Weekend at the Lake....

friday after school we loaded up and headed to the lake... trying to enjoy the last few weekends before summer is officially over and there is not water to play in... snack time on the boat...

and this little dude got to ski behind mr. scott's "fast boat"...

(no we are not as close to the bank as the pictures looks...

he looks like he is about to ski into the rocks and woods)

and this baby girl tried SO HARD to ski and sweet mr. scott has the patience of Job and did everything to try and get her to be able to ski but bless her heart she just doesn't have the arm strength to hold on long enough... maybe next year!

this is a close as she got...

so she opted to just stick with the rocket...

and she loved all the waves and bumps mr. scotts boat has...

and this is the moment my camera battery died... sad face...

i am sad i don't have the pictures from the afternoon...

we met chad, ashley and the kids out on the lake...

the kids had a blast swimming, tubing, and doing the rope swing...

and just for memory sake.... jackson has a new nick name "George"...it is funny now but it was not at the time... he started twisting the rope swing up so that we would spin while going off of it and the last time he spun himself right into a tree.... thank goodness he was fine and only ended up with a bruise and scratch on his leg and hand... i think his life jacket gave him enough padding to save his ribs... and i am just thankful he did not let go and fall on the bank... he let go over the water before he decided he was "hurt".

then while riding the tube.... he went flying from one side of the wave to the other side and then flipped completely upside down in the air and he was still holding on and then he landed up side down on the water with the tube on top of him... he was a little disoriented when he came up but once he realized he was fine.... he thought his "trick" was so cool and loves telling everyone about it.

I am thinking jackson thought he was a cat this weekend and that he had 9 lives... boys... love giving their mamas a heart attack!

We had a great time at the lake and I can't believe that next weekend is it.... however the cool weather this weekend gave me the "fall bug" for sure!

Brylee-ism's... UPDATED!

brylee... first haircut... june 2006... 20 months old...

i am in love with that little grin and those 2 dimples...

Brylee has been saying some of the funniest things to us at dinner time about school and I just want to write them down so i want forget them.... if we are friends on facebook you have seen most of these...

1.We were talking about how hungry they are when they get home from school... they are eating 3 snacks and at least 2 servings of dinner... anyway...we were talking about how early Brylee eats (10:30 i think) and she said " well do you think i could ask the lunchroom people for one of those white boxes and take the food on my tray home that i don't eat". :)

2. Richard was asking Brylee what she had for lunch one day... and of course they can not remember what their choices were...thank goodness daddy eats the same stuff so he can always give them 2 choices... so this day he ask her if she had Bar B Q sandwich or fish nuggets (barf to both if you ask me) and she said fish nuggets and here is the funny part and she ate cole slaw and "those dog things"... richard said he thought about it for a minute and was reviewing the lunch line and then he just died laughing... she was talking about Hush Puppies!

3. We have this kindergarten little boy (who is a foster child) that lives in our neighborhood that rides the bus with Jackson and Brylee everyday. Well on the first day of school i ask him who his teacher was and he gave me that deer in headlights look and looks at his "dad" to answer for him and then they practiced it like 10 times.... my point in saying this is that this poor little boy was clueless and his "daddy" was putting him on the bus... no name tag... no nothing... so i told jackson and brylee to help him and be real sweet to him b.c i was sure he was going to be clueless and lost once he got to school. So i ask brylee the other day how "S" was doing and she said "Well it is a good thing he has me or he would not find his classroom.... i have to tell him everyday... there's your room... if i don't tell him he just keeps on walking"! Little Mama for sure!

4. They are learning about Nursery Rhymes at school and we were asking her which ones they have learned over the weekend... she was thinking and said " we learned about Humpty Dumpty falling off that wall" and "we learned about that mouse that ran up that clock"... i had to think about that one for a second and i looked at richard and he said... hickory dickory dock... she said yeah that one. I just love to "hear" her little brain working! :)

I think that is all the Brylee-ism's i can think of.... she is absolutely LOVING school and I hear all about what goes on in her classroom. It is so funny the difference between boys and girls... i knew and know nothing about Jackson's class... thank goodness for the newsletters.... but Brylee i know it all.... from who gets in trouble, what they do, what they are learning...etc... she is having a BLAST!

