Fun Friday!!

{Don't you love when you forget to submit a new post??} :P

Yesterday, (Friday 7/22) we had a great day! I got the boys up and around and I took them and Jude to Fayetteville. We first had lunch at Chick-fil-A and then went to the movies. We decided to watch the new Winnie the Pooh movie because it was short enough (70 minutes) that I thought Brycen might do ok. He wasn't bad at all, just a little wiggly. All he wanted to do was take the straw in and out of the cups and eat so much popcorn I thought he might get sick. It's times like that where it would be just so easy to pop a paci in his mouth to calm him down and get him to relax, but I have not given in. He has done so well!!

After the movies, I met my sister in Fayetteville to get my niece, Jilian. I needed to take them to the Swim Ranch for their last day of swim lessons. My sister met us there later on and I took Brycen to Wal-Mart. Let me tell you, it is a vacation only having to grocery shop with one child. Thompson refuses to ride in the cart (which in all honesty, he is too big to sit in there) but he still likes to walk off or get distracted. So we made a 30 minute shopping trip and went home. It started pouring rain when we got back into town. We desperately needed the rain, but just not right then. We were heading to Thompson's Vacation Bible School program. It was perfect! He looked so big standing up there with the other kids saying their Bible verses and singing "Jesus Loves Me". It just melted my heart. I teared up thinking of how he is just growing so fast into such a wonderful little boy. I don't think I have ever me such a loving child. I hope he always keeps that tender heart.

Of course he saw me taking his picture and came and posed during the dancing! Such a ham! Love how he stuck his hands in his pockets!

After the program, the kids all enjoyed banana splits. I had to go to work. Tara brought Brycen up to work for a minute to show me some stuff and he was strutting around with a tootsie pop. (Tara is definitely known for spoiling the boys!) He was so proud of that sucker. I think it is actually his first one. It was cute. I wish I had thought to have taken a picture.

Anyways, we are enjoying a lazy day at home. My Granny Lola brought the boys some fresh peaches so we ate some of those and now Brycen is napping. Jude and Thompson are playing so good in the playroom. I am so thankful for such a wonderful, quiet day at home with the boys. I wish Robert were here, but the poor guy is sleeping. He has duty every 3-4 days (24 hr shifts) on top of his work schedule and finally got some time off this morning. So of course, he is catching up on his sleep. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Wouldn't you know...

I am doing yet another catch up post.

This week I have worked a lot! I actually haven't used my computer in days.

There hasn't been a lot going on. Thompson is attending Vacation Bible School this week. Every night I ask him what he learned and he tells me "About Jesus". That's good son, what do they say about Jesus? "Go outside and play". ;)

He has enjoyed it so much though. He asks every night to go back. I know a lot of it is from getting to play with kids. Right now, we have him on a wait list for pre-school. Hopefully they can get him in for this fall!

Here are some pictures from this week.

Brycen trying out his new car! Gotta love hand-me-downs! 

Thompson has been working in his letter book.

Brycen practicing up for the Lazy River.

Thompson and his faux hawk

Brycen and his paci.

Speaking of pacis... We are in the process of taking Brycen's away. It hasn't been too hard until today. He was in his room and found some stashed under his bed. I saw him and immediately took it away. He threw a fit! Then he found another. I took it away again. Another fit. It was awful. We have replaced the paci with his Buzz Lightyear doll and he seems to be ok. He has gone to bed at night just fine. I just really need to make sure he hasn't stashed anymore around here! :)

So glad the weekend is here! I don't have any plans, but I am sure we will do something. Thompson has been asking to go to Chuck E Cheese for a while, so maybe if I end up losing my mind, we will go there.

Off topic... does anyone do Pinterest? I love it. I have found some CUTE stuff that I want to make!

Hey Y'all!

Long time, no blog!

I have been a busy gal! I have been helping my sister out at her assisted living facility. I grew up in that place, so it holds a special place in my heart. When she asked if I could help out for a while, I was very excited!

The boys went with her to Hot Springs for the Miss Arkansas pageant. My niece, Jilian, was a princess to one of the contestants. It was such a wonderful experience! Now she has her eyes set on doing the pageant when she gets older!

 Jilian with Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady

Jilian helping the new Miss Arkansas Teen Ashton Campbell sign autographs. She is from our town as well!

The future Miss Arkansas!

Beautiful!

