Father's Day!

/It was funny reading facebook on Father's day because everyone posted how their dad/hubby was the best Father, but the funny thing is my kids really do have the best Father! It was kind of a bummer of a day because Scott had work on the shower all day. He is so great though because he didn't even complain he worked as hard and long as he could. We're getting closer and closer but it just seems complications keep arising. Oh how glad we will be when this project is done. We managed to take a couple of breaks and enjoy a cake that Ryan and I baked for him. And of course Ryan enjoyed playing in the slip n' slide while Daddy worked in the bathroom. Next weekend we plan taking off and going to Georgia so Scott will finally have some downtime!

Finally cutting tile for the bathroom.

Happy Father's day cake!

A Day in the Life...

"What are we gonna do for fun today, Mama?" were the first words I heard this morning from Ryan. Each day he wakes up ready to go somewhere fun. Its cute but also exhausting because I am so not a morning person. Anyway, I struggled trying to come up with something because I knew it would be so hot. I mean what is a gal to do with 2 boys, with no money, and not be outside? Well here is what we came up with: We made our way to the Library first for some face painting and story time. After that he asked, "so what else are we going to do?" I'm feeling a lesson in being satisfied with what you get is in the near future. But I pulled another surprise out of my bag of tricks and decided to take him to the pet store. We don't have pets and never need to go there so it was like a mini-zoo trip for us. Even Aiden got into seeing the dogs get shaved. After lunch Aiden went down for a nap, but Ryan, the non-stop entertainment starved child, wanted something else, so we went outside and played in the slip n' slide. Now that we are sun-crisps, but all cleaned up we are having story time. Only after we read some books he decides he wants to tell the story. He likes to do this ALL the time and I try to record a few for years to come. Here is one of his latest. I left all verb tenses and phrases as he told it.

The Cowboys that Ride on the Desert -by Ryan Thomas

Once upon a time there was cowboys riding their cowboy horses. There names were Golden Star, and Fire Flame. They road along the desert until the horse fell into some cactus and the cowboy got off the horse and pulled the needles off. They found a little cabin but when they got up closer it wasn’t really a cabin. It was a mirage (you know mom....those sunwaves.) They went “uhh what just happened? Did that cabin disappear?” They said “come on ride ‘em cowboy, ride ‘em cowboy.” Get on your horse let’s finish this race, cause those slowpokes are not gonna win. We’re gonna win! ...The End

And that is a five year old boy's train of thought! I love him so!

Irondale Cafe

The last couple of days have been frustrating for poor Ryan. Our playdates have gotten canceled two days in a row because our friends have been sick. Two different friends and now today heard that a third one is sick. While I'm glad my kids are healthy we are sad that our friends are dropping like flies. We are trying to keep entertained though. Yesterday we went to the free Summer movie at our local theatre. We saw Muppets From Space. Ryan had a great time. Aiden not so much. And Mama was counting down the seconds until the movie was over. Let's just say Aiden cannot sit still or be quiet for that long yet. Still, it was fun to get out of the house. Today we went to have lunch with Daddy at the Irondale Cafe (made famous with the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.) Delicious lunch but pricey. The fun part was watching the boys play at the train station across the street. Boys will be boys!

Summer Is Here!

Summer is in full swing even if the calendar doesn't truly reflect it. When the heat index is over 100, it is summer in my book. This morning we went to see the Dairy Cow at the library. It was the same one that we saw last year (for the Library reading prgram) but Ryan didn't really remember it and Aiden certainly didn't. But I remembered that it was so hot last year so I decided to be about 30 minutes late. That way we missed the boring beginning and they boys still got to see the cow being milked and get the cookies and milk snack. It was easy fun and got the boys tired out so we came home for lunch and then Aiden's nap.

The pictures are foggy because my camera was in the cold van and then the heat and humididty messed up the lense.--told you it was hot! Just as the kids were lining up to pet the cow, she freaked out and slipped in the trailer. She ended up cutting her leg and getting all worked up. So the last picture shows how they had to cool her down with a water hose.

Vacation Bible School

Last week was Vacation Bible School for Ryan. It was the first year he was able to go and I wasn't working. He felt so grown up! It was a cowboy theme...Saddle Ridge Ranch. The church brought in Team Impact to help out through the week and Thursday night was parent's night. The boys loved it! All is his friends were in his class too so he had the time of his life.

The Pursuit continues....

Scott has been working on the shower A LOT lately. I'm so impressed that he has been doing this himself with the help of some friends. He has really taken it on and is getting it done and let me just say it is a chore! I haven't really lifted a finger since the demo. My job has been to keep the boys wrangled and out of Daddy's way. Even still Scott is good about letting the boys feel like they are helping. I'll admit, I'm a little more task oriented and just want to get the job done. But he is so patient he will let Ryan get in there with his protective gear and feel like he is really a part of it.

While he has been working on the shower so much, I have been reading. It's been really nice after the boys are in bed and Scott is working away, I have had some silence (minus a few hammering thuds.) I love to read, but I go in spurts where I read a whole lot and then take a break and then read a whole lot and the cycle repeats. Right now, I'm participating in the church Summer reading program so it's been great timing. I just finished Crazy Love by Francis Chan tonight and was so stunned. I feel like the author was in my brain. Don't you just love books like that? I mean I have made some of the exact statements recently to Scott and I didn't even know what this book was about when I first heard of it. Anyway, I want to finish my post with a prayer from page 99 that I believe is a quote from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.

Oh God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away."
Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long."


If any of you read the book...let me know what you think of it! It was very challenging.

Memorial day---the Red Light was on!

It was too rainy and soggy to do much outside so what a better way to celebrate?!

Ryan's Preschool Graduation

In the middle of Memorial day weekend posts I remembered that I hadn't posted pics of Ryan's preschool graduation. I posted some on facebook but not on here. So for all you non-facebook fans here you go....you get even more pics. We called it Ryan's special day. After I picked him up from school we went and got a snow cone. The program was at 6:30 so Scott met us there at 6. During the program he was in full performance mode. He loved being on stage that is for sure. But he kind of beats to his own drum. He knows the songs and motions. He just wants to do them in his time. He started getting restless toward the end and goofing around a little, but we were so thankful we didn't have any "episodes." Those of you with dramatic children know what I mean. We didn't know the entire time it was storming outside. That made for an interesting departure for the crowd of families. After the program he got to pick what he wanted for dinner...he chose Whataburger. So we ran through the rain and sat in our special booth at Whataburger (yes we have a special booth at WB) and celebrated our little boy becoming a man - as he says. We also spoiled him with a couple of presents-a slip n' slide and a new bike. (Well the new bike is still yet to come because we thought we were getting a hand-me-down from some friends but it turns out that bike was a pink barbie bike. So we still need to go pick out a bike for him.)