Branson with Georgia & Gus!

Amy, Georgia, and Gus have been in Batesville for a couple of weeks.  They came to Springfield to see Cindy and asked if we wanted to meet them in Branson to go to Silver Dollar City.  So, Nonnie, Beau, and I packed it up and headed to Branson!  We decided to stay at Branson Landing.  It's so fun to stay there and be able to just walk out onto the Landing.  The weather was perfect for just strolling around.  Beau always loves the fountains!

It took him a few minutes to be brave enough for this:)

Then we found a train and we just HAD to take a ride.  You could ride as long as you wanted, so we cruised up and down the Landing a few times.  Then we got off at Joe's Crab Shack and had an amazing dinner!!  Then we got some ice cream at Marble Slab.  It was a perfect evening.

We got up the next morning and headed out to SDC.  We beat Amy so we rode a few things before they got there.   Then we headed for the front gate to meet Judy, Cindy, Amy, Georgia, and Gus.

I finally got to lay eyes on Gus for the first time!!  He is SO precious.  He was pretty content in his stroller, so I never got to really hold him though :(.  Georgia LOVED the rides.  She and Beau took off together.  It was super fun to watch them!!

Nonnie got to ride the caterpillars AND the frogs.  Lucky, lucky:)

 I love this sweet boy!!

 Georgia got pretty tired, so they headed out about mid-afternoon.  Beau and I decided since we were already hot, to ride a water ride.  WOW!  Did we ever get wet.  So, since we were soaked, we rode the American Plunge (log ride) too.  He LOVED it!!!

It was a great little get away.  SO happy to see Amy, Georgia, and Gus, and a blast with Nonnie too!!

Blake's Awards & Baseball!

 We got this letter in the mail this week.  Makes me SO proud.  Blake was invited to take Pre-AP  Geometry, Pre-AP English, & Accelerated Physical Science.  The only reason he's not taking Accelerated Algebra is because he already took it this year!!

 We were mowing at Granny's house and one of the boys hit a big root and bent the lawnmower blade.  It started making a terrible noise and then we turned it over and got oil everywhere, so then it started smoking too.  We finally had to break down and call Travis for help.  He and the boys went to Yeagers and got a new blade, put it on, cleaned it up, and we were back in business.  I love this picture!  How many Bartlett boys does it take to fix the lawnmower??  The good news is that Blake, Evan, and I could all do it by ourselves the next time!!

 Evan had a baseball tournament scheduled for Van Buren over the weekend, but it rained like crazy and they cancelled it.  Then they moved it to Greenwood.  It was SO stinkin' cold!  We played super late Saturday night.  Went to Geno's for some dinner and to warm up between games.

 Back at it in the freezing cold!  We left the field about 11:30.

 We got up the next day and the Bulldogs played amazing!

 Won the tournament!! Woo Hoo!!

Monday was the GJHS Awards Assembly at the PAC.  We were all there ready to watch Blake get his awards!

 So proud of Blake....he got on the Faculty Roll, and an Award for being on the Award Winning Quiz Bowl team!  Nonnie was there to cheer for him, too!!

 

 The latest development around here is that Blake has become very good friends with Anna.  They are texting all the time.  You know it might be getting serious when she posts him as her mcm (man crush Monday) on Instagram. :)

Evan has a girlfriend too!?  Her name is Ally Sockey.  She is in my Life Group and is a super sweet girl.  They both wanted a picture together but would NEVER actually pose for it.  So, I "made" them stand together and snapped this!  Cute:)

 And, very importantly.....Beau and I went to vote!  We were electing a new mayor for Greenwood and I had to do my civic duty!!

 Good week around here!

Recovery Week!

 We have spent a WHOLE lot of time doing this lately....

 Hayden came by to visit and Beau was very glad to see him!

 He has done really well drinking, but hasn't wanted to eat much at all.  He hasn't even wanted ice cream.  Crazy!!  He called Nonnie the 2nd morning and told her he wanted a chocolate donut and a Powerade slush from Sonic.  We knew he wouldn't be able to eat it and he couldn't.  She also brought him some powdered donuts and he did manage to eat a few nibbles of a powered donut.  The 1st 4 nights were great!  He slept all night!

 We have done a WHOLE lot of snuggling on the couch.  He will ask me to "snuggle him up".  That means get the blanket spread out on top of him and tucked in on the sides:)

 We have both become professional Go Fish and Old Maid players this week!

