Loss for Words

I'm at a little loss for words this week. And I have no pictures. It was our first normal weekend at home in  while, so I took a break from capturing my children's every move. We swam, celebrated the Griggs move to England, swam some more, watched Elmo, played Batman, went to bed early, and swam even more.

I also did lots of procurement. And housekeeping. And refereeing. Here are a couple of snippets of the things I remember most about our weekend.

Lila loves roll-on sunscreen containers. LOVES THEM. Like over the top obsessed. If she sees one, she has to have it or she will scream, cry and carry on until you can hopefully distract her. Sometimes you can't and it carries on for hours. I know someone out there is saying, clean one out and give her the empty container. Um, nope. She has to have it rolled up where she can touch it OR IT JUST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH. And more crying ensues.

Nate is super into Batman. He has several old episodes of the real Batman on his Kindle. He's been watching it so much lately. His favorite character is the Riddler. He uses his old Super Why mask and wand to act out all things Riddler. He talks to me about him like I know him. When in fact, I had to look him up to see what he was talking about. And now I'm on the hunt for a Riddler costume for Halloween.

Have a great week!

What To Do

A couple of things have recently happened to us that caused me to think "What to Do?"

The TV that we purchased in February mysteriously quit in June. It was still under warranty, thankfully, but the warranty required you to ship the TV back to the manufacturer. Do you think we still had the box? After several weeks, Scott took the TV to Kinko's to ship it. We waited. And waited a little longer. We finally got word that they couldn't fix it, that we would be getting a replacement. Woohoo! However, Scott did mention something about them finding a replacement of equal or greater value, meaning you could get a TV that was larger than the one you purchased. Normally that would be a WooHoo! Except we got that size TV because it fit nicely in our existing entertainment center, as we are patiently waiting to upgrade our living room furniture when we find ourselves in another abode. As previously stated, who the heck knows when that will be.

So when a TV 2 sizes larger than the TV we purchased showed up, we find ourselves in a conundrum. Of course, we'd like to have a larger TV. But is it really worth purchasing a new piece of furniture to house it? New furniture that wouldn't match with the rest of our furniture? Ai-yi-yi. What to do.Bigger isn't always better!

Nate is going to Lila's school (his old school) for a few days this summer. They have a program for older kids and he has had so much fun. And it is so much fun for us to have both kids in one place, even for only a few days. One problem. They still ask them to rest after lunch. Well. Our sweet, napped-til-he-was-5 years old-boy, has been sleeping for almost 2 hours every afternoon. They aren't stopping him of course. Normally, I would say Woohoo! More sleep! Well. Not-so-much. He believes he needs to add these hours to the end of his day and is having a hard time falling asleep before 10:00 PM. Way past my bed time. What to do. More sleep is not always better!

Adventures via iPhone

Last week's adventure in iPhone pics...

Leaving on a jet plane...she was wild. But happy.

 The movie star in Athens, complete with accessories.

 My big boy on a riding toy that is much too small for him:) His legs go on forever!

 Great night out with friends in Atlanta - we don't get to see the Pharmacy School crowd as often as we'd like!

Back at the old Nashville hangout - Sportman's! It's such a happy happy place for us. If only the Pooley's could have joined us:)

 Excited to see Nate on Saturday morning! I think they missed each other. Although it only took about 2 hours for them to start fighting again.

Lately Loves

This summer I decided to take a different approach to Nate's shoes. In the past, I've had to purchase more than 1 pair of shoes to get thru the summer / fall. I heard about Keen's and decided it was worth it to buy a more expensive shoe, but only have to do it once. These shoes are the BOMB. They are water resistant, comfortable and protect his feet. And he'll be able to wear them for PE when school starts. Score.

They went on sale at REI this week and I purchased Nate another pair for next summer and Lila a pink pair too! So exciting!

 My mother-in-law told me about this iPhone app call ShopKick. I'm usually not that into apps especially if they require me to do something. Well. This one changed my mind. You find nearby stores that will give you "kicks" and when you get to a certain amount of kicks, you can use them to get gift cards to great stores like Target, Toys-R-Us, Starbucks, etc...You can get kicks for walking into a store (varies) and for scanning items. Let me tell ya, Nate & I had a great time walking around Macy's last weekend scanning the items. He LOVED it. Score for ShopKick for providing a great way to get a return on just walking into a store AND allowing kids to be entertained while shopping:)  

 I'm not one for fancy water. But since I drink so much water, sometimes plain water gets old. I found these when I was out of town last week and am hooked. No calories and tons of great vitamins (Scott says I don't get enough vitamins.) And tastes like lemonade. Guess I'll be adding these to my bulk list for Sam's:)

Around the World in 9 Days

The Boyles have been around the world and back in the last week and a half. Nate has been gone from his bed for 9 nights and I'm only 1 for 9 in my bed as well. But we are back home now and have many stories to tell from our adventures.

On Friday the 13th, our family of 4 flew to Atlanta to visit Mimi & Paka. Scott was thrilled when his mom suggested we go to UGA on Friday for lunch. We had an awesome lunch at the Grill and then walked over to take some pictures at the Arches. I have to admit when Scott & I first started dating he took me to the Arches, which happens to the picture recognition for UGA, I was not impressed. Being from Missouri, our idea of an Arch is much larger.



Mimi & Nate at the Arches.

Scott was almost giddy to be back in Athens. Guess we need to go more often.

Back home in Dacula, Lila listened to Paka play the guitar.

And Nate helped Mimi bake a cake.

On Sunday, the Odom family of 5 came to visit! We were so excited to meet the littlest Odom and hug on the rest of the fam.

Of course they wouldn't all look at me. Too busy shooting each other.

