it's better to give than to receive...

it's no secret that i have been and will likely continue to be a HUGE fan of sonic...but we have hit the jackpot here in shreveport! since we are daily customers, it's no wonder that we eventually begin to be "recognized" and get to know the employees. well, at one particular sonic here in town...the "sonic hops" are especially friendly...super friendly actually!!!!

before we moved, my mom would take them treats...because everybody likes to feel special, right?!?!

since the girls and i have been frequenting this particular franchise, even ella has picked up on how friendly these ladies are...so on sunday, she and i decided that "miss reggie" and "miss margaret" needed some homemade brownies! we baked 'em up and headed to sonic before happy hour was over! they are absolutely the sweetest ladies you will ever meet and before we left ella asked if they could come over to our house!!!! they may just be the next invites to christmas dinner!!!!!!!

sunday was a major score for the girls (a fresh strawberry slush for free)...so we thought...

until...

ella decided on monday that we needed to deliver them a picture that she had colored (which is now prominently displayed on the drive-thru window)...

as soon as "miss reggie" & "miss margaret" received their picture...this is what we ended up with:

just in case you need clarification...we were given a bag of ice, a route 44 coke, a route 44 cup of ice, 2 strawberry slushes, 2 cups of strawberry syrup (eeekkkk...but they knew the girls loved strawberries), 2 whacky pack cheeseburger meals, an entire bag of sonic kid's meal toys, and

a hand delivered, climb into my suburban HUG from "miss reggie"!!!!!!! (definitely the best part!!!)

and if you think that's enough...the sequel to this little scenario happened the very next day AND the next day after that!!!!!

life is full of little unexpected blessings...and i hope that this experience will forever remain with ella & maddie. taking the time to do special things - for those that probably don't receive that much recognition for their kindness - can ultimately give back more than one could ever imagine. these ladies are helping me teach my sweet girls life lessons...

and we definitely won't be thirsty or hungry while learning!!!! thanks "miss reggie" & "miss margaret" for your sweet spirit...we think you're the best!

and for all you sonic lovers out there...let me know if you LOVE your "hops" as much as we do!!!!

our little "honeydew melon"!!!

just thought i would give a "price baby" update...almost more for myself than anything...because, whew - this pregnancy seems to have flown right by! seeing as the expiration date on my bag of baked cheetos will outlast the remainder of my gestation...it seems that time is fleeting...and i feel completely unprepared!

i saw dr. waterfallen on thursday and we did an ultrasound to check the baby's weight and measurements...which indicated that our "little peanut" is about 4 lbs 7 ozs - which freaks me out a little bit - that seems BIG (and we must all remember that my hubby was 12 lbs 6 ozs when he entered this world)...but dr. w assured me that this was perfectly average...and who knows about the accuracy right? that's what i'm going to believe anyway...so if you see me, please don't tell me any differently!!!!!

our precious little one is transverse breech right now...which going right along with my little personality gives me more reason to fret...but once again, in a very laid back fashion, dr. w told me NOT to worry - we still have many weeks for baby to get into position!!!! please say prayers for us in this department...that might just push me right over the edge!!!!

we have tentatively settled on a due date of october 5th (about a week early according to the last measurements)...and while i am SO VERY EXCITED to meet this precious new addition...my heart pounds a bit faster at what that really means...other than the fact that i am going to be extremely sleepy...because our little family of four is changing...

jeffrey and i are either going to welcome our third baby daughter into this world...or our first born son. w.o.w.

as i know more, i will share. but for now, i thought i would share some pics that we took of the "baby bump" at the beach...i'm certainly not a fan of sharing pictures of just me...but this really isn't just me...it's our precious newborn baby who just isn't born yet...so i guess i'll oblige this time!!!!

wordless wednesday...

we LOVE miss shreveport...

let me just say that in my opinion...we now live on the best street in america! it feels like a little slice of old town america...and what mostly makes it feel that way are the fabulous, incredible, amazing neighbors!!!!!

one of the families that lives on this block is the "apple clan"! cindy, my fifth grade teacher, and her three children live down the street...and her mom lives right across from us! we have had SO many fun times in the short time that we have lived here...including almost pulling an all nighter including popcorn and keyboard playing!!!!!!

cindy's oldest daughter, mary jane, is stunningly beautiful...and i'm not just talking about her outward appearance...she is gorgeous on the inside. in fact, ALL THREE of her children are simply amazing. ella told her youngest daughter the other day - "you're my best friend" - my girls LUUUUUV her...and the rest of the family for that matter!!!!!

