Our two sons...

Mommy forgot his little sun hat while on a trip to the waterpark. So... mommy made a "do" rag out of a burp cloth. Hey, it worked. (:

Mommy's sneaky attempt to wake Parker. Just let the cute baby brother do it.
(although, he was far more interested in the trucks on the pillowcase than interrupting big brother's beauty sleep.)

Family Pool day

Rachel, Mommy, Forest

Forest, getting a tan. OK, no not really, it was shady in that spot. (:

Once again, Forest gets a financial lesson. That child will handle money better than all of us one day.

He liked the floatie for a little bit. It really isn't that comfortable. Plus, I kept having to reposition him to keep him in the shade. So, it wasn't that fun... looks fun though.

I can still dive.

Parker, looking so handsome. Really, how did he get so big?

Catching up...

Here are some photos from our vacation and road trip to the East Coast.

It truly was one of the greatest trips we have taken.

Tim with the kids in downtown Boston. I love this picture. Doesn't he look SO handsome?

The kids and I resting at a table in one of the little huts at Plymouth. Man, it was hot! Or, maybe I was just really pregnant...

This was John Adams house. The one he built next to the one he was born in. It's so funny, because if you read the book, it was way out in the country. But, now it is in the middle of town. Not far from there is Peacefield... where he and Abigail retired. We went there too.

This was the little beach across the road from the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at on Cape Cod. It was really amazing. Very friendly, well appointed, excellent yard for the kids to explore and very private from the road so we felt like we were tucked away and the kids were safe. It is not "for kids" really though. There are no children under 10 allowed. We just convinced them that Parker was exceptional for an 8 year old. They agreed.

This was on the Nina, Pinta or the Santa Maria. Can't remember which one.

This was a cozy little restaurant at one of the hotels we stayed at. It was right on the James River. Very cool. I had never seen a river so big that I couldn't see the other side. (I know, just call me an Okie.) I HAVE seen the ocean though. 2 of them in fact. (:

This is me with the kids at Monticello in front of the vineyard. Notice Forest was on this vacation too.

Who is that little gentleman carrying his mothers ton of a purse? This was downtown Boston. Tim's old stomping grounds. We loved it!

Ballet

I just realized that long ago I said I would be posting about Rachel's ballet workshop and their performance. But, I haven't. The reason is, we have a great video of it, but I can't seem to figure out how to get it onto my blog. My husband could probably help me do this, but he has no time. (He did yesterday but I didn't want to ask him on his birthday.) So, hopefully, sometime, I will get it on here for you to watch. It really is impressive. Even the parts without my daughter in them. ( :
She did lovely for her first time en pointe. Watching ballet that close up was very impressive. You could see the incredible exertion of energy. The controlled breathing, the beads of sweat. Wow. It truly is HARD. Very interesting. If my daughter isn't in it, usually it is like watching paint dry to me, but I am developing a new appreciation for the sport of it. Not quite as exciting as gymnastics, but still...

I'll try to at least get some photos of her in her new pointe shoes for ya...

Help!

If my publishing time is correct, you will notice that it is 3:41 a.m. My sweet little boy has turned into a roly-poly and now, I can't sleep. He turns over in all kinds of manners through the night and I am scared silly that he is going to bury his face in his sheet...

He hasn't so far. I keep checking on him. I roll him over to his back. I go back in and there he is on his tummy. He's stubborn. I wouldn't worry so much but "they say" it is most dangerous for an infant who has ALWAYS slept on their back to all of a sudden sleep on their stomach. UGH! So, how do I keep him from sleeping on his stomach?? Short of staying up all night???

Help!

Dern! I wish I was funny...

I really do. Then I could blog and blog and blog and people would flock from all over cyber land to read it. (: But, alas, I am not. And, I like others am just running around like a crazy mommy trying to make my kids have fun this summer. That really doesn't create a ton of blog posts unless you would like endless photos of the kids in the pool. I do have a fun photo of Forest trying to slap Parker and wake him up that I will be posting soon so stay tuned. 

I am getting really excited to actually go purchase school supplies from a list that someone other than me made up. That should be really fun. I love "back to school" time. So much so that even when we were preparing to home school each year, we still bought school supplies for fun! Until the list comes out and we can go "school shopping" we will just continue with our, wake up, exercise, swim, go to dance, piano, math tutoring or whatever daily routine. I sure will miss these days come August 12th. (sigh)

Oh, sadness, the little sweet boy is wimpering over the monitor. Please don't wake up. Please. On the other hand, I could use a cuddle. hmmm...

