Ladybug Girl & Flower Girl

Jenna has always loved to read books. Well, for us to read to her anyways- still working on learning to read herself. But I have been reading to her since she came home from the hospital and books have always had her complete attention, even as a little newborn.

(I tried it with Lexie, but she would just cry...or when she got a bit bigger, I tried again and since then she's only interested in ripping out the pages. ha ha. - she is terribly cute though when she is so proud of herself for successfully destroying a book. Silly Baby now has nothing but hard page books she's allowed to look at.)

Jenna however, loves books so much we have to limit her to a certain number a day- or else we'd be reading all night long.

This past Sunday, I read the book “Ladybug Girl” to Jenna.

It's a story about a little girl and boy play “Bug Squad” on the playground as Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy; joined later in the book by two more kids who decide they will pretend to be Dragonfly Girl and Butterfly Girl. It really is an adorable book that encourages imagination and play.

It definitely sparked Jenna's interest in a big way. So, she spent the first 30 minutes running around the yard pretending to be Ladybug Girl…then looked at her flower watch and decided she would make up her own super hero name.

Jenna said she was "Flower Girl" and she has the power to help plants and animals grow. She ran around making the yard grow until dinner. I would sometimes point to things and give her ideas about how to help them grow, etc. I'd say "Jenna, over there! Help that flower look more purple!" and she would run over and wave her arms and say "Don't worry Flower, I will make your purple the most pretty!"

We played until time to go inside for dinner. Little did I know, but Jenna was about to do something that would we will remember and laugh about for weeks to come.

After dinner, we were all standing around out front and Jenna ran up to a tree…hugged it and said
“Don’t worry tree! I won’t let the squirrels take your nuts!”

Best part --> this is a TRUE STORY.
... and Jenna got mad at us for laughing so hard. Which only made it that much more funny… Bless her heart!
I'm sure Bill Cosby would have had a field day with my Jenna Jade... ha ha. :) She has the most hilarious imagination!

Lexie's Day Care Pictures

Kids & Company Easter Pictures ~ The Picture People Photography

Hip Hop Hustle

Jenna has taken 2 classes of Hip Hop Hustle at Pivotal Fitness now and she absolutely loves it! She did much better the first week (when I wasn't there)...and was tired this night that I was filming...but you can see her trying some of the moves. We're proud of her! Way to go Jenna!

Teacher is Jessica Holmen- who also teaches the Hip Hop Hustle class that I take on Tuesday's! :) a few more videos and pics at www.dropshots.com/pilkentonpearls

Missing Dog

Destiny sure caused a lot of trouble recently! Our 2 year old brindle boxer, Lady Destiny, is a master escape artist.

We tried crating her, she figured out how to bite at the lock to unlock it and get out.

We had a 7 foot tall kennel ... she jumped and cleared it.

So we put a roof on it- she dug out.

So we put railroad ties around the edges... she physically moved the railroad ties to dig out.

She even physically bent down the metal door of the kennel so that she could get out.

So... we now have to chain her up when we aren't home- and she also has a shock collar.

We also have a problem in the neighborhood with coyotes. We believe that the coyotes got her about 3 months ago- and quite a few neighbors cats also fell victim. This brings me to the happenings on April 16, 2010. Eric was home and put Destiny in the back yard with only her shock collar on while he took a 10 minute shower at around 10:30 in the morning. 20 minutes later, he went to let her back in...and she wasn't in the back yard.

Eric then ran out front to see if she had jumped the fence and was simply in the front yard...

Well she WAS... and she had spotted one of the coyotes. She PLOWED through the brick wall that is created by the force of her shock collar. And Eric watched as she took off through the woods, across the creek, and disappeared into an entire different neighborhood. He drove around all day long trying to find her- Keith (my sister's fiance) even came over and helped him search the woods for her. She was gone.

Heartbroken....and tired of the countless trips circling the neighborhood in hopes of finding her... we came home and put two sad little girls to bed without knowing where their puppy was. The entire household was upset, aggravated... and worried. Did the coyotes get her? Was she lost? Would she find a busy road and get hit by a car?

I was up late, sitting in the dark just trying to calm my nerves enough to go to bed....It was just after midnight when I heard this faint, single scratch at the door. Destiny had come home... I couldn't help it, the tears filled my eyes and I screamed "She's home! She's home! Destiny is HOME!"...my parents and my hubby and I spent the next 20 minutes hugging her, petting her, giving her love...and feeding our hungry puppy. She was even shivering because she was so scared... we were so glad to have her home! I have a few pictures of the girls hugging on her the next day; they were so happy to have her back!

Her shock collar is turned back on and we'll keep a much closer eye on her!

Lunch with Cousins!

Lisa had her bridal shower on Saturday April 17th. My cousins Marcia and Melinda (my cousin Greg's wife) were there and afterwards, Eric and I took the girls to meet them for lunch at Liberty Taproom Bar & Grill in downtown Greenville. We really had a great time and wish we could see them more often! (Unfortunately, I failed to take pictures at Lisa's bridal shower...I hate that!)

Eric, Lexie, Charlie, and Scott (Marcia's husband)

Jenna & Caroline (my cousin Greg & Melinda's daughter) -- Jenna was so excited to see Caroline and she loves her very much! Can't you tell by how she is squeezing the poor girl in this adorable pic? ha ha. :)