Hello, Again...Hello

I'm a big Neil Diamond fan.  It has been since June since I updated.  We've been busy busy busy!!!  Summer was full of swimming and activities.  We were bums for sure.  The boys didn't do any sports - we hung out and swam and did our thing.  The guys camped in the yard.

School started back in August.  JC is in the second grade this year.  AR has been a journey of wills.  He doesn't want to do it and we want him to do it.  Now that he has some points on the board, he is more motivated.  JW is in his last year at GS preschool and he is doing well.  Lots of hugs and hellos and goodbyes from the other kids.  I will be so sad to let GS go - they have been so good to both our boys.

I'm giving lessons and have been up to 7 students, though some of them have been temporary.  I have 5 regulars right now.  It is a lot of fun. 

Soccer and Scouts also started back in August.  Lots of fun stuff going on!  The boys are growing like weeds.  Keeping them in jeans and shoes is going to be interesting this Autumn.  October is going to be a full month, with Halloween and the Komen walk coming up.  Fun times!

 One Blue Knight and one Shark!!!

Yes, they are both in need of hair cuts, but that's a whole'nother post.

Goings on this Summer

Some swimming, some bike riding, some ball playing, dressing up and having fun.  We are also dealing with some five year old attitude a few weeks early.  JW has gotten quite the mouth on him, with an attitude to match.  We've had cookouts on Georgia Mountain and bike rides on Lake Guntersville.  Lots of fun summer stuff to come.

 We have a mugger in the house.

 With electric blue eyes.

 John Campbell got mugged.

 He's unconscious after his mugging.

 Then Mario and Luigi showed up.

 Sliding in.

And landing.

Last weekend in April, 2012

We put some finishing touches on Elmer's grave.  He has a stone over his grave and I plan to get a stepping stone kit so we can put his name on it.  Thanks to my private student's mom for the idea.  We planted a rose bush on either side of Elmer.  The boys helped and got good and dirty.  When they weren't helping, they were climbing fences and tees and rolling around as much as possible.  We also went to the church parking lot to ride bikes - Jackson Wynn is weaning off his training wheels.  The big back church lot has the perfect grade for coasting and learning balance.  Hopefully, a few more tries will have him riding free.

Once we got in last night, they were both filthy.  I had to chisel the dirt off of them in the bath - they were even too dirty for showers.  JC's knees, elbows and feet were black with dirt.  I had to scrub him like a dirty carpet.  Jackson Wynn wasn't so bad, but he got a good scrubbing too.  Once the pool is open I won't have to worry so much about keeping them clean.

I've been playing with more gardening projects - starting a bunch of forsythias to add on one side of the yard and a bunch of begonias for this summer and hopefully to winter over in the house.  I've also got to find a spot to put last year's crepe myrtles and a couple of butterfly bushes that have sprung up.  My rose of Sharon bushes have come back strong and there is one spot in the yard where they have sprung up.  I'll have to eradicate them from there, as they are invasive.  I have them in big pots and so far, that's the only ones to wander into the yard.

 My rockabilly baby.

 JC's hair is too curly to stand up, but I think he looks like John Kennedy, Jr. 

Also, my roses have started blooming in my little rose garden.  So beautiful.  As usual, I've taken a zillion photos of all the blooms.  Here's one of the last ones before the rose wilted.  Loved each and every hour of this bloom...

It just keeps changing and getting better. And here are three of my ultimate favorite blooms...

The Big Haircut!!!

We finally cut Jackson Wynn's hair and have it ready to send to Locks of Love.  It was Saturday a week ago, September 3, 2011.  He was SO good!!!  And we had portraits made before doing the big snip.  Here are some photos of him during his visit to Miss Trish's salon.

Three goals for the boy!

John Campbell scored three goals today at his soccer game.  I was home with the sick little one and didn't get to see it.  I may take Jackson Wynn in to the doc in a box to see what is going on.  The kids and I have been cruddy all week. 

John Campbell did a great job at his soccer game.  He played striker and defender.  Proud of my little guy!  Daddy took a total of 4 photos of the game.  Thanks, man.

On My Honor...

Well, it's official, we have a Cub Scout.  We went and got his stuff today.  Daddy is as excited about Scouts as John Campbell is.  He wore his cap all the way home and then had to try his "Class A" on as soon as we got home.

