Maison's First Deer!

This weekend we made a last minute decision to drive to my parents' house to pick out a Christmas tree and let the boys hunt for the afternoon. It was very fun and quite eventful! My mom gathered the whole fam together for dinner and, while hunting, Maison was able to kill his first deer! He was grinning from ear to ear. John and Justus enjoyed Maison's success and had fun celebrating with him. Kenz enjoyed helping Gracie (my mom) decorate the Christmas tree and she also got to play with my brother and sister-in-law's dog, Mally.

Hope this finds you all doing well!

Camping Fun!

Just thought I would share some fun camping pics. The weekend before Thanksgiving we took a trip to Arkansas to make some fun camping memories. It was a cold weekend so the campfire was our home base. Here is a picture of Kenz in the tent trying to stay warm!











The kids had fun fishing, exploring the woods, riding bikes and throwing the football.

We also had a family slingshot competition (I cannot remember the last time I used a slingshot, but it was lots of fun) and played a game of two hand touch football. John and I had a slight height advantage over Mais and Justus, but they seemed to have fun playing anyway and we switched up teams part way through the game.
Kenz played too, which consisted of her dancing around a good distance from the ball...I'm not sure she ever knew the ball was in play!

We enjoyed some incredible camp fire cookin by the one and only dutch over master, chez juan! Some yummy peach cobbler, chili dogs and the mountain man breakfast with sausage...I told John we should make fires in the back yard just for the yummy food.

And last but not least, we did what all good campers do and cooked us up some tasty smores...can I have another please!!! :o)

Fishing and Laundry and Statues...Oh My!

These are some pics from the fishing trip John and Justus went on a couple weekends ago. They only got to spend a half day there, but hopefully they will get to enjoy some more trips this winter!
A fun pic of Justus showing off his catch!

Justus and Chuck enjoying some fishing!

Our halloween was super fun! We had an M&M and a hunter. Only the M&M would pose for a picture with our lovely pumpkins we carved at the birthday party!

Kenz getting the laundry did!!! She had been saving it up for just the right time...like when she ran out of clothes to wear!

And...finally, one of the funnier moments of my last days of work, was driving by this fine display in front of World Overcomers Church in the finer part of Memphis. I just think this is the funniest thing.

Better Late Than Never...

Just had a little fun time and thought I would post some pics from our honeymoon. This one was taken at one of the restaurants on the resort property.

This picture was taken on the guided kayak, snorkel and hike we took one day. The views from the hike were beautiful!

John at the Baths. This place was on Virgin Gorda, and until everyone else on the island showed up, we had it pretty much to ourselves. There were huge boulders all around. It was beautiful to see the light shining through.

Dinner at The Balcony one night. It is in the tiny town on St. John and overlooks the harbor.

Beautiful sunset.



This was the second level to the outdoor restaurant on the beach at Caneel Bay.

John and I after hiking on the dutch road our to a fun snorkel spot out to Watermelon Kay. We saw lots of pretty fish and hung around a while to admire a sea turtle.

These are some of the sugar ruins on St. John.

Just relaxing at dinner one night as the sun was setting.

Triathlons and Football

Here are some fun pics from Maison's triathlon. He did very well and had a lot of fun. That was about the last time we saw his bike...he left it outside one day at the neighbors house and someone was seen picking it up, putting it in the back of their truck and driving off with it. Kenzie's bike disappeared too, but it was back at the house last night when we got home from Justus' football game. Justus plays on the eighth grade football team. They won, and it was a great game. A few of John's co-workers even came out for the game in support of Justus!

Kenzie and the Bean Stalk

The other night before we even sat down to eat, Kenzie expressed her disatisfaction with the fact that there were black beans on her plate. Now, everyone in our house is well aware of the fact that Kenzie does not like black beans. That said, in an effort to teach her not to comment on what is put on her plate and to try everything she is served, we not only put them on her plate, but being the mean parents that we are, we had her take one painful bite of them. You would have thought we were making her eat something off of fear factor. The gagging begins and the tears roll down her face, but slowly this time she actually got about 3 beans down. We were all waiting with anticipation to see if she would actually swallow them this time...and relief came when she did.

