Recent fun

Had to take this one of Joey! He takes his cars to bed like any other kid would take a stuffed animal or blanet. He cuddles with them and holds them all night. :) That's my future race car driver!

Here are some recent pictures of my BEAUTIFUL kids! They're random, but enjoy anyway.

Savanna has a thing for corn - It is SO fun to watch her eat it!

A few years ago when we were looking to get a dog, I knew it had to be one that would be good with kids - since we had Joey and there were lots of kids in and out that I babysit. So we got Ace! He's definitely got some not-so desirable qualities (like his aversion to Kris) BUT we couldn't ask for a better dog when it comes to kids! The kids can do just about anything to this dog and he endures it well! And he even protects them if he feels they are in danger. What a sweet puppy!

My Joey on the far left and Savanna in the middle in the pink and some kiddos I babysit, Carlie, Maggie, and Ethan, enjoying the pool!

Joey and the little neighbor girl, Landynne. He is always excited when he sees her outside and always wants to go play with her! So fun!

I like to play with Savanna's hair. Can't wait til it gets longer! My recent fav is to do double french braids. Above is her with wrapped pig tails. Below I did double french braid down half way, then tied them together with bows. Turned out really cute!

And since I always wear flip flops, I figured it was high time to get Savanna her first pair of flip flops! Just like mommy! :) Gotta love target and their '2 pairs of flip flops for $5' sale!

Joey is so big!

Here is Joey, pictured on his first and last day of school. It's amazing how much he grew in that short 9 months!! I love this lil' guy!

September, 2009

May, 2010 - notice he's like 4 inches taller?!? Crazy... before I know it he'll be all grown up. :(

Joey Chatter - Don't erase it!

After goofing around before bed time, I gave Joey a final kiss on the cheek and out of habit wiped it off with my thumb. He looked at me and very matter-of-factly said:

J: MOM. Do it again and this time don't erase it!

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J: Mom, how do they make eggs out of chickens?

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J: Hot wheel cars are faster than race cars. I bet you didn't know that!

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(When looking at a sunset)

Me: See Joey? God is an artist and paints beautiful sunsets for us to see

J: Does God think the sky is his paper??? (incredulously)

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There are lots more but I need to be better about writing them down!! I intend on writing them down but then I always forget them. He is so clever and comes up with the funniest things! I love this little boy...

Shooting

Today the farrier that I use for my horse took some of his guns to Amy's house for her to try out because they are considering getting a gun and wanted to try some out. I've only shot a gun once or twice before as a teenager at a gun safety class I went to. But I figured today I would try some out, too! It was actually really fun albiet kind of scary! Some of those guns were just wicked. But fun! Anyway - enjoy the pics of the day!

Me with a big gun. It was HEAVY and hurt my shoulder with the kick back!

Getting ready to shoot...

This is Kelly, our farrier's wife. She is great with a gun!

This is Josh, my horses' farrier with one of his cool guns.

Sort of a group shot. Pete (Amy's husband), Brandon, Joey, and Amy.

Amy with my favorite gun. I really enjoyed shooting that one!

Some of the guns.

Brandon (Amy's son) with a gun!

Pete with what I thought looked like the 'noisy cricket' from Men in Black.

I had alot of fun today being outside in the wonderful weather!! :)

Time Out For Women!

A couple weeks ago I went to Time Out for Women with my sister, my mom, and my sister's friend, Amy in Indianapolis. It was SO FUN!! And so inspiring. Unfortunately I waited too long to do this post so I don't have lots of details to divulge, but I thought I would at least post the pictures so I would remember the good time!!

Here's our group shot!! I'm on the left, then my sister, Amanda, then my Mommy, then Amy! It was such a fun group of women to kick back with for the weekend. :)

Aaaaand what do women do when they have a night out together? Facials!! Amy brought this cool Aztec Healing Clay that we mixed with raw Apple Cider Vinager and it made a really cool clay mask. And my skin felt amazing afterwards!!

Here is my mom with one of the presenters, Mariama Kallon. She was AMAZING. Long story short, she was raised in war-torn Sierra Leon and witnessed her parents murdered. After that she ran away with her sister, but they were caught by rebels and her sister and many other women were murdered in front of her and she was next in line, but the UN soldiers came and scared the rebels off. After a LONG hard road, she came to the US to serve a mission for the church, and in turn got to stay here after wards. Just to listen to her talk of her struggle and the struggles of her family.... it truly made me thankful that I have healthy kids and a warm house and a full kitchen. I take so much of that for granted.

Here is Amanda and Amy enjoying lunch.

Here is Diane Crankson and I. Diane served a mission in our area when I was in college. It was so neat to run into her again after all these years!! She just had the baby she's pregnant with in this picture - a healthy little girl! This is her 3rd.

All in all it was a GREAT weekend full of inspiration and HOPE. The theme of the TOFW was Infinate Hope. It was nice to be reminded that no matter what is happening in your life, there is ALWAYS reason to hope. :)

Out

Joey is generally a very well behaved boy. He is easy to get along with and is typically mild mannered. But I always know when he is tired because I swear a little devil boy comes out catching me off gaurd. He does things totally out of character of himself! So typically when this happens, I give him a time out on the couch so he can rest. This typically ends up with him going to sleep. Well today he made some not-so-good choices in handling a situation so instead of playing with his friends I told him he needed to go take a couple minutes to lay on the couch. I swear not even 60 seconds passed and I come check on him and he looked like this. Ha! Tired boy. He continued to sleep like that with the other kids playing around him and even Savanna hitting him in the head a few times! When the kid is tired, he is tired!

Trike-a-thon

This year Joey's pre-school held a Trike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude Research Hospital. It was so fun! Joey really enjoyed asking for sponsors and ended up raising $40 all on his own. I know it doesn't sound like much, but for a 4 year old, he did great! I let him do it all by himself and I'm very proud of him. It was so fun to watch him ride his bike! He was CONVINCED it was a race and he wanted to win! I swear that kid rode his bike for an hour straight, stopped to get a drink, and rode for another 30 minutes! By the end of it he said "I won mom! I rode super fast like Lightning McQueen! I passed everyone and everyone else had to stop before me!"

I swear the kid has tremendous endurance and I can so see him being a track runner some day or something like that! I love him. :) Here are some pics from the day!

Joey is in the middle in the green shirt w/ the red bike and helmet.

There goes my super fast boy!! :)

Off he goes!

So fast he's a blur! He often will run and asks if I could see him or if he just zoomed right by!

Here is my Joey with his class. :) Joey is on the bottom right in the green shirt.

Strike a pose. :)