I'm All Swimmed Out

I had a double dose of swimtime today, and I don't swim much to begin with! Aiden had swim lessons this morning at the Y. Normally it's his special thing with daddy, but Todd was busy roofing my mom and dad's house, so I got to fill in. We had a blast. They play all kinds of cute water games to teach them different aspects of swimming. Aiden would make me put my chin in the water too and blow bubbles and then tell me how good I was doing. I was cracking up. When we were in the locking room afterwards, he had to potty and I told him great job. When I sat down to potty he asked me what I was doing and I said I had to go too. He said, "Give me a five, mom." I guess he thinks I'm going through the learning process with him. He's been in underwear for a few days now and is doing great. (We didn't mess with any of it on our two trips, not worth it!) He doesn't want to wear pull ups at all. The only downside is that he is still pooping in the underwear. NOT FUN for mommy and daddy! He promised me he won't do it anymore and says, "I pwomise, I only poop in white toilet!" Edited to add: He pooped in the potty today....I did everything short of back flips to show him how excited I was!

After an early lunch, all 5 of us went swimming at Indian Mounds Pool. It was a pefect day for a swim, the water felt refreshing. I actually got my hair wet. (gasp!) I had so much fun going down the water slides with Noah and playing with the boys in the water. Noah and Drew went off and did all the water slides and diving boards. Noah had no fear at all. It's hard to believe it's the same boy that was afraid to get his face splashed a few months ago. I loved just floating in the water watching them have fun. I got me a little sun, a little exercise, and some fun memories with my family. Yep, a good day.

Vacation #2

We returned Friday afternoon from Vacation #2. Todd parents took us and his brother down to the Ozarks (Osage Beach) for 3 nights. We had a wonderful time but after all the traveling, it sure is good to get back to our own beds, bathrooms, routines, etc!! We stayed in the most gorgeous 3 bedroom condo down there. It was beautiful. Here's the view of the lake from our deck.

Here's some of the kitchen, living room area.
It had a cool splash play area for the kids and a lazy river. The boys LOVED it.
There was also this beautiful zero entry pool with a waterfall.


The boys liked swimming back behind the waterfall and sitting on the bench back there.
This was part of the lazy river.

You can't walk past these crazy wooden stand-ups and not pose!We did go-karts 2 nights in a row. Drew was able to drive at the one place with an adult and at one of the other places, he got to drive by himself. It was very hard for old mom to see her big guy driving a go cart around the track all by himself. He did very well though, I have to say I was impressed. Uncle Scott teased him quite a bit though!

After attempting to go to Fantasy World Caverns and discovering they were closed, we hit Bridal Caves. It was fun (and very cool!). We're big cave lovers. Here Aiden posed in one area of the cave.

Can you see what Drew is pointing at?? Yep, we had to walk right under that BAT to go down one of the tunnels in the cave. Blech.

We hit Miner Mike's one day. They have a HUGE maze/play area, mini bumper cars, a little roller coaster and mini ferris wheel as well as tons of cool arcade games. The boys were in heaven. Here Noah snags the front seat of the roller coaster.
Aiden on his first roller coaster ride. Drew is trying to avoid getting his pictures taken in the back seat. He hates the camera these days.
We all know Aiden is addicted to lions. We passed this place that sold giant sculptures and they had 3 different lions so we let him pose with them all. In this picture, Todd took off his shirt, thinking he would look more cool and manly posing on the lion. Aiden was pretty excited.

You have to watch this video if you want a good laugh. Todd's brother Scott was playing the "Milk Bessie" game. You had "milk" each one as it lit up. Scott took it pretty seriously and was very intent. I laughed until I cried.



We were at an ice cream place and they had music playing on the loudspeaker. Aiden just started dancing to it and we were cracking up.



Last but not least, video of Aiden on his first roller coaster ride!

I miss my email!

We're vacationing in the Ozarks with Todd's family and are loving it!! I just can't access my email and it's making me crazy. I'm on my FIL's work laptop so it won't let you access most sites. Lucky for me, I can keep up on my blogs!! Aiden is napping right now, all the other males are out playing putt-putt (one thing I don't care for so don't mind hanging out here with a sleeping Aiden) and my MIL is snoring on the couch! LOL It's a peaceful afternoon. We went to Bridal Cave this morning and everyone enjoyed that. I have so many amazing pictures from this trip also. We'll be back Friday in time for Noah's last t-ball game so hopefully I'll be able to post this weekend. I have so many stories. Vacationing with this family is like the Griswold's times 3! Not that vacationing with my family is much saner! :)

Florida Trip

I don't even know where to begin! Our trip down was very nice. The boys did so well in the car. It was so fun to spend time with my best friend and her family. We even got to have a cookout at her house and all of her siblings and parents came.We all grew up together next door to each other and when I was in 5th grade they moved to FL. We've stayed close all these years and I believe we are the closest we've ever been. Being with all of her family was like a flashback to childhood. Many many good memories with them. Dianna and I also hit every scrapbook place in the area and I scored me some new goodies. I can't wait to make a book about this trip. We hit a Krispy Creme, the mall, Macaroni Grill, Chick fil a, the beach, so many fun places to write about and over 500 pictures. I'll just touch on some highlights with a few of my favorite pictures for now.


