Where did June go? Part One

Week One--We were still in school!!! The first week of June had us participating in many end of the year parties AND waiting for summer to officially begin. We ended the week with a trip to Crossett~
Can you tell Jones was ready for a break and school to be out? One of the Moms said say Summer & this is the response Jones gave as he shouted, "Summer!" :)
Laynie with a couple of her buddies, Eli & Julia, at the 1st grade Birthday Bash!Ready for church at FBC Crossett!

Week Two--The kiddos headed on vacation with Grandma & Popa...the first stop was camping at the Buffalo River, which the kids were totally excited about, & then on up to Branson for the water park hotel (a favorite of my kids) & Silver Dollar City! :) I think they successfully wore Grandma out over that week! We ended this week by getting a Puppy!Grandma was in charge of the photos so......I only have a few :) Looks like they had a relaxing campsite & peaceful view at the Buffalo!The kids have enjoyed having Jessie Belle as their pet (so far)! :)

Jessie Belle

Are you ever really prepared to get a puppy? I think the answer to that question is probably NO, NOT EVER...but we got one anyway! :) Our kids are really not all that fond of dogs, but they have been wanting to get a puppy for sometime now. (I'm not sure if they totally understand that she won't be a cute little puppy forever, she will eventually grow up & be a dog)! :)

Well 2 weeks ago, Trey started searching for lab puppies, and wouldn't you know we have a breeder in our own town! According to the book Waterdog, you must get the puppy at 7 weeks of age. Why you ask? I have NO idea, because I haven't read 'the book.' But our sweet little girl was already 10 weeks old so we got her at a bargain & after 2 weeks, she's gonna be just fine...she is already so smart :) 7 weeks or 10 weeks...what's the difference?She can sit, fetch, and heel (we're still working on stay)...not to shabby for a pup! Laynie wants her to learn to shake hands & Jones wants her to jump through hoops...my next question is will she ever have a chance in the world to be a hunting dog? Maybe, maybe not...that remains to be seen I guess!!

Laynie got the final say on which puppy to choose, hence the girl, and Jones had the final decision on a name. We all gave suggestions, and he chose. Jessie was picked in honor of Toy Story 3, & I'm not sure how we got Belle other than she's one of our favorite princesses! So we now have Jessie Belle White...if you say it real fast, especially if she's into something she's not supposed to be into, it sounds like Jezebel...Oh well, we'll try to NOT call her that! When she's working (hunting) her name is Jess. I'm partial to Jess, I think.

Jessie is definitely a lot of work, but the kids have a little more responsiblity because of her, and that's a good thing! We've only had to have one game of rock, paper, scissors to determine whose turn it was to scoop poop! I'm sure as school rolls around that will be Mommy's job, but she'll keep me company when everyone else is busy! :)

The 3 M's

M #1--The Mulberry RiverYou could never tell if from these photos, but the Mulberry River (if you are floating in a canoe with your child) is no fun and games...at least not for this canoe girl! Yes I grew up camping and canoeing and for some reason I have fond memories of those trips...maybe because back then canoeing was paddling just to help out every now and then, you know push us off a rock or something, oh and don't forget the most important part...to work on my tan! Yes my Daddy and brother spoiled me, and Trey took up right where they left off! Well Saturday was a DIFFERENT story...I ended up in the back of the canoe taking Laynie and another girl on a 3 hour float down the Mulberry...yes we tumped over, but only once! :) Every time we began to hear the rushing water, Laynie would get in the bottom of the canoe and say, "Mom please don't tump us again!" We made it in one piece thankfully, but I think an easy float down the Buffalo is more my style especially if I am the main paddler!

M #2--Momo's & Grandad'sSince we were already so close to Mansfield after our company picnic on the Mulberry, we decided to head to Momo's for a little R & R. We love being at Momo's especially in the summer because our agenda consists of running, reading, and relaxing in the pool! We are so lucky that our children have 2 sets of awesome grandparents who want nothing more than to love on their grandkids as much as possible! Thanks for a wonderful time! :)

M #3--Memorial Day FunLike I said we enjoy swimming in the summer alot. Laynie just jumped right in and took off like a little fish again...Jones was a little more timid, but by Day #2 he was jumping off the diving board and swimming to the ladder all by himself! They were able to spend time with their cousin that they always want to see when at Momo's, and Memaw got to watch them swim too! :) Laynie does NOT wear floaties, but she wanted to pose silly for a picture...Jones is always silly so there's nothing new with his pictures. After a long day of swimming, popsicles hit the spot...bannana for Laynie and cherry (better known as red) for Jones. We are looking forward to many more swimming trips to Momo's this summer...and we want some of our VB friends to join us too!Sorry for ALL the photos, but Momo got a new camera I was trying out for her...and yes, I'm a little jealous, but at least she's at most of our important events, so we can use hers until I (by I, I mean Trey) breaks down and buys me a good one! :)

