More fun with the "Spartanburg Cousins"

The Martin's (Aarons sister and her family) came up to our neck of the woods to camp for a long weekend and that means cousin time for Jake. The first night they camped, Jake went and spent the night with them. Then at the end of the weekend the girls came to stay with us for a few days. They had a blast! These cousins are so close it is like having 3 sisters for Jake. When we lived in Spartanburg, we lived right down the road from these sweet girls and pretty much saw them daily! It is always good to be able to have them come for a visit. (I try so hard to pretend I am a photographer...Some day I will have the camera of my dreams and the skills to really use it.)

The big kids jumping in the pool.

Bella (this is the cheesy grin she does every time she poses for a picture! Crazy girl!) and Addie Kate.

Della, Jake, and Riannon humoring me for a quick picture.

I love this picture...

Riannon is a great helper and very responsible. I am glad she isn't too cool to come and visit us yet. (Riannon turns 12 in Dec.)

Miss Addie Kate is a hoot! This girl is a ball of fire and I love it! (Addie Kate turned 4 the beginning of June)

Della is a "baby whisperer" like me (a nickname Aaron gave me while babysitting 3 sweet girls at once...We miss you Riley!)! Bella couldn't get enough of her. I can see why...she is as sweet as they come. (Della turned 9 in July)

My Jake...what can I say? I absolutely adore this little man. (one month from the big b-day #8)

I had to sneak a picture of Bell before she switched to the silly smile! Could she be any cuter, I mean really, come on?

The forever patient Sophia hanging out in the stroller while we all party in the pool! Love the sweet checks on this girl!

We had a movie party one night and ate "mini taco salads" (I put the yummy taco salad stuff in the Tostito's brand "scoops chips") and ice cream as we watched Robots.



Della, mastering yoga on Wii Fit. You go girl!

You are never to old for play dooh!

The 4th of July

We had a great 4th this year! We went over to the Beadles along with the Hatch and Lane families. The kids had fun on the slippin' slide and we had fun watching and chatting! We had a great cook out and then of course ended the evening with fireworks at the Beadles and then at Lake Julian. Thanks for the fun night guys! We need an excuse to do it again!!
Waiting patiently to slide

Jake on the way down!

Fireworks in the street, always fun!

Our annual family picture in our Old Navy flag shirts.

Sawyer and Jake getting ready for the fireworks.

It was a great fireworks show. I love the 4th!

Soccer

Another season of soccer is over...I forgot to post this when soccer ended in May...Remember the whole month of May posted all at once? I forgot a few things and this was one of them. I love this face. What a sweet little face.

The fruits of our labor..

Well veggies actually! Our garden is being good to us. We have enjoyed spinach, green beans, and now squash! The peppers and tomatoes are next!

Working in Spartanburg

A couple of weekends ago when headed to Spartanburg on a Saturday. Aaron's little brother is getting married in 24 days and they are trying to get the house they are going to live in ready and we went down to help. I only know that they are getting married in 24 days because I was texting my future sister-in-law and my former beehive (I was one of her youth leaders at church when she 13! I feel so old but I was pretty young when I was her leader I swear...I am 10 years older..) yesterday and she told me how close it is. Aaron helped tile the sun room and kitchen and it looks great!

Jake, Riannon, Addie Kate (Addie Cake as I like to call her), and Della. Cousins rock!

Matt working hard!

We made a Lowe's run for supplies with Nana and got lucky. It was build and grow day!

Papa supervising the project and Aaron laying tile.

Bugged eyed Jake and Nana

When I am bored...

..I do really dumb things. Aaron got a phone call from his boss last Wednesday saying they needed him in Florida the next day to help with a project that just started. He left at 5:30 in the morning the next day and won't be back until this coming Friday-hopefully...This has made me remember that I do not look good with bangs!...I was bored and watching the show "What Not To Wear" on Friday (only day 2 of Aaron being gone) and the girl that was having the makeover got her new haircut. They gave her bangs. Well, I decided I needed a change and proceeded to cut some for myself. I do this every few years-forget how horrible I look with bangs. How my hair has this natural wave and body. I forget temporarily that even when I use tons of product and a straightener it doesn't stay straight for long. Which means my bangs will curl in funky directions 30 minutes after I leave the house. I forget that even though my nose seems a normal size, with bangs the truth is revealed-my nose is huge! So, now I have bangs. You will never see them because I will be wearing a head band for the next three months, but they are there. These are the things I do when I get bored! I am hoping that I can keep my bored impulses to a minimum while Aaron is gone. I have been wanting to cut my hair to my favorite haircut (I do it every year or 2. The A line bob. I know I am at the hair chopping point when I wear my hair in a pony tail every day-for months!) but now with these stinking bangs it will have to wait...Maybe...

Father's Day Weekend

We took the Friday before Father's day off and headed to Monroe for the weekend. We actually left Thursday night so Aaron could go to UNCC and get his schedule already for classes in the fall. We are on the right track-now we just need to sell our house!!! If the house doesn't sell 3 of his classes are online so he can still get started. I am trying really hard to be patient and have faith that it will all work out...I am not so hot at the patience part...which I guess means my faith is not as strong as it should be in this area!

Jake did a great job planning a surprise Father's day party for Aaron and my Dad. He even had the great idea of putting ribbons on the fan. You can see it a little in one of the pictures. It is very a very cool touch to party decorations! Great party Jake and here's to great Dad's!

Our neighborhood pool!

We have been waiting for a year for our neighborhood pool to open and it finally did the middle of June! They said we would have a pool last summer and it didn't happen. We were all starting to wonder if it would happen this summer either. These are a few pictures we took of first time we used it on the day it opened.

Jake was excited as we walked to the pool. We were trying to get a shot of him jumping up and down but after a few tries we gave up. We were too excited to swim!

What a great big pool! We have figured out the best times to go, to get the pool to ourselves, and when to go when Jake wants to play with friends.

Here is Jake jumping in!

The thumbs up that the water is nice and well worth the wait!

The last day of 2nd grade

I can't believe that the last day of 2nd grade has come and gone...Where does the time go? It was another great year in Marlow Mustang Country and a bitter sweet last day. We couldn't really tell everyone goodbye because we very well could still be there when it starts back up in the fall! I love Jake's school! Jake loves his school too. He has grown so much in the past 2 years at Marlow. Where else can you get out of the car in the morning to all the "parent volunteer car door openers" wearing bunny ears the week before Easter. Or have "Captain Veggie Man" (a parent that is also a local Youth Pastor who has a hysterical costume he made...) come into the cafeteria and loudly remind them all to eat there veggies! Or have a "moment of silence" every morning right after the Pledge is said to take a minute to think of those who are less fortunate or are sick. Everyday when Jake got into the Jeep, I would ask how his day was and he would say "Great!". Music to my ears! Jake has made great friends and memories at Marlow.
Jake wanted me to make him breakfast bed on the last day of school and this is what I openned the door to find! Starting summer vacation early! (for the record he has not slept in at all yet this summer!)

Usually breakfast in bed is a little more exciting than cereal, but my alarm clock didn't wake me up that morning (Jake is my alarm clock). When I realized I had over slept a little I just knew Jake was waiting in the room for breakfast, but as you saw from the picture above that was not the case...

This is Mrs. Prescott, Jake's teacher who was wonderful!

Mrs. Scannell, Jake's assistant teacher who Jake said he wanted to take to 3rd grade with him.

Jake has gotten so tall! At the beginning of the school year I looked at the 3rd graders and thought they were so much bigger than the 2nd graders. They are and now Jake is too!

Jake wearing his summer vacation t-shirt...Ready for summer!