Happy 4th of July

We spent the 4th at my parents' house. Grandma got Isaac and Olivia some new toys at a garage sale. They are sporting their helmets/bike. My Nana (on the right) came up for a visit from Georgia.

We took Luci swimming in the lake. She's had much improvement since last year. She doesn't splash her paws above water anymore.

She brings sticks in water back better than balls in grass.

This was our grand finale. The two flaming chicks caught all the others on fire and eggs were flying everywhere! Thank you Justin (and Grandma/pa for providing them) for a great show!

The snappers were the favorite with the kids. They could only pop them by stomping on them. It was VERY funny to watch.

OOOO.....sparklers!

Isaac and Olivia's first fireworks!

I think Isaac made it till about 9, then hit the hay. We woke Olivia back up for all the neighborhood firework shows. She really enjoyed watching from my parents' driveway. We went inside after about 30min because of all the bugs. It was a fun day. Thank you G&G!

Swim Class

Olivia took swim lessons at the University of Tennessee. Kicking and moving around was no problem. Face under water took 'til the last day. And she only went under up to her eyes, but she didn't choke....so yay! We all had fun. (Justin took her a few days too!)

I think she really likes the water!

She stuck her tongue out for everything! It was funny!

She had to jump off the side to me. I think it was harder for me than her because she is so tall and I had to lift her up onto the ledge. I kept losing my balance and had to stabilize myself with a leg on the wall. he he.

This was her "horsey ride". The tongue helped here too!

Summer Hair Chops

Pre-hair cut. I didn't realize it was so long!

Pre-cut. His was usually curlier. It was a little smashed for the cutting.

The Cut. It was quite the challenge, especially Mr. Isaac!

Post-cut. Here's the best shot I could get. They were watching tv.

Cute Kids, and Sweet Too

This is what happens when Isaac wants to eat yogurt. He DOES NOT want any help. So I don't give any.

I grabbed this picture one night before I went to bed. I was thankful the flash didn't wake him up. I could watch the kids sleep all night if I could stay awake. Isaac (and Olivia) likes to pour water on himself when we play in the pool. Check out his lips. He makes fish lips quite often.

Olivia was licking the popsicle off her leg.

Isaac got to play in shaving cream during Olivia's nap. He only took one bite of it.

Here, want some of this cool stuff?

Olivia got to play in some too. We added food coloring to hers. Her entire belly was green. She thought it was so funny to have Luci lick her clean. She was doing a fine job too!

G&G bought them some "horse heads with sticks" (you know the toy i'm talking about???) to ride, except the horses stay at their house. SOOO...at our house, they improvised and decided to ride fly swatters. They still had the "giddy up" sound effects to go with it. It was quite funny to watch.

After getting up several times before her nap, she was told to go to bed and tuck herself in. We found her like this in the upstairs hallway about an hour later.

One of our summer projects was to stain the deck. (It's taken a while to get done, we still have the back side to paint.) Olivia did her own painting project while I painted one day. We'll get some before/after pics of the deck on here soon.

This was a shot I forgot to get on here when Nana and Gramp visited. They were dancing. Good job Gramp!

The bike train. We keep the bike inside because Olivia can't reach the peddles well enough yet. But they LOVE the car rides outside now.

Happy 5th Aniversery!!!!

Justin and I took an overnight to North Carolina for our 5 year aniversery on May 30. First we stopped at Max Patch in the Pisgah National Forest (NC). It's a BIG hill covered with grass. They used to land airplanes on it. Had some great 360 views. Had some MAJOR bugs flying around up there. We also stopped at Chimney Rock (NC). We climbed a bazillion stairs. This was a section of the stair squeeze. We took an elevator most of the way down.

This is part of the view from Chimney Rock. A little cloudy/rainy, but still pretty.

We hiked up farther to this point. You can see the Chimney Rock/flag area in the background.

This was part of Hickory Nut Falls at Chimney Rock...one of the waterfalls used in Last of the Mohicans.

We also went to Hot Springs Spa in Hot Springs, NC. We stayed the night in Ashville, NC. Also stopped by Cherokee, NC and hiked another waterfall trail. It was a great get-away filled with lots of outdoor fun. Thank you Justin!

Click It!

A picture from my final day of class; Portrait Photography. I start my next one in 2-3 weeks on retouching, etc. using a few photo editing programs.

Gramp and Nana Visit

Isaac enjoying the pool. We had that installed a week or so ago. We got the upgrade and had decking put in around the whole thing. The kids love it. Tami turned on the water and the kids had a blast filling up bottles over and over. It was a fun show to watch.

Olivia teaching Tami how to ride the trike. Olivia's starting her out slow in the garage where it's flat. Isaac's taking notes from the 4-wheeler.

Gramp giving Isaac a ride.

Olivia painting her own nails with the real thing. We might need to call it 'toe' polish instead of 'toe-nail' polish for a couple more years. She painted Tami and Nana's nails too. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to save Isaac. He ended up with a painted nail too.

Nana getting done up at Olivia's Backyard Salon & Spa.

Gramp and Nana, thanks for coming! We really enjoyed your visit. Love ya! - Justin, Tami, Olivia, and Isaac

Olivia's THREE!!!!!

Olivia turned 3 on Tuesday, May 11. Here's a present we got her. Salon pieces for her and/or her babies. Hair dryer, fingernail polish, perfume, curling iron, etc.

Here she is putting on the lipstick.

Isaac really liked the hair dryer. It turns on and spins shiney confetti inside.

Gramp and Nana sent them a picnic table. They LOVE it. Olivia is there with Dora at the "salon".

Here they are playing in the box the picnic table came in.

Isaac and Olivia helped me lick the beaters when we made the cake.
We had a garden birthday party for Olivia on Saturday. The kids got to dig for vegetables, frogs, and bouncy balls in the dirt.

All the kids got to plant flowers to take home with them. Maybe they'll stay alive for the summer???

I made a flower cake for Olivia. Twas very fun.

Here's some of the kids waiting on their cake and ice cream. Oliver, the little boy with curly hair, is my friend Katie's son. Katie and I grew up together in Ohio and our parents have lived down the street from eachother since we were born...till about 3 yrs ago when my parents moved here to TN.

I served the kids cupcakes and ice cream (parents got the flower cake).

Finally Olivia opened presents. G&G are notorious for giant cereal boxes. The raisin bran box had other things in it of course.

Happy Mother's Day

We met my parents at Cracker Barrel for lunch. Here are the kids watching G&G walk up. We also went to church and had a wonderful baptism service (~100 people over the weekend), and then had a low key, relaxing day. I am SO blessed to have the kids that I have. I love being their mom.