Good night all.

Some Summer Photos

It is so cute when he gets that little wrinkled brow thing going on. He looks just like his daddy. I just love it. I'm not sure what was going on here...

Such a sweet moment on the back porch between bubby and sissy. He just adores her and Parker. I am so glad he has them for role models.

Forest has begun sitting on his own now. He still isn't great at it, but good enough for a picture. He is getting such a little personality. It delights me to see how much he loves his daddy and sissy and bubby. I expect that he would cheer at the sight of mommy... I am the food source. But, to see his little eyes brighten and his smile light up when ANY of us come near, it is just priceless. I love him dearly and can't imagine this family without him.
Well, as I type, he is crying in his crib so I will go now...

Wisdom from Bono...

Photos from my relaxing day...

Forest and I swam together for a little while. He never seems to want to look at the camera. That annoying little red coupe floatie was following me around everywhere. I think he really wanted that cute baby to ride in him!

Courtney was enjoying the hammock. So much so in fact, I don't think she knows I took this picture. ( : Notice the hot tub in the background. It was very warm so I did not get in. But Kipplyn and Courtney enjoyed it.

Kip holding Forest. Don't show Lily, she'll be jealous. ( :

Paradise... Thanks to the Shankle's we got to relax in their paradise for a day. What a blessing.

My good friends Courtney and Kipplyn.
It may have been only a day, (OK, and 2 nights) but, it was well worth the drive. The drive home was another story but I'll save that for the end. I really enjoyed getting to know Courtney better. We got to talk for 2 hours there and back. ( I enjoyed it, I hope she did.) We got there and headed straight for Shoguns. When I told Courtney on the way that they had a new one in Fayetteville, I thought she was going to cry. Little did I know that it was her favorite restaurant! So, we made a plan to go. It was interesting with Lily and Forest. They did pretty well considering we had to wait almost half an hour before our chef showed up. I nursed him in the restroom. I'm getting good at balancing on the side of a public potty and nursing. Not my favorite, but it works. We ate WAY too much food and then headed home. We stayed up until 11 just talking away. It was nice. Then the next day, believe it or not... Forest slept until 8 a.m. He's never done that before or since but it was very nice of him to do it on the day when I could stay in bed too! We relaxed and ate breakfast and talked, and talked. We did swim a little, as you saw in the pictures. Then, I made Tim's amazing salsa. Well, really, we all made it since Forest was freaked out by the noise that the chopper made and kept crying. So, I had to have help. It was very yummy. Later, we made dinner. Mahi-Mahi, sweet potatoes, and salad with Courtney's home made dressing... YUM! It was an impressive meal I must say. Once the babies were asleep, we headed up to the theatre room and watched "High School Musical" on the big screen while eating cookies and chips and salsa. WOW. Heaven. Just reliving it makes me feel relaxed and happy. That's good, since, Saturday morning was the beginning of the "real world". It was "rush rush" so that I could get back in town for Rachel's ballet performance on pointe. Also, Courtney had to get back for Jackson's birthday party. So, we climbed in the van already running late and Forest began to cry almost immediately. He has never really done that so I really thought he would stop once we got going... but,(ahem)... no. So, after a while, I pulled over on a little country road and nursed him. There, that should do it. (cough) no. So... I let Courtney drive and I jumped in the back to hold his hand and comfort him.(she needed mini-van driving experience anyway.)That seemed to do the trick. He slept for about 45 minutes,then cried again for the whole rest of the ride. Isn't that nice? What a peaceful weekend. Also, it poured rain for a good deal of the drive. Fun. Then, to top it off, we stopped for gas because it takes alot of gas to get from Fayetteville to Bartlesville and back. Courtney was nice enough to pump for me so I could stay with Forest. (nickname: Fussy pants) Apparently, the machine didn't take our card, but we thought it did. Is it supposed to let you pump gas if it doesn't accept your credit card??? Anyway, the gas station attendant came chasing after us as we were driving away. "HEY! IT DIDN'T TAKE YOUR CARD!!!" Oh, oops. Sorry. ( : So, I had to run in (in the rain) and pay. That would have topped the day off to have the police pull us over for stealing gas. You have to just laugh. So we did. We finally made it home. whew! Thanks for being a good sport Courtney and not stressing too bad over running so late. It was a great weekend.