Fishing

What a day, we caught so many fish! Mine was the biggest, no mine was!

Well, we tried and what's fishing without a "fishing story"?

Bollinger Mill

We took the boys fishing at Lake Girardeau Sunday evening and first we stopped at the Bollinger Mill. The boys had noticed the picture of the covered bridge while at O'Charley earlier that day when we were there for lunch after church so we decided to take them there. They loved it and actually I had to take them back Monday so they could tour the inside of the mill since it was closed Sunday. Both days the boys enjoyed touring and noticing all the neat surroundings. Preston amazed me when we went fishing, he loved it and kept throwing his line out and they both used their new tackle they got from their birthday from the fisher's (thanks guys). Preston kept wanting to try new "fish food". Austin enjoyed the trip as well, unfortunately, we left with out catching a thing. It was still a good time. We stopped at a firework stand outside city limits and picked up a few fireworks for the night. It was a great family evening after our busy day Sat. with the party and all.

Birthday fun!

The boys made a splash at their birthday party! It was a great party, not too hot and I didn't go crazy with activities and preparations like I normally do. We decided to do water since it had been so hot and I think everyone had a great time. The three slip in slides were the best, followed by a water balloon toss and water balloon fight ( I think I filled about 150 water balloons before the party over the course of a few days). Boy did some of those boy get aggressive throwing the balloons at each other. They played a relay game where they were to run, get a balloon, pop it, and run back to the next person. We had the pinata of course, actually this year, I had to get two because they each wanted a different one. I hate to make them share everything. Preston had Speed Racer cake and Austin a soccer cake so I tried to theme their tables and balloons around what they each had picked out! It's getting harder as they get older to do their parties together; hopefully, I will be able to by with the dual party for another year or so. Thank goodness this baby isn't due in the summer!

Check out my Slide Show!

The boys are both taking a nap, very unusual! However, I'm able to catch up on this journaling thing! Father's day weekend this year was spent without Jeff around! Unfortunately, he had to work overtime the whole weekend (14 hours Fri.- 13 hours Sat.- and 14 hours again on Sunday)! I don't know how he did it but I know I sure couldn't! The boys and I went to Trail of Tears Saturday to take a nature hike and have a picnic lunch! Preston loved the overlook where he spotted the train tracks, we actually had to eat lunch there just in case a train went by. The boys did great on the trail and the collected rocks, flowers, and different things along the way. Afterwards, we headed to mom's to cool off in the pool! We had a great time together and just wished Jeff could be with us! Sunday after church, the boys and I got lunch and then spent sometime reading at Barnes and Nobel. We came home to bake Jeff a cake for Father's Day and we made him lasagna per his request for dinner! However, he didn't get home until 8:30!

This week Kali came over to play Monday. I took the kids out for ice cream and I had to have my real fruit strawberry slush from Dairy Queen, it's what I'm craving all the time! It's not good because those suckers cost $1.70 ! At least it's healthy I think!

Tuesday I got my hair done, a little too blond but I guess it will be alright for the summer! Then the boys and I went to the Cape bike trail. This is the first time I had been on the trail. It was nice and mostly flat. We stopped on the way back at the Arena park and the kids played at every playground they have there! The weather was absolutely gorgeous! Jeff met us in Cape and we went out to Logan's for a late Father's Day dinner! It was delicious and cheap, they have a great special right now on Mon-Wed., the kids ate for only 2.00 each!

Today we've actually spent the whole day at home. The boys were both up by 8. Again we played mostly, where else but outside, another beautiful day! I still have Austin read and write everyday at some point, no schedule really. For Preston I 'm still working on teaching him to write his name. We did those activities this morning, played with play dough, and finished sand art pictures from yesterday. They ate lunch on the deck and then played until they started to get whiny. They were both out for a nap within ten minutes, I couldn't believe it. Austin usually will rest for 30 minutes and then get up when Preston is asleep. Not today, he must need the rest.

The rest of the week I need to finish getting ready for their birthday party this weekend!

The boys love being outdoors, it's a good thing I do too, I guess considering we have the whole summer to do whatever we want! I love it! We rode our bikes to the park one day and stopped to play at the creek. Austin still loves to climb anything he can (even the walls at our house in the hallways- he will sneak when he thinks no one is watching; however, I have caught him doing this even though he knows he's not suppose to)!

I know I had a picture like this last year where the boys were holding hands walking the trail but I just love it! Also, Preston loves this shirt, it is one from last year and he picks it out all the time??? We visited the conservation department one not so hot morning and took a nature hike! This particular trail is fun because you stop at the number markers and learn something about nature. Austin kept noticing all of the butterflies along the way. We ate lunch on this windy day at the park and the boys played until it got too hot!

first two weeks out of school... June 13th

Well, we've been out of school for two whole weeks already! How the times flies! I just want this summer to go by very slowly; however, we're always busy doing something. The first week out of school, both of the boys were sick. Austin had another ear infection; therefore, we will being visiting the ear, nose, and throat doctor at the end of the month. He has had about 5 or 6 infections in the past year. Preston had a stomach bug for about ten day. Fortunately, he didn't feel real bad with it. We we still able to get out and do stuff after his fever went away.
We celebrated Preston 4th birthday on the 3rd. He loved waking up and having pancakes with candles on them. He could hardly wait until that night to open the rest of his presents. He picked out spaghetti for dinner and afterwards my mom, Tim, and Danielle came over for cake and ice cream. It's hard to believe my baby is four already. He's such a joy. He makes us laugh all time. He loves to be funny!
The weather has been so hot that we've been swimming a lot to stay cool. The boys love swimming again! We took the boat out for the first time this summer! The water was still a little cold but the boys didn't mind! We had b-b-q on the island like usual! We just love, love, love being out on the lake! Can't get enough of it, I think we left around 11:00 and didn't get home until well- it was dark outside!

Ok, enough already with the slide shows. I'm just behind and somehow found the time in between the zillion other things we did today to sneak down here and upload pictures periodically. We must have went to at least seven different places today. The agreement was to get our errands done today so tomorrow we can just play which is basically what we do everyday (play). We delivered a present to a friend because i missed her shower, stopped at hobby lobby to look for a airplane to a track we found at a garage sale, exchanged a dress at Lerners, looked at the crabs in the mall forever, ate lunch, went to target for a few necessities like toothpaste, then to factory card to get birthday stuff, and finally to petco to get an algae eater for the fish tank! Oh wait, then we went to the post office mailed Jeff's dad his father's day gift and washed the van! Makes me tired just thinking about it! And somehow I created the slide shows below. I plan on posting more about the pictures later, we're off to go swim!

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Going back a month here! The pictures below are from the circus and the annual church picnic. The boys loved the circus. Well, Preston was bored a time or two; however, for the most part he enjoyed it! We unfortunately caved in and bought extremely over priced snow cones and light up toys! Oh well, it only comes around once every several years! The church picnic was a great time, too! It nice to see people from other services!

Check out my Slide Show!

Quick update

Wow, has it really been a month since I updated? I guess so! As for now I'm stuck with this layout until I remember how I changed it last time. I don't have much time. Today is Preston's 4th birthday! We are going to see Speed Racer and then to pick out a new toy at Toys-r-Us. He got money in the mail from grandma and grandpa LaFave and he can't wait to pick out a toy. So much has happened in the last month! Hopefully, I will find the time to post now that school is out for the summer!Yeah! As for right now, I need to get baking a cake.