Sorry that was probably a snoozer for anyone that is not family... but this is my journal! :)

We should have something a little more blog worthy after this weekend! :)

**** A New Story from Open House Tonight****

check out her self portrait... anyone suprised she has on pink clothes & a pink bow???

Tonight was Open House for Kindergarten at Brylee's School... so i went... her teacher had such nice things to say about Brylee and talked about what a helper she is to the class and her etc... she said i have to tell you this story... b.c she cracks me up... i thought oh lordy what did she do....

Mrs. Prine said Brylee had finished her work and she looked over there and she was doing the same work again ( i am assuming some kind of worksheet) and she said Brylee i thought you finished your work... she said I did but Trey has not finished his so i am doing his.... Mrs P. said no you need to let him do his work... and Brylee said "well he can't so i am going to do it for him"... Mrs P said I know he can't do it but you can't do it for him. Bless little trey's heart i think he lives with his grandmother and "ain't never been no where" oh i can only imagine... poor teacher is going to have her work cut out for her... well i guess her and brylee will have their work cut out for them! HA! : )

Taking it easy....

With the first full week of school behind us we are all doing surprisingly well... I was a little concerned about how everyone would do with early mornings but so far we are doing good. I was sad the first day when everyone was gone so early but now it is nice to have a good amount of time to myself in the morning before heading to work. We are currently taking a break from extra curricular activities which is a first in about 5 years for us. We usually have 2 kids doing 2 different activities, a husband coaching football, and mommy with her own social "activities" in the evenings. But this fall we decided to just "lay low" and get adjusted to school before we start playing sports again... i must say that might have been the smartest decision i have made in a long time. With Jackson being in second grade we have been warned that we were going to get hit hard with homework... so far we have only had to read for 20 minutes a night which feels like 2 hours... not b.c he can't read but b.c he watched the clock constantly and counts down the minutes... boys! And i knew brylee would have a hard time getting adjusted to getting up so early and having such a long day. She has been pretty good but some mornings she is harder to get up and some afternoons she is whiny and tired. We have actually cooked almost every night during the week and really the only week night activity we have is church. Now daddy is still having football practice everyday and doesn't get home until about 6:30 and they have games starting this week and we go if we too but it doesn't consume our life. Jackson loves to go to practice and games and we let him go sometimes but not every day and not the far away games. I am not going to lie and say when i see the youth football and cheer leading pictures that it doesn't make me sad...and when fall ball starts up and we are not out on field that i want be sad then too but i know this is a much needed break for our family and we are all benefiting from it. So all that to say... we don't have much blog material... not may pictures being taken... not a whole lot going on... But i would like to introduce you to my new favorite "toy"... however mine is pink... an external hard drive... i have wanted one of these for a long time and basically NEEDED one of these b.c i was "playing with fire" having all my digital pictures (which is about 5 years worth) on my computer (actually 3 different computers) and they were not backed up or burned onto CD's so i am so excited to have all my pictures on this cute little thing. I also got a steal of a deal on it too.... it was on sale for $47.00 and has 320GB and most of the time they are close to $100... which is another reason i have never purchased one. My computers are loving me too... i have freed up a TON of "space" on them they are running so much faster now! I am now in the process of "organizing" them all by years and events. I am having so much fun looking back at all the old pictures... stay tuned for a few "trip down memory lane" posts!

First Day of School Part 2....

After I shed my fair share of tears this morning (which by the way is very out of character for me) I met some of my mommy friends at Edger's Bakery for "Boo Hoo Breakfast"... i had not planned on going b.c i was such a "big girl" and i had lots to do at work since i had not worked much this week since daddy daycare "closed".... well i decided I was not as big of a girl as i thought i was and I needed some other mommys to loft my spirits... I am so glad I went... no one cried we all just told stories and shared about our morning and laughed a lot... it was just what I needed and that one hour turned my day around... from then on i was good to go! I could not wait to see my babies come off that bus and hear all about their day...