JC's About Me

We have homework this year - math sheets each night and soon to be starting spelling words.  And he completed his first project - Read All About Me.  He did a great job.  It was fun helping him a bit, sitting together.

Four Years Old

My little sweet thing is four years old today.  I can't believe it.  He is growing up so fast, talking like an older child now, and getting so big.  We have a little family party planned today and we will be taking him to see his trains in Chattanooga. 

Vacation 2011

We went to Orange Beach for vacation.  It was a nice time away.  It is always good to get back home.  The bed Abbie and I slept in was very comfortable so now we are thinking we need to look at mattresses.  We stayed in a condo right on the beach.  Great access, the beaches weren't crowded at all and we were close to everything.  The building was older, but very clean and nice.  We had fun on the beach - the boys played in the sand and surf.  None of us got cooked, but the sun screen I used ate through my toenail polish.  We actually met a family from our town, who has a daughter in the same grade as John Campbell.  We went to dinner with them one night and we hang out on the beach together for a day.  They got there shortly before we left.  It was a lot of fun, a lot of driving and a lot of sun and sand.

We ate at Lulu's in Gulf Shores and it was a hoot.  We will definitely go there again.  We also went to Lambert's, Home of the Throwed Rolls, and had fun.  The roll guy threw four in a row to John Campbell and he caught them all.  We had a mountain of bread by the end of our meal.  Besides going out for dinner, we stayed on the beach for the most part.  The views from the room were pretty.  The heat was really turned up.  I think going in early summer may be better from now on, but we will visit this condo again.

One of my favorite things was flying kites with the boys on the beach.  It is effortless and you can tie them off to your chair or tent and just watch them dance in the sky.  The boys were enchanted with them.

Before getting to Orange Beach, we stopped over a night in Fairhope to visit Aunt Jewell and Uncle Johnny.  She is doing great, looking as beautiful as ever.  Uncle Johnny is in the last stages of Alzheimer's and not doing well.  He is in bed and Hospice has been called in.  I'm glad I got to see him and talk to him.  It may be the last visit I have with him.  Aunt Jewell is devoting all her energy to taking care of him.  I don't see how she does it.  She is a true, graceful, Southern lady.

Now we are home, the clothes and things are all put away and the house is getting back in order.  I'll post photos once I have a chance to go through them all and pick my favorites.

A Whole Other Post

The boys and I have been enjoying these lazy days, but they sure do get wound up.  They were little monkeys in the pool, but I didn't get any shots because I was working on my herbs and was watching to make sure two heads were above the water at all times.  I did get some sweet shots inside.  I made them promise to make nice smiles for me.  And then I let them make some silly ones.

 "Wonna These Days..."

My Super Heroes

Lazy Days of Summer

This is the second week we haven't had swim team and it has been LAZY!  We've watched some of our favorite movies, played outside, swam, taken Mo for walks at the park and hung out in our jammies.  It has been great, but we can't stay idle forever.  We need to get back on track.  Abbie has been working some late nights because of IT problems at work.  He has a business trip coming up and then we go on vacation.  After all that hubbub, we'll need to get back on schedule so school won't blast us out of bed completely.

Today, we slept in, hung out and I did housework and played with the guys.  We tried to swim and within three minutes of getting wet, it started thundering.  Then it went from a completely lovely day to something wicked this way comes.  Big storm, lost power, lost of thunder and rain.  And it came from the northeast, so from the totally wrong direction.  Strange weather patterns we've had this year. 

We got out, ran in and waited it out.  Played and talked.  After, quite a while after, we went back out and I let the boys swim again.  I wasn't going to get wet again, so I trimmed back my herbs and started some clippings indifferent pots. And here's what I found while trimming my mint.

This is the second time I've spotted this rare pink grasshopper.  He's munching on a fallen bloom from my mint plants.  I had tried to get photos with my iPhone the last time I saw him, but they didn't turn out.  This time I ran in for my real camera. 

Mo continues to do well.  He's getting hair more and more.  I hope it all comes back.  If not, he'll be one shivering pup this winter.  Small dogs don't do well in extreme temps, so I'll have to buy him some kind of sweater.  Abbie will have a cow - owning a dog who wears clothes.  He'll be humiliated.  He's already making "yappy dog" jokes.  He doesn't yap much though, just when he sees people out in adjacent yards.  Here's a few shots of today.

This kid is a survivor.

And I got pics of the boys, but that is a whole other post.