Lake afternoon

Last weekend everybody wanted to go to the lake, but I had to work Saturday and Travis and the boys had plans with Nana and PaPa.  So, Travis had a great idea to go on Friday afternoon.  Dad, Blake, Evan, and I packed it up and headed out about 3:30.  Mom stayed home with Beau (thanks Mom).  We were on the lake playing by 5:00.  It was SO great.  Perfect time to be on the lake.  No one else was there and it started cooling off just a little bit!  Travis met up there around 6:00 and we played for several hours.

I actually got on the knee board and the tube and I liked it!!!

Evan talked Poppy into letting him drive a little bit.  He loved it.  I just LOVE this picture!!

 Blake, me, and Evan on the tube!!  Fun stuff until I got thrown off.  Really, I loved it!

It has been so hot that even the lake hasn't sounded like much fun, but this afternoon was perfect.  Lots of fun!!!

Baseball OUT...Football IN

It's hard to believe that baseball is JUST over and we are already deep into football.  Evan's team won the post-season tournament last week.  They had a great season and finished off with a bang! 

They got a donut for winning:)  Here they are posing with their donuts.  The score was 1-0.

 Evan posing with their trophies.  They came in 3rd in the regular season and 1st in the post-season tournament!

 Ev also started FASdogs last week when he got home from his trip with Nonnie and Poppy.  He absolutely LOVES it!!  He goes every morning from 9:30-10:30. It is SO hot.  They start out on the indoor practice field and then end up outside on the football field.

 I can't believe this is my baby...he is WAY too little for this.  Right???

Here he is ready to start pad camp on Monday night.  He LOVED it also!!

 The rest of us have spent a lot of time watching.  Nothing like watching football practice in the 100 degree heat...with a 20 month old:)  Actually, Beau has done pretty well.  I just make sure I take him a BIG cup of ice to eat/play with. 

Blake at pad camp last night.  He LOVED it.  Ha!!

I'm excited/nervous about all this football stuff.  I don't know anything...I mean NOTHING about football.  I told Travis I'm gonna get a "Football for Dummies" book and read it at the beach.  I've got to figure out what the heck they are doing out there!!!

Ortho...not yet!!!

Blake went to the orthodontist last week.  We have been going every 6-9 months for several years.  So far, we have just been "watching and waiting".  Fine with me, but I just wanted to make sure we didn't wait too long.  But, last week I thought would be the time that we would start work.  Thankfully, his top front teeth are very straight, so his smile is very pretty.  It's the bottom jumble I'm concerned about.

Dr. Udouj said not yet.  He still has 2 molars on top to lose and then grow back in.  We go back in March.  He said to expect to start work then.  Totally fine with me.  Gives me a few more months to save up:)

So big!!!  He doesn't look like a baby sitting there.  Where did my little boy go???

Long summer days with Beau...

These long HOT summer days are challenging with Beau, for sure!  He is at the peak of the climbing, opening, exploring, and disassembling phase and just needs to play outside!!  I am trying my best to keep it together as we spend lots of quality time in the air conditioning!

Here was a not-so-happy moment.  Time out because he had climbed on my bathroom counter and thrown his Daddy's cologne off into the floor more than once.  (I really don't know how it didn't break:)

The library is super fun with Beau.  All he wants to do is climb on the stools and pull books off the shelf, scream really loud, and throw them in the floor.  The librarians LOVE us!!  We finally discovered this, and it actually kept him quiet until we had to leave.  Then he SCREAMED because I made him take them off!

 One Sunday morning we were desperately trying to get ready and Beau was, of course, on top of our bathroom cabinet.  It's hard for us all to get ready with him spralled across the cabinet with the water running in both sinks, throwing everything he can get his hands on in the water.  So, Travis set this up:)  Pretty cute little hang out spot.  It lasted approximately 1.5 minutes:)

 After church on Sundays the boys bring all the laundry into the living room for me to sort.  Beau jumped in the basket, so Evan made him a little nest and took him for a ride.  He almost fell asleep.  I had to get him in bed before his eyes closed:)  Look at his little feet poking out the handle...so cute!