Ashton, Jilian, and Natalie

Other than working, I have done nothing! Ha! I did make a trip to Target and got some wonderful summer stuff half off! So I was proud of that purchase! And of course I have been loving stopping by and getting a sno cone while we are over there! Hey, I can't deny my children a sno cone on a hot day even if I were the one to suggest them! I don't like that my favorite place is covered with bees. Hundreds! We couldn't even sit down to eat them because they just swarmed us! And I hate bees! My new favorite flavor is Tiger's Blood. Sometimes I will get it with cream. It is strawberry and coconut. Sometimes if I close my eyes, I can imagine myself on a beach with the waves rolling in and me relaxing in a lounge chair sipping my adult beverage. But then I come back to reality-- 100+ degree heat and a flock of bees. ;)

Ok, one more thing. I entered the boys in a contest. I know, I know. I roll my eyes too every time there are these contests. (I don't need a popularity contest to tell me how adorable my boys are!) Anyways, roll your eyes and then go to THIS LINK! and "like" her page. (You do have to have a FB account) She is doing a contest and the person with the most "likes" on their picture win a free photo shoot and package! I am wanting our pictures done in September when Robert comes in, so this would be wonderful! So if you have a few extra minutes, I would greatly appreciate it!

A little funny...

Thompson and Brycen love having races around the house. They will count 1, 2, 3, Go! And then both run! (Brycen loves counting and saying Go too!) This morning they were doing this, but this time I heard Thompson say "1, 2, 3, Apple!" instead and then told Brycen I didn't say "Go!". It was his way to fake out his brother. Well he did this another time but used "banana" instead. Of course, he fooled his brother again. ;) Well then the next thing I hear he says, "1, 2, 3, diarrhea!" I about died laughing!

Where in the world do they come up with this stuff?!

Anyways, I laughed, then I corrected him telling him that we don't say stuff like that, then laughed a little more to myself.

Such a boy. I swear that is my excuse for everything! :)

Commenting Challenge!

So I am a little late to the party... but I thought I would link up with Jenna's Journey on her commenting challenge.

I am guilty of reading so many blogs and not commenting back. Shame on me! I thought this would be a great way getting to know more bloggers while sharing my blog as well.

I had meant to do this post yesterday...

What I am loving Wednesday!

(By the way, I love this idea!)

I think I have mentioned this canister set before, but I am in love with them! They match my dishes and I am definitely going to get them when we buy a house!

Last night I finally made the Pioneer Woman's Iced Coffee. To be honest, I saw the words "Sweetened Condensed Milk" in the recipe and I was SOLD!! I used fat free half and half as well as fat free SCM and it was soooo good! I had a glass this morning and it was perfect! And this is from someone who doesn't even like coffee that much!

Y'all know my love for all thing Real Housewives. I have always enjoyed the New Jersey group and so far I am loving the new season! I really don't care for the Teresa/Melissa family drama though. I am a Caroline fan definitely.

Another guilty pleasure of mine is Flipping Out. I don't know why, but I think Jeff is a hoot! And I love Jenny! So glad for another season of some major OCD meltdowns!

 

Ok, so I am semi-new to Twitter. I have had an account for a while, but rarely "tweet".  So if you are a "twitterer", follow me and give me a shout out! My name is 'lenorariedel'. Original, huh?

Hope you all have a great post-Wednesday!! ;)

Goodbyes and White Water

Yesterday morning, Robert got on the road back to California. It breaks my heart to see him go. I was seriously considering all of us just going back with him. We could all survive in 1 bedroom right?! ;) We are already planning his next trip home... we will be getting ready to celebrate Thompson's 4th birthday and Robert's 28th birthday!

By the way... can you believe it is already July?!?! Where does the time go these days???

Anyways, after Robert left, the boys and I loaded up and headed to meet my mom and my niece and nephew at White Water in Branson. I was worried about how I was going to handle 2 kids up there, but it really wasn't that bad. Thompson is now old enough that he can play at the kiddie park with his friends. He wears this floaty that is amazing!! Brycen loved playing in the water. Of course my niece and her friend loved being "mother hens" and helping him around. So cute!! Thompson then went to ride some rides with my mom and the kids and Brycen and I headed to the Lazy River. I have mentioned before about my love for the LR. Awww.... So peaceful, right?? Ummm not so much anymore. They renovated some of the park, LR included. They added these things that dump water on you as you go through. There are about 8 of them. Not cool. How can I relax on my tube knowing that every 4 seconds I had to paddle as fast I could away from the water dumping things. And Brycen insisted on taking his nap on me while we were on the river. I wish I could have gotten a picture, it was so cute! But he didn't much like being woken up to being soaked with cold water. He would scream and then fall right back to sleep. We did that for well over an hour. I thought my arm was going to fall off from holding him.

After White Water, we went to Freddy's to eat. It was so good! Then Brycen and I headed to TJ Maxx and Target. I seriously could have fallen asleep on my way home. I was sooo tired. I definitely came home and crashed.

Robert called and he is about into Kingman, AZ. He is truckin' it for sure! He assured me that he had pulled off and slept for about 3 hours. So he should be arriving back to CA today.

Today, I am wanting to relax. But I have this want to go to Sam's Club. I seriously LOVE Sam's. Don't know why, I just do. Kinda like Target. Maybe I just like the browsing. Hmmm... Anyways, I might go do that, we will see!

Have a great Saturday!!