2 Lost, 2 Swallowed...

Well, last night I received a text from Amber saying Carter lost his tooth eating an apple...however, yet again he swallowed it!  Poor guy has lost 2 teeth and has swallowed both of them.  We tried to pull it ourselves the other night, but I guess he does better with losing them by eating! 

 

Sweet boy has not bottom front teeth right now, love it!!!

Teaser...

We had family pics a couple weeks ago, and they are by far some of my favorite pics. Not only are they the best that Sarah with Bartmier Photography has taken of us, they are the best our kids have done with pics as well.  We were so excited...from the location to the color schemes it was a great day!  I haven't had time to go through all of them...there were 220, but I did want to leave you with a little teaser for today!  These are our silly kids!

 

More to come later...

 

New beds...

We finally did it!!!  We have been looking for what kind of bed we wanted to put the girls in for almost a year now.  Well, when I was in Branson with out SS class girls, one of my friends showed me this picture of a Jr. Loft Bed.  And I was hooked. It is perfect...not as high as a bunk bed, but still the feeling of one.  So, we ordered and then picked up this last week.  Chris was out of town, but as soon as he got back the girls BEGGED him to put it together.  So, after dinner Friday night we put together 2 beds.  And the girls are in heaven...

 

Definitely some good helpers...

 

 Finished and snug as a bug in their beds...

Thanks Danielle for sharing this great idea of a bed!!!

2013 Domino Tournament

Yesterday we had our 21st annual Domino Tournament!  I LOVE when my family gets together, and even more love (competition) comes out when its tournament time.  We are such a competitive group...Chris totally knows where I get my love of games and competitive nature from...he does think I cheat...I DON'T!

 

This year it was at the Wingate in Bentonville.  I didn't get to play this year because I had cheer camp most of the day, I was however able to make it to the last part of the day!  I love my family so much!

 

This is the championship game...Dominuncles vs Old Farts!!!  And after 2 very close/nail biting games..the OLD FARTS won!!! 

 

Can't wait until next year, and I know you all can't either!

Weekly Night Swim...

Wednesday night we went over for our weekly swim at Nana's.  Chris was in St. Louis all week at a work conference, so we decided to make the most of our night.  The kids had so much fun!

 

These were Bailey's headphones...ha

Carter kept trying to dunk that basketball, and then land on the blue mat...

 he missed the mat...

 Then we dried off, so we could enjoy some ice cream...another thing that we do pretty much everytime we go swimming.

We love getting to spend time in the pool and of course spend time with Nana!

Summer Fun with Molly (the Big One)...

Our normal babysitter Magan is on vacation this week and next, so Molly (another sweet girl) is watching the kids.  They are having such a great time.  She had them last week at VBS as well.  They have already done so many fun things, library, splash park, swimming at friends, making snow cones, etc.  I am so glad that they are still having a good summer even if I am not there to take them places. 

 

The other morning I had to take Carter to the doctor, so the girls baked brownies...They were so excited to make them, and then of course EAT them!

 

 Yesterday, she took the kids to the splash park...love the goggles!

Williams & Williams

Last weekend we went to a wedding at Mt. Sequoyah for one of the ladies that works for Chris.  And yes, you read that right, her last name was and is going to be Williams...how lucky to not have to deal with changing all your bills, SS, etc.  Anyway...

 

Here is the beautiful bride Kim and some of her co-workers...

 The funny thing about Kim is when Chris hired her he had NO idea she was the sister in law of my great friend Tiffany from Mena.  Such a small world.  The best part of me going to the wedding was getting to hang out with Tiffany.  What a great friendship we have had all these years...I am very blessed by her.



Here we are with the men in our lives.  Normally it is just Tiffany and I that get to hang out when I am in Mena (its during tax season...Chris doesn't go), so it was nice to have us all together this time.  Kevin is Kim's brother...

What a great time we had at the wedding, and let me tell you it will be one that I never forget...that story is for another day!



Colassal Coaster World...

Last week was VBS at our church, and the kids were so excited!  It was all about theme parks, and riding roller coasters, how fun!!!  One of our friends took pics all week of all the kiddos, and she did an amazing job (Jen L Davis Photography).  Thanks for capturing our kids for us!

 

 

This picture cracks me up...this is our Pastor (leg in the air) and our Youth Pastor (jean shorts) they were so funny!  The kids loved them, they would do skits...you don't see that many pastors taking a part like Bro. Stuart, but every year he has participated when asked!  I love it!

And this is my friend Karen....she was a superhero...and her saying was Facing Fear...Trusting God!  All the kids loved her, and why would you not love her!



Cousin Love...

Last week Ashley and the kids decided to come  up and visit...well, maybe Russ kicked them out :)!!!  Either way we LOVE it when they come to visit.  All the kids love having all the cousins around, and especially in summer it means a lot of swimming and hanging out.  So, Tues-Thurs we pretty much lived at Nana Flynt's house with 6 adults and 10 kids...good times!

