Back To The Southland

Ya'll, I got to git my southern on a little bit over the weekend and it was just real nice.  We left bright and early Saturday morning to the Athens/Tennessee Fellowship weekend, which I had not been to since I lived there, back in 2010.  So it was high time.

It was the usual- a small auction, lots of singing and special numbers and such.  But it was not NEAR as relaxing and there was not NEAR as much socializing with two small and very over tired children to take care of.  But still worth it!

It was busy, with not a lot of free time, but I did squeeze in lunch with Devin after church on Sunday.  Me and him and Sawyer went to BWW's while Danny took Summer back to the hotel for a much needed nap.

Late night shenanigans on Sunday after all the festivities were over.  Oh my, you should have seen this kid.  It's like sitting in the middle of a big soft bed was the best thing that could ever happen!  He just giggled and giggled over it.

Then of course Summer had to join in the fun.

She had pigtails put in that morning when her hair was still soaking wet from her bath.  Hence the 'do:)

And a quick after breakfast swim on Monday before we hit the road again.

So glad we went!

My TWO Year Old!

Summer turned two on May 23.  She really has no idea what that means, except she knows how to say "I'm two" now.  That's what she's trying to tell the camera:)  Every time we go to Wal*Mart and she see's the balloons, she wants them which it made it pretty easy to decide on a few simple decorations!

Hmmm..... could it be that part of turning two is starting to act silly for pictures?

We made a second attempt but the sillies kept going.  And we were all hungry so we decided to move on with our lives!

After a supper of some of her favorite foods (hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, corn, fruit), it was time for CAKE!!!  Unlike Danny, I'll take cake over pie (or most any dessert for that matter) any day and I'm trying to instill that value in my children as well.  Summer was a little confused about the flames but she figured out how to blow them out pretty quick!

Then of course we had present time, where the giant bag was almost as fun as the gifts themselves.

Since it was so nice out, we were able to head outside, try out the new goodies, and just enjoy the evening.

We had 3/4 of the grandparents here.  We missed my dad!

Birthday girl was not into the family photo.

This girl is sweet, sensitive, and goofy all in one.  She always has a song in her head and spends a good chunk of her day singing.  Sometimes switching songs mid verse or making up her own words!  She has just recently gotten into babies and loves taking care of her dolls.  If you're willing to take her outside and just let her do her thing, you will be her best friend.  And candy.  She loves candy.  Candy all day every day is her greatest wish.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Marvelous May

One of many failed attempts to get all the kids to look.  They're still cute though!

Summer putting her baby to bed looks more like putting the baby in jail to me.

Cinco de Mayo: a great excuse to have friends over, eat tasty food, and play silly games.  Like pin the mustache on the mariachi man!

It's bath, snack, and bed for these two cuties.  And they got to sit on big chairs with no boosters or anything so that was waaaayyyy cool.

Summer likes Sawyer's jumperoo better than he does!  It's kinda nice actually.  She climbs in and then is stuck in there playing until I finally get her out.  Containment and entertainment all in one!

Getting closer to crawling!

Help!  I'm stuck!

Because obviously sitting on a big rock is like, the best thing EVER!

My sweet babes on Mother's Day.

Six Months!

Our little buddy made it to six months!  I think it's gone a lot faster the second time around.  He's a pretty happy guy most of the time.  He's a snuggly little fella and he's got a great laugh.

No crawling yet but it's planks and push-ups and mountain climbers all day long over here!

He just started food this week and has been catching on pretty quick.  So far we've done sweet potatoes and peas and while it's yay on the potatoes, the peas have been dubbed as just tolerable.  But he did eat them!

And Daddy stopped by a garage sale and found some cute shoes for him.  They won't fit for awhile yet but it was fun to try them on anyway:)

We love you, buddy!

Easter On The Homefront

Got to go to Illinois for Easter this year!  It was a full weekend, with lots of good quality family time.  Time with my immediate family AND both my mom and dad's sides.  I almost said there was plenty of time, but plenty means more than enough and I could always go for a little more!