We stopped in southern Mississippi to get gas and I saw this sign on the gas station door. I'm used to the sign "No shirt, no shoes, no service". I'm guessing they have more of a problem with pants here.

We spent two different days at Pensacola Beach and had the most perfect weather. We went when it was either overcast or not very hot. It was perfect beach weather....not too hot, a light breeze, perfect water temp, and not too many jellyfish!

Dianna found this baby sand dollar. I put it next to my wedding ring to show you how small it is. Isn't it so cute??
I became one of Mallory's new best friends and I don't think Aiden liked that too much. She is such a doll and so is her sister Delaney. It was nice having some girls to play with!!
I've decided Aiden and Mallory are "frenemies". They weren't friends, they weren't enemies. They just had a strange love/hate relationship. It was kind of funny and also kind of frustrating. They fought and made up like an old married couple. Here they are actually getting along.
I love Noah's mirror reflection in this one.

Aiden, ever the onry one. He's throwing sand which was a no-no. Luckily Noah is standing plenty far away.

We got to see a guy reel in a shark on his fishing pole. It took him over an hour. He gutted him and then when he took him to the ocean to rinse out his insides, the shark was still fighting to swim away. He then plopped him inside a big cooler. It was kind of cool for the boys to see a real shark up close.

Family pic on the boardwalk.

One of my favorite pictures of Todd and Drew. The colors and the scene are just gorgeous in this one. They were taking the board out to try and do some body surfing. They had so much fun with that.
Another family pic.

Dianna will kill me as she said I'm not allowed to post any pics of her. I don't know why because she is a natural beauty even if she doesn't see it herself. I love this picture too much and she's a HUGE reason why we went down there. This girl is my lifeline and we've gotten each other through a lot over the years. I couldn't love her more if she was family.

Todd and Aiden taking a walk out into the water.
Oooh, quick, take a look, they're getting along again!

One of my all time favorite pictures of Aiden. Dianna took this one and I can't wait to frame it.

Delaney and Mallory. Maybe they're having a sister to sister chat??
Drew trying to body surf.
Another favorite of Aiden
A sweet shot of Drew. He avoided the camera the whole trip but Dianna managed to snag this cute one and I just love it.
Have you ever opened a cooler and found a baby holding a beer?? I laughed my butt off. Dianna's brother Brian did this. He's too funny.

On our trip home, we stayed in Memphis for the night. We took a horse and carriage ride around the downtown and got to see some beautiful sights and learn some of the history. It was so fun and a first for all 5 of us. Her dog, Hazel, comes along for the ride and she was such a sweet dog.

We ate at a local restaurant called Huey's. The food was mediocre but the atmosphere was awesome. If you can see the walls, they are all graffiti. All the walls are signed by people who come in there and it looks so cool.

On the ceiling we noticed a ton of toothpics hanging from the ceiling. They encourage you to blow them up there through your straw. They have a contest once a year where you can pay a buck or something to guess how many are up there. The winner gets a gift certificate to the restaurant and all the money goes to a local charity. Pretty neat.

We're Back!!

We got back around 5pm today from our trip. We had an awesome time and the boys did so well with the long travel. It was truly a week full of memories and I will be driving you crazy these next few days with pictures and stories. Right now, I'm off to bed. I'm exhausted and I have to get up and work all day tomorrow. We leave again in 5 days for a 4 day vacation with Todd's parents and Scott and I work 2 of those 5 days so not much time for recuperation!! I'm sure you noticed my HUGE pictures at the top of my blog. Maybe I should resize it a bit! This is one of my favorite shots from the beach, how perfect is it?? It makes me smile. Many, many more awesome pics to come.
Night y'all! (see, I'm even talking like a southerner now)

I miss you already Dianna!!!

Day 1

All 3 of my boys enjoyed playing "dress up". Can you guess which of these 3 kids is my youngest son?? I'm so proud.

Mallory and Drew riding the plasma car together.
Chocolate chip cookies and milk before bedtime. What a yummy way to end the day!

Many, many more pictures to come. I can't wait to post all of our awesome beach pictures. We also have stories about jellyfish, a SHARK!, body surfing, feeding the gulls, and more!!

We're Here!

We made it to Florida yesterday at about 2:30 in the afternoon. The boys did sooo well on the drive down. I was so proud of how well they behaved...it made the trip go that much faster. The kids hit it off and have been having a blast. We hung out last night, ate supper and let the kids play. Today Dianna, Drew and I hit Target and Michaels and came home for lunch. After the little kiddos naps, we are hitting the beach. I'm so excited to take the boys there. Their idea of a beach is a dirty sandbar on the Mississippi River. Just wait till they see beautiful white sand, salt water, sea shells, pelicans, jellyfish, etc. I hope to get some really good pictures of everybody. I've also become Mallory's new best friend. How can you not fall in love with her and her beautiful curls?? I can't wait to post all of my pictures on the way home. More later.

