Wow...it's been a busy summer!

So, I guess I've been busy since May?! TJ and Thomas' team finished the season UNDEFEATED...yea, that's right...our 7 & 8 year old Rec team went like 10-0! Pretty cool feat if you ask this proud Momma!

June consisted of Thomas being away for a few days at a coaching clinic; followed by art camp, and Vacation Bible School. Also sprinkle in a 6th ear infection for Miss Tanner, followed by a visit to the ENT, followed by surgery for tubes! The procedure went great, and Tanner did amazing.

Oh, and then TJ saw an eye Dr. to get some glasses! He looked so cute when he tried them on...can't wait to see how precious he will be when his pair come in! But, the cherry on top for June, was our vacation to Perdido Key, FL. We had a great time and the kids were wonderful! We played at the beach each morning, headed up to the condo for lunch, followed by some swimming in the afternoon, naps for babies, then dinner each night. We did all things beach, and nothing else! It was a lot of fun and we will definitely be visiting Perdido Key again next year!

We came home from vacation on the first of July. Went back to reality for 2 days, then went to the lake to celebrate the 4th of July with family!

TJ graduated to wearing only a ski belt and learned to dive!

Tristan learned to zip-sled!

And, sweet Tan just watched proudly! For us, school starts back the first full week in August, so we are trying to soak up the rest of the summer! Coming up next...football season...with 3 kids this year! YIKES!

Oops, HE did it again!

As you know, the warm weather is here...well, actually it never really got too cold this year! And warmer weather brings fun times outdoors, and baseball! I love baseball; I love to watch baseball games on T.V., in person, and even little league; I love watching atletic men in baseball pants too ;-) But, I especially love this little pair of baseball player and coach:

And, if they weren't so darn cute, then I would be rather irritated with the older one. He is coaching again, so I try to leave all of the baseball stuff up to him. However, yet again , he forgot to, failed to mention, didn't want to, was too cheap to get my sweet boy's picture taken again! He knows how much I love pictures, but acts like he completely forgot that his own son had picture day too! He gave me a sly smile and said, "I think the pictures you take turn out better anyway!" So, I said "Fine," (which should've clued him into how irritated I was). Then, before the next game I made them stand outside and take pictures...until I was happy! And they did...without fussing...and I actually got a few pretty good ones rather quickly, so I didn't get to make them suffer as long as I had hoped! But, I'm sure next sports season will roll around soon enough ;-)

Easter

I know it's about a month and a half past Easter, but I just loved these photos and couldn't resist sharing them! Thomas wasn't home for Easter this year, he went to the Master's with his Dad and brothers, so it was just us girls (and kids) for the weekend. We took the kids to our church Sonrise Celebration and Egg Hunt on Saturday morning.

The Easter Bunny came to see the kiddos. They were so excited...especially Tristan...another candy-filled holiday!

Once they were dressed, I rushed to get a good picture of all 3...before someone pooped on their clothes, rubbed candy in their hair, or rolled in dirt from somewhere!

TJ sang in the children's choir at church...so sweet (and funny) to watch them each year! After church, we headed to eat...however it was Easter Sunday, and we hadn't decided beforehand where we would go. And, winging it, wasn't a good idea! We ended up eating Mexican. Oh well, we had a good time anyway!

Once we returned home, I made the kids take some more pictures (what?! I didn't get any before church):

Tanner was napping while I took the outside photos, and by the time she woke up, the boys were probably running around half naked in the yard somewhere (yes, we live in Alabama). So, I took a few of Tanner in her dress.

Thanks be to God for all of our many blessings; most importantly His Son, Jesus Christ! He Has Risen Indeed!

PAYBACK...

is so much fun! Thomas turned 30 a month ago...on April 2nd. I'm really bad at keeping secrets, especially from Thomas, but I just had to do it! Mostly, I had to do it because he thought I couldn't pull off a surprise party without him finding out...but I did! Since Tristan's birthday is 2 days before Thomas', I was able to use that to my advantange so I wouldn't have to tell too many little lies to get him where I wanted him to be. I did have to sneak phone numbers out of his phone after he had gone to bed one night, but other than that, it really wasn't that difficult! It was so great to have our families there and quite a few of Thomas' local friends and coaches showed up too. Thanks to all who made his 30th memorable!

It was FUN, but I think it will be a while before I try that again!

Mayhem is 2!

We celebrated Tristan's birthday with a "Just Like Cam (Newton)" Party, since Cam was #2 at Auburn.

