July 2013

July 2013: Catching Up!

June 28-July 3, 2013: River. We spent a long weekend at the River and had such a great time visiting with family, relaxing, and playing in the water! We even enjoyed picking green beans in Pappy's garden and riding the boat to the Marina for a great breakfast one morning.

July 3-6, 2013: Guntersville. We returned home from the River just in time for the kids to take a nap on Wednesday so that we could unpack and repack for the remainder of the week in Guntersville. Yes- we were crazy, but it was fun! Sadly, it rained, rained, rained the rest of the week so we weren't able to enjoy water sports in Guntersville. But we did have lots of family time.

July 7, 2013: Caleb gets a Big Boy Bed. Pops is now renting out his house in Arab, so he was cleaning out some of the furniture and asked if we wanted anything. I said that we would take my bed so that Caleb could move up into a big boy bed. He looooves it! He really looks tiny laying in such a big bed- full size, but I think he is even resting better!

July 9, 2013: Happy Anniversary

Jeremy and I have been married for 8 years!! Wow. It truly doesn’t feel like it has been that long…maybe not yesterday but definitely not 8 years either. We sure have been through a lot together. Well, we basically grew up together in the past 8 years. We finished college, moved far away from home then back again, bought our first house, and had two of the most amazing kids I have ever met. I am one lucky lady!!

We didn’t go fancy this year for our Anniversary. Caleb’s reward jar had reached the top reward, which is a big toy. So we headed to Bridgestreet and our first stop was Toys R Us. (Jealous yet?) After that, we headed to one of our favorite restaurants, Connor’s and had the worst meal ever. Thanks to our 2 lovely and amazing children. They were awful. Ahh…maybe next year, huh? Anyways, Happy Anniversary, sweetie!!!!!

July 13, 2013: Finlee's Birthday Party

Happy SIXth Birthday to Finlee!! Speaking of time going by so fast, how is this sweet girl already SIX?! Finlee was born just a few weeks before Jeremy and I moved to Bainbridge, GA for a year. I was so so sad to leave my best friend with her precious newborn baby and be 8 hours away. I missed so much of that first year, but have enjoyed the other 5 with all of my heart!! Happy Birthday, sweet Finlee!

July 14, 2013: Swimming with Friends

One of my favorite parts of summer? Afternoon swims with friends!

July 15, 2013: Swimming with more Friends!

The next day we returned to the same pool at our friends’ neighborhood to swim with our Sunday School friends. I feel so blessed to belong to an awesome Sunday School class where most of the Moms stay home and we can have such fun playdates. It is nice to have a support group of friends who are going through the same trails as you are each day.

Sidenote- we waited until the end of the morning to take pictures, enter melting down Kailyn!! Poor girl was sleepy and ready to go home. Not funny to Mommy at the time, but totally cute now…

July 19, 2013: Jeremy's Birthday Celebration

Jeremy is the guy who wants nothing for his Birthday and does not even want to go out to dinner. So, Dad came over to visit and we grilled one of his favorite meals- Hamburgers. Done. Of course, I got him a few small things to open from the kids and baked a cake. It was a really nice family afternoon at home!

July 25, 2013: Botanical Gardens with Ella and Addison

We had a special treat this day- Ella was in town and staying with Great Grandmother for the week, so Grandmama kept Addison out of daycare and they all drove to Huntsville to visit and play at the Botanical Gardens. It was a very hot day, thankfully all of the kids wore their swim suits and enjoyed splashing in the water. After everyone was finished splashing and exploring the children’s area, we did a wardrobe change and checked out the butterfly house. Addison and Ella really enjoyed catching the butterflys and checking out the turtles. Then we enjoyed a delicious lunch overlooking the gardens at Clementine’s to finish off our fun morning.

July 27, 2013: Jude and Jasper's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday to Jude and Jasper!! They had a super fun Messy Party filled full of paint, water, and lots of fun. At first neither of our kids were really interested in getting messy but they both finally dug in and painted some…but not too messy! We always have such a fun time when all of our Sunday School friends get together.

July 27-30, 2013: Weekend with Pops and Nanna

So we finally had a free weekend and Daddy needed to catch up on some school work with some peace and quiet, so Mommy and the kids headed up to Tennessee to stay with Pops and Nanna for a few days. We had so much fun! They live out in the country with lots of things to explore outside. We enjoyed running around with Buddy, 4 wheeler rides, building fires with Pops, picking the garden, roasting marshmallows and making s’mores, and calling the neighbor’s cows. Lots of sweet memories from this weekend!

July 28, 2013: Nashville Zoo with Pops

While we were at Pops and Nanna’s, we decided to spend a day at the Nashville Zoo. Pops went with us to see all of the animals they had. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and the kids had a blast! I think the Giraffes and Elephants were the 2 favorite exhibits. Caleb is already asking when can we go back to “Pops’ Zoo!”

It feels like we have been go, go, going all summer long. It is now September and I am just now finishing July's post. Oops! I used to be so good about keeping up the blog. Maybe life will slow down a bit and I will get better. Or maybe we will stay busy and you will get randomly updated posts a few months behind. Who knows? I do know that we are so blessed, the kids are tucked into their beds sleeping away tonight and I am one grateful, sleepy Mommy....Until next time!