Bryson...

Why is there a picture of soap, you ask? We went swimming at Mom and Dad's today and Bryson had to go to the bathroom before he put on his swim trunks. As I sat outside the bathroom door, waiting for him to wash his hands, this is what I heard...(by the way, Bryson likes to talk to himself.) "Strawberry hand lotion?!? Who wants to smell like a fruit salad?"
Guess I'd better ask Nana to buy something a little more manly next time!

Back to School (sort of!)

We took the boys to a Community Back to School Bash held at the school today. They had 7 big inflatable things for them to play on, door prizes and lunch, all free! They had a blast! All the boys climbed the Tiki Mountain climbing wall. They raced Daddy on the obstacle course, and Avery and Riley did the joust, Gladiator style! Bryson and Avery had fun on the slides, too!

Where a kid can be a kid! (as long as it's cheap!)

This has been a crazy week! In an attempt to be a good mommy, I have tried to cram a lot of summer fun into the final weeks of vacation. We went to Chick Fil A at the mall with Donna, Sumer and the girls. Wow! What a trip! Trying to get 8 kids to sit and eat while every other kid in the mall is riding the merry go round was "fun"! As you can see in the picture, we were too cheap to pay 2 bucks a kid to ride, so they got to watch!!! (In our defense, we did take them to Chuck E Cheese's after!!) They really enjoyed playing with their cousins.

Happy Birthday to Me :{

Whoop-ti-flipin'-do. I'm now 33. Fabulous. One year closer to menopause and mammograms. So much to look forward to. Sigh...
I really did have a nice day. I took the boys to a friend's house to a swim party. Bryson jumped off the diving board!! (Of course, I forgot my camera!) They loved it. After, we went to my parents' to swim and have a cookout and a YUMMY ice cream cake that Donna made. I guess they are tired of me talking to them using the cordless phone that dies after 3 minutes, or maybe it's the fact that they don't want to use the cordless phone that I laid on the stove top and slightly melted, but they gave me some really nice phones for my b-day! They know I'm too cheap to buy them for myself! The boys gave me some really nice smelling candles that I've needed to put in the empty-for-a-year candle holders in the living room (again, I'm too cheap to buy them for myself). Jeremy gave me a trip to the beach before school starts back!!!!!! Yippee! Guess I better get back on the ol' elliptical tomorrow. I am so thankful for the wonderful family that I have. And even though Angie reminded me how I'm creeping (quickly) towards 40, I'm really happy to have made it through yet another year!

Slow News Week...

Not much went on around here this week. Donna had a yard sale on Saturday, so I took some of the boys old baby clothes and toys. Five minutes after I got there, I twisted my ankle on her front walk and spent the rest of the day hopping around! Today my foot is black and blue, but at least I can walk. It was hot and busy, but I made $85 and cleaned out the attic! Hopefully my cousin Regan will get some use out of the rest of the boys' clothes. I kinda hated to see them go. Every outfit has a memory. $3 bought Riley's first Easter outfit. (Well, one of them...He had three or four changes of clothes for his pictures that year!) Watching toys go for $.50 that I can still see the boys as babies, holding and playing with, really stings. (Especially when that toy cost about $20 new!) The things that meant the most I saved for Donna, just in case the curse is broken and someone in our family besides me gets to have a baby boy! I hope she'll have enough. There are only FIVE totes left!!! Yikes! You could clothe a small country with the clothing my children rarely wore!

Family!

Our 15 year class reunion is next month and we've been asked to email some pictures to the committee. The only recent pics of me are one glaring at the camera and a few distant swimsuit photos that are best lost to mankind! So, Sunday after church, we screamed and yelled and fussed to get the boys to stand still and threatened them with eternal grounding if we didn't see some serious smiling in the pictures. (Seriously!) I guess they turned out okay. Hopefully the boys will cooperate better for our 20 year pics!

Diving in the Dark

The boys LOVE to swim! They love it even more when their Daddy comes with them. Saturday night we all got together at Mom and Dad's for a cookout and swimming. We couldn't swim early on because of thunderstorms, so after supper, the kids jumped in. After much begging and pleading, the grown-ups got in. It was a little chilly at first, but we had fun! They all love to be tossed up into the air by Daddy! (I threw in a cute pic of the boys attacking Jeremy, too, just 'cause it's cute!!)