a boy and his birthday

I am not sure how it is physically possible for Mason to have turned 3 since he was just born yesterday, but he has. To celebrate the beginning of year 3, instead of having a party, this year we took Mason and his boy Bradley to "a jumpy place." M and Bradley have a history. They have maybe, purely speculation here, once or three times attempted to make Bradley's bathroom a "swimin' pool." These two are ALL boy and know how to get their fun on! They love all things cars, balls, and well, wrestling. Here's a little sample.
Don't be fooled by this...

Both boys going for the ball...

Mason gets to the ball...

Bradley wants the ball...

No ball in site. It's on...

And the take down...

Just a day in the life with these two. I mean, is there really a better way to celebrate your third birthday than at "the jumpy place" with an intense game of tackle basketball?

Check out the video here.

Quote of the Day

P: Mom, I need you to read all of this.

M: What is it Peyt?

P: It's a 'funraiser' for school. Our school needs money. But it's not really for fun, it's for real. So I don't really know why they call it that.

Labor Day Visitors

This year Ryan's granddad and his wife stopped in to see us for a bit. They were making their way back to Georgia and stopped in for a quick visit and some dinner. I am so glad they live relatively close to us. We just love 'em to pieces! We chatted and played with the kids, and then they took us for burgers at Five Guys. Dinner always tastes so much better when you don't make it yourself, don't you think?

Papa Don and Grandma Ruth--Thanks so much for stopping to see us. Please come back when you can stay longer! We love you!


And here is a little sample of what it's like to get M to cooperate for pics.

the good ol' days

P has had it in her head for a while that she wanted to have a lemonade stand in our neighborhood to earn enough money to buy an ipod. You know, those lemonade stands bring in the BIG bucks! So, when her cousin was here, she enlisted her help and set up shop.

This is the set up... This just cracks me up--the tip jar with a label stating how much to tip and the sign with 50 cents with the line through it and the gigantic 25. Oh bless 'em!


Here they are ready for some payin' customers...


And then the celebration after their first sale!

Love these girls!!

It's the first day of the 2nd grade!

And she's off! This year we had family in town for P's first day of school, so she got lots of first day hugs and also was chauffeured to school by her dad and uncle scotty. What a treat for a little girl on her first day of school!



Blessings my little school-goer. Let your light shine!

West Coast Peeps

The first week in August Ryan's brother and his wife and their two kids flew in for a week. We always have a great time with them and love getting to see the kids together. P and Sadie are five months apart and M and Braden are eight months apart. For the most part, they did great together!
It was of course typical weather for August...sweat, hot, humid, and mosquitos. But we made the most of it and had lots of fun and laughs. Already looking forward to the next visit.

Can I get a whoop whoop for 2nd grade!?

It's that time of year again... August in these parts means it's time for kids to head back to school, and that includes our little P. As you know, our annual tradition is a back to school date with P--just her, myself, and her Daddy. Nick and ML watch the boy for us. And let me tell you, these days, that is no easy feat.
I love doing these dates with her. She can be such a pleasure to be with and since there is also a little brother in the picture, we don't always get to spend a lot of one-on-one time with her; not to mention she always chooses Olive Garden for dinner. My girl knows good food!
The list this year was a lot like the one last year. We were able to recycle some supplies from last year and also got to stock up on some new things for this year. We took a couple of pics before heading out for our night on the town...