Did somebody order a White Trash straight-up? Oh yeah, we did.

Did everybody have a good July 4th? We sure did. We had Ben's sister, Tara, & her family in town for the weekend. For the festivities, we had a neighborhood bike parade for the kids, pool time, yummy food, & of course, fireworks at the end of the night. The first half of this post are pictures from the parade. The second half is what we like to call our "White Trash Tennessee 4th". You got a little preview of this frenzy in the above picture. Sexy, isn't it. I'll warn you before those pictures come across your screen. A warning is the least of what you'll need after you see those photos. Be thinking hard liquor.
Let's skedaddle:

Levi in the race car, about to enter the parade.


All the kids at the starting line of the parade. Lincoln on his scooter, Clara & Wyatt in the orange off-roader, & Levi in the race car.








Mom & Levi:








Here's Aunt Tara, Uncle Cliff, Wyatt & Clara:


Here we are, having our July 4th Dinner. Brisket, baked beans, & coleslaw. Yum! Then for dessert, cupcakes & pie. Love it.


Here's Ben's invention of filling up water balloons. This little contraption allows 6 people to blow up water balloons at the same time. Genius, I tell you. Genius!


Here's sweet Levi getting in on the water balloon action. This was before all the shirts were taken off.












Here's Ben getting Wyatt over the head. Yesss. Action shot.






Can you really get any more All-American than this? I don't think so. (see Nascar race car in the background)



What you are about to see is not pretty. I'm not gonna lie to you all. This means that the following pictures will be totally redneck, shirts will be off, bellies will be bared, fireworks will be thrown, & all that's missing are a few Nat Lite cans strewn about our front yard.

Here's Mr. White Trash himself. Why is he outside without a shirt on, while lighting fireworks? Your guess is as good as mine. He was also talking in a backwoods-country accent the entire night. Hot.




Here's Cliff. He had a shirt on, until he realized that he was the only male in the group that was wearing one.


Annnnd, the shirt comes off.


Notice the boxers sticking up out of the shorts. I can't decide if this is funny or just plain obnoxious. Discuss.


So there it is, our July 4th Celebration with our family. As you can see, we had such a great time, we laughed HARD much of the time, & enjoyed every minute. It was hilarious, joyful, & full of celebration.
More next time,
xoxo

Summer Fun.

It's been a long time since I've posted anything new! Well, put on your glasses folks because there's several pictures of the boys having fun. I rarely have the time to pull out the camera to start snapping photos, but tonight as we were all on the front porch, I was able to get some really good ones of the boys. And it is so indicative of their personalities. Let's get shakin'...

The past couple weeks, Levi has been wanting to wear swimming goggles all the time. He just puts them on & starts running. He runs more than any child I know.

Just chillin' in the goggs.


Look at them teeth!


He even wrestles with them on, but before he pounced on Lincoln, he muttered to himself, "hold on...lemme just...there!" And that was him moving the goggles up on his head so he could fully see & concentrate forcing his entire body weight upon Lincoln's back. Hence the tears from Lincoln...


"Dooood...you OK?"


Darlin'.


Bros.


Now here is what happened tonight. We put on the sprinkler & Lincoln ran right into, without missing a beat. Levi, on the other hand, was cautious & when he did finally strip down to his skivvies, he thought long & hard about it. Then once the water hit him, he screamed bloody murder & couldn't figure out how to get back to the front porch where it was dry. Check these out. PURE TERROR.






"Seriously. This is not fun."


"No, really...seriously."


And here we go, Mr. Linc-Man. Quite the opposite of cautious. Lincoln is a do-er, where as Levi is more of a watcher. PURE JOY.







And here's the sweetest boy of all.


til next time...

Welcome the 2 new additions to our family!

Hi guys! Long time no talk.
Lincoln has been wanting to get a pet fish the past few months, & so yesterday was the big day. We had been discussing different names, colors, & genders, so by the time we got to the fish store, he pretty much knew what he wanted. I couldn't very well get Lincoln a fish without getting Levi one, so each boy got his own fish. We decided on one blue fish (Lincoln's) & one pink/orange fish (Levi's). Lincoln decided on the name MANGO for his; Levi wanted KIWI for his. Here the sweet fish are...

MANGO:


KIWI:


And these next 2 photos are just a reveal of what I get to see every day in my every day life. I'm in love with this boy...is he not totally looking like a boy & not a toddler anymore?? I feel like his baby fat is falling off him crazy fast. I'm not sure I'm ready for it.