The Lost is Found

Fish-Dude is lost no more! I found him in Todd's side of the closet this morning. By the time I found my camera he had crawled over by my boots.

This is freakin' hysterical for 3 reasons:

1. Two night ago when he was first lost, I was lying in bed that night, unable to fall asleep and kept hearing a knocking noise. It sounded like turtle shell hitting wood. I got up and looked around the bedroom thinking he was crawling by the furniture. I decided maybe it was the air conditioner and went to bed.

2. That same night I had a dream that the cat found the turtle in Todd's side of the closet. I told Todd about that dream the next morning and asked him if he looked in his side of the closet really good since all of his shoes were just thrown haphazardly in there.

3. He said he looked really good in his closet. Now, I know how the man looks for things. God forbid you move anything around to look for something. I love him dearly but that's how he does it. My question is, was the turtle there all along?? We will never know. All I know is that I went in the bedroom to get the laundry and the cat was sitting there in front of Todd's closet looking at something. I about crapped when I peeked in and there was the turtle sitting there moving his head, looking around. I could just hear his little voice saying "What the hell took you so long?" I of course am a little creeped out that I had a dream about it and it came true that exact same way.

Now we can pack for for our trip tomorrow and not worry about this crazy missing turtle and wondering if we'd come home to a stinking turtle corpse. And Todd's mom, who is taking care of the cat for us, won't have to worry either. Fish-Dude is safely back in his tank and will hopefully remain there for awhile! What an adventure he had!

Where Oh Where Has Our Little Turtle Gone?

Oh where or where can he be??

I honestly don't know how this stuff happens to us. How do you lose a turtle?? Really!! Todd cleaned out the turtle tank yesterday and put the turtle in a large tupperware container with the lid on. He has to leave him in there for a bit till the clean water adjusts to room temperature. We left around 12:30pm to go to Aunt Janet and Uncle Tim's to swim in the lake. When we got home around 4 or so, the container was empty. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Grayson (the cat) helped him open the lid. But the turtle somehow got off the kitchen counter and ambled away. (notice I didn't say run since they don't move very fast) He's a decent sized turtle so he can't fit in too many spaces. (I'd say about the size of a hamburger bun). I'm sure the cat knows something but he isn't talking. Every time he goes into another room, we'd follow him to see if he was sniffing anything out. So here it is, the next day, and the turtle is still missing. Keep in mind also that we leave in 2 days for a weeklong vacation. It's kind of important that we find him!! We have turned this crazy house upside down. He had to have found that black hole that everything gets lost in here. It's driving Todd and I crazy. Where else can we look and how can we not find a missing turtle?? I worry that maybe he cracked his shell when he fell off of the counter and is miserable somewhere. (yes, I worry about turtles too).

All I can say is that I hope there is a happy ending to this story!!

The 4th

We had a wonderful 4th of July. We headed over to my Aunt Janet and Uncle Tim's house. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. I think it may have been one of the coolest 4th's that I can remember. They have a huge wraparound porch and we sat outside and ate and talked. Todd took the boys swimming in the lake with cousin Sarah and Matt and the boys. The water is so beautiful. We just relaxed, ate and enjoyed ourselves. When it got darker, the kids did sparklers and then my dad and cousin Jordan shot off all of the fireworks that we all chipped in and bought. It was quite a show!!!

Here's Noah getting ready to rinse off. He had come up on the beach and covered himself in sand. I called him Sand Monster.

Drew enjoying a Dilly Bar and a Sparkler. Aiden and his first sparkler ( I think) He was probably too young last year. Who knows, my memory sucks most days.
We all thought this was a hummingbird at first because we had seen some earlier in the evening. But apparently this is some kind of mutant moth. Ever see the movie The Mothman Prophecies?? Creepy stuff.
Noah laying on the blanket, enjoying the fireworks.
Todd and Aiden's Self Portrait. They were laying on the blanket together watching the fireworks.
One of the cool fireworks.
Noah and I were cuddling and watching the fireworks. I told him we should thank Grandpa John and Cousin Jordan for lighting the fireworks for us to watch because it was kind of a dangerous job. Noah said "I think they did it because they love us so much."

A couple of videos of the fireworks.

Happy 4th of July

Todd took these pictures on July 4, 2004. (hey this can be my flashback friday pics too!). I love the picture of the Bayview Bridge as the sun sets. It's a shame we can't watch the fireworks down by the river this 4th due to the flooding. But we are very excited to go over to Aunt Janet and Uncle Tim's for supper and to shoot fireworks off there. It's always fun when we do that. Hey, Aunt Janet, think we'll get to do fire balloons??