Reid started taking a few steps before his first birthday, but I would say he officially become a "walker" at 12 1/2 months old.  He turned 13 months this week and now walks everywhere!  Way to go, buddy!

LifeGroup Fun at the Lake

Jason and I decided to change churches in November; by the first of January, we were trusting God for our calling to start a new LifeGroup with whom we would fellowship and grow in Christ.  Our only requirement for people to join was "families of young kids" and how awesome was God's answer to our mission!  We started the first week, and after one meeting, decided to keep it to just that group, which consists of seven fabulous couples.  And the cool thing? We all get along and only a few of the couples were friends before this fellowship group.  It's a random group that just blends and meshes awesomely.  Awesome. 

We meet on Sunday evenings during the school year, and over the summer, have decided to just have social events.  Tonight was one of those times, and we had soooo much fun!

So, Stilly has this little gem of a lake that is a Country Club-type members-only location.  http://www.yostlake.com/ We want a cabin there!  :)  Thanks, Lynne and Mitch, for a super fun afternoon/evening.

Fruit platter that we brought - thanks, Val!

One fun thing about today - Jason had the camera so I am in some photos!  And I just realized after looking at all of them that he was only in one of them!  :)

This place has a BUNCH to do: very nice, sandy beach with floating docks, fun water slide, lifeguards (that actually watched the kids!) on duty, horseshoes, shuffle board, tennis, volleyball, frisbee golf, boats, clubhouse, .... and that was only what I could see. 

Here's a shot of the moms (except we are missing Rebecca!) 

Fun fact: Between the 7 families, there 19 kids!  Whew.

Collage of a few waterslide pictures, food table, and Chef Mitch.

I took Grant and Kyle out on one of the boats!  Three other families were around us in boats, too!

Court and her big fishes!

Micayla and sweet Chloe. 

Three of us have babies within 5 weeks of each other!  Chloe, then Reid, then Lakin.

Our newest little addition, Malone, and her beautiful Mommy, Laura!

Ethan, Kyle and Grant

We had fun. 

Did I say that already!?!?!

Coach Jason and Kyle's Alligators!

 We had a tour of a local firestation and they were able to spray the hose.  Kyle has frequently said that he really does want to be a fireman when he grows up.  So, of course, he asked them what he needed to do to become one...

1. Obey your Mom and Dad

2. Do well in school and make good grades

3. Eat a healthy diet and take good care of your body

 We had to turn Reid's carseat around (they are now recommending waiting until kids are TWO to do this but his feet have been pushing the chair for a few months already. Legally it is one year and 20 pounds - he qualifies).  He has loved it and wiggles his feet in the air.  This shot was cracking up Grant - eating his toes.



League Champions!

The Braves is Grant's baseball team.  They ended the season 13-1, and were the league Champions.  In the final game of the season, they were set to play the team who had previously beaten them.  The final score was 24-2, winner - Braves!  Talk about a huge improvement on our team's part! 

There are not professional photos of the team this season, but here are a few that we got of G and his team when the parents lined them up for a group photo.

He just told me he had to get serious for his "sport look" in this one.

That's my sweet boy!

Can you feel the intimidation.... Grrrrrr.....

yea, me neither - back to sweet boy!

I am writing this down just for the sake of history... I was not particularly looking forward to this season.  I was dreading a 3 month season, with at least 2 times a week having either a game or practice, if not 3 times.  Plus, it was going to be soooo hot! 

WRONG!  WHAT A FUN TIME!!!!!!  We were on a team with most of his basketball team, which was great kids and great parents, and then our coaches were AWESOME!  The kids became so much better at their basic skills.  Plus, they have the focus of "family" and don't plan our whole season around this tournament and that tournament that seems to rule the ever-growing-in-ridiculousness that is an average baseball season.  Next year, we'll probably do one tournament but no one's goal on this team is "baseball legends" - it's playing, learning, having fun.  yea!

We just love our cousin, Chase! (Except for his awful shirt).  He recently bought a scooter to get around town and campus and brought it to our house on a visit.  He (very carefully) took Grant and Kyle on trips up and down our street.  Then, he so graciously offered for me to take a spin.  I have never been on a motorcycle before, and I wasn't wearing a helmet so I was wanting to be extra careful.... but let's just say that I literally rode around the culdesac and down 2 houses, tried to turn around, and came close to hitting my neighbor's truck.  It was actually really fun. I forgot where the brake was located! :)

 LET'S GO GREEN ALLIGATORS!!!!!!! 

It's Kyle's first season to play t-ball, and he is liking it a lot more than he liked soccer.  He is SO very proud that his Daddy is (once again) his coach.  Here are a few pictures of his first "at bat." 

Ready and focused....

 Swing... and a miss!  I like this picture!  He was looking for it in the field!

 Second time was the charm as he knocked it in the outfield.

 Grant had a sleepover at a friend's house on Tuesday night so we invited our neighbor over to join Kyle.  They even had matching PJs!  This little guy just makes Kyle's playtime so much fun and has been a great addition to our neighborhood.  Too bad he got scared and went home at 9:30....

My friend just sent me the picture of Jason cleaning her 3 year old daughter's teeth for the first time!  So why not include it on our blog?  I capture what G, K, R and I do all day so why not have some "day Daddy" time!  The next few are playing with friends, which we have done a lot of the past few weeks. 

Our little man LOVES to read.  We sat in his room yesterday for 48 minutes (who is counting down the minutes to naptime anyways?!?!) and at least 40 of those were spent by either me reading him books or him just sitting and flipping pages. 

