Maiden Voyage

The weather finally cooperated and we were able to get out for a boat ride yesterday. This picture below of the two kids is just fantastic and it makes me smile looking at it. I can hardly believe that we have two kids and that they are old enough to be in these life jackets, walking around the boat snacking up a storm. It is just wonderful!

I have to dig it out, but I have a very similar picture of Seth in this same life jacket when he was about 2 going on Aunt Sheryl's boat for the first time. He was so much chubbier and could not even move his neck in it though.

Our captain trying to get his sea legs!

I enjoyed every moment out there in the fresh air and water!

It was a tough call, when we sat in the sun it was warm and when we got going it was chilly so we kept putting on and taking off our sweatshirts. We stopped at one point and had a little picnic lunch.

Seth looks so funny with his coat over his life jacket!

Beaner!

This is how Seth took his nap after his afternoon on the lake. Right smack in the middle of our bed with no pillow or blankets. When I woke him up at 4:45 he was still exhausted and super grouchy!

Saturday night was Justin's official farewell dinner. He flipped through my recipe binder and picked out each part of the meal that he wanted, Tom bought all the ingredients and I cooked it all. Since the weather was crappy we had the dinner at our house so the kids had their toys and such. It was super delicious and so much fun. We were all so stuffed! Justin's menu included pepperoni bread, taco pie and a dessert called Rocky Road Delight.

I went back through pictures from the entire year that Justin was home and had a collage made for him to take to Florida with him.
Leah was in play mode!

After we stuffed ourselves silly we could hardly get off the couch.

We still have one more big meal together as a family on Tuesday night as Mom and Tom will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. I am planning a special surprise dinner for them!They know about the dinner, but not the menu, it is top secret!

Choo Choo Soul

Many thanks go out to our wonderful family that helped Choo Choo Soul happen. Thank you to Tom for getting us the tickets once again, the seats were amazing as always! Thank you to Justin for watching Leah while we were all at the show. Thank you to Ro for getting Seth back stage passes and being able to meet Genevieve and DC. Seth had such a fantastic afternoon. Of course my camera only works half the time so the picture of Seth with Choo Choo Soul came out blurry. ugh!

He thought he was pretty cool getting to meet them!
He and Daddy got to the concert before us and had some snacks!

Then Seth got to see some of his buddies and some of his friends from school.

Thank you Poppy for the amazing tickets!

At first Seth just sang and danced from his seat, but once he got comfortable watch out he was gone!

He then moved out into the aisle next to Ro.

But, that wasn't quite good enough so he moved right up in front of the stage and danced his heart out for one hour.

After the show he was able to see DC and Genevieve once again.

Out of all the shows we have seen and we have seen a bunch now, this ranks right up top. It was great!

Happy Retirement!

Friday night I went to my first retirement party in the ten years that I have worked for TI. It wasn't that I didn't love all of the previous retirees, but it never worked out that I could go before. So the retirement party was at Maggie's on Friday night and it was super fun to get to chat and have some cocktails with people I work with, but hardly every see let alone get to gab for hours with. Let me tell you our conversations were colorful and not the type of stuff we would talk about in the faculty room. We all had tons of laughs and I think that we all needed it after another year! Bonnie Perkins, our speech teacher is retiring and one of her favorite sayings is, "Oh, my aching ass!" so they made her a special gift to remind her of that.

Then we had some fun with the gift!
Here are some of the ladies I am lucky enough to work with. We keep each other sane and smiling!

PS~ I think I ate my weight in Bang Bang Shrimp at Maggie's Friday night too!

Video Pick Me Up

BFFs & Bathtime

Last night we went to Kristen's for the most delicious dinner (thank you soooo much!) and after dinner we decided to give the girls a bath together for the first time. Since Lindsey can now sit up on her own (way to go Linds!) it was the perfect opportunity and photo opportunity!

Look at the big girl in Leah's bath seat!
Leah thought that Kristen's tub was the best and she was all smiles.

I had to worst time getting them to both look at me at the same time and my camera was also so slow.

Always the little helper!

Someday we will look back at all of these pics and wonder how they were ever so little, but for now they can stay little for as long we possible because we are enjoying every minute of it. Totally checking each other out.

Love it!

Just let me touch you Beaner I need to check you out!

Thank you Kristen for the most delicious meal, left over take out containers and for the God Father's Day gift for Roland. We love you all!

Savoring the Last Weeks

In a little less than 2 weeks we will have to say farewell, see you soon and good luck to one of our favorite people. He isn't just an uncle and a brother, but so much more. We have so many laughs and good times with Justin that it will be extremely sad to not see him daily any longer. If you know me at all you know that I'm not so good with change and I have struggled with it my whole life. I could deal with 2 hours away when Justin was in college, but now he will be 7 states away and many many hours. It will be quite an adjustment for us all, but we know that it is for the best and that he will do wonderful. Plus, it gives us a chance to go and visit and an excuse for a weekend away for me at some point in the next 3 years while he is there!

Leah gets so excited when she sees Justin and she runs right up to him now!
Seth and Uncle J play dinosaurs as well as hide and seek all the time.

Kisses!

I will miss you more than you will know!

Playing hide and seek and Justin is counting.

Then Leah sneaks up and tackles him.

Beaner with Daddy!

Of course we played a little Just Dance and Leah was in awe. She even busted out a few of her own moves!

Disco Fever!

I'm sure I will have a ton more pictures on here between now and the 19th because we have all sorts of fun things planned. Today Justin is picking up Seth at school, tomorrow he is driving to Clayton and we are doing lunch, Saturday is the big farewell meal, next Tuesday is Mom and Tom's 20th wedding anniversary dinner and who knows what else we can cram in!

Happy 5th Birthday Owen!

I think that my camera is starting to die because as you will see some of the pictures are blurry with a fully charged battery so I may have to get a new camera. I apologize for some of the funky pictures. Anyhow, Seth went to a birthday party of a friend from Pam's. His name is Owen and he turned 5. Seth was more than excited to be invited because Owen is his favorite friend at Pam's and because his days at Pam's with his friends are coming to an end. :(

I was more than proud of Seth's behavior at the party. He was such a good listener with the firemen and I didn't have to speak t him at all!
I am so bummed that Seth had his eyes closed in this picture.

Seth's buddies from Pam's; Mattox, Owen and Brody.

What a great idea for a party! The boys were all in heaven!

Cleaning

Once the rain cleared and the sun came out on Saturday we headed to the boat to do some cleaning. Before we had the cover made for it it sat outside uncovered for part of the fall and part of the spring so needless to say it needed to be vacuumed and scrubbed down. Unfortunately it was way too windy and rough to get out for a ride that day. We are very hopeful for this upcoming week and weekend.

Leah and Seth wanted to play with all the buttons and switches so Roland had to take them back to the mainland while I cleaned.

Keep the sun and the warmth coming because we are just about ready to get out there!