The Boys

The boys and I had pictures taken to give to Ron for Fathers Day.

New Friend

Check back for a picture of the new (live) addition to our family!

Once again, Happy Father's Day Ron!!!
The boys are very fortunate to have you as a Dad!

For Father's Day, Ron took the boys to Toys R Us. The rule was that they each got to pick out 1 toy. Any toy.... They walked through all the isles, and the boys debated different things.
Lawson picked out a big jug of building blocks.
Lincoln picked out a new Leapster Game (animal something...).
Typical.

HFD

Happy Fathers Day to Ron!!!

And to my Dad, and his Dad

And to all our other special Dad's out there....

Picture's courtesy of our favorite 3 yr old photographer:

boating

I have a friend, Shannon, who I went to college with in SA. She now lives a few miles from us. She has a 4 yr old boy, and a newborn girl... Thier family just bought a boat, and invited us out for the day today.
The boys haven't been on a boat yet, and of course had a blast. They had fun on the tube, but this picture of Lawson is funny b/c he has that look of worry...right before his 1st time being pulled...

Tubing

Ron and the boys being pulled by the boat in the tube!!!
So.Much.Fun

Boat or RV, that is the question...

For the past 3 years we have debated whether to get a boat or an RV.
Lately, we have been pretty set on getting an RV, and have almost purchased one.
However, after spending the day on the lake today on a friends boat, we may have changed our decision. Again.

If you look at a map of Flower Mound, you will notice that we are smack dab in the middle of two lakes. We could drive and have the boat in the water at either lake in a ten minute period!!! It makes a lot of sense to get the boat, and boy what fun would the boys have growing up on the lake! Around here, you can take your boat out year round....

On the other hand, how fun would it be to have an RV??? Think of all the traveling we could do. The boys are so outdoorsy and adventurous, we could explore new places.... Spending weekends near or far.... Even renting out or loaning the RV for friends or family for a weekend trip. Camping, bonfires, exploring, stargazing, traveling.... the options are endless...

Take my poll and let me know what you think:

Windowsill Pumkins and Monster Zucchini

We have pumpkins growing in our garden right outside of Lawson's room.

This cute one happened to land and is growing on Lawson's windowsill.
He LOVES it there. It's like his own little "friend"...
This picture is a view from inside of his room.

And the Monster Zucchini keeps on coming....
this zucchini Lawson picked today is I think the largest zucchini I have ever seen!!

The garden has been our favorite summer past time this year.

prayer request

Prayers for my cousin, Jessica, who has a confirmed case of the swine flu and she is pregnant.

Lovin our VBS

Moooom, stop taking my picture... It's so uncool...

Jump for Joy

We have gone over to our neighbors a couple of times this week for a swim. This is one of the boy's buddies...
These pictures crack me up... If you can't tell, they are jumping of the ledge of the pool...

Look at Lincoln's straddle!!

Lawson wanted to spray the water gun as he was jumping (because that is what John Luke did)

Weeeeeee

Lawson's Gymnastic Picture, Win Kids

VBS, Crocodile Dock

It's Vacation Bible School week at our church this week!!
There are over 1,000 kids attending!!!
Me and the boys are all 3 participating. The boys are both attending, and I am volunteering. In fact, I am Lincoln's teacher!! What fun it is to finally get to be that "fly on the wall" and watch Lincoln participate in something as special as this. Plus I just love love love spending time with 5 year old, the are the coolest!! I have several of my friends kiddo's in my class, so it's been fun getting to know them. I feel so glad that I decided to volunteer, it was such a last minute decision. Four hours each day this week (8:30-12:30) is putting my schedule to the ringer, but we are managing. My house work is suffering, but I can catch up on that.
Looking forward to see how God works in the lives of my 5 yr old class for the remainder of the week. God is Good, and God is Powerful!

no more kisses???

Lincoln bumped his head, so I kissed it.

He tells me
"Mommy, I don't like kisses from you anymore"

"Since when" I asked

"Well, now that I am Five, I don't really like for you to kiss me, especially when other people are around".

hmmmm this so isn't going to work for me

It's Hard Being the Younger Brother

I find this taped on the outside of Lincoln's door today.
For those that need a translation: It says "No Lawson".
There is a picture of Lawson out on the other side of the door, and Lincoln inside. No Lawson, lol. It must be hard being the younger brother.

Pepe Le Pew

Is it normal for a child to Loooove the smell of skunk? My son (Lincoln) can't stop talking about how good skunk smell is. I was thinking it's not normal, but then my sister (won't tell you which one) told me that she too likes the smell?!?! Could it be in the genes? Wondering if anyone else there enjoys the skunk aroma?
PS to my family in Houston who witness this strange behavior... Since our return, Lincoln hasn't stopped talking about the smell... talking about dreaming about skunks, etc... I'm pretty sure there may be a disorder for this???

Tornado, too close to home

Wild and Crazy night last night!! A tornado went through our neighborhood and touched down about 1/4 mile from us. I felt like I was in the movie Twister, as things were flying around outside and hitting our house. The town tornado sirens were going off as the boys and I were hiding out in the bathroom (our safe place) playing Candyland by candlelight. Power was out for about 8 hrs, and Ron was out of town. Fortunately, we did not experience much damage, but plenty of our neighbors did. Tree's are down everywhere, everything is in disarray around here as we are still experience storms this morning.

News report:

An electrical storm with strong winds and rain which moved west across the North and Central Texas region Wednesday evening may have included a tornado touchdown in Flower Mound.

At 6:50 p.m. a retired National Weather Service employee reported a tornado touchdown three miles west of FM 2499 on FM 1171.

The tornado touchdown had not been confirmed, Flower Mound police officer Bud Trammel said. He noted the storm left behind heavy damage, “especially on the west side of town.” No injuries had been reported to the Flower Mound police as of this report.

