Gypsies

Gypsies. That would pretty much sum up the way we've lived this summer. :) It's been fun, it's been busy, it's been chock full of memories, and I've loved every minute of it. We've traveled from Nashville to Orlando to Texas, and now B and I are in North Carolina for a few days while the boys spend an extra week in Texas with family...work conference for him, relaxation time for me. Thankful I get to tag along. ;) And that the boys get some extra Texas time.

Our suitcases have spent the summer in our bedroom...no sense putting them back into the basement yet. Just unpack and repack, and head out again. I know one thing~ I'd never make it as a rock star. ;) And at the same time, this has been one of my very favorite summers EVER.

I've shared before that it has been really tough for us to be away from our family back in Texas. Even when you're doing exactly what you feel God has called you to do, there are still things that are hard. Being away from family and our friends back home (it will always be home) definitely tops the list....but God is faithful, and knows our hearts, and thankfully has provided ways for us to visit often. And for people to visit us often. It definitely makes it easier.

Here's a (somewhat) quick replay of our time there:

The boys with my dad and their birthday gift to him: a drawing of his tractor. They love the farm.

Hud opening his birthday gift from my parents...my mom passed down her iPod Touch. To say he was excited would be the understatement of the year. ;)

We spent A LOT of time swimming and hanging out at the pool. I love these 3 girls so very much.

It was hot. Really HOT. Thankful for cool swimming pools. And water squirters.

Aunt Beth and the tiny man.

I haven't seen this girl in a year and a half. Which is a year and a half TOO long. How very much I've missed her. And her girls. Love them like family...hopefully it won't be too long before we see them again.

All 6 of them picked up right where they left off...just like their moms did. :)

The super-cute, silly middle children. This photo defines them perfectly. ;)

I love the relationship these two have...only 10 months apart in age, and close from the get go. I love that they have memories reaching far back from when they were very little. Hope that continues for a very long time. :)

Hunter insisted on being in the photo. Harrison was less-than-thrilled. ;)


This is my cousin's baby....which would make him my cousin too. Or second cousin. Or first cousin once removed. Not sure, but he's family, and that's all that matters. ;)

He's darling, isn't he? And as sweet and happy as he is beautiful.

Have I mentioned that it was hot and we swam a lot? I haven't? That's weird. ;)

Did I mention that Beth and Todd have chickens? I didn't? They do. And they're hilarious.

Did I mention that it was hot? Like, 105+ degrees hot? Not kidding. When we weren't swimming we were having things like slushees and frozen yogurt.

I'm crazy about my sisters. The older we get, the more fun we have. Let's face it...high school was touch and go. It's a wonder we all survived, with all the fighting over clothes and such. Hahaha...seriously, it doesn't get much better than spending time with them. Hoping the boys will be just as close to each other as I am to these two. Few people know me as well as they do....

...and nobody makes me laugh harder. ;) Except maybe my Dad. Guess it runs in the family.

Hi Mom. :)

How much I love her. Love our walks, our talks, and how she takes care of me, even now at 34. I'm blessed.

And that baby....yummy.


We ate lunch at a place called Mooyah...great burgers. And they had this giant red wipe erase board. The boys were ALL over that.

Harrison's drawing...pretty cool, huh? Mooyah actually re-tweeted this pic I posted on Twitter. Impressive, H. :)


And here's Hud with his bird in a tree drawing. Love it.

And Hunter with his self-portrait. Amazing likeness, right? ;)

What can I say? They're artists. ;)

Ok...if I was to describe myself, the last words I would use would be funky, cool, or trendsetter.

Because I'm not. I'm more of comfortable, flip flops and jeans, play it safe kind of girl.

Who now is wearing a feather in her hair. ;)

I know...not like me at all. And I love it.

Looks like a brand new can of worms has just been opened. Watch out.

She's a Grand Ol' Flag

And we really love to celebrate her. :)

I love a holiday. Any of them. But there are extra special memories associated with July 4th.