I feel like Tristan has been causing Mayhem for much longer than 2 short years, but I guess time flies when you are cleaning up mess, after mess, after mess...that's the saying right?! I absolutely love the chaos he causes in our life. He's so full of personality: sweet, with a little devil on his right shoulder! He's always entertaining, whether it be his infectious dimpled filled giggles, or the hysterics he displays while flailing his body on the floor after everytime he gets told "No!" I love the way his little voice sounds (when he's not whinning). How he uses a "p" in place of an "f" for all words that start with an "f": pish, pinger, peet, pace...all are my favorite! And, speaking of "p" words and the #2, I am thinking Potty training isn't too far off in the future! He definitely is aware of when he needs to go! I have a picture of what occurred in my house last night, but I've chickened out and don't think I want to share such a sight! But, Tristan came out of his room and told his Daddy that he had poopooed. So, Thomas changed him, and they immediately left to pick up TJ from church. About an hour later, I sent TJ to his room to get ready for bed...and of course Tristan followed. Where Tristan goes, I must follow to make sure he isn't painting the carpet purple (like we found him doing during nap time on Sunday), or coloring on the walls with crayons, or pulling every.single.wipe. out of the container to clean up such messes! So, I make it to the hall and come upon what appears to be a LARGE pile of dog crap on my floor...and it looks like it has been stepped in...so my eyes follow the crap prints through their carpeted (white) bedroom! So, first I was trying to figure out how our dog, who is known to perform stunts of her own, opened the gate outside, let herself in the back door, crapped on my floor, and let herself back out and into the cage! Once I realized that was ridiculous, I yelled "Who pooped on the floor?!" Everyone denied it...except Mayhem...when I asked him if he pooped on the floor, he said "Yep." I'm still baffled how he managed that, considering he was fully clothed...at all times??? But, nevertheless, I'm buying a potty today! Can't wait for more excitement from our Monkey in the Middle!

Nothing like a Friday Morning...

with Mayhem!


Intially he started with a spoon and empty popcorn bucket...

Mayhem: "Mommy feed Sissy. Titan (Tristan) make mess!"



Mayhem: "Daddy, Sawee (Sorry) Mommy no keen up!"



One more thing: Mayhem-ette in the making?

A Reason to Celebrate

So, last week was my 31st birthday...and we celebrated...a lot. We went to dinner with my favorite in-laws on Tuesday night. Went to my mom's house for a delicious home-cooked dinner and cake (Death by Chocolate...yummy) Wednesday night. My sweet husband arranged for my mom to watch the kids so we could have a grown-up birthday dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant on Thursday night. And then, the best part, I got to spend an entire weekend with only the Hubs! We just relaxed on the sunny, sandy beach, ate lunch, ate dinner, read books, and ate some more.


But, mostly we celebrated good news! No, I'm NOT pregnant again! At the end of February, just when I thought our family may have made it through all of our sicknesses, I found a large lump in the front of my throat. I immediately knew that whatever it was, was growing on my thyroid. Of course, it happened to be late on a Friday afternoon when I noticed it so I couldn't get in to see a Dr. until Monday afternoon.
If you look closely at my neck, you can see that my right side is swollen in this circus picture.

After an agonizingly long weekend of worrying, while trying to put on a happy face at the circus and our sweet daughter's baby dedication, I made it to my appointment. They immediately ran a CBC to rule out possible lymphoma, which they did. Then, the Dr. came in to examine me. She confirmed that I had a large growth of some sort on my thyroid. She tried to calm me down a little by telling me that thyroid cancer is rare, but was a possibility. Then, of course again, came the waiting game. I had to go back the next morning for a thyroid blood test, and then they immediately sent me over to the hospital to have an ultrasound. After sitting in the waiting room full of cancer patients, laying on the hospital gurney during the ultrasound, trying to make out what I was seeing on the screen, the ultrasound tech came back in and said the radiologist said it appeared to be a cyst. "Ok, that could mean a lot of different things...so???" She said if he thought it was cancerous they would've done a biopsy then and there. I immediately broke down with relief. They set me up with an ENT for the next week. The ENT had reviewed my case, but wanted to perform his own ultrasound. The right side of my thyroid was extremely swollen with the cyst, but my left side appears normal. He still wanted to perform a biopsy to confirm that it was for sure benign. So, he numbed my throat, told me not to swallow, or breathe, and stuck a 3" needle in the front of my neck...TWICE! He drained the cyst as much as he could with the 2 needles. It didn't hurt, but felt really strange, almost like pressure on the inside. Thankfully, the biopsy did come back benign!!! So, for now, they are just going to watch it closely.

That kind of thing sure can put into perspective what's really important in life. And, I'm trying to keep that perspective in my everyday!

Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace. (NKJV)