As the storm moved across the area, the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings, along with a flood advisory and a severe thunderstorm watch.

At 6:53 p.m. roof and wall damage to an apartment building on Main Street was reported by amateur radio to the National Weather Service. In Denton, a spotter reported 75 mph winds in the Denton area to the National Weather Service. Another spotter reported 70 mph winds in Southlake. Hail measuring an inch in diameter was also reported in Denton. Another report to the National Weather Service noted a three-foot diameter tree fell onto a house at Collins and Kilpatrick Roads in Flower Mound.

There are several trees down and numerous neighborhoods are without power, among those the police station, Trammel said.

“The police department is asking residents not to call dispatch unless there is a life-threatening emergency,” Trammel said.

Rope Swing

The rope swing that Ron put up in our front yard this weekend has already gotten hours and hours of usage. The boys love it, and it's a nice addition to our front yard. They even like to swing on it together!

Texas Preamble

Texas 1845, Preamble We the People of the Republic of Texas , acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.

Fam

US
The Flower Mound Four

Matthew Sydives

The day after graduation, the whole family got to go watch my nephew Matthew skydive!

Playtime with Cousins

Lincoln and Lawson had so much fun playing with cousin Bristol...

We cooked out Smores at Bass Pro Shop:

Hey Guys!!

Lot's of playtime on the swing set.
This used to be Lincoln's when we lived in Houston, but Tom has added plenty more onto it...

Bristol pushing Lawson:

Matthew's HS Graduation

the 3 cousins: Lincoln, Bristol, and Lawson:

Me, my mom, Matthew, Sue and Jen

Lawson and Matthew

Lincoln and Matthew:

US: the Flower Mound Four... getting for graduation to start!

We just got back from a trip to the Houston area to watch my nephew, Matthew graduate. It was a beautiful 8:00 pm outdoor ceremony at the football stadium.
We are proud of you Matthew!! He will be attending Texas Tech (pre-law) in the Fall.

we're back!

We are back from Houston, and boy did we have a fun time.
I have plenty of great pictures.... but for now go on over to Courtney's blog: she has lots of good pictures of our trip!!

Click here to get there!!

Taylor Update

Taylor's surgery went great, all is well. Her mom said that she was a "champ".
She will return to normal activities after a week of rest.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

I've been baking baking baking. About 20 loaves of zucchini bread!! We have an abundance in our garden.... I've had a couple of requests for my recipe, so here it is...

It is the Paula Deen's Food Network recipe.
(I like her... I've been watching her show)

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups grated zucchini ( I use 2 zucchini's, which ends up being more)
  
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

PS: After you spray the pans, sprinkle on some flour. It helps it remove a lot easier...

The Rope Swing

Uncle Tom (my brother) is here!! He has a meeting here in Grapevine, so he gets to have a quick sleepover with us. So far, we have kept him busy... We even took him down to the rope swing at the creek and he took us up on our dare to participate.
Boys will be boys, but swinging on the rope swing across the creek has been one of their favorite activities this summer. They get nice and muddy, and get plenty of exploring done.

Prayer Request, Taylor

Most of you that have been reading my blog for awhile know Taylor. She is Lincoln's 1st "real" friend... They were in the same preschool class last year at DKH. She is also in his church class, and they have just been great buddies for the past couple of years. We love Taylor over here at our house, and we love when she gets to come over and spend some time with us!!

I hope Gina doesn't mind that I am writing this, but I believe in the power of prayer.
Please pray for Taylor tomorrow (Wednesday).
Taylor was born with a hole in her heart. She was checked every 6 months throughout her life (she is 5 right now) and it hasn't gone away on it's own.
Tomorrow she will have to have heart surgery to remove the hole. There are some risks to this surgery, so please pray that it goes well and that she has a fast recovery. Also pray for mom/dad Gina and Dave for peace during this stressful time.
Taylor, we can't to have you over to play when you are feeling better!!!

Posted by Rocks in my Dryer, this is so us.

Dear Summer,

Welcome back, my old friend. We’ve missed you.

As always, you showed up right on time, with the shrill dinging of the last school bell one afternoon last week. You rode on the shoulders of my delirious sons, as they bounded out to the car. Their faces were flushed with the awareness that you’ll be their companion for the next three glorious months.

Those three months seem short to me, but I have visited with you 37 times. To my children, who have known you for only a handful of visits, your three-month stay seems like an eternity. I don’t really understand how that works, but I know that I like the look in their eyes.

I hope you brought with you what you always bring: the late-evening firefly hunts and the disregarded bedtimes. Surely you brought the bug spray, watermelon, ice chest, and library books. (But please, feel free to leave the mosquitos at home. Please? Just this once?)

With your happy arrival, I know that my car will smell like damp, chlorinated beach towels for a while. Heads will be sweaty, and sleepovers will be plentiful . You’ll inspire us to get out the ice cream maker, a completely impractical venture, but we’ll do it anyway, because something about you requires it.

As much as I love you, I’ll admit that you’re not always the easiest of guests. Thanks to you, there will be a consistent path of footprints across my kitchen, trailing a curious mixture of dirt, sidewalk chalk and spilled bubble juice. You’ll run up my electric bill (worth every cool, 73-degree penny, by the way). You’ll cost me a sweet fortune in popsicles. And somehow, despite my best efforts to the contrary, you’ll lure all my good silverware into the sandbox.

I’ll forgive you for this, but only because you let me sleep in. And because you smell like fresh-cut grass.

So stick around, old friend, for as long as you can, because your arrival acutely reminds me how quickly the rest of the year is flying by. You bring the sunscreen and the fireworks, and I’ll supply the kids.

We’ve been waiting for you.