Wow! It's Been a Long Time

It has been way too long since I have undated our blog! Unfortunately our lives have been very busy and I have failed to stay up to date. Many things have changed since my last post. We have now added a wonderful new addition to our family, Hannah Ruth (Ruthie) Skipper. She is 13 months old and has a fantastic personality. We also moved this summer into a house that has given us a good bit more room for the girls to run and play. It has been a great year since the last post and I hope to get back on track with this blog thing! I have posted a few Christmas pictures for you to see how the girls have grown! (That is if anyone is still reading!)

Summer Sickness

Well, seems that we have gotten the viral infection that we had last spring again this year! The differences are that it started with Mommy who has had a bad cough for two weeks now and Daddy hasn't gotten it yet! Maddie was the 2Nd person to get it in the form of a stomach virus which progressed to a throat infection and fever. Then, on the day that I took Maddie to the Dr Ella Grace decided she needed it too and hers is in the form of a runny nose and cough. The Dr says that it is a virus that thrives in warm weather so I guess we can look forward to it every year. The good thing is that I am still far from delivery because the Dr said it would be dangerous for little Ruthie to get it at delivery, so that we are thankful for! Hopefully we will all be well in time for me to go back to work next week and the girls to play with Grammy and Grandaddy! I hope everyone has had a great summer and I can't wait to have something fun to share with you!

Summer Fun

Well, I have been teaching summer school this summer so we haven't had much time for fun. I have had this week off though as a break in between summer school weeks and we have really enjoyed it. We went swimming on Monday and then to the Dr. on Tuesday. Maddie has had two ear infections back to back and we had to go and make sure that her ears had cleared up. She was very brave and let the dr. look and sure enough they were clear!!! Ella Grace decided that she wanted in on the dr. action so she kept us up most of the night Monday night and then was whiney on Tuesday so I made her an appointment at the same time as Maddie's. Now Ella Grace has pink eye and an ear infection. The good news is that her eye cleared up almost instantly with the eye drops and she seems to be feeling better. She is running wild one minute and then lays on the couch with her blanket the next. She is really sweet when she is laying on the couch being sickly, as you will se in the picture. Today we went to McDonald's to play with friends and eat lunch. The girls really enjoyed it and then came home to take a really nice nap! Mommy loves that part! After dinner tonight they enjoyed playing with their bath crayons and making big artwork on the walls. I hope you enjoy the picture of their artwork! Tomorrow, we have a playdate at another friends house and then Daddy is off on Friday. This has been a very action packed week but it has been really fun. I only have two more weeks of summer school and then we can have more fun!

Long Time No Blog

A lot has happened since our last post. I am going to try to catch you up. Lets see... the girls turned 2 on April 2ND. We took them to Columbia again this year and visited the Ed Venture museum and then went to the zoo!

Also, we found out that the girls are going to be big sisters! What a suprise to us! We are going to be welcoming another girl into our family in November! Her name is Hannah Ruth Skipper and we are calling her Ruthie! The girls are very excited about this new addition and have already decided that she will be sleeping with them. I don't think that they understand what is about to hit them. We have also taken the paci's away and started potty training! The paci's were much easier than the potty training thing! We have been swimming a lot lately and I hope to get some pics of the girls swimming to share with everyone!

Locked out!

So, today I was going to take off the trash while Ashley was at school. I went out to collect everything to put in the back of the truck when Maddie and Ella Grace closed the back door. To my surprise the door was locked! I couldn't figure out what to do. I went to the next door neighbors and rang the bell. I needed to use the phone because of course I didn't have my cell phone with me. The neighbor was not home. I was about to lose my mind by this point. I went to another neighbors house and rang the bell. She graciously gave me her phone which I looked at and could not figure out what to do next. I had not idea who to call. I then remembered that my best friend (Neil) had a key. He was in court and could not leave (sorry about that) so his grand mother-in-law who was keeping Claire came and brought the spare key. Thank you for that!!! The girls thought it was hillarious watching me frantically go from window to window to make sure they were ok! Not funny!! I am taking names of all those who are laughing right now! I know who you are!

The Girls First Snow

Well, today was the girls first snow day. There is barely any snow on the ground, but it was enough for them to call off school! We got the girls all bundled up and took them out to play in the snow. The first thing Ella Grace said when she saw it was, "Bubbles!" She thought that someone had blown bubbles all over our yard. They were so bundled up that they couldn't hardly walk. They even fell over a few times and had a really hard time getting back up. It was fun though and we are hoping for more snow so that they can sled next time! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

What's that smell?

So, the girls were down for their nap. Maddie was screaming her head off and I decided to give her her pacie! She had pooped and smeared it on her body like body paint! I know what you are thinking..."that is the grossest thing ever!" Nope! While I was bathing Maddie, Ashley decided to get Ella Grace up because she was awake. Ella Grace had decided to one-up Maddie (as she usually does) and had taken off her diaper and not only pooped but peed all over her bed! Wow, what a smell! Don't worry, there wont be any pictures to help tell the story!

Pictures

Our computer is not cooperating tonight. It won't let me post any pictures. Sorry about that. Check back tomorrow. Rick is going to try to download them from another computer.

Thanks!

