10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 10 (Finally)

4th of July Festivities on the TN River at Trey's parents house.
You catch up with friends, play, eat fabulous food and watch a great fireworks show put on by my pyromaniac husband.  This year since the 4th was on a Wednesday, everyone opted for the Saturday after.  It worked out great and they even got a super deal on big fireworks (which I failed to get a picture of this year. dang.)

Here are a few pic's of the day:

(Big kids and little kids enjoyed an intense wiffle-ball game.)

(My little festive girl that ran wild with all the boys.)

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Days 8 & 9

Reason #8- Nap-time.  Thankfully, Claire is an excellent napper.  She tells you when she wants to lay down by going in her room to find ducky and paci.  I will say, "Are you ready to go night night?"  and she will sign "More."  I lay her down and then she goes right to sleep.  Seriously.  It's that simple.  It's the same at bedtime too.  The best kid ever, I know.  How blessed.  Today's nap is going on 2 1/2 hours as we speak.

(Precious baby girl!)

Reason #9- Time to read.... during nap time.

(Don't you love the plethora of crap on my table?  Makes for a nice photo-op.) 

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 7

Fresh fruits and veggies.

I would love to have a garden of my own, except my laziness and my one year old get in the way of that dream.  So I tend to rely on the hard work of my generous friends and family.

(In the midst of vegetable spaghetti... yummy!)

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 6

Early morning devotional, prayer time with the Lord and a good cup of coffee.

The perfect way to start the day.  I attempt this during the school year and I usually have a few days a week where this actually happens, but majority of the time, I am rushing to get ready, catching up on news or trash tv from the night before (please don't judge).

I have found that when I do make spending time with our Heavenly Father a priority first thing, my day just ends up better.   *I am better.*  It is worth getting up early for.  My prayer is that I can continue this even after the lazy days of summer have ended.  Amen.

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place, where he prayed."     

 Mark 1:35

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 5

Water babies.  Enough said.

(Take a moment and notice this wild, unruly red hair.  It absolutely has a mind of its own 99% of the time.)

("Mama, you have this crotch strap toooo tight.")

Yes, I'm just now noticing that there seems to be a reoccurring pattern that Trey is always having fun with the cute water baby and I'm always taking pictures.  Most mothers would agree, I think, that in bathing suit situations this is all for the best. < Insert cute, winking smiley>

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 4

I love walking/running with my mom and Claire at the lake.  We usually go 3-4 days a week.  I run a few miles and mom walks and pushes Claire in the stroller.  That is no easy task... pushing 50 pds. up those steep hills.  We have nicknames- I am "Little Bull" and Lib is "Big Bull" and I do believe Claire is "Tiny Bull".  She is proving that she can live up to the long line of hard-working women. We all prefer hard, manual labor and a challenge.  We like to sweat it out.

I usually get to walk the last lap with them and that's when mom and I catch up on all the daily non-sense of our lives.  "What color are you painting the door?",  "What are you cooking for dinner?", "Did you hear about...?" or "I'm thinking about rearranging..."  That's my favorite part-the last lap.  I pray everyday that Claire and I will have the kind of relationship that I have with mom.  We laugh, we love, we help and we're brutally honest.  Simple, but it works.

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 3

I love any and all things patriotic, but especially the American Flag.  I love to see the flags hanging from street lights as I drive home.  I love to pull in my driveway and see our flag swaying in the breeze.  I love to ride down the river and see flags hanging from docks or see a HUGE flag flying over a business, like the one at Dairy Queen.  It never ceases to make me smile. 

Thank you to all of the men and women that have fought for this great country for the last 200+ years.  We should all be proud Americans!

One Word: MAMA!

After 15 short/long months... this girl finally decided to say "MAMA, MAMA, MAMA!"  Woohoo!

I am putty in her hands... at least for today :)

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 2

COOKING/BAKING.  And I don't mean, Hamburger Helper or Stouffer's Lasagna, both I really, truly love, however.  I mean good ole cooking that you just don't have time for when you are working and you have a one year old.

