It is one hot summer.

The old saying it is too hot to do anything.. True. It is too hot to even swim in the afternoons. 110 degrees everyday is miserable. We are praying for rain! The kids and I have been up early, napping in the afternoon and staying up later. It seems to "cool" down at night to a cool 90-95 degrees.. Did I just say cool?! It is even too hot to take pictures. WE have had a good summer though, the first week I worked VBS at FP.. both kids went and it was great fun. Then I pawned Wyatt off on Nini who works the FBC VBS so he was there the next week. He loved it, I was a little worried two weeks in a row, but they put on an incredible program. (EJ was too young) She did do princess camp at Ballet studio.. she enjoyed it, but did not exactly follow the rules the teacher said. It was more like, "Well, how did EJ do today?" Teacher..." Well, not as good as yesterday." and they said that everyday! One thing about her is if you do not set the rules and enforce them early, she will walk all over you. I think this was a very soft spoken teacher who was very sweet, but EJ needs a little bit of fear (and a good spanking sometimes!) She has more personality and is hysterical, but very strong willed. Have no idea where she gets that from. :)
We have had a great month catching up with old friends.. Lala and I see each other but the boys who were inseparable at birth to 3, have not been able to play as much with different schools, schedules.. which is pathetic bc she lives less than a 1/2 mile away. So we have been making up for lost time and fortunately we are blessed with little hunters... they have killed everything in the back yard and hunted anything they could find. Sammy, EJ and Lizzy are not near as disturbing and play well.. usually inside where it is cool! :)
I need to get the camera back out.... we have had a lot of fun avoiding the heat. Hard to believe we are 1/2 thru June and I have no pictures for this month!

Memorial Day

Sweet Pam and EJ
Outside the CAF
Missing Man formation, they played taps afterwards and it is always so emotional.


I actually made the kids sit and listen to the speech, it was hot.. they were tired of sitting.. but I do feel it is important even at a young age to show some respect and one day remember why they had to sit and listen. Zach was sweating buckets and I made him sit too:)
All my boys.. are they not handsome?!
Devil Dog is the new airplane they are trying to restore and keep flying.. very similar the Fifi campaign..

Daddy's Girl

Thank you to all of those who have served and died for our freedom. A freedom I know I take for granted. I hear of those people who are oppressed, cannot make their own decisions, forced to live in conditions we consider unbearable, forced to worship a certain religion, and I realize the older I get just how blessed we are. I know we do not live in a perfect country, but we live in a free country that so many have fought for. I am so appreciative. I never really understood the importance of Memorial Day and Vets Day until I got older, I use to just think of it as a another school holiday. I know look at my Dad, who served in Vietnam, differently.. he has always been a hero.. but now to more than just me. He is someone I am so proud of, someone I respect even more for the selfless act of fighting for our country. Along with my Peepa (WW2), Zach's granddaddy, friends, cousins, and so many I cannot even begin to thank.
This year we celebrated at teh CAF, it was great. It was hot, but what is not hot in West Texas these days! The kids love the CAF, so it was fun for them to see all the airplanes, they had games, clowns, all sorts of stuff for the family.

Happy Birthday to my first EMILY!

I love you! Hope you have a great day! So hard to believe we have been friends for almost 30 years. You are more beautiful every year.

Last Day of School

The two JUNEbugs.. Mrs. Christina's daugher is named "June" as well, which lead us to calling ours "Emily June" I think they are the cutest Junebugs!
Our favorite teacher.. Mrs. Christina!
and Mrs. Allison! So sweet :)
Wyatt's class..

The last days always comes so quick! I guess that is life in general, things seem to fly by.. including another school year. I was really sad this year bc we will no longer be at First Pres... the best Children's Day out program in town.. or anywhere for that matter. Mrs. Goldie is incredible and I will be so sad not to see her sweet face on a weekly basis. We also had another year of wonderful teachers.. Mrs. Christina was incredible.. and Mrs. Allison was just as sweet!

Wyatt had his last day with is class and Mrs. Evans.. We will hold him back so he will repeat Pre K next year ( he is so young, just not old enough to go to Kinder) so I was not as sad with him, knowing we will have another great year next year. EJ will go to Hillander too, so they will be one grade year apart. I am already thinking how hard it is going to be when Wyatt is in college and EJ is a senior then they will both be gone within one year! I told Zach, I will just get an apartment where ever they go to school:)

Another Road Trip!

Aunt Judy, Grandma, and Mom Cousin Lacy playing with EJ, thank goodness for her extra hands, I was sweating I was so tired of trying to keep them still and behaved!
Lacy, Casey, Aunt Judy and Jordan
EJ on the front porch
Wyatt exploring the back yard... It is so green and beautiful. When Wyatt is 7 he will be able to do the family canoe trips.. just a few more years.

Having tea with Aunt Judy on the back porch
Wyatt with GG
Sisters





The Zoo.. on the way to Shreveport.. great place to stop!


They had an awesome dinosaur exhibit.. they did look real! We did a double take on a few of them!


The flamingos are for Skeet and Nini!



My favorite part.. the Petting zoo. I love the baby animals. This little longhorn started eating EJS dress, she did not think it was as funny as I did...

Train ride!



Where ever we go Wyatt seems to find the guns and shoot everything in site.
Deer hunting.


I have to say traveling with children is hard! We have the best time, but the long car rides do not bring out the best in us. Mom and I usually have a lot of patience, but today on our way home she was shoving "relaxing" pills down my throat! It was that bad. Always the way home, to leave a bad taste in your mouth.. but overall the weekend was great. Wyatt asked every 5 minuets to stretch his legs and "Are the there yet?" followed by an annoying grunt, yell or sign...Even the movies got old, the phones were dead, so they actually had to look out their windows and enjoy the ride. What happened to when we were little and did nto have all this technology?! You would think they were being torchered without being entertained every minute of the day! Then the fighting began.. it looks like we have a litter of kittens in our house with all the scratching and arguing that went on the back seat. We have to figure out a better way!

We started the trip off great, we got up early.. drove to Ft. Worth (1/2 way to shreveport) and stopped off at the zoo for several hours. that was perfect. They got all their energy out, and forgot about the next 4 1/2 hours in the car.. which they slept most of it :) We arrived in Shreveport Friday night just in time to see Grandma (or GG as the kids call her) before she went to bed. She is 97, and amazing. Her health is slowing giving away, but her mind and sense of humor are there. She is very well taken care of and gets a foot massage and facial every day.. not bad huh?! She loves all the attention too! She loved seeing the kids. EJ was so warm and loving. They played "manicure" and GG was a good sport about letting EJ pretend to paint nails, and give her a manicure. Wyatt freaks out a little with all the older people around. They love children and want to grab and touch... he runs! As long as he had the phone to play car games on he was good. (which means we could all relax and enjoy the time with GG)

My aunt also had a big retirement party.. she has taught for 39 years. She is amazing. I was in awe of all the incredible things people had to say and the amount of support she had at her party. The one thing they all said was she was the one person you can always count on to pray for you. I know we say a lot (sometimes out of habit..) " I will pray for you..." and never think about it again.. She Prays, she never forgets. Mom always tells the story of seeing Aunt Judy grow up every morning reading her Bible, she always she lived her life for Jesus and never wanted to disappoint Him. She is an inspiration to us all. Then they went on about all her jokes and sense of humor.. she is funny too! It was really nice to be there and just see the amount of love and support. One lady got up and said her thank you's then broke out in " Thank you for giving to the Lord.. " it was so moving, and touching.. the tears started pouring at that point.
So, other than the last five hours of the trip, it was just moving and perfect!