My Magnolia Trees and A Trip to Lowes

I couldn't believe it last week when my magnolia trees started blossoming like crazy!
It was very exciting. I had no idea that rain is what causes them to bloom. We sure did have lots of rain, so I guess that explains it.


On Friday night we took our kids to Lowes to look for something. It was so funny watching them. They had a blast. Basically turned the store into an obstacle course. Probably getting into things they weren't supposed to :-) and climbing on things that aren't supposed to be climbed on, but it made me realize how great kids are at making every situation fun. Even if it is just a boring trip to a hardware store.

Kids are the best

We have a new nephew and cousin!
Lucas Cameron Murray was born on Monday- Sept. 21 at 3:11 am.
He weighed 7 pds 9 oz and 20 1/4 inches long!

Congrats to my sister, Audrey and Matt's brother, Scott on the arrival of their 3rd little boy!
We can't wait to meet him!

Tell me what you really think

Ok, I need some opinions on this.

Ryanne's b-day is coming up on Oct. 25th. It is a Sunday. Matt is going to be going to football games every saturday in October, except the 24th, so that is the day that we already set aside to go to South Carolina for a temple trip.
Basically, there really isn't a good time for a b-day party, where dad can be a part of it.

So, I came up with the idea of combining Ry and Savannah's b-day parties into one big party!
Savannah's b-day is Nov. 27th, so their b-day's are a little over a month apart.

Ry wants a unicorn party and Savannah wants a pink pony party.
So what would be easier than having a pink unicorn pony party for both of them?

I asked Matt what he thought about this and he said a double party would be LAME!!!

He has some really interesting ideas about b-day celebrations and what they should be like.

Anyway, I am thinking that they want the same theme, so a combination b-day party would mean:
- I only have to make and decorate 1 horse-y cake
- I only have to buy decorations and put up said decorations once
- it might be possible to actually find 1 day that would work for a party, much easier than finding 2 days
- Ry and Bans are only 2 years apart, so they have some of the same friends
- Idk, it seems like it would be easier??

So maybe I am lazy and lame.

if you think I am lame, go ahead and tell me. Trust me, I can take it.

Jonah's version of the Timber Rattlesnake

Jonah was so excited by the rattlesnake that we saw, he wanted to draw a picture of it the next day. He also wanted me to put it on the blog. So, here you go Jones~!

Jacks River Falls

For Labor Day we went to Jacks River Falls. It is about a 3-4 hour drive and then there is a nice hike to the Falls. Matt and I have been on this hike a couple of times together. The first time when I was barely pregnant with Jonah and then the next year when Jonah was about 5 months old. Both times, we have gone with large groups of people, but this time it was just us.
The kids did really great on the hike, which is about 3 miles there and then another 3 miles back. The weather was perfect, not too hot but not cold either. We brought the kids swimming suits and they got to play in the cold water. Jonah was having a blast jumping in and swimming around.





The girls didn't get as wet- they kind of played around the edges of the water





Matt jumped off the cliffs into the water and I have to say, I have really loosened up in the past 9 years. I didn't get mad at him at all. And I didn't fear for his life.


It was a really beautiful day. We had lots of fun together.
Jonah even carried the pack for awhile, and asked me the whole time if it was making his muscles bigger.
By the time we got back to the car, everyone was hot and sweaty and feeling a little gross and stinky. At least we were all in it together.....



The highlight for Jonah was spotting this Timber Rattlesnake. We didn't know what kind of rattler is was when we saw it, but a little research on the internet helped us identify it. Jonah was quite intrigued. Yikes!

Dear Sleeping-through-the-Night AKA Getting-a-good-night's-rest,

Hey- How are you doing?
It's been awhile. I really miss you.
You used to live with us and I think I took you for granted. When you left, about a year ago, I didn't think that you would be gone this long. I thought you would go on a short vacation and then return, and we would all be one big, happy family.

Boy was I wrong.
I mean, I do appreciate the fact that you come and visit every so often and stay for a day or two, but what happened? Why don't you want to live here anymore?

Life is so much better when you are here. Everyone seems happier, healthier and you know, I think you really do do a body good.

I can't figure out why you don't want to stay. We all really like you. I know you probably think that Savannah doesn't like you, because she is the one who scared you away in the first place, but I think that the two of you should be able to make some sort of deal with each other. Maybe you could sleep with her in her bed. That is what she really wants. You could pat her back and make sure she doesn't wake up screaming, which kind of disturbs everyone else. Yes! That is the solution. You need to come back to stay and make friends with Savannah. I just know the 2 of you could be best friends!

I know, let's set up a tentative sleepover for the rest of this week, just to see how it goes. We have a night light and we leave all the bedroom doors open. Oh, and if anyone needs a drink of water before bed they are more than welcome to get one.
All I ask is that you stay in your own bed (or in Savannahs), don't wake me up in the middle of the night and carry on for hours (that makes it really hard for me to fall back asleep because then I am completely and utterly wide awake, which makes for a really hard day) and well, just be yourself.
If you accept our invitation, I will tell the rest of the family that you are coming back to stay!
I am soo excited that you might consider moving back in with us! It really has been too long. We need to catch up!
Let me know what you think.

Sincerely,
Mary Ann Murray AKA person who is wide awake at 3:51 am and has been for 2 hours due to a sleep disturbance :)

A Back to School Giveaway

I am having a Back to School Giveaway on my Food Blog- Go to this POST and enter to win one of these cookbooks!

Roses and Dew Droplets

We have quite a lot of dew. Every morning the grass is dripping wet. The girls love playing in this little dirt spot we have by one of our trees and one morning I noticed that our roses looked pretty and that there were lots of little dew droplets that looked cool. I took some pictures. I played around with the first one here and edited it a bit, but the others looked so pretty to me that I didn't mess around with them at all.













The girls getting ready to play in their spot. One of these days I will take a picture of how dirty they get out there. It is a little scary!