The Week in Review!

Well, actually a couple of weeks.

We've being having the normal summer fun, but just haven't had a lot of time to blog. I thought I'd do a review of the past couple of weeks so you can see our activities!

So last week, Sam had baseball camp. He had a blast and really learned a lot! By the end of the week he was playing first base and getting some good hits. (He actually figured out what was going on with the rules and such!) Here are a few pictures of him in action...

Ready and waiting!

Oops, it snuck by!
It's an out!
Good hit!


This week we stayed kind of low-key around the house. Nana came to watch the kids while I had a dentist appointment, then we met her later in the week for a little shopping at an outdoor mall. Here's a cute picture of the kiddos! (This place has the best landscaping! Very suspicious to me how lush everything is with this water ban going on!?!?!? Huh?)




Yesterday we had our first official pool party! It was great to have all of the neighborhood kids over and the moms actually got to carry on conversations without interruptions! (Another bonus to the pool!)




Bear has found that he is going to enjoy the pool, too! (Look at the chaise lounge; and that's my towel- ick.)



Sam had a camp out with his buddy Max! These boys are just too cute! They have been friends since they were 18 months old and have stayed buds since! Even a rain shower didn't keep them from camping! (Lily didn't quite understand why we weren't leaving her to sleep with them in the tent!)



Surely two boys this cute can't cause much trouble?!?!

They do look tough though, right?


Today, my friend Cheri and I went to the local farmers market. How neat to be able to buy fresh fruits, veggies and flowers in the middle of suburbia.



I walked away with some pepper jelly, a homemade spice mix and who can leave an open air market without a big bag of boiled peanuts! (I was a big star when I walked in the house with these goobers!)



So, there you have it! Lots of summer fun within the past two weeks. With the Fourth of July coming up and our vacation to St. Simons in a couple of weeks, we are only looking for more fun family times on the horizon!

Life is good~
Laurie

Can you guess what this is??!?!

Come on...guess?!?!? No, it's not some abstract piece of art. No, it's not a pile of trash. This, my friends is what has come out of my latest loads of laundry. I really do try my hardest to pick through pockets, but sometimes a busy mother forgets things! So, this is what we end up with. Let's see what we have here:

1) A lone screw
2) A few nails
3) Some rocks
4) Some play money
5) A plastic caterpillar (the pink thing)
6) A gold doubloon (Darn, it's plastic, too!)
7) A red fingerlight. (This was a prize from the dentist office. And guess what?!?! It was on and glowing when I got it out of the washing machine! A pretty tough little 'thang'!)

So, that's my excitement for now. Just thought you'd like a little Q&A!

Cheerful~
Laurie

Happy Father's Day!

Today is the day to recognize all of the important things that the father's in our lives do everyday and do not get the accolades they deserve! Yes, they deserve a day of pampering, too! These guys go to work everyday and work hard to provide for the precious ones at home who are just waiting for their dad to walk in the door so they can cover him with hugs! At least that's how it happens at our house!

Sam and Lily just love their dad! They have to have hugs and kisses from him first thing in the morning and it's a fight to see who gets to have the bedtime story read to them from Daddy. When he walks in the door from work, they both race to get their hug! Yes, John is very popular in this house and I have to wait my turn to get my morning kiss or my welcome home hug.

John is a pillar of strength and an incredible role model for the kids. We love and appreciate him so much! Here are some awesome pictures to see him in action!!!!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What Makes A Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad

Author unknown

Now on the other level, John and I are both so fortunate to have strong, caring fathers in our lives! I look back and can remember so many great memories with my dad. Here's a teaser on a lot of fun stories:

1) Did I really knock out my dad's tooth while we were wrestling?
2) It's a brave dad who let's his daughters give him a perm. (Give him a break, it was the 80's and he was primping for Deedee's wedding!)
3) Why would my father let me go outside and honk the car horn at midnight?!?! New Year's Eve!
4) Teaching me to drive. (One word - "Crash" in the G-K parking lot)

There are tons more. But to sum it up...I love my Pop!







Happy Father's Day guys!

Loving all of the fathers in my life~
Laurie

What's that I hear?!?!?!? SPLASH!

Yes, we are officially swimming! I know we were pretty impatient clients for our pool builder, but it was actually only two months from start to finish! Of course, the minute the hose was placed in the pool, Sam was in the water. I had to laugh! Seriously, the man who acid washed the pool and put the hose in had not even stepped out of the pool and Sam came out in his suit and got in. Look at the pictures and you will see that the walls of the pool hadn't dried before he was splashing in the two inches of water! Lily Clare joined him quickly thereafter!

We are all really excited. We had pizza by the pool on Friday and swam until bedtime. (There's no way I could have cooked something...I was just as excited as the kids!) John's parents are in town for the weekend and it's nice to share the new found fun with someone!

Enjoy the pictures and tomorrow I'll add an update for Father's Day!

Who knew that 2" of water could be so much fun!?!?!



Can you see Sam's blonde head in the hot tub?


Not exactly my idea of a relaxing soak in the spa, but I guess there will be plenty of time for that!!!
Just pruning up~
Laurie

What's old is new again...don't we wish!?!?

Well, as a mother I periodically have instances where I think I'm a genius and have prevented a great disaster. This started when Sam was a baby and he fell deeply attached to a "Cat in the Hat" stuffed animal. I was mortified thinking about what would happen if one day he couldn't find his "C.I.T.H"?!?! So, being the smart one, I searched Ebay and found a match!!!! Well, six years later I'm cleaning out his closet and I find the back-up. What do you think? Can you tell the difference? A missing bowtie and some stuffing popping out of the tummy....



He has been through the washing machine a couple of times, but for six years old, I think he's done pretty well! Now, I continued my thinking for Lily Clare and luckily my sister-in-law found her a back-up for her teddy! For some reason Lily's bear seems to have had a really rough ride. What's your opinion?

But doesn't that just mean it's been more loved?!?!? If you don't know already, I'm a major germ-a-phobe. I'm looking at this picture and I'm not quite sure why I haven't dipped this thing in straight-out bleach!!!!! ICK! The worse part about it is that Lily has foiled my plan and found the new one. She now thinks that she needs to have both teddys with her at all times.

Well, moms can only be so smart, right?

By the way, Aunt Janet was the one who gave both of these stuffed animals to the kids when they were babies and they grew very attached to them! She is very disappointed that she hasn't been featured on the blog, so here ya go....


Janet is John's sister who lives just around the corner from us. We all love having her so close and the kids get so excited when they get to have special afternoons with her!

Happy~
Laurie

Ahhh...the lazy days!

Well, I haven't written in a while because we really haven't done anything too exciting. The kids and I have gotten into a pretty good schedule, and I'm doing a rather good job at avoiding a lot of down time...thus, preventing tantrums and fights! We've been swimming (with friends at their pools), we've been to the library, we've been to the pet store (fun and free entertainment!) and to the park. Then we sleep and do it all over again the next day! HA!

We went to the cabin two weekends ago and had some good family fun. John had a good mountain bike ride and we all enjoyed the cooler temps! Here is a picture of Lily and a ladybug friend that she found. I thought she was going to eat it there for a minute.


The kids and I plan on hitting some new parks this week and I promise to have some better pictures!

But, here's a thought for you......

What fun are cute, summer sandals without pretty pink toenails!?!?! Lily and I are ready to sport our flip flops!




Just playin'~
Laurie