Pumpkin Patch

We decided to take the girls to their first pumpkin patch before Halloween this year! They loved it! We took a hay ride, looked at some animals, and then went out into the patch to pick our pumpkins. First, we picked out our big family pumpkin. The girls both tried to pick it up but couldn't so we decided to pick out two little pumpkins for them. We cut Maddie's pumpkin first because she was very interested in it. Rick had her pose with her pumpkin and she loved it. All smiles. Then we picked out Ella Grace's pumpkin. Well, it was nap time and she was very sleepy. She didn't want to have her picture taken with the pumpkin. She refused to look at Rick. He put the pumpkin between her legs and told her if she would just smile we could go. Well, she picked the pumpkin up, set it to the side, and got up. She was not going to have any part in the picture taking. We finally got a picture of her and the pumpkin but she isn't even close to it. I hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Bow Bows

The girls hair has really started growing and they have become obsessed with hair bows. They call them bow bows and think that they can't leave the house without one in their hair. Maddie's hair is still pretty short so it is kind of tricky to get the bow bow to stay in her hair. If it starts to slip she says "Uh, Oh, my bow bow!" It is so cute. Here is a picture of them wearing their PJ's and bow bows! You might be able to see their bedroom shoes too. They are a mess!

A Day In the Yard

It has been a long time since I have posted. Sorry about that! We have been very busy. Here is a picture of Rick pulling the girls behind his lawn mower. They love to play in the yard with their wagon. They take turns pulling each other around but really love it if we pull it. Rick had just finished cutting our grass and decided to take them for a ride in the wagon behind the lawn mower. They loved it!

Last Two Days of Summer!

Monday and Tuesday are the last two days of summer before I have to go back to school. My children have been super cute this morning so I have been taking some pictures. The first one is a picture of Ella Grace doing one of her favorite things to do. She loves to get up in her daddy's recliner and watch cartoons. Then she and Maddie picked out a book and got up on the couch to read them. Being a first grade teacher it makes me very happy for my children to love books. I hope that you enjoy our pictures!

Blow Dryers are Not for Babies

The other morning when I got the girls out of the bathtub I decided to try using the blow dryer on their hair. Well, Ella Grace has the most hair now so I started with her. She sat there so nicely and just let me blow away. Well, the result was so funny. Her hair was sticking up everywhere. I laughed and laughed. The thing is that I couldn't get it stay down so she had stick up hair the rest of the day. Maddie also sat there nicely but her hair didn't stick up.

MMMM...Ice Cream

A few days ago, our friends (Abee and Neil and family) came to our house bearing ice cream. I don't know which child was more covered in it. Here are a couple of pics from that night. Notice Neilie is not pictured because she was obviously the cleanest. First is Claire and then of course Ella Grace and Maddie. You decide who is messiest!! :)

Summer Fun!

Well, since mommy has been out for the summer we have been having alot of fun. I have taken them to the pool twice now with the help of friends. We went with the Chappells and our neighbor that has 2 year old twin girls! That was alot of fun but stressful on mommy. Ella Grace thinks that she can swim and is not cautious at all around water. Maddie on the other hand would rather sit on the top step and just play in the water as if she is in the bathtub! We also went to visit my great aunt in the nursing home. She is 90 years old and is a real joyful lady. Her name is Grace and that is where we got Ella Grace's middle name. The girls enjoyed our visit and found her wheel chair most interesting. They wanted to sit in it and go for a ride. I hope that you enjoy the picture!

Just "monkeying" around!

It has been a long time since I blogged. I usually leave it to Ashley because, let's face it, I have no idea what I am doing. Anyway, I wanted to share a photo of our trip to the Greenville Zoo. We went with the Chappell clan. Abee could not go because she had jury duty, or so she said. Just kidding! We missed her but had fun! Anyway, here is a picture of my best friend (Neil) and our "god-kids" (Neilie and Claire). Enjoy!

After the Party

Well, after the girls birthday was where things started to fall apart. I took them for their 12 month checkup at the doctor and Ella Grace had pink eye. A few days later Maddie had a high fever with cold symptoms. It was a Viral infection that we all developed. Rick's even turned into Pneumonia. This sickness was passed around several times and lasted for the entire month of April and most of May. They had ear infections and colds. Something good did happen though. Ella Grace started walking. They both were running, that is until Maddie fell out of a small chair on May 31 and fractured her shin. That has been an ordeal in itself since it took the doctors over a week to figure out what was wrong with her and how to fix it. She is now in a splint that we can remove for baths, swimming, and sleeping. She is pretty cute! I wish I could post pictures to show you. I also have a video of them feeding themselves yogurt with a spoon for the first time. I think we are all caught up and I will continue to work on posting pictures and videos!

We're Back!!!!

Well, it's been a long time since I have blogged. Alot has happened. I am going to try to post a series of posts to catch everyone up. Let's start with the birthday week! The girls turned 1 on April 2nd! Rick and I were both off that week so we had a great time with the girls. We took them to the zoo on Tuesday of that week. They loved it! We gave them all of their presents from us on their birthday. It was like Christmas in April. They got a kitchen set, baby dolls, baby doll strollers, and a phone! Then, we had their birthday party on the Saturday after their birthday. It was so much fun. We invited family and a few close friends. Ella Grace loved her cake and dug right into it. Maddie loved her cake also but didn't want to get messy. I had to feed it to her with a fork. It was a great day! I will try to post some pictures but sometimes my compter acts crazy!

Easter 2008

Our family had a wonderful Easter weekend! It all started with an Easter Egg hunt at our church on Saturday. The girls loved picking up Easter eggs and the puppet show that followed. They also got to decorate their own cookie and eat it! What a mess! Then, on Sunday we went to our church for the Easter service. We just recently joined a new church and were excited to see what the Easter service was like in a big church! It was wonderful. The girls also love going to the nursery there! After church we ate lunch with Grammy and Grandaddy and visited my great aunt in the nursing home. We just had a wonderful family day. We returned to church Sunday night to hear Larry Ford in concert. That was also wonderful! I hope that you enjoy our Easter pictures!