Saying Goodbye

My sister and her family stayed for a whole month!  It was the best way to start summer.  We had so much fun with them and none of us wanted to say goodbye.  Laurel and Savannah set up a going away party on the deck the morning they were leaving.

So cute!

And Landon thought he was being sneaky,

by hiding in Aunt Audra's suitcase.

And believe me, she would have smuggled him on that plane if she could.  They have a special little bond going on.  It's always so hard saying goodbye.  Living far away from all my siblings and parents STINKS!

Aunt Audra's Birthday

Let me just tell you, we did some birthday celebrating while my sister and her husband were visiting.  First, we had Karly's, then Landon's and now my sister, Audra has turned one year older!  So, while Audra and I were at the YMCA working out, the girls were back at the house cooking up a surprise party for Audra.  We walked in and were immediately ushered upstairs.  And this is what we found:

 

 They sat her down in this chair and put a "burger king" crown on her head. 

 Each girl, and Landon, took turns giving her a present, that they had found around the house.  They wrapped it up and re-gifted! 

Aww... they were all so cute and so proud of their gifts.  We love our Aunt Audra!

Let Freedom Ring....

Wow, this blog is kicking my booty!  I'm so far behind.  We are just getting to July.  We started July off with a bang!  No, seriously we did.  We went to my friend Annie's house for some refreshments and then we headed over to Columbiana's Liberty Days.

Annie has a very old home in the small town of Columbiana.  I absolutely love it!  She always has everything so neat and tidy. 

Her front door always reflects the holiday.  She made the flag.  And she made the pillows from bandannas.  Talented she is!

 We had lots of fun hanging out in the backyard, catching fire flies and watching the missionaries from our church play a mean game of basketball with Darryl, Annie's husband.

 

And then when it grew dark, we headed over to the stadium and laid our blankets out and watched a pretty good firework show.

Another Reunion

Wow, we are still in June.  Let me tell you June was one packed month of fun filled events one right after the other.  Just like I like it!  The children were having a blast with their cousins.  We just spent a week at the beach and now we are hanging out at the house for a few days before we head over to Atlanta to have a family reunion with my mom's family. We did things like paint.

We watched the rain, we swam.

We played in an awesome fort that Tyler's friend, Brody built.

 Tyler is the oldest grandson and Sawyer is the youngest of 16 grandchildren. 

 

We spent the weekend at my Aunt Barbara's house.  She has a beautiful backyard with a pool, which provided great entertainment for us all.

 

My cousin Mike's little boy, Evan.  Landon had so much fun playing with him.  Landon is always surrounded by lots of girls so it was fun to have a boy around his age to play with.  

 Kayla!

 Even our sweet daddy got in on the diving board fun!

 Savannah!

 Karly!

Laurel!

 

Sawyer looks just like Laurel to me.

 

Once the girls were finished swimming, they came in and Isabella, Rita and Mike's daughter, took them to a closet where all of my cousin's Kelly old dance dresses were hanging.  These little girls were in heaven and spent the rest of the night dressing up and performing for all of us.

 Isabella showing us her dance moves.  This little girl is so talented and Laurel and Savannah love spending time with her.  Laurel has been doing that dance move non- stop since we got home.  She is getting closer and closer to perfecting it.

 Karly dancing with grandpa.

I loved how Sawyer just climbed on the back of the tricycle and let Landon ride him around and around the house.

 

 I snapped some family pictures before saying goodbye.  I should have done it earlier while my Aunt Lawanda was still there.  She would have made this one complete.  This is my mom with her sister, Barbara and her brother Larry.

My cousin Mike, (he is one day older than me), my sister Audra, and my cousin Jeff.  Mike is my Aunt Barbara's son and Jeff is Uncle Larry's son.  We got to see these guys a few times a year growing up.  Lots of good memories!

  

 

 

Landon turns Four!

This is Landon on the morning of his fourth birthday.  He is eating his favorite meal, yogurt mixed with dried oats.  He could eat that for morning, lunch, and dinner.   And on some occasions, he has done just that.  No high cholesterol in this boy's future.  The night before his birthday, he took Laurel by the hand and told her he had to tell her something.  He led her to a corner and whispered to her that he wanted her and nana to hold his hand and go down the slip n' slide together.  He said that is what he wanted for his birthday, well, besides a dirt bike!

So Landon, here is a play by play of what happened on June 20, 2013 when you turned four. 

Around 11:00 we all go over to Mrs. Lisa's house to swim.  We have Aunt Audra, Kayla and Karly with us.  Aunt Melanie and Jeana also come.  We eat pizza and cookies and have a great time swimming.  You are loving the water now.

At 1:00 I leave and take Laurel and Kayla to meet Miss Harris, Laurel's second grade teacher, at the library.  She tutors Laurel in math.  Kayla met her last year and loves her so she wants to go too.  I mean, who doesn't need a little help with numbers!?  We swim for almost two more hours.

At 3:30 we go to the library to get Laurel and Kayla.  As we are talking to Miss Harris, Laurel invites her to our house.  I tell Miss Harris that we would love for her to come over.  I tell her that we are having a birthday party for you.  She accepts the offer, which made Laurel and Kayla very excited. 

At 5:30 daddy comes home with hamburgers and hotdogs and your birthday cake.  He cooks out for all of us while Miss Harris and all of us visits.

At 7:00 you blow out your candles and we all have cake.

At 8:00 We get out the slip n' slide and you go down holding your sister's hands.

At 9:00 Miss Harris says goodbye.

 Laurel could not believe Miss Harris was in her house!

 Miss Harris saying goodbye to all the kids.  Miss Harris is one of those teachers that truly makes a difference in the children's lives.  We hope Savannah, Sawyer and Landon get her in school!

Happy Birthday, Bud!

some funny things you are doing and saying right now:

"I don't want mean mommy. I want happy mommy!  I know, maybe I can sing and make you happy!  You are my sunshine....."  (such a charmer you are!)

 

You tell me multiple times a day, "mommy, do you know I like you?"

 

At the end of the day, you will say, "mommy, I will always mind you!"

 

"STOP laughing at me!"  We can't help it!  You say so many funny things. 

You say, as you put your arms around your sisters, "wauwel and nana", He says,  "Awww.... my sweet little babies!"  You adore your sisters.  You just need to teach them how to wrestle and everything will be perfect in your world.

 

I will ask, "What do you want for lunch, Landon?" You will say, "maybe some poo-poo chicken fries!  Hahaahahahaha!!!"  Yeah, potty talk, never had this with the girls.  You have introduced a whole new world.

 

When you get upset because I won't let you do something, you say, "well, I'm going to say hate" (because you know we try not to say that word).  Then you start saying, "I HATE spiders, I HATE snakes!"  You know you aren't suppose to say that you hate anybody so you just stick with the creatures we all hate!  But by George, you are saying that word!

 

On a daily basis, you beg for a b-bike.  You actually woke up the other morning so excited because you dreamed about riding one that was small enough for you.  You are your dad's son!

 

You love for anybody to scratch your back, your arms, your legs!  You love to snuggle and for that I'm so happy!  I love to snuggle with you.

 

Your favorite t.v. shows are, curious George, Team Umizoomi, Peter Rabbit, and Sofia the First.  These are your go to shows.  When you are sleepy or upset you will say, "mommy, just turn on peter rabbit while I drink my milk!"

 

Your favorite song is I Am A Child of God.  You sing it loud and proud!

 

You are such a high spirited, funny little man, with a great personality and lots of  charm.  I love you to pieces!