Funny Easton

We were on our way home from school and Lawson would not buckle up his seat belt. Easton told him that if he didn't buckle up, he would not let him play the wii when we got home. I told Easton that he was not in charge of the wii. He stopped and looked at me with a blank stare. I said, "I am in charge of the wii." He paused again and said, "Why do you have to be in charge of everything?" I laughed really really hard and said, "Because I'm the momma." I love him! He's so honest.

Easton's 1st Day of Pre-K (2)

I haven't updated my blog in over a year and I have missed it so much. I really used this as a diary and documentation of the kids milestones and events. I don't think there is any way to update the entire last year, so I am just gonna jump back in.

Yesterday was Easton's 2nd First Day of Pre-K. Instead of sending him to Kindergarten this year, we are gonna do Pre-K again. I have had a really hard time with this decision, but I think in the long run it will be good for him to be one of the older ones in his class instead of one of the younger ones. He just turned 5 in June so he would be very young starting Kindergarten.

So, the entire family got up and around for Easton's first day. We were really a little behind, as usual, and I felt terrible about it. We got the boys in bed really early the night before, but they were still dragging at 7 a.m. Easton looked so cute in his new shirt and looked so grown up. He is carrying the same backpack this year, so I now have 3 "first day of school" pictures with him and that backpack.

Lawson wants to do everything Easton does so he wanted to wear a new shirt, get his backpack, and picture taken as well. I tried to tell him that he was not going to school but unfortunately he did not comprehend that and was terribly upset when it came time to leave Easton's school. Every classroom we past he said, "Dat my room?". He even found a cubby in Easton's classroom for his backpack and wanted to sit down and color. Bless his heart. I felt soo bad for him. He was devastated. Thankfully, I took him to McDonald's afterward and that seemed to help a little. That was a big treat because we don't inside there often.

On the walk from the car to the school, Easton took a little tumble and scrapped up his knee. Being the dramatic that he is, he was pretty upset and needed a band-aid. It was bleeding and it was just not the morning we were hoping for. All that being said, we made it inside, got his band-aid and he was off to chapel. No tears about me leaving, he was a big boy and completely familiar with the routine from last year.

I picked him up around 3:30 and he was outside playing. He teachers both said he had a good day and his new assistant teacher said "He is really smart and really good." I was so pleased to hear about his day and that he had a good time. He said that he got to be the Lunch Server and he was pumped about that. Also, his best friend from last year is in his class and they have cubbies beside each other.

I am so thankful he had a great day and I am looking forward to this year. I feel really good about it and know East will love Pre-K...again. : )

July and August Recap

I am getting worse and worse about posting. I think about it everytime I check my email and I even read other blogs but can't seem to ever find the time to post myself. I thought I would recap the last few months with a few pictures.

This post is way over-due. My 29th birthday was June 26th and our 9th anniversary was July 1st. Mat took me on a surprise trip and told me it was for our anniversary. We got all dressed up and I didn't know where we were going. He took me to Hot Springs to the Hot Springs Belle where we went on our 1st anniversary. When I walked on the boat, I was greeted by my family and three of my very best friends and their husbands. It was a surprise belated birthday party. Mat decided he would do a big surprise for my 29th instead of my 30th - that way I wouldn't be expecting anything. It was so sweet of all my friends and family to make that trip for me. Jeff and Bridget stayed over with us and Bridget and I had a day of shopping and the spa the next day. It was lots of fun. The sweetest part though was on the boat when Mat had a song played for me. He wrote and recorded the song. It was all about our life together. Oh my- too sweet. Thank you honey, for a wonderful surprise and trip. I love you!!

Me and my oldest. He still talks about momma's party on the big boat.

The whole party.

We drove back on the Fourth of July just in time to get baths, jammies, and go watch the annual Harding display of fireworks. I just love fireworks! Easton covered his ears the whole time but loved to watch and name all the colors with me.

My grandpa had probably his biggest garden ever this year. He worked so hard on it and we all have enjoyed the fresh veggies. He had one very large area of just tomatoes. He let the boys go out one day and pick tomatoes. They loved it!

Pa taught them which ones were ready for picking and which ones still needed to ripen.

This was one day before we went up to Nana's to play outside. I thought they looked so cute in their muscle shirts and hats turned around backwards.

We took a spur of the moment trip to Memphis one Saturday and took the boys to the zoo and to see a baseball game. Unfortunately it rained really hard while we were at the zoo and we could only stay for a couple of hours. They had fun though and we were able to see all the main animals. We all got Zoo Ponchos.

Checking out the elephants.

After the zoo, we ate lunch and went to our hotel and everyone took a nap. How wonderful!! We were fully rested and thankful for the great weather to go the baseball game. The game was lots of fun. The boys thought it was really cool to see the baseball players and the big Redbird Mascot. Although Easton wanted the other team to win because they were wearing blue - and..."blue is my favorite color." They both were so good and we made it all the way to the 7th inning.

