Welcome back to me!!

New school year, new classes, new teachers, new routines, new schedules, new everything....

First day of school...

Pre-school day treat... sugar cookie with a school bus on it! He is fascinated with school buses!

Stuck in the mud... like his cars and trucks... I thought he was hurt when he was asking me to help him, turns out he was just "stuck in the mud."


Pigtails... the most adorable sight, ever!

Did I speak too soon about adorable?!! She is definitely developing her own personality!

She loves attention, likes to be in the center of everything and show off her passy trick!!

New Playground

We finally got the playground put together!! It has definitely been a lot of fun for the kids so far! It looks great and I'm hoping to continues to look that way. Hopefully with some wood seal each year we can keep it looking that great. We are planning on mulching all underneath the set so that will make it look even better. RJ's favorite: swings, slide and telescope. Payton's favorite: swings and slide and tire swing.

Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday all over!! First, we started the day off with an early morning breakfast at our favorite, Cracker Barrell. Next was heading to Birmingham to the Apple Store to pick up the new iPhone 3G S. Afer standing in line and other minor and MAJOR catastrophes... we made it back to our town and had a fun cookout with friends before heading to dinner with hubby's side of the family. It felt like all we did all day was drive and eat.... not too bad and the kids were great. As Jess, (miss you) would say they were real "troopers!"


Here are some fun pics from the day! My battery for the Canon was dead so I took these with my trust Sony PNS (always works in a pinch)!

We love you Daddy! Happy Father's Day to my Dad also!! He's pretty awesome, if I must say so!!!

Summer break = lazy blogging!

It's been a great summer already! We started off our summer break with a trip to Gulf Shores! The kids loved the beach and the pool! These first few weeks have flown by so fast I know the others will too. We are just trying to enjoy every moment we can!

The first grouping are snapshots from the beach! Everything from RJ riding the go-kart "all my byself", a ride on a ferris wheel with Roby scared to death (notice the death grip on the pole), and Payton sunning like a big girl in a lounge chair by the pool! RJ even enjoyed getting in the "hot pool" with Daddy... hot tub to everyone else!

This was our annual mini-photo session at sunset... And some other faves I just couldn't leave out...

A great weekend!

We had lots of fun this weekend. Even though I think it rained here everyday this weekend. We found time for lots of things... a trip to Cracker Barrell, birthday party for Jenna Rose, lots of toy playing (and cleaning up - RJ is starting to get the hang of this), trampoline jumping, chalk drawing, baseball playing, getting soaked in the rain, great cookout with family and friends, painted toenails, and lots of laughs.

RJ even took over the camera on Friday on the way to Cracker Barrell. He's doing pretty well for 4 years old. He took the following pictures in the car...

A little fussy... probably hungry.

He wanted a picture of his movie... Toy Story 2. Nana...Mommy...And of course, his shoes...

Now, a little happier...

RJ practicing writing his name with chalk on the driveway... yay for small obstacles passed! Not too long ago I couldn't even get him to try to write his name.

An afternoon snack while it's raining. Popcorn is always a hit with us!

And finally, pretty painted toenails. I had to paint mine and Payton was watching in awe. She was super still and let me paint hers! So cute! She loved showing off her pretty toes!

Trip to doctor... #???

We officially know all of our nurses and Dr. very well after going through 2 kids who have battled numerous ear infections. Poor Payton has had her fill of ear problems... even after tubes, which are supposed to help! So we weren't all that surprised when we got a call from daycare saying she woke up with blood in her ear! Shocking and a little scary, but not all that out of the ordinary for us. Again, poor little girl that has had to go through all this. (EVEN after 9 months of breastfeeding!!!)

So we suffered through an 1 1/2 hour appt at the dr.'s office... (notice RJ showing off his truck??!! Yes, he is way TOO cute!)

and then of course a trip to Target to get the meds filled. This is the kids in the car waiting as daddy got the meds filled at Target. Can you tell Payton had been crying??!! (Just a little)

And RJ of course loving playing in the car when he can get out of his seatbelt!!

A few days away...

We spent a few days last week at the 6A State Baseball Championship Series in Montgomery. We had a lot of fun even though our team didn't come home with the big prize. The kids enjoyed staying in a hotel, swimming in the pool, and just being away from home! Our hotel was just a few blocks away from the Capitol Building so we walked over for some pictures. Thanks to an old friend, Melissa, who lives in town and works in downtown, we also found out about Chris' famous hot dogs, (the kids devoured in minutes) and some random facts about the Capitol and other buildings, including Dexter Avenue Church that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached in... very cool.