We then noticed that Justus, who was finding such great humor in watching his sister eat the beans, had not tasted them either. Thus began yet another crazy night at our kitchen table. Justus took a big bite of black beans and then proceeded to act like he was gagging and choaking and running out of oxygen and then fell out of his chair onto the floor knocking all the leaves off of our dying tree...and shaking the tree some more just for added effects. And then at some point he initiated himself into the black bean tribe when he smeared black bean juice all across his forehead. Now I recognize that all of this probably should not take place at the supper table, but you try not laughing at that! :o) Just another day in our crazy lives!!!

Talk of Pirates...

My pirate name is:

Dirty Mary Flint

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Happy Birthday Justus!

Saturday was Justus' birthday...he's the big 14! In celebration, John cooked breakfast and took the kids (that includes Kenz) to play golf. They had a great time! The remainder of the weekend was pretty low key.

Justus has been busy with football and golf, both of which he played on Tuesday. Maison has been busy playing soccer and football and building forts to protect his team in the neighborhood acorn wars! Kenz has been busy getting her pretty on with her good friend Hannah whose mom buys her makeup kits with pink eyeshadow and lipstick. Boy do they look pretty! :o) Oh my!

There isn't much else new going on here...except that we are getting excited about next weekend when our good friends Matt and Mary Jane are getting married!!!

The Back to School Crazies

I am beginning to run low on pictures, but found a few that I thought would make for a fun post. This picture describes without words the typical night at our house. Kenz is quite the mess! Notice the excessive use of underwear as a hat and over her pajama pants, and the nicely hiked up pants with shirt tucked in tightly.

Last night she wanted me to read her a book. One book is never enough, though I did not get home until after nine and therefore one book was all we had time to read. Kenzie has started giving me big hugs after I read to her to try with all her might to keep me from getting up and turning out her light. And when I say all her might, I mean, she bear hugs me and then mashes her face into the pillow trying to use her light weight self to weigh me down. This sometimes works when I am tired and get so tickled by her efforts that I am laughing too hard to get up. Her other favorite new thing is the bedtime burrito, where I wrap her up in her comforter real tight.


On the school front, last week I started back to school after a very enjoyable four months off. It was hard to go back, but for now, it is only one night a week! For those who haven't ever seen it, I thought I would post some pics of the Union University Germantown campus...it is an old church building.

The campus isn't too far from where I work and it is in a safe area of town...a nice change from Southern Avenue at the University of Memphis.

Argentina Travels!

Stephen and Cecilia sent me lots of fun pics from their trip to Argentina. It looks like they are having lots of fun spending time with her mom and cousin...and the scenery is amazing. Hope you enjoy!
This is a beautiful picture of the mountains!
Stephen pointing out the fact that he is a gringo!

More beautiful mountains!!!

Stevo and Cecilia enjoying the view.

Stephen in the snow in August!

I'm ready to take a trip to Argentina!

Stephen and Cecilia with Cecilia's cousin and her mom. I know they are loving the chance to spend time with Maria!

Another family photo.

Ray of sun.

Eric, Maria, Cecilia and Stephen

This is a picture of one of the ski resorts there. I just have one question to Curt and Hannah...what are we doing here??? Why are we not in Argentina enjoying all the fun fresh powder!?!

One more pretty shot.

And then the Bro Hamm we all know and love brushing his teeth while sitting on the toilet in the shower...talk about multitasking! :o)

Little Miss Personality!

Kenzie is getting more independent on her bike. As you can see she is comfortable enough on it now to look our way making faces, which is a change from her serious concentration face seen below. She's now learning the art of stopping and starting. One way in front of our house is gradually downhill...Kenz pedals fast and picks up speed going that way, so stopping on that end looks like Kenz veering off into the soft grass for a smooth crash landing. On the ride back it's harder to get started as it is uphill, but Kenz can do it and going uphill with less speed, she can stop too!

