Summer Fun With Old Friends!

We have had such a fun summer! We have loved all the visits from our friends! It seems everywhere we go, we bring 6 or more children along.....

We enjoyed a few days with Jennifer, Madeline and Caleb in June. We went to the Zoo and enjoyed a scenic tour of "Nolensville"?

Heidi and her little ones came a few weeks ago. It was our first time meeting their newest addition, baby Andrew. He is the sweetest baby ever, might I add!

Next, we met the Bontrager's half way in Chatanooga. We went to the zoo one day and the Aquarium the next. We stayed at a local hotel and enjoyed swimming and pizza!!! We love and miss all our dear friends!

Our busy summer continues this week with travels to East TN and next week we are headed to Destin with the Givens!!! Finally, we will settle back in for one final week of freedom...school starts Aug. 5.

By the way, grad school is going great! I just finished my 2nd class with an A! (Special thanks to Jennifer and Bonnie for the great lesson plan ideas!) I start a new one this weekend! Love to all!

Nashville Zoo with the O'Connell's

Chattanooga Aquarium with the Bontrager's

Rainforest Cafe with the Hodge's

Happy 4th of July!!

Here are some pics from the 4th of July weekend. We had lots of fun at the annual Hand family party and fun at the Braswell's pool bash! We enjoyed lots of good food, fireworks and fun times with family and friends!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Lisa Sanders and now I am to list 6 unimportant things that make me happy.....

1. a clean house
2. making lists and crossing things off
3. rearranging furniture
4.Organizing anything and everything
5.watching/listening to my kids playing in the backyard
6.weather forecasts predicting snow...

Ok. So I sound really boring a and nerdy. I was really trying to list the free things. Most of my other joys involve spending money. For example: buying new clothes, massages, Hobby Lobby, eating at favorite restaurants, Disney, etc.

Here are the six people I am tagging:
1.Jennifer O'Connell
2.DeDe
3.Christi
4.Jennifer Mower
5.Barbara
6.Misty

School's Out!!!!

Today is our first day of summer break! Jackson still awoke at 6:30 on the dot! What am I going to do with him? I really want to sleep until at least 7:30...is that too much to ask? It is now 7:06 and I already hear fighting downstairs. This might be a long summer.

I plan to do some embroidery today and Cooper is coming to spend the night later on. I also need to do laundry and pack for vacation. I guess it will be a pretty busy day after all!

Two Weeks and Counting....

Jason has been gone now for two weeks!!! He will not be home until NEXT Friday (5-22). Seriously, this is insane.

Thanks to my Dad, I did manage to have a very nice Mother's Day. He came and spent the weekend with us. I was able to get out by myself for a little while on Sat. and do some shopping. I finally went to Hobby Lobby after an entire year! I think I was there for over an hour looking at every square inch of the place! We went out to dinner that night. Sunday we went to church, had lunch with my cousins, and then dinner at Brian and Carter's. Brian and Jason's Dad cooked for us ladies. It was all very nice. Oh, yea..I almost forgot...Jason and the kids got me a cute, pink IPod! It has been on my wishlist for awhile.

This Mother's Day I have a new appreciation of "single" Motherhood. I know that I am truley blessed to not really be a single mother. Eventhough Jason is not here with us right now, he is still taking care of us every hour of every day. Working hard to provide for our needs (and wants). But, some really are single mothers. I can't imagine being the sole provider and care taker of 3 children. It is very stressful at times and I feel like all we do is what has to be done. I have a wonderful loving family to help and support me when Jason is far from home. If it weren't for Jason's parents and Carter...I don't know what I'd do sometimes. Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all the great Moms I know! Here are a few pics from our celebration.....

Today was our Field Day and we are all exhausted! I can't even believe I am blogging right now. We had lots of fun and are now counting down the remaining 6 days of school! We leave for our annual Gatlinburg trip on May 23rd, which is the day after Jason gets back. Sooo, if I can just get through the next two weeks, I'll be home free! Vacation and no more work! Prayers please :-0

Easter Fun and Home Improvement

We went to a very fun Easter Egg Hunt this past Saturday with the Givens family. We felt quite special since we personally knew the Easter Bunny (Jeff). The kids gathered what seemed like millions of eggs filled with wonderful, delicious teeth rotting candy. I can't wait to visit Dr. Templeton next month for fillings.....Here are a few pictures to commemorate the occasion.....

Easter Bunny Lovin'

More Bunny Love

Sleepy little buddy

Holland with her loot

Pretty Taylor

Now on to the home improvements. Our washer and dryer both died within a month of each other. They served us well for 12 years and will be remembered fondly. May they rest in peace. Here are our beautiful new babies!!!!!

I finally got around to some more painting. This time I did it all by myself! Jason helped with nothing! I will prob. never do it again though. I don't have the patience....It turned out great! The dots are from the famous Bonnie Jackson of Sweet N Sassy Designs. I added some cute ribbon to some hand towels and voila! Anyway, it has been a few week around here and is about to be even more fun! Heather and the kids will be here in half an hour. They will be here until Wed. and then we leave for East TN to see family and friends there. We love Spring Break!!!

The Zoo

Last weekend was sooo nice! It was a little preview of spring. We decided to enjoy the day outdoors and headed to the Nashville Zoo. The zoo had a new zebra exhibit which was really cool. Both girls had report card money (straight A's for Holland and M's for Taylor), so they enjoyed spending it in the gift shop. More stuffed animals...just what we needed. Jackson chose a lovely bag of rocks. It was a really nice day. I am so ready for the warm weather.

Tater-Bug

Hollandalope?

Taylorlope?

Mommy and Jackson!

Bamboo!