Bennett Farms

Jonathan, Hallie, and I went to Alabama for a sweet friend's wedding.  We knew we wouldn't have much time to spend with friends and family (other than at the wedding, of course), but we definitely wanted to make a trip to Bennett Farms while we were in Heflin.  I'm so glad we made the time to visit the farms because it definitely did not disappoint!  Hallie had so much fun!  And it was good times getting to see some old friends. :o)  

Unfortunately, I left our memory card at home.  Thankfully, Jim and Alexis (proud owners of the Farms) let us borrow their camera.  And my sister-in-law had her camera and captured some cute shots!  Sadly, I know that won't be the last time I forget our memory card.  lol.  I have a knack for not really learning any lessons when it comes to that sort of thing.  haha.

Hallie the Sunflower :o)

Abby shelling corn with Jim

The three sillies in the corn crib (they did not want to leave this fun!)!

Abby and Hallie...not sure where HG was.

I love this sweet face!

It was just a LITTLE sunny outside. :o)

Hallie with the minature pony. :o)

 The hayride

Lunch time! :o)

Hallie & Abby

Petting Sparky

Picking out a pumpkin

Nonna and her girls

Pumpkins!

Hallie and HG

Point those toes...Tap those toes!

Sweet Hallie Shea started at a new ballet school today!  She is taking a ballet/tap combo class at Joy's School of Dance.  Hallie loved taking ballet with Mrs. Korpi, but we decided to make a switch so Hallie could have the opportunity to take tap.  At Korpi's, it is strictly classical ballet...which Hallie may "decide" to go back to later.  I believe Hallie has the potential to be an absolutely beautiful ballerina. :o)  Of course, we want her to be whatever her little heart desires!

Hallie has been super excited about taking ballet at a new dance school.  She was excited to wear her new leotard and skirt along with her new ballet and tap shoes!  And she was adorable! :o)  I'm not sure what I expected, but Hallie walked right into class, sat her little dance bag down and found a spot.  She loved that there were little spots marked with colored tape on the floor and stayed right on her spot.  They started ballet right away, and Hallie fit in perfectly. :o)  She had ballet class for 30 minutes before changing over to tap. 

I'm so glad I got to snap a few pictures!  I knew parents weren't allowed in the classroom, but I was surprised to find that both classrooms had observation windows for parents to keep an eye on their little ballerinas/tappers! :o)  So...the pictures are through the glass.  And while they're not horrible, you can see some of the reflections.  Still, I'm just glad to have the memories captured in picture form!

I was amazed that these sweet little 3 and 4 year olds sat down and took their little ballet slippers off all by themselves.  Then they put those sweet shoes in their dance bags and put on their tap shoes.  They then lined up by the door and changed classrooms.  One room is for ballet and one is for tap (or so I figure).  I was just amazed that they did it so flawlessly!  Precious!

Hallie is on the far left (purple bow) and her mirror image is on the right--too cute!

Heel toe, heel toe!

Hallie loved ballet and tap!

Sunday Afternoons

Sunday is one of my very favorite days.  We get to snuggle in the mornings with a few cartoons, go to church, and then have lunch with the family.  It's usually extremely relaxing...and even more relaxing now that I am desperately trying to not stress out over being late to church (which we usually are). :o)  Hallie loves going over to Gramps and RahRah's house after church for lunch.  And we are blessed to have wonderful RahRah lunches on Sunday afternoons!  When we moved here, I said that once we moved into a house (out of the apartment), I would "host" Sunday lunches on occasion.  Well...I think that has maybe happened just a few times (if that).  Sorry, RahRah...maybe one day! ;o)

If we're at the same service as Gramps and RahRah, we usually beat them to their house after church.  On this particular day, we were there probably 15 minutes or so before they were.  Without the house key, we were at the mercy of the car's air conditioner. :o)  Whenever waiting, Hallie wants out of her carseat.  Not a big deal.  Today, Jonathan let her "drive" around the block.  Gasp!  Don't worry...there's little to no traffic and Hallie didn't go over 15 mph.  Wait...she can't even reach the pedals!  LOL. :o)  I have such fond memories of "driving" with my daddy when I was little.  Good times.  Oh, I also have fond memories of running his red Mazda truck into an embankment while I was driving while sitting in his lap.  haha.  I digress.  She made great memories with her daddy! :o)

Eyes on the road, Hallie!

I love this--look at the A/C blowing her piggy tails! :o)

Don't worry...we were parked! :o)

Look at my tiny flower. :o)

Love this girl!

Oh, those sweet piggy tails!

We had cheesecake for dessert...obviously, Hallie was a fan. :o)

Gramps and Jonathan got put in time out...lol.

Hallie and Uncle J (and Charley) under the dining room table--this happens every Sunday that Uncle J comes over for lunch!  Those two are quite the pair! :o)

Sweet girl and Charley

Sic 'em Bears!

Baylor vs. Buffalo...one would think being September and all that the weather would start cooling off.  Sigh.  So not true.  Nonetheless, it was good times with good friends.  Hallie didn't nap before the game, so with the heat, she was extra crabby...as was her momma!  Ha!  At one point, Hallie got it in her head that she had to have pom poms.  So Kelly and I took Hallie on a pom pom hunt. :o)  We were not successful.  But we did get some $8 rally necklaces!  LOL!  Next time we'll go to Target and get some pom poms before the game!  The one thing that saved us was seeing Bruiser Bear on the way back to our seats!

Look at this cutie! :o)

Sweet friends--Kelly & Kevin

Me & my girl!

Hallie and Bruiser

God Bless America!

Baylor Football 2010

We kicked off our Labor Day weekend with college football!  No better way to start a weekend!  I love college football.  And more than that, I love AUBURN football!  But, since I'm a long way from Auburn, I'll take what college football I can get. ;o)  We had tickets to the Baylor game this past Saturday...the weather was beautiful and the company was great!  Hallie looked most forward to getting popcorn--HA!  Baylor started their season with a win!  We're looking forward to another Baylor game this coming weekend!  Sic 'em Bears.  But, again, more than that...WAR EAGLE!

Hubs and Me

Hal and Daddy

Three Generations...wow!

Gramps, Hallie, and RahRah

Sic 'em Bears!

And because I believe in Auburn and love it...

Cousins

I really wanted to get some good shots of Hallie, Abby, and HG on Mawmaw's front porch.  My plan was to start the pictures at 10 am because it was SO incredibly hot in Alabama during our last visit.  Somehow the plan didn't work out and we didn't get over to Mawmaw's house until 1 pm.  And our flight left that very day at 5:00 pm.  Needless to say, I was less than thrilled to be sweating like the proverbial pig (yes, I'm aware pigs do not sweat)...and even less thrilled that I would be all hot, sweaty, and stinky before having to sit on a plane and then ride 2 hours home from Dallas.  Moving on.  I ended up capturing some pretty sweet pictures of Hallie.  I'm going to post them in a slide and when I have more time, I'm going to post some of my favorites.

If you'd like to see the pictures bigger, just click on them. :o)