Good Dog

Cinco has been a wonderful puppy these past 3 days! She is sleeping for about 4-5 hours at a time during the night (though last night, she slept through the night only to wake up with an achingly full bladder this morning). She has been an excellent student in the potty training area, and is just so adorable when she plays. Brandon and I have fallen completely in love with her, and the kids fight over who gets to hold her next. Of course, she loves the attention! Here she is getting some Zzzzz's with her Daddy in the recliner.

IT"S A GIRL!!!!

We've got something to bark about!

Introducing our new puppy,

CINCO

born: May 13, 2008

adopted: June 20, 2008

Good Memories

We made some GOOD memories this week.....no, GREAT ones!

Tyler got to meet the All-Star quarterback for the San Diego Chargers, Phillip Rivers, when we attended the Morgan County Sports-Hall-of-Fame dinner. Rivers was the keynote speaker since his father was being inducted for coaching football at Decatur High for 15 years. Tyler was in awe from the moment he laid eyes on Rivers. He had his picture made with Rivers and brought along a football to be signed.

Jackson hit a milestone....he learned to tie his own shoes! This may seem like it's coming a little late since he is about to start 2nd grade, but don't forget that he's left-handed and everyone in our family and in his father's family is right-handed. Last night he and I got down in the floor determined to learn the art of shoe-tying. This came about because earlier in the evening during his T-Ball End-of-Year party at the park, he stepped in a gigantic pile of steaming fresh dog poo.....ruined his shoes, which were slip-on tennis shoes. Having no other slip-on play tennis shoes, we HAD to resort to the ones that lace. Well, I showed him once while he watched intently. Then with sweat on his brow and sheer stubbornness in his eyes, he mastered the art of tying his shoes.









Lily Grace got a manicure of EPIC proportions. Last week, I painted her nails blue. When she got to her dad's house, her step-mother hated the color. So she painted Lily's nails pink. This week, I added a little flair to the up-and-coming diva........press-on nails for little girls with white tips and silver stars......from Grandma as a Christmas present of course! Thanks, Grandma! This little beauty trick was WAY too much fun for me AND for Lily!!

Glory Days

With Jackson enjoying basketball camp this week, I am reminded of the "glory days" when I played basketball. He is soaking up all the instruction his coaches and his granddaddy are giving him and it reminds me of when I fell in love with the sport myself. He has fallen in love with the game and plans to play this fall. When he visited Mom and Dad on Monday, he and Dad got out in the driveway and worked on passing, dribbling, and shooting. Mom had convinced Dad to tear down the old goal, now Dad plans to add a new net for it and keep it up. I think dad enjoyed playing basketball that evening as much as Jackson did! If Jack plans to play basketball this fall and Tyler plays baseball and Lily takes gymnastics or plays soccer, we could all be at different sporting events at once! I guess the price of gas will go up again this fall when my family creates a shortage from having to travel all across the city for ballgames!

Brandon is enjoying some down-time during a business trip in Ohio. He went to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame yesterday and enjoyed some relics from his glory days in college. He also went to an Indians game, his favorite team since childhood. I can't wait to see all the pictures and souveniers, and I know the kids are excited to hear about everything as well. In fact, Brandon says that Cleveland would be an ideal place for a family vacation one day......

Photos

On my way to get an emergency root canal.......sometimes life stinks! Here are family portraits from Georgia trip.

Vacation, Ballgames, etc.

We made it back from a great vacation in the mountains of Blue Ridge, GA. What a great time we had! We biked, played video games, swam in the lake, commandeered a paddle boat, went shopping and ate pizza and ice cream in downtown Dahlonega, cooked and ate as a family every night, spent quality time in the hot tub, and took some good family portraits (thanks, Alaina). I'll post the portraits tonight. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for an awesome vacation!

Ball season is over. Kinda sad. Kinda happy. Sad because the boys were having so much fun at it, and we were, too. Jackson missed the last two ballgames when we were on vacation, and his team did not make it to the City Tournaments. Tyler's team made it to the tournaments but got put out in the first game against the Indians last night. Tyler is upset that he did not make the All Star team this year, but both of my boys are all stars to me! Gymnastics is over until the fall, so now we can just focus on having fun this summer and enjoying the outdoors when it's not too hot.

Baseball will start again this fall so the boys will be given a choice between baseball and soccer. Lily will be given a choice between gymnastics and soccer. Both boys will be going to school at Walter Jackson Elementary, and Lily will be attending Danville Baptist Pre-School half-days beginning this fall. Gosh, they are growing up so fast!

Brandon and I have decided not to go to Cabo in September since we are saving for a house. We are going to Orange Beach for 5 days instead. Much cheaper, still a beach! We plan to just chill out, eat out, shop for school clothes at the outlets, and enjoy each other's company without children. Totally looking forward to it!