Summer experienced her first Easter egg hunt and was pretty pleased with the results.  (Candy!)  But now this morning she was playing with the plastic eggs and took them to the kitchen and said "Eggs! breakfast?".  Guess she'll need to eventually learn the difference between real eggs and candy eggs:)

My nephew- what a dude.  We got to sit out and enjoy the awesome weather while we watched his sister's first soccer game.  She scored three goals!  

A quick egg coloring session was held on Saturday afternoon.

These two.  My dad and an uncle who has always been like my 2nd dad.  So thankful for them!!

Girl picture!  Well, and Sawyer.

Another night, another family get together.

This girl loooooooves to be outside and looooooooves to swing.  It's going to be a fun summer!  Well, fun until it's time to go inside.  Then it's not so pretty:)

Grateful for a great weekend with beautiful weather celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus!!

Summer-isms

Summer is starting to say some pretty funny stuff these days.  She was an early talker so we've heard lots and lots of words come out of her mouth, but she's starting to be able to have simple conversations now.

This past Sunday evening when it was so nice out we went on a walk around our neighborhood.  When we got home, she was trying to tell Danny something about her jacket, but he was having a hard time figuring out what she was trying to tell him.  Everything was just all wrong for her!  The conversation went something like this.

D: You want your jacket unzipped?

S: No

D: You want your jacket to stay on?

S: No

D: You want your jacket zipped?

S: No

D: You want your jacket off?

S: No

(All of this with a little intermittent whining of course.)

D: Well I don't know what you're trying to say.  What do you want?
S (without missing a beat): I want candy!

Of course you do, Summer.  Of course you do:)  We got a good laugh out of that one!

That picture, by the way, is still from Florida.  Fresh out of the bath with a little leftover sand and sunscreen in the hair makes for some great hair gel!

Florida 2017

Ah, Florida.  You came and you went.  Much too quickly!!  We've been back since Saturday now and I think I'm still in denial that it's over.  It just flew by this year!  But it was a great trip, nonetheless.

Summer was great on the way down- until it was time to go to sleep.  And then?  Well, it was like she just didn't believe in sleeping in the van.  It was awful.  But at least she looks happy here at 4:00 in the morning!

And that first night upon arriving, all four of us slept amazing.  Even Sawyer.  Me and Danny are late nighters, typically going to bed at 11:30 or 12.  But that night we were all asleep by 9 and slept until 7 the next morning.  It was glorious!!

Sunday after church we got to spend some time with my cousins who moved down to work with The New Beginnings and then hang out with some of TNB crew for supper.

The rest of the week consisted mostly of fun in the sun.  Summer was a little leery of swimming, which I guess isn't all that bad when you don't know how.  But man she had a death grip for most of her time in the water!

But she didn't mind soaking up some rays with daddy:)

One night we went out for supper with just us and Aaron and Cassie, and then to a fun playground afterwards.  There was also a neat little musical playground close by that the kids really liked.

The little kids AND the big kids:)

Summer did love the beach!  She was always a little sad when it was time to be all done playing in the sand.  It was so fun to watch her enjoy it!

So you know how sometimes you see a beautiful family picture and it was the only good one out of a lot of attempts?  Well, we made all the attempts but we never got the really good one!  So I guess we'll just work with what we have.  But I sure do love the people in this picture!

By the end of the week Summer was getting a little braver.  At one point she even came and sat on this ledge all by herself with no prompting.  Baby steps!

As for this guy, he pretty much hung out in the shade all week long.  I realized when I got home that he really only made it into about two pictures.  Whoops, sorry buddy.  But he did great the whole week and while we were there he started rolling back to front.  The first time he did it he got a huge smile on his face like he was all proud of himself.  So cute!

Usually at the end of a trip I'm ready to be back home.  I can't really say that this time around though!  Guess I'll start counting down the days til next year...