Lawson loves to ride the mower with his daddy. Pretty much he will do anything with his daddy, but this day, he had watched him out the window the whole time Mat was mowing saying, "I ide dat." (I ride that.) He was thrilled when I finally let him go outside and ride with daddy.

Ahh.... Easton's first day of Pre-K at Harding. He is going Tuesday/Thursday all day. He has been very excited about going to "big school." He did wonderful! He walked right in to his classroom, found his seat and starting playing. He didn't even blink an eye when I said I was leaving, he just said, "okay, bye." My big boy. He is such an easy, sweet boy. I praise the Lord for him.

Lawson fell asleep on the living room floor. We have been getting up earlier since school started and everyone has been taking good naps. I felt bad this day because he was just watching tv and I looked over and he laid down in this position and didn't move a muscle. Needless to say, he didn't even know when I moved him to his bed.

My little cowboys!! Easton's little children's church had a western day this past Sunday. He looked so cute! Saturday night we were dressing Easton up trying to decide what he should wear. Lawson, "Mr. Monkey See-Monkey Do", said he wanted to be a "ow-boy" too. Even though Lawson was just going to the nursery, we had two little cowboys. They looked so cute!

Thanks for checking in on us. We are doing good - staying very busy but doing good. We are loving the cooler weather the Lord has given us and it is giving me an inching for fall, hay, and football. Easton will start soccer soon. Mat is going to coach his little team. That should be another fun adventure. Lawson is growing up more and more. He is really trying hard to talk and doing very well. He is putting lots of words together and saying new things all the time. He also keeps us all laughing. He is such a ham!! We praise the Lord for our wonderful growing family.

I Believe I Can - Swim!!

Last week, we had some swim teachers come to mom and dad's pool for private swim lessons for Isaiah, Grant, and Easton. They were so sweet. Easton had never had swim lessons before and evidently it was the perfect timing for him. He did so good. I was such a proud momma watching him. He wasn't scared and he tried his best to do what they asked him to. While he didn't actually learn how to swim by the end of the week, he learned how to blow bubbles, make arm circles in the water, kick with a kickboard, go under the water by himself, jump off the side of the pool and jump off the diving board!!!! He is so proud of his new found talent!!

Learning how to blow bubbles

Going under to get the underwater toys.

Kicking with the "Batman" kickboards.

Jumping off the side of the pool! Yeah, Easton!! He didn't hesitate at all. And, yes, I do feed my child although he doesn't look like it. : )

He was getting very brave and having a little fun. Without saying a word, he started doing a "super-hero" jump. It looked like this and then in the air he changed his arms the other direction. It was absolutley precious. I couldn't be there the last day of the lessons, but they said he was doing the robot before he jumped. I just thought it was halirious that he was coming up with all this on his own. He was having loads of fun!

This is him jumping off the diving board! Way to go, Easton! I am so proud of you.

Easton's 4th Birthday

On June 24th, Easton turned 4. I can't believe my baby is 4 years old!! He has to be the sweetest little boy that God has ever made. I love him to pieces!! Thank you Lord for letting me be his momma. What a precious gift! I will tell the story of his birthday through the pictures. I can remember it better that way.

We had Easton's party the day after his actual birthday, so we let him open the present his Gammy and Papa Todd sent him from Florida on the morning of his birthday.

Then, we took him to McDonald's for his favorite - pancakes!! He asks for "Nick-Donald's" pancakes all the time. It was also a special treat to get to go inside and play. Daddy left work for a little bit to eat breakfast with us.

Momma and the birthday boy!

After breakfast, we went up to Nana's house to play on the "Rocky Mountain River Race" - Nana and Papa's newest addition to the backyard playground. : ) It is probably the best thing you could buy for kids - especially if you have several children that will play on it. This picture doesn't show how cool it is - Easton had just slid down the slide on his tummy when I took this picture.


The next evening we had Easton's birthday party up at Nana and Papa's house. Easton was so cute while we were setting up for the party. He kept asking
"When are my guests going to get here?"
Easton wanted a Batman Water Birthday party this year. That comes as no surprise because he is absolutely obsessed with Batman. We bought a Batman Wii game for him a month or so and he wants to play it 24-7. That has turned into a complete Batman love affair for him. I have to say he has gotten very good at the wii game - especially for a 4 yr old.

This was the most children we have invited to a birthday party. We had the family, of course, and several of Easton's friends from his Bible Class at church and a few of my friend's kids as well. There were 11 kids total.

This was the best family picture we could get. The cake was really cool. We asked a friend from church who does cakes to make it for us. She did a great job!

