The days of our lives...

We have had a busy weekend.  Friday was Katie & Matt's 5th anniversary.  So, they had plans to go out of town for the weekend.  However, Matt had a class in Greenville, so after I got off work I ran home packed up the babies, picked up momma & Katie and we headed to Greenville for a trip by the Greenville zoo.  Emma once again wasn't too interested in the animals but Evan loved it.  I had never been to the Greenville zoo so it was a fun experience.  Here are a few pictures from our day.




Checking out the elephants!

Looking at the turtles!

Emma attempting to feed this chicken. She would have had a heart attack if it had actually taken that cracker out of her hand!

Evan throwing his cracker to the ducks!

Feeding the goats.  Notice how far back Emma is!

This isn't why we brought momma along!

Emma's favorite part of the trip...snacks!!

He was taking it all in!

And Uncle Matt arrived!

Matt met us at the zoo when his class was over and they headed off to the mountains.  Me & Momma headed home!  Then, Saturday, Justin finally got the house pressure washed.  We have been saying we were going to do it for two years now and are just now getting to it.  I took a picture of Justin in the process.  Don't you think the house needed a good washing??

 

 Then, Saturday afternoon/night a guy Justin works with invited us over for a cookout.  So, we all swam a while, then ate, & just sat around and talked while the kids played.  It was a fun night.  I was a little nervous because I didn't really know a lot of the people there and the ones I did know I have only been around a few times.  I am not one to just go up and meet new people but this forced me to step out of my comfort zone and it ended up being fun!  However Justin didn't win the father of the year award that night.  He let both Emma & Evan go completely under the water and let Emma fall out of the swing.  Thankfully they survived both though and this momma wasn't too mad at him!!  Sunday was about like usual.  We taught Sunday school for Katie & Matt.  I am not the teacher type but the kids were very good!  Sunday afternoon a guy from Charleston came and bought the lawn mower.  Not really sure this lawn mower was worth a three hour drive but apparently him and his wife like to get out on Sunday's and ride.  It really didn't matter to me because I just wanted the lawn mower sold.  Sunday night...I started feeling horrible.  After our evening swim, we came in to bath E&E and get them ready for bed.  My head started killing me.  Monday morning I woke up and my throat was so sore I couldn't even swallow.  I went on in to work because Maya is off on vacation the first part of this week.  I managed to stick it out through lunch but then I headed home.  Thankfully I was able to sneak in with E&E seeing me and stay hidden in my room for the rest of the afternoon.  I did end up going to the doctor and have another sinus infection.  So, of course that was another round of antibiotics!  So, that brings us to today.  I have to catch you guys up and some of the things E&E are doing right now.  Some are fun and some are not so fun!  Evan has learned to pout!  If he isn't his mother made over!!  I was the queen of pouting.  If he gets mad, he doesn't say a word...he just stares at the ground and doesn't move.  It is quite funny.  I actually would rather have the pouting he does though over the screaming Emma does if she doesn't get her way.  Boy that girl has some good lungs!!  They are talking all the time anymore!  Just a few weeks ago I shared on Facebook a funny Evan story.  So, I thought I'd share it here and then add one to it.  I can't remember what day of the week this was, but one morning I knew Evan was awake because he was in their room whining on and off  but I wasn't ready to get up yet...so I was just ignoring him.  (Don't judge me...this was like 5:30 in the morning).  As we were laying in the bed, we heard him say in the middle of his whining "Down, please" come over the monitor.  We have been teaching him to tell us when he wants to get down from his high chair and apparently he was telling us he wanted down from his crib.  It was hilarious!  I thought that was pretty smart of him.  Of course, it got him what he wanted.  Well, this morning about 4:00, he starts crying.  Normally our routine would be to just go get him and put him in our bed.  Since, I wasn't feeling too well still Justin decided to rock him in the den.  About 5:00 he tried to go lay Evan back down.  As soon as his head his the crib he started screaming again.  Justin just headed on back to our room and we tried to wait out the screaming.  About 20 minutes later in the midst of the screaming we heard him say "Please".  Like he was begging us to come get him.  Of course, we started laughing and Justin headed back in their room to get him.  He is one smart little 1-year old.  They are learning so many new things and it is just amazing to watch them grow and learn.  Well, that's about it for what we've been up too.  We are going to buy our stain for the deck tomorrow.  Justin has a fun weekend ahead of him!!  Then, Thursday we are off to the Switcharoo's consignment sale in Greenville.  Hopefully we will find lots of things again this time!  Check back to see the deck progress!  I know it's going to look awesome!!  Have a great rest of the week!

Boys & their toys...plus a few extras!

