Ella Turns Two

Crying, screaming and begging does not help, Ella is still going to turn 2 on September 25th so I might as well stop. My baby, two. My blond blessing who has the most infectious laugh, the biggest smile (with also the biggest white teeth I might add), the most expressions and sassiest personality is a full blown toddler. Looking back all all of our pictures, it is pretty clear what helped shaped Ella into the girl she is today. Two rough older brothers do not really allow a little girl to be a demure flower. Ella, we love you and thank God everyday for bringing us balance and keeping us on our toes. Happy Birthday wild girl.

Becky...40 and Fabulous!

We had planned it for weeks and the suprise to all, was that it went off without a hitch. My sister turned 40 this past week and on Friday we planned a trip into Oak Ridge to suprise her with dinner with a few close friends and family. She looked completly stunned when walking around the corner to a banner, balloons, cupcakes and yelling. It was a group effort to pull it off and everyone had a wonderful time. Happy 40th birthday Becky! Suprise!!

Notice Anything Different?

The Before...and After! Ever since we moved in I have been mentioning how our farmhouse needed farmhouse shutters. Tommy, armed with saw- decided he could build them. Within 3 hours- they were build, stained and hung (complete with faux hinges). I looked at several to purchase and I must say, NONE looked as good as these. I am so happy with how they turned out!

The Campout

Back in the beginning of the summer, Tyler asked Tommy if they could go camping. Tommy, thinking Tyler would either forget about it or not realizing how short summer was this year and not considering this commitment would come sooner than later, agreed. Since the forecast was perfect tonight and also since Tyler had not conveniently forgot his camping promise, coupled with summer being technically over in two weeks...well, it's camping time.

Tommy assigned me the job of going to Walmart to buy a tent. I agreed and then drove straight to my friend's house and borrowed theirs. Look, we have a 3 year old and a 6 year old who have never spent the night outside of their own bed- WHY would I invest in something that could go downhill within 30 minutes after declared bed time? Tommy started setting up immediatly after I got home and actually got the tent up pretty easily for never having pitched a tent before.

And the excitment was starting to build! The kids basically ran around like wild animals so pumped up on the idea of sleeping outside that they could barely stand it. Ella, not realizing she was not part of the actual campout, got pretty hyped up also. She ran around peeking in the screens- hooping and hollaring and jumping all over the place.

After everything was secured down, Tommy wisely decided that there was no need to completly rough it and brough out the air mattress. It took everything we had to keep the kids off of it long enought to get the bed made.

The wilder they became, the less excited Tommy became- which tickled me to no end. He was beginning to see how the night was going to go for him. The fact that I started bragging about stretching out in our bed solo and not getting woken up at 6 am did not help his disposition.

Before bed, Tommy started a roaring fire and we all roasted marshmellows. And after Ella was put in bed, the boys brought out their light sabers and had a battle in the dark.

When I left them, Tommy had just hung the lantern and they were about to read the Bernstain Bears "Ghost of the Forrest". I am hoping this campout goes well and maybe it can be a weekly thing- Lord knows I could use a good nights sleep!

Cutting Grass...Four Years Later

Tommy cutting grass with his boys. Tyler back in 2007 and Carson 2011.

Almost Fall

My favorite time of the year is almost upon us! I don't think I am the only one excited either, for some reason this has been a really really hard summer and most of my friends and family tend to agree. I am welcoming a new season and to say good bye to summer. But before we say goodbye, we have to reflect back on our top ten favorite summer moments/memories (in no particular order)....

1. Going to the beach with my sister Becky, nephew Dawson and niece Sophia.

2. My mom getting engaged.

3. Dollywood with my family.

4. Pool days.

5. Farmers Market.

6. Blueberry picking/Rafting.

7. Friday night concerts on the creek.

8. Tyler's Birthday Dance Party.

9. Lot's of evenings spent with friends.

10.Laying on a blanket at night and watching shooting stars.

And now there are new things to look forward to! Like...planning my mom's wedding, football season, soup season (yes, I consider that a highlight of this time of the year), playing in leaf piles, brisk evening walks, campfire cooking with smores, cozy dinners with good friends, Ella's second birthday, my sister's birthday, Tommy's birthday, my mom's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving...ohhh- decorating my porch with hay bales and scarecrows!!! I could go on and on. I. Love. Fall. I love a good pair of jeans and comfy long sleeve shirt and curling up on the couch and taking a nap under the quilt my mom and grandmother made for me. I am so excited for this time of year I cannot stand it!

With a little bit left in summer, here is what we have been doing with our time: Mainly soccer season. I am coaching Tyler's team again this year and we are all having a really good time. Tyler's scored a goal during our first game. He has started first grade and Carson has moved to a different preschool room- both are loving their classrooms, teachers and new friends. Ella is talking like crazy and stays right by my side. The most recent adventure for me was attending an 80's costume party. I told Tommy that I have not danced that hard or long in 10 years. Carson came up to me and wanted to know where I got my outfit. He kept telling me how pretty I looked. I am now starting to question if I looked okay all those other times me complimented me on an outfit.

Tommy has kept busy at work and home. He tackled cutting down this huge dead tree by our house and just recently started cutting it up with Carson's help. This past weekend the tree was finally chopped up and is waiting to be used for firewood.

And with the changing weather and dead wood comes...spiders. We do not have many, but the large wolf spiders (harmless) tend to come out when the weather gets cooler. Guess who is terrified of spiders?

Poor Ella is afraid to walk after spotting one is is constantly on the lookout. It just might be a long fall for her.

"Felling A Tree" A True Story

Here is a story about a man who felled a 50 foot tree... The story started a year ago when the man hired another man to cut down some leaning and dying trees around his house. One tree inparticular just needed some limbs taken down and he was confident that the tree would not need to be taken all the way down. Fast forward one year later...the poor tree did not make it and instead of hiring the professional tree man to remove the tree, the man (we will call him "Ronny") was convinced that he could fell this tree on his own that was 50 feet high and 5 feet from his house. As you might assume, Ronny's wife and kids were pretty nervous. His 6 year old son "Skyler" even screamed, "What if it falls on the house?!?" After it was clear that the man could not be talked out of the challenge of cutting down the tree, Ronny's wife gathered all the kids and went into a room that was safe in the event the tree did change directions and then went to go get her camera.

Ronnie was not happy that his wife was documenting the event...almost implying that she needed proof for insurance purposes if things went bad.

Regardess, Ronnie started cutting- pausing to reassure his wife that he knew what he was doing and that he had even gone to Lowe's for rope and tied the tree to prevent it falling in the wrong direction.

The man took his time, carefully cutting a wedge on the spray painted line.

After each cut, Ronnie would get his sledge hammer and tap away at the wedge while his wife nervously held her breath and clicked away.

And then...the tree started to move. Ronnie hurried out of the way. And what do you know?

The tree...

Fell in the exact direction where the man had said it would.

And landed with a sound thud away from the house. The man started yelling, "Just saved $300 dollars!!! Who is the man now?!? Now what!?!!" With much joy, Ronnie walked back inside- walking a little straighter I might add, with a proud grin all over his face.

Now Ronnie's wife had to admit that the man did know what he was doing. It was not that fun seeing the man walk around talking about what a man he was. The woman wished she had taken the kids and gone shopping. The end.