a "mister" station and was able to have a little fun while trying to cool off.

Rylee cracks me up looking up at Colin.....I think she was a little taken back that he was a squirrel.

Miss Priss in her finest cowgirl photo.

Signs of Summer

 Juicy Red Tomato

 Lazy Days with Daddy

My pretty Red Geraniums

My pretty Rylee Grace with her Rolie Polie

A little bit of bravery

not quite ready

very inviting!

and a few Pinterest projects! 

Stay tuned!.........

Interview with Rylee

My best buddy Kristi, interviewed her little blessing, Presley, and I thought it was too cute! Soooo, I interviewed Miss Rylee, so here goes!

What is your name? Rylee
How old are you? Six.....teen (she's 4)!
What is your favorite color? Blue and red
Who is your best friend? My mommy and Daddy
What is your favorite animal? A cow
What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor and a sister......to which her daddy said "you mean a nun?".
What is your favorite movie? Dora
What is your favorite book? Dora
What makes you happy? Coloring
What makes you sad? When people to not do things (she likes to have her way a lot)
What is your favorite food? Chicken strips
What is your favorite song to sing? Jesus Loves Me
What is your favorite game to play? Tennis on tha wii

Scrapper Media Day

Today was Scrapper Media Day. 

Roy with his Scrapper kids!  HA!

Rylee, Brittany, Zach, Brooke and Brady

Daniel with Brooke and Brady.  Daniel is working for Immanuel Baptist Church as their youth director so he came out to support his IBC Youth!  .....and the family!

Brooke and Rylee

Brittany, Brady and Brooke

Maggie Worthington and Rylee

GO SCRAPPERS!

Saturday with Sissy

Saturday, we started out early to Hope to watch Zach play All Star Baseball.  He had played the night before and lost, but we were not able to go because of swimming lessons that we had already scheduled prior to scheduling baseball tournaments.  The game started at 10:00.  Luckily it was very cloudy and pretty breezy - a nice morning for a little baseball.  Unfortunately, the ballgame did not go in his favor.  They lost their second game, and were out of the tournament.  Zach played really well, though, and has really improved since last year! 

In the top picture, you can see the teams lined up receiving their medals.  The 2nd picture, immediately above, is zoomed in on #5, who would rather receive the top place trophy!  Maybe next year!

We ate lunch and ran by the lumber yard to pick up some plywood that I needed for a project at school.  (More on that in another post).  Then we headed home.  Brittany had told Rylee that she would come swim with her that afternoon, so we all headed home and Rylee started asking when "Sissy" was coming.  I told her to give it a little while and she would call.  Well, by 3:00, Miss Rylee had waited as long as she could and she just had to call! 

Rylee and I met Brittany at the Country Club and she came home with us, while Zach swam with a friend.  Rylee and Roy were in Heaven on Earth, and I was too, because what makes them happy makes me happy! 

We swam, grilled burgers, Brittany practiced her driving skills with her daddy, and we swam some more!  The only problem was that Rylee told me that she didn't want me coming outside with them becuase I would talk to her Sissy too much.  In other words, I was taking her time away from her Sissy Time!  So I stayed inside and let Roy, Rylee and Brittany swim.  They had a ball.  Brittany did lots of cheer stunts with Rylee, and Rylee loved every minute of it! 

Roy wanted an updated picture with "his girls" before we had to take Brittany home.  She stayed till about 9:00 and then we ran her home. 

Miss Rylee had such a good time!  .............playing with Sissy is very tiring!

Little Fish

Rylee has been swimming really good this summer!  It seems like it just "clicked" for her.....or it could be the fact that we have taught swimming lessons to over 50 kids this summer!  Can you say "worn out"?  But it financed our vacation, so I won't complain! 

Here's Rylee showing off her skills in the water!

This Little Piggie....

I had a pedicure last week while Rylee was at Mom's. When she came home, she was not happy that I had gone without her! So, I promised I would take on Wednesday since I didnt have any workshops or meetings that particular day. She loved it!

She sat in my lap because she was a lite intimidated by the big chair on the platform!

But she loved the finished product- hot pink with zebra stripes! Very girlie and not what her daddy has in mind for his little ball player. I have news for him.....she may be girlie-girlie, but she also has a competitive, athletic streak about her too! I think it will be a happy medium!

Silly Girl

Miss Rylee is quite the singer!  She loves to carry her ipod around with her and play her music while singing along!  She loves America's Got Talent when the singers come on.....she loves Dancing with the Stars.....she loves The Fresh Beat Band on NickJr......she loves anything that has to do with music. 

On this particular night, she was sitting in my lap belting out Taylor Swift's "Mean".  So I thought I would pull out my phone and document the occasion.  WELL......Miss Priss is a performer!  She saw herself in that phone and she started putting on a show.  I laughed so hard at her laughing at herself.  I love her so much!

Bye, Bye, FieFie!

Rylee Grace decided on a Wednesday night, after Christmas, that she would sleep without her passy, or "Fie Fie" as she affectionately called it. I didn't ask her about it and she slept through the night without asking for it. Thursday night, same story! Friday, I mentioned to her that I was so proud of her for being such a big girl and if she would keep sleeping without it, we would go Monday to get some ice cream! Sure enough.....Monday rolls around and still no Fie Fie! So we loaded up and went to Sonic for a tasty treat!

She was so excited and I'm so proud of her and sad at the same time! This is a milestone that means Miss Rylee is growing up. There is something sweet about watching her suck on her passy when she's so tired.....it makes me realize that my sweet baby is not a baby anymore! But then....it's time to move on!

Mean Ol' Uncle Chad and Brady

Chad and Brady stopped to pick up candles, because I forgot to pick them up with the rest of my list of items.........I should have known better! Poor Rylee!