I'm sure my title has peaked your interest. For a long while now Justin has wanted a zero turn lawn mower. I was totally against it because we just bought a brand new lawn mower 2 years ago when we bought the house and didn't need a new one. I often remind Justin he was lucky he is to not have the black yard machine, that actually fell apart while he was riding it, or the green John Deere, that would drive itself because it was possessed! Funniest story ever was when Justin was cutting the front yard on the yard machine and the front wheel completely fell off. I still almost cry laughing so hard when I replay that day in my head! You can only imagine what it was to witness that in person. Then, dragging it to the back yard with the 4-wheeler to work on it. Like I said before...Justin was lucky to have this nice new lawn mower! However, when he came home Saturday from conveniently having to get his lawn mower tuned up... he had somehow managed to get this awesome deal on the zero turn and being the good wife I am...I said ok! His new toy should be here tomorrow! I am waiting to see if this cut his grass cutting time in half like he promises it will. It is a much bigger cut so he may win on that point. Saturday night we decided to go out on a long overdue date night. Katie being the terrific sister and aunt that she is...kept E&E for us. We went to supper and of course ended up at Lowe's & Wal-Mart. What else is there to do in Greenwood?? Here is a picture before we left the house. 

 

Sunday, we went to church and to my parents to eat like always. Then, I had to go to a baby shower for Amber. They are expecting a little girl in September. After supper Sunday night, we were outside playing and Marty asked us over for some homemade strawberry ice cream. Boy did we all enjoy it!! E&E played with Easton in his sand box for quite a while and I got to play with sweet Emma Grace. She is growing so much. She is up to almost 8 lbs. but she still seems so tiny. I can't even remember E&E being tinier than that. Emma weighed 5 lbs. when we came home from the hospital. WOW...that seems like ages ago! Yesterday was a sad day for the D&F family. Mrs. Davis died Friday afternoon and the funeral was yesterday. They closed the office at 10:30, so we could all attend the funeral. Then, the burial was down at Eden Hall in McCormick. After the funeral they served a meal and had a celebration of Mrs. Davis's life. One thing I have to admit about working at D&F...it is like one big family!! Monday we ended our One in a Million bible study.  Katie fixed Mexican lasagna and it was GREAT!!  I don't even eat half of things that I know were in the casserole but it was YUMMY!  Debbie Crittendon spoke to us about what kind of influencers we are.  It was great as usual.  Debbie never disappoints!  Today, we got long over due haircuts.  As we were outside playing tonight...I tried to get a picture of these hair cuts.  Evan hair is finally shaped back up and Emma just needed a trim.  Aunt Katie keeps telling me her hair looks like a mullet.  And it actually does but I am trying to let it grow out!  So, here are a couple pictures of my cuties with their hair cuts!

 

Emma refuses to let me take her picture looking at the camera.  So, here is a side view!

 

My serious child!  He wasn't too thrilled to stop for a picture either!!

 

He loves his Cody though!

 

Evan likes to put him in head locks quite often.  I think Cody just enjoys the attention!!

 

Well, that's about it for this update.  Hope everyone's week is going smoothly!  It's almost hump day!!





Summer Days...

This is going to be a quick little post because I have lots I need to be doing during E&E's naptime and that doesn't include blogging! :)  I am sending lots of their clothes to the Switcharoo's consignment sale in Greenville to sale and have to have them ready to go by Monday and I haven't even started.  I've only known about this since the beginning of June! I didn't know August would be here this fast!! :)  We have been busy this week catching up from vacation.  Works been busy, home life has been busy, & of course E&E STAY busy!!  It was back to school this week and thanks to Jillian...that wasn't as big of a nightmare as I thought it would be.  We've spent lots of afternoons playing outside on the play set and enjoying the beautiful weather.  We even had a treat one night with ice cream.  I love some good ice cream!!  Wednesday afternoon I thought we'd try water balloons.  Every time we have gone in Old Navy lately...E&E have gotten balloons and loved them.  So, I thought this would be fun.  Apparently, water balloons don't burst unless they are REALLY full of water.  I didn't fill them up very much and it was all I could do to get them to burst.  I ended up cutting two of them and squirting E&E because no matter how hard I threw them...they just bounced!  Anyways...here are a couple pictures from our afternoon. 

 

Our "too small" water balloons! :)

 

Evan squeezing one of the balloons!

 

 Emma giving her balloon a good toss!

They weren't too sure what to do when I finally got one to burst.  She just picked up the pieces and looked at me!
 

Evan enjoying squirting himself with the ones I had to end up cutting holes in!

 

 

Oh well...it wasn't quite as much fun as I thought it would be...but hey it was memories!!  We have a busy weekend ahead.  We are meeting Justin's brother & sister-in-law in Newberry tonight for supper and then Saturday we are getting some thing done around the house.  The building out back now has water, electricity, & lights.  So, now it is time for all that stuff in my garage to make it's way back to the building!  Plus, we are hoping to paint our deck soon next weekend...so all this building mess has to be finished.  I am sure we will find sometime to add a little swimming to our day!  Hope you have a great weekend!!

Family Vacation 2013

So, you've known this blog was coming.  I have over 300 pictures from the week...so I tried to limit the blog to my favorites.  It still ended up being like 30 pictures...so bare with me!  We had a great week.  Emma & Evan did much better with the ocean than I had expected.  By the end of the week...they were playing in it by themselves!  Enjoy a few snap shots from our week!!