Baseball (& Softball) Dad

I'm so thankful that I have a husband (and my children have a Daddy) that wants to be involved in their lives. Yes he's busy at work, really busy, but when it's time for practice, playing ball in the backyard, or a game he's always there! To my knowledge before we were married, he was always more of a basketball man. Maybe I just assumed that was true because he played basketball in high school and college, who knows? However, little did I know he LOVES baseball too--me not so much even though I played softball. I'm much more of a football gal probably due to the fact that my Dad was a coach, and I spent Friday nights at the football field. So when it was decided that our kids would BOTH play ball I don't know that I was totally thrilled...

Playing softball AND T-ball this year has had us at the ball parks sometimes 4 nights a week--talk about a crazy life for us old fogies that want to be asleep by 9:30! But let me tell you it was FUN and EXCITING every time we were at the park. Overall both teams records weren't the greatest, OK they were really pretty bad, but I think when your children are involved a particular sport, it becomes your favorite!

It was so fun to cheer for Laynie's team--the hits she got & the outs she was apart of were so exciting to me as a Mom. When she got her first base hit I was thrilled for her! I discovered that I like to cheer in the stands and can be quite the yeller (in a good way, like "You can do it SWAT!"). Laynie seemed to really like playing softball this year. She was 2nd Base and began to understand her 'role' like when to cover her base and when to be the cut-off girl. I think she particularly liked all the dugout cheers and chants too! :) Jones' games were hilarious! Here's just on example: Jones played Left Field and one particular night the ball was hit to Right Center. He ran over and got the ball (or wrestled it away from someone) then ran a guy down at 3rd Base and tagged him out! Fun times...it was exciting and shocking all at the same time when Jones actually hit the ball during the game when his Daddy pitched it to him for the first time instead of hitting off of a Tee. Seeing Jones understand what to do when the ball came to him or shouting "Foul Ball!" when someone missed the tee was also priceless! Jones especially loved it when he got to touch home plate! :)
I guess all this to say--if my kids grow up to LOVE baseball and softball and want to play it, I will LOVE it too! I have discovered that what they love I will grow to love as well! So bring on next spring--we'll be ready to PLAY BALL!

Craftin' Today

Today has been a rainy stay inside and read a book kind of day, but I have a 5 year old little boy who would rather play cars and horses instead of letting his Mommy read a book! :) However he does like his Wii time and watching shows so.....after he helped me with a few chores, Jones had some veggin' in front of the TV time while I rearranged Laynie's room and got crafty! :)I CANNOT wait until we finish our upstairs, and my craft room is complete. I really love 'turning nothing into something.' I guess that's why I like to sew and do craft projects, but it is so much more work these days because I have to go upstairs and get all my supplies & take them to the kitchen and begin whatever project I'm working on just to go back upstairs at least once maybe twice to get everything I really need. It will be super nice for it to all be in the same spot again. I know, I know if that's all I have to complain about I really should just be quiet, right? Well all that to say I look forward to my Craft room being completed!! Our master bedroom actually has a loft above it so the future plans are to add a spiral staircase in our room up to the loft with new wrought iron railing for easy access to my crafting space--can't wait!So speaking of crafts these are a couple of things I have completed for Laynie's room. Right now they don't exactly match super, but one day (maybe 3 years from now, who knows) we will transition her room into hot pink with black and white accents. I just can't make anything or add anything to her room that I KNOW will not match eventually so we are slowly but surely introducing black and white into her room. As always once I complete a project I think, "Oh I should have taken pictures along the way to post on my blog so people can see how easy this really is!" but I didn't...maybe next time?I made the paint bucket last summer, but I made the frame today. The frame would actually be cuter if it was horizontal, but I didn't have a horizontal picture so it's vertical for now! I just used a new paint bucket from Lowe's or Home Depot less than $5 and then added scrapbook paper with Modge Podge and ribbon (only buy ribbon at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off or you will spend too much money). I actually have a template I made for the bucket so if your interested let me know...We actually have markers in Laynie's bucket, but for Teacher Appreciation Week filled her teacher's up with her favorite goodies. It really is a super cute gift bag! :) The frame was $1 wooden frame at Wal-Mart (I think) that I added scraps of paper too again with MP and ribbon. I topped it off with a flower and a few jewels. I think all I need is a big rhinestone in the middle of the flower, but I was out of those so that will be added after my next trip to HL.

Yea! I got to craft today!