I think the smile on her face tells it all.... she had a GREAT day and LOVED every minute of school.... you think that apple is BIG enough... ha!

and we need to have a chat about the "no bow in the hair"

They both had a great day... I ask Jackson about his day and he said " it was not as bad as I thought it would be" ha... I ask him if he thought it was going to be bad and he said "well... i don't have any homework and i did not expect that"... silly boy i told him they would give him a day or two before they loaded him up with homework!

Brylee was all excited about her day too... i love just asking her questions and hear her answers... it is so cute what they think and say... the funniest thing was when we were walking home I ask her about the BIG apple on her dress and she said "Now mommy as soon as we get home we need to take this apple off and put it right back in my backpack or i want get to come home tomorrow"... ha ha ha .... i just laughed out loud b.c i can just hear her teacher telling them to be sure and bring their apple back so they can wear it the next day and get on the right bus etc... well she took it to a whole new level!

When they got home I had them a little surprise... one cookie monster...

two cookie monsters....

all and all everyone had a great day and are ready to go back tomorrow for another day of FUN!

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school for Jackson going into second grade and Brylee starting kindergarten... and here are our annual first day of school pictures.... they grow up so FAST!

And here comes the bus... Brylee has been so excited about riding the bus... she has waited for 2 LONG years to ride this bus... she could not wait.... here is the "bye mommy" "wave" i got and this is the point i lost it...she got on there so big and brave and i just walked past the bus all the way home tears streaming down my face.... i forgot my sunglasses so i just held the camera up to my face and snapped random pictures until i was past the bus b.c i did not want her to see me crying... i can't believe my baby girl is going to kindergarten!

I hope this is the fastest 8 hours of my life...

i can't wait to see them this afternoon and hear all about it!

Good Bye Summer....

Today is the last day summer; school starts tomorrow for both of my babies when i ask them what they wanted to do on their last day of summer and they picked Tree Top... of course! So off we went to Tree Top!

brylee is a lucky little thing she won TONS of tickets... 165 on one game... she ended up with 265 tickets and poor jackson only got 39... but he could care less!

Good Luck to my little kindergartner and my big ole second grader~

Mommy and Daddy love you so much and are so proud of you! :

Meet the Teacher,,,,

Today we had meet the teacher at school. Brylee was so excited to meet her new teacher, Mrs. Prine, see her room, see her friends, and get her school supplies... however the look of disappointment on her face when she opened the supply box (that i purchased from the school) and she had a hunter green pencil pouch was pitiful. Needless to say we promised her a trip to wal mart to get a pink one asap... bless her heart she was devastated... of course richard thought it was ridiculous and i had to explain to him it was the small things in life when you are 5. So now she has not one but 2 pink pencil pouches and she is a happy little kindergartner! :)

mrs. prine and brylee

jackson was excited to meet his 2nd grade teacher as well (do you blame him... how cute is she??)... i told richard i think he is smitten with her... richard said that was good... maybe he will behave for her! ha :) Jackson keeps saying she plays football at recess with her class... he will thinks he has died and gone to heaven if that is true!