Levi, the littlest Odom. It was so hot and humid while we were there. I'm out of humidity practice since STL has had hardly any rain this summer. I felt like I was in one of those movies based in the south, like A Time to Kill, where everyone is always sweating:)

Goggles Girl - she is fearless in the water!

The two "littles" - thanks Blue-T for leaving your pj shirt the same week Lila got permanent marker all over hers!  We're getting good use out of it:)

He is so sweet and such a content baby. Love him.

Getting ready for Mimi's photo session - how is she already this grown up??

Giving her cheesy grin:)

The warm-up to the picture session. I love this picture. Noah & Gavin LOVE Nate. They all 3 play so well together and I'm very very thankful Nate has such wonderful cousins.

The baby that started all this grandchildren business...

We've grown alot since him!

Mimi & her lovelies!

So funny. I told Lila to smell this flower. Guess she got her senses mixed up.

Nate was trying so hard to be nice to Lila...

She wasn't having any of it...



So thankful for these 2! Nate stayed in GA with Mimi & Paka, Noah & Gavin for the week. We missed him so much but are beyond thankful that he can do this and have such a great time. 

Thank you Mimi & Paka, Amanda, David, Noah, Gavin & Levi for a wonderful week!

Random Thoughts

I tried not to complain during the heat spell. But I did.

My kids have a new passion for fighting. Guess who starts 99.9% of the love fests??

It doesn't seem possible that it's been a year since I was worried about Nate going to Kindergarten. I hope 1st grade is just as fun for him.

July 16th is coming up. It's a sad, yet happy day for me every year. It marks death, birth, and marriage.  To say it's a jam packed day of emotions is an understatement. 

Lila may be showing some early signs of potty training. But I think we're ignoring it. My baby just can't be ready to do anything of the sorts.

Nate has gone down both water slides at the pool, fast & slow, and jumped off the low & high dives this summer. Remember that kid that didn't like to swim?

We had to take down Lila's changing table this week. She scaled up the side of it and was sitting happily on top more than once in the past week. Scott tried to be sad, but I ignored it.

Nate really wants a dog. Bad. When we move, I keep telling him. To which his reply is "When is that?" Heck-if-I-know.

I cleaned my car out last weekend. It feels so good. Even Nate said, "It looks ALOT better, Mom."

Like he didn't have anything to do with generating the nastiness.

I'm starting to wonder how much longer I have to dress Lila my way. She's got opinions about most everything, her clothes and bows are surely coming soon.

Stand By the Door

Last Friday morning, we were getting ready to head to the pool. I was collecting the last few items before we could actually leave the house. The kids were distracting me, so I told Nate to go stand by the door until it was time for us to leave. I went about my business getting the bag, towels, goggles, etc...and when I looked up, it was quiet. I glanced over by the door, and this is what I saw. Love it!

Then on Friday night before we were leaving to go to dinner, I told Nate the same thing, thinking to myself that it was probably a one shot deal.

It wasn't.  

I figure I have maybe one more time for this to work, so I better use it wisely.

Down South for the Weekend

Lila & I headed south this past weekend. The heat was getting to all of us, so Scott and I decided to divide and conquer. We both had successful weekends so I feel confident about our parenting abilities. At least for a few minutes.

Lila loves to be at my parents house. And she especially loves my Dad. I have to bring lots of extra clothes when we are there. Although I try to make her a very girly girl, she just isn't. I'll hold on to the dream a little while longer.

Checking out the pond and watching the dogs go for a swim. When it is 100 degrees in the shade, the dogs are pretty miserable. 

Quite possibly my favorite picture to date. My sweet little girl walking next to the same pond that I walked next to so many times as a little girl.

The main reason we headed south was to see this little munchkin. Oh how I love him. He is just so sweet.

Lila didn't mind me holding Thane one day, and then the next day she was fairly possessive. But she was happy here when he was snuggled safely in his carrier. So now I just need to get Nate down there to meet him!

Independence Day

We had a great 4th of July! We took off bright and early to go downtown for the parade. It was supposed to be 10 degrees cooler than it had been the previous few days. Only 100. It's amazing the difference 10 degrees makes:)  

They don't often look at the camera at the same time. Of course.

After the parade, we came home and took monster naps. This heat wears everyone out! And then we went over to the Peach's for a BBQ. Since you can't really be outside right now unless you are in some form of water, the kids enjoyed the slip & slide.

It felt a little weird to be by ourselves for the 4th this year! Mimi & Paka have been here the last 2 years and the Pooleys the year before that! We missed our family and friends, but continue to be thankful the Peach family is so close!

Happy 3rd of July!

Happy 3rd of July!

Let's Go To the Movies

Nate & I went to see Madagascar 3 last night. Cute movie. It's funny, I didn't really like going to the movies until Nate & I started going to see the latest kid movies. I can count on one hand the times Scott & I have gone to the movies. You see, I'm somewhat ADD so sitting through a 2+ hour movie just isn't me. I'd rather be watching it at home while I can do other things AND watch the movie. But 1.5 hour kid movies are just my speed. Oddly enough:)

He took a pretty good picture but still had to get in the "Do we have to do this EVERY time we go some where????"



This beauty wanted to get in the picture (I had to crop our her above)...

So we let her:) I love the throw back lighting on this one.

The movie was a great idea as we were finishing up our 2nd day of over 105 degree heat. I also find at kid movies, anything goes. Everyone knows kids talk too loud, laugh too loud, and have to go to the bathroom a million times (not Nate, just everyone we sat in the row with:)

At the first part of the movie, Julian's sidekick (if you are familiar with Madagascar), ate too much cake and threw up. It's a kid's movie, right? And kids think that is sooooooo funny. Well, after everyone stopped laughing and the theater was quiet again, Nate said in a normal voice (not a whisper), "Mom, was that cake barf?"

Yes, my dear child. It was. And that's why I love a kid movie with my kid.