4th of July Extravaganza

Every year for the past 6 years, we've had a 4th of July celebration out at our friends Heath and Stacey's house. It started out many years ago as a B-Clan reunion and has developed into a wonderful gathering of both old and new friends.

The B-Clan is a group of 8 guys that Cory met in junior high. They surprisingly all had the letter "B" that started either their first or last name, and by high school they referred to themselves as the B-Clan. The guys stayed in touch with each other all throughout college and we all try to get together a couple of times a year. It has been so fun to see how the group has grown and changed over the past few years. When the 4th of July gathering began, only a few of us were married and there were no kids. Now, all but 1 is married and there are 6 kids 2 years old and younger!

Scott, Heath, Kevin, Cory & Brad

(We missed you Bart, Britt and Lewis. Hopefully you will be able to make it next year.)

This year 5 of the 8 guys were able to come to the gathering. Heath and Stacey are always great hosts. They always barbecue brisket, ribs, and sausage. In fact, Heath's ribs are the only ribs you will ever catch me eating. I never order ribs at a restaurant, but look forward to them at our reunion every 4th of July.



Because our kids are getting a little bigger, we decided to rent a bounce house for them to play in this year. We were a little worried that the hundred degree weather might make them not want to jump for long, but we were wrong. The only times they got out were to eat or when we made them come in to cool off for a few minutes. Parker and Jewell stayed in the bounce house until 11:00 that night.

One of the best parts of the evening is the fireworks show that the guys put on for us. They learned several years ago that if they pooled their money, they could get bigger fireworks. Each year the fireworks get more elaborate. Unfortunately, I did not get to see most of the fireworks this year. Parker and I watched them from inside the house! I am hoping that next year he will not be so afraid.

The weather was hot, but the day ended up being a lot of fun for everyone. It is always great to catch up on the lives of these lifelong friends. I can't wait for our kids to get older so we can tell them what their daddies were like back in their younger years!!!

Daddy & Eden

Scott, Kevin & Brad hanging out

Brad and his 2 boys

4th of July Parade

Yesterday, we started off our 4th of July with the festive Cleburne parade! We were joined by Emily, Addison, Aubrey, Granna, Grandaddy, and Papa. It was a small parade but the kids still enjoyed it. Parker especially enjoyed all of the horses. He waved to all of the floats going by and told the horses hi and bye-bye. It was a great start to our day of celebrating our country's independence!

Family pic

Granna & Grandaddy with all 4 grandkids

Papa & Eden

Mommy & Eden

Parker watching the horses

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday! I am so blessed to have her not only as my mom, but as one of my best friends. I can only pray that I am the kind of mom to Parker and Eden that she has been to me.

Funny things about my mom:

• My mom is one of those people who makes everything look easy. She can make breakfast, clean her house, do 2 loads of laundry, pay her bills, and have dinner already started...and that's all by 9 o'clock in the morning!!


• My mom loves Sonic vanilla Diet Cokes. She used to go there so much that one of the car hops knew her and knew exactly what she ordered.


• My mom goes to Wal-Mart more than anyone I know. I am still not sure what she gets there every day...maybe she is just training to be a greeter one of these days!


• When I call my mom at night, there is about a 75% chance that she is watching some Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks movie.


• My mom can not take a picture without blinking. We always have a take another, and another, and another before we can get one with her eyes open!

Things I love about my mom:

• She gives great advice.


• She loves my kids more than anything. I am so blessed that she is their caretaker while I am at work. I never worry about them because I know they are in great hands.


• She is so thoughtful. She always sends cards to our elderly friends/relatives on every holiday or special occasion just because she knows they might be lonely and would enjoy getting a card in the mail.


• She is always coming up with fun things to do with the grandkids like making cookies, learning a new song with motions, or learning how to dot-dot.


• She volunteers to keep the kids so Cory and I can have a date night and go out to dinner.


• I know I can count on her for anything. She is the most selfless person I know and will do anything for her family.

Thanks mom for all you do for me! I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Breakfast at McDonalds

I think Parker may be the only 2 year old in Cleburne who doesn't know what McDonalds is. Until today, he had only been one time (and that was for a birthday party). There are 2 reasons why I don't take him to McDonalds: 1) he won't eat their food and 2) he is not a risk taker so he will not climb on the play structure by himself.

Yesterday while we were out driving, Parker noticed the HUGE Ronald McDonald blowup sitting on top of McDonalds. He started saying "Big guy, yellow" and repeated it the entire time we were running errands.

This morning Cory and I decided to take him to McDonalds for breakfast. We thought that there might be fewer kids there at breakfast time and we knew he would love their pancakes. As soon as we drove up, he started pointing to Ronald McDonald and saying "Big guy, big guy". After eating a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and hashbrowns, he wanted to go play. Cory and I were quite impressed at how daring he was today. He climbed all the way to the top by himself without any hesitation. He never would go down the slides, but did try to go up them several times. He only got scared once when he couldn't figure out how to get down, but thanks to a sweet little girl who was also there playing, he was able to make it down without me having to climb in after him.

I think Parker had a really good time this morning. He said, "Where's big guy?" all the way home. I have a feeling that it won't be long before he is like every other 2 year old in town, asking to go to McDonalds all of the time!

Parker and Mommy (please excuse the way I look...we went swimming after breakfast so I had not taken a shower yet!)

Parker eating his pancakes

Looking out of the car on top of the play structure

Climbing up the slide

The Next HGTV Decorator...I Hope Not!!

Parker loves to help around the house. He vacuums, swiffers, cleans windows... basically whatever I am doing at the time. His newest chore is helping me make the bed every morning. His job is to put the pillows on the bed. He says "BIG pillow" every time he picks one up off the floor. This is what our bed looked like this morning after he finished with the pillows. As you can see, it may be a while before HGTV comes calling!!

Houston, We Have a Crawler!

Eden has joined the world of mobility! As you will see in the video, she is still very slow and uncoordinated, but I am sure that will change quickly!

Today after she got up form her nap, I sat down on the floor to play with her. Lately, I have been putting several toys just out of her reach, hoping that she would attempt to crawl to them. I was quite surprised today when she actually did crawl forward and grab the toy. Wanting to rule out just being lucky, I moved the desired toy a little bit further out of her reach and to my surprise she crawled forward and grabbed it again! I am so proud of her, but am also a little sad that we have reached another milestone. It is such a reminder to me how quickly they grow and change. I feel like I am going to blink my eyes and she will be walking, running, jumping, and then driving!!

Fun with Friends

One of my good friends has a little boy, Samuel, that is 3 weeks older than Parker and a daughter, Ellen Klare, who is 3 weeks younger than my niece Addison. Unfortunately, they live in Houston so we don't get to see them very often. Whenever they come to town, we always try to get together and let the kids play.

Yesterday, we met up with them at Splash Station. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the water and sliding down the slides.

Parker and Samuel sharing a snack after swimming

Today they came over to our house to play. It was fun to watch them "play" together. They definitely interacted a lot more than the last time they were together, but still tended to do their own thing. They enjoyed running around the house and even did a good job sharing the toys. We always look forward to them coming to visit and can't wait for their next trip to Cleburne!

Samuel, Ellen Klare, Addison & Parker

Samuel, Ellen Klare, Addison & Eden

Ellen Klare & Parker