some outside fun

What an easy hour of entertainment. I had bought this little blow up pool at Toys R Us last year on clearance for $4, and I blew it up today, and the boys had a blast splashing around and just cooling off. I was also able to sit in a chair and get a little bit of sun as well. Here are just a few pics from our fun time outside.

A few more...

Some Layout Sharing

Here are some layouts that I have never shared. I get distracted on getting them actually uploaded here. I hope you like them!

My Neglected Blog

So, I know I have been neglecting the blog world for the past couple of weeks. It was a rough week when we lost Mamaw, but we also had some friends whose home was damaged pretty badly from the floods that weekend. So, as soon as we returned home from vacation, we had the bad news about our friends' home, and then we received the news about Mamaw. All of last week, I was our church's VBS director, so I had no time last week. Let's just say that I am relieved that last week is over, and a new week has begun. One fun thing we did over the weekend was hangout with our friends' whose home was damaged. They are staying at a family's home while they are on vacation. They have an inground pool, and my boys loved it!


Graedon is obsessed with lotion bottles!


Gabe is a little water bug! He can also swim underwater without the use of his floaties!


And just for fun, here is a pic of Chad on his newly restored motorcycle! He thinks he is totally awesome on it.

Loss of Mamaw

We received news last night that my husband's Mamaw had passed away. Our sons knew her as Mamaw Great. She will be greatly missed, and I would appreciate any prayers you could send our way during this time of loss. We will look forward to the day that we see her again!

"After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. " ~I Thessalonians 4:17

Waking up to HAPPY news!

Oh my goodness! I woke up and came downstairs to check some of my fave blogging sites, and at first, I looked at my own blog. I noticed a comment on my last post. It was from Elizabeth Kartchner saying that I won! I had entered into a contest she was hosting on her blog, and I won! I cannot believe it! I am so happy, and I feel so lucky today. I have never won anything I have entered. Thank you Elizabeth. You made my day today! Check out her blog for some awesome inspiration, great music, and just fun reading!

Tae Kwon Do

My little guy is growing up just too fast. He recetly started taking Tae Kwon Do classes, and he loves it. So, now I understand how it feels to be a parent that totes her kids all over everyday for classes and practices. Oh well, he loves it, and I love that he has something he looks forward to on a daily basis. These are pics from when he received his white belt.

I thought I would post a new layout. This is one I completed for a challenge from the Dreamgirls Challenge Blog. You can check out their challenges here: http://dreamgirls.typepad.com/dreamgirls/2008/05/say-it-loud-say.html?cid=114544040#comment-114544040

My baby is 20 months old today! What a cutie he is! I cannot believe how fast it has gone, but boy am I so blessed to have him here with us. He's got a runny nose today, so we just kind of chilled at home after running a few errands, but this is a happy picture of him not doing his "chesse" pose which consists of completed squinted-closed eyes, and crinkled up smile.

20 Graedon things at 20 months: (okay, it ended up being 21, but I can't leave any out)

• He loves to play with playdoh. I think mentioning the word playdoh would bring him out of any funk that he may be in.



• Just this last week, he has begun mimicking everything Gabe does. Just yesterday he had to stab a cheeto with a fork and wave it around because Gabe did it.



• He's our singer and dancer. Some of his favorite songs to sing are the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Litte Star, and the song from Toy Story when Buzz sadly realizes he's a toy and cannot fly.



• He likes to do the truffle shuffle...."mahn." "Do it." "mahn." "Do it." (that is our dialog) Next thing you know, he is rubbing his belly, stopping his little feet, and making gurgly-growly noises.



• He has this back-it up motion when he is trying to sit on my lap. I love it!



• "Eee you" is so precious to hear.



• "Nah vay" is quite often heard when I ask for a kiss.



• He has just started to tell Gabe he is sorry and bends down to make sure he gives him a kiss on the lips.



• He is definitely a mullet little man. (He is in desperate need of a haircut).



• He repeats anything you tell him. I love hearing how he pronounces words.



• Every time we get out of the car when it is dark outside, he looks up at the sky and hollers for the moon. "Moo ere r ewe?" Sometimes that is followed by "eredit go?"



• You still do not sleep through the night.



• I love how you climb the stairs, get to the top, and then run your little chubber legs to your makeshift bed on the floor and plop down. Next your head is on the pillow, your little knees tucked up under you, and you utter "nigh, nigh" in your sweet voice.



• Now, when you get up, we go down the stairs with you holding my right hand, you have your right hand on the banister, we count the stairs (all 15 steps) , and when we get to the bottom, you yell "Doe" and take off running.



• When I am laying down with you at night for you to fall asleep, I will pretend to be sleeping, and I hear you coming at me making kissy noises. You give me a sweet little kiss on the lips.



• Oh my goodnes, you love swings. You want to "wee-wing" all of the time. You even still want to swing on our porch swing even after it fell with us on it.



• The sandbox is another place that can occupy your time for awhile. You will dig and bury yourself for at least an hour.



• You have a love of choo-choos and Toy Story just like Gabe did. (I think that is mostly because I love all of that as well.) :-)



• I love how you giggle at Dori on Finding Nemo.



• You are our book lover as well. You will sit on my lap and let me read to you. I love those quiet moments.



• You draw circles when you write. You call them (curcols). You are so concentrated when you draw.

My First Scrappy Class

I am taking the Embellish It! class over at Feeling Scrappy! I am really excited to finally take my first class online. I cannot wait to see what they have in store for us students. Visit their website for more details if you are interested! I will be posting layouts as I get them completed!