So true. . .

Random Outings

Recently I took the boys to the skate park down the road.  It was so much fun and they got out a ton of energy.
We were there for a few hours and I refilled each of their water bottles at least 3 times.  They took great naps that afternoon.

Baron was really proud of himself.

Neither my boys, nor the teenagers there, skated these bowls.  You can’t really tell from the picture but these are like empty swimming pools.  Super deep.

Happy boys on the way home.

A few days later we spent a day exploring and hanging out in Austin as a family.  It’s always so much fun when we do things together and makes me even more excited thinking about Lincoln being able to join in on the fun with his big brothers sometime soon. 

Jay being silly and cracking the boys up.  He thinks he was planking. . .I’m pretty sure this is not it.  Any experts?

Bear would only let me take his picture if I first took a picture of the bottom of his shoe.  He LOVES getting Lennon’s hand me down shoes and often makes me take pictures of them.  Thank goodness for digital photography!

And, I’ll end with my loves.  These 4 guys are my life. . .so very blessed!

Seriously!?!

I’m not sure why and maybe it’s just a baby thing but all three of my boys have (at about 12 months old) made it their mission to rid our home of door stoppers.  Lincoln has unscrewed ALL of the door stops at our house in the last month.  Hmmmm.

June

Ever since we moved to Austin (and probably far earlier) I’ve been significantly behind on the blog.  So, my new goal is to be completely caught up before we go to family camp at Pine Cove.  We leave August 11th so I should have plenty of time!  In light of that goal I’m going to quickly (some-what) summarize our June. . .so here goes!

Our street had a “smoke off” competition to smoke beef, chicken and pork.  It was so much fun and as usual we had a great time hanging out with our neighbors.
Jay and Lincoln hanging out and waiting for the meat.

The smokers were fired up at 11 a.m. on Friday and the contest ended Saturday night.  One of our neighbors enters actual smoke contests and was very serious about the rules etc.

Awaiting the food.

We don’t have a smoker so Jay was a judge.  We also made side dishes and grilled fish that Jay caught in Beach City.

The judges having some very serious conversations.

Jay Wood, the neighbor who actually competes, had a tent and shirts and the whole shabang.

The 3 judges had to try one bite of each plate and then rank them.

Neighborly fun. . .

Of course Jackson caught several frogs during the evening and they were a hit with all of the kids.

Jackson ready for his first day of Lego Robotics camp with a homeschool group.  Needless to say, he loved it!

Bear is obsessed with his Dinosaur, naturally named Giraffie.  He takes Giraffie everywhere with us and straps him into the car etc.  Giraffie is now a part of our family and one of Bear’s closest friends.  It’s pretty cute and I love the phase that Bear is currently in.  He’s just so sweet and insanely silly.  I just love this crazy little dude.

Jay had to lower Lincoln’s crib at the beginning of June because he was standing up etc. and making it dangerous for the mattress to be high any longer.  And Jackson is such a fantastic helper.  He loves working on projects-big or small-with his dad.

Little buddy Linc.

When Jay and the bigs went to Beach City they brought back a ton of fresh veggies from Bruce’s garden. 

Bear and I (Jack was at lego camp) used ALL of the veggies and made a veggie lasagna.  We made the sauce from scratch and had such a fun time cooking.

My sweet helper.

Ready to go into the oven.

Play time at lego camp!

One of Jack’s many creations at camp.

One of the couples (who is 24. . .I feel like I could be their mother!)in our life group had their second baby boy In June and we took them dinner.  Jackson loved the baby and has been begging for another brother or a sister ever since.  As we were driving to deliver the dinner Bear asked why we were taking someone dinner and Jackson said, “we always take dinner when someone has a baby.  It shows them God’s love.”  Love that kid!

Another lego creation.

My neighbor texted me that she’d seen a tarantula in her driveway as she was leaving for her daughter's soccer practice and would Jack be able to go take care of it for her.  He was thrilled when I mentioned it.  Can you tell how much he loves bugs/spiders/etc.  Yuck. . .

Jay drove up just as Jack was netting the spider and they took it to the field together.  I’m not sure if Bear was covering his eyes because of the sun or the tarantula. . .

Lincoln and me having some fun.  One of these days I’ll have be wearing make up when the camera comes out. . .maybe.

It seems like almost all of the neighborhood guys have smokers.

Popsicles on a hot day make for happy boys!

Neighborhood kids having a ball on the swingset.

Baron always wants a green smoothie for breakfast.

I’m so behind that this never made it to the blog but after much prayer and consideration Jay and I have decided that I will homeschool Jack this coming year.  We are very excited although I’m a bit nervous.  I’ve joined a coop called Classical Conversations in addition to purchasing a curriculum called My Father’s World.  CC put on a 3 day training practicum in June and it was fantastic.  Jay was only able to attend the first day but the boys and I went all 3 days.  Thankfully they had childcare for the kiddos.  This year the theme was math and it made me think of this:

Jay and the bigs ready for lunch.

On day 2 we did a math worksheet.  It was much better/easier than I had anticipated.  The whole practicum was great and really pumped me up for home schooling.  I’m praying that it’s a great decision for our family.

After the second day our friend Heather came over with her two boys Jaxon and Anderson.  Here’s Jackson and Jaxon playing together.  Did I mention earlier that I felt old?  Because having kids the same age as Heather’s children. . .when I used to baby sit for her. . .yeah, that also makes me feel old!

By the end of day 3 of the practicum my brain was dying from the math.  It wasn’t that tough it was just A LOT.  So, I drifted into ADD land and made this handy chart to know when all 3 of our boys would be out of college.  If things go according to plan (which I know they never do) Lincoln will graduate from college in 2033. . .

