Hillbilly Days, dressing up, and fun with grandparents

Since 1976 Pikeville has held a festival known as Hillbilly Days. People from other areas don't understand why we Hillbillies would create a festival to celebrate this, but those of us from Pikeville know that it is to raise money for Shriner's Children's causes and to just let loose and have fun. At Hillbilly Days, you will find food, crafts, bluegrass and country music, and yes, you will find a few hillbillies. We decided to head on down to let Sarah ride rides and Leah experience her very first Hillbilly festival. Come on, she needs to learn her roots early, right?


Our precious girl, she is getting so big! I was interested to see how she would do with the heat and noise. She did great!

Sarah was loving life when I offered to buy her a bugle. I figured, if you can't beat the other kids, join them.

As usual, it was packed. This is only one street of the festival. It truly closes the entire city down for three days. It is much larger than any other Kentucky festival I have experienced.

Here is Chris putting on his best face for the camera. He was less than thrilled about our visit. Festivals are not his thing. He said he would go with me once every four or five years. I guess this is it for a while.

Mom found a real "Hillbilly" and asked for a photo. Yee Haw!

Sarah was wild about all the rides, as usual. She could take or leave the rest of the festival. All she cared about were rides, rides, rides!

It was Leah's nap time, so we decided to drive around and let her sleep. We ended up at the Pikeville overlook. It was created to look over the city and also see the cut through project that rerouted the river (thereby lessening flooding risks in Pikeville as well as increasing land area for development. You can see the view in the photos that follow.

Sarah enjoyed her visit. She has never been so "high in the sky" as she put it.

Another vantage point.

What a poser! When will the pink phase end? I have a feeling, not for a looooong time.

During our visit, we also stopped by at my cousin Melody's to allow her to meet the newest Coleman.

Melody is such a wonderful cousin. She loves my girls like they are her own. Leah will be no exception.

Aunt Nancy and Sarah's cousin Gabe were also there for a visit. Sarah had a good time seeing them again.

Nancy Mamaw and Leah

Papaw and his newest girl.

This ends our trip home to the mountains. But the grandparents visited shortly after, so I decided to include it in the post as well.

We interrupt this post to update you on Sarah's dress up obsession: we now have two pink and green dresses which have pretty much become a uniform while at home. If I would let her wear them out, she would happily do so as well. Unfortunately, all this wear and tear is making the dresses look kind of sketchy... The following photos are taken on various days, but you will see the same dresses over and over and OVER again. I just wanted to warn you...lol!

My precious girls. So beautiful. What a blessing from God.

Leah became ill and we had to visit the doctor...Sarah dressed her best for the visit!

Mamaw and Papaw came up to visit shortly after our visit home. Notice the SAME pink and green dress. At least she likes to dress up and not down!

My lovely family.

Mamaw and her little Leah

In all seriousness. I cannot thank God enough for these two blessings. They have truly changed my life forever (in a good way).

Who knew you could feel so much unconditional love for another? (I know now how God feels about each one of us).

Until next time.

We love Taylor Swift!

For those of you who don't already know, we are big Taylor Swift fans. Before Sarah, I could take her or leave her, but when Sarah turned 3, she saw the "marry me Juliet" video and was hooked! We were so happy to be able to surprise our girl with tickets to see her hero in concert in Lexington. Aunt Amy had bought Sarah this shirt last year. We decided it would be perfect attire for the concert. This is big for Sarah, because it meant she could not wear her favorite pink and green dress for the event! (She has worn the same two dresses everyday for the past two months!). I was so happy she opted for the tee shirt instead.

Check out the look of excitement on her face!

On our way in, we took some photos of beautiful downtown Triangle Park.



Believe it or not, even Daddy opted to accompany us to the concert! Sarah loves her Daddy so much. They have such a special and close relationship.



In the background you can see Kelli Pickler. She opened for Taylor. From the look on Sarah's face you can tell that she is not enthralled with Kelli. Bring on Taylor!

During the intermission, we posed for photos. Check out the look on Daddy's face. He is either tired from work, or dreading the thousands of screaming girls he is about to be surrounded by for two hours!

Me and my girl.

Now for the main event... I took video of the opening of the concert. When it fades to black, I was trying to get the look on Sarah's face. It is hard to see. She really didn't smile, she just seemed mesmorized by the event. She did not utter a word for a long time. This is BIG for Sarah!

Here is the beginning of the concert. Can you just feel the collective prepubecent excitement in the room? Check out the long awkward pauses. She had lots of these during her performances. I guess it plays up to the Disney crowd. The most interesting part to me was that she really could sing! I have seen her on so many award shows and she sounded less than stellar. She was truly spot on throughout the concert. We had so much fun!

As you can see, she did a great job of playing to the audience. She has a really high energy show!

Taylor had many costume changes. Sarah looooved this! She is really into fashion right now as you can see below.

At one point, Taylor peeks out just one section away from us! She sings a song less than 50 feet away! Unfortunately, we were bum rushed by girls standing on top of one another and couldn't see a thing. Then Taylor made her way down the stairs to a second stage in the middle of the arena. Here is the photo.

We had GREAT seats for this concert. It was the only way to really keep a 4 year olds interest throughout.

