Caleb's 8th birthday

Our camera was acting up or something, so most of these pictures are taken from the phone.

I can't believe our first born is now 8. Caleb you amaze us everyday with the kind heart you have and the love of learning you have always had. You have such a postive attitude about most things-unless you are sleepy...but we have been so blessed to be your parents. We mentioned to you that you had 10 years left with us before you went off to college and you broke down in tears. We feel the same way, but by then you will probably be thrilled to be going.

My own attempt at a lego cake. It was a pretty fun cake to make.

Empty plates!

Jules with her 10 headed lego person.

William with his lego guy.

This year we decided to keep it simple for Caleb's birthday and he invited two friends to go to the lego store and play. We bought a lego set for each of them and had pizza at Sbarro's.

Then they went to Dave and Busters for a little while. We went home and had cake and ice cream with friends. Caleb said it was his favorite birthday ever. He says that every year.

.

.

little critters/end of summer

A summer Cloud cover/thunderstorm outside our house.

Leisel got mud all over her at the end of the bike ride...Poor girl!

We rode the Virginia Creeper in August as well and I loved it! It is a 13 mile bike ride all down hill.

They both got baseballs that were foul balls. Toby actually caught one, and poor Caleb the older kids kept getting to them faster...but a nice lady gave him a ball.

Hickory Crawdads baseball game....VERY HOT and SWEATY day.

Toby and his best friend.

The poor Dragonfly, that lived in the boy's bug boxes for a few days.

The Black Widow living in our Trash Can!!!!

Not been good about blogging....the funny thing is when I do keep up I actually remember life better...as I am looking through these pictures over the last 6 months I had totally forgot most of it...and couldn't recall most of it without seeing the pictures. I feel like I've missed the last 6 months of my life. Anyway we had a lot of interesting pets over the summer. We had tadpoles this summer that lived in the Elliott's pool and a few actually made it into frogs. These are pictures of the last days of summer. Of course I was pretty excited for it to end because of Ken and I's upcoming trip to Ireland.

Kansas Trip

On our way back to NC, we stayed at a hotel. It prolonged our trip, but at least Ken and I weren't jetlagged the next day.





The tree amigos.

Caleb trying to dress Leisel at the hotel we stayed at on our way back to NC. He is such a sweet brother.

We went all over the place in Kansas. One of the places were the combat air musuem. The kids could climb in and out of the these retired airplanes. Very interesting, but muggy. Our trip to kansas was a hot one with temps in the 114! We tried to stay busy.

-We went to a really cool Lego display at the local college in Topeka (no pics)

-My aunt and Uncle came to visit us from Atchison, Ks.

-My sister and her children came down and we went to the park to ride the train and carousel.

-The boys stayed with Ken's parents for a few days.

-We went to the Historical Musuem where the boys became mesmerized by arrowheads.

-We went to a water park with slides and diving boards and pirate ships. Caleb dived off a 12 ft diving board like 10 times. This boy has NO FEAR. His mamma has plenty for him, though.

-We went to see Aunt Beth and Uncle Micah. I got to record "The River" in a professional studio with my sister.

-I went to visit my friend Colleen and her husband and girls. We went swimming a lot! It was hot!

-We saw my cousin, Lynn, Brian, Reagan, and Connor in Olathe. It had been such a long time.

-We ate a very quick lunch with Memaw at her work.

-We went to the air musuem with My sister, her girls, my parents, and me and my 3 houligans.

Yes, we kept them busy. They also got to play with the neighbors at my parents, who have chickens! Very Interesting. We got to go to Wal-mart where I almost always ran into somebody I knew or recognized. I would have loved to visit Bendena and Atchison. It's lovely country...sometimes smells like cattle.

I am not really sure why I am putting this pic up here. Colleen and I have been friends since elementary school and were best friends through junior high and high school. She has remained very special to me. We haven't lived in the same town since highschool....

My friend Colleen's girls with my boys. They are a loud crew, but they rather enjoy each other and the cat.

LJ in a timeout. One of MANY!

At the Kansas Historical Musuem. I hadn't been there in a while. I was very impressed. This is where I learned that the first shots of the civil war were heard in Kansas due to the fact that Lincoln became President and joined Kansas as a "free" state. Made people mad and the rest is history!

Beth and her two girls. Addie and Eliza. Aren't they so cute?

My sister turned 34 while I was visiting. She is expecting a boy in january!

We always like a good train ride at Gage Park in Topeka, KS.

Piggy tails are a rare occasion. I don't have much patience for it.

My aunt and uncle came to visit us one of the days. It was so nice of them. My aunt never seems to age. We also visited my cousin, Lynn and her family. I think my camera was dead--so no pics.

My dad with his big sister.