anyway, mary jane participated in the miss shreveport pageant on saturday night. we knew we would never miss this opportunity to support some of our dearest friends...so all the prices, complete with honey & grandpa, headed out to cheer for our girl!!! there was no doubt from the start that mary jane was a front runner...but after the talent competition was complete...we were certain that she should be the winner!!!!!

and that is just what happened...SHE WON!!!! she definitely had the largest fan club...and we are so very proud of her! we can hardly wait to head to monroe next june to support her in the miss louisiana pageant...we're even planning on heading to vegas for miss america!!!!

of course, the girls were in awe of all the pretty girls in their pretty dresses...but no one compares to "mawy jane" (in madelinese!!!)...the most beautiful miss shreveport there ever was!

we are so proud of you, mary jane! i can remember babysitting for you when you were just a tiny baby...to think how far you have come! what a treasure that your beauty shines from the inside...and what a blessing to all those that have the privilege of knowing you! the prices are some of your biggest fans...and we'll be with you every step of the way!

say "cheese"!!!!!

as jeffrey could tell you...my favorite part of any beach vacation are the pictures!!!! i love the backdrop...and LOVE capturing my sweet peas on "film"! i will probably at some point and time share most of the pictures that we took...but for now, i just wanted to give a sneak peak!!!! HA!
i can hardly wait to see what our family of five will look like next year...when #3 is not just being photographed in my tummy!!!!!

beach bums...if only for a couple days!!!!

since the move was going to be taking up the vast majority of our summer, we decided to push our beach vacation to august...which left very little "wiggle room" due to ella starting school and my days of allowed travel being numbered. the kids were so super excited to head to the beach...and i'll have to admit...i think i may have been more excited than they were.

unfortunately, jeffrey's sweet mema passed away the day before we were supposed to leave...so of course, we needed to be with the family in louisiana and texas. the funeral wasn't until saturday afternoon in wilmer texas...so i kept telling jeffrey that we just shouldn't worry about the beach this year. my husband, being nothing short of amazing, insisted that we make everything work (he's a fixer and a pleaser!!!)...so we loaded up the girls at 8 o'clock saturday night and headed off for mobile, alabama. we figured that would at least give us a couple of full days on the beach!

i could not be happier that we (with lots of convincing from hubby) decided to go ahead with our vacation...WE HAD A BLAST!!!!! the tucker family joined us sunday afternoon and both families had an amazing time! the weather was absolutely perfect, the kids L.o.V.e.d. the beach as well as the ocean, swam in the pool for countless hours, and had such a fun time in the evenings riding go karts and bungy jumping!!!!! it was extremely quick and i certainly wasn't ready to leave tuesday morning...but it was SO worth it...and i was able to sneak in a measly 650 pictures or so...

these memories made with our children and family are priceless to me...i treasure so many of the vacations i went on as a child. i can only hope that ella & maddie look back on these times with happy hearts...and know that we did all of this because we love them so much.

and we're off...

to a great start this new school year! ella's half day on thursday went very well...and the "boo hoo" breakfast for all the new mommies was a success as well! they handed out kleenex to all of the moms and talked to us about separation anxiety...on OUR part mainly!!!!

ella had a F.a.B.U.l.o.U.s. first full day of kindergarten on friday...and was sporting the biggest smile you have ever seen when i picked her up (i was the second car in the carpool line - couldn't wait to see her!!!)! she immediately said "i don't ever want to move again, mommy"...

after lots of prodding, i was able to obtain the following information from her:
1) her favorite part of the day was lunch
2) she got to go to art
3) she played with sarah and madelyn...and madelyn has diabetes and has to have her "blood pressure" checked with a friend
4) she actually fell asleep during nap time and was one of the last to wake up
5) one of the little girls in her class got a warning...but not her...and we certainly hope it stays that way
6) she wants to know if she can go to school on saturdays!!!!!!!

we could not be happier that she seems to love it so much! i think i'm going to love it just as much as she does too...of course, i eagerly signed up to be one of the room mothers - jeffrey thinks i am such a dork...but i LOVE that kind of stuff!!!! i can only imagine what this year will hold...and i hope that each day only seems to be more fun and exciting than the first...because if so, it just couldn't get any better!!!!!! here are a few pics of our little "smith's super star"!