The third picture - the one of the living room - this is our hope for a future family room.  We just love the fireplace/mantle/open to outdoors.  Except we'll need the actual room to be bigger to accomodate 3 large boys and their friends!  :)

Houzz- Kitchen Remodel, Bathroom Remodel and More »

First week of June

Summertime is here and we have had no shortage of fun things to do so far!  Grant and Kyle have a few families where there is a brother near the respective ages of our kids, so they are extra excited to do things with them because everyone has a friend!  This family would be ones of those - and they had a dual Nerf birthday party.  It was a blast!

 Dressed in camo gear and ready for backyard Capture the Flag!

 (thanks, HC, for lending me your photo of the ice cream man!)  We had our first visit from the Ice Cream Truck this week (and again tonight from a different one!).  I was not able to get a photo, but this truck came down our street.  It was the first experience of this kind for G, K, AND Jason!  I blurred the other people in this photo as I don't know if they wanted to be on our blog!  :)

Reiders gets to go to both of his brothers' baseball games!  During this game, my Dad took him off and they played.  I liked this ornery picture of Reid - ready to go!

 Not really sure why I took this picture.  We were visiting the pediatrician and I think I was killing time!  At this visit, and after a blood test, we have discovered that sweet pea is allergic to eggs.  We're ready to make the needed adjustments to his/our diets to help prevent the body rash/hives/eczema that follows.  Very thankful it is "just" eggs, and not wheat or soy or milk or something much more difficult to manage.

 Hello, Mr. Happy!  We went to "open gym" playtime because the big boys have been looking forward to it for a long time (only happens when they are normally in school).  It was Reid's first time as a non-infant so he it was fun for me to watch him try to start exploring.  Doesn't he look happy here?!?!

 and he's off.  Poor kid behind had to wait a bit but Reid figured out how to climb over these ladder rungs.

 We went to Theta Pond yesterday to feed the ducks.  IT WAS SO FUN!  This is an activity we have done a dozen times, but for some reason, this week was great.  First off, we were the only ones at the pond.  The ducks were soooo very hungry.  The fish were sooooo very hungry.  Even the turtles were trying to get to us to find food.  I guess the college kids usually do a great job on feeding them but they're hungry during the summer!  One little duck got out of the pond and kept following Kyle around.  At first it was cute, and then I think it started to freak him out a bit as he would hop up and down in place saying loudly, "Mommy, this duck.  Help!"

 We went swimming tonight with some great friends at their neighborhood pool.  It was Reid's first time in a pool!  He loved it.  I am a scaredy cat when it comes to pools/water, and besides the fact that I love my husband's company, I was really glad to have another set of eyes on our three boys in the water.  Grant and Kyle can both "swim"... but not really SWIM.  :)  We just aren't in the water too often to practice!

We also had a lot of fun going to a splash pad with Grant's church Konnect group and with our LifeGroup friends! 

We hope your summer has started out as fun as ours!

Star Wars

This is simply a list of comments or questions I have received TODAY on the subject of Star Wars.  My boys are obsessed.  Grant - slightly; Kyle- absolutely amazed at his knowledge and interest.  Jason and I just sit at dinner sometimes and look at each other across the table wanting to stop the conversation, and then we find it so funny, that we laugh out loud.  At least they're talking at the table!  :)  I keep telling myself - there WILL be a day you miss this!

• Count Dooku tries to lightning force Obi Wan but Obi Wan Kenobi blocks it with his light saber and it gives his light saber more power!
• In Episode 3, Clones change to the Dark Side
• Do you think Greedo or Chewbacca would win?  I think Chewy.  Well, maybe Greedo because he has bombs.
• Anakin Skywalker turns to Darth Vader when he turns to the Dark Side.
• Obi Wan and Anakin fight at a lava place and um, Obi Wan, cuts off Anakin's legs.  That must hurt.
• Did you know that a light saber's blade, when it fights with a gun, it bounces off and gets the person that had the gun.  Light saber blade colors can be green, blue or red.
• Jedis have force and they can kill people, although we shouldn't kill people.  But, they just kill the bad people.

and that is simply the topics that I can remember today. 

stuff

I am writing this entry from our tent and I am just one happy and proud Mommy. We had friends come over tonight to enjoy some smores in our outdoor fireplace. We then pitched the tent and I "won" the straw to be the adult sleeping outside with Grant and Kyle. Actually, I do love it but it is a bit chilly tonight!

A few cute things about our day- Anyone familiar with our state's ponds knows that the water is not very pretty, but at least right now, there is water in the ponds! We drove by two that were basically empty last summer from the drought and Kyle says "look, Mom, I love how the ponds around here all have chocolate milk in them." Sounds tasty but too bad that just shows how icky they are!

Grant went to the bathroom at a restaurant with me today and was in his stall and noticed and asked aloud "why do they sell napkins for 10 cents in here when they are free out on the table?" Great question, son...

Same bathroom, now with Kyle - we were washing our hands at the sink and I got a paper towel out of the dispenser. Kyle, of course, would rather use the automatic air hand dryer. He turns it on, and the trashcan of paper towels are at the perfect angle below that the air just lifts up all of towels from the trashcan and they literally start FLYING around the bathroom. At first, I was freaking out, but then realized there wasn't a darn thing I could do since the air dryer is on a timer. So, I joined in the laughter and loved the flying paper towels. We then had a mess to clean up...