Ashley from A to Z

Ashley saw this on the blog and decided she wanted to answer it, too! Oh, and by the way, she took the picture of me pushing Tyler on the swing...a budding photographer!

A: Attached or single? Single, of course! I'm 7!

B: Best friends? Kaiya, Paige, Edie

C: Cake or Pie? Definitely cake, preferably white

D: Day of choice: Monday

E: Essential Items: friends, love, care, family

F: Favorite color? blue

G: Gummy Bears or worms? bears

H: Hometown: Memphis

I: Favorite indulgence: donuts

J: January or July: January

K: Kids: I am a kid!

L: Life isn't complete without...? my brother and my mom

M: Marriage Date: Mom says not until at least 2030

N: Number of brothers and sisters: one brother

O: Oranges or apples: Apples (without skin)

P: Phobia: when I am in the dark alone, tornadoes, earthquakes, bad storms

Q: Quotes: none

R: Reason to smile? when someone does something funny

S: Season? winter

T: Tag 5 people: I don't know anyone else who will do this!

U: Unknown fact: that my favorite color is blue, not pink anymore

V: Veggie: cooked broccoli

W: Worst habit: picking at scabs

X: X-ray or ultrasound: what does that even mean? X-ray

Y: Your favorite food? my stepdad's spaghetti

Z: Zinc or sunscreen: sunscreen

A perfect Saturday morning

What a perfect morning! Overcast and a little cool, with a nice breeze. We got up and the kids got haircuts first thing this morning, then we stopped for yummy, messy, sticky donuts! We drove around Germantown for a little while to find some of the horses...if you don't know, Germantown commissioned 10-12 beautiful horse statues painted by various artists and positioned them around town (Kelly has a great slideshow of all of them on her blog). Then we decided to stop by a park near our house and spent a good long while there...the weather was absolutely perfect and the kids had great fun on the playground. Ashley has become quite adept at climbing up and down the VERY tall fireman's pole they have there, and Tyler, who has never enjoyed swinging at all, had so much fun swinging that Ashley and I were worn out from taking turns pushing him. We must have pushed him for at least half an hour, and he still wasn't ready to get out! Then it was time to head home for lunch and a nap for Tyler (which is the only reason I have enough free time to post this!).

Stephanie from A to Z

This came from Alethea's blog, and everyone knows I'm a sucker for random question surveys, especially when I am trying to avoid working!

A: Attached or single? Attached to Mallory, for almost 9 months now

B: Best friends? Mallory, Carrie, Kelly, Alethea, Jennifer

C: Cake or Pie? Cake, and I'm pretty particular. I don't really love those super-sweet, lard-and-sugar frosted masterpieces from the supermarket bakery (though I will say Costco makes a delicious cake, and at a super bargain price! But it's not every day you need a cake that serves 48!). Yellow cake with chocolate frosting is a favorite, as is fresh strawberry cake from Miss Muff'n. Carrot cake is yummy too!

D: Day of choice: Saturday

E: Essential Items: my cell phone, Diet Dr. Pepper, chocolate, Krispy Kreme donuts

F: Favorite color? probably pink

G: Gummy Bears or worms? not a fan of either -- too chewy. Definitely Sour Patch Kids!

H: Hometown: Memphis

I: Favorite indulgence: most any kind of baked goods, especially donuts and brownies

J: January or July: January...July in Memphis is just unpleasant.

K: Kids: Ashley and Tyler

L: Life isn't complete without...? my family

M: Marriage Date: April 20, 2008

N: Number of brothers and sisters: none

O: Oranges or apples: Apples

P: Phobia: large bugs, burglars/kidnappers/bad guys

Q: Quotes: Not sure who to attribute it to, but I hear it and say it often "Everything happens for a reason"

R: Reason to smile? When Tyler or Ashley hug me for no reason other than they felt like it.

S: Season? Fall

T: Tag 5 people: well, I don't know many people who keep blogs, and I'm not really sure who reads mine except for Kelly and Alethea!

U: Unknown fact: in elementary school, I used to love to be in plays.

V: Veggie: broccoli

W: Worst habit: laziness

X: X-ray or ultrasound: what kind of question is that? Sounds like the question author was getting tired and couldn't think of anything else!

Y: Your favorite food? Desserts

Z: Zinc or sunscreen: see X :)

Esther-ordinary Faith

Ashley participated in MAD Camp (music, art, drama) this week at our church. This group of about 40 1st-6th graders put on an amazing 45 minute musical, called "Esther-ordinary Faith", after just four days of rehearsals. In addition to being one of the queen's court, Ashley was in a special number for the 1st and 2nd grade girls called "While You Sleep", which is why she is in her pajamas for part of the show. We are so proud of her! And also very proud of Tyler, who managed to sit through the entire show Thursday night. He was very attentive when Ashley performed, and spent most of the rest of the time snuggled up in my lap or flirting with various females in the rows behind us. After every song, he said "mommy's house?", which was his way of asking if it was time to go home yet, but he hung in there for the whole show, which was very unexpected and a blessing!