Here is Easton with his pick of the cake - the Batman symbol. He was very proud. Shortly after this picture was taken, the cake fell off his plate - almost leading to an extremely upset birthday boy. Thankfully, Daddy was able to cut off the dirty parts and salvage the treasured Batman symbol piece of cake. : )

This is Easton's favorite present. It was the only thing he really asked for. Nana and Papa got him a Bat Cave. Several other people got him the other peices to go with it and he loves it. He has played with it almost everyday since his birthday.

Weeee!!!!!

All the kiddos had lots of fun on the big slide. Mat stood gaurd to make sure no one got hurt.
It was a really fun birthday party. Easton turned 4 in style!!

I love you my precious boy!!!

Happy Father's Day 2009!

Happy Father's Day, sweetheart!
You are the best daddy our precious boys could ask for! We love you!!

Branson Fun

June was filled with lots of fun and not much down time. In the middle of June, we went with my parents to Branson. We had a good time - Mom and I shopped and Mat and Dad golfed. The boys were good sports and got to have some fun of their own. We opted out of Silver Dollar City this time b/c Lawson is still too little to ride most things. He can be a handful with nothing for him to do, so it was better to try to keep both boys busy if possible. We went to a little Kiddie Park that had some rides for both of them. I thought Lawson might be a little scared to ride but once he got on, he didn't want to get off. It was fun to watch them have fun. I am really enjoying Easton being at an age where he can do things like this. The only negative part was how hot it was. It think it was close to 100 degrees the whole time we were there. Here are a few pictures:

Here's E on the swings

This was Lawson's very first ride. I was worried because it went kinda high, but he just sat there so still and didn't try to get up and move at all. He loved it!!

Easton did so good driving his little Go Cart. He was so cute. He kept looking back over his shoulder at the other little boy who was on the track too. When he got off, he said, "Momma, I was ahead the whole time. I won!"

They were soaked by the end of this ride, but I think as hot as it was, they liked it!

I have to explain this picture. One day, Mom and I were waiting for the guys to get finished golfing to come pick us up and take us to the mall. They were running late, so we decided we would put the boys in the stroller and just walk for a while. Mom and I are always up for an adventure!! It was so extremely hot, so after a while, we stopped and got the boys some ice cream. I knew they were going to make a mess, so I just took off their shirts and let them go to town! I am sure we got some interesting looks as we pushed our double stroller with half naked children along the main drag, but we all had fun. I think we ended up walking around 1.5 miles to Tanger Mall from our condo - with a lot of it up hill. : )



The last day we were there, Branson Landing had about 20 or more blow up / bouncy toys set up. Dad took Easton around to each one and let him play. He had a blast!

Random Happenings

I just wanted to post of some pictures from the last few months. We have had a lot going on. Easton finished up Carpenter's Kids and is taking the summer off before starting Pre-K in the fall. He will only go 2 days a week but it will be big boy school. I can't believe he is that old. We are coming upon 4 years old and that just blows me away. I think at 3, they can still be a baby, but at 4 there is not much baby left anymore. My mom is keeping the boys this summer while I work a few days a week. That is helping us out so much. We will actually be able to pay for half the year of Easton's pre-k on what we are saving this summer is daycare costs. And of course....they are loving it! Lawson is now 18 months old and will go back to the sitter in the fall when Easton starts school. Lawson does well there and I am so thankful to have found a place that I feel comfortable leaving him. Those boys are my life.

Well here are a few pictures from the last few months. Enjoy!

Lawson's first haircut.
He did pretty good until the end. We tried to distract with juice, crackers, Mat's iphone, but he was getting restless and was ready to go. He doesn't like anyone touching his ears! I am sure that is from all those ear infections before the tubes.

How precious!

Sitting like a big boy in the chair.

Easton's HIPPY graduation. He loved doing the HIPPY program.

This is Easton kissing his metal. : ) He is learning early, folks!

There is nothing quite like Summertime and a Sonic slush!

The Four Ameigos!

"Eeeeeeze!" Lawson smiling for the camera in Momma's sunglasses.

My sweet baby sleeping away. A "pap pap" in his mouth and in his hand. Perfect!

Easton at his Carpenter's Kid's end of the year program. Easton was so precious with the large group but got embarrassed when it was his classes turn to sing. I was such a proud momma though. It was his first school program. I was one of "those" mom's with the camera, video camera, and tears in my eyes.

Easton and his daddy relaxing after the big event.

Me and my two handsome boys - this is one of the very few pictures that I have of me and the boys actually looking at the camera and smiling.

Playing with daddy. Mat has to be the best daddy in the whole world. The boys absolutely adore him and love to play with him...and on him. : )

Memorial Day at Nana and Papa's house. We had a cook out in the back yard.

Let me tell you...this boy knows how to hit a ball!

Easton stopped to pose for the camera before hitting one out of the park!