Summer Fun To-Do List

It's summer time, and we're so ready for some summer time fun!

1) Go to the BEACH! (duh)

2) Visit the lake. (Anybody got a boat?)

3) Water park!

4) Children's museum, Aquarium, Parks...

5) Library story time.

6) Kids Crafts at the Craft store.

7) Go to the movies.

8) Rent movies and veg out in front of the TV.

9) Take a short beach vacation.

10) Buy a little pool and water toys and play every day in the back yard.

11) ride bikes, blow bubbles, draw with chalk on the sidewalk and pretty much not have to be anywhere at any specific time at all!!

Free time...

Well, it seems I've recently discovered a lot of free time on my hands. I'm finished with my Associates and my photography certification, the kids are out of school for the summer and now that we're not going to have another baby I don't have to think about planning for that. So what am I left with? A lot of free time. That's a good thing. I'm not lazy, not one bit, but this is going to be pretty nice. I haven't had time like this on my hands for years. I'm not making any commitments at least until the fall.

The kids had an end-of-the-year school program last night... I. forgot. My camera. What?! I could kick myself. They were so darn cute. Stephen's class did a patriotic theme, and Christian's dressed up like sailors and did row, row, row your boat. Then we went out for food and ice cream. It was good time.

Now we're off to Gungy's for pancakes. Nice. :-)

T-ball, bubbles and birthdays

Here's the hubster - the most wonderful man in the world. I've been so in love with this guy lately. We grilled out hot dogs tonight. The weather was so beautiful, and the kids blew bubbles in the back yard. It was one of those "oh my goodness, thank you God for your blessings" type of evenings.





The boys got these bubbles for their birthday party. Stephen will be 5 on Tuesday and Christian was 3 on Friday. We had a party yesterday. Lori took the pictures, and I'll share them when she gives them to me. Happy birthday boys!! I LOVE YOU BOTH OH SO MUCH, AND I'M PROUD OF YOU!





T-ball is underway and FUN!

Park day with Princess Ryleigh

I love these kids, and my niece is just the prettiest!

On another note, there is no change as of yet with my brother's friend in ICU. Please continue to remember him.

Ya'll have a happy Easter this Sunday. I love Jesus!

The New Year, Ya'll...

Christian and Daddy

Christian's little girl cousin - Chrissy

Stephen running from Bam

Bam chasing Stephen (this is the sort of thing we do for fun in the sticks.)

Bam playing with the boys (my kids call my mom Bam, if you haven't figured that out) ;)

Dad and my uncle, Barry, with a fresh mess of fish. (What red neck? Me??)

Uhhh...is that a huntin' dawg in the foreground?

Is that there youngin' a peein' in them there bushes??

Who ya callin' backwoods, huh?

...And the best for last - my beautiful Gungy - the most wonderful grandmother in the world.

So that's how we celebrate the new year in this small town that I love! :-)

Hiding the Swingset - Day three

WE DID IT!! The boys are snug in their beds, and tomorrow they'll get a big surprise! I can't wait!

Here's a shot from our family get-together at our house tonight. Heather and Tim came over too! :)

from left to right: Christian, Stephen, Aidan and then Marky.

Not much on my mind...

I've been in my pajamas since 3:30. I usually hate to hang out in my pj's - it makes me feel lazy, but today it just seemed like the right thing to do. It's been one of those lazy days.

I'm going to bake a bunch of cookies tomorrow. That should be fun. Seriously.

For Christmas Eve I'm going to bake a pecan pie, more cookies, cheesecake and maybe one more thing. I love Christmas Eve. My family comes to my house and we all hang out and eat and open gifts. It's been a tradition as far back as I can remember. Good times.

We have the kids a swing set. Mike's going to assemble it on Friday. How I'm going to keep it hidden until Christmas day I just don't know.

Mike's home with some Mexican food. I'm starving...

Painting and Christmas talk

Here are the monkeys painting on cardboard yesterday afternoon. They had fun with it. Stephen got tired first and went inside to watch Noggin, but Christian just wouldn't give it up. He loves this kind of thing. I think it's sweet how much he gets into painting and artsy stuff. Mommy's little artist.

Christmas is almost here! I'm starting to feel just a bit of pressure - not much though, I honestly don't have that much to do in comparison to some people, but I have just enough to feel a little pressure about this time of the month. I have gifts to wrap, food to prepare and a Christmas Eve party to host. And then, of course, there are all those little details that seem to add up. It's a hassle, but I just love the way it all comes together so beautifully in the end. Not long now!

Random Thanksgiving Shots

This is just a mirror image of mom's garage where Mike fried the turkey. You can see Christian in a blue shirt near the bottom.


Here are a couple of mom's dog, Spike.

My Brother, Trey, and Princess Ryleigh.

Stephen met a friend on the other side of the fence.

Mike the turkey man!

Granny, Christian and Mom

Trey playing with the kiddos

They do this a lot lately...

My niece, Princess Ryleigh - the beautiful.

I was getting bored.

The day was good. Dad got called into work, and that started a cycle of events that were pretty yucky, but over all it was a nice day. We really missed Daddy, but hopefully he'll be quiting this stupid job soon.