Mostly, those memories are of my childhood...we spent a couple weeks at my grandparents' house in Missouri every summer, and there are a couple of odd things I associate with the time I spent there: the Wimbledon tennis tournament, and fireflies.

Wimbledon because somehow it always seem to fall when we happened to be there.

Fireflies, because I don't remember seeing them anywhere but in my Momo and Dandy's backyard, which just solidified the already growing idea in my head that it was indeed a magical place. Trust me, it was.

I also remember spending the Fourth of July there....don't think it was every summer, but several of them. Lots of happy memories of fireworks, and fried chicken, and summer nights on their back patio, enjoying strawberries and watermelon, my Momo's apple pie, listening to the Royals' baseball games with my Dandy on the radio. My Mom, my aunt and uncles, cousins, sisters....happy. Simple really...nothing extravagant. That's not us. Just lots of love, lots of laughing, lots of time together. Something I treasure.

And something I want to continue with these 4 guys that God has so richly blessed me with.

So that's what we did. Celebrated a very important day in our nation's history by just being together. Talks with the boys about how much we have to be thankful for, and about the men and women who sacrifice their everything so we can enjoy life here with our everything. Little American flags and pinwheels humbly stuck in our front flower beds. A cake with a flag on it, made out of blueberries and strawberries. Dinner with some sweet friends, and our own little fireworks show right in our front yard. ;)

This guy right here? He loves fireworks. REALLY loves them. The past several nights our neighbors have put on quite a show....honestly it sounded like a warzone. And each night I'd find him sitting in a rocker on our front porch happily watching the display. You gotta love those rednecks....and we're thankful for the beautiful (albeit LOUD) show we got every night this weekend. ;)

And now I feel the need to assure you that we are a safety first family. :) As much as the boys would LOVE to be right in the big middle of Daddy lighting the fireworks last night, it was a no-go. They were allowed to help set them up, then back to the porch to watch as he lit them.

I don't really understand this need they all 4 seem to have to blow things up. Don't think I'm made that way. ;) However, I can appreciate the beautiful results of all the blowing up.

Love these guys. Love days like this that are happy, and fun, and peaceful.

Just being together at home. Simple and perfect.

They were thrilled when it was finally time for sparklers. :)

Life here is crazy. And funny. And loud. And silly. And...tiring. ;)

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

seven

I mean really....how does it happen so fast?

I know every mom thinks that, most of us say at least once each time one of our littles has a birthday....but really. Where does the time go?

Hud was just two days shy of 3 months old in this photo.

Seriously...look at those rolls. He was the squishiest baby ever. :)

When I would carry him (which I spent much of his first two-ish+ years doing, he was somehow able to mold his little body to mine. Not sure how...the squishiness, I guess. Those eyes, the hangy-down cheeks....yummy.

And now, today....he's SeVeN. Seven...really?

Long gone are the rubberband arms, the hang-y down cheeks. I'm happy to report that he is still a little squishy. :) Super soft skin, I guess.

And he is really growing up.

Today....this one is smart. Sweet. Incredibly intuitive. Very much a gentleman. He is spiritually-minded...noticing things that the rest of us might overlook. He's a Mama's boy...and at the same time a huge fan of his Daddy. And speaking of his Daddy....he looks so much like him, mixed with a little of my Dandy. Definitely got his dimples, a few of his mannerisms, and the furrowed eyebrows when he's being serious or skeptical (although his Dad has a similar expression, so I can't say for sure who he got it from). ;)

He loves to swim and play on the computer. He's the one I ask for help when I can't figure out how to do something on the computer, my phone, etc. He has a heart for animals. He loves comics and Legos, and he's a pro at building them, unabashedly calling himself the Lego Master.

He's funny, and has some crazy-mad dance skills. Not kidding...this one has some moves.

On the flip side...he also has a temper. He's persistent. Stubborn.

But really...he's related to me and his dad...and a long line of other stubborn people,

so who can blame him? ;)

About 95% of the time he's our sweet, laid back, easy-to-please middle child.

