Deidrah's keeping us on our toes this Fall...

Labor Day greeted Deidrah with a nasty case of poison ivy... I don't know if nasty even remotely gets the picture across... poison ivy from head to toe (literally) would be more accurate. It's the end of September now and she still has remnants of it. As the poison ivy was clearing up, we had a family dip in the hot tub. We didn't realize just how sensitive her skin was until she broke out in hives! We are still dealing a bit with that also. Two days into the hives, we get a call from the school nurse who is informing us that she has failed the vision test at school and needs glasses. Thinking she might be excited about it(her favorite American Girl, Molly, has glasses and one of her best friends), I excitedly told her. FOOLED ME! Evidently she was made fun of during her vision test (the one she failed), things like, "Deidrah, you can't miss that many! If you miss that many, you'll have to get glasses! If you have to get glasses, you won't have as many friends!" After the tears had been shed, prayers had been prayed, and she went to school and told all her friends about it, she excitedly went and picked out her first pair of eyeglasses. We took two friends from school with us, so they could help her get a good pair (their words). Left to right: Lindsey, Veronica and Deidrah posing in matching glasses, just for fun. Up top, Deidrah is wearing the glasses she picked out... Hannah Montana frames, of course!

the "TOPLESS" car

So, my family comes to town and this is what happens!

Ben's been dreaming of the day he could cut the top off his 1979 Lincoln and turn it into a convertible (if only). Within hours of my mother, sister, her husband and children arriving, Ben and my brother-in-law were taking a saw-zaw to Ben's car. A few hours later the convertible emerges... which I refuse to call a convertible, due to the fact that it does NOT convert!

I will admit, it makes for a fun Sunday afternoon drive... I'm actually looking forward to the cool Fall weather and a drive with the family.

Miriam's SUMMER...

Our baby, MIRIAM is 4!

Miriam turned 4 early this Summer and celebrated with family and a sad conclusion to Yau Man from Survivor: Fiji not winning... let's just say, she was a very big fan!
Pictured above is Miriam in her favorite High School Musical pjs with her cousin, Sadi.

Miriam is a little jokester... can hold a straight face longer than anyone in the family... gets her into quit a bit of trouble...

This was Miriam's first year dancing in the dance recital. She was so sweet up there (if they only new... ha). We were thrilled she made it to the recital, being that during her first month of dance classes she almost got kicked out, due to a little mischevious behavior. She had a wonderful time and really enjoyed watching the big girls dance.

Miriam got dragged around to lots of Deidrah's activities this Summer. Thankfully, she had many little friends at each of those activities. This is her with one of her best buddies, Layla, during a swim meet. This Fall should bring little Ms. Miriam, much more "Miriam time" while big sister is at school...

Deidrah had a very busy Summer!

She started our her Summer playing baseball for the first time. She had earned herself a black eye by the end of her second practice... got hit by a foul ball that she hit.





















She was excited to have her Grammie, Uncle Gary, Aunt Andi and cousins, Seth and Sadi come and visit during her dance recital.














While visiting, her Uncle Gary taught her to ride her bike! THANK YOU Uncle Gary!!!!


















After two weeks of trying, she made it onto the Massanutten Marlins Swim Team. She ended the season getting ribbons in both her freestyle and backstroke!

She ended her Summer with her Papa and Nana gifting her with a trip to visit them in Tennessee for a whole week... all by herself!!