Runnin' in style

For the past few months


****I promise, I've been meaning to blog the past few days...but I just haven't had the time! I started a post this morning and the first line of this post is as far as I got. It'll be a good post...but you'll just have to wait until tomorrow ;) ****

Brain Protector

Girls Weekend 2009

Some of my life long friends came to town this past weekend for our annual Girls Weekend. On Friday night Suzanne, Juli Beth, and Megan arrived at our house. We went to dinner at On the Border and then spent the rest of the night hanging out at our house by the pool.

One thing we learned about Megan this weekend is that she's a professional at taking self portraits! She captured all of our group photos.

Saturday we spent a lazy morning at home. Then we went browsed Target for a few hours and headed to lunch at Charlie's (where Shauna met up with us).

Next was pedi's and mani's and then back to the pool to relax and talk.

Megan decided to try her hand at riding Wally.

It didn't always end well, but she did finally conquer him. Most of the tries, however, ended in a big splash!

We had so much fun catching up with each other and (of course) eating lots of food!

Juli Beth, Staci, Shauna, Megan, & Suzanne

Our Coppertone Baby

Reason for Denial?

Question #8 on the application for term life insurance states:
"Have you in the last 3 years engaged in, or do you intend to engage in, flying a plane, racing motor boats or motor vehicles, or participate in sky-diving or parachuting, hang-gliding, hot air ballooning, mountain, rock or ice climbing, scuba diving or other hazardous activities?"

The medical examiner comes today. Hope us jumping out of a perfectly good plane isn't cause for denial!

The picture cd (of Caleb) and DVD (of Staci) came in the mail. Until we get the video uploaded to youtube, here are a few pictures of Caleb sky-diving. Be sure to click on them to make them bigger so you can see the effect the wind/g-force/gravity was having on his cheeks!

Grandmommy's Birthday Collage

Daddy Steve had the idea to do this collage for Grandmommy but it didn't occur to him until after a few people left the party. Sorry we didn't get everybody but this is pretty cool. Happy Birthday again, Grandmommy!

Happy Birthday Grandmommy!

Hope this isn't too much of a picture overload, but I had a hard time narrowing down all the picture we took while we were in Temple on Saturday!

We arrived around 10 am and Brody wanted to give Grandmommy her birthday present right away. He looks as excited about it as she does!

Grandmommy showing off her muscles.

Tyler and Ann met us in Temple for the day.

The boys had fun playing with them!

Ginger and McKenna arrived in time for lunch. For a while, McKenna followed Barrett around trying to plant a kiss on him. She succeeded a few times!

Gasp!!! Barrett actually let Grandmommy hold him! Don't worry...it was only for a minute before he started crying about it. I wish he'd go to other people as easily as Brody did when he was a baby.

McKenna and Brody playing with Brody's train tracks.

Sharon and Sheila made some delicious chicken for lunch and Namaw brought all the fixin's. While I wasn't paying attention, Barrett snagged a chicken leg off of my plate. He started trying to eat it and was saying, "Mmmmmmm!" the whole time!

After nap time (for the kids), they guys headed outside to mow. This meant the boys wanted to go outside too. Both boys loved the fact that a few sprinklers needed to be tested.

Brody also loved that Tyler was willing to throw him in the air over and over and over again. I love how he was looking at me to make sure I got a picture of him being thrown in the air.

After Sharon, Sheila, Cindy, Dave, Ginger, Brady, and McKenna went home, Grandmommy, Ann, Namaw and I went outside to watch the guys play. Grandmommy, Ann, and I shared the porch rocker.

Don't worry. Barrett was throw up in the air too, but Tyler didn't throw him quite as high.

As the sun was setting, Daddy Steve taught Brody how to climb the porch supports. He said he used to climb it when he was a little boy.

We headed home around 8 pm. Our visits in Temple are always too short, but it's nice to be close enough to make a day trip. We have a picture collage with Grandmommy, but I'm gonna let Daddy Steve finish working on it before I post it.

GG's Birthday

Today we had lunch with GG for her 86th birthday. This morning I told Brody where we were going for lunch and asked him to help me make a card for GG. He asked what her present was. I told him that we were just taking a card, but he insisted that "she needs a present to open on her birthday"! When I asked him what we should get her he told me she needed a necklace. So we stopped by the store on the way and Brody picked out a necklace for her. Brody was so excited to give to her/open for her the gift.

After she opened it, she told us that this is the first birthday present she's received since she was SEVEN years old! What?!? That's almost 80 years!!! We usually just have family lunches for the adult birthdays in our family, so I don't remember her opening presents on her birthday...but it's just hard to believe! GG - When you have time, write me a story about your 7th birthday that I can post on here. It must have been a very memorable birthday!

One of the things Brody loves about eating at GG's is the chocolate milk. Today Barrett tried it for the first time. He loved it too!

After the kids were finished eating, they decided it would be fun to play under the table while we talked. Here's Brody surprising Sissie!

When our tummies were full, we headed back to GG's apartment to play. Brody tried to convince all of us that he should try to fly (he doesn't believe me that he CAN'T fly...I need to keep an eye on him!) while Barrett and GG played ball on the floor.

As we were leaving, GG gave Brody and Barrett pennies to throw into the fountain.

I hope GG enjoyed our visit as much as we did! Happy Birthday GG!

HE DID IT!

I'm SO proud of my little swimmer! Brody swam the entire length of our pool BY HIMSELF! No floaties and no help from Mommy!

Our pool is pretty long too!

I taught private swim lessons all thru high school and college and I rarely had a kid (who's not even THREE yet) learn to swim so easily and quickly. I'll say it again...I'm a proud mama!