I'm so thankful for this kiddo, and on his 7th birthday I want him to know how very important he is to this family. How proud I am for how incredibly well is he is carrying the name of his great-grandpa (Hud knows how important his middle name, Henry, is), and how much fun we are having watching him grow up.

Happy birthday, Hud-Man! We love you to the moon and back one million times. :)

Our "Vacation"

Well, we finally made it to the castle. :) This was the trip of all trips that I had dreamed about taking the boys on since before they were all even born. I couldn't wait to introduce them to the magic that you can only find at that place. And now that we're in a stage of life that is past required naps and diaper changes, we decided it was time to go. :)

Thankfully, it didn't disappoint.

So, why is the title word, "vacation" in quotes, you ask?

Because now that we're back home, I'm more exhausted than I've been in a very long time.

To quote a sweet friend, I'm "happily exhausted." Yes indeed. So while it wasn't the restful, relaxing kind of vacation a person would usually ask for, it was happy and wonderful just the same. But it looks like I'll be taking naps and going to bed early for awhile until I recover. ;)

The official family in front of the castle picture. ;) No, I have no idea what Hunter was doing. But this is the best we could get. ;)

Our first day at Magic Kingdom, in matching Mickey shirts. ;) I promised them I would only do that to them one day. And no, Brian and I didn't wear them. Just these 3. I do have my limits. ;)

Why is Hud hugging that giant Coke bottle? Pretty sure that it was because it was SO HOT, and this bottle was actually a cooling station, and quickly became Hud's new best friend.

Have I mentioned how insanely hot it was? Still not over that yet. ;)

But rest assured...we didn't let it ruin our fun.

Ice cream and popscicle treats helped us beat the heat as well. Yummo. :)

We happened to schedule our trip the same time that Disney had scheduled a Star Wars weekend at Hollywood Studios. The boys were in heaven...esp. Hunter, who is in a major Star Wars phase right now. He couldn't believe he got to meet a REAL Storm Trooper. ;)

And of course, our trip wouldn't be complete without some time with the Mouse. :)

This is one of my favorite photos from the whole trip. If only Hunter had been in it too, it would have been perfect. :) But no worries.....

...he was right here in the stroller. :)

Not your traditional Mickey ears...we went with the R2D2, Pirate Mickey, and Pirate Goofy variety instead.

Character breakfast at our hotel....including Mickey-shaped waffles and everything.

It was so much fun having some friends there with us that week too. We got to celebrate LeeAnn's birthday, and spend some time getting to know that sweet baby boy too. So fun!

Riding on the carousel....

Date night with the hubs...looking smokin' hot in his Star Tours 3D glasses. ;)
(another benefit to having friends with you on vacation~ childcare sharing!)

We loved Star Tours so much that we brought the boys back to try it too. Again and again. This was definitely one of their favorites.


Even the sprinkles were Mickey Mouse! Crazy. And fun. :)

Harrison makes a pretty good photographer. :)

So happy we were able to do this....we've made lots of memories, had lots of fun.

See? ;) I love these 4 so very much.

We wised up pretty quickly and learned that spending time at the parks in the morning, then spending lunch and the afternoon at the hotel to rest and swim, then going back to the parks in the evenings after it cooled off and the crowds thinned out was the way to go. The boys LoVeD the pool....B and I did too. :)

I think this was taken the day before we headed back home. This one was having a rough morning. ;) Awesome bedhead.

So...there's our trip in a very tiny nutshell. I think I took about 400 photos total. So yes...it's a very tiny shell. ;) I'm excited about getting to scrapbook this trip...we were so busy and on the go pretty much the entire week~ afraid we were going to miss something, I suppose. Makes me extra thankful that I took as many photos as I did.

The boys' favorite part of the week?

Harrison: "riding the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster!" (It was amazing)

Hud:" Star Tours....and the pool." ;)

Hunter: "Toy Story Mania (my favorite too!) and all the Star Wars things."