Last Day of School!!!

This morning on our LAST day of 1st and 4th grade!!

Just for fun, the FIRST day of school this year!!

Yesterday was the Awards Assembly at North Main.  I was SO proud of Blake.  He got on the Principals Roll (all A's all year:), a Citizenship Award, and a certificate for having the most AR points in his class.  He had almost 250 points!!!  He is SO smart and I am SO glad that he truly LOVES school!

This morning we went to the Awards Assembly at Westwood.  Evan got a trophy for getting 75 AR points this year!!!  This is SO amazing, becuase this time last year Evan said he "hated" reading and was struggling big time.  Oh what a difference a year makes:)

Here I am with my reader and baby brother...

Ev and Mrs. Newcomb...

I didn't get to take a picture of Blake with his awards yesterday because he went straight to the playground, so I took a picture of the refrigerator instead.  Pretty impressive!

And now we are headed to Branson!!!  It's our annual trip with Travis's family!!  We are picking the kids up at noon and heading out.  This is a picture of the back of our car (the big space in the middle is for my bag that isn't quite packed yet).  Thank goodness we bought a Suburban...a stroller, pack-n-play, Bumbo, and 3 sets of golf clubs takes up A LOT of room, and that 's before ANY of the regular stuff.  Poor Travis, he just kept rolling his eyes and shaking his head as I produced more and more and more stuff....

I hope everyone has a Happy Memorial Day!!  I know we will!!!!

Benefits of Boys...

ALWAYS having someone

to mow

the yard!!!

Today they fought over

who got to mow the most :)

I LOVE my boys!!!

Sick Baby Boy...

My sweet baby has been under the weather for a couple of days.  It started as a hacky cough, then a runny nose, then a low-grade fever and crazy fussiness.  I think we slept a total of about 3 hours last night, and that was in 10-15 minute increments.  So, today we went to see Dr. Whitaker.  The verdict ~ ear infection, cold, and viral throat infection!!   By the time we got home, his temp was 102.  I dosed him up with ear drops for pain, anitbiotics, decongestant/cough med, and Tylenol.  He passed out cold.  Hoping for a MUCH better night!

Please say a prayer for our baby Beau!!

Good Friends...

Beautiful weather + good friends +

a long day of playing outside =

1 tired boy!!!!

First Lake Day!!

Yesterday we headed out for our first day at the lake this summer!!  Mom volunteered to stay home with Beau (Thanks Nonnie), so it was Travis, Poppy, Blake, Evan, and I.  We had SO much fun!!  All I could remember was how miserable I was last year, but not being pregnant makes for a MUCH nicer experience!!

Here is the crew getting everything ready to go!

It was such a perfect day!  Not too hot, but warm enough the water felt great. 

I love this...all 3 of them checking out whatever???

Travis showing off on the skis!!

Safety First!!  Blake was the flag man most of the afternoon!

Blake and Poppy hanging out...

Me and my honey!  Wow, really bad wet lake hair :)

Dad bought a new knee board and none of us had ever even tried one before.  So, it was a little trial and error, but they finally got it figured out!  Here is Evan showing off.

Travis showing off his knee boarding skills...

Poppy and Ev

Dad also bought a new set of "junior" skis so that the boys could learn to ski.  Evan was bound and determined to learn, but it turned out to be harder than he thought.  We had watched a "how to" video the night before, so he had a good idea of what to do, but the skis were heavy and it was hard for him to get lined up and get the rope by himself.  So, I jumped in and helped him.  I would grab the rope for him, then get behind him and hold the skis straight until the boat started moving.  It took MANY tries, but he finally got it!!! 

Here he is coming out of the water for the first time!

Evan and I in the water getting ready.  The funny thing was that when he finally got it and he took off skiing, I was left just floating out in the middle of the lake. :)

My big boys!!

Blake loved the knee board!!  He was a little hesitant at first, but once he got the hang of it, he wouldn't get off! 

Here he is showing off with no hands :)

Cuties!!

Wow, my hair just got worse and worse :)

We had such a great afternoon.  We are so glad Poppy decided to get such a fun boat!!  We are all looking forward to many more fun days on the lake this summer!!

First Big Boy Bath!!

I feel like we have a new "first" every day lately!  Beau took his first bath in the big boy tub Saturday night.  Wow!!  He looks so BIG!

He wasn't so sure at first...

But he warmed up really quick!!

Nothing like a big drink of bathtub water!

Super splasher!!!

I have to say, it was pretty sad packing away the baby bath tub.  It seems like I just gave him his first bath in it last week.  But, I'm thankful for a healthy, growing boy who LOVES to take a bath!!!

He's Movin'

One day last week I set Beau on his blanket to play while I was getting ready.  I heard him really fussing, so I looked around the corner to check on him.  This is what I saw...

He made it all the way from his blanket over to the swing.  Then he got stuck and couldn't move forward any more.  He has the funniest looking "move".  He kinda pulls himself on his elbows "army crawl" style, but kicks his feet the whole time.  I'm hoping he will work on his technique :)  But, he's definitely a mover now!!