 He thought he wanted a "rotella" sandwich and some soup.  He took about 2 bites of both and was finished.

 While he was resting, I was busy making Teacher Appreciation gifts for Evan's teachers.  Thanks to my crafty friend Sherry, I think they turned out super cute!

 On Thursday he got a package in the mail from Whitney.  He was SO excited.  We desperately needed a change of pace, and this was a perfect diversion!  Everybody loves a paddle ball!

 Blake's last band concert was Thursday night.  No one wanted to miss it, and Beau was doing so good, so I took him with me.  He sat in Travis's lap most of the time and did so good.

 This guy did AMAZING!!  He was in a trio and a quartet and totally rocked it!  His boys chorus sang "Hey There Delilah" and "Walk Like a Man".  All the choirs together sang "Radioactive" at the very end.

 Beau Beau loves his Blaker!!

As usual, Blake had quite the fan club!!

 After the concert, Nana and Nonnie came over and Travis gave us all our Mother's Day gift...chocolate covered strawberries from Kopper Kettle!!  The best ever!!!!!

 The next few nights didn't go so good.  Beau woke up in the middle of the night 3 nights in a row screaming and crying that his throat was hurting.  I had been giving him Demerol before he went to bed every night, so I'm not sure why it started happening later.  Poor Travis hasn't slept a whole night in our bed in over a week. 

 I got my car dressed up a little bit this week...now I can tell which one is mine in the parking lot!

 On Mother's Day morning Travis and the big boys got up and went to church.  Beau and I waited and just went to Life Group.  He went to class with Travis.  He wasn't up to going to his class yet.  He sure did look cute!!

 After lunch I needed to get out for a little bit, so I ran to Ft. Smith.  I met Sherry and we went to Ulta, Target, & Sams.  Then we made a stop at the sno-cone shack, just because we could!  When I got home,  Travis and the boys had cleaned the house, done all the laundry, mowed the yard, and had steaks marinating for dinner.  They know my love language!!  I would way rather have that than any gift they could give me!

 Beau is still definitely in recover mode.  During the day, he isn't really hurting much.  Still not eating a ton, but not really complaining of pain.  We got out an ran a few errands in Greenwood yesterday.

 Today he was even better.  We decided to stay home from school one more day.  But, we did get out and run to Sonic and take the big boys to the dentist.

 I'm hoping we have seen the worst of it!!  Hopefully Beau will go to MDO on Thursday!!

Beau's Tonsillectomy

 We had to be at the hospital at 7:00 Monday morning.  Beau was getting a little nervous, but still had really no clue what he was in for:)

 Nana, Nonnie, and Poppy met us there.  Beau is one blessed boy to have 3 grandparents waiting on him in the waiting room at 7:00am!!

 Travis and I took him back to get admitted.  He was super nervous at that point.  They gave him some liquid Versed and he got very tearful.  From that point on he was crying and whimpering pretty much the whole time.

 He only wanted Travis to hold him.  I tried not to let my feelings be hurt:)

 Here he was right before they took him back....trying so hard to be brave.  We were so glad they let him take Tigey with him!

 When we got back to see him in recovery he was pitiful.  He was crying and screaming and trying to stick his fingers down his throat.  We got him to take a few drinks of water.  The nurse asked if we wanted him to have some more Morphine and I said YES!!  That helped so much.  He pretty much fell asleep and stayed that way until we got home!

 An hour after they brought him into recovery we were on our way home. 

 I carried him in and he went straight back to sleep.  Travis and I climbed up in the bed with him and we all slept for about 2 hours. 

 He woke up fairly happy.  His throat was hurting bad but he was so excited to eat a blue popsicle.

 He did so good the rest of they day.  He laid on the couch and watched a lot of TV.  Mrs. Amy came by after school and brought him a get well present from Hayden.  Then Shelli and Savannah came by and brought him a pirate present.

 He insisted that Nonnie put one of the tattoos on right then:)

 When Travis got home he wanted to play games.  He did SO good!!

 His little face was covered in blue popsicle.  He had 2 or 3 over the afternoon and evening.

 That night he slept with me.  He only woke up once and that was because he had to pee really bad.  I went ahead and gave him some Demerol while he was awake.

I was SO very happy how well his first 24 hours went!!  He is such a trooper!!