Splash Pad Fun!

We have done a lot of water activities this past week! The kids had a great time running around and splashing in the water, but the hit of the day was getting a treat from the ice cream truck that made a stop at the park!

Let me just say, we will NEVER again get the Scooby Doo ice cream treat, it literally stained Lawson's hands brown, but it was oh so tastey for him! His hands were stained for several hours...luckily the chlorine water helped to fade it a little!

Here are some pictures of our splash pad time at the Birmingham Zoo too! We played with the Lowery kiddos and some friends from Peyton's class at school!





What a fun day we had!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great weekend relaxing together as a family and enjoying time with friends that we've made here!

Saturday night we had several families over for a cookout, the Smith's, the Lowery's and the Griem's (minus Jeremy who was on a mission trip)

I just have to say how amazing God's provision has been for us as He's gone before us the whole time we've been here! It's truly a small world, and He keeps reminding me of that with "coincidental" circumstances! When we moved here, I was introduced to a really sweet girl named Kate Smith who is from NLR, we've gotten to know her and her family over the past several months, the crazy "coincidence" is that she grew up going to church with Ben Lowery, Rebekah's husband! Kate came up to me one day (several months ago) at church and said, "we've got more Arkansans coming to Birmingham!" As we talked about who was moving to Bham and I realized the connection I couldn't believe it!! How crazy is that? I'm so glad to have the Lowery's join us here in Bham, what fun to have a familiar face from home! It's been neat to see how God weaves things together...I am choosing to see these small "coincidences" as His continued provision for me (us)...proving over and over that He's gone before Adam and I and is continuing to pave the way!

With 12 kids (under 7), I don't think there was a toy untouched in our house! The kids had a good time and got to enjoy my recent Craigslist find, a Bounce House! (I LOVE craigslist!)

We had the kids eat outside, some at the table others on a picnic blanket...they did pretty good out there while the adults "enjoyed" the 80 degree temperature in our house...not the nice feel of A/C!!




And here's the evidence the kids left behind, not too bad huh?!


Sweet Blake dressed up as Superman!





We had a great weekend...playing outside, eating good food and spending time with friends...we even got to see the fireworks! The kids did pretty good considering they were up an hour and a half later then normal...they had a blast with their new friends!

A brief hiatus...back in business!

Well, I've been out of the blog world for several weeks now thanks to my eldest son who got frustrated with the "Curious George" game he was playing and decided to bang on the keyboard while I was in the shower...in turn jamming more than 8 keys, so the entire keyboard has to be replaced! YAY! And that one lovely part has to come from China...literally on a slow boat I guess, because the computer people told me it'd be 3-4 weeks before the part arrives! WOW! So, I owe a huge thanks to my sister who is letting me borrow her laptop until mine's out of the shop!

I decided I would update you on Emerson and all he's doing now...he's all over the place and I'd yet to blog about it before my hiatus, so here goes!


At 3 and 1/2 months he started rolling from belly to back...here he goes!



Then about a month ago he started going both ways and now (at 5 months) he's proficient at it and has even started getting up on his knees and rocking a bit which is so fun to see, but I also know how things go from here on out...things get active, as if they're not already!! : )


"Look at me Mom, I'm getting so big!"

He's also loving his Exersauser...getting to spin around and play with the different toys! He laughs a lot in there and the older boys get a kick out it...they're all entertained by it which means Mommy enjoys the exersauser A LOT!!


"Hello World...look at me standing!"

Summer Lovin'

Since the neighborhood we live in doesn't have a pool, we decided to get the next best thing...a slip 'n slide! The boys are having a blast! They are all smiles when we get slathered in sunblock and head outside to play in the water!




My active one...Lawson can't decide if he wants to slide or play with the water shooter...he is all over the place!



Goggles anyone?...And how about a big water shooter?...


Peyton insisted on wearing his Toy Story goggles and Lawson wanted to do exactly what his big brother was doing so he put on his Car's goggles too!



Boy's will be boys...so of course the water shooters turned into swords!

Ball Pit!

With the heat sweltering outside, I decided we needed a little indoor recreation so I popped over to my favorite store, Target, for a little help! I decide to pick up a ball pit and some of their balls...and boy was it a hit with my boys! They're loving it and so am I! It keeps them entertained for quite some time!

Lots of little cousins!

My cousin Lindsey and her family came from Nashville for a brief visit on their way to Destin last night.

Here they are, all except for Emerson, who was napping!

It was fun to have all the little cousins together, they seemed to really enjoy one another, they played hard and slept well! We had five kids 4 and under, it was a trip...the "big boys" enjoyed playing together while Bailey (10 months) sat happily in the Bumbo and Emerson enjoyed being held by Mrs. Martha (Mitchell's Mom)!



We sure wish we could've been going to the beach too...maybe another time!

Aiden loved Lawson's helmet!


It's always fun to see family...just wish we had more time to visit!

A Mom and her boys

Are these outfits not precious?!


My mom got these adorable outfits by Mulberry Street they are white and blue seersucker with appliqued turqouise fish with bright yellow and orange tails. Originally it started as a birthday gift for Lawson, then we decided it was so cute that we started looking to see if we could find a coordinating outfit for both Peyton and Emerson. My mom searched all over the internet and even talked to the company directly to find the ONE and ONLY outfit that they made in a size 4 and YES, we got it, it came all the way from Virginia!



The company asked us to take pictures and send them in so that they could use some of them in advertising, don't think any of these will work but I thought they were still cute! I'm a sucker for matching or coordinating outfits...who knows if I'll ever get a little girl...so I'm enjoying dressing the boys sweetly while I can! They can wear polo's and khaki's for the rest of their lives...for now they can dress "cute"! They all started having a melt down so I'll have to try taking pics in the outfits again another time...but I thought these were pretty fun with me and them!

Notice the fake smiles...


And Peyton's zoning out while Lawson melts down...oh well!