Independence Day celebration #1

Friday July 3rd we went to see the KaboomTown fireworks in Addison...and we had the greatest place to watch them!
We went to a "private party" put on by the baseball organization that Jeff coaches for.
Huge fenced-in outdoor area with turf (not grass = no mosquitos, not dirt = no mess!) and tons of area for the kids to run around. They had a bounce house, face painting, and a big yummy meal of burgers, hot dogs, and all the fixins, and margaritas all free. It was a great night!
We took Tyler and his friend Justin with us, and Nonnie and Poppy met us out there just in time for the fireworks show.
The location is right next to the air strip in Addison, so we had perfect seats for the air show. Cole was completely mesmerized by the planes and all the tricks they were doing (as was I!)

Shelby and that Daddy of hers spent the first almost hour INSIDE waiting to get her face painted. Shelby really wanted it and so of course daddy obliged and waited in line with her.



FINALLY it was her turn. She asked to be a tiger.






And (drum roll please.......)









She certainly was a tiger!!!



The paint was amazing and she was so proud. She kept asking me to get my mirror out so she could look at it again.


Later in the night she found another little girl around her age also painted like a tiger. Later on I saw them running across the field holding hands! :)


The fireworks show was GREAT.

Look at my 2 little pumpkins...sittting down they almost look the same size!

Around the house, end of June

Shelby putting her baby down for nap. A little annoyed that we weren't being quiet for her baby to sleep!


Sweet happy Buddy!


Sissy loves her daddy!


(and Mommy too)


Silly girl!!!


Ah, such joy! :) hahaha


This little buddy got a black eye... But he's still smilin of course.


I just love to squeeze him and kiss him!!


My family very proud that they finished all their dinner (Steak, roasted potatoes and green beans, and pasta)...showing off their empty plates!

Family time in the living room

We play baseball of course!
Turn your speakers DOWN so you don't hear the lady who's videoing and her annoying cheers ;)

Cole's first solo elevator ride

Last weekend at the family reunion, Cole was immediately obsessed with the elevators. The family room we were in was right next to the elevators. When we first got there, I took him for a ride on them, of course letting him push the buttons. Then he got Tyler to to take him on a ride, then Aunt Jana. Once we were all back in the room, kids running in and out playing, after a split second I realize Cole is gone yet again. I look around and all the adults he could be with are right there.
SO I ran out of the room and an elevator door is just shutting. BOTH doors are just shutting actually, so I push the up and down buttons. The right one opens...empty. The left one starts heading up to floor 2, 3, 4,5 and it stops... I tell Tyler to get in the other elevator and go to floor 5. Then the left one starts moving again and goes to 6. Everyone else is running around looking for Cole but I just have this feeling that he's in that elevator, so I wait. The elevator stops on 6 (the top floor.) After a long minute, it starts heading back down. It stops on 3. I'm still waiting...
It starts again and comes down to one. I stand there impatiently waiting for the doors to open. I didn't see him till they were fully opened and I stuck my head in... there is little Cole standing in the back corner of the elevator. He's not smiling but he's not scared. He's just like, "Hi, I'm back." I can't believe he obviously pushed all those buttons to make it stop on certain floors, and THEN stayed on the elevator the whole time to come back down!!!
It took Tyler another couple of minutes to make it down because he had gotten off on 5 and walked up to 6 making sure Cole wasn't on one of those floors.
Luckily this was a SAFE elevator ride, although I do not recommend allowing YOUR 2 year old to attempt this until he is a bit older. :)

Independence Day!!!

"Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. When our Founding Fathers passed the First Amendment, they sought to protect churches from government interference. They never intended to construct a wall of hostility between government and the concept of religious belief itself. ... To those who cite the First Amendment as reason for excluding God from more and more of our institutions every day, I say: The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny." --Ronald Reagan

Amen.

A Wet n Wild weekend!

What a busy weekend we had!!! We spent lots of time in the water!!!

Thursday night we went over to Nonnie & Poppy's to swim, and then decided to wait for Aunt Jana (coming in from Nashville) to arrive. We didn't get home until after 10 that night and went straight to sleep.
We headed back to Nonnie & Poppy's Friday morning to swim, then went home for a nap. As soon as we woke up, we went right back over to the pool! Shortly after we got there, Uncle Scott and our 3 cousins Cade, Jake, and Sam arrived. So we all swam some more.


Shelby is my little water diva.


Then Mimi and Jack (aka Grumpy) got there, and Millie and Luke came too.
Anna and Ryan were off to a wedding...aren't they cute?!


Friday night was swimming and dinner.



At about 8:30 that night some of the crew decided to head to the hotel where the Family Reunion was (in Grapevine.) Shelby really wanted to go so she got to go with the big cousins (and Poppy and Scott and Jana) while we took the Colester home to bed. Sissy was dropped off around 10:30 and was still going strong :)

Saturday we were up early and at the NRH2O waterpark when they opened. After we went home for a nap, we were up getting ready again. I had to wake Shelby up from this nap after almost 3 hours- the poor girl was exhausted!!! We were in Grapevine at 6:00 for the family reunion dinner. There were about 100 people there! We had dinner at Love & War in Texas (EXCELLENT food and service, even for this HUGE group!!!!) then went back to the hotel to chat and take pictures (of course I didn't have my camera.) Then some of the cousins talked their grandmas into letting them swim, so of course Shelby and Cole had to swim too. They swam from about 9 - 9:45 pm. After that it was straight home and to bed.

Sunday we SLEPT IN (they all let Mommy sleep until 9:00!!!!) and then we were back over to the pool for more...you guessed it! Swimming!
Cade, Jake, and Sam were still there swimming, and Aunt Jana had some of her friends over, so that was 2 more girls and another boy...my kids were in Heaven with all these big kids around. Cole took a nap on Nonnie's bed and no nap for Shelby. We only lasted until about 5:00 that evening over there. We went home and met the pizza man at our doorstep. We ate and Mommy was in bed at about 7 with the kids shortly following. I was EXHAUSTED and am now exhausted again trying to recap that all!!!!

We are just lucky to have such adaptive kids, who nap when they can, but are ok without one, and are ok staying up and out late sometimes. I've always strived to have kids that can do this without it affecting them too much. Guess it's working! :)

Brothers!

This weekend Uncle Scott (among other family!) came into town.
He's my dad's brother...Look at these guys!
They argue with you when you say they look like twins.
When my kids were little they would get them confused.



No, you can't tell they're brothers or anything!!!
Then one night---they came out ready for dinner, dressed alike! I don't think they were as amused as the rest of us were.