New toy!

The girls...

I mean, Tyler...

Oh, the girls...

got a new toy!

Tyler has been working SUPER hard on rebuilding the go-cart! To say that I am amazed at how he can fix things...make things...I could go on and on....is an understatement!

WOW...just wow to me how he can make something that had NO engine...had nothing but some rust and a nasty and ripped seat run! Pretty cool!

This is how he got it! Nothing but some rust...no engine...some rusted and flat tires....

and this seat. Yep...this is what kind of go-cart you get for $50.00! :) :)

So...he stripped it down....and sanded it...coated it....painted it!

and he painted more.... :)

and then the rebuilding began. He worked...and worked...and worked on it! New paint....new engine in place!

working on the new seat and the new seat belts too!

Testing the chains...burning the engine!

The girls were amazed when they first heard the engine going for the first time! They could not get over how loud it was! I couldnt either! :)

Very first test run! Things didnt go as planned for this round but he learned what he needed to tweak to make it perfection!

Test running it! :)

And....the finished product! He even added a flag for coolness!!

Here ya go! Our new toy! :) :) Looks alot different than it did when he first took it off his truck after he got it! I like this new version better!...and this version runs! :)

Terrific Kid!

Lily requested a 'Mommy and girl's' day....

so that is what we had since Daddy was at work!

I am really liking this 4 day a week thing that is happening over the summer! I could get used to it!

So, we loaded up and headed out for a 'fun filled' day!

We made a pit stop by ole Saks High before heading to the Mall to kick off their 'Terrific Kid' Tuesdays where they show the movies for only $4.00! {which includes popcorn and drink!}

We had lunch...did some shopping before coming home to do our nails!

As I type....it is 3:00pm and Lily has fallen asleep as she is supposed to be letting her nails dry! :)

Alexis is working on the 'peel and stick' nails that stick on you...she is grumbling as I type about how hard it is and how she is never going to do those things ever again!....

Oh the drama! :)

The office gave me two copies of mine and Tyler's Senior year yearbooks and so they grabbed them and had soooo much fun trying to find Tyler and I in the pictures! Lily was pointing at a picture her Daddy was in as I took this! Alexis asked me if all of the people in there are 'old and married' now...

haha!..........
I said...excuse me, why yes...yes, they are all my age! ha! :)

Two Terrific Kids...ready to see 'The Secret Life of Pets!' They love this movie!

And..nail time! :)
And...BOO...back to work tomorrow! But, the girls are SUPER excited about 'Summer Camp!'

Memorial Day celebrations!

It was a little dreary but once a couple of raindrops fell.....it cleared up and was a perfect day to enjoy the water and cook-out!

We ran some errands before heading to Gran's house to enjoy the day and celebrate those who have sacrificed to allow us to to be free and able to live in a country where we are able to enjoy days like today!

Gran, Ben, Nannie, Hogan, Brandon, Linda, {Big Lily}, {Little Andrew}, Mallory and Bill....along with us had a great afternoon!

Yesterday after Church we headed to a great late lunch with Greg, Amanda, Ellie and Elyse Bonds at their new house! We had so much fun eating and chatting with them and see their awesome house! The girls played so well together and we had a great afternoon with them!
Before we left for their house...the girls tried out the homemade popsicles that we had made the day before. We did 'cherry surprise' and they loved it!

Lily and Alexis both gave them an A+++++! :) They cant wait to try something different and make more!

This morning...Daddy perfected the go-cart...so they took it for a spin! Alexis drove! She did soooo well! She was super slow {which was a good thing} but listened to everything her Daddy told her to do!

Look at the concentration! :) :)

She LOVED it! I caught a picture of her jumping up and down and pumping her arm in the air with excitement of how well she drove! ha! :)

Then....we loaded up and headed to Rainbow City! Alexis says Happy Memorial Day!

Red, White, Blue..and this view! Ahhh......talk about nice and relaxing! :) I could sit in the swing and swing and look at this view allllll day!

Cooking burgers and chatting before eating and riding on the boat and raft! The kids all rode and it was hilarious trying to knock them off! :)

Mallory took this picture. The kiddos played hide and seek and Bill and Mallory were pros at helping them find places to hid on the deck! They were GOOD and helped them with awesome hiding spots! Can you spot Lily?!?!?!?! I was laughing so hard at this spot! It took awhile for {Big Lily} to find her since it was her turn to find everyone! {Little Lily} stayed sooo quiet and still! Bahaha!! :)
We came home...took baths and had a movie night until we all crashed! :)

Cheers!...

to..

Summertime, Red, White & Blue and Memorial Day!

We could not have loaded more fun into one day if we tried...

and we did try....

I had to tell a 'white lie' that 'See that dark cloud?!...it is about to rain so we really need to come in before it comes!'

just to get them inside because even though a certain little one...that is the smallest in the family...just could not hold her head up any longer, but if you asked her..........

she was not tired...

:) :)

We woke up earlier than we did for school...but we didnt care because we were on our way to the creek!
We had breakfast at Jacks before heading to the land in Piedmont! It was a beautiful morning!

When we got to the land.....it was super muddy and Tyler was afraid my car would get stuck....{his car was dropped off at our ending point of the creek so we could load everything up once we were done floating}...so we had to trek all the way across the cow pasture! Both girls were NOT wanting to walk and step in cow poop {per both of them..I was laughing so hard at this!} so, Alexis climbed on Tyler's shoulders..........and Lily was on mine! It was NOT fun for me because Lily would not sit still and she is gaining some weight :) ...but I did LOVE her telling me jokes as I carried her on my shoulders!... one joke she said was 'Mommy...knock, knock?' Me:'Who is there?' 'A Cow that says Mooo' Me: 'A Cow who?' ....'Mooooo over!'
Yeah, I dont get it...but she thought she was sooo funny! :) :) She started laughing soo hard at her own joke! I asked her who told her that joke...and she said 'Nobody Mommy, I made it up all by myself!' :)

I thought this picture was sooooo sweet and just simply beautiful! They were chatting as they were walking on this beautiful day! :)

Ready to go!

