Summer Swim Lessons

It is official.

Kennedy is a fish.

We had private swimming lessons this year from the talented Miss Emma. Kennedy learned to swim last year, but forgot EVERYTHING over the fall and winter.

Well, okay. I say she learned to swim. She really doggie paddled. But this year - she was showing off her front crawl, her underwater swimming skills, her back stroke, breath stroke....

She would dive to the bottom of the pool and fetch Miss Emma's whistle. You could not keep that child out of the water! She showed amazing swimming skills this year.

I am super proud of her!

The Big TWO!

My sweet son Brady,

I cannot believe that you are two years old. The past two years have absolutely flown by. I remember being in the hospital getting ready to deliver you. I had NO idea if you were going to be a boy or a girl, but either way - my heart was ready to welcome you in. You have brought so much love into my heart and having a son is everything I hoped it would be... and more.

We celebrated your birthday this weekend with Nina, Papa, and Uncle Tim. You are a huge fan of dinosaurs (you call them "ohhh-sah"), so I made you a purple dino cake. As soon as I showed you, your eyes opened WIDE and you starting saying "ohhh-sahh! ohhh-sahh! ohhhh-sahh!" over and over and over again.


You were very excited to open presents, which have kept you busy all weekend long. Between dinosaurs, water toys, dinosaurs, cars, and more dinosaurs - you are SET for a while!


Oh - and you should know by now that your mommy is a silly lady. I bought these dinosaur noses for all of us to wear. They were a huge hit between you and your sister.


...and I made your daddy put a nose on for ONE picture.


Papa helped you blow out your birthday candle... and then you chowed down on some "ohh-sah" cake! Chocolate cake was everywhere!


You are such a sweet boy and I cannot wait to see you grow and develop more and more with each passing year. I am unbelievably blessed to have you as my son. I can see glimpses of your daddy in you from time to time. I'm sure I will see more of those traits as you get older.

I love your curiosity for frogs sitting in the water hose... bugs flying around the light posts... or the taste of chalk. You are eager to try new foods; and you have the most amazing smile. You love to play outside, in the water (sprinkler or pool - both make you happy as a clam), or with your sister. She has fallen in love with you just as much as me and your daddy.

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet Brady!

My sweet boys

Kennedy spent the night at Nina and Papa's house last night, which gave me and Chris a chance to spend a little alone time with Brady.

Folks, let me tell you that is is SO MUCH QUIETER with just one child at home. Brady squeals and laughs and whines a bit, but Kennedy is THE talker in the house. You cannot get a word in if she's in the room.

So I left the living room for a minute and when I came back, THIS is what I saw:


Is that not the sweetest thing? I was home a few minutes early, so we ate dinner early and had over an hour to play on the floor with Brady and give him some one-on-one attention. It was so much fun.

Tonight, unfortunately, it's back to the busy/hectic/crazy/hair-pulling routine. I'll race home with Kennedy, fix dinner, we'll change clothes and fly to swimming lessons at 7:30. Then we'll get home about 9:00 and I'll throw her in bed and then crash from exhaustion.

Thanks Nina and Papa for the quick break!

Pool time!

The pool in our neighborhood opened Memorial Day weekend. Kennedy would not..stop...asking me if we could go. I think the pictures prove we all had a good time!

Brady is going to be a fish. I can already tell. He wants out of his little floaty thingy, but then panics when I let go of him. So I put him back in the floaty thingy... and he kicks his legs as if he's had swimming lessons already! He would float several feet away from me and Chris and smile SO big!

Best Husband

While Mommy was away this weekend having much-needed girl time, Daddy was rocking the role of father/entertainer/cook/cleaner/diaper changer..... etc.

I had an absolute blast this weekend with my girls Susie and Shelley. We laughed, had lots of cocktails, saw a chick flick, laughed some more, power walked, and then drank some more!


And while I was soaking up some time with my best friends, Chris was being a rockstar dad. I have always thought that dads should be just as involved as us moms out there. They should be able to watch the children they helped create. They aren't babysitters; they are the kids' father. But my husband watches the kids AND goes the extra steps. I would suspect many moms come home to a wrecked house, dirty children, dishes in the sink, and kids fed peanut butter and jelly all weekend.

Not me!

Kennedy had a sleepover at her friends' Maddie and Ellie's house, so Chris just had Brady to contend with over part of the weekend. But he seized the opportunity with Brady still at school Friday afternoon and Kennedy at the movie with Nina... and mowed the yard. He also washed, dried, folded all the laundry and put it away. He ran the dishwasher and unloaded it. He had dinner ready when I got home Sunday afternoon.

And to top it all off - and this is THE biggest of them all - he had 1/2 the kids on our street playing in our backyard in the sprinkler. FIVE kids running through our backyard is NOT Chris' idea of an ideal Sunday afternoon. (I'm the opposite - bring on the "rat pack" of kids!) I DID get a nice little text message from him saying I owed him big time for the neighborhood party he got sucked into.

So ladies... be jealous! Because this mama has THE best husband. And I'm sure he'd be willing to teach your husbands the tricks of the trade.

My best girlfriends! Girls Weekend 2010...

See these girls?

These are the BEST girlfriends a girl could ask for.

I have known Susie and Shelley for almost 15 years.

And every year we find a way to get together for a girls weekend.

Whether it's at the Tech Homecoming game in Ruston.....

Or for someone's birthday! (Here we were glammed up for my 30th birthday party!)
We ALWAYS find a way to leave the husbands, children, and pets at home and take a couple of days to reunite. There is always LOTS of drinking, laughing, and reminiscing.

Our Annual Girls Weekend begins at 3:30 p.m. today when Susie and I will drive to Baton Rouge. Look out Baton Rouge! Here we come!

I am very blessed to have these amazing women in my life.

(AND - I am also very blessed to have a husband who never complains when the annual girls weekend comes around. He graciously takes over at home while I soak up some time with these girls. Thanks honey!)

She did WHAT!??!

Apparently Kennedy thought she needed a haircut. She told Mrs. Ward she cut it so "it would look like my mommy's hair." I think she was saying that to make up for the big **GASP** that Mrs. Ward gave when she saw what Kennedy had done.


Mrs. Ward sent the evidence home with Kennedy. A nice chunk cut from the front of her sweet little head.
The bad news? My child feels a little to free with scissors.... last week she cut her lip because she put the scissors up to her mouth and started snipping.

The good news? When I put her hair in a ponytail this morning, you couldn't see the missing chunk. I think we might just try to conceal it because not being able to put her hair in a ponytail for the summer would be a challenge....

Oy vey....