 

The big blow up slide...BIG hit!

Can we say DRAMA GIRLS!  I am pretty sure that these 2 are very similar and will cause lots of craziness in our lives...love them though!

And these 2...well, they are ROTTEN!  They are 3 days apart, and continue to grow at the same pace and are so sweet together.  Nothing like a little ice cream after swimming.

With these 3 we have NO hope!  They are so crazy, but I love how they are so very BOY!  I mean they have got to take advantage of the boys when they can since they are all out numbered by girls at their house!

Paige didn't want me to take her picture...so she just swam underwater anytime I came around with the camera.

 

We had such a great time, and can't wait to see them again soon!!!

High Flying Branson Fun!!!

So, we got back from vacation on a Thursday night, and I left on Friday morning to go to a Girls Weekend in Branson with our Sunday School ladies.  We started this last year, and thought we would make it an annual thing...I love these ladies so much, and it was great to get away and have this time of fellowship with them.  You really get to know them so much better on trips like these.  We are very blessed with our SS class, and especially me with these ladies.

 

We started out Friday with a little relaxation at White Water.  How nice is it that you don't have to constantly monitor kids while swimming...this was a great time of just sliding, floating in lazy river and more slides...Good Times.  Last year only 7 of us went to WW, this year all of us went!

 

Saturday morning we started out doing some shopping and then Sat night after dinner we went and got ice cream, and then some of us did a little flying through the air!  If you know me at all you know I love all things scary...crazy...and high in the air!  2 other ladies were brave enough to do it with me this year...the RIP CORD!

Here we are about to go...I was responsible for pulling the cord...so much pressure  HA!

After we had gone...and we still have smiles on our face...Tracey in the middle had never done anything like this before, and as soon as I pulled the cord she said lets go again!  And that she did with one other lady!

 

 Then Danielle and I decided to do the Ejection Seat...yet, they pull you up and then like an elastic band let you go and you flip and twirl...so much fun!  And the best part is they microphone your whole trip in the air so they can hear everything!  I am pretty sure we were laughing and loving every minute of it.  Our group of girls thought we were crazy!

Everyone was so sweet to wait for us to do all of our crazy things all night...it was an absolutely awesome night outside though!  Such fun memories we created this weekend away!

 Waiting in line for the ejection seat!!!!

I know people call me NUTS, but I love to do these crazy things.  I guess if I happen to die one day doing something like this, at least I will die happy!  Ha!  Grateful for those that like to do these crazy things with me!

 

Overall, we had a great weekend away, I am again very blessed with these ladies in my life and so fortunate that our church brought most of us together!

Saying goodbye...

Some of our friends moved to Nashville the day after we got back from vacation.  Luckily, we were able to have one last dinner with them before they took off.  We literally pulled into town from vacation in time to eat with them and a couple of other couples.  It was such a good time, and we are so glad we got to meet up, especially because we missed our Sunday School party that we had for them.

 

Molly and Halle (middle) were in MDO together last year, and that is truly where their love for each other grew...and then of course there is Hutch...they love him too!

We will miss you Wingards, but will come visit often...we LOVE Nashville!

Last stop...

Here we are pulling out heading to Nashville for our final night of vacation.  We got there pretty early and could have continued to drive but decided to stop instead.  This leg of the trip the kids did just as well as on the way out there.  I love that we had such a good experience in the car...especially since we will be taking A LOT of car/road trips.

 

We decided to walk around the mall to burn some energy and then take the kids to see Despicable Me 2...they loved it!  

The next morning we got up and headed home...we had such a great vacation, and owe some great memories to the Andreas and Towles family!  We have some great friends and really enjoyed hanging out with them!  Thanks for making our vacation so fun!

Lots of fun in Lynchburg, VA...

Part 2 of Lynchburg...we had so much fun.  We spent some time touring some of the places on Liberty campus.  We have been there several times, and yet we still find ourselves finding places we haven't been before. 

 

We are so excited and proud of Dr. Matt Towles...so weird to see that on his office door.  The best thing is, since I have known Matt he has had a Cloffice (an office in his closet).  Even his old office on campus wasn't much bigger than his closet in his apartment in Lexington.  But the new one is so nice and well deserved!

Touring a museum on campus...here are Kennedy and Bailey with the mascot for the Liberty Flames!

We typically see Matt's parents when we are in town, but this time time didn't allow.  But how lucky are we that got to see her picture on campus!!!  She is BIG stuff at Liberty!

Me and my sweet girl!!!  One day she will have normal smiles :)

It is amazing everytime we get together with the Towles...we pick up right where we left off, and always have such a good time.  We have known them for 11 years, but it feels like forever.  We can't wait to meet up with them next year in Dallas!

Love their kids as well...I love that our kids get along so well :)

Like I said, we had such a good time with the Towles...we even had time for Brownies and Ice Cream and a game of Phase 10...a typical weekend event when we were in Lexington.

 



Next stop...Nashville, TN!!!!