At one point, she asked us to turn on our cellphones. You can't see it here, but the effect was really cool.

This is my favorite photo of the night. Sarah grew tired in the middle of the show (perhaps because she was working on being up two hours past her bedtime?). I gave her my I touch and had bought a fashion application. Sarah spent at least an hour dressing the model in "Taylor Swift attire". So cute!

Now for the main event. The moment we have all been waiting for... the princess section of the show. She had awesome costumes and backgrounds to keep the kids interested.

A close up of princess Taylor.

Then she changes into her "white dress" as the song describes.

What a great night. What great memories of our first "big girl" concert with our big girl.

6 months old!

Well everyone, in some ways this has been a long time in coming, and in other way time seems to have flown...Leah is now 6 months old! I thought I would take a time out from posting adventures to give you a little update on the newest Coleman. Leah was born during "pumpkin season" in October and she has been a little spitfire since the moment she made her entrance. She has had some physical issues along the way (that yucky reflux) but she seems to be less bothered by it from day to day. Here are some photos of our little lady.

My baby girl. She has never been much of a snuggler until recently. She is definitely a mommy lover these days. I cannot leave her sight without her melting into fits of sobbing. It is a double edged sword, I am ecstatic that she loves me, but I have so much housework to do! I love her hugs which are becoming more frequent of late. She grabs my hair and buries herself into my neck. So cute!

I am not her only love. She adores her big sister. Her smile looks miles wide when she spies her sis entering the room! The feeling is quite mutual. I am so glad my girls are close at this young age.

Sarah likes to dress Leah up (hat and all). Sarah is quite into dress up these days. Luckily, Leah is a happy participant!



Her newest "trick" is throwing herself back on the boppy, arching her back and smiling, and then "ab crunching" her way back to sitting. Boy, she has strong ab muscles for a 6 month old!

One of her mischievous grins while "crunching".

She loves to laugh. Her favorite game right now is "peek a boo!" Here is the face I get while playing this game. She melts my heart!

She also loves tongues. She loves for me to stick mine out at her, and she loves to stick hers out as well.

She makes her sister laugh with her silly expressions.

Sarah can make her laugh out loud as well during tickling sessions or just yelping in her direction (I am not as fond of the loud yelping game they have created, but am glad they are having fun).

I love the hair! It is getting more curly and long by the day! I had to cut the stringy hairs at the base of her neck, because it was getting in the way when I tried to put on her bib. Once I cut the hair, it instantly looked more curly. She has definitely taken after mommy with the amount of body in her hair. We love our little Leah and can't wait to see what else she has in store for us during the next 6 months!

Princesses Galore!

The first half of the year has been all about princesses in the Coleman household. More often than not, I find myself surrounded by "ball gowns" and sitting in the floor enjoying "tea" (which is really water) and apple butter cakes (made with apple butter and graham crackers). Sarah is about as "girly" as any 4 year old I have ever met! My friend Brandy fueled the fire by buying her a stunningly beautiful Cinderella gown for Christmas. You can see below that I has been through its share of events this year.

Sarah's friend, Avery invited her to her very first Princess Tea themed birthday party! Sarah was overjoyed to have an excuse to wear her Cinderella garb out of the house!
Donia does a great job each year with birthday parties. This year she outdid herself. Look at the detail on the birthday "cakes". Donia, you're my hero! You can find much more of her handiwork by following the Blu Sash link. This is the name of her business. It is obvious that she is quite talented.

What a lovely spread for a bunch of little ladies. They get a chance to behave like true princesses.

A birthday dinner fit for royalty!

Princesses Sara and Emma catching up before dinner begins.

Princess Avery, aka, the birthday girl, is more than ready to get this show on the road!

Look at the way Sarah is sipping her tea. The girls were on their best behavior. I guess they sensed how special it was to be allowed to use breakables during this feast!

How precious! This party was a definite success. Thank you Avery for letting us help you celebrate!

The next opportunity we had to wear the gown out of the house was in March for the "Disney Princesses on Ice" tour. We have been waiting for months to see the princesses leave their home in Florida and travel to the Bluegrass state. As you can see below, Sarah was mesmerized by the show!

Here is the view from our seats. Snow White was Sarah's obsession last fall. Disney did a great job with her story, as they did with most of the princesses.

We were joined by our friends Maura and Julie. As you can see, we had a hard time getting either of the girls attention during the show. I guess this is a good sign!

Julie was kind to take a photo of Sarah and me during the intermission. I am so proud of the wonderful young lady that Sarah has become. I am also thankful that we have the means and the opportunity to have these special days together from time to time.

Maura was more in the mood to make silly faces than pose for the camera during the intermission. I guess they were a little antsy from all of the sitting!

The finale featured a wonderful ball in which all the princesses dressed in white and gold. Beautiful!

After the show, we convinced the girls to stop and take a photo outside of Rupp arena. This was the best photo we achieved. I am sure those of you with more than one child know how hard it is to get more than one child to stop, look at the camera, and say cheese!

All in all, this was a wonderful event for everyone involved. I will forever cherish the months (years???) that Sarah graced our presence in the adorable princess attire at home and out and about. These cute moments are so fleeting. I wonder what will be the next obsession for the remainder of 2010? Only time will tell...

Until next time.