PTO LOVE :)

Last Tuesday we had the longest PTO meeting EVER!!  Beau and Miss EW were the only kids there and they were SO good.  They got acquainted a little....

Checking each other out...

PTO L~O~V~E!!

Good entertainment during a long, long, long meeting!!!

Evan & Poppy

Evan has been in a batting slump.  He struck out several times during the last few games and it just kills him.  It's hard to practice batting when you play pitching machine.  We just don't have a pitching machine in the backyard:)  But... we do have Poppy!!

After the last game dad made the comment that Evan needed to practice batting, and I explained my dilema...no pitching machine in the backyard and going to the batting cages with an infant is very tricky.  So, he volunteered to come pickup Evan after school and take him to the batting cages for some practice. 

So, yesterday afternoon Evan and Poppy took their first trip to practice batting.  From what they both said, it was a successful trip!  Evan is certainly feeling more confident, and dad said they got some "bugs" worked out of his swing.  But, the more important part was what a great time Evan had with his Poppy.  He was SO excited about getting to go in the first place.  I think he is starting to realize just how blessed he is to have grandparents that are so involved in his life.  It's not always obvious at the time, but Evan just LOVES the personal attention he gets being one-on-one. 

Then to make things even better, Poppy to Evan to Whole Hog to eat dinner.  And, he let him order ribs!!  Evan could eat his weight in ribs if he was given the chance!!  When he is with us, I make him order from the kids menu (I'm just not willing to pay for a slab of ribs for my 7 year old:)  But, Poppy got him the RIBS!!  Needless to say, Poppy was a hero at our house last night!!

I'm so thankful for my dad!!  The semi-retired life has given him the chance to really spend time with the boys and for that I am very grateful!!!

Baseball...

Well, we finally got to finish the pre-season tournament today.  Finally.  Our first game was scheduled for 9:00.  We woke up truly thinking they would be cancelled due to all the rain, so we didn't start getting ready.  Got a text at 7:40 that the games were on.  So, we fly around and get out of the house by 8:10.  Make it to the field at 8:40 to find out they games have been postponed for 2 hours.  UGGGG.......So, we headed to Calico County for breakfast :)

The games finally happenend and we lost the final game:(  The boys played SO hard and it was SO close.  They were VERY disappointed. 

Here they are getting their 2nd place trophies.  Not alot of smiling going on...

The team.  They are all absolutely filthy.  Muddy ball fields and long breaks between games to play in the "creek" make for VERY DIRTY BOYS!!

Always a prayer afterwards...

My sweet ball player.  It would kill him to smile.

The boy crew.  Of course not 1 picture of everyone looking at the camera at the same time:)

It turned out to be a long, but fun day.  Beau was such a trooper.  He spent most of the second game asleep in the front carrier and I just stood and swayed the whole game.  Looking forward to more exciting baseball!!!  Go Greenwood!

Ev's New Look...

Nice.

6 Months...

My sweet baby Beau, you turned 6 months old this week!!  How could a whole half of a year have already sped past??  You continue to surprise and amaze us.  You are the sweetest, happy baby and I love you for it!  You are very laid back (comparatively speaking:) and are so easy to "run around" with.  I am enjoying every single minute I get to spend with you (even at 3:00 AM).

Here you are on your 6 month birthday!!!

~you have mastered sitting up.  It's your favorite way to sit and play these days.

~you are jabbering up a storm.  You are VERY vocal, but I haven't heard anything that sounds like a real word yet :)

~you are starting to LOVE baby food.  Your favorites right now are peaches, sweet potatoes, squash and cereal

~we are experimenting with a sippy cup.  You still won't take a bottle, so I'm hoping you will love your sippy cup very soon!

~you weigh 16 pounds, 6 ounces (25% percentile)

~you are 27 inches long (75% percentile)

~your head is 17 1/4 inches (50% percentile)

~you are still wearing a Size 2 diaper

~all of your summer clothes are 6-9 months

~you still sleep in footed pajamas with a "sleep sack" over them.   I'm still too nervous to put a blanket in your bed with you!

~you are rolling all over the place.  You can get across the room pretty quickly just rolling.

~you are starting to get up on your knees some like you are getting ready to crawl.  Sometimes you bounce up an down on your stomach trying to do "the worm".

~you will sit in the floor and play with toys for a long time.  You also LOVE to jump in your Exersaucer!!

~you love to be talked to!  You babble back and giggle at everyone.

~you still love your mommy milk and are still nursing every 3-4 hours during the day.

~you go to sleep around 8:00 and usually wake up around 3:00ish to nurse.  Then you usually sleep until around 6:30ish.

~you LOVE to grab for my phone!!  Sometimes you actually manage to pick it up (see above:)

~you are becoming a professional baseball game watcher.  So far you have done great!  You really like sitting in your stroller!!

~your brothers STILL compete for your attention.  In the mornings they get in trouble for taking so long to get ready for school.  They just can't leave you alone long enough to get ready!!

You are one LOVED boy!!  You are the best gift I never thought I would have!!!  I love you and can't wait to watch as you continue to learn and grow!!