New addition, 4th of July, and 11 months!

In the 6 years that we have been married, we have aquired many things: a cat, a house, another cat, a son, a horse, a dog, a daughter, more cars than I care to admit, and now we have a new addition:

That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen, now we have an ugly boat! What family is complete without an ugly boat? Kris' Grandpa has had this boat sitting in storage for the past 20 years and hasn't touched it since he bought it, so he offered it to Kris. I was super hesitant at first, but Kris and his dad worked on it and had it running by the 3rd and Joey LOVES it! Kris' grandpa owns a house on buckeye lake and we had a party there and got to take the boat out. We also got to watch the fireworks there. It was lots of fun! Here are some other pictures from the 3rd:

Here is Kris and his dad, Kevin, tying off the boat at my Aunt Nancy's house (who also has a house on the other side of buckeye lake)

Here is me, Joey, and Savanna on my Aunt Nancy's dock. Hers is the blue pontoon boat on the R of the picture.

Savanna was super tired on the day of the parties (we were at my aunt Nancy's at noon, then over at Kris' grandpa's lake house by 5 - not at home at all so it was a long day for us) so seh was super fussy, but as soon as my mom pulled out the camera she stopped crying and smiled HUGE - what a ham!

Here we are going out on my aunt Nancy's boat - Savanna was asleep in the sling before we even pushed off. Joey had a blast - he loves boat rides!

Here is Joey with Meemaw (Kris' grandmother) at the lake house.

Here's another shot of the boat and some family getting ready to go for the last ride of the day before the fireworks. Kris is holding onto the boat, Kevin is the driver, then on the Left side is Kara in the back (Kris' little sister on his mom's side), Brianna in the middle (Kris' cousin), Tina in the front (Kris' other little sister on his Dad's side), and on the R is Mckinsey (sp?) in the back (Kris' cousin) and Garrett in the front (Kris' little brother on his mom's side). They were super excited!

And they're off!

Here is Joey and his friend Pico waiting for the fireworks - they loved them!

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In other news: Look who's 11 months old today!!!

And she can stand all by herself now! I'm sure she'll be walking in no time!

Joey Chatter

The other day, Kris, Joey and I were watching a couple shows about the super-obese on TLC - 'half ton mom' and 'half ton teen.' Really, Joey was playing with his cars, and I really didn't think he was paying much attention. But this morning we were talking and just goofing around - Joey was talking about growing up.

J: Am I growing big?

M: Yes - you are!

J: Are all my friends growing, too?

M: Yup - they are - even Mommy is still growing.

J: Really?

M: Yea - but I'm growing out now instead of up. (just joking, of course...)

J: Why?

M: Because Mommy eats too much food.

J: Like those big people on the TV?

ha ha - I guess he picks up more than I thought....

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When getting ready for church, I was trying to put gel in Joey's hair but he didn't want me to.

M: Come on, Joey - it will make you handsome!!

J: I don't want to be handsome!

M: Why not?

J: Because it makes all the girls go crazy around the church!

LOL - now I don't know where he got that, unless I told him a while back that when he is handsome all the girls will go crazy. Boy he has a good memory!!

Maggie's birthday party and some other recent stuff

Maggie's birthday party was a couple of weeks ago. (Maggie is the little girl that I babysit that is close to Savanna's age) Here are some fun pictures I got there. One of her presents was a water table, which was a huge hit with all the kids!!

My cutie enjoying actually being aloud to splash in water!

She got just a little wet to say the least

So I had to make her naked baby. Here she is enjoying some books that Maggie had.

For some sad reason, this is the only picture of Maggie I got opening her presents.... and you can't even see her face. I was a little spacy that day.

Savanna thouroughly enjoyed Laurie's curtains!

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A recent trip to the zoo... we waited 45 minutes to see the baby elephant, but it was worth it! Isn't he cuuuuute??

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In other news, Savanna's hair is officially FINALLY long enough for a pony tail!! Doesn't she look a little like Cindy Lou Who? :)

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Here's a couple recent pics....

Savanna and Joey enjoying their new horse that I picked out of the trash

An odd picture of Savanna while she was playing with bubbles. He he!

My horse

I have loved horses for forever! I started taking horseback riding lessons when I was 13, but it had always been a dream of mine to own my own horse. Well almost 3 years ago now, I finally got that opportunity! And let me tell you what - I LOVE IT! When Joey was a baby, I was new to the whole 'stay at home mom' thing and of course I loved it, but I was going just a little bit insane. I definately needed something of my own to unwind with. Finally, when Joey was 13 months old, we decided to get a horse. I never imagined I would get one so soon! But a sister in our church was selling an awesome one at a great price, and there was a very affordable boarding facility right down the road, so we did it! Let me tell you what - that horse has been a life saver! I absolutely love my kids, but they drive me nuts sometimes. I must say that having the horse to go take care of and getting that small 30 minutes to myself every day works wonders. I know I'm a better mom for it for certain! Something about it helps me unwind and be a bit calmer throughout the day.

