Beach Babes

Bradey (l) and Ramsey (r) building sand castles on Isle of Palms



There's nothing finer than to live in Carolina, North Carolina that is. I love living in North Carolina! You are 2 hours from the mountains and 3 hours from the beach. We usually get to the beach at least a couple of times a year. This time, the girls and I tagged along with my Mom as she went and spent a couple of days at the beach. We visited Folly beach to see how the effort to save the Morris Island Lighthouse was going and we spent a couple of days catching waves at the Isle of Palms beach.




Ramsey on Folly Beach

Bradey wading on Folly Beach in the shadow of the Morris Island Lighthouse

Ramsey and Bradey with their Body Boards at Isle of Palms

Bradey walking the beach with her board

Ramsey (l) and Bradey (r) riding a wave

Farmer's Market

Every Monday evening in the warm months, a little farmers market sets up in the little town of Harrisburg which we live right outside of. Harrisburg is such a quaint little town and reminds me of the little towns that I grew up around in Indiana.

The market sets up on the site of the Historical Post Office. Over the past few years, it has been renovated into a little local museum of sorts.

Ramsey and Bradey outside of Historic Post Office

They also have a train that the kids can ride. The girls rode it two times and would have even more if I had let them!

Ramsey and Bradey getting instructions from the train conductor

Our favorite item for sale at the Farmer's Market is the
32 oz. fresh squeezed lemonade shake-up!

The girls share a lemonade shake-up on the
porch of the Old Post Office

There is a gentleman by the name of James Russell who lives in the Harrisburg area and can always be seen sitting by the Old Post Office near the railroad tracks drawing the trains that go by. I am excited to now own a James Russell train scene done in pencil and he was kind enough to let me take a picture of himself with the girls.

The girls with artist James Russell

Harley "babes"

Bradey turns to tell Mommy "bye"

Well, the girls have finally gotten big enough to ride with Daddy on his Harley. He took them to get a helmet and he got leather covers for his saddle bags so that their shoes would not scuff them up (he's so particular about his "Black Beauty" :) and they were ready to go! The girls were so excited to finally get to ride with Daddy farther than the neighborhood.

Bradey and Daddy

Ramsey and Daddy

Ramsey and Daddy

The Girl's got Game!

The girls played soccer for the first time this year and Ramsey loved it - not quite sure about Bradey. We were very fortunate that both girls were on great teams with wonderful coaches! Ramsey's team especially really enjoyed not only playing soccer together but just hanging out together. Michael joked that all we moms did was chat during the games :) I have to disagree, we were the loudest cheer block out there...who just happened to find time to visit too!

Ramsey Ramsey getting a little bit of direction from Daddy, the assistant coach

Ramsey as goalie, waiting for the ball to come her way

Ramsey stopping a potential goal

Bradey

Bradey stopping a goal!

Dancing Queen

"She is the dancing queen..."

I wanted to share some photos from Bradey's Dance recital back in June. She did both a tap routine and a ballet routine. She wasn't nervous a bit walking out on the big stage. The recital is held at Oven's Auditorium in Charlotte and it holds almost 2500 people. Even though it wasn't completely full for the recital, it is still a big place :) We saw CATS on the same stage back in January so, now she can say that she has danced on the same stage as Gus, Grizabella, Rum Tum Tugger and the rest of the Jellicle Cats.

Bradey is back row, 2nd from left

Bradey with flowers and sister Ramsey

Toothless Wonder!

"All I want for Christmas is my

two front teeth!"

It's only July, but Ramsey's already working on her Christmas list and at the top...her two front teeth! She pulled the first one about 2 weeks ago and then pulled the other one out the other day. And I am not exaggerating when I say "pull"! I was a big baby when it came to pulling my teeth, you'd think that that last bit of hanging gum was a direct line to every nerve in my body the way that I would carry on. But not Ramsey, no she's a trooper. She'll work on it nonstop until she gets that lil' puppy out! She can't wait to put it under her pillow in the hopes that the Tooth Fairy will bring her another dollar and pack of gum!

Happy Birthday Ramsey!

Our baby girl, Ramsey, turned 7 years old today! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Ramsey was born at 1 second after midnight, and this year she was able to stay up late enough to celebrate her birthday at the exact time that she was born. She and I got on the computer as the clock ticked 12:00:01 and looked at the pictures from the day she was born. It was a fun walking down memory lane and I wanted to share a few photos with you.

Ramsey's very first picture, March 9, 2001

6 month old Ramsey with Daddy (Michael)

Ramsey with new baby sister Bradey (January 2003)

Every year, the girls get to choose what kind of birthday cake that they want Nana, my Mom, to make. Here is what Ramsey has chosen throughout the years.

1st Birthday: Ramsey's official cake was a teddy bear cake but this was the cake that she fed herself.

2nd Birthday: Ramsey loved Elmo

3rd Birthday: gotta love Nemo!

4th Birthday: a Cinderella cake for our princess

5th Birthday: Barbie is the best friend for the 5 year old!

6th Birthday: our little cowgirl!

7th Birthday: This year, Ramsey wanted a Tim McGraw cake. That was a stretch for Mom but we ended up deciding on an acoustic guitar and Mom incorporated a picture of Tim McGraw into it. It turned out great! Thanks Nana! Things were a little tougher for my Mother-in-law, Ann, who likes to take the theme and get all of the girls (my 2 and my 2 nieces, her other granddaughters CJ and Madilyn) party favors. She didn't have many Tim McGraw options but she found some other great items that they'll all enjoy. Thanks Ann!

Ramsey with Nana (my Mom)

Bradey's Birthday

I'm playing catch-up. Bradey's birthday was January 9th, she turned 5 years old. My mom always makes the girls' birthday cakes and they get to choose what they want. Bradey has had a Teddy Bear, Scooby Doo, Herbie (the car) and this was the 2nd year that she asked for an Ariel cake. She is Ariel's biggest fan!

My mom, Edna, and Bradey with her Ariel cake

Ramsey has requested a Tim McGraw cake this year :) It is actually going to be a guitar cake with his name written on it. I'll post pictures of her annual family birthday party at CiCis on Sunday. Shhhh, don't tell her, but we got her Tim McGraw concert tickets for her birthday!

Ramsey's turn onstage

Michael and I both serve on the Arts Team at our church. Michael plays bass in the band and I am one of the vocalists. Our girls have grown up running around the auditorium, pretending that they are running things in the tech booth, fighting for the microphone so that they can sing during rehearsal, etc. All 4 of us were on together for the first time this past Christmas Eve (I need to dig up some pictures from that). We had 6 kids sing along on some of the Christmas carols and Ramsey and Bradey were a part of that group. It was the first time that I have had the opportunity to sing with my girls and Michael was able to join us in the band. It was very special to say the least.

Anyhow, Ramsey got her turn to be a part of worship on her own at our January "Family Night" service. She was so excited to have the opportunity to be a leader of worship with the bigger kids and she really did a great job.

Ramsey singing at Family Night

Okay, where did that little baby girl go? The one that I brought home that day almost 7 years ago and didn't know what to do with? I was so afraid that I was going to break her. She turns 7 this Sunday and she just seems to be getting so old! She is tall for her age and her glasses make her look older and I am just not ready for that! You are just going to have to bear with me for a while as I adjust to my baby girl growing up :(

Tiny Dancer

Our youngest daughter Bradey, who is 5, loves to dance. We recently attended one of her classes and I was able to take a few pictures.

~Dawn