She looked so cute in her very own kayak! Today was the first time she did it by herself! She did great for her first time!

This one was SUPER excited to get going!

Just a floatin....and relaxin! :)

She was tied to Daddy's canoe and so she didnt have to work super hard to maneuver, etc but it was great because she was following what he was doing to learn how to go!
Two 'experiences' happened on her 1st trip in her kayak. She got stuck in a tree limb that was in the middle of the creek! She started flipping out because all the branches were around her. I paddled up to her to help hold on to her and make sure she didnt fall into the water while Daddy maneuvered the kayak to get it untangled. She lost her hat in the process but luckily...it floated right on down the creek so we caught up to it and snatched it up! :)
Then the 2nd 'experience' happened a little later...
she was floatin....just a floatin... when she went under some tree limbs..
well....a couple of grand daddy long legged spiders fell and dropped into her kayak.
OH MY GOODNESS..
She didnt freak out...she FREAKED OUT when she saw them in her kayak.
She started screaming crying and going 'bazerk!' about them being close to her. Tyler and I started trying to get to her to get them out and to try and get her to calm down.
That was NOT happening. She started trying to stand up in her kayak! Luckily...she sat down before she fully stood up because if she would have fell into the water.......
she really REALLY would have freaked out!
Sooo....talk about memories made! They are laughable now...
ha! :)

Lily paddled really hard to help Daddy...for about 15 minutes and then just let Daddy do he work the rest of the time! :)

Soooo nice! Ahh...we had so much fun!

I love this picture! Love my little family...being together...relaxing....making memories! I love how Alexis has her fingers gliding in the water! Perfection!

We came home...ate lunch...said 'Cheers' with our red, white and blue popsicles to Memorial Day before heading to the Community Center for even more fun!

It wasnt that crowded so we had fun until both girls came up saying they were ready to head home to play because the water hasnt gotten warm yet!

So, we came home...and spent the rest of the afternoon at home! They played and played..and rode bikes and we all rode around the neighborhood before coming in...

and getting dinner going! I attempted more marshmellow goodness and this time it actually worked out and the girls were BEYOND excited to help me...and eat it of course! :)

We put together a shrimp boil...and we all loved it! It has been awhile since we have had one and it was nice to do it today! We all ate outside and just enjoyed the afternoon! The girls wanted to stay outside and play until dark and then catch fireflies. Well, this is where..the certain little one started to melt. She would not admit that she was exhausted...but you could tell!! So....
I said we needed to come in because of the 'dark cloud'
We were all gross from creek water....bug spray....sunscreen...pool water..I could go on and on...
so we headed in and all got showers and to relax the rest of the night...

LITERALLY.....I got this little one a bath....dried her hair...and she sat down in this chair.....
and was out...OUT...just.like.that.
I have never seen someone out cold as fast as she was when she hit that chair! :)
We had a great day! :)

Schhooools ouuttt...friend day!

Soo....

I always like to bring things upon myself...

and today was yet another one of those times!...

I started plotting a couple of weeks ago to surprise my girls and some of their friends with a fun day after surprising them from school on the last day!

Well..today was that day!

Sara Kate, Carli, Caroline and Abby Grace celebrated the last day of school with us and they had SO much fun and SO many sweet memories were made!

I met Gran and we traded cars since she has a 'fancy' new car that has 3 rows and turned it into the 'party wagon' and let the fun begin! :) :)

They were SOOOO excited when they were walking out of school and coming to the car! Alexis cracked me up because she said 'Mommy, how did you get a new car so fast...and why did you get a red one like Alabama?!' Then she realized it was Gran's car! ha!
Love this little sweet friend!

This girl is bigger than me! WHAT!?!?! :)

Backseat crew! They were SO excited!

Let the fun begin!

Baja for the win! They were cracking me up because they were daring each other to eat jalapenos!...and talking about what all restaurants are their favorite. They got all the way to...'My 10th favorite restaurant is....' :) :)

Sweet friends!

Hip...HIP..hoooooray....schoooolllls out! :)

THIS picture...THIS picture makes me laugh SOOO hard! And..THIS picture WILL be recreated when they are...say Seniors! I laughed sooo hard at them wanting me to take a picture of them posing with the tree! It was funny too of them all trying to fit in the tree like Alexis! Bahaha!! Priceless! :)

My favorite! This is SO good of them! Sweet friends!

The girls did everything under the sun today...including eating 3 popsicles...each...and more! :)

The 'cool' 'toooo big for their britches' girls...sat and 'relaxed' {so they said} as they at their 'round 1' of their popsicles! :)

And then they did this for most of the afternoon....they were killing me! They had wardrobe changes about 5 times where they raided Alexis' closet and drawers to dress Alexis..and refix her hair..and put make-up on her so they could make their very own 'music videos'! Carli was....Fashion Director...with hair and make-up, SK was Video Producer....Caroline was Music/Sound Director. Each of them was getting paid '$500.00' per video! They BEGGED me to post their videos to Youtube so Taylor Swift could watch them and be friends with them and help them be rich! OH, I laughed! :) They were sooo serious during all of this too! :)

Look....at the skill....and the videoing skills...at the focus...I could go on...and on! :) :) bahaha!

Sweet friends! Love them all like they are my own! :)

 And...a quick little 'throwback' to 1st grade when I took them for a End of School Fun day too! I picked them up and took them to lunch before sending them back to Kids 1st on this year! :) :) WOW!!......look how little they were!! OH my! :)

Sweet minis! :)