Here are a few facts about her: She is a registered Appendix Quarter Horse, which means she is half Thourogh bread and half Quarter horse, but registered with the American Quarter horse association. Her 'barn name' is Olivia, but her 'paper name' is Ms Dainty Cee. She is out of Cee Debonair by Mr Kane Raiser. She has an amazing bloodline! Her grandpa was the famous racehorse 'Te n Te'. She is 25 years old now!! and still going strong. I expect she still has many riding years left in her. I don't ride her often, I really only ride her once a week or every other week, just because I really don't have much time to ride since Savanna is stll a nursing baby, plus I really want her to be around as long as possible, so I don't want to ride her into the ground. She is amazing - she's gentle and friendly and nice to everyone. She has had 4 foals in her life and at last check, one of them has done quite well in the show circuit. I don't show her, I really just ride her for fun, and trail rides and stuff. Maybe in a couple years I would like to get her into some 'senior horse' shows. I think she'd do well! She really is an awesome ride.

Anyway, I thought I would put in a couple pictures of my baby...

This one was taken in the fall of 2007, but I love this picture because she's all shiny and clean. Let me tell you what - it's impossible to keep a clean horse for longer than 5 minutes. They love to roll in the dirt!!

The next few were taken a couple weeks ago on a trip to Infirmary Mound Park when we went for a trial ride. This one cracks me up because she looks oh so pleased, doesn't she?

This one is of me with Olivia and Rebecca with Goldie - Rebecca is a friend of mine at the barn. Goldie is her mule. She invited me to go with them on this trip, and I was so appreciative of it! It was so fun!

I just had to get a picture of Goldie - isn't she cute? I just love mules... They're cute in a dopy sort of way. Unfortunately her ears were too big and I accidently cut them off in the picture! In the background is Nikki with her horse, Cricket.

You know you're in Kentucky if....

This weekend the kids and I came down to portsmouth with Kris because he had to work down here, and since he'd have to get a hotel room anyway, we decided to come too and play in the pool and stuff while he worked. So fun (for us anyway)! Well last night we went out to dinner with Kris' client, and afterward we drove over the Ohio river so Joey could see the 'big bridge' (he's obsessed with all things to do with transportation, and thought the big bridge was just too cool). It was about 10:00pm and was dark, but he could still see the boats on the river and stuff. Well, of course this meant we crossed over into Kentucky. We went down the road a bit so we could turn around and go back over the bridge. We turned left on this small road and got stopped by a train and as we sat there, this pulled up next to us:





(it is dark, and was taken by Kris' cell phone, but look closely)

I know, I know - super harde to see but there it is. An old man on a riding lawn mower/yard tractor just putting along down the road at 10:30 pm. Ha ha! Maybe we're the only ones that thought this was funny, but it sure made us laugh for a while!! So, You know you're in Kentucky if you regularly see people driving down the street in the middle of the night on their lawn mowers. He he!

Babies and Laser Pointers

This is better than dogs and cats with laser pointers! LOL!!

Don't worry - I made sure not to shine it in their eyes, and I did it while the boys were in bed so they wouldn't get any bright ideas. This is Savanna and Maggie - the cutest babies in the world!! Unfortunately Maggie got bored with it and decided to steal Savanna's pacifier at the end.

Every big day needs a practice run!

According to Savanna anyway... We had dinner at my mom and dad's house and while Savanna was finishing up some cheese and bread I had put on her tray, I came in the front room to do the real quick 'more Joey chatter' post that I just did previously. For desert, my dad had a delicious yellow cake with chocolate icing. I hadn't given any to Savanna, and before I came in the front room, I made sure it was out of her reach. Well she must have go go gadget arms or something because when I went back in there, this is what I found. Notice to her right that she had not only reached the cake, but had gotten the lid off!! And she dug right in. Didn't pull it off the table, but dug right in. I had to document it. She just felt she needed practice for when she turns one in a little less than 2 months. *sigh* my child! ha ha ha ha I guess she didn't care she had JUST gotten a bath 2 hours earlier. And I guess she didn't like her nice white and purple shirt. I'm gonna have to perform surgery on that one! She still painted it all in her hair and everything. Gotta love these kids!