Anyone with a death wish go shopping today?? Not I!

Fair Fun

Getting ready to go - Silly and Pouty
Pigging out on an elephant ear
Christian by the "dunky"
Cotton Candy!



We had a lot of fun. I hate that the fair only comes once a year, but I guess that's what makes it special.

Another ridiculously long series of family photos with cheesy little sayings - because that's how I roll!

Time to pick the pumpkins!

Daddy & the boys
My beautiful mom and the boys
Bunnies!
Dad and Stephen on the hayride
Christian sees something spooky!

Painting our pumpkins!

Blognic

The photo at the very top and the one above need an explanation! :-)

http://jannye.blogspot.com/

We Blog! We Meet! We Eat!

Heather hosted a local bloggers picnic yesterday at the park. It was really neat meeting and chatting with folks who I've only read about!

http://postandcourierblogs.com/lowcountryblogs/

Today's Adventure: Sea Turtle Release

Photo By Stephen
Photo By Stephen
Photo By Stephen

So Heather and I loaded up all 5 of the monkeys and headed down to the beach this morning. It was a special day, as you can see, and I was happy to watch "Edisto" the turtle find his way back to the sea!

Go to Eugene's blog for more photos and information. It was great to see you Eugene!


http://radinfo.musc.edu/~eugenem/blog/


(And as a special treat I've added some of Stephen's very own photography. I'd say the kid is a chip off the ol' block.)

Legare Farms

HAY RIDE
JUST A SWINGIN'

COW FEEDIN' TIME

LOOK AT THAT TONGUE!
THIS COW THOUGHT HEATHER'S HAIR LOOKED YUMMY!

HOW ABOUT A LITTLE ENTHUSIASM GUYS?



http://www.legarefarms.com/

A day at the park

My Handsome Stephen
Christian sliding down a hill
Marky being sweet
Heather and sweet baby Ellie
Two little monkeys!

We met Heather at the park today for a picnic. The weather was perfect. Fall is in the air!

These kids are growing so fast. I say that all the time, I know, but it just seems like yesterday Stephen and Aidan were just learning to walk, and now we can barely keep track of them they move so fast! Speaking of Aidan, how did I manage to not get a picture of that kid?? I think he was traipsing through a patch of trees when most of these shots were taken. At any rate, I love having pictures to keep track of how fast these kiddos are growing. I look at them often and sigh.

It's so nice to have people who you know are on your side. God knows we need other gals to lean on and to confide in. I love my girlfriends. Heather is more like family to me than a lot of the people I'm actually related to! It's nice to have someone who understands you and who you know you can call in the middle of the night.

I've been blessed with an amazing and supportive family, and I thank my Jesus for them, but I'm realizing more and more as I get older just how important it is to have friends who are currently on the same path as you are. I'm blessed with such friends, and I love them like family!

Last Beach Trip of the Summer

We're back! All went well. It would have been a better trip for me had I not gotten stuck sleeping on the pull-out couch/torture device in the living room! I'm currently suffering from lack of sleep and a back ache.

The boys were well behaved and the water was very warm, I would have enjoyed it more had I not forgotten to bring my bathing suit. That's what you get for packing on a whim.

Really, over all, it was fun, and the boys had a blast!

First Day

It was Christian's first day of preschool today. I dropped him off and then went to the grocery store all. by. myself. He did great and even said that he wants to go back tomorrow. The only problem today was that he fell off the back of his chair in the lunch room and got a bump on his head. He recovered well, and it wasn't a bad enough experience to keep him from wanting to go back.

My good friend, Lori, is a neighbor of ours, and her little girl's first day was today too. She did great as well, and to celebrate we had a little party at my place after school. We had plenty of sugar, balloons and my mom even brought gifts for the kids! It was a great time!

Backyard Splash Zone

My dad invited the boys over last night for some 'ol school backyard water fun! He filled a plastic sandbox and turned on the sprinkler. They had a great time, all three of them, and goodness knows it was hot enough for such an event! If it doesn't cool down around here soon I think we might just consider moving up north! I can't remember a hotter August!

Back to life...

The reunion is behind me, and life is back to normal (Maybe normal is the wrong word). Let's just say life is back to usual.

Today I took the kids to the park with my Granny, mom, Steffanee and my beautiful niece, Princess Ryleigh. Ryleigh's 1st birthday is next month. Time is flying.

Tonight was another T-ball game. Yes, life is back to usual, and I like it!

That's all folks.

4th photos

Happy birthday to my Granny. the Fourth of July just so happens to be her birthday. Every year the entire family on my Dad's side goes to her house to celebrate with a cook out. You can always count on having homemade ice cream and playing horseshoes. This year wasn't complete, however, because someone forget to bring the ice cream churn! Heart breaker.

From top to bottom: My Granny, my handsome Stephen, my Dad whipping my husband in a game of horseshoes, Miri enjoying fireworks from the window, Stephen & Christian on a couple of watermelons this morning, My Dad, Stephen and his cousin, Alex, who together kept running around the backyard at Granny's screaming something about being super-heroes and saving the day, Christian with cousins and finally Dad trying to teach a two-year old Christian a football stance.

Just another Fourth of July!