Yogurt Mountain

I think all of Pops and Mimi's surprise trips to Yogurt Mountain may be spoiling a little girl! :) Twice just this week!

On the flip side I think we have finally found our potty training incentive, gummy bears! Thank you, Yogurt Mountain! Potty training is progressing slowly. She loves to sit on the potty, just not use the potty! We've had some accidents, but we are making progress. She seems to have a slight obsession with sitting on the potty lately. She refuses to use the little potty we bought her and only wants to use the big one. I think this may have come about after watching her 4 year old cousins use the big potty over the weekend. Or maybe it is her new princess toilet seat and step stool. Who knows?

Wordless Wednesday

The time has arrived . . .

for Brooklynn to get a big girl bed. She has outgrown her crib and she needed at little more room for those long legs. We bought her a bed yesterday and B had a good time picking out her bed and watching Daddy put it together.

Helping Daddy

We are trying to restrict the much loved paci to only bed time.

Oh the joys of jumping on her mattress

Brooklynn's new bed

Checking out her new bed for the first time

Reading Tugboat a book

More Shower Pics

Yummy tomatoes! Check out our new porch furniture in the back!!

Kylie and Ella

My favorite pic of Blake and Kaley

Blake and Kaley's Shower

Thanks to everyone who came to Blake and Kaley's shower Saturday night. We had a great time. A special thanks to Aunt Shay, Meredith, Geri, and Mike for fixing all the fabulous food! Here are a few pics I swiped from mom's camera.

The bride and groom

Cousins Nancy and Scarlett

The Longs

The Cownies

Brooklynn and me with Julie and her kids, Ellie and Owen, and her brother's kids.

Cousins Claudia and Allen

Cousins Mike and Geri with all the gals, Mia, Ella, and Allie

Mike and his Mini Me

Weekend Fun

Thank goodness it is almost Friday! We have a very exciting weekend ahead of us. Friday night we are headed over to Pops and Mimi's house for dinner with my cousins Nancy and Scarlett. Nancy lives in Atlanta and Scarlett lives in Nashville, so we only get to see them a few times a year. They are in town for Blake and Kaley's shower this weekend. The Floyds and the Yorks are throwing Blake a shower at our house Saturday night. All B's cousins are coming along, so B is super excited to see all the girls. (Just as a side note, my cousin Meredith is pregnant and is having a boy! It is impossible to put into words how excited we are to finally have a boy in the mix. The poor guy is going to really have to be tough to put up with all 5 girl cousins! He is due to arrive in October.) We are really looking forward to having some of our favorite neighbors, friends, and family members all coming over for some of Mike's famous BBQ! We are also excited that Kaley's parents are coming to Greenville for the first time. They get to see Blake (and soon to be Kaley's) house and all the improvements they have made the past few months. I hope all the Bonners in one place at one time don't make them second guess what type of family Kaley is marrying into. It isn't a party unless Claudia and Dad break out a little clogging to Rocky Top. It is sure to be a good time.

Saturday morning before I start the massive clean up effort, I am running a 5k with my running bud, Tracy. It is Tracy's birthday weekend, so we are starting it off with a nice 3 mile run at 7:30 in the morning. This particular 5k is to raise money for Maggie's School, a school in Africa started in memory of a senior at Christ Church who was killed in an automobile accident several years ago. Obviously, Tracy and I were interested because we're teachers and this supports education, but I will definitely give my opinion of the t-shirt after it's over!

Have I mentioned how much Brooklynn loves green beans lately? I can't think of one adult or child I know that would pass up mac and cheese for green beans. She also seems to be a big fan of grilled ham.

We went shopping with Mimi and Aunt Shay last week to look for a dress for Blake's wedding. Brooklynn was such a good girl the whole time. She loved riding in the big red cars at the mall.

We're Back!

It's been a busy week and a half since my last post. Wednesday of last week we had a bad storm which knocked out our power overnight. We left for Nick's 30th birthday bash in Vegas Thursday afternoon and the power still wasn't on. I have no idea when it finally came back on, but thanks to Pops for coming over to turn everything off and cleaning out the fridge (everything was melting) while we were gone!

Brooklynn split her weekend between Nick's parents and mine. She had a fabulous time! B has been back to school this week because I am back to school myself. I have a class everyday for the next two weeks. Booo. Luckily I have Fridays off though!

We are looking forward to Saturday night because Blake and Kaley are having a wedding shower at our house. We've planned a super time for the seven kids that are coming. B is going to have a great time showing off her playroom. We can't wait!

Farr Family Reunion

Yesterday we went to the Berea Lion's Club for the Farr family reunion. Brooklynn surely ate enough for all of us, and enjoyed getting some more Poopa, Gram, Granny, Papa, and Marlee time.

Pretty pic of Aunt Katie!

Sampling all the good food with Granny.

The first time I've ever gotten both girls to look at the camera at the same time!!

Love this pic of Marlee.

These two have had such a great time together this weekend.

Gram and her two grand-daughters.

Loving on Poopa.