Brody got a slurpee from 7-11 to celebrate.

Early but HOT!

I love when PR Black plays their games early because this means the boys and I get to go (the 9:30 pm games are just too late for our little ones). Brody LOVES watching Daddy (and Caleb & Josh) play softball!

The thing that stinks about the early games in the summer time is the heat. With the sun beating down on us, it was HOT! With temps in the 100's, the heat even affected the game. The players weren't nearly as quick on their feet as usual.

Brody helped keep Barrett cool by misting him with his water bottle.

Then he mooched some sunflower seeds off of Mr. Paul.

PR Black didn't win tonight, but they will next week...and we'll be there watching because it's another early game! Come on cool front!

Something looks different...

This morning I opened the Durango door and realized that I had left Barrett's infant carrier in the other car...the one that Mike drove to work! Since Brody spent the night at Daddy Steve and Namaw's house last night (because they got back from Lauren & Katelyn's play so late), I strapped Barrett into Brody's carseat. Daddy Steve and Namaw have an infant carrier, so I knew that I could use that to get both the boys home from work safely. Barrett is still way to small for a forward facing seat, but he LOVED it! He kept saying, "Hi!" to me and then laughing! He's not used to being able to see me while we're driving in the car.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

After church today we had lunch at Caleb & Audria's house in celebration of Caleb's birthday. Audria made a really fun lunch! We had mini hamburgers, potatoe salad, chips & dip, and mini cupcakes with mini ice cream scoops. It was all yummy! Brody was excited to help Caleb open his presents. He really liked one of the presents from Tyler and Ann (an Xbox action figure). Barrett liked the flashlight from Daddy Steve and Namaw. I'm not sure what Caleb's favorite present was? lol!

Ann was excited that Barrett wanted to snuggle with her.

Brody was happy that Tyler was willing to throw him from the fireplace to the couch...over and over and over again!

We had small group at our house tonight, so Brody went with Daddy Steve, Ann, Tyler, and GG to see Lauren & Katelyn's church play. They went to dinner at McDonald's after the play and had cupcakes and cookies for GG's birthday. It was a great ending to our staycation.

Tomorrow is Monday. It's so hard going back to work after vacation!!!

Putt Putt

This morning we did some chores around the house. We also spent some time swimming (which I forgot to take pictures of). Mike suggested going to Putt Putt tonight and I thought that was an awesome idea! Brody loves playing with his golf clubs at home, so this would be great entertainment for him (and us)!

Brody was very excited when Mike told him about Putt Putt and Brody made sure that they both had their putters when we headed for the car. He told me that I could borrow Daddy's and I assured him that Putt Putt had one that I could use. Barrett enjoyed watching our game from the backpack and only pulled my hair a few times (I think he does that when he gets bored!)

I think Brody did great for his first time. He really concentrated on the first few holes and even got a hole in one!

Mike showed him how to hit the ball with proper form.

When we started getting rushed by the crowds of people behind us (note to self...don't go on Saturday night with an almost 3 year old), Brody lost his concentration. Before long he was picking up his ball and setting it right where he wanted to hit it from. Sometimes he'd even skip teeing off all together! Guess it'll take some more practice for him to be able to play 18 holes at Putt Putt.

We were hot and tired when we left, so we made a stop at Braum's on our way home. Brody and his chocolate cone.

"Are you crazy? You can't eat ice cream and not share with me!!!"

Another fun day with our boys.

Cabela's

When we woke up this morning Mike told Brody that we were gonna go to Cabela's. I should've videoed his excitement! We planned to leave after Barrett's morning nap, so Mike told Brody that if he took a short morning nap we'd be able to stay at Cabela's longer. Mike and Brody laid down on our bed to watch a hunting show and Brody went right to sleep!

We parked by the big boats and that was our first stop when we arrived at Cabela's.

As soon as we got inside we headed straight for the restaurant. We had promised Brody that we could eat lunch at Cabela's and he talked about Cabela's corn dogs until the moment he finally bit into one! Then he told us he needed to go thank the cook for making it for him "because it's really good!!!" Barrett enjoyed eating the beef sandwich and pasta salad that I had.

My favorite part of Cabela's is the home decor area. They have some beautiful log furniture and many, many other things that would look great in our house. It's all kind of expensive, so I just enjoy looking. Brody really tried to work his charm when he saw a kid-sized couch that flips out into a bed. He tried every way possible to convince us that he NEEDED that couch!!! He even showed us how he could sleep on it and told us that it was "REALLY comfortable"!

For some reason we couldn't find the four wheelers at Cabela's (much to Brody's disappointment), so this ATV had to suffice. Brody told us it was just a big golf cart.

There's an area in the store with lots of animals on display (taxidermied of course). Brody's favorite part was the "talking guy". One of the displays had a guy that would tell you several different stories when you pushed the button by the display. Brody listened to all the stories several times!

While Mike was browsing thru the camo clothing, Brody thought it was funny to hide in the camouflage shirts and tell us that we couldn't see him because he was surrounded by camo.

It's a good thing that I was taking pictures of him hiding. Notice anything in this picture?

Later I realized that Brody didn't have his hat on his head anymore! Arg. Where could it be in the store? I turned on my camera and looked for the last picture of him with his hat on. Then I saw the picture above and knew right where to look!

I don't have many pictures of Barrett because he was riding in a backpack on my back...and I was the one taking the pictures. He enjoyed looking at the animals and the fish just like his big brother. Thankfully he also still enjoys riding in a backpack!

We had a lot of fun together at Cabela's and it really didn't cost us much. We actually made it out of there with just spending money on lunch, a card, and a bag of candy! I love that we were able to have so much fun together just walking around a store!