Rylee's Birthday Party

Today, we had Rylee's birthday party at the Nashville City Park. We had several members of the family who had other obligations so we were so thrilled to have Rayne, Dahli and Lariat Morris and Natalie and Bay Nolte, along with Colin and Brady! Colin and Brady were such good helpers! :) Others who were able to come were BecBec and Nan (Becky and Granville), Mammaw (Cathey), Momo (Frances), Uncle Chad, Annah and Rodney Morris and Stephanie Nolte. Rylee was sooooo excited to see her little buddies and they had such a good time playing at the park.

Nan even brought a trailer of hay and took them on a hay ride! Little Asher Bay (3 months old), even rode on the hayride......thanks to BecBec! I don't think his momma was expecting it to be such a long ride!

Of course, Rylee's birthday would not be complete with a cake from Jamie Pinegar! and of course, it HAD to be a Barney cake! It was delicious and Rylee LOVED it!

She had such a good time opening presents and was so excited about everything she received! She can't decide what to play with first!

We are so lucky to have such good buddies for her! We love her little friends and look forward to watching them all grow!

Face Down....and KICK!!!!

Roy and I have been teaching swimming lessons this summer and the kids have done GREAT! BUT - we've had the hardest time getting our OWN child in the water!

The other night, Rylee just put her face down and swam out to Roy. She is swimming like a little fish, now.....well, we had a brief sideline because of swimmer's ear, but she's back going at it!

Here's a little video for proof!

Short lived decision to throw out the passy!

This morning, Rylee came and told me that she had thrown out her passy. I said, "Oh, Rylee, I'm sooooo excited! Where did you throw it?" She says in the wall! So I agree and move on. In a little bit, she said, "Mommy, where's my passy?" I said, "Well, I thought you threw it in the wall!" She starts crying and says she wants it back. I try to tell her what a big girl she was for throwing out her passy and how we didn't need that ol' stinky passy, anyway. Well, she got really quiet so I went looking for her......this is what I found......

apparently, she threw the passy in between the dresser in our room and the wall. So, she's desperately trying to reach her passy under the dresser.

S----T-----R-----E------T-----C------H!

......and Mission Accomplished! :)

I guess we'll work on that, another day!!!

Final Checkup and Ronald McDonald House

Wednesday morning, Roy and Rylee and I left to go to Children's Hospital for a follow-up CT scan on Rylee's head for her skull fracture.  Roy and I dreaded the trip, but were anxious to get it over with and see if her head was healed.  We arrived around 12:00 and around 2:00, we were called back into the CT room.  Rylee could not eat or drink anything after 8:00 because they were anticipating having to sedate her to get the scan.  So, Roy and I didn't eat or drink anything, either, because of course - that wouldn't be fair to Rylee! 

When they called us back, Rylee immediately started screaming.....she knew something was gonna happen!  We talked to her about what a big girl she was gonna be....really tried to pump her up.  They put us in a room and we watched Barney until she fell asleep.  I thought The Lord had answered my prayers and that I would be able to lay her down and she would sleep thru the scan.  WRONG!!!  That child popped up the second her head hit the table and she was fightin' until it was all over about an hour later! 

They bundled her up like a burrito and strapped her little head to the table, in an effort to get her still.  Well, she fought and fought and the first scan didn't take because she was moving too much.  Sooooo.....they suggested that we count VERY LOUDLY to ten over and over.  I don't know what it was about doing that, but Roy and I screamed 1-10 about 100 times and she just laid there.   I figure she was either trying to figure out what on earth her momma and daddy were doing, or she was just completely worn out from trying to get out of those strappings......probably the latter! 

Anyway - the second scan worked and when we took her out, she was soaking wet from sweating.  The lady said - she's one strong 2 year old!  LOL!  The lady asked her if she wanted some apple juice and Rylee said she did.  When the nurse brought it in the room, I started to take the top off and give it to her and she said "No - carry it momma".  I laughed and told the nurse she didn't want any more reason to stay in that room!  She was ready to GO!   So we told them "Bye-Bye" and took our bubbles, coloring books, crayons, new Beanie Baby and apple juice (all given to Rylee in an effort to win her over with the CT staff, to no avail) and we got outta there! 

We went to On the Border and ate like we were all starving.  Rylee scarfed down some chips and salsa and cheese dip and chicken nuggets!  She was so hungry!

After we ate, we went to our "home" for the night.  The hospital put us up in the Ronald McDonald House since we lived so far away.  After arriving, I felt REALLY bad about staying there.  There are so many families who really needed to stay worse than us, and I expressed my concern to the staff.  They assured me that our room was strictly for over night only guests and that even if we left, they would not be able to put anyone in that room.  So, we stayed and folks....if you ever feel like making a contribution or donation and really don't know who or where to do it with....let me suggest the Ronald McDonald House!  It is GREAT for families who have children in ACH on a long-term basis.  They provide EVERYTHING for those families and only request a $10.00 per night donation.  They provide a refrigerator with food, several kitchen and dining areas, all meals, all linens, towels, laundry services, etc.  It is a wonderful wonderful place to have here in Arkansas!  I plan to clean Rylee's many toys that she does not need/play with and haul a load up there, along with towels and sheets. 

On Thursday, we met with the neurosurgeon who informed us that Rylee's head was healing well and that it should heal completely in another 3 weeks.  The good news is we do not have to go back!  Praise God for anwering prayers! 

Little Rock Zoo

We made a trip to the Little Rock Zoo last month - on free day, none the less. We will not do THAT again! I've been to lots of Razorback games and I've NEVER seen so many cars lined up on the interstate waiting to get into the Zoo! It was insane, but the kids had a good time. I guess that's what matters.