 Beau got a new swim floatie and he has been wearing it around the house.  We tried it out at the pool yesterday and it actually worked pretty well.  He can float around without me touching him, which makes him very happy!

 This is the major story at our house this week.  Beau has mastered turning the door knobs.  Every single knob in our house now has one of these on it.  We will see how long it works...with Evan, not long.  We shall see...

All things considered, we are having a great summer.  Beau is just high maintenance.  NO doubt about it.  The good news is that when he crashes at night, he is OUT!!!  He has also been sleeping until around 8:30-8:45 which makes me ONE HAPPY MAMA!!!!!

4th of July Weekend

I found these pictures today and realized I never blogged about our 4th.  It was pretty laid back this year.  Travis and I got back from Vegas on Sunday and decided to stay in Springdale for the night.  We went to AQ Chicken with NaNa and PaPa for lunch and then just hung out at their house for the afternoon.

When it got close to dark we headed out to watch the fireworks at Cross Church.  We ended up in the Olive Garden parking lot and had a PERFECT view!  Beau liked watching from the sunroof!

Looking out the window with NaNa;)

 On Monday we got to visit with Brady and Joanie and their little boy John.  Brady and Travis were great friends in college and then Brady moved to Kansas City after they graduated.  He got married about 3 years ago and we just love his wife Joanie.  We don't get to see them nearly enough!  They have a little boy named John that is just 3 months younger than Beau.  It was SO fun to see them playing together!!!

This is a picture that we all never believed would really happen!!  Travis and Brady with their babies!  I just LOVE it!!

That afternoon we grilled out and had steaks with Travis's family.  Yummy!  Beau looked so cute in his red, white, and blue!

 PaPa brought in a cold watermelon and Beau was in heaven!!  He LOVED it!!!  He just kept shoveling it in as fast as he could.  Malory helped him some, too!

 It was GOOD stuff!!

 We headed home that afternoon and were so worn out when we got home, we just got ready for bed.  No Greenwood fireworks for us this year;)

Pete sent us home with all kinds of stuff from his garden.  We got peppers, squash, onions, potatoes, and tons of tomatos.  The tomatos weren't from his garden, but they were from southern Arkansas.  I had to take this picture because it reminded me so much of how my MaMaw's counters would look when I was a kid.  Except, every surface in her house would look this way!!

We had such a fun weekend, but it was SO good to be home!  It was very weird not going to buy fireworks with the big boys, but lucky for them, Gabby brought them some after the 4th.  So, if you hear some random fireworks going off at some point this week, you will know where it is coming from:)

New Pics!!!!

A few weeks ago my friend Julie (www.julie-amber.com) took some pictures of the kids for me.  We took them at Bell Park, and let me just tell you...it was HOT!!  We did them early in the morning, but it was still HOT!

Beau didn't cooperate AT ALL, so I was afraid we weren't going to get anything good of him.  Thankfully, I was wrong!!  I just love to see pics of my kids.  And, for the first time, we have real pics of the boys and Georgia!!!!

Here are all 4 sweeties!

My 3 boys...

Blake and Evan just LOVE this spot.  So, they had to have a pic of themselves right here:)

 Melt my heart.

 And then the personality comes out!

 Oh how I love these boys!!!!

 Sweet babies!

 Awww, just LOVE these kiddos!!!!

Thanks so much Julie, for capturing these sweet moments for us!!!  I just LOVE them!!

Visiting...

My Aunt Jan and Uncle Hugh V spent the week after Dessa's funeral in Greenwood/Fort Smith with GaGa.  I was SO incredibly grateful that they were here!  We don't get to see each other nearly often enough, so I was glad for the time we had together.

They came over one night and brought GaGa with them for dinner.  It was really nice to just get to hang out and visit.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I did get a few.

Beau and I with my Aunt Jan

 Uncle Hugh V, Beau, me, and Aunt Jan

 GaGa, Beau, and I

We had such  nice evening.  GaGa seemed to really enjoy it and I am looking forward to having him over again very soon!