jackson and miss sumners

Daddy Day Care

Well Daddy Day Care officially closed for the year Friday! Since daddy is a teacher and gets the summers off and mommy doesn't it was a big joke all summer that our kids went to "Daddy Day Care". I know keeping two kiddos all summer long, trying to find fun activies for them to do daily to keep them busy yet not break the bank is not always easy but daddy did a great job and i think the kiddos had a great summer. We are so thankful to have him as "our daddy"!!!! I am not going to lie and say my house did not suffer from daddy day care but i guess you take the bad with the good. Daddy's rules and Mommy's rules are not always the same. Just to name a few of Daddy's Rules: 1. it is ok to eat chicken pot pie in your room 2. you can get all the board games out at once and then when you don't feel like cleaning them up just throw all the pieces and the boxes in the toy box... create a new game connectfourmonoplysorryslidersyatzee... 3. you can wear WHATEVER you want no matter where you go... and showers and brushing your hair is optional... if you go swimming then that counts as a shower... 4. you can change clothes as many times as you want to.... it doesn't matter how many outfits you wear and for how long you wear them 10 mins. or 10 hrs... they are still dirty 5. it is ok to do arts and crafts in your room... glitter, paint, whiteout, markers, cut up tiny tiny pieces of papers, stickers, whatever... 6. it is ok to make your own drinks... don't worry if you spill kool aid all over the kitchen floor and don't clean it up... it will dry... 7. it is ok to make your own cheese tacos with shredded cheese and don't worry if you drop half the bag all over the floor... 8. it is ok to use ALL of the VALUE SIZE baby powder all by yourself if your legs are raw... and don't worry if the rest falls on the bathroom floor or bathroom rug... i think that is about all the "rules" i can think of... don't that sound like a daddy and kids dream come true and a mothers nightmare.... :) On the last day of Daddy Day Care they went to Richard's Aunt D's house to swim and to play with their cousins... they had a BLAST!

I think Daddy might be a "little excited" that he gets to go back to work tomorrow and that daddy day care has closed... and well me... i am excited to get my house back in order and detoxed from daddy day care!

Here's to enjoying the last 3 days of summer with my kiddos before school starts!

Messy Games at Church

A few Wednesday nights at church jackson had messy games... they had a great time and got all messy too.

they started out throwing flour bombs....

then pie on the head...

sticking marshmallows to your face with syrup...

then it was chocolate pudding slippin slide time...

by far the crowd favorite...one messy bunch of kiddos.... before the pudding slip n slide...

How cute is he???

I know he is my own but OMG... is he not the cutest little "football player" you ever did see???

No, he is not playing "real football"... it is a "rule" in our house they you can not play football until you get into middle school or "maybe" 5th grade... but since daddy is one of the middle school football coaches he gets to go to practice everyday. I went to drop brylee off near the end of practice yesterday and this little cutie was out there running with the big boys, tackling dummies, running "plays", doing everything they do with "his" helmet on...Even after he went to the dentist for a root canal and two fillings (yes, i promise my kids brush their teeth) and while he was already numbed up I ask the dentist to pull his other front tooth that was so wiggly but we could not get it out... so know he has both of his front teeth gone and I can not stop taking pictures... there is nothing cute-er to me than a little one missing their two front teeth... i feel a major photo shoot coming on.... "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"

Jackson.... our little Bible Scholar

Tonight at church we had a Bible Memory Verse Recognition Service. Each month the kids (1st-6th grade) are encouraged to learn 2 Bible verses and if they learn all their Bible Verses then they get a medal. In 6th grade if they have received all their medals then they get a Bible. So tonight Jackson got is first grade medal. He also said the 12 disciples as part of the program tonight.

all the first grades who received their metals... we are so proud of him... and so was his sister...scroll on down for a fun in the sun post...

Sweet Summertime...

It's summertime... Sweet summertime...We found us a little rope swing at the lake this weekend

and the kids had a blast swinging into the water on it. and this little dare devil was right in there with the big kids... she so wanted her uncle richard to let her go up like the big kids but he would not do it... he would guide her to the bank and then push her off and let her drop... and she would say "my told you my was a big girl"... oh how i love three year olds... such a fun age...and the conservative one was not going to let little sister show him up so he did it once and the other times he would not let go... he said "i don't like to go high"we got to meet up with our friends the fanklins and the penningtons and show them some rope swing fun too... john taylor and anthony were loving it as well....after our fun in the sun we came in for a little concert...and one of our absolute favorite thing to make and eat at the lake...

chocolate ice cream... that taste just like a wendy's frosty...

i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream...

and this is what you get when you give 4 kids under age 7 chocolate ice cream... Summertime, Sweet Summertime.... why must you end in 11 days???