Better late than Never!!

I know, I know, I've been slacking horribly lately on my blogging. I have, unfortunately, had a lot going on lately and that has included a temporary bout of bed rest. So, I am finally posting some of our pictures from the 4th! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, it was gorgeous and not at all like the past couple of years. The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast! We spent the first part of the day at Aunt Alice's house and the kids took turns blowing off firecrackers with the "big kids". Finally, for the first time, Trevor wasn't terrified of the fireworks and even set off a few of his own! It was so cute to watch the boys...they were being so careful lighting them and then they'd sprint away like it was chasing them. I was so proud of Ian, he did a great job on his fireworks and we didn't have a single mishap all day. That evening we all packed up and headed to our house for a catfish fry (thanks to Donovan's many, many trips to the river) and more fireworks. Since we live only a few blocks from the golf course, we have a perfect view of the city's fireworks. We had quite a few people camped out in our yard that evening to watch the show and it was fantastic! I wish my camera had been working properly so i could have had more pictures to show, but there are few here for you to check out. Hope everyone had a great time!

Trevor gets a little help from Jess
Smoke bombs are always a favorite!
Time for the punk to change hands again!
Being sooo careful with his smoke bomb:-)
Hmmm, what's in this box?
Cheese!!!!
What to do next???
The one and only night shot I was able to take of Ian with his sparkler
Just a few of the city's fantastic show!

The beginning of the finale...wish I had gotten a video of it!

A Perch a Day

Well, since Donovan is still "limb-lining", he has recruited the boys to help him catch his bait. This is a huge source of fun to the boys...they find a little school of perch and as fast as their Daddy can take them off, they start catching them. Ian gets pretty excited and likes to brag about how he can catch more than his Daddy! haha Despite the occasional catch of a turtle, they usually come home with a full bucket of bait. I love to sit back and hear about their "fish" stories and believe me, Ian is quite the storyteller too! Well, here are a few pictures from their latest foray into the perchin' world. Hope you enjoy! Also want to wish everyone a very happy and safe 4th of July!


Ian's 1st catch, caught it before Dad even got his own pole out!
Trevor works on his casting form
Dad and his "big" catch! :-)
Concentrating hard......
Caught another one!!
Strike a pose!
my 3 fisherman
Sittin' on the dock of the bay.......
For those that doubt how much Ian & Donovan are alike...check out their identical fishing "positions"....lol

Slippin' & Slidin'

Well, we finally got the kids a slip-n-slide and boy, did they love it! Well, Ian loved it once he got the hang of sliding on his belly. Trevor only tried it once and decided he was much happier just walking down it. It sprays water all along it and he figured out if you walked down the center, it really made it spray good! They had so much fun that they didn't want to quit when it was time to put it up. Even when their teeth were chattering, they wanted to go back for more. All I can say, is well water is very cold even when it's 98 degrees outside! Donovan was a little disappointed that he wasn't able to participate though, you know men really are just little boys stuck in bigger bodies! lol Trevor seemed to think that Mommy should be able to do it with them though! Must be my big beach ball looking belly! I think he was expecting me to balance on it and go for a slide! haha Well, here are a few of the pics I took...I took alot, but only selected a few. Hope everyone has a great weekend!








Trevor's one and only slide...he didn't like the water in his face.




Getting a little boost from Dad!

Fishin' in the Dark

Okay, so not exactly fishing for fish, but they were definitely doing their best to catch those fireflies! Saturday evening was such a gorgeous night and the kids got a taste for chasing after fireflies. Now, generally the boys go to bed early, but Saturday was an exception when a good friend of ours came over with his daughter Reese. The boys love to play with Reese and Saturday was no different. Trevor wasn't too sure at first about catching a "bug" but once Ian caught one and gave it to him, he was definitely on board with the idea. He carried that poor little firefly around for probably 5 minutes and had to show it to everyone. "It's a cute baby" is what he kept telling his Dad. We even broke out the butterfly nets to aid in the process. Every time Trevor would catch one in his net he would make me take it out....couldn't have more than one at a time in the net ya know? Ian wanted his picture taken with each and every firefly that he was able to nab! lol They were very entertaining and I got a kick out of watching them going at it. Too bad the mosquitos chased us off, but tis' the season for the biters!



Trevor had to stop and give Yodi cat some loving!

Where'd it go???
Slow and easy does it!
Shucks!! I missed it!
Did I get one in there???
Awww, it's cute!!!
Showing Daddy his new catch!
Take a picture of me and my bug!!!
Reese and Ian are ready to show what they've caught! :-D

Happy Father's Day!!

Well, first let me just say I hope that everyone had a great Father's Day weekend! Ours was good although my husband was a little subdued through it all. A very good friend of his passed away quite suddenly and tragically on Saturday afternoon. The boys boosted his spirits though with a shirt that they made for him and Ian made cards for his Daddy and his Poppy. We ended up spending the day at Aunt Alice's house and the boys had a great time! After a delicious dinner, we all headed outside to relax on the deck and the boys raced their wheelbarrows back and forth...which drove the dogs batty! lol They even talked their cousin Levi into giving them rides in their little cart. The highlight of their day was getting to ride the horses though. Ian was so excited that he got to "drive" the horse all by himself. Trevor was just happy to get to ride even with his cousin Bailey helping him along. All they kept saying all evening after we got home was how they really wished they could have a horse! We wish the same thing, but unfortunately, it's not in the cards right at the moment! lol Overall we had a great day spending time with our family and we always look forward to the next get together.

Ian and his Daddy relax in the hammock for a bit.
Awww. Trevor give his Daddy some hugs
Ian getting his sweaty hair styled by his Auntie Alice:-D
Trevor was happy to finally get some cake!
The bubble wands were a big hit with the "big" kids too!
Going for a ride with Levi!
They got a little crazy on the deck
Ian showing us his "driving" skills! :-)
Trevor was so happy to finally get to ride

From the hallowed halls of Jasper High....

This past weekend I celebrated my 10 year Class Reunion. I can't believe it's been 10 years!! Wow, the time has really flown by since I had children. It was alot of work to put together, but between my best friends Mary and Jenifer, we got the job done. We split the day up into two parts. We had a family day at the park for the first part and I put my wonderful husband to work making ice cream for the group...3 big tubs full to be exact! It was so much fun to watch all of our kids playing together like we did once upon a time. Believe it or not, but they all got along and we didn't hear one single argument between the lot of them! They had a blast even though it was quite warm and windy that day. After we packed up from the park, we dropped off the kids with Grandma and headed to a restaurant in Joplin for "grownup" time. Now, I graduated with an extremely small class...28 to be exact. We were the smallest class to graduate from Jasper High since the 1950's. Unfortunately only 14 of us showed up for the reunion, but it was still a great day. I loved being a part of that small of a group, we were all pretty good friends upon graduation and we still had that comraderie 10 years later. We had a great time catching up and making a whole new set of memories to talk about 10 more years from now.

The kids all taking turns on the small slides
Trevor really loved the small slides...the big ones scare him!
Ian kept his eyes open all day for Jen's daughter, Shirley

Ian and Trevor helping Shirley up the stairs to the slide
Brothers love to slide together!!
Of course, so do best friends!!
Donovan, Jen's husband Cory, and I just enjoying the evening at Timberline
My handsome husband
My fellow classmates....10 year Reunion!

We all had such a great time with each other...can't wait to do it all again!