In other news, John seemed to enjoy his birthday and all the goodies! We gave him some fun mountain biking/hiking gear and a couple shirts. The kids were having so much fun playing that we didn't want to make them stop to go out to dinner, so we ordered a pizza and headed off for the community group ice cream social. It was big fun! We're both very excited about our new group!!!

Funny saying from Kenz this week as we are starting to implement a chores list: "We're the cleaner-uper girls and the boys make all the mess, except Daddy and he's pretty clean." I don't know how much I buy that the boys make all the mess, but Kenzie is always wanting to help clean up and she even helped me wash the veggies for dinner one night this week.

Happy Birthday!!!

Today is John's birthday! Kenzie helped me wrap all the gifts while John kept his eyes closed. We learned how to wrap a gift, stuff tissue and curl ribbon, and that curling ribbon takes a lot of practice to get it right. To celebrate tonight, we are going out to dinner, John's pick, and then to a community group ice cream social! YUMMY!!!

John is a wonderful husband. He is strong and wise, yet tender hearted and thoughtful. He can make me laugh harder than anyone else. John will try just about anything, whether it is a new food or fixing the car. He loves people and likes to do for people. And most importantly, he loves the Lord...he challenges me to grow closer to Him daily!

Happy birthday John! I love you!

That Time Of Year Again...

It's the end of August, and since John and I both like to be training for something, we are starting up the long runs again in preparation for this years St. Jude Half Marathon. Our first long run was this past Sunday at Shelby Farms on the Tour de Wolf. It was great to finally run the trails again. Pounding the pavement for an hour did not sound like fun to either of us. Trail running is much more fun and, to me, it feels like somewhat of an adventure. I lose track of the minutes and the miles and just enjoy the scenery.

We Have A Natural!

Sadly, I still do not have a picture...but Kenzie is officially riding her bike. She hasn't quite figured out how to stop upright everytime, so she finds a nice patch of grass and leans into it. As she is standing up, she screams down the street at us "I'm ok!" She is LOVING it!!!

Last night my parents came in town for dinner. Kenz was so excited to show off her new skill. It is fun to see her enjoy it so much!

Barbie Cycling Update...

Kenzie rode all the way down to the Nobel's house last night by herself (that's about 4 houses down)...she then proceeded to veer left and made a very graceful crash in the fluffy grass in their front yard. She was so excited with her new accomplishment! She will be a pro before we know it. At one point she was trying to turn her bike around while still sitting on it and John suggested to her that she get off the bike and then turn it around. She laughed at herself and said in her silly voice..."Good Idea!!!"

Last night she heard me talking to my mom about how great she had done, and yelled from her bed "I'm a really good bike rider!" I'll try take some more pics next time she rides.

What We've Been Up To This Week...

Things have been a little faster pace than normal as John and I have been getting prepared for the kids to go back to school. The tax free day was insane, but never fear, I only ran 2 people over with my cart! We were at Walmart with all of God's chilrens...it was a blessed event!!! :o) As for the pics, Justus is trying out for the golf team.
After spending a week with Gracie and Doc (what the kids call my parents), he is completely hooked. John went with him yesterday for his first round of try outs and said Justus did very well! He is a great athlete, and we really hope he will enjoy the sport.

In other news, we are also trying to teach Kenz to ride a bike. John runs along beside her making sure she does not fall. Eventually she will, but we want her first few riding experiences to be good ones!

As you had probably already guessed, she gets all her mad bike riding skills from me! I'm teaching her everything I know.

This past weekend we helped give a party for our friends Jonathan and Melissa at Curt's house. These are our very fun and crazy friends Curt and Sarah. They were having lots of fun after the party...that or Curt was celebrating everyone getting out of his house!

And finally, John and I out on a date night last week. We had some yummy sushi!