A little of this and that

I just want to start off with filling you in. The Dues have been busy getting back in the swing of things since school has started. Company and birthdays have all come to a halt so now we're just able to focus on family and home projects. We haven't been doing a lot but I thought I would throw in a few fun picks from the last couple of weeks.

We believe Caroline is teething. I know we should know for sure since this is our 3rd child but this was our first clue (besides the drool). She is gumming everything!


Grace was convinced she was the only child in our neighborhood who had training wheels, so she insisted we take hers off. Now comes the hard part!

Jeff is giving it his best and Grace WAS doing great. I thought I would help her the following morning and the bike ended up in a shrub but I did manage to jerk her off the bike so she wasn't with it. Let's just say she won't go near the bike and she's riding her tricycle.

Lydia wanted to take some of her closest friends out for a birthday dinner (yes, somehow we are still celebrating Lydia's birthday). By the way, nest year we are setting some birthday boundaries.So, 6 sweet girls and Jeff and I went for an evening out. We spent almost 3 hours in the restaurant and had a great time. We started off being very well mannered and by the end of the evening we were having way too much fun.

The girls dipping their bread and veggies in the worlds greatest cheese. Fondue is FABulous.

Olivia and Lydia showing their many talents!

Oh, uhhhh I had a few myself.

The ironkid triathlon

The ironkid triathlon was an experience for the entire family. Lydia was asked about 2 months ago if she wanted to do a triathlon with a friend of hers. Lydia asked what a triathlon was and I did my best to explain to her exactly what it was and so she said "sure". I said "ok" and signed her up. I'm not sure what Lydia really thought a triathlon was but today she found out. Lydia trains 7 hours a week in gymnastics, plays outside, occasionally rides her bike and swims in the neighbors pool so she thought she was pretty qualified for this type of event. She discovered today that gymnastics and triathlons have little in common. We are so proud of our daughter for stepping outside of her comfort zone and trying something new. We are proud that she thought she was going to meet Jesus this morning during the 4 mile bike ride and she stuck it out. We are proud that she wanted to throw up during her mile run and she walked and ran it out. We are proud that she went up against kids that travel all over the country to compete in these things and she finished.

We are just excited and waiting for the race to begin.

Lydia and her friend Julia having no idea what they are getting ready to experience.

Lydia waiting for the swimming event to start. She looks a little nervous.

Our sweet Clint holding Grace up to watch her big sister.

Lydia racing out of the water after her swim.

Jeff on daddy duty while mama is taking pictures.

Lydia determined to go as fast as she can.

Lydia finishing her 4 mile bike ride and starting to not love triathlons.

Lydia finishing her 1 mile run. Ohhh, the sweet finish line!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lydia and her friend Julia with their medals. They don't look too tired. I'm not sure what they were complaining about.

Lydia's birthday family party

We have a family party every year for the kids on their birthday. We have lots of food and homemade ice cream. Our precious family and neighbors came to celebrate with Lydia.

Lydia with her peace sign sugar cookies.

Uncle Paul, Papa Lonnie, Nana, and Aunt Pattie all sitting around watching Lydia unwrap her presents.

Lydia, Emma, Grace, Hailey and Dalton in the back ground.

Clint and Kathleen striking a pose. We didn't serve alcohol at this party, Clint must have had a flask.

Goofy Papa trying to keep Caroline happy.

Lydia is now 11

It is tradition at our house on your birthday to pick whatever you want to do the entire day. Well, within reason. Jeff normally takes off work and we just spend the entire day together and the kids normally get to pick a friend to come along. Lydia chose shopping for the day. I didn't give her an option of what friend to bring this year, I just surprised her with one. Laynie from across the street joined us. We started off by going to get school supplies at Target. Jeff, normally joins us on this day, but my dad was in town and wanted to play golf. We all know you can't tell your father-in-law no. Not even on your daughter's birthday. So, after Target we met the guys at the Greens for lunch. Now, Jeff is officially included in not completely breaking tradition. After that we ventured on to many stores. After Jeff finished playing golf we dropped Grace and Caroline off with him and we shopped some more. After all that shopping Lydia picked Panera Bread and Pink Swirls for dinner. We met my parents for dinner and then dropped Jeff, Grace and Caroline off again and finished with some more shopping. We finally got home at 9 p.m. I was exhausted!!!!!!

Here is Lydia opening her present from Laynie.

Lydia and Laynie hugging like they haven't seen each other in 2 days. Oh, wait it had been 2 days. OMG!!!!!!!!!!

Laynie, Grace and Lydia at the Greens for lunch.

Grace woke up with a runny nose. Only Grace would have the confidence to let you take her picture like this.

I had to throw in this picture of Caroline and Duke. He is just itching to lick the slobber off of her face and she is trying to prepare herself.

Kenzie, Bella and Lydia together again

Kenzie and Bella are two very important friends to Lydia. They are from Eufaula and we were so glad to have them at our house for a visit. They were best friends when we lived in Eufaula and it doesn't seem like things have changed much. They always pick right up where they left off. It is such a special friendship. The giggling started as soon as they got in the car.

Bella, Lydia and Kenzie swimming at Stephs.

Kenzie, Lydia and Bella eating at The Pink Swirl (if you haven't been there, GO).

Here is Grace getting her toe nails painted.

Here are all the pretty toes. They all got zebra stripes except in different colors.

Kenzie, Lydia and Bella doing their facials.