We sent a card to the Hirst family who is enjoying 4 months in the UK right now.  I had to post these pictures just to look back on.  Love how our families have grown together.

In the middle of June we went to Dallas for Jackson to fly to Boston with Gaga.  We stayed at Nana and Papa’s house (thanks so much for letting us use your beautiful home!) even though they were on vacation.  It was definitely weird and a bummer being in Dallas when none of my parents were in town.  But it was nice because we didn’t see a lot of friends and instead spent a TON of time with Grandmommy and that was a huge blessing.  I think we saw her all but 1 day that we were there.  Super awesome time-so thankful for her and her great Christian influence in my life.  Since leaving we’ve barely had time to talk and I’ve gone through some GM withdrawals.

The bigs.

I just love how little baby's sleep with their bottoms up in the air!

Lincoln loves Freckles.  He followed her around and got so excited when she would pay attention to him.

Jay and I took Bear to Texas de Brazil.  It’s Jackson’s favorite restaurant and we starting taking him at 3 so Bear was pretty excited to go.  Turns out he wasn’t nearly as impressed with it but it was still a great time for us with our sweet middle boy.

And of course Lincoln was a perfect gentleman as well.

Jay had to head back to Austin on Sunday but we stayed in Dallas because we had to bring Jackson back with us the following weekend.   Bear and I swam a lot and really enjoyed our special time alone during Lincoln’s naps and when he was asleep.  It’s so nice to have alone time with each kiddo and I treasured being with my snuggly middle man all week

Bear has absolutely adored Grandmommy since he was a baby.  And who can blame him?

While in Dallas I got this $160 set of Thomas the Train books for $10 on an online garage sale.  Huge blessing and I thought it would motivate Bear to potty train.  I thought wrong. . .

These are out of order but here are a few more pictures of the weekend with Daddy.

Crazy man!

Is naked with a hat not the way you teach your little brother the joys of the ball popper?!?

Bear also loves Freckles.  Although he calls her a “hurt” dog.  “Because sometimes she hurts you and sometimes she doesn’t.  Papa said she’s a hurt dog.”  I told him time and time again that Papa said she was a “herd” dog but he just wouldn’t believe me. 

I took Bear for a very late 3 year check up and his was 42 inches (99%) and 40 pounds 8 ounces (95%). 

Sissy texted me pictures of Jackie from their trip and I could tell he was having a blast!

One night my MOMS Connection friends came over for a game night.  We played Apples to Apples and laughed harder than I have laughed in ages.  I just love these ladies!

The next day Emilie brought Frankie Joy and Andie Jane over for a swim play date.

Baron had a ball with his buddies.  It was so much fun to spend so much alone time with Bear.

Keeping Lincoln off of the stairs was pretty much a full time job.

It was so nice that Nana and Papa have an exersaucer at their house.  I put Linc in the saucer on the porch many times while Bear and I were swimming.

Baron was fairly safe in his life jacket, floatie combo.

Freckles was so great with Lincoln.

And I loved getting pictures from Sissy and Gaga of what Jackson was up to.

Another night my girlfriends came over (Kristin had already left when the picture was taken) and we had a great dinner and talked for hours.  Again, miss these ladies so much!

We finally got to meet sweet baby Jonah!

Precious cousins.

Freckles was my buddy for the week.  She slept in the bed with me and every time I got up to feed Lincoln she went with me.  Unfortunately Lincoln was getting up about 4 times a night to nurse all week.  But Freckles was great company.

One day GM and I went to the AT&T store to upgrade her phone.  As you can see here she was due for an upgrade.  These were her last two phones.  She is now the proud owner of a flip phone.

My friend Alissia and her two sweet kiddos came for a play date.

I love this shot of Jack and Mia.  Texting pictures is such a great thing.

One day our friends Meredith, Dylan and Coen came to swim and play.

Lincoln and Freckles were fast friends.  He was throwing the toy tire which she is holding in her mouth here and she loved it.  He wasn’t getting it too far but she kept bringing it back to him so she must have been having fun.

Despite being smaller, Coen is 5 months older than Lincoln.

Sweet babies!

My friend Ashley spent the night one night and Bonnie joined us for the afternoon.

I just can’t get enough of this little guy.

Freckles was so great with the kids.  Sort of made me want a dog. . .if dogs that don’t poop existed. . .

Ashley and Lincoln.

We were so excited when Dad, Laura and Uncle Jer all got back into town on Sunday!

Lincoln loves playing with Nana and all of the baby toys.

Everybody loves Freckles.

On one of our last days in Dallas we went to Dr. Burgess the dentist I’ve been going to since I was born.  It was Bear’s first time and he did great.  Unfortunately I had to hold Lincoln while I was getting my teeth cleaned and he screamed the entire time.  Needless to say it was not very relaxing.

What was really cool though was seeing Dr. Burgess do magic tricks for my boys.  He did magic tricks for me and my siblings through all of our childhoods.  He would do a trick and then at the next appointment 6 months later he’d show us how he did the previous trick and then a new trick which we’d learn how to do a the next visit.  Pretty cool.

More swimming fun.

Uncle Jer is so great with the boys.  And Lincoln just adores him.  He is drawn to him in the same way Bear was drawn to Grandmommy.

Poor Freckles got a rash and had to wear the cone for a few days.

Jackie Bobo and Papa.

I just love this face.

Lincoln had a blast playing peek a boo with Papa.

Another shot of Linc all curled up and sleeping peacefully.

One morning Jackson decided that he wanted to dress in his favorite boots and hat for church.  And he wanted pictures as evidence of his cool outfit.

The force is strong within these two!

And I’ll end the month of June with this picture of my very, very messy eater.  Love this little red head! 

And that was our June!