And here we are in the helmet stage...he wants to wear his helmet all the time...eating, sitting watching TV, in the car, shopping, etc. I can't get enough of this kid.



I hope y'all are all feelin' the love like I am this summer. I'm loving the pool, swimming, getting sun, & laughing my head off at my boys...
Until next time,

Summer has started!

Hi friends!
I know I haven't updated in several days; sorry about all the delay. I know there are people & family from out of town who read this blog, so I will update you on the flood front. Nashville had a terrible flood. Durrrr. Fortunately, our home was not harmed in any way due to all the water. Unfortunately, there are thousands of families who are in a much different place. So many houses have been destroyed & have severe water damage. Watching the news coverage every day is sad in many many ways. We are thankful for God's provision during this horrible disaster, & also praying for God's provision to be laid upon other families who are dealing with life-changing circumstances.

In other news, our summer officially started the day after the flood. Lincoln's school was damaged severely, so they cancelled school for the rest of the year. This was very upsetting (on many different levels). It was hard telling Lincoln that he would not go back to school & see his friends. He didn't quite understand it, & still doesn't really. Secondly, he didn't get to say good-bye to any of his great buddies, & there was really no closure there. Again, not much understanding in his sweet little head. And thirdly, I was expecting 2 more weeks of school for him, & had not even begun to wrap my head around the concept of SUMMER, i.e. planning, scheduling, arranging VBS weeks, filling our days with events, etc. So this threw me for a huge loop, to say the very least. But hey, it is what it is.

Thankfully, we had a huge party with all of his pre-K friends this past week at a classmate's house, & the kids had a ball. Then yesterday, we had their "End of the Year Pre-K Show". This was a huge deal, as there was a big slide show, we got all of his school projects, & we saw what they had been working on this semester. I cried a lot during that. A lot. Let's just leave it at that & be dunzo.
Lincoln has been working on a lot of scripture memory verses, & he has done awesome. Yesterday we heard the entire class recite verse after verse, sing song after song, & act out the story of David & Goliath. It was a really sweet time, seeing what the Lord has done in those little hearts. So thankful.

Here are some pictures of our day:

Levi waiting for his big brother to come onstage:


Lincoln waiting side stage for their big entrance:


Walking in with his music teacher, Ms. Laura:


Lincoln on his "team" The Philistines.


Singing one of their many songs:


This is Lincoln walking up for his "solo." He had to say, "9 feet 9 inches tall! That's impossible!" Precious.


The Philistines pointing & laughing at the Israelites.






So excited about the songs...


Hi Mom!




Sword fighting with balloon swords...what a dream.




Lincoln & I having cookies & lemonade in the fellowship hall after the show.


Ben & I are leaving for Las Vegas next week for a full week of sun, fun, reading out by the pool, jet-skiing, shows, & relaxing. We are soooo excited!!
Hope you guys have a fun beginning to your summer.
Talk to ya.

spoke too soon...

...that's what I did. Spoke too soon & I jinxed the whole thing.
I walked down the stairs this afternoon during 'Lincoln Time' (Lincoln's time to play by himself, watch TV, read books, do crafts, etc.) to find him sucking his left thumb. His right thumb is currently in the T-Guard. We thought he was a one-thumb-sucking-man. But apparently we were gravely mistaken. I sat down on the couch next to a very guilty look. I asked him point blank..."Lincoln, are you sucking your other thumb?" He said to me questioningly, "No?..." I saw the moisture on his thumb so I knew this was a lie. Before I could even get the words out, he said to me, "YES! OK, yes. I am sucking my other thumb. I'm sorry." I said, "I need to go get the other T-Guard so both of your thumbs can be tied in." He said, "Oh shucks!!....(another moment's thought)...OK go get it, Momma." The second T-Guard went on without fail or complaint. What's happening here?! He wants to quit so badly, but we're going at a snail's place, I tell you. SNAIL'S. PACE.
Last week he said, "Momma, we're gonna kick this bad habit...we really are!" Precious, but I'm not sure how true. I'm still optimistic because I know he really wants to quit, but I'm looking ahead to an orthodontic appliance. Just sayin', come on.
Here's to another couple weeks of not sucking either thumb & to him truly "kickin' that bad habit"!!
until our next dentist appointment,