Lake Keowee

I felt like yesterday was over before it even started. I got up early for a 5k run with one of my favorite friends and co-workers, Tracy. This particular 5k was a fundraiser for Nightlife Christian Adoptions. There weren't too many people there, which is just how I like it. I enjoy running 5ks because it feels pretty good to run across a finish line with tons of people cheering for you after you've worked so hard. I also need a race to look forward to in order to motivate myself to run everyday. It gives me sense of accomplishment. It also feels pretty good to have donated to the many non-profits that are just trying to stay afloat the past few years. With all that being said, my favorite thing about running 5ks are the t-shirts! I must admit that if an organization doesn't give a t-shirt, I move on to another race. Sad, I know, but I've always been a t-shirt and jeans kind of gal and I really look forward to seeing what the shirts look like. Some of my 5k t-shirts have been really bad (the Swamp Rabbit 5k and Clemson Easter Bunny 5k) while others have been awesome (Duke UNC 5k and Peacock Run). I was pleasantly surprised with the t-shirt given out for yesterday's race, which is always a determining factor when deciding to run it again. Silly, I know.

I finished the race yesterday in 36:10 which was about 3 minutes slower than my goal time. In my defense, the hills were ridiculous. My first 10k (6.2 miles) is in September, so it is time to turn up the heat!

After my morning run, we headed to Lake Keowee for some family fun with Gram's side of the family. Brooklynn was so excited about seeing Gram and Poopa that the whole way up there she said, " I want to see Gram and Poopa!" over and over again. It was about an hour and half ride and she couldn't figure out what was taking so long.

I was curious to see how B would do with lake water. I figured she wouldn't even attempt to get in. Wrong! Nick got a float and B sat in his lap in the lake! I was very proud of her. This is a big step from her behavior at the pool last weekend. I guess it is only natural though, Nick and I both spent a lot of time at the lake growing up. It made me wish Pops and Mimi still had their boat! I have such fond memories of the summers at the lake with my family. Watching all the kids go by skiing and tubing makes me want the same experiences for B. Somebody needs to introduce B to the PP Patrol, the Public Well hotdogs, Jimmy Buffett on a boat radio, and how to properly put in the plug before the boat sinks. Right, Pops?!?

After a fun filled day of floating in the lake and chasing cousin Marlee around the house, it was time to head home.

Brooklynn was one sleepy girl.

To Swim or Not to Swim

that is the question! Brooklynn has made little progress at the pool. Last weekend we bought her some pool toys in hopes that it would help to motivate her to get in the baby pool for an extended amount of time. This worked until a little boy found it humorous to shoot her in the face with his water gun. This, of course, set us back quite and bit and we had to start all over in our attempts to get B to love the water. (Just as a side note here I would like to say that Nick was not pleased with the kid's actions and he exhibited wonderful self control in this situation.)

In Brooklynn's defense, those of you who know her well, know that she never does anything without thoroughly observing it first. She does this in all situations whether it be the pool or new people she may not feel comfortable around. She simply needs time to watch and when she is comfortable she hits the ground running. I've already contacted our gym and swim lessons are in the works for Brooklynn the remainder of the summer. Also, we are taking Brooklynn to our neighborhood swim meets so that she can see the big kids swim.

Brooklynn was very intrigued with the meet and she couldn't take her eyes off the pool!

One step at at time.

Ready or Not . . .

it's time to potty train. Brooklynn has been asking about the potty for awhile now and I just haven't been ready. That's right, I have not been ready. Today was the day I realized that the time has come. When Mimi and I picked B up from school Miss Brittanie said that B went on the big girl potty three times today and even asked to go the fourth time. At dinner tonight she asked again, although I wasn't quick enough and we didn't make it. So Sunday we are going to start the task of teaching B how to use the big girl potty all the time. Goodbye diapers!

This morning was Water Day at school. Every Wednesday is Water Day during the summer and B gets to play water games outside with her friends.

Ready for school.

After school we made a trip to the library for some new books and computer time.

Brooklynn and I have been learning about Noah. Mimi found the CUTEST book about Noah and his ark. B really enjoyed looking at all the animals.

Turns out this book is a SC Children's Book Award nominee for the upcoming year. We are definitely going to have to pick up a copy next time we are at Barnes and Noble!

Happy Birthday, Poopa!

Happy Birthday, Poopa!

This pic was from Halloween last year. She looks so little!

Brooklynn was really excited this morning to show off her new puppy dog outfit to her friends at school. As soon as we walked in Mrs. Brittanie said, "Brooklynn is that a puppy dog on your shirt?" Brooklynn had a huge smile on her face as I headed out the door.

Before we left this morning, B was acting like a puppy dog.

Sand, Sand, Sand

Brooklynn got a new sand table for Christmas last year. Since she gets so much stuff with her birthday and Christmas so close together, we pack some things up to bring out as the year progresses. Yesterday was the day we pulled out the sand table. B really loved playing in the sand.

Thanks for all the birthday calls and wishes yesterday. Nick's 30th birthday is in a few days as well and we are looking forward to our Vegas trip to celebrate. Here are the pretty flowers Nick bought for me.

Touch a Truck

We went to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning to the Touch a Truck event. Brooklynn's favorite was the school bus! Here are a few pics:

Waiting in line to get on the bus with Pops.

That gorilla is kind of scary!

"Firetruck!"

Ringing the bell on the trolly.