Yesterday, I made my first homemade Key Lime Pie.  It is Trey's favorite and I wanted him to have something special to snack on during this hard, hot week before the 4th of July.  I'm really not a fan of key lime, but he said it was good.  Who knows... we will see if he continues to eat it or if it sits in a fridge until it's runny.

I also tried fried green tomatoes for the first time last night.  They were good, but I still prefer a red, ripe, acidic tomato the best.

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 1

Being able to spend the mornings with this cute, crazy munchkin (and Mickey Mouse, of course) is THE #1 reason I love summer break!  There is something about the morning... cuddles, smiles, play... it's just the best time of the day.

Dauphin Island- June 2012

Last week was our much awaited/anticipated family vacation.  We went to Dauphin Island, AL along with my parents and my grandmother.  It was wonderful!  We stayed in an awesome house right on the beach that was thankfully well child-proofed.

We ate, played, laid, swam and had a few cocktails and we repeated it for 6 days.  Claire loved, loved, loved the ocean!  The more waves the better.  They would hit her in the face and she would just squeal and laugh... she's just like her mama... I still squeal and laugh.

Dauphin Island was a cool, retro type little town.  It was VERY "uncommercialized" which we loved.  There were less than a handful of places to eat, none of which were fancy (more like bar/grill).  At the end of a long day on the beach, we would take showers and put on pajamas, play on the deck and cook dinner.  What a treat it was to not have to get ready, dry hair and put on a bra to go out to dinner.  

We had fantastic weather, minus the last day of the trip.  One morning, a storm front moved in and out quickly and with it we got to see a water spout/tornado.  None of us had ever seen either one so it was pretty cool.

Overall, it was a fun, relaxing vacation.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

More pictures:

Memorial Day Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a fun, relaxed, family filled Memorial Day Weekend.  We stayed in town Friday and Saturday and then went to the river on Sunday and Monday.

Claire experienced getting in the river for the first time and she loved it!  I really think she will love the ocean next week... we shall see.

Here are a few photos off my phone from the weekend.

(Uncle Kurt visiting from Murfreesboro...watching Mickey, of course.)

(Saturday morning breakfast at Lib and T's.)

(Cool chick)

(Cute chick in her bathing suit at the river.)

(I read and looked at this view while Claire napped.)

How blessed we are to live in a country where we are free.  Thank you to the service men and women who put their lives on the line to help keep our freedom!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was very different this year from the last.  Last year I was a brand new mommy and I was tired and plump and Claire was just a little over a month old.  This year, we were more rested and C was a busy girl, putting on a show for all to see.  My mom calls her a "party girl."  She loves to entertain a crowd and of course, all we do is stare at her, laugh and clap. 

Summary of our day:
-Picked C up from Lib's and T's that morning
-Church
-Lunch at Caca's
-We all 3 napped- rare
-Visited Nonnie and Grandaddy

(Grace, Claire, Lib, Caca, Aunt Suzanne, JoJo- strong, beautiful women Claire and I are blessed to have as role models)

(My Mother's Day gift frpm C along with some sweet new Toms- LOVE... How precious are those little feet?)

It was a fun, relaxing, family filled day... just the way I like it.

Claire, I am beyond blessed to be your momma.  From the second I saw you, I loved you deeper than I could have ever imagined and that love keeps growing and growing.  You are so smart, strong, sassy, and loving.  Your cuddles are the sweetest and your laugh brings me more joy than I have ever known.  My prayer is that you will always be healthy, happy and carefree.  I pray that with the Lord's guidance I can be the best mommy, role model and friend for you just as my momma is for me. I love you sweet girl!  Thank you for changing my life!

Sidenote- Claire has gotten 3 top teeth in the last week and a half and boy has she been a trooper! 9 total now. We worry about her pain tolerance a little... she rarely cries.  She has scrapes, bruises and bumps all over and we have no clue how they got there.  Mom read an article that said red heads have a higher pain tolerance than others.  Interesting.  I would say it to be true as of now. She is one tough cookie.