Goin' to the Country

David had to take another week of vacation time before he lost it so we decided that we would take the kids out to my Mom and Dad's to visit and we could enjoy a little R&R here at home alone. I grew up in the C-O-U-N-T-R-Y...Some people think Midlothian is country. ha No... The school bus had to drive 7 miles (part of the way on dirt roads) to pick us up. We had 100 acres of pasture, including cattle and now goats, 1 donkey, 1 mule, and 2 ponies. When I was a kid it was fun out there in ways that kids in the city would probably never experience. We invented things to do. I learned to drive out in the pasture in a little 4 speed hatchback. We drove it until we ran out of gas (or had a blow out-remember that Emma?) Once my friend and I were out driving in the pasture and we decided to tell my sister that we had a wreck because we ran into the bull. We made it fun. Emma lived a little ways down from me and we would go "exploring." We would spend hours and hours riding our bikes all over the dirt roads. We had a favorite bridge that we would go sit on and talk all about what we thought our futures would be like. It was a great way to grow up....

OOpps...I got distracted thinking about all of that. Okay, focus.

So David and I went out there last Sunday and spent some time before we left the kids there to spend time with "Oma and Opa." Here are some pictures that I took.

This is my Mom with Camryn.
This is my youngest (but no longer so young) sister Marie and her daughter Katelyn. Isn't she a cutie!
Camryn said she needed to be the lifegard.
Introducing "Crackerjack" the donkey.
I don't know this fella's name but he really liked my camera.

I'm sure they are having a great time out there. Cody's going fishing and Camryn is going to help take care of Katelyn, a job she takes very seriously. I'm sure David and I can manage to find SOMEthing to do. I'll have more to add after I hear how their little visit went.

Hangin out-- Outside

Have I mentioned yet that we spend a LOT of time outside? One of the things that the men have been doing has been grilling! Here you see Mark teaching the kids Grilling 101. Itwas so cute. They all had to have their aprons on...even if they weren't actually "touching" the grill. The fajitas were incredible Mark!
We were entertained by the local fairy-cheerleader-ballet dancer, Miss. Camryn. She loves to make up songs and dances. I think she may be a theatre girl though because her facial expressions are Oh-So Dramatic!!

My Men

The neighbor pulled out this 30 year old car. With all of the bikes, scooters, etc around this is their favorite. See how much fun Cody and Aidan are having. Aidan spent the night with us last night for the first time. He was so good. He's like a brother to my kids. They all have a very special friendship. We love you Aidan!


This is my main man, David. He's such a wonderful husband, father and friend. I love you David!

Summertime..and the Livin is Easy

It's been really stressful around here for these kids...Do I swim, then ride bikes? Do I layout and then play babies? Decisions, decisions. Man, I miss being a kid!! All I know is that I see smiles all of the time. That makes me smile. I hope my children are as happy as they are making me. I wouldn't trade these days for anything in the world!!!!

Camryn loves to bask in the sun after a dip in the pool with her friend, Abby.

Of course...she has to show me her goofy poses too. These are her favorite!

Here is her best friend Abby. They will start kinder together in another year. It will be so neat to watch them grow up together!

She got earrings!

Camryn decided that today she was ready to pierce her ears. We went to Claire's in Cedar Hill and she picked out her favorite ones. She wasn't scared at all, in fact, she kept asking, "When am I going to get my ears pierced?" as the lady was getting everything ready. Without a flinch she got them done. Afterwards she said, "That didn't even hurt!" Since she's been showing them off to everyone around here, I guess I'll show them to everyone out there.

Water Days of Summer

We had to relax for a while after spending some time in the wave pool...

Watch out!!! These kids are on a mission.

Well, we went back to Hawaiian Falls today because Cody got great news from the ear doctor. His tubes were out and finally he is able to put his ears under water!!! We had to celebrate so I took him along with his sister to the water park where he could try to swim under water for the first time! Guess What? He's a little FISH! He can swim...He can do flips under water....He was soooo happy. I remembered my camera this time and took some pictures of our afternoon.

Our Anniversary!!

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. Whoo-Hoo!! We celebrated over the weekend with a little trip along with Mark and Julie. (It was her b-day.) Here's how it went:

Sat: Take our babies to Aunt Donna's in Dallas for an overnight visit. Head to Cowtown a.k.a Ft. Worth to check in to our suite. After getting ready and the arrival and subsequent check-in of our neighbors (who ironically had the room right next door), we jumped into the shuttle bus and headed downtown. We stopped in at a little Irish Pub (Dirty Murphys) and started out our evening before entering the most AWESOME piano bar. Dueling Pete's Piano Bar in Ft. Worth is a fun place! You might go there thinking you are just going to hear some pianos playing...oh no... What you will get it more like a cross between a concert and a club. They had two other guys there with them and between the four guys, all with the drums, sax, fiddle, and more we got a lot more for our cover charge than we expected. If you go on a Sat...get there at 8:00!! It was packed and there was standing room only. Luckily, we got a table. We laughed and sang and danced all night. We didn't want to leave!!! Even though I didn't hit the pillow until 2 am and we were all suffering the whole next day, it was so freakin FUN!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, my camera was not charged (poor proper prior planning), and I only got the first picture saved from the pub. It's too bad though because I took some really fun ones. :( Here's the one and only pic of Julie and Mark...

Playing with the Neighbors

Above is Camryn doing an art project with the neighbors (they didn't make the picture)


These two hard working boys are my son Cody and Wiley from across the street.

The kids (and the adults too) have had a great time with the neighbors this summer. We love our street! We live on a circle and almost everyone has little kids. Every evening (and sometimes during the day when it isn't blazing hot) these 6-8 kids are out riding bikes, swimming in a little pool, hitting up Ms. Tina for popsicles, and generally having a BALL! We are great friends with our neighbors, especially Julie and Mark right next door. We share meals and stories every evening and just laugh a lot. It's been such a fantastic summer!!!! I don't look forward to it's end.

Water Babies

Even though we have spent most of our "water" time at Hawaiian Falls in Mansfield, we started out with a trip to Splash Factory in Grand Prairie. This is part of the city parks for the city and it's only ONE dollar to get in. Holla!! You can bring your own food in a cooler and sit back and relax while your little ones splash around. *Discaimer* This is really more suitable for preschooler and below. There aren't any rides and pools...just splasy things. It's a really good place to take those itty bittys! Here are some pics from there. (Notice how Camryn likes to pose...A LOT!)

T-Ball Season

Cody did t-ball for the first time this past spring. He was a pretty good little hitter too!! We enjoyed going to his games and some of his family even came to watch. One day we took some pictures of him in his uniform. Of course, Camryn had to jump in on

Busy Fun Summer

I am not doing a good job at this blogging thing, am I??? I will try "harder" to post more often.

Last week David was on vacation. We enjoyed some great family time. Among other things, we went to "our" water park several times, did the Chuck E Cheese thing and then spent the 4th in Dennison with our neighbor's family. We did a hay ride and enjoyed the beautiful fireworks. Now we are looking forward to our "anniversary" weekend!!! Whoo-hoo. We are going to spend the night in Ft. Worth along with (in separate rooms of course!) our bff neighbors Mark and Julie for Julie's b-day. Besides visiting the Ft. Worth hot spots, we are planning on having a good old time sans kiddos! Watch out Cowtown...Here we come!!!!