Weekend Festivities!

We had a whirlwind weekend with lots of fun and exhausting activities. Friday we mulched the existing flower beds as well as the one John created on one side of the house. That night Mason started playing in his first baseball tournament of the year...with a game at 9:30 that night. We had a tasty pre-game dinner and early bedtime for Kenz and off to the game we went blanket in hand. Saturday morning we got up for two more baseball games and a soccer practice. Mason's second game got rained out, but we got one full game in and Kenzie had her soccer practice. I think her team is going to be pretty good! It is too cute to watch 6 six-year-olds out on the field all at once chasing the same ball around. We spent the remainder of the day just hanging out and watching basketball and movies. Sunday came early with a restart of Mason's baseball game. The game kept us from making it to church, so we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather by working in the yard. John dug another flower bed...only about 4 more to go! We planted lots of fun things, including some roses, holly bushes, boxwoods, hydrangea, ferns and impatiens. Big fun, but extremely exhausting. Last night as we got ready for bed, Kenz wanted some sponge rollers in her hair, so we had lots of curl this morning, which is new for her and I think she isn't quite sure what to think about all that bounce! She looked absolutely adorable!!! Although, Mason's comment about her looking like George Washington wasn't really what we were looking for as far as compliments go. :o) Hope everyone had as fun and eventful a weekend as we did!

Kenz and Curlers

We played with the curlers today and had tons of fun. There weren't enough for us both to have curly hair, but since Kenz didn't want to look "silly" alone, I put a few in my hair too. Sadly it is rainy here today and most of it fell right out, but she just looked so cute, I had to share!

Long Time No Update!

Well, a lot of change has taken place since the last time I blogged. First of all, after much thought and prayer, I decided not to pursue the nursing degree, at least for now. John and I talked a lot about this decision and the thing I knew more than anything was that I want to be here for and serve John and the kids first. That meant taking another look at the path we had chosen to journey together over the next year and realizing that now is not the time for nursing school. So, you might be wondering what I am going to do instead...yeah, well, so are we! :)

For the past month I have been a stay at home mom and wife, working on getting things in order and trying to keep them in order. We start the day between 5 and 6, with running to do, clothes to wash and lunches to make! You can find me in the carpool line at 7:45 and again at 3:15. I love it! We are just starting to think of things I can do while the kids are in school to make a little extra money. There are several fun options out there...I'll let you know what we decide!

Justus and Maison are starting up the baseball season and Kenzie is signed up to play soccer this spring. Need less to say, we will be on the road from place to place a lot this spring. We just celebrated a 10th birthday. Maison had some friends join him for laser tag and then pizza, cake and a "how late can we stay up" party! John and I actually did sleep...until 2am when there was a loud crash upstairs above our room. I think the boys were bowling! Other than that, we're training two dogs (obedience school once a week with homework in between), adding a door to Justus' room upstairs, hunting whatever is in season, planning a trip to Guatemala, planning a vacation with my fam, and spending time with family and friends. We're enjoying any excuse to use our fine china...I think everyone should make excuses to use it!Grandparents day was big fun for Kenz. My mom, Gracie, and I went and had big fun at their program.
Kenzie wrote why grandparents are grand, and I thought you might all get a big kick out of what she said!

The boys went hunting the following weekend and had lots of success killing ducks and having fun! John's dad came and stayed with us for the week, along with his friend Jerry. Our friend Wayne joined the boys on their hunt and he and his wife came and stayed with us Saturday night and went with us to church. They used to go to our church before they moved away, so it was fun to have them back for the weekend!

The boys trying to stay warm. All you can see are Maison's eyes!

John and Wayne killed a canvas back (I think that is what it's called). It was very pretty and I think it is a rare kill in Arkansas. If I'm lucky, that bird will spend every other year at our house! :o)

Kenz fell sound asleep on the stairs the day the boys were hunting. I walked into the den to see if she was ready to go shoe shopping and she was breathing so loud, all I had to do was follow the noise! She said she was watching the clock and it put her to sleep!

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.