One man's trash....

Is another man's treasure! Joel and I both did not receive new cars as our first car. I drove a 94 Pontiac Bonneville, "Bonnie". It was a tank and it was safe, my friends didn't complain that is was huge and ugly because I could fit all of them in that car and go anywhere!! So staying with tradition....Joel's friend came and dropped off a well-used Jeep Hot Wheels for the boys to use. You would think we just paid $600 for this toy, they love it like nothing else and the funny thing is.....I'm not even sure it works! hahaha! I had wanted to clean it up and charge it before they saw it but you can't hide anything outside from them these days. They have been sitting in it all morning, pretending to drive it. It is plugged in to charge but I have a feeling it has seen its day.

They don't even fight over the driver's seat, Hudson respectfully let his elder drive ;)

Look at the love, its great!

Walking to the neighbor's house to pick some plums.

Harrison and Daddy ate them right off the tree, I love this pic.

Thumbs up to my Hudson for using the potty!

One Down...One to go!

Ok I'm not going to say it out loud....but Hudson has not worn a diaper in 5 days (except to sleep in at night). So maybe one down and one to go?? It is HOTT and we have either been in the A/C or in the baby pool. I recently bought a new ice cream maker from my #1 store Sam's and it is so easy. All I have to do is turn on the switch, no ice, no salt, which has made making ice cream a practical thing to do a couple nights a week. Flavors we have had are Orange Dreamsicle, Cookies and Cream and Blueberry Sherbet....so good and fresh! One great thing about living in the South where people farm for hobby....we get fresh fruit and vegetables all Summer because everyone has too much and they love to share their crop! Pawpaw makes sure we always have a plentiful supply of cucumbers, squash, peppers, okra, watermelon, and cantaloupe (tomatoes if we have company but we don't request those much). Our neighbor has a beautiful plum tree and lets us pick as much as we want. Joel's buddy Clark and his Dad have a large garden and always brings us a "mess" of corn, this year he shucked it for us!! Thanks Clark!

Clark and Joel looking at the pretty corn

Pawpaw brought a watermelon

They love it!

I ran over the end of the pump and this bothered Harrison.....bad

He will ALWAYS stop and shoot me a smile for the camera :)

Joel is....

My boy's hero, A great example for our children, My best friend, Mr. Fix-it (or rig-it I should say), Lawn Mower ride operator, Can carry two 2-year olds with no problem, Can reach anything in the highest of places, Always knows where the cheapest gas is and will pump it for me, Loves to go to church, Sings "Good Morning Beautiful, How was your night...." to me some mornings, Hard worker, Dog trainer, My safety net, Always let's the boys "help", Great fire-builder, Snake avenger, Comedian, My handsome date, My husband, Daddy, Son, Son-in-law, Grandson, Uncle, Student, Physical Therapist.....

Happy Father's Day, we love you with all of our hearts! Amanda, Harrison, Hudson and Charlie.

Boy oh Boy!

"New School" was so much better on Thursday, minimal crying and they said they had so much fun. I sent them with shirts that had their name on them so the teachers would be sure to know who is who! My mom made a good point when she said, "Amanda, you still have relatives who don't know their names or can't tell them apart" true, but have you seen these boys they don't look anything alike! Oh well, it will get easier each time they go.

We had a little shower for my long-time dear friend Brooke last weekend. She is having her second baby, a boy, Porter. She has Emma who is 2 and a half. There is a "boy" wave right now. Out of 5 friends that are pregnant, 5 friends are having boys! Melanie, Brooke, Vanessa, Holly, and Abbie! Wow! Congrats to all these girls, boys are such a great blessing, they always have your back and keep you laughing!!

Kimberly, Kathryn, Brooke, Emma and Me

"Brooksey" and Emma by the cake

Digging my heels in the ground!

I am wanting to push pause....it's going too fast!!

The boys started daycare 2 (1/2 days) days a week today. I am trying to make the transition easier if I happen to find a teaching job.It was so hard! I took them last week to look around and meet their teachers and they were cool with it. They are supposed to wear underwear when they come to help with potty training. It was just a lot of newness in one day. Harrison cried when I left and I cried for the rest of the day. When I picked them up, they had on shirts and pull-ups :( They were just too nervous. The teacher was unsure of who was who which really made me cry all the way home. So I'm pulling my self up and saying I know it's a transition and this too shall pass and all the other great things Joel and my Mom tell me but my heavens this is hard! I'm not giving up, we will try again on Thurs and then the week after that and so on. One day we will laugh and that is why I blog....

Mawmaw and Pawpaw bought these boys their first fishing pole and I tell you Hudson can cast (right terminology?) it so well and reel it in like he's fighting a shark. I try to video tape it but he points the pole at me and says, "No, put it up mama!" and I will say, "Please Huddy, you are so good at it!?" and he says sternly, "No, NO!" So I have no documentation but I tell you he's a natural.

I had my 10 year reunion and we had a family lunch at the school Saturday, the kids preferred to play under and on the tables.

Out in the courtyard, it was really cool walking around with your high school friends and all of our kids looking at old State Champ pictures of our generation and retired jerseys in the halls of our friends.

The introduction.....

Harrison took all the string out of his and now prefers his football again.

To the beach!

We went on our first family beach trip that we were responsible for! It was so much fun! Jason, Shelley and Liam stayed down there the same time and Dean, Ashley and Lucy and Grayson were at their beach house. My parents drove down for a few days and Joel's parents came to visit too. We had a great time, the boys loved the water! The oil started washing up the day before we left so I'm so glad we went for that week. Here are some pics from the week.

Hudson is like me we stay on the land and in pools :)

Lambert's on the way home

Mawmaw and Harrison had SO MUCH FUN in the water (ocean), he said, "Mawmaw this is too much fun!"

Hudson playing in the sand

Liam and the boys at Tacky Jack's, we found out why Bushwhacker's are their signature drink :)

Orange Beach Marina

Crab hunting at night

Nanny and Pop at the Pass

Why rent chairs during the day when you can sit on them for free at night - Joel

My Lucy and Grayson

They rocked the baby pool all week, they got so brave in the water that week

Pop and Harrison watching the boats.

Arts and Crabs

I have a lot of back-blogging to catch up on! So over the next couple of days or week I will try to catch up! This week we are at Vacation Bible School. I am working with the 2-year old class...bad idea. It was not my intention to work with H and H's age group but that is where I am. Your children are NOT on their best behavior around their mom....I NOW know this. So, tomorrow I am transferring myself to another class so that maybe "H" (this particular brother shall remain anonymous) will participate in other activities besides "arts and crabs" (arts and crafts). It has been really fun getting to know the other kids!

Starting a couple weekends ago, my father-in-law (who is a skilled wood-worker and can build just about anything) and Joel began working on a new project! A pergola for our back yard/deck. We get some brutal afternoon sun and needed some relief. These are a few pics from the work in progress. It is now pretty much done with one missing detail so I'm saving the before/after until all the details are finished.

Pappy and Daddy discussing the next move.

These boys LOVE to watch and participate in projects, they knew who's ladder was which, who's hammer was who's and so on, very observant.

Boys are magnetically pulled to dirt, they find it, they smell it...they get in it.

Somebody "H" dumped all of the precious cereal on the floor and table and was throwing it around like snow (this is after much was picked up, they are not in this picture because they were in the corner :)

Next up: Beach trip 2010