Our mini village!!

The guys hard at work fixing our favorite "Beach" meal!!

The group playing "Rook".  Daddy was already in the bed & Matt was taking our picture!

Feeding the birds!

 

Emma & Katie at the Battery!

Little man knocked out on the golf cart ride from the grocery store!

Evan feeding the birds!

And the bird finally took the cracker out of Justin's hand!

Family photo!

Emma & Evan photo!

Enjoying his new chair!

The shark a guy caught right where we were swimming.  That ended our swimming time that day!

Our morning story time with Aunt Katie!

My two sweet peas!!  LOVE this picture!

We are already on top of Christmas gifts for E&E's class this year!  We are making sand dollar ornaments that we find in the ocean.  If these never make the blog again...they didn't turn out! :)

My sweet boy loving the water!

And of course...Emma had to try!

 

Sorry this was so long...but I wanted to share some of our fun time!  Hope you all have a great week.  I personally am dreading dropping them off at school Tuesday.  Little Miss Clingy isn't going to do well with that!  Prayers please!! :)

Welcome to the 21st century...

I know you guys are wondering what in the world this post is going to be about.  Well, I FINALLY broke down and got an IPhone.  Yes, I was probably the last young person in the world that didn't have a smart phone.  Those of you that know me know I am cheap and do not like to spend my money on telephones or anything that will be outdated by the time I buy it...but I did it.  Tonight we headed into town for the BBQ Festival.  I love a small town festival.  It kind of reminds me of Sweet Home Alabama, one of my all time FAVORITE movies!!  It's fun seeing people you haven't seen in a while and eating.  All good times revolve around food!  Here is a picture of my sweeties before we left the house.  

Please note this picture was taken from my IPhone!!  They didn't eat any BBQ this time but I sure did and it was yummy as usual.  Well, that is about it for this update.  Justin is packing his things for the beach as we speak.  We went to Costco on Wednesday and bought our groceries for the week.  I am heading to town tomorrow to finish getting all my stuff and we are pulling out Sunday morning.  We are praying for good weather, or at least not the rainy days we have been having!!   Also, just a side note but we are already in party planning mode for Emma & Evan's 2nd birthday!!  Our theme this year is going to be "owls".  I won't get to have a theme much longer so while I still can...we are having one.  We already have the location, the date, the time, the guest list, and LOTS of decoration ideas, cake ideas, food ideas, clothing ideas & invitation ideas.  I know this isn't supposed to be as big as the 1st birthday and it won't be...but it will be just as fun planning.  More details to come on that as we continue to plan!!  Alright...that is it for tonight.  I have WAY to much to do to stay on this computer.  Hope everyone has a great night!!

A Day at the Zoo

Okay.  So, I know I have posted a lot lately but this will be it for a while.  Well, probably not because we will be heading to the beach next weekend...so that will be lots of post I am sure!!  We got up early this morning and headed to the zoo.  We were going rain or shine and thankfully while we were there the sun was shining!   Here are the pictures from our day!

For those of you who know Evan, know his favorite thing to say is "What's this"...so here he is asking that question.  We only heard it 10 million more times today! :)

The strollers went back to the car quite early.  Emma was more interested in them than the animals.  Buckling the straps will keep her entertained for quite a while!

Our first animal picture...the monkeys!

Walking around like a big boy taking it all in!

The lions.  The tiger was right next to the lions but wouldn't come out.  He was the only main animal we didn't get to see.

The ostrich and the zebras. 

The alligator.  I wasn't a fan of this little fella!

Evan feeding the giraffe it's lettuce like a champ.  He isn't afraid of any animals!

Up close and personal with that giraffe!

The turtles!

Emma loved to hang over the wall until an animal appeared!

The elephant!

Here are my two boys listening to the man talk about the elephant!

No words for this crazy animal!

The gorilla.  He has only been at Riverbank Zoo for 4 months!

The kangaroo.  We literally could have walked up and petted this one.  We actually got to go in where they keep them.  People were walking right by and they didn't mind at all. 

Emma wasn't coming any closer to that turkey!

Evan petting the cow.  He LOVES the cows at MaMa & PaPa's....so this was right up his alley!

 

The bears were wrestling with each other.  It was good entertainment!

We had to take a family photo before we left.  It was HOT by now.  We all were pretty gross & sweaty!

After the Zoo, we went to Rush's for lunch and then headed home.  We hadn't even made it back to the interstate and this is what we had....

One knocked out baby...

And another knocked out baby!!!



 It was such a fun day.  As soon as we got home...it started raining again...so we were back to being stuck inside.  We did manage to get he garage cleaned out this afternoon though!  The fish fry tonight was as YUMMY as always.   Emma & Evan both cleaned their plates!  They are my kids though and I am a HUGE fan of fish!   They both had a fun-filled day! They didn't even make a sound when we laid them down tonight.  I'm thinking we might get to sleep in a little later in the morning.  Justin will be glad since he didn't get in from fishing until 4:00 this morning!  But that's our life and we are loving every minute of it!!