in training

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

every nite they sit by the wall (or all of us in a circle) for the nightly Bible story and prayer time. it is as much for Joey and i as for the kids. i'd say it is the most important part of our day. we are all learning so much. so much about the people and stories in the Bible, about the importance of family, about our call to love, about serving others, about Jesus, about discipline, and on and on...

i hope one day they will do the same for their children...a tradition of sorts...

2yrs 2day

Happy 2nd Birthday Bear!
What an awesome little boy you are. Such a perfect addition to our family.

traditional Mickey Mouse Birthday Pancake!

showing us he's 2!

hamming it up with Padre as we celebrate...


yummy ice cream and a fave around our family...chili's molten chocolate cake. figured since i made a cake for the party, this would be a fun treat for us all!

i love you more each day, my bear! you're growing way too fast!

climb on

Look who had his 2nd birthday party!

To celebrate we invited a few friends over to climb on some of Barron's favorite things!
Jeeps, 4 wheelers, tractors, a rhino, etc!

Almost all the kiddos were big enough or willing enough to pile in/on the jeep for a party photo!

Lovin' this brotherly love birthday cake time pics with my boys!

The bear was a bit unsure about stopping the playing for cake time, but mommy was trying to squeeze it all in before any rain could fall. And let me just say, i prayed for God to not let it rain on the party and He answered my prayers! It rained, no downpoured, 15 minutes before the party started. But, as guests arrived and the party started, the rain stopped and stayed away!

Barron had so much help opening his presents!

Sweet cousin Tucker and Bear in Padre's jeep.

And good buddy Miss L partyin' hard!

My "almost" 2 year old:)

Thanks to all who helped us celebrate!

don't be fooled

though we wear them well and know exactly what to do to keep them dry...

don't be fooled!

he is not potty trained -nor am i even claiming that i am really trying to train him.

but, let it be known, he is going to be my toughest "trainer" yet.

why?

b/c little guy tells me when he needs to go, uses the potty, and gets his special treat! and can even do this several times in a row BUT...

then he decides he'd rather use his britches so mommy can clean him up and he can carry on with playing!

or that a flat out "No Ma'am"answer is better and holds it for awhile -before managing to once again use his britches.

or better yet- sit on the potty in order to just play with the tp and try to head butt mommy- all while singing, smiling, and claiming the peepee is coming.

anyways- it was his idea to start trying the potty. and like i said- i'm not claiming we are really even in training.

just so you know.

this and that

over the weekend we did a little bit of this...

jeep rides are always fun but, as you know, there are too many of us to ride. but, with sissy away the boys and us played!

and 2 doses of that...

high school football fun- oh, how we miss cheering for uncle taylor now that he's graduated!

round 2 of football was braxton's first flag football game. he's the youngest on his team by far. and well, i give it to the coach- he's doing a great job teaching them the fundamentals. brax can be good or bad depending on whether he focusing or just daydreaming:)

3rd down

number 3 goes to his 1st day of school
we started off the morning TOTALLY FIRED UP about school and Mrs Debbie!

backpack (aka tote big enough to carry entirely too much stuff daily) - check
batman lunchbox (compliments of brother- as he thought he needed new one this yr) -check
nap mat (was unsure how this would go- but he did actually rest and even sleep)- check
change of clothes - check
diapers- check
pasey and nitenite (for naptime only) - check
etc etc - check

can't you sense the excitement in these 2 pics?



now- what about this one?
excitement - ummm, no!
lots of unsure feelings- ummm- yes!




no really. he didn't cry about the whole school idea. just felt some concern!

and how did his 1st day go?
well, wonderfully!
he only cried a bit about the nap mat... but hey, give the kid a break, he's never even seen a nap mat before. and 3 cheers for him that he managed to stay on it and sleep for an hour.

on a side note- the sleeping for an hour doesn't cut it. he normally sleeps 2-3 hr. there was a bit too many emotions displayed as the afternoon wore on. what's a mom to do?

no really. it was a great day for him and me:) it's been a long time since i had a slew of hours all to myself. wow- how relaxing!

labor-ing part 2

the closest and "fun-est" place we found on the Trace is below.
the jones' told me about this place-
plus my parents had already been here
so... joey and i packed up our crew and headed for an adventure. we grabbed mimi and padre along the way:)

waterfall fun (oh so cold)

the bear thought he was quite the navigation pro- thanks to padre for being on lifeguard duty.





obstacle course creek bed fun...

over and under and thru the creek to where it ends we don't know... oh but wait- crazy part is... we did find the end of the cool creek. thing just stopped and i guess went underground???

splash fun

and very importantly... birthday celebrating!

2 cousins, padre, and my crew after a small hike for a not- so- amazing view. sticking with just the waterfall next time!

only a small bit of labor-ing was done on Labor Day this year and that consisted of what i would call "smallish hiking" and lots of fun.

Here's to the end of summer and start of fall. even though the weather doesn't feel to fallish right now...

labor-ing part uno

our labor day weekend started out with a b-fast in honor of "aunt dee's surprise visit to the America". she does amazing things in China. what an awesome lady:) we love you aunt dee!

it was so wonderful to be apart of this moment.. aunt dee flew from China and surprised her dad "Grandpa Wayne". it had been a long while since they had seen each other and well... she was hidden behind a couple of the big guys in the fam until she got right up to him and he spotted her in the crowd of folks. and let me add- as usual there is always a crowd of folks around grandpa wayne- he has more grandchildren than i can even remember (>40) plus great grandkids and there are always strays around too!

a motley crew with precious puppies. my bunch loves hanging out with these cousins (ok- 2nd cousins).

more cousin love.

(with a shout out to jade's mom- it's time to start your blog!)

******* *******

labor-ing part 2 begins like this...

a quick road trip with padre following behind in the jeep...

and the wind in our hair...

stay tuned for our adventure!

local stuff

find a local country market that serves dinner and has a band and i promise fun will be had and bellies will be full.

then find some friends, yes even little ones will do. then